Su Qing chose that watch after visiting three different shopping malls.

The watch has a light pink strap, and the dial can be customized with wallpaper. Jiang Ran chose a picture of ginkgo leaves that she took in the park last time.

It has a full range of functions, including location tracking, one-click calling, voice messaging, geofencing, emergency calls, and a classroom mode that automatically mutes the device during class time, retaining only the permission to initiate calls from the watch.

Su Qing recorded Jiang Ran's fingerprints and her own phone number, and set two timed reminders every day at noon and 3 pm, with the message "Remember to drink water" and a smiling sun emoji.

Jiang Ran tried out every function and sent her seven or eight "sister, sister" voice messages. Su Qing didn't say anything in front of her, but listened to each message one by one after leaving the room. When she heard the last one, the corners of her mouth turned up.

With this watch, at least she no longer has to worry all day long like before.

They can exchange a few words during breaks, share their locations before school ends, and if anything really happens, the little guy can press and hold the crown for three seconds to receive an SOS signal.

After Su Qing gave away the watch, her sleep quality improved significantly for several days in a row. The system even praised her, saying that her "anxiety index had dropped significantly."

This sense of security lasted for about half a month.

Two weeks later, on a Tuesday afternoon, Su Qing was in the kitchen putting the final frosting on a batch of freshly baked cheese tarts when her phone suddenly vibrated.

It wasn't a voice message from the watch, but an abnormal location sharing alert.

She had specifically set up an electronic fence before leaving home. Jiang Ran's watch would automatically push notifications if she went outside the school's boundaries. Now, the screen showed that the small pink avatar was moving rapidly from the coordinates of the playground to the northeast corner of the office building, moving much faster than usual.

Before she could finish reading the data, her watch beeped with a voice message. It was Cheng Xiaoyu's voice, panting heavily, his voice hoarse: "Sister! Little Ran is being bullied! In the office! The teacher is calling her parents!"

The voice message ended with a muffled thud, like someone had knocked the phone to the ground, followed by a piercing electrical buzzing sound.

Su Qing ripped off her apron and threw it on the workbench, told Yan Ning, "Help me cover for her," and rushed out the door.

It usually takes three subway stops to get from the dessert shop to Sunshine Primary School, and about ten minutes by taxi if there is no traffic.

She hailed a taxi, sat in the back seat, stared at her phone screen, and pulled up Jiang Ran's heart rate data. Normally, it was just over 90 beats per minute when she was at rest, but now it had soared to over 130.

She pressed the call button three times, and each time it displayed "Classroom mode is enabled, call is restricted." The little one probably forgot to turn it off in his haste.

The shadows of the roadside trees flashed past the car window one after another. Su Qing stared at the fluctuating numbers on the screen, her fingernails digging a faint white mark into the edge of her phone case.

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The system continuously broadcasted several physiological data warnings in her mind, including Jiang Ran's stress hormone levels and her own abnormal heart rate, but Su Qing didn't listen to a single one.

All she remembered was that when she pushed open the office door, she immediately saw Jiang Ran's hair.

She tied her hair into a ponytail herself before leaving home in the morning, using that light blue elastic cord, wrapping each loop neither too loose nor too tight.

Now most of her braids had come undone, the hair tie was hanging crookedly at the ends, her bangs were stuck to her forehead with sweat, and stray hairs covered her face.

The little guy stood in the center of the office, his hands hanging at his sides, his fingers gripping the side seam of his school uniform pants until his knuckles turned white.

Her big eyes were brimming with tears, the water swirling around in her eyes several times. When she saw Su Qing push the door open and come in, her lips trembled. She wanted to cry but dared not, forcing the tears back into her eyes until the tip of her nose turned red.

Su Qing felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her head.

She took three steps at a time and squatted down in front of Jiang Ran, holding the little girl's shoulders with both hands. She turned her around and looked her over from head to toe. Her hair was disheveled, the collar of her school uniform was crooked, there was a dusty stain on her left sleeve, and her palms were red.

Then she saw her knee.

Jiang Ran was wearing dark shorts that came with her school uniform. There was a patch of skin torn on her left knee, and the blood that had seeped out mixed with gray stood out starkly against her white calf.

The wound wasn't large, but the edges were uneven, as if it had been scraped off by some rough ground, and there was a small bruise next to it that had started to turn blue.

Su Qing's fingers paused for a moment above Jiang Ran's knee, not touching the wound, afraid of hurting her.

She slowly stood up, her gaze shifting from Jiang Ran's knees to the side.

Cheng Xiaoyu stood half a step away from Jiang Ran, his chubby body standing straight, his school uniform sleeves rolled up above his elbows, revealing two chubby arms, his little fists still clenched.

He had bruises on his face, a bruise on his left cheekbone, a small cut on his lower lip, and a little bloodstain at the corner of his mouth.

But he didn't cry, his eyes weren't even red. He stood there like a chubby little iron tower, keeping Jiang Ran half a step behind him.

Su Qing looked at his stubborn expression, even though he had been beaten himself, and felt as if a stone was stuck in her throat.

There was a woman and a little girl standing opposite.

The little girl was wearing the same school uniform as Jiang Ran, with her hair styled in an elegant princess braid and adorned with a sparkling crystal bow at the end.

She huddled behind the woman, her face unharmed, her clothes clean, but her eyes held a smug, triumphant look that a child shouldn't have.

The woman was probably in her early thirties, with exquisite makeup, and carrying a bag that Su Qing couldn't recognize the brand of, but it looked very expensive.

She stood in the center of the office, her chin slightly raised, looking at Jiang Ran and Cheng Xiaoyu as if they were two pieces of furniture in the way.

There were two boys standing in the office who were noticeably taller than Cheng Xiaoyu. One had his school uniform zipper open, and the other had his sleeves rolled up to his shoulders. Both of them had bruises on their faces, and the red marks on their faces were about the size of Cheng Xiaoyu's fist.

They stood beside the woman, occasionally glancing at Cheng Xiaoyu out of the corner of their eyes, but dared not move because of the presence of all the teachers in the room.

Sitting next to her was a middle-aged female teacher wearing glasses, Jiang Ran's homeroom teacher, surnamed Wang.

Su Qing had met her once on the first day of school and thought the teacher was very polite at the time, but seeing her face today, she felt like a stranger.

When Teacher Wang saw Su Qing come in, he stood up before Su Qing could speak.

She pushed up her glasses and, in a condescending and accusatory tone, addressed Su Qing in front of everyone: "Miss Su, I've already been very kind to your Jiang Ran. She's a transfer student, and our class is already short of spots. We only accepted her because of Ms. Sun, and now, after only a few days of school, she's bullying her classmates. Look at what happened to that child! What are you planning to do about this?"

As she said this, she glanced at the woman opposite her, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally.

The woman's lips curled slightly as she raised her hand to smooth her daughter's hair. Her tone was indifferent, carrying an undisguised sense of superiority: "My Xiaoyi never lies. She said that Jiang Ran started it, and Cheng Xiaoyu helped her hit her. Look at the injuries on my Xiaoyi's friend's face. Parents send their children to school to study, not to be beaten."

She glanced down at her exquisitely manicured nails and added, her voice not loud but loud enough for the whole office to hear, "Kids these days are getting more and more out of control. If they don't have adults to teach them at home, they won't learn any manners at school."

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