"Ah!" Zhang Yunfeng snapped out of his daze, quickly took off his shirt, and hurried to Li Lingling's side, draping it over her shoulders. Even though he was shirtless, it was much better than Li Lingling wearing only a bra. Li Lingling threw the torn T-shirt on the ground. She wrapped Zhang Yunfeng's shirt tightly around herself, and although she hadn't looked up yet, her sobs had subsided considerably.
"Lingyun, I..." Zhang Yunfeng glanced awkwardly at Li Lingling, wanting to say something comforting but not knowing what to say. He then looked awkwardly at Lingyun, the classmate he had wanted to beat up a moment ago but who had instead saved him, and found himself even more at a loss for words.
Ling Yun remained silent, his feelings a complex mix. He felt a mixture of disdain and deep sympathy for Zhang Yunfeng and Li Lingling. Regardless of their hostile attitude towards him, they were, after all, his classmates, not thugs roaming the streets. Ling Yun couldn't simply stand by and watch a beautiful young woman like Li Lingling be cruelly defiled by a group of hooligans.
"Ling Yun, what are you doing here?" Zhang Yunfeng finally remembered to ask a question.
"I bet after I beat you up you'd be looking for revenge on those thugs. So I came along with you and took the opportunity to get back at them for the humiliation they caused me that day. Now, what you owed me, and what they owed me, you've paid back." Ling Yun said calmly, glancing at Li Lingling who was slowly standing up. "I imagine you and Li Lingling learned a valuable lesson today. Remember, be kind and don't be so arrogant and bully others, or you'll suffer the consequences sooner or later. You won't always have a classmate like me to help you."
Zhang Yunfeng blushed crimson at Ling Yun's words, his head drooping in shame. He deeply regretted ever trusting those thugs, including Brother Ma, and even recognizing them as his leaders. He had wholeheartedly considered them his underlings, seeing them as the loyal and righteous heroes of the movies. In reality, they only saw him as a pitiful lackey, someone they could bully at will, and who even tried to rape his girlfriend on sight.
Li Lingling stopped crying, silently buttoned up her shirt, then suddenly walked quickly to Ling Yun, raised her tear-streaked face, and said softly, "Thank you, Ling Yun. If it weren't for you today, I really don't know what would have happened to those beasts..." Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke, and her face turned pale, clearly still shaken.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Lingyun. I know I was wrong. I treated you so badly, and you still saved me. I know I'm terrible, but I still want to apologize. Can you forgive me?" She suddenly grabbed Lingyun's arm, her tearful eyes filled with deep hope.
In the brief span of less than a minute, Li Lingling felt as if she had traveled from hell to heaven. Her emotions had undergone a dramatic shift. For some reason, the moment Ling Yun appeared, she felt an overwhelming surge of joy. The anger that had been ignited by Ling Yun's disdainful attitude had long since vanished. Now, all she wanted was Ling Yun's forgiveness. Ling Yun's attitude was even more important to her than the fear of almost losing her virginity.
Ling Yun was about to shake off her hand, but seeing Li Lingling's disheveled hair and pitiful, expectant look, he softened and said gently, "You are my classmates, so why say such things? The fact that I came to save you means that I have already forgiven you."
Upon hearing this, Li Lingling was overjoyed. Her heart pounded with happiness, and she wiped her eyes, saying excitedly, "That's wonderful! You've finally forgiven me. If you hadn't forgiven me, I don't think I would have been able to live with myself for the rest of my life."
Zhang Yunfeng approached awkwardly, saying in a somewhat ingratiating tone, "Lingyun, have you ever practiced martial arts? Otherwise, how could you be so strong, knocking them down in just a few moves?"
Ling Yun seemed not to hear him, and simply gently pulled away from Li Lingling's hand, saying, "We've wasted almost a whole noon. You should leave here quickly. I need to go home too. I'm leaving now."
Seeing him turn to leave, Zhang Yunfeng quickly called out, "Boss, where are you going? You haven't had lunch yet, have you? How about I treat you to lunch?"
Ling Yun was both amused and exasperated: "What did you call me? Boss? I'm not your older brother. Besides, do I look like a thug?"
Zhang Yunfeng was initially a little intimidated by Ling Yun's expressionless face, but a casual remark about being the boss unexpectedly brought a smile to Ling Yun's face, instantly emboldening him. He quickly stepped forward and said obsequiously, "Whoever has the ability is the boss. Ling Yun, from now on you're my big brother, and I'll follow you. You saved me and Li Lingling today, so it's only right that I treat you to a meal." Once this guy regained his composure, he became quite the smooth talker.
