In the next few days, whenever Bernice wanted to make a fuss in Stella’s studio, she would be stopped
for various reasons before reaching the door and she was quite confused.
But no matter what happened, she was still trying hard to get the great reward from Phoebe.
In the afternoon of a Friday, when her daughter came home from school, she pulled her aside and
whispered some words into her ear.
The girl’s face was written all over with horror when she heard the words, “No… We can’t do this… We
will be arrested…”
Bernice pinched her with great force and cursed, “You ungrateful child. It’s a waste to raise you.
Whenever I ask you to do something, you would reject it. If you’re smart enough, we would have been
living a rich life!”
“I…”
“Cut the craps. I will not let go of you if you fail!”
Seeing that her mom was going to slap her, the girl shrank out of instinct.
Bernice grabbed her and then hailed a taxi, “Go to the University A.”
She had been there to learn more about Stella and had arranged everything. And she had been waiting
for her daughter to come home from school.
In the café…
The manager said, “Chan, tomorrow is Saturday, can you come here?”
“Sorry I can’t. I have to visit my sister.”
“Oh please don’t, tomorrow is the weekend and many girls will miss you. Please give them some time
to have a look at you.”
“…”
Channing put the cleaning cloth on the table and said to the manager, “I finish the cleaning. I have to
go first.”
Looking at his back, the manager heaved a long sigh. Being handsome was also a kind of trouble.
Channing walked out of the café and then took out her phone and made a call.
With his brows knitted, he asked, “Is there any news?”
The person at the other end of the phone replied, “Young man, I suggest you give up. The photos were
taken twenty more years ago. Maybe the man you’re searching for has passed away.”
Channing slightly pressed his lips together, “I can pay more.”
“You know, it’s not a matter of money. There are many people in this world. And even though you can
give me a great reward, I still don’t know how I can find out the person. Furthermore, it’s meaningless
even if you manage to find him. Just give up.”
Channing wanted to say something, but at the next moment, he suddenly heard a weak cry for help
from the roadside, “Someone helps me…”
He put his phone into the pocket and followed the voice.
A girl in school uniform was sitting behind the bush not far away with her arms around her knees. It
looked like she was in agony.
Channing walked towards her and then squatted in front of her, “What’s wrong?”
The girl replied with her head lowered, “I sprained my ankle.”
Channing looked towards her leg and asked, “Can you stand up? I can send you to the hospital.”
The girl tried to stand up but fell again.
Channing immediately supported her by her arm, “Move slowly.”
The girl moved again and she almost leaned against his arms.
It looked like she was so painful.
When Channing was about to call the ambulance, the girl suddenly pulled her cloth together and
shouted, “Help, help, help!”
Many old people would come here to have a walk around the university and the girl’s shouting
immediately attracted many people.
A kind-hearted man pulled the girl from Channing’s arms and criticized him angrily, “What do you want
to do to her?”
Channing furrowed his brows and replied in a deep voice, “I didn’t want to do anything to her. She
sprained her ankle and I supported her up from the ground. This is what happened.”
The old man ignored him and looked towards the girl who was trembling in fright, “Girl, tell me what
happened.”
The girl choked with sobs, “I was walking around here just now and he suddenly pulled me to the bush
and covered my mouth. Then he began to take off my cloth…”
Right at this moment, someone among the crowd said, “Oh gosh, is he a bastard? He’s trying to rape a
high school student.”
Another person chimed in when hearing the words, “This boy looks handsome and positive, but he has
a dirty mind. The proverb is true - Cats hide their claws.”
“I often see this boy. He may be a student of this university. Hurry up to call his teacher and the
headmaster. We should let them know that there’s a bastard in their school!”
There were some shouting and curses from the crowd from time to time. After a while, many onlookers,
including many students who walked past here, gathered around.
A person asked in a low voice, “Isn’t he Channing? What happened?”
“I heard that he pulled a high school student to the bush just now and wanted to…”
“Oh my god, no wonder that he refuses to accept any of the girls who like him. It turned out that he’s
pretending to be lofty. So disgusting!”
Channing didn’t give a shit about their discussion. He looked towards the girl and asked in a cold voice,
“Are you sure?”
A person said, “Look, he begins to threaten the victim! Where are the teachers? Why aren’t they here?”
Channing continued, “There’re many surveillance cameras around. We will know about the truth if we
check the surveillance videos.”
But no one cared about his explanation. All of the onlookers criticized him angrily and some of them
even prepared to beat him.
Right at this moment, a female voice sounded from the crowd, “Excuse me, excuse me.”
She walked to Channing and took a glance at him, “I came to buy water just now. What happened?”
Channing slightly knitted his brows. He simply stared at her and didn’t reply.
Winnie glanced over the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, you misunderstood him. It’s not like you’ve
imagined.”
She said slowly, “I walked around with his hunk, er, boy, just now. Then we suddenly heard a cry for
help. This girl said that she sprained her ankle and she can’t walk, so I came to buy water so that we
can give her a cold compress. But when I came back, I heard a distorted story. Can anyone tell me
what’s going on?”
Winnie was so righteously that those onlookers began to doubt themselves.
Even Channing was almost convinced. He couldn’t help but look askance at her. How could she tell a
lie in a righteous tone?
Suddenly, there came shouting from the crowd, “The girl said that he pulled her to the bush…”
“All right, I got it. But I have to explain to you that it’s nonsense.” She then looked at the girl with a
smile, “Little girl, tell me, is it your illusion because you’re so stressful as the examinations are
coming?”
The girl shrank. She didn’t reply.
Winnie continued, “It doesn’t matter. He won’t blame you. You should just explain it clearly.”
The girl bit her lower lip and replied after a long while, “She’s lying. They were not friends. I didn’t
sprain my ankle. She’s his conspirator…”
The smile on Winnie’s face gradually disappeared. She heaved a sigh helplessly, “If you insist on it, I’m
sorry that I can’t help you.”
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