CHAPTER 285: CHAPTER 282: CINDERELLA’S COMEBACK 27

Before, because the person who really wanted to deal with Anning didn’t show up, and he was always hiding behind Qin Minghao, Anning had no idea who wanted to harm her.

Now that this person has made a move, Anning is definitely going to root him out.

Anning asked An Xin to check out those hoodlums to see who they had been in contact with and if there was anything strange recently.

Not long after, An Xin started reporting back to Anning.

"Ningning, those hoodlums were indeed instructed by someone. They were supposed to cause trouble for your home, but they didn’t expect you had moved. I checked their call records, as well as their bank accounts, and payment platforms like Alipay and WeChat Pay, and found that their Alipay had received a sum of money. I traced the source of the money and it was someone from Zhao Group who had sent it over."

"Zhao Group?"

Anning wondered what was the deal with this Zhao Group and why they had a grudge against her.

An Xin was particularly diligent: "The chairman of Zhao Group has a son studying at Shengzhe. He and Qin Minghao have grown up together and are very close. At Shengzhe, Qin Minghao, Zhong Boyang, and Zhao Haichao are known as the ’Three Tyrants of Shengzhe.’"

Anning was even more confused now.

"Even if Zhao Haichao and Qin Minghao are good friends, I don’t know him at all, and I haven’t offended him. Why must he go against me? You should know, the original body in the previous life was killed by him. What right does he have to do this?"

An Xin was also puzzled.

"All I found is that Qin Minghao indeed never made a move, nor did he have anyone target you. It seems like all of this was done by Zhao Haichao."

At this time, Anning couldn’t care about doing her homework anymore.

She sat on her bed and went through the memories of the original body again; indeed, she found no enmity with this Zhao Haichao.

The only thing the original body ever did was to bump into Qin Minghao once, and there really were no further interactions with those three.

Suddenly, Anning thought of something.

She exclaimed, "No way?"

"What’s wrong?"

An Xin was startled.

Anning shared her thoughts with An Xin: "I only bumped into Qin Minghao once, and after that, I hardly saw him again, and Zhao Haichao started targeting me thereafter. Do you think, could it be that Zhao Haichao has liked Qin Minghao since they were young, and Qin Minghao has taken a bit of a liking to me, making Zhao Haichao feel I’m in his way..."

An Xin thought about it, and it seemed like this was the only explanation that made sense.

"So, what are you planning to do?"

An Xin asked Anning.

Anning smiled: "What to do, naturally is to find the person involved and ask him directly."

She asked An Xin to find out Qin Minghao’s mobile number.

Anning then dialed it directly.

Qin Minghao was currently playing with Zhong Boyang.

After school today, Zhong Boyang said he wanted to stay at his house. Zhong Boyang’s parents were out again, and his home felt empty and dull, so Zhong Boyang came over to hang out with Qin Minghao.

Anyways, Zhong Boyang had stayed at his house more than once, and Qin Minghao didn’t say no, so Zhong Boyang came over by car after school.

The two of them were engrossed in playing video games.

Qin Minghao picked up the phone, saw an unknown number, and immediately hung up.

But, moments later, the phone rang again.

Qin Minghao was getting a little angry.

He picked up his cellphone and connected the call, cursing immediately, "Who the hell are you? Are you sick or something..."

Before he could finish, he heard Anning’s gentle and very sweet voice, "Is this Qin Minghao? It’s Gu Anning..."

Qin Minghao’s face turned red in an instant. Then, remembering he had just cursed at Anning, he started to stutter in his explanation, "Yes, it’s you. I... I was getting telemarketing calls, I thought..."

Anning chuckled, "I understand, I often get harassed by those calls too."

"Um, I... it wasn’t on purpose."

Qin Minghao tried to explain further.

At that moment, Zhong Boyang couldn’t care less about his game.

He noticed Qin Minghao’s behavior and knew something was off, so he leaned in to listen.

"Do you have time right now?"

Anning asked with a smile.

Qin Minghao nodded: "Yes, yes, lots of time. Do you need my help with something?"

Zhong Boyang, now closer, had also heard Anning’s voice and chuckled, "Student Gu, I’ve got time too, I can help as well."

Qin Minghao shoved Zhong Boyang away, "Scram."

He explained again to Anning, "I wasn’t talking about you, I was talking to Zhong Boyang."

Anning hummed in acknowledgment, "The thing is, recently, a group of people has been harassing me near my home. A few days ago, they even caused trouble at my old house. I’m a bit scared, so I... I did some checking and I found out that this group was instructed by someone."

On hearing this, Qin Minghao got particularly angry, "This is outrageous, how could they do that? Don’t be afraid, I... I’ll protect you."

"I know that Qin is very righteous."

Anning flattered with a smile, "I’ve also cleared up the previous issue, and it wasn’t you who had those people bully me. I’m... I’m not angry at you anymore."

Her voice was so softly coy, Qin Minghao felt his heartbeat quicken, heat rushing to his head, his face reddening even more: "As long as you know, I’m not that kind of person, I wouldn’t casually bully a classmate."

Zhong Boyang curled his lip, thinking to himself, you may not bully classmate, but that doesn’t mean you haven’t cursed at one.

Thinking about how Qin Minghao had been so fierce before, now talking to Anning, he was as meek as a little lamb, Zhong Boyang found it quite funny.

"Can you let me finish first?" Anning laughed.

Qin Minghao quickly sat up straight, "Go ahead, I’m listening."

Anning then said, "I did some digging and found out that this group recently received a sum of money from an unknown source. And that money came from Zhao Group, and your good friend Zhao Haichao is a son of the Zhao family. It seems that all along, it has been him using your name to have people bully me. After I transferred schools, and he couldn’t bully me anymore, he spread rumors about me in the school. I didn’t take it seriously, then he escalated things by bribing some thugs to harm my family."

Anning spoke of serious matters, which startled Qin Minghao. However, he was somewhat skeptical.

Zhong Boyang was also doubtful.

He said loudly, "Student Gu, could you possibly be mistaken? You and Haichao have no disputes or grievances..."

Anning’s crisp voice came through, "I also thought I might be wrong, but the facts are as they are. I didn’t understand why initially, but after thinking for a long time, I came up with a reason he might be targeting me."

Zhong Boyang was bursting with curiosity, "What reason, Student Gu? Tell me, please."

Qin Minghao glared at Zhong Boyang, but he too wanted to know the reason.

Anning spoke very seriously, "It should be that Student Zhao likes Qin, the kind of liking that has been there since childhood. Later, when I bumped into Qin, wasn’t his reaction a little different from usual? Zhao misunderstood and thought Qin might be interested in me, so he..."

"No way?"

Zhong Boyang jumped up before Anning could finish her sentence.

But Qin Minghao’s face was very dark and unpleasant to look at.