The two girls watched the delinquents leave arm in arm, and without bothering to cry, they hurriedly helped each other leave the place.

They hadn’t run a few steps when they saw someone standing ahead. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The two girls simultaneously stopped, their tear-streaked eyes gazing at the girl in front.

The girl swung her backpack over her shoulder, hooked it with a finger, her other hand stuffed in her pocket, standing in the middle of the road with a cold expression.

It’s her...

Lu Qian’s cousin.

Why is she here?

Those people just now...

While the two girls were lost in wild thoughts, the girl opposite spoke up, her tone as always indifferent, "Want to know who called them over?"

The two girls thought: Wasn’t it you?

But then they thought it wasn’t right. If she called them, she wouldn’t need to be standing here saying this now, would she?

The two girls exchanged a glance, "So... someone called them over?"

"Want to know?"

"...Who?"

-

When Lu Qian finished class, she didn’t feel well, so she stayed a bit longer in the bathroom.

When she came out, the class bell rang.

After washing her hands, Lu Qian was about to leave. Someone came in, and she was trying to leave from the side with her head down, but the person coming in didn’t intend to let her, blocking her way out.

Lu Qian looked up and saw the two girls from before, with two other classmates, glaring at her with unfriendly expressions.

There’s a saying that birds of a feather flock together, so those who hang out with Lu Qian aren’t exactly good students either.

"What are you doing?" Lu Qian took the lead.

"What do you think?" The curly-haired girl gritted her teeth, "Do you really not know what you’ve done?"

Lu Qian’s heart skipped a beat.

She was surprised to see those two girls in class this morning, seemingly fine.

She didn’t expect they had found out...

How could that be?

"I don’t understand what you’re saying, I need to get back to class," Lu Qian suppressed the doubts in her heart, saying as she tried to walk out.

"What class? With your grades, attending class is pointless," the round-faced girl next to the curly-haired girl pushed her back, "Let’s settle some accounts first."

Lu Qian’s expression turned pale at the attack on her grades.

Especially recently, classmates kept comparing her grades with Chuzheng’s, making her feel a pang in her heart every time she heard it.

"You got people to ambush us outside the school, Lu Qian, I didn’t expect you to be so disgusting!" The curly-haired girl looked at her with disdain, "How on earth was I ever friends with someone like you?"

Thinking back to the incident at the hotel, the curly-haired and round-faced girls felt even more contempt.

If it weren’t for her, they wouldn’t have gone home and gotten scolded so harshly by their parents.

"I didn’t," Lu Qian clenched her fists, "You got yourselves into trouble, why blame it on me? When did I ever get anyone to ambush you?"

Lu Qian vehemently denied it.

The two girls didn’t care whether she admitted it or not, they immediately started fighting.

Watching little girls fight isn’t much of a spectacle; at most, it’s slapping, pulling hair, biting arms, and the like.

With just herself, Lu Qian couldn’t possibly take on four opponents, and was soon pinned to the ground.

"Lu Qian, today is just a small lesson for you, we’ll settle the account slowly later. Let’s go."

Lu Qian lay on the filthy ground, her eyes filled with venom as she stared at the departing girls.

After class, Lu Qian contacted those people from last time.

They arranged to meet Lu Qian outside the school.

Lu Qian went to the arranged location after school, where the delinquents were already waiting.

"How did you handle things?" Lu Qian exploded the moment she arrived, "How did they find out?"

"Classmate, we can’t be blamed for this," the delinquent shrugged, "We didn’t say anything."

"You didn’t say anything, so how did they find out??"

"We have no idea," the delinquent paused, "Classmate, when do you plan to pay us the remaining money?"

Lu Qian widened her eyes, "You didn’t even handle things right, yet you’re asking me for money? Who gave you the..."

Lu Qian’s voice stopped as she looked at the delinquents approaching her.

Though these delinquents were young, they had been around, and their physical fitness wasn’t bad.

Faced with them, Lu Qian stood no chance.

Originally confronting them for questioning, she ended up being forced to fork over the remaining money.

Only then did Lu Qian realize that these people were motivated by profit...

Lu Qian wanted to run, but it was too late at this point, as she was completely surrounded.

"Classmate, don’t make this trip in vain for us, quickly settle the remaining payment, otherwise, coming here isn’t easy for us either."

Lu Qian: "..."

Lu Qian knew what kind of people she had sought; however reluctant, she could only shiver as she handed over the money.

"That’s good," the delinquents said, dispersing after receiving the money, "Next time we need money, we’ll come find you again."

"You..."

The delinquent’s face darkened, "Classmate, aren’t you pleased?"

Pleased with what!

She was hiring people to deal with others, not to deal with herself.

But faced with these delinquents, what could Lu Qian say at this point? She could only shrink back into a corner with a livid expression, her lips bitten to the point where they drew blood.

The delinquent laughed and patted Lu Qian’s pale cheek, "It’s settled then."

-

The following days for Lu Qian marked the true beginning of hardship.

During class, she found her book missing and got caught by the teacher, resulting in a class-long punishment; suddenly, she found disgusting bugs in her desk; her clothes were ripped during P.E., causing her great embarrassment on the spot.

Given the scene she had made before, nobody sympathized with her.

If that wasn’t enough, those delinquents showed up now and then.

Lu Qian initially considered calling the police or informing a teacher, but the delinquents had recordings of her previous dealings with them.

If she really reported, things wouldn’t end well for her.

With these people pestering her, Lu Qian was living in a perpetual haze, with no time to bother Chuzheng anymore.

-

Seeing Lu Qian having such a hard time, Chuzheng felt relieved.

Over on Sang Yu’s side, the promotional video had been submitted to the school. Chuzheng saw the photos on the school forum, but the video wasn’t released yet.

Just as Chuzheng was pondering over the Good Person Card, a message came in from Sang Yu.

[Sang Yu: I’m free next weekend, do you want to shoot?]

[Cuter: Mm, sure.]

[Sang Yu: Then come directly to my studio.]

[Cuter: Mm.]

Sang Yu looked at that one-word response, paused for a while, and typed back.

[Sang Yu: Aren’t you going to ask where my studio is?]

Sang Yu watched as the other party started typing, then stopped, then started typing again...

[Cuter: Where?]

Looking at those two words, Sang Yu fell into thought, wondering what she intended to type at first.

Something about those two words felt a bit strange...

Sang Yu pushed down the odd feeling in his heart and sent the location of the studio.

[Sang Yu: When you arrive, just come in, no need to knock.]

[Cuter: Mm.]