As soon as she stepped out of the school gate, she was grabbed by two men. She wanted to scream, but the man with the devilish voice covered her mouth.

Those around her found her figure a bit strange, but they could hear a man's voice.

"Little sister, why didn't you say you were feeling dizzy sooner? We could have gone to the hospital sooner."

Oh, so he's sick. Those around him thought.

Yuan Yuan struggled but couldn't break free; the two adult men were very strong.

She was dragged to a small alley near the school.

There are many old staff quarters and residential areas near the school. Because they are quite old, the areas no longer have property management and look dilapidated.

"My dear sister." The man cornered her before letting go of her hand.

"What else do you want to do!" Yuan Yuan glared fiercely at the two of them.

"Here's the money, I told you to prepare it." The man didn't care about her attitude at all, and lifted her chin in a lewd manner.

"Money?" Yuan Yuan sneered. "No money."

The other man who had been watching the commotion suddenly changed his expression. He pinched Yuan Yuan's cheek tightly and narrowed his eyes: "Little sister, stop being so stubborn. The family is so rich, what's wrong with giving us brothers some money to spend? Hurry up and give it to us, we don't have time to waste with you."

"I told you I have no money."

"Slap." The man slapped Yuan Yuan across the face without any mercy.

The man's strength was immense; Yuan Yuan felt dizzy and her ears were ringing. It took her a long time to recover. She struggled desperately.

"Don't move." The man pulled a fruit knife from his clothes: "Damn it, hurry up and give me the money. You don't want to die, do you?"

With a knife pressed against her, Yuan Yuan stared at the two men in disbelief.

"Are you animals?!"

She was both angry and scared, her whole body trembling. Tears streamed down her cheeks uncontrollably.

She recognized the faces of the two men, yet they also felt strange to her.

When she was little, these two men were kind older brothers who would chase away boys who played pranks on her. When did they become so repulsive?

Was it after junior high school that you started hanging out with those bad kids?

Or was it when they found out that because they were adopted, their family would not leave them a single penny of inheritance?

Or perhaps they were always like this, but they were too good at disguising themselves when they were young, and they turned around and bit back when everyone was off guard.

When she was little, she was very grateful that she had two older brothers who loved her.

...

"Where are we going later?" Ye Qingyan asked Zhen Tian after picking up her backpack.

"I want to go to the intersection to buy fish-shaped cakes."

"Going back to that place? That place looks so run-down." Ye Qingyan pursed her lips.

"But her family really does have the best food."

"Alright, alright, I'll go with you. What about you guys? Are you coming or not?" Ye Qingyan asked the two boys behind her.

"Go ahead." Yang Feiguang tucked the ball under his arm: "Go out for some fresh air, come back and keep playing."

“Shao Junli is going too, no need to ask.” Yang Feiguang pulled Shao Junli over directly: “We’re good brothers.”

"Alright, then I'll mercifully grant you the opportunity to travel with me."

The group of people walked out, joking around. It was quite a coincidence.

The shop they went to was at the end of the alley where Yuan Yuan was trapped.

The sound from afar startled the two men standing in front of Yuanyuan.

"Hurry up and give me the money." The man leaned forward fiercely, the tip of the knife piercing Yuan Yuan's school uniform jacket.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Yang Feiguang threw the basketball forcefully in this direction: "You dare to rob a young girl in broad daylight."

"Damn it, again..." The two men gritted their teeth in anger and had no choice but to abandon the situation.

Seeing the two leave, Yuan Yuan's legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground. She was trapped by the dual images of the past and the present, and she couldn't stop crying.

"Are you alright?" Only after the bad guy left did Zhen Tian dare to take a step forward to comfort him.

This is quite something.

"Yuanyuan!"

"What? Yuanyuan?"

Four people ran towards her: "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Ye Qingyan looked at her torn school uniform and asked anxiously.

"Were they those bastards from before? Damn it!" Yang Feiguang picked up a brick from who-knows-where and was about to chase after them.

"Forget it, you can't catch up with him now." Shao Junli called out to Yang Feiguang, then asked Yuan Yuan, "How are you? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

Yuan Yuan didn't answer, and cried for a long time while hugging her legs.

"I'm sorry, we should have come out with you." Zhen Tian was easily moved to tears, and seeing Yuan Yuan cry, she couldn't help but choke up as well.

She hugged Yuan Yuan, trying to comfort her in the same way, and Ye Qingyan also felt a lump in her throat. The three girls huddled together.

"I'm fine," Yuan Yuan said after she had finished crying.

"Let's go to the police station. We have to catch them after this twice."

Yuan Yuan nodded and, accompanied by everyone, went to the police station again.

In the days that followed, everyone became even more vigilant. Ye Qingyan actually went back and asked her father for two people to personally protect Yuan Yuan. Shao Junli and Yang Feiguang accompanied her to and from school, which made them feel more at ease while the bad guys remained at large.

February passed quickly, and everyone welcomed the second semester of their junior year.

Although it seems like both the first and second semesters are the same as the second year of high school, the atmosphere between classmates and teachers has changed drastically.

Entering the second semester of their junior year, their studies seemed to enter a countdown.

The teachers were anxious, and so were many students.

Even the learning atmosphere among students has become much stronger.

Ye Qingyan continued to secretly read the novel while hiding it behind her textbook, while Zhen Tian sat next to her, writing and drawing.

"Hey, don't you feel guilty?" Ye Qingyan glanced around at the classmates who were either studying diligently or pretending to study. No one was openly doing things unrelated to studying like they were.

"No." Zhen Tian shook her head, paused her work, and looked at the notebook.

"Finished drawing again?" Ye Qingyan leaned closer. "You're amazing! You draw so fast now. And the figures look much better too."

"Practice makes perfect," Zhen Tian smiled.

“One painting a day isn’t enough for your fans.” Ye Qingyan recalled the fans who asked Zhen Tian for paintings on her Weibo, laughing heartily: “But they’re really funny.”

"Okay." Zhen Tian put away the drawing, planning to scan it with her home machine that evening and upload it.

"I think you should buy a drawing tablet. I've seen a lot of people online say that it's good for drawing."

"You mean a graphics tablet?" Zhen Tian tilted her head. "My uncle has one. I've seen him use it. It's quite convenient."

"Yeah, you should make one too. Drawing with a pen and then scribbling around doesn't look as refined as other bloggers'," Ye Qingyan suggested.

"Hmm, I'll go back and ask my uncle."

Zhen Tian opened Weibo and looked at the paintings she had uploaded. Indeed, many of them still had traces of smearing on them.

"Huh? What's this...?"