Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Meng Xinran’s hands stiffened.

“How could this be? How could you have a ticket for Zone A?” Meng Xinran looked at the ticket repeatedly. “Where are my tickets, then?”

She mumbled on as if she could not believe reality.

She grabbed the tickets tightly as if she was about to rip them into shreds.

Only then did Lin Qi finally come to his senses. Without saying a word, he stepped forward, took the tickets from Meng Xinran, and returned them to Qin Ran.

He was a little afraid to look into Qin Ran’s eyes. “Ran Ran… Uncle… feels guilty.”

He did not clarify the situation from the start and felt that Qin Ran was the first to create trouble, so he dismissed her.

He even blamed her for wasting Meng Xinran’s time.

In the end, as he felt guilty, he wanted to reduce the severity of the situation as a form of apology to her.

He even thought that Qin Ran would feel lucky because he decided not to pursue the matter.

However, he never expected that Qin Ran was the innocent one from the very start!

She was maligned by Meng Xinran and her table and books were ruined by Meng Xinran.

Qin Ran knew very well that she did not take Meng Xinran’s tickets, so she felt that Meng Xinran’s behavior and words were extremely ridiculous.

In fact, he felt that Qin Ran’s actions of throwing Meng Xinran’s table and books down the fifth floor were normal.

Lin Qi even found it acceptable if Qin Ran were a little more ruthless.

He felt deeply embarrassed. He bowed to Qin Ran and apologized.

Qin Ran only turned around, took the tickets back, and breezily said, “It’s ok.”

After hearing that, Lin Qi’s heart sank.

Sure enough, things were progressing in the worst way.

Qiao Sheng stood next to Gao Yang and did not say much, but when Qin Ran took out the tickets, he frowned at Meng Xinran and then looked at Qin Ran in shock.

“Xinran, apologize to Ran Ran.” Lin Qi paused before speaking to Meng Xinran.

Meng Xinran pursed her lips and coldly said, “But my tickets were definitely stolen by someone.”

Lin Qi rubbed his forehead tiredly.

Just as he was about to say something, a knock was heard.

A middle-aged woman walked in.

Qin Ran was standing closest to the door.

She leaned against the table with her legs slouched lazily and her head tilted. She raised an eyebrow impatiently.

When the middle-aged woman walked in, the first person she saw was her, and she looked as if she did not expect to see her there. She frowned instinctively.

“Housekeeper Zhang? Why are you here?” Lin Qi turned to look at Housekeeper Zhang in shock.

Only then did Housekeeper Zhang remember her purpose for coming over. She immediately took something out from her bag and gave it to Lin Qi. “It’s like this, Mr. Lin. When I was changing the fragrance in Ms. Biao’s room, I saw the tickets in the corner and they told me that the tickets were very important to Ms. Biao, so I immediately came over to deliver them.”

After she said that, the entire room fell silent.

Housekeeper Zhang paused for a moment. “Have I said something… wrong?”

Could it be that the housekeeper was lying to her?

When Housekeeper Zhang found the tickets in Meng Xinran’s room at night, she was going to put them on the dressing table.

A servant told her that Meng Xinran was anxiously looking for them and even told Housekeeper Zhang her address.

As a result, Housekeeper Zhang hurriedly rushed over by a taxi.

“No. You did not say anything wrong.” Lin Qi did not dare to look at Qin Ran anymore.

After half a day of trouble, everything was a farce.

He took a deep breath. Years of self-cultivation enabled him to find his voice again. “Mr. Gao, I’m sorry to have troubled you tonight.”

Meng Xinran took the four tickets that Housekeeper Zhang handed her.

Four consecutive numbers and not one less.

At this point in time, the person who was innocent and implicated was very obvious.

Just thinking of how Meng Xinran ridiculed Qin Ran and said that Lin Qi would deal with her was just plain embarrassing.

Meng Xinran’s face was flushed. She did not dare to look up when Qiao Sheng and Gao Yang looked at her and directly left.

Lin Qi apologized to Qin Ran again and fled.

Ning Qing squeezed her bag tightly. She wanted to say something to Qin Ran, but Qin Ran would not look at her.

**

“Oh my God, Sister Ran, where on earth did you get those tickets?!” On the way back, Qiao Sheng had a delayed reaction. He scratched his head and turned to look at Qin Ran who was beside him.

Qin Ran was holding her phone and texting somebody. She appeared aloof as she looked down in silence.

With Qiao Sheng chattering beside her ear, she could not help but cover her ear and glance at him. “Someone gave them to me.”

