Qin Jiao locked her bicycle in the bike shed and headed upstairs. She decided that if Shen Yi was going to wait for her after school from now on, they could just walk back together in silence.

’Though, this young master will probably get tired of waiting for me in a few days.’

She put the matter out of her mind for the time being. After getting home and washing her hands, she went to help Su Yun with her chores.

Su Yun quickly said, "Don’t worry about helping. You should go do your homework."

"Mom, I already finished all my homework and worksheets at school."

In fact, for a while now, Qin Jiao had been helping her parents with chores or practicing writing with her younger sister whenever she got home. Then, late at night, after her family had all gone to sleep, she would enter her space to study and do practice problems.

The flow of time inside the space was different from the outside world.

In other words, while she might only be gone for half an hour in the real world, she could have already powered through several sets of practice exams inside the space.

Qin Jiao felt she was a bit like a former classmate of hers, but not entirely.

That classmate would slack off at school, only to go home and pull all-nighters studying like crazy. When the test scores were released, they would be a cut above everyone else, giving off the impression of a slacker who somehow still got amazing grades.

But Qin Jiao wasn’t like that.

She did it to free up more time to spend with her family.

"By the way, Xiao Jiao, you’re back so late. Did you come home by yourself again?"

"No, I came back with Shen Yi..." Qin Jiao suddenly froze. She remembered that, in terms of who lived closer, Shen Yi should have gotten home first. Her house was a little farther away than his.

’Even though it was only a single turn out of the way, Shen Yi actually walked her all the way home before heading back himself?’

The realization shocked her so much that the hairs on her arms stood on end. Then an even more shocking thought occurred to her. ’Did Shen Yi do the same thing last night, too?’ 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

’That’s... That’s terrifying!’

’What on earth is he up to?’

Su Yun didn’t notice the shock and confusion on her daughter’s face. Still kneading dough with her back to her, she said, "The two of them have it pretty tough. Xiao Jiao, you should look after Shen Yi a little more at school."

"Huh?" Qin Jiao looked at her mother in surprise. Seeing her mother’s equally confused expression, she realized she might have overreacted.

She immediately said, "He’s a guy, how am I supposed to ’look after’ him? What, is he getting bullied at school? Should I go beat people up for him?"

Su Yun was speechless. "What are you talking about, beating people up? I just meant you should be nice to him. Oh, that’s right. I’ll make some extra dumplings this weekend. You can take them over to those two."

Qin Jiao agreed, but inwardly she was lamenting.

’How are we getting closer and closer?’

**

Li Mei was utterly ruined.

All the things she had acquired through corruption were confiscated by the investigation team, and she lost her job as well.

Not only that, but her family was also affected. Her husband was so ashamed he could barely show his face at work.

They even started to blame her.

Li Mei was furious. ’Back when I was accepting those gifts, didn’t you all use them? When I took that money, didn’t you all spend it?’

’How dare they turn around and blame me the second things go south?!’

But the one Li Mei hated most was the person who had reported her.

But no matter who she asked, she couldn’t find out who it was. After all, the tip had been anonymous.

Unable to find the real culprit, Li Mei had nowhere to vent her pent-up rage. After mulling it over, she directed all of her resentment toward Qin Jiao.

Gritting her teeth, she gripped a plastic clothes hanger so tightly she nearly shattered it.

"It’s all that Qin Jiao’s fault! Ever since she talked back to me, I’ve had nothing but bad luck!"

Having finally found an outlet for her rage, Li Mei thought for a moment, then dug a phone book out of a corner and found a specific number inside.

The phone rang several times with no answer. Just as Li Mei was about to give up, someone picked up on the other end.