Chapter 11 Tanmyung High School Begins…

Tanmyung High School had started its new semester. After a relaxing holiday break, everyone had returned to campus.

A long queue of luxury cars stretched before the main gate.

Jin Can arrived neither early nor late.

As he stepped out of his car, numerous students wearing identical school uniforms were also exiting their vehicles and heading into the school.

He attracted exceptionally high attention; almost everyone who caught sight of him would pause to stare at his face for a while.

Jin Can casually adjusted the backpack on his right shoulder and walked forward expressionlessly.

Only one person, upon seeing him, approached to greet him out of curiosity.

“Jin Can,” the person familiarly moved closer to him, examined him curiously several times, then laughed, “Wow, you really do look a lot like Jin He!”

He wasn’t short, but Jin Can was taller.

Blocked from proceeding, Jin Can stopped walking but remained silent, merely looking down at him with lowered eyes.

He appeared rather intimidating.

“Ah, sorry.” The visitor immediately made an apologetic gesture. “I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Park Young-hyun, son of Chief Inspector Park Shin-hyuk.”

Seeing Jin Can showed little reaction, Park Young-hyun smiled again: “You don’t know who my father is yet, right? No problem, you’ll get used to it soon. At this school, everyone includes their status when introducing themselves.”

He stepped aside to let Jin Can pass, continuing as they walked: “I was in England before so I missed your family’s banquet, otherwise we would have met that day. I mean no harm – our families have good relations, and I’ll look out for you at school.”

Jin Can was neither naive nor the type to easily become close with others.

He continued walking forward. Though listening, he still didn’t speak.

Meanwhile, the car carrying Xia Mi La and Jin He was moving steadily through the streets of Seoul.

The car interior was quiet, with both occupants seated without initiating conversation.

That strange feeling resurfaced in Jin He. He turned his head to look at Xia Mi La.

Xia Mi La sat upright with her hands folded. She wore her school uniform. Being a girl with clever ideas, she had managed to accessorize the simple uniform elaborately – with an intricate bow tie, an exquisite brooch, a diamond wristwatch, and a pearl headband in her hair.

Her profile showed soft contours, her lowered eyelashes casting faint shadows beneath her eyes, while a light fragrance of fresh jasmine and myrtle lingered around her.

Jin He felt as if he hadn’t looked at her this carefully in a long time.

He cleared his throat lightly: “Where’s your badge?”

“I was in a bit of a rush leaving home,” Xia Mi La said. “I forgot to pin it on.”

“Have you been busy lately?” he asked. “What have you been doing?”

Too busy to even send him messages.

“Not particularly,” Xia Mi La replied flatly, recounting recent events. “The day before yesterday, I went to an art exhibition with Lian Yi. Yesterday I had dinner with Grandmother.”

“You had dinner with Grandmother?” Jin He sounded surprised. “Why?”

“Probably,” Xia Mi La answered, “special concern before school starts.”

She was actually somewhat surprised too. Because Grandmother had initiated this meal.

At an upscale Korean restaurant, just the two of them, they discussed ordinary topics.

Until finally, Li Xiuzhi was mentioned.

Earlier, it was this shop assistant named Li Xiuzhi who had given her the video of Bai You Na smashing things and hitting people in the store.

Xia Mi La hadn’t publicized this matter; even Xu Lian Yi still didn’t know about it.

It was clear that their grandmother was well aware of their every move.

Xia Mi La was quite frank, admitting she had obtained the video from Li Xiuzhi. Because of that video, Bai You Na would likely behave properly for a while.

“Why not just give it directly to your father?” Grandmother had asked at the time.

“Pulling the bowstring too tight can hurt your hand. It’s enough to have a deterrent effect,” she replied.

Mainly, it was really quite amusing to tease Bai You Na like this.

Grandmother had no objections to her decision, and the two of them casually moved on to other topics after just a few words.

It felt like just an ordinary, casual meal.

“Special concern before school starts?” Jin He sneered at this notion. “When has your grandmother ever cared about you starting school?”

Xia Shuzhen paid little attention to her only granddaughter. Even years ago when they got engaged, she had been indifferent, seemingly unconcerned.

Xia Mi La looked out the window, her tone casual. “How could we possibly guess Grandmother’s thoughts?”

Jin He let out a soft scoff and was about to say something when the car slowly came to a stop at the school gate.

Jin Can had already entered the school grounds when he suddenly heard Park Young-hyun’s reminder beside him.

“Your family’s car,” he said. “Your brother is here… but why didn’t you two come together?”

Before Jin Can could answer, he found the answer himself: “Oh, right. It’s the first day of school. On the first day, Jin He always comes with Xia Mi La.”

Jin Can stopped walking and turned to look toward Jin He’s car.

They were the most watched engaged couple on campus. Both came from prominent families, were equally good-looking, and walking side by side, they looked like a carefully arranged photo-shoot. Not just Jin Can, but passing students around them also stopped to watch.

They saw the young man get out of the car first, then walk around to the other side, where he naturally and gentlemanly opened the car door for the young woman.

Then the young woman stepped out of the car as well.

She seemed to carry her own soft light filter; the simple school uniform looked exquisite on her. She carried the latest leather book bag, wore limited-edition patent leather shoes, and the pearl headband in her hair remained eye-catching, its round pearls making even the stray hairs at her temples appear exceptionally soft.

“Mira seems to have become even more beautiful,” a girl thought to herself enviously.

Her facial features hadn’t really changed, yet she somehow seemed more dazzling than before.

But their envy didn’t last long.

Because before Jin He could even close the car door, his attention was drawn to a figure on the other side of the school gate.

