The next day, Jiang Ye returned to school to check the answer key and estimate his score.
When he arrived at the bus stop, he instinctively looked around, searching for Liu Bei.
He did not believe there were ghosts in this world. Yet he also had no choice but to admit that yesterday, he had encountered a girl who was already dead.
He tilted his head back, wanting to see whether there were any cameras nearby. That way, if he called the police, at least there would be evidence to support his absurd story.
Unfortunately, things did not go as he wished.
There was not a single camera in the area.
He called the bus company.
“Hello. The night before last, around five in the evening, my wallet was stolen on the Route 302 bus. Could I trouble you to help me pull the surveillance footage?”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the operator said politely. “The surveillance system on Route 302 has been malfunctioning these past few days and is currently under repair. I’m afraid it may not have recorded the thief. Sir, you can file a police report first. We will fully cooperate with the investigation.”
“All right. Thank you.”
He had just hung up when another call came in.
It was his mother.
He did not answer. The call turned into a missed call.
A WeChat message from his mother popped up on the screen.
Mom: My boy, call me back as soon as you see this.
He put the phone back into his pocket and stood for a while in the cool morning wind.
Liu Bei still did not appear.
She had left neatly and decisively, but she had left Jiang Ye with questions.
Why had she warned him not to go home?
The police still had not found Liu Bei’s killer. Could the killer be hiding near his house?
His stepfather’s villa was in Tianlu Mansion in the suburbs, a high-end residential district where half the wealthy people in Shenzhen had bought villas. If a murderer was really running loose nearby, he had to warn the family.
It was just that his relationship with the family was awkward. Even if he said something, his stepfather probably would not listen.
He decided to go find Li Miaomiao at school later.
WeChat vibrated.
Candy-Loving Witch sent him a photo.
It was a pair of red high heels.
Candy-Loving Witch: The heels you bought me arrived! They’re so pretty!
Argos: Mm.
Candy-Loving Witch: I bought new shoes, but I don’t have clothes to match them.
Jiang Ye: “…”
He was not stupid.
What she meant was that she wanted him to buy her new clothes.
Candy-Loving Witch: Wuwuwu, I want a new dress.
He checked the balance in his Alipay account. After subtracting this month’s food money, he transferred everything left to her.
Candy-Loving Witch: Baby, you’re so good to me!
Jiang Ye stepped into the classroom just as the bell rang.
His seat was in the very last row, beside the trash can. The special seat for bad students.
He tossed his schoolbag down, set his phone to Do Not Disturb, put it inside the desk compartment, and sent Li Miaomiao a message.
Come to my classroom after class.
The teacher was already handing out the answers. Everyone looked tense as they calculated their scores. Only Jiang Ye was distracted.
The teacher threw a piece of chalk at him. He tilted his head and dodged it. The chalk flew straight into the trash can.
The teacher glared at him.
“Jiang Ye, did you do very well on the exam?”
Without saying a word, he kept one hand in his pocket and used the other to slowly flip open the answer sheet.
He had always gone his own way and treated teachers’ lectures like wind passing his ears. Now that the college entrance exam was over, if a student himself did not care, the teacher could do nothing about it.
The teacher turned and asked his deskmate, “A-Ze, how much did you estimate?”
His deskmate lifted his head.
The faint morning light illuminated his cold, pale face. In that instant, it seemed as though the whole world brightened by a degree.
When God made him, He must have taken special care, carving and polishing each detail before finally allowing him to descend to the human world. Compared to him, everyone else seemed like crude, inferior products.
He curved his eyes in a smile and reported a number.
Everyone in the classroom sucked in a breath.
The teacher was very satisfied.
“Capital University is basically guaranteed.”
Jiang Ye’s deskmate, Jin Feize, ranked first in the grade and was the pride of the school. He had transferred into their class a year ago. At the time, all the seats were already occupied, and only Jiang Ye beside the trash can had no deskmate, so Jin Feize was assigned to him.
