Worried!

In the Art Room, the students sketching put down their brushes and stretched their limbs.

One girl took out her phone to slack off. She checked it, then looked again. "He Zhen, are you and Yao Tao close?"

"Huh?" He Zhen had no idea why she had suddenly asked that.

"Someone posted that they saw Zhong Shengtai and his friends taking Yao Tao away."

He Zhen shot to his feet. "Can I see?"

Someone had started a thread on the forum.

"Is this asshole harassing girls now too?"

"No way, right? Zhong Shengtai has no reason to do that."

"LOL, you people are pretty tolerant of thugs. Everyone in the Computer Science Department knows what kind of punk he is."

"She's screwed. Does anyone know this girl?"

"OP had time to take pictures but not to find a teacher?"

"What good would finding a teacher do? This isn't middle or high school anymore. A teacher? She's on her own!"

"What if they're dating?"

"OP's just trying to stir shit!"

"Oh, come on. Zhong Shengtai's a thug, but he wouldn't stoop to picking on a girl, would he?"

"Slightly off topic, but Zhong Shengtai likes Fu Xin. Our whole class knows."

"What are you getting at? What are you implying?"

"Stop playing dumb. Isn't that Yao Tao in the picture? @Fu Xin, care to comment?"

"Can we stay on topic?"

He Zhen remembered his unpleasant conversation with Fu Xin. That had also been their last conversation.

"Sorry, something's come up. I have to go."

Seeing how anxious he was, An Qing did not stop him. "Okay, senior. We've pretty much finished the preliminary sketches anyway. Go take care of it."

He Zhen grabbed his bag and immediately rushed out.

The post was already over fourteen minutes old. His face had gone pale, and his expression was grim. Clutching his phone, He Zhen made a call.

"Holy shit, He Tao is real!"

"Did you guys see that? His face went white instantly!"

"Damn, this is some serious drama!"

"Wait, doesn't Fu Xin already have someone pursuing her? Why bother going after Yao Tao?"

"Shh, let's not spread rumors."

"Every hot topic at our university is about Fu Xin. Why can't we talk about it?"

"Exactly!"

"Aw, I thought I might have a chance!"

"In your dreams!"

"You collapsed after just forty-eight?" If Yao Tao had had a whip in her hand, she would definitely have lashed him. "Where's all that ferocity you had when you threatened me? Where did it go?!"

"Ma'am! Ma'am!" Wang Qingran really had no strength left. "You've beaten us up and vented your anger. We seriously can't do any more."

"You can still talk and breathe, can't you?" Yao Tao was not buying it. "Keep going. If you don't finish, you can rot right here!"

They thought they could walk away after picking on someone they considered an easy target?

Not a chance!

Trash with fathers who had sired them but no mothers who had taught them manners. They had learned nothing at school except every kind of rotten behavior. Luckily, they had run into her, Yao Tao. What if it had been some other girl?

The thought of some genuinely sweet little girl at He Zhen's side someday being scared out of her wits suddenly made Yao Tao even angrier.

Why couldn't that girl be me?

She was kicking the little weaklings one by one when her phone rang.

Yao Tao made a shushing gesture. "Take one breath, and I'll finish you off."

Wang Qingran immediately raised both hands over his head. "As you command."

Yao Tao laughed despite her anger.

Wang Qingran should have applied to drama school.

"Where are you?!" Only when the call connected did He Zhen's pounding heart settle a little.

"I'm at school." Yao Tao answered adorably, even pitching her voice to sound as sweet as possible.

Zhong Shengtai and the other two stared at Yao Tao's sudden transformation as if they had seen a ghost.

"I'm coming to find you." He Zhen spoke urgently. "Send me your location on WeChat."

"What's wrong?" Yao Tao felt that something was off about He Zhen.

What was he so anxious about?

"I saw the post."

"Did Zhong Shengtai and his friends come after you?"

"Where are you? Send me your location."

"I'm coming right now."

He Zhen was frantic, his tone almost commanding. "Turn on location sharing."

"He Zhen, aren't you modeling?" Yao Tao did not dare turn it on.

"Where are you? Why won't you send me your location? Did they do something to you?"

The more reluctant Yao Tao was to share her location, the more He Zhen's briefly settled heart began to race again.

Over the phone, he could not hear Yao Tao's thoughts. An inexplicable agitation enveloped him.

"Yao Tao, send me your location," He Zhen repeated. "I'm really worried."

Yao Tao's brain short-circuited, and she instantly sent it.

Yao Tao: ...

Waaah, but he said he was worried about me!

Oh my!

This was so embarrassing.

"You have three minutes to get lost." Yao Tao gave a sinister smile.

"Rolling! Rolling! Rolling!" Wang Qingran was the first to roll away.

He curled up and literally rolled.

Zhang Rui's face alternated between red and white as he looked at Zhong Shengtai, who lay there like a dead dog. "We're actually rolling?"

Yao Tao: ... That was not what she had meant, but it was hilarious.

"Who are you looking at?" Yao Tao folded her arms. "This is your last chance."

Watching Wang Qingran roll farther and farther away, Zhang Rui thought it over for a moment, then rolled too.

Only Zhong Shengtai remained.

"Not rolling?" Yao Tao looked at him. "That's fine too. He Zhen can catch you in the act. Now, what should I tell him?"

Yao Tao propped her chin in her hand, her face brimming with wicked ideas.

Zhong Shengtai promptly rolled away.

Aside from Fu Xin shedding a few tears to him, he had chosen Yao Tao because she looked like the easiest target.

Who could have known Yao Tao was like this?

Zhong Shengtai rolled away, seething with humiliation.

The three had arrived clean and tidy to corner someone, only to roll away filthy and disgraced.

And they had left evidence against themselves.

"Are we just leaving it at that?" Zhang Rui was not quite willing to give up. "What do you say, boss?"

"What's there to say? We messed with the wrong person!" Wang Qingran might have been a mere lackey, but he was a lackey with a temper!

"Useless piece of shit!" Zhong Shengtai kicked at him.

"Let's be honest. We all rolled out of there. None of us is better than anyone else!" Wang Qingran nimbly dodged. "Pah, I picked the wrong guy to follow again! See you never! Some boss you are!"

"You pathetic simp!" Wang Qingran cursed at him.

He couldn't beat anyone, and he still had the nerve!

"You're no different," Zhang Rui said coolly. Wang Qingran had been the quickest to beg for mercy.

"We're done!" Wang Qingran turned and ran, still swearing.

"Don't run if you've got any guts!" Zhang Rui chased after him.

"You think you can come and go as you please?" Zhong Shengtai was furious too. Did everyone think they could disrespect him now?

Who the hell did Wang Qingran think he was?

As for Wang Qingran, he had been sprawled on the ground gasping a moment ago, but now he had already vanished into the distance!

He Zhen hurried to a secluded, abandoned part of campus that had been slated for renovation before the project stalled indefinitely. He had been running frantically, but when he heard Yao Tao's thoughts, he inexplicably relaxed.

Then...

He walked slower and slower...

[Should I throw myself into his arms in fright when he gets here and bawl my eyes out?]

[No, that won't do. Cry quietly, maybe?]

[Should I put my arms around his neck, or wrap them around his waist and take the chance to feel him up and refresh my memory?]

[This won't work. I'm all clean and tidy. I don't look like I've suffered at all.]

[Maybe I should roll around on the ground?]

[It's so filthy here. Absolutely not!]

[Forget it, forget it. Let's try squeezing out a couple of crocodile tears first?]

He Zhen: ...

She sounded perfectly healthy.