The younger generation, starting from where the wind blows...

Chapter 281 This secret... I'll live off it for the rest of my life.
Before he could finish reading all the comments, Jia Kuan hurriedly stood up from his computer, ran back to his desk, and picked up his phone, which was charging.

It turned out that the charging cable hadn't been plugged in properly, and it hadn't charged at all.

My phone won't even turn on, let alone call Zhou Yiming.

Jia Kuan turned his head and looked at Lin Shaotao.

"Shaotao, could you please take your phone—"

Without saying a word, Lin Shaotao handed over the phone.

Just as Jia Kuan was about to dial Zhou Yiming's number, Lin Shaotao's voice suddenly rang in his ears.

Are you sure Zhou Yiming will answer my call?

Jia Kuan stood there, stunned.

If Zhou Yiming sees a call from Lin Shaotao, he will definitely hang up immediately, or even turn off his phone.

"What are you waiting for? Change your SIM card and call," Lin Shaotao reminded him irritably.

Jia Kuan suddenly realized what was happening and quickly switched his SIM card with Lin Shaotao's before calling Zhou Yiming again.

The phone rang five times before it was finally answered.

On the other end of the phone, Zhou Yiming sounded tired and impatient, as if he hadn't woken up properly.

"Didn't I tell you that when the teacher calls roll, you just need to answer 'present' for me?"

"Yiming, something terrible has happened!"

"Even if the sky falls, I'll talk about it after I've had my sleep."

Zhou Yiming hung up the phone as he spoke.

Jia Kuan, feeling helpless, was about to call Zhou Yiming again.

At this moment, Zhou Yiming took the initiative to call back.

The voice sounded much clearer.

"What happened? Why are you in such a hurry? Did you receive a lawyer's letter or a court summons?"

"No, it's not that. Last night someone posted a thread on Tianya that exposed how we make tens of thousands of yuan a day by doing gigs. Now this post is being shared like crazy on all the major forums, Renren, and our school's Tieba. I see that all the comments are cursing us."

Zhou Yiming was struck dumb, sitting on the hotel bed in a daze.

On the phone, Jia Kuan was still rambling on and on, but Zhou Yiming didn't hear a word of what he was saying after that.

How did things come to this?
Shouldn't the Oldboys side send a lawyer's letter first, and then the other side threaten to escalate the matter to force the Oldboys to compromise and make concessions, and finally just pay some money to settle the matter?

Which lunatic had nothing better to do than expose their affairs prematurely?

This has blown up, and Old Boys will definitely not let it go easily.

and many more!

This whole thing might be the work of Oldboy.

To strike first and seize the moral high ground.

With the initiative in their hands, they can decide whether to file a lawsuit or reach a settlement.

That move was too ruthless and vicious!

Hey!
Without even hanging up, Zhou Yiming threw his phone away violently.

In the dormitory.

Jia Kuan was holding his phone with both hands, "chatting" with Zhou Yiming about how the comments were cursing them, when the call suddenly dropped.

Jia Kuan called back, but the other party's phone was switched off.

Is Zhou Yiming's phone out of battery?
Jia Kuan put down his phone in a daze, stared blankly for a while, and then suddenly looked up.

Right now, Lin Shaotao is their only lifeline.

"Shaotao, I—"

"It's too late to say anything now. Hurry up and change my SIM card back. You don't need it, but I do!"

Lin Shaotao urged impatiently.

Jia Kuan was stunned into despair.

Has Lin Shaotao completely abandoned him and Zhou Yiming?
"Hurry up, wash up and come with me to the yard. Only Teacher Ji's intervention can help with this now."

Lin Shaotao urged.

Jia Kuan was overjoyed and immediately nodded in agreement.

Oh no, Jia Kuan suddenly remembered something else.

"Shaotao, don't we have class this morning? What if the teacher calls roll—"

"So are you afraid of being called out by the teacher, or afraid of being pointed at and talked about by your classmates?"

Jia Kuan was stunned again.

The scene Lin Shaotao described is so embarrassing that it makes your scalp tingle just thinking about it.

If that really happened, what would happen?

"But Shaotao, if I skip class and the teacher calls on me again, my scholarship this year—"

Before Jia Kuan could finish speaking, Lin Shaotao rudely interrupted him.

"At a time like this, you're still thinking about scholarships? Let me put it this way, the best outcome this time is if the college doesn't punish you two. Don't even think about scholarships or graduate school recommendations in the future."

Jia Kuan was completely stunned.

Seeing Jia Kuan's state, Lin Shaotao couldn't bear to tell him.

Not only did you lose your scholarship, but your pursuit of Liu Yingxia also fell through.

Once this post was published online, Jia Kuan and Zhou Yiming's reputations at school were completely ruined.

Under these circumstances, Liu Yingxia must be out of her mind to date Jia Kuan.

