Suddenly, she had a brainwave. If she stuck close to the male and female leads all the time, she would know immediately if anything happened between them.
Zhu Yaya happily cupped her face in her hands. She was just too clever!
Zhu Yaya wasted no time. As soon as classes ended that day, she dashed to Class 17, Grade 11. Using the restroom as an excuse, she repeatedly walked past the classroom.
"What's that junior up to?" Li Hao was a bit curious, then looked back at Yan Heng and understood.
He leaned back toward Yan Heng with a mischievous grin. "She couldn't be here to see you, could she?"
Yan Heng shot Li Hao a warning look and frowned. "Don't talk nonsense."
As soon as the dismissal bell rang in the afternoon, Zhu Yaya was off like a wild horse, sprinting toward the school gate to quietly await the appearance of the leads.
After a short wait, the male lead, Murong Beichen, and the male supporting character, Ling Yiming, came out first.
Ling Yiming followed the typical playboy-turned-good-for-the-female-lead trope. His family background was somewhat complex, involving underworld connections.
Since Zhu Yaya was only interested in the romantic developments between the leads, she hadn't paid him much attention before. She figured someone with that character archetype would probably dress in a dashing, romantic style!
However, upon seeing Ling Yiming, she was utterly dismayed again.
She should have expected it—what kind of taste could someone who hung out with a cringe-worthy male lead with rainbow-colored hair possibly have?
There was Ling Yiming with his flowing long hair, wearing an old man's tank top and a pink shirt covered in rose prints, paired with green beach shorts.
And yet, a group of girls nearby was screaming—
"Ahhh, he's so devastatingly handsome!"
"Young Master Ling, I adore you!"
"Prince Chen, I want to have your babies!"
...
Zhu Yaya silently pulled out her small mirror, looked at her own reflection, and decided she needed to cleanse her eyes first.
This was Zhu Yaya's first time tailing someone, and she couldn't help feeling a bit excited. Ignoring the two guys' bizarre outfits, she rubbed her hands together and was just about to follow them when she saw Murong Beichen and Ling Yiming each get into two sleek-looking sports cars.
Then, Zhu Yaya got a face full of exhaust fumes.
Zhu Yaya: ...I want to hit someone!
She should have known. Would the school's top bully, the son of the richest man, walk home?
Where are the traffic police? She wanted to report underage, unlicensed driving!
Zhu Yaya looked utterly dejected.
Fortunately, just then, the female lead, Xu Chun, walked out.
Zhu Yaya wiped her face. Xu Chun came from a poor family and lived with her gambling-addict uncle, which made her easier to tail.
Zhu Yaya quietly blended into the crowd and followed Xu Chun.
Scott High School was in the eastern district of the imperial capital, while Xu Chun's uncle's house was in the western district. The distance between the two was considerable.
Zhu Yaya followed Xu Chun onto bus No. 163. This bus route did not pass through the southern district.
The bus was crowded now, mostly with students from Scott High. Of Scott High's students, sixty percent came from wealthy families, thirty percent from ordinary, comfortable families like Zhu Yaya's, and the remaining ten percent from impoverished families like Xu Chun and Yan Heng.
There was once a saying, "Many outstanding individuals come from humble backgrounds," but nowadays, it's more like "It's hard for the poor to produce outstanding individuals." The wealthy hold abundant and superior educational resources, and their children receive exceptional education from a young age. Zhu Yaya's deskmate, Xu Baoying, was an example—from a wealthy family, fluent in spoken English, skilled in oil painting, and with a Grade 8 piano certificate. Among the top ten academic performers at Scott High, eight came from affluent families. Yan Heng, however, was an exception. Since entering the school, he had consistently ranked first, unbeaten.
Hiding in the crowd, Zhu Yaya looked at the back of female lead Xu Chun's head and thought that Boss Yan's unbeaten first-place record might soon be broken. The female lead Xu Chun also had a top student persona.
Just as she thought of Yan Heng, Zhu Yaya actually saw him.
Boss Yan always stood out in a crowd, a crane among chickens, his face as impassive as ever. It was with this deadpan expression and his icy, powerful aura that he warded off many girls who wanted to strike up a conversation.
What a coincidence! Zhu Yaya was a bit surprised, but then she remembered Yan Heng also lived in the western district and didn't think much more of it.
As the bus got closer to the western district, the crowd gradually thinned. Those who got on were either elderly people with white hair or middle-aged people with weary faces, worn down by fate, struggling at the bottom of society.
Looking at them, Zhu Yaya felt a sense of unreality. She was still living in an ivory tower, naive about the ways of the world. Once she left the ivory tower, in ten years, would she become one of them?
That was terrifying! Zhu Yaya decided to do three more sets of practice exams when she got home.
After riding a while longer, Zhu Yaya saw Xu Chun get off and hurriedly followed. Yan Heng got off too.
However, Yan Heng walked ahead of Xu Chun.
Zhu Yaya watched as Yan Heng walked out of the bus stop and turned left. Shortly after, Xu Chun also turned left.
Zhu Yaya: ???
She followed.
After walking straight for a few minutes after the left turn, Yan Heng, who was furthest ahead, turned right. Xu Chun did the same.
What was going on? Zhu Yaya was confused.
However, after continuing to follow, Zhu Yaya discovered that Xu Chun and Yan Heng's routes home were actually identical.
Could these two be living in the same building? Zhu Yaya muttered to herself.
And she guessed right. After tailing them for half an hour, Zhu Yaya personally saw the two enter a dilapidated building, one after the other.
What a coincidence!
Zhu Yaya didn't follow them inside, afraid of being discovered. She just loitered at the base of the building for a bit, recalling the route and memorizing the location before leaving.
She didn't notice that a small window on the fourth floor was cracked open, and a pair of eyes was hiding there, secretly watching her the whole time.
Earlier, Zhu Yaya's focus had been entirely on tailing Xu Chun, so she hadn't paid much attention to the surroundings. Now, on her way home, she finally noticed the environment.
It was different from the clean, harmonious eastern and southern districts. Garbage was everywhere, the roads were uneven and full of potholes, and there were several puddles of dark, foul-smelling liquid of unknown origin.
A middle-aged man with a bare torso walked past. Covered in tattoos, his eyes, narrowed to slits by fat, looked at her with obvious malice.
An old lady trembled as she walked out of a dim little room, carrying a basin of bloody water reeking of raw meat, and flung it out. Luckily, Zhu Yaya dodged quickly, or it would have splashed all over her.
Good thing she didn't live here, Zhu Yaya thought.
No wonder Zhu Jianjun, who worked as a police officer here, was always busy and rarely seen.
Zhu Yaya tightly gripped the straps of her backpack and quickly left the area.
When she got home, Zhu Jianjun and Zhao Jing weren't back yet. She went to her room, pulled out her homework and practice exams, and started writing.
By the time Zhu Jianjun returned and made dinner, Zhu Yaya still hadn't stopped writing.
Both Zhu Jianjun and Zhao Jing noticed Zhu Yaya's bizarre surge of academic enthusiasm. They were full of questions but were afraid of making their teenage daughter overthink things, so they didn't say much, only repeatedly urging Zhu Yaya to go to bed early.
Zhu Yaya obediently agreed, thinking to herself that of course she needed to sleep early—she had to continue tailing the female lead tomorrow morning. She also asked Zhao Jing for breakfast money, saying she wanted to buy breakfast outside.
Zhao Jing agreed very readily and even increased Zhu Yaya's pocket money.
