129. The Northern School Again

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Guo Jingyuan had been confined in this little room for three days.

At first, these people had treated her with passable courtesy. She shared a room with Linghua, and every morning and evening they took her along to attend lessons, chant slogans, and listen to stories of their struggles and triumphs. All Guo Jingyuan had to do was listen.

But everything changed on the third day. The private room became a communal dormitory, and food was reduced to two meals a day: one steamed bun and a little pickled vegetable per person, along with a bowl of thin vegetable soup—which was provided only after they had given a speech to everyone according to the rules.

If Guo Jingyuan could still barely endure all that, then on the evening of the third day, when Linghua handed her an electronic watch and demanded three thousand yuan for it, claiming the money would support a colleague’s business venture, the last taut thread in her mind finally snapped.

“I... I don’t have any money, sob... You’ve taken all my money, sob!” Guo Jingyuan curled up in the corner, weeping bitterly.

But Linghua and the others were never going to show mercy over something like that. She had seen far too many tearful people here—even she herself had once been exactly the same.

Yet no matter how soft a person’s heart was, after spending several months in this den, it would grow cold. To advance their own interests and rise through the ranks, they would stop at nothing.

If Linghua felt anything else toward Guo Jingyuan, it was only jealousy of her beautiful face.

“No money? Then borrow some from your family! Don’t you have a friend who’s well-off? Call her!”

Linghua hurled the phone straight at Guo Jingyuan’s head. The blow left her dizzy, and the weakness brought on by her irregular meals since arriving in North City made her legs give way. She dropped heavily to her knees.

“Pick up the phone! Hurry up and call!” Linghua barked viciously.

Guo Jingyuan shook her head frantically. The battered black phone lay only a few centimeters away, yet she refused to touch it.

“Fine, you’ll take the hard way!” Linghua snorted, then waved to the burly men behind her. “Beat her! Keep beating her until she agrees to make the call!”

Shadows loomed over Guo Jingyuan. The largest of the men seized her long hair and slapped her across the face.

“Are you calling or not?”

Smack!

The crisp sound of the slap rang out as it struck Guo Jingyuan’s cheek. Her fair, delicate skin swelled at once, the red imprint of the fingers stark against it.

Guo Jingyuan made no sound, only shaking her head desperately.

“Pretty tender skin for a woman.” The burly man pinched her cheek, frightening a thin cry from her.

“You won’t call? We have plenty of ways to deal with you! Are you calling or not?”

Guo Jingyuan wrapped both arms around her knees, huddled in the corner, and bit her lip as she continued to shake her head.

At a dining table behind the burly men, a young man who looked to be in his early twenties clenched his fists uneasily.

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Should I intervene or not? The young miss had said that Miss Guo must not be injured, but the people outside had not finished taking up their positions. Even if he acted now, they would never be able to escape!

Damn, Miss Guo was truly foolish. Three thousand yuan was nothing to the young miss. Why was she being so stubborn?

When he had infiltrated this place the week before, he had immediately called Boss Pan for money as soon as they demanded it. Nothing had happened, and he had even taken the opportunity to pass out a great deal of useful information.

Seeing the burly man in front seize Guo Jingyuan’s hair again, clearly intending to slam her head against the wall, Xiao Yan hardened his heart. Pretending to be a greedy opportunist eager to earn credit, he rushed forward with an envious, feverish look in his eyes, quietly interrupted the man’s movement, and picked up the phone from the floor.

“Sis Hua, why waste your breath on this little bitch? We can make the call for her. Once we’ve got them on the line, she won’t be able to refuse us even if she wants to!”

With that, Xiao Yan immediately pulled up Guo Jingyuan’s call history and pretended to glance through it.

“She’s called this person named Ruowen the most. Sis Hua, why don’t we just call her directly?”

Guo Jingyuan, who had been crouching in the corner with her head lowered, refusing to speak, instantly panicked. She sprang up and lunged desperately at Xiao Yan.

“No! Don’t call her!”

“Hmph, you little brat. Your friend might be filthy rich. Three thousand yuan probably means nothing to her. I advise you to call her and ask for the money now, before you suffer any more.” After saying this, Xiao Yan turned to Linghua, cradling the phone and ingratiating himself with her. “Sis Hua, am I right?”

Linghua thought for a moment, then nodded in satisfaction. “At least you’ve got some sense. Make the call! If she refuses to speak, we’ll help her find her voice.”

Xiao Yan immediately tapped Chen Ruowen’s name and dialed. Guo Jingyuan lunged forward in despair, grabbing at the phone and desperately trying to wrench it back, tears streaking her face.

“Don’t call her, please... She’s all I have... No!”

Xiao Yan’s eyes stung, but he steeled himself and snatched the phone from Guo Jingyuan. With his other hand, he pretended to hold her back while silently shielding her from behind, preventing the men beside them from taking advantage of the confusion.

The call connected shortly afterward. Xiao Yan immediately switched on the speaker and held the phone near Guo Jingyuan’s mouth, signaling with his eyes for her to speak quickly.

Guo Jingyuan stared at her phone in terror, then suddenly turned and ran toward the living-room door with everything she had.

Damn it!

Xiao Yan cursed inwardly and gave chase. Before anyone else could reach them, he caught Guo Jingyuan and pinned her against the wall, whispering in a very low voice beside her ear:

“I’m with Sister Wen.”

Guo Jingyuan stared at Xiao Yan in disbelief. He nodded toward the phone in his hand, and only then did she slowly understand.

The call had already connected, and the speaker was on. That meant Chen Ruowen had very likely heard what he had just said...

But this man had arrived here before her. How could he possibly be working for Chen Ruowen?

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While Guo Jingyuan stood there in a daze, an impatient, familiar voice finally came through the phone.

“What? You call me and then say nothing?”

The moment that voice sounded, Linghua and the others—who had just been preparing to rush over and deal with the insolent Guo Jingyuan—came to an abrupt halt.

Linghua gestured for everyone to keep quiet, then made a vicious motion toward Guo Jingyuan.

Guo Jingyuan did not fully believe Xiao Yan.

After a week in North City, she no longer dared to trust anyone easily. She was not sure whether Chen Ruowen had heard Xiao Yan’s words, nor whether this man had deliberately lied to her in order to win her trust.

She drew a deep breath. Her wits, dormant for so long, finally began to clear a little.

“Ruowen...”

“Hmm?”

“Are you... doing all right lately?”

“I’m fine.”

“Th-That’s good.”

After saying that, Guo Jingyuan fell silent, unsure how to tell her about her present situation.

Linghua slapped her lightly and handed her a sheet of white paper. A line of words had been written across it:

“Get to the point!”

Guo Jingyuan bit her lip and said nothing. Linghua looked ready to explode when Chen Ruowen’s voice came through the phone again.

“Why did you call me? Didn’t you find a job in North City? Do you need to borrow some money for living expenses?”

Linghua’s eyes lit up.

So she really was loaded! And so cooperative! They had not even asked, and she had already offered to lend them money!

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