Chapter Four: The Honest Trap

“Pei Zhao won’t stop after one loss,” she said. “Once you enroll tomorrow, refuse every cognitive assessment.” No equation. “You know the Observation Court.” “I once selected children for them.” Her voice remained steady. “Su Mi was the last one I failed to save.” Across the lot, Su Mi sat atop a dead bus, swinging her legs as though she had always known how this conversation would end. Lin Yan finally understood that he had not just stumbled into this war. His competition, his poverty, his gift—even his mother’s seventeen years driving nights—might all be conditions written by someone else. But today, the conditions had not determined the answer. He put the admission papers in his bag. “Then we start with their school.”