Ch 31: After My Mother Returned to the Rich Family

With Old Master Liang’s help, everything went smoothly. At 2 PM, the Liang family’s driver took Ruan Cha to a hillside villa. As soon as she arrived, a butler-like figure was already waiting. Upon seeing Ruan Cha, he smiled and said, “Miss Ruan, our Old Master is waiting inside.”

“Thank you, Uncle Butler.” Ruan Cha handed over the gift prepared by her grandfather and followed the butler into the villa.

Unlike the Liang family’s villa, the Xu family’s villa leaned heavily toward modern technology. It featured metal, aluminum alloy, glass, and some materials Ruan Cha couldn’t identify, making it feel like she was touring a high-tech research institute.

The spacious and brightly lit lobby had marble floors so polished they reflected like mirrors. Following the butler to the basement level, Ruan Cha entered a room filled with shelves holding various equipment and containers. Inside were two people: an elderly man with gray hair and a young girl with long, waist-length black hair tied in a braid.

Both were dressed in white lab coats, making Ruan Cha feel a little intimidated. Compared to them, her slacker self seemed utterly out of place!

When Grandpa Xu saw Ruan Cha, his usually stern face softened slightly with a faint smile. It was clear he wasn’t someone who smiled often. His voice was flat and even, “Cha Cha, you’re here. Just in time—Nan Nan has a small experiment to do. You two can pair up.”

As he spoke, the girl with the braid turned around. When her eyes met Ruan Cha’s, both were visibly surprised.

Ruan Cha recognized Nan Nan—Xu Nan—one of the top students in their grade, ranking fifth during the last monthly exam. Out of curiosity, Ruan Cha had asked her friend Huang Jiajia about the girl who was just one rank above her.

When Huang Jiajia pointed her out, Ruan Cha’s eyes lit up immediately. Xu Nan was too stunning, the kind of beauty that made people want to give her a hug on the spot.

Seeing the two in the lab, Ruan Cha waved and politely greeted them, “Good afternoon, Grandpa Xu. Hello, Xu Nan.”

“You know me?” Xu Nan’s face flushed with a shy pink, making her look like a little peach under the lab coat. Her voice was soft as she asked, then she extended her hand toward Ruan Cha. “Ruan Cha, nice to meet you.”

Ruan Cha shook her hand with a smile. “Of course I know you! I remember you got perfect scores in both physics and chemistry. That’s incredible. And most importantly, you’re so beautiful—it’s impossible not to notice you.”

Unlike Ruan Cha’s vibrant looks, Xu Nan had a delicate and gentle beauty reminiscent of ancient ladies, making people feel at ease just looking at her.

Xu Nan, a naturally shy person, was clearly flustered by Ruan Cha’s straightforward compliments. “I’m only good at physics and chemistry. You’re amazing too.”

Then she pointed to the lab bench. “I heard you wanted to practice some first-year high school experiments. The equipment here is pretty comprehensive. Want me to show you around?”

Ruan Cha clasped her hands over her chest, overwhelmed with gratitude. “Really? Thank you so much!”

What a kind-hearted beauty!

Grandpa Xu, who had been analyzing data, noticed the two chatting happily and nodded approvingly to himself. His granddaughter had always been introverted, preferring to spend her time in the lab and barely making friends at school. If she could befriend Ruan Cha, that would be a good thing.

Though Xu Nan was shy and not great at small talk, she was meticulous and responsible when it came to experiments. Midway through guiding Ruan Cha, she even stepped in to help directly, patiently explaining, “Lift it slightly, keep it vertical, and when waiting for the reaction, you can gently swirl it. Also, pay attention to the liquid’s distance from the bottle’s mouth.”

With Xu Nan’s guidance, Ruan Cha’s progress that afternoon was remarkable. Not only did she complete most of the experiments required for the first-year curriculum, but she also managed to finish over half of the second-year experiments. It far exceeded her expectations.

Looking at her accomplishments on the table, Ruan Cha felt immense satisfaction. She turned to Xu Nan and offered her heartfelt thanks. “Xu Nan, thank you so much. You’ve truly saved a little fairy.”

Without Xu Nan’s help, her skills wouldn’t be nearly as polished, and her chances of losing on Monday would have increased. Losing her charm value would make her title of “little fairy” unworthy.

Hearing this, Xu Nan not only gave a gentle smile but also nodded in agreement, sincerely accepting Ruan Cha’s self-proclaimed title.

Ruan Cha: “!!!”

She had met a true angel on earth!

Feeling giddy from the little beauty’s compliments, Ruan Cha quickly pulled out a small gift she had prepared. “Xu Nan, I made this pendant at home. I hope you like it.”

In her delicate, fair palm lay a beautifully crafted pendant made of braided colorful threads, adorned with smooth pearls. The threads were intricately woven into the shape of a dolphin, playfully balancing a pearl on its nose.

Xu Nan was momentarily stunned before accepting the pendant with flushed cheeks. Her soft voice was full of gratitude. “Thank you. I love it.”

