The next day.

Jiang Yuan went to school as usual. The only difference was that now, whenever his classmates saw him, they practically avoided him.

They already knew what had happened the day before. Qin Xin had injured every one of Jiang Yuan’s classmates—and she hadn’t been punished at all. If anything, she’d been praised.

That was because Qin Xin had helped the police capture a transnational criminal ring, while all of Jiang Yuan’s classmates had been assisting the gang. So not only did the injured students receive no sympathy, they were held responsible as well.

They didn’t dare risk provoking Qin Xin again. The reward for bullying Jiang Yuan was tempting, but they had to consider whether it was worth more than their medical bills.

Class 3, Grade 11.

The once-noisy classroom now had only three students still sitting at their desks, listening to the lesson. Everyone else was in the hospital. Who knew when—or if—they’d ever come back?

Even if they recovered, the trauma Qin Xin had caused might well lead them to drop out or transfer schools.

Of the three students still able to attend class, Jiang Yuan and Qin Xin made up two. The third was Li Xiaoyan, the class study rep. She hadn’t joined in yesterday. When she realized her classmates were going to bully Jiang Yuan, she’d been too scared to do anything but run straight home. She couldn’t bear to watch him get picked on.

That kind-hearted but cowardly decision had undoubtedly saved her. When Qin Xin lost her temper, she attacked everyone except Jiang Yuan without distinction.

“Class dismissed.”

After the morning lessons ended, the teacher looked around the empty classroom and sighed. But there wasn’t much he could say, so he pretended nothing had happened and carried on with class as usual.

After the teacher left, Qin Xin stood up and headed straight for Jiang Yuan. But Yi Nanye, who’d been sitting beside him and playing on her phone, suddenly sprang to her feet and blocked Qin Xin’s way.

“What?”

“It’s lunch break, isn’t it? I’m just bringing him food.”

As she spoke, Qin Xin brought a lunchbox out from behind her back.

“You two aren’t allowed to have contact with each other for now.”

“I know. That’s why I haven’t come to see him after any of the last few classes, have I? We’re not going to sit around chatting. I’m just bringing him lunch.”

Qin Xin knew it wasn’t easy for Jiang Yuan to eat at school. She’d noticed that Yi Nanye had bought bread and water the day before, then thrown them straight into the trash. So today, she’d thoughtfully prepared a packed lunch for him—one she’d made herself.

“I’m taking care of his meals myself.”

“Then what have you prepared for him?”

Qin Xin asked Yi Nanye what she was planning to give Jiang Yuan to eat. At that, Yi Nanye went straight to his desk and took a lunchbox out of it.

“He’s already brought his own food. You don’t need to worry about him.”

“I haven’t eaten anything yet, either. I can just trade lunches with him.”

“But that’s not allowed!”

Yi Nanye simply didn’t want Qin Xin getting too close to Jiang Yuan. Jiang Yuan understood the situation, too. It really wasn’t a good time for him to interact with Qin Xin, so his choice was simple.

“Qin Xin, thanks… but given my position right now, it really wouldn’t be appropriate. Maybe another time.”

“I see… That’s too bad.”

“It’s fine. There’ll be plenty of chances later.”

Once Jiang Yuan had said so himself, Qin Xin didn’t press the matter. She returned to her seat and started eating from her lunchbox. Seeing that, Yi Nanye couldn’t help frowning. Qin Xin listened to Jiang Yuan a little too readily, didn’t she?

She knew Jiang Yuan and Qin Xin had once been boyfriend and girlfriend. But according to what she’d learned, Qin Xin was highly independent and never relied on anyone else. So why was she being so obedient now?

Jiang Yuan must’ve fed her some kind of love potion yesterday!

But it didn’t matter. There were plenty of ways to drive a wedge between Qin Xin and Jiang Yuan.

“Jiang Yuan, wait. Routine check!”

Jiang Yuan had already opened his lunchbox and brought a bite of food to his mouth with his chopsticks when Yi Nanye suddenly called for him to stop, saying she needed to inspect it.

“I made this food myself. How could it be poisoned?”

“We can’t rule out the possibility that you poisoned it yourself.”

“Why would I do that??”

Jiang Yuan froze. Wasn’t Yi Nanye practically hoping he’d die?

“You’re not planning to poison me, are you?”

“I’d love to, but I can’t.”

With that, Yi Nanye snatched Jiang Yuan’s chopsticks and started sampling every dish in his lunchbox. Only after she’d tried them all did she hand the chopsticks back.

“You can eat now.”

“Yeah. I’ll go wash the chopsticks.”

“Wash them for what? Eat! Are you trying to poison yourself and die again?”

“Uh…”

Jiang Yuan was at a loss. He stared at the glistening liquid left on the chopsticks, fell silent for a moment, then pulled a tissue from his pocket.

“What are you doing?”

“Wiping the chopsticks.”

“I suspect the tissue’s poisoned. Let me check it.”

“Is there something wrong with your head?”

Jiang Yuan had no idea what Yi Nanye was playing at. When she saw he still refused to eat, she snatched his chopsticks again, picked up some food at lightning speed, and shoved it straight into his mouth without a word.

“Mmph…”

Yi Nanye’s sudden move startled Jiang Yuan. He’d thought she was going to stab him in the throat with the chopsticks.

Then, all of a sudden…

Thud!

Qin Xin slammed her fist against the desk. Yi Nanye turned around and saw frost slowly spreading out from beside Qin Xin.

“If you can’t control your ability properly, the regulations say you can be placed under containment and supervision.”

“That’s enough.”

Qin Xin didn’t want to explain or argue. She was just warning Yi Nanye not to go too far.

“I’m just doing my job. Or are you going to interfere with my supervision?”

“Please show some restraint! I’m just making a simple suggestion.”

Qin Xin knew that, given her position, she couldn’t stop Yi Nanye. Jiang Yuan, meanwhile, reacted quickly. He spat the food onto a tissue, then hurriedly grabbed a bottle of water and rinsed his mouth. Seeing his reaction, Qin Xin’s anger finally eased a little, though she still couldn’t help glaring at Yi Nanye.

Instead of being intimidated, Yi Nanye plopped herself down on Jiang Yuan’s desk.

“Jiang Yuan, you know, I feel like the bed at home’s a little too small. Should we get a bigger one? Otherwise, there won’t be room for both of us, and we might accidentally end up cuddling in our sleep. When I woke up this morning, I found you’d been using me as a body pillow…”

“Cough, cough, cough!!”

Jiang Yuan immediately pretended he’d choked on water, interrupting Yi Nanye with a fit of coughing. What she’d said was true: he had a habit of hugging things in his sleep. But even more astonishing was that Yi Nanye slept so deeply, she hadn’t reacted at all to him holding her all night.

She’d only frowned and muttered a couple of curses when she got up the next morning, then let it go.

Jiang Yuan couldn’t help admiring how easygoing Yi Nanye was. She genuinely didn’t care one bit about that sort of thing between men and women. It made him too embarrassed to bring it up—if he did, he’d be the one feeling awkward.