Chapter 130 - 130 Borrowing an Account

130 Borrowing an Account

“Tell me the truth,” Qiao Yu looked at Qiao Yue with interest.

After reading so much, Qiao Yu was no longer depressed about Qiao Yue hiding things from him. Instead, he wanted to know what other secrets Qiao Yue was hiding.

Qiao Yue rolled her eyes but clutched her wound, whimpering. Qiao Yu shot her a smile. “The monk may flee, but the temple will remain. Even if I don’t tell you today, you’ll still learn the truth sooner or later.”

“Besides,” Qiao Yue began, almost exasperatedly, “There’s nothing in it for me. Why should I reveal anything?”

Qiao Yu quirked a brow. If anyone else had said that, he would have been fine even if they chose not to tell him what he wanted to know. But this was Qiao Yue. How could he allow her to hold so many secrets from him? Qiao Yu vowed he would dig up as many as he could.

“Benefits? What do you want?” Qiao Yu countered.

“Let’s see… How about you lend me your school forum account to tinker with?” Qiao Yue giggled.

“No,” Qiao Yu retorted before he could process his words.

“Why not?” This time, it was Qiao Yue’s turn to ask.

Qiao Yu frowned. “Managing the school forum account is part of the Student Council’s responsibilities. I can’t let just anyone use it. Why would you want to borrow it, anyway?”

Seeing how serious Qiao Yu was, Qiao Yue sighed and thought things were over. However, Qiao Yu’s tone changed, and he continued, “That being said if I’m present while you use it, I can allow you to take a peek.”

Although Qiao Yu’s suggestion was an open compromise that moved her, she was wary he would be drawn into conflict if some people were to learn she was trying to find out more about her mother.

While Qiao Yue was lost in thought, Qiao Yu spoke up. “What do you think?”

“I’ll… go with your suggestion.” Qiao Yue could sense that Qiao Yu was on the verge of backing out, so she hastily agreed.

“Since you’ve agreed, you’ll need to keep your end of the bargain!” Qiao Yu refused to allow Qiao Yue to weasel her way out of their agreement.

Qiao Yue sighed and began recounting her sad past gaming with Zhou Lan. They mostly coincided with what Qiao Yu had learned, save for a few details here and there.

“You practised all the different roles because of her?” Qiao Yu asked in disbelief.

Qiao Yue nodded, recalling the terrifying memory of Zhou Lan’s gameplay.

“Amazing! Is it someone you like?” Qiao Yu sighed dramatically.

Qiao Yue paled. Somehow she felt violently offended by the suggestion.

Qiao Yu regarded Qiao Yue curiously. Nothing he had heard from his second or third brother was true. From what he could piece together, Qiao Yue grew up with a silver spoon, albeit in a dangerous environment. It was a paradox to Qiao Yu. Qiao Yue did not sound capable of running a criminal enterprise, so where had she been all these years?

Qiao Yu’s sudden silence caught Qiao Yue’s attention, and she looked at him expectantly.

“What’s wrong?” Qiao Yue asked.

“It’s nothing. I’m just tired after our few matches. Would you like to look at the forums now?”

Qiao Yu had probably guessed that she wanted to investigate something, but she went with the flow. Getting up was a chore, with pain flaring in her ribs.

Meanwhile, Qiao Yu opened the webpage for the school forum, entering his password discreetly. As she expected, the interface was vastly different from the one she had seen on her phone.

“The red ones are deleted posts.” Sitting in his wheelchair, Qiao Yu slid to Qiao Yue’s bedside and highlighted those things.

A quick scan informed Qiao Yue that many posts were deleted daily. Some were deleted by the original poster, while others were by the management. Many more were sent and deleted because of mistakes. Only a select few deliberately stirred up trouble. After scrolling through a few pages, Qiao Yue jumped to the end.

“Are you looking for posts about your mother?”

She expected no less from someone who helmed the Student Council. Qiao Yu connected the dots quite quickly. From a few disjointed pieces of information, he solved what Qiao Yue was looking for on the school forum.

Since the cat was out of the bag, Qiao Yue did not hide her motives, nodding in response to her Fourth Brother’s question. Originally, she didn’t want the Qiao family to know why she was investigating her mother because she was afraid someone would interfere. If she desperately denied her motives, there was a chance she would lose valuable information regarding her mother.

The forum archives were vast. Qiao Yue leafed through posts from students several batches before theirs. Her mother had gone to the school some 20-odd years ago. She was probably the third batch of students to graduate from the school, just around the time the school forums were first established.

To her surprise, very few posts, deleted or otherwise, remained in the school database. It was abnormal. Wouldn’t the inception of the new forums be the time when they were most lively? Yet, why couldn’t she find anything relating to her mother?

Qiao Yu noticed Qiao Yue’s confusion and explained, “There are some things not even the Student Council have access to, and only the principal or members of the board of governors may inspect.”

Qiao Yue frowned. Was Qiao Yu trying to say this was a dead-end?