Hearing this, Ruan Cha waved it off casually. “You’re welcome. Tell me your favorite animal sometime, and I’ll make you a unique one.”

“Okay.” Xu Nan carefully placed the pendant into the pocket of her lab coat, her lips curving into an unconscious smile.

Ruan Cha felt overwhelmed with happiness. Not only was Xu Nan patient, but she was also genuinely kind in every way. She even brought out a fresh lab coat for Ruan Cha to wear, and three hours later, noticing Ruan Cha might be tired, she took her for a short stroll in the garden.

Later, when Ruan Cha mentioned her fear of making mistakes during exams, Xu Nan meticulously went through the textbook, marking key points and helping Ruan Cha review and solidify her knowledge through repeated experiments.

Ruan Cha: She felt she might just be a step away from falling for this kind and diligent angel.

With Xu Nan, a dual expert in chemistry theory and experiments, by her side, Ruan Cha was determined not to make any mistakes during Monday’s surprise test.

Resolute, Ruan Cha spent a day and a half at the Xu family’s lab, then went home at night to memorize key points and immerse herself in a sea of chemistry exercises.

…

On Monday morning, Ruan Cha confidently went to school. When the teacher announced an impromptu chemistry test during the first class, Ruan Cha displayed the same surprise as her classmates. So much so that Song Mengyu, seated nearby, turned around to scrutinize Ruan Cha, unable to detect anything unusual.

It wasn’t unreasonable for Song Mengyu to be suspicious. On Saturday, Ruan Cha had complained about struggling with experiments, and by Monday, there was a surprise chemistry exam. The timing was just too coincidental. But judging by Ruan Cha’s genuinely surprised reaction, Song Mengyu couldn’t help but wonder if this was just sheer luck.

The school’s laboratory could accommodate two classes at a time. To save time, the teacher divided the students into six-person teams, assigning each group to an experiment station. All ten experiment stations in the lab were fully occupied.

Unfortunately for Ruan Cha, she ended up in the same session as Ren Qingqing.

On her left, the tenth class students were fumbling with using the apparatus and sorting liquids, most looking completely lost. On her right, the second class students were already deftly conducting experiments with ease.

Ren Qingqing cast a glance at Ruan Cha’s group and saw her teammates scratching their heads, chatting aimlessly, and making no progress. She felt genuinely pleased.

The task assigned by the system was truly perfect. Ruan Cha was already bad at experiments, and now she was stuck with a group of weak teammates. If Ren Qingqing couldn’t win this, it would be absurd!

But Ren Qingqing’s delight didn’t last long.

When half the allotted time had passed, she glanced at Ruan Cha’s group again and was shocked to see a completely different scene. The group now had clear roles and responsibilities—everyone was busy, taking notes, and diligently observing data and reactions without chatting or slacking.

Even more shocking, their progress was faster than her group’s!

Panicking at the thought of losing beauty points, Ren Qingqing abruptly grabbed a teammate’s equipment. “You’re too slow. Let me do it.”

Without waiting for a reply, she dove into the experiment herself.

Although Ren Qingqing had initially believed she couldn’t possibly lose when she heard about the task on Saturday, she still spent an entire afternoon revising and was more practiced than her groupmates.

The classmate whose equipment she had taken looked displeased. With the teacher observing everyone’s performance, who wouldn’t want to shine and impress? However, since Ren Qingqing was clearly more skilled, the classmate couldn’t voice any complaints.

The classmate threw a glare at Ren Qingqing’s newly trimmed bangs, fuming internally. “No wonder—bad intentions show on the face!”

Ren Qingqing, oblivious to her teammates’ frustration, completed the experiment efficiently. When she glanced at the group’s record sheet and found it blank, her brows furrowed slightly, but she didn’t lose her temper. “Can someone record the data for me? I’m faster at the experiments, so if we finish quickly, we can earn bonus points for our order.”

The others exchanged glances. Reluctantly, the same girl who had just been muttering complaints picked up the record sheet and began jotting things down. However, because Ren Qingqing skipped several steps in her process, the girl had to calculate and adjust as she recorded.

Meanwhile, unlike Ren Qingqing’s hands-on approach, Ruan Cha was thrilled with her group’s teamwork. Watching her assigned teammates work diligently, she couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction. “I’m so smart!”

Why not just assign tasks directly if the goal was teamwork? As a seasoned slacker, Ruan Cha had mastered the art of delegating work.

Of course, in between moments of slacking off, Ruan Cha kept a watchful eye on the group to ensure nothing went wrong. The habit was a reflex born from Xu Nan’s meticulous weekend instructions, and she channeled all of it into monitoring her teammates.

At one point, group member Xie Changan, watching the silvery crystals precipitate on the wall of a test tube, widened his eyes in amazement. “Wow, Ruan Cha, this is beautiful. For the first time, I think chemistry experiments are actually fun!”

