“Damn, if I’d known, I would’ve played the hero too.”

“Heh-heh, right? You get praised by everyone, and Su Yao, the school beauty, even treats you differently. He’s insanely lucky.”

“Ah, if only Su Yao treated me like that!”

“I want to talk to Su Yao too.”

After handing Lin Qing the note, Su Yao didn’t keep teasing him. When she saw him shake his head, she immediately straightened up.

There were too many annoying flies buzzing around. She’d lost all interest in teasing Lin Qing.

It was better when it was just the two of them.

Then she could do whatever she wanted without holding herself back.

At least she wouldn’t have to wait long. Soon, she’d get to meet Lin Qing alone.

Thinking about the note she’d passed him, Su Yao’s smile grew even brighter. Then she turned and sat back down at her desk, chatting quietly with her deskmate.

The noisy study period, riled up by Su Yao’s return, settled back into its earlier calm.

Only after the eyes fixed on Lin Qing had begun to dwindle did he raise the hand holding the note.

Carefully bringing it up in front of him, Lin Qing quickly unfolded the note.

【Come find me in the changing room at lunch.】

Lin Qing stared at the note, speechless. Then he immediately looked up toward Su Yao.

Unfortunately, Su Yao was chatting with her deskmate and showed no interest in paying anyone else attention.

Lin Qing looked away, crumpled the note into a ball, and stuffed it into his pocket.

What did Su Yao want from him, inviting him to meet her alone?

What trick was she up to this time?

Ever since meeting Su Yao, Lin Qing had found that his questions never seemed to stop.

They just kept flooding in. He couldn’t stop them.

Su Yao was a walking mystery factory.

Lin Qing really wanted to pretend he hadn’t seen the note and avoid falling into a trap Su Yao had set in advance.

But this was a rare chance to have a proper face-to-face talk with Su Yao.

He might even be able to clear up some of his questions.

If he passed it up, who knew when he’d get another chance?

Lin Qing felt he needed to keep up with the changes in Su Yao.

That way, he could adjust his approach at any time and deal with her advances.

As long as he couldn’t get away from Su Yao, Lin Qing had to do everything he could to stop her from killing anyone.

Once Su Yao got tired of him, she could kill whoever she wanted.

Whether she ended up in prison or got away with it—

none of it would have anything to do with him.

As long as he stayed alive and could live a peaceful, ordinary life,

that was more than enough for Lin Qing.

He didn’t want much.

And he wasn’t asking for much, either.

So Lin Qing made up his mind. He’d go meet her.

He’d speak with Su Yao in person and find out what she really wanted.

“Ring, ring, ring.”

Just as Lin Qing made up his mind, the bell signaling the end of class suddenly rang.

Since it was the last period, the class bell was also the dismissal bell. After a boring study period, the students burst out of the classroom like ponies breaking loose.

Excited shouts rang out, mixed with the sounds of cheerful horseplay.

At home, they could play games or go to sleep. Whatever they did, it was better than being at school.

Not everyone was in a hurry to get home, though. Some students took their time.

They packed their bags at a leisurely pace, in no rush to leave the classroom.

“Su Yao, are you going straight home? If Li Weiqiang’s buddies try to get back at you, you could be in trouble. Let’s go together!”

“Yeah, let’s go together!”

“Li Weiqiang and his friends are so scary. Why does our school even have delinquents?”

Among the students who hadn’t left right away, several girls gathered around Su Yao, chattering away as if they were worried about her safety.

Su Yao smiled and shook her head, indicating that she was fine.

“Don’t worry. My driver’s already waiting for me at the school gate. I’ll head out first.”

Su Yao didn’t stay seated. After speaking, she stood up and casually glanced over at Lin Qing.

The meaning in her eyes was obvious. She might as well have curled a finger at Lin Qing, telling him to hurry up and follow.

Don’t be late.

But Lin Qing ignored Su Yao’s invitation.

He stayed seated, packing his things and planning to wait until most of the students had left.

Although Lin Qing had a ten-year gap in his memories, he still knew the basics.

For example, a girls’ changing room wasn’t somewhere a man could just walk into.

If someone reported Lin Qing for entering the girls’ changing room, he’d be branded a pervert for the rest of his school life.

And he’d never be able to shake the label.

That was why Lin Qing had hesitated earlier, unsure if Su Yao had set a trap for him on purpose.

Maybe she wanted to shove him over the edge herself, watch him fall, and smile from the safety of the cliff.

“Su Yao sure thinks a lot of herself! If she doesn’t want to go with us, she could just say so. Does she have to show off that she has a driver?”

“Drop it. What a buzzkill.”

“We’ve spent plenty of time together, but when I asked Su Yao to introduce me to some other people, she kept making excuses… What, am I not good enough to be seen with her?”

“All right, enough. Let’s go home.”

But once Su Yao had left the classroom, the girls who’d been gathered around her frowned and cursed, revealing their true colors.

They were all about what they could get out of her.

They were only friends on the surface.

Watching them, Lin Qing suddenly felt a little sorry for Su Yao.

She might’ve looked like she had everything, but in reality, she had nothing…

Still, given Su Yao’s true nature and the evil potential of those ten white skulls, she was putting on a mask around these people too.

A gentle, kind smile. A crazed, cold laugh.

The difference between them was enormous.

Those girls thought they’d fooled Su Yao. In reality, she was using them as tools.

They gave her an excuse to act like a normal person at school, so no one would suspect a thing.

In the end, it was hard to say who was more pitiful.

“What are you looking at? Never seen a woman before?”

“Sorry, sorry.”

As Lin Qing pushed his sympathy for Su Yao aside, a girl suddenly snapped at someone. An apology sounded from beside Lin Qing.

Lin Qing couldn’t help frowning. He had a feeling Wang Fanran was a strange guy.

Wang Fanran had always been annoying, but after getting out of the hospital this time, Lin Qing had found his deskmate even harder to read.

One thing was certain, though: Wang Fanran’s hostility toward him hadn’t diminished.

If anything, it had grown stronger.

Lin Qing didn’t want to deal with it. He just wanted to ignore him.

Like he had before.

With that in mind, Lin Qing finally finished packing his bag. He stuffed it into his desk, then got to his feet and quickly left the classroom.

After the girl chewed him out, Wang Fanran became a tail, secretly following behind.

As he followed Lin Qing, he immediately sent Li Dong a message.

【Ready.】