Jiang Xiaoyue really wanted to go home with Qin Jiao, but unfortunately, they were going different ways. They parted at the second fork in the road after leaving school. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

It was already past nine-twenty, and dark out. The streetlights weren’t very bright, and there were few pedestrians on the road at this hour.

Fortunately, Qin Jiao’s home wasn’t too far from the school. She would be there after just one more turn.

Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that a sound was trailing her from behind, neither too close nor too far.

Qin Jiao had sensed it earlier while she was still with Jiang Xiaoyue, but she hadn’t thought much of it with so many people around. Now that she was alone, the fact that the sound persisted meant she had to be on her guard.

She recalled that society was actually very safe in this era—at least, much safer than it would become later. Still, there were always a few bad apples who would do terrible things.

Qin Jiao had faced death before, and besides, she had her space to hide in. If someone really did jump out at her, she could, at worst, just pop right into her space.

’The only question is whether I’ll have time to haul the bike in with me.’

’If I suddenly vanish into thin air in the middle of the night, the person who gets a scare will definitely be them, not me.’

As Qin Jiao rode, she watched the shadows on the ground, ready to react the moment anyone got too close.

The figure behind her, however, consistently kept a certain distance and made no move to approach.

At one point, Qin Jiao began to wonder, ’Am I just being paranoid?’

She could already see her apartment building up ahead and happened to spot her father, Qin Zhonghui, downstairs, fiddling with something. Qin Jiao called out, "Dad!"

By the time Qin Jiao reached the entrance and got off her bike, she glanced back. There was no one behind her.

Qin Zhonghui was busy hammering and banging on something. He looked up with a frown. "Xiao Jiao, what kept you so late?"

He had thought his daughter was already home.

Qin Jiao said, "We started evening self-study sessions this semester."

"Then I’ll start picking you up at night," her father said. "It’s too dangerous for a young woman to be out this late."

"You don’t have to." Qin Jiao knew her parents were busy all day and needed a good rest. Besides, it really wasn’t far from school to home, just ten-odd minutes by bike.

Besides, she had her space. If she really ran into danger, she could just hide inside it. Someone vanishing into thin air in the middle of the night would give even a hardened criminal a good scare.

So in the end, Qin Jiao said, "I came back with a classmate. We just went our separate ways a moment ago."

Worried her dad was still unconvinced, she changed the subject. "Dad, do all these groceries need to be carried upstairs? I can help."

"Alright."

"How’s your hand, Dad?"

"It’s almost healed. It’s all scabbed over now."

In reality, Qin Zhonghui’s hand was healing remarkably quickly. Not only had he gone to the hospital in time, but Qin Jiao had also treated it with her Spiritual Spring Water.

It would no longer leave him with the chronic problems it had caused in her past life.

The father and daughter went upstairs, where Su Yun was kneading dough. She also asked why Qin Jiao was home so late, so Qin Jiao gave her the same explanation.

As Qin Jiao repeated herself for the second time, she thought, ’It was probably just a classmate who lives around here and was heading the same way. That must be why they were behind me for so long.’

In reality, the person following her the entire time had been Shen Yi.

Shen Yi had originally planned to leave with Qin Jiao after school, but Jiang Xiaoyue beat him to it. Then, when he went to the bike shed, he overheard what Chen Feng said.

Honestly, Shen Yi had wanted to go right up and beat the hell out of that bastard.

The reason was simple: in both of his lives, Shen Yi had despised his paternal half-brother.