Ch 11: After My Mother Returned to the Rich Family

The campus broadcast starts at 12:10 every noon. After asking Huang Jiajia to bring her a pineapple bun, Ruan Cha headed straight to the broadcasting room on the sixth floor of Building C.

The first five floors of Building C are exclusively for the third-year students. Positioned at the quietest, innermost part of the campus, this location ensures no distractions from the playground near the front of the school, allowing students to focus on preparing for the college entrance exam.

Walking from Building B, where the second-year classrooms are located, to Building C takes about fifteen minutes round trip. Ruan Cha knew she wouldn’t have time to grab lunch at the cafeteria after her broadcast.

Contrary to her expectations, the broadcasting room was spacious and well-lit, furnished with the latest equipment. In the corner of the room, there was a tastefully decorated lounge area.

Two hydrangea plants adorned the table, while a lush, hanging pothos plant added a touch of greenery to the cabinets.

Ruan Cha looked around the room, marveling inwardly. It felt less like a broadcasting room and more like an elegant and serene private tea lounge.

Unlike other schools, second high’s broadcasting room was managed by the English club, and its decor expenses were covered by the club’s budget.

Ruan Cha had agreed to Lin Ling’s sudden request for her to cover this shift largely because she was considering joining the English club. It was a club that could help her seamlessly complete system tasks during future activities.

One of the requirements for applying to the English club was that the applicant must participate in a campus broadcast and receive approval from the English club president. Only then would their application be approved.

High school senior Chu Shuwei, who was organizing scripts, looked up and immediately noticed Ruan Cha. She was a new face—purely beautiful, with striking features. She wasn’t wearing the school uniform, which was likely still being tailored, but her striped shirt and black pencil pants gave her a sleek, refined look, making her appear tall and elegant.

He glanced at the duty roster for the broadcasting room. “Grade 11, Class 10—Ruan Cha?”

“That’s me.” Ruan Cha nodded, closed the door behind her, and approached. “Good afternoon, senior. Where is our class’s script?”

Chu Shuwei pulled out the top sheet of an A4 stack of scripts. “Your class changed the theme of the script yesterday afternoon. Did you get a chance to practice it a few times last night?”

“No, I was notified this morning,” Ruan Cha replied, taking the script and glancing at its contents. She quickly got a sense of it. The Class 10 script introduced a few international destinations suitable for group trips, targeting students.

Second High focuses on international education, with each class organizing study tours abroad annually. According to what Xie Chang’an had told her, Class 10 went to France during the second semester of their first year. Parents even helped out on the trip, drawing envy from other classes.

Chu Shuwei frowned slightly at her response. “This is your first time seeing the new script?”

Ruan Cha nodded indifferently. To be precise, she hadn’t seen any of the old scripts either. “Senior, could you please turn on the broadcasting equipment? It’s almost time.”

Chu Shuwei had initially planned to ask if she wanted to familiarize herself with the script, as reading an entirely English script without prior practice could lead to stumbles.

However, when he saw her calm and composed demeanor, his concern dissipated. He turned on the broadcasting equipment, adjusted the volume, and raised a finger to his lips, signaling to Ruan Cha that any sound made in the broadcasting room would now be heard by the entire school.

On the fifth floor of the cafeteria, Ji Feiyang sat down and immediately noticed Huang Jiajia and her two friends at the neighboring table. He couldn’t help but glance around the cafeteria in search of Ruan Cha. After scanning the room several times without spotting her, he adjusted his glasses and shamelessly leaned over. “Huang Jiajia, didn’t Ruan Cha come to the cafeteria with you all today?”

Since getting to know Huang Jiajia and her friends during equestrian class, Ruan Cha had been eating lunch with them regularly. Being in the same class made it more convenient for everyone.

Although Ji Feiyang wasn’t in the same class, his role as the school’s “information broker” meant there was no one at Second High he didn’t know.

“Ruan Cha got assigned to the broadcasting room today,” Huang Jiajia explained while unwrapping her meal. “She asked me to bring her back a pineapple bun. Ruan Cha’s so well-behaved. In our class, apart from Lin Ling, who loves to show off, and Song Mengyu, the English class rep, no one else ever volunteers for broadcasting duty.”

