The Scheming Ex-Husband's Courtship-Chapter 567 - 497 What Conspiracy

Chapter 567: Chapter 497 What Conspiracy
"What conspiracy?" Mu Chenxi put down the mirror she was holding, feeling secretly relieved that the wound was on her forehead, which was already unremarkable. If her face had been disfigured...
She was half a beat slow to respond, then suddenly, with a startled expression, she said, "Conspiracy?"
Quan Jin nodded seriously and explained what happened in the afternoon with Qi Hao and Qiao Tong, "When that person pushed you down, I vaguely heard him saying ’mind your own mouth in the future,’ probably warning me not to talk nonsense in front of Susu."
"But it was me he pushed, right?" After Mu Chenxi finished speaking, she suddenly pointed at the trench coat she had just taken off, "Could it be because I was wearing your clothes, and that person mistook me for you?"
"Possibly." Quan Jin’s anger grew as she thought more about it, "This Qi Hao, he’s simply too shameless. He’s been caught doing indecent things, and now he even dares to warn me. Luckily you weren’t seriously injured today, or I would have skinned him alive."
"If it was really Qi Hao who did it, then he’s too terrifying. We have to warn Susu to be cautious." Just as Mu Chenxi finished speaking, Susu and Xinyu came in, laughing and talking.
"Oh, Fourth, what happened to your face?" Susu hurriedly cupped Mu Chenxi’s face, "Oh dear, you’ve been disfigured."
"Yeah, Fourth, what’s with your face?" Xinyu also came over with concern, "You didn’t fall while walking and looking at your phone, did you?"
Before Mu Chenxi could speak, Quan Jin scoffed from the side, "Susu, you shouldn’t be asking Fourth. You should ask your dear Qi Hao instead."
"Qi Hao?" Susu blinked in confusion, "What does Qi Hao have to do with it?"
Mu Chenxi quietly tugged at Quan Jin’s sleeve and shook her head at her. Susu was now completely subservient and trusting towards Qi Hao. After the incident with the stolen thesis, she knew that no matter what they said, Susu would never believe them.
But Quan Jin was not one to hold her tongue. Brushing Mu Chenxi’s hand aside, she said bluntly to Susu, "Today at the academic building, I saw Qi Hao and Qiao Tong in each other’s arms. Qiao Tong asked Qi Hao when he was going to break up with you, and Qi Hao said he was looking for an opportunity. It won’t be long before he brings up breaking up with you."
Susu’s face turned pale in an instant, but she quickly composed herself, "Qi Hao told me he saw you at the academic building, but what he said is different from yours. He said..." Susu seemed to find it hard to speak, "Quan Jin, that’s enough, I’ve been putting up with you for a long time." Suddenly the always gentle and even-tempered Susu lost control, her face flushed with anger, "You keep on fabricating lies about Qi Hao, what’s your ulterior motive? He and I just want to have a good relationship. What’s it to you? If you’re jealous, there are plenty of guys chasing you. Go date one of them. Why do you always have to pick on me and Qi Hao? Shouldn’t you be happy about our happiness? Considering our sisterly friendship, I’ve been putting up with you, but you never stop. Do you want to break me and Qi Hao up to be happy?"
"You’ve been putting up with me for a long time? Heh, the real patient one is me. Watching you being played like a fool, and now you even turn against your own sister for a despicable man. Susu, you’re truly pitiable." Quan Jin pulled Mu Chenxi over, pointed at the wound on her forehead, "Your ’great’ man pushed Fourth off the road today. If it weren’t for Fourth’s good luck, she might have ended up with broken legs and arms. Never mind, you won’t believe it anyway, right now you are a true fool."
"Watch your mouth, why do you have the right to insult people?" Susu, now angry herself, raised her voice sharply: "Do you think you’re the only clever one, that all men should fall for your tricks? Is it because you like Qi Hao, and since you can’t have him, you want to break us up?"
"Keep such rubbish to yourself." Quan Jin, dragging Mu Chenxi, walked out, "Don’t bother with a madwoman; let her be the monkey she wants to be."
Mu Chenxi was pulled out of the dorm by Quan Jin, and behind them, she heard Xinyu’s voice trying to calm things and Susu’s sobbing.
"Little Quan, what should we do?"
"I don’t want to deal with it anymore. Let her do whatever she wants," Quan Jin said, on the verge of tears herself, "It’s like a dog biting Lv Shangbin."
"Susu isn’t naive. Over time, she will notice the truth."
"Heh, just afraid that by then, she would have been devoured by that Qi guy, leaving not even the bones."
