But never thought, Jiang Nian would ask this.
"Is it... or isn’t it?" He scratched his head, "I don’t know if it is or isn’t, Brother Nian, you... what do you think it should be or shouldn’t be?"
"Give me the phone." Jiang Nian’s gaze swept over, reaching out his hand towards him.
"The phone... okay, do you need to unlock it?" He asked a really silly question, then instantly realized, "Oh, oh, it’s unlocked."
Jiang Nian took Lin Dong’s phone, logged out of the account, deleted the record of that account. Logged back into Lin Dong’s main account, then casually deleted Liuli’s WeChat.
Ten seconds later, Lin Dong was completely bewildered.
"Hmm?" He looked at the phone.
"You’re not Shen Cong, never heard of him, don’t know him, never seen him." Jiang Nian stated straightforwardly, "You’re not, no one can trouble you, so don’t worry."
Lin Dong seemed to understand something, but his expression soon turned worried again.
"What if she really comes looking for our class, what then?"
"How many ’what ifs’ are there?" Jiang Nian said, "A sophomore, you think she’s the FBI or something? To me, it sounds like the Yaoyao you’ve been chatting with is mostly the problem."
"How could that be?" Lin Dong was shocked.
"Smurf accounts, you know? In this internet era, how could you not have a few smurf accounts?" Jiang Nian said, "Even if it’s not a smurf account, who doesn’t have a few close friends? Reeling you in is pretty easy."
Lin Dong was dumbfounded, "Bro, how do you know so much?"
"Huh? Do I?" Jiang Nian was a little embarrassed, "I use Xiaohongshu a lot and just hear them talk about it; creating personas with smurf accounts is considered a pretty low-level tactic."
"Better to stay away from these; if you encounter someone skilled, they’ll pinpoint your location, drag you into a group, spread rumors to amplify the impact, and even if you call the police, you’ll end up shouldering the blame."
Lin Dong broke out in a cold sweat, "Got it, Brother Nian, what if she waits for me downstairs at the dorm?"
"If that really happens, just get mad and act like you don’t know her. Ever met a crazy person on the street? Treat it like that."
With a buzzing sound, Lin Dong was enlightened.
As expected, it’s easy to get confused when you’re in it, but easier to see clearly when you’re watching from the side.
The crux of his insecurity was being too afraid of losing face in public.
A few words from Jiang Nian made him understand that, in the end, he wasn’t Shen Cong.
Who knew about this thing? The heavens knew, the earth knew, he knew... Jiang Nian knew, but there wouldn’t be a third person knowing.
Forget about that thing at noon, never even talked to Liuli. Never met this person, nor forced to add her on WeChat, what’s Shen Cong? Never heard of him.
Most high school students have a moral scruple, wouldn’t deny what they’ve done.
For instance, Lin Dong thought about denying he was Shen Cong, but he never thought about denying what happened at noon.
In his subconscious, lying was wrong. But what happens on the internet is virtual, only he knows, so he could lie to himself.
But what happened at noon, he really was pinned against the wall by Liuli.
Even seen by people passing by, though not many, but indeed seen, even some took photos.
This made Lin Dong subconsciously believe that this matter had blown up, becoming a nailed-down fact. Always worried, but never thought of denying it.
Then what’s the harm in a few people seeing?
So what? I’m not that person, never met them, it’s that simple!
"Thank you, Brother Nian." Lin Dong grabbed Jiang Nian’s hand, feeling a huge weight lifted off his heart, "Really, Brother Nian, I feel like kneeling to you."
Watching Lin Dong’s excited face, Jiang Nian chuckled.
"The food from this window does taste good, I’ll treat you back next time."
A warm feeling surged in Lin Dong’s heart, he was a student from a small town, the kind termed as a "genius" in the teacher’s mouth.
Just study a little bit, and it’s easy to achieve what others struggle for a year to do.
Before, he thought geniuses didn’t need to study every day.
Occasionally play with the phone, then easily come first in exams, that’s what a genius should do.
Then, he easily did it.
Started chatting online from middle school, with usernames from "Sunshine Boy" to "Parting Wound." Finally evolved into "Rain in South City," "Nap Planet," "alley old cat."
A genius is someone who, once touched a field, thoroughly understands them all.
The person Lin Dong idolized the most was Frank from "Catch Me If You Can," handling everything with ease, he felt he should be like that too.
So, when the car crash moment arrived, he was particularly panicked.
Especially since the other party was quite aggressive in both build and appearance, the approach was... physical confrontation.
When Lin Dong found himself unable to handle it calmly, he chose to seek help.
Searched and searched, and ended up seeking out Jiang Nian, whom he didn’t really like before.
Now he finally understood what Wu Jungu meant; he used to only see Jiang Nian’s class advancement, only saw Jiang Nian’s grades, looking down on him with his own strengths.
Saw only flaws, couldn’t stand anything about him.
Until now, realizing the things he couldn’t handle weren’t even issues for Jiang Nian. Realizing everyone has their own strengths, every person has their own areas of expertise.
Today Lin Dong was lucky to witness, instantly felt like... a mayfly seeing the blue sky.
"Ahem, Bro, can you keep this matter of mine a secret?" Lin Dong lowered his voice, "At least, don’t tell anyone this senior year."
Jiang Nian said, "I won’t."
"Thanks, Bro." Lin Dong exhaled a long breath, just as his phone buzzed.
He glanced at it, all QQ messages from Sun Zhicheng. Basically asking Lin Dong to analyze, does Jiang Nian like Chen Yunyun or not.
Lin Dong thought about it and solemnly replied to the message.
"Give up, Ah Cheng, you can’t compete with Jiang Nian! Letting go is also a kind of fulfillment!"
Sun Zhicheng: "(confused)?? No, Bro, you..."
No way, dude, you say you hit the target over there, turns out...
...Damn! You surrendered!