E-Scum Gong Chapter 22
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 22
The weather was beautiful today, with not a cloud in the sky. Lin Xu stared absentmindedly at the lush green lawn.
He had memorized his speech by heart, and only hoped that the proceedings would hurry along.
Because he was busy ridding his mind of distractions, Lin Xu didn’t hear anyone calling his name.
“Hey, Lin Xu!” Wu Zijun from Class 10 was surprised to see him. He stood up slightly and waved, but Lin Xu was staring straight ahead, lost in thought amidst the surrounding noise.
“Damn, so he’s also a class representative. Why didn’t he tell me?” Wu Zijun was taken aback. Although Lin Xu had a deep and unfathomable air about him, he had always thought that he wasn’t all that different from himself.
Even though Lin Xu was only the representative for Class 9, it still indicated that he had the grades to get into a decent university. To Wu Zijun, this was totally unexpected.
“Hey? Do you know him?” asked a pretty girl from Wu Zijun’s class.
“Of course, we’re good friends,” Wu Zijun replied, feeling pleased with himself.
“How did you two meet? I heard he's very aloof…”
Wu Zijun seized the chance to brag and began chatting animatedly with his classmates. How great it was to have a handsome friend. Now, all the girls in class were crowding around him to listen to his stories.
"He even agreed to help me study," Wu Zijun boasted.
"Wow, you should ask your friend if others can sit in. I also have a friend in Class 2, but he's really good-looking. It's a shame he doesn't turn his head much. I can't see his face clearly."
"I can't guarantee that..." Wu Zijun began.
Perhaps some staff member behind the scenes who was adjusting the equipment heard the crowd's wishes and cleverly pointed the camera at a certain corner of Class 9.
Lin Xu hadn't reacted yet when he suddenly heard cheers erupting from all directions around the sports field. Finally, one of his classmates overcame their shyness, tugged on his sleeve, and whispered, "Lin Xu, look at the camera."
Instinctively, Lin Xu glanced up and saw his magnified face on the big screen above the stage. Startled, his eyelashes fluttered.
For a moment, he didn't know where to hide. He wanted to lower his head but thought that would look even stranger, so he forced a stiff smile.
The crowd erupted again, and what was supposed to be a solemn oath-taking ceremony suddenly took on a lighter, more relaxed atmosphere.
"Oh my gosh! Now I can see his full face... He's even more handsome up close!" Wu Zijun noticed his classmates getting excited and looked up to see Lin Xu's awkward smile.
He snorted dismissively. "That's nothing. I've seen him make all kinds of expressions." Especially when chatting with his boyfriend, that subtle and tender smile was much more genuine.
Too bad he was taken by an online boyfriend.
He thought Lin Xu was a bit too innocent. If he looked like that, he would have been holding hands with girls since kindergarten. No one would have guessed that someone like Lin Xu was deeply involved in an online relationship and even worked out to build abs for his partner.
Those few seconds felt like an eternity, with Lin Xu's breathing heavy in his chest. It wasn’t until the camera moved away that he fully relaxed, his eyes finally focusing. However, others couldn't tell he had been nervous. They just assumed he was used to it. Even though his looks were validated by the students' reactions, he didn’t feel particularly happy about it.
Lin Xu thought about how his face would be on display the whole time he was delivering his speech. He tried to calm himself down, reminding himself there was nothing to be nervous about. He had given speeches before. It was just that he had enjoyed a few years of comfort in between.
He thought of Gu Jinzhi, the extroverted social butterfly. There was hardly anyone in the group he was afraid to confront. He was always outspoken and didn't care how many times he was tagged. While this wasn't necessarily a good thing, in Lin Xu's heart, Zhizhi was a symbol of courage and honesty.
At that moment, Gu Jinzhi was indeed going all out in the group, practically stirring up a hornet's nest.
Those spreading rumors couldn’t provide any evidence. Since they were anonymous, they didn’t have to face any consequences, which infuriated Gu Jinzhi! This was no small matter. Although he was usually easygoing, when truly angered, he would seek revenge.
Gu Jinzhi repeatedly asked in the group who was responsible, but no one owned up. Trying to damage Lin Xu's reputation and then pretending nothing had happened made him even angrier.
So, for once, he sent a friend request to the group admin, followed by a big red envelope, and got straight to the point: “Admin, transfer the group ownership to me. I have some business to handle.”
The admin, a kind person with decent means, wasn’t swayed by the money. Realizing there was a lot of misinformation and potential personal grudges, he complied.
The group had hundreds of members, but only a few were actively posting. Although finding the anonymous shit-stirrers would take time, it wasn’t impossible.
Gu Jinzhi directly muted the few anonymous users who had been particularly vocal. Then, very generously commented in the group, "Please cooperate by anonymously posting a message and taking a screenshot. Send me your payment details afterward, and I'll compensate you. Those who don't cooperate, I'll assume you're the ones spreading rumors about my boyfriend."
Upon hearing this, some neutral members with nothing to hide complied without asking for compensation. After all, they were adults and didn't need to be paid for doing the right thing.
Still, Gu Jinzhi privately sent them red envelopes. The surprised recipients posted in the group, exclaiming that Zhizhi Mangmang really was a wealthy man.
Gradually, most members complied, leaving only a few frequent posters who couldn’t respond because they had been muted. These members often had negative things to say about Gu Jinzhi and his partner.
