He Ao, male, eighteen, unmarried.
He had a good personality, was honest and simple, not good with words, and was a good person.
Life goal: make money.
Click--
A ballpoint pen fell beside He Ao's seat, interrupting his thoughts.
He glanced at the pen, braced one hand against the desk, reached down with the other, and bent over.
For an instant, the noisy surroundings fell silent, until his slender hand picked up the black ballpoint pen from the floor and held it out to its owner, who had rushed over and stood up before him.
"Th-thank you."
He Ao seemed to hear someone take a deep breath, along with the sound of a pounding heartbeat.
"No need." He Ao placed the pen in the fair hand trembling slightly with nerves, then smiled at the girl in the loose long dress before him. "After all, I'm a good, law-abiding person."
"O-okay..." The girl gripped the pen tightly and took a deep breath to calm herself. "Thank... you."
Then, without waiting for He Ao to reply, she darted off to sit in the front row.
He Ao straightened slightly and swept his gaze over the people around him who were watching him.
In an instant, everyone turned away. Awkward chatter resumed. They did not know what to talk about, but as long as they avoided He Ao's gaze, it was fine.
He Ao smiled faintly, opened his book, and continued contemplating his life goal. This was the corner by the window in the last row of the classroom, a spot usually beloved by college students. Yet around He Ao, a large empty space had been left open.
Everyone only dared to watch him from afar.
--
After class
"Nannan, I heard that He Ao from Class Two helped you pick up your pen?"
A short-haired girl eagerly ran across the street and threw an arm around Liu Nan's waist.
"Mm."
Liu Nan slapped her hand away.
"What did it feel like?"
The short-haired girl immediately pressed on.
"It was strange. A little scary, but also a little exciting... My mind went completely blank."
Liu Nan thought for a moment and adjusted the shoulder bag she was carrying.
"But thinking about it now, he doesn't seem as frightening as the rumors say."
"Really?" The short-haired girl leaned her head forward. "But I heard... Let me tell you, I just heard this over there..."
The short-haired girl leaned in mysteriously, signaling for Liu Nan to lower her head.
Then she pressed close to Liu Nan's ear and said, "He might have once..."
She secretly made a throat-slitting gesture.
"What?!" Liu Nan was startled, her voice rising sharply. Then she smiled helplessly. "What gossip rumor did you hear this time? You can tell right away this is just hearsay."
"I'm only gossiping a little."
The short-haired girl pouted.
"You..."
While distractedly talking to the short-haired girl, Liu Nan suddenly felt an immense force yank at her shoulder.
Before she could react, the shoulder bag hanging from her shoulder was violently ripped away.
A man passing by her had suddenly grabbed her bag with all his strength, snatched it away, and sprinted wildly into the distance.
"Robbery! Someone's being robbed!"
The short-haired girl reacted at once and shouted. But when she turned around, she saw that Liu Nan had already chased after him, so she hurried after her as well.
There were few pedestrians on the street at the moment, and the bag-snatching criminal raced ahead without obstruction.
Liu Nan stayed close behind him. Farther back, the short-haired girl ran while pulling out her phone to call the police.
But when someone got distracted, it was easy for their speed to slow. By the time she finished the call, Liu Nan had vanished after taking several twists and turns.
She shuddered. "Oh no!"
--
As Liu Nan chased him into an empty alley, she gradually realized something was wrong.
The bag-snatcher could clearly have widened the distance between them much faster, yet he maintained a pace that kept him just out of reach, luring her deeper into the alley bit by bit.
Behind her were only two "helpful citizens" who had come to assist. Just as she was about to turn around and call for help, she suddenly realized that both "helpful citizens" were adult men, yet neither had caught up to her. They were hanging far behind her.
She slowly stopped. The criminal ahead and the "helpful citizens" behind her also slowly stopped. Alarm flashed through her heart as she realized both the path ahead and the way behind her had been blocked, and the people on both sides were slowly closing in.
This wasn't a robbery! It was human trafficking!
These people were experienced. They had cut off every possible escape route.
As the people on both sides gradually closed in, countless thoughts raced through her mind. Just as she prepared to seize an opening and risk everything to see if she could break through the encirclement, a Youth in black suddenly turned into the alley from the other end. He carried a large black backpack, wore his hair long, and had on plain glasses.
"Ao... Ao Ge?"
When the two "helpful citizens" behind Liu Nan saw the Youth, they called out shakily and turned to run.
"What the fuck do you mean, Ao Ge? These guys are fucking useless."
Seeing his two accomplices flee, the bag-snatcher knew someone had come up behind him. Cursing under his breath, he slowly took a folding knife from his pocket and waited for the footsteps behind him to draw closer.
"Careful!"
Liu Nan called out instinctively.
The Youth had already reached the criminal's back. As though he had not heard Liu Nan's warning, he calmly continued toward him.
The criminal heard Liu Nan's cry and, taking advantage of the moment she spoke, gripped the knife in reverse and spun around to stab.
When people were called out to by others, they would always be distracted for an instant. He intended to exploit that opening.
Yet the Youth behind him was not drawn by Liu Nan's voice. He dodged the stab in one motion and slapped the criminal across the side of the face.
With a bang--, the man went limp and fell stiffly to the ground, unconscious.
Everything happened too quickly. Liu Nan had not even processed it yet.
"Did you... knock him unconscious with one hit?"
"The area beneath the earlobe is close to the medulla's respiratory center. A heavy blow there can suppress the medulla's respiratory center, causing temporary unconsciousness."
The Youth calmly crouched down, turned the unconscious man over, and spoke slowly. "But I wouldn't recommend using this move. Someone without training will likely be unable to control their strength. If you fail to knock the other person out immediately, you'll be caught.
"My advice is that if you encounter something like this in the future, try to run to a crowded place and call the police first."
After turning the man over, the Youth unhurriedly took a pair of small pink handcuffs from the backpack on his back, lifted the man's hands, and cuffed them behind his waist.
"Ah, okay." Liu Nan looked at the somewhat familiar face before her, unsure how to continue the conversation. So she glanced at the small handcuffs and cautiously tried to make conversation. "Classmate He Ao... are you a police officer?"
"No." He Ao shook his head and snapped the cuffs shut. "I bought these handcuffs from the adult supplies store by the school's north gate. Their quality is pretty good."
Liu Nan: "Huh?"
Before you continue