Chapter 19: Peach Blossoms in the March Snow

Gong Xueyuan first cast a malicious glance at the side of Liang Jinshang’s face where she’d been slapped.

But Liang Jinshang had already iced it the previous night; her face was now pale and unmarked, betraying little sign of injury.

“Liang Jinshang, top scorer in the provincial college entrance exam.” Gong Xueyuan’s words dripped with spite. “Do you know when your halo shines the brightest?”

Of course, Liang Jinshang didn’t answer.

In fact, Gong Xueyuan hadn’t expected her to; she continued on her own, “It’s… when that halo shatters!”

With those words, she left Liang Jinshang standing motionless.

“Miss Liang, aren’t you going to find your advisor?” Shang Ao’er asked.

Perhaps… there was no need anymore.

As expected, when Liang Jinshang finally met her advisor, his response was nothing like what he’d said over the phone. “I… don’t have your original manuscript.”

After speaking, he couldn’t bear to meet her disappointed gaze and sighed. “Jinshang, it’s not that I’m unwilling to help you. But the Shang family… I truly can’t afford to offend them.”

He’d said “the Shang family,” not “the Gong family.”

Shang Ao’er tugged at Liang Jinshang. “I’ll go with you to find my uncle! We’ll get justice for you!”

Liang Jinshang couldn’t quite articulate what she was feeling.

In the past, Shang Yucheng had always disapproved of her dedicating so much energy to her studies, believing she was neglecting him.

Especially after the major outburst six months ago, when she’d refused his request for her to suspend her studies, defied him fiercely, and left him.

She had thought that Shang Yucheng’s silence since then was his way of letting her go, of sparing her. She hadn’t expected that, at this most critical moment before graduation, he would cut off her escape route.

“I’m not going to him. You should head back first,” Liang Jinshang said, walking alone toward her dorm. “I need to calm down. There will be a way.”

If this matter reached Shang Yucheng, would he really help her?

If he had intended to help her, why would he have joined forces against her?

In the end, to people like them, born with everything, the degree certificate—so pivotal to her future and fate—meant nothing at all.

When she returned to the dorm, He Huan and her other two roommates were still there.

Le Quan was scolding He Huan with bitter disappointment. “We’ve lived together for almost three years! After all your years of education, how could you do such a thing to a friend?!”

He Huan shrank away, silent, but Liang Jinshang replied earnestly, “We’re not friends.”

She turned to He Huan. “You once asked me why I was always alone, unwilling to make friends.”

“It’s because I’m afraid of befriending someone like you.”

***

Two days later, the notice accusing Liang Jinshang—graduate student of the Department of Architecture—of academic fraud was posted. The university acted with unprecedented speed, stripping her of her degree certificate.

Just like that, three years of tireless effort were erased in a single stroke.

He Huan had already moved out of the dorm in the middle of the night, leaving only Le Quan as her roommate.

Le Quan kept a close eye on Liang Jinshang.

In just these two days, news of the scandal involving Jing University’s graduate student had exploded online.

Especially since Liang Jinshang had such a dazzling resume: “the most beautiful top scorer in the entrance exam,” who’d been directly admitted to the university’s graduate program—a sensation at the time.

Now, as the scandal broke, there were some expressing regret at her downfall, but far more hurling abuse and condemnation.

Le Quan asked her what she planned to do next.

Liang Jinshang pulled out her phone and once more opened the explicit video she’d received that night.

Seeing her like this, Le Quan leaned closer and, catching a glimpse of her screen, was momentarily speechless. “You still have the mood for this? Are you addicted or something…”

Liang Jinshang ignored her, taking a screenshot of Gong Xueyuan’s dramatically bare back.

Then she messaged Shang Ao’er, asking where she could find Gong Xueyuan.

Le Quan muttered to herself, “Liang Jinshang, I’m just now realizing how different you are from what I imagined!”

Liang Jinshang looked up. “Aren’t you afraid of me?”

“I haven't done anything wrong. Why should I be afraid?” Le Quan laughed. “Besides, who always fetched hot water for you these three years? I don’t think you’d turn on me.”

Liang Jinshang was stunned. She’d always thought it was He Huan who’d been doing her favors, since He Huan often made a point of being helpful, while Le Quan, clearly from a well-off family, seemed of a different world.

She’d been repaying He Huan with little gifts, which He Huan had always silently accepted.

“Thank you,” Liang Jinshang said sincerely. “And don’t worry, that’s not who I am.”

Le Quan asked again, “You told He Huan you don’t make friends because you’re afraid of bad people. Have you been burned before?”

Liang Jinshang calmly denied it. “No.”

But those who had been her friends had always met miserable ends.

Just then, a message popped up from Shang Ao’er: [I know they’re going to a newly opened bar the day after tomorrow. I’ll take you!]

***

Since she was going to a bar, she couldn’t dress like a student.

Fortunately, it was summer—light, cool clothes would do.

From afar, Shang Ao’er spotted Liang Jinshang at the bar’s entrance and immediately pulled off her sunglasses, giving her an up-and-down once-over.

She wore a pale green knitted sleeveless top with white ultra-short denim shorts and studded Martin boots—a pair of legs so rarely exposed to daylight they seemed almost dazzlingly white.

She was a rare sight—fresh and cool, two seemingly opposing auras blending in unexpected harmony.

Like peach blossoms in March snow.

Sharp, gentle, and stunningly elegant.

The bar had been opened by a second-generation heir for his circle’s private amusement, and tonight was the soft opening, drawing quite the crowd.

Shang Ao’er, usually closely supervised, had hoped to broaden her horizons tonight, but luck was not on her side!

They had just entered when they ran straight into Shang Yucheng, smoking in the corridor.

As soon as Liang Jinshang saw Shang Yucheng, she stopped several steps away.

Only Shang Ao’er mustered the courage to approach.

Shang Yucheng’s gaze passed over her, landing on Liang Jinshang, who stood a few steps behind.

She kept her head down, nudging the floor with the tip of her shoe, never once looking their way.

Her distant demeanor was a far cry from the persistent entanglement she’d shown him lately.

The human eye is always drawn to movement; Shang Yucheng’s gaze was first caught by the shifting of her legs.

Even in summer, she rarely wore shorts—especially not ones this short. The color of her skin was barely distinguishable from the white fabric.

The fitted crop top, the nearly bare legs—she utterly overturned the plain impression Shang Ao’er had held of her these past two years, which explained her earlier shock.

Or perhaps, her awe.

With crimson lips and snowy skin, her figure on full display, she was impossible to ignore.

Almost at once, a pink-haired stranger approached her to strike up a conversation.