The incident with the van in front of Whitewood County Elementary School was officially labeled as a traffic accident.
Harvey Yang of Yang Real Estate Group mysteriously disappeared, while his sons Brandon and Brian died suddenly of heart attacks in the hospital.
With Harvey Yang gone, the shantytown redevelopment project previously handled by Yang Real Estate Group was unexpectedly transferred to Frank Feng. Under Evan Lin's hint, Big Tank also approached Frank, offering to invest and work together on the project.
A lot has happened these past few days.
Evan Lin sometimes hangs out with Ken Feng and Hank Chu, going online or shooting hoops. Selina Shi and her circle are rarely seen these days.
Monday, Whitewood Grand Restaurant.
Today is the joint reunion for Classes 2 and 3 from Whitewood County No. 2 Middle School.
Evan hadn't planned on coming, but Ken and Hank dragged him over by force. Outside the restaurant, there were plenty of vehicles—mostly electric scooters, with a few cars mixed in.
"Why don't you two just go by yourselves? Why do you have to drag me along?" Evan Lin complained as Ken and Hank slung their arms around his shoulders, heading toward the entrance.
Originally, Evan was thinking that since he had nothing going on today, he might as well head to Fenghua Mountain in Zhaoyu Town to pay a visit to the Old Immortal Sage.
But he didn’t expect Ken Feng and Hank Chu to catch him early in the morning and drag him off to some kind of junior high class reunion.
“Come on, the three of us have to stick together! We’re all classmates and haven’t seen each other in ages. Who knows, maybe we’ll run into a few ‘leveled-up little beauties’ today.” Ken Feng was sporting a white shirt with a navy vest, looking a bit like a European exchange student.
Next to him, Hank Chu was still in his usual sportswear. Hearing Ken’s words, he nodded, “Ken’s right. If anything goes down, the three of us can look out for each other.”
As they chatted, a group of guys and girls gathered at the restaurant entrance.
Leading the group was a girl with delicate features, but her sense of style made her stand out as even more radiant.
She wasn’t very tall, maybe about 1.55 meters, but she had a sweet face and fair skin—just the kind of girl that made people want to reach out and pinch her cheek.
Ken Feng froze for a moment when he saw her. Hank Chu had already nudged him, “Damn, Ken, it’s your dream goddess!”
Evan Lin followed their gaze. Seeing the girl, he vaguely recognized her from memory.
If he remembered right, her name was Mandy Yu. Back in junior high, she sat with Ken Feng and was a solid student—she was even the math rep for Class 3.
At that time, Ken’s dad hadn’t made it yet, and his family was pretty poor. Ken was a bit insecure, and Mandy Yu was basically every guy’s dream girl—popular and out of reach.
Later, when Ken’s dad started making money and Ken finally got his confidence up to ask Mandy out, her whole family suddenly left Whitewood County.
Word was, she moved with her parents to another city and even transferred high schools. Over the past couple of years, Ken tried everything to track her down, but never found a clue.
Now, seeing Mandy Yu standing not far away, Ken’s face flushed red—something you almost never saw. He just stood there, staring at her, totally stunned.
“Hey, isn’t that Ken Feng? Yo, come over here! Guess who’s back!” Someone in the group spotted Ken, and a few girls looked over and called out to him with a smile.
Mandy Yu also looked over, blinked, and waved at Ken with a smile.
“Go on, everyone’s saying hi to you. What are you waiting for?” Evan Lin called out from behind Ken.
Ken hesitated for a moment, then scratched his head awkwardly and walked over.
“Long time no see, Ken. You still remember me, right?” Mandy Yu stood in front of Ken, beaming as she greeted him.
“Of course I remember! I was afraid you’d forgotten me.” Ken tried to laugh it off, but seeing Mandy again made his heart race like crazy.
“Mandy, you don’t know this, but after you left, Ken was asking around everywhere about you.” A girl next to her covered her mouth and giggled.
“Seriously! I heard Ken even went to the homeroom teacher’s house to get your parents’ contact info, but I guess he never got it.” Another girl chimed in.
Everyone turned to look at Ken, making him even more embarrassed.
“That’s not all, Mandy. Ken’s basically a little rich second gen now. His dad’s been making bank these past few years, and they even bought a Mercedes.” A guy in the crowd grinned as he spoke.
“Really? That’s great.” Mandy Yu smiled at Ken, eyes twinkling.
“It’s not much, really.” Ken scratched his head again.
Ken could feel his heart pounding. After years apart, seeing Mandy again made him feel alive—like dead wood sprouting in spring, or rain after a drought.
Evan Lin watched Ken’s reaction and shook his head inwardly.
Even though Ken usually acted goofy, Evan knew he’d been waiting for Mandy Yu all this time. Who’d have thought they’d run into her today?
“Hey, what are you spacing out for? Say something!” Hank Chu nudged Ken’s arm, trying to pump him up.
Ken finally worked up the courage, looked up at Mandy, and was just about to say something—
—when a BMW Z4 came speeding toward them from not far away.
“Whoa! Mandy! Your Prince Charming’s here!”
Hearing the engine roar, a girl next to Mandy glanced over and shrieked when she saw the BMW Z4 zooming in.
A few guys nearby looked at the BMW Z4 with obvious jealousy.
“Hey, Ken, check it out—that’s Mandy’s boyfriend’s car. What do you think?” One of the girls called out to Ken, seeing him frozen in place.
Boyfriend?
Ken’s smile faltered. He glanced at Mandy, and Mandy playfully swatted the girl, “Quit talking nonsense.”
She rolled her eyes at her friend, but her gaze was fixed on the approaching BMW.
Ken turned away, feeling the wind from the car brush his cheek. A flash of white passed by as the silver BMW Z4 slowly stopped in front of the Whitewood Grand Restaurant.
Ken looked over as the car door opened and a tall, sunny-looking guy got out. Mandy ran over to greet him.
Ken’s heart sank, as if dunked in icy water—he could feel the chill to his bones.