A Chilling Realization

Although Shu Lanzhou had long seen through Luo Jialin's gentlemanly façade to the petty soul beneath, hearing Dong Anlan recount the incident still left her stunned.

So in her past life, the reason she had no close friends around her wasn't entirely her fault!

Shu Lanzhou took a deep breath.

"So you all assumed I must've said something to Luo Jialin—something that made him think Anlan was arrogant, condescending, and even bullied me?"

"And because of his final words that night, you assumed I liked him too?"

Zhang He nodded. "I was with Anlan that day. If she hadn't stopped me, I would've come straight back and asked you myself. When was Anlan ever arrogant? When did she ever bully you? Why would you slander her in front of Senior Luo? What were you even thinking?"

Ding Yuejiao was hearing this for the first time and gasped. "You should've just asked Lanzhou back then! Maybe we wouldn't have misunderstood each other for so long."

Dong Anlan took a deep breath and looked Shu Lanzhou straight in the eyes.

"So… you really never said anything bad about me to Luo Jialin? And you don't have feelings for him?"

"I didn't!" Shu Lanzhou shook her head firmly. "When we first met, you gave everyone in the dorm gifts, then took us out to eat. I knew all of that was really for me."

"I'm not ungrateful. Everything you did for me, I remembered, and I was deeply thankful. I even mentioned that to Senior Luo."

"I told him meeting you was a blessing from my past life. Meeting him? That probably used up all my luck in this one. You were both such kind people."

"I remember he asked me in detail what you had done for me, and I answered truthfully. I swear, there wasn't a single word that could've been taken as slander."

Ding Yuejiao frowned. "Could it be that Senior Luo just misunderstood? I mean, he is a guy—maybe he took your words the wrong way?"

"Not that wrong," Zhang He muttered, narrowing her eyes at Shu Lanzhou. "Either you're lying, or he deliberately insulted Anlan."

"But why would he insult Anlan? Before her confession, the only thing he knew about her was what you told him."

Shu Lanzhou knew this was something she couldn't explain away.

"I honestly don't know why he said those things. But what I didn't say, I didn't say. Whether you believe me or not, I can stand tall with a clear conscience."

"But there's something else I need to tell you—why I left Professor Han's research team."

"It's because I insisted on investigating why Lin Muyao's thesis was so similar to mine."

"Later, the story spread on the school's internal forum, and people began accusing Lin Muyao of plagiarism."

"Professor Han thought I was stirring up drama and disgracing him—after all, both of us were his students. He couldn't believe one of us would plagiarize."

"The seniors didn't believe Lin Muyao could copy either. They thought I was targeting her and demanded I apologize and drop the issue."

"Then Luo Jialin even suggested I make a public apology in front of the whole faculty and student body, claiming it was all a misunderstanding."

"I agreed to apologize, but I didn't want to stay in a team where no one trusted me—especially since I don't believe it was a misunderstanding!"

The girls exchanged shocked glances. Dong Anlan was especially taken aback.

"You mean… the one who pushed for your public apology was Senior Luo? He chose to believe Lin Muyao over you?"

Shu Lanzhou nodded, her voice heavy with disappointment.

"I used to think he was fair and principled. I didn't expect him to take my side, but I thought he'd at least try to find out the truth. Instead…"

She didn't finish her sentence, but the rest was clear enough.

Ding Yuejiao sighed. "So Luo Jialin isn't the perfect gentleman everyone thinks he is. This clearly shows he sided with Lin Muyao and wronged you."

"We all saw the forum posts," Zhang He added. "You wrote your thesis in our dorm. We know you didn't plagiarize. You had every right to speak up."

"But this situation with Anlan is different. We still don't understand why Luo Jialin would humiliate her."

"If what you're saying is true, it means he deliberately drove a wedge between you and Anlan—he wanted us to hate you."

"But why?" Zhang He asked, frowning. "Back then, you had just joined the team. Everyone said you were the favorite junior, constantly surrounded by five seniors. People envied you."

"What reason would he have to turn us against you?"

"He had a reason!" Ding Yuejiao suddenly stood up.

"Remember when Lanzhou first joined the team? We hadn't started excluding her yet. She missed our dorm events constantly because she was always busy helping those seniors."

Zhang He's expression darkened.

"You're right. I remember she even refused a request from one of the seniors to copy some data. He got mad and scolded her."

"I remember that too!" Ding Yuejiao nodded furiously. "I said back then—if that's what joining Professor Han's team means, I'd rather not join."

"Lanzhou was always swamped with tasks—this senior today, that senior tomorrow. She barely had time for herself!"

Zhang He clapped her hands. "So Luo Jialin's plan was to cut her off from us completely—so she'd be totally at their disposal!"

A creeping chill fell over the room. If that guess was true, then Luo Jialin was far more terrifying than they had imagined.

Now that they said it out loud, Shu Lanzhou began remembering all the strange details from her past life. She felt like a fool—how had she never once questioned the so-called kindness of her seniors?

If she hadn't been reborn, she might never have known how deeply Luo Jialin had schemed against her.

"Anlan, do you believe me now? I really never said anything bad about you," Shu Lanzhou looked at Dong Anlan with a steady gaze.

More than anything, she just hoped Anlan would finally stop clinging to her feelings for Luo Jialin. He truly wasn't a good person.

Dong Anlan looked shaken. She took a step back, confused.

"If you don't like him, and I believe you didn't badmouth me… then what about Senior Luo?"

She still couldn't accept that Luo Jialin might have humiliated her on purpose, much less that he would manipulate Shu Lanzhou.

Luo Jialin had always been the golden boy of their department—polite, well-mannered, and highly respected. Everyone saw him as a gentleman.

"This must be a misunderstanding. It has to be," she said, gripping Shu Lanzhou's hand tightly.

"I'm sorry. I let my feelings cloud my judgment. I shouldn't have doubted you, or treated you coldly. It was my fault."

But what fault was really hers?

Shu Lanzhou thought back to her past life. Even after Luo Jialin got engaged to Lin Muyao, Anlan still liked him.

This one incident probably wasn't enough to break that illusion.

"Anlan, don't be foolish," Zhang He said sharply, snatching Shu Lanzhou's diary from Dong Anlan's hands.

"If Luo Jialin lied about this, who knows what else he's lied about? A manipulative hypocrite like that is not worth your affection!"