"Sir, you bought a second-class ticket, so your seat is naturally in second class. If you want to sit in first class, you'll need to pay extra—and even if you do, this seat isn't yours."
The female high-speed rail attendant patiently tried to persuade him, looking at the man in front of her with a sense of helplessness.
Every time they ran into shameless guys who insisted on hogging seats like this, it was always hard to deal with them. They couldn't use force, and these people simply had no shame.
Besides, the seat-hogging man sitting there was much bulkier than the average person—not someone easy to handle.
"Hey, man, that's not cool. This seat belongs to my girlfriend, and now you're sitting in it. Can't you just move your ass? You're hogging the seat right in front of me—do you even know who I am?"
Next to the girl, a man decked out in designer brands looked annoyed, glaring at the guy: "If you don't get lost, once we're off this train, believe me, I'll find someone to mess you up!"
"Who are you, huh? Go ahead, tell me your name. What, you want to mess me up? You think you can act tough around me? Just how badass do you think you are?"
The seat-hog kept pushing back. The man next to the girl couldn't hold back anymore—he stepped forward, reaching out to grab the guy's collar, but before he could react, the seat-hog slapped him hard across the face.
The seat-hog was way more physically imposing than the other guy.
With a single slap, the man's face turned pale.
"If you keep this up, I'm calling the train police!"
Realizing he couldn't win, the designer-clad guy's expression changed, but he still didn't want to lose face in front of the girl. He forced himself to speak up, glaring angrily.
"Go ahead, call them! If you do, I'll just lie here and pretend I can't get up."
The man acted like he had no shame at all. The two guys were left red-faced and furious.
"Maybe I'll just switch seats. Let him have this one."
The girl, who hadn't spoken until now, finally spoke up. She could see that the man beside her really didn't have what it took to make the seat-hog move.
As soon as she said that, the seat-hog looked smug, while the designer-clad guy's face turned sour.
He just felt utterly humiliated.
The female attendant standing there looked completely troubled.
"Excuse me, could the people in front please let us pass?"
A gentle, clear voice rang out.
"Excuse me..."
The attendant realized she was blocking passengers waiting to get through, and quickly apologized.
When she turned around, she saw a young man walking past her.
Evan Lin reached his seat and sat down.
01A.
He hadn't planned to get involved in this mess.
"Evan Lin?"
Just as Evan Lin sat down, unexpectedly...
The girl who'd just been embarrassed along with the designer-clad guy was about to turn away, but happened to catch sight of Evan Lin's face as he sat down.
She called out uncertainly.
"Sisi Shao?"
Looking at the girl in front of him, Evan Lin finally recognized her.
She was Sisi Shao, who used to hang out with Lynn Chen and Yolanda Fang.
Back at Imperial Grand KTV, she used to mock Evan Lin a lot. But after he rescued her from a pack of mad dogs during the math competition trip to River City, her attitude toward him changed drastically.
The contempt was gone, replaced by respect and awe.
After that, maybe because of Evan Lin, Sisi Shao and Yolanda Fang didn't hang out as much anymore.
The last time they met was right after the college entrance exam ended. Sisi Shao, Liam Li, and Simon Li went to find Lynn Chen, and took the chance to apologize to Evan Lin.
That pretty much settled things between them.
Honestly, there wasn't much real drama—just a bit of superiority complex from a teenage girl back then.
Evan Lin had thought the girl looked familiar, but he hadn't expected it to be her.
"It really is you."
Sisi Shao's eyes lit up when she got a response, and she smiled: "I heard you got into Harborview University. Lynn mentioned you when we had dinner together before."
"I didn't expect you'd come to Beijing. Are you here just to see Lynn?"
Compared to her old self at Imperial Grand, when she used to look down on people, Sisi Shao now seemed much more mature and steady after two years.
Her personality was more peaceful now, and at least when she spoke, Evan Lin could sense that her happiness at meeting an old friend was genuine, not forced.
"I'm here to take care of some things."
Evan Lin nodded slightly. "What about you? Are you studying in Beijing?"
"Oh, yeah. This is my classmate, Ben Liang."
Sisi Shao quickly introduced the guy next to her.