40: Chapter 40 Chen Zhi's Call

Jiang Yu took out her phone and deftly displayed her QR code. "Add me on WeChat."

Lin Ning felt a stir in his heart and scanned the code.

The friend request was approved the instant it was sent.

Immediately after—a "ding" sound.

A notification popped up on the screen: [Jiang Yu] has transferred 200.00 Yuan to you.

Lin Ning was stunned; he looked up. "What is this…?"

"A thank-you fee." Jiang Yu had already put her phone away.

Her tone was as calm as if she were stating something perfectly natural. "Take it, it puts my mind at ease."

This "settle on the spot" move left Lin Ning bewildered.

Just as he opened his mouth to say "no need," Jiang Yu raised her eyes and asked him quite naturally, "Have you had dinner?"

Several thoughts flashed through Lin Ning's mind, eventually converging into a subtle sense of anticipation. He cleared his throat. "Not yet."

"Oh." Jiang Yu nodded, her expression exceptionally serious. "You have to eat dinner; it's bad for your stomach otherwise. Goodbye, I need to go eat."

After saying this, she agilely straddled her e-bike, twisted the throttle, and "whoosh," she merged into the street traffic.

Lin Ning nearly threw his back out watching Jiang Yu.

He gazed in the direction she disappeared, and after a long moment, he let out a "heh" to the empty air and chuckled.

He also got on his bike and headed back to Juma Bridge.

As luck would have it, after turning two corners, Lin Ning actually found himself waiting at the same red light side-by-side with Jiang Yu again.

Jiang Yu caught sight of him in her peripheral vision but didn't speak.

The green light turned on, and the two rode off one after the other.

As Juma Bridge drew closer, Jiang Yu suddenly pulled over, propped her long leg against the ground, and waved to signal to Lin Ning, who was following behind.

Lin Ning stopped and looked at her.

She took off her helmet, her shockingly bright eyes filled with scrutiny. "Are you following me?"

Lin Ning was also stunned by this coincidence. He pointed to the slightly dilapidated and cluttered cluster of buildings not far ahead, then pointed to himself:

"Miss, I live here. This is the rental price valley of all Capital; aren't I allowed to be a member of the proletariat too?"

Jiang Yu stared intently into Lin Ning's eyes. A moment later, the wariness in her eyes dissipated.

She blinked, a flash of embarrassment crossing her face.

But immediately after, that little stubbornness surfaced again. She put her helmet back on, her voice muffled behind the mask. "Sorry!"

She paused, and before twisting the throttle, she seemed to be scolding herself on Lin Ning's behalf: "Confidence is a good thing for a young lady, but don't be overconfident."

The e-bike slipped nimbly into the bustling crowd of Juma Bridge.

This time, Lin Ning truly couldn't hold back and laughed out loud.

Watching that upright figure ahead, which was already nearly out of sight, that subtle feeling of being "settled up with" suddenly turned into genuine interest.

Like a stray cat.

You give it a ham sausage, and it has to circle it three times, making sure there are no traps before taking a bite.

...

After dinner, he returned to his place.

Lin Ning hastily tidied up his pitifully few belongings—he would move once the bonus came in. Wang Qiao was right; he couldn't live so roughly anymore.

Before falling asleep, Jiang Yu's shockingly bright eyes flashed through his mind again.

That girl was really quite special.

The next day, as usual, he went to the Fighting Gym.

Lin Ning had become addicted to training these past few days. Not only were his strength and speed increasing, but he discovered that his control over his body had reached a new level—the slightest twitch of an opponent's shoulder blade, the instantaneous tensing of leg muscles, all appeared to him like slowed-down signals, allowing him to react half a beat earlier.

"Bang!" A clean and sharp swing punch struck the protective gear.

Coach Chen Hu stood on the sidelines, no longer bothering to measure the data, simply shaking his head with his arms crossed. "Lin Zi, your improvement curve… it's unscientific."

Finally, he waved his hand. "Forget it, the world is vast. I'll get you an intermediate coach. At your level, there's no point in crushing the beginner sessions anymore."

At noon, he mooched another nutritious meal from the coaches.

In the afternoon, Lin Ning headed straight for Xueyuan Road.

Jiang Yu's crisp attitude of "business is business, people are people" gave him a reminder—why shouldn't he earn the money he deserves?

He wandered around the perimeter of several key universities.

He stopped by the side of the road, pretending to rest.

In this area of Xueyuan Road, the proportion of "red names" and "yellow names" was indeed quite high, making Lin Ning raise his eyebrows—

College students these days sure know how to play.

Just as he was thinking this, a commotion suddenly broke out ahead.

A girl stumbled, charging straight toward the front of his bike—and then, with a "thud," she collapsed softly onto the ground in front of his bike and stopped moving.

Lin Ning was stunned, looking at his bike which hadn't moved at all, then looking at the girl.

A staged accident? Is the acting this exaggerated now?

Before he could react, several passing students had already gathered around. Two girls skillfully turned the fainted girl over, checked her complexion, and turned back to shout: "Low blood sugar! Does anyone have sugar?"

Immediately, someone handed over chocolate and milk tea. Feeding her, wiping her face—the actions were seamless.

The crowd of onlookers discussed it as if they were used to it—

"You can tell just by looking at her face; she's definitely skipping meals to lose weight again."

"My roommate had low blood sugar last time and just laid down next to the podium. The professor's face turned white from fright, hahaha…"

Five minutes later, the girl stood up on her own, blushing as she thanked them, and the crowd dispersed, chatting and laughing.

Lin Ning was dumbfounded throughout the whole process.

"Crunchy Shark" college students—it's well-deserved. He had only graduated for a little over two years; had the campus style really evolved into this?

His phone suddenly rang, and the two characters [Chen Zhi] on the screen made Lin Ning's heart skip a beat.

Before Lin Ning could speak, he heard Chen Zhi's hoarse voice on the other end: "Lin Ning, come to the usual place immediately."

That unusual tone made Lin Ning's spine stiffen. Without a moment's hesitation, he started his bike and replied, "Okay, I'm at Xueyuan Road, I'll be there soon!"

Chen Zhi had never spoken like this before. Something had happened, something big had definitely happened!

He twisted the throttle hard, and the e-bike sped along the afternoon streets.

Lin Ning's mind was full of guesses: was he in such a hurry to find him because Senior Engineer Gao Yayin or Ou Jiarui had gotten into trouble?

Chen Zhi was smoking in the hall, his brows tightly furrowed. Just looking at his back, he was like a fully drawn bow, taut and tight, with a kind of anger ready to erupt.

The light reflecting off the small building seemed much dimmer than usual.

Lin Ning paused, wondering when his emotional perception had become so sharp.

Hearing footsteps, Chen Zhi turned around.

There were dark circles under his eyes, messy dark stubble on his chin, his shirt hung wrinkled on his body, and his fingertips held a cigarette that was about to burn out.

Seeing that it was Lin Ning, he extinguished the cigarette in his hand, gave a slight nod, and walked straight inside.

Lin Ning followed him in silence.

It wasn't the familiar office, but an interrogation room; Lin Ning's heart sank.

Chen Zhi sat behind the table, his gaze fixed heavily on Lin Ning, complex and inscrutable.

After a long time, Chen Zhi opened his mouth, his voice hoarse: "That Senior Engineer Gao Yayin you reported the day before yesterday…"

He paused, his gaze exceptionally serious, and said word by word: "Besides 'physiognomy,' is there any other evidence? Even if it's just a strange intuition, a suspicious look, or if there were other suspicious people around!"