Originally, Jiang Ye had spent his time alone in the back, ignored by everyone, free and unrestrained.
Once Jin Feize arrived, the teachers’ gazes were drawn over as well. The number of times Jiang Ye got scolded every day rose exponentially.
It was not only the teachers. His classmates also always drifted toward this corner, intentionally or otherwise.
At first, Jiang Ye had people pursuing him too. Later, he got a girlfriend, and from then on, no one came to bother him anymore.
Now that a new handsome boy had arrived, he naturally became the focus of the class.
Jiang Ye simply had not expected the peace he had finally won to be shattered again. During breaks, his area was still unbearably busy, because everyone lined up to ask Jin Feize questions.
Jin Feize refused no one. He treated everyone with gentle attentiveness, and when he spoke, he was like a spring breeze brushing the face.
Some people were either naturally dull or had ulterior motives. No matter how long he explained, they still could not solve the problem. Jiang Ye, sitting beside him, would frown so hard he nearly opened his mouth to chase them away, yet Jin Feize could still smile and say, “I’ll teach you again after school.”
Jiang Ye did not like him very much.
Last time, while wandering around the sports field, he had happened to see Jin Feize throw gifts other female classmates had given him into the trash.
The intentions of those girls were obvious. He could have simply refused them directly, but instead, he kept them dangling, as though doing so were amusing.
Jiang Ye lay on the desk to sleep. His gaze swept past the desk leg without thinking, and he suddenly noticed a one-foot-tall shopping bag by Jin Feize’s feet. Inside was a black necktie.
His eyes stilled.
Black neckties were everywhere, but this one carried a faint scent of jasmine perfume.
When he had been sitting upright, he had not smelled it. Now that his head was lowered, that faint jasmine fragrance drifted slowly to the tip of his nose.
This scent was exactly the same as the one on Liu Bei.
He lifted his head and asked Jin Feize, “Where did this tie come from?”
Jin Feize looked down at the tie and smiled.
“Your sister gave it to me.”
Li Miaomiao?
Jiang Ye’s brow tightened. He took out his phone and sent her a message.
Come out now. I’m coming to find you.
The first-year classrooms were on the first floor. While the teacher was facing the blackboard and writing, he stood up and slipped out of the classroom.
He met Li Miaomiao in front of the restroom.
Li Miaomiao had her hair tied in a ponytail. Her face was fair and tender; at sixteen, she was full of youthful student energy.
She took out a mirror and combed her bangs.
“Why were you in such a hurry to find me? You even made me skip morning self-study. The one watching us today was the Abbess of Extinction. I said I had a stomachache, but she obviously didn’t believe me.”
Jiang Ye got straight to the point.
“Where did the tie you gave Jin Feize come from?”
“I bought it, of course,” Li Miaomiao said.
“Not you,” Jiang Ye said. “Liu Bei.”
Li Miaomiao froze.
“How did you know…”
“Tell the truth.” Jiang Ye’s expression darkened slightly.
His brows and eyes were naturally cold. When his face went tense, he had a certain intimidating force.
Since childhood, Li Miaomiao had been afraid of this older brother who was not related to her by blood. She immediately confessed everything.
“Why are you making that face? I didn’t do anything bad. Last month, Liu Bei and I agreed that we’d both give gifts to the boys we liked. My taste is terrible, so she picked mine out for me while she was at it. She hadn’t had time to give hers away before she was killed. I thought, life is full of accidents. Maybe one day I’ll suddenly be gone too, so I’d better give mine early.”
At the mention of Liu Bei, she wilted considerably. Grief settled between her brows.
“Brother, who do you think could be so vicious? She was only sixteen. How could she just die like that, for no clear reason? The person she liked was you. Find some time to come with me and pay respects to her. If her spirit knows, she’ll definitely be happy.”
“…”
Jiang Ye frowned and asked, “The person you like is Jin Feize?”
“Yeah.” Li Miaomiao lowered her head and pressed her fingers together.
