Gao Wu: I'll enjoy the benefits, but you'll bear the side effects.

The tranquil night was as thick as ink, completely enveloping every corner of the campus.

The half-open door, like a mysterious mouth, occasionally let out the sounds of two people laughing and joking, echoing freely in the quiet, long corridor. Each laugh seemed to be wrapped in a mysterious veil, sending chills down one's spine.

Gao Jie was already feeling uneasy, and now he felt that every second he stayed there was torture, and he just wanted to escape immediately.

He raised his hand with a slight tremor, his fingers gently pinching the hem of Huang Xu's clothes, carefully tugging at it. At the same time, he quickly gave a very subtle wink.

The urgency and worry in his eyes were almost overflowing, as if he were crying out in silence:

If they were caught red-handed by the people inside right now, the consequences would be absolutely disastrous. Just thinking about the possible scenarios made cold sweat pour down my back.

Huang Xu was extremely unwilling. His feet seemed rooted to the spot. He wanted to dawdle a little longer, but he really didn't want to get into trouble for no reason. So he could only follow Gao Jie reluctantly, turning his head back three times for every step he took, his eyes full of resentment.

The two jogged for a while, and after a long distance, Huang Xu finally couldn't hold back any longer and started his incessant rambling at the top of his lungs:

"Why are you like this? If you don't want to watch, just leave. Why do you have to drag me along? Can't you be a little more generous and let me keep watching? I haven't had enough of the show yet!"

As Huang Xu muttered to himself, he waved his arms dramatically, his hands drawing arcs in the air as he tried to vent his frustration through these large movements. "Besides, you didn't want to watch, but you dragged me away anyway, so I didn't get to see any of the key or exciting content."

Don't you think about it? Those two people in that room are dressed in gold and silver, looking very wealthy. Who knows how much cash they're carrying?

If we seize the opportunity and grab a little something while things are in chaos, wouldn't we become rich overnight and never have to worry about food and drink for the rest of our lives?

You've completely cut off my source of income.

"Speaking of this, Huang Xu smacked his lips exaggeratedly, his face full of longing, as if the gleaming silver had already steadily fallen into his pocket. "Brother, I feel like you're my nemesis. Every time I come across a good opportunity to make money, you ruin it."

Gao Jie listened to Huang Xu's string of complaints as if they were a trivial breeze passing by, and he didn't want to pay any attention to them at all. In his view, right and wrong were obvious at the moment, and there was no need to waste his breath and argue endlessly.

At this moment, his mind was completely filled with another, more troublesome matter. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the current situation had an indescribable strangeness, as if an invisible hand was quietly plucking an unseen string.

The two walked on in silence for quite a while before Gao Jie finally stopped and poured out all the thoughts that had been swirling in his mind for a long time:

"Have you noticed? The way they're acting, it's obvious they're targeting our school. Look at Kang Hao, he looks like he's got everything planned out, he's definitely been plotting this meticulously, just waiting to make his move. But when and how did our school offend those two? I've racked my brains and still can't figure it out, I'm about to go crazy."

Gao Jie's brows furrowed deeply, his face showing increasing worry, almost to the point of being tearful.

"To be honest, I've been feeling uneasy. I have a feeling that something terrible is going to happen. You have to be careful, or you'll really get tricked and ruined. You'll have your day."

Huang Xu, however, remained as carefree and nonchalant as ever, shaking his head like a rattle-drum, a dismissive smile playing on his lips, and said with a smirk:

"Oh, don't worry about it. What could be so serious? In this school, no one can outsmart this clever little devil."

Seeing his expression, Gao Jie was too lazy to waste any more words. Since things had come to this, he could only take it one step at a time.

As for what other thorny issues might be hidden behind this, he really didn't have the energy to think about it in detail. He just hoped that nothing else would go wrong, and couldn't help but sigh.

"Hopefully nothing else goes wrong."

The two walked along casually, their conversation inevitably circling back to the brochure they had glimpsed earlier.

Huang Xu scratched his head: "That data on there looks so familiar... Who handed it over to that person?"

Gao Jie also looked confused:

"I wanted to ask you the same thing. My head is about to explode. The more I think about it, the more puzzled I get. It's like my head is tangled in a mess, and I can't sort it out no matter what I do."

For a moment, the two stared at each other, bewildered and helpless, neither able to explain what was wrong.

Moreover, it seems that this matter is far more bizarre and complicated than initially imagined, as if an invisible net is silently but irresistibly closing in on them.

Gao Jie and Huang Xu didn't go back to their dormitory, but instead headed straight for Huang Muran and Xu Rourou's place.

Upon reaching the door, the two of them rushed in anxiously and forcibly dragged the two girls out of their sleep.

