Still, Wait For Me (Web Novel)
chapter-138

In the eyes of those of Xishan Academy City or the registered home tutors, the greatest fault of Xu Tingsheng was: bullying impoverished university students.

While actual action was not commonly seen in the current society, in terms of public sentiment, at least, be it the government or the people, all of them were greatly biased towards the weak. The previous incident with Gu Yan had pinned Hucheng with the shameful name of immorality.

Li Linlin had actually contacted Gu Yan in private at the time. However, other than clarifying that the post had not been written by her, Gu Yan had not said anything further.

The unique situation right now was that there were both Zhang Xingke and Hucheng’s employees who were viewing the new post by Gu Yan together, the two opposing sides simultaneously silently digesting and pondering upon the new change in the situation.

Gu Yan’s post had gone under the ‘Xishan Tower’ forum, next having been linked by other people into the forums of the various universities.

The title of the post had was very befitting of Gu Yan’s female warrior style: I am Gu Yan. I have something to say.

1. Hucheng Education having sealed my account at the time was due to an error in inputed data on my part. Also, the time of the sealing never lasted more than ten minutes.

2. In having competed for a home tutor position with a Hucheng personnel, I was indeed once unwilling to accept the result. Now, however, I can accept it. If you can’t, look at it for yourself.

Below this were several handphone snapshots of the teaching plans that Xu Tingsheng had prepared for Xiang Ning. With that in mind, they were detailed and entertaining and earnest to the point that they really couldn’t have been any better.

3. Hucheng Education has never charged me a single cent at all before. Meanwhile, through them, I received even more jobs that were also better-paying, my income having risen greatly as compared to how it was before. In the past, I dared not eat meat even once a week in the cafeteria. Now, I can have meat to eat every day.

4. Thinking about how we were exploited by people back then, if Hucheng falls, things would probably return to how it was like back then. The previous post was not written by me. This girl has no time to go on the internet. Everyone, don’t be used by those with malicious intentions.

Whoever bullies impoverished university students, you know it, and we know it too.

5: I am the actual Gu Yan. If you don’t believe me, you are welcome to come to the Mathematics course of Yanzhou University and ask me in person.

The incident…had reversed. A great many registered home tutors who shared the same sentiments as Gu Yan came out to comment on the thread as well. They expressed their feelings and their gratitude, and even left behind their actual information like Gu Yan had done.

If you don’t believe it, come look for me and ask me in person.

As for Xu Tingsheng’s teaching plans, they truly evoked countless admiring sighs.

“I’ve saved the pictures. Are there any more? I want to use it as a template for analysis,” Someone commented.

“With this standard, he can just directly go be a teacher already.”

“The key is still this earnestness. For just this one lesson, how long must he have prepared?” The next guy said.

All of Hucheng whooped in joy.

Zhang Xingke was silent for a while before he smiled coldly, “Very good, but it’s not enough. If it’s only like this, your platform’s still doomed to fall.”

“Xu Tingsheng asks you not to get too hasty,” Lu Zhixin replied.

Zhang Xingke left. Everyone of Hucheng crowded around Li Linlin as she made a call to Gu Yan’s dormitory room.

“Hey, Gu Yan, it’s Linlin. Thank you,” Li Linlin said.

“No need for thanks. Other than the first sentence, all of it was true. Still, tell your boss for me that I’m not helping him, much less fearing and being threatened by him,” Gu Yan hung up with that.

Not having heard the contents of the conversation, everyone crowded around Li Linlin clamouring to know why it was that Gu Yan had suddenly been willing to step forth to help them.

“She didn’t explain, but I understand that she was threatened by Bro Xu,” Li Linlin said rather disbelievingly, “But that’s impossible! Gu Yan’s the stubborn type who’d rather die than give in.”

When Xu Tingsheng received the call from Hucheng, he was in the midst of smoking a cigarette as he sat by the flowerbed in front of Jianan University’s C District No.7 dormitory building.

Handsfree was turned on for Hucheng’s office phone as everyone bombarded Xu Tingsheng with cries of, “How did you do it?”

“Seduction, self-sacrifice,” Xu Tingsheng feigned a sorrowful tone.

“That’s impossible. Gu Yan doesn’t like your type,” Over on the other end of the phone, Li Linlin who was most familiar with Gu Yan replied, “Did you really threaten her?”

……

On the morning of the ‘Gu Yan incident’, Old Wai had felt bewildered by the fact that Xu Tingsheng who usually treated skipping lessons as he would drinking water had still gone to attend a free elective lesson. The reason for this was actually that Gu Yan was taking that very same elective as well.

“You must’ve heard, right? Someone’s maligning you. I’m really feeling unfair for you. Look, want to clarify things?” Xu Tingsheng smilingly inserted himself beside Gu Yan.

“The post wasn’t wrong. You did seal my account, and even competed through unfair means. What do I have to clarify? I won’t help you,” Gu Yan said coldly.

“Come, I’ll give you something,” Xu Tingsheng handed his teaching plans over to Gu Yan.

Gu Yan took a look at them before raising her head, “Fine, I’m willing to accept this. Still, I won’t help you.”

“If you don’t help me, I’ll shut down the platform.”

“You can threaten me with shutting down the platform?”

“You’ll earn less money.”

“So be it.”

