After finishing all that, she felt a little empty. Half-lying on the bed, she took out her phone to look at the two text messages he had left for her. Unfortunately, she had drunk too much the night before and had completely forgotten what it felt like when he kissed her. The marks he left on her body were starting to fade, but her longing for him was growing stronger. Estimating that the plane would land some time ago, she got up and turned on her computer.
Xu Na "kindly" reminded her, and although she felt it wasn't a big deal, she couldn't suppress her curiosity and still went online to see just how far human imagination could go.
Upon logging into the campus network, Xiang Lan was taken aback. Her usually lukewarm online thread was now prominently featured on the homepage. After a moment of mental preparation, she clicked in, only to be overwhelmed by its fiery atmosphere after just a few glances.
After her true identity was revealed, the onlookers in the building split into several groups.
One group consists of her little angels, who have always believed in her and have accompanied her through many creative difficulties over the past three years of following her posts. They would never believe that such a work could be a perverted fantasy.
One group of righteous bystanders were quite disgusted by the doxxing, believing that exposing Xiang Lan's real information was an immoral act, and tagged the administrator, demanding that the post be deleted;
One group consisted of Li Xingda's real female fans, who were furious that their idol had been spied on like this. They demanded that the person who did the doxxing disclose all of Xiang Lan's contact information so that they could be punished in a just manner.
Another group consists of real female fans of Li Xingda, but they seem to be the milder type. They are pleased to have such a fitting work that expresses the charm of their male god and are willing to provide materials.
Another group is stirring up trouble, jumping around, sometimes criticizing the original poster for blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, and sometimes complaining that doxxing is immoral.
Another group of seemingly calm onlookers made meaningless ramblings, such as "just passing by."
Five or six groups of people got into a brawl, turning what should have been a beautiful picture thread into a messy, argumentative one.
Xiang Lan wasn't afraid, but she found it troublesome to be the center of attention. She checked a few of the most aggressive abusive accounts, but found nothing meaningful. When she refreshed the page, new posts appeared. It turned out that the same account that had revealed her real identity had also obtained her phone number and was announcing that it would release other real information about her from time to time.
"Damn it, this is going to cause a huge uproar!" she cursed, frantically trying to turn off her phone, but it was too late. Her phone started beeping, text messages kept popping up, and people kept calling.
"What's wrong?" Deng Yifan was about to fall asleep when he heard the continuous ringing of his phone and peeked out to ask.
"Someone posted my phone number in the building." She frowned. Her phone screen was completely frozen, and she couldn't even turn it off. In her panic, she dropped the phone on the floor, and it shattered into pieces. Now she finally had some peace and quiet.
"Are you crazy? Contact the administrator to delete this post." Deng Yifan saw her lying on the ground looking for the SIM card chip. "Don't bother looking anymore, that number is unusable."
Xiang Lan immediately contacted the website administrator, but it was late at night and the administrator had already gone off work, so she could only watch helplessly as that floor was lifted up.
"You've offended someone, and they're going to kill you?" Deng Yifan rubbed his eyes. "Damn it, even if you have a crush on Li Xingda and drew pictures for him, is it some unforgivable crime? It's such a wonderful story, why is everyone condemning you?"
"The main problem is that there are people who influence the winds," Xiang Lan said calmly.
"who?"
"It's not certain yet." Xiang Lan stared at the backend data of the alternate account but found nothing unusual.
"You have a direction now?"
“It’s so obvious, it’s all about Li Xingda.” Xiang Lan shook her head. “She knows Li Xingda, she knows me, and she has my phone number, so the scope is narrowed down.”
Deng Yifan nodded. "The student council?"
"Right?"
"Wang Runqiu?"
"Possibly."
Seeing her calm expression, Deng Yifan asked, "Do you have any other suspects?"
"Yes, there are." Xiang Lan sighed. "Many people could be involved. It's such a hassle!"
What are you going to do?
"I haven't decided yet." Xiang Lan scratched her head, looking at her now-dead phone. "I was planning to contact my family tonight, what am I going to do now?"
A cell phone was thrown down from the top bunk. Deng Yifan said, "Here, you can borrow it," and went back to sleep.
Xiang Lan answered the phone with a smile, entered Fang Zidu's phone number, and prepared to send a text message. However, before she could press send, the landline in the dormitory rang. Why would there be a call at this hour?
"Hello--"
"Find Xiang Lan."
