Chapter 158: Wild Imaginations in Class 3

Gu Ting's room was scented with calming incense, and Shen Qing drifted off to sleep as her eyelids grew heavier.

A buzzing vibration came from the clothes placed to one side. Gu Ting glanced over, reached into the pocket, and fished out Shen Qing's phone.

A message had arrived. Only half of it was visible on the screen: her flight was scheduled to take off at twelve-thirty, and it was now nearly ten o'clock.

Gu Ting cast a glance at the girl's sweet sleeping face, narrowed his eyes, and put the phone back where it was.

The little one had actually booked a flight back behind his back.

Gu Ting walked out onto the balcony and called Eleven.

"Master, what's up?"

"Book me a ticket back to Fancheng for twelve-thirty, the same flight as Shen Qing."

"Oh."

"Send me Lu Xuan'an's profile, and look into any connection between him and Shen Qing."

"Lu Xuan'an? You mean that film emperor?" Eleven was shocked. Although Shen Qing had starred in a music video and gained a small following domestically, she was simply in a different league from that film emperor in Country R. How could they possibly be connected?

"Hurry up and do it," Gu Ting lowered his voice.

"You got it." Eleven replied swiftly.

In about five minutes, Gu Ting received an email from Eleven.

Gu Ting skimmed through it roughly and found nothing directly related to Shen Qing, but one detail caught his eye: Lu Xuan'an's mentor was the famous pianist Reese, who had passed away two years ago.

Q, Reese, the Lan family.

Gu Ting glanced back at the girl sleeping soundly on the sofa. The little one's identity was quite complicated indeed.

***

It was already eleven-thirty when Shen Qing emerged from Gu Ting's room.

She had very few belongings. She went into her own room, changed her clothes, grabbed her crossbody bag, and checked out of the hotel to leave without saying goodbye to Gu Ting.

Arriving at the airport, Shen Qing boarded the plane and entered the first-class cabin. Slumbering in the seat right next to hers was someone wearing a face mask that concealed their features, making it impossible to tell what they looked like.

Shen Qing narrowed her eyes, settled into her seat, and closed her eyes to rest.

When they touched down in Fancheng, the sky outside was already dark. Shen Qing stood up to disembark, and the man in the adjacent seat stood up at the exact same moment, nearly bumping into her.

He smiled with narrowed eyes. "Watch your step, little one."

Shen Qing glared at him and briskly walked off the plane.

As soon as she exited the terminal, her hand was caught in a grip again.

"It's so crowded here." The man walked shoulder-to-shoulder with Shen Qing.

Shen Qing's expression turned dark, anger simmering in her voice as she growled in a low tone, "Gu Ting!"

"Yes," Gu Ting answered cheerfully.

"You're harassing a student."

Gu Ting paused for a moment, then chuckled. "Then I'll just stop being a teacher."

"Shameless." Shen Qing glared at him and used her other hand to pry his fingers apart.

Gu Ting chuckled softly, turning his hand to grab both of the girl's wrists instead. "Eleven is waiting outside—"

Before he could finish, Shen Qing delivered a kick straight toward his lower abdomen. Gu Ting barely managed to dodge, instinctively loosening his grip on her hands.

Shen Qing shot him a cold glance, spun around, and strode away, quickly vanishing into the crowd.

Gu Ting stood frozen for a moment, watching the girl's retreating figure. She really had a fierce temper.

***

Before the Monday morning study session was even over, a figure slipped into the classroom through the back door.

Everyone was engrossed in reading and memorizing their texts, so no one noticed what was happening at the back.

Nie Huan was in the middle of memorizing vocabulary when she heard the scraping sound of a chair being pulled out. Turning her head, she saw that Shen Qing had already seated herself, her pretty face flushed with a healthy rosy glow, looking remarkably energetic.

"You're back." Nie Huan's voice was quite loud, and the moment the words left her lips, the noise level across the entire classroom instantly plummeted.

The only person who could make their Sister Huan use such a gentle tone was none other than Sister Qing!

In an instant, everyone in the class whipped their heads around to look toward the back, with Yao Panpan being the most excited. "Ah, ah, ah! Sister Qing!"

Xie Mingming happened to be walking up to the classroom door when he was startled by Yao Panpan's ninety-decibel shriek, nearly dropping the thermos in his hand.

"Ah! Sister Qing is back!"

"Sister Qing, where have you been all this time?"

"Sister Qing, did you go on some secret mission?"

"Nonsense! Sister Qing obviously went to participate in special forces training."

"Sister Qing, did you go solve a crime and catch bad guys?"

"Sister Qing definitely went to..."

Xie Mingming listened in bewilderment. These little brats were coming up with all sorts of wild theories, each one more imaginative than the last. Shen Qing had clearly just gone to attend a funeral, for goodness' sake!