He was a disabled military officer who doted on his research work in the Northwest.

Outside the classroom, in the hallway.

After leaving the classroom, Gu Bei did not go to the restroom, but stopped at the corner of the corridor.

"Let's go? Aren't we going to play ball?" His deskmate nudged him.

"Don't panic, watch the show. Shen Yao from Class 1 has been acting suspiciously these past few days. She was just staring at Tangtang's drawer. I suspect she's up to no good and is probably going to steal something."

"Damn, this bitch is so shameless. And yet you still..." The classmate got anxious as soon as he heard this and started to walk back.

He grabbed his deskmate, "Wait, keep your voice down. You have to catch them in the act, not in the act. If you go now, how will they admit to stealing if they didn't?"

The deskmate nodded and gave a thumbs up. The two of them squatted at the corner, staring in the direction of the classroom.

Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. Thirty seconds.

Shen Yao walked out from behind the pillar.

She looked around the corridor but didn't see anyone. She quickly walked towards the empty classroom.

She went straight to Shen Tang's desk, opened the drawer, and found his coat inside.

Her fingers reached into her pocket—

I touched it.

Round. Cool. Smooth.

A mutton fat jade bracelet.

Shen Yao took the bracelet out.

Hold it in the palm of your hand.

The warm white color shimmered slightly in the afternoon light.

Her breathing suddenly became rapid.

This is it.

That thing in my dream.

Something that gives her strength.

What should have belonged to her.

She held up the bracelet—

He slipped the strap onto his left wrist, "Hiss—!"

The moment the bracelet touched her skin, a sharp, searing pain, like being branded with a hot iron, suddenly exploded from her wrist!

"Ahhh!" Shen Yao screamed in agony.

A faint, almost invisible light shone on the surface of the bracelet, as if some kind of defense mechanism had been triggered.

A burning sensation quickly spread from the point of contact to her entire wrist, leaving a charred mark on her wrist with the skin peeling back and the edges turning red.

"ah!!!"

She flailed her wrist, and the bracelet slipped off her wrist, landing on the desk with a clatter. It rolled twice before coming to a stop.

In good condition.

There wasn't even a single crack.

Meanwhile, in the infirmary, Shen Tang was bandaging the girl.

Sudden--

A tremor came from the depths of my consciousness.

[WARNING: Unauthorized contact detected with the token.]

[Current binding progress: 100%. Binding complete, backlash defense mechanism triggered.]

Shen Tang's fingers froze for a moment.

The binding was complete, but someone touched her bracelet.

Her face darkened.

"Press the gauze down for now, I'll go get something."

She put down the scissors, got up, and walked quickly towards the classroom.

……

Just as Shen Yao was crouching on the ground in pain—

"Thief!"

A furious shout rang out from the doorway.

Gu Bei, along with his deskmate and a few classmates they had just encountered, rushed in.

He had been waiting at the corner of the corridor.

"I saw it with my own eyes!" Gu Bei pointed at Shen Yao, who was squatting on the ground. "She stole the bracelet from Shen Tang's coat pocket! She was just putting it on her own wrist!"

The classmate behind her immediately chimed in, "I saw it too! She was rummaging through her drawer for her coat!"

The students nearby chimed in, "The bracelet is still on the table!"

"Shen Yao, have you no shame? Stealing Tangtang's things from our class! How arrogant!"

Shen Yao was surrounded by a group of people.

She squatted on the ground, clutching her injured wrist with her right hand. The scorch marks on her palm were not noticeable, but the pain was excruciating.

"I didn't steal it." She looked up, tears welling in her eyes, her voice trembling with grievance. "Those things originally belonged to the Shen family. I just wanted to take a look—"

Her gaze swept over the bracelet on the table.

The bracelet had slipped from her hand and lay perfectly intact on the desk.

She didn't take it. And it wasn't damaged.

The most urgent thing is to get yourself out of this mess as soon as possible.

"I've worn this bracelet since I was little," Shen Yao said, her voice choked with emotion. "I just wanted to reminisce, so I took it out to look at it... Why are you all accusing me of stealing it?"

She glared at Gu Bei: "Do you have any proof? I tried it on my hand and then put it back. How can that be called stealing?"

