ATCF Ch 23 Part 1 – The First Impression Doesn’t Seem Good (I)

The moment Lin Yu saw the messages, she knew they were from Shen Mian. However, she was surprised to see that Shen Mian had posted the message in the class group chat, which included not only the students but also the homeroom and subject teachers.

There was only one administrator in the group, and that was their homeroom Teacher He. However, Teacher He limited her mobile phone usage after she became pregnant and thus couldn’t respond to the messages in the group in a timely manner.

Moreover, it was already late at night, almost 10 PM. Teacher He was probably already asleep, so it would wait until tomorrow morning before she saw the messages and dealt with them!

Sure enough, the anonymous messages attracted much attention. Many students replied with question marks under the messages. Clearly, they were at a loss.

After hesitating for a moment, Lin Yu rang Shen Mian a call. The moment the call was connected, she hurriedly asked, “Are you… are you going to break off with Jiang Ruo?”

“No.” Shen Mian’s response was calm, “I’m curious about Jiang Li’s story, so I’m just asking standard questions.”

In any case, Jiang Ruo was still her friend, so Shen Mian didn’t speak too harshly, nor did she voice out her speculation. If Jiang Ruo had been honest with her before, then she could just clarify things in the group chat. It wasn’t a big deal. But if Jiang Ruo had lied, then it would mean that she had been playing her for a fool, and the questions she had asked already showed her some face.

Thinking of this, Shen Mian hung up the call with Lin Yu again and quickly entered the group chat to tag @QinZheng.

Having spent almost three years with Jiang Ruo, Shen Mian knew very well that Jiang Ruo had certain feelings toward Qin Zheng. In fact, Shen Mian was quite curious whether Jiang Ruo had revealed her secrets to Qin Zheng if she had really lied about everything.

…

The anonymous messages sent by Shen Mian quickly made a sensation. Most people were puzzled, but a few quick-witted ones quickly understood what the sender actually hinted at.

But…how could it be possible?

It’s a pity that the anon only posted those few cryptic messages, tagged @JiangRuo and @QinZheng, and quickly became silent.

As neither Jiang Ruo nor Qin Zheng came out to clarify, a hot discussion spontaneously began, with the students in the group speculating whether the anonymous sender was trying to imply that ‘Jiang Li is actually the real daughter of the Jiang family.’

Without Jiang Ruo needing to respond, her fans quickly jumped out in her defense, insisting that the sender of the messages was spreading lies by hiding behind anonymity. If this person was brave enough, they should reveal themselves and show everyone who they really were.

It went to the point where some fans began to use foul language, showering the anonymous sender with verbal abuse.

It was only after being reminded that there were teachers in the group that those who had cursed earlier started retracting their messages.

The person who first responded by claiming that Jiang Li was the biological daughter of the Jiang family was also anonymous. Originally, he was just making a joke to liven up the atmosphere. He himself thought that her speculation was too outrageous and believed that others would laugh it off. However, Jiang Ruo’s fans acted like mad dogs, cursing and scolding indiscriminately. As a result, he was so angry that he was determined to find arguments that could prove the reasonability of his guess.

After pondering for a few moments, he went through the group’s photo album and found the pictures from the previous parent-teacher meeting. He then singled out a photo of Jiang Ruo’s mother and shared it with the group, urging everyone to compare her appearance with that of Jiang Li and find any similarities. Since the photos were already available, those in the group would naturally take a look, and they immediately noticed that Jiang Li and Feng Yun did resemble each other, especially their noses, which could be described as identical.

With so many students, there were always some who did not side with Jiang Ruo, and they began to voice their opinions loudly. Relying on anonymity, others soon joined the speculation, and the once-serious class group turned into a free-for-all mess in less than ten minutes. Jiang Ruo’s fans tried to resist, but they were outnumbered and quickly lost the battle.

Nonetheless, everyone was just satisfying their curiosity and hunger for gossip, especially because the anonymity gave them enough protection to leave any scruples behind. None of them actually really believed that Jiang Li was the real biological daughter of the Jiang family.

—Of course it was impossible. Unless their brains were eaten by zombies, which parents would deny such an excellent daughter?

Seeing the situation getting out of hand, several students who had a good relationship with Jiang Ruo quickly sent her messages in private, asking her to come out to the group and make a clarification. Otherwise, things would surely escalate wildly.

But Jiang Ruo never appeared, nor did Qin Zheng. Perhaps — some guessed — they hadn’t noticed the commotion in the group.

But Jiang Ruo was actually well aware of it, yet she had no choice but to stay silent because she had no way to respond.

Prior to today, Jiang Ruo didn’t think there was anything wrong with anonymous chatting. She herself joined many smaller groups where people would chat anonymously from time to time, like when they speculated that Jiang Li and Tong Yi were dating. In her view, it was a good thing for people to be able to express their real opinions without the fear of being persecuted.

But at present, when she saw how her classmates speculated and gossiped about her birth in such a casual manner, Jiang Ruo felt a chill envelop her entire body.

She really wanted them to stop talking, but she knew that her appearance would only make them relentlessly hound her with questions.

Even if she also used anonymity, those people would only think she was one of her fans, and no one would take her explanation seriously.

For the first time in fifteen years of life, Jiang Ruo felt powerless. She had never been so powerless before, not even when she found out that she was not her parents’ biological daughter.

When Jiang Ruo was in a daze, she received a video call from Qin Zheng. Knowing that Qin Zheng must have seen the group chat, Jiang Ruo chose not to answer and allowed the phone to ring until Qin Zheng terminated the call. Even then, she remained lost to her senses.

Two minutes later, Qin Zheng called again, but Jiang Ruo still didn’t answer. She didn’t even dare to look at the chat box she shared with Qin Zheng.

Jiang Ruo couldn’t figure it out; Jiang Li clearly had no intention of returning home or acknowledging her parents and brother, so why would she still choose to acknowledge the members of the Feng family?

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