Chapter 071: Xu Xier in Trouble

After yesterday—publicly confronting the Battle Maiden, forcing Gao Youde to back down before everyone, throwing out a hundred million in cash, and gaining the favor of the Gu family of Haizhou—Lin Le’s reputation at Haizhou No. 1 High School had soared to its peak. Now, whenever anyone at school looked at Lin Le, their eyes brimmed with awe as if gazing upon a deity.

Yet Lin Le himself paid little heed to these things. The night before, he’d been up late dealing with the Tang family’s affairs and then settling things with Wu Sanxing and Hou Jinlong. By the time he returned to his villa, it was already past midnight. He hadn’t rested well at all, and through the day he remained groggy and half-awake.

His deskmate, Lu Hongzhe, was thoughtful enough to make a cup of coffee for him, noticing Lin Le’s drowsiness as soon as he sat down.

“Brother Le, I heard that after school yesterday you threw a hundred million in cash around the campus!” Lu Hongzhe, who always left the moment school ended, had heard all of Lin Le’s recent exploits secondhand. But the story of paying off debts with a hundred million had, after being passed around, somehow morphed into him scattering cash everywhere.

“Huh?” Lin Le was taken aback.

“They say even the eldest daughter of the Gu family has her eye on you and wants to make you the Gu family’s live-in son-in-law?” Lu Hongzhe’s eyes sparkled.

The news Lu Hongzhe got had grown ever stranger.

“What?” Lin Le was bewildered.

“I also heard that Miss Gu gave you a luxury car, and you two did that in the parking lot…” Lu Hongzhe raised his eyebrows suggestively, leaving no doubt as to his meaning.

“What the—?” Lin Le nearly spat blood. His mind, against his will, started to imagine all sorts of scenes involving him and Gu Ya in that luxury car…

What on earth is this nonsense? Lin Le was truly amazed by the power of rumor; how could a simple matter turn into this by the time it reached Lu Hongzhe?

Lu Hongzhe kept pestering Lin Le for his secrets, clamoring to become his apprentice. Lin Le, thoroughly annoyed, simply ignored him.

All morning, Lin Le drifted in and out of wakefulness. It wasn’t until noon, when school let out, that he felt somewhat clear-headed—and only then did he notice something was missing.

He realized that at lunchtime, Xu Xier hadn’t come to find him as usual.

Normally, she would be waiting for him at the classroom door at midday. But today, she hadn’t appeared, not even a phone call—an oddity indeed.

Lin Le took out his phone and called Xu Xier, but curiously, no one answered.

“How strange. Could something have happened? Or…”

Suddenly, Lin Le’s thoughts were interrupted by the stories Lu Hongzhe had told him about himself and Gu Ya.

He shook his head, dispelling such wild ideas.

Still, Lin Le thought it best to check on Xu Xier.

He made his way to her class.

Xu Xier was in Senior Three, Class Two, not far from his own. He arrived quickly.

“Excuse me, do you know where Xu Xier is?” Lin Le asked a group of girls gathered in the classroom.

“You’re looking for the school beauty? Why?” one girl replied impatiently, chewing gum. She’d seen plenty of boys coming to gawk or confess to the famous beauty, though most had been from wealthy families. Seeing this plainly dressed boy, she wondered who gave him the nerve to approach someone like Xu Xier.

“I’m a friend of Xier’s. I couldn’t reach her, so I came to ask,” Lin Le said.

“Xier? Wow, you’re awfully familiar. Who are you? I never knew the school beauty had a friend like you,” the girl said, eyeing him up and down with obvious disdain, convinced someone like him couldn’t possibly be friends with the elegant Xu Xier.

“My name is Lin Le. I really am her friend.” Lin Le wasn’t about to argue with her.

“Lin Le? You’re not the Lin Le, are you?” The girl’s eyes widened in shock, nearly swallowing her gum.

“Lin Le?!” The other girls also recognized him at once—this was the very Lin Le who had recently become a legend at Haizhou No. 1 High!

In an instant, their gazes changed, even seeing his modest attire as a mark of humble personality.

“That’s me. Now, can you tell me where Xier is?” Lin Le had no desire to waste time. The looks and expressions he received might once have filled him with pride, but now he felt nothing.

“Xier took three days off. She hasn’t been to school at all,” one of the girls replied with a smile.

“Took time off?” Lin Le frowned.

He suddenly recalled that when he first got to know Xu Xier, every so often she would take several days off without explanation. Back then, he’d been too careless to give it much thought. But now, it seemed those absences had been frequent, and when he asked, she would just brush it off, claiming she was ill.

“Could something have happened?” Lin Le wondered, resolving to visit her after school.

The day passed quickly. After evening classes, Lin Le drove toward Xu Xier’s house.

Her home was not far from Shengshi Huating, where Lin Le used to live—just a few blocks away, in a more upscale villa district with a serene atmosphere.

Since leaving to join the army three years ago, this was Lin Le’s first time returning to Xu Xier’s home.

“Xier, are you home?” Lin Le knocked on the door, but there was no response.

“Could she be out?” he wondered.

He knocked several more times, but still nothing. Taking out his phone, he called her again while preparing to leave.

At that moment, he faintly heard a ringtone coming from inside the house.

“What’s going on? Could something really have happened?” His unease grew.

Without further hesitation, Lin Le leapt up to the second floor and entered through a window.

He followed the sound of the ringing to Xu Xier’s bedroom. The phone lay on the floor, just inside the door. The room was decorated in a girlish pink theme, with a giant, now slightly worn Hello Kitty plush on the bed—a birthday gift from Lin Le to Xu Xier years ago.

Suddenly, he heard soft, muffled sobbing from the bed.

His gaze fell on the heap of quilts covering the bed; something seemed to be moving beneath them.

“Xier…” Lin Le’s heart raced as he hurried to the bedside.

He pulled back the covers—and there, beneath them, was indeed Xu Xier.

But her face was as pale as wax, her body trembling all over; she was clearly unwell.

“Xier, what’s wrong?” Lin Le asked in alarm.

“Brother Lin Le… I’m so cold, I feel so terrible…” Xu Xier’s face twisted in pain.

“Cold? Could you have a fever?” Lin Le placed his hand on her forehead, but she was icy to the touch—colder than ice itself.

“What’s going on?” Lin Le exclaimed.

Clearly, this was no ordinary illness.

He reached out to check her pulse, but Xu Xier seized his hand and pressed it to her chest beneath the covers.

“Xier, you…” Lin Le was stunned. Though he’d always joked with Xu Xier, calling her his little sweetheart, he’d always seen her more as a sister, never crossing any lines—let alone something like this.

“Brother Lin Le, please… take me…” Xu Xier’s eyes were clouded, her sweet voice laced with irresistible temptation.