Chapter 526: Lin Bin’s Experience

Lin Bin’s expression changed when he saw it was Liu Yutong, and he instinctively lowered his head, avoiding her gaze.

At last year’s high school reunion, he had once proclaimed with great ambition that he would become the most successful person in their class, that after graduation he would buy a luxury car with his own hard-earned money.

But now?

That ambition, that grand heroic spirit, was long gone.

All that remained was bleached hair, a cheap T-shirt, and fresh wounds on his arm from the fight just moments ago—he looked utterly wretched.

In contrast, Liu Yutong looked even more radiant than she had at their high school graduation.

“Lin Bin, long time no see,” Liu Yutong said.

Lin Bin ignored her and violently jerked his hand, trying to break free from Yun Cheng’s iron grip.

“Let go, dammit!”

Even using all his strength, he couldn’t break free—Yun Cheng’s grip was on an entirely different level.

“You hear me? Let me go!” Lin Bin struggled again, furious and humiliated.

Yun Cheng’s hand didn’t budge, his eyes fixed on Lin Bin with cold indifference.

“Let him go.”

Only when Liu Yutong spoke did Yun Cheng release his grip.

Lin Bin shot a glare at the stoic young man whose strength was monstrous, then without a word, turned and ran.

Yun Cheng started to give chase, but Fang Yaqiong stopped him.

“Don’t follow him. Let him go.”

Yun Cheng instinctively looked to his lady, and Liu Yutong nodded, signaling him to heed Fang Yaqiong’s words. He relented.

Watching Lin Bin disappear down the street without looking back, Liu Yutong couldn’t help but feel a pang of melancholy.

The change was simply too great.

In high school, Lin Bin had been the class heartthrob—clean-cut, with a scholarly air about him, the quintessential model student.

Zhao Zhu—the one Liu Yutong had sent to prison—had once pursued him.

Later, Lin Bin had also been admitted to a university here in South City. Along with him, Fang Yaqiong from their class and several other students from No.2 High School had also gotten into schools in the area.

Everyone had assumed these students from No.2 High School, Lin Bin included, would become the most successful of their cohort.

Yet barely a year later, Lin Bin was completely transformed—sporting non-mainstream bleached hair, ripped jeans, a T-shirt emblazoned with an ostentatious skull, and what looked like tattoos on his arms. He had become a full-blown street thug.

And that ferocity in his eyes moments ago was unmistakably the look of someone accustomed to brawling.

Besides, the relationship between Lin Bin and Fang Yaqiong seemed out of the ordinary.

As everyone knew, Liu Yutong had never been one for gossip.

“Yaqiong, what exactly happened? How did Lin Bin turn into… this?”

“Also, is there something going on between you two?”

The last time she and Fang Yaqiong had met, it was only a brief encounter with no time for a proper conversation.

Fang Yaqiong bit her lip, her eyes reddening again. Perhaps because she was with someone from her past, she didn’t hold back.

“Let’s talk on the way back. I need to get to campus.”

In truth, her earlier stubbornness had been for Lin Bin’s benefit; she had already been on her way back to school.

“Good. It’s been ages since I’ve gone for a stroll,” Liu Yutong replied, and it was no idle comment—she genuinely missed those days of wandering the streets.

Back in her village, she loved walking with her friends from the east end to the west end, back and forth. Someone would always have a phone with flashing lights, blasting downloaded DJ tracks, while the group chatted aimlessly until it was time to head home.

When she moved to the county town for school, she’d meet classmates on weekends to wander the streets and talk.

It wasn’t that they had nothing better to do—it was just how things were back then. Besides internet cafes, there weren’t many entertainment options, and mobile phones were little more than bricks that could make calls.

Fang Yaqiong hoisted her backpack and glanced again at the people behind Liu Yutong. “Should your friends head back first…?”

Yun Cheng immediately replied, “No need. We also enjoy a good stroll. Don’t worry about us.”

The two other Wanlong Society members also nodded.

Though Fang Yaqiong found it odd that Liu Yutong always had ‘friends’ tailing her, she didn’t give it much thought.

So she walked ahead with Liu Yutong and Gao Min, chatting as they made their way toward the university.

Yun Cheng and the two other young women followed behind them.

Further back, a Maybach and two vans with privacy tinting followed at a distance.

“Lin Bin’s parents also run a small business here—they’re, um… wholesalers for women’s underwear.”

Fang Yaqiong’s cheeks flushed slightly as she said this—after all, they had almost become her in-laws.

Neither Liu Yutong nor Gao Min reacted when they heard about Lin Bin’s parents’ business.

Money was money, after all. As long as it was earned legally, there was nothing to be ashamed of.

“Later, due to inventory issues, his parents ran into financial trouble and couldn’t repay a loan. To help his family settle the debt, Lin Bin was introduced to a job at a microloan company.”

“At first, he only worked customer service. But the boss saw he was sharp, so he got involved in the lending side. The commission was good, so he kept at it until… until that incident.”

“What incident?”

“About half a year ago, a female university student jumped from the top of the library. The investigation revealed she had taken out a campus loan from the company where Lin Bin worked.”

“When the police got involved, they discovered the company was engaged in illegal lending, and Lin Bin was implicated. He was detained for three months on suspicion of violent debt collection.”

“The university expelled him to quell the public outcry. Right after his release from detention, the girl’s family assaulted him. His boss, Tiger, also demanded he pay compensation—five hundred thousand yuan. After that, he seemed to transform completely, taking up smoking, drinking, fighting, falling into a life on the streets…”

Liu Yutong hadn’t realized Lin Bin had been through so much. No wonder the guy exuded such raw aggression.

“So this Tiger he mentioned earlier…”

“Tiger was the company’s boss. When his company was investigated, he had to pay the student’s family five hundred thousand yuan in compensation, and he passed that debt on to Lin Bin.”

Gao Min suddenly interjected with a frown, “Then why are you still working at that café? This has nothing to do with you. It’s dangerous for a young woman in a place like that. Don’t tell me you’re also in debt?”

Gao Min had seen plenty of cases where students fell into predatory lending through excessive spending—she had even handled several herself.

Countless had fallen into depravity when they couldn’t repay, and she held such students in deep contempt.

Of course, she despised the illegal loan companies even more—vultures that drove families to ruin.

Fang Yaqiong flinched at the question, an inexplicable nervousness washing over her, as if she were being interrogated by police.

“I… I don’t.”

“I just feel guilty… When I was sick and needed surgery, he helped me. He took care of me. I just want to save up some money to help pay off his debt.”

At this explanation, Liu Yutong and the others finally understood how the two had gotten involved.

“Does he know?”

Fang Yaqiong shook her head. “I never told him. And besides, we’ve broken up.”

“I thought breaking up with him would make him change for the better. I never imagined he’d just get worse.”

“No matter what, once the debt is paid, he and I will be square.”