Fu Chen paused mid-motion as he picked up some food with his chopsticks. The image of Ruan Cha’s bright, smiling eyes from their past encounters flashed through his mind. On the surface, she certainly seemed obedient, but…

Recalling the striking contrast in her Grade 10 transcript with perfect 150s and scattered 10s, he wasn’t so sure how well her outward appearance matched her inner character.

Fu Chen’s slightly softened attitude toward Ruan Cha stemmed from his knowledge of their intertwined family history. His mother had lived a happy life in the Liang family, loved and cherished by her father and eldest brother. Meanwhile, Ruan Cha’s mother, switched at birth, had grown up in a town orphanage, inevitably enduring hardships.

Though the mix-up had been the hospital’s fault, Fu Chen felt an urge to do what little he could to ease his late mother’s conscience, ensuring she could rest easy wherever she was.

While the group chatted, a crisp and familiar female voice emerged from the campus broadcast:

“Good afternoon, from…”

The introduction was impeccable, with clear enunciation and a flawless, authentic RP (Received Pronunciation) accent. In the bustling cafeteria, the voice created a momentary pause.

Fu Chen set down his chopsticks and knocked lightly on the table to get Ji Feiyang’s attention. “Feiyang, Sleepbag, I’m heading back. You two take your time.”

Without giving Ji Feiyang a chance to dig for gossip, Fu Chen picked up his tray and stood. Almost as soon as he left the cafeteria, Ruan Cha’s initial self-introduction concluded, and her tone subtly shifted as she transitioned into reading the script.

At the dish return counter, Fu Chen stopped in his tracks, his expression freezing for a brief moment. Slowly, a look of admiration softened his sharp features.

It wasn’t just Fu Chen. Across Second High’s campus, many students and teachers tuned in upon hearing her accent. Those who recognized the pristine RP pronunciation couldn’t help but turn their heads in the direction of the sound.

Her voice carried an innate charm, clear yet relaxed, with a natural cadence that made each international travel destination she described sound irresistibly appealing.

While Second High’s student body was about evenly split between those proficient in English and those who weren’t, even those who didn’t understand what Ruan Cha was saying found themselves enjoying the broadcast. Her accent was so pleasing that it could easily serve as the number one background soundtrack.

In Class 10, one girl frowned as she overheard her classmates praising Ruan Cha and speculating about her identity. Turning to Lin Ling, she asked sharply, “Didn’t you say you prepared a ‘big gift’ for Ruan Cha? Was it just letting her become this famous in Second High? Seriously, even people who don’t understand a word are saying how nice she sounds—like a top-tier BGM!”

The girl couldn’t help but feel relieved after she spoke, thankful that when she’d wanted to spread rumors about Ruan Cha during lunch, Lin Ling had stopped her.

Lin Ling was equally shocked—so much so that she could hardly believe her ears. She even suspected that Ruan Cha had swapped herself out halfway through the broadcast and let someone else take over!

In Lin Ling’s mind, Ruan Cha’s perfect spelling during the English dictation was only because of rote memorization. A girl from a small town? It was impressive enough if she could read English without a thick accent. Lin Ling had fully expected Ruan Cha to stumble and stutter through the script.

But instead, Ruan Cha delivered the broadcast with a natural, authentic accent so perfect it felt like a foreigner was speaking. It was as though an invisible hand had slapped Lin Ling squarely across the face.

As Lin Ling listened to the impeccable intonation and precise pronunciation over the broadcast, her mouth hung slightly open, unable to form words for a long while. Did Ruan Cha grow up listening to the BBC? Why on earth does she sound like a professional announcer?!

Frustrated, Lin Ling threw her fork, still twirled with spaghetti, onto her plate with a loud clang. Crossing her arms, she let out a cold laugh. “Do you think I’d be kind enough to make her famous? Just wait. Keep listening to her broadcast. Some people—when they’re raised too high—fall even harder.”

Her tablemates exchanged uneasy glances. Truthfully, they couldn’t understand much of the broadcast themselves.

To be honest, if it weren’t for Lin Ling, they wouldn’t have paid any attention to the school broadcast. Watching a drama or listening to music was way more appealing!

As Lin Ling finished speaking, a brief pause did indeed appear on the broadcast.

Ruan Cha stared at the printed English script, her gaze narrowing slightly as a cool smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

The first half of the script introduced a few well-known international landmarks. But the latter half? It abruptly shifted to criticizing movies filmed at a particular location. The tone was combative, the language inflammatory, and it blatantly revealed the narrow-mindedness of its writer.

