The underground parking lot of the Central Hospital was cold and damp, the fluorescent lights flickering with a low, ominous hum.
**Vera** sat in the passenger seat of the Lin family's luxury van, her hands still trembling. She held the payment receipt for five hundred thousand dollars as if it were a bomb that might explode at any moment.
"Vivian," Vera whispered, her voice tight with fear. "Where did she get this? Five hundred thousand... that's not a small amount. Even for us, it requires liquidating assets. How does a high school student have access to this kind of cash?"
In the back seat, **Madam Vivian** was furiously touching up her lipstick in a compact mirror. Her reflection showed a woman trying desperately to maintain her composure, but the cracks were beginning to show. The humiliation of the last hour—the lawyer, the black card, the cold dismissal—burned inside her like acid.
"Don't be naive, Vera," Vivian snapped, snapping the compact shut with a loud click. "Think about it. She has no job. She has no inheritance from her father. She comes from the countryside. There is only one way a girl like that gets her hands on a black card with an international limit."
Vera turned around, her eyes wide. "You mean..."
"That car," Vivian hissed, her eyes narrowing. "The black sedan with the red-lettered Capital license plate. We saw it. We saw the man inside. He's powerful, yes. But do you think he's giving her money out of the goodness of his heart?"
Vivian let out a cruel, knowing laugh. "Men like that don't give away half a million dollars for free. It's dirty money, Vera. It's transaction money. Your daughter has sold herself to a powerful man in the Capital. That's why she's so arrogant. That's why she doesn't need us."
Vera slumped back in her seat, feeling a wave of nausea. The explanation made sense in a twisted, horrible way. It was easier to believe that Ren was morally corrupt than to accept that she was independently wealthy or powerful.
"She's ruined," Vera murmured, tearing the receipt into pieces. "If word gets out..."
"Let her be ruined," Vivian said coldly. "The Lin family cannot be associated with that kind of scandal. From now on, we focus on **Faye**. She is our only hope."
Vivian leaned forward, her eyes gleaming with ambition. "I received news from the Capital this morning. **Master Wei**, the legendary violinist, is coming to Moon City. He is looking for a final disciple. Faye has just passed her Grade 9 exam with distinction. If she can become Master Wei's student... the Lin family will rise to the top of the social ladder. We won't need to worry about Ren or her dirty money ever again."
Vera nodded slowly, a spark of hope returning to her eyes. Yes. Faye was clean. Faye was talented. Faye was the daughter she could be proud of.
***
While the Lin women were constructing their castle of delusions, **Ren** was sitting in a private room at a high-end restaurant, completely unaware that she had been labeled a "fallen woman."
The restaurant was hidden in a quiet alley, known only to the city's elite. The decor was minimalist and elegant, smelling of sandalwood and tea.
Ren had taken off her windbreaker, revealing a simple white t-shirt that hung loosely on her frame. She was slumped in her chair, looking bored as she picked at a plate of stir-fried vegetables with her left hand.
Across from her, **Alpha Juan** was serving soup. He moved with an elegance that made the simple act look like a tea ceremony. He placed a bowl of slow-cooked bone broth in front of her.
"Drink," Juan said. His voice was low, rumbling through the quiet room. "It has collagen. Good for the tendons."
Ren wrinkled her nose. "I hate carrots."
"I didn't ask," Juan replied calmly, picking up a piece of carrot she had discarded and putting it back into her bowl. "Eat it."
**Luke**, who was sitting to the side, watched this interaction with wide eyes. He was holding his phone, scrolling through the school forum which was still buzzing about the mysterious "God-Tier Notebook."
"Hey, Boss," Luke said, breaking the silence. "You won't believe this. That kid **Xavier**—the Student Council President—just posted a bounty on the forum. He's offering ten thousand dollars for information on the author of the physics notebook Ren gave to Lily. He says the derivation method for the angular momentum problem is 'revolutionary' and 'beyond the scope of current academic publishing'."
Luke laughed, shaking his head. "Ten thousand bucks. These rich kids are crazy. Ren, who wrote that thing anyway? You said it was a neighbor?"
Ren was chewing on a carrot with an expression of pure misery. She swallowed and pointed her chopsticks at Juan.
"Him," Ren said.
Luke froze. He looked at Ren, then slowly turned his head to look at Juan.
Juan was calmly wiping his hands with a warm towel. He didn't deny it. He just looked at Luke with a raised eyebrow.
"You..." Luke stammered. "You wrote high school physics notes? You? The man who performs heart surgery for fun and negotiates international trade deals before breakfast? You sat down and wrote homework for a teenager?"
Juan took a sip of tea. "She was going to fail."
