Chapter Fifty-Three: The Betrayer of Secrets

“What’s going on here? Last time we met, we had such a pleasant conversation. Why do you look at me now as if I’m some dangerous beast?” Kang Ge turned around, resting his arm on the back of the seat, and teased Xu Hao.

Xu Hao gave a guilty little laugh and reached out to touch the car window. “Bro, our car windows are tinted, right? I was looking from outside just now—the tint’s pretty good, you can’t see who’s inside at all.”

“What does that mean? A perfectly aboveboard meeting, and yet the way you’re talking makes it sound like we’re up to something shady.” Kang Ge acted as if he had no idea why Xu Hao was sneaking around.

“Oh, you’re putting me in a difficult spot!” Xu Hao scratched his head, looking troubled. He stared at Kang Ge for a while, and when he saw that Kang Ge was waiting for an answer, he finally gave in, lowering his voice, “Honestly, I was just afraid Zhuang Fukai would see me hanging out with you guys again.”

“Come on, we’re not demons or kidnappers luring children away. Besides, even if I were, you’re way over the age limit, aren’t you?” Kang Ge laughed. “What’s wrong with being seen together?”

“Oh, how do I put it…” Xu Hao scratched his head again, as if the seat beneath him had turned into a frying pan, making him squirm. “Forget it, I’ll just come clean. Bottom line, it’s my fault. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me—if you want to hold someone responsible, I won’t make any excuses!”

“You little rascal! You’ve been talking in circles, but you have to tell us what you’re actually responsible for, so we know how to hold you accountable.”

“Well… the thing about Xu Wenrui’s death… I’m the one who spread the news… heh…” Xu Hao shrank against the seat, as if afraid Kang Ge would get angry and hit him. “I’m really sorry… I made things messy for you!”

“So you were the one who let it out! No wonder even the freshmen at your school heard about it so quickly.” Kang Ge waved his hand with a broad grin. “It’s fine, you didn’t really cause us any trouble. Relax, we’re not so petty as to go after you for something like that!”

“Really? Oh, that’s a relief!” Xu Hao let out a breath and patted his chest. “I was so nervous, I thought I’d caused a big problem. But honestly, it’s my fault. Zhuang Fukai scolded me, said I was too loose-lipped, that I can never keep anything to myself, and that it’s happened so many times but I never learn!”

“Actually, you can’t blame yourself entirely. You’re talkative by nature—when he told you, he should’ve warned you not to spread it.” Yan Xue decided to test Xu Hao with this, to see how he’d react.

“Exactly!” Xu Hao, grateful for the support, slapped his thigh. “Zhuang Fukai told me in this mysterious way, but he never said not to tell anyone. I thought he was being secretive because, well, it’s a matter of life and death. Since he already knew and told me, I figured it’d be common knowledge soon anyway, so I didn’t think much about it. I even forgot whom I told.

Really, I didn’t expect the news to spread so fast. The next day, everyone was talking about Xu Hao dying—I didn’t even realize it was because of me!

Then Zhuang Fukai found me and gave me a real dressing-down. That’s when I realized what happened. I felt so guilty. When I saw you guys coming just now, my legs almost gave out!”

“Come on, weren’t you just saying how brave you were? That if we tried to hold you responsible, you’d accept it without protest!” Kang Ge teased.

Xu Hao grinned sheepishly. “That’s just putting on a brave face! I’ll take the blame if I must, but that doesn’t stop me from being scared, does it?”

“So after you spread the news, why did Zhuang Fukai get so mad? Did you tell people he was your source?” Kang Ge guessed.

Xu Hao shook his head frantically. “No, no, no! I’m not that unreliable! Zhuang Fukai absolutely doesn’t want to be associated with Xu Wenrui—you saw that yourselves! Their relationship in the dorm was always distant, and once he accidentally said the wrong thing and offended a few of Xu Wenrui’s ‘fans,’ who harassed him for ages. He wants nothing more to do with Xu Wenrui. Knowing that, I’d never tell people Zhuang Fukai was the one who told me!”

“Zhuang Fukai was actually harassed by Xu Wenrui’s fans? Are they really that fanatical? I thought Xu Wenrui wanted to be a star, but he didn’t have much popularity online, so things weren’t going well for him?” Yan Xue was genuinely surprised—she hadn’t heard this before.

“Well, it doesn’t take a huge crowd to be fanatical, does it?” Xu Hao’s dislike for Xu Wenrui hadn’t softened even after his death; it was plain on his face. “He did have some supporters on campus—maybe thirty or fifty at most. No more than that. Most people just watched for the drama.

But that was just in our little campus circle. Out in the real world, his supposed charm and talent were nothing special, and he didn’t have a professional team to promote him. There was no way he’d get famous.”

“You’re pretty clear-eyed about it! So how did Zhuang Fukai end up provoking those thirty or fifty fans of Xu Wenrui?”

“If you must know, those so-called fans were a bit much later on, but honestly, at the start, the fault lay with Zhuang Fukai.” Xu Hao tried to be objective. “Liking someone isn’t a problem, and neither is dislike—people can have their own opinions. If you like someone, pay attention to them; if you don’t, just ignore them, and there’s no problem.

But that time, Zhuang Fukai crossed the line a bit. He looked down on Xu Wenrui, and it just so happened that Xu Wenrui gave a pretty good performance at the school’s summer gala. Someone posted on the school forum praising him and sharing photos, and a few girls commented that he had a nice voice and was handsome.

