Chapter 9

A day later, the Chu parents returned home after being busy outside. During dinner, Chu Shi formally explained the entire incident surrounding the forum to them.
Throughout the conversation, Chu Qiuqiu repeatedly shot pitiful glances at Chu Shi, but he seemed completely oblivious, truthfully recounting the role Chu Qiuqiu had played in the matter.
While Chu Qiuqiu grew increasingly anxious and angry, Chu Yin, sitting across from her, remained expressionless from start to finish, even when her report card had been publicly mocked and she had been backstabbed by her own sister.
Upon hearing that Chu Qiuqiu had "mocked Chu Yin on the forum," Father Chu frowned. "Qiuqiu, how could you do such a thing? She is your sister."
Chu Qiuqiu’s heart tightened in fear. But she had only made a few sarcastic remarks, she hadn’t even started the thread. Would her parents really scold her over this?
Father Chu continued, "You are also a daughter of the Chu family. You represent our family’s reputation in public. What will people think if they see discord between you sisters?"
Chu Yin’s lips curled into a faint smile, she had known all along. What they cared about was face, not the person.
In her past life, when she was trapped by Lu Zhen’s side, her parents had believed that being with someone of his status wasn’t a form of torment. After the family went bankrupt, they had even hoped to gain financial support from the Lu family through her.
So much for blood ties. From beginning to end, the only one who truly cared for her was her brother.
Mother Chu chimed in, supporting her husband, "Qiuqiu, a lowly place like that forum is no place for you. Later, I’ll take both of you sisters to more social events and introduce you to more people at our level."
Chu Shi furrowed his brows deeply, realizing that his parents seemed to have missed the point entirely.
Chu Qiuqiu, however, felt a wave of relief wash over her, a smile spreading across her face, as expected, Mom and Dad wouldn’t truly blame her! She was superior to Chu Yin in every way, the pride of the Chu family. How could they possibly hold a simple mistake against her?
"I understand, Dad, Mom. I won’t do it again," Chu Qiuqiu lowered her head, deliberately adding, "Actually, I was just so shocked when I saw my sister’s report card that I…"
Only then did Madam Chu recall the matter of grades. Among the Chu family’s two children, Chu Shi had just won an international award, and Chu Qiuqiu was among the top ten students in her grade. But Chu Yin’s results… After all, she was their biological daughter. They couldn’t let her disgrace the family name.
After a moment’s thought, she said, "Xiao Yin, if you’re struggling with your studies, you can always ask Qiuqiu for help. Or we could enroll you in some tutoring classes. Otherwise, your grades…"
"That’s enough."
Chu Shi abruptly cut off Madam Chu.
He had been pondering how much of his dream on the plane might actually come true. But now, witnessing his parents’ seemingly reasonable yet clearly biased behavior, along with the self-satisfied little schemes of the sister they had raised for ten years, Chu Shi suddenly realized, it was all going to happen.
He lifted his gaze to Chu Qiuqiu, his handsome features unusually stern. "After all that explaining, have you forgotten there’s still something you need to do? Apologize."
Chu Qiuqiu stared at her brother in disbelief, Mom and Dad had already forgiven her, so why was he still scolding her? All for that country bumpkin, Chu Yin?!
But under Chu Shi’s stern gaze, she had no choice but to mutter resentfully, "I’m sorry."
Mr. Chu, feeling a pang of sympathy for the daughter they had raised so closely for a decade, tried to smooth things over. "Alright, now the sisters should make up! From now on, you must love and support each other."
Watching the scene unfold, Chu Shi could only feel absurdity wash over him.
Were they really going to let Chu Qiuqiu’s two-faced scheming slide and pretend everything was fine? Did anyone even care about the one who had been hurt?
While they were busy arguing, Chu Yin had quietly finished her meal. She wiped her mouth with a napkin and stood up. "Carry on."
She neither acknowledged Chu Qiuqiu’s apology nor responded to her parents’ words.
As soon as she left, Chu Qiuqiu immediately turned to her parents to complain. "Look at her! I apologized, and she didn’t even say a word…"
Chu Shi lifted his eyes, his voice icy. "Because your apology isn’t worthy of a response from her."
Chu Qiuqiu’s face paled, but Chu Shi didn’t spare her another glance as he stood and walked away.
Back in her room, Chu Yin didn’t immediately start studying as she usually did. She tilted her head back slightly, her thoughts drifting.
"Host, are you still affected by what happened?" Study System asked softly.
Yes.
