Song Zhiyu pursed his lips, the temperature around him instantly dropping another three degrees.
Looking back at his phone, he had completely lost interest in investigating Jiang Wangye’s childhood friend. He directly forwarded the post to the student council member in charge of the campus forum, then turned and headed toward the School of Biology.
He thought to himself that before starting the afternoon experiment, he’d need to freshen up in his personal lounge first.
“How did it go?” Seeing Xu Qiao’s triumphant expression, Su Jiaojiao jumped out from behind a nearby tree, her face beaming with excitement. “Did you succeed?”
Xu Qiao’s eyes curved into crescents as she took out a black sandalwood prayer bead from her pocket, gently toying with it.
A smug smile spread across her lips. “Not only did I get the prayer bead, I even managed to get Song Zhiyu’s WeChat. The so-called ‘unattainable flower’ isn’t so unattainable after all.”
“Wow, Qiaoqiao! You’re amazing!” Su Jiaojiao was utterly impressed.
“How did you do it? You’re too good! My cousin said before that Song Zhiyu never adds girls on WeChat—he doesn’t even add guys unless he knows them well. How did you manage to pull that off?”
Thinking back to the unexpected turn of events earlier, Xu Qiao felt a slight ache in her chest. She briefly explained in a few words before pulling Su Jiaojiao toward their next destination.
“Qiaoqiao, didn’t you already have a membership card for this place? Why are you getting another one? I still have credit left on my card from last time. If you need to use it, just use mine.”
Seeing Xu Qiao inquiring about a membership card at the front desk again, Su Jiaojiao quickly took out her own card and handed it over.
Xu Qiao didn’t accept it. “This card is meant for Song Zhiyu to pay for. How could I let you cover it?”
“You’re really planning to make him pay? You’re charging 100,000—aren’t you worried he’ll think you’re greedy?” Su Jiaojiao didn’t understand Xu Qiao’s strategy and asked directly.
“Not worried. A large enough number will make him let his guard down around me. If I asked for too little, he’d probably think I had ulterior motives toward him,” Xu Qiao replied calmly.
Besides, Song Zhiyu knew Jiang Wangye. Sooner or later, he’d find out she was Xu Qiao. If she spent too little, it would only seem more suspicious.
After topping up the card, the two went to a digital products store in the mall.
By the time they returned home, it was already evening.
Xu Rou was already home. Through her inner thoughts, Xu Qiao learned that she had passed the first round of interviews for the student council and would proceed to the second round the following Monday.
After dinner, Xu Qiao was called into the study by Xu Feng.
Pei Jinchuan’s personal information was laid out on the desk.
“Just some kid born in the slums, but he’s definitely smart. He’s never placed second since elementary school.”
Seeing his sister studying the boy’s information so intently, Xu Feng felt a twinge of jealousy and summarized it briefly.
“Still, it’s pretty pitiful. He was born in an orphanage, lived there until he was eight, and was then taken in by foster parents. His foster father was a gambler and a drunk, and his foster mother was in poor health, often suffering domestic violence. His tuition and living expenses were basically covered by part-time jobs and school scholarships. He even had to pay for his foster mother’s medication.”
“Brother, is this all? No other information?” Xu Qiao frowned.
Her cousin and Xitong had clearly said that Pei Jinchuan was a child from a wealthy family who had been lost, but the information her brother had found didn’t mention this at all.
Was it simply undetectable, or was it the power of this novel’s world preventing them from uncovering it?
“What else is there? This background information was personally investigated by Assistant Jiang, and he even hired a top private detective to verify it. The results were exactly the same,” Xu Feng paused, his expression serious.
Noticing Xu Qiao's unusual reaction and that his sister seemed far too concerned about this slum kid, he hesitated and asked, "Could it be that this guy has some other identity?"
Xu Qiao was quite certain that Cousin and Xitong's words were not mistaken, so it seemed the world's consciousness was obstructing their investigation into Pei Jinchuan's identity.
Or perhaps, the occurrence of major plot points must follow the original timeline.
For now, it was not yet time to learn Pei Jinchuan's identity.
"No, I was just asking casually. How could a poor kid from the slums have any special identity?" Xu Qiao shifted the topic, keeping her words brief and to the point.
Her tone remained as usual. "I just didn’t expect someone like him, a lowly commoner, to have such talent."
Xu Feng couldn’t detect anything unusual from Xu Qiao’s expression, but his intuition told him that his sister’s attitude toward Pei Jinchuan was distinctly different.
In the past, Xu Qiao’s attention had always been on games and fashion, rarely showing such interest in a boy.
But if it were romantic interest, Xu Feng didn’t think so either.
His sister, from childhood to now, had never given him headaches over matters of love. Her temperament was still the same as when she was little.
Her attitude toward boys was straightforward: if they could get along, they’d hang out; if not, they’d part ways—carefree and unburdened.
To put it nicely, she was just clueless; to put it bluntly, she was entirely self-centered, not caring about others in the slightest.
That brat from the Jiang family had worn his feelings for his sister on his sleeve for over a decade, but his sister simply never noticed.
A while ago, he heard from Jiang Xian'an that the kid had argued with Qiaoqiao, locked himself in his room for three days and nights, and then went straight to the boxing ring to vent his frustrations. Yet, his sister acted as if nothing had happened.
She continued playing games at home and going out with Jiaojiao, completely unaffected.
Thinking of this, Xu Feng couldn’t help but feel pleased.
His sister’s temperament was just right—at least she would never let herself be wronged.
Xu Feng didn’t care why Xu Qiao was paying attention to Pei Jinchuan. Whether she was attracted to his looks or simply wanted to bully and torment him, he could provide her with the backing she needed.
"Indeed, this kid’s talent is remarkable," Xu Feng affirmed.
