Just Wanting to Divorce My Love Rival - Chapter 9

For the past two days, Xiao Xiaoli’s eyelids had been twitching incessantly. She was fraught with worry, sighing at every turn.

“What’s wrong with you? Wearing such a long face all day—you’ve sighed no less than five times in the last hour,” Mu Cheng said, waving her phone. “If you’re in a bad mood, why not play a round of games?”

Xiao Xiaoli let out another sigh. “How could I be in the mood for games right now? I’m telling you, I have a feeling something bad is about to happen. My premonitions are always spot on—it’s a woman’s sixth sense.”

Mu Cheng tapped into her game and waited for the loading screen, not forgetting to poke fun at her: “That’s not a ‘spot-on premonition’ or ‘sixth sense.’ You just have a crow’s beak (a jinx).”

“Then I really am going to ‘crow’ for a second,” Xiao Xiaoli said, spinning her chair to face Mu Cheng directly. “I’m telling you, Liu Sihui is incredibly vindictive. If someone messes with her, she’ll make sure to pay them back twofold. If she doesn’t beat you up, she’ll stab you in the back. Plenty of people in this school have suffered because of her.”

Mu Cheng was preoccupied with her game and wasn’t really listening. “Liu-who? What vindictive? Who’s that?”

“The green-haired girl from the cafeteria two days ago!” Xiao Xiaoli used her feet to push herself and her chair right in front of Mu Cheng, snatching her phone away. “Can you be serious for a second? I’m genuinely worried here.”

Mu Cheng’s heart and soul were only on the game. “Give it back! I’m in a team fight! If I get reported, I’m holding you responsible,” she said heartlessly.

Xiao Xiaoli glanced at Mu Cheng’s stats. “0/7? As a support, you’ve fed the enemy jungler until he’s legendary. With stats like these, you’re worried about being reported?”

Mu Cheng snatched her phone back and tapped the screen furiously, her movements “as fierce as a tiger.” Then, the word DEFEAT appeared in large letters across the screen.

“Lost again,” Mu Cheng grumbled, tossing her phone aside. “I haven’t played for two days because I was banned after being reported. Finally, I can play, and I’m probably going to be reported again. What’s wrong with these teammates? I take the game very seriously. Feeding the enemy takes a lot of mental energy too, okay?”

Xiao Xiaoli tutted. “Oh, you must be exhausted then. You truly embody the phrase ‘terrible at playing but loves to play’ to the fullest.”

Mu Cheng refused to admit she was bad. “You’re the one who’s terrible. I’m an Ace Support.”

Xiao Xiaoli played the same MOBA mobile game, but she basically never played with Mu Cheng. The reason was simple: Mu Cheng was a “pit”—she was so bad it made people lose their tempers. To say she had never won a game with Mu Cheng was no exaggeration.

After fuming for a bit, Mu Cheng picked up her phone to start another round.

Xiao Xiaoli, sitting at her computer, suddenly started waving her hands frantically. “Mu Cheng! Come here, look at this!”

“What?” Seeing her so agitated, Mu Cheng put the game aside and leaned in to look at the computer screen.

It was a video with grainy quality and loud background noise. The camera was shaky—clearly filmed on a phone.

As the video reached its end, Mu Cheng’s eyes widened, and she slammed her hand on the desk in anger. “What the hell?! This is a complete fabrication! Who posted this? This is malicious editing!”

The main subjects of the video were Mu Cheng and Xiao Xiaoli. Everyone else was pixelated out, leaving only their faces clear.

The video had been filmed two days ago in the cafeteria.

Someone had secretly filmed the moment Liu Sihui was confronting Mu Cheng, but the content had been hacked together maliciously. It removed all the footage of Liu Sihui bullying them and only kept the moment she was pushed to the ground, with Mu Cheng and Xiao Xiaoli standing by watching.

Taken as a whole, it looked like Mu Cheng was the bully. Paired with a “Campus Bullying” headline, Mu Cheng and Xiao Xiaoli had somehow become the aggressors who abused their power.

As soon as the video went live, they became targets of public scorn. The comment section was a vitriolic mess:

“The people in the video must be severely punished. I can’t stand campus bullying; this is too much.”

“The girl with the bun looks cute, but who knew she had a heart of a snake? How could she bully someone like that?”

“What school is this? My daughter is about the same age; suddenly I’m so worried for her.”

“I was bullied like this when I was a student, and it left a huge shadow on my life. These people aren’t even students—they have no humanity.”

“They’re just acting tough. Take them home and have their parents beat them; that’ll fix it.”

“To the person above, you’re wrong. I’m afraid their parents are probably accomplices who don’t think their kids did anything wrong.”

“This video is messy and clearly edited. There’s no clear hitting action either. How are you all so sure this is bullying?”

“I also feel this video is fishy. Not taking sides.”

Out of ten comments, nine were insults. Everyone acted like an “envoy of justice,” and very few people questioned the authenticity of the video.

