Because it was Friday, many parents came to pick up their children, and the school gate was blocked by cars. Qin Sheng arranged to meet Gu Yueming twenty minutes later.

After the game ended, she looked up at the clock on the opposite wall.

5:05.

There are five minutes left until the agreed time.

She casually turned off her phone, grabbed her coat from the back of the chair, and stood up.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from the direction of the front door. Qin Sheng paused and looked up.

As soon as Lin Zhou arrived at the classroom door, he saw the girl standing by the window. He immediately smiled broadly and said, "Qin Sheng, you're really here! I heard from the students that you were still in the classroom, so I came to check. I didn't expect you to still be here."

As he spoke, his eyes caught sight of the table in front of the girl. He paused for a moment, then his smile widened: "You're still doing your homework after school. Qin Sheng is indeed very diligent."

Qin Sheng glanced at the exercise book casually tossed on the table: "..."

Okay, no need to explain, it doesn't make sense anyway.

She pressed her temples and asked, "Did Teacher Lin want to see me about something?"

Lin Zhou then remembered the important matter at hand.

He handed the plastic bag in his hand to Qin Sheng and said with a smile, "This is for you."

While Qin Sheng was still wondering, Lin Zhou had already taken the contents out of the plastic bag—a stack of test papers.

"This is a mock college entrance exam paper that your teacher asked a friend of Tiandu to find. It's said to be a set of questions jointly compiled by professors from Tianjin University and Tsinghua University. It was originally intended for your class to use for testing, but after looking at it, I found that the difficulty of this paper is too high. No one else can do it, so I brought it to you."

Qin Sheng's gaze became somewhat subtle.

However, looking at the young man's bright and sincere smile, she simply pursed her lips, reached out and took the gift: "Thank you, Teacher Lin."

Lin Zhou immediately revealed two deep dimples: "You're welcome. As long as you're willing to study hard, I'll be very happy."

Qin Sheng: "...Mm."

With her eyes lowered, she looked especially well-behaved and cute, reminding Lin Zhou of the little sister next door who looked like a porcelain doll when he was a child.

Lin Zhou's fingertips twitched, and he couldn't resist reaching out to pat her head: "Keep it up!"

But I couldn't get a picture of it.

Qin Sheng took a step back, avoiding Lin Zhou's hand that was about to stroke her head.

Lin Zhou: "..."

With a slight hint of embarrassment, Lin Zhou touched his nose with his other hand: "Keep it up."

Then he left.

Qin Sheng watched his retreating figure disappear through the doorway, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes.

Why...did she hide?

It was the same thing—he stroked her head. When Fu Jingheng stroked her head, she didn't feel anything was wrong; at most, she was just worried he'd stroke her bald…

I can't figure it out.

I've stopped thinking about it.

Qin Sheng pursed her lips and left the classroom.

About a minute later, a rustling sound suddenly came from a table near the podium in the classroom, and a figure crawled out from under the table.

It's Ning Yutong.

She looked in the direction of Qin Sheng's seat, her face extremely pale.

Ning Yutong had already gone home, but when she was almost at the school gate, she suddenly realized that the bracelet Qin Yanshu had given her as a birthday present last month was gone.

The bracelet was quite valuable, the most precious piece of jewelry she owned. She immediately searched for it along the way and returned to her classroom.

When she came in, Qin Sheng was playing games with headphones on and didn't notice her. She didn't want to talk to her either, so she went back to her seat to find her bracelet. Unexpectedly, she saw Lin Zhou come to the classroom to give Qin Sheng the test paper.

Ning Yutong couldn't help but recall what Lin Zhou had just said.

"...This test paper is too difficult; no one else can do it, so I brought it to you."

Why?

A perpetually blank exam paper, always at the bottom of the class, a complete slacker who never listens in class and only knows how to sleep and play games.

Why did I receive special treatment from Teacher Lin?

Just because she memorized a reading comprehension passage that others were too lazy to waste time memorizing?

Ning Yutong couldn't understand it, which made her even angrier.

The jealousy in her heart spread like wildfire, causing her to unconsciously tighten her grip on her phone.

She glanced down and a sinister smile curled at the corner of her lips.

Qin Sheng, you're finished.

*

Meanwhile, at the entrance of Chunhe No.1 Middle School.

"Almost everyone's left, why hasn't she come out yet? Old Wang, did you miss her because you weren't looking carefully?"

After waiting in the car for a full twenty minutes, Qin Xuehua's patience finally ran out. As she reached out to open the car door and got out, she questioned him in an annoyed tone.

The driver, Lao Wang, was standing by the car. Upon hearing this, he quickly bowed and said, "No way. With that young lady's face, I wouldn't miss her even if I missed someone else. She probably hasn't come out yet."

"If Madam is in a hurry, shall I go in and look for her?" Old Wang suggested tentatively.

Qin Xuehua waved her hand, her face full of impatience: "Go, go, go straight to Class 1 of Senior Three. Once you find them, bring them over."

He couldn't help but mutter, "Honestly, I don't know what they're doing all day. They take so long to get home from school. They're such a worry!"

Old Wang pretended he hadn't heard anything, replied "yes," and then straightened up and walked towards the school.

Qin Xuehua looked around listlessly, but all she could see were cars and ordinary-looking people, so she withdrew her gaze without much interest.

Just as she turned around to go back to the car to continue waiting, her gaze suddenly sharpened.

A black Bentley slowly drove up from a distance and finally stopped in front of the No. 1 Middle School.

The driver got out of the car, went around to the back seat, opened the back door, and reached out to protect the door frame.

Then a diamond-encrusted high heel emerged from the car door, followed by a slender, fair leg, a navy blue trench coat, and a hand adorned with a jade bracelet…

Before long, a complete figure came into Qin Xuehua's view.

It was a woman.

Qin Xuehua's pupils suddenly contracted.

Second Madam Qin!

Qin Xuehua never expected to run into the second wife of the Qin family, the most powerful family in Ancheng, here. An indescribable excitement welled up in her heart, and she went straight to greet her without having time to think carefully.

"Madam Qin!"

Gu Yueming was about to enter the school to find Qin Sheng when she suddenly heard a voice from behind her. She subconsciously turned around and looked over.

Upon seeing this, her brow twitched violently, and her body trembled.

Without a second thought, she kicked him mercilessly.

Qin Xuehua was excitedly rushing forward when she suddenly saw the diamond-encrusted high heel lift up halfway up. By the time she realized what was happening, she and her bag had already been sent flying.

This is what Qin Sheng saw when she arrived.

She looked at Qin Xuehua, who was sitting on the ground, looking completely bewildered, and couldn't help but smile.

Well... it actually felt pretty satisfying?