Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Hao Dui felt like Lu Zhaoying was thinking too much. No matter how picky Elder Xu was, he wouldn’t give up on the bunch of young talents in Beijing to find a high school student in Yun Cheng.

Anyway, Hao Dui and Cheng Mu didn’t believe it in any aspect.

If it was true, then it would shake up Beijing.

Hao Dui thought for a while and continued saying, “Young Master Lu, if Elder Xu really brought back an unknown person from Yun Cheng to Beijing, would the Xu family acknowledge it?”

Lu Zhaoying sat on the chair silently.

His head was lowered and he seemed to be thinking of something.

Hao Dui and Cheng Mu exchanged glances and left to pick up the car.

After the two of them left, Lu Zhaoying looked up and touched his ear stud subconsciously, then turned over to Cheng Juan. “Master Juan, how big of a possibility do you think the successor Elder Xu told us about last time was referring to Qin Ran?”

Logically, it wasn’t very possible.

Elder Xu’s position in Beijing compared to Qin Ran was like an elephant to an ant.

Why would an elephant find an ant to be the successor?

If Principal Xu hadn’t told them that he had picked a successor, Lu Zhaoying wouldn’t have even thought of this.

Cheng Juan picked up a silver needle on the table and lowered his head, deep in thought.

His expression was as lazy as always, but regardless of his light expression, he was always convincing.

After a long while, he said righteously, “I don’t know.”

Lu Zhaoying was speechless.

**

At the building of Qian Dui’s case.

Hao Dui stopped the car and opened the door while glancing at Cheng Mu. “Why is Elder Xu in Yun Cheng too?”

Forget about Cheng Juan and Lu Zhaoying, but what about Qi Chengjun, Jiang Hui, and even the Xu family now?

Lu Zhaoying sat in the back seat while holding his phone.

He was silent and didn’t speak at all.

“I’m not sure.” Cheng Mu closed the door and held onto the documents.

“Elder Xu’s successor hasn’t been revealed?” Hao Dui locked the door and headed towards the office lounge.

When Qian Dui started investigating, they worked day in and day out. Now, the lounge was brightly lit and filled with people.

“Mr. Lu.” Qian Dui was having a meeting when he saw them. He stood up from his chair and took the documents from Cheng Mu. “What has Miss Qin been doing these days to only be free today?”

Cheng Mu was silent for a moment before answering tiredly, “She has examinations and had been revising these days.”

Qian Dui nodded and didn’t say anything.

He only spoke more when it involved Qin Ran.

He took the documents to the technical staff.

Hao Dui and Cheng Mu stood in the hall and didn’t dare to move around.

“Qian Dui, do you trust Qin Ran that much?” Lu Zhaoying took a cup of tea and asked casually. “She’s only in high school. How did you two meet? Why do I feel like you seem to respect her a lot and seem without the slightest doubt about anything involving her?”

“I met her from a case,” Qian Dui replied concisely.

“The case form three years ago?” Lu Zhaoying asked in a low voice as he turned and stared at Qian Dui.

Qian Dui didn’t speak.

“Then it must be her. Did the case in Ninghai Town from three years ago, the one that shook up the criminal investigation world have anything to do with her?” Lu Zhaoying glanced at Qian Dui, his eyes shining. “Who on earth is Qin Ran?”

Qian Dui paused. “Mr. Lu, my lips are sealed.” Lu Zhaoying had been asking casually and hadn’t expected Qian Dui’s reaction to be so big.

He stared at Qian Dui’s back as he left and couldn’t help but touch his ear studs.

He fell into deep thought.

**

The next day.

It was Wednesday, the last lesson of the morning was Biology class.

The Biology teacher was full of joy and turned the paper over. “We finished the multiple-choice question yesterday, right? Today, we’ll start with the last question of the big topic. This last question is the genetic map, and a total of four genetic genes are designed. Their recessive positions are a bit complicated. Let’s first ask a student to help us get things going…” Then, the teacher’s eyes swept across the classroom.

Qin Ran paused and hid her head expressionlessly behind a pile of books.

The Biology teacher on the podium smiled. “I saw the gaze of a few students who are eager to try. Okay, Student Qin Ran, it’s you!”

… Wait, since when did she look eager?

Qin Ran raised her hand and threw the pen on the table before pulling the chair and standing up.

