Li Si Han nodded slightly to their homeroom teacher, then silently found an empty seat and sat down.
The other students appeared to be listening to the class meeting, but in reality, they kept stealing glances at Li Si Han out of the corners of their eyes.
Quite a few of the boys in class shared this unspoken understanding.
Sitting in the back row, Lin Chao Ci naturally noticed Li Si Han too, and immediately remembered something incredibly important.
Had he not seen Li Si Han today, Lin Chao Ci really would have forgotten about it. After all, he had too much on his plate.
Lin Chao Ci remembered it clearly. Li Si Han had come today to request an extended leave of absence. Her father had injured his leg in a fall while working at a construction site, but the management refused to take responsibility or pay a single cent.
Her father's injury was urgent, however, and he needed surgery as soon as possible. Once the bones fused, operating would become much harder, and so would his eventual recovery.
Surgery, hospitalization, nutritional supplements... altogether, they would cost eighty thousand yuan. Li Si Han came from an ordinary family living in the county town. They had enough to cover food and everyday expenses, but what ordinary family had eighty thousand yuan in savings in 2000...?
They sold their home, borrowed from every relative and friend they could, and pooled the whole family's savings, yet they only managed to scrape together a little over fifty thousand.
Still short by more than twenty thousand, Li Si Han planned to go to the construction site and demand compensation for her father's workplace injury.
But when Li Si Han went to demand compensation, not only did she fail to get a single cent, the construction boss nearly raped her.
Li Si Han would rather have died than submit. She opened a window and jumped straight from the third floor, drawing the attention of a crowd of workers. Afraid of the consequences, the construction boss fled in panic, and only then did she escape being raped.
But the rocks left countless wounds across Li Si Han's body, and she fractured her ankle. Her once beautiful, flawless face also suffered a sizable cut from a rock.
Her wounds healed, but a faint scar remained on her face.
And there was the darkness in Li Si Han's heart that she could never overcome.
Even later, when Li Si Han became one of Lin Chao Ci's closest female companions, she still could not let it go or forget that day.
Remembering how Li Si Han would often gaze at the scar on her forehead and grieve alone in silence, and how nightmares frequently jolted her awake at night, Lin Chao Ci seethed with anger.
Fuck! Ding Qiushan, you fucking bastard. Being rotten yourself wasn't enough—you had to keep all those disgusting dogs around you too!
I wasn't going to interfere. I was going to let Dad use you for practice, but I really can't stand it anymore. The sooner I get rid of a scourge like you, the sooner the people of Haikou City can live and work in peace!
Lin Chao Ci knew why that construction boss had committed so many crimes without a shred of fear. His master behind the scenes was his father's political rival, Ding Qiushan, the vicious tiger of Haikou.
New grievances piled on top of old grudges.
Lin Chao Ci decided to give things a push himself, speeding up the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection's investigation, helping them uncover more leads, and ensuring a harsher sentence and an earlier conclusion to the case.
In his previous life, the commission had released certain details of Ding Qiushan's case. Ding Qiushan had a villa filled with tens of millions in cash, along with extensive evidence of his crimes and videotapes!
The villa was registered under a dead person's name and had no connection to Ding Qiushan. Nobody knew he was its true owner.
Ding Qiushan feared that he might fall from power, and that villa was his hope of making a comeback. With leverage in his hands, he would never have to worry about finding people to help him.
Unfortunately for him, before he could put that evidence to use, Ding Qiushan was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad.
There was no helping it. He had killed several people sent down by the higher authorities in one fell swoop. What had started as an organized-crime case instantly became a counterterrorism operation!
How could anyone backing him dare protect him...?
Now, however, those records of criminal activity in the villa would become the sharpest blade aimed at Ding Qiushan.
Having made his decision, Lin Chao Ci gestured to the teacher that he wanted to step outside, and the teacher nodded.
Without disturbing anyone else, Lin Chao Ci quietly left the classroom. When Liu Shuang'er saw him leave, she had no idea why and assumed that her sitting beside him had bothered him.
She puffed out her cheeks, feeling hurt.
Am I really that annoying? Does he hate sitting with me that much? Sob... this is so unfair. I'm a campus beauty with countless admirers too...
Convinced that Lin Chao Ci disliked her, Liu Shuang'er felt more hurt the longer she thought about it. She lowered her head and began to sniffle softly.
They had been chatting just a moment ago, and Liu Shuang'er had already started imagining them together.
Yet now he was rejecting her...
This time, Liu Shuang'er truly felt a little hopeless. With Lin Chao Ci so obviously disliking her, should she still shamelessly cling to him as she had before?
Was it time to give up?
She had considered giving up before, but she could never bring herself to do it. Her mind was filled with the image of Lin Chao Ci saving her, his figure framed against the light.
She really liked Lin Chao Ci so much.
Beep, beep, beep!
Just as Liu Shuang'er was wallowing in her misery, the phone in her pocket suddenly chimed.
At first, Liu Shuang'er paid it no attention. Then she realized that the notification sounded rather distinctive, like the special tone she had set just for Lin Chao Ci.
The more she thought about it, the more certain she became. Liu Shuang'er wiped away her tears and hurriedly took out her phone to check.
"Sorry, something urgent came up, and I had to rush out. I probably won't be back at school today. I was in such a hurry that I forgot to tell you. I'll treat you to a soda next time we meet!"
Sure enough, the message was from Lin Chao Ci.
It was only as Lin Chao Ci left the school gates that he felt as though he had forgotten someone.
He scratched his head in confusion, then quickly remembered Liu Shuang'er and slapped his thigh, speechless at himself.
He couldn't help it. Liu Shuang'er had been sitting there without saying a word, merely sneaking looks at him. After a while, Lin Chao Ci had automatically tuned her out.
Fortunately, he had remembered. If he really had forgotten her, she probably would have been upset for a long time.
Heehee, so Chao Ci had something urgent to take care of! He doesn't hate me. He isn't rejecting me!
After carefully reading the message over and over, Liu Shuang'er's smile returned. Not a trace of her earlier sadness remained. She felt like the happiest girl in the world.
"It's fine, it's fine! If you have something to do, Chao Ci, go take care of it. I won't overthink anything! I'm looking forward to that soda..."
Liu Shuang'er hurriedly typed her reply, already looking forward to her next meeting with Lin Chao Ci.
Seeing Liu Shuang'er's reply, Lin Chao Ci breathed a sigh of relief. He sent another brief response before putting his phone away.
With that matter settled, it was time to get down to business.
Lin Chao Ci took another phone from his pocket. It used an unregistered SIM card, and the handset itself was one he had bought at random.
"Qiangzi, remember to record the whole thing. Take everything out of the villa's safe. My car is at the park across from the villa complex..."
Calling a man named Qiangzi, Lin Chao Ci quickly made the arrangements, then sent someone else to drive over and pick them up.
Lin Chao Ci kept his own hands completely clean of this dirty work, leaving it all to the people under him.
Before you continue