The two wandered around the campus for a while and upon returning, saw Xinyu reading a book, who gestured towards the upper bunk across.
In college dorms, it’s popular to hang curtains at each bed. Each person has a pretty curtain for their bed, which provides seclusion and privacy when drawn closed for sleep, or pinned up with clips to chat and hang out while sitting cross-legged.
But Susu’s curtain was tightly shut, making it impossible to know what she was doing inside.
Quan Jin and Mu Chenxi exchanged a glance. Quan Jin went straight back to her own bed and started watching a Korean drama on her computer, while Mu Chenxi, not in the mood to read a book, picked up her phone and scrolled through social media.
Just when she was browsing, a message popped up.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Mu Chenxi reached for her phone to turn it off, but Luo Shangqing quickly snatched it from her, then he scanned her QR code, and just like that, her contacts list included a new yet familiar name: Luo Ri.
Luo Ri? Chenxi?
She shamelessly connected these two names together.
Mu Chenxi stared blankly at those two characters in the contact name that hadn’t been changed, wanting to send him something, but then felt that the troubles she faced might seem trivial in his eyes. After hesitating for a long time and composing a long string of text, she ultimately sent nothing at all.
Her heart quivered, and her hand shook along with it.
"What are you doing, I’ve told you so many times not to look down with your hair all over the place." Mu Chenxi scratched her head in annoyance.
"Lend me your headphones." Their dormitory was too quiet, eerily quiet, so both of them were also very cautious when speaking.
Mu Chenxi dug out the headphones and passed them over, but when she looked at her phone again, she was startled into a sweat—she had accidentally hit send, and that whole bunch of text she had drafted was sent over.
In a rush, she tried to recall the message, but it was too late, because Luo Shangqing’s reply came quickly. His two simple sentences suddenly made Mu Chenxi see the light: Nothing can be perfect; the only wish is to be true to one’s heart.
A smile of relief appeared in her eyes, and Mu Chenxi typed two more characters: Thank you.
"Starting from tomorrow, follow me to my lab in the afternoon," Luo Shangqing half-reclined on the dormitory bed, his slender fingers nimbly tapping the keyboard, "Don’t be late."
After sending the message, he opened Mu Chenxi’s profile photo. Unlike other girls who prefer selfies as their profile pictures, hers was a cartoon pig with a chubby face, slightly resembling her.
As he gazed at the little pig for a while, a message from Mu Chenxi arrived: Professor Luo, where is your lab?
"Just wait for me at the school gate after morning class, I’ll come to pick you up."
"Then, in your lab... do you provide meals?" A hungry emoji followed after her text.
Luo Shangqing couldn’t help but laugh, noticing that there was a bowl emoji in his collection, he clicked on it several times: "All provided."
"I like eating pancakes." Perhaps because of the screen between them, Mu Chenxi felt the distance between her and Luo Shangqing shrink considerably, and she could converse casually like ordinary friends, not like the timid mouse she was whenever she saw him in person.
"Pancakes are also all provided." Luo Shangqing imagined Mu Chenxi drooling, with shiny black eyes and a smile growing deeper at the corners of her mouth, "Go to sleep early."
"Goodnight, Professor Luo."
"Goodnight."
Mu Chenxi felt utterly refreshed, the unpleasantness caused by Susu earlier seemed to have dissipated a lot. Thinking of Susu, she couldn’t help but lift her head to glance at the upper bunk still draped with curtains, then at Quan Jin on the lower bunk, listening to music and reading a novel.
Mu Chenxi sighed, pulled over the blanket, turned over, and went to sleep.
~
That morning, after finishing her classes, Mu Chenxi stood at the school gate with her backpack, waiting for Luo Shangqing.
As she waited, bored, she put on her headphones and listened to music. After two songs, she faintly heard the sound of a car horn.
Luo Shangqing’s car stopped across the street with the window half rolled down.
Mu Chenxi hurriedly ran over, stopping while crossing the zebra crossing to await the passing of vehicles on the other side, then, looking around very carefully, she crossed the street.
Luo Shangqing watched her flutter over like a butterfly, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smile that even he himself did not notice.
Luo Shangqing’s lab was close to the hospital where he worked, situated in a separate apartment.
After eating downstairs, the two of them took the elevator up to the eleventh floor.
Anywhere with Luo Shangqing was always spotless, and his laboratory was no exception. Everything was arranged in perfect order, and since it was on the sunny side, the light was abundant and the atmosphere quiet. Upon entering, there was a comfortable feeling.
This was Mu Chenxi’s first time seeing such a professional laboratory, incomparable to the small one at school.