She lowered her eyebrows, silent and indifferent. There seemed to be a black cloud between her eyebrows.

The other students in class 3.9 weren’t surprised.

Now, Qin Ran was named three times per class on average.

After finishing the question, Qin Ran went back to her seat and took out her book. The Biology teacher saw it and didn’t say anything.

After class, Qin Ran waited slowly for the other students to leave.

They knew her habit and didn’t bother her.

But she didn’t expect Li Airong to be standing in front of the classroom, waiting for her.

Qin Ran looked up and stared at Li Airong for a long while with her dark eyes. Li Airong took a step back involuntarily.

Then, she showed a casual smile and put her cap on her head before stuffing her hands in her pocket. “Ms. Li, are you looking for me?”

Her tone was frivolous and stinging.

“Student Qin Ran, I want to apologize for what happened last time.” Li Airong lowered her head.

Qin Ran originally thought she was here to trouble her and didn’t expect her to apologize. She raised an eyebrow and watched as Li Airong left as if she was fleeing and touched her chin.

It was a little strange. Li Airong should be cursing her results to deteriorate now, or to have poor Physics results.

Why did she suddenly apologize?

Qin Ran hadn’t thought much when her phone rang suddenly and she saw that it was Ning Qing.

She didn’t pick up and just hung up.

**

At the same time, in Yun Cheng Hospital.

Ning Qing put down her phone and frowned. She tucked Chen Shulan into her bedsheets and said, “Ran Ran didn’t answer my call.” Chen Shulan closed her eyes and looked ill. “Then don’t let her go. She’s still in high school and has the college entrance examinations next year. She’ll be wasting her time if she comes to and fro.”

After hearing Chen Shulan, Ning Qing’s hand paused and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly. She wanted to ask what difference would it make if Qin Ran attended class?

But Chen Shulan was ill and Ning Qing didn’t want to say more about this matter, so she just said simply, “It’s good to bring her to Beijing, it’s much better there than in Yun Cheng. Ran Ran can gain insight there and might even study hard and want to go to Beijing’s university once she comes back, or she might agree to go to Feng Corporation.”

After all, the Feng family had a foothold in Beijing.

“What’s there to gain insight about?” Chen Shulan’s eyes were slightly closed and her voice was weak. “The Lin family is regarded as a prestigious family in Yun Cheng, but it’ll be helpless in Beijing, so how could it be good?”

Ning Qing suddenly felt vexed.

When she had married Qin Hanqiu, she had fallen for his looks. Unfortunately, Qin Hanqiu only had his looks and wasn’t progressive, so she could only spend her whole life in a small place like Ninghai Town.

Chen Shulan had always been short-sighted.

She had told Ning Qing that Qin Hanqiu was honest, but what was the use of being honest?

Now, who was the one going to a university and running to the big city? Who would be willing to stay in a rural town?

So, Ning Qing divorced Qin Hanqiu and found the Lin family.

“Mom, don’t talk about it. What do you know? Ran Ran stayed with you for too long, that’s why she has the same temperament as you.” Ning Qing interrupted Chen Shulan. “I’ll ask Ran Ran later.”

Chen Shulan was in low spirits. She knew that Ning Qing had high ambitions, so she didn’t say anything more and just closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Ning Qing stayed in the hospital until Chen Shulan fell asleep.

Instead of going back, she went to Chen Shulan’s attending doctor’s office and knocked on the door.

“Yes?” The attending doctor stopped spinning the pen in his hand and looked at Ning Qing in surprise. He pointed to the chair opposite and said, “Sit down.” Ning Qing sat down and put her bag on her lap. “Doctor, what happened to my mother’s disease? She was fine a few years ago, how did the radiation get so severe? I’ve asked around. There’s no such thing as a chemical plant in my hometown.”

“It didn’t happen in recent years, she probably suffered from radiation more than ten years ago, and probably took medicine in the middle as well.” The doctor held his glasses and continued, “But because her body has fallen into senescence in recent years, these symptoms have broken out.”

“Then…” Ning Qing pursed her lips and remembered another thing. “The medicine CNS, is it really that difficult to get?”

“Yes. The laboratory’s experimental drugs aren’t available in our hospital now.” The doctor’s expression changed. “We can only rely on Miss Qin.”

Ning Qing’s expression became even more complicated after hearing this.

She only had time to think about other things when Chen Shulan had recovered.

