Chapter 668: In A City, That Year 2

In A City, That Year 2

The female student was strikingly beautiful and flashy, and when she smiled a little tiger tooth showed at the corner of her mouth, "Classmate, hello, may I sit here?"

Mu Youyu replied friendly: "Sure."

The girl swiftly put her things down, her eyes sparkling as she looked at her, "All right, all right, I'm Duan Nuo, what's your name?"

"Mu Youyu."

"Surname Mu? That's not the name of a prominent family in A City," Duan Nuo's enthusiasm quickly deflated.

She didn't say anything else, picked up her things, and silently moved to an empty seat in another row.

Changing faces that fast? Mu Youyu was speechless for a moment, didn't bother with it, and started playing with her phone in her seat.

Duan Nuo glanced over with the corner of his eye, "Yo, it's still the latest model phone."

Classmates gradually filled the room, another girl sat beside Mu Youyu, the front rows were already full, while the back rows had several empty seats.

It seemed the students in this class were quite eager, none liking to hang back; that was Mu Youyu's first impression.

The homeroom teacher was a woman under thirty, giving off an immediate sense of approachability.

She first introduced herself, surname Cheng, then briefly outlined several points for tomorrow's military training, including assembly time, location, and what to bring, reminding everyone to rest early tonight.

As soon as Teacher Cheng's words fell, the class erupted in wails, with some already discussing with their desk mates how to ask for leave.

"Tomorrow? The sun's so big, we'll get burnt to a crisp."

"I heard someone fainted from heatstroke during last year's military training, and the school didn't cut any days."

"Can I take sick leave? My stomach's not good."

"Military training for a week? That's great—I can take a leave and go on vacation."

Mu Youyu's face fell along with them; she didn't want to be out in the sun, lest her skin get sunburned.

She pulled out her phone and messaged her top‑listed second older brother: 【Brother, why do we still have military training? 【crying】】

Mu Xi's reply came quickly: 【We won't suffer this; you don't need to go, just stay at school these days 【hug】】

At that moment, Teacher Cheng walked up to her and handed over a form: "Mu Youyu, I've already looked into your health situation; during military training you don't have to go to the drill field, but you must report to school each day and can stay on campus—just let me know if anything comes up."

Mu Youyu took the form, her voice soft and sweet: "Thank you, Teacher Cheng."

Teacher Cheng gave her a few more reminders, then turned and walked back to the podium.

Based on Mu Youyu's appearance, quite a few classmates had already noticed her and started guessing which family's young lady she was, wondering whether to befriend her.

On the first day of military training, Mu Youyu stood at the edge of the field in everyday clothes, holding a cup of iced milk tea, completely out of place among the sea of camouflage uniforms.

She walked a short distance along the field's perimeter, turned onto a quiet path where the tree shade blocked the sun, making it much cooler than the main road.

At the end of the path lay a garden with several benches set up; as she approached, she suddenly heard a noisy commotion ahead.

Mu Youyu ducked behind a tree and peered over curiously.

Several girls had formed a circle, shoving and pushing at someone in the middle.

The girl surrounded in the middle wore a Sheng Luo uniform, short hair, over 1.7 meters tall, with one hand in her pocket and the other toying with her phone, her attitude nonchalant.

"Just you alone, and you want to speak up for that person?"

The short‑haired girl chuckled, "I haven't even come looking for you, yet you've come to my doorstep."

Someone poked her shoulder with a fingertip, "Hmph! You don't even know your own weight, yet you want to change Sheng Luo's rules!"

The short‑haired girl tilted her head, leisurely dodging the finger, "I think I weigh more than you. Guess why? Because I'm still growing."

That person's face shifted slightly, "What's with your sharp tongue?"

The short‑haired girl spread her hands, teasing tone, "My mouth isn't hard—I'm soft all over."

The several girls obviously hadn't expected such a reply, and were momentarily lost for words.

"You… shameless!" the leader, her face darkening further, was about to lash out when the short‑haired girl grabbed her collar and shoved her back a few steps.

Her strength was surprising; the pushed girl staggered two steps and hit the tree behind her, a dull pain throbbing in her back, "Feng, Feng Cen, you said you didn't hit girls, right?"

Feng Cen tilted his head, increased his grip, and lifted her collar upward, "That's just their rumor—now you know I do hit girls, huh?"

"Tsk, it's really hot here; this crowd doesn't mind the heat, but I do."

"……I, I understand."

The little lackeys are all soft‑on‑the‑weak, hard‑on‑the‑strong types; not wanting to be kicked out of the circle, they followed the leader just to make a show, not daring to truly offend Feng Cen.

