Chapter 1

A fierce battle had just ended.
The man had been especially rough today. Chu Yin, utterly exhausted, curled up in the tangled sheets, her eyes tightly shut in agony. The man hugged her tightly from behind, trying to pull her into his embrace.
Dazed and barely conscious, Chu Yin instinctively struggled.
The man’s hand stiffened, then he sneered, "What, now that Gu Qiuzhe is back, you can’t stand me anymore?"
"Lu Zhen, what nonsense are you talking..."
Lu Zhen’s breath was still scorching, but his voice was icy: "Your brother is still trying to find Gu Qiuzhe to save you, huh? Chu Yin, you know the consequences of making me angry."
Consequences... Chu Yin thought, the consequences of being entangled by a demon, the Chu family going bankrupt, losing everything overnight, the true daughter of the Chu family imprisoned by his side, controlled like an object. Just like now, stripped of freedom, forced to endure his all-consuming possessiveness.
The man leaned in close to her ear and cruelly whispered, "Even your fake sister managed to marry into a wealthy family, Chu Yin... Only you are forced to stay by my side, trapped until death, forever mine."
Chu Yin thought: ‘No. Either Lu Zhen kills me, or I kill him, that would be better.’
The feeling of weightlessness in her mind grew increasingly intense. She heard herself rasp, "Lu Zhen, you'd better watch out, I might just kill you first..."
But Lu Zhen only laughed, bending down to murmur something in her ear.
Chu Yin couldn't make out his words. At that moment, the weightlessness abruptly intensified, her consciousness suddenly detached, and a force dragged her exhausted soul away, bringing with it a sense of lighthearted liberation.
In the final moments of her awareness, that voice, usually cold and mocking, finally cracked, revealing a trace of desperate panic.
"Chu Yin, Chu Yin!, "
...
It felt as if she had fallen into a long dream.
In the dream, Chu Yin saw her miserable life turning into pages of paper, flipping through the air.
"Your world is actually a book, and Lu Zhen is the sick, obsessive male lead. You are the short-lived white moonlight he fell for at first sight, the one he couldn't have, the one he imprisoned after turning dark. After the white moonlight's death, the male lead became nearly demonic with longing, even going so far as to seek out substitutes."
Chu Yin thought in confusion: Whose voice is that...?
Soon, the book reached its end but suddenly began flipping back, the pages rustled noisily before stopping at the title page: [When Chu Yin was 17, the Chu family found her. Although they already had an adopted daughter, Chu Qiuqiu, the Chu family still brought her back from the countryside into their wealthy home and helped her transfer to Cuiwen Private High School. Here, she met Lu Zhen...]
Even in her dream, Chu Yin couldn't resist the urge to tear the book apart, she never wanted to meet that scoundrel Lu Zhen again!!
"Then, if you could start over, with the pen in your hand, how would you rewrite the script?" the voice spoke again.
"Knowledge changes fate, learning can overcome everything, go and give it a try!, "
Chu Yin felt as if an invisible force pushed her. As soon as the words faded, she woke up.
"School starts tomorrow. Will Xiao Yin really be okay in the International Class?" an elegant woman's voice reached her ears.
Then came a familiar, sweet voice: "After all, Sister just came back from that kind of place, and her education is limited. It's normal if she can't keep up with our class level. Don't worry, Mom, I'll do my best to help her!"
Chu Yin followed the sound and saw Chu Qiuqiu, looking like a high school student. She had gone missing at age 5, and two years later, Chu Qiuqiu was adopted by the Chu family because she resembled her. By the time Chu Yin was brought back at 17, Chu Qiuqiu was already regarded by everyone as the Chu family's young lady.
Although everything felt somewhat surreal, returning to this year, Chu Yin knew that despite Chu Qiuqiu's considerate words, her true intention was merely to showcase her own grace as the true young lady of the house, even without blood ties.
After a dazed moment, allowing the memories of the past to settle completely, Chu Yin lifted her head and looked calmly at Madam Chu. "I won't be joining the international class," she said.
In her previous life, it was precisely because she had entered the international class that Lu Zhen had forcibly demanded she sit beside him. After gaining fame and becoming the school belle overnight, she not only became the target of all the girls in school but also found herself entangled with Lu Zhen, unable to escape him for the rest of her short life.
"That's right! Life can start over, why tread the same old path? The Study System warmly reminds you, After binding with the system, completing study tasks will grant you the authority to modify the script!"
Chu Yin froze, this was the voice from her dream.
Along with the voice, the book that had created this world appeared in her mind, glowing faintly. Beside the book, a pen with the same luminous aura materialized, moving across the page as she willed it.
