Jiang Jinran came out of the restroom and washed her hands at an unhurried pace.
After washing up, she turned into the corridor.
On the other side of the restroom was the staircase leading to the second floor.
It was evening, and most of the setting sun had already sunk below the horizon. Murky light settled over everything. The lights in the arts building had not come on in time, leaving the corridor somewhat dim, while the stairwell behind her seemed shrouded in a haze of gloomy air.
Jiang Jinran suddenly stopped in her tracks.
At that moment, she happened to be the only person in the long corridor.
Quiet and stillness permeated her surroundings.
The reason Jiang Jinran had stopped was-
Out of the corner of her eye, she had spotted a faint, barely perceptible shadow cast on the wall by the stairwell.
It was a human shadow!
Jiang Jinran clenched her fingers, her entire face tensing, her lips pressed into a straight line.
Someone was most likely hiding by the stairs.
Could it be the person who had given her the iron piece?
Sure enough, someone was watching her from the shadows...
Though her emotions surged, Jiang Jinran showed no sign of panic. She knew she needed to keep her composure now and absolutely must not rustle the grass and startle the snake.
She pretended not to have noticed anything, lowering her head and standing still.
After a brief silence, finally-
The shadow by the stairwell disappeared.
But Jiang Jinran did not let her guard down completely. She waited about ten seconds, making sure the person by the stairwell was gone-
Then Jiang Jinran wheeled back for a surprise counterattack, turning straight toward the stairwell!
Toward the very corner where someone had just been hiding.
The light was still dim. Jiang Jinran tiptoed over to the stairwell, her gaze roaming over the steps and walls.
What she was doing was actually extremely bold.
If that person suddenly returned and discovered Jiang Jinran here, she would certainly be in for trouble.
But riches were won amid danger...
This was a principle Jiang Jinran had understood in her previous life: the greater the risk, the greater the reward.
To find clues, she had to charge back!
Finally-
On an inconspicuous patch of wall by the stairwell, Jiang Jinran discovered a strange design.
Her eyes widened slightly.
After examining it carefully, she realized she had seen this design before-
An iris blooming within a six-pointed star.
It was the Divine Sound Organization's emblem!
Everything seemed to be slowly connecting into a single thread: the Divine Sound badge in the original owner's room, the Divine Sound emblem in the arts building...
So everything Jiang Jinran was encountering now might be connected to Divine Sound.
What exactly did this organization want to do, and what were its intentions?
Was everything Shi Hui and Huang Junran had encountered in the arts building connected to them too?
Having found the clue she wanted, Jiang Jinran stopped in time and did not investigate further.
She left the stairwell and darted back into the long corridor.
She returned to the rehearsal classroom.
Everyone in the classroom had already resumed rehearsing.
Seeing Jiang Jinran return, they merely gave her a brief glance and said nothing more.
Jiang Jinran went over to the sofa and began packing her schoolbag.
Coming to the arts building to rehearse had merely been a pretext. Jiang Jinran's real purpose had been to investigate the place.
Now that she had achieved her goal, she did not want to stay any longer.
"All right, everyone can take a break."
At that moment, Shi Hui and the others also reached a temporary stopping point in their rehearsal, and the female teacher told them to rest for a while.
Jiang Jinran picked up her schoolbag and was just about to leave-
"Jiang Jinran, did you nearly finish all the snacks?" a female classmate's shrill voice rang out.
Jiang Jinran stopped in her tracks.
"Forget it," someone said with a grin, trying to smooth things over. "She probably doesn't usually get to eat such fancy snacks, haha. That's what happens when you've never seen the world..."
"True. She's just a country bumpkin who's never seen anything good, like a starving ghost reborn..."
"Hey, I heard the Jiang Family's youngest daughter might be attending our school..." The girl abruptly changed the subject, turning the conversation to the Jiang Family. "Didn't Jiang Yuehan show up at school last time..."
"I heard that too, but what class is this young lady in? There's been absolutely no word."
"The rumor might be false, but I'm honestly so jealous. If only I could have been born as the Jiang Family's youngest daughter, with such an illustrious background and five outstanding older brothers."
Shi Hui walked over and cast them a casual glance, joking, "It's almost nighttime. Can you stop daydreaming?"
"Haha, can't we even dream?"
Jiang Jinran glanced back at them, and Shi Hui and the others immediately caught that glance.
A trace of displeasure flashed through the girl's eyes, and she immediately snapped, "What are you looking at? What, are you jealous of the Jiang Family's young lady too? Oh, I almost forgot, your surname is Jiang too..."
Another girl immediately chimed in, "Being jealous won't help. You both have the surname Jiang, but the same surname doesn't mean the same fate..."
"A toad shouldn't envy a white swan."
"I'm not jealous in the slightest." Jiang Jinran tugged at the corner of her mouth and uttered those words expressionlessly. She casually picked up the remaining snacks beside her, then suddenly smiled. "I'm leaving. Carry on."
"Wait."
Shi Hui called out to stop Jiang Jinran. "You're just leaving like that, without rehearsing at all?"
Jiang Jinran shook the snacks in her hand, still smiling. "I'm not you... Before the finals, I only need to rehearse once to get it right."
"You..." Shi Hui's eyes widened, and she was instantly struck speechless.
She had never expected to be mocked by Jiang Jinran.
Was she mocking her for never managing to sing well?
It doesn't matter.
A faint shadow flashed through Shi Hui's eyes-
Your singing voice will soon be mine.
Jiang Jinran did not linger any longer and returned home before the sky turned completely dark.
After a hasty dinner, she hurried back to her room and turned on her computer.
Her main priority over the next few days was to level up in Legend as quickly as possible.
Jiang Jinran did not want to waste even the slightest bit of time.
The moment she logged in, the Legend forum erupted.
[Extra! Extra! Sha Yu is online! I just saw his online indicator!]
[This guy finally showed up again. Has he been through rehab or something? How can he play one match and then disappear? How does he resist playing more?]
[When's this bro playing another match? I want to watch.]
[Thanks for the heads-up. I'm off to watch Boss Sha Yu's ranked match.]
[A day apart feels like three autumns. It feels like I've already waited a year for Boss Sha Yu. Do you know how I survived this day?!]
Jiang Jinran had already entered the game screen, while her four matched teammates trickled in.
This time, her teammates' attitudes were completely different from yesterday.
[Holy shit, I got matched with Sha Yu! Gotta hurry to the forum and make a post to show off.]
[Am I seeing things? Is this the Sha Yu from yesterday?]
[Holy shit, we've got this match in the bag. Carry us, boss!]
[I'll just be the boss's dog. Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it.]