“It’s not just you who will earn less money. All the impoverished university students of Xishan Academy City as a whole will be earning less. Do you think that you’re the only one who’re poor? There’re many people who have it much harder than you. Take this History student for instance. He’s never ordered dishes in the cafeteria before, only taking away two bowls of free soup every time, using one as the base for the rice and the other as the dish. Also consider…”

Xu Tingsheng described the lives of a few impoverished university students before continuing, “You may not care about earning a few hundred less, may be willing to be exploited, but have you thought about them before? How hard they have it now, and without those few hundred…”

Gu Yan had a rather distressed expression on her face. She empathised with those people whom Xu Tingsheng had mentioned, having experienced similar hardships as them before.

“Just don’t shut down the platform then,” Gu Yan ventured hesitantly.

“If you don’t help me, I’ll shut it down,” Xu Tingsheng said shamelessly.

“You’re threatening me with this?”

“That’s right. If you don’t help me, think about the livelihoods of all those students. It would be all because of you…could you rest easy with that knowledge?”

“I, I’ll only state the truth. You did seal my account.”

“Lie about that for me.”

“No, I never lie.”

“If you don’t help me and lie, I’ll shut down the platform.”

“…”

“Think about it for a while. On behalf of all the impoverished university home tutors, on behalf of the clothes, the rice and vegetables, the gloves in winter and the ice water in summer that they send back home to their parents…I thank you, Miss Gu Yan.” Xu Tingsheng finally concluded.

……

“That’s all it was,” Xu Tingsheng described over the phone how it was that he had successfully persuaded Gu Yan, not finding it shameful as he instead revelled in it.

Those in Hucheng who were gathered around the phone all felt speechless, “That worked?”

“Of course it did. Those with a sense of justice are always easier to threaten than those who are shameless. The upright and honourable are always easier to deal with,” Xu Tingsheng’s tone was leisurely, “Gu Yan is a fine young lady indeed.”

In truth, of course it had not been a threat. Also, this had not been the process of the entire conversation between the two. That anguished narration, that pleading-Xu Tingsheng was too embarrassed to say that out loud. In truth, it was he who had the most empathy for these impoverished university students, for he had once been in the exact same situation himself.

In short, Xu Tingsheng had swayed emotionality with rationality.

Due to Gu Yan’s post, many other registered university home tutors came forth, achieving the first reversal in the situation for Hucheng and Xu Tingsheng. In truth, the comments within Yanzhou University regarding him this day had basically consisted of two positions:

“He’s lost, run away. Such a person without even the basic moral principles-he deserves it.”

“He’s heading to a match for Yanzhou University’s honour, okay? Really, can you not?”

Now, the first position no longer had any ground to stand on. Xu Tingsheng stood on the side of the impoverished university students. Meanwhile, who were ‘those with malicious intentions’ that Gu Yan had spoken of? Someone posted Zhang Xingke’s dark history.

Thus, Xu Tingsheng returned to being the ally of impoverished university students, returned to being the hero who had washed off Yanzhou University’s humiliation.

Meanwhile, it also just so happened that Zhang Xingke studied in Jianhai Technological University, their opponents from back then…

Even with the platform being attacked, Xu Tingsheng still chose to go on conquest for the university at such a difficult time. What about us? What have we been doing? Helping outsiders to bully our own?

At the appropriate time, Yanzhou University’s football team who had risen to prominence due to that match last semester announced on the forum: Our whole team unconditionally trusts in and supports Xu Tingsheng.

The voices in support of Xu Tingsheng first filled up all the Yanzhou University forums before coming to encompass the academy city’s Xishan Tower forum.

“Please don’t judge us like that, Yanzhou University students. Zhang Xingke is Zhang Xingke, and Jianhai Technological University is Jianhai Technological University. While I am studying there, I am also a registered home tutor of Hucheng. I support Hucheng as well”.

A suitably-timed post caused a change in the winds of public sentiment as the spearhead was beginning to turn towards Zhang Xingke.

“As an already graduated senior, let me tell you the story of how our home tutor intermediary organisation was destroyed by Zhang Xingke that year,” Narrated a tearful post by a senior.

Zhang Xingke flung and broke a cup this time, breathing in deeply before the gazes of his employees before he finally said, “Relax, as long as Hucheng’s impression with the parents is irreversible, if they have no parent resources, they won’t be able to hold on all the same.”

“Boss, this…come and take a look.”

“What?”

In Yanzhou City’s citizen forum, under the entertainment and lifestyle sections, Zhang Xingke’s ‘Who have you handed your children over to’ as well as the thread which had contained photographs of Xu Tingsheng and Old Wai, fighting, smoking and peeking at the girl’s dormitory, were both still on the front page.

However, most trending was yet another thread.

“Is this the hoodlum that you speak of?”

The contents of the thread depicted a Libei County Award of Bravery and a Yanzhou City Award of Bravery.

The former came from during Xu Tingsheng’s senior high days when he had helped to capture that escaped suspected SARS patient. He would not have received this commendation if not for the staunch assistance of Vice-Principal Lou.

The latter originated from back when in the process of saving Old Wai and Li Linlin, Xu Tingsheng, Fang Yuqing and Zhong Wusheng had simultaneously saved two imprisoned females. While their information had not been broadcasted then, by the suggestion of Fang Yuqing’s cousin, they had still received a commendation. This was a true, major incident.

Currently, the incident already being something of the past, it was impossible for information regarding Li Linlin to be dug up any longer. Also, Xu Tingsheng had merely publicised the award, not having given any clarification.

Awards of Bravery were not all that easy to obtain. Moreover, there were two of them. Moreover, he was still just a university student.