“What happened to your hand?” asked Gu Ning with concern.
“We can talk about it later. Now let’s focus on your problem,” said Zhang Zikai. She cared more about the drama Gu Ning was involved in right now.
Because she was injured and lost her phone, she lost Gu Ning’s number. Therefore, she couldn’t contact Gu Ning.
To her surprise, once she came to the school today, she heard the news about Gu Ning and was full of anger.
“Sure.” Gu Ning didn’t ask further about it for now.
Rong Zechen definitely knew Zhang Zikai, but he didn’t expect that Gu Ning also knew her.
Although the Zhang family wasn’t as influential as the Rong family and it was only a second-rate family of power while the Rong family was a top family of power, Zhang Zikai’s grandfather was from another top family of power.
There was a little gap between their families, but Zhang Zikai wasn’t afraid of the Rong family at all.
For the time being, neither the Zhang family nor Zhang Zikai’s maternal grandfather’s family, the Deng family, belonged to any faction of the four dominant families in the capital. Even though most families of power had already chosen a force to side with, about four tenths of the families of power still hadn’t.
The four dominant families were doing their best to draw them over to their own side, but they were unwilling to be involved in the politics competition.
Because they were unwilling to choose a force to side with, they were under pressure and encountered some difficulties, but it wasn’t serious.
After all, they weren’t weak, and it wasn’t easy to make them yield.
Besides, the four dominant families were competing against each other, so the other families would definitely stir things up once any of them had a problem. Therefore, they tried to draw other families of power to their own side more with bribery than coercion.
In addition to the four dominant families, those first-rate families of power were also ambitious. As a result, those who hadn’t chosen to side with any of them were ready to build their own force.
Although no one said anything aloud to support Zhang Zikai, their expressions showed everything, which made Rong Zechen feel quite embarrassed.
If he apologized now, he would be humiliated in public. However, if he ran away, his reputation would be greatly damaged.
“You…” Wei Chuanxun tried to defend Rong Zechen, because he felt that everyone was forcing Rong Zechen to apologize to Gu Ning.
“Chuanxun.” Before Wei Chuanxun could finish, Rong Zechen stopped him. He was dissatisfied that Wei Chuanxun interrupted them.
He knew that Wei Chuanxun was trying to defend him, but he had indeed brought trouble to Gu Ning. If he didn’t apologize right now, he might have to face a worse situation in the future.
Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, Rong Zechen suppressed his reluctance and apologized to Gu Ning. “I’m sorry, Gu Ning.”
“I accept your apology. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, we can be strangers from now on,” said Gu Ning. Before Rong Zechen could reply to her, she walked away with her friends.
Onlookers also left one after another.
“Zechen, the girl named Gu Ning is too unkind. You tried to protect her, but she doesn’t cherish your kindness at all,” said Wei Chuanxun in annoyance.
“You can go to have a meal on your own. I don’t have an appetite now.” After going through what had happened just now, Rong Zechen lost his appetite. He didn’t want to see Gu Ning in the canteen again.
“Zechen…” Wei Chuanxun wanted to stop Rong Zechen from leaving, but another two boys stopped him.
“Let him be alone for a while,” said a boy.
Hearing that, Wei Chuanxun didn’t follow Rong Zechen, and they went to the canteen together.
“Gu Ning has no regard for Zechen’s reputation!” Wei Chuanxun kept on complaining.
“Chuanxun, actually I don’t agree with you on that. Although Zechen went to question Yuan Shuyan for Gu Ning’s good. It’s his own decision without her agreement after all. It has nothing to do with Gu Ning, but Gu Ning has to carry the blame in the end. She’s the victim, while Zechen has caused the trouble for her, so Zechen should apologize,” said Boy A.
Hearing that, Wei Chuanxun frowned. In fact, he was aware of that as well, but he chose to side with Rong Zechen because Rong Zechen was his close brother. Moreover, he needed to form a good relationship with Rong Zechen too, so he defended Rong Zechen for no reason.
In that case, once he saw Gu Ning’s bad attitude towards Rong Zechen, he was angry at her. Whether Rong Zechen was right or not, he blamed Gu Ning for everything.
“Right, a girl’s reputation matters a lot, and Gu Ning is also a celebrity. Her reputation is even more important. If it’s damaged, her businesses might also be affected. It’s understandable that she’s mad. There are so many employees relying on her to make a living!” Boy B said, “Most importantly, she’s the victim.”
Hearing that, Wei Chuanxun closed his mouth.
Boy A and Boy B never liked Wei Chuanxun’s behavior, but they were all Rong Zechen’s friends, so they normally wouldn’t say anything as long as they weren’t involved.
Wei Chuanxun was selfish and only cared about his own benefits and feelings after all.
…
When Gu Ning and her friends left, she introduced Song Miaoge, Baili Zongxue, and Zhang Zikai to one another.
Song Miaoge and Zhang Zikai were both members of the high society, but they didn’t know each other until now. Song Miaoge stayed in the military camp most of her time, so she only knew a few people of the high society.
Gu Ning only told them their names without introducing their family background. After all, they were making friends so they didn’t care about their friends’ family background.
Gu Ning was aware that Zhang Zikai’s family couldn’t be ordinary, but she didn’t know much about it. She didn’t bother to ask about it either.
After exchanging greetings, Gu Ning asked Zhang Zikai, “What happened to you?”
Hearing that, Zhang Zikai showed obvious anger on her face. “A few days before enrollment, my father took me and my mother to City Bao to attend the wedding of a friend of his. However, on our way back, we encountered a car accident and was hit by a large truck.
“Our car was knocked down into a river. Fortunately, we were rescued in time, so there was no big problem. My injuries were slightly more serious. I suffered a mild concussion and my hand was fractured, so I had to stay in the hospital for half a month. I was discharged afterwards and had to rest for a week at home. I’m fine now, so I came to school.
“However, because I was knocked into the water, I lost my phone. I couldn’t contact you either. I heard from my father that the car crash isn’t an accident, but a scheme. He didn’t tell me details, so I don’t know much about it.”
Zhang Zikai didn’t bother to keep the truth a secret from Gu Ning, because she took Gu Ning as her friend. Anyway, she didn’t know any details.
