Chapter 24

Tao Shushu stood in a corner of the banquet hall, enjoying delicious desserts while watching the show unfold.
On the other side, Su Momo, at the center of the crowd, maintained her smile and even began sharing her insights on studying physics.
After Tao Shushu had her fill of delicacies, the banquet officially began.
The Su family formally introduced Su Momo's identity to the guests. Su Momo nestled close to her parents, expressing her joy at finally returning to her biological family.
It was a picture-perfect scene of deep familial bonds and harmonious joy.
Just then, Su Momo's phone rang.
Su Momo on the stage froze instantly, she had already set her phone to silent.
Ignoring the ringing phone, she continued her elegant speech.
Suddenly, several pop-up windows appeared on the electronic screen behind her.
Messages flashed: "Weifang Co. investigated, office deserted, responsible person admits mysterious investor involved, funding source traced..."
"Photos of Weifang's head secretly meeting with mysterious investor exposed, who should victims seek compensation from?"
"Why did the Su family endorse a shell company? Does the Su family's true heiress value financial manipulators?"
The Su family had attached great importance to this homecoming banquet, installing several electronic screens in the hall that cycled through Su Momo's beautiful photos and videos.
Now, the pop-ups on the screens were fully visible to Su Momo.
The other guests were focused on the Su family trio and hadn't noticed the alerts on the screens.
But Su Momo saw it clearly. She remembered that her phone was set to Do Not Disturb mode, unless it was a number marked as special.
Her only special number now was that person, the head of Weifang Company.
Could something really have happened?
Su Momo’s face turned pale.
Father Su looked at her with displeasure. She really couldn’t handle the spotlight, just a few words in front of a crowd, and she was already so stiff? Even her complexion had turned awful.
But since they were in the center of the banquet, Father Su suppressed his temper for the moment and pinched Su Momo.
Only then did Su Momo snap out of it.
However, what was originally planned as a ten-minute segment ended with Su Momo finishing her speech in just two minutes.
Tao Shushu stood leisurely at the back, thinking to herself, "Su Momo is panicking."
As soon as the segment ended, Su Momo couldn’t wait to take out her phone.
But just as she pulled out her phone, she saw an incoming call from Zhang Hai, the homeroom teacher of the international class.
Su Momo was about to hang up.
Someone trying to curry favor with the Su family leaned over and said, "Ah, Zhang Hai, the homeroom teacher of my son’s international class. Did he call specifically to congratulate Momo?"
Immediately, a chorus of voices chimed in, praising Su Momo for her excellent grades and how well-liked she was by her teachers, to the point that even her homeroom teacher was calling her.
Seeing this, Father Su reluctantly felt a bit more satisfied. "Answer it, Momo."
Trapped, Su Momo had no choice but to pick up the call.
"Su Momo, you only scored 8 points in chemistry. Eight points! Do you know what that means? Even a first-grader wouldn’t score as low as 8. I knew something was off when you cried after the exam. It’s strange, your physics is pretty good, so how is your chemistry so terrible? You..."
Su Momo frantically hung up the phone.
She never expected Zhang Hai to start scolding her the moment she answered.
Wasn’t she a top student? Shouldn’t the teacher dote on her and praise her? Why was he yelling at her?
Tao Shushu shook her head. Su Momo had heard so much praise that she’d started to believe she was truly a top student.
"Eight points? Could it be a mistake?" someone timidly asked.
"Let’s drop it, let’s not talk about this anymore," someone else tried to smooth things over.
Su Momo’s face was ashen. During the chemistry exam, she had realized she couldn’t bind with Tao Shushu and had to answer on her own.
This ruined her plan to rank first in the grade right after transferring. She had to rely on herself, and there were several questions she didn’t know how to answer. In the end, she cried out of frustration.
But she never imagined she’d only score 8 points.
Impossible. She had bound the top student system, there was no way she could have scored only 8 points.
Su Momo quickly opened the class group chat, where the grade ranking list had been posted.
Many from wealthy circles studied at Huiwen Private School, and by now, quite a few had already seen the results.
They glanced at Su Momo's results, though she scored full marks in physics, her other grades were quite poor.
With results like these, she had the nerve to act so arrogantly just moments ago, claiming to be a top student.
Tao Shushu hadn't expected Zhang Hai's call to come at such a perfect time.
Those around them laughed awkwardly and said, "Haha, Momo is just a bit unbalanced in her subjects. Since she can score 100 in physics, her other grades will improve quickly, haha."
"Yeah, yeah."
"I believe if Momo continues studying with the methods she just shared, she'll definitely bring up her scores in every subject soon," said someone who didn't get along well with the Su family.
Su Momo's expression darkened. She hadn't anticipated her other grades would be so poor. When others asked about her study methods, she had been swept up in the flattery and unconsciously played along, pretending to know what she was talking about. Now, she was left in an awkward position, unable to respond.
Mrs. Su quickly stepped in to smooth things over. "Momo wasn't feeling well that day. She'll do better next time."
She warmly linked arms with Su Momo.
No one knew that, beneath her dress, Su Momo's arm had been viciously pinched.
And Su Momo didn't dare show it.
After this awkward little incident, the atmosphere at the banquet was no longer as lively as before.
Tao Shushu returned to her parents' side. Her father said, "Shushu, why don't you go play with your classmates? I heard Old Mr. Lu is coming today. Let's greet him before we leave."
"Okay," Tao Shushu replied obediently.
Many people had come to the banquet today, but not all were there for the Su family, many had come out of respect for Old Mr. Lu.
The Lu family had made their fortune in Yancheng generations ago, and their influence spanned both business and politics.
Tao Shushu knew her parents sometimes needed to socialize, and not wanting them to worry about her being lonely at the party, she went to a lounge to take a breather.
