Her Talent for Courting Death Has Always Been Impressive - Chapter 50 Part 1

Chapter 50: Back to School Season (2)

5 minutes later, in A University’s third cafeteria.

It wasn’t mealtime, so there were few people in the cafeteria. Xu Turan used online payment and acted cute to buy some hawthorn cakes and 3 drinks from the small shop inside the cafeteria, and brought them to a corner.

At the corner table, Yang Buqi was sitting with arms crossed, looking sternly at the young man across from him. Seeing Xu Turan put down the drinks, he quickly said thanks, then stared back stiffly.

“Alright, explain yourself. Why are you here? Why were you inquiring about her school?”

“Also, how did you know about my high school?” Xu Turan added casually, picking up a hawthorn cake, “What’s your source of information?”

“Source of information… just heard it from someone.” Qu Mian said awkwardly, “I’ve been asking around in various groups about Golden Tree Academy recently, and someone privately messaged me saying they went to the same middle school as you, and you later transferred to Golden Tree. Also, they got into A University too and saw your name on the new student list.”

The name Xu Turan wasn’t very common, so it was likely the same person.

But that was all the information Qu Mian had obtained. The person who talked to him wasn’t close to Xu Turan either, just had an impression of her. Due to lack of contact information, he could only clumsily choose to stake out at A University, trying his luck.

“But I’m really not a bad person,” Qu Mian quickly added. “I really had no other channels… I couldn’t find anyone else to ask…”

Xu Turan exchanged a glance with Yang Buqi, then put down her drink with a thud: “So why were you inquiring about this school?”

“…” Qu Mian pursed his lips, his ears suddenly turning red. After a few seconds, he said softly, “It’s like this. During summer vacation, I met a girl at the city library. We didn’t interact much, but we got along well…”

“Cut to the chase,” Yang Buqi said patiently, sipping his milk tea. “Don’t tell me you’re making such a fuss just to find a girl.”

“Simply put, that is the case, but it’s not quite what you think,” Qu Mian scratched his hair. “The main point… ah, the main point…”

He clicked his tongue heavily, then simply closed his eyes and said directly: “The main point is that I now suspect Golden Tree Academy is actually a deeply hidden pyramid scheme organization, and a vicious one at that, specifically targeting girls. The girl I like has already been controlled by them! Not only that, they’ve also threatened my personal safety!”

After saying this, he took out a piece of paper and slapped it on the table: “This is the evidence!”

The paper looked like a greeting card, with a shiny golden surface. In the center was an emblem-like pattern that looked like a small tree spreading its branches and leaves.

Xu Turan picked up the paper, flipped it open, and her expression immediately became peculiar: “Admission invitation?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Qu Mian nodded gravely. “I met Fang Xing… oh, that’s the girl I like. We met in early July. She was originally studying at her district’s key high school. But at the end of July, she suddenly told me she was transferring schools, to Golden Tree… Think about it, senior year of high school, in July. What normal person would transfer at this time? And get admitted directly?”

Fang Xing had told him that the new school had holiday training, so she had to move into the dormitory early. Although he thought it was strange, seeing that Fang Xing seemed quite happy, he didn’t say anything outright—moreover, Fang Xing’s family wasn’t well-off, but her grades were excellent. That noble girls’ school supposedly admitted her based on her grades, promising a large scholarship, and if she performed well in the college entrance exam, there would be additional grants.

This kind of thing had happened before in their area. Private schools poaching good students for better results… On the surface, it seemed plausible.

However, Qu Mian privately remained cautious and began to inquire about Golden Tree Academy at that time. Meanwhile, he tried to keep in touch with Fang Xing. There wasn’t any problem during the first week, but by the second week, Fang Xing’s response rate clearly decreased, and her tone in replies always seemed somewhat strange.

And just last week, Fang Xing completely lost contact. In the same week, Qu Mian found this admission invitation in his home mailbox.

“…It is indeed quite strange,” Xu Turan examined the admission invitation, her gaze peculiar. “This invitation is addressed to you…”

But Golden Tree was clearly an all-girls school.

“This is where that pyramid scheme organization is most insidious!” Qu Mian’s face reddened even more, his hands on the table clenching into fists. “They must have already known that I was inquiring about them. This is their subtle threat to me. The meaning of this paper is that if I get involved further, they will—castrate me.”

“Cough!” Yang Buqi beside them couldn’t hold back and almost choked on his milk tea.

“What? Did I say something wrong? Otherwise, why would an all-girls school send me an admission letter? This is clearly a threat, a provocation, this pyramid scheme organization, their scheming, is absolutely not simple.”

Xu Turan: …

No, keep it simple, speculate in a simpler way.

It might really just be sincerely wanting you to go study there.

Xu Turan silently took a sip of her drink, avoiding Qu Mian’s eyes which could barely conceal his anger.

She seemed to understand now why her original self thought Qu Mian was very similar to her first love Gu Chenfeng.

This peculiar direction of imagination was exactly the same.

—Yes, “it”.

Xu Turan certainly didn’t believe that Golden Tree Academy would be some kind of “pyramid scheme organization”.

The reason was simple.

As soon as she flipped open the admission invitation that Qu Mian had taken out, the first thing she saw were the specks of blood on it.

Like plum blossoms, they were sparsely dotted on the inside of the paper. In the middle of the bloodstains, there were a few crooked lines of text, roughly notifying Qu Mian to report to the school before the specified time, coincidentally, the final reporting deadline was 3 am tonight.

Moreover, the school’s detailed address was completely obscured by bloodstains, indiscernible—no matter from which aspect, this didn’t look like a proper admission invitation.

And under normal circumstances, when people receive such a thing, whether they believe it or not, they should first feel scared and strange, before any other emotions.

But Qu Mian. In his words, there was only righteous indignation towards that “pyramid scheme organization”, as if he hadn’t noticed at all how bizarre this invitation itself was.

Xu Turan exchanged a glance with Yang Buqi, and spread the paper out in front of Qu Mian.

“Hey,” she tapped the table, “Look again, can you see the school address clearly on this?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?” Qu Mian said puzzled, “It’s written very clearly, 23 Xiangzhang Road.”

“23?” Xu Turan said, “Just one entrance?”

“Yeah, it only wrote one,” Qu Mian blinked in confusion. “Number 38, right?”

Xu Turan: “?”

“What number is it exactly?” Xu Turan was bewildered.

Qu Mian looked at the invitation again, with a blank face: “I just said, 46!”

Xu Turan: …

Are you buying lottery tickets, a different number each time?

Obviously, Qu Mian was already not right on some level. The door numbers he saw kept changing, yet he was oblivious to it. Xu Turan helplessly took out her phone to note down the three numbers he had just mentioned. Just as she was about to ask something else, Yang Buqi beside her seemed to have thought of something and suddenly put down his drink cup.

“I think I know what’s going on. Why don’t I handle this?” Yang Buqi pressed Xu Turan’s hand beside him and looked seriously at Qu Mian, while taking away the invitation from his hand. “I have a friend who’s a police officer specializing in dealing with these kinds of pyramid schemes. I’ll contact him now, and you can go with him later, okay?”

“Police?” Qu Mian’s eyes widened slightly. “But I reported to the police before, it didn’t work…”