The experimental drug wasn’t even available to Lin Jinxuan in such a short time, so how could Qin Ran’s friend obtain it? How did she have such a friend and when did she become friends with him? After talking to the doctor, she went back to the ward and stayed for the afternoon.

She waited until school was over in the evening before she left the ward. She then called Qin Ran again, but she didn’t pick up.

She asked the driver to go to First Middle School to find Qin Ran.

**

First Middle School.

After school in the afternoon, Qin Ran was called by the teacher again.

It was as expected.

Qin Ran was tired and leaned against the wall.

“Sister Ran, are we going to the cafeteria together?” Qiao Sheng and his friends were discussing how to get into OST’s exhibition game and stayed a little longer.

Qin Ran thought about it, put her cap under her table, and took out her thermos slowly. “I’m going to the school doctor’s office.”

She would only be surrounded by people in the cafeteria.

Qiao Sheng nodded. He didn’t like to go to the cafeteria recently either. “Then let’s go downstairs together.”

On the way, Qiao Sheng and He Wen were talking about Yang Fei.

“I remember.” Qiao Sheng stopped spinning the basketball in his hand. “Sister Ran, you’re a fan of OST too, right? We’re going to pretend to be staff members and slip into the performance venue next week, do you want to come?”

Qin Ran had been affixed with the OST fan tag. She didn’t refute further and just said lazily, “No.” The two of them went downstairs and saw Mu Ying waiting by the roadside.

“Cousin!” Mu Ying waved at Qin Ran. “Hi, senior.”

There were several classmates beside her.

Qiao Sheng glanced at her and nodded casually, looking frivolous like a young man.

Qin Ran also stopped, but her eyes narrowed in a frivolous and determined manner as she asked casually, “What’s the matter?”

Mu Ying couldn’t help but glance at Qiao Sheng, then she said carefully, “Auntie has something to tell you. She’s at the intersection outside.”

“Okay.” Qin Ran was expressionless.

“Sister Ran, you can go first. I’ll wait for you here.” Qiao Sheng lowered his head slightly.

He was consulting her opinion.

Qin Ran was very calm and put her hands in her pocket expressionlessly. “No, you can play your basketball.”

“Okay.” Qiao Sheng watched Qin Ran leave before he bounced his basketball to the court.

When the two of them left, the people around Mu Ying were in disbelief. “That’s really your cousin? I feel like Young Master Qiao really listens to her.”

Mu Ying also felt it and looked complicatedly at Qin Ran’s back. “Yeah.”

**

Ning Qing’s car was parked on the roadside and was easy to find.

“What?” Qin Ran asked concisely as she pulled the car door open and went in.

Ning Qing was sitting behind, putting on lipstick with a small mirror. She looked up and said, “About you going to Beijing…”

Before Ning Qing could finish speaking, Qin Ran rejected her flatly. “I’m not going.”

“Why?” Ning Qing paused and kept her lipstick.

She didn’t understand why Qin Ran would let go of such a good opportunity.

Forget about the Feng family, this was the thing that made her most troubled.

Both of them were her daughters. Now that Qin Yu had found her place, Ning Qing also hoped that Qin Ran would settle down in an area.

Qin Ran paused and said after a long while, “There’s nothing good in Beijing.”

Her answer was almost the same as Chen Shulan’s.

“You have stayed with your grandma for too long and have become like her.” Ning Qing bit her lip and now regretted having thrown Qin Ran to Chen Shulan.

Qin Ran was impatient and put her hand on the car door.

“Tell me, what’s wrong with Beijing?” Ning Qing glanced at Qin Ran.

“It’s just bad.” Qin Ran directly opened the door and narrowed her eyes, her expression impatient. “Don’t look for me anymore.”

She got out of the car and left directly.

**

At night, Qin Ran came out of the school doctor’s office slowly while carrying a pot of water.

It was the self-study period soon and a group of people in the back row of class 3.9 was talking excitedly about something.

Qin Ran coughed twice and sat back in her chair. It was rare to see Qiao Sheng and Xu Yaoguang discussing with them.

According to Qiao Sheng, there weren’t many things that could make Xu Yaoguang interested.

Qin Ran slowly took out a book from under her desk and unscrewed the lid.

“Sister Ran, did you know? A new student is coming to our class.” Qiao Sheng saw Qin Ran and immediately waved at her excitedly. “Do you know who it is?”