Beginner Edition · Class Reunion (Sixteen

Lawyer Jin tried hard, but he still could not suppress his gloating smile. His tone remained fairly relaxed and calm. "Let's continue our focused discussion."

Second-generation Zhao, meanwhile, became Lawyer Jin's foil. The happier he had once been, the more serious he was now.

Professor Lu's act of "defecting for love" also drew the next wave of concentrated fire onto himself.

Zhen Liu could not understand Professor Lu's choice. Since Professor Lu had already made up his mind to vote against him, he should not have agreed to Second-generation Zhao earlier. It was not as though Second-generation Zhao had gone before Zhen Liu, and Professor Lu had not known about Zhen Liu's request. What could Professor Lu possibly gain from being hated like this?

Very quickly, Zhen Liu saw the answer on Professor Lu's battle-ready face—he could gain happiness.

Professor Lu was genuinely, wholeheartedly happy, visibly so. No matter how little Zhen Liu understood it, he had no choice but to accept this reality. There really was a type of person in this world who took pleasure in fighting everyone else; if there were no difficulties, he would create them just so he could charge in.

The five of them sat down at the dining table again.

This time, Lawyer Jin did not sit on Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao's side. The rift between them was that deep, too difficult to mend. Lawyer Jin wanted to sit with Zhen Liu and Professor Lu, but Professor Lu bluntly refused him.

"It's full," Professor Lu said.

Lawyer Jin looked at the several empty seats along the long table, apart from those occupied by Doctor Zhen and Professor Lu, and fell into endless silence.

Zhen Liu could not stand the awkwardness and was about to invite Lawyer Jin to sit on his side.

But the moment Lawyer Jin received even the slightest signal, Professor Lu's murderous glare came hunting him down. He would not stop Zhen Liu, but he would threaten Lawyer Jin. His meaning was clear: Try sitting next to the person I like.

Ever since Professor Lu's "secret crush" on Doctor Zhen had been exposed, he had become like a wild horse that had broken free of its reins, completely shameless.

What could Lawyer Jin do? He was currently holding an Orphan Card, with no teammates and only enemies. He had no choice but to bow his head. His gaze moved from Doctor Zhen's side back to Professor Lu's. If he could not sit next to Zhen Liu, then sitting beside Professor Lu should be fine, right?

How could it possibly be fine?

To Professor Lu, that was an even bigger problem. He said outright, "I will not accept sitting next to anyone except the person I love, or I'll be tainted. Male virtue, understand?"

Lawyer Jin: "???"

Professor Lu's words stunned everyone. Under the looks that said they thought he might be sick in the head, he still spoke with complete confidence despite having no leg to stand on.

It had to be said, this man's psychological resilience was top-notch.

In the end, Lawyer Jin could only sit aggrievedly at the end of the long table, secretly starting to curse a little effigy. To hell with lowering himself and playing nice. In front of people who did not even deserve to be called human, he would rather be an orphan for the rest of his life than have teammates! He would curse a certain elementary school brat to never end up with the one he loved!

Zhen Liu, the person supposedly protected by this male virtue, reacted in the complete opposite extreme. He... did not care at all. Zhen Liu truly could not immerse himself in all this love and romance from the script.

Professor Lu liked Doctor Zhen. What did that have to do with Zhen Liu?

"Let's continue sharing clues."

After Professor Lu, Basketball Qiao was the third to share clues.

This young man, who looked harmless and had either been half-assing it while searching for evidence or simply lying flat,

a salted fish

The youth seemed like a player with heavenly insight. The moment he began, he dropped a bombshell about Professor Lu. "Professor Lu was being threatened over more than just his homosexual identity."

Everyone could tell that Professor Lu was lovesick. So would a lovesick man care about someone exposing his love? Would he care enough to kill the person who knew? No matter how they looked at it, that did not make sense, right?

"In fact, Professor Lu has killed more than just this one person. He's a serial killer."

Everyone: "!!!"

A chill ran down Lawyer Jin's spine. He was suddenly glad he had not sat with Professor Lu just now. Even knowing this was only a game, Professor Lu's suddenly revealed antisocial personality still frightened him.

Professor Lu remained calm, merely folding his arms and raising a brow. "Oh?"

"You have been systematically taking revenge on the people who bullied Doctor Zhen back then." On Basketball Qiao's phone search page were a series of murder cases from recent years. Coincidentally, all the victims had been among those who bullied Doctor Zhen the most back then. Judging from the number of reports, nearly all of them were dead, and few remained alive. That included Ying De, who had just died, and Brother Hao, who was not easy to approach.

"So you're not lovesick. You're a

sickly obsessive

Lawyer Jin was shocked, but on further thought, he felt this behavior did fit Professor Lu's character rather well.

Professor Lu neither admitted nor denied it. He only corrected Lawyer Jin. "That's not all that being a yandere means. Don't use the term blindly if you don't understand it."

"So I suspect Professor Lu only pretended to be controlled by the deceased in order to get close to him, then find an opportunity to kill him."

Professor Lu sneered. "Do you have evidence?"

"No, but I think my deduction is right." Basketball Qiao was inexplicably confident in himself.

"Okay, then let's follow your logic." Professor Lu was perfectly at ease, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the tabletop. "I love Doctor Zhen so much I'm practically dying over him, right? I kill for him and avenge him. Then tell me, under that logic, why would I kill someone right in front of the person I love, when he might see it? Scare him, give him psychological trauma, scare him so badly that he never wants to date me for the rest of his life—what good would that do me?"

Basketball Qiao froze. Right, what good would it do?

Chapter 16: Beginner Scenario: Class Reunion (16

As an experienced player, Lawyer Jin's mind was still working. He said to Professor Lu, "Maybe this time, you had not planned to kill anyone. You discovered Doctor Zhen was about to make a move and had no choice but to act on the spur of the moment, killing Ying De before Doctor Zhen could."