Chapter 42

Su Momo froze, Luo Liming’s words were too harsh.
Just as she was about to retort, a screenshot popped up on her screen, sent by Luo Liming. It showed him asking the vendor if they handled campus belle voting and sending the link.
The vendor replied that they had already accepted an order from "this young lady" and wouldn’t take duplicate requests.
Su Momo wasn’t completely foolish. Looking at the conversation between Luo Liming and the vendor, she realized he hadn’t actually asked his company’s employees to vote for her, he had just perfunctorily arranged for vote-buying instead.
Shocked and furious, Su Momo typed forcefully into the chat box, "Liming, didn’t you promise to get the alumni to vote for me?"
She had thought those sporadic vote increases were from the seniors and alumni…
Luo Liming ignored her question. "Su Momo, get this straight, if I could find this vendor, so can others."
His tone was severe, and even through the screen, Su Momo could sense his impatience.
Su Momo gritted her teeth, forcing herself to hold back.
She looked up and noticed some of her classmates glancing at her.
Su Momo glared back.
Her heart raced with panic, what should she do? If Tao Shushu also tried to buy votes and found out Su Momo had already done so, what would happen?
Su Momo could only hope that no one had discovered her vote-buying yet.
She hurriedly opened a chat with the vendor, her fingers trembling so much she accidentally clicked on someone else’s conversation.
Frustrated, she nearly smashed her phone. Finally managing to open the vendor’s chat, she reluctantly sent an additional payment, demanding that the seller keep her vote-buying a secret.
Even after seeing the vendor’s response, Su Momo’s heart continued to race nervously.
“You haven’t told anyone, right?” Su Momo asked.
The vendor took a long time to reply.
She had no idea if anyone besides Luo Liming had contacted the seller.
Su Momo waited anxiously until class was about to start. Unable to hold back, she sent the screenshot Luo Liming had forwarded to her and asked, “Besides this person, have you replied to anyone else?”
“Yes,” the vendor replied with just one word.
Su Momo’s heart nearly stopped. Who? Who else knew she had bought votes?
As she teetered on the edge of exposure, class began.
Their homeroom teacher, Zhang Hai, was notoriously strict. Su Momo didn’t dare check her phone again, but her mind was too scattered to focus. When Zhang Hai called on her, she didn’t even hear him.
It wasn’t until her deskmate nudged her that Su Momo hastily stood up, staring blankly at the force diagram on the blackboard.
She couldn’t answer.
Zhang Hai said with displeasure, “Sit down, young lady. Get your head in the game. If your mind isn’t here, is it really you sitting in that seat, Su Momo?”
Zhang Hai resumed teaching.
But Su Momo was struck by an idea, she could pretend she wasn’t the one who bought the votes.
Someone else had framed her.
Her heart settled slightly. Luo Liming’s sudden accusation had thrown her off so much that she hadn’t even thought of such a simple excuse.
As she racked her brain for a way to clear her name, she reopened the forum and discovered that the campus belle voting page she’d been following had already closed.
A pinned announcement read: “After removing 5,000 invalid votes and strictly counting only current enrolled students, we officially declare Tao Shushu as this year’s campus belle.”
Su Momo’s vision went dark. She hadn’t even had time to act, how could the voting end so abruptly? How could Tao Shushu win so easily?
Was there any justice left?
Scrolling through the comments, she saw everyone congratulating Tao Shushu and praising her beauty. No one seemed to care about the injustice Su Momo had suffered.
Those who claimed to like her, Wang Tianba, Zhang Zhou, none of them stepped up to speak out for fairness.
Ignoring the discussions about vote counts, Su Momo used a throwaway account to leave a comment: “Hah, the poster must be Tao Shushu’s lapdog. Su Momo clearly had more votes. Who’s to say whose votes were more valid?”
After sending that message, she switched to a small alternate account, intending to stir up more drama, only to find over a dozen replies under her first comment.
"The stench is strong."
"Emmm, are Su Momo's fans really this dumb? Should I even mention the phrase 'low-quality human simp'?"
"After removing 5,000 invalid votes, Su Momo's vote count is actually lower than Tao Shushu's."
"Look at this honest soul above."
"Su Momo was never as pretty as Tao Shushu to begin with. Electing Shushu as the campus belle is what the whole school wants to see."
"https://……, click the link to watch the vote count skyrocket by 500 in one second, screen recording included."
Su Momo gritted her teeth in fury. She immediately pulled out her alternate account and typed, "Su Momo was framed, it's so unfair!"
At this point, Su Momo had no choice but to insist she was set up, determined to pin the blame on Tao Shushu and expose her "true colors" to everyone.
However, when Su Momo refreshed the page again, she grew even more frustrated.
"Is the person above for real? Who even cares who rigged the votes? The point is, Su Momo's actual vote count is lower than Tao Shushu's, so Tao Shushu wins as campus belle, okay?"
"The forum admin has already stated they have some evidence and will sue the vote-buying services. The truth will come out in court."
"You knew it was a setup before the forum admin did? Got some divine foresight?"
After reading these, Su Momo broke out in a cold sweat from fear.
She was so terrified her fingers went weak.
Soon, everyone would know she had tried to rig the votes for herself, and failed.
Su Momo had no idea what to do.
She was panicked and completely lost.
Scrolling through the forum discussions, Su Momo was on the verge of tears.
Her teacher was startled by her pale expression and said, "Su Momo, are you feeling unwell? Go to the infirmary and get checked."
All the students turned to look at Su Momo at once.
Su Momo shook her head, forcing a smile uglier than crying. "Teacher, I'm fine."
She muddled through the class with only one thought in mind: she absolutely could not let the forum admin file a lawsuit. The vote-buying service would undoubtedly expose her without hesitation.
She had to go see the forum admin. If she, the "victim" of the alleged framing, didn’t mind, what right did the forum admin have to sue?
The forum admin was Shen Yichen.
Su Momo hadn’t managed to reel in this fish yet, but she was confident, there wasn’t a catch she couldn’t land.

