Except for the impressive guy playing with the mutt, the delicate and handsome man with a gentle aura in Claire Sutton’s eyes stopped after finishing a cigarette. He only occasionally bent down to pat the mutt’s head. That inconspicuous stray dog was quite spirited too—every time, it would lift its head and make a happy, affectionate sound. Claire Sutton happened to be sleeping on the upper bunk diagonally across from him, and by chance, she saw the way he looked at the dog—so gentle. It was a world apart from how he looked at the two beauties, which made Grace Sutton—who felt even less than a dog—so angry she was grinding her teeth. Meanwhile, a certain guy who never caused a stir anywhere was leisurely flipping through a magazine with a rather indecent cover, clicking his tongue in admiration from time to time, probably cheering for some busty vase girl inside whose assets could be considered lethal weapons. This guy looked average, wore a pair of very old-fashioned black-rimmed glasses, and with his expression while browsing 18+ content, he looked like a total homebody and a bit sleazy. Still, his figure was well-proportioned, and though he wasn’t wearing any brand-name clothes that could boost his image from head to toe, he was at least clean and fresh. When he grinned sneakily, his teeth were dazzlingly white, making people think he must brush seven or eight times a day. When he saw Brian Kent and his group approaching aggressively, the dog-playing hero just kept puffing on his two-yuan Zhongnanhai cigarette, and the guy on the lower bunk across didn’t even lift his eyelids. So, he could only smile, put away his precious magazine, stand up, and say, “Sorry, bro, we’ll go to the restroom to smoke. The craving hit and I couldn’t hold it, hope you don’t mind.”

It’s true that you don’t hit a smiling man, but Brian Kent hadn’t come here to let things slide. Without some serious connections, there’s no way he could have arranged for all his friends to be in neighboring soft sleeper compartments on the same high-speed train during the massive student migration in early September. Besides, he came from a city near the capital, a place full of hidden talents, and was at least part of the Beijing-Tianjin circle. He hadn’t learned to keep a low profile, but he’d heard plenty of stories about the many young masters from Beijing and Tianjin. Now that he was finally out of that circle, wasn’t everyone he met an outsider? Why should he have to swallow his anger when he was in the right? So, Brian Kent had no intention of letting it go and pressed on, “Wow, you can even bring such a big pet on board? Bro, you’re really something. I mean, I’m at least a provincial-level official, right?”

“You’re really funny. We’ll leave right away.” The guy who wanted to smooth things over took a step back as soon as they met, still wearing a harmless smile, stood up, gave the dog-bringing tough guy a nudge, and shot a look at his motionless buddy, trying to show just how accommodating he could be.

“And take your stuff with you while you’re at it. I don’t want to see you guys again. Otherwise, with you smoking and bringing this kind of mangy mutt, the consequences will be serious.” Brian Kent said coldly.

The guy who had already stood up heard Brian Kent’s threat, but his smile didn’t change. He just sat back down, then lay on the bed and continued flipping through his magazine, completely at ease.

Brian Kent didn’t quite get what this softie meant and was left standing there, stunned. The ever-curious Claire Sutton had already sat up, eager for some drama. At first, she was quite dissatisfied with the unremarkable guy on the lower bunk—how could a man be so cowardly? She was disappointed there was no good show to watch, but unexpectedly, after Brian Kent’s threat, a spark finally flew. She winked at her bestie Emily Thompson across the way, signaling her to get ready for a show, only to find that this girl was staring wide-eyed and glancing down at an angle. If Claire Sutton guessed right, it was at the spot where the plain guy was. Claire Sutton was taken aback—could it be that Emily, the goddess senior in the eyes of all the underclassmen at Tang No.1 High, had descended to earth?

“Shut the door and let the dog loose!” The tough guy who brought the dog on board said with a sly, slightly sinister smile.

Actually, he wasn’t burly at all—just over 1.6 meters tall, with shiny hair styled like the 1930s Shanghai Bund. In the eyes of Claire Sutton, Brian Kent, and their group of rich kids, these three were each from a different world: one was definitely the kind of campus heartthrob who could drive girls crazy, one was probably a homebody who’d never even held a girl’s hand, let alone touched a woman’s chest, and the last, the dog-walking guy, was a total nobody in the world of small-time thugs.

“Let your damn dog loose!” A particularly tall guy behind Brian Kent shouted angrily. Acting all nonchalant was the privilege of rich young masters like them—how could some lowlife punk jump around in front of two beauties?

“I didn’t smoke or bring a dog. If you want to fight or make a scene, go ahead, just don’t damage the luggage under my bed.” The guy reading the adult magazine said, showing no loyalty at all.

Emily Thompson frowned slightly and pulled the covers back up.

A privileged upbringing hadn’t made her arrogant; it had only let her witness firsthand the vivid farces of many city-level bigwigs. Many examples had taught her one thing: a man’s fickleness and lack of loyalty are twins. No matter how attentive a man might seem to women, if he’s disloyal to his brothers, he’ll always reveal his true, heartless nature in times of trouble. Of course, she hadn’t fallen for the guy on the lower bunk—who was probably also heading south for college—at first sight. She was just curious how an unremarkable peer could read a German magazine. Emily Thompson had been wondering whether he could actually read the text or was just skipping to the adult pictures. Now, seeing his lack of loyalty, even the last bit of curiosity she had to pass the time vanished into thin air.