Right now, no one dares to step forward to help.

Feng Cen freed a hand and patted the girl's cheek, "So, little sis, from now on don't bully people at random, or watch out—we'll come find you."

The girl quickly echoed, "Sis, I was wrong, I really know it, I won't dare come bother you again—let me go."

She inwardly complained about those little followers—Feng Cen is just one person, what are they scared of?!

Feng Cen grew bored, shoved her away, "Scram."

The several girls stared at each other, hesitated a moment, then ultimately didn't dare step forward again, pulling each other away as they left.

Mu Youyu stood behind the tree, feeling as if she'd stumbled onto something she shouldn't have seen.

As she hesitated whether to slip back quietly, Feng Cen suddenly turned his head, his gaze locking precisely on her hiding spot, "Who's there?"

Mu Youyu had no choice but to step out from behind the tree, raising a hand to show she meant no harm, "Good day, senior—I was just passing by."

She said she'd only seen a pretty senior being ganged up on, then bravely fighting back!

Feng Cen lingered on her excessively refined face, then opened his mouth: "What grade are you in?"

"Shouldn't a first‑year be in military training right now? She still wanted to join the fun."

"I'm a first‑year newcomer," Mu Youyu answered honestly.

Feng Cen's eyes swept over her again, the corner of his lips twitching, "You've got guts—seeing this scene and still daring to step forward?"

Mu Youyu blinked innocently, "I was afraid that if I ran faster, the senior would think I had something wrong with me."

Feng Cen stared for a moment, then laughed, "Hello, I'm Feng Cen of Grade 2, Class 1."

That's right, she's just a looks-obsessed person.

Mu Youyu couldn't sense any hostility from the other person; she took two steps forward and said, "Hello, I'm Mu Youyu, nice to meet you."

Feng Cen wiped off that smile, looked at her seriously, and said, "You're getting happy too soon."

Mu Youyu was choked by her sudden remark, hadn't even reacted when Feng Cen burst out laughing, "Pah!"

Damn mouth, how did that just come out?

She gave a light cough, became serious, "Baby, what I mean is, you're getting happy too early—what will we do later when we play together?"

The stark contrast amused Mu Youyu, who curled her lips, "Then I'll wait for you, senior, to show me around."

Feng Cen raised an eyebrow, pulled out her phone from her pocket, "How about we exchange contact info? If anything happens at school later, just give my name."

Mu Youyu also took out her phone; the two scanned QR codes to add each other as friends.

Feng Cen glanced down at her account: the username was just a single letter 'y', and the avatar was a cute chibi girl with a little rabbit on her head.

She casually added a note for the other person: "Sweetheart".

Feng Cen's WeChat name was just the single character 'Cen'; Mu Youyu changed her note to something normal—'Senior Feng'.

Afterward, she put her phone back in her pocket, "Senior, were you just surrounded by people?"

"Yeah, more or less—just a few clueless bullies who harass people all day; I'm not as arrogant as they are." Feng Cen said lightly.

Feng Cen took her to a noodle shop near the school; when the noodles arrived, she casually remarked, "This school looks glamorous on the surface, but it's actually chaotic—you'll understand if you stay long enough."

Mu Youyu raised her head, "For example?"

Feng Cen picked up a noodle with her chopsticks, "For example, the students here are either rich or noble; tuition is tens of thousands per semester, and without some background you simply can't get in."

"Those with background form cliques and factions; those without are specially admitted. They'll try every means to climb up, otherwise they'll be bullied. Moreover, internal rankings aren't based on grades but on influence and family background, which changes every semester."

She bit into a noodle, "Right now, Liu Wanwan is number one; the only one who can stand equal to her is me."

Mu Youyu listened quietly, then asked, "Senior, do you know her?"

"Of course, she's my best friend; she's still abroad now, I'll introduce you two next week… By the way, sweetheart, are you from A City?"

Mu Youyu shook her head.

Feng Cen didn't press further, "Just follow me from now on, and don't let anyone bully you."

"Senior, you're beautiful and kind-hearted—I'll follow you faithfully!"

"You flatter me, you flatter me."

C City, Jiang Family.

Throughout the summer, Jiang Liangjin tried every possible method, but without exception, they all sank without a trace.

He mobilized informants from several different channels; the feedback they returned was either empty or intercepted, and more often than not, there was no trace to be found.

Once, his people even traced a consumption record that seemed related to Mu Youyu.

But when he tried to follow that lead to dig deeper, he discovered the account was registered under a company owned by Mu Nian—obviously a deliberate smokescreen.

