When going to school the next afternoon, Tao Jing suddenly showed up. She said she wanted to have dinner with them and asked them to wait a while before going home.
Normally, Tao Jing was extremely busy. Although they didn't know what she was up to, they never saw her after school. So her sudden invitation for dinner felt a bit strange.
However, the two kids didn't think too much about it. After all, Tao Jing said that as the host, she hadn't treated them to a meal for so long, and this dinner was like a welcome feast.
It was impossible for Miaomiao and the others to decline such a warm invitation, so they readily agreed.
In the evening, Tao Jing, who was usually straightforward, was dawdling and showed up more than ten minutes late, which was even weirder.
But they didn't dwell on it, thinking that she might have been delayed by something. But as soon as they got out of the school gate, Tao Jing had another issue.
"Ah, wait for me. accompany me back to get something. I think I left my exercise book behind," Tao Jing suddenly exclaimed.
Miaomiao and Wei Ziqi looked at each other in confusion. Tao Jing didn't seem like a forgetful person.
Even if she had forgotten something, why did she need them to go back with her?
"Okay, then we'll go with you," Miaomiao, a kind - hearted girl who always said yes to her friends' requests, readily agreed.
Wei Ziqi always felt something was off. He carefully observed Tao Jing's expression.
Actually, from the first time he met Tao Jing, Wei Ziqi thought this girl was not ordinary. She was really good at managing her facial expressions. She didn't seem like a kid at all, but rather an overly mature person.
But sometimes her actions were really childish, like competing for favor with Ruhe and Cheng Ruan.
Sure enough, Tao Jing hid her emotions well. If Wei Ziqi hadn't been paying close attention, he wouldn't have noticed the nervousness revealed by her tightly pursed lips.
What was Tao Jing so nervous about?
"Wait for me a sec. My shoelace is untied," Wei Ziqi deliberately stopped the two of them and crouched down to slowly tie the shoelace he had deliberately stepped on and untied.
He kept observing Tao Jing's expression from the corner of his eye.
Sure enough, he finally spotted something fishy. Tao Jing's eyes kept darting towards a corner at the school gate.
Wei Ziqi slowly stood up and said, "Okay, let's go."
Not knowing what Tao Jing was hiding, Wei Ziqi took advantage of the moment when they were walking back to the teaching building and looked back in the direction where Tao Jing's eyes had been wandering.
What he saw really shocked him.
At the corner of the school gate, he saw a boy and a girl. Maybe they felt his intense gaze, and they both turned their heads.
These two were none other than Shao Rong, who had always been mean to Miaomiao before, and Han Shuo, who had tried every means to get close to Miaomiao.
These two had been missing for a long time, but they left a deep impression on Wei Ziqi. Even though nearly ten years had passed and they had grown up a lot, he still recognized them at a glance.
Just as he saw them, they also noticed him.
A look of surprise flashed across Han Shuo's face, while there was an inexplicable excitement in Shao Rong's eyes.
He bet that Shao Rong's excitement was not because of Miaomiao, but because of him.
When had he ever offended this Shao Rong?
Wei Ziqi was quite puzzled and had no idea what Shao Rong was so excited about.
But he was more concerned about why Tao Jing made up an excuse to go back to the teaching building and deliberately avoid these two people after seeing them.
Logically speaking, Tao Jing didn't know Miaomiao when these two got into trouble. And so much time had passed, and no one had ever mentioned this to her. But Tao Jing seemed to know everything and deliberately led them to avoid these two.
He knew that Tao Jing came from a wealthy family and had a certain status in the capital. But if she had really investigated Miaomiao, Lin Yao would definitely have noticed.
Lin Yao had never mentioned Tao Jing when they came here, which meant that Tao Jing had never investigated Miaomiao.
Something was off...
Everything was off...
Whether it was Tao Jing's reaction or her actions, there was something deliberate about them.
Wei Ziqi suddenly had a bold guess.
Maybe Tao Jing was also reborn?
So far, among the reborn people, whether it was Lin Yao, Shao Rong, or Han Shuo, they all had a great connection with Miaomiao.
But the previous deception made Lin Yao always think that he was also reborn, so he never mentioned what Miaomiao had experienced before the rebirth.
To figure out the whole thing, he might have to start with the relatively friendly Tao Jing.
Wei Ziqi calmly turned his head, acting as if he had never known those two people before. He was thinking about how to get information from her and dig out the secrets of these reborn people.
After accompanying Tao Jing back and coming out of the school gate again, Shao Rong and Han Shuo had disappeared.
Wei Ziqi could clearly feel that Tao Jing let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed his guess was right. Tao Jing might really be a reborn person and knew all about the feud between Miaomiao and those two.
But haste makes waste. Wei Ziqi temporarily put his doubts aside and planned to talk to Lin Yao when he got back and then make a plan.
The dinner was quite pleasant. After they got out of the school gate, Tao Jing's words and actions returned to normal. When they were about to part ways, she repeatedly told them not to forget her birthday party the day after tomorrow.
When they got back to the dormitory in the research institute, the express delivery from Lin Yao had also arrived.
The gift was a delicate hairpin, and the diamonds inlaid on it proved its high value.
Wei Ziqi suddenly realized that girls generally liked shiny jewelry. Choosing this kind of thing as a gift was a safe choice, neither outstanding nor wrong.
It was the weekend the next day. Wei Ziqi and Miaomiao had made an appointment to go out together to pick a gift for Tao Jing. Since the thing Lin Yao sent only came in an express box and a delicate wrapper, not a special gift box, Miaomiao also needed to buy a gift box to wrap the present.
After getting back to the dormitory, Wei Ziqi immediately called Lin Yao.
"Uncle Lin, there might be a problem here. I ran into Shao Rong and Han Shuo," Wei Ziqi said.
"Where did you meet them?" The voice on the phone sounded quite surprised, which meant that Lin Yao didn't know where these two were either.
"At school. But Miaomiao didn't see them. They seem to be in the same school as us. Maybe we only have half - day classes and missed the time when we could meet them, so we just happened to see them today," Wei Ziqi explained.
"Keep an eye on them like you did when you were kids. If they do anything suspicious, report to me at any time. My phone will be on 24/7 from now on. If you need any help, just call me. Although I'm not as well - connected in the capital as in Nancheng, I still have some friends I can rely on," Lin Yao said.
"Okay, I understand."