Yu He dried her hair and got into bed, ready to sleep.
Outside the room, in the dim corridor.
The door of the room next door slowly opened, and a head peeked out. At the same time, another head emerged from the staircase.
Two dark figures were tiptoeing towards Yu He's door. Hearing each other's movements, they paused, then simultaneously whispered, "Shh!"
The two figures huddled together, and it turned out to be Ye Qichen and Cheng Lizhu.
"Why aren't you asleep yet?" they both asked in hushed tones. After asking, they understood each other and simultaneously looked towards Yu He's door.
Light seeped from under the door, but there was no movement inside. They couldn't tell if the person inside was asleep.
"Hehe came back alone in a taxi," Cheng Lizhu said.
At noon, Yu He had said she had plans with friends and wouldn't be back for dinner, so she went out. She hadn't expected to return until the early hours of the morning.
"Mm, I saw." A black Audi was following far behind.
Ye Qichen didn't say the rest, fearing it would make Cheng Lizhu more worried.
That Audi had stopped at the turn of the main gate after Yu He got out. It only left a while after Yu He had gone inside.
"It's good that she's back," Cheng Lizhu sighed with relief.
"Did sister often come back this late before?" Ye Qichen asked, his brow furrowed slightly.
"When she lived at home, no. Later, when she moved out..."
Cheng Lizhu remembered Ye Zisu mentioning photos of Yu He with some questionable young men, and she couldn't help but worry.
But she was also afraid that if she asked too many questions, her daughter would feel she was being bothersome.
"Is something wrong?" Suddenly, with a click, the tightly shut room door opened abruptly, startling both of them.
At the same time, a loud "bang" of something falling echoed from the other side of the corridor.
It took a while for Ye Qichen and Cheng Lizhu to adjust to the light emanating from the room.
The three followed the sound and saw a small figure immediately scramble up from the floor, hastily trying to get back into the room.
"Zi Zheng?" Ye Qichen flicked on the corridor light with a snap.
"Zheng Zheng, why aren't you asleep yet? Are you worried about your sister too?" Cheng Lizhu asked.
The sudden brightness disoriented Ye Zizheng for a moment.
"Whether she comes back or not is none of my business. Who's worried about her! I just got up to use the restroom!"
After saying that, he hurried back into his room without bothering to find his other slipper, hopping on one foot. He nearly tripped again, leaving one slipper in the corridor.
"I remember the restroom in Zheng Zheng's room is fine..." Cheng Lizhu murmured, then quickly followed. "Zheng Zheng, let Mom check if you're hurt?"
Ye Qichen: "Tsundere."
Yu He: "..."
"Anything else?" she asked, looking at Ye Qichen, who still stood at the doorway.
"Cough." Ye Qichen cleared his throat. "Where did you go tonight? You didn't offend anyone, did you?"
Yu He looked up at him again, a flicker of wariness in her eyes. She couldn't quite figure out why he was suddenly asking these two questions.
"I went to a banquet with friends, what's wrong?" she said.
Seeing her look somewhat puzzled, Ye Qichen realized she probably didn't know she had been followed back.
"From now on, if you're out after ten, call me, and I'll pick you up. It's not safe for a girl to take a taxi back this late."
His sister was so beautiful; he had to keep a close eye on her.
Yu He was taken aback. She thought he knew something, but he was merely concerned for her safety.
When she returned, the living room light was left on for her, but no one was there. She assumed everyone was asleep, so she had tiptoed upstairs deliberately.
She hadn't expected that they were actually awake and waiting for her.
It felt as though something had touched her heart, and a wave of warmth washed over her, warming the indifference she felt towards the world.
This was the feeling of home that she had lost for over ten years.
"Mm," Yu He nodded.
"Go to bed now, goodnight," Ye Qichen said with a smile.
Yu He: "Goodnight."
After returning to his room, Ye Qichen didn't go to sleep immediately. Instead, he called a traffic police friend.
"Gao Fei, could you please check if you've found the license plate number?"
The license plate number belonged to the car that had followed Yu He back half an hour ago.
"I've found it. It's a company car for a general manager at a small branch company in Beishi under Qin Group." The voice on the other end replied.
"Who is the general manager?" Ye Qichen asked.
"Qin Beiting."
"Okay, thank you." Ye Qichen exchanged a few pleasantries with the other party and hung up.
Knowing that Yu He hadn't been followed by any bad people, he breathed a sigh of relief.
But the thought of Qin Beiting gave him a headache.
His sister wasn't even an adult yet, and Qin Beiting, this man in his twenties, was really targeting young "grass"!
What's more, the other party had too much power for the Ye family to resist.
He had to work harder to make money for his sister.
***
On the Kaiwei Academy forum, the scandal of Ye Zisu being a fake daughter and the Ye family's bankruptcy had been plastered across the top pages for over half a month, until it was finally bumped off by the new school beauty and handsome contender selection event.
In previous years, the selection of the school beauty and handsome contender had been a spontaneous student activity. This year, however, it was unusually initiated by the school.
The selected school beauty and handsome contender would represent all students and perform an all-English recitation on stage during Kaiwei Academy's 80th-anniversary celebration.
The preliminary selection for school beauty and handsome contender would first be through student self-recommendation or nomination. The top ten males and females with the most votes would automatically advance. Finally, the school would organize a speech competition to select the ultimate school beauty and handsome contender.
"Yingzi, Yingzi, for the new school beauty selection, should our Class Eleven fully support our boss?!" Several classmates surrounded Chu Ying's seat.
"Right! With our boss's heavenly beauty, she'll definitely stand out from the crowd and take the lead!"
"I think it's a good idea! I'll go talk to the class monitor." Chu Ying immediately called for the class monitor.
As soon as she voiced her idea, the class monitor immediately tapped on the forum on his phone and demanded, "Are you guys stupid? Haven't you read the school's requirements? The administration requires the new school beauty to not only be a visual stunner but also academically excellent. Are you trying to make our boss look foolish in front of the entire school by pushing her forward?"
Although their boss was as beautiful as a celestial being, everyone knew her academic performance well.
Moreover, Class Eleven was the only class in their grade that allowed teachers to teach solely in Chinese. An all-English recitation would be as difficult as climbing to heaven for them.
"Sigh, in this world, where can you find someone with true beauty and wisdom coexisting?"
"There are, the legendary Professor Qin."
"And Senior Lu, Gu Ze is also acceptable."
"Sigh, those aren't people from our world."
"..."
Just then, Yu He arrived. Seeing Chu Ying and a few others surrounding her seat, she let out a sigh.
Yu He:?
"Boss, you're here. We were just lamenting that you've missed out on the school beauty crown," Chu Ying said, pulling out a chair for her.
"What school beauty?" Yu He asked.
Hearing this, Chu Ying knew she clearly hadn't checked the school forum. So she explained the situation in detail, assuming Yu He would also feel regretful, as no girl disliked being beautiful.
However, Yu He merely replied indifferently, "Oh, not interested."