The Master s Mask Unveiled Again

Chapter 176: Chapter 175 No Rivals

Ye Jinwen listened to Lu Mian’s declaration devoid of any emotional fluctuation and silently felt anxious for Xiao Qimo.

The earnest tone made it seem as if she had mistaken Qimo for the head of discipline.

Qimo’s journey to win his wife’s affection… probably was still in the paving stage.

In fact, he could understand Lu Mian.

Lu Mian was inherently introverted and aloof, her unfortunate childhood, and the family environment had long since caused her to wrap her heart in a thick shell and lock it. Having experienced something like a kidnapping, she definitely wouldn’t easily accept someone’s kindness.

That was the harm this world had brought her, how could anyone blame Lu Mian?

The more he thought about it, the more he pitied her.

The past victims had all returned, but both he and Qimo understood that this was not the end.

Number Thirteen had rescued five victims, but the gang of kidnappers were elusive and cunning, and no one knew where their lair was – they still had not been completely eradicated.

Who was the real mastermind behind the scenes? What was their purpose? Would they return to strike again? Would they target Lu Mian once more?

All these were unknowns.

If only Lu Mian would confide in them about what happened during those two years.

But unfortunately, his abilities were lacking, and he couldn’t override Lu Mian’s mental defenses with psychological hypnosis.

Too bad.

Xiao Qimo kept a forced smile at the corner of his mouth and silently processed everything for a while, before returning to his gentle and elegant demeanor.

Although Lu Mian’s words were quite blunt, making him feel a pang, he wasn’t overly saddened. He knew from the start that this girl was not easy to approach, so why would he give up just because of a little setback?

On the contrary, he was actually a bit… happy.

He didn’t stand a chance, but neither did anyone else.

The person he had been worried about, Yu Ren, also didn’t count as a rival anymore. Or rather, he didn’t have any rivals at the moment.

Heh…

As the man considered all this, he quickly came to terms with it and slowly poured Lu Mian a cup of warm black tea, pushing it towards her as his mood brightened.

“So thin, you should eat more.”

“Thank you.”

——

The weekend passed, and the last week of the month arrived.

There was a monthly test this week, and the students in the class had become much more composed.

The fruits of the one-on-one tutoring were about to be reflected in this monthly test. They were all at that fiercely competitive age, somewhat stubborn, wanting to outdo one another.

Especially people with the personalities of Bai Fangfei and Xu Jiahui, who were waiting for the monthly test results to come out so they could take their chance to belittle Lu Mian. They had also heard that next month the teachers planned to have Lu Mian attend class from outside the classroom.

The idea of the aloof Lu Mian standing as punishment in the hallway during class gave them a perverse sense of satisfaction.

As for Su Luo, she had been quite composed lately.

Ever since the video call with Lu Mian, she hadn’t sought out Lu Mian much in class, because no matter how she consoled herself, she could never forget that embarrassing misunderstanding with Lu Mian.

She and Su Jue had discussed it and decided that after this monthly test, they would report all of Lu Mian’s actions collectively to the group administrator.

It seemed like everyone, both teachers and students, were paying attention to Lu Mian’s performance in this test.

Shouhao and the lean Hao earnestly beseeched Lu Mian to study while also forcing themselves to take their studies seriously.

After copying Sui Yuan’s notes, for some reason, their thoughts seemed much clearer, almost as clear as the day Brother Mian had them focus in class!

They secretly vowed that in this monthly test, they absolutely would not let Brother Mian down!

——

That day, Lu Mian received a call from Fu Man.

She was reading a heart-wrenching section of a novel about a heroine fleeing with a child in her arms and the hero chasing her to the ends of the earth, feeling very impatient, she hung up.

The other party persisted in calling.

She blocked the number, but the other party switched to a different one.

Lu Mian slammed the novel shut with a “snap,” took a deep breath, and answered the call.