Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Zhu Baoguo snorted. She made it sound as if he was dying to speak to her. What a narcissistic.
On Friday, when it was time for them to go back home, the first person Qiao Nan ran into at the school gate was not Shi Qing but Zhu Baoguo. Zhu Baoguo leaned against the school gate. “No need to search for her. Shi Qing dashed out of the classroom as soon as the school bell rung today. I suppose she must have reached your house by now.”
“Oh, thank you.” Qiao Nan nodded. It seemed like Shi Qing did not have an easy time these two weeks because of what happened with Qi Minlan and Qiu Qin.
“Xiao Qiao, do you feel that you have changed recently?” Zhu Baoguo stopped Qiao Nan, looking upset.
Qiao Nan stopped in her tracks. “Zhu Baoguo, you should learn to grow up. Have I changed? Is it because as we are no longer in the same class, and neither are we deskmates, that you feel we have grown apart and that I have changed?” These two years, Zhu Baoguo had not been making much improvement in his emotional intelligence. “Zhu Baoguo, if you continue to be like this, I will have to ask your dad whether he only made you go through physical training during the summer break. If not, why is it that you have grown physically stronger, but you still have low intelligence?”
“Xiao Qiao, am I just like a child in your eyes?” Zhu Baoguo’s expression changed when he thought of what Wang Yang said to him.
Qiao Nan was stunned momentarily. “What’s wrong with you? You seemed agitated. Is it due to Shi Qing?”
“Just answer me directly, yes or no?”
Qiao Nan pursed her lips and looked serious. “Zhu Baoguo, you shouldn’t be asking me this question. You should ask yourself instead. It has been two years. Do you think you have been behaving like a child or an adult?”
“I understand now.” Zhu Baoguo took a deep breath. “Shi Qing has run back home. I will send you back.”
“No, it’s only a short distance away. You don’t have to send me back.” Zhu Baoguo was not angry, and he did not ask any other questions. However, he looked depressed and grim, which was to Qiao Nan’s surprise.
All along, Zhu Baoguo had always been someone who could not hide his emotions.
“I will send you back.” Although Zhu Baoguo did not blow his top, his temper had never been good. For a moment, Qiao Nan even seemed to feel that Zhu Baoguo resembled Zhai Sheng.
“Alright.” Qiao Nan gave in at the different side of Zhu Baoguo that she saw. “Thank you.”
The two of them walked back in silence. Zhu Baoguo looked straight ahead. His eyes were brooding and dark. Qiao Nan had no idea what he was thinking about. Qiao Nan felt a little awkward and she did not know what to say.
Thankfully, Qiao Nan’s house was not far from the school, and they reached her house in no time. Qiao Nan stood at the doorstep. “Zhu Baoguo, thank you for sending me back. Go back home. Don’t let Elder Zhu worry about you.”
There was a flicker in Zhu Baoguo’s eyes. He wanted to ask Qiao Nan whether she would be worried about him.
“I will go in now.” Qiao Nan knitted her brows. She could not help but feel that Zhu Baoguo was behaving strangely today. Gone was the Zhu Baoguo who used to shoot his mouth off in front of her. He seemed to be another person altogether.
Perhaps she was wrong. Zhu Baoguo had grown up. It was just that she had not realized it.
Zhu Baoguo turned to leave after he watched Qiao Nan enter the house.
After Zhu Baoguo left, Chen Jun, who had been hiding in the dark and staring at Qiao Nan, came out from the dark corner with an ominous look.
Qiao Nan came from a humble family background, and her family had trouble one after another, yet she was surrounded by a lot of escorts.
He had long wanted to catch Qiao Nan alone, but it had been three months and he still could not find the opportunity to catch her by herself.
Chen Jun took a deep breath at the thought of the situation at home. He did not believe that there would always be someone with Qiao Nan. He would definitely find a chance to catch Qiao Nan alone.
Even if he did not have a chance, Qiao Zijin would be able to do it.
“You’re back.” Shi Qing had just hung up the phone when Qiao Nan stepped into the house. Shi Qing looked calm and relaxed. She seemed to have clarified her doubts. “Did Zhu Baoguo send you back?”
“How do you know?” In fact, it was just a short distance. There was no need for him to send her back.
“I asked him to send you back. If he dared to go back on his word, he was being ungrateful. Besides, wasn’t he worried that I would let him have a taste of my fists?” Shi Qing said in an overbearing stance.
Qiao Nan put down her schoolbag and looked at Shi Qing, feeling puzzled. “Why did you insist that he sent me back home? I am not in danger.” It was no wonder that Zhu Baoguo insisted on sending her back today. It turned out that it was due to Shi Qing. “By the way, I heard that Zhu Baoguo’s fighting prowess has improved after a summer break. Have both of you exchanged blows?”
She had thought that after school reopened, Zhu Baoguo would want to exchange blows with Shi Qing as soon as he saw her.
“No.” Speaking of which, Shi Qing felt perplexed as well. She had been waiting for Zhu Baoguo to challenge her, but to her surprise, Zhu Baoguo did not mention exchanging blows with her. “Besides, don’t be too happy. I insisted that Zhu Baoguo sent you back home as I have a strange feeling recently. You should not underestimate my sixth sense. Sometimes, it’s quite accurate. Now that my auntie has her own troubles to deal with and Qiu Chenxi is in a similar situation as her, who is the one going after you?”
“Your auntie… Forget it. Your auntie’s matter aside, you said that I have offended other people. What do you mean?” Qiao Nan put the Qiu family’s matters aside. She was more concerned about her problem.
Shi Qing thought for a moment. “Especially in the past two months, whenever I went out with you, there was always a feeling of being followed. But if I went out by myself, I didn’t have this strange feeling of being stalked by someone. If I am not wrong, that person is after you. I have tried to find this person, but this person is quite capable. I suppose the person knows of those anti-tracking techniques. I always failed to track him down!”
Shi Qing was angry at herself.
When she was in the army camp, she had been through all sorts of training, but she failed to catch the person who was hiding in the dark. She was such a disgrace to the people in the army.
“Anti-tracking?” Qiao Nan pondered for a while at the terminology. “Average people will not stalk people. I suppose only specially trained personnel will be trained in this aspect?”
“Yes.” Shi Qing nodded. “The intelligence-gathering personnel and detectives in the army will be equipped with stalking skills. As for the anti-tracking skills, in general, it is a skill that spies or undercover will master.” Average people would not be able to have exposure to these professional skills.
“Why do I feel that I seem to have forgotten something!”