The sentences were complex, and the vocabulary uncommon. If someone were to read the script under pressure, two likely scenarios could occur:

1. If the reader had merely memorized the words without fully grasping their meaning, they might read the entire problematic section verbatim, oblivious to its implications.
2. If they weren’t familiar with the specialized terms, they might stumble, hesitate, or even misread, causing awkward errors.

Before coming to the broadcast room, Ruan Cha had guessed that Lin Ling hoped to see her falter under pressure. Then, when she overheard Chu Shuwei mentioning that the script had been swapped the day before, everything clicked.

Lin Ling had only told her about the broadcast duty that morning, yet had gone to the trouble of replacing the script beforehand. If the outcome was going to be the same no matter what, why bother?

Unless the new script was specifically designed to cause problems.

After scanning the problematic section, Ruan Cha decisively slapped the script onto the table without a second glance. She then leaned into the microphone, adjusted her posture, and cleared her throat lightly. Her clear, cheerful voice rang out:

“I think hometown…”

The broadcast content was clear, but Ruan Cha decided to improvise, seamlessly transitioning from the planned script to introducing her hometown. Her description painted a vivid picture of a beautiful, serene, historically rich small town with a slow-paced lifestyle, captivating the imaginations of both students and teachers.

Chu Shuwei, who had been about to ask Ruan Cha why she had paused, froze in place as he watched her completely abandon the script and let her creativity take flight. In just a few sentences, she transformed an ordinary small town into a near-magical paradise.

Students with strong English skills, especially those accustomed to the hustle and bustle of the city, couldn’t help but feel a growing sense of anticipation and curiosity. Some were already planning to ask for the name of this idyllic place. Even those who didn’t fully understand the broadcast found themselves drawn in by the natural flow and charm of Ruan Cha’s delivery.

What was most impressive was that although she deviated from the original script, her content aligned perfectly with the theme of “building interest and leading into the subject.” Furthermore, her descriptions of her hometown felt incredibly authentic, using expressions and phrasing that mirrored native British conversational habits—unlike the earlier part of the script, which bore the unmistakable mark of a non-native writer.

Gradually, the murmurs in the school quieted down. Many students closed their eyes as they listened, transported to an imaginary scene of misty London streets surrounded by gentlemen. Even those who couldn’t understand the English broadcast didn’t doubt her fluency—after all, they couldn’t comprehend the original script to begin with. The collective atmosphere of focus made others instinctively pay attention as well.

“Clap, clap, clap.”

Chu Shuwei’s eyes sparkled with admiration as he applauded enthusiastically. “Junior, your accent is incredibly authentic, and your delivery was so engaging. Have you spent a few years living abroad?”

Although there had been whispers about the identity of the true heiress to the Liang family, most students outside of Class 10 and certain social circles didn’t know who Ruan Cha was. Moreover, due to Liang Qianling’s disparaging remarks, many believed that the heiress came from a family of modest means. Seeing Ruan Cha now—with her striking looks, refined demeanor, and impressive abilities—it was hard for anyone to associate her with those rumors.

Ruan Cha chuckled lightly. “No, I’ve always lived in my hometown and just arrived in Nan City less than half a month ago.”

“But your English is so fluent and natural. Do you practice with tapes or watch BBC news often?” Chu Shuwei, being a member of the English club, couldn’t help but admire talented peers.

Ruan Cha smiled as she typed on her phone. “When I was younger, I loved reading Harry Potter. Also, there’s a British uncle who grows vegetables on the mountain near my home—I used to talk with him a lot.”

Her casual tone left Chu Shuwei speechless. A British vegetable farmer? With perfect English pronunciation? Was her uncle a news anchor in the UK before he started farming?

For a moment, he was tempted to ask, “Junior, what kind of international vegetables does your family grow?”

Meanwhile, outside the broadcasting room, Fu Chen arrived with food in hand. Just as he raised his fist to knock, his phone buzzed. Opening the message, his dark eyes softened, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

[Ruan Cha: Was the broadcast good enough for the English club? 🌟👀]

As the president of the English club, Fu Chen’s lips curved further into a smile. With one hand, he knocked on the door, while the other typed a reply.

[Buzz—]

Ruan Cha glanced down at her phone and froze. Then, as realization dawned, she quickly raised her head to look at the tightly shut broadcasting room door.

[Fu Chen·Super Talented·Nice Guy: Please open the door, future club member.]