Tao Shushu focused intently on her morning classes, absorbing knowledge like a little seedling soaking up nourishing rain.
Li Anyu noticed that even after class, Tao Shushu was still working on practice problems, completely absorbed, and felt too awkward to interrupt her with the campus belle election results.
It wasn’t until school ended that Li Anyu couldn’t hold back any longer. She rushed over to Tao Shushu and exclaimed, "Campus belle!"
Tao Shushu blinked in surprise. "The results are out?"
Li Anyu nodded vigorously. "The admin set up a program to stop voting once 95% of current students had voted. The deadline was just a reference."
"What about the alumni?"
"Senior Shen Yichen released an analysis of past voting data. Alumni participation rates have always been low, they mostly vote for fun. This year, it’s already reached 10%, way higher than before."
Tao Shushu nodded. Graduates usually didn’t get involved in these matters, but with the female lead around this year, the alumni had joined in.
The female lead had even lost her most important title of campus belle, and who knew what trouble she would stir up this time.
Tao Shushu and Li Anyu walked to the cafeteria.
Having been elected as the campus belle, Tao Shushu’s meal was anything but peaceful. People kept stealing glances at her.
Tao Shushu accepted the attention with grace.
After lunch, as usual, Tao Shushu found a quiet corner outside the classroom to log into her game and check on her virtual cub.
Just as she greeted her cub, she saw Su Momo quickly following a boy upstairs.
Tao Shushu vaguely recognized the boy’s face.
She took a couple more glances.
The two were on the stairs and would pass by Tao Shushu in about half a minute.
Tao Shushu kept her eyes on her game, silently counting the seconds.
Even when Su Momo came close and shot her a glare, Tao Shushu remained completely unfazed, her focus unbroken.
[Has the female lead’s system taken a heavy blow?]
[Nicely done!] The system’s voice sounded rather proud.
Tao Shushu blinked. She couldn’t help but feel that Su Momo had crumbled too easily, it didn’t seem like the behavior of a female lead with a system at her disposal.
After pondering for a moment, Tao Shushu turned her attention back to her cub. Whatever, she’d cross that bridge when she came to it. For now, spending time with her cub was what mattered.
That evening, Tao Shushu arrived early at the lab building, waiting to conduct the experiment.
This year’s exam syllabus had placed greater emphasis on experimental assessments, with experimental questions making up one-third of the total score in the physics competition.
Tao Shushu mentally reviewed basic experiments and principles: voltage, current, resistance, light interference, resonance…
The class monitor of Class One flipped through her notes anxiously. “What should I do, Shushu? I’m so clumsy with my hands, doing experiments is pure agony.”
“Don’t stress,” Tao Shushu reassured her. “If you get the experimental concept right, the hands-on part becomes much easier. I believe in you.”
Handing over her own compiled experimental notes to the class monitor, Tao Shushu continued mentally organizing the experimental procedures, occasionally exchanging a few words with her.
Ten minutes later, Tao Shushu spotted a familiar face, Qin Rui.
“President!” a student exclaimed excitedly.
“Sorry I’m late. I kept you waiting,” Qin Rui said, pulling out his campus card to swipe open the lab access.
The waiting students were visibly thrilled. “President, what brings you here?”
“Don’t forget, I was last year’s gold medalist in the physics competition,” Qin Rui replied with a smile. “Teacher Li asked me to assist with the experiments.”
“This is amazing!”
“Getting guidance from the president himself, wow!”
“Shushu, even if I can’t complete the experiment, it’ll be worth it,” the class monitor gushed, grabbing Tao Shushu’s hand excitedly.
Tao Shushu paused, finally understanding why Li Xin had told her earlier that morning that she didn’t need to open the lab door.
So he had found an assistant.
Tao Shushu followed the others into the lab at a leisurely pace.
Qin Rui chatted patiently with the students. When Tao Shushu passed by, he smiled and said, "Shushu, congratulations on being named the campus belle."
The surrounding students chuckled good-naturedly.
Tao Shushu frowned slightly.
Qin Rui quickly added, "Teacher Li said it’s fortunate I competed last year, because if you were in the competition this year, I definitely wouldn’t have won the individual gold medal. You’re outstanding."
"You flatter me, President," Tao Shushu replied. "Teacher Li often talks about your legendary achievements too."
"Really? Ah, but this year, I’m no longer Teacher Li’s most valued disciple, he only mentions Shushu now," Qin Rui sighed dramatically.
After Qin Rui finished speaking, a male student remarked, "You and Shushu seem quite familiar, Senior."
Tao Shushu felt inexplicably wary. She had always been rather laid-back and never enthusiastic about school activities; today was her first interaction with Qin Rui.
Fortunately, Li Xin arrived, and the students returned to their seats.
Suppressing the strange feeling in her heart, Tao Shushu focused on following Li Xin’s teaching pace, learning, thinking, and operating.


Author’s Note:
Our Shushu’s style: studying, my dear.