Jiang Jinran ran all the way to the restroom without stopping.
Don't ask why she ran to the restroom instead of returning to the classroom. If asked, her answer was that she happened to need the restroom.
When she returned to the classroom, the atmosphere had clearly changed.
Huang Junran's seat was empty. He wasn't in the classroom.
The others had all lost interest in watching the drama. Every one of them had their head lowered with a grave expression, busy with their own affairs.
What was going on...?
Jiang Jinran sat down in confusion, only to be poked in the back with the end of a pen again.
Jiang Jinran turned around-
Ji Qingying leaned closer. Though the girl was a top student, she was also quite fond of gossip. Lowering her voice, she said with an air of importance, "Do you know who just came here?"
"Who? Did a celebrity come here to film a variety show?" From Ji Qingying's expression, it seemed some incredible big shot had just visited, so Jiang Jinran threw out a wild guess.
Ji Qingying: ...
"It was Jiang Yuehan," she said, enunciating each word. "You know, from the most famous Jiang Family in the Imperial Capital..."
Jiang Yuehan?
Surprise flashed through Jiang Jinran's eyes.
Why had her bargain-bin eldest brother suddenly come to the academy...?
"He gave Huang Junran and her mom quite a scare." Ji Qingying spoke in a casual tone, seemingly unmoved by Huang Junran's experience. Then a look of lingering fear suddenly crossed her face. "Jiang Yuehan is terrifying. Do you know what he said?"
"What did he say?" Jiang Jinran asked flatly.
"He said-" Ji Qingying did her best to imitate Jiang Yuehan's demeanor at the time. "The weather's turned cold. It's time the Huang Family went bankrupt."
"Pfft."
Luckily, Jiang Jinran hadn't been drinking any water, or she would definitely have sprayed it everywhere.
Wasn't this the classic "cold weather, Wang goes bankrupt" trope from domineering CEO novels?
She could more or less guess that Jiang Yuehan had come here to stand up for her.
But the way he'd gone about it...
Good thing she'd run fast. Witnessing it in person would've been kinda embarrassing.
Jiang Yuehan had indeed come to Imperial Star Academy for Jiang Jinran.
But the girl had run so fast that he hadn't had a chance to see her, because-
He hadn't come here just for Jiang Jinran.
He had also come for Jiang Qiche.
The high school division's basketball court.
The boys sat freely along the sidelines, while Jiang Qiche lounged alone against the wooden bench at the very edge.
Opening a bottle of ice-cold water, he poured it into his mouth with an elegance that still held a touch of wildness.
Glistening droplets slipped from the corner of his mouth, like dew clinging to a dazzling flower, beautiful and holy.
"So," Zhao Yunye walked over with a water bottle and instinctively clapped a hand on Jiang Qiche's shoulder, asking with a half smile, "that girl yesterday really was your younger sister?"
Jiang Qiche said nothing, only drinking his water in silence.
Only after he finished drinking did the boy give a slight nod.
"No wonder you didn't blow up at her..." Zhao Yunye nodded thoughtfully. As far as he knew, anyone else who had "pestered him relentlessly" the way that girl had yesterday would have been dealt with by Jiang Qiche long ago.
So she was his younger sister...
Although Zhao Yunye had known Jiang Qiche for many years, he had only learned of this younger sister's existence in the past two days.
After all, Jiang Qiche was extremely indifferent toward family ties. In fact-
He acted as though he had a grudge against his family.
He disliked being with them, was unwilling to speak to them, and never even mentioned them...
Jiang Qiche's four older brothers were famous; there was no need for him to mention them. But without him saying anything about this younger sister, Zhao Yunye would never have known such a person existed!
"But," at that thought, Zhao Yunye curled his lips and couldn't resist asking, "don't you hate them the most? Your attitude yesterday was pretty unusual... Is this younger sister different somehow?"
Jiang Qiche's icy gaze paused slightly-
His long fingers tightened in an instant, crushing the more-than-half-empty plastic water bottle into a twisted shape in his hand.
Zhao Yunye immediately wiped the smile off his face. After spending so long with Jiang Qiche, he had long since learned to read his expressions-
At that moment, Jiang Qiche was undoubtedly like a hedgehog, radiating wariness and hostility from his entire body.
Zhao Yunye was somewhat bewildered.
He noticed that Jiang Qiche's attention didn't seem to be on him. Instead, he was staring fixedly at another corner of the basketball court.
He followed Jiang Qiche's gaze-
A handsome man in a suit stood there. His features held the same forbidding, cold arrogance as Jiang Qiche's.
His fathomless gaze turned their way, landing squarely on Jiang Qiche as well.
One seated and one standing, the two stared at each other across most of the basketball court...
"Th-this man..." Zhao Yunye's eyes widened, and he couldn't help murmuring aloud.
Jiang Yuehan and Jiang Qiche walked one after the other into the grove beside the basketball court.
With both hands in his pockets, the white-haired boy looked coldly at his older brother. His voice, cool as mint, seemed to carry a hint of mockery. "Well, this is rare... What brings you here?"
Jiang Yuehan was a little taller than Jiang Qiche. He lowered his eyes to look at his younger brother and, as though he had been mulling it over for a long time, said heavily, "You never call home, and I can't reach you either, so I had no choice but to come in person."
Jiang Qiche scoffed, his picturesque face seeming to grow coated in frost. "Haven't I always been like this?"
"I thought you would have gotten used to it."
Used to his indifference toward this family and his avoidance of it.
Jiang Yuehan's fingers tightened slightly.
If he hadn't heard Jiang Jinran's inner voice, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to seek out Jiang Qiche.
Dealing with this untamable, cold-blooded, rebellious younger brother wasn't something Jiang Yuehan was good at.
He tried to make himself seem approachable. "Actually, you could come home more often."
The smile at the corners of Jiang Qiche's lips deepened, like icy petals reflecting a chilling gleam. "Are you joking, eldest brother?"
"Stop putting on an act. Staying out of each other's way is best."
Jiang Yuehan's gaze darkened sharply, but he didn't get angry.
"But yesterday, you lent Jiang Jinran a hand." He calmly stated the fact, little emotion showing on his face. "Looking at it that way, you haven't quite disowned all your kin."
Jiang Qiche abruptly narrowed his eyes, every expression on his face turning into a frozen, forbidding chill. "I just thought it was fun at the time."
"Don't have any expectations of me, eldest brother."
"Whether it's Jiang Jinran or you, I hope you'll both-"
The white-haired boy's thin lips moved as he coldly uttered the most heartless words. "Get the hell far away from me!"