I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

Lu Qingxuan was a little annoyed. What was with all this talk of seniors and juniors?

After a while, she realized that Miao Aoxue had misunderstood. She thought that Lu Qingxuan and Chen Ya had become a couple and that she had come to ask her for advice on relationship matters.

Lu Qingxuan didn't want to correct her, so she asked directly, "What exactly happened back then when Peking University's 'Weiming' journal was contested for publication? Do you know? Why did Chen Ya publish so many poems and articles?"

Miao Aoxue was slightly surprised; she hadn't expected to be asked about events from several years ago. However, she still answered:

"The controversy surrounding the publication of 'Unknown' caused a sensation at the school back then. To be honest, many students at the time knew about it, so why ask me?"

"Well, it just so happens that I have your phone number."

“Heh,” Miao Aoxue chuckled softly, “The so-called ‘Wang Ming’ competition for space was when many talented Chinese literature students got together to fight for a spot in the magazine, because that issue was the 520th, and everyone wanted to take up more space.”

Lu Qingxuan switched her phone to speakerphone. Hearing Miao Aoxue's words, her eyes became eager, and she pressed for an answer: "And then?"

"Then, unexpectedly, all the space was taken over by a junior librarian!" Miao Aoxue said, a smile curving her lips. "I have to say, he was quite handsome back then."

Upon hearing this, the Witch Lord gasped for breath and almost swore.

What does it mean to be "a little handsome"?

To be able to write so many masterpieces is simply amazing!

Lu Qingxuan asked, "So, is that all?"

"What else would you like to know?"

Lu Qingxuan organized her thoughts: "As far as I know, Chen Ya is not the kind of person who would do such pointless things for no reason. I don't think he would do such meaningless rivalry. He always does things with a purpose."

"Hmph, it seems you know him quite well." Miao Aoxue smiled. "Then I'll tell you. The reason he did that was because I posted on the school forum that I would randomly select one author from all those who published articles in issue 520 of the 'Unknown' magazine for a date."

Chapter 273 Dating All the Girls in School?

"Huh? You said you're going to randomly pick a date?? You?"

Upon hearing this answer, Lu Qingxuan was immediately shocked.

She wasn't shocked by the bet itself; she was shocked by—

Is it really possible that people would rush to submit their work in order to go on a date with Miao Aoxue?

Are you blind?

Moreover, how could Chen Ya possibly handwrite over a hundred articles and submit them to a magazine just for Miao Aoxue?

Was it because he was young and naive and had never seen a woman before? Or was he bewitched and manipulated by Miao Aoxue?

It's just a date, why rush forward as if you're afraid of missing a good opportunity?

If you had just said you wanted to go on a date with a girl earlier, you wouldn't have gone through all this trouble. If you had just said a few nice words to me, I definitely would have said yes, okay?

Lu Qingxuan's first reaction completely disregarded Miao Aoxue's feelings; this undisguised contempt deeply hurt the other party.

"Me? What about me? You don't believe the controversy is because of me, do you?" Miao Aoxue said in a shrill voice, "I was, after all, the campus belle of Peking University back in the day!"

Xia Yingji and the others turned their gaze to Liu Ruying—now, it was she who had inherited the title of school beauty. They wondered what she would think upon hearing Miao Aoxue's words.

"Back then, many boys competed to submit articles to 'Weiming' magazine just for me. Boys have always been like that; when they get competitive, they lose their minds," Miao Aoxue said with a smile, as if recalling a glorious past, her face glowing with pride.

Lu Qingxuan carefully considered her words before saying, "So, Miao, did you make this announcement to incite jealousy among the boys?"

She left half a sentence unsaid—"This has a bit of a green tea vibe to it."

Miao Aoxue understood her implied meaning and immediately said:

"Of course not! I wasn't the only one who did it back then... Anyway, there was a reason, it's a long story."

"What's the reason? Explain in detail?"

