Run If You Can

The two delivery riders pulled out their phones at the same time, their movements perfectly synchronized, their eyes blazing as they waited to see the positive review and tip.

Li Jinshui understood the rules too. Right in front of them, he gave them a five-star review and added a one-hundred-yuan tip.

For an ordinary delivery order, that already counted as a premium tip.

"Brothers, I want to ask about something."

Li Jinshui leaned forward and lowered his voice. "If I became a delivery rider too, could your station protect me?"

"You want to be a delivery rider?"

The two men were both stunned. Then their expressions darkened, and they shook their heads repeatedly.

"Brother, for the sake of that tip, I'm sincerely advising you: don't come!"

"If you've only just gotten started with Stake Standing, delivering food is a road to death."

"You have no idea how high the casualty rate is among delivery riders."

The other man took over, his tone grave. "Even when the Drifter Gang isn't targeting us, out of every ten orders we deliver, at least five or six run into people blocking the road to rob the food. When fights break out, it's all real blades and real killing. Take your order, for example—we were nervous even with the two of us delivering it together."

"Anyway, safety doesn't exist in food delivery. Well, unless you have the potential of a Single King and can stand out from the Delivery Youth Training Camp to become a Single King Seed rider. Then, no matter which station you go to, the station chief will protect you at all costs."

The two men answered without holding anything back, and they did not forget to persuade Li Jinshui. "You should stay in school peacefully. If you run into trouble, think of a way to solve it, because the trouble you'll encounter elsewhere will only be worse."

"Alright."

Li Jinshui nodded helplessly. It seemed the road of food delivery was blocked too. It was simply too dangerous.

But...

"Gentlemen, one more question. What counts as having the potential of a Single King?"

"Graduate from university, then enter the Delivery Youth Training Camp and reach the top ten of your cohort within three months."

After answering, the man glanced at Li Jinshui's troubled face and added, "When I say university graduate, I don't mean having a diploma. I mean that the threshold for entering the Youth Training Camp is the same as the requirements for graduating university. But if you already had that kind of strength in high school, why wouldn't you take the entrance exams for a prestigious university?"

"Take care of yourself. We're leaving!"

The two men said no more. After exchanging a greeting, they activated the electric power in their legs again and shot away in a flash of lightning.

Li Jinshui sighed. "The path of martial arts truly is difficult!"

Holding the Supplement Potion in his hand, he fell into thought.

The Delivery Youth Training Camp seemed like a good destination, but only if he could meet its threshold.

In truth, the requirements for graduating university were not high. One only needed to achieve minor mastery in Stake Standing and gain introductory mastery of a martial skill.

But anyone who could get into university would certainly have achieved minor mastery in Stake Standing.

In other words, as long as they gained introductory mastery of one martial skill during university, they would already meet the graduation requirements.

"The graduation requirements are this lax? Could it be like Earth, where everyone lies flat after getting into university?"

Li Jinshui did not know much about the martial arts universities of this world, but he often heard people say that one only needed to suffer a little in high school and grit their teeth through it. Once they got into university, things would be better.

"But those two were right. If I could achieve minor mastery in Stake Standing and introductory mastery of a martial skill while still in high school, I'd go straight for a top university. Why would I go to their place?"

Thinking of that, he shook his head helplessly again. "Getting into university isn't hard anymore, but tuition is!"

Now that he had this Supplement Potion, he believed it would be easy to achieve minor mastery in Stake Standing.

He could perhaps take a risk and grind a martial skill too. Reaching introductory mastery would not be difficult.

So getting into a top university was definitely possible. The problem was tuition, along with all the other expenses that would follow.

"♪Big girl♫..."

At that moment, his phone rang again.

Li Jinshui looked at it and was slightly startled. The caller was his homeroom teacher.

Damn it. It had to be about Yao Xiaona.

But he could not refuse the call. This was a good chance to test the waters first. If the matter was not too serious, perhaps he could still remain at school.

"Hello?"

"Li Jinshui, did lying in the hospital scramble your brains? You came back to school without reporting in, and then extorted a classmate in broad daylight?"

The instant the call connected, his homeroom teacher's booming voice exploded from the phone.

"I'm telling you, this is very serious. Yao Xiaona's parents are furious. Come to my office immediately, return the money first, then apologize to Yao Xiaona in front of the entire school this afternoon. Do you hear me?"

"Teacher, can I apologize without returning the money?" Li Jinshui asked seriously.

Apologizing was easy enough. I've always known when to bend and when to stretch.

But he truly could not produce the money.

"Not return the money? Are you crazy? Have you fallen into a money pit?" his homeroom teacher snapped.

"Teacher, listen to me. It's not that I won't return it. I'll return it later, slowly, preferentially, in an orderly sequence... In short, I've already spent the money. Can I owe it for now?"

"Spent... spent it?"

His homeroom teacher's tone plainly froze, filled with disbelief. "You only got that money this morning! That was forty thousand yuan! You spent all of it already?"