"That's me." Xiang Lan paused for a moment, then answered obediently.
"Don't be so stubborn. Turn back before it's too late. Spying and stalking are very bad behaviors."
Xiang Lan was about to explain when the call ended. She hung up, furious. She climbed up to the library building to check, and sure enough, even her dormitory number and landline phone number had been published. Although there was a chorus of condemnation online, there was also a lot of praise, with everyone agreeing that it was an act of justice.
The phone rang again, and she answered it without speaking first.
Is Xiang Lan there?
"Yes, I am here."
"Go to hell!"
Xiang Lan hung up the phone expressionlessly, feeling a little upset. Although she had been prepared, being so blatantly insulted was still embarrassing. She unplugged the phone, tossed aside her phone, and, ignoring her communication with Fang Zi, slumped onto the table to spam the chat room, working tirelessly until dawn.
The next morning, as soon as Deng Yifan got up, he saw Xiang Lan sitting on the lower bunk like a ghost, with two big dark circles under her eyes.
"Girl, what's wrong?"
Xiang Lan said fiercely, "These people have gone too far, I'm so angry."
"You didn't sleep all night?"
"I can't sleep." Xiang Lan stood up. "I have to do something, otherwise I won't be able to live properly."
"What do you want to do?"
“I’m going to find that person; it’s disgusting. He’s playing 'peeling the onion' online. First, he published my phone number, then my dorm landline number—those were easy to deal with; I could just turn them off and unplug them. But then every hour he posted my dorm room number, student ID, major, and some other information online—”
"You've really run into a pervert now."
“Although I have some angels supporting me and helping me to condemn that person, the voice of justice is too weak.” Xiang Lan lowered her head. “Now I’m worried that she will eventually post my photos.”
Xiang Lan hurried towards the library. She used Deng Yifan's phone to arrange a meeting with Li Xingda, who readily agreed. When she arrived downstairs at the library, he was waiting outside with his backpack slung over one shoulder. He smiled when he saw her.
"Want to find somewhere to talk?" Xiang Lan didn't have time for idle chatter.
There was a corridor behind the library building with many seats. Li Xingda led her to a secluded corner.
She took off her backpack, pulled out her laptop and SIM card, turned it on, brought up the image library, and turned the screen towards him.
"What's this?"
"I didn't want you to know about this, I thought I could handle it myself, but now I can't control it anymore." Xiang Lan's chubby face had a serious expression, which was kind of cute. "Because my subsequent actions might affect you, I need your support."
"Go ahead and speak."
“I’ve been updating this thread since I entered university as a freshman, mainly posting my drawings and some four-panel comics. Everything has been going smoothly.” Xiang Lan watched him quickly browse the page with his mouse. “Until a few days ago, things changed. Someone posted your photo in my thread, claiming that the protagonist of my comics was designed based on you.”
Li Xingda had already opened a meticulously edited sketch image, looked at it carefully for a while, and said, "These should be two unrelated things."
"Of course, thank you for your understanding." Xiang Lan said politely. "At first, I thought it was just a joke. You know, you have a lot of female fans at school, so it's normal for one or two radicals to emerge occasionally. So, apart from the little angels in the building helping me fight back, I didn't make any public comments about her, hoping to let the matter fade away. However, my leniency may have made her think that I was scared, so starting from the night before last, she launched a series of attacks against me."
Li Xingda scrolled to the very bottom of the webpage, where, as expected, many extreme curses and disgusting images appeared.
"First, that person revealed my real name; second, they released the photos of you, me, and Wang Runqiu confronting each other at the entrance of Taoyuan the day before yesterday, slandering me as a homewrecker who came between you and Wang Runqiu; last night, that person posted a piece of my real information every hour, including my mobile phone number, dormitory number, landline number, student ID, major, etc."
This is just too much—
"Last night, my phone received hundreds of text messages, some abusive and some concerned, and it completely crashed; I had no choice but to remove the SIM card to get some peace and quiet; but then the dorm phone rang, which I could unplug; but I can't change dorm rooms, and I'm worried that people will come and stare at me, and I'm also worried that after the photos are posted, I'll be pointed at and talked about on the street. Of course, I'm not afraid, but I really hate this kind of life where I'm always the center of attention, can you understand?"
Li Xingda immediately came to his senses. "Of course, what are you planning to do? I can cooperate with you."
