By the time PE ended, Su Yao still hadn’t come back. Lin Qing’s plan to talk to her fell through, so he’d have to find another time.

After that, though, Su Yao seemed to vanish.

She didn’t return to class.

There was no word from her, either.

Lin Qing waited through two periods. Now, with this study hall almost over and school about to let out, there was still no sign of Su Yao.

There was no need to make reporting Li Weiqiang this complicated. The school wouldn’t keep a student out of class for so long—especially not Su Yao of Comet Group.

She should’ve been back ages ago.

But there was still no word… Had Su Yao noticed that he was suspicious and started avoiding him on purpose?

Even though she had no reason to avoid him.

But Su Yao had a nasty streak. She liked keeping people under her thumb.

Maybe she just enjoyed hiding off to the side, watching him worry.

And enjoying herself all alone.

Lin Qing’s thoughts ran wild. Irritated, he unconsciously tapped the tip of his pen against his textbook. He kept tapping the same spot until it was covered in black marks.

The dots became a blot, like a great smear of ink that couldn’t be rubbed away.

Wang Fanran, sitting beside him, watched with a cold smile. His eyes were full of anticipation as he waited to see Lin Qing get what was coming to him.

Too bad there were too many people around to make a move.

He had to wait until there were fewer people.

And then there was that useless Li Dong. If he got scared halfway through, all Wang Fanran’s effort would go to waste.

Though, given how things stood, Wang Fanran might not even need to pull any strings. Once Li Weiqiang got punished by the school, he’d surely be seething.

Li Weiqiang wouldn’t dare touch a rich heiress like Su Yao, but someone like Lin Qing—a nobody with no backing—was fair game.

Wang Fanran only had to wait, and he’d get to watch someone beat Lin Qing to a pulp.

But that would take too long. He couldn’t wait!

Besides, there’d be no satisfaction in it. How could watching someone else do it compare to planning it himself?

He wanted to see Lin Qing humiliated as soon as possible!

Thinking back to how Lin Qing had humiliated him in front of everyone, then acted like it didn’t matter, Wang Fanran clenched his chubby fist. He told himself not to rush. He’d get what he wanted soon enough.

A little patience was needed to achieve a greater goal.

That dog-eyed snob Lin Qing had always been at the bottom of the class. And now he actually looked down on Wang Fanran…

The bastard deserved to die!

Once Lin Qing was dealt with, that damn piece of trash Zhou Lin would be next.

No rush. One at a time.

None of them would get away!

Bzz.

Wang Fanran was privately savoring the thought of what would happen to Lin Qing when his phone buzzed in his pocket, alerting him to a text.

At the sound, Wang Fanran immediately pulled out his phone. He didn’t dare keep it waiting.

Chen Sen, the creep who could get him out from under Zhou Lin’s bullying, was definitely no ordinary person.

Since their last contact, Chen Sen had only replied with two words: “I can.” After that, there’d been nothing.

Wang Fanran had been worried sick, thinking Chen Sen wouldn’t be able to help.

He’d still have to take a beating from Zhou Lin at lunch.

But things had turned around almost instantly. Zhou Lin didn’t dare lay a hand on him anymore.

All Zhou Lin could do was glare at him, furious and helpless. Seeing that look made Wang Fanran feel wonderfully vindicated.

If he weren’t afraid Zhou Lin might lose his temper, Wang Fanran would’ve gone over to gloat.

And the key to his comeback was Chen Sen, the creep.

As for why he called Chen Sen a creep…

Wang Fanran thought back to the first time he’d met Chen Sen. A chill ran through him, and he decided it was better not to think about it again.

It was disgusting.

He’d never met anyone so twisted.

That was exactly why Wang Fanran didn’t dare slack off. He was afraid of making Chen Sen angry.

If that happened, his situation would get even worse.

【Come to my place tomorrow. You need to prove your worth.】

Wang Fanran looked at the text. Just as he’d expected, it was from Chen Sen.

He’d already braced himself for the fact that Chen Sen was no good, but the thought of working with someone like him still scared Wang Fanran.

But there was no turning back now.

If he wanted to stop getting bullied at school, he’d have to pay a price.

Besides, once he got to know Chen Sen better, he’d have someone powerful backing him.

Then at school, he could beat up anyone he wanted. The ones he beat could only swallow their anger and resent him—they wouldn’t dare fight back.

He could tease girls whenever he wanted, too. Maybe some shameless girl would even throw herself at him…

At the thought of it, Wang Fanran immediately shook off his fear and regained his confidence.

He’d make sure to do a good job with whatever Chen Sen asked of him!

“Su Yao, you’re finally back! Are you okay?”

Just as Wang Fanran was wondering whether to prepare something to defend himself with, a girl’s worried voice suddenly rang out in the classroom.

The moment Su Yao’s name was mentioned, everyone in the class turned their attention to her.

When they looked toward the doorway, they saw Su Yao in her tracksuit stepping lightly into the room.

She still wore that smile that made you feel as if a spring breeze had brushed past. Nothing seemed wrong.

The boys, who’d been worried sick, finally let out a relieved breath.

If anything had happened to their goddess, they wouldn’t have stood by and done nothing.

Even if they couldn’t beat that musclehead Li Weiqiang,

they could still slash his bike tires or steal his homework. They wouldn’t let Li Weiqiang get away with it!

“I’m fine. The head teacher had a lot of questions for me, that’s all.”

Seeing how concerned the students were, Su Yao gently shook her head, assuring them she was fine and they didn’t need to worry.

If she’d simply handed over her phone, it wouldn’t have taken so long.

But Su Yao didn’t want anyone to find out she’d been secretly filming Lin Qing.

So after uploading the video to the cloud, Su Yao deleted it. When the head teacher questioned her, she used the excuse that she hadn’t turned on the camera.

That was enough to gloss over the video on her phone.

Just as Li Weiqiang was grinning with relief, Su Yao added that other students in the class had filmed videos, too.

Those students then sent their videos to Su Yao. None of them showed the whole incident, but the clips still contained proof of Li Weiqiang bullying people.

There was no denying it.

The head teacher gave him a thorough scolding, called his parents, and sent him home to reflect—all in one go. Li Weiqiang could only stand there, shrinking back and too afraid to speak.

All of that took time, so Su Yao returned late.

“Lin Qing, are you okay?”

Then, instead of going straight to her seat, Su Yao hurried over to Lin Qing.

As she spoke, she didn’t stay standing. She bent down toward him, showing him a great deal of concern.

Her smile was radiant, her eyes sparkling like stars.

She moved so quickly that the ample curves of her chest came into Lin Qing’s view.

But Lin Qing wasn’t paying attention to that. He felt the note Su Yao secretly slipped into his hand, and instinctively closed his fist around it.

…