"But... the handwriting!" Luke sputtered. "Xavier said it looked like a calligraphy master's work! He said the logic was god-tier!"
"It was messy," Ren interjected, taking another sip of soup. "I told him to write neater next time. Lily complained that she couldn't read the 'Q'."
Luke dropped his phone on the table. He stared at Juan as if he had grown a second head. The feared Warlord of the Capital, the Alpha whom everyone was terrified of, had been criticized by a high school girl for his handwriting on a physics assignment. And he had taken it.
"I feel like the world is ending," Luke whispered to himself. "The universe is broken."
Juan ignored him. He peeled a shrimp and placed it in Ren's bowl. "Master Wei arrives tomorrow," he said casually. "The city is going to be crowded. Don't go running around."
***
The mention of Master Wei made Ren pause.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. A short, sharp buzz.
She pulled it out. There was a new message from a contact saved simply as **"Old Man"**.
*[Old Man: Brat. I'm in Moon City. I heard you're playing high school student? Stop wasting time and come see me. I brought the 1715 Stradivarius. You need to tune it.]*
Ren rolled her eyes. She typed back with one hand.
*[Ren: Busy. School. Don't bother me.]*
A second later, the phone buzzed again.
*[Old Man: School?! You? Don't make me laugh. If you don't come out, I'm coming to your school. I'll drag you out by your ear. Also, I brought roast duck from the Capital. Your favorite.]*
Ren stared at the screen. The legendary **Master Wei**, the man the entire classical music world revered as a god, was currently trying to bribe her with roast duck.
"Who is it?" Juan asked. He had noticed the change in her expression—a mix of annoyance and familiarity.
"A spam caller," Ren lied smoothly, sliding the phone back into her pocket. "Trying to sell me insurance."
Juan glanced at her pocket, then back at her face. He didn't believe her for a second. He knew exactly who was coming to town, and he knew that Ren's violin case had been sitting in his study for weeks, untouched but perfectly maintained.
"If the 'spam caller' bothers you," Juan said, his eyes glinting with amusement, "I can have their number blocked. Permanently."
"No need," Ren said quickly, picking up her spoon. "I'll handle it."
***
The next morning, the atmosphere at Wolven High was electric. The news had broken: **Master Wei** was indeed in Moon City, and he was holding an exclusive salon at the City Concert Hall that evening.
It wasn't a public concert. It was an invitation-only event for the elite, a chance for the Master to scout for a potential disciple.
**Faye** walked through the hallways like a queen. In her hand, she held a thick, cream-colored envelope with gold embossing. It was the invitation.
"Oh my god, Faye!" her friends squealed, crowding around her desk. "Is that real? You're actually going to meet Master Wei?"
"My mother pulled some strings," Faye said modestly, though her voice was loud enough for half the class to hear. "It's just an audition. Nothing is guaranteed. But my teacher says Master Wei is looking for someone with 'spiritual resonance'. I hope I can show him that."
She glanced toward the back of the room. Ren was asleep on her desk, her hoodie pulled up over her head.
Faye felt a surge of triumph. This was it. The Speech Contest was just a game. Physics was just a subject. But the violin? That was art. That was high society. That was the ticket to a world Ren could never enter.
"Poor Ren," Faye whispered to her friend, loud enough to be overheard. "She doesn't even know who Master Wei is. She's just... sleeping her life away."
"Well, not everyone can be like you, Faye," her friend said. "You're going to be a star."
Faye smiled, clutching the invitation to her chest. She could already see it: the applause, the fame, the look of envy on Ren's face when she returned as the chosen disciple of the violin god.
Little did she know, the "God" she worshipped was currently sitting in a black van parked two streets away from the school, wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, frantically texting Ren.
*[Old Man: I'm outside. I see a lot of students. Which one is you? If you don't come out in five minutes, I'm going to start playing the violin on the roof of the van.]*
Ren's phone buzzed against the wood of her desk. She groaned, shifting her head. She pulled the phone out under the desk and typed a reply.
*[Ren: If you play one note, I will break your bow. Meet me at the back gate in ten minutes. And bring the duck.]*
She put the phone away and stood up.
"Bathroom," Ren announced to no one in particular.
She walked out of the classroom, past Faye and her adoring crowd. Faye watched her go with a sneer.
"Probably going to smoke," Faye muttered. "Disgusting."
She didn't see Ren slip out the back exit of the school. She didn't see the black van waiting there. And she certainly didn't see the legendary Master Wei, the man she dreamed of impressing, practically jumping out of the vehicle to hand a greasy bag of takeout food to the "disgusting" girl in the school uniform.
The gap between Faye's dream and Ren's reality was not just a chasm; it was an entire universe. And tonight, at the salon, those two universes were about to collide.
**[Chapter 37 End]**