A speeding ambulance roared out of the Lin family villa compound.
Guo Jialiang was curled up near the front gates. Watching the ambulance vanish into the distance, he craned his neck, trying to peer inside the estate.
Something had clearly happened. The usually quiet neighborhood was now bustling with noise and movement.
He thought he might be able to sneak in while there was a crowd. If he got lucky, he might even run into Lin Muyao.
It had been a year. A whole year since he last saw her. And strangely enough, during the long, sunless days of his prison sentence, the one person he thought about most—was her.
Guo Jialiang felt a surge of emotion. He knew he had no right to seek her out now, but he couldn't suppress the longing in his chest.
After all, throughout his time in prison, the thing that kept him going—the thing that drove him to behave well and strive for a reduced sentence—was Lin Muyao.
He was just about to make his way inside when he heard murmured whispers nearby:
"What a tragedy. That child… probably won't make it."
"What kind of heartless parents would beat their own daughter within an inch of her life? I heard when they carried her out, she was covered in blood—her clothes were torn to shreds by the whip!"
"The Lin family used to be full of reputable figures. How did it all go so wrong with this generation?"
"Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. That woman's worse than a tigress."
"Exactly. She was a troublemaker when she was young, and now she's gotten violent in her old age—beating her own daughter to vent her anger?"
"I've seen Lin Muyao before. Sweet, gentle girl. Even if she made a mistake, how could it all be her fault?"
"Right? They say if a child goes astray, it's the parent's fault. The girl never had a father—her mother raised her alone. Can she really bear none of the blame?"
"Judging from what happened today, I bet this isn't the first time that girl's been beaten. She probably did what she did because she was pushed too hard."
"Exactly. If her mother wasn't constantly pressuring her to succeed, would she have gone so far as to write a fake academic paper?"
"True. And her advisor's not blameless either. How can they just dump all the responsibility on a young girl? These adults are the real monsters."
"…"
The more Guo Jialiang listened, the more alarmed he became. Could they be talking about Lin Muyao? Was she the one in the ambulance?
Panic rising, he grabbed a nearby person and blurted out, "What are you talking about? What happened to Lin Muyao? What paper? What did her advisor do to her? Why was she beaten?"
"Hey, who the hell are you? Let go of me—let go!"
"Yeah, who are you, going off like a maniac? Everyone in the circle already knows what happened to the Lin family—it's all over the internet. Go look it up yourself!"
"You psycho! Take your filthy hands off me and get lost!"
"…"
A few people came over and pulled Guo Jialiang off.
"Who is that guy? Anyone know him?"
"Nope."
"Never seen him."
"Doesn't look like he's from our community either. Maybe some creep trying to sneak in during the chaos?"
"Could be. We should hand him over to the property management."
"If he resists, just call the cops…"
"…"
Guo Jialiang, heart pounding, shoved them away and bolted out of the neighborhood.
Something had happened. Lin Muyao was hurt.
His mind buzzed with that single thought, looping endlessly.
He didn't know what to do. He ran for a long while before finally stopping, gasping for breath.
Pulling out his phone, his trembling fingers searched the web for news about Lin Muyao.
Since being released from prison, he had only just gotten his phone back—it had been dead. He'd come straight here after charging it, not bothering to check the news.
When he finally read through the whole story online, he exhaled a long breath.
His feelings were a whirlwind—complicated, conflicted. It felt like Shu Lanzhou's revenge was finally beginning.
It was obvious Lin Muyao's downfall had been orchestrated by Shu Lanzhou from the very start. Even Yi Ming's falsified thesis likely had her fingerprints all over it.
Guo Jialiang even began to suspect that he, too, had been part of Shu Lanzhou's grand scheme.
She came from a terrible background, even worse than his. She understood her position all too well—if she wanted to rise above it, she'd have to be tougher, more ruthless, and more patient than anyone else.
So ever since joining Han Weicheng's research team, she maintained this attitude toward life and study. Even though Han Weicheng never truly accepted her and treated her poorly, one thing was certain—because of that team, she had won many awards and scholarships. Even as a team member, her resume had become quite impressive.
If nothing had gone wrong, she only needed to make it to graduation. With her credentials, any institution would have welcomed her with open arms.
But then Lin Muyao arrived, and everything changed.
Shu Lanzhou knew Han Weicheng's favoritism would eventually strip her of everything. Even the shared awards and bonuses would slip through her fingers.
So, she made a bold move—she switched majors and joined Han Weicheng's academic rival.
That was her brilliance.
With the Mu family backing her, elevating Shu Lanzhou was effortless. She was just an orphan who had endured years of near-servitude in Han Weicheng's team. Compared to that, what hardship could the Mu family possibly throw at her that she couldn't handle?
When she first joined Mu Yaning, she acted pure and studious, like someone who just wanted to learn and stay out of trouble.
It was all an act.
She was playing the part of the helpless underdog, deliberately baiting them into plotting against her. She feigned vulnerability and won everyone's sympathy.
Now all of them—the senior students and professors—had become the villains being hunted by the masses.
Yes, they weren't entirely innocent. But could anyone really believe Shu Lanzhou hadn't manipulated this from the beginning?
Looking back now, Guo Jialiang realized how utterly foolish he had been.
That girl was sharp. She knew her own strength wasn't enough, so she endured, bided her time, and waited for the perfect moment to wipe them all out in one stroke.
Guo Jialiang let out a bitter laugh.
He understood now—Shu Lanzhou was not someone they could afford to provoke anymore. Even Han Weicheng had lost his position as a university professor because of her. What chance did the rest of them have?
A cold shiver ran down his spine. He had a feeling that Shu Lanzhou's revenge wasn't over yet—this was only the beginning.
Maybe he never should've made her his enemy.
Shu Lanzhou was not only smart, but soft-hearted. If he had helped her, just once—maybe he wouldn't have ended up expelled and imprisoned.
But there was no medicine for regret. That version of him—angry, resentful—was gone.
After going to prison, he'd severed all ties with his family.
The money the Luo family gave him was enough to support his parents in their old age. Now, all he wanted was to salvage what he could and live a better life.
And Lin Muyao was the key to that second chance.
Maybe this incident was a blessing in disguise.
He'd been racking his brain for a way to get close to her. Shu Lanzhou, in a twisted way, had just handed him the perfect opportunity.
Guo Jialiang took a cab to the nearest hospital. Lin Muyao's injuries were so severe that it wasn't hard to find out which hospital she had been taken to. Before long, he located her room.
When he arrived, he saw police officers entering. Someone had reported the incident. Lin Jiayi was being escorted out of the hospital in handcuffs.
Outside the emergency operating room, only one person remained—a frail elderly man in his sixties, maybe even pushing seventy. Guo Jialiang hesitated, still thinking of what to say when the old man suddenly collapsed.
Guo Jialiang shouted for a doctor and helped get the old man into the emergency room too.
For the next seven days, Guo Jialiang stayed at the hospital, watching over both the old man and Lin Muyao.
By the end of that week, Elder Lin, Lin Jiayi's father, accepted Guo Jialiang as his "grandson-in-law."
Shu Lanzhou wouldn't find out about this until a week later...