At this moment, Huang Muran and Xu Rourou were so sleepy that their eyelids were drooping and their eyes were slits. Their heads were nodding, but their bodies were still leaning together, looking like two weak grasses swaying in the wind.

Seeing this, Huang Xu disregarded how sleepy the other person was and began to talk non-stop:

"You wouldn't believe it! When we cautiously crept over just now, the scene was absolutely jaw-dropping! Guess what? We actually saw two people doing some really weird, abnormal things. My God, this world is getting crazier and crazier; you can run into all sorts of bizarre things!"

He spoke with great enthusiasm, his face beaming with excitement, as if he had witnessed some momentous event. As he spoke, he glanced at the two girls, eager to see their surprised expressions.

Gao Jie couldn't stand his cluelessness any longer, shook his head helplessly, and couldn't help but remind him:

"Brother, you still have the energy to ramble on about this nonsense? Don't you even look at what other people are doing?"

Huang Xu was taken aback by these words and turned his head in confusion, only to find that Huang Muran and Xu Rourou had already fallen asleep with their heads tilted to the side, their breathing even and soft, clearly having drifted off to sleep.

He immediately became displeased, reached out and shoved the two of them, raising his voice in protest:

"Hey, wake up! Wake up! This is such a big deal, why are you still sleeping!"

Gao Jie quickly reached out to stop him and whispered:

"Alright, what's the point of waking him up now? Let's calm down and figure out how to solve this mess. To be honest, I have considered it, but look at the situation now, it's a complete mess, and it's really difficult to handle."

As Gao Jie spoke, he frowned again, as was his habit. "I have a feeling that there's more to this than meets the eye, and it's not so easy to deal with."

Huang Xu nodded in agreement. He finally understood. After all, they had obtained the crucial basic data; how could things be so smooth and problem-free? The current situation clearly demonstrated the seriousness and complexity of the problem. He clicked his tongue and said:

"Yeah, it looks like there's going to be a lot of trouble ahead. We need to come up with a plan quickly."

Gao Jie frowned, his arms unconsciously crossed in front of his chest, pacing back and forth in the narrow dormitory corridor, his footsteps making a soft but hurried sound on the floor.

Every step felt like a question posed to this increasingly difficult problem.

Finally, he stopped, a resolute glint in his eyes:

"Now that things have developed to this point, we certainly can't just sit here and wait to die. If we just cowardly drag this out, we'll suffer a lot, and we won't even have a chance to fight back."

Enveloped in the tense atmosphere, Xu Rourou's drowsiness dissipated somewhat. She stretched out her slender fingers to rub her sore eyes, and it took a lot of effort to barely perk herself up.

Her voice was still a little soft and sweet, with a hint of sleepiness from just waking up:

"I understand what you two mean. In other words, the other side has obtained our relevant data and is plotting how to deal with us, right?"

She paused, gently brushed a stray hair behind her ear, and continued,

"Actually, I've encountered things like this before. In the past, although they were thrilling, at least we escaped unscathed. But this time is different. We have absolutely no idea at which crucial stage they'll make their move, and that's the most troublesome part. If we could detect their little tricks in advance, it would be much easier to deal with them. What do you think?"

After she finished speaking, she turned her gaze to Gao Jie.

Upon hearing this, Gao Jie stopped unconsciously fiddling with the hem of his clothes and fell into a brief moment of thought.

After a moment, he cleared his throat:

"If you want to hear my thoughts, then I'll just say it now."

We've been pushed to this point; appeasement and compromise are definitely not going to work, and there's no other room for negotiation. Why don't we strike first, seize the opportunity, and disrupt their carefully laid plans, throwing them into disarray? What do you think?

As Gao Jie spoke, he waved his arms dramatically, making a whooshing sound in the air, as if he could visualize the still somewhat vague plan in his mind as a series of clear and visible trajectories, so that others could see through it at a glance.

His eyes gleamed with a desperate resolve: "My meaning is simple: we must strike with the fastest speed and the fiercest force, like a raging storm, leaving them completely bewildered and disoriented! Then, won't the initiative be firmly in our hands? Once we seize the initiative, how can we not counter them?" As he spoke, Gao Jie's voice unconsciously rose a few decibels, his emotions growing increasingly agitated, and his cheeks flushed slightly from the rush of blood. After all, facing this thorny predicament, this plan, though risky, seemed to be the only way out with a glimmer of hope. "Besides, we've already come this far; what better way is there? Are we just going to wait to be manipulated?" Huang Xu, listening from the side, nodded rapidly like a woodpecker pecking at a tree, and hurriedly interjected:

"Yes, yes, yes, since things have come to this, I think we should do as Gao Jie says. Think about it, if we keep looking back and hesitating, like headless flies, what if we accidentally fall into someone's carefully set trap? Then we'll be completely finished, and we'll have nowhere to cry. We can't be so stupid as to drive ourselves to a dead end."

