Worried about their safety, Chen Jianting drove them both.
Wan Ru was haunted by that gaze, anxious and restless.
The next afternoon, while working, Wan Ru received a phone call.
"Hello?" Wan Ru picked up.
"Is this Wan Ru?" The voice on the other end spoke.
"Oh? Ming Jian? How do you have my number?"
"I got it from Mei Jin, but I heard Mei Jin say someone was following you?" Ming Jian asked.
"Yes, probably!"
"Then remember to be careful!"
"Yes, but why didn't you call me on Messenger? Why did you ask for my phone number?" Wan Ru asked.
"My Facebook was being harassed. I deleted everything and don't plan to use it anymore."
After chatting for a while, they hung up.
Wan Ru, without consciously meaning to, opened Ming Jian's Facebook to take a look. Indeed, he was being harassed. On Ming Jian's personal page, a series of posts appeared, tagged with his name, from an account with no profile picture. At first glance, it looked like a Facebook account that had just been hacked.
Unconsciously, Wan Ru clicked on that account to check it out. Scrolling down to look at the photos, Wan Ru was surprised. Her eyes widened; this was the girl she had seen the night before.
Wan Ru thought for a moment, then called Ming Jian back.
"Hello?" Ming Jian answered very quickly.
"Ming Jian, is the Facebook account that's tagging you repeatedly... is it Lan An?" Wan Ru ventured to ask.
"Yes, that's right." Ming Jian answered vaguely.
Wan Ru shivered slightly, thinking of Lan An's resentful gaze that night, standing in front of Mei Jin's house, staring intently at her—no, staring intently at Mei Jin's room, that was it.
"This is bad, Jian, can you run to Mei Jin's house right now? Mei Jin doesn't have class today, so she's home alone." Wan Ru urgently pleaded with Ming Jian.
"What's wrong?"
"Yes, originally, the person being followed wasn't me. It was Mei Jin. The stranger I saw was Lan An." Wan Ru explained to Ming Jian.
There was silence on the other end of the line for a while before he spoke. "Yes, I'm going right now!"
Without waiting for Wan Ru to reply further, Ming Jian hung up. She went to ask her manager for leave to go home urgently. As soon as she got into a taxi, she called Chen Jianting to report the incident. After that, she called Mei Jin's number, but the line was busy. Wan Ru reassured herself that Ming Jian must be calling Mei Jin.
"Driver, please hurry, my family has an urgent matter!" Wan Ru could only urge the driver.
About 15 minutes later, the taxi stopped in front of the large gate. After paying, Wan Ru stepped in. The security guard of the complex asked her.
"What's your name, where do you live?"
Before, she always went with Chen Jianting or Mei Jin, so she was never asked these questions, as they were homeowners in the area and allowed to pass through. She was just a guest, and without the homeowner's guarantee, she had to report clearly.
"Li Wanru, Chen Jianting's house."
The security guard frowned and asked. "Li Wanru just entered 10 minutes ago, which Li Wanru are you?"
Wan Ru felt uneasy, could it be Lan An?
"No, Uncle, I am the real Li Wanru. The person before was the stranger Chen Jianting reported to you yesterday. Please catch that person."
The security guard, hearing about the incident from last night, believed her, because Chen Jianting had instructed them to investigate this matter discreetly, so no one else knew. The security guard spoke into his walkie-talkie to inform the others.
"Uncle, I'm going in!" Wan Ru said, then quickly ran off.
By the time the security guard turned around, she had already run quite far. Arriving in front of Mei Jin's house, Wan Ru was horrified to see that a window had been broken. She was about to loudly call Mei Jin, but she suddenly stopped.
She thought that if she called, Mei Jin's whereabouts might be exposed, so she remained silent.
While she was pondering, a girl suddenly stepped out onto the balcony of Mei Jin's room.
Wan Ru now recognized that person; it was Lan Ying.
It was the same position, the balcony, and in front of the gate.
But today she and Lan Ying had swapped places, yet Lan Ying still looked at Wan Ru with angry eyes.
