HBWMA -Chapter 185 Secret Garden

Su Miao, afraid that Jiang Huashan—the slippery “flower fish”—would sneak away, kept a tight grip on her hand the entire way, not daring to loosen even for a second.

Jiang Huashan whined theatrically all the way, until she finally gave up and said with a deadpan expression, “Where are you going? The parking lot is over there, isn’t it?”

If they left through the parking lot, they would inevitably alert the Su family. Su Miao didn’t intend to do that for now, but she also didn’t want to explain too much. She only said lightly, “Do you think something this small needs that much effort?”

“Handle it yourself? How? If you don’t leave through the parking lot, you can’t even get out of the school gate.”

Yucai’s rules clearly stated that students were not allowed to leave campus during class hours. This applied especially to wealthy heirs and heiresses. But this rule was actually meant to protect them—if any young master or miss from a major financial family snuck out and something happened, the school would bear enormous responsibility.

So, only vehicles marked with a family insignia were allowed to openly exit through the parking lot.

Su Miao glanced at her. “Not necessarily.”

With that, the two of them arrived at the art building beside the flower beds.

Jiang Huashan asked, “What are we doing here?”

“Why ask so many questions? Just follow me,” Su Miao said, pulling her into the elevator and pressing the number 6 with practiced ease.

Jiang Huashan looked around and noticed a surveillance camera in the elevator, its red light flickering faintly. She tilted her head and gave it a sweet, friendly smile.

“Ding—”

The elevator opened. Su Miao dragged Jiang Huashan to a pair of glass double doors. The glass was frosted in a liquid-like texture, making it impossible to see inside.

Jiang Huashan poked it. “It’s locked.”

Su Miao ignored her, opened a control panel on the wall, and entered a few numbers. A soft beep sounded—the lock released.

“Let’s go,” Su Miao signaled, pushing the door open and walking in.

The moment Jiang Huashan stepped inside, she froze.

The space inside was far larger than she had imagined. The decor style was bizarre and disjointed, like reality and a dream had been forcibly split apart. A long corridor stretched through the center, with rooms on both sides. The partitions were glass—some completely transparent, others covered with black velvet curtains.

In the central hall, there was a shared lounge area: a bar, swimming pool, gaming pods, sofas, arcade machines, racing setups, and even a boxing ring—all kinds of entertainment that had nothing in common crammed into one space.

“Why are you standing there? Keep up,” Su Miao urged.

She clearly wasn’t new here and led the way with ease. Jiang Huashan curiously observed the rooms on both sides—some were karaoke rooms, some were cinemas. The most absurd of all were SPA rooms and even foot baths.

How could something like this exist in a school?

And the key point—she had lived two lifetimes and was only finding out now.

In the central hall, many students were present, boys and girls mixed together, having a wild time.

A group of boys’ eyes lit up the moment they saw Jiang Huashan and rushed over. Su Miao was somewhat loyal and immediately stepped in front of her.

“Get lost.”

The boys weren’t so easily deterred. Girls who came here were either there to play others—or to be played. And someone this beautiful? They had to get her first.

“No invitation? A newbie? Let big brothers take you around and have some fun?”

Jiang Huashan peeked out from behind Su Miao, curious. “How do you play?”

“……”

The boys were struck so hard by her cuteness they nearly short-circuited, swallowing hard.

“How do you want to—”

Su Miao said coldly, “She’s from the Shen family. I’m from the Su family. Who exactly do you think you’re trying to play with?”

Su family? Shen family?!

The boys’ expressions instantly changed. They stepped back in panic and raised their hands.

“W-we were just joking.”

Su Miao said flatly, “Now get lost.”

The boys’ expressions turned awkward as they retreated back to their original spots in embarrassment.

“Hey, don’t leave yet—you still haven’t said how…” Jiang Huashan started.

“Shut up!” Su Miao’s eyelid twitched violently as she clamped a hand over her mouth. “Do you even have any awareness of your own face? Let me tell you, everyone here is trash. Even with the Shen family backing you, it’s not guaranteed someone won’t be crazy enough to mess with you.”

Jiang Huashan pulled her hand away. “What is this place? How does the school even have something like this? Why did you bring me here?”

Su Miao, “Are you done yet? So many questions.”

Jiang Huashan darkened her expression and turned around. “Then I’ll go ask them.”

“Come back!” Su Miao groaned in headache and dragged her back. Lowering her voice, she said, “This is Yucai’s Secret Playground. I heard it was built long ago because the patriarchs of wealthy families were worried their kids would go out and get corrupted, so they created a place in the school just for entertainment.”

“But later it changed. It’s not just nobles who can come now—good-looking common students can also enter.”

Jiang Huashan nodded. “Oh, so this is the difference between the ones being played and the ones doing the playing?”

Su Miao glanced at her. “Stay with me later and don’t wander off. People here even take drugs. If you run into some lunatic, it’ll be a huge problem.”

Jiang Huashan looked shocked. “Drugs?”

Su Miao said, “What’s so strange about that? We’re born at a finish line others can never reach in their lifetime. Some people just can’t resist temptation and like chasing clouds.”

Jiang Huashan nodded casually and asked, “You seem pretty familiar with this place. Regular visitor? You come here often to play?”

“Pah! Of course not.” Su Miao originally didn’t want to explain, but then she remembered Jiang Huashan was Shen Guiling’s sister.

What if she misunderstood her and spread something bad, and it reached Brother A-Lingge?

Su Miao coughed lightly. “When I was in middle school, I followed Brother A-Heng and A-Qian to find out about this place. A-Qian took us around, so that’s how I know it.”

Jiang Huashan, “Zhou Yanheng?”

So he really wasn’t a good person—and apparently not just “not good,” but this bad.

Su Miao nodded. “The management here changes every three cohorts. Brother A-Heng is the current manager—the boss of this place.”

Jiang Huashan, “What’s an invitation card you mentioned earlier?”

Su Miao explained, “The Secret Garden only opens to the high school division. All aristocratic-level students receive an invitation after one semester at school. Anyone with an invitation is considered a ‘player.’ Of course, even among players there are rankings—you see that VIP area over there? It has a security barrier. Regular people can’t go in.”

“I see,” Jiang Huashan said thoughtfully, following Su Miao’s gaze. “As expected of VIP—there are even more cameras there.”

“Don’t go over there.” Su Miao pulled her back and turned her around.

“Why?”

Su Miao said, “That’s Brother A-Heng’s private room. He’s a pervert. You’d better not provoke him.”

Jiang Huashan was slightly surprised and couldn’t help but look at Su Miao with newfound respect. So besides her, there was actually someone else with such sharp judgment.

Su Miao thought Jiang Huashan didn’t believe her and quickly added, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you—Brother A-Heng is not some third-rate trash like Yao Zhilei. Your little tricks won’t work on him.”

Jiang Huashan smiled faintly. She did want to avoid him—but the plot probably wouldn’t allow it. A 1% deviation from the main storyline… no matter how she looked at it, there was no way around it.

“Alright, I’ve said everything I needed to. Come with me.”

Su Miao led Jiang Huashan to a glass booth covered in black velvet curtains and knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” a voice inside asked impatiently.

“Su Miao.”

“Damn it!” The person inside cursed under their breath.