Ling Yun waved his hands repeatedly: "No need, no need, I still need to go home."
Li Lingling stepped forward and said softly, "Lingyun, let us treat you to a meal. It's not just to thank you for saving us. We don't usually communicate much as classmates, which is why there was a misunderstanding. The college entrance exam is coming up soon, and maybe in a month we'll go our separate ways and rarely see each other. It's fate that we can have a meal like this today. I think I will always remember today and remember you. I hope you can give me face."
Ling Yun and Zhang Yunfeng both glanced at Li Lingling in surprise, neither having expected her to say such a thing; it was truly remarkable. At that moment, Li Lingling gently brushed her disheveled long hair aside, her delicate fingers tracing the strands. Her pretty face tilted slightly, unintentionally revealing a captivating charm and beauty. Zhang Yunfeng was instantly mesmerized.
Ling Yun couldn't help but sigh inwardly. When he had a crush on Li Lingling before, he loved watching her do things like that; they always captivated him. But things were different now. Although Li Lingling's unintentional charm was still alluring, Ling Yun's feelings had changed. He was no longer moved.
“Okay, I don’t have time to go home anyway. Since Zhang Yunfeng is treating you, let’s have a good meal.” Since the other party was sincere, Ling Yun no longer refused and readily agreed.
Zhang Yunfeng was overjoyed: "Great, the boss agrees. I know a good barbecue restaurant nearby, let's go there."
Li Lingling looked deeply at Ling Yun, her eyes filled with indescribable joy.
In the afternoon, the three returned to school together. When they stepped into the classroom, the entire class was stunned. When did Zhang Yunfeng, Ling Yun, and Li Lingling, these sworn enemies, end up together, seemingly very close and amicable, like long-lost friends? And judging from their attitudes, it seemed Zhang Yunfeng and Li Lingling were the ones making over to Ling Yun. Many felt a sense of helplessness; this world was too crazy—even mice could be bridesmaids for cats…
Strange things continued to happen. As the college entrance exam drew closer, Zhang Yunfeng, the school bully and delinquent, suddenly returned to class every day. Although he still read novels and dozed off during class, not paying attention at all, he was much more well-behaved, didn't break any rules, and, incredibly, didn't bully any classmates... It was practically a miracle! Even stranger, Zhang Yunfeng would fawn over the honest Ling Yun before and after class, his obsequious attitude obvious to everyone, while Ling Yun remained arrogant and indifferent...
Another strange thing is that Li Lingling, the class beauty who publicly humiliated Ling Yun and was then retaliated against by him, actually asked the homeroom teacher to switch tables with Ling Yun. Her reason was that she wanted to learn from Ling Yun, and many classmates did indeed see Li Lingling intimately asking Ling Yun for help with her studies. However, the content of her questions was unknown, and the time seemed to be quite long—even during lunch break…
A week before the college entrance examination, the results of the final mock exam were released. As expected, Lingyun ranked first in the entire grade with the highest score. Not only Lingyun's parents, but also the school's teachers and principal were all overjoyed. The school had produced another promising student for a key university, which meant a larger year-end bonus and an enhanced reputation for the school.
In everyone's eyes, Ling Yun had become a treasure. The once introverted and honest boy had become the focus of discussion both on and off campus.
"Boss, boss, something bad has happened!" Zhang Yunfeng ran in from the classroom door, panting, and rushed to Ling Yun's side. "Boss, Brother Ma and his gang have brought another group of thugs outside the school. They're going to cause us trouble. There are at least twenty or thirty of them. What should we do?"
"I already knew. You're too impatient." Ling Yun didn't even blink.
Zhang Yunfeng's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, "Boss, are you going to make a move again? Haha, this time I want to see your kung fu for myself."
Ling Yun smiled, glanced at the excited and expectant Zhang Yunfeng and the curiously smiling Li Lingling, and took out his phone from his pocket: "What era are we living in? Still trying to be a hero? Don't you know you should call the police if you need to?"
…………
Two weeks after the college entrance examination, the results were posted on the school's bulletin board. Except for Ling Yun and Zhang Yunfeng, all the students went to the school to check their scores in order to decide on their university applications or to prepare for taking the exam again next year. The scene was packed with people.
Zhang Yunfeng naturally failed the college entrance exam, but he never wanted to go to university anyway. The college entrance exam was just a formality; it didn't matter whether the grades were taken into account or not. His parents owned a private company, and his future had already been planned out: he would inherit the family business, a direct path to success. Why bother spending four years studying useless theoretical textbooks at university?
