After being lectured by Butler Chen, Jiang Wan cooperated throughout, wearing an expression that said “I won’t do it again next time,” but in reality, she absolutely would.
Just as she reached the top of the stairs, she suddenly stopped and turned back to ask, “Uncle Chen, Third Master isn’t coming back, is he?”
Butler Chen was stunned for a few seconds. “Well… I’m not sure about that either. Why do you ask?”
“It’s nothing.” She waved her hand and went straight upstairs.
Butler Chen was puzzled. Was she asking because she hoped Third Master would come back to stay?
That made sense—after all, Third Master had been abroad all these years, and she’d been alone in the house, lonely and empty. It really wasn’t good for her.
He could understand.
Without a second thought, he picked up his phone and typed a text message: [Third Master, the Madam misses you. She’s asking if you’re coming back to stay!]
Over on his end, Lu Yanzhou was working in his study when his phone screen lit up. What caught his eye was precisely that text from the butler.
His hand, which had been raising his coffee cup, paused. The words reflected on his gold-rimmed glasses were the five characters: “The Madam misses you.”
He stared at them for a long time.
A moment later, he set down the cup and replied with two words.
…
She had a makeup exam that morning, so after breakfast, Jiang Wan rode her bicycle to campus.
At the bottom of the building, a girl with bangs and glasses timidly approached her. “Excuse me… are you Jiang Wan?”
Jiang Wan stopped and looked at her. “Yes, I am.”
“Um… someone asked me to tell you to go to the equipment room.”
Jiang Wan narrowed her eyes.
If someone wanted to meet her, they’d come find her themselves. Being summoned somewhere definitely meant trouble.
She casually noticed the bruise on the bangs girl’s wrist, then looked away and smiled. “Lead the way, then.”
The bangs girl brought her to the equipment room. Just as Jiang Wan was about to enter, the girl seemed to want to say something but held back, as if afraid of something, and dared not speak.
After Jiang Wan entered, she found the equipment room—as large and spacious as a basketball court—occupied by several delinquent girls with dyed hair who had already entered society.
And one Chen Feixue.
She said to the woman at the front who was chewing gum, “Sister Lan, she’s the one who got me suspended.”
Jiang Wan was stunned. Chen Feixue got suspended?
Was it because of the forum incident?
The woman saw Jiang Wan, stood up, and raised her chin. “So it’s you?”
Jiang Wan ignored her. “Chen Feixue, bringing outsiders onto campus to cause trouble—aren’t you afraid of getting disciplined?”
“So what? You’re just some country girl. It’s not like you can get me expelled.” Chen Feixue was unconcerned. “Besides, even if we rough you up, no one will know. And she definitely wouldn’t dare say anything.”
She was referring to the bangs girl standing not far behind her.
The bangs girl shrank back, keeping her head down and not daring to speak.
Jiang Wan let out a mocking laugh. “So it’s about numbers, is it?”
“Then you’re just out of luck! Sister Lan, you have to help me teach her a lesson!”
Chen Feixue looked smug.
The woman called Sister Lan spat out her gum and signaled the other girls to make their move.
Seeing them closing in, Jiang Wan grabbed a baseball bat from the side and swung it at them.
When she fought back, Sister Lan charged in too, grabbing at her hair.
Jiang Wan grabbed her back, kicked another girl in the stomach, then turned and tackled Sister Lan to the ground, tussling with her.
The others piled on Jiang Wan to restrain her.
Jiang Wan clung to Sister Lan’s hair for dear life, nearly pulling it all out, yanking so hard her scalp burned and she screamed and struggled.
The bangs girl was frightened by the scene, backed up a few steps, then ran out.
She ran straight to the bottom of the teaching building and suddenly spotted two figures. She only recognized one of them as a professor.
“Professor Liang!”
The bangs girl ran up to them.
Professor Liang, who had been in conversation with Lu Yanzhou, was called to a stop. He turned around. “Student, what’s wrong?”
“Jiang Wan from the Archaeology Department… she’s being bullied! In the equipment room!”