Night deepened. Summer weather could turn in an instant, and that evening, a torrential downpour began without warning.
Fat raindrops battered the car windows, blurring the city's neon lights. Lu Xiaoxiao leaned back in the passenger seat and rubbed her brow tiredly-she had just finished filming a night scene, and Ji Yunhuai had picked her up directly from the film crew to take her home.
The car pulled into the Lu family estate. The moment it stopped, Lu Yubai hurried out with an umbrella, his face unusually anxious.
"Xiaoxiao! Yunhuai! You're finally back!" Lu Yubai pulled open the car door, speaking rapidly. "Fan Chiran left this afternoon! He said he was going home, but something felt wrong!"
Lu Xiaoxiao paused as she got out. "Wrong? What do you mean?"
"Well... when the admission results came out, he got a phone call, and afterward he looked like he'd lost his soul. His face was frighteningly pale! Nothing I said seemed to register. Then he said he was going home, all dazed, and stumbled off!" Lu Yubai gestured, his brows tightly knitted. "I called him afterward, but he never answered! He didn't reply to my messages either! Now it's raining, and I don't even know if he got home. Besides, he and his dad aren't..."
Lu Xiaoxiao's heart lurched, a bad feeling rising inside her.
She immediately called out to the system in her mind. "037, what happened? Did something happen to Fan Chiran? Where is he now?"
037 answered quickly. "Something did happen. This afternoon, Fan Chiran confirmed that he'd been admitted to his first-choice university, but not for computer science. His father previously contacted his homeroom teacher and had his application choices changed to public administration. Fan Chiran broke down after learning the truth. He hasn't gone home and is