Zhuang Fukai saw that and got annoyed, so he left some negative comments—nothing flattering, but honestly, they were mostly true, since they were dormmates and Zhuang Fukai knew things about Xu Wenrui that outsiders didn’t.

However, because people online didn’t know he was a dormmate, and he didn’t dare say who he was, his comment came off as personal attacks to outsiders. Someone took a screenshot and made a separate post, saying things like ‘How ugly can a jealous guy’s attitude get?’

Once that post went up, at first it was just other girls who liked Xu Wenrui who commented, calling Zhuang Fukai sleazy and nasty. Later, even people who didn’t care about Xu Wenrui joined in just to mock Zhuang Fukai’s attitude.

Some of them even said they wanted to find out who the poster was, to see what kind of person was so jealous of Xu Wenrui and so eager to put him down.”

“So Zhuang Fukai was basically cyberbullied! What happened after that? Did they ever find out who he was?” Kang Ge asked.

“No, thank goodness they didn’t! Otherwise he’d have been tormented to death. You’ve met him—he’s a top student, all the teachers love him, but his looks are a bit… let’s just say he’s not the type girls go for.

If they’d found out who he was and compared him to Xu Wenrui, it would have just highlighted how handsome Xu Wenrui was. And who knows what those girls would have said to make fun of him. That period scared Zhuang Fukai so much he almost applied to live off campus and rent a place.

Luckily, it all blew over. Ever since then, Zhuang Fukai has refused to get involved with Xu Wenrui—he won’t even mention his name. I guess he was left with a bit of a psychological scar.”

“You’re not being entirely fair, you know,” Kang Ge shook his head disapprovingly at Xu Hao. “Last time, you never mentioned any of this. You knew about Zhuang Fukai’s concerns—so why did you invite him out that time?”

“I didn’t know Xu Wenrui was dead then! I thought he’d just gotten into some trouble showing off somewhere.” Xu Hao spread his hands, looking innocent. “I figured Zhuang Fukai had been bottling things up for ages, sharing a dorm with someone he couldn’t stand and never even daring to complain. I thought if Xu Wenrui had finally gotten himself into a mess, maybe it’d cheer Zhuang Fukai up to hear about it!

Then it turned out Xu Wenrui was actually dead. Zhuang Fukai told me it had nothing to do with us, not to bring trouble on ourselves, and not to blab—otherwise there’d be all sorts of complications with the police.”

“So how are you feeling about all this? Must’ve been a lot of pressure getting in the car today,” Kang Ge teased.

“Not really. What’s there to be scared of? He’s dead, so be it. We’re hardly the only people who didn’t like him. It’s not like he dropped dead while meeting just the two of us—that would be hard to explain. People die all the time—it’s nothing to be afraid of.” Xu Hao shrugged nonchalantly, even joking with Kang Ge. “Honestly, if Xu Wenrui had been scared to death by someone, then maybe I’d be nervous. Otherwise, why worry?”

“How do you know Xu Wenrui wasn’t scared to death?” Yan Xue asked.

Xu Hao burst out laughing. “Sis, are you trying to make me laugh? The last time I scared him was ages ago! If his death now had anything to do with me, it wouldn’t be fright—it’d be chronic poisoning!”

“You’re right, that was a silly question,” Yan Xue admitted with a laugh.

“We’ve been chatting long enough—let’s get down to business,” Kang Ge interjected, clearing his throat.

“So all this time we haven’t been talking about business?” Xu Hao chuckled.

Kang Ge grinned. “I just wanted to help you relax, seeing how tense you were. Now that we’ve talked it out, you’re not carrying any more psychological burden, are you?

Let me ask you—do you know about Xu Wenrui and his ex-girlfriend, Wu Beibei? And after she broke up with him, do you know who she got involved with?”

“Actually, I do!” Xu Hao perked up, sensing gossip on the horizon.

“Oh, you know all about it? Is Wu Beibei really so famous?”

“Not really. She’s pretty, but kind of petty—not the type to make your heart race at first glance. She only became known because she was dating Xu Wenrui, and once went to his dorm to do his laundry—caught by the dorm supervisor. None of us even knew her name then, just thought she was crazy. Most people treat their girlfriends like treasure, but she was doing his laundry!

Later, she became even more talked about because right after breaking up with Xu Wenrui, she found herself a boyfriend who was even more impressive—the school soccer team’s striker. Tall, athletic, and apparently very good to Wu Beibei! Xu Wenrui even tried to interfere, and almost got himself beaten up.”

“So if that guy was so great and treated her so well, why did Wu Beibei keep breaking up and getting back together with Xu Wenrui?” Yan Xue asked.

“Who knows? Maybe she’s got a screw loose—doesn’t like guys who treat her well, just wants to be bossed around.” Xu Hao shrugged, baffled. “A pair of nutcases, honestly!”

“From the sound of it, did Wu Beibei’s later boyfriend have any further conflicts with Xu Wenrui?” Kang Ge asked.

Xu Hao waved his hands. “No, no, not at all. The only time was at the start, when Xu Wenrui went to bother Wu Beibei and they nearly got into it, but Xu Wenrui wasn’t a match for him—he lost instantly. After that, nothing happened.

Later on, Wu Beibei went back to being entangled with Xu Wenrui of her own accord, so what was there to say? If I were Zhang Lei, I wouldn’t have bothered with Xu Wenrui either. If Wu Beibei wants to eat a hundred beans and never gets tired of it, why get involved and disgust yourself?”