Brandon Yang’s grades have always been terrible. If he wants to get into a decent university, he’s got no choice but to set his sights on the Math Olympiad.
He paid Martin Ma to write his name on the test paper, while he handed in a blank. As long as Martin scored well in the Olympiad, Brandon could snag a guaranteed spot at a second-tier university—no need for the college entrance exam, no need to settle for some trashy vocational school.
But Martin ended up telling him he wrote the wrong name on the paper. That instantly set Brandon off.
Right now, Brandon Yang was knocked to the ground by Evan Lin with a beer bottle. His head lolled sideways, lying on the floor clutching his skull, rolling around in pain.
Brandon sprawled on the ground like a toad, blood trickling from his head. Evan hadn’t killed him with that beer bottle—he’d held back, just enough.
“Evan Lin, you—you actually dared to hit me!”
Brandon stared at Evan like he was insane. He barely had time to react before his head got split open.
The pain made Brandon’s eyes go bloodshot. He glared at Evan, full of hate and disbelief.
“I’ve wanted to beat you up for hundreds of years. You should feel honored—I actually remembered you this long.”
Evan snorted. Back in Whitewood County, Brandon used to gang up on poor kids like Evan all the time. Evan was weak then—never had a chance to fight back.
Seeing Evan so cleanly snap Brandon’s shin, all the Brightsea No. 1 and No. 2 kids felt a chill run down their spines.
Allen Zeng and Owen Ou glanced at each other, both catching real terror in the other’s eyes.
Secretly, everyone was just glad Evan hadn’t gone all-out on them before.
Yvonne Xie stared at Evan, suddenly unsure—she’d thought he was still that timid middle schooler, but now he was way too decisive.
Evan turned, glancing at the crowd by the door.
“Uh, yeah, we should… probably head back to the hotel. Gotta get to school tomorrow.” Allen Zeng coughed, pretending nothing had happened.
“Right, it’s late anyway. Time to go.” Owen Ou nodded.
Ivy Zhao and Lydia Liao spun around and dashed out to hail a cab.
Rachel Liu’s face was complicated.
Just as everyone stepped out of the restaurant, a few vans screeched to a stop at the entrance.
The van doors flew open, and more than fifty guys in black poured out, boxing in all the Brightsea No. 1 and No. 2 students.
The crowd parted as a man strode out from the middle.
It was Vincent Wen—the same guy who’d invited Sisi Shao’s group to Sunwave Bluebay last night.
Vincent’s face was stone cold as he walked up to the group.
Seeing Vincent approach, Sisi Shao and the others all blanched.
Ivy Zhao’s voice trembled. “Vincent… Vincent-ge, what’s all this?”
Owen Ou’s legs nearly gave out. “Yeah, Vincent-ge, what’s up with all the muscle? Isn’t this a bit much?”
“What’s up?” Vincent snorted, sweeping his gaze over everyone. “Simon Zuo was killed last night. So you all need to come with me—Master Zuo has questions.”
“I suggest you cooperate. Otherwise, don’t blame these brothers for getting rough.”
Vincent’s voice was icy.
Ever since Simon Zuo got crushed to death last night, Vincent hadn’t had a moment’s rest.
The Zuo family threw a ton of resources into investigating every possibility, but came up empty—except for one security camera near Sunwave Bluebay’s building that caught a shadow dropping onto Simon’s car.
But the shadow moved way too fast—the footage was too blurry to tell what it was.
Zuo He, the family patriarch, immediately ordered Vincent to round up everyone who’d been with Simon at Sunwave Bluebay.
Whatever it takes, they have to find that shadow.
Initial guess? Someone dropped something heavy from above and smashed Simon to death.
“Simon’s dead?” Ivy Zhao froze. The whole group gasped.
“No way, wasn’t Simon totally fine when he left?” Allen Zeng’s heart skipped a beat.
“Enough talk! If you were at Sunwave Bluebay last night, get in the vans!”
Vincent barked out the command.
All fifty-plus thugs stepped forward in perfect sync, radiating pure menace.
Owen Ou and the others went pale, silently cursing their luck. But with so many muscleheads on the other side, they could only climb into the vans, faces full of dread.
Ivy Zhao clung to Sisi Shao, her arm shaking. “Sisi, we’re not gonna get in trouble, right?”
At this point, the usual walls between Brightsea No. 1 and No. 2 just vanished.
Once everyone was loaded up, Vincent finally turned to Evan and Rachel Liu, who’d just come out of the restaurant.
Vincent strode over, glanced at Rachel, and forced his voice to sound polite. “Sister Luran, would you please come with me to Master Zuo’s house?”
Honestly, the Liu family’s power in River City might even outclass the Zuo family, so Vincent wouldn’t dare mess with Rachel.
Rachel wasn’t sure what was going on, but after a moment’s thought, she nodded.
Then Vincent glanced at Evan, a flicker of wariness flashing in his eyes.
(No raw text to translate for lines 50-59; translation complete through line 49 as per provided content.)