After a long, lively discussion, the group finally came up with a general strategy. This brainstorming session, however, brought on a wave of exhaustion. Overwhelmed by drowsiness, everyone decided to go back and rest to recharge.

Gao Jie dragged his body, which felt as heavy as lead and was filled with exhaustion, back to the dormitory step by step with difficulty. He had just plopped down on the edge of the bed and hadn't even had time to catch his breath when his phone rang sharply, which sounded particularly abrupt in the quiet dormitory.

He listlessly reached for his phone, swiped his fingers across the screen to unlock it, and saw that it was a message from Huang Muran.

Gao Jie quickly skimmed through the few lines of text. As he read, his brows furrowed, and his face was filled with disbelief. The message essentially expressed disagreement with the proposal he had just put forward, and the words carried an undeniable air of certainty.

Gao Jie was immediately filled with questions and began to wonder:

The girl was so sleepy back then that she could barely keep her eyes open, her head was nodding off, and it seemed like she wasn't even listening to me. How come she's suddenly speaking so eloquently and even offering her objections in a clear and logical manner? This change is too sudden.

In fact, although Huang Muran wasn't fully focused on the discussion at the time, her clever mind was far from idle, and she already had her own plans in mind.

She was perfectly aware of the thorny issues Gao Jie had mentioned.

Since they have made such thorough preparations and taken all necessary measures, they will inevitably take action against them sooner or later; no one can doubt that.

Given this situation, the only safest approach right now is to be extremely cautious and vigilant, leaving no opportunity for the other party to exploit.

Moreover, Huang Muran pondered that this matter was too far-reaching and too complex for the few students to handle alone. They needed to inform Principal David as soon as possible so that the experienced and well-connected principal could devise a solution. They just needed to wait obediently for the principal's instructions; acting rashly would only cause more trouble.

Gao Jie stared at his phone screen, his eyes unblinking, pondering it carefully for a long time.

To be honest, he didn't really agree with Huang Muran's idea. After all, this matter was complicated and tangled, like a knot of yarn that couldn't be untied. How could it be so simple to just hand it all over to the principal to handle?

But Huang Muran has already made his point clear, so it wouldn't be appropriate to avoid the topic and pretend we didn't see the news. It might even cause new conflicts.

After much deliberation, Gao Jie sighed heavily and reluctantly agreed for the time being. He tapped the screen a few times and replied with the word "Okay".

He casually tossed his phone onto his pillow, and sleepiness instantly overwhelmed Gao Jie like a surging tide. Before long, he fell into a deep sleep and drifted off to sleep.

Gao Jie was in a hazy sleep, not knowing how long he had been asleep, when suddenly he heard a faint sound of footsteps beside him. The sound was cautious, as if someone was tiptoeing past him with extreme care.

His taut nerves were instantly triggered, and he instinctively opened his eyes abruptly, a lingering sense of panic still present in them.

The person in front of him was Principal David. Before he could make a sound, the principal had already reached out and covered his mouth.

Davidra seemed surprised that Gao Jie would suddenly wake up, a hint of astonishment flashing across her face, but she quickly regained her composure.

He immediately put his finger to his lips, the movement quick and urgent, his eyes conveying an unyielding and intimidating force, signaling Gao Jie not to make a sound.

Immediately afterwards, David leaned slightly closer, almost touching Gao Jie's ear, his voice extremely low, carrying an undeniable air of authority, as if squeezed out from between his teeth:

"Come out here, I have something to tell you."

Gao Jie stared wide-eyed, utterly bewildered. His mind was a jumbled mess, completely confused. He couldn't understand what this sudden, inexplicable scene meant. Why was the principal suddenly here in the middle of the night, acting so mysteriously?

However, since the principal had spoken, he didn't dare to delay. He quickly scrambled to his feet, slipped on his slippers, and followed the principal out, still half asleep and groggy.

As soon as Gao Jie stepped out of the dormitory, he keenly sensed a low pressure rushing towards him, which made him shiver and his drowsiness instantly dissipated.

Principal Devil stood in the dimly lit corridor, his face contorted with rage, his eyes wide and bulging as if they were about to spew forth a raging fire.

"What were you and Huang Xu doing just now? I happened to see you two at the school gate. You were acting so suspiciously, you didn't do something you shouldn't have, did you?"

The principal's voice was filled with anger and warning; each word was like a heavy stone, making people's hearts tremble.

"Let me make this clear from the start: if you two betray the school, I will absolutely not let you off the hook, do you hear me?"

Gao Jie was bewildered by this series of sudden questions and became even more puzzled. He opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know where to start, so he could only stand there blankly.