Fortunately, they hadn't officially started dating yet, so it wasn't exactly a breakup.

Lin Shaotao, along with Jia Kuan, rushed to the courtyard before the peak of the class rush.

I waited outside Ji Donglai's office for almost half an hour.

At 8:00 AM sharp, Ji Donglai started his shift at the checkpoint.

Seeing Jia Kuan cowering behind Lin Shaotao, his face immediately darkened.

Last night, it was Minister Jin from the school's publicity department who called Ji Donglai, and that's when Ji Donglai learned about the post online.

It's no wonder he wouldn't be happy to see the culprit at this point.

Ji Dongzi opened the door and walked into the office without even glancing at Lin Shaotao and Jia Kuan.

Lin Shaotao, shameless as ever, followed Ji Donglai into the office.

Sweeping the floor and taking out the trash, boiling water and making tea.

After doing a bunch of chores, he finally managed to get Ji Donglai to look up at him.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lin Shaotao called Jia Kuan into his office, and the two of them apologized to Ji Donglai together.

"Why are there only the two of you here? There's another one named Zhou Yiming."

Just as Jia Kuan was about to speak, Lin Shaotao interrupted:
"He's on his way back to school. I'll definitely call him over when he gets back and have Secretary Ji give him a good scolding!"

"No need, I don't have time to deal with him. The college committee will discuss this matter this morning, and we'll handle it as appropriate."

Ji Donglai spoke in a businesslike tone, and then ignored the two of them after he finished speaking.

Lin Shaotao forced himself to continue speaking:
“Secretary Ji, even if it is a crime, surrendering oneself can still result in a lighter punishment. Jia Kuan and Zhou Yiming have both realized their mistakes and are willing to take the initiative to reconcile with Oldboy and actively compensate. Do you think the college can take this into consideration and show some leniency?”

Ji Donglai raised his head, his face stern: "If you can de-escalate the situation by reconciling with Old Boys, the academy can consider giving you a chance to correct your mistakes and give you a lighter punishment. But if the situation continues to escalate, then I'm sorry."

He won't be expelled, but he'll definitely get a demerit on his record.

Lin Shaotao knew this was the best possible outcome, so he quickly pulled Jia Kuan along to thank Ji Donglai.

As we were expressing our gratitude, Ji Donglai suddenly said:
"Lin Shaotao, if I remember correctly, you were the one who started this trio band, right?"

Lin Shaotao was taken aback, then realized what Ji Donglai meant.

Jia Kuan, realizing what was about to happen, quickly spoke up:
“Secretary Ji, only Zhou Yiming and I went out for performances. It has nothing to do with Lin Shaotao. On the contrary, after he learned about it, he repeatedly tried to dissuade us. This matter really has nothing to do with him!” Before he could finish speaking, Lin Shaotao seemed to have made up his mind and said firmly:
“Secretary Ji, your criticism is absolutely correct. I’ve been reflecting on this these past few days. If I hadn’t pulled Jia Kuan and Zhou Yiming into forming the trio, none of this would have happened.”

"I bear an unshirkable responsibility for the mistakes of Jia Kuan and Zhou Yiming. I will submit an application to the Student Union to resign from my position as president of the Student Union."

Jia Kuan immediately became anxious.

"Shaotao—"

Lin Shaotao stopped Jia Kuan with a look and continued to speak sincerely to Ji Donglai:

"Secretary Ji, my resignation is sincere and voluntary, and I hope the institute can approve it."

Ji Donglai did not express his opinion directly, but waved his hand to let Lin Shaotao and Jia Kuan leave.

As soon as Jia Kuan came out of Ji Donglai's office, he immediately stopped Lin Shaotao, his emotions running high:
"Shaotao, this matter has absolutely nothing to do with you, how could you—"

Lin Shaotao looked at Jia Kuan with a serious expression:

"This is a lesson for me. I was too arrogant back then. After becoming the student council president, I was so proud of myself that I formed a band with you two, changed the lyrics, and showed off in front of the principal. Now that I've stumbled and woken up, it's actually a good thing."

Jia Kuan felt both guilty and moved.

The scholarship was canceled, the relationship with Liu Yingxia broke up... all of that was put to the back of his mind.

At this moment, Jia Kuan had only one thought in his mind.

To have made such a loyal and devoted brother as Lin Shaotao is a blessing in this life.

What Jia Kuan didn't know was that Lin Shaotao's voluntary resignation as chairman of the student union was actually driven by the same thought as Liu Bei throwing his son Liu Shan to the ground.

It's all about winning people's hearts.

At the same time, he cultivated an image of himself as someone who values ​​loyalty and righteousness.

On the surface, Lin Shaotao was indeed wronged for being implicated by Jia Kuan and Zhou Yiming.

However, from the perspective of "officialdom," there is a saying called "bearing leadership responsibility."