"More or less. I only have a few thousand left. What do I do, Teacher? You have to help me. After all, a teacher for one day is a teacher for life—"

"I'll help you with my hammer! My family of five is all crying to be fed—where the hell am I supposed to get that much money for you?" his homeroom teacher cursed again.

"But I'm still a student..."

"Even if you were a beast, there'd be nothing I could do."

"Teacher, don't be so harsh. I'll lay my cards on the table. I'm actually a martial arts prodigy. I've now achieved minor mastery in Stake Standing, and one martial skill is about to reach introductory mastery. I'm absolutely a seed for a top university."

"So what? Are top universities that amazing?" his homeroom teacher asked without the slightest courtesy.

Li Jinshui helplessly pursed his lips. He knew it too. This school alone sent more than a dozen students to top universities every year. They were not short one more like him.

If he could return the money and apologize, the school could naturally step in to mediate the matter.

But he had no money, and one spot for a top-university student was not worth having the school pay forty thousand yuan for him and set such a bad precedent.

"How about I talk to Class Monitor Yao first? I feel she's a fairly reasonable pers—ptui, no, a fairly understanding person."

"Heh, Li Jinshui, how come I never noticed your guts were this huge before? You still want to fool Yao Xiaona? It's useless. Her family already knows about this. You... forget it..."

His homeroom teacher sighed deeply, then lowered his voice. "Listen to me. Before her family comes to school, run if you can. Hide far away, and don't ever come back."

With that, he hung up directly.

Li Jinshui stared in astonishment. Good heavens, Yao Xiaona's family really was not simple.

But that made sense. If they were ordinary, Yao Xiaona would not have treated money that way, casually handing over forty thousand yuan.

In this world, anyone with money was no ordinary person.

Forty thousand yuan might truly be nothing to Yao Xiaona, and the same went for her family.

But he had used public opinion to force her in front of everyone. That was the reason her family had become angry.

"Now both the underworld and the law are looking for me. Going outside would still mean nine deaths and one chance at life..."

Li Jinshui thought for a moment, then took out his phone and called Yao Xiaona. He would talk to her again.

"Hello, Class Monitor? It's Little Li." The moment the call connected, Li Jinshui greeted her neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"Li Jinshui? Hmph, why are you calling me again?" There was a trace of hoarseness in Yao Xiaona's voice, as though she had just cried.

"Class Monitor, you've really misunderstood me. You know I lay in the hospital for two years, so my mind is a little muddled. Could you talk to your family..."

Before Li Jinshui could finish, Yao Xiaona cut him off. "Enough, I know what you want to say. Don't worry, I'm not as bad as you think. When my mother called to ask me about it, I told them it wasn't your fault. They also agreed not to report you to the authorities."

"Oh?" Li Jinshui's eyes lit up, and he heaved a huge sigh of relief.

I knew it. Yao Xiaona was still quite understanding.

"Then what did your uncle and aunt finally decide to do?" Li Jinshui asked again.

"The same as before. I had conflicts with other classmates before too. Later, I realized my own mistakes and wouldn't let them report my classmates to the authorities and arrest them. But they worried we might still hold grudges, so they arranged for those classmates to transfer schools." Yao Xiaona spoke as though it were nothing.

"Transfer schools? Where did they transfer to?"

"I don't know. I heard they went somewhere else, but after they left, every one of them cut off contact with all of us. They even deleted their social media accounts. No one could reach them. Hmph, so petty."

After saying that, Yao Xiaona asked again, "Hey, Li Jinshui, after you transfer schools, will you cut off contact with me too? I've already forgiven you, so don't be petty like them."

"???"

Question marks instantly filled Li Jinshui's forehead, and cold sweat poured down his back.

I fucking...

Did they transfer schools?

They fucking reincarnated, didn't they?!

Looks like the old homeroom teacher was right. I really need to run!

Damn it, these waters run too deep. The old homeroom teacher definitely knew something, or he would not have told me to run far away!

"Ahem, Class Monitor, I think you should investigate what happened to those classmates. Let's stop here. I need to go take a shower." Li Jinshui hurriedly hung up after saying that. He did not even go to the library, instead turning and running straight for the school gate.

Staying at school now was truly a road to death. Yao Xiaona's family was far more formidable than he had imagined.

"I was careless. I didn't do my background check."

Li Jinshui was so angry that his legs felt weak and trembled.

It was all Yao Xiaona's fault, that scourge. If she had not come to provoke me, why would I have scammed her out of money?

"If worse comes to worst, I'll go turn myself in to the Inspection Bureau. A prison cell might even be safer than outside... No, if it were safe, the old homeroom teacher wouldn't have failed to think of it."

Li Jinshui could not make up his mind. After reaching the school gate, he took out his phone again and called his homeroom teacher.

"Hello, the user you have called has placed you on their blacklist..."

Fuck!

A lightning-fast cut-off?

He understood. This was another hidden signal. It meant his opponent's background and influence were terrifying beyond measure. Going to prison would most likely mean walking straight into a net.

"I can only leave. Nine deaths and one chance at life is still better than ten deaths and no life."

Li Jinshui hesitated no longer. He pulled off his shirt, covered his face with it, and sprinted madly out through the school gates.