Ch 18: After My Mother Returned to the Rich Family

“Hahaha! Did you guys see that? Ren Qingqing from Class Two, the one struck by lightning, is so excited about her scores that she’s running laps around the track like crazy. Hahaha, my stomach hurts from laughing.”

“Seriously, seriously, one lap after another. What is she doing? Hahaha!”

In Class Ten’s classroom, only about ten students remained; the rest had gone to the track to watch Ren Qingqing run laps. Some even tirelessly recorded videos lap by lap, counting along, just to see how many laps she could complete.

No one could have predicted that right after seeing the scores, they’d look up to find Ren Qingqing sprinting toward the track like she had wheels on fire, frantically running laps. Even when a teacher tried to stop her, Ren Qingqing didn’t just ignore them—she yelled at the top of her lungs, “Let me run laps! Let me run laps! Let me run laps!!!”

Teacher & students: “…”
Fine, fine, as long as you’re happy.

Within just half an hour, Ren Qingqing’s name spread like wildfire across Second High School. She became famous—who didn’t know about the student who ranked 22nd in the grade and celebrated by furiously running laps to calm down?

Meanwhile, Ruan Cha sat at her desk, her gaze lowered to her phone, watching a video she had recorded. But it wasn’t of Ren Qingqing running laps—it captured the moment Ren Qingqing stormed downstairs. On the screen, her features were twisted with frustration, her expression a mix of grievance and madness.

Looking at Ren Qingqing’s disheveled state, for the first time, Ruan Cha felt a hint of satisfaction at striking while she was down, along with a small sense of achievement for breaking through the system’s interference.

In some ways, running thirty laps wasn’t more painful than being struck by lightning, but lightning was over in an instant. Running thirty 1,000-meter laps, though…

Ren Qingqing, just remember to control your facial expressions under all those stares—don’t look too hideous.

Of course, Ruan Cha hadn’t missed the hateful glare Ren Qingqing had shot her way when descending the stairs.

If she hadn’t seen the system panel back then, Ruan Cha figured Ren Qingqing would’ve smoothly completed her tasks, growing smarter and more beautiful, eventually becoming the school’s top beauty and a star student. Her eyes would have remained as pure and harmless as they were the first time they met.

But now, with her hopes shattered and no gains to show, resentment had crept into Ren Qingqing’s heart, making it impossible for her to remain as innocent as before.

And just like herself—once she identified an enemy, she could no longer idly laze around as a carefree slacker.

When will those lazy, blissful days ever return?

“Cha Cha, what are you looking at? You’re practically a thinker now,” Huang Jiajia teased as she sat on Xie Chang’an’s desk. She bent down to peek at Ruan Cha’s phone and gasped in delight when she saw the video. “Oh my god! You recorded it? Send it to me! I totally regret not filming how ridiculous Ren Qingqing looked running downstairs.”

“No need,” Ruan Cha replied. “I’m just watching it for fun, not spreading it around.” While she enjoyed seeing Ren Qingqing suffer her own consequences, spreading the video to her classmates felt unnecessary. “If you want to watch, use my phone. But no forwarding.”

Huang Jiajia didn’t quite understand why Ruan Cha insisted on not sharing the video but nodded in agreement. Just as she was about to take the phone, a WeChat notification popped up on Ruan Cha’s screen.

“Cha Cha, someone messaged you on WeChat,” Huang Jiajia pointed out.

Ruan Cha opened the app and couldn’t help but chuckle when she saw the message.

[Fu Chen: Congratulations ✨ I saw your score—6th in the grade. Once the midterms are over, I’ll wait for you in Class One.]

“Do you really believe I can stay in the top 20?” Ruan Cha typed slowly and sent the message. After a moment, she added, “By the way, I should thank you. The last physics problem was exactly like the one I asked you about the other day. Luckily, your explanation was so thorough.”

[Fu Chen: You should thank yourself for your persistence.]

[Fu Chen: Top 20? I think you can stay in the top 5 by midterms.]

Ruan Cha had no concept of modesty. After seeing Fu Chen’s reply, she directly responded, “I think so too! Forget top five, I’m confident I can compete with you for first place.”

She had put in serious effort for two whole weeks, tirelessly reviewing, and ended up ranked sixth in the grade. If she continued to work hard over the next month, there was no reason her scores couldn’t improve even further.

After replying to the message, Ruan Cha looked up to find Huang Jiajia staring at her in a daze. Waving a hand in front of her, Ruan Cha called softly, “Jiajia?”

“Huh?” Huang Jiajia snapped out of it, her expression shifting into something complicated and hard to describe. “Cha Cha, the person you marked in your contacts… is that Fu Chen?”

Ruan Cha nodded. “It’s him.”

As if reminded of something, she added three words to his contact note: “has great vision.”

