Ming Dongheng drove the car away, and Jiang He lay by the car window, watching Bai Lian.
Jiang Fulai lightly tapped the screen of his phone by his side, his brows and eyes seeming to be coated with a faint layer of cold frost in the night. After a while, he lit up the screen to send a message—
"Go to the storeroom and find my physics notes."
**
Corner store.
Two patrol officers came to buy two bottles of water, then chatted with the store owner like old friends.
The store owner responded, bewildered.
Before leaving home today, Bai Lian had asked the store owner to help her bring some electrical wires. He handed her the wires and also gave her a lollipop, covering the QR code and refusing to let her transfer money, "Hurry home, it's already dark."
"Oh." Bai Lian put away the wires.
The patrol officers didn't find out anything and left to finish their shift. Only after they left did the neighbors dare to come over, "What have you been doing? Stealing things from across the river? Why are the police always watching you?"
"But I am a law-abiding citizen," the store owner began, feeling very wronged. He was also puzzled, "I don't think I've done anything."
Bai Lian bit her lollipop and walked down the alley with innocent eyes.
Just as she reached the entrance of the alley, she saw an elderly man waiting there.
It was Ji Heng.
Bai Lian was startled and quickened her pace.
Ji Heng, holding a flashlight, only turned it on when he saw her, illuminating the dark alley as he guided her back, "You can't rush learning, take it slow."
Purest Street had street lights, but the alleys inside did not.
Only the dim yellow lights of households were occasionally visible.
"I won't." Bai Lian took out her earphones, prepared to listen to English vocabulary, and rejected his suggestion.
Ji Heng: "…"
He saw Bai Lian staring at his flashlight again, wary, "…You can't take this apart."
Bai Lian's gaze drifted a bit, "Do I look like that kind of person?"
"But when I woke up this morning, I saw the 'corpse' of my electric fan," Ji Heng remorselessly exposed her.
"That's because you looked at the wrong time, you wouldn't believe it if you looked again in a few days," Bai Lian replied stubbornly.
**
Meanwhile.
In the only villa area of Xiangcheng, at the Ren Family.
Ren Qian habitually inquired about Wanxuan's studies and explained Jiachen's situation, "Dr. Gao hasn't responded yet, you need to strive with the school."
Ren Wanxuan nodded, usually she would have left by then.
Today, however, she hesitated.
"What's the matter?" Ren Qian asked, surprised.
"It's about... the things at my dad's house…" Wanxuan discussed Bai Lian's situation with Ren Qian.
At the end of the conversation, Ren Qian put down the document in his hand, "Changing from humanities to science?"
Wanxuan didn't really care, she just thought about how the other party only scored 85 in comprehensive science and shook her head, "A score of 85 in science, I don't know why she wants to study science, dad still wants me to teach her."
"Don't listen to him, he's been more and more confused these past two years, he doesn't understand what's important," Ren Qian's expression cooled, as he highly valued Wanxuan's academics, naturally knowing that she had scored 300 full points in the comprehensive science exam this time, "Doesn't he know how important your studies are?"
This Bai Lian, he hadn't even met her, and already had a somewhat bad impression.
Young people should be steady and reliable.
Ren Wanxuan hurriedly massaged Ren Qian's shoulders, "Don't be angry, my dad didn't mean it, you know him, he's only focused on his research, he doesn't even remember how old I am."
Over the years, the Ji Family hadn't exactly taken advantage of the Ren Family to create trouble.
Ren Qian was not particularly concerned about the Ji Family, he took a moment then advised Wanxuan, "Let it go, don't meddle in Ji Family affairs, your dad isn't thinking clearly, you need to understand what's most important, next year is the college entrance exams, don't get distracted by other things."
After Wanxuan left, the Secretary-General spoke up, "Next year's college entrance exams, it's our turn to produce the top scholar of Xiangcheng, Miss Wanxuan has a good chance."
"It's a highly competitive year, just competing with the Chen Family of Xiangcheng will be tough," Ren Qian knew a bit of the inside story, he shook his head, "Never mind the Beicheng top scholar, let's see about Xiangcheng first."
In their eyes, the maximum goal was the top scholar of Beicheng.
As for the national top scholar, no one even thought about it.
Which year's national top scholar wasn't from Jiangjing?
How could it possibly be from somewhere else?
"This is the auction list for White Tiger Auction House next week," the Secretary-General remembered the matter at hand, "This time, there's an authentic piece by Liang Zewen."
At this, Ren Qian quickly reached out his hand, "A genuine Liang Zewen?"
The Liang script is one of the most popular calligraphy styles, not only loved by the general public but also highly esteemed by major families and great literary figures, hence Ren Qian had made Wanxuan learn the Liang script from a young age.
Clearly, Wanxuan's pursuit was very successful; from a young age, she had gained much favour for her Liang script.