“Who would be so generous to give you something like that?” Qiao Sheng walked around her and whined. “Why didn’t anybody give them to me?”

“Lu Zhaoying,” Qin Ran casually answered. Seeing that Qiao Sheng was confused, she explained again. “The doctor in the school doctor’s office.”

Qiao Sheng, whom Xu Yaoguang gave warnings to countless times, was completely stunned.

He was quiet for a moment. “I can’t afford to offend you, then.”

Qin Ran acknowledged him passively.

When they reached the school doctor’s office, Qin Ran waved at him and went inside.

The sky was almost dark. Qiao Sheng went to the surveillance camera room immediately after class and he had not eaten yet.

There was no food left in the cafeteria and he could not go out, so he bought a packet of instant noodles to eat in Xu Yaoguang’s room.

“Xu Yaoguang, didn’t you say it’s not good to mess with those people in the school doctor’s office?” Qiao Sheng poured some hot water, placed a fork in the noodles, sat on a chair, and looked sideways at Xu Yaoguang.

Xu Yaoguang lived in a single-room dormitory and was rarely seen in the dormitory building. His room was spacious enough to place tables and chairs in it.

Qiao Sheng propped his legs on a table.

“They really aren’t people to mess with. Don’t ever go there for nothing.” Xu Yaoguang did not lift his head. He flipped through a physics book with his long fingers and his eyes were cold. “If not, you won’t even know how you die.”

Qiao Sheng placed his hand on the table and weakly said, “However, I think that Sister Ran gets along very well with them, and someone even gave her tickets.”

After this incident today, Qiao Sheng knew that his chances of getting the tickets from Meng Xinran’s hands were basically zero.

Hearing this, Xu Yaoguang raised his eyebrows in confusion.

Before he could make sense of the situation, his cell phone lit up again.

He immediately put down his physics book, picked up his phone and glanced at it.

Seeing that it was about time, Qiao Sheng stirred the noodles with his fork and took a bite.

Seeing Xu Yaoguang like this, he could not help but roll his eyes. “Young Master Xu, is it a message from Qin Yu again?”

“Yes. She sent me two tickets and wants me to watch her first performance at the end of the month.” Xu Yaoguang put down his phone and said in a clear voice.

Qiao Sheng swallowed his noodles. Without looking up, he replied, “I’m not going.”

Xu Yaoguang glanced at him and faintly said, “This time, she’s performing a new song. I’ve heard a little of it from a video she sent and she has improved a lot. You will be losing out if you don’t attend it.”

“I think I’d rather go back home to beg my dad or figure out a way for He Wen and me to dress up like two internal staff members so we can sneak into the match.” Qiao Sheng sighed helplessly.

**

Qin Ran arrived back at the school doctor’s office.

When Cheng Mu saw that she was back, he gave her a lunch box.

Lu Zhaoying secretly looked at Qin Ran’s expression. Although she looked cold, he could tell that she was in a better mood than before she left.

He sighed in relief.

Cheng Juan also glanced at her. He slowly put down the things in his hand and walked out without surprise.

At the dining table, Qin Ran ate slowly and thought about who mysteriously called for Housekeeper Zhang to come over.

Very soon, Lu Zhaoying sent a message to the discussion group.

Lu Zhaoying: Good luck, brothers! I’ve already gotten a few staff passes from my dad. Let’s meet tomorrow afternoon at 3 pm!

After that, he sent an address.

Qin Ran rubbed her chin and looked at the messages thoughtfully.

After dinner, she laid on the table and continued practicing her writing. Her left hand’s writing speed was slow and she looked very annoyed.

Cheng Mu brought over a cup of tea for her and carefully looked as she continued writing.

He was somewhat surprised. Has she improved?

“Do you know who wrote this copybook for her?” Lu Zhaoying touched his chin and looked at Cheng Mu.

Cheng Mu shook his head expressionlessly. “Who?”

“Master Jiang.”

Cheng Mu was confused and seemed to wonder who Master Jiang was.

“It was the old man our family requested a watercolor landscape painting from five times last year before we got it.” Lu Zhaoying tossed his pen aside and leaned back.

With that, Cheng Mu finally recalled who he was. “Are you talking about that Master Zhang with the eccentric temper and overly expensive items that rarely sells his work to others?”

“Yes, that’s him.” Lu Zhaoying snapped his fingers.

Only then did Cheng Mu look at Qin Ran in shock.

“Your family’s Master Juan asked this Master Jiang to write a few words for Qin Ran to practice writing.” Lu Zhaoying squinted his eyes and finally whispered. “Cheng Mu, let me ask you. If it were your family’s old master instead, how confident would he be in hiring this Master Jiang to write a copybook?”

