The underling, perhaps afraid of being scolded, still downplayed the situation.
When Zhu Yunle went over to check, he found that the breathing wasn’t just slow—it was so faint it seemed as if Li Yue might pass away at any moment.
Li Yue’s hands were tied together and handcuffed to the protective net on the Equipment Room window. Exhausted, he had slid down and collapsed in the corner, his head drooping to his chest, his raised arms twisted at an unnatural angle.
This posture made the vertebrae at the back of his neck protrude sharply, as if they were about to pierce through his thin skin.
The underling grabbed Li Yue’s hair and forced his head up. Seeing his face, Zhu Yunle instinctively took a step back.
Li Yue’s face was pale, his eyes tightly shut, even his eye sockets slightly sunken. He showed no reaction to having his hair pulled—clearly unconscious beyond any doubt.
Only then did Zhu Yunle remember that they couldn’t actually let him die. Putting on a tough front, he ordered, “It’s just heatstroke. Go wake him up.”
The underling stammered, “Huh?” saying he didn’t know how and not daring to ask if it was really just heatstroke that had caused the fainting.
“Damn it!” Zhu Yunle kicked him in frustration. “Splash water on his face or pinch his philtrum! Hurry up!”
The underlings fumbled around, opening two bottles of mineral water and pouring them over Li Yue’s head, unsure whether they were meant to wash his face or his hair.
Then they went to ask Zhu Yunle if they should remove the handcuffs, nervously suggesting that laying him flat might be better in such situations, as they’d read somewhere.
Zhu Yunle kicked each of them once, roaring that it was absolutely not allowed. After being refused, they had no choice but to move Li Yue to another spot and lock him to the Equipment Room door handle instead, at least keeping him out of direct sunlight.
After all this commotion, Li Yue finally opened his eyes, but he didn’t seem fully conscious. His long eyelashes drooped, and he showed no reaction to his surroundings.
The underlings pushed and shoved each other until one was chosen to report back to Zhu Yunle, who had long since returned to the stairwell. The chosen underling whispered that Li Yue was awake and asked if they should still keep him locked up.
Guan Youyi, who had been watching from a distance with her arms crossed, finally reminded them, “Qin Yuan hasn’t arrived yet.”
Right. Distracted by the minor incident, Zhu Yunle had almost forgotten that Qin Yuan was about to arrive. Furious, he grabbed a nearby mineral water bottle and hit the underling on the head twice. “Why the hell are you making such a face? He’s not dead, is he?!”
Guan Youyi watched coldly as the irritable Zhu Yunle took out his anger on others.
It was true that she had hinted to Zhu Yunle to carry out this plan, but it was for Qin Yuan’s sake.
She could tell that Qin Yuan wanted to break away from their circle.
During that physical education class, Qin Yuan’s attitude had shifted too drastically, as if she wanted to cut ties completely.
Guan Youyi didn’t know why Qin Yuan had suddenly become much smarter recently, but she couldn’t just watch Qin Yuan distance herself from them forever.
Guan Youyi’s family background wasn’t as privileged as the other two’s, but she had been involved in just as many dirty deeds.
If their past actions were ever exposed, the carefully maintained facade of being an exemplary student might completely collapse, and she might face abandonment by all her family and friends.
So she had to drag Qin Yuan down with her. That way, even if things came to light in the future, the Qin Family would have no choice but to cover for everyone.
She needed an incident to firmly bind Qin Yuan to this small group. Qin Yuan had long been on the same boat with them—no one could escape unscathed.
As for who would become the “victim” in this incident, she didn’t care.
So she hinted to Zhu Yunle that all their recent unpleasantness with Qin Yuan was because of Li Yue. For such an insignificant nobody, Qin Yuan had even argued with you in front of so many people—it was truly unacceptable.
Zhu Yunle was indeed incited.
“So this time, we must teach Li Yue a lesson he’ll never forget.” Guan Youyi spoke with her ever-gentle smile, her soft voice brushing past Zhu Yunle’s ear.
At the stairwell, Zhu Yunle’s anger was interrupted by a phone ring. On the other end, Qin Yuan’s accumulated fury seemed no less than his, getting straight to the point: “I’m at the Laboratory Building. Where are you?”
Qin Yuan felt that every time she received a message from Zhu Yunle, it meant trouble. Now, rushing to the school only to find the Laboratory Building’s doors tightly shut and no one in sight, she felt like digging up all eighteen generations of the Zhu family ancestors.
Whose brilliant idea was this? Calling people to the school during a holiday—were they worried the target wasn’t conspicuous enough?
On the rooftop, a subordinate who had just been scolded by Zhu Yunle immediately offered to go downstairs and guide Qin Yuan, finally escaping the eerie atmosphere of the Rooftop.
The elevator in the Laboratory Building had long been shut down for the holiday, and the entire building was unnervingly quiet. If not for the blazing midday sun outside, it would look like a scene from a horror movie.
Following the guide through twists and turns, Qin Yuan arrived at the back door of the Fire Escape. Staring at the six flights of stairs, she felt her fate was truly fraught with hardship.
“What on earth are you doing on the rooftop?” The air in the Fire Escape was stagnant. Qin Yuan felt stifled after climbing just two floors, leaning against the wall to catch her breath, only to end up with a palm covered in black dust.
“Uh, Brother Yunle and Guan Youyi are both upstairs…” The subordinate avoided a direct answer, his eyes darting around.
Qin Yuan asked bluntly, “Are you here to discuss how to mess with Li Yue, or have you already brought him here?”
The subordinate turned back with a relieved smile to explain to Qin Yuan: “Wow, Sister Qin really sees through everything. Li Yue is indeed here too, haha.”
He had thought Sister Qin might be unhappy to hear they’d brought Li Yue first, but it didn’t seem that way.
The next moment, Qin Yuan grabbed his shoulder from behind, her tone so cold it sent an inexplicable shiver down his spine. “Is Li Yue’s leg broken?”
“No! No!” the subordinate hastily denied, then, under Qin Yuan’s oppressive gaze, added with an awkward smile, “It’s just… he passed out.”
Today, Qin Yuan truly understood what it meant to be so speechless that one could only laugh.
Why did they have to stir up such trouble! Qin Yuan pushed past the subordinate and hurried up the stairs, gritting her teeth as she ordered, “Tell me everything from start to finish.”
The subordinate quickly caught up, his words somewhat jumbled: “He was unconscious earlier, but we’ve already revived him! Brother Yunle wanted to prepare a surprise for you…”
Right now, Qin Yuan also felt like twisting Zhu Yunle’s head off as a surprise for his father.
“It’s probably just heatstroke, Sister Qin. Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.” He whispered the explanation, perhaps because Li Yue’s half-dead state earlier had left a deep impression. At this moment, the subordinate didn’t know whether he was explaining to Qin Yuan or trying to convince himself.
Qin Yue grew more horrified with each word, even feeling that Li Yue’s later handling of her group in the original book had been too lenient.
“Brother Le had someone knock him out with a stick and bring him up, then just handcuffed him on the rooftop. Nothing else was done,” the underling hurriedly explained. “We just didn’t give him any food. He was fine when we brought him here on the first day of the holiday…”
Qin Yue abruptly stopped walking ahead.
“What did you say?” She could no longer care about her increasingly heavy footsteps. Her hand gripping the railing strained until veins bulged, and she nearly gritted her teeth to dust. “You locked him up for two days?”
The underling was momentarily stunned by her venomous tone before nodding blankly.
For the final floor, Qin Yue practically charged up.
Zhu Yunle and Guan Youyi stood together at the last stair landing leading to the rooftop to greet her, both wearing joyful smiles as if genuinely delighted she could witness this carefully prepared “surprise.”
Guan Youyi had insisted Qin Yue come to the rooftop by any means necessary because once she arrived, she would be implicated in the operation and unable to wash her hands of it.
Zhu Yunle absolutely wanted her there—once she saw how wretchedly Li Yue, this insect, had been toyed with in his palm, she would naturally understand there was no need to be angry over such trash. Their relationship could then return to how it was before.
Qin Yue ignored them, quickly walking to the rooftop entrance. Before pulling open the iron door, she quietly asked one final question: “Are there any surveillance cameras outside?”
Seeing her so compliant, Guan Youyi enthusiastically explained, “They’ve been broken for ages. The entire Laboratory Building’s surveillance system is down. Repairs won’t happen until after the short holiday.”
Qin Yue’s cold gaze swept over the other five people present one by one, finally resting on Guan Youyi’s gentle smiling face. Expressionlessly, she slapped away the hand trying to hold hers.
The inner handle of the iron door felt somewhat hot to the touch. Qin Yue could almost imagine the surging heat waves outside.
The rooftop’s black waterproof layer absorbed most of the heat, while the surrounding protective walls blocked the high-altitude wind. Stepping onto this black rubber-coated ground was like entering a running oven; even the visual scene seemed slightly distorted.
Ninghe was a city with short autumns. Temperature-wise, early October could still feel like midsummer at 35°C, while by late October, only 15°C with chilly winds and cold rain remained.
Unfortunately, this year’s summer was exceptionally long. The first two days of the holiday were clear and sunny, with highs of 37°C.
It was exactly noon now. The perceived temperature on the rooftop was at least 40°C.
Li Yue had been locked up in such conditions for two days, likely still bearing injuries from two days prior, without food or water. That he hadn’t died was probably thanks to his protagonist’s halo shielding him.
Qin Yue felt she was about to suffocate.
As for the people behind her—if you called them ignorant, they still knew to choose a time and place without surveillance; if you called them clever, they carried out kidnapping and imprisonment so blatantly.
Qin Yue really wanted to tell Zhu Yunle and Guan Youyi that China has a complete criminal code, but then she remembered they were all minors—untargetable—and successfully laughed at her own anger.
“Aren’t you afraid he or his family will report this to the police?” Qin Yue turned back, directing the question at Zhu Yunle.
“Report to the police?” Truly, ignorance breeds fearlessness. Zhu Yunle sneered, his tone relaxed. “Li Yue couldn’t even leave the school two days ago. Where would he go to report it?”
Zhu Yunle’s mind could probably only handle single-threaded processing. He had completely forgotten the tension he felt upon seeing Li Yue unconscious earlier, now only filled with the joy of finally seeing Qin Yuan after a month and the excitement of wanting to claim credit.
He tilted his chin toward the Equipment Room, exuding an arrogant air as if eager to show off his achievements to Qin Yuan.
“As for the others, that shabby house of his only has an old, dim-sighted woman. I sent someone to talk to her—she’ll believe anything you say.”
Slap!
Qin Yuan could no longer hold back. She raised her hand and delivered a swift, forceful slap, so strong that it knocked Zhu Yunle’s face to the side.
Everyone was stunned by the sharp sound of the slap, including Zhu Yunle, who could only stare wide-eyed in confusion at Qin Yuan.
“Your methods are truly disgusting,” Qin Yuan said, her gaze sharp as a thorn, her words leaving no room for ambiguity.
No one had expected Qin Yuan to be so ruthless and uncompromising this time.
Time seemed to stand still. It took Guan Youyi a long moment to react before she stepped forward, trying to pull Qin Yuan back and persuade her. “Yuan Yuan, don’t be angry. Yunle only did this because of you—”
Before she could finish, Qin Yuan brushed her aside.
“Guan Youyi, I didn’t call you out face-to-face because I thought you still had some shame. It seems I was wrong.”
Qin Yuan’s words cut through Guan Youyi’s hypocritical facade like a knife. “Stop pretending to be innocent in front of me. I don’t care what you want to do, but don’t use my name again. If there’s a next time, I’ll deal with you too!”
No one had ever seen Qin Yuan so furious. The other subordinates were too terrified to even meet her gaze.
Qin Yuan’s icy stare shifted between the stunned Zhu Yunle and the silent Guan Youyi, delivering her final warning: “If anything happens to Li Yue today, neither of you will get off easy!”
With that, she ignored them both and quickly scanned her surroundings, asking for Li Yue’s location. “Where is he?!”
Behind her, several meters away at the entrance of the Equipment Room, Li Yue leaned against the doorframe and let out a soft cough, the sound piercing the deathly silence of the Rooftop.
Qin Yuan turned around and saw Li Yue looking up at her, as if using every last ounce of his strength.