The school nurse knows about him?
Lin Qing’s first reaction was disbelief.
For some unknown reason, no newspaper or media outlet had managed to publish a report about his escape from the killer.
The commotion of reporters chasing after him for interviews had felt like a dream. He’d opened his eyes, only to find that none of it had ever happened.
It was as if a stone had sunk into the sea. Not a word had gotten out.
He knew the police didn’t have that much power, and that something fishy was going on. But Lin Qing didn’t want to get involved any further.
He wasn’t capable of doing anything about it, either.
He just wanted to return to his old life, as if none of it had ever happened.
But the middle-aged police officer who’d spoken with him back then had said he knew Lin Qing’s mother and had seen him when he was little.
Chubby, rosy-cheeked, and full of energy.
The officer’s kindness toward Lin Qing had seemed genuine. Yet just before they parted, he’d seriously warned Lin Qing not to say anything else.
If anyone asked about the killer, Lin Qing only had to shake his head and say he didn’t know anything.
He had to forget, completely, that he’d been imprisoned for ten years.
Otherwise, he’d be putting himself in danger.
As for everything else, there was no need to worry. The police would take care of it all.
Those words sometimes made Lin Qing, who’d wanted nothing more to do with it, unable to stop his mind from wandering.
Just who was the Black-Faced Man who’d imprisoned him?
His past was a tangled mess. Now all the threads were knotted together, and finding the loose end had become nearly impossible.
So, given how complicated everything was, Lin Qing didn’t believe the school nurse knew about his past.
Other than that middle-aged police officer, everyone else thought he was just a lucky guy who’d escaped from a killer—not someone who’d survived ten years of imprisonment.
“What do you know, sir?”
With that thought, Lin Qing asked.
He looked straight at the school nurse. Though he was short and thin, his eyes, half-hidden by his black hair, held a hint of menace.
Like a beast ready to devour its prey.
“The hospital hasn’t made it public, but I can tell you have post-traumatic stress disorder. I’ve got an eye for these things—I could tell at a glance!”
The school nurse spoke smugly, but soon realized that acting like that wasn’t very teacherly—especially in front of the patient himself. He cleared his throat twice and quickly changed his attitude.
Now he was a serious, conscientious medical professional.
When Lin Qing heard that the school nurse meant something different from what he’d imagined, he quickly relaxed. Suddenly, he had no idea what to say.
“Don’t worry. This sort of thing can’t be shared with others, which is why I’m whispering it to you! If anything happens, come straight to me. Don’t bottle it up by yourself.”
“Okay.”
Fortunately, the school nurse picked up the conversation before Lin Qing could speak. Lin Qing could only nod along and let it go.
He didn’t say anything else. Clutching his clothes, he went to the bed farther inside.
That was close.
He’d better avoid the nurse’s office from now on…
“Li Dong, are you leaving?”
“Thanks for helping me, sir. I have to get back to class.”
“If it happens again, tell your parents. Otherwise, they’ll only get worse.”
“I’m fine.”
After changing his clothes, Lin Qing had just drawn the curtain open when he saw a student walking away. The school nurse watched the doorway and couldn’t help sighing.
Lin Qing sensed trouble. He hurried to leave the nurse’s office as quickly as he could.
Unfortunately…
“Hey, do you know Li Dong from Class One, Grade Eleven?”
But Lin Qing was a step too slow. The school nurse had already asked.
Lin Qing couldn’t just leave now, so he stopped.
“I’m a transfer student. I don’t know many people.”
Lin Qing was telling the truth. He didn’t know the students in other classes—he couldn’t even recognize everyone in his own.
The school nurse’s hopes of getting his help were doomed to come up empty.
“Ah, I was just asking. That student’s being bullied really badly… It’s a shame. I’m only the school nurse, so there’s not much I can do.”
“Sir, class is about to start. I should go.”
Seeing that the school nurse was about to go on for ages, Lin Qing pointed at the clock on the wall. Then, without saying anything else, he walked straight out of the nurse’s office.
The school nurse was a good teacher, actually. He hadn’t turned a blind eye to what was happening… But Lin Qing looked down at his own thin, frail arms and couldn’t see how he’d be any help.
If you wanted someone’s help, you had to consider whether they were even up to the task.
Besides, even if he helped once, if the person themselves didn’t change, it would just happen again.
Don’t rely on anyone else.
In the end, you could only depend on yourself.
What had happened in the nurse’s office brought back some awful memories. Lin Qing shook his head at once, quickly burying them deep again.
It’d be best if he never thought of them again.
With that in mind, Lin Qing quickened his pace, hoping to reach the field before the bell rang.
He couldn’t be late.
The PE teacher punished every student who was late by making them run ten laps.
Lin Qing still hadn’t recovered from the blood loss after his palm was stabbed.
If he had to run laps on top of that, he might collapse halfway through.
He only wanted to live a normal school life. Lin Qing didn’t want anything else to change, so he had to stay ordinary. That was the only way to keep his life calm and uneventful.
No ripples at all.
Luckily, Lin Qing wasn’t late. When he reached the field, there were still two minutes before the bell.
He’d made it in time.
Instead of finding a corner to wait in as usual, Lin Qing looked around the field.
A woman as beautiful as Su Yao was always the center of everyone’s attention.
She stood out at a glance.
“Ah! Watch out!”
But the moment Lin Qing looked up, he heard someone cry out.
Then he felt the air rush past his ear. His fingers twitched on instinct, and his body reacted faster than his mind, stepping to the left.
His head tilted left as well. A soccer ball dropped out of nowhere, whizzing past his ear before slamming into the ground and leaving a deep mark.
If that ball had hit him, he’d have been badly hurt…
“Oh my god, what are those boys playing at? That was so dangerous!”
“Lin Qing’s so lucky he dodged the ball.”
“He really got lucky!”
“They shouldn’t let the boys play ball over here. This is a school field, not a soccer pitch! It’s so dangerous—what if someone got hit?”
Once Lin Qing had dodged the incoming soccer ball, the students who’d witnessed it let out a breath of relief. Then they turned angrily on the students playing soccer.
If they wanted to play soccer, they should go home and do it.
Why play here?
“Hey, kick the ball over here.”
But the boy who’d kicked the ball didn’t seem to care. He just grinned at Lin Qing and called out.
His casual attitude showed he didn’t care in the least.
He clearly hadn’t taken it seriously at all.
Behind him, Zhou Lin, who’d been playing soccer with the others, patted his chest, still shaken. That unlucky kid Lin Qing—how did he manage to show up everywhere?