Cheng Mu’s face stiffened. “A word may be possible, but a copybook…”

Almost impossible.

The two of them realized it at the same time.

They looked at each other and were deep in thought.

How did their Master Juan manage to hire him?

**

In the Lin family.

Lin Jinxuan was the first to leave to study in the capital.

Lin Qi did not return back at night. Instead, he went to the Lin family’s old house.

In Old Master Lin’s study, Lin Qi sighed before saying in shame, “Dad, I did something poorly today.”

He sounded a little tired.

“What did you do?” Oly Master Lin rarely saw Lin Qi like this and put down his teacup with a blank look on his wrinkled face.

“It’s a personal matter.” Lin Qi recounted the events that happened today.

He spoke concisely but went straight to the point.

When he was done, Lin Qi lowered his head. “At the start when you told me to pay attention to Qin Ran, I still chose to prioritize Yu’er and did not dare to tell you anything. However, now that this happened, it’s impossible for our family to pay her back well.”

Finally, he sighed again. “I don’t know how I can face her in the future.”

Old Master Lin did not immediately respond.

After a long while, he frowned slightly. “You really messed up this time. But those tickets from Yunguang Consortium… How did she get them?”

Lin Qi did not know.

“Forget it, things are already like this.” Old Master Lin was calmer than Lin Qi. “There are so many talents in the world. Who knows what changes there will be in the future? With an EQ like this, who knows if she can seize the opportunities in the future? You also said that Qin Ran is not good at her studies, which shows that she has no direction and is reaching from what is beyond her grasp. She may suffer a harder fall in the future.”

After some thought, Old Master Lin continued, “Wan’er told me yesterday that the chance of Master Wei accepting her is 90%. It may be good that Wan’er is different from Qin Ran as this will spare you from some troubles.”

At the end of the day, businessmen prioritized the benefits they could gain.

“I got it.” Lin Qi raised his head. “I’ll personally apologize to her tomorrow regarding this incident.”

Old Master Lin nodded lightly. “Yu’er’s performance is at the end of the month. How many people are attending?”

“Her mother and Jinxuan. I’m busy with work, so I’m not going.”

“Ok.” Old Master Lin replied.

**

After Qin Ran was done with her writing practice, she went back to the Ninth Class for the evening self-study period.

Ninth Class was very quiet as usual.

No one had cleaned up the pile of Grade 3 books downstairs yet.

Qin Ran placed the original book that she carried from the school doctor’s office on the table again. Lin Siran looked at her in surprise and realized that a large part of the book had been restored to its original form.

Qin Ran expressionlessly put on her headphones, took out the copybook, and continued practicing.

Qiao Sheng and the others also arrived late. When they arrived, they were chatting about how they were going to sneak into tomorrow’s exhibition match.

Gao Yang told the class monitor to prepare a new table for Meng Xinran and place it in the last row.

Coincidentally, it was placed behind Qiao Sheng.

As Meng Xinran was very arrogant, she could never bear to stay in the Ninth Class.

She immediately transferred to the First Class.

At this time, she expressionlessly crossed her arms and stood by the back door.

Three boys came from the First Class to help her move her things over.

One of them was a boy with thick eyebrows and big eyes who had previously asked Qiao Sheng to help him sneak in the match, but Qiao Sheng rejected him because it was already risky for him to bring He Wen and the rest of his friends.

Seeing that Qiao Sheng and the others were enthusiastically talking about how they were going to sneak into the match, he boasted in satisfaction. “Qiao Sheng and He Wen, I’m really sorry. Just now, Meng Xinran just gave three tickets to us.”

Meng Xinran continued to cross her arms and looked at Qiao Sheng and the others coldly. She hooked her lips in a mocking smile and avoided Qin Ran’s gaze dismissively.

Qiao Sheng glanced at them without saying anything.

The Ninth Class was very quiet.

“Bam—”

Qin Ran took her phone and casually threw it on the table.

This action was very sudden and everyone turned to look at her.

Qin Ran pinched her wrist. After that, she turned around to look at Qiao Sheng. Without any expression, she said, “Just now, I forgot to give you something.”

After that, she reached into her left pocket but could not find anything.

She frowned and irritably dug into her right pocket and finally found what she was looking for. She casually threw the items onto Qiao Sheng’s table.

Her aim was very accurate for a three-meter distance.

Everyone looked in the same direction.

On Qiao Sheng’s table…

Was a stack of tickets for the exhibition match.

The proud boy who just spoke suddenly choked.