Chapter 441 - 216: Posing as Gu Wanqing’s Brother
Chapter 441: Chapter 216: Posing as Gu Wanqing’s Brother
Of course, being beautiful certainly had its pros and cons.
The upside was enjoying the various social perks that came with being attractive.
For example, strangers were friendlier, and the praise from admirers could boost your mood.
But the downside was that it could easily attract jealousy from other women.
So, Lin Shen was still quite worried about Gu Wanqing. He was afraid someone so sweet and innocent might get bullied at school, so he asked with concern.
"How has her life been affected?"
"It’s just that too many of the new freshmen are pursuing her," Jiang Wan explained.
"By the seventh day of military training, a group of gossips had already unofficially voted her the ’Department Belle’ of the School of English. After training ended, that title expanded to ’Campus Belle’ for the entire freshman class of 2025."
"So, this led to a ton of guys pursuing Qingqing. They’d try to win her favor, both openly and secretly. People would hit on her when she was eating in the cafeteria or just walking around campus at night."
Huh?
Hearing this from Jiang Wan, Lin Shen was a bit dumbfounded.
’Gu Wanqing is definitely delicate and pretty, but during military training, she wasn’t wearing any makeup or fashionable clothes. How could she still be so popular?’
’And Lin Shen really hadn’t expected that this girl could be chosen as the freshman campus belle at a place like Shanghai International Studies University, which was crawling with beauties!’
’After all, her older sister hadn’t had nearly this many admirers back when she was at the polytechnic university.’
’But he had to admit, with a five-year age gap, Gu Wanqing was indeed much prettier than her sister.’
’Her innocent and adorable ’sweet-girl’ vibe was an easy way to win over guys; it made people instinctively want to protect her.’
"You know Qingqing isn’t good at handling this sort of thing," Jiang Wan sighed softly.
"She’s too sweet-natured. She doesn’t know how to turn people down."
"Sometimes, when someone is nice to her, she feels obligated to reciprocate with a small gift. But then they misunderstand and think the feelings are mutual, so they start pursuing her even more fervently."
"Isn’t that just the classic ’she’s into me’ delusion that guys who’ve never dated have?"
Lin Shen chuckled but didn’t mock the idea.
He’d been there himself back in the day. It was only after getting older and gaining more life experience that he’d gradually figured things out.
A girl’s definition of "liking" someone is fundamentally different from a guy’s.
It’s just too hard for someone immature to tell the difference.
"So, do you have any ideas on how to solve this?" Jiang Wan asked for his opinion.
After a moment of thought, Lin Shen gave a helpless smile.
"There’s really no great solution. If I absolutely had to come up with something, I’d say she should just get a boyfriend."
"Once she has a boyfriend, most of her suitors will back off and stop bothering Qingqing."
"Easy for you to say."
Jiang Wan rolled her eyes at Lin Shen, speechless.
"Would you be okay with Qingqing just finding some random guy to be her boyfriend?"
"I object with both hands!"
Lin Shen raised both hands, then sighed.
"See? That’s what makes this so difficult..."
"Actually, there’s an easy solution."
Jiang Wan rested her chin in her right hand, a playful smile on her face as she gazed at Lin Shen.
"Couldn’t you just pretend to be Qingqing’s boyfriend?"
???
Me?
Lin Shen pointed to his own nose, his expression one of pure shock. When Jiang Wan nodded, he spoke, his tone incredulous.
"That’s not a great idea, is it? My whole identity at Shanghai International Studies University is being your boyfriend. If rumors start spreading that I’m also Qingqing’s boyfriend, won’t that make things a total mess...?"
"It won’t be a mess," Jiang Wan teased.
"For a guy like you, having a few girlfriends is perfectly normal, isn’t it?"
"COUGH, COUGH!"
Lin Shen let out a few embarrassed coughs and quickly changed the subject.
"I don’t really mind. I’m not a student at Shanghai International Studies University, so it doesn’t matter to me if my reputation is good or bad."
"But Qingqing has to live on this campus for four years. If this isn’t handled well, there’s no telling what kind of nasty rumors might start spreading."
"For example, people might call her a homewrecker, and on top of that, the love rival of her beautiful counselor. The consequences... I don’t even want to think about it."
"You’re right. I didn’t think that through."
Jiang Wan reconsidered what Lin Shen had said and realized he had a point.
But after thinking it over a bit more, she finally proposed a Plan B.
"Then how about you pretend to be Qingqing’s big brother? And you can announce to everyone: ’If you want to pursue my little sister, you have to get my approval first. And you’d better be more impressive than me.’ What do you think?"
Jiang Wan’s eyes lit up. She thought the idea she’d just come up with was absolutely brilliant.
"That way, even though you’re my boyfriend, no one will start rumors about me dating a student! It kills two birds with one stone!"
"That’s actually not a bad idea."
Lin Shen stroked his chin and nodded slightly, then pointed out a crucial problem.
"But how am I supposed to announce it? I can’t just run up on stage during the welcome gala tonight, grab the mic, and start shouting, can I? I’m not that reckless."
"Hmm... I don’t know either."
Jiang Wan shook her head, but she was still full of confidence in Lin Shen.
"You can definitely find a way to make a name for yourself on campus, right?"
"That’s asking a bit much," Lin Shen said with a wry smile.
He couldn’t think of any good way to quickly spread the news that he was Gu Wanqing’s brother all over campus.
’I can’t just grab a megaphone and start shouting it everywhere, can I?’
So Lin Shen had no choice but to drop the subject. While enjoying his braised beef and potato over rice, he chatted with Jiang Wan about the evening gala.
—
「6:30 PM.」
The sunset faded as night began to fall.
A welcome gala, held specially for the new students, was in its final stages of preparation in the university’s main auditorium.
An arch of gilded balloons stood at the entrance to the auditorium, each one stamped with the gold-foil crest of Shanghai International Studies University.
Flanking the entrance were display boards, each over two meters tall and covered with photos from past campus events.