"Ding, system running in beta test. The current script is as follows. Please attempt to modify [one word]."
The glowing book spread open, and Chu Yin could clearly see the content written on it.
[Location: Chu Family Villa. Characters: Chu Yin, Madam Chu, Chu Qiuqiu.]
[Chu Qiuqiu interjected, "Sister, this decision of yours is right. Our international class circle really isn't something you can fit into."
Madam Chu pondered for a moment, "Indeed, given Xiao Yin's circumstances, the regular class might suit you better." …]
It connected…?
Could this really be their script?
Chu Yin continued reading.
[Chu Qiuqiu, seeing Chu Yin's silent demeanor, revealed a smug expression. "The students in our class come from prominent families, they're not as easy to approach as you might think. For instance, the eldest young master of the Lu family is in our class. He usually keeps his distance from strangers. If you suddenly transfer into our class, he might even kick you out."]
Reading this line, Chu Yin couldn't help but freeze for a second.
The eldest young master of the Lu family… Lu Zhen.
She still remembered how he had coldly cornered her in the classroom. She also remembered how, after she rejected him in their youth, his eyes had turned bloodshot. Even now, just by closing her eyes, she could recall the dimly lit room later on, where the man, by then powerful and influential, pressed down on her, relentlessly demanding and questioning whether she liked him or not.
If only he had truly kicked her out back then.
Chu Yin's silence, however, was mistaken by Chu Qiuqiu as shame. Smirking triumphantly, she deliberately asked Madam Chu in a sweet tone, "By the way, Mom, Brother and Qiuzhe won an award abroad, right? They're coming back the day after tomorrow, and we're throwing a celebration party, aren't we?"
The more exclusive these high-society gatherings were, the more they could make her country-bumpkin sister realize the gap between them.
"Brother is definitely going to bring me gifts again. I should invite more friends to celebrate for Brother and Qiuzhe, Oh, right," Chu Qiuqiu suddenly seemed to remember something and turned to Chu Yin. "Does Sister want to attend too?"
Chu Qiuqiu's hypocritical words matched the script perfectly, without the slightest deviation… A faint warmth stirred in Chu Yin's chest. The glowing pen tip hovered in mid-air, seemingly capable of easily manipulating the characters in this book.
In the next scene, [Chu Qiuqiu smiled elegantly, picked up the delicate wine glass beside her, and gently swirled the dark red wine inside. "There are many banquet etiquettes. Sister, you probably don’t know how to drink this yet, right? Come, let me teach you, "]
Chu Yin pondered for half a second, then tried moving the light pen to cross out the character for "red" in "red wine."
She changed it to "ingredients."
Chu Qiuqiu: "First, you gently swirl it to appreciate its color. Then, like this…"
Chu Yin watched calmly as Chu Qiuqiu took an intoxicated deep breath, pressed the rim of the glass to her lips, and took a large sip.
Then, "Pfft!"
The liquid burst out like a brilliant firework, splattering all over Madam Chu’s face across from her.
For a few seconds, the entire house fell into dead silence.
Only the Study System in Chu Yin’s head let out a cackling laugh and the prompt tone, [System binding successful]
A servant stumbled over with a napkin, and Madam Chu stood up in shock and anger, looking utterly disheveled. "Qiuqiu, what are you doing?!"
The red wine in Chu Qiuqiu’s glass was unexpectedly bitter and pungent, and she had instinctively spat it out the moment it touched her lips. Now, all traces of her earlier elegance were gone as she panicked, "Mom, I didn’t mean to! I-"
Amid the chaos, a clear and melodious voice suddenly cut in, "So that’s how it is."
Chu Qiuqiu snapped her head up to look.
Chu Yin, who had been silent all along, suddenly smiled. Her delicate features, previously hidden by her long hair, were now revealed. Beneath her thick, lush eyelashes, a pair of peach-blossom eyes blinked slightly, shimmering with a vitality and light unknown to others.
"So that’s how you drink red wine? I’ve learned something new."
Chu Qiuqiu’s face turned completely green.
That night, all the commotion finally settled into silence.
At three in the morning, everyone was asleep, except for Chu Yin, who was studying.
After the system successfully bound, the first task it issued was a basic one: [Complete All Homework Assignments]. Since returning from the chaotic dining room to her own room, taking a shower, and changing into her pajamas, Chu Yin had been studying nonstop until now.
Even the Study System’s prompts were accompanied by yawns: [Beep, Political homework completed. Task completion: 70%. Host, Don’t you need to rest?]