The student union in a university is essentially a small bureaucracy.

The Three Men Band was formed under Lin Shaotao's leadership, and he bears leadership responsibility for any problems that arise afterward, regardless of whether he was directly involved.

Resigning now is a way of giving myself some dignity.

If he doesn't look presentable, the hospital will help him look presentable after a while.

Lin Shaotao's voluntary resignation in front of Jia Kuan can be seen as minimizing losses and maximizing benefits.

After this incident, Jia Kuan will definitely be devoted to him.

As for Zhou Yiming—

Lin Shaotao was figuring out how to use this incident to completely win over this rebellious brother.

The phone suddenly rang.

He took it out and looked at it, and his expression became somewhat strange.

The call was from Zhou Yiming.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Shaotao handed the phone to Jia Kuan.

To subdue Jia Kuan, all that's needed is to bestow favors.

However, to win over Zhou Yiming, a combination of kindness and severity must be employed.

Not speaking directly to Zhou Yiming was meant to give him a warning.

Jia Kuan took the phone and answered the call.

"Yiming, it's me. Shaotao and I just came out of Secretary Ji's office. What about you—"

"What? Okay, okay, don't worry, I'll give the phone to Shaotao right away so you can talk to him."

As Jia Kuan spoke, he hurriedly handed his phone to Lin Shaotao.

Lin Shaotao initially did not want to accept the offer.

It wasn't until Jia Kuan said in a panic that Zhou Yiming had an accident at the hotel that he snatched the phone away.

"Yiming, it's me. What happened?"

"Shaotao, can you lend me 50,000 yuan?"

Lin Shaotao's eyes widened.

"What do you need 50,000 yuan for?"

"I--"

On the other end of the phone, Zhou Yiming stammered and couldn't get a clear answer for a long time.

He only said that his phone was accidentally broken and the SIM card was currently in his friend's phone.

The implication is that many things are inconvenient to say over the phone.

"Okay, it will take a little time to withdraw the money. Don't worry, we'll get there as soon as possible."

Zhou Yiming immediately added:
"Shaotao, I've run into a bit of an emergency, please don't call the police."

"Don't worry, I know!"

After handing over the phone, Lin Shaotao's face instantly darkened.

His intuition told him that Zhou Yiming had definitely fallen victim to a honey trap!

After telling Jia Kuan this judgment, Jia Kuan was so angry that he jumped up and down.

He now truly hates Zhou Yiming.

If I hadn't listened to Zhou Yiming's instigation, I wouldn't be in this predicament today.

Unfortunately, Zhou Yiming is now in the same boat as him, so he has no choice but to help.

"Shaotao, let's just call the police and get Yiming out of here first!"

Lin Shaotao was speechless for a moment.

If he could have called the police, Zhou Yiming would have done so long ago. Why did he have to wait until now?
The problem now is that the other party is not afraid of Zhou Yiming calling the police at all.

The worst case scenario is that the fish will die and the net will fall apart.

Our side is simply being convicted by Uncle Hat of attempted extortion and prostitution, but Zhou Yiming is in a different situation.

If a college student solicits prostitution, they will be expelled from school 100% of the time.

In that case, Zhou Yiming's life would be ruined.

The only solution right now is to spend money to avoid further trouble.

Fifty thousand yuan isn't an exorbitant amount.

Just as Lin Shaotao was thinking this, his cell phone rang again.

I picked it up and saw that it was an unfamiliar number.

Lin Shaotao hesitated for a moment, but finally answered the phone.

A woman's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"You must be Zhou Yiming's friend, right? You should know about his situation. I saw a post online saying that Zhou Yiming and his friend made over 100,000 yuan in less than half a month. I don't ask for much, just give me 100,000 yuan, otherwise I'll have to call the police!"

Lin Shaotao held his phone and said in a deep voice, "That post deliberately exaggerated the facts. In reality, Yiming and his team only earned 80,000 yuan during this period. That's all I can give you. Otherwise, you can call the police. Anyway, I recorded the call. You can decide for yourself!"

The woman on the other end of the phone was decisive:

"Eighty thousand it is, I need the money before noon."

"What's the rush? It takes time to withdraw money from the bank. Besides, we need to make things clear before we give you the money. You must hand over all the evidence you have to us, and then we'll record a video to prove that you and Zhou Yiming are in a relationship, and that the hotel room booking was purely voluntary and there was no transaction involved."

“Okay!” the woman readily agreed.

Lin Shaotao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

I'm afraid this woman is insatiable and has a secret plan to eat Zhou Yiming alive for the rest of his life.

In that case, Lin Shaotao would have no choice but to execute Ma Su with tears in his eyes!
What he wants is a brother who can work hard alongside him and strive to make him drive luxury cars and live in villas, not a brother who holds him back and could cause trouble at any time.

(End of this chapter)