Lin Zhexia found it strange: “But I don’t think we live in the same direction.”
Chen Lin held her hand, her voice trembling: “Someone might come to trouble me tonight. I’m afraid to walk alone.”
“I’ve been arguing with people from the neighboring school on the forum these past few days, and somehow they found my personal information…”
As she spoke, Chen Lin showed Lin Zhexia her phone screen.
Posts on the forum were anonymous.
The argument content was actually quite childish; Chen Lin’s favorite idol had conflicts with another idol, and fans from both sides were fighting, each defending their “brother.”
The forum was a campus section, with commenters mostly being students from different schools in the city.
Chen Lin’s ID was “Little Orange,” and her private message inbox contained several disturbing messages:
“I’m from Experimental Affiliated School. Where are you from? If you have the guts, let’s meet and talk.”
A few hours later.
The person sent two more messages:
“Your name is Chen Lin, right? Class 7, Year 1”
“Just you wait.”
Seeing these messages, Lin Zhexia felt a chill down her spine.
After all, who would have thought personal information from an anonymous forum could be leaked so quickly?
Lin Zhexia calmed down and said, “We’re all students. I don’t think they have the technical means to track down your information, and everyone’s been busy with midterms, so they wouldn’t have the energy for that. It’s probably someone who knows your identity on the forum who leaked it.”
She then asked: “Think carefully, who knows that Little Orange is Chen Lin?”
Chen Lin was too panicked to consider these questions.
Seeing her state, Lin Zhexia didn’t feel comfortable letting her go home alone, so she sighed: “I’ll walk with you after school. Even if they come looking for you, they probably won’t dare do anything. Let me tell Chi Yao.”
So Lin Zhexia waited for her to pack her bag while taking out her phone to message Chi Yao:
“Don’t wait for me after school.”
Chi Yao replied with a question mark and two words: “?—Reason.”
Lin Zhexia didn’t tell him about Chen Lin’s situation; it wasn’t appropriate to disclose such personal matters. She typed back: “Because I have other good friends too. Today I’m walking home with Chen Lin.”
The other side quickly replied:
“Got it.”
Chen Lin’s bus stop was quite far from school, requiring crossing two streets.
On the way, Chen Lin anxiously asked: “Do you think they’ll bring many people to beat me up?”
Lin Zhexia said, “I doubt it. It was just an argument online.”
Chen Lin: “They might. Obsessive fans can be terrifying.”
Lin Zhexia countered: “Including yourself?”
Chen Lin: “…After this incident, I’ve decided to leave the fan community and devote myself to studying.”
Lin Zhexia: “Good that you’ve realized this.”
The topic circled, and Chen Lin brought it back: “Do you think they’ll bring people?”
Lin Zhexia responded mildly: “Don’t let my appearance fool you. I’m quite good at fighting.”
“…You?”
“When I was little, I could take on three at once.”
To reassure Chen Lin, Lin Zhexia showcased her childhood achievements: “Those chubby boys about this tall, I made them cry several times. One had a whole gang of followers, but none could beat me.”
The more she spoke, the more she recalled that heroic feeling of protecting her little brother when she was young.
Except that little brother she protected back then had the surname Chi.
She walked while keeping an eye on their surroundings.
The first street was bustling with people, but after turning at the intersection into the second street, there weren’t as many people around.
This area was some distance from the school. Business wasn’t good for the shops, and many had closed.
Across the street was a dark alley, likely a dead end, with poor lighting and some debris piled inside.
The reason she noticed this alley was that there seemed to be a few people standing inside. They were dressed in a sleazy manner, with cigarettes between their fingers.
The leader had dyed red hair, squatting at the alley entrance, biting his cigarette while brazenly surveying passersby.
Lin Zhexia slowed her pace: “Although I don’t think it’s that serious, but… when you usually pass by here, are there people in that alley across the street?”
Chen Lin looked over, shook her head, and answered with certainty: “No, I walk this road every day after school. I’ve never seen people hiding there.”
Only then did Lin Zhexia start to feel alarmed.
She had believed these people wouldn’t come to trouble Chen Lin, thinking that as students, no one would risk disciplinary action.
But she hadn’t considered that sometimes, to cause trouble, they didn’t need to appear in person.