Tang Manwen, a year older than Qin Zixin, was a second-year student at Nanling City First High School. Curiously, Tang Manwen bore a stronger resemblance to a younger Tang Yuyu than Qin Zixin did. While Qin Zixin hadn’t noticed this as a child, her cousin’s features had since matured, to the point where Qin Zixin occasionally mistook Tang Manwen’s back for her mother’s.
Though her looks and figure didn’t quite match Qin Zixin’s, Tang Manwen possessed a pure and elegant beauty that offered a distinct charm compared to Qin Zixin’s own alluring grace. Among their peers, she was undeniably a stunning beauty, a true standout. Tang Manwen’s figure was undeniably curvaceous, her ample C+ bust certainly made her stand out from the crowd. Coupled with her intellectual and gentle demeanor, she perfectly embodied the stereotype of a refined young lady from a scholarly family.
In truth, calling Tang Manwen part of a scholarly family wasn’t entirely wrong, considering novels and comic books are also books.
The speed of information flow in modern society was something ancient people could never have imagined; even the most learned women of antiquity couldn’t have conceived of the rapid iteration of postmodern societal thought.
Even setting aside her temperament, Tang Manwen’s outward physical attributes alone marked her as a goddess-tier beauty, one in ten thousand. Even by Qin Zixin’s memories from her ‘previous life,’ only two of her many confidantes could rival Tang Manwen’s top-tier, exceptional quality.
Before Qin Zixin attended Nanling Experimental High School, Tang Manwen was widely regarded by the boys of Nanling First High as their dream girl, with candid photos of her frequently circulating on Nanling Experimental High’s BBS.
Descending the elevator, Qin Zixin spotted Tang Manwen standing at the community entrance from afar. Her cousin was wearing the Nanling First High uniform today, and Qin Zixin, seeing her, skipped over, waving enthusiastically as she ran.
Nanling First High’s uniforms were significantly more attractive than Nanling Experimental High’s. For boys, the summer attire consisted of a short-sleeved shirt and trousers, while spring and autumn wear featured long-sleeved shirts, baseball jackets, and thicker trousers. Winter brought long-sleeved flannel shirts, wool vests, fleece-lined baseball jackets, and fleece-lined trousers. This was a clever trick, a shell game of sorts; to differentiate them, the spring/autumn and winter uniforms merely varied in color. Girls, however, only had a different summer uniform from the boys, swapping trousers for a mid-length skirt. Just these three sets of uniforms could easily cost a student a thousand to two thousand yuan as a base price. Sometimes, for school events, Nanling First High would even mandate students wear their uniforms.
In contrast, Nanling Experimental High was far more relaxed in this regard. Their uniform cost a mere 31.5 yuan per set, a simple nylon tracksuit design. It was so atrociously ugly that even prison jumpsuits looked more fashionable by comparison.
But it was cheap! The school didn’t even insist that students buy it. If one forewent the plastic packaging, they could even save another fifty cents.
Such clothing had virtually no sizing issues; a six-foot-tall boy could barely squeeze into an S-size, and an XXXL-size would also fit. It was already ugly enough, so an ill-fitting size could hardly make it any uglier.
One could only say that compared to Nanling Experimental High, Nanling First High’s principal clearly had a knack for making money, with a constant flow of students ensuring a steady stream of income.
The good news, however, was that the First High principal’s conscience hadn’t completely rotted away; the quality, workmanship, and style of the uniforms provided to students were still decent.
At least, they looked quite pretty on Tang Manwen.
The white short-sleeved women’s shirt, adorned with the school badge, further enhanced her scholarly air. Combined with Tang Manwen’s intellectual aura, she looked like a beautiful girl straight out of a campus anime, truly a feast for the eyes, making Qin Zixin’s finger twitch with playful hunger.
She flashed her characteristic mischievous grin, quickly closing in on Tang Manwen. One delicate hand wrapped around Tang Manwen’s slender waist, not-so-innocently caressing up and down, like a lecherous extra in a TV drama destined to die within three minutes.
“Well, well, little lady, all alone? How about you keep this big brother company for some exciting little games?”
Qin Zixin comically mimicked the ‘bad boy’ smirk of male actors from the Mary Sue dramas she’d watched. Or at least, she thought she was smirking. However, on her exquisitely beautiful and enchanting features, it simply didn’t convey the intended effect; she was utterly unsuited for such an expression. At that moment, she looked more like a mischievous kitten that had just shattered a teacup, now proudly observing its owner from the sidelines—adorably naive, yet utterly deserving of a smack, the quintessential impish grin of a ‘femme fatale’ child.
Tang Manwen, somewhat ticklish, deftly caught Qin Zixin’s wandering hand. Qin Zixin’s hands were exquisitely small and delicate; even by female standards, Tang Manwen’s hands were refined, yet she could easily grasp Qin Zixin’s entire hand. Squeezing Qin Zixin’s hand, she secretly marveled at the incredibly soft, boneless feel of the mischievous girl’s palm, unable to resist a gentle rub. Qin Zixin tried to pull away but failed, feeling a little abashed, though she didn’t let it show, continuing her bluster.
“Little lady, you’re far too forward. I’m a traditional man, and I didn’t bring any money today, so I won’t be ordering anything ‘exciting’… Mmph.”