“Actually, our Peking University magazine, ‘Weiming,’ had a very small influence at the beginning… well, it’s not that big now either,” Miao Aoxue said. “The school’s printing plant is pitifully small, so the president of the school magazine is always complaining about insufficient funding, which is common knowledge in the school.”

After listening, the Witch Lord nodded thoughtfully.

Due to historical reasons, the early "Weiming" was one of the standard-bearers' strongholds, holding significant historical importance and an influence far exceeding that of a mere school magazine. Later, as times changed, "Weiming" gradually returned to its original role as a school magazine and lost its considerable influence.

The print run of the magazine "Weiming" has always been very small, less than a thousand copies. It is said that in the past, it was indeed difficult to sell. Of the thousand copies that were produced, about five hundred would be donated to libraries.

For some reason, the school magazine is selling very well now, and the publishing house has balanced its income and expenses, so it has plenty of funding.

Sometimes even the Witch Master would wonder, in this era of declining print media, with so many newspapers relying on quotas, how could such a small publication like "Weiming" be so popular, with all the articles submitted by students from within the school?

Miao Aoxue continued, "In my year, the president of the school magazine was Shi Chuan Dong. You should know that he later became the founder of Beichen."

Lu Qingxuan said, "He can be considered a legendary figure." Wu Zun and the others from Eagle's Nest nodded frantically behind him.

Miao Aoxue said, "Shi Chuan Dong is so cute. He goes around begging people to submit his work. I don't know which girl took pity on him and joked that when the school magazine reaches issue 520, she will randomly pick an author from it for a date."

"Which girl isn't you?"

“It wasn’t me. It was someone else. I don’t know exactly who it was, because many people later claimed to be the first,” Miao Aoxue said.

At this point, Lu Qingxuan suddenly realized what was going on.

She asked, "So, you're just following the trend, right?"

"If we're talking about following the trend, everyone was following the trend. It's actually become a meme. I feel that at least half of the girls at Peking University participated in this bet. Half of the girls said they would draw someone to go on a date in the 520th issue of 'Weiming' magazine."

After hearing this, Lu Qingxuan turned around and exchanged glances with Liu Ruying, Wu Zun, and the others.

Could it be that Chen Ya actually wants to monopolize half of the female students at Peking University?

"So that means Chen Ya didn't submit the article for you. He did it for 'one' girl he cared about among the girls he promised to randomly select for dates with guys. Is that right?" Lu Qingxuan asked.

"I was terrified." Lu Qingxuan patted her chest. She almost fell for it; she almost thought Chen Ya had submitted the article out of anger because of Miao Aoxue.

“Maybe, who knows,” Miao Aoxue said. “At the time, everyone was just joking about it because when the meme first appeared, the 520th issue of ‘Weiming’ was still a long way off. When the 520th issue came out, the meme became popular again, and everyone started to panic.”

Lu Qingxuan asked, "I'm a little curious now. Chen Ya dominated the entire 520th issue. Did all the girls who promised to randomly select guys for dates actually date Chen Ya?"

“How could that be? There were thousands of girls at the time, how could they all date him?” Miao Aoxue said. “However, after issue 520 of ‘Weiming’ came out, Chen Ya was indeed very busy during that period, busy dealing with those girls.”

"That issue of 'Weiming' was wonderful. Many of its poems and memorable quotes became popular sayings on campus back then. Everyone was talking about Bai Yujing, but few people knew that Bai Yujing's real identity was actually a librarian."

"At the time, the search for Bai Yujing caused quite a stir at Kyoto University. Not only did the girls who had made the bet look for him, but the male students from the Chinese Literature Department who were not convinced also sought him out. After about a month, Ishikawa Takashi finally couldn't take it anymore and confessed, thus exposing his true identity."

"As a result, countless people almost wore out the library's doorstep. Chen Ya sat in the library, and every one or two minutes, a girl would come over and talk to him. No one could concentrate on studying in the library anymore."

"Among those girls, some made bets and were going to keep them, while others didn't make any bets at all and were just there to take advantage of the situation. Everyone admired his writing and became his fans... Later, he simply took sick leave to avoid those girls. After that illness, he never went back to the library."

