Turning over a couple more pages, his expression became increasingly grave, and a deep sense of amazement flickered in his eyes.
"Did you write this?" The principal, having a background in finance himself, naturally could gauge the depth of this paper with a single glance.
Xia Mian nodded, "From the day I enrolled, I wanted to graduate early. After all, there's a company at home that needs me to go back and manage."
Xia Mian smiled slightly, politely and yet not overly ingratiatingly, expressing her desire to graduate early once more.
This time, the principal did not refuse her again, "I'll consider your suggestion. I'll gather a few veteran professors from the finance department to come up with a topic, and if you can complete it smoothly, I might make an exception for you."
Xia Mian received a satisfactory response, stood up smiling, "Then I'll thank the principal in advance."
After speaking, Xia Mian handed over a gift box, "I heard the principal enjoys tea. It just so happens that there's a tea brick at home, principal, why don't you try it and see if you like it."
Xia Mian handed over the gift box and left, not waiting for the principal to refuse.
When seeking favors, one can't rely only on sweet words; Xia Mian understood this principle well.
After leaving the principal's office, Xia Mian still didn't go to class.
Song Juan was home alone, and last night she had another unpleasant conflict with Xia Jianguo. She was worried that Xia Jianguo would continue to act foolishly.
She originally was going to hail a car home, but after waiting for ages, she failed to catch one.
Just as Xia Mian was feeling disappointed, a silver van slowly stopped in front of her.
The van's windows were tinted black, making it impossible to see inside from the outside. Xia Mian frowned slightly, raising her guard internally.
The van's window slowly rolled down, revealing a young face, "Miss, where are you going? Need a lift?"
Xia Mian coldly refused, "There's no need."
But just as she rejected them, three or four tall and burly men got out of the van, and without a word, covered Xia Mian's mouth with a cloth. Xia Mian caught a faint whiff of something, and her mind went blank for a moment.
Chloroform! Xia Mian narrowed her eyes, already piecing things together in her mind. So Xia Jianguo's foolish move was targeting her... Well then...
Xia Mian held her breath, pretended to be unconscious, and gave up struggling, letting them drag her onto the van.
The van sped away.
Not far away, sitting in a black Mercedes, Uncle Sun murmured, "Young master, that girl looks just like the one we encountered the other day..."
Lu Zechuan, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them at this remark, "Xia Mian?"
"Some people just dragged her onto a car..." Uncle Sun continued, "Should we get involved?"
Without thinking, Lu Zechuan immediately answered, "Follow them!"
Uncle Sun responded, started the car, and chased after the van.
While driving, he muttered, "Young master, we've been having bad luck with cars lately. This is our third car from the garage. One more accident and we'll run out of cars to drive..."
Lu Zechuan's look silenced Uncle Sun immediately.
Although they've been in a few accidents recently, aside from the cars being slightly damaged, the people have been unharmed.
"The master told me to do good deeds." Lu Zechuan's voice floated lazily, with a mischievous yet magnetic note.
"And young master plans to do good deeds for just this one person?" Uncle Sun teased recklessly.
Lu Zechuan leaned lazily against the car seat, "Isn't it right to help such a lovely young lady?"
Uncle Sun was left with nothing to say.
Was that Xia Mian really lovely?
At eighteen, she should have been innocent and naïve, yet he always felt that there was something peculiar about her.
While saying this, the corner of Lu Zechuan's eye caught sight of the rabbit hair tie on his wrist. Originally, the small rabbit was delicate and cute, but now there were three cracks on it.
And he had just encountered three car accidents since yesterday.
Inside the van, Xia Mian was bound hand and foot, her eyes covered, and her mouth stuffed with ragged cloth.
The back seats of the van had been removed, and several burly men in black surrounded Xia Mian.
"Call her mother!" the leader commanded, his voice filled with uncontrollable excitement, "I heard her family is quite rich! We've caught a big fish this time!"
Someone pulled out Xia Mian's phone, unlocked it using her fingerprint, and called Song Juan.
Xia Mian remained silent, quietly watching them perform their charade in front of her.
These kidnappers surely weren't merely after money!
Her foolish father must have completely lost his mind!
The vehicle swayed left and right, soon leaving the city limits, reaching an abandoned factory in the suburbs.
The van stopped, the door was pulled open, and they dragged Xia Mian off the vehicle and into the factory.
"Boss, this chick isn't bad-looking," someone commented with bad intentions.
"There's no rush. Once her mother comes to ransom her, and we get the money, you can do whatever you want," the leader settled into a chair and asked casually, "When will her mother arrive?"
"Should be soon. We called her half an hour ago, warning her not to call the police and to come alone, or we'd kill the girl," someone replied.
Xia Mian listened quietly as the gang freely discussed her life and death, yet inside, she remained unperturbed.
In a daze, it seemed as if she was back in her past life, sold out by Xia Jianguo and Han Xi, taken to that dark, damp underground factory's operating table, where all her organs were harvested, all her blood drained, dying in excruciating pain!
The pain she experienced was something she could never forget, not even through traversing the Three Thousand Worlds!
This time, no one would dare to lay a finger on her again!
Xia Mian quietly lay on the ground, her fingers slowly drawing a peculiar shape on the floor.
As her fingers finished inscribing the talisman, the temperature inside the abandoned factory plummeted suddenly.
"Boss, don't you feel... a bit cold?" one of the underlings wrapped his arms around himself, goosebumps erupting all over his body, unable to stop his teeth from chattering.
The leader scolded him, "Cold, my ass! It's just the start of autumn, no way you're freezing to death!"
The group fell silent.
However, the silence was temporary.
Another five minutes later, more people began to shiver uncontrollably, the sound of chattering teeth reverberating throughout the abandoned factory.
"Boss, this place is too creepy, why don't we wait outside..."
"Yeah boss, I heard people died here before in this factory!"
"That's right, I heard the same, a fire once burned over ten workers here..."
With everyone chiming in, even the leader couldn't sit still, "Shut up, all of you! Keep talking nonsense, and I'll cut out your tongues!"
The group fell silent again.
This silence only lasted a minute before someone screamed in terror, face pale, rolling and crawling, trying to flee the abandoned factory.
Strangely, before he reached the main exit, the doors slammed shut on their own.
The double doors collided with a resounding thud, echoing like thunder in the vast emptiness.
Everyone's nerves were strung tight.
They sought wealth, not death in this place!