Chapter 55: A Wave of Twists and Turns

"Trash?" Hearing this comment, Zhang Zikuan's face in the center of the crowd turned black instantly.

Never mind Zhang Zikuan; at this moment, even Xu Heng himself had a somewhat dark expression.

If Zhang Zikuan wants to show off, let him show off; his showing off doesn't cost anyone a piece of meat, so why insist on coming over to annoy him?

And to do it in Xu Heng's name, pushing him onto the cutting edge of public opinion all at once.

The classmates all remembered the incident during last year's military training and the Welcome Gala, and the girls chimed in one after another, "Oh right, isn't our class Arts Committee Member Xu Heng pretty good at playing the guitar? Why not let him go up and play a song to liven things up?"

Little sister, are you sure that if I go up now, it will be to liven things up for Zhang Zikuan? Instead of crushing his spirit and making an enemy of him?

Xu Heng didn't even think about it and quietly retreated to the outside of the crowd.

Thinking about it carefully, Cheng Huaiyu's approach was neither rational nor mature, and it was highly likely to cause an extremely awkward scene; it was better to leave before the severity of the matter escalated, letting the storm subside gradually as the parties involved were no longer present.

As it turned out, a student who recognized Xu Heng was quick-eyed and nimble-handed; he grabbed his clothes and shouted, "The Arts Committee Member is here!"

Xu Heng: "?"

The crowd swished open a path, and Xu Heng was exposed right under everyone's gaze.

The students of Class Three were no strangers to him; after all, he had performed at the Welcome Gala, so they all had some impression of him, more or less. As for the passersby, they couldn't be bothered to care who he was, only hearing that he could also play the guitar, and they followed behind the Class Three students to jeer.

"Xu Heng, my roommate just said that my guitar skills aren't as good as yours. Why don't you come up and let the two of us compare?"

Zhang Zikuan's face was somewhat sunken when he said this. He wasn't sure what level Xu Heng was at, but having been able to perform at the Welcome Gala, it certainly couldn't be bad. As for his own level, he knew it very well himself—it belonged to the beginner stage, not good enough to be impressive, but not bad enough to be bottom-tier. If Xu Heng really came to spar with him, he reckoned his face would be slapped until it was swollen.

But the awkward part was that Zhang Zikuan had to keep up a tough front now and couldn't admit defeat. His girlfriend, whom he had just successfully pursued, was watching from the side, along with a large group of classmates and passersby. If he admitted defeat, he would lose his right to date for the remaining three years.

This also involved another issue: if Zhang Zikuan weren't a scumbag, losing face in front of outsiders wouldn't actually affect him. But what a scumbag cares about most is his image in front of others; even if he has to puff himself up to look like a fat man, he has to keep puffing.

"Which roommate? You shouldn't talk nonsense. I didn't even hear anyone say my guitar skills were higher than yours, Sports Committee Member. It must be a rumor. I think our levels are about the same; there's no need to compare who is better." Xu Heng said, lying with his eyes wide open.

Zhang Zikuan breathed a sigh of relief. He knew this was Xu Heng giving him a way out, and he thought to himself that the Arts Committee Member was still a sensible person. Just as he was about to follow this step down, Cheng Huaiyu and Zhao Gaoyang sandwiched Xu Heng from the left and right.

"I said it. Old Xu is a humble person and doesn't want to make you lose face, but in my opinion, Zhang Zikuan, your guitar technique is truly terrible. It's like sawing a table leg—creak, creak—it sounds awful."

"That's right. Besides, doesn't the Sports Committee Member already have a girlfriend? I remember it's the little class beauty from the neighboring Arts department. What is the meaning of coming here to ravage our own backyard grass now?"

Cheng Huaiyu and Zhao Gaoyang sang in harmony, being sarcastic and snide, and they angered Zhang Zikuan's handsome face until it turned the color of a pig's liver.

Especially that sentence from Zhao Gaoyang, which exposed Zhang Zikuan's history of philandering.

Many girls nearby showed surprised expressions and whispered to each other to verify it.

"Does Zhang Zikuan have a girlfriend?"

"I don't know."

"I heard at the beginning of freshman year he got together with a junior Class Assistant, but I'm not sure if it's true."

"Then why did Zhao Gaoyang say he was looking for the class beauty from the next class? Could it be that Zhang Zikuan is playing two boats at once?"

"Damn, if you add the League Branch Secretary, that's three boats. That's too terrifying."

Public opinion always becomes more outrageous as it spreads. The matter of Zhang Zikuan playing two boats as a freshman turned into playing three boats by the time it reached these people's ears. In less than two minutes, he went from a well-received suitor to a scumbag, and even Han Xuemei's gaze toward him became somewhat strange.

Zhang Zikuan had to anxiously explain, "Xuemei, I broke up with those two long ago. These are all things they made up. I really want to be in a relationship with you!"

"A-Kuan, I believe you," Han Xuemei said with a smile, while inadvertently letting go of Zhang Zikuan's arm.

Seeing this subtle little movement, Zhang Zikuan's face turned livid. How could he not understand what this action meant? Having been a scumbag for so long, he had long understood that women's words were just a set of rhetoric that couldn't be trusted; only their actual actions could reveal their true inner thoughts.

Han Xuemei had clearly been affected by those rumors. At this moment, no matter what else he did, he could no longer salvage his image in Han Xuemei's heart.

Son of a bitch, it's all because of this jerk Zhao Gaoyang!

If it weren't for Zhao Gaoyang deliberately bringing up his affair with the class beauty from the neighboring Arts department, it wouldn't have triggered others' associations, and he wouldn't have ended up in a situation where he couldn't step down.

Zhang Zikuan subconsciously ignored the instigator of the matter, Cheng Huaiyu, shifted all his hatred toward Zhao Gaoyang, and stared at him angrily.

Zhao Gaoyang was no pushover either; when Zhang Zikuan glared at him, he glared back, as if to say, "What are you looking at? Are you looking at your daddy?!"

This time, Zhang Zikuan was truly angered. He put down his guitar, rolled up his sleeves, and prepared to have a fight with him.

But as the Class Monitor, Fan Xi could not allow conflicts between classmates to happen, so she stepped forward to stop them: "Everyone take a break. Everyone is out to have fun today, not to look for trouble."

Having said that, she glared at Zhao Gaoyang with her pretty eyebrows: "Zhao Gaoyang, why do you care so much about other people's private affairs? Do you really want to be reported to the Academic Affairs Office and get a demerit before you're satisfied?"

After finishing, she turned to Zhang Zikuan and said, "Zhang Zikuan, I don't care about your personal business, but please don't bring personal grudges into group activities."

Once Fan Xi stepped in, the sycophant Zhao naturally retreated obediently, at most making a face at Zhang Zikuan from a distance.

As for Zhang Zikuan, he had first lost face in front of everyone, his reputation had worsened, and Han Xuemei's attitude toward him had become much more distant. But with Fan Xi saying this, he could only swallow his anger and accept the loss; after all, if he really fought with Zhao Gaoyang in front of the whole class, his persona would be completely ruined.

A wave of twists and turns—although the dispute had temporarily subsided, the perfectly good confession event had turned into a scene of social death for Zhang Zikuan. Just when Xu Heng thought the subsequent matters had nothing to do with him, Fan Xi pushed his waist and said, "It's not easy to have a group activity, perform a talent for everyone, Arts Committee Member!"

Looking at Fan Xi's gaze, which was as cunning as a little fox, Xu Heng was speechless.

So this girl was using him as a buffer!