Li Lingling went to the venue to check her results. She had done very well, and she had no problem getting into any of the universities she wanted. Countless classmates congratulated her, but the girl didn't seem particularly excited. She calmly looked at her own score, then looked at someone else's score, and only then did she beam with joy.
That night, Li Lingling locked herself in her room, gazing at the bright moon outside the window. She felt an indescribable joy and excitement.
Lingyun, don't even think about leaving me. Although my score isn't as high as yours, I can still get into a university in Beijing. Let's meet again in Beijing. The girl thought happily.
Suddenly, the girl's eyes widened. She instinctively took two steps back in fright. In her clear pupils, she saw a huge and ferocious shadow outside the window rapidly growing larger. Silently, the shadow smashed through the entire glass window and flew in, grabbing the girl before she could even scream. Then, like a wisp of smoke, it flew out of the window and disappeared into the night sky in an instant.
Chapter Six: Bizarre Events
Ling Yun was watching TV at home when she received Zhang Yunfeng's call. The local news was reporting on a major criminal case in the city. The bespectacled news reporter's slightly tense, magnetic voice announced: "This morning, the fifth case of missing girls occurred in the Emperor Garden residential area of our city. Currently, there are no leads. All the missing girls are between sixteen and eighteen years old. The case has attracted great attention from the municipal party committee and government, and the municipal public security bureau and criminal investigation team have formed a special task force..."
"Lingyun, have you seen the news?" Zhang Yunfeng's panicked and anxious voice came from the phone. He had always called Lingyun "Boss," but Lingyun really didn't like hearing his so-called respectful address, so he made him change it. But Zhang Yunfeng kept calling Lingyun "Boss," and Lingyun couldn't do anything about it.
"I'm looking at it now. Which news are you talking about? What happened?" Ling Yun asked absentmindedly. Summer vacation had begun, and Ling Yun had been diligently practicing his supernatural abilities at home. After more than a month of training, his telekinetic abilities had significantly improved in both range and power control, and his strength was much greater than when he first acquired his powers. To avoid attracting attention, Ling Yun secretly practiced at home while his parents were at work during the day. This was his biggest secret, and he absolutely couldn't let anyone find out until he was absolutely safe.
It was around eight o'clock in the evening, and Lingyun's parents had gone to visit relatives. The house was empty, so Lingyun watched television while using his telekinesis to control several iron spoons flying through the air, drawing irregular trajectories in front of him. If you looked closely, you would see that the spoons were writing two Chinese characters crookedly in the air: Lingyun.
"Boss! You don't know?" Zhang Yunfeng called out to his boss anxiously. "Lingling's home is in Emperor's Garden. The fifth missing girl reported in the news today is Lingling!"
"What!" Ling Yun exclaimed, jumping up from the sofa. Suddenly losing control of his telekinetic powers, the iron spoons clattered and fell onto the blue wooden board. He immediately focused his attention on the television, but the report on the missing girl case had just finished, and the announcer was broadcasting another news item.
"What happened? She was perfectly fine at home, how could she disappear?" Ling Yun composed himself and asked with concern. Since acquiring his mental field, he had discovered that he seemed to possess an invisible sense, an extraordinary sensitivity to the urgency of situations. By concentrating, he could always vaguely glean some chaotic information. However, Ling Yun neither knew what this feeling was nor how to control it, so he could only let it develop naturally. Upon hearing about Li Lingling's disappearance, Ling Yun suddenly felt extremely uneasy, so much so that cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
After rescuing Zhang Yunfeng and Li Lingling, the three young people tacitly formed a small group. Of course, Ling Yun was the leader of this group. Zhang Yunfeng felt more admiration and respect for Ling Yun, willingly becoming his follower. Li Lingling, however, underwent a drastic personality change, developing an inexplicable affection for Ling Yun. She even abandoned her former arrogant and haughty nature, quietly and discreetly showing him great consideration.
Ling Yun had no intention of having any further contact with the two men. However, his naturally passive personality made him unable to refuse others. After several periods of distance, Zhang and Li not only didn't discreetly avoid him, but instead became even more devoted and attentive to him. Ling Yun simply let it be, and he was somewhat moved by their actions. Thus, over a month, the relationship between the three grew increasingly close.
Ling Yun wasn't a fool; he could naturally see Li Lingling's feelings for him. However, the beauty's affections were unrequited, while the young master's heart had changed. Ling Yun could only pretend not to understand. Meanwhile, Zhang Yunfeng, after his previous lesson, had completely let go of his feelings for Li Lingling. Instead, he actively tried to bring Li Lingling and Ling Yun together, which surprised Ling Yun. He realized that everyone is unique, and he was merely fortunate to possess supernatural abilities.