Chapter 158: Clearing Up The Rumors
“Who is dating this guy?”
Xiang Chuan hadn’t even had time to roll her eyes at this tactless News Club member when Ainuo, standing beside her, voiced his displeasure first. Xiang Chuan turned her head and saw the disgusted expression on her club member’s face, as if he had spotted the most hated ingredient on his serving plate. Her own right eyelid twitched uncontrollably.
Good grief, does he despise his own club president this much? Xiang Chuan silently chanted “clear it up soon to be free soon” ten times in her mind to suppress the urge to beat her rebellious club member.
“Huh? Really not?” The News Club member widened her eyes in surprise. “I’ve heard other classes talking about it. Just from the versions our News Club has collected by today, there are already forty-five kinds—”
There are that many already? The childhood friends trio and Xiang Chuan couldn’t help but complain in unison in their minds.
Who says modern people lack imagination? This is pretty wild. But couldn’t they use this ability on something else instead of gossip, like writing novels or drawing manga to enrich modern society’s scarce literary and entertainment resources? Xiang Chuan was quite depressed.
“All rumors.” Ainuo said through gritted teeth, half his face dark. “If I started dating less than two months into the school year, my dad would break my legs.”
……
Silence is tonight’s Cambridge.
Ouyang Yating and Nancy silently closed their eyes. One thought hopefully that Uncle Li wouldn’t see this video, while the other wondered if she should go to the News Club to copy the source file and add it to her black history collection for a certain someone whose serial number was almost at four digits.
Xiang Chuan was initially a bit surprised, but then she realized why this guy was so laid-back about romance.
After all, modern people have too long a lifespan. Unlike 21st Century people with their brief adolescence and long corporate slave periods, modern people with an average lifespan of up to eight hundred years still follow the same “eighteen is adulthood” age boundary as the 21st Century.
But after seven hundred, they enter the average elderly age layer. That means modern people have nearly seven hundred years to enjoy life and romance. They have more time than 21st Century residents to plan their romantic, marital, and child-rearing lives. Plus, after the Dark Virus Crisis, the government perfected marriage and human rights laws that heavily favored one gender in the Common Era to encourage marriage and childbearing, eliminating as many marital issues as possible.
Because adult marriage and romance are very free and protected, regulations on minor romance are quite strict. Though in adolescence, boys and girls are inevitably attracted to outstanding opposite or same-sex peers, for medical safety and ethical reasons, the government imposes especially strict controls on underage interactions.
If high school freshmen or sophomores start dating, they must report it to their homes immediately and accept oversight from family, school, and even government. Don’t want their lovey-dovey interactions seen? Then obediently wait until both are adults to confirm the relationship!
Noble families like the Li Family watch their children’s emotional lives even more closely. It’s not that modern times still have outdated ideas about family status—noble status can be applied for and certified through achievements in various fields. Nobles receive some government perks in those areas.
But accordingly, as bridges and symbols between government and people, they must set examples for the public and government. If children date before adulthood, they face even stricter oversight. Worse, families like the Li Family outright prohibit children from dating during minority, nipping any danger in the bud.
However, for the sake of noble face, even if everyone knows, no one says it outright.
“Ainuo is going to anger his dad to death.” Xiang Chuan later said this when she learned about noble family matters, recalling Ainuo’s statement at the time.
The News Club member was also stunned. Can this be aired?
Seeing Ainuo still looking serious, Ouyang Yating couldn’t help poking his lower back and frantically signaling with her eyes. Years of childhood friend tacit understanding made Ainuo snap out of it from Ouyang Yating’s hint. He cleared his throat lightly: “Um… please cut that last line.”
News Club member: ……
Close call—the school anniversary gossip almost turned into noble family dirty laundry.
Besides Xiang Chuan and the childhood friends trio, Nongda Affiliated High School Class 1-8 students who happened to be on break and wandering other classes, as well as students hosting guests in the class, were also successively targeted by News Club members.
No way around it—girls in handsome tailcoats, tall and athletic boys in maid outfits would attract the most attention anywhere in school. News Club members, obsessed with hot topics, naturally zeroed in on them right away.