She had died ingloriously, with no one knowing, and began a new life. Her golden finger allowed her to no longer fear her fate, but it couldn’t change these people.
At five years old, she had gotten lost and was adopted by a rural family. They had a mentally disabled son slightly older than her and had taken her in to raise her as a child bride. Her treatment there consisted of nothing but leftovers and occasional physical abuse.
In her previous life, when Chu Yin returned to the Chu family, she truly held illusions about her biological parents, but reality disappointed her.
But it didn’t matter, this time, she would make herself strong enough.
She would leave this Chu family, which was destined to go bankrupt, and escape from Lu Zhen’s grasp.
Knock, knock.
Just then, someone knocked on her bedroom door.
Chu Shi stood outside and asked softly as Chu Yin opened the door, “Are you angry?”
Chu Yin smiled. “No, Brother, thank you. I mean it.”
Chu Shi patted her head. “I know Qiu Qiu was the one who got hold of the report card. I hadn’t paid attention to her little tricks before, and I’m sorry you had to suffer because of it.”
Chu Yin had been a bit puzzled as to why her brother had defended her without question in this life, but now she understood. She shook her head. “You don’t need to apologize.”
Chu Shi looked at his sister’s youthful, rosy, and delicate face, recalling how pale and depressed she had appeared in his dreams after being trapped by Lu Zhen. A pang of sorrow struck his heart.
Come to think of it, the recent forum incident was also related to Lu Zhen. That bastard even seemed to have taken the initiative to speak to Xiao Yin?
Chu Shi tentatively asked, “What do you think of that Lu Zhen…?”
Chu Yin’s heart skipped a beat. “Lu Zhen?”
“Yes,” Chu Shi observed her expression closely. “Did that scound, I mean, did that person say anything to you?”
“Just some nonsense,” Chu Yin paused, then cautiously added, “…I think he’s a bit sick in the head.”
Chu Shi was overjoyed inwardly but affirmed calmly, “You’re absolutely right. Lu Zhen really is a bit messed up.”
Having lived two lives, Chu Yin had finally found someone to badmouth Lu Zhen with, and her spirits soared.
“So many girls at school like him. I think most of them must be blind.”
“Exactly. Your senior Qiu Ze is much more handsome than him.”
“His personality is weird too. He just doesn’t seem like a good person.”
“So you must stay far away from that kind of idiot.”
“I will, Brother.”
The siblings thoroughly enjoyed their session of trashing Lu Zhen, each feeling spiritually satisfied, and happily bid each other goodnight.
…
Fu Mingxuan had taken over a week off to lay low before returning to class.
With midterm exams just two weeks away, no matter how much she didn’t want to come back, she had to, she still had to compete with Chu Qiuqiu for rankings!
After her return, no one in the class brought up the awkward incident from before. Fu Mingxuan spent the morning blending in and gradually regained her usual confidence. But when she glanced back and saw Chu Yin, as always, absorbed in her studies, a wave of irritation washed over her again.
If it weren’t for Chu Yin, she wouldn’t have been scolded by Lu Zhen. That incident must have left a terrible impression on him.
Speaking of Chu Yin, she was quite mentally resilient. Now that the entire school knew how terrible her grades were, she still studied so diligently every day.
Fu Mingxuan thought this and felt much better, having poor grades wasn’t pitiful, but being exceptionally hardworking and still having abysmal results was truly pathetic.
Before the midterm exams, there was an event, a long-standing tradition at Quiwen called the Shakespeare English Week.
Since it was a grade-wide activity, even senior students would participate, and the girls were all excited. The event essentially involved everyone sitting together, with participants randomly selected to read excerpts from Shakespeare’s original English works. Because Quiwen was an elite private school with an international division, they could pull off such an event.
When Fu Mingxuan approached Song Zhaolin’s table with the reading list, she happened to see Chu Yin working on an English test paper.
She had a peculiar mindset, even though she had been humiliated last time, Chu Yin, whose grades had been made public, was even more humiliated than her. That gave her a sense of psychological balance.
"Classmate Chu, do you want to participate in the event? I remember English is your strong suit?"
Compared to her 69 in math, a 99 in English was indeed her strong suit.
As soon as she finished speaking, Xing Lan and the others immediately burst into mocking laughter.
Chu Yin had just finished a set of past Gaokao English papers and estimated her score to be around 145. Sure enough, the system beeped, and she gained permission for one word.
Only then did Chu Yin look up at the troublemaking Fu Mingxuan and casually said, "Are you an idiot?"
Hearing this familiar phrase, Fu Mingxuan’s face suddenly flushed bright red.