Authentic works by Liang Zewen were rare; the only known original work was held in a private museum of the Chen Family in Jiangjing.
This genuine piece coming up for auction is bound to attract a crowd from all over the country.
No one would doubt its authenticity, after all, it's the largest auction house in Asia, and nobody dares to cause trouble at an auction on Backter Street.
"Find a way to get an invitation to the auction," Ren Qian said.
**
The next day.
Bai Lian didn't linger in the library because Jiang Fulai had someone send her the multitester.
She planned to go home and show her grandfather what "bad timing" really meant.
Bus 12 came to a stop on Purest Street, and when Bai Lian got off with her black backpack, she saw a crowd gathered around the convenience store from a distance.
As Bai Lian approached, the onlookers outside in white tank tops trembled with excitement.
With a "clatter," a cigarette fell to the ground.
"Officer Zhang, ask them if I've broken any law?" the middle-aged man in black attire said casually, exhaling a ring of smoke while point at a vendor selling chilled mung bean jelly, "Dare you say I've transgressed?"
The vendor, in fear, shook his head as he picked up his knocked-over stall, "No, no! I knocked it over myself!"
"Oh, is that so?" the middle-aged man took two more steps forward, pointing at someone selling hand-carved items.
The person sat on the ground, frantically waving their hands in negation.
He stepped on an embroidered shoe and finally stopped in front of Ji Heng, "How about you? Do you dare?"
Ji Heng looked at the stall on the ground and shook his head.
"See," the middle-aged man then leisurely turned to Officer Zhang, his voice arrogant, "I told you I haven't done anything, Officer Zhang, you wouldn't arrest a good person, would you?"
"You..." Officer Zhang was about to take action, but was firmly restrained by a colleague, "Forget it, Officer Zhang!"
The colleague whispered in Officer Zhang's ear, "He must be Poison Scorpion..."
Officer Zhang calmed down.
Poison Scorpion.
One of the top ten on their internal most-wanted list, he frequently moves between Backter Street and the international scene, many of his men are ex-mercenaries, protected by a bar on Backter Street, and even the FBI is said to be unable to touch him.
His power was immense.
Poison Scorpion had long anticipated this scenario.
He looked at Officer Zhang with disdain, carelessly dropping his cigarette on the ground and stepping on it, "It seems, Officer Zhang, if you desire to catch me, you'll have to find another way."
No one present dared to speak.
Poison Scorpion then arrogantly left the convenience store with all the cigarettes and casually left Purest Street.
Only after he had left did Officer Zhang silently help the vendors straighten their stalls, whispering an apology to them.
The people from the bar on Backter Street, at the junction between two nations, those people—
Without evidence, Officer Zhang truly had no recourse.
Even if the Chen Family of Xiangcheng was present today, they too would suffer silently.
Bai Lian stood not far away, watching the scene with an unperturbed gaze.
The man in the white tank top, feeling the chill of her gaze on his back, shivered and quickly set about helping the vendors pick up their goods.
Clearly, he was also one of the formidable "convention people," and seeing him lending a hand, Officer Zhang gave him a glance, his gaze then shifting to the store owner not far away.
As the crowd slowly dispersed, such incidents were not uncommon on Purest Street.
"Alian?" Ji Heng, having tidied up his belongings, saw Bai Lian standing at the street corner.
The neighbors liked the trinkets made by Ji Heng, who would set up his stall every few days. Bai Lian usually studied late in the library, so this was the first time she saw him vending.
"Hmm," Bai Lian answered calmly, taking Ji Heng's items from his hand.
"It's alright, Grandfather's used to it," Ji Heng spoke more today than usual, holding a tobacco pipe, "These things don't happen often. He's from the opposite side and doesn't come here often. You should be more careful when you go out, it's better for ordinary folks like us to avoid provoking them if we can."
He comforted Bai Lian.
Bai Lian hummed in agreement once more, but the chill in her pitch-black eyes grew colder.
Ji Heng was at ease with her.
Eleven o'clock at night.
The lights in Ji Heng's room went out, and in Bai Lian's room, she tightened the last screw on the electric fan.
Then, taking her mobile phone, she quietly closed her room door behind her and left.
Crossing the bridge at the end of Purest Street, a street stretched out in front of her, resplendent with golden light. Although it was ten o'clock at night, it was as bright as day. The entrance bore the name in two languages—
Backter Street.
The man in the white tank top had been waiting here. He looked up to see the girl in the flowing moon-white dress, so out of place in this street.
"Sis," the man in the white tank top approached, handing Bai Lian a cigarette and lighting it for her.
With a slender cigarette grasped between her fingers, Bai Lian appeared utterly nonchalant. As the flame sparked and smoke began to curl up, she lazily tilted her head, "Where is he?"
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