In Chloe Cheng's memory, Evan Lin was always that quiet, timid, and somewhat self-conscious boy.
Back in junior high, Chloe was pretty popular in class, but Evan didn’t have many close friends.
After starting high school, Chloe went to Whitewood No. 1 High, so she drifted away from her junior-high classmates—especially Evan, who ended up at Brightsea No. 2 High.
If she hadn’t run into Evan here today, Chloe probably would’ve forgotten about him completely.
“It’s true I haven’t made it, and it’s also true you look down on me.” Evan nodded.
Hearing Evan’s blunt words, Chloe froze for a moment, frowning hard.
She thought Evan would argue back like other guys, but he admitted it so cleanly—and when he clapped back, he didn’t hold back at all, leaving Chloe momentarily speechless.
Darren Chen couldn’t stand it anymore. He stepped forward, stood right in front of Evan, and sneered, “With your loser attitude, no wonder Chloe doesn’t want you. Have you even looked in the mirror to see what kind of mess you are?”
“Dressed like that, I bet you’re still single at school, huh? Any girl even willing to talk to you?”
Darren disliked Evan on sight. All he’d ever heard from Chloe were negative stories, and when he got the chance, he even asked Chloe’s mom, Liu Xia, about Evan.
To Liu Xia, Evan was practically a criminal—an awful influence who’d drag her precious daughter Chloe down with him.
That only cemented Darren’s bad impression of Evan. So seeing Evan talk to Chloe like this, Darren was naturally ticked off.
“None of your business.” Evan glanced at him, his expression calm and unbothered, but his words were razor-sharp.
“Evan Lin, how can you talk like that? Do you even know who he is?” Chloe shouted.
The commotion drew the attention of a bunch of passersby, who turned to look over.
Darren’s face flushed red from being insulted. He stepped forward, about to start a fight, but Chloe stopped him.
“If Chloe weren’t holding me back, I’d put you in the hospital right now, believe it or not!” Darren was a bit taller than Evan, and growing up in comfort, he’d never been talked to like this before.
After hearing Evan’s words, Darren’s blood was boiling. He’d planned to throw a punch, glaring viciously at Evan.
“Don’t believe it.” Evan shook his head.
“You little punk!” Darren’s face twisted with rage.
“Enough, Evan Lin! I have nothing to do with you, so stop blocking my way. I skipped the junior-high reunion just because I thought you might show up. My life is great now—I don’t want you messing it up. Just leave already!” Chloe frowned, glaring at Evan with pure disgust.
The older Chloe got, the more she realized how important family background was.
Her old junior-high boyfriend was handsome, but his family wasn’t well-off. So even when he reached out after she started high school, Chloe turned him down without hesitation.
Now, Darren might not be good-looking or top of the class, but he had a dad who was the Finance Bureau director—and could help Chloe’s mom, Liu Xia, at work. That’s why Chloe decided to give Darren a shot.
Back in junior high, Chloe’s parents used to complain about dating affecting her grades, but after Darren showed up, they never mentioned it again.
“Your turf? You think you’re some kind of princess, telling me to leave whenever you want?” Evan raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t push your luck!” Darren snapped. This time, he shoved Chloe aside, strode forward, and aimed a kick right at Evan.
“You’re the one refusing to leave—Darren actually knows taekwondo!” Chloe watched Darren attack, her eyes full of malicious glee.
Darren’s kick was fast and looked powerful.
His eyes were fierce, and as his foot was about to hit Evan, he was smirking, sure he’d knock Evan flat with one kick.
Bang!
A muffled thud echoed out.
Darren’s impressive kick landed solidly—and he hit something.
But what he hit wasn’t Evan—it was a steel plate!
“You—where the hell did you get a steel plate?” Darren screamed as pain shot through his right leg, like the bone had shattered. He collapsed sideways onto the ground, clutching his leg in agony.
Darren rolled on the ground, clutching his right leg, looking at the steel plate in Evan’s hand, utterly miserable.
Chloe, who’d been waiting to see Evan get kicked, froze. Her smile vanished as she stared wide-eyed at the small steel plate in Evan’s right hand.
Just a second ago, Darren was looking cool—now he was on the ground, clutching his leg in agony!
“Darren!” Chloe snapped out of it and rushed to his side, crouching down to help him up.
Seeing Darren’s twisted leg, Chloe was nearly in tears.
“Obviously, I just picked the steel plate up off the ground.” Evan replied casually. Only then did Chloe notice that there were a bunch of small steel plates scattered in the corner nearby.
They were leftover scraps from renovations—probably tossed here by workers from the nearby construction site. Right past the alley beside Whitewood Mall was a building being worked on.
“You’ve got some leg strength, I’ll give you that. Your kick was powerful enough to make my right hand shake—impressive, really.” Evan’s eyes were full of disdain. His words nearly made Darren cough up blood.
Seeing Darren’s injured leg, Chloe glared fiercely at Evan, grinding her teeth. “Evan Lin! You’ve gone too far!”
“Too far? He’s the one who attacked me. What did I do?” Evan scoffed. “If you’re the kind of guy who manages to hurt only yourself when trying to beat someone up, then that’s all you’ll ever be.”
“Chloe, you still haven’t grown at all. I guess your taste is only good enough to pick out this kind of trash.” Evan sighed and shook his head.
At this point, Evan didn’t even feel disgust toward Chloe—he just thought of his old self from junior high and felt oddly detached.
“Shameless! Who knew you were hiding a steel plate in your hand!” Chloe glared furiously.
“Is there a rule against it?” Evan snorted, then looked over at Darren. “Tsk tsk, angry? Upset? Good. That’s the point—I want you to feel uncomfortable. If your legs are so strong and your taekwondo is so great, why not try kicking the steel plate in half?”
“If you can’t even break a steel plate, what kind of man are you?”
Hearing Evan’s words, Chloe’s face changed, and Darren—still clutching his leg on the ground—was so frustrated he wanted to die.
Just then, Darren spotted a group of men coming out of a gym across the street. His eyes lit up, and, voice cracking, he shouted out with a hint of sobbing:
“Brother Ming! Someone hit me!”