Mu Cheng tried to contact the uploader to demand a clarification and deletion, but the other party ignored her. It made sense—the person posted it specifically to frame her; why would they delete it?

Xiao Xiaoli said indignantly, “Liu Sihui definitely posted this.”

Mu Cheng had guessed as much. No one else would do this. Furthermore, Liu Sihui didn’t dare offend Zhong Yingzhi, so she edited her out completely, leaving only Xiao Xiaoli and Mu Cheng—the two “soft persimmons” she could squash at will.

“What do we do?” Xiao Xiaoli looked miserable. “We’re the victims, yet we’re being framed as the perpetrators. This is so unfair!”

Mu Cheng snorted. “What garbage. She really thinks we’re easy targets, pissing all over our heads like this.”

“Do you have a plan?”

Mu Cheng narrowed her eyes. “I have one idea.”

Xiao Xiaoli thought about it and shook her head, worried. “Let’s forget it. It’s just a video. No one knows who we are on the internet anyway. We’ll just take the insults for a few days and it’ll pass. Liu Sihui is a notorious thug. She lost face in the cafeteria, so she posted this to prove her ‘boss’ status. If we provoke her again, she might call people to actually beat us up.”

“Why are you so cowardly?” Mu Cheng felt frustrated.

Xiao Xiaoli huffed. “You’re the one who’s brave! We have to stay at this school for two more years. If we’re targeted by a thug, how will we have any peace?”

Mu Cheng pondered. The logic was sound, but she couldn’t swallow this insult.

Just then, Mu Cheng’s phone rang. The caller ID showed it was her mother.

Mu Cheng answered, but before she could speak, her mother started shouting: “We spent so much money sending you to school! It’s one thing if you don’t study hard, but now you’re acting like a little thug on campus?!”

Her mother must have seen the video. With over ten thousand shares, it had hit the trending topics. She recognized Mu Cheng and immediately jumped to conclusions.

“No,” Mu Cheng tried to explain. “That video was edited. I didn’t hit anyone.”

Her mother wouldn’t listen. “I saw the video! I saw it clear as day! You knocked that person to the ground, and you’re still making excuses.”

Grandmother Mu spoke up for her in the background. “Xiao Cheng isn’t that kind of child. There must be a misunderstanding.”

Mu Cheng’s mother was furious. “Mom, you just spoil her! What kind of ‘misunderstanding’ could there be? The video is right there on the internet. She’s being a thug and bullying other kids.”

“How can you not believe your own child? Xiao Cheng already said the video was faked!” Grandmother Mu’s wrinkled, usually kind face was tight with anger.

Mu Cheng’s father, who had been silent, finally spoke up, his voice loud and booming. “What are you two arguing about? I don’t care if she hit someone or not. Either way, if she injured someone, I don’t have money to pay the other parents. My money is for my son to buy a house, a car, and get a wife.”

They weren’t worried about Mu Cheng turning bad; they were only worried she would cause trouble that required them to clean up the mess.

Her mother continued: “Daughters are just ‘money-losing goods.’ They all get married off eventually and aren’t part of the family. We shouldn’t spend too much on her; she shouldn’t even be in college.”

She looked at Grandmother Mu and pouted. “And you, Mom! You should have kept some of that relocation compensation from the old house for Xiao Xiong. Why waste it on her tuition? It’s useless.”

“What kind of talk is that?! You’ve treated Xiao Cheng like this since she was little. If I hadn’t looked after her, you would have made her drop out in middle school!” Grandmother Mu was so angry she slammed her cane on the floor.

“Xiao Cheng has had good grades since she was a kid. She’s obedient and hardworking. Since she got into a good university, of course she should go! Your ‘precious son,’ on the other hand, has no reason to be in school. You’ve spoiled him so much he has no respect for anyone, he causes trouble constantly, and he has a ton of bad habits. Don’t even think about touching my compensation money—I’m saving all of it for Xiao Cheng…”

Listening to the argument, Mu Cheng’s grip on the phone tightened, her expression desolate.

Mu Cheng sent a text to her grandmother, telling her not to fight with her parents and not to let them upset her.

As soon as the text went through, her grandmother called back.

Grandmother Mu sighed. “Your parents are just like that. Don’t be sad. Grandma is here; Grandma will protect you. No matter what that video says, Grandma is on your side. My Xiao Cheng definitely didn’t hit anyone. Even if you did, it’s because those people deserved it.”

Mu Cheng’s eyes grew red, and her nose felt prickly.

“Grandma has money,” she continued. “If anyone got hurt, Grandma will pay. My Xiao Cheng can’t let herself be bullied. I’m telling you, whatever your brother has, Grandma will give the same to you. When my Xiao Cheng gets married, Grandma will buy her a big house as a dowry.”

Mu Cheng wiped her tears, her voice trembling. “Grandma, I don’t want a big house.”

Hearing the sob in her voice, Grandmother Mu scolded her dotingly, “What are you crying for? You’re a grown woman. Aren’t you ashamed?”