Everyone she knew before used to call her a slacker, but Fu Chen was different—he could see the essence of her hidden brilliance beneath the lazy exterior.

What incredible vision!

Huang Jiajia, still processing Fu Chen and Ruan Cha’s conversation, felt a mix of emotions. She didn’t know whether to be more shocked by Fu Chen’s uncharacteristically casual tone or by the fact that Ruan Cha had actually set her sights on Class One.

But on second thought, it all made sense. Her own record-breaking science score this time was largely thanks to the review materials Ruan Cha had given her—key points, a dozen annotated test papers, and potential question types based on sophomore-level knowledge.

If she could cram at the last minute and score well, there was no way Ruan Cha wouldn’t make it into Class One.

Huang Jiajia placed a hand on Ruan Cha’s shoulder, clenched her other fist, and declared, “Cha Cha, you have to get into Class One! Not just that—you need to aim for first place in the grade!”

“Huh? Ruan Cha aiming for first place?” A boy sitting in the back overheard and his eyes lit up. “Ruan Cha, that’s ambitious! If you get first place, I’ll book a few tables at Westgate Hotel for an abalone feast and treat the whole class!”

“She has to get it! Our Ruan Cha went from scoring tens to ranking sixth in the grade. First place isn’t a stretch!”

“Exactly! Knock Fu Chen off the top spot!”

Ruan Cha: “…”

She felt like she was being pushed onto the stage against her will.

Not one to feel embarrassed easily, Ruan Cha turned to the boy who had spoken first and said, “If you’re serious about booking at Westgate, you’d better make the reservation now.”

The Liang family owned several five-star hotels, with Westgate being the most prestigious. Their abalone feasts required bookings at least two months in advance. Though she’d never eaten Westgate’s abalone herself, she’d heard tidbits about it during meals with the Liang family.

She’d tried home-raised baby abalones a few times in her hometown, but honestly, she thought they couldn’t compare to the cabbages her mother grew.

Ruan family cabbages—juicy, sweet, beautifying, and worth every bit of hype.

The boy, from a wealthy background, laughed when he saw that Ruan Cha didn’t mind their jokes. “Fine, fine, I’ll book it tonight—full payment upfront!”

Honestly, when Ruan Cha had first transferred from a small town, everyone thought she was nothing like them. Yet her English, horseback riding, and now her grades completely outshone most of the students in Classes One and Two.

She had brought so much pride to Class Ten! Now, even as the underdogs, they wouldn’t have to fear being mocked by the top classes anymore.

Amidst the cheerful atmosphere in Class Ten, the scene on the track was far less pleasant.

Ren Qingqing’s muscles were screaming, her joints ached unbearably, and she wanted nothing more than to collapse on the track. But under the system’s compulsion, she couldn’t stop. If she did, she would uncontrollably shout “Let me run laps!” in a melodramatic voice, forcing the system to make her continue running.

The murmurs and laughter around her were like icy blades in the dead of winter, piercing her relentlessly. Red-faced and humiliated, she wanted to dig a hole to crawl into. She resented the onlookers laughing at her misery, but she hated Ruan Cha and the system even more!

She dragged her heavy steps across the track, running awkwardly under the mocking gazes of the crowd. The once-clear light in her eyes now carried a venomous gleam as she gritted her teeth. “System, you clearly said the probability of Ruan Cha getting perfect scores in other subjects was zero!”

“Ruan Cha only scored 10 points in four subjects during her first-year finals. Without external help, how could she have scored that high now?!”

Ren Qingqing’s voice was nearly hysterical, her repeated failures and mounting resentment twisting her mind further. The public humiliation she was enduring only deepened her psychological distortion.

If, in the past, all she wanted was to extract a few points of intelligence and beauty from Ruan Cha to perfect herself, now she was consumed by the thought: Why doesn’t Ruan Cha just die?

[Ruan Cha only scored perfect marks in math, English, and physics. She did not achieve perfect scores across all subjects. The system’s response was not incorrect.]

[Recent analysis shows that 80% of the host’s Chinese, science, and system-provided mock test answers overlapped. The host should have focused on revising instead of going to bed at 10 p.m.]

[Would the host reconsider completing Task A?]

“No!”

After her vehement refusal, Ren Qingqing’s gaze fell on Xu Shen in the crowd. Noticing his furrowed brows, a sinking feeling overcame her. Embarrassment, frustration, and fury twisted her heart into knots. “Complete Task A? Did I endure these two humiliations for nothing? I’ve embarrassed myself in front of the entire school, so why should Ruan Cha be glorified and adored?”

If given a choice, Ren Qingqing felt she’d prefer being struck by lightning again. At least that would have been less humiliating than being forced to run endlessly like a circus monkey in front of her peers and teachers.

“And besides—” Ren Qingqing’s voice softened, though her sweet appearance now carried a strange coldness. “I need to secure access to the system store as soon as possible. I can’t wait for those 20 points any longer.”

