Chapter 129: The Goddess of Smiles

Early the next morning, the three of them took Brother Fu's car to Jinling University.

Qin Xuan arrived at the university with Liu Qianqian and Dongfang Qingwan every day and left with them in the evening; the students at Jinling University had long grown accustomed to this.

On the campus forum, Qin Xuan’s reputation as "Brother Sword" was at its peak. The primary reason for this was not his own formidable prowess, but the fact that he was with two freshman campus beauties every day and maintained a close relationship with the goddess Su Muqing. This cast a mysterious aura over him in the eyes of many students.

The power struggles between the Li, Zhao, and Su families were far too distant for these students, having no impact on the vast majority of them, let alone the role Qin Xuan played in the middle of it all. To the average student, Qin Xuan was simply the person who had taught Yang Weiyang a lesson during orientation, stood toe-to-toe with Li Shihao, smashed Li Shihao’s Lexus, and then watched as Li Shihao inexplicably vanished.

No one knew how Qin Xuan had managed to hook up with three of Jinling University’s top beauties. The current hot topic, however, revolved around the duel between Qin Xuan and Watanabe No. There were even opportunists running private betting pools, and the number of people betting on Watanabe No to win was more than three times those betting on Qin Xuan. Although most people thought Qin Xuan was quite impressive, they did not believe he could surpass Watanabe No in terms of martial arts. The final outcome would depend on the duel that evening. Since the vast majority of Jinling University students lived on campus, it was not difficult for them to head to Cuihuan Mountain to watch the fight. In fact, some people had started going to the mountain early that morning just to stake out a spot.

"Liu Ming was here."
"Reserved seating for Class 3 of Water and Electricity. Whoever dares to take our spot will have their chrysanthemum taken by forty men in turns!"
...

Paper notes marking reserved spots were plastered on stone benches, stone tables, and even trees. The entire Cuihuan Mountain crackled with the tension of an impending storm, a testament to the intensity surrounding the duel between Qin Xuan and Watanabe No.

"Oh, Qin Xuan, you're here!"

As soon as they entered the school gate, two girls walked toward them and called out happily. Qin Xuan recognized them as Su Xiaowen and another girl. These two had nearly been hit by the car driven by Lei Jinde's son, but were saved by Instructor Liu during military training.

"Morning," Qin Xuan greeted them.

"Um, I wanted to tell you something," Su Xiaowen said, her expression dimming slightly. "Instructor Liu and the others left after military training ended yesterday. Before he left, he asked me to say thank you to you."

"Don't be so sentimental. Instructor Liu is at the Jinling Military Region, anyway; you can still see each other when you have time." Qin Xuan smiled.

Xiaowen’s mood improved a little. After a brief chat, she said goodbye to Qin Xuan and left.

"Little Qin Xuan, are those the freshmen from the medical school you mentioned?" Liu Qianqian asked curiously.

"Yes. The one I was talking to is Su Xiaowen. She and Instructor Liu have been quite close lately; I think the 'hero saves the beauty' tactic might have worked," Qin Xuan nodded and laughed.

"Wow, that sounds so romantic," Liu Qianqian exclaimed, then glanced at Qin Xuan. "Speaking of which, you've saved Teacher Su more than once or twice. Has the 'hero saves the beauty' tactic worked on her long ago?"

"Kid, that really isn't the case." Qin Xuan immediately raised his hands in surrender.

"Pfft! Look at how nervous you are." Liu Qianqian giggled and waved as she walked away. "Alright, I'm off to class. See you later, Qingwan!"

Dongfang Qingwan smiled and waved as Liu Qianqian’s figure faded into the distance. Liu Qianqian was a student in the Chinese Department, while Qin Xuan and Dongfang Qingwan were in the Business Administration Department, so their classes were held in different places.

"Let’s go. I think we need to attend a class meeting first?" Qin Xuan checked his phone; it seemed Su Muqing had sent him a text message about the meeting.

"Yes. It's Friday, so we don't have classes this morning, just the meeting," Dongfang Qingwan said with a smile, following Qin Xuan toward the Business School building.

The path was lined with lush trees and fanned by a warm breeze. With a beautiful woman by his side, Qin Xuan felt incredibly at ease. When they reached the classroom where the first gathering of Business Class 1 had been held, they were surprised to find it already bustling with activity; they were actually late. On second thought, this made sense. The other students lived in school dormitories, while Qin Xuan and Dongfang Qingwan had to drive over from the villa—a short trip, but one that still took time.

"Boss, you're here!" Zhou Xiaoyu was the first to greet him with a hearty laugh.

"Yeah, why is everyone so happy?" Qin Xuan scanned the room. Aside from a few people, almost every student in Business Class 1 was beaming.

"That goes without saying. Military training is over and we're all liberated, how could we not be happy?" Zhou Xiaoyu said as if it were obvious, pulling Qin Xuan into the group of guys. Dongfang Qingwan quickly found her own circle of friends.

Qin Xuan looked around and noticed that after more than ten days of military training, most people’s skin had darkened significantly. The girls were better off, having prepared sunscreen, but the guys were a sight to behold—especially Gao Tie, who looked like a tall, thin, grey monkey.

Gao Tie was currently sitting in a corner, staring at his phone with excitement, ignoring Zhou Xiaoyu and the others. Qin Xuan pointed at him and asked curiously, "Xiaoyu, what is Gao Tie doing?"

Zhou Xiaoyu curled his lip. "That guy said he used to only know how to read the forum and was a total loser. Now he wants to lead the forum trend, revolutionize its fashion, and become the true King of the Forum..."

Qin Xuan couldn't help but smile; Gao Tie was truly obsessed with the campus forum.

Beside them, Xiao Gang flexed his muscles and scoffed, "That guy has nothing better to do. What’s so great about a stupid forum?"

"What do you know, you idiot?" Gao Tie looked up and glared. "A brute like you could never understand the artistic sensibilities of the King of the Forum."

"Ugh! 'Artistic sensibilities,' my foot." Xiao Gang, the muscle man, immediately pretended to vomit. The sight was so grotesque—his muscles twitching as he mimed retching—that some of the surrounding boys actually started to feel sick.

"Humph. You don't know anything. Do you know about the Goddess of Smiles?" Gao Tie remained unfazed, glancing at Xiao Gang with a provocative look.

"Goddess of Smiles? What kind of thing is that?" Xiao Gang, of course, had no idea.

"You don't know? How illiterate can you be? The Goddess of Smiles is the elegant nickname I gave to one of our school's campus beauties," Gao Tie said smugly.

"An elegant nickname?"
"Which campus beauty is it?"

This time, not only the boys but even some girls nearby were drawn in.

"Hehe, it's someone from our own class." Gao Tie chuckled.

As soon as he said this, almost everyone turned their gaze toward Dongfang Qingwan. While there were many pretty girls in Business Class 1, Dongfang Qingwan was truly the only one at the level of a campus beauty.