Ding ling ling ling ling
The final class bell rang at Changcheng No.1 High School.
“Wuhu! School’s out!”
The students scrambled to grab their bags and get ready to bolt.
“Wait, everyone! Quiet!” The homeroom teacher, Li laoshi, stood at the podium, raising her voice to try to quell the chaos in the classroom. “I’m not finished! There’s still an important announcement!”
Li laoshi was a woman in her forties, wearing purple glasses—a classic teacher, strict and serious.
The shuffling noises gradually died down, and the students looked up at their teacher on the podium with eyes full of resentment.
Li laoshi acted as though she hadn’t noticed their expressions, adjusted her glasses, and said sternly:
“Tonight at six o’clock, there will be a parent-teacher meeting for all third-year students. The main topics are to summarize this semester’s academic progress and emphasize the importance of the third year.”
“Every single one of you must make sure to notify your parents, and do your best to have them attend.”
Lin Wan unconsciously tightened her grip on the pen in her hand.
Her brother had promised he would come…
But now, whether or not her brother would show up wasn’t even the problem. There was an even bigger issue in front of her.
That was Qin Qing.
Lin Wan furrowed her brow, her gaze involuntarily shifting to Qin Qing beside her, who was lazily packing her school bag.
She wanted to try persuading Qin Qing not to go, but didn’t know how to say it.
After all, this was her own problem; she couldn’t let her best friend take a risk for her.
She’d told Qin Qing before that they could just tell Li laoshi—after all, Li laoshi might be strict, but she was responsible. She would definitely crack down hard on campus bullying.
But Qin Qing had rejected that idea.
Her argument was that Li laoshi couldn’t protect them twenty-four hours a day; there would always be times when teachers weren’t around, and then those people would vent all the grievances they’d bottled up on them.
The only way to break the cycle of being a victim was to make others afraid of you—that was Qin Qing’s creed.
That logic left Lin Wan speechless; she couldn’t refute it.
“Class monitor, take a few boys to the general affairs office and get a few boxes of bottled water. Bring them here to the classroom.” Li laoshi’s voice pulled her out of her messy thoughts.
“Got it,” the class monitor replied.
The homeroom teacher paused, as if recalling whether she’d forgotten anything, and after a moment of thought finally gave her last instructions.
“All right, class dismissed! Be careful on your way home!”
As soon as the words left the teacher’s lips, the students surged toward the classroom door like floodwaters bursting through a dam.
At the same time, Lin Wan made up her mind.
She couldn’t hesitate any longer—otherwise, Qin Qing would really be in danger!
Even if there was going to be a fight, it had to be her, not her friend!
Lin Wan yanked her bag over her shoulder, stood up, and anxiously scanned the chaotic crowd for Qin Qing.
But the Qin Qing who always waited to go home with her was nowhere to be seen—as if she’d vanished into thin air.
She already left?!
Lin Wan’s heart dropped, a sense of dread welling up inside her. She couldn’t care about anything else anymore. Throwing her bag on, she hurriedly ran out the school gate.
She had to go to that abandoned warehouse! She had to stop Qin Qing!
***
At the same time, a dark blue Bugatti Veyron silently pulled up at the gate of Changcheng No.1 High School.
In all of Changcheng, probably only a handful of people could afford such a car. Its sleek, predatory lines made it look like a deep-sea hunter, attracting plenty of students’ attention.
“What a cool car… Whose parent is that?”
“No idea, do we have any rich kids like that in our school?”
“Maybe it’s a rich lady?”
A few students whispered among themselves.
“Hey, Little Lin Dog, we’ve arrived at Changcheng No.1 High School.” Inside the car, the woman in the driver’s seat nudged her sunglasses and spoke to the man in the suit in the back seat.
“Thank you, Miss Su Jin,” Lin Luan replied.
“You’ve only got one hour.” Su Jin opened the car door.
The door lifted up like a butterfly’s wings. The first thing to catch the eye was a pair of polished black Oxford shoes, then a pair of long legs wrapped in charcoal-gray suit pants.
Lin Luan stepped out of the car, slightly bowed, and straightened the custom suit jacket Su Jin had tailored for him, his posture upright.
He looked up instinctively—just in time to see Lin Wan dash out the school gate like a gust of wind, anxiety written all over her small face.
She didn’t even notice the flashy sports car at the gate or her brother, who had just gotten out, and ran straight off in the opposite direction from home.
“Xiao Wan?” Lin Luan called out reflexively, but Lin Wan’s figure had already disappeared around the corner.
Lin Luan frowned slightly, puzzled, but with the parent-teacher meeting about to start, he could only suppress his questions for now and head toward the academic building.
“Class 8, Grade 3… Class 8, Grade 3…”
He scratched his head as he checked each classroom’s sign, finally finding Lin Wan’s class.
Inside, many parents were already seated, most chatting with each other—either sighing about their kids’ grades or boasting about how many extra tutoring classes they’d signed them up for.
When Lin Luan opened the classroom door, the whole room went silent.
Wearing such an expensive outfit and with his striking good looks, he looked less like a parent and more like a celebrity who’d wandered onto the wrong set.
A ripple of whispers spread among the parents.
“Whose parent is that? He’s so young!”
“That suit… looks really expensive.”
“Is he a model? Or a celebrity?”
Even the homeroom teacher, Li laoshi, who was about to give her opening remarks at the podium, was visibly startled when she saw Lin Luan.
She pushed up the purple glasses on her nose, and a rare flush—one out of character for her age and position—appeared on her face.
“May… may I ask who you are?” Li laoshi’s voice was much softer than usual.
Lin Luan gave a polite nod, his tone gentle. “Hello, Li laoshi. I’m Lin Wan’s older brother, Lin Luan. I’m here for her parent-teacher meeting.”
“Lin Wan’s… older brother?” A flicker of surprise flashed in Li laoshi’s eyes.
She quickly motioned, “Oh, right, Lin Wan’s seat is over there, third row by the window. Please take a seat. The meeting will begin soon.”
Lin Luan thanked her and, under the curious gazes of the other parents, walked calmly to Lin Wan’s seat.
He sat down gracefully, crossed his legs, and looked at the podium, seemingly unaffected by the attention around him.
He couldn’t let Xiao Wan lose face—dressed like this, let the other parents guess whatever they wanted about his status.
If it were any other day, Lin Luan would have been grinning from ear to ear. But today was different.
That anxious figure of his little sister running away kept replaying in his mind.
Lin Wan had never been so panicked before. What had happened?
He pulled out his phone and quietly sent Lin Wan a message:
[Xiao Wan, I’m in the classroom. Where did you run off to just now? Are you okay?]
No reply.
Damn.
Just as Lin Luan was about to call her, Li laoshi coughed twice at the podium, signaling that the parent-teacher meeting was about to begin.
Lin Luan had no choice but to put his phone away.
Li laoshi cleared her throat, picked up the microphone, and was about to start the meeting. “Good evening, parents. Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules…”
Knock knock knock.
The classroom door was gently pushed open a crack, and someone squeezed inside.
“Sorry, am I late?”