It was Monday again, yet Lin Xinyuan felt that today was somehow different.
Whether on the road or inside the classroom, many people were looking at her with strange expressions, as if they were meeting her for the first time.
Some gazes carried curiosity, while others seemed… filled with disgust?
Fortunately, it was Professor Lu’s class this morning, so no one dared to be too blatant in the classroom.
Lin Xinyuan felt uneasy.
She seemed to suspect a possibility.
But… how could that be?
Her eyes flickered anxiously.
There was no one around her seat, as if everyone was deliberately avoiding her.
Qin Nanfeng wasn’t here either.
That guy didn’t show up again today, saying he had something to attend to and took leave.
Why did it always happen to be like this…
Irritated, Lin Xinyuan could only stare blankly at the podium, feeling countless eyes watching her from behind.
Her period hadn’t completely passed, and her stomach still ached, so her complexion was already not good, now even worse…
Her breathing was a little rapid, and her heart pounded fiercely.
So uncomfortable…
“Lin Xinyuan! You answer this question.”
“Uh…” Hearing this, Lin Xinyuan snapped back to reality and looked up.
It was Professor Lu staring at her.
On the podium, Professor Lu frowned, looking at the beautiful girl with some dissatisfaction, but held back and pointed at the big screen with his finger: “You answer this question!”
Upon hearing this, Lin Xinyuan had no choice but to stand up.
At the same time, some murmurs seemed to rise from behind her.
She didn’t dare to look back; in her mind, she could already imagine those people pointing fingers and whispering about her…
Thinking of this, the girl’s face paled even more.
Her heart pounded loudly, chaos swirling inside, and she stood there dazed, unable to say a complete sentence for a long while.
“Sit down.”
After a moment, Professor Lu sighed.
He noticed something was off about Lin Xinyuan and thought it over but ultimately didn’t push her any further.
“Um… thank you, Professor…”
Lin Xinyuan whispered, dazed, sitting back down with her head lowered, her expression fluctuating.
Seeing this, Professor Lu stopped paying attention to her and continued the lesson.
Perhaps the class passed quickly for others, but for Lin Xinyuan, it dragged endlessly, and lost in her own world, she was unaware of what was happening in the back rows…
“Damn it, if you’ve got the guts, don’t run away!”
When the bell rang to signal class dismissal, Professor Lu seemed to have something to do and left immediately after announcing the end of class.
Chen Ze, sitting in the back row, finally dared to speak.
During class, these three had been quietly mocking “Old Six,” unable to tolerate it, they started clashing with those people.
But Professor Lu soon noticed and forced them to stop for the time being.
They had planned to properly deal with those people after class, but to their surprise, as soon as the bell rang, those people scattered like firecrackers.
“They run fast!” Chen Ze said somewhat regretfully.
“Tch! Cowards!” Xu Wentao spat, disdainful.
He hated people who bullied the weak and feared the strong.
“Forget it. The urgent thing now is to find Old Six. Don’t let her do anything stupid,” Xiong Wei calmly analyzed.
From what he saw earlier, Old Six’s situation wasn’t good.
He couldn’t help but worry.
“Hey, where’s Old Six? She was just here a moment ago!”
Hearing Chen Ze’s words, the others realized it too.
The girl had disappeared without them noticing.
She had been sitting there just moments ago but vanished before they could even talk properly.
“You’re an idiot! Didn’t I tell you to watch her?” Xiong Wei was speechless but quickly responded, “I’ll go with Renji to chase after her. You two, Old Two and Old Four, are responsible for messaging Old Six and keeping in touch.”
After saying this, Xiong Wei and Chen Ze immediately left.
“Got it!” Xu Wentao and the usually quiet Wen Yuanshan nodded, then took out their phones and started contacting Lin Xinyuan…
Over half an hour later, the four regrouped downstairs.
“Boss, you still didn’t find Old Six?” Xu Wentao asked first.
“No. We searched nearby. She shouldn’t have left so quickly…” Xiong Wei shook his head.
“By the way, did you get in touch with her?”
“No. She doesn’t even check her messages.”
Wen Yuanshan added to Xu Wentao’s words: “Even if she sees them, she probably won’t reply.”
“Then maybe Old Six went back to her rental…” Chen Ze speculated, finally getting serious.
There was no more joking around.
“But… we don’t even know where Old Six lives?”
At this, everyone exchanged glances.
Right, they didn’t know where Lin Xinyuan lived.
Because she stayed off-campus privately without telling the counselor, no one knew.
“Damn it, if I find out which idiot posted that thread on the forum, I swear the whole dormitory will beat him up!” Chen Ze cursed angrily.
The others nodded in agreement, but suddenly all four realized something and their eyes brightened.
“Old Three!”
“Boss Qin!”
Qin Nanfeng had been taking frequent leave lately, and with the earlier urgency, they nearly forgot about him.
“Quick, contact him!”
“Hey, why are you sending green bubbles? Just call him!”
“Ah…”
South Street, Tianbei University.
The girl walked expressionlessly down the street.
Along the way, faces flashed through her mind — some strange, some hateful.
Forum posts…
“Freak”…
“Go to Thailand”…
All sorts of words drilled into her ears, making her realize she must have been exposed…
Though she had expected someday someone would find out about her, she hadn’t anticipated it would happen so suddenly, without any warning…
But it didn’t matter anymore.
Since she had been found out, so be it…
Right now, the girl just wanted to hide away in her rental.
And that’s exactly what she did.
She didn’t stop at any nearby shop for lunch, where plenty of schoolmates gathered.
She was afraid…
Besides… she had no appetite now…
Once back at the rental, Lin Xinyuan collapsed onto the bed without even taking off her jacket, wrapping herself tightly in the blanket.
The stifling air hung at her nostrils but couldn’t change the chill deep inside her heart.
Her phone kept vibrating.
In the dim light, she swiped.
It was them…
One by one, she opened the messages and saw their worried words, but Lin Xinyuan didn’t have the courage to reply.
There was still no news from her parents, as if she had vanished from their world.
She wouldn’t take the initiative to contact them either…
She just wanted to be quiet…
After receiving Chen Ze’s call, Qin Nanfeng’s expression darkened.
He hung up without ceremony.
He didn’t care about appearances anymore.
He immediately ordered his men to handle his work, saying he had more important matters to attend to, then quickly took the elevator down and headed straight to the underground garage.
Qin Nanfeng didn’t know why, but the moment he heard she was in trouble, his heart felt restless.
At first, he only found Lin Xinyuan’s changes interesting…
But he didn’t know when his feelings had gradually changed…
Was it when he saw her crying in the stairwell?
Or when he took care of her at the rental during her period when she was weak?
Maybe it was during their nightly chats?
Qin Nanfeng anxiously ran his hand through his hair.
He didn’t know, and perhaps shouldn’t know.
How could it be? They clearly agreed he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice…
But now, thinking about it was useless.
At this moment, Qin Nanfeng only knew one thing: he couldn’t let anything happen to the girl.
Otherwise, he felt like he would lose many interesting things…
He wasn’t done playing yet…