Chu Yin rubbed her wrists, rolled her neck, and then opened her history workbook.
Now was not the time to rest.
After realizing that this system could truly alter the plot, Chu Yin felt a long-lost thrill, characters in the book were inevitably subject to uncontrollable forces, but now, as long as she completed tasks, she could become that very force and take control of her own life!
In this lifetime, Chu Yin absolutely did not want to become Lu Zhen’s obsessive white moonlight again.
Tomorrow, no, today, was the turning point in her life, the day Lu Zhen would fall in love with her at first sight in the story. So she had to obtain the authority to rewrite the script, to change the events of this day. Even the smallest alteration could set off a long-term butterfly effect.
Chu Yin hadn't been a good student in her past life, but from the age of 20, she had been trapped by Lu Zhen and forced to cram knowledge for a long time. Later, she accompanied the young master in preparing for the GMAT, enduring the relentless grind of RC, DS, and SC. She was even taken abroad with him for a year, where she audited Ivy League courses, elevating her knowledge far beyond that of a typical domestic high school student.
She quickly finished her math and English homework. As a second-year humanities student, she needed to review her textbooks while working on her comprehensive humanities assignments, which took a bit more time.
The room was quiet, with only the soft scratching of her pen against the paper.
As dawn broke and the room gradually brightened, Chu Yin put down her pen, and the system in her mind finally emitted a "ding."
The book and pen reappeared in her mind, and when the script loaded, she felt an inexplicable tension.
[Location: Quiwen Private High School. Characters: Chu Yin, Lu Zhen, Chu Qiuqiu, other students.]
[...On the first day of the second year of high school, the weather wasn't great.
A Bentley parked at the school gate, and the girls passing by began to slow their pace, adjusting their hairstyles. A few seconds later, a boy in a white shirt stepped out of the car, causing an immediate stir in the crowd.]
[Lu Zhen slung his bag over his shoulder lazily, glanced up, and saw a light drizzle falling from the sky. The fine mist gave the dark-haired boy a faint, melancholic aura.]
Most of the middle section focused solely on Lu Zhen, until one particular line,
[Suddenly, Lu Zhen's indifferent gaze paused as he spotted a girl in a floral dress in the distance, smiling at someone.]
At this point, Chu Yin's heart tightened.
...That was her. In her past life, she had been innocent and radiant, a 17-year-old who loved to look pretty.
To be honest, Chu Yin had no idea how the so-called love at first sight had happened. She didn't even remember seeing Lu Zhen on that day in her past life. Could it be that a single glance had sparked love?
[...Lu Zhen's gaze lingered for several seconds before shifting away.
He thought: That dress is so ugly.]
After reading this, Chu Yin: "..."
Study System started cackling in her mind: "Bwak-bwak-bwak, "
Chu Yin: "Shut up."
Perfect. At this moment, only a few words echoed in her heart:
‘I'll kill Lu Zhen.’
Her face cold, Chu Yin swiftly crossed out the character for "rain," so quickly that Study System couldn't even stop her: "Ah, Host, no regrets once the pen is set! You can't change it after writing! The word you chose seems..." It just looked like an ordinary weather description!
Chu Yin sneered: She had no regrets.
Let Lu Zhen be the one to regret.
Then, she wrote the character for "knife" over the crossed-out word.
Study System: "..." You really know how to play.
...
Early morning, the weather was hazy.
The entrance of Quiwen Private High School was bustling with activity, it was the first day of the new semester.
The girls, who had been yawning and complaining about the short summer break, suddenly fell into a hushed murmur. Then, a luxurious Bentley pulled up at the school gate, everyone in the school knew whose car it was.
"Hurry, hurry, Lu Zhen is here!" "Ahhh, my Brother Zhen!"
"I'm going to walk into school with him today, ahhh!"
A few seconds later, the car door opened, and a long leg stepped out. The young man wore a simple white shirt, yet it couldn’t conceal his innate air of nobility. Under the overcast sky, his profile was cold and pale, the lines from his brow to the bridge of his nose as if carved by a sculptor, his jawline perfectly precise. His eyes were sharp and elongated, but a deep red teardrop mole lingered at the outer corner, inexplicably adding a hint of desire to his otherwise icy demeanor.
From the moment he appeared, pink bubbles seemed to float around him, and it felt as though pink petals were falling from the sky.
Lu Zhen, however, only lifted his gaze indifferently,
The sky was dark and heavy, as if it was about to… rain?
Clang!
Something had indeed fallen from the sky.
Lu Zhen slowly lowered his head, his gaze landing beside his shoe.
There lay a gleaming little knife.
"...?"