CHAPTER 56: 54, EXPOSED WHEREABOUTS

Lu Lin smiled sheepishly, tidied up the things in his hands, and went to open the door for Wang Juan.

"Lu Lin, impressive! You just came back and already cracked my wall."

"Don’t block the door. Let me go in and see. Have you become an Awakener? Is that why your destructive power is so immense?"

"Wait."

Lu Lin blocked the room door with his body, seeing the woman at the entrance showing no hesitation in entering his home.

"Are you... Wang Juan?"

Her voice indeed sounded like Wang Juan’s, but the woman in front of him bore no resemblance to the Wang Juan he remembered.

The Wang Juan Lu Lin remembered was round.

But the woman in front of him was decidedly slim.

She wore black, short-sleeved pajamas with a small floral pattern, her hair casually tied up at the back of her head.

Are you sure this is the same chubby girl from six years ago?

"Lu Lin, you seriously don’t recognize *me*?"

Wang Juan spoke, then seemed to realize her tone was wrong, and quickly adopted a shy demeanor.

"Lu Lin, an old classmate is visiting. Aren’t you going to invite me in to sit for a bit?"

As she spoke, Wang Juan fiddled with the hem of her pajamas, making Lu Lin cringe.

"Fine, fine, come in."

Lu Lin stepped away from the doorway. Wang Juan entered as if she owned the place, plopping down on the small sofa in Lu Lin’s home. She was just about to voice her opinion when, remembering she had to maintain her persona, she quickly stood up and asked, "Lu Lin, is it okay for me to sit here?"

"Enough already. Who are you trying to kid in front of me?"

"I’ll go to Old Jin’s building materials shop later and get some cement to patch this up for you."

"Da Xiang’s car will be back tonight; let’s go out to dinner then."

"Well, well, well, Handsome Lu! Haven’t seen you for a few days, and you’ve become so generous?"

"Tell me, how did you awaken?"

"Never mind me for now," Lu Lin said, pointing at Wang Juan. "First, tell me how you ended up like this."

"Like this? What’s wrong with ’like this’?"

"I haven’t told you, have I? After I graduated from Junior High School, I was ruthless and lost weight. Now I don’t have to endure the scornful looks from those pretentious, nasty girls anymore. Speaking of which..."

Wang Juan stood up, sat next to Lu Lin, hooked a finger under his chin, and asked seductively, "Little Lu, interested in developing a relationship that’s... more than just friendly with me?"

"Develop? My foot!" Lu Lin pushed Wang Juan aside. "If we got too close, I really couldn’t bring myself to... you know."

"If I turn off the lights at night and think of that chubby girl from back then who ate her own boogers, the thought alone would make me sick to death!"

"Lu Lin, you’re done for!"

"You’re done for!"

Wang Juan, furious and exasperated, stormed up, grabbed Lu Lin’s hair, and the two started wrestling.

After a while, the rain stopped... No, the fight had stopped.

Lu Lin’s face was flushed, looking even more embarrassed than Wang Juan.

Only then could the two of them finally sit down for a proper chat.

Wang Juan said that during Junior High School, she was despised by others every day. She tried to fight back a few times but was always ganged up on and bullied by the other girls.

Finally, after graduating from Junior High School, she reflected on her painful experiences and, with grim determination, starved herself for two months, finally succeeding in losing weight.

Afterwards, she went to a vocational school to learn western-style baking and is now the Deputy Store Manager of Green City’s ’Honey Fragrance Pastries,’ a large-scale baking chain enterprise.

Never mind the daily sales figures; most of the customers buying cakes and desserts are the children of Green City’s wealthy families.

"So you’ve become the belle of our Green City, huh?"

"Congratulations, congratulations."

"Get lost—"

Wang Juan cursed softly. "I never expected it either. Those rich kids pester me at the store every day. Otherwise, why do you think I’d be promoted to Deputy Store Manager in just one year?"

"The people at the company said I had strong sales skills, and it would be a waste of talent for me to just be a cake decorator."

"Damn it, I spent three years in vocational high school learning cake decorating, and I never thought that once I entered society, I would need to rely on my looks for a promotion."

