Over there?
Eric Wang and the others followed Evan Lin's gaze.
Not far away was an artificial lake inside the water park, with a small man-made island at its center.
Normally, there would be pedal boats scattered around the island, but maybe because of today's special circumstances, all the boats had been tied together, probably to stop anyone from landing on the island.
Are you sure she's up there?
Eric looked over that way. He had absolute faith in Evan's words, but judging by the setup around the island, it wasn't a place ordinary people could just get to.
How are we supposed to get over there? The boats don't seem to be available either.
Sophie Ge glanced at the dock where the boats were tied up. Someone had just tried to borrow a boat, but got rudely rejected and pushed away.
We're just trying to rent a boat, it's not like we're not paying. What's the big deal?
After Ming finished speaking, Evan and the others walked over together.
Suddenly, there was a sharp sound—whoosh.
Sophie watched as the middle-aged man, who’d been swaggering a second ago, suddenly and inexplicably plunged into the water.
It was totally out of nowhere—everything happened faster than you could blink.
While the guy was flailing in the water, Evan stepped forward, grabbed the rope tying up the boat, and snapped it clean off with a single tug.
"Hop on the boat."
Evan boarded first.
Eric and the others followed right behind.
"That’s just how he is. Not much for words, but when he acts, he doesn’t mess around."
Eric and Sophie pedaled their boat, and the vibe inside was a little awkward. Sophie stared right at Eric’s face, not bothering to hide it.
Eric couldn’t take her staring anymore and tried to find something to talk about.
"Yeah, yeah, your dorm’s Evan Lin is basically famous by now. But I always thought you were closest to him—and honestly, your whole dorm seems to listen to whatever Evan says."
Sophie chatted about anything and everything, and Eric played along, so there wasn’t much distance between them. Having some rare alone time, Eric felt like he got to know Sophie a bit better.
Evan leaned back in his seat, letting his qi push the boat forward, matching Tyler and Ming’s speed.
Not far away, the island was surrounded by black-clad figures even from a distance.
They wore sunglasses, pacing along the shore—obviously stationed to keep outsiders off the island.
Someone spotted the three boats heading that way and started yelling warnings, but Evan flicked his fingers, sending a strand of force skimming across the lake. It hit the guy and knocked him out cold, launching him straight into silence.
That shut everyone up real quick.
Lakeview Island.
As a standalone artificial island inside the water park, it usually hosted VIP guests, and the daily rate was steep—one hundred grand a day.
But recently, someone had booked the island for several days straight, and it was still reserved even now.
Inside the villa at the center of Lakeview Island.
"Uncle Cheng, this is the classmate I told you about. Isn’t she gorgeous?"
Aaron Han looked fawningly at the middle-aged man sitting up front. The man wasn’t that old—maybe thirty or forty tops. He held a teacup, wore a cocky expression, and glanced down at Annie Shu, his brows lifting slightly. "Not bad," he said.
As he said those words, his gaze swept over Annie without restraint. "She looks alright—just my type."
"Aaron, go ahead—what do you want me to help you with, bringing her here?"
The man called Uncle Cheng looked at Aaron. Annie’s face changed instantly: "Aaron! Didn’t you say you wanted me to come with you to see your uncle and ask him for help?"
"What’s that supposed to mean now?"
Annie came because Aaron begged her to help him ask his uncle for a favor. She thought Aaron just felt awkward coming alone, so after hesitating for a long time, she finally agreed.
But hearing what Aaron just said to that man, Annie immediately sensed something was off.
"Uncle Cheng is a guard from the Ancient Martial Ma Family. Do you even know what kind of clan the Ma Family is?"
Aaron looked at Annie and grinned, "Annie, you know what kind of situation I’m in right now."
"That punk Evan Lin used tricks to win first place at the Math Modeling Championship. Now the whole school’s laughing at me."
"If I don’t do something, how am I supposed to survive at school?"
"Just trust me—if you stick with Uncle Cheng, you’ll be living large in no time!"
As soon as Aaron finished, another man in a suit nodded, "That’s right, Bro Cheng is a top expert from the Ancient Martial Ma Family."
"Girl, you probably don’t get how big the Ma Family is. Clans like theirs—just one of them could make all of Rivercrest Province tremble."
"Ordinary women never get a shot at meeting people like this. You should feel lucky."
The guy kept talking, but Annie turned and walked away: "Anyone who wants to meet them can go ahead—I’m out. Your problem isn’t mine!"
She said it and turned, but was quickly blocked.
Aaron grabbed her wrist, his smile turning sinister. "Odds are, Evan Lin’s probably searching all over campus for you right now. Have you thought about the consequences if you walk out?"
"Are you seriously planning to go hang out with Tyler Tan?"
"Or did you already decide to use this as an excuse to bail, just looking for a way out?"
(No raw text provided for line 53, skipping translation.)
(No raw text provided for line 54, skipping translation.)
(No raw text provided for line 55, skipping translation.)
(No raw text provided for line 56, skipping translation.)
(No raw text provided for line 57, skipping translation.)
(No raw text provided for line 58, skipping translation.)
(No raw text provided for line 59, skipping translation.)
(No raw text provided for line 60, skipping translation.)
(No raw text provided for line 61, skipping translation.)
(No raw text provided for line 62, skipping translation.)