If Jiang Ye remembered correctly, last year the person she liked had still been Xu Wenjie from the class next door.
Li Miaomiao peeked at his expression and asked, “You called me out just to ask this?”
Jiang Ye paused, then lied without changing his expression.
“The news said a murderer fled to the area near Tianlu Mansion. You should be careful these next few days. It would be best to hire a few more bodyguards, just in case.”
Li Miaomiao’s face changed drastically.
“Mom and Dad have been out for several days. They won’t be home until Friday. I’m the only one at home right now!”
Her face turned pale.
“These past few nights, I keep hearing creaking sounds from the attic. Could that murderer be hiding up there? Why don’t I stay at your place tonight? Mom and Dad come home Friday anyway. We can go home together after school.”
“It’s just mice upstairs,” Jiang Ye said flatly. “Go back by yourself.”
“Brother.” Li Miaomiao hesitated. “I know you’ve always felt Mom favors me, but Mom is like that because I’m not her biological child. If our positions were reversed, then the one who got slapped when we were eight would definitely have been me.”
Jiang Ye was ice-cold.
“My place isn’t convenient. Stay in a hotel by yourself.”
Li Miaomiao made a bitter face.
“Are you really comfortable letting me stay in a hotel alone? I’m as pretty as a flower. Maybe someone will abduct me halfway there. Just one night, okay? Also, did you know Jin Feize lives across from you? If I go to your place, I might even run into him.”
Jin Feize lived across from him?
Only now did Jiang Ye learn of this.
He had never once run into Jin Feize in the neighborhood before.
Jiang Ye felt something strange about it. Once school ended, Jin Feize seemed to vanish, and even the teachers could not find him.
Jin Feize’s origins were also extremely mysterious. No one knew who his parents were, or what school he had attended before.
When Li Miaomiao saw Jiang Ye say nothing, she thought he did not agree and began tugging at his sleeve, pestering him crookedly and relentlessly.
Worn down by her, he could only agree.
She was a minor, after all. He truly could not feel at ease letting her stay in a hotel alone.
When he returned to the classroom, Jiang Ye once again glanced at the shopping bag by Jin Feize’s feet.
Perhaps before long, Li Miaomiao’s tie would appear in the trash can by the sports field.
It would be good to let Li Miaomiao learn a lesson. Maybe then she would stop being so boy-crazy all day.
After Li Miaomiao’s evening self-study ended, Jiang Ye picked her up and took her back to his neighborhood.
Along the way, Li Miaomiao pinched her nose, her heart aching for the boy she liked because he lived in such a shabby place.
Jiang Ye took out his key and opened the door.
The moment the door opened, he saw the little cards with busty women printed on them scattered on the floor.
There were still just as many cards today. The card distributors were relentless, visiting every day, firmly convinced that students renting near the school were hot-blooded youths in urgent need of release.
Only today, the cards looked a little strange.
They were too far from the crack under the door. One had even reached beyond the entryway.
Had someone come in?
Jiang Ye’s heart gave a heavy thud.
Only if someone had entered and accidentally kicked the cards could they have flown that far.
Li Miaomiao was just about to go inside when Jiang Ye stopped her.
“Wait at the door.”
He took off his shoes and entered barefoot, inspecting the surroundings.
There were no footprints on the floor. The things on the table were exactly as they had been when he left. Cups, plates, bowls, books, tablet—nothing had shifted even an inch.
“What is it, Brother?” Li Miaomiao called from the doorway.
There was nothing strange anywhere.
If a thief had entered, he should at least have left some trace, not to mention that not a single document or valuable item was missing.
Perhaps he was being paranoid.
Or perhaps the person who distributed the cards had simply become skilled enough to flick them deep through the door crack.
He called for Li Miaomiao to come in.
He called several times, but no one answered.
When he reached the doorway, he discovered that she was chatting with Jin Feize.
She stood there shyly, twisting and turning, her face full of bashfulness, nothing like her usual spoiled and fierce self.