As Lu Qingxuan and the others listened, they became quite engrossed.

After Miao Aoxue finished speaking, she asked in a daze, "So, he's never been on a date with a girl?"

“He didn’t reject them all,” Miao Aoxue said. “He did go out with a very few girls, and according to people’s observations, they were some of the prettiest girls in the entire Peking University. I was one of them.”

Lu Qingxuan's face immediately darkened.

He was handsome for only three seconds.

I initially thought he was a true hero who was indifferent to women, but it turns out he couldn't hide his true nature as a pervert.

She gave Chen Ya a look of disdain from afar.

“I have a feeling that he must have a goal, otherwise he wouldn’t have gone to such extremes,” Miao Aoxue speculated. “He wrote 100 poems and articles by hand. If it wasn’t to prevent his favorite goddess from dating other people, I don’t think anyone would be that crazy.”

Lu Qingxuan murmured, "Then who was he doing this for?"

She was asking Miao Aoxue, but she was also talking to herself.

Miao Aoxue said, "How would I know? I didn't hear about him getting together with any other girl after that. Anyway, I quickly lost interest in him. Even if he was after me, he had no chance."

"Excuse my frankness, but I think his target is not you."

"What, Miss Lu, you're looking down on someone again, aren't you?"

“This has nothing to do with whether he looks down on you or not,” Lu Qingxuan said, trying to maintain a smile. “If he wrote 100 excellent works back then just to get a chance to meet you, how could he be a stranger to you now?”

"you!?……"

A few days ago, after learning that Chen Ya was Jiang Lizhi's boss, Miao Aoxue hadn't left the house. Li Jiayi asked her about it several times, but no matter how she tried to coax her, she couldn't get her to leave.

She would never tell Li Jiayi that she was upset because she regretted not holding onto Chen Ya, this potential catch, and now she was filled with remorse.

Jiang Lizhi, the boss of the company, and the young master of the Xuanyuan Chamber of Commerce, would choose Chen Ya even if they had to pick him up ten thousand times. But she actually did something that was like picking up a sesame seed and losing a watermelon. How could she not regret it?

Lu Qingxuan's words hit her sore spot, causing her to lose her composure.

Si Chaoliang, Wu Zun, and Xia Yingji were squatting to the side, listening obediently to Lu Qingxuan's phone call, not daring to make a sound.

Hearing Lu Qingxuan mercilessly pierce Miao Aoxue's lungs, Si Chaoliang couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Such a strong attack..."

"right?"

“Is that right?” The Witch Lord turned and glanced at him. “That’s how the witch from the Lu family is.”

Miao Aoxue was initially quite agitated, but then a thought struck her, and she relaxed, picking at her fingernails and laughing:

"Hmph, Miss Lu, you seem quite pleased with yourself for laughing at me now, but in a few years, we'll see who's laughing at whom."

"What do you mean?"

"The Lu family can hardly be considered a great family anymore, right?" Miao Aoxue said leisurely. "My Li Jiayi, judging from the current situation, may not be as good as Jiang Lizhi's boss, but with the backing of the Xuanyuan Chamber of Commerce, she may not be much worse than the Lu family."

Her implication was that Lu Qingxuan had no right to mock her.

Lu Qingxuan raised her eyebrows and said, "The Lu family is the Lu family, and I am me. I was just mocking you for picking up a sesame seed and losing a watermelon. What does it have to do with the Lu family?"

"You... Humph!" Miao Aoxue's speech was not as fluent as Lu Qingxuan's, and she remained silent in anger.

Although Lu Qingxuan said those words, her momentum had weakened somewhat.

After all, Miao Aoxue had hit the nail on the head. The decline of the Lu family was like the setting sun, something everyone could see, and she simply couldn't refute it.

"Ms. Miao, there's another question. Since Chen Ya had so much inspiration and talent back then, why wasn't he famous?" Lu Qingxuan asked, frowning. "Do you know why?"

