Lunch Period: The Calm Before the Storm
News of Xie Yunlan's intervention spread through school faster than wildfire.
By lunch, everyone knew:
The Xie Yunlan had come to school
He'd publicly humiliated Zhang Hao
He'd personally escorted Lin Yuer to the nurse
Zhang Hao was probably getting expelled
Lin Yuer was somehow connected to one of the most powerful men in Shanghai
The cafeteria went silent when Lin Yuer walked in.
Then the whispers started.
"Is he Xie Yunlan's illegitimate son?"
"Maybe his nephew?"
"I heard Xie Corporation is sponsoring him."
"He must have connections we don't know about."
"Maybe he's not actually poor?"
Lin Yuer grabbed his terrible lunch and headed to his usual spot, trying to ignore everyone staring.
Wei Feng was already there, waving frantically.
"YUER! Oh my GOD! What HAPPENED?! Everyone's saying Xie Yunlan came to school for YOU! Is it true?! Are you secretly rich?! Have you been hiding your identity this whole time?!"
Lin Yuer sat down heavily. "It's complicated."
"COMPLICATED?! Yuer, that's THE Xie Yunlan! He's like... he's like if money and power had a baby and that baby was also really hot!"
"...That's a weird way to describe a person."
"It's TRUE though!" Wei Feng leaned in conspiratorially. "So what's the deal? How do you know him?"
I don't. Not as Lin Yuer anyway. But he knew Phantom. And now he's getting suspicious that Lin Yuer might be Phantom somehow back from the dead.
"He's just... helping," Lin Yuer said carefully. "He has a scholarship program. I qualified."
"Overnight? You qualified overnight?"
"Apparently."
"That's..." Wei Feng squinted at him. "Yuer, you're acting weird. Weirder than usual. What's really going on?"
Before Lin Yuer could answer, someone cleared their throat behind him.
He turned.
And nearly had a heart attack.
Because standing there was a man in a military uniform, looking like he'd stepped out of an action movie, with sharp eyes that were currently studying Lin Yuer with intense interest.
Kai Zhen.
The general.
Another person from Phantom's past.
What is he doing here?!
[ALERT! SECOND MALE LEAD DETECTED! (ﾉﾟ0ﾟ)ﾉ]
[KZ AFFECTION: 0/100]
[STATUS: HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS]
Yeah, I can see that!
"Lin Yuer?" Kai Zhen's voice was exactly as Lin Yuer remembered—deep, commanding, the kind of voice that made people automatically stand at attention.
"Y-yes?" Lin Yuer managed, trying very hard to look like a normal scared teenager and not someone who'd worked alongside this man on several occasions.
"I'm General Kai Zhen. I'm a friend of Xie Yunlan's. He asked me to check on you." His eyes narrowed slightly. "May I sit?"
No. Go away. This is bad. This is very bad.
"...Okay?"
Kai Zhen sat down across from him, his presence immediately making everyone in the cafeteria nervous.
Wei Feng looked like he might faint.
"So," Kai Zhen said casually, but his eyes were sharp. "Xie Yunlan tells me you've been having some trouble at school."
"It's handled now."
"Hmm. He also mentioned you have some... interesting skills. Self-defense from YouTube videos, he said?"
Oh no. He's testing me.
"Just basic stuff," Lin Yuer said, keeping his voice uncertain. "Nothing special."
"Really?" Kai Zhen leaned back. "Because I watched the video of you fighting off those animals. That wasn't basic."
"Adrenaline?"
"Adrenaline doesn't teach you Phantom's fighting style."
The cafeteria went dead silent.
Lin Yuer felt his heart stop.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lin Yuer said quietly.
Kai Zhen studied him for a long moment.
Then he smiled. Not a friendly smile. A hunter's smile.
"We'll see," he said, standing up. "Xie Yunlan asked me to offer you some self-defense lessons. Proper ones. So you can protect yourself. Would you be interested?"
That's a trap. That's absolutely a trap. He wants to test my skills and see if I'm really Phantom.
"I... need to think about it."
"Of course. Take your time." Kai Zhen handed him a card. "My number. Call anytime. Day or night."
Then he left, but not before giving Lin Yuer one more long, assessing look.
The moment he was gone, Wei Feng grabbed Lin Yuer's arm.
"PHANTOM?! Who's PHANTOM?! Why does a GENERAL think you fight like someone named PHANTOM?! YUER, WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"
Lin Yuer looked at his friend's panicked face, then at Kai Zhen's card, then at the cafeteria full of people all staring at him with new interest.
"Wei Feng," he said calmly.
"Yeah?"
"I think I'm in trouble."
"YOU THINK?!"
And somewhere across the city, in three different locations, three men were having very similar conversations:
Xie Yunlan, on the phone: "I need everything you can find on Lin Yuer. Everything."
Kai Zhen, to his assistant: "That boy fights exactly like Phantom. I need to know how."
And Shen Rui, the underground king, watching surveillance footage of Lin Yuer with a small smile: "Found you."
Lin Yuer had no idea his peaceful ordinary life was about to become extraordinarily complicated.
But hey.
At least Zhang Hao was probably getting expelled.
Small victories.
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