Jin Feize leaned against the doorframe and greeted Jiang Ye.
The man’s eyes were dark and shadowed. The tails of his eyes tilted upward, carrying a natural, almost bewitching charm. No matter whom he looked at, it seemed as if he were whispering affection to them.
No wonder Li Miaomiao liked him.
He had been born with a face full of romance. Especially the tear mole at the corner of his right eye, glistening as if about to fall.
“Senior Jin, where did you go to school before?” Li Miaomiao asked.
“You mean before I came to Yuyang High School? I was sick before, so I recuperated in the mountains.”
Jin Feize smiled as he spoke.
“Ah... so Senior’s health isn’t good.” Li Miaomiao said, “The news said there will be thunderstorms tomorrow. Senior, remember to bring an umbrella.”
A sickly young man made a girl’s maternal instincts overflow even more. Li Miaomiao practically wanted to spend twenty-four hours a day taking care of him, worrying about him, and loving him.
She was immersed in his beauty, dazed and unable to extricate herself, so much so that she never noticed Jin Feize was not looking at her at all.
Jin Feize was gazing at Jiang Ye, who had appeared in the doorway.
He smiled and said, “I went out to throw away the trash just now and saw someone come out of your place. Was that a relative of yours?”
A chill ran down Jiang Ye’s spine.
He quickly asked, “A man or a woman? Were they wearing a scarf?”
“A woman.” Jin Feize touched his chin, recalling. “She walked quickly. I didn’t see clearly whether she had one on.”
This run-down neighborhood had no surveillance cameras, so Jiang Ye had no way to confirm the intruder’s identity.
A woman.
Most likely Liu Bei.
Jiang Ye did not understand why she would come to his place.
Perhaps she did not have good intentions. Perhaps she had told him not to go home because she wanted to visit him at night and had some scheme in mind.
He had never been afraid to assume the worst of people. She might have been a gentle young girl when alive, but after death, she could still become a malicious ghost.
He pressed his fingers against his temple, feeling a headache coming on.
Li Miaomiao still wanted to say something to Jin Feize, but Jiang Ye grabbed her directly by the back of her collar and dragged her through the door.
“See you tomorrow, Senior!” Li Miaomiao shouted as she struggled.
Jiang Ye said a cool “Good night,” then shut the door with the back of his hand, closing Jin Feize’s beautiful face outside.
“You sleep in the bedroom. I’ll sleep in the living room. Tomorrow afternoon, skip evening self-study after school. We’re going home.”
Li Miaomiao had just been about to complain that he had not created any opportunities for her and the boy she liked. Hearing this, she froze.
“Brother, you’re willing to go home?”
Jiang Ye silently took out the bedding.
Li Miaomiao was timid as a mouse. If he told her he was being haunted by a female ghost and this apartment was unsafe, she probably would not sleep all night.
He brushed her off with a couple of casual lines, then turned and went to wash up.
BUZZ—
Jiang Ye’s phone vibrated again.
He picked it up.
Candy-Loving Witch: Baby, graduation ceremony is coming soon, and I still don’t have jewelry to wear. Someone else gave me some, but I threw it away. I only want what you give me.
Jiang Ye: “…”
He sighed and transferred her three hundred yuan.
Candy-Loving Witch: Baby, you’re so good. Mwah! I’ll reward you with a pretty picture~
She sent him a photo.
It was a shot of her legs in black stockings.
Her legs were straight and long. The black stockings hugged them tightly and had been deliberately torn in several places, revealing cold white skin through the narrow slits. A pair of stilettos hung loosely from her toes, almost falling, glossy and smooth, their pointed tips sharp, gorgeous, and edged with danger.
Her allure was like the morning sun, brilliant and impossible to look away from.
Jiang Ye: “…”
Candy-Loving Witch: Do you like it?
Argos: Don’t wear that outside.
After sending the final message, he turned off the screen, silently got up, switched on the computer, and started taking boosting jobs.