As she was speaking, Wang Juan’s phone rang. "Wait, let me take a call."

"Hello, Wang Shao? Oh, I’m sorry, I’m not at the store right now."

"Okay, okay, your company is having an event, right? All right, no problem."

"Wait a moment, I’ll be right there."

After hanging up the phone, Wang Juan told Lu Lin she had to leave and went back into her house. Quickly, she changed into a forest-themed dress, put on a straw sun hat, and stepped out wearing shiny high-heeled sandals.

"Lu Lin, can you give me a ride to the store?"

"No."

With an ’I-see-right-through-your-little-trick’ look, Lu Lin said, "Don’t even think about using me as a shield. That trick is outdated, sis!"

"You’re nuts! Do I look like I need a shield?"

"Go downstairs and check out my new car."

Wang Juan snorted dismissively and headed downstairs without paying Lu Lin any mind.

New car?

Lu Lin hadn’t expected that his childhood friend had already bought a car. Was Wang Juan really preparing to marry into a wealthy family?

Curious, Lu Lin put on his shoes and also hurried downstairs.

He saw Wang Juan standing next to a young man beside a high-end luxury magnetic levitation sports car.

Hearing Lu Lin’s footsteps behind her, Wang Juan’s mouth curled into a smile.

The trick might be old, but it still works!

She turned around and grabbed Lu Lin’s arm. "Honey, didn’t you say you weren’t going to see me off? Why did you come down then? Was it because I didn’t... ’attend’ to you properly at home just now?"

Lu Lin was stunned.

Wang Shao’s face turned cold.

"Manager Wang, who is this...?"

"Wang Shao, I told you before, I already have a boyfriend."

"Let me introduce you. This is Lu Lin, a top student from Blue Star Gold Sword High School. He possesses Earth Talent and is a Double Star Skill Genius."

"Honey, this is Wang Shao, just a regular customer at the store. Don’t misunderstand."

"Ahem."

Lu Lin was covered in metaphorical black lines. Why did I have to be so curious?

Great, dragged in by Wang Juan to be a shield again.

You can guard against outsiders day and night, but it’s hard to guard against a ’thief’ from within your own household!

"An Earth Talent Awakener?"

Wang Shao glanced at Lu Lin and nodded without saying anything. He then got into his Luxury Supercar and zoomed away from Lishui Bay Community.

"Wang Juan—"

"Don’t be so stingy. Come on, Lu Lin. Let me show you my new car."

Wang Juan pointed to a pink Little Sheep Electric Scooter that was charging nearby.

"Look at this! I bought it last month for RMB 3,000. Fully charged, it can go 120 kilometers and has a top speed of 35 km/h... Alright, enough talking. I have to go."

Wang Juan spoke quickly, not giving Lu Lin any time to react.

She unplugged the charger, turned the key, and the Little Sheep Electric Scooter whizzed past Lu Lin, leaving a gust of cold wind in its wake.

"Wang Juan, I..."

Just as Lu Lin was about to say something, he saw Wang Juan’s grandmother approaching from a distance. Not daring to continue his thought, he turned and went back home.

「As for Wang Shao, he felt upset after leaving Lishui Bay Community.」

He had first heard of Wang Juan from a friend some time ago, and when he finally saw her, he was stunned, thinking she was a celestial beauty.

He particularly liked genuinely good girls like her—pure, confident, and unaffected, completely different from the usual girls he encountered in the nightlife scene.

So he kept her in mind, and after several encounters, Wang Shao had already decided to make Wang Juan his next conquest target.

Unexpectedly, a genius returning from Blue Star had suddenly appeared. What rotten luck!

No, wait...

Wang Shao suddenly slammed on the brakes, and the speeding supercar screeched to an instant halt.

A returnee from Blue Star?

Earth Talent?

A Double Star Skill Genius?

And crucially, his name is Lu Lin. Could this be the same "Lu Lin" his dad has been muttering about constantly these past few days?

An idea struck Wang Shao, and he immediately called his father, Wang Lihe, the CEO of Green City Jin Hao Group.

"Dad, are you looking for someone named Lu Lin?"