“Ah, another nightmare.”

Lin Qing woke from the dream and opened his eyes, his expression calm. He stared at the white ceiling, where a small crack had begun to spread.

He’d been having nightmares for a while now. If this kept up, it would start disrupting his daily life.

So that wouldn’t do.

He should spend some money on sleeping pills.

After all, he had a doctor’s note that let him buy them.

But…

He’d have to be careful with the money he had left.

Forget it. He’d just have to keep putting up with it!

He could go without sleep.

But he couldn’t go without money.

Thinking this, Lin Qing didn’t stay in bed. He got up quickly, washed up, then put on his school uniform and got ready to leave for school.

“Mom, I’m doing fine today too. Don’t worry.”

Before leaving, Lin Qing called out to the living room out of habit. No one answered. Only a cold photograph hung silently on the wall.

And the ticking of dozens of clocks filled the living room, making it anything but quiet.

The moment Lin Qing closed the door, his little world paused, waiting for him to return so it could go back to how it was.

“Heading to school, Qing?”

“Mm.”

As he walked down the stairs, he ran into his neighbor, Auntie Wang, who greeted him warmly. Lin Qing nodded woodenly. His long hair covered his eyes, leaving him able to make out only the vague shapes of the world through the strands.

Seeing how unresponsive Lin Qing was, Auntie Wang didn’t seem offended. She just smiled and continued, “Make sure you study hard at school!”

Lin Qing had nothing more to say in response to Auntie Wang’s kindness. He simply kept walking downstairs.

Step by step, neat and orderly.

He faintly heard someone behind him say, “Poor kid,” their voice full of pity and sympathy.

It didn’t change Lin Qing’s pace. He kept walking at the same speed as before.

His expression didn’t change either.

He’d heard countless things like that over the past year. By now, he was used to it.

So what?

His wounds were already battered and broken. A few little stings wouldn’t make much difference.

He rode the bus to school in silence, then walked to the classroom door in silence. When Lin Qing raised a hand and opened it, it was like stepping into another world.

“My dad’s so annoying. He won’t even let me date. What era are we living in? He’s so old-fashioned.”

“Did you watch the show on Lemon TV yesterday? The male lead was so handsome. He was amazing!”

“Class rep, let me copy your homework.”

“Ugh, I lost again! Kids like that shouldn’t be allowed to play games. They should be banned from the whole internet!”

The noisy bustle didn’t stop. Happy voices continued to ring out, and none of it had anything to do with Lin Qing.

Still, Lin Qing liked this kind of liveliness. He hated the quiet.

Maybe that was one reason he’d agreed to go to school. Besides wanting to graduate, he hated being alone.

But after being out of touch with people for so long, Lin Qing didn’t know how to make friends.

He was also afraid of getting to know anyone else.

So Lin Qing sat quietly in a corner, becoming invisible to the rest of the class.

He quietly went to his seat and put his schoolbag inside his desk. After taking out the books he’d need for his first class, he saw that there was still plenty of time before it started. He rested his arms on the desk like a pillow and silently lowered his head onto them.

He secretly listened to the lively chatter around him, as if he were part of it.

“Whoa, no wonder they call him Brother Liu! He beat up a thug from senior year. He’s really going to take over the whole school!”

“You idiot, what are you talking about? Brother Liu’s been the top dog at school for ages.”

“It’s so great going out now. Girls from other classes keep asking me about Brother Liu, hehe. I wouldn’t even mind getting whoever he doesn’t want!”

“Don’t get involved in that. Brother Liu already has someone he likes.”

The lively chatter in the classroom didn’t last long. Two loud voices rang out, and the room immediately fell quiet.

As underlings of the school’s delinquents, Zhou Lin and Wang Jian had been climbing higher and higher in the class hierarchy.

If you wanted to enjoy a normal school life, you had to avoid getting involved with those delinquents.

“Damn it! When am I ever going to get a girlfriend?”

“Hehe. Maybe in your next life!”

“Shut up… Fatty, why are you so late today? Did you bring the game console I told you to bring?”

While Zhou Lin and Wang Jian were talking, the classroom door opened again. When Zhou Lin saw who had come in, his eyes lit up. He hurriedly shouted toward the door.

His booming voice was like a loudspeaker. Wang Fanran, who’d just walked in, jumped, then looked up to see Zhou Lin beckoning him over like an old friend. He knew he wasn’t getting out of this one.

With a miserable look on his face, he could only walk over and obediently take out the game console.

He’d begged his dad for ages to buy it for him, but taking a one-sided beating at school was worse. It was better not to resist.

People had to learn to read the situation.

And not to pick fights they couldn’t win.

“Heh, not bad. It’s the latest model, too. You’ve worked hard!”

Zhou Lin snatched the game console without a hint of shame, then laughed as he fiddled with it.

His family wouldn’t dream of buying him something that expensive.

Still, school was great. His ‘kind and friendly’ classmate had lent him one to play with. How nice!

He hoped he could go to school for the rest of his life!

“Hehe, I’ll head back to my seat, then.”

Wang Fanran stared at his game console. He’d tried to psych himself up, but he couldn’t help feeling upset, and the anger of being humiliated burned inside him.

When the two delinquents stopped paying attention to him, Wang Fanran hurried back to his seat.

“Move!”

Wang Fanran looked down at his silent deskmate, a guy who couldn’t get a word out of him with a crowbar.

The more he looked, the more irritated he got.

It was like looking at himself.

It was bad enough that his deskmate wasn’t a pretty girl. He’d been cursed with a gloomy guy like this instead.

When Wang Fanran spoke so rudely, Lin Qing silently stood up and stepped away from his seat, letting the heavyset Wang Fanran squeeze in.

His half-length black hair nearly covered most of his face. His small frame and messy appearance made him look gloomy and withdrawn at a glance.

That was why people like Lin Qing were at the very bottom of the class.

Even a student like Wang Fanran, whose game console had been taken, could only be considered middle-ranking in the class because his family was well-off.

He got bullied now and then, but not often.

“Damn it, why couldn’t they have taken your stuff instead? Zhou Lin and the others said they were afraid beating you would bring them bad luck. Hmph, life’s so unfair!”

He knew Lin Qing was like a lump of dough. No matter what anyone did to him, he wouldn’t react.

So Wang Fanran took out his frustration over losing the game console by glaring viciously at Lin Qing. Then he stomped over and dropped into his chair, his bulk all the more obvious in the cramped space.

Just walking a few steps and sitting down left Wang Fanran panting, but even so, he silently kept cursing Zhou Lin under his breath.

As for Lin Qing, back in his seat, he said nothing and continued lying quietly on his desk.

He didn’t want anything to do with anyone else, especially this annoying deskmate.

“Su Yao’s here! Look, she’s so pretty today too!”

At the sudden praise from around the classroom, Lin Qing couldn’t help but shudder.

He quickly lowered his head, panic written all over his face. His legs began to tremble slightly, just like his heart, which was pounding with fear.

That terrifying woman was here again!!!