Listening from the side, he was a bit bewildered. He scratched his head and pointed at the empty kettle. "That tea Ayun made is really valuable?"

"Extremely valuable," Chen Wen added.

"The tea leaves were purchased," Zhong Yun also chimed in.

Tianhai asked again, "But you can't buy it even with money?"

"Even people with status can't necessarily get it," Chen Wen supplied again.

"That's strange," Tianhai murmured, but he kept the question churning inside him unspoken.

He had known Zhong Yun since school started. He had been to Zhong Yun's house countless times and knew that Zhong Yun’s father was a director at a bank, and his mother worked for a large company. Their family circumstances were far better than his own.

Even so, Zhong Yun’s family was, at best, middle-class.

As for Chen Wen, from their usual interactions, it was clear he was the peculiar scion of a wealthy family. Everything he wore was top-tier brand names that ordinary people rarely encountered.

Given Chen's relatively rare surname, one could already guess his connection to the titan of the steel industry, the Chen family. Coupled with the hints he’d previously let slip, it was almost certain he belonged to the Chen lineage.

The Chen family was a legendary, established clan—one that had long monopolized the metal industry. Their wealth and status were beyond the imagination of common folk. They were not only one of the top families in Mingzhou City but also ranked highly nationwide.

Yet, just now, Chen Wen had said that even the Chen family couldn't acquire much of this so-called "Heart Cleansing Broth," while Zhong Yun drank it daily like it was plain water.

Did this imply that Zhong Yun’s family possessed greater wealth and status than the Chens? And he, his lifelong best friend, was actually the heir to some hidden, super-wealthy family, just like the protagonist in a novel—living among commoners under the pretense of experiencing an ordinary life, when in reality, it was just an elaborate display?

In an instant, Tianhai felt like his close friend had become a stranger.

He shook his head, forcing the thought out of his mind. Regardless of everything, they were still best friends; that was a fact nothing could change.

While his mind was reeling, his phone rang. Since Zhong Yun was still bare-chested, he had only turned on the voice message feature. After answering the call, he looked at Zhong Yun with a strange expression.

Zhong Yun had a bad premonition. "What's wrong?"

"It's Xiaoruo's roommate. She invited us over to hang out," Tianhai deliberately emphasized the word "us."

Zhong Yun shook his head without a second thought. "I'm not going. You guys go ahead."

Are you kidding? After what happened last night—it was intense—but how could he face Xiaoruo? She was a good girl, and he didn't want to hurt her.

Besides, the entire class knew that Xiaoruo had a long-standing crush on a handsome boy in the next class. What did it make him look like, barging in like that?

Furthermore, he felt Xiaoruo might not even want to see him. Following what happened, her reaction was impossible to predict. She usually seemed so gentle, but perhaps she would lash out at him on the spot.

Most likely, the roommate called them over just to mock Xiaoruo, and he didn't want to walk into an awkward situation.

"Alright, we'll tell them you’re not feeling well today. Xiao Wen, let's go."

After Tianhai and the other left, Zhong Yun stretched out flat on the floor like a starfish, staring blankly at the ceiling. After thinking for a while, he drifted off to sleep.

When he woke up, dawn had broken. Tianhai and Chen Wen were sprawled out beside him, snoring loudly. He quietly dressed, then slipped out the door.

He ran laps around the hostel for a while, breathing in the crisp morning air. After completing one circuit, he felt refreshed and invigorated.

Returning to the hostel, people were gradually getting dressed and heading out. Back in the room, the other two had also woken up and were preparing their backpacks.

Seeing him enter, Tianhai grinned wickedly. "I thought you'd be up before dawn trying to find your sweetheart."

"Unlike you, whose brain is completely fried," Zhong Yun retorted while heading into the shower room; he was sticky and uncomfortable after sweating.

"Where are you planning to take her today?" Tianhai's voice came from outside the door.

"Why do you need to know so precisely? Planning to tail us?"

"Damn it, don't dismiss good intentions. I'm trying to give you a brilliant idea," Tianhai grumbled in annoyance.

"Worry about yourself first," Zhong Yun dismissed him. "Xiao Wen, is that thing on the table? You can just transfer the money directly into the bank account written on the slip."

"Got it," Chen Wen's voice replied.

"Forget it, I'm not worrying about you anymore. We're leaving." Tianhai called out, then there was the sound of a door opening and closing outside.

"Have fun."

After showering, Zhong Yun checked the time, guessing that Liu Yunqi would be awake. He called her and arranged to meet her waiting outside the hostel.

Going downstairs, he found a spot leaning against the wall to wait. Many students were coming and going; most were in pairs. It wasn't surprising that someone once said a school trip was equivalent to a romance trip, as countless couples cemented their relationships during such times.

After waiting a while, he started to sense something was off. Beneath a large tree not far from him, a middle-aged man was crouched, taking deep drags from a cigarette, his gaze flicking over occasionally. He looked like trouble.

Zhong Yun frowned. Was this some local predator looking to shake down students? He’d heard Feng Hua City had excellent security, though.

Should he step in and handle it?

After a moment of hesitation, he decided against meddling. Such sacred duties as rooting out evil should be left to the police.

But while he wasn't bothering others, trouble found him.

The middle-aged man flicked his cigarette butt away and stood up, walking toward him. Zhong Yun didn't notice at first, as the entrance area was busy with people coming and going; who would expect this man was targeting him?

He only realized something was wrong when a hulking brute approached from the other direction, pulled out a knife when he reached Zhong Yun, and threatened him: "Don't make a sound. My knife isn't blind."

At that moment, the middle-aged man moved to the other side of Zhong Yun, sandwiching him between them, and they forced him away. Many people were entering and exiting, yet no one seemed to notice a kidnapping had just occurred.

Zhong Yun didn't resist. In such a public place, he didn't want to cause a major scene. Besides, he wanted to see who was behind this—was he just an unlucky target for common thugs, or was someone orchestrating it?

The two men led Zhong Yun away for about ten minutes, arriving at a cluster of buildings with few pedestrians. Seeing no one around, they ducked into a deserted alleyway.

Then, the middle-aged man pulled out his phone and dialed. "Young Master, we have him here. He was very cooperative and didn't resist."

A voice came from the other end of the line: "Excellent. Don't kill him, just break one of his legs. How dare he compete with me for a woman, he truly doesn't value his life."

"Yes, Young Master."

Zhong Yun had sharp hearing and recognized the voice on the phone. He could never have imagined that the person who ordered this was his own classmate, Niu Ben, whom he had disciplined just the day before yesterday.

The middle-aged man pocketed the phone and coldly instructed the brute, "Do it."

The brute beside Zhong Yun grinned savagely, grabbed one of his arms, and twisted hard.

"Ah—" A piercing scream echoed through the alley.

P: Outside the top one hundred on the Newcomer List, requesting recommendations.

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