High school classmates?
Zhou Ya?
Lin Beichen had been completely absorbed in liver training for the past two days, and if it weren’t for Liang Dong’s reminder, he might have completely forgotten Zhou Ya’s invitation.
Fortunately, the agreed time was in the afternoon, so there was no chance of being late.
"That’s an afternoon thing."
Lin Beichen smiled at Liang Dong, then quickly freshened up and headed to his secret little sanctuary to start his morning activity—
liver training!
He absorbed the electric elements from heaven and earth, tempered them, and repeated this cycle.
"Bang—!"
"Bang—!"
"..."
He seemed to transform into a little Milanese blacksmith, constantly tempering until he felt he had reached his limit for the day. Glancing at the time, it was almost noon.
"One-thirty, at the main gate of Imperial Capital Aerospace University."
"There’s plenty of time."
Lin Beichen had initially thought he might miss the appointment today, or at least be late, but surprisingly, everything went smoothly and he even had some time to spare.
After a brief rest,
he returned to his dorm to take a shower, changed into some dry clothes, and left again under the envious and wistful gaze of his roommate, or more accurately, Han Yuan.
Imperial Capital Aerospace University was situated between Imperial Capital University and Imperial Capital Normal University, and it was just a ten-minute walk from either school.
With ten minutes to go until the agreed time,
Lin Beichen arrived at the main gate of Imperial Capital Aerospace University. He looked around and was about to snap a photo to tell Zhou Ya where he was, when he suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure.
He turned to look.
Zhou Ya!
Even though there were many people at the main gate, Zhou Ya’s tall figure and outstanding temperament made her stand out in the crowd.
At that moment, she also saw Lin Beichen, her smile as bright as a flower. In the bustling crowd, she waved happily at him with her umbrella.
It was like a picture!
Lin Beichen also smiled, waved back at her, and walked towards her. "You’re even earlier than me. When did you get here?"
"Just a little while ago. I was just about to take a picture to show you where I was."
As she spoke, Zhou Ya stepped forward, raising her arm slightly to share her umbrella. She smiled and said, "Why didn’t you bring an umbrella?"
"I was going to, but the rain seemed to have stopped when I left, so I didn’t bring it."
Lin Beichen naturally took the umbrella from Zhou Ya.
Handing over the umbrella inevitably led to a touch of their hands.
Zhou Ya felt the warmth from his fingertips, and a smile appeared on her face.
Lin Beichen shifted the umbrella a little more towards her side, looked at himself, and then glanced at her with confusion, asking, "What’s so funny?"
"I’m laughing at how we don’t have the same electrical chemistry as in high school."
Zhou Ya glanced at Lin Beichen and teased, but instead of feeling shy, she was poised and confident.
Her smile was full of memories: "I still remember after the graduation banquet, I playfully tapped your back and got shocked by static electricity. And later, when the thief tried to steal your phone, he kept getting zapped by the static on you."
She tilted her head and looked at Lin Beichen: "How come you don’t have static anymore? Why did you have so much back then?"
"You can’t always have static electricity on you."
Lin Beichen made a face at Zhou Ya, shaking his head: "It must have been the clothes I was wearing that day. After I got home and took them off, I never had static again."
Having said that, he quickly changed the subject: "Alright, let’s go. If we don’t leave now... we might not be able to follow the travel guide you found on Little Red Book today."
"Yeah, let’s go!"
Zhou Ya pointed out the way, starting their afternoon outing.
She had really done her homework, guiding them through various sights and sampling all sorts of Imperial Capital snacks.
Three hours quickly passed.
The rain had mostly stopped, but the dark clouds above grew thicker, seeming to gather for another downpour.
Seeing Zhou Ya looking a bit tired, Lin Beichen spotted an old park between the tall buildings and suggested, "How about we take a stroll in there?"
"Sure."
Zhou Ya smiled and nodded.
They walked into the park leisurely.
The park looked old, but inside had a charm of its own, like a childhood park from everyone’s memory.
The park was large, but the central area was the busiest, with elders walking around and kids playing freely on the slides and swings despite the recent rain.
"This park is probably older than us."
Zhou Ya looked at the timeworn structures inside the park and couldn’t help sighing.
Lin Beichen nodded in agreement: "Indeed, I feel like we should call it Uncle in terms of generation."
Zhou Ya was amused by his remark and laughed: "Why not Auntie?"
They chatted and walked, enjoying the pleasant and cheerful atmosphere.
At this moment, Zhou Ya stopped and pointed to a nearby public restroom: "Um... I’ll just go to the restroom quickly."
He watched her back disappear into the restroom.
Lin Beichen glanced around idly, seeing no one around.
Just then,
he faintly heard a child’s voice in the distance.
"No!"
Following the sound, he saw through rows of willow trees and half-height Chinese prickly ash bushes an old man and a young child seemingly in a dispute.
The old man wasn’t very old, looked younger than sixty, with dark skin, a weathered but kind face, and a demeanor that suggested he was a simple, honest farmer visiting the city.
The child seemed to be around five or six years old, pale and clean, all dressed in branded clothing. Obviously, he wanted to go play on the distant slide, but the old man was holding his hand, preventing him from going over.
"The kid probably hasn’t had enough playtime and doesn’t want to go home."
Lin Beichen made his assessment.
Watching the old man take out a lollipop and offer it to the child, who shook his head sadly, his eyes still fixed on the distant slide.
Lin Beichen shook his head with a sigh: "Even his grandpa’s candy doesn’t work. Kids these days aren’t as easy to placate as we were."
Then he saw the old man pull out a pack of Xi Zhilang fruit jellies from his bag and gently tugged the child’s arm. The child silently resisted, shaking his head again in defiance.
"The kid is about to throw a fit."
Lin Beichen watched knowingly, thinking: "This is the breaking point. The old man is about to face the child’s tantrum."
Watching this scene reminded him of similar childhood battles with his elders, filling him with a sense of nostalgia and a warm smile formed on his face.
However, that smile barely had time to fully form.
In the next instant,
it froze on his face.
Under his watchful gaze,
the old man’s expression suddenly turned aggressive, his kind demeanor vanished, replaced by a menacing look that scared the child into a stunned silence.
Seizing the moment of the child’s shock,
the old man took out a filthy handkerchief from his bag. As the child’s expression turned to panic, he grabbed the child and covered his nose and mouth with the handkerchief.
The child struggled helplessly, his face turning red, his expression twisted in pain, his body writhing frantically. In a second, he seemed to lose all strength, his eyes glazed over, and he fainted.
Lin Beichen was stunned: "?????"
This isn’t a grandparent with their grandchild!
This is clearly a child with a human trafficker!
In an instant...
the scene that had seemed like playful bickering between grandparent and grandchild turned into a horror movie.