Chapter 14 Losing the Funds

• Crossed at Ji Youyou’s humming and hawing, Tang Yin turned and walked away.
• “Because I lost all the money…”
• Tang Yin paused and looked at Ji Youyou in surprise. “What do you mean?”
• Ji Youyou hugged her knees and sobbed. “I don’t know how it happened, but I lost the funds of both the class and the Student Association!”
• Stunned, Tang Yin only managed to recollect himself after a while.
• Ji Youyou wasn’t the prettiest gal, but her grades had always been good, not to mention that she was one of the class heads, and had joined the Student Association very early on. Tang Yin could never have imagined that she would actually lose both the Student Association and the class’ funds.
• Tang Yin hastily opened the chat app on his phone and saw that the class group chat had exploded with angry and accusing messages.
• “Ji Youyou didn’t lose the money, she spent it all!”
• “It’s not just her face that’s ugly, her heart is too!”
• “She must be insane from poverty, otherwise she wouldn’t have spent every single cent of the Student Association's funds! She’s not fit to be in the Student Association!”
• Tang Yin’s face turned as black as thunder when he read the messages. He might not have been close to Ji Youyou, but he knew that she wasn’t a bad person, at least not like how the comments insinuated her to be.
• It was most likely true that she’d actually lost the funds.
• “Enough. Isn’t it just a little bit of money? Do you really need to insult her like that over it?” Tang Yin interjected in the group chat.
• “Wow! Look what Tang Yin is saying! Just a little bit of money?”
• “A brokea** like him says that it’s just a little bit of money! Is the annual pay of a waiter like him anywhere near the association’s budget?”
• “Hahaha. What did I just see?! Tang Yin, that beggar, actually says that 20,000 is just a small sum?!”
• The group chat went into an uproar over Tang Yin’s message.
• Tang Yin’s face grew darker as he read the group chat and his heart sank. They were all from the same class; did they really think that they were a cut above? Was that why they didn’t hesitate to hurt and insult him and Ji Youyou?
• “Tang Yin, why don’t you come up with the money since it’s just a small sum? Hahaha…”
• Disgust welled up within Tang Yin as he read the last message which was left by the class monitor, Lin Chenfeng.
• Lin Chenfeng came from a family of some means that apparently had assets within Wuhan in which their whole class knew about since he took every chance to show off his family’s wealth as if afraid that they wouldn’t know about it otherwise. The worst thing was, the jerk didn’t just turn his nose up at everyone, he had to trample on them just to emphasize his superiority.
• “Exactly! Tang Yin, if you care so much about her, why don’t you come up with the money? Maybe then we’ll respect you!”
• “A girl like Ji Youyou probably hasn’t seen that much money in her life, it’s only to be expected that she couldn’t stop herself from spending it all!”
• Animosity grew within Tang Yin’s eyes and he took a deep breath before typing. “The money hasn’t been spent at all! It’s all with me. Ji Youyou entrusted it to me since she hasn’t been feeling well lately.”
• With that, Tang Yin put down his phone. “Everything’s gonna be alright, it's just money after all. If it’s lost, just replace it!”
• Ji Youyou sobbed hysterically. “I-I don't have that kind of money! 20,000! How do I pay back that amount?!”
• “Even so, you shouldn’t resort to committing suicide, right?” Tang Yin smiled gently at her and pulled her arm. “Anything that could be settled with money isn’t really an issue at all!”
• Ji Youyou shook her head. “Things that could only be settled with money are serious issues!”
• Tang Yin was speechless for a moment, unsure as to how to counsel her. “How about this? I’ll lend you 20,000 to replace the money, but you’ll need to give it back to me when you get the scholarship later this year.”
• Ji Youyou paused and lifted her head, exposing the tears on her cheeks and the redness in her eyes.
• Tang Yin smiled before freezing on the spot. He saw some of the zits on her face peeling off. Like a membranous layer of what looked like dead skin, they were just hanging there limply.
• The zits and acne on Ji Youyou’s face were all fake?!
• Tang Yin could see that the skin beneath her fake zits and acne was as pink and fair as a baby’s.
• This girl was actually pretending to be ugly?!
• “Huh?” Ji Youyou appeared to have noticed that something was amiss and let out a shrill cry of surprise, clasping her hands back to her face.
• Tang Yin smiled wryly. “Come on, let’s talk about it when we get back. I remember that your grades are pretty good, so it shouldn’t be an issue for you to get the scholarship this year, right?”
• “B-But, where did you get so much money?” Ji Youyou stood up while pressing her hands to her face and asked in a small voice.
• “I picked up a wallet a few days ago and there was a ton of money in there. I gave it back, and the owner gave me 100,000 as a token of his gratitude!” Tang Yin thought quickly and put forth the story with a cheeky smile. “The 100,000 may be a huge sum, but you’ll still need to return the 20,000 with your scholarship money.”
• Ji Youyou glanced at Tang Yin with guilt in her eyes.
• Tang Yin didn’t say anything else; he could lend the money to Ji Youyou, but he wouldn't let it make her feel as if she'd stumbled into a windfall. Thinking like that could take root and once formed, it would be difficult to get rid of.
• Just then, his phone vibrated with an incoming call.
• Tang Yin took the call, only to hear Ding Xuan’s voice on the other side.
• “Tang Yin, are you mad?! Everyone knows that the money was stolen from Ji Youyou, so what do you think you’re doing when you say that the money is with you?!”
• “It’s alright. I’ll talk to you about it when I get back.” Tang Yin wasn't willing to divulge anything.
• “Don’t hang up on me yet! I won’t stop you if you’re willing to help Ji Youyou with this issue, but there’s something that I need to tell you. Someone came by the college to look for Chen Wei earlier, saying that they wanted to know more about the wallet you picked up…” Ding Xuan hastily filled Tang Yin in.
• Tang Yin was taken aback for a moment. “To know more about the wallet? Who was it that looked for Chen Wei?”
• “I'm not sure, but I think that it's someone from the university’s security team. You should probably ask him about it when you get back!”
• Tang Yin nodded as his brows wrinkled slightly.
• What is going on?
• “And I suspect that that brat, Chen Wei, may have sold us out…” Ding Xuan lowered his voice and said.
• “Okay, I understand,” Tang Yin replied before hanging up abruptly.
• Tang Yin had only mentioned picking up a wallet when he was with his roommates at Orchid Restaurant. Though, Ruan Qin had later sent him a WeChat message demanding an explanation from him that night itself. Tang Yin had suspected something was amiss at the time, but he'd let it go because he'd thought that he and his roommates were all brothers at heart. Yet, such a thing happened instead.
• Tang Yin walked her to the university’s gates before stopping and asking, “Can you go home on your own?”
• Ji Youyou nodded even as she felt conflicted within.
• “Relax. I’ll replace the money for you tomorrow,and you don’t need to worry about the rest either. Just study hard,” Tang Yin comforted her and gave her a reassuring look.
• Ji Youyou nodded, looking forlorn. “Tang Yin, can you do me a favor? Please?”
• Tang Yin had just turned around when he heard Ji Youyou's plea. “What is it?”