Chapter 479: Getting to the Bottom of It
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“If he and his cla.s.smates work together, they’ll definitely be able to catch the person who started the thread,” Du Zeyang said.
“Right, we can all ask our friends who are in the field and get to the bottom of this!” Ying Siyuan chimed in.
Since entering Beijing University, Tan Mo had always been the one standing at the forefront in all the school-level compet.i.tions.
This was the first time that her uppercla.s.smen were firmly guarding Tan Mo, keeping her protected in the middle.
Not needing Tan Mo to lift a finger, they were going all out on their own to figure out ways to help her.
Before that, they had believed in Tan Mo unconditionally.
Tan Mo was surrounded by so many of her uppercla.s.smen that even Wei Zhiqian was forced to move to the side.
Tan Mo was so touched that her eyes began to swell up.
Surprisingly, Wei Zhiqian was not angry that he had been pushed to the side.
Seeing Tan Mo was loved and protected by all these people, Wei Zhiqian’s gloomy face finally started to ease.
The corner of his lips curled up into a smile.
“You’re all so kind to me, my fellow uppercla.s.smen.” Tan Mo was so moved she was a wobbly mess.
“It’s no big deal.” w.a.n.g Yuemu patted Tan Mo’s little head. “Silly girl.”
At that moment, seeing as enough people had gathered…
Wei Zhiqian tapped the car bonnet twice, which got everyone’s attention.
“Since you’re all here, perhaps you could take a look at this car,” Wei Zhiqian said casually.
Everyone around was lost for words.
What now?
Had Wei Zhiqian come all this way to show off his wealth?
Had he driven his posh car here just so people could have a look?
They may not have been rich, but they were not ignorant either.
B City was crawling with fancy cars. It was not like they have never seen one before.
Many people were silently cursing at him in their hearts.
But then, someone finally noticed.
“Huh?” Was this not the same car as the photo of that post?
“What’s the plate number of the car in the photo?” Someone else thought it seemed familiar too.
Some had totally recognized it.
“No idea, the post was deleted.” Everyone was excited over the scandal, so who would have thought of saving the photo?
“Since some of you recognized it, coincidentally, I’ve downloaded the photo,” Wei Zhiqian said.
He took out his phone and searched until he found the photo. He walked to the front of the group and showed it to the first row of people standing in front.
“You can compare the car plate or other details you may notice to see if they’re both the same.” Wei Zhiqian held the phone in his hand and raised it to meet the eyes of the students standing in the front row.
The students who stood at both ends of those facing the phone moved their heads closer.
Three other students behind them stretched their heads forward too.
“Can we zoom in on the photo?” One of them asked.
“Of course.” Wei Zhiqian nodded.
The student boldly placed two fingers on Wei Zhiqian’s phone screen and zoomed in on the photo.
As Tan Mo had said, the person who posted on the forum must have had a cheap phone with mediocre camera pixels. Thus, after zooming in, and though the overall outline of the license plate had become larger, the numbers on it were blurred.
However, despite the numbers being unclear, they were still somehow recognizable.
After making out the numbers on the license plate, they cross-checked it with Wei Zhiqian’s car plate.
They confirmed that the car in the photo was indeed Wei Zhiqian’s.
“When I used to study at Beijing University, I bought a small apartment next to the school for convenience. After I graduated, the apartment was vacant, so I saved it for Momo. If she ever had trouble staying in the dorms, she could move there. But Momo never did. Even though the apartment is cleaned every week, there were none of Momo’s clothes ready for her there.
“On Sunday, Momo was out with her friends and returned later than usual. Just as it happened, the entrance to the dormitory was locked, so she couldn’t enter. Because she had cla.s.s the next morning, and coming from home was a lot further, she went to the neighboring apartment and rested for the night, which made the next morning less hectic for her. Because the apartment had been unoccupied, there weren’t any clothes for her to change into, so she had to come back here wearing the same clothes as the night before.”
“Since there are a couple of rooms in the apartment, not every one of them was properly equipped. It’s just a temporary place to rest, yet it somehow became the reason for people to make malicious speculations.” Wei Zhiqian smirked sarcastically.
“And this car here, as you have discovered, belongs to me. I used it to drive Momo to school this morning.” Wei Zhiqian said coldly. “Although the neighborhood is just next to the school, I couldn’t possibly let Momo walk over.”
They were all speechless.
“She’s right. I’m Qin Muye’s dormmate. The night that Tan Mo didn’t return, neither did she. She said she was in the escape room. It was late by the time she got back and the dormitory building was locked, so she had to go home instead,” a girl in Tan Mo’s circle voiced out.
It was getting more crowded in Tan Mo’s circle.
“Why didn’t Qin Muye go along with Tan Mo to the apartment?” someone in the crowd on the other side murmured a question.
However, there was no need for Tan Mo’s explanation. Someone replied, “He already said that the house has been unoccupied for a long time. Tan Mo going there alone would’ve been bearable, but adding another person in? That would probably be more suffering than resting!”
Qin Muye’s dormmate said, “Our first cla.s.s on the next day was much later, so she didn’t have to rush here first thing in the morning. That was why Qin Muye could afford to go home and come back here a little later in the day.”
Another guy said, “Ming Yeqing didn’t come back either and went straight home. Besides, Ming Yeqing, Qin Muye, and Tan Mo are close buddies. The three of them have always been inseparable.”
That aside, no one dared to start a rumor about Qin Muye and Ming Yeqing.
The two of them had not returned to school on the same night.
If they had been anybody else, a rumor would have definitely started about something happening between them.
After confirming that it was Wei Zhiqian’s car, everyone had nothing else to say.
Tan Mo had always referred to Wei Zhiqian as her uncle ever since she first enrolled as a freshman.
Back when he was still in military training, Wei Zhiqian had sent someone to serve chilled drinks to the entire cla.s.s in the Department of Finance.
Since then, everyone had known that Tan Mo and Wei Zhiqian had a very close relations.h.i.+p.
Apart from that, Tan Mo had also been calling him her uncle since the age of six.
Probably because it had been a habit for so many years, but even the students at Beijing University had become accustomed to it.
They had long forgotten that Wei Zhiqian was not actually related to Tan Mo. The mere mention of their names together…
It brought to mind an innocent image of an uncle and a niece.
From the eyes of her cla.s.smates, Wei Zhiqian was just an adult in Tan Mo’s family who had come to speak up for her and show her support.
Wei Zhiqian did not need all the students in the school to be here.
Having those present going back to their friends and sharing about what happened was more than enough.
“Although the situation has now been clarified, the person who started the thread is still harboring malicious intent toward Tan Mo, and we must get to the bottom of it,” Wei Zhiqian said coldly. “Not only the original poster, but also those who agreed with the post and threw shade in the comments with their vulgar insults.”
Wei Zhiqian’s cold gaze swept across all the students who were present, including the person standing next to Tan Mo as his way of expressing support for her.