Seeing that the rascal was still spouting nonsense, Tang Manwen wasn’t annoyed in the slightest. Before the impish girl could finish, she hooked her arm around Qin Zixin’s long, graceful neck. Qin Zixin lost her balance, and her astonishingly plump, firm, and towering breasts collided full-on with Tang Manwen’s body, quivering precariously.
Tang Manwen’s arm, still around Qin Zixin’s neck, lowered, her hand naturally settling on Qin Zixin’s chest. Even the finest silken tofu couldn’t compare to its tenderness; her touch kneaded one of Qin Zixin’s breasts, while her other hand pinched Qin Zixin’s cheeks, contorting her face into various comical expressions.
“You naughty girl, you’re a high school student now, can’t you be a bit more serious? The moment we meet, you start with these strange remarks. I wonder who you learned them from.”
Tang Manwen, after all, was not some promiscuous little succubus. Even when she was unguarded with Qin Zixin, she wouldn’t speak so carelessly, unlike a certain scoundrel.
The strange sensation from her chest being kneaded by her cousin for only a few seconds brought a flush to Qin Zixin’s cheeks, and a soft gasp escaped her rose-red lips. Having finally escaped the ‘demonic clutches,’ her fair, jade-like face was tinged with an unnatural blush, and her breathing quickened.
In just a few short seconds, Qin Zixin had already felt something.
“Oh, it was all Qin Zhifeng who taught me! He’s finished his internship, so he told us to head to Anji Lake first.”
Tang Manwen had made plans with Qin Zixin several days before the holiday to visit Anji Lake National Forest Park, even roping in their cousin, Qin Zhifeng.
Qin Zixin hitched a ride on her cousin’s student pass and boarded the subway. Tang Manwen lived quite far from school, usually commuting by subway. Her home was on Zhongshan West Road in Zhonglou District, almost on the city’s outskirts. A bus ride on route 322 would take over two hours, but the subway only took about thirty minutes.
Anji Lake was only somewhat known in the vicinity of Nanling City.
The entire lake wasn’t very large, but it was exceptionally deep. Its clear waters, under the sunlight, shimmered with a dark emerald glow, profound and shadowy, like a portal to another dimension—a description that was, in fact, not entirely inaccurate.
Anji Lake was encircled by mountains, with a tributary of the Huishan River from Lu Province feeding into its northern side. The lake’s waters wound down from a western mountain pass, dispersing into the dense network of rivers and streams on Nanling City’s western side, making it almost a natural dam. For some unknown reason, the fish caught in this lake were yellow, especially the carp, which were plump, large, and had gleaming yellow flesh.
Nanling City was surrounded by mountains on three sides and bordered the Guang River.
From a feng shui perspective, the Chinese dragon veins originated from the Kunlun Mountains, branching into three main trunks and twenty-four smaller veins. Rivers served as meridians, and water as blood. With mountains high and water low, the central trunk, the Guang River, was considered the most noble, followed by the northern and then the southern trunk. It was precisely for this reason that Nanling had served as the capital for countless dynasties throughout history. Yet, paradoxically, the dynasties that made Nanling their capital all proved to be short-lived.
Before 2005, Anji Lake, though designated a protected area, was for the children of Nanling City more a source of countless eerie legends. Due to Nanling’s mountainous and watery terrain and its numerous historical sites, one could almost unearth a grand tomb by simply digging a little dirt. The Anji Lake area was practically enveloped by ancient tombs.
Moreover, tales of water ghosts claiming lives at Anji Lake had persisted. Before 2005, only fishermen and wild swimmers ventured there, and occasionally, people would die. Anji Lake’s water was chillingly cold and deceptively calm, yet it harbored treacherous undercurrents. Those who couldn’t swim would disappear after just a few struggles, their bloated bodies typically found on the shallow banks downstream from the western outlet.
News of disappearances near Anji Lake was also common in the neighboring Tangshan area. Only a few of the missing were ever found, and even then, their bodies were often mutilated and disfigured, floating to the surface.
The Qin family’s old ancestral home was in a mountain village next to these shallow banks. When Qin Zixin returned to her hometown as a child, her greatest anticipation was for Tang Yuyu to take her there to fish for yellow catfish. These fish were palm-sized and made a sound when pulled from the water. They made delicious soup, with no fishy odor. Locals also called them ‘yellow mud workers,’ and in some places, ‘yellow duck callers.’
Tang Manwen had arranged to go with a boy. He was also from Nanling First High, named Liu Wenjin—the second-generation heir who had been relentlessly pursuing her cousin. He was already at the Anji Lake Park station.
Qin Zixin had known about this guy for a while. When she first found out, she was a little displeased, feeling a strange possessiveness, as if someone was coveting something that was hers.
Qin Zixin had met Liu Wenjin before and had an average impression of him. He was an unremarkable chubby boy, circling her cousin like a fly around a butterfly. At that time, Qin Zixin was only in her third year of junior high, her figure not yet fully developed, only appearing slimmer and more slender than the ‘stick figures’ around her. Yet, even then, Liu Wenjin’s eyes had fixated on Qin Zixin.
She saw in him a trait common to most men: lust. Other boys would mostly turn red and stammer in her presence, unable to string together a complete sentence. But Liu Wenjin was different; despite his ordinary appearance, he could chat eloquently with her, and afterward, even in front of her cousin, he had brazenly asked for her contact information.
Even after less than half an hour of interaction, she had already caught the scent of her own kind—the arrogant stench of a scoundrel.