There was a row of lounges on the second floor of the banquet hall. Tao Shushu picked an empty one and went inside.
Standing by the balcony, she habitually took out her phone.
The game icon flashed, and this time, Tao Shushu successfully logged in.
But the connection was laggy, and the loading screen was much slower than usual.
Tao Shushu waited patiently.
Then, she was stunned by the spaceship at the center of the screen.
The spaceship was huge.
Her cub standing on it looked even tinier in comparison.
The ship was silver, with a streamlined design and long wings.
"Do you like it, cub?" Tao Shushu poked the mesmerized cub.
She, for one, couldn't take her eyes off it.
Nan Yuan's eyes lit up, she was here.
He curled his fingers slightly. "Thank you."
Tao Shushu poked him again. "No need to thank me, cub. I'm happy to take care of you."
Nan Yuan stiffened.
Tao Shushu checked the event log: Nan Yuan had soothed everyone's emotions. Late at night, he had most people return to rest while the patrol team continued their rounds.
Alone, he meticulously inspected the base once more.
Especially near the ventilation shafts, Nan Yuan had spent a long time examining them.
Her cub was so thorough.
Tao Shushu pinched his ear.
Later, the cub found the spaceship docking area and was stunned for a long time, until Tao Shushu appeared.
Nan Yuan took a deep breath. "Then, thank you for taking care of me."
If she saw him as a child to raise, then...as long as it made her happy, it wasn't unacceptable.
Nan Yuan asked again, "May I know your name?"
Just as Tao Shushu was about to answer, the game suddenly crashed.
She tried twice more, only to see the "under maintenance" message again.
Stupid system, Tao Shushu cursed under her breath.
She was about to return to the banquet hall when she suddenly heard the lounge door being pushed open, followed by two sets of footsteps barging in. The door was quickly slammed shut.
Just as Tao Shushu was about to slide open the balcony door, she heard a sob and a familiar female voice: "Brother Haoning, do you also look down on me for my poor grades? I didn’t realize the teaching quality in the countryside and Yancheng differed so much. Since arriving here, I’ve only had time to study physics, I haven’t had the chance to catch up on the other subjects yet."
Su Momo whimpered and coquettishly pleaded.
Tao Shushu froze in her tracks. Walking out now would be far too awkward. She glanced downward, the balcony was on the second floor, but the banquet hall had high ceilings, making jumping down somewhat risky.
Gu Haoning replied coldly, "If that’s the case, then focus on catching up."
"But the teacher speaks too fast, I can’t grasp many of the concepts. Brother Haoning, could you teach me?" Su Momo’s voice was dripping with sweetness.
"Can the Su family not afford a tutor who can adapt to your pace?" Gu Haoning retorted.
Such bluntness was something Tao Shushu rarely witnessed. She paused for a moment, suddenly recalling the identity of this "Brother Haoning."
Unlike Li Anyu, Tao Shushu wasn’t deeply familiar with the gossip of Yancheng’s elite circles. She only remembered that Gu Haoning from the Gu family was notoriously straightforward. Rumor had it that during his school days, a girl tried to get close to him by asking for help with a problem, and he suggested she make an appointment to see a specialist for intellectual disabilities.
But what stood out most vividly in Tao Shushu’s memory was his role in the original story.
In the original book, Gu Haoning was also one of Su Momo’s admirers. He was sharp-tongued toward everyone except Su Momo, whom he treated with gentleness. In the original plot, when Su Momo was late to an important scientific forum and criticized by a prominent figure in the field, Gu Haoning publicly humiliated the expert, mocking everything from his hat and attire to his physique.
He even used his connections to dig up the expert’s past part-time jobs during college, ridiculing him for being envious of the wealthy.
And yet, some people actually admired this behavior.
In the original story, he fell in love with Su Momo at first sight during a banquet. Struck by Cupid’s arrow, he became her blindly devoted attack dog, indiscriminately lashing out at anyone who didn’t mindlessly worship Su Momo, regardless of right or wrong.
As a cannon-fodder character, Tao Shushu had been publicly shamed by him on the school forum with 9,999 insulting comments, a number meant as a declaration of love for Su Momo.
Tao Shushu decided not to leave.
This time, Su Momo had embarrassed herself at the banquet, so her number one admorer was acting cold.
Tao Shushu leaned closer to the wall, intent on eavesdropping.
Su Momo was choked up, her voice instantly sounding even more pitiful. "My parents want me to improve my grades quickly, so the tutor teaches at a fast pace..."
"If you can score 100 in physics, there's no reason you can't learn other subjects. Are you really smart or just pretending?" Gu Haoning asked impatiently.
Su Momo quickly replied, "Maybe it's this tutor..."
"Then why didn't you change tutors when you realized the pace wasn't suitable?"
"My parents are too busy. I didn't want to bother them with such trivial matters..." Su Momo said with a pitiful expression.
"Well, it seems your parents don't care that much about your studies if they don't pay attention proactively," Gu Haoning interrupted Su Momo.
"They do care about me. They asked, but I thought the teacher was having a hard time too..."
"Hah, you're the consumer, yet you feel guilty about spending money. You don't have the demeanor of someone from a wealthy family. Stay away from me." After saying this, Gu Haoning stood up and walked out the door.
"Damn it! That bastard Gu Haoning, I ***."
Tao Shushu heard Su Momo cursing furiously and also ran out.
Tao Shushu quickly left the chaotic lounge. She noticed that both times she approached Su Momo, she couldn't play the game. It was better to go home early and stay away from the protagonist's aura.


Author's Note:
Shushu: Slipping away, slipping away
Nan Yuan: You still owe me an answer for a name