Beside her, Song Zhaolin couldn’t hold back: "Hahahaha, sorry, "
Wasn’t that exactly what Brother Zhen had said to Fu Mingxuan?! Damn, his Sister Yin was really bold!!!
Not only was he laughing, but a few suppressed chuckles also erupted in the classroom.
Fu Mingxuan glared fiercely behind her a few times. When she turned back, Chu Yin had already casually checked off the list and was leisurely heading out with her vocabulary book to memorize words.
Those left in Class 5 watched her retreating figure and suddenly felt a bit dazed.
What was going on? She was still wearing the same tacky school uniform and shabby mask, so why did she inexplicably seem kind of cool?
...
No one was on the rooftop today. Chu Yin leaned against the railing and memorized a page of CET-6 vocabulary.
She remembered the Shakespeare English Week Fu Mingxuan mentioned.
In her past life, when she had just been brought back from the countryside, her English was passable by her rural middle school’s standards but couldn’t compare to the students nurtured under Quiwen’s elite education.
The international class students were recognized to have the highest English proficiency, so they were in charge of the lottery. Chu Qiuqiu, wanting to embarrass her, rigged the draw so that Chu Yin was selected for the most difficult English excerpt.
At that time, Gu Qiuzе was present and intended to help her read it.
But the book was snatched away by Lu Zhen.
That day, Lu Zhen calmly read her selected passage, and every girl in the school remembered Chu Yin’s name and face.
From then on, people started calling her the school belle, and trouble kept finding her.
...All thanks to that damn man.
"Host, your murderous intent is surging again."
Chu Yin sneered, "Where’s my knife?"
"No knife, but a head has been delivered, "
A cool, youthful voice sounded behind her: "...Are you okay?"
Chu Yin's mind, filled with bloody images, suddenly snapped back to reality. A sense of tension, as if a secret had been exposed, washed over her, and she whipped her head around,
A boy stood there in a white shirt, his dark hair falling over his brows, the teardrop mole at the corner of his eye clearly visible.
Chu Yin had been leaning over the platform with her arms raised high, and as she turned, her uniform sleeve caught the edge of her mask, pulling it down to the tip of her nose.
Lu Zhen caught a fleeting glimpse of a delicate, upturned nose, and his heart abruptly tightened.
Chu Yin hurriedly readjusted her mask.
Lu Zhen snapped out of his daze, tilted his head to take a breath, and then turned back to her. "Last time... I should apologize to you."
Chu Yin thought to herself, Is this the effect of the male lead’s power? Why does this jerk keep showing up?
She had no desire to interact with him at all and urged Study System to load the script:
[Location: School rooftop. Characters: Lu Zhen, Chu Yin.]
[...The early autumn breeze was gentle, brushing against the boy and girl on the rooftop.
Chu Yin did not respond to Lu Zhen’s words.
Lu Zhen watched her for a moment before suddenly asking, "Why are you wearing a mask?"
Chu Yin lowered her head slightly, still not answering. It seemed she didn’t want to talk to him.
After a long pause, Lu Zhen frowned and began, "You, "]
The short passage was all dialogue. Chu Yin read it over several times but couldn’t find a way to intervene.
How could she end this conversation??
Lu Zhen was watching her profile.
Up close, he could see her delicate brows furrowing slightly, as if she were troubled.
...Was it really that difficult to say something to him?
Lu Zhen couldn’t quite describe what he was feeling. He knew he could just turn and leave, but he remained rooted to the spot.
Even though he knew she didn’t want to answer, he still asked, "...Why are you wearing a mask?"
Because of you, you jerk!!!
"Host, would you like to use your permissions?" Study System asked, noticing Chu Yin’s hesitation.
Just as the question was posed, Chu Yin suddenly had a flash of inspiration: She couldn’t end the conversation herself, but she could make the jerk end it!!
So, she moved her light pen, crossed out Lu Zhen’s line "You, ", and changed it to "Get lost, ".
A stroke of genius. She was practically a prodigy.
Lu Zhen watched the subtle shifts in her expression.
He wanted to ask, Do you...
Really hate me?
Then, his thin lips parted, but as he began to speak, the word "Get lost" unexpectedly came out.
The air fell silent for a second, and Lu Zhen froze.
This time, the girl in front of him finally reacted.
She stepped back as if startled, clutching her books tightly. "I’m sorry! I’ll leave right away!"
With that, she turned and ran.
The wind on the rooftop was strong.
Lu Zhen fell silent again: "…"
I’m not. I really didn’t.