Chapter 33: Things have blown up! Let’s see how you get yourself out of this mess.

Only after her father’s reprimand did Chang Lu realize the gravity of the situation.

That’s right! The "Peking University Top Student Seminar." The core reason it had become such a sensation was the very gimmick of being a "Peking University Top Student."

Chang Lu had heard Xue Xiaoshan mention that Huo Qitai had spent an entire week at an internet cafe compiling study notes. But no matter how impressive or useful those notes might be, without an authentic Peking University student present to headline the event, it was, as her father put it, nothing short of fraud.

"Once this is exposed, Huo Qitai and Xue Xiaoshan will be guilty of massive fraud. Over a million yuan! That’s enough to keep them locked up for over a decade," Chang Fuyou said, his face grim as he took a drag from his cigarette.

"Ah? Dad! What should we do? You have to find a way to save Qitai! How about we stop selling tickets tomorrow? We can just give up on the money. We can even buy back the tickets we’ve already sent out. Can we do that? I don’t want Huo Qitai to go to jail," Chang Lu pleaded, biting her lip and shaking her father’s arm in a panic.

"It’s too late. It’s not just Huo Qitai now; our hotel is tied up in this as well, and we’re in a position where we can’t easily get off the tiger’s back. The tickets for tomorrow must be sold; I’ve already given my word to the municipal authorities. Now, we can only try to solve the root of the problem regarding the seminar. Lulu, stop crying! Dad will find a solution. And for now, don’t mention these consequences to Huo Qitai and the others; we don't want them to get scared and end up revealing even more flaws."

"Okay, okay! Dad, you must help Qitai."

Wiping away her tears, Chang Lu was filled with worry; it was destined to be a sleepless night.

...

Meanwhile, at Dynasty KTV in the city center, Chang Lu’s stepmother, Hu Xiuqing, was drinking and chatting with a group of friends in the most luxurious private room.

Hu Xiuqing raised her glass to apologize to her friend, Fang Ting: "Tingting, I’m truly sorry about the mid-year meeting for your company. However, let’s keep an eye on the situation. As I see it, as long as that little brat and her classmate don’t sell their tickets tomorrow, the seminar won’t be able to proceed. We can still go ahead with the original plan and give the conference room to your company the day after..."

But before she could finish, all the friends present suddenly grew excited.

"Manager Hu, what did you just say? Are tickets for that Peking University seminar actually on sale? How much are they? I want to buy ten!"

"Wow! Manager Hu, I was just wondering how to ask you for a few tickets! You have no idea—several of my relatives found out we were friends and have been pestering me to get them some!"

"With a seminar that popular, how could they not sell out? Manager Hu, why don’t you just hand the tickets over? We’ll buy them all up for you."

"Exactly! They’re already going for 15,000 yuan each on the black market. I personally know of two deals that went through, and there are still so many people with cash in hand who can't even get their hands on a ticket."

...

Hearing this, Hu Xiuqing was stunned, almost shrieking in disbelief: "How much? You’re saying they’ve been bid up to 15,000 each? Then they won’t have any trouble selling them at 999, right?"

"Only 999? They’ll be snapped up in seconds."

"Manager Hu, we’re good sisters—you have to save some tickets for us!"

...

A bewildered Hu Xiuqing listened to her friends for a long while before calling Wu Liangxing to verify the details. Only then did she truly realize how wildly popular the seminar was throughout Jian'an City. She had originally thought it was just a silly farce Chang Lu had cooked up, but they had actually turned it into a highly profitable business.

Thinking of this, Hu Xiuqing gritted her teeth in frustration. This had certainly made Chang Lu the center of attention.

"Wait! Something’s not right..."

Hu Xiuqing, who had been gnashing her teeth, suddenly broke into a joyful expression and clapped her hands. "Haha! The bigger the mess, the better! The more chaotic it gets, the more I want to see how you’ll clean it up. Where will you find a real Peking University student to lead the seminar? This is fraud! It’s absolutely fraud!"

...

With the seminar causing such a stir, Wang Yuanhua, the principal of Jian'an No. 1 High School, was also bombarded with calls from people wanting tickets. However, he was completely in the dark about the event. After making inquiries, he discovered it was organized by Chang Lu, the daughter of the general manager of the Fortune Glory Hotel, along with Huo Qitai and Xue Xiaoshan.

"The only student from our school who met the cutoff for Peking University this year is Liu Rumeng. I heard from some teachers that she’s dating Huo Qitai. Could it be that Huo Qitai is hosting this seminar with her to share study experiences? This is too much! It’s one thing not to hold it at the school, but to not even inform me, the principal?"

The more Principal Wang thought about it, the angrier he became. He immediately looked up the number Liu Rumeng had left at the school and dialed it. However, the phone was currently being used by Liu Ruyu. When she received the call, she was just as confused as he was, as she had been driving along the coast with Vivian for the past few days, planning to tour the entire Fujian Province. She knew nothing about what was happening in Jian'an.

"What’s wrong? Is it about Rumeng and that Huo Qitai again?" Vivian, who had been eavesdropping nearby, asked curiously.

Liu Ruyu explained the truth as she had learned it from the principal, prompting Vivian to exclaim, "Huo Qitai is quite clever! He actually thought of hosting a seminar to make money, and it looks like he could make over a million! He’ll surely be a great businessman in the future."

After she finished, Vivian noticed Liu Ruyu was silent and realized something was off. "Wait! It’s a Peking University student seminar... Rumeng, is he using your name to make money?"

Liu Ruyu’s expression was complex. Just then, her phone rang again; it was her classmate, Zhang Ting.

"Rumeng! The seminar Huo Qitai and Chang Lu are holding at the Fortune Glory Hotel is meant for you to share your experiences, right? Can you help me get some tickets? My younger siblings want to go! How about I come to your place tomorrow to pick them up?"

The background on Zhang Ting’s end was noisy; she was singing karaoke with classmates like Lü Xiqing. Hearing about the seminar again, Liu Ruyu felt a wave of repulsion. "It’s not my seminar, and I don’t have any tickets. I’m out of town with a friend. Goodbye!"

After being hung up on, Zhang Ting didn’t feel offended at all. Instead, she triumphantly boasted to Lü Xiqing and the others: "See? I told you! Rumeng and Huo Qitai have broken up, it’s completely over—why would she help him make money? Huo Qitai and Chang Lu are just putting on a show to commit fraud! They’re probably just using Rumeng’s admission to Peking University to scam people. I was actually worried for a second that Rumeng had gone soft and gotten back together with him!"

"No way! Huo Qitai is so shameless and despicable to use Rumeng’s reputation after they’ve already broken up. We have to go and expose him."

Lü Xiqing nodded. "When I went to the internet cafe to find Huo Qitai the other day, I saw him organizing study notes. I thought he was using them to study for a retake, but I never expected he’d use them to impersonate Liu Rumeng’s Peking University notes and sell them for money."

The other boys, who were essentially Zhang Ting’s sycophants and had always disliked Huo Qitai, immediately chimed in.

"Tingting, let’s go and expose Huo Qitai on the day of the seminar."

"Exactly! The seminar is such a big deal now; I want to see how Huo Qitai manages to clean up this mess."

"We must reveal Huo Qitai’s ugly face so the class monitor can see exactly what kind of lowlife she used to like."