"First, I need your help to clarify something: we're just ordinary classmates and colleagues. There's nothing like the weird feelings people are speculating about, like crushes or stalking. This method, while not a permanent solution, should stop most people from overthinking. Second, I need your cooperation in finding the person who posted my message." Xiang Lan looked at his expression. "Are you willing?"
“I’m very willing.” Li Xingda thought for a moment. “The priority now is to get the website to delete the posts and remove the parts that involve your personal information.”
"I have already sent a private message to the website administrator, and he replied that he would handle it before noon today."
"That's good. As for that person, do you know him?" Otherwise, you wouldn't have asked him to cooperate.
Xiang Lan nodded, "It must be someone who likes you."
Li Xingda was speechless. Xiang Lan shrugged, "I'm really the one who got dragged into this mess because of you. Wang Runqiu, the one directly involved, should thank me, otherwise, her name would have been all over the internet by now—"
“She and I have nothing to do with each other.” Li Xingda looked at her coldly. “You have to believe me.”
Xiang Lan looked into his eyes, which were extremely serious and deep, staring at her as if they held a thousand unspoken words. She couldn't help but be startled. Could it be this melodramatic? Did the president like her? But, she was sorry, she already had Fang Zidu!
Chapter Sixteen
Xiang Lan forced herself to ignore the truth she had just discovered and calmly said, "There are some unusual circumstances that I'd like to discuss with you."
"Did you save the information about the alternate account that leaked your real information?"
Xiang Lan paused for a moment, then shook her head. "No."
"Tell me yours first, and I'll save this evidence for you." Li Xingda said as he saved the page, his movements very swift.
"My personal information isn't a secret; anyone with a bit of interest can find it. What I'm more interested in is that photo of the three of us. That was a very accidental event; no one unrelated could have gotten hold of it, right?"
“Yes.” Li Xingda also fell into recollection. “When President Xiang invited me to lunch, I was coordinating the display board with Wang Runqiu. After hanging up, I casually told her to ask Xu Na to apply for some money to help me send it to Taoyuan; I also told her it was for the sponsorship of the next two academic years. So, the only people who knew about this were me, Wang Runqiu, and Xu Na—”
This person is so shrewd, Xiang Lan thought to herself, secretly praising her. If it weren't for Wang Runqiu, she would be willing to be friends with her.
“Yes, so the key lies with Wang Runqiu and Xu Na.” Xiang Lan looked at him.
Li Xingda laughed, "Xiang Lan, do you want me to ask Wang Runqiu and Xu Na?"
"Of course." Xiang Lan smiled as well. "President, you saw it yesterday too. Wang Runqiu is prejudiced against me, and the main reason is you. If I ask her, she definitely won't tell me."
“That’s true.” Li Xingda had spoken with Wang Runqiu privately several times and was very dissatisfied with her recent behavior towards Xiang Lan, but she clearly hadn’t listened and instead thought he was protecting Xiang Lan. He was probably aware of Wang Runqiu’s feelings for him, but dislike was dislike.
“That person who leaked the information is so annoying. He kept insisting that I was perverted, weirdo, and a voyeur, and that I had a crush on you. I don’t know what his purpose was. Was he trying to provoke me or your female fans? Xiang Lan sighed deeply. “Does he think that liking someone and drawing a portrait of them is immoral and wrong?”
"Then is what you drew me?" Li Xingda asked.
Xiang Lan was startled and looked at him. "How could that be? That's my boyfriend—"
"Helping you is no problem, but how will you thank me?" Li Xingda tilted his head and started joking again, seemingly unconcerned about the word "boyfriend" he had mentioned.
What do you want?
"Xiang Lan, could you please stop associating me with Wang Runqiu in the future?" Li Xingda looked at her seriously. "It's not good, it will give her some unfounded fantasies."
Xiang Lan said "Oh," her heart pounding even harder. It would be awkward if he confessed now. She quickly said, "President, I'm not making this up. I heard it from Xu Na. She said you two are a couple, and that Wang Runqiu applied to American schools for you—"
Li Xingda's expression showed some restraint, but his gentlemanly demeanor seemed to prevent him from saying anything harsh. He could only say, "I will go to her to handle this matter, but please do not believe or spread rumors anymore."
"I understand, we're in the same boat. Okay—"
"What do you plan to do after we find the person?" Li Xingda asked another question.
Xiang Lan tilted her head. "I haven't decided yet. I'll probably try to mediate in person and ask him to post an apology."