Chapter 6 A Conflict

Caroline hadn't actually intended to go to the internet cafe, but since she had already walked all the way there, she entered it. Once she opened the browser, she habitually logged into the forum of her university. The top post today had more than a whopping 500 comments on it.

The title of the post was "Come and See the Slut." Out of curiosity, Caroline clicked on it. But as soon as she read the content of the post, she was pissed off.

The writer of the post had named Caroline as a slut, saying that she had hooked up with several boys, even boys who had girlfriends. The writer had also attached a few photos of Caroline, including the photos of her wearing a cheongsam with the etiquette team.

The writer had even gone so far as to list out the boys who had a good relationship with Caroline. One of the boys on the list was Blake. After reading the whole post, Caroline was sure that it must have been written by Mae.

Fortunately, Caroline was quite popular. Before the writer of the post could completely vent her anger, furious responses came rolling in from people who were on Caroline's side.

Nevertheless, Caroline couldn't help fuming. It was the first time that she had been scolded by someone like this publicly. 'Does she think she can do whatever she wants?' she wondered. Just when she was about to fire back with a fierce response, she found that the post had been deleted.

Caroline immediately took out her phone and called Daryl Zhao. "Daryl, did you delete that post about me?"

Daryl Zhao was the current president of the student union of the normal university, and he was a year younger than Caroline. Caroline thought of Daryl Zhao as a good friend, so she always talked to him in a casual way.

Hearing her question, Daryl Zhao smiled bitterly and said, "You already saw the post? I found out about it while I was in class. I rushed back and deleted it as soon as the class was over, but you still saw it."

"Tell me, who wrote it?" Caroline asked angrily.

By now, her voice was so loud that almost everyone in the internet cafe looked at her. However, she didn't care what others thought of her at all.

"It doesn't matter. I'm in charge of the university forum. If you feel angry about the post, you can take it out on me," Daryl Zhao replied, trying to calm her down.

"Don't change the topic! I'm asking you who wrote the post. Was it Mae?" Caroline snapped.

"I can only find the IP address that the post came from. I can't find out who it is. Besides, even if it was Mae, what do you want to do about it? I already deleted the post. It didn't cause any impact."

"There were more than 500 comments on it, and you're saying it's not a big deal?" Caroline cursed as she walked out of the cafe.

Many of the customers in the internet cafe were students from the normal university, and had also seen the post on the forum. When they overheard Caroline's conversation, they began gossiping among themselves.

Caroline stormed back to her dormitory room in a fit of anger. Her three roommates were all there. Kristi was reading something on her computer, while Shelia and Mae were discussing about clothes with a fashion magazine in their hands. The three of them were taken aback when the door swung open with a bang.

"Who dumped you? Whoever it was, don't vent your anger on our door," Mae sneered.

If this was her previous life, Caroline would have slapped her first. However, she had lived for fifty years, so she gritted her teeth and suppressed her instinct to fight.

"Have you been surfing the internet this whole time?" Caroline asked Kristi while glancing at Mae.

Kristi didn't know what was going on, so she blankly replied, "I just came back. I have watched the debate competition. You looked gorgeous in that cheongsam today!"

Caroline was not in the mood to receive compliments. "Then who used your computer before you came back?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"It's none of your business! It's Kristi's computer, not yours," Mae interjected all of a sudden.

"Why are you farting out of your mouth? Just shut up!" Caroline snapped at her.

Mae couldn't bear being scolded like this, so she immediately stood up and shouted at Caroline. "You shameless slut! You only know how to seduce men all day long!" She opened her mouth to continue, but all that came out was a scream.

Caroline had kicked her right on the stomach, causing her back to hit the smooth tiles of their floor and slip out to the corridor because of the inertia. The girls passing by in the corridor were all shocked. Everyone knew how Caroline had earned the nickname "beautiful dinosaur" long ago, but this was the first time that they were seeing it in person.

An hour later, in the office of the vice principal of the normal university, Daryl Zhao, the teacher in the student management office, the dormitory management teacher, and their head teacher all sat around facing Caroline, who was sitting on the sofa in the front with displeasure on her face.

"No matter what the reason is, it's wrong for you to hit another student. Now that Mae is in hospital, shouldn't you apologize?" the vice-principal said.

"Why should I apologize? She slandered me on the university forum. There were more than 500 comments on that post! She should just be grateful that I'm not suing her! Why should I apologize to her?" Caroline retorted.

"Come on, it's just an online post. How can you get so angry about it?" the vice-principal asked.

She was about to reply when she realized that the year was 2006, when the laws concerning the internet were still imperfect. People didn't need to take responsibility if they slandered others online. It seemed that she had miscalculated the situation.

Nevertheless, she said, "I won't apologize. Even if I have to apologize, she should apologize to me first!"

"You're the one who is going to be punished for hitting her. That will end up on your record, you know. It will be hard for you to get a job in the future," the teacher pointed out.

"I don't care!" Caroline said.

She hadn't had a job in her previous life, but she had still led a normal life. However, she conveniently forgot that she had had Edwin to support her then.

"Caroline, we're saying this for your own good. Don't be so stubborn," Daryl Zhao persuaded.

"No way! If I apologize this time, what about next time? What should I do if she goes around saying things like this about me? Why can't I hit a bad person?" Caroline asked indignantly.

The dormitory management teacher finally spoke up. "Mae is in the hospital now, and she keeps complaining about how much her stomach hurts. Her parents will come tomorrow. If you don't apologize before that, things will get worse. We will have to get your parents involved too. It's not worth it."

"She said her stomach hurts, but do you know if it really hurts? The doctor's examination result is more reliable than her words, right? All I did was kick her. Why is everyone acting like I kicked her into infertility? Why didn't I know that I have that special ability?"

The people in the room were rendered speechless. Caroline was so stubborn and self-righteous that they didn't know what to do.

The awkward silence was interrupted by a knock on the door. The vice-principal anxiously rubbed his forehead, wondering what was the matter this time. "Come in!" he snapped.

Edwin walked in with a stack of forms and cast a glance at Caroline. Caroline glared back at him and thought, 'What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a beautiful dinosaur?'

As soon as the vice-principal saw that it was Edwin who came in, his face softened. He stood up with a kind smile and asked, "Edwin, what's the matter?"

"Mr. Du, I need your help. I need a hundred PE students to do a physical examination. Can you find me some suitable students, Mr. Du?" Edwin asked politely.

"That's easy!" Mr. Du readily agreed to Edwin's request. He took over the stack of forms in Edwin's hands and told him that the PE students would be ready tomorrow.