SBAB Chapter 16

“啪.”

Cheng Shiyin slapped Lin Xin across the face. It was a light hit, but it left him momentarily dazed.

?

“Why are you hitting me for? Is it because of Gu Nian?” Lin Xin thought to himself, then quickly understood the real reason he got slapped.

First of all, it wasn’t logical to have an inexplicable dream in the middle of the day, so the kiss from Cheng Shiyin—and the mouth-to-mouth—were real. Secondly, he hadn’t woken up for so long, and now he was fully conscious, Cheng Shiyin must have thought he was taking advantage of her. Honestly, if he were someone else, he’d give himself a hard slap too.

Faking unconsciousness for artificial respiration? That was low.

Lin Xin’s face didn’t hurt, but he still covered it as he got up, trying to look as pitiful as possible to vent some frustration at Cheng Shiyin.

Cheng Shiyin was amused by Lin Xin’s innocent expression; she roughly ruffled his hair and said, “Now you look even more pitiful.”

Lin Xin’s little scheme was as clear as day to Cheng Shiyin; it was like reading a blank piece of paper.

After sending Rose and Peony on their way, Gu Nian turned to see Cheng Shiyin and Lin Xin seemingly enjoying each other’s company, like close friends. The sight made Gu Nian think of Rose and Peony, and how he seemed to be perpetually the third wheel. Feeling somewhat left out, he made his way over, hoping to join in.

Lin Xin saw Gu Nian approaching and felt awkward about whatever had happened with Rose and Peony. Not good at hiding his feelings, Lin Xin scowled as soon as he saw Gu Nian.

If it were any other day, Gu Nian might have pieced together the events, but today he was a bit off-kilter, thinking Lin Xin was jealous of Cheng Shiyin. His self-importance only fueled his misunderstanding, believing he was the one in the wrong.

Cheng Shiyin remained calm and natural in front of Gu Nian, but when his back was turned, she secretly gestured to Lin Xin.

“Call Meng Lun.”

“Get Meng Lun to take Gu Nian away.”

Lin Xin gave Cheng Shiyin an ‘okay’ gesture, signaling he understood.

But how should he get Meng Lun over here? Should he ask him to beat him up?

Meng Lun seemed to sense Lin Xin was calling him, so he rushed over. He bowed ninety degrees to Gu Nian and loudly apologized, “Sorry!”

“Uh, what are you apologizing for?” Gu Nian was confused by Meng Lun’s sudden apology and asked.

Meng Lun straightened up and replied, “I threw the soap.”

His usual stiff tone made it sound like there was no remorse at all. That prompted Gu Nian to chuck a slipper at him, chasing him around as he tried to escape.

Meng Lun ran, explaining, “It wasn’t on purpose. I was going to give it to Lin Xin, but he fell in on his own.”

Meng Lun effectively distracted Gu Nian.

“Good opportunity,” Cheng Shiyin told Lin Xin.

…

After a long pause, Cheng Shiyin looked over and saw Lin Xin chasing after Meng Lun after hearing his second sentence. His slippers were flying everywhere.

Cheng Shiyin sighed; Lin Xin’s every move chipped away at her calm.

She took off her slipper and tossed it at Lin Xin.

Lin Xin saw Cheng Shiyin’s slipper tracing a graceful arc through the sky and immediately ran to grab it. He picked up the slipper, looked up at her with an exasperated expression, and pranced back to hand it to her like a trained dog fetching a ball.

“What should we do now?” Lin Xin asked.

Cheng Shiyin handed him her phone, opened Gu Nian’s QQ through the associated account, and said, “Check the messages, look up the names.” Meanwhile, she dug out Gu Nian’s phone from her bag.

Cheng Shiyin was thinking that if today wasn’t for the water park, if they didn’t wait for the tardy Meng Lun, she might not have crossed paths with Rose and Peony. If today wasn’t the water park, she wouldn’t have easily gotten Gu Nian’s phone.

In the end, it all came back to Lin Xin showing up.

For a moment, Cheng Shiyin wondered if Lin Xin was scheming, given how long she’d liked Gu Nian. But that thought passed quickly, and she chose to trust him.

Someone naïve enough to post everything on Weibo, what kind of ulterior motives could they possibly have?

When it comes to trust, Gu Nian has full trust in Cheng Shiyin. She’s not the suspicious type and never snoops through his phone, so he doesn’t even bother with a lock screen or app lock, which saves her a lot of time.

And in the end, there were no surprises.

— Nothing found.

Lin Xin’s situation was the same.

“Could it be that we’re overthinking things?” Cheng Shiyin looked at Gu Nian’s clear WeChat with doubt.

Lin Xin shook his head; that couldn’t be right, the evidence was quite obvious.

“Well, let’s swap devices. I’ll check QQ, you check WeChat,” Cheng Shiyin suggested.

After another thorough search, Cheng Shiyin still found nothing, but Lin Xin furrowed his brow this time.

In Gu Nian’s moments, Lin Xin noticed a “Big Bro” account—a lone remaining buyer on his WeChat—definitely holding some kind of significance. Plus, Lin Xin felt like the profile picture of “Big Bro” looked somewhat familiar.

Noticing Lin Xin’s unusual expression, Cheng Shiyin asked, “Find anything?”

Lin Xin replied, “Not yet, but… just wait a moment.” He was almost certain, but he needed concrete evidence to implicate Gu Nian.

Cheng Shiyin stood aside, patiently waiting for Lin Xin’s final answer.

Lin Xin opened the Weibo account he had set up earlier. It had only one post: “What to do if I suddenly turn into a boy?” He went through the comments, starting with the most-liked ones, until he found someone named “Big Bro,” whose profile picture matched that of the buyer.

It was a pornographic comment.

Lin Xin private-messaged “Big Bro” and got his WeChat. It was indeed the same person found on Gu Nian’s WeChat. Lin Xin sent a friend request using his account, and changed his gender to “male” and age to “43,” pretending to be a desperate middle-aged man.

Lin Xin typed away on his phone, surprisingly smooth for a first attempt: “Got any double X movies? Best if the guys are college students.”

Two seconds later, “Big Bro” sent a video screenshot—woman in the film had a rose tattoo on one butt cheek and a peony on the chest. The face was obscured, but the video title confirmed Lin Xin’s suspicions: “Student Council President vs. Black Stockings Sisters.”

Cheng Shiyin glanced at Lin Xin’s chat with “Big Bro” and said, “Ask him how much, buy it.”

Lin Xin sent over 20 yuan, and sure enough, received the original file, which was much clearer than the screenshot.

Cheng Shiyin only gave it a cursory glance before telling Lin Xin to transfer the video directly to Gu Nian’s phone. Cheng Shiyin played the video showing Gu Nian starring in it, waving Gu Nian’s phone so he could personally watch his starring role.

Gu Nian, who had been happily expecting Cheng Shiyin, instantly turned green when he saw the video. His first thought wasn’t to deny or explain but to see that Rose and Peony had secretly filmed him and were selling it.

Before Gu Nian could say a word, Cheng Shiyin cut him off: “Let’s break up.”

Gu Nian tried to grab Cheng Shiyin to spin a tale, but before he could say anything, Lin Xin, who had been ready nearby, shoved him down.

“Splash!”

Perfect dive—0 points.