"Many families like ours seek out capable children to provide them with support. Qiaoqiao, if you truly think this Pei Jinchuan is promising, I can bring him to the Xu family and sponsor him through university."
Xu Feng’s suggestion caught Xu Qiao off guard.
Most corporations, for the sake of their image, sponsor impoverished students or invest in education for schools, but rarely do they bring impoverished youths directly into their homes.
So Xu Feng’s proposal was purely for her sake.
But Xu Qiao had no such intention.
If Pei Jinchuan were to come to the Xu family, Cousin would have even easier access to him, and Xu Qiao did not want to see that happen.
"No, brother, what are you thinking?" Xu Qiao refused without a moment’s hesitation.
"I don’t want to see an outsider in our home. You know how much I hate those dirty, smelly boys."
In Xu Qiao’s impression, Pei Jinchuan, hailing from the slums, was the image of a male classmate wearing a faded, wrinkled school uniform stained with grimy, greasy filth.
The disdain in her eyes as she spoke was entirely genuine, and the prophecy she had heard—that she would be killed by Pei Jinchuan—only deepened her disgust toward him.
Xu Feng instantly understood that his sister truly had no special feelings for Pei Jinchuan.
In fact, she even despised him.
Recalling the information reported by the bodyguard yesterday, Qiaoqiao had watched the boy fight with others—first stepping on his wounds, then having someone send him to the hospital.
A flicker of strangeness passed through Xu Feng's eyes.
Could it be that his younger sister had some hidden and inconvenient-to-mention preferences?
But Xu Feng ultimately suppressed his curiosity.
He affectionately patted Xu Qiao's head and said no more.
The siblings chatted a bit more about their daily lives and amusing incidents during this time.
Just before Xu Qiao left, Xu Feng couldn't help but add another reminder, "Qiaoqiao, you're grown up now. I've increased your monthly allowance to two million. Buy whatever you want, do whatever you want, but remember one thing—don't do anything dangerous."
Xu Qiao nodded, only half-understanding, before leaving the study and returning to her bedroom.
Next door, Xu Rou and Xitong were still discussing the second round of interviews for the student council scheduled for next Monday.
Xu Qiao curled her lips and pulled up Song Zhiyu's WeChat account on her phone.
The profile picture was a solitary island, and the account name was just a single character: "Yu."
The Moments feed was clean—a plain white background image, not even a personal signature.
It truly matched his style.
Xu Qiao sent over the payment receipt and a photo of the membership card she had obtained at the massage parlor that afternoon.
[Got a membership card at a massage shop. Should last a month. Total cost: 100,000. Pay up!]
She also attached an angry kitten meme.
Then, she switched apps to find Su Jiaojiao and play games together.
Song Zhiyu received the message at nine in the evening.
After changing out of his lab coat and disinfecting himself, he retrieved his phone from the locker.
Glancing habitually at the time, his eyes inadvertently caught the notification from an account with a Samoyed profile picture.
The girl he bumped into this afternoon?
Song Zhiyu rarely remembered girls, but the one from this afternoon left a deep impression.
After all, in his entire life, he had never experienced something so awkward and absurd.
He tapped into the message, and his clear, handsome brows furrowed again.
A month's worth of massages?
Wasn't she afraid her skin would be rubbed raw?
Although Song Zhiyu had never visited a massage parlor himself, he had heard male classmates talk about how strong the masseurs there were.
Instantly, the image of her porcelain-white skin flashed through his mind.
He instinctively felt that with her tender and soft skin, even one session would likely leave her flushed and sore.
She’d probably whimper in a soft, kitten-like voice, complaining about how much it hurt.
Suddenly, his throat felt dry and itchy.
He grabbed his water bottle and took a large gulp.
After a moment, he transferred 100,000 yuan directly.
If money could solve it, it wasn’t a problem.
"How is he? How is his recovery going?"
Xu Qiao held a tablet, her tone cold as she watched the surveillance footage.
On the hospital bed, the boy was wrapped from head to toe in medical bandages, with an IV drip attached to his hand resting on the side.
"The doctor said he suffered blunt force injuries all over. Though severe, his constitution is good, and he’s recovering quickly. He’ll likely be discharged in a few days."
The young bodyguard stood nearby, head bowed low.
Xu Qiao’s expression turned icy.
As expected of Qiyun Zhi Zi—even injured to this extent, he could recover so swiftly in such a short time.
Her fingertips switched the tablet to the WeChat interface, where screenshots of campus forum posts sent by Su Jiaojiao two days ago occupied most of the screen.
Xu Qiao skipped the top post, which had already been deleted despite its explosive popularity, and shifted her gaze to the middle section, where tags related to campus violence stood out.
"Who uploaded this video evidence? And how did the student council know he was at Huian Hospital?"
Last time at the alley entrance, after Pei Jinchuan fell unconscious, Xu Qiao had her bodyguards take him to a private hospital owned by the Xu family.
Although Xu Qiao knew Pei Jinchuan had suffered an unjust misfortune, she had no intention of seeking justice for him.
Xu Rou had been frightened out of her wits at the time. Under surveillance, she had made no further moves against Pei Jinchuan in recent days.
Most of her time was spent preparing for the student council interview, trying every possible way to gather information about Song Zhiyu.
The group of boys had been warned by her and had been keeping a low profile at school for several days, not daring to make any moves.
Yet the video evidence of Pei Jinchuan being brutally beaten by those boys still made its way onto the Luosi Xueyuan forum, spreading like wildfire.
The video clearly captured the faces of the boys bullying Pei Jinchuan, even edited to cut out the beginning and end, specifically tailored for impact.
Strangely, however, neither she, Xu Qiao, Su Jiaojiao, nor the bodyguards appeared in the video.