This situation happened more than once; not just one person from the Mu and Song families was toying with Jiang Liangjin, and there was no clue pointing to her exact whereabouts.

Tomorrow is the first day of school, and Jiang Liangjin is extremely annoyed.

After thinking it over, he still decided to go to Lanlin Gaozhong, worried that Mu Youyu might return and not find him; after some thought, he went to a barbershop and dyed his hair a bright color.

Given the Jiang family's status, this hair color will definitely become his trademark.

On the first day of school, the entrance of Lanlin Gaozhong was crowded with people.

Jiang Liangjin wore a black uniform, slung a single-strap bag over his shoulder, and walked toward the school gate at an unhurried pace; his freshly dyed wine-red hair caught a cool sheen in the sunlight.

Many students who recognized him stopped and exclaimed in astonishment.

Upon reaching the school gate, a small crowd had gathered; a blond-haired guy was surrounded by peers his age, chattering nonstop about all sorts of rumors concerning the Jiang family heir.

Jiang Liangjin felt numb hearing it; from childhood on, his name constantly appeared in people's mouths, embellished and distorted.

He couldn't be bothered to argue; upon reaching the sports field, his peripheral vision caught the same group that had been boasting at the school gate earlier.

That guy's little entourage hadn't dwindled—in fact, it had grown by two—and the crowd stood in a circle, chatting animatedly.

"There are two girls who hang out close to Young Master Jiang!" the blond guy stroked his chin, "Of course they're pretty—otherwise how could they catch Young Master Jiang's eye?"

"One is Lin Ning, the young miss of the Lin family; the other has the surname Mu—I won't say her name, you wouldn't know her anyway."

Not knowing what one of the girls had said, the blond guy's tone turned lewd: "That girl isn't as pure as she looks; she's also connected to the rare and the young master from neighboring Nan Feng."

"Every day after school someone comes to pick her up, sometimes a few masked guys show up looking for her, acting all mysterious. Our class was buzzing that she had tricks—though underage, she'd tread several boats, keeping a bunch of young masters wrapped around her finger."

The little lackeys beside him immediately nodded in agreement.

"Exactly, exactly, I know this—before, I had a buddy who got beaten up by Young Master Jiang's lackeys just for talking about that girl."

"Ah, Young Master Jiang has lackeys? My parents always say he's a good student."

"Yeah, there's Lin Ning, that Mu-surnamed person, Yu Ci, plus a few others—all his lackeys."

Upon hearing that Young Master Jiang's lackeys would resort to violence, some girls felt uneasy, "So… should we find a quiet place to whisper?"

"There's hardly anyone here—no need to whisper!"

"Yeah, I also don't know what tricks she used to have those young masters protecting her." The blond guy grew more shameless, "Every time after class, my buddies and I go to check on her—she's always asleep; maybe she's playing too wildly in private each night…"

Jiang Liangjin couldn't tolerate anyone disparaging her; he felt something in his mind snap with a buzz.

The next second, he strode forward with his long legs, marched straight over, and without a word kicked hard at the guy's lower back.

"Who the hell are you—"

After being kicked to the ground, the blond guy looked up, saw who it was, and crawled backward half a meter, not daring to breathe.

Around him, the few lackeys who had just been egging him on now didn't dare step forward to help; they all shrank back, necks tucked, wishing they could instantly cut ties with this unlucky bastard.

They all recognized who had done the kicking.

Jiang Liangjin looked down at the person on the ground, his eyes icy, and demanded, "Who did you just say?"

The boy clutched his kicked spot, gasping in pain, yet couldn't muster the courage to meet his gaze; his voice trembled incoherently, "Jiang… Young Master Jiang… I didn't say… you…"

Not only did they mention Mu Youyu, but Mu Xi, Song Lujing, Lin Ning, and Yu Ci all said it together.

Jiang Liangjin bent down, grabbed the other's collar, lifted the person halfway up, and threw another punch, saying, "You'd better pray they don't hear what you said today."

After a few punches, that man was already half dazed from the beating.

On the outskirts of the crowd, Gu Xingnan and Yu Ci had just come from another path, and from afar they saw a crowd gathered here.

Yu Ci craned his neck to look, asking, "What's going on over there? A fight?"

As they got closer, he finally saw that the person surrounded in the middle was Jiang Liangjin.

How did this brother end up with red hair?

Yu Ci instinctively quickened his steps, "A Jin? How did you come to Lan Lin? Where did you go for summer vacation? You said we'd travel together before. I'm telling you, you two are playing hide-and-seek, aren't you?"