"Get in, beautiful!" Ian Song rolled down the window and grinned at Hannah Han.
Hannah climbed in, but shot Ian a fierce glare. "I'm your teacher. Stop calling me 'beautiful.'"
"At school, you're my teacher. But outside of school, you're my..." Ian paused, staring straight at Hannah.
For some reason, Hannah felt a little flustered. She put on a stern face and scolded, "Watch your mouth, you brat!"
"What are you thinking? I mean, outside of school, we're friends."
As soon as he finished, Ian floored the gas pedal. The car shot forward like an arrow—Zach Zhang's ride really had some kick.
"Jerk!"
Realizing she'd been played, Hannah was thoroughly annoyed and punched Ian in the arm.
Ian winked at her. "Careful, Miss Han! I'm driving here. If we crash, the newspapers will have a field day."
"Ugh, you never stop talking nonsense." Suddenly, Hannah was curious. "What would the papers say?"
"Obviously they'd say: 'Young couple dies together in car accident while flirting!'"
"Ian Song!" Hannah's voice shot up as she grabbed his ear. "You've got some nerve, flirting with your teacher! I ought to give you a good smack!"
"Go easy, Miss Han! If you mess up my ear, what'll I do when I get married?" Ian wailed dramatically.
"What does your future wife have to do with this?" Hannah asked, confused.
"My ears are reserved for my future wife to tug!"
"What? You dare take advantage of me!" Hannah fumed, twisting Ian's ear even harder.
......
Two hours later, they got off the highway and approached Jiangzhou City.
Even though Ian kept up his goofball routine to cheer her up, Hannah's mood stayed gloomy as they reached Jiangzhou.
Thirty minutes later, they pulled into an old apartment complex in Jiangzhou's historic district.
They parked and got out of the car.
Just then, a middle-aged woman carrying a vegetable basket walked by. When she saw Hannah, her face lit up with a smile. "Sasa, you're back!"
"Hello, Aunt Hua." Hannah replied with a smile.
Suddenly, Aunt Hua's eyes landed on Ian, and her expression turned sly. "Sasa, did you bring your boyfriend home?"
"You've got it wrong, Aunt Hua. Ian Song is my student." Hannah blushed as she explained.
"Oh? Is this a teacher-student romance?" Aunt Hua gave them both a strange look.
"Aunt Hua, you've really got it wrong. He and I..."
"No need to explain, Sasa. Aunt Hua gets it. I'm pretty open-minded—I won't judge a teacher-student relationship. So you don't have to hide it from me."
Seeing Aunt Hua getting more and more outrageous, Hannah was so frustrated she almost stomped her foot. But she knew arguing would only make things worse, so she found an excuse to slip away.
"Sasa, remember to bring your little boyfriend over to visit Aunt Hua sometime!"
Hearing Aunt Hua's voice behind her, Hannah stumbled and nearly fell. Luckily, Ian was there to steady her.
"Are you okay, Miss Han?" Ian asked.
"Hmph, it's all your fault! If you hadn't insisted on coming with me, Aunt Hua wouldn't have misunderstood." Hannah shook off Ian's hand and marched toward the stairwell. She was walking too fast, and the old stairwell was full of potholes. Wearing high heels, she stepped into a hole and lost her balance, swaying backward.
Fortunately, Ian was right behind her. He darted forward and caught her in his arms.
"Careful, Miss Han! Watch your step!"
As luck would have it, Aunt Hua glanced over and saw them in an embrace. She pursed her lips. "Still say you're not a couple? Can't even wait till you get home before hugging. Kids these days are so impatient."
Aunt Hua had a naturally loud voice, so her words rang out clearly for Ian and Hannah to hear. For a moment, Hannah wished she could disappear from embarrassment.
Trying to spare Hannah any more embarrassment, Ian quickly helped her stand up straight.
Hannah ignored Ian and headed straight upstairs. On the fourth floor, she knocked and called out, "Mom, it's Sasa. Open up!"
Soon, the door opened to reveal a woman in her early fifties, her face haggard and weary.
"Sasa, you're back?"
"Yeah, Mom. Let me introduce you—this is my student, Ian Song. He drove me home." Hannah quickly pointed to Ian to avoid any more misunderstandings.
"Hello, Auntie," Ian greeted politely.
"Come in, don't just stand at the door."
Inside, Ian glanced around and saw that the apartment was old—the furnishings were complete, but all outdated styles from seven or eight years ago.
"We don't have much to offer. Have a glass of water, Ian." Jenny Han handed Ian a cup, a little embarrassed.
"Thank you, Auntie!"
"Mom, can you tell me exactly what happened with Dad?" Hannah asked directly.
Jenny Han sighed. "Your dad went out seven days ago at noon. I didn't think much of it at first, but after four days without coming home, I tried calling him. His phone was off and I couldn't get through. I started to worry, so I took your brother Akang and looked for him at all his usual spots.
I also asked his card-playing friends, but they all said they hadn't seen him for days. Now it's the seventh day and still no sign of him. I had no choice but to call you!"
Hannah frowned. "Mom, are you sure you checked all the places he usually goes?"
"We checked everywhere. I'm really worried something terrible happened. What should we do?" Jenny Han couldn't help but cry, tears of worry streaming down her face.
"Don't cry, Mom. We'll keep looking, and if we can't find him, we'll call the police." Hannah tried to comfort her, though her resentment toward her father grew even deeper.
Bang bang bang!
A series of urgent, rough knocks rang out.
"Is that your dad? I'll go open the door." Jenny Han rushed off the couch to answer, while Ian shook his head silently.
"Is this Han Dayuan's home?"
As soon as the door opened, a group barged in without any courtesy. The leader was a tall, muscular bald man in a black stretch vest, with a blue scorpion tattooed on his neck.
It was obvious these guys weren't ordinary people—they were street thugs. Hannah instinctively stood up. "Who are you?"
Smack!
The bald man slapped a piece of paper onto the table and said coldly, "We're here to take the apartment. Han Dayuan already sold it to us. Here's the contract—take a good look!"
Hannah froze, then picked up the paper. Sure enough, it was a simple sale agreement, with her father's signature and handprint right there. A wave of fury and helplessness crashed over her. He sold the apartment—where are my mom and little brother supposed to live now?