Gu Jinzhi bluntly and rudely tagged them: “Oh, so it’s you shit-stirrers.”
This was the second time Gu Jinzhi used such vulgar words, shocking the group. Yet, they were beginning to realize that their cheerful, seemingly harmless groupmates were actually behind these actions.
"Honestly, I really didn't expect it. They seemed so nice usually... They shouldn't be doing something like this."
Most had thought the issue would end there, but they didn't expect Gu Jinzhi to be so stubborn. It seemed like he was really brainwashed by Amour.
Though the rumors of scamming were false, the fact that he had fabricated a persona was undeniable. They just didn't expect him to actually hook a rich person. Gu Jinzhi's behavior really resembled a nouveau riche.
Knowing now that he was a hidden boss, the group's perception of him changed. They were more tolerant of his temper, after all, he was really generous.
“What do you want to do, call the police?” They didn't bother pretending anymore. It was just a petty quarrel, no big deal. If things got too bad, they could just leave the group.
Gu Jinzhi smirked. He intended to give them a taste of their own medicine.
“Nothing much. But we all live in the same city, and reputation is pretty important in such a small circle.” Of course, Gu Jinzhi excluded himself from this.
“This is easy to resolve. I'll just go to a few local forums and share what happened in the group today. If you think you haven't done anything wrong, then why worry?” Gu Jinzhi mocked.
Afraid of social death, they didn't want this issue to be taken outside the group. Nervously, they replied, “Why would anyone listen to you?” The circle was full of drama daily, with issues far worse than theirs. Who would care?
Gu Jinzhi laughed. Couldn’t he find a few admins? He hadn't been online all these years for nothing!
After handling this, Gu Jinzhi kicked them out of the group. These idiots would at least have to change their ways and be more humble online. Everyone despised two-faced backstabbers.
Next, he planned to spend some time on browsing forums. If he couldn't create a big buzz, it would mean he, Second Young Master Gu, was incompetent!
Only after Yan Yang mentioned it did Gu Jinzhi realize he had been to that hotel. Afterward, he checked it out and found that it wasn't for sale. If it had been, he would have begged his older brother for some money to buy it. He would have worked even harder in the future, after all, it wasn't a small amount of money.
Yan Yang, on the other hand, was glad he hadn’t gotten involved. Otherwise, it would be hard for him to get close to Gu Jinzhi online in the future.
However, he was still bitter about his insistence on defending Amour despite knowing he was a fraud.
He couldn’t understand why Gu Jinzhi would protect him when, in real life, Gu Jinzhi didn’t seem that naive.
In the group, Zoe eventually apologized: “It's my fault that this whole thing happened. I'm sorry everyone, and I'm sorry to Zhizhi Mangmang. I didn't mean to ruin your relationship.” It seemed like this didn't really have any effect, and Amour hadn't even come out to say anything yet.
Others thought it wasn't his fault. Zoe had only stayed at the hotel for one night on vacation. He wasn't the one who started the drama.
“It’s okay. Zhizhi Mangmang won’t blame you. It’s not your fault,” they reassured him.
After all, the edited photos were real. But if Gu Jinzhi didn’t mind, they had no reason to comment further. Disillusioned, they could only silently remove Amour from their list of ideal partners.
On the contrary, they had a better impression of Zoe. He seemed more genuine, and at least his body was real.
Gu Jinzhi couldn't stand him sneakily farting all the time. He hadn't paid attention before, but now he realized that Zoe was the one causing trouble all along.
Annoyed, Gu Jinzhi posted screenshots of Zoe’s friend requests in the group. Zoe had been trying to add him every day and was always so friendly with him in the group chat. And he said he didn't want to ruin their relationship? If his partner didn't trust him, he might have been accused of something.
“When did I say that? What’s the point of adding me privately? Now you’re just being irritating.” Gu Jinzhi rolled his eyes.
His words were as harsh as ever, but he had a point.
Especially since Zoe didn't accept friend requests from other members, it made people suspect him of ulterior motives.
The 0s who had already switched their affections to him were a bit angry upon seeing this message. Were all 1s like this? Or perhaps they had known all along that Zhizhi Mangmang was wealthy?
It was somewhat disheartening.
Zoe had known Gu Jinzhi had a peculiar temperament but hadn’t expected him to be so vindictive. Although Zoe was covertly targeting Amour, he was also trying to flatter Gu Jinzhi. Normally, people would feel a sense of vanity if they had other suitors, right?
He had seen many 0s who enjoyed being surrounded by attention.
Zoe had to explain himself carefully until the group’s perception of him slowly improved. However, they still felt a bit disappointed with the 1s as a whole. Perhaps older 1s were all very worldly, without exception.
As a result, they longed for pure love even more.
Gu Jinzhi was tired of Zoe’s smooth talk. If Zoe caused any more trouble in the future, Gu Jinzhi decided he would handle it directly in private or even resort to a brawl if necessary.
After everything that had happened, Gu Jinzhi’s status in the group had dramatically changed. At least now, people were less openly confrontational with this rich guy. Gu Jinzhi had never considered leaving the group. He enjoyed how people resented him but couldn’t do anything about it.
As long as his boyfriend wasn’t involved, he found the verbal sparring quite entertaining.
That was Gu Jinzhi, the unmatched keyboard warrior.