Wan Ru's heart trembled uncontrollably, but her body wouldn't obey her.
Wan Ru had no strength left, and was even forced to collapse onto the street.
She felt herself becoming weaker, as if an invisible hand was pressing her down.
Pei Lan Ying, with vacant eyes, threw the glass cups she held in her hand towards Wan Ru.
But the distance was quite far, so the shattered pieces scattered across the yard.
She mumbled, "Give it back to me!"
Chen Mei Jin didn't go to school today. She was originally sleeping in her room when she heard the sound of breaking glass.
She woke up with a start, had a bad premonition, so she opened her laptop to check the indoor camera.
At this moment, she discovered that Pei Lan Ying had broken into her house through the window.
She frowned. Pei Lan Ying had a mental illness.
But she thought it was more accurate to say she was insane.
Mei Jin remained calm, making no sound.
She climbed down from the balcony to the yard using an emergency rope ladder.
Back in high school, when she sometimes needed to sneak out to play, she had invested in this for herself.
It was originally left in a corner, no longer used, but now she still had to use it.
Mei Jin tiptoed to Chen Jian Cheng's house, opened the door and went in. She took out her phone to call the police, then hid behind the window to observe her own house.
A while later, she saw Pei Lan Ying step out and stand in front of her room's balcony.
She frowned. She had locked the door when she left, but Pei Lan Ying still managed to get in.
After standing silently for a while, Pei Lan Ying seemed to go mad, throwing things down into the yard.
Mei Jin frowned and changed her viewing angle. She looked out into the yard and saw Wan Ru sitting slumped on the street in front of the gate, not moving.
"Damn it, this lunatic." Mei Jin cursed at Pei Lan Ying.
Pei Lan Ying was throwing glass objects. Mei Jin didn't know if Wan Ru was injured or not, but she just sat there motionless.
Mei Jin was worried sick.
She risked running quickly to the gate, opened the door, and went outside.
Pei Lan Ying, on the balcony, saw Mei Jin and also rushed down.
Mei Jin quickly went to help Wan Ru up.
"What's wrong, Ru?"
"Run, Mei Jin!" Wan Ru shook her head, looking at her.
"Where are you two running to?" Pei Lan Ying screamed.
She also ran out, standing in front of the two girls and laughing loudly.
Wan Ru felt stranger and stranger. Just seeing Pei Lan Ying from such a distance, she felt like she was losing control.
Now that Pei Lan Ying was standing in front of her at a relatively close distance, her legs went limp, completely losing all strength.
She fell down. Mei Jin struggled to pull her, but the girl still wouldn't let go of Wan Ru.
At this moment, both Chen Jian Cheng and Huang Ming Jian had driven up.
Chen Jian Cheng stopped his car behind the two girls.
He saw Wan Ru repeatedly falling and grimaced, then quickly went to help Wan Ru from Mei Jin's arms, holding her close.
Because Chen Jian Cheng had helped support Wan Ru, Mei Jin let go and stood in front of the two of them, shielding them.
Huang Ming Jian steered the car around to the back, blocking Pei Lan Ying's escape route.
He had already seen the general situation. As soon as he got out of the car, he quickly went to pull Pei Lan Ying away.
"What do you want to do?" Ming Jian asked angrily.
"I want you."
She replied.
"Please, don't you find this troublesome?" Ming Jian asked impatiently.
Hearing the police siren and seeing several security guards running over, Pei Lan Ying seemed to want to struggle.
But Ming Jian's strength was too great.
The police arrived to detain Pei Lan'an, taking her back to the station. Neighborhood security entered Mei Jin's house to assess the damages for compensation.
The four temporarily returned to Chen Jiancheng's house.
Chen Jiancheng was still holding Wan Ru in his arms. Mei Jin was worried, so she didn't pay too much attention to this matter.
He set her down on a chair and poured her a glass of water.
Wan Ru found it strange that her body was gradually returning to normal.
Her hands trembled. She couldn't understand why the incident just now had happened, especially when facing Pei Lan'an.
Chen Jiancheng gently patted her back, his expression reassuring her.