The system fell silent. It hadn’t mentioned this, but Ruan Cha’s intelligence had always been exceptionally high. Previously dormant, it had inexplicably awakened recently, putting its host at a disadvantage.

Quietly observing Ren Qingqing’s increasingly twisted expression, the system began to understand why the creator of its virus had claimed that the takeover program was designed to test human nature.

Between the two tasks, the host had chosen Task B without hesitation. Was it because humans in the old era lived such short lives that they couldn’t bear to waste even a moment?

The system’s embedded algorithms had been calculating for weeks but still couldn’t decipher human complexities. Humans, it concluded, were far too complicated.

---

Twenty minutes later.

“I… I can’t run anymore.” Ren Qingqing could no longer manage her expressions or even spare energy to hate Ruan Cha. Her limbs were stiff, and her vision blurred.

The system flashed red, and a new program activated. Instantly, her demeanor changed. Strength surged into her body like a cartoon sailor who had just eaten a can of spinach. She started sprinting again, her legs spinning like windmill wheels as she shouted, “Let me run laps! Let me run laps! Let me run laps!”

The onlookers: “…”

The president of the sports club stared in shock, muttering to himself, “The sports club just lost a top recruit… though it’d be better if she didn’t shout while running.”

On the sidelines, Xu Shen stood with his hands in his pockets, watching the pitiful sight of Ren Qingqing running laps. A sudden wave of irritation rose in his chest. He had initially planned to congratulate Ruan Cha on her sixth-place ranking but found himself heading to the track instead. Somehow, he felt compelled to check on Ren Qingqing, even convinced he ought to intervene.

It was a strange and unwelcome feeling.

But intervene?

Xu Shen let out a chuckle. What, run alongside her? He wasn’t crazy.

Meanwhile, the person being simultaneously thought about by two others, Ruan Cha, was sitting at her desk, enduring Liao Lan’s intense, almost treasure-hunting gaze for three full minutes.

In her previous high school, due to her slacker persona, Ruan Cha barely did anything and was often overlooked by teachers. This was the first time she had ever seen such fervent admiration in a teacher’s eyes. As for how it felt… it was a mix of novelty and awkwardness.

Luckily, the ringing bell saved her. Liao Lan finally withdrew her gaze and, seeing students trickling back into the classroom, smiled warmly. “You’ve all seen the results. Our class’s Ruan Cha scored a perfect 160 in math! Full marks! First in the grade! Let’s give her a round of applause!”

The students clapped enthusiastically, and a few boys even whistled.

Following the lead, Xie Chang’an added, “Our Ruan Cha also scored perfect marks in English and Physics—150 in both! Tied for first in the grade! Keep the applause going!”

Though Liao Lan shot him a glare for showing off, she still joined in the renewed round of applause with the students. The atmosphere in Class Ten was brimming with celebratory cheer.

Well, except for a few disgruntled students—like Lin Ling and Song Mengyu.

Song Mengyu, in particular, was deeply irritated by Ruan Cha stealing the spotlight. It diverted attention from her, especially her grandfather’s. Recalling her mother’s recent embarrassment at the Liang family garden, her eyes wavered slightly, and her fingers clenched tightly.

When the applause finally died down, Liao Lan turned to Ruan Cha with an encouraging smile. “Ruan Cha, why don’t you come up and share some study tips with your classmates? Just focusing on math is fine.”

Liao Lan had high hopes for Ruan Cha. In just one month, she had adapted to Class Ten and, despite the class’s overall lackluster academic atmosphere, managed to rank sixth in the grade.

Had she been placed in Class Two with its competitive environment, she might have even rivaled Fu Chen for the top spot.

Ruan Cha: “…”

Math? Wasn’t it just a glance-and-solve kind of thing? Compared to math, Ruan Cha found Chinese much harder.

But she couldn’t admit that. Otherwise, the teacher and classmates might genuinely want to smack her with a stick.

“Math is very simple,” Ruan Cha began, racking her brain. “Just memorize the key points from the book, complete the post-lesson exercises and practice book’s basic problems, and you’ll naturally figure out the patterns for similar questions.”

After exhausting her ideas, she gave up and turned to her classmates with an expectant look. “Anyone have questions about specific problem types?”

The struggling students: “…”

The thing they feared most was when teachers asked what they didn’t understand. After all, they didn’t even understand the questions to begin with.

Ruan Cha’s question plunged the class into silence once again. Huang Jiajia pursed her lips and was about to raise her hand, only to be beaten to it by something else.

From the open window came a booming, endless loop of four familiar words.

“Let me run laps! Let me run laps! Let me run laps!”

The whole class: “…”

Ruan Cha: “Pfft.”

Whoever designed the punishment program in that system really had it out for Ren Qingqing, huh?