Class President Lu Daiqing: “Classmate Xiang Chuan and Classmate Ainuo? They’re not dating, at least I haven’t seen any overly intimate behavior during breaks.”
Drama Club President Chou Manman: “Xiang Chuan? She’s great, our club is neighbors with hers, and she helped me a lot. Classmate Ainuo… I was pretty upset when he bet with someone to fake confess to Xiang Chuan, but later seeing him reform and become Xiang Chuan’s little brother… cough, Xiang Chuan’s member, I gradually warmed up to him.”
Cultural Committee Member Mandy: “Don’t let Ainuo’s usual sour face fool you, he’s pretty enthusiastic and often helps the class… Dating? They’re more like teacher and student. Xiang Chuan’s math is pretty bad; we often see Ainuo tutoring her. Our class and others who frequent the A Bite of China Club all know. Ainuo’s sour face when Xiang Chuan gets questions wrong is hilarious. I heard about his fake confession from Nancy, our vice class president— it spread through the class. But I’m actually envious he joined the A Bite of China Club, since Xiang Chuan’s entry test was pretty tough back then, not many passed. Him getting in shows he’s got real ability.”
Fu Chengkai: “Ainuo and Xiang Chuan? Those two are definitely not that kind of relationship…”
Qing Ke: “Romantic relationship? Never heard. Xiang Chuan probably wants to marry ancient food more…”
………..
……
By the time Xiang Chuan’s group’s rest time ended, the clarifications from Nongda Affiliated High School Class 1-8 students had already been turned into on-site reports by News Club members and posted on Nongda Affiliated High School’s official website news feature. For fairness, the News Club members also interviewed frequent A Bite of China Club visitors from other classes to learn about the club members’ usual club activities and interpersonal relations, ensuring multi-angle objectivity.
To support the annual school anniversary, major high schools specially open sections on their official websites for school News Clubs to post articles or repost official media coverage of the school. This year was no exception.
So before lunchtime, the various rumors about the A Bite of China Club, Xiang Chuan, and Ainuo that spread from Caida Affiliated High School Class 1-3 were largely quelled by the Nongda Affiliated High School News Club.
Watching the Caida Affiliated High School Class 1-3 students handing out queue numbers but with unhappy faces, Class President Lu Daiqing slightly curled her lips.
Admittedly, their rumors had the advantages of timing, location, and harmony.
The spread happened right before the busy school anniversary two weeks prior, when everyone lacked time to verify but was very interested in such gossip. Plus the A Bite of China Club’s inherent topicness made it explode across both schools.
Caida Affiliated High School Class 1-3’s goal was obvious: participatory exhibit content. They held out until the last week but were surely unwilling about their failure, so they sought a breakthrough via the A Bite of China Club, using Ainuo’s fake confession and Sasha’s junior high connection to the trio as entry points.
Being real events without immediate clarification, it would plant seeds of doubt in teachers and school leaders’ minds, making them think the A Bite of China Club instructed Nongda Affiliated High School Class 1-8 students to block Caida Affiliated High School Class 1-3 over romantic jealousy, thus leniently treating Class 1-3’s participation issues this anniversary.
But they didn’t realize the school anniversary day gave Nongda Affiliated High School Class 1-8 even greater timing, location, and harmony.
Self-topical ancient food, Xiang Chuan’s new recipes, gender-reversed ancient style clothing—any one would draw headline-obsessed News Clubs like flies to honey. This became Class 1-8 members’ biggest stage to reverse the rumor tide.
For timeliness, as long as no sensitive topics or slip-ups like Ainuo’s requiring cuts appeared, after review by News Club senior students, these report screens would be posted immediately to the discussion board for all teachers and students. After the anniversary, the News Club would re-edit the footage and write copy for formal reports on the school feature site.
And Nongda Affiliated High School students would naturally share the anniversary news with Caida Affiliated High School students collaborating with their class.
The rumors completely collapsed before further fermentation.
Wrong chapter replaced, very sorry for the poor reading experience for all readers