It was a girl walking alone by the roadside, carrying a simple canvas book bag. Dressed in casual clothes, she stood out among the sea of students wearing school uniforms.

After getting a clear look at this person, Jin He froze completely.

Xia Mi La noticed his unusual reaction and followed his gaze, unsurprised to see Pei Duo Xing walking along the roadside.

After that moment of shock, Jin He didn’t hesitate much longer.

“I have something to attend to. Go in by yourself,” he said to Xia Mi La, then immediately walked toward Pei Duo Xing.

This made everyone notice Jin He’s unusual behavior.

He had actually abandoned his fiancee to approach another girl.

“Who is that girl?”

“A transfer student? Why isn’t she wearing the school uniform?”

“She looks a bit familiar… Ah, I remember! The one from summer vacation!”

“Right, it’s her! The girl who was photographed with Jin He during summer vacation.”

“What a formidable third party, she actually followed him to school.”

“Poor Xia Mi La…”

The envy toward Xia Mi La instantly transformed into sympathy.

Xia Mi La didn’t really care.

Everyone still seemed to value Jin He’s attention, but in reality, what worth did that actually hold?

Jin Can’s gaze swept past Jin He and Pei Duo Xing before quickly returning to Xia Mi La.

Seeing her standing there alone, he instinctively shifted his weight, about to walk toward her.

But someone was faster than him.

Two girls jogged over and linked arms with Xia Mi La, one on each side.

Seeing she had company, Jin Can didn’t approach further and turned back toward the school building.

Park Young-hyun watched the drama with great interest for a while before turning to follow him.

On Xia Mi La’s right was Xu Lian Yi, while the girl on her left was Song Ya-yun, whose father was one of the shareholders of YM Entertainment.

She pressed close to Xia Mi La affectionately: “Mira, I haven’t seen you for two weeks, I’ve missed you so much!”

Though her tone was very intimate, Xu Lian Yi frowned slightly with distaste.

Xia Mi La let her hold her arm without saying anything.

Song Ya-yun didn’t mind at all. She smiled brightly at Xia Mi La and continued chattering enthusiastically: “Mira, you look so beautiful today. Is that hairband from Chanel? It’s so cute, and your shoes too – I spotted them immediately. Is your watch new too? Wow, even Yi Yi has one, did you give it to her?”

She shook Xia Mi La’s hand coquettishly: “What’s this? How could you wear bestie edition accessories secretly while I’m away? I’m going to cry! How could Mira leave me out just because I wasn’t here, I’m so sad!”

Xia Mi La came from a good family and had a gentle temperament. Many people stayed by her side hoping to gain some benefits, but few were as blatant as Song Ya-yun.

She spent all day sweet-talking and directly asking for whatever she wanted. Xia Mi La certainly wasn’t short of money, and when people chased after her for things, she actually felt more embarrassed being the one to say no. So when Song Ya-yun asked for things, she usually indulged her, willingly being treated like an ATM.

Xu Lian Yi strongly disliked this aspect of Song Ya-yun. Hearing her reach this point, she couldn’t help speaking up: “If you want it so badly, why don’t you buy it yourself?”

Song Ya-yun didn’t particularly like Xu Lian Yi either, thinking she was hypocritical. Mira had given her plenty of things too, and she’d accepted them all, so why was she putting on this righteous, incorruptible official act? She was such a fake.

But since Xia Mi La trusted Xu Lian Yi implicitly, Song Ya-yun wouldn’t confront her in front of Mira unless absolutely necessary.

So she pretended not to hear those words and continued clinging to Xia Mi La: “Mira…”

“Mm,” Xia Mi La nodded. “Next time for sure.”

She was growing impatient from being shaken and subtly withdrew her arm from Song Ya-yun’s grasp.

Xu Lian Yi’s expression softened slightly, feeling somewhat relieved.

Xia Mi La had changed quite a bit over this summer vacation – perhaps she wouldn’t be so easily fooled by Song Ya-yun anymore.

Song Ya-yun truly hadn’t seen Xia Mi La like this before, so calmly deflecting the topic.

Since she’d said “next time,” it wouldn’t be appropriate to shamelessly keep pestering her.

Looking at Xia Mi La’s indifferent expression, she felt inexplicably uneasy. She didn’t know what that scheming woman Xu Lian Yi might have whispered to Xia Mi La during her absence, but she sensed that Mira wasn’t as close to her as before.

“Seems like a lot happened during my two weeks in Hawaii, didn’t it?” she inquired curiously. “How did Jin He suddenly get a younger brother? And who was that girl earlier? She looked so shabby how would Jin He even know someone like that?”

This was exactly what Xu Lian Yi disliked about Song Ya-yun.

Everyone had witnessed Jin He leaving Mira’s side to approach another girl, yet as Mira’s good friend, Song Ya-yun’s first concern wasn’t her friend’s feelings but those expensive accessories instead.

While Xu Lian Yi sided with Xia Mi La and would stand up for her, this was just too materialistic and selfish.

She didn’t even have the energy to argue with Song Ya-yun right now.

“Mira…” she glanced worriedly at Xia Mi La, “Why is Pei Duo Xing here? She couldn’t possibly…”

According to the information she had obtained, Pei Duo Xing shouldn’t have qualified to enter Tanming, yet her presence here was somewhat concerning.

“Don’t worry,” Xia Mi La gently squeezed her hand, comforting her in a calm tone. “We’ll find out soon enough.”

They weren’t the only ones curious about this matter everyone was wondering.

And the more people were curious, the faster the answer would reveal itself.

Author’s Note:

———————-

School’s starting~ [Hugs]