...
Not long ago.
Shen Yi had created several group chats and discussed things with a few of her close friends at school.
She felt that Lu Mingyuan and his group couldn't be allowed to gather together.
Even though gathering the four members of the protagonist group wouldn't necessarily summon a magical dragon, who knew what bizarre chemical reactions they might spark when combined?
Sometimes, certain schemes didn't require outstanding abilities, but rather just the right amount of luck.
Sophia agreed with this perspective wholeheartedly.
Previously, Sophia's family had a business deal in Southeast Asia. It was on the verge of being finalized, but fell through due to a series of coincidental accidents.
Luck had always been a wickedly unpredictable thing.
...
The distress message sent by Song Yi was addressed to Lu Mingyuan.
It needed to be made clear that Heguang and the foreign government were not in a cooperative relationship. Heguang didn't need government resources; they had their own talent channels and capital chains.
And the foreign government didn't need the involvement of a civilian faction like Heguang either.
What they wanted were archived core secrets—the Shen family's overseas industrial layout—intelligence that would allow them to gain a few extra percentage points at the negotiating table.
The two sides had different goals, and even their fundamental logic was completely different.
The only reason they crossed paths was that they happened to be eyeing the same prey.
The two were not collaborating. When Heguang was targeted and lost a large number of personnel, the foreign government knew about it but showed no reaction whatsoever.
After thinking it over, Song Yi had no choice but to turn to Lu Mingyuan for help.
Lu Mingyuan's family was involved in the high-tech industry. Many members within the family had unusual ties with the government, and some even held quite high-ranking positions.
Song Yi needed Lu Mingyuan's help.
Unfortunately, when the message came through, Lu Mingyuan was in the middle of a class.
He looked down at the message.
Song Yi had sent a location, her current coordinates, which were encrypted.
Below it was a line of text: "They are on me too tight. I need to change locations."
In the moments that followed, Lu Mingyuan grew worried about her safety. Right there in the classroom, he raised his hand and stood up.
"Teacher, I need to leave school. There's an emergency at home."
He didn't specify what the emergency was, and the teacher didn't ask, merely nodding: "Go ahead."
Seeing this, Xu Meng and Qin Zexu stood up in unison. "We also have matters to attend to, Teacher."
The teacher's gaze swept across the faces of the three boys.
"Go ahead." It was the same response.
Chen Jiaojiao pondered for a moment and felt something was off. Lu Mingyuan leaving school alone could be explained as having something to do, but Xu Meng, Qin Zexu, and him leaving together—that wasn't right.
"Teacher, we'd like to ask for a leave of absence too," Chen Jiaojiao hurriedly raised her hand.
She wanted to see what kind of stunt these three were trying to pull.
The teacher turned to look at her.
"What are you asking for a leave of absence for?" The difference in his attitude was glaringly obvious.
"Then why are they allowed to?" Chen Jiaojiao's voice rose a pitch.
The teacher gave no response.
Chen Jiaojiao was instantly infuriated. She turned and sat next to Sophia, the two of them leaning in so close their foreheads almost touched. "Is he targeting us? Why is it fine for Lu Mingyuan to leave? I'm absolutely sure those three are plotting something."
Sophia nodded in agreement.
However, she wasn't one to bow to this kind of pressure, loudly reiterating, "I want to leave school too."
"Sit down." The teacher shot Sophia an unmoved glance.
Their gazes clashed in the air.
Zhao Shumin watched from the side, anxious that Lu Mingyuan would just leave. In a moment of desperation, she had a bright idea: "Teacher, my stomach hurts."
The girl's tone carried just the right amount of frailty. She leaned forward slightly, clutching her stomach with one hand, her expression perfectly matching the act.
"I need to step out."
With that, she turned and left.
The teacher choked on his words slightly and could only watch her leave.
This inspired the others. Chen Jiaojiao quickly chimed in, "My stomach hurts too, Teacher. We need to step out."
Sophia clutched her stomach: "Mine hurts too."
Without caring about the teacher's reaction, they all just skipped out right in the middle of class.
Six people had left in a single class.
The entire class fell into a brief silence.
Teacher: "???"
Zhao Shumin was the fastest to chase after them. She quickly grabbed hold of Lu Mingyuan: "Where do you think you're going?"
Lu Mingyuan hadn't expected anyone to dare chase him out. He shook her off: "What does it have to do with you?"
Chen Jiaojiao successfully ran out of the classroom and caught sight of Lu Mingyuan, unable to resist mocking him: "You were playing on your phone during class? Leaving at a time like this, what are you planning to do?"
Qin Zexu retorted impatiently, "Does it have anything to do with you?"
Sophia said, "Skipping class isn't what good kids do. Students should act like students, so why don't you go back to class?"
She hadn't come to this school alone. She had hired hundreds of bodyguards just for herself. Hejing was a world that belonged to the rich; officially, bringing bodyguards wasn't allowed, but nothing would happen if she did.
Sophia directly pulled out her phone and made a call, ordering the bodyguards outside to come in and help block them.
It was the first time Lu Mingyuan had ever encountered such a difficult young lady.
While the group was engaged in a cold standoff, the bodyguards from downstairs had begun to arrive one after another.
Sophia immediately raised her voice: "Pin down those three for me. No one is leaving today!"