Gu Bei blushed with anger: "You—"

"Shen Yao."

A voice came from the doorway.

Everyone turned around.

Shen Tang stood at the door.

Her gaze first swept over the bracelet on the table, which was intact, and then fell on Shen Yao.

Shen Yao squatted on the ground, her right hand covering her left wrist. Her palm bore scorch marks, and tears streamed down her face.

It's still going on.

Shen Tang walked over and picked up the bracelet on the table.

It felt cool to the touch, with nothing unusual about it.

She put the bracelet back on her wrist.

"bite."

The soft sound of jade touching the skin.

The keepsake has been returned to its rightful place.

She breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Shen Yao.

"Taking without permission is stealing. You did try to steal, but you didn't succeed."

"Sister, I didn't mean anything by it. I was just looking. I didn't mean anything by it." Shen Yao bit her lip, her eyes brimming with tears, looking pitiful.

But the people around her weren't buying it anymore. "Stealing is stealing, what are you pretending for?"

"Exactly, they dare to do it but not admit it, what kind of idiot is that?"

"I don't know what you mean," Shen Tang looked at her, "but don't look at or touch things that aren't yours. Otherwise, you'll be the one who gets hurt."

She turned and walked out of the classroom, not even sparing her a glance, let alone arguing with her, completely ignoring her like trash on the street.

Shen Yao squatted on the ground, clutching her injured hand, watching her figure disappear through the door, her whole body trembling.

She thought that wearing the bracelet would give her everything, but the bracelet burned her.

It's as if to say: You don't deserve it.

When Shen Yao came out of the classroom, a lot of people had already gathered in the corridor.

Since school had already let out, the students passing by were drawn to the screams and Gu Bei's shout of "thief!"

She clutched her injured left wrist with her right hand, her face pale and her lips tightly pressed together.

The gazes from both sides of the corridor felt like knives piercing her.

"Was she the one who stole the bracelet?"

"I heard it was a token of the marriage agreement from the Mu family, given to Shen Tang in public by Commander Mu. She dared to steal it?"

"Stealing the bracelet? I think she's trying to steal someone, but unfortunately, I heard she's ignoring him."

"Tsk, we need to keep a close eye on our things. It's not that we're afraid of thieves stealing, it's that we're afraid of thieves eyeing our things."

Listening to her classmates' discussions, Shen Yao lowered her head and walked quickly towards the stairwell.

Once you leave the school gates, once you return home—

She can pack her things. Buy a train ticket. Go south. Leave this awful place.

I'm never coming back!

She practically ran down the stairs, across the first-floor corridor, and then she stopped.

School gate.

A tricycle was blocking the middle of the road.

Three people were standing next to the tricycle.

The one in the lead was Zhao's mother.

Zhao's mother was dressed very neatly today. She wore a dark blue cotton-padded jacket, her hair was combed meticulously, and her expression was as cold as iron in winter.

Two men stood behind her: one was Zhao Jianhui's childhood friend with a buzz cut, and the other was a tall, thin man.

And then—

Two police officers in uniform.

Shen Yao's feet were rooted to the spot.

"Shen Yao." Zhao's mother's voice was not loud, but each word seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth.

"Uncle...Aunt..." Shen Yao subconsciously took a step back.

"Why are you running?" Zhao's mother took a step forward. "A few days ago, you took your parents to the military compound and cried, saying that our Zhao family was retaliating against you, stalking you, and even throwing dead rats at you—wasn't that right?"

Shen Yao's lips moved slightly.

"Let me tell you—" Zhao's mother's voice suddenly rose, "Our entire Zhao family, right when you went to the military compound to cry and make a scene—were all in the provincial capital!"

She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and slapped it onto the tricycle.

"Officer, this is the accommodation registration form from the provincial capital's guesthouse. The date, room number, and signature are clearly written on the paper. The investigation team took us to the provincial capital to assist in the investigation, from December 8th to December 22nd, a full two weeks."

She took out another bill.

"This is the attendance sheet for all of our Zhao family's relatives working at this factory. After the incident, everyone in the factory was working overtime to clean up the mess, signing in and out every day. The personnel department has records. Come on, tell me, who was following you, and who did that dead rat—?"