"Hmph." Miao Aoxue sneered.

“I talked to Chen Ya about this topic. Judging from his response, he didn’t know how to promote himself at all, nor did he know how to turn his talent into money. At that time, I thought he had no ambition at all, so I gave up on him.”

"But as it turns out, I misjudged him. He wasn't unambitious. So, as for why he wasn't famous back then, I don't know. All I know is that, given Chen Ya's personality, he wouldn't be moved in the slightest by your thorough investigation of his past, Miss Lu."

Lu Qingxuan's facial muscles twitched slightly, and she said, "You might have misunderstood something. I have no feelings for him."

"If I truly had no idea, why would I trouble you, Miss Lu, to condescend to ask such probing questions? After all, Miss Lu, you look down on me," Miao Aoxue said through gritted teeth. "You can investigate all you want. I don't know much more, and even if I did, I don't want to say anything. Bye!"

After saying that, he slammed down the phone, seemingly with a hint of revenge.

Lu Qingxuan wasn't quite "so angry she was practically fuming," but she was still a little annoyed.

It's embarrassing to be constantly assumed that I like Chen Ya.

Liu Ruying said from the side, "You shouldn't have mocked her. You've created a rift with her, and now there are no leads."

Xia Yingji looked up at her from the side and suddenly felt a deep respect for Liu Xiaohua—she actually dared to directly point out that the witch was doing something wrong.

Lu Qingxuan pouted and said, "It doesn't matter. If we're talking about clues, isn't this whole cabinet full of them? Why do we need to ask her? Besides, we don't need to dig deep to find out the truth. Who cares who he was for back then? He's a bachelor now."

When Lu Qianzi heard her say that, she felt a bit of a sense of spiritual victory, but then she suddenly felt happy and nodded in agreement: "Yes, they're all single."

“Indeed, knowing about this anecdote is enough. But the senior students back then were really something else, randomly picking people for dates.” Wu Zun nodded in agreement, his expression seemingly wishing he had been born back then.

"Stop talking nonsense and take a look here," Xia Yingji pulled out stacks of documents from the filing cabinet and put them on the table. "Let's look through them together. We've learned so much from just one magazine. If we thoroughly examine all of these, won't everything be clear?"

The idea was wonderful, but reality was harsh. Even after poring over countless documents, all you'd get was a pile of worn-out information; you wouldn't get the answer you wanted.

A group of people sat in the classroom at Eagle's Nest, flipping through the materials for an entire afternoon, but found nothing.

Most of those documents were meeting minutes and development logs from the first Eagle's Nest, written by the three Eagle's Nest heroes: Ishikawa Takashi, Dai Sijie, and Huang Yifan.

The meeting minutes were all focused on the issues discussed, with very little involvement in matters outside of those issues. The development log also contained many missing sections, presumably because it involved important business information, and some of the materials were taken away and not left in Eagle's Nest.

After searching all afternoon, the only useful information they obtained was that "besides the three heroes of Beichen, there was another founder who chaired every meeting but never took meeting minutes, so there was no handwriting and no name left."

This person even gave them the feeling that his status was even higher than that of the Three Heroes of Beichen. Moreover, in the notes of the Three Heroes, whenever this person was mentioned, he was referred to as "the leader".

Chapter 274 He has a very strong identity

"Reporting, boss! I've completed everything you instructed. May we dismiss now?"

Lu Qingxuan rolled her eyes at Lu Xiaojie, who was saluting her, and simply said, "Stop being silly." Then she put her handbag on the table.

Lu Yuanbao's family did not have any preference for sons over daughters, but the idea of ​​respecting elders and distinguishing between superiors and inferiors was deeply ingrained. Lu Xiaojie was raised by his older sister, Lu Qingxuan, who always held great authority in the family.

After sitting down, Lu Qingxuan sighed, grabbed the thermos from her handbag, took a sip of water, and Lu Xiaojie leaned over, looking her over from left to right, and said: