Lin Yutang put down the clothes she had just picked up, stood up, and walked over. “What photo?”
Ji Shuning and Ni Qianqian also crowded around.
“It’s this photo—the poster took it secretly.” Jian Ying held her phone out in front of Lin Yutang. “The post says that when he returned to campus today, he saw a luxury car parked at the side entrance of the dormitory, and a really beautiful girl got out of it. He wants to get to know her.”
Jian Ying let out a snicker. “Oh, and this guy also added a goofy grinning emoji, saying he’d be willing to marry into her family.”
Ji Shuning and Ni Qianqian: “…”
“Does it matter if he’s willing to marry in? The girl wouldn’t want him anyway!” Ni Qianqian rolled her eyes dramatically.
Ji Shuning brushed her bangs aside. “When chasing a girl, you can’t just look at her appearance—you also have to look at your own.”
Lin Yutang stared at the photo on the screen.
“That really is me in the photo. I came back through the side entrance of the living area—I didn’t expect to get caught on camera.”
Ni Qianqian scratched her ear. “Tangtang, why does the post say you got out of a luxury car?”
“Mm… I’ve been staying temporarily at my parents’ friend’s place.” Lin Yutang explained briefly.
Her roommates were tactful and, by unspoken agreement, didn’t press further.
Lin Yutang turned around and continued packing her luggage. Thinking about that post, a faint sense of unease crept into her heart.
For some reason, she had a feeling that this post would eventually stir up trouble.
On the first day back to class after the holiday, everyone was groggy and listless, yawning one after another, steeped in post-holiday laziness.
The teacher looked helplessly at the students below. “Alright, alright, there are still five minutes left—I’ll let you out early. Go eat lunch and take a nap.”
Ji Shuning yawned. “Where should we eat? Cafeteria One? Cafeteria Two? Or Wisteria Garden?”
“Wisteria Garden.” Jian Ying loved this trendy restaurant at Jing University the most.
However, Wisteria Garden was far from the academic area and located at the very back of the living area, requiring a long walk to reach.
Almost only students who were passionate about food and had very high Engel coefficients would go there.
The four of them chatted and laughed as they walked toward Wisteria Garden. After finishing lunch and coming out, they immediately saw a commotion up ahead.
On the large open space in front of the cafeteria entrance, where there were usually only a few students walking back to their dorms in pairs, there was now a crowd packed so tightly that not a drop of water could pass through. The extremely loud noise harshly shattered the campus’s tranquility.
They instinctively stopped in their tracks and followed the direction of the crowd’s gaze. They saw more than a dozen outsiders wearing floral shirts, with tattoos of a green dragon on their left arms and a white tiger on their right.
They were blocking the road in front of the cafeteria entrance, their expressions fierce and overbearing, looking like a group that was definitely not to be messed with.
The group crouched on the ground, their eyes dark and vicious as they swept over the passing students, their faces full of impatience.
Jian Ying instinctively tugged at Lin Yutang’s arm and lowered her voice. “What’s going on? So many gangster types—they look terrifying. Let’s take a detour.”
“Yeah! The principle of letting happy people avoid conflict—let’s stay far away from them.” Ni Qianqian nodded as well.
Lin Yutang furrowed her brow, and her heart inexplicably gave a jolt.
Before they could turn around and take a detour, someone in the noisy crowd shouted at the top of their lungs.
“She’s the one from the photo! It’s her!”
The group of troublemakers with hair dyed in all sorts of colors instantly turned their gazes in unison, like knives tempered in ice, piercing straight into Lin Yutang.
The green-haired man at the lead immediately strode forward with big steps.
He was tall and burly, the tattoos on his arms shifting with his movements, his face full of flesh twisted together, his eyes so dark and sinister it seemed he might devour all the students before him.
The several burly men behind him followed closely, surrounding them in unison, trapping Lin Yutang and her roommates firmly in the middle.
“Lin Yutang?” The green-haired man stopped, glanced at the photo on his phone, then looked her over from above, his tone full of arrogance. “Finally found you. Not in the dorm—so you were hiding in the most secluded cafeteria!”
Lin Yutang instinctively shielded her roommates behind her, suppressing the panic in her heart as she looked up at him. “Who are you? I don’t even know you!”
“Don’t know us?” The green-haired man let out a sneer, as if he’d heard the funniest joke. “Stop pretending! We’re from a debt collection agency. Your parents owe Boss Liu six million, and it’s been almost a year without paying. Today, you have to give us an answer!”
As he spoke, he reached out to shove Lin Yutang’s shoulder.
Ni Qianqian let out a terrified scream.
Jian Ying clutched tightly at Lin Yutang’s clothes. “Watch out!”
Ji Shuning frowned, stepped forward, and shoved the green-haired man’s arm away. “Keep your damn hands to yourself!”
Caught off guard by the push, the green-haired man stumbled back half a step before quickly steadying himself, glaring fiercely at Ji Shuning. “Let me tell you, I’m very professional—I don’t touch people who don’t owe the boss money. But don’t push your luck. If you dare meddle in this, don’t blame me for taking you down too!”
His words had barely left his mouth when the burly men behind him stepped forward, glaring at the four women with fierce eyes.
Jian Ying and Ni Qianqian were a bit frightened, but they still stepped forward.
“This is a society governed by law. If someone owes you money, go after them. Why are you causing a scene at school?”
The green-haired man’s eyes turned vicious, and he suddenly kicked a nearby trash can, sending it clattering loudly and making the surrounding students retreat in fear.
“A daughter pays her father’s debts, a daughter pays her mother’s debts—it’s only natural!”
The green-haired man pointed directly at Lin Yutang’s nose, his tone growing more arrogant. “Either call your parents right now and tell them to wire the money to Boss Liu, or come with us for a ‘ride’—you’ll be released when the debt is paid!”
Lin Yutang bit her lower lip, her feet not moving an inch.
She remembered this Boss Liu. Her family did owe him several million, but they had already negotiated to repay the debt by May next year. She didn’t know what had happened, but Boss Liu had gone back on his word and even hired a debt collection agency to corner her at school.
She quietly tightened her grip on the soy milk in her hand.
She’d just bought it from the cafeteria—it was scalding hot. Splashing it on these people’s heads would probably cost her a medical bill.
But she couldn’t care about that now.
These debt collectors clearly didn’t value their lives. Once they made a move on her roommates, no one would be able to stop them.
“Splash—”
The scalding soy milk poured all over the green-haired man’s head.
He howled in pain.
Seeing this, Ji Shuning, Jian Ying, and Ni Qianqian also splashed their soy milk onto the heads of the nearby burly men.
Screams rang out one after another. One yellow-haired man clutched his head in agony, writhing on the ground. “My head! My head hurts so much!”
Ji Shuning let out a mocking laugh. “Let me finish that sentence for you—your head hurts, is your brain about to grow out?”
The other three, who had been tense just moments ago, burst into laughter at her words.
Seeing the green-haired man overcome the pain of the hot soy milk, his eyes growing even more sinister and terrifying, Lin Yutang immediately grabbed her roommates’ arms. “Run!”
She turned around, and her face slammed straight into a warm, firm chest.
A familiar, crisp scent lingered around the tip of her nose, and Lin Yutang froze in place.