A boy in the group nodded vigorously. “Yeah, yeah! Watching the reaction just now, I was absolutely stunned. I even regret spending so much time in class playing on my phone and gaming instead of paying attention to the experiments the teacher was demonstrating.”

Seeing everyone enjoy the process, Ruan Cha felt genuinely happy. After all, she’d felt the same excitement yesterday while completing magical and beautiful chemistry experiments with Xu Nan’s help.

As Ruan Cha recorded the final set of experiment data, she added, “It’s not just chemistry—biology, physics, and so many other experiments are fascinating too. The ones we encounter in high school are small-scale. Once we study these subjects in college, it’ll be even more amazing.”

She recalled how, in the Xu family’s lab, she and Xu Nan had watched Grandpa Xu work on a series of mini-experiments. At the time, Ruan Cha’s mind had been overwhelmed with thoughts of “This is so cool! Amazing!”

For a brief moment, she’d even entertained the idea of becoming a chemist in the future—though, before the thought could take shape, her innate slacker nature quickly dismantled it.

Xie Changan noticed that Ruan Cha had finished writing in the record book and eagerly raised his hand. His loud voice echoed across the lab, “Teacher! We’re all done!”

In an instant, all eyes in the room turned to their group, with varying degrees of surprise.

Class 2: “How did Class 10 beat us to it?!”

Class 10: “A traitor among us managed to excel!”

Xu Shen, who had been slacking in the group, lazily turned to glance backward when he heard Xie Changan’s voice. Upon seeing Ruan Cha, his eyes darkened slightly.

It was strange—he clearly liked Ren Qingqing, who lived under the same roof as him and had a cute personality. Yet, whenever both Ren Qingqing and Ruan Cha were around, he couldn’t stop his gaze from drifting to Ruan Cha’s face.

At that moment, a terrifying thought suddenly crossed Xu Shen’s mind: If only Ren Qingqing looked like Ruan Cha, everything would be perfect.

Meanwhile, Ren Qingqing, who had finished her experiment just ahead of Ruan Cha’s group, let out a long sigh of relief. The teacher had mentioned that the first group to complete the experiment would receive bonus points. Her group earned +3 points, while Ruan Cha’s only earned +1. She was already ahead at the starting line!

The chemistry teacher, who had been observing Ruan Cha’s group, couldn’t help but notice how serious they were compared to the otherwise chaotic Class 10 students. He’d even considered turning a blind eye and ensuring their group passed as long as their results weren’t too far off.

But when he actually inspected their work, his eyes widened in disbelief. The reagent reactions, observations, and conclusions were all correct! Out of the 30 chemistry experiment tasks, every single piece of data was accurate!

The chemistry teacher carefully reviewed the record book that Ruan Cha had submitted, checking it twice. Finally, he had to admit that he’d just graded one of the only two perfect scores.

As for the first perfect score, it belonged to the group that finished their experiment first. This group included two students who had scored perfect marks in chemistry during the monthly exams. Their flawless results didn’t surprise the chemistry teacher, but seeing such precision come from a Class 10 group was undeniably shocking.

Ruan Cha discreetly observed the chemistry teacher’s expressions. Seeing him nodding and looking pleased, she felt slightly more at ease. Once the session was over, she resolved to buy some snacks to thank Xu Nan properly.

While the chemistry teacher conducted his checks, a few other students were also paying attention—especially those from Class 2. After all, losing to Class 10 in terms of experiment completion order was quite a blow.

Among them, those who recognized Ruan Cha found it unsurprising. After all, Ruan Cha had ranked sixth in the grade during the monthly exams. Whether she could maintain her rank or not, her abilities were evident.

Ren Qingqing, however, was nervously watching the chemistry teacher’s reactions. When she saw his expression shift from surprise to delight, her heart sank. She could sense that something had gone wrong.

The chemistry results were originally scheduled to be released on Tuesday, as they combined the written exam and the lab experiment scores. However, on Monday night, while Ruan Cha was buried in her studies, a cold, emotionless electronic voice suddenly rang in her ears.

After hearing the full message, Ruan Cha’s eyes widened, and she nearly jumped out of her chair!

[Ding! Priority Assessment Result Program 2.0 activated. Associated target’s chemistry score: Written exam—110 (Base 100, Bonus 10), Lab—106 (Priority completion +1, Team collaboration +5), Total: 216 points. Host’s chemistry score: Written exam—106 (Base 98, Bonus 8), Lab—99 (Data recording error -4, Priority completion +3, Team collaboration +0), Total: 205 points. Task failed!!!]

[As the host’s score has fallen 10+ points below the associated target for the third time, 1 point will be deducted from the host’s system score, along with a negative backlash x1. Additionally, 2 intelligence points will be revoked. Immediate execution! Immediate execution!!!]

Hearing the announcement, Ruan Cha froze for a moment before bursting into laughter. The crisp sound of her laughter echoed throughout the room. “Hahaha, Ren Qingqing, you really need to understand what it means to reap what you sow!”

Although Ruan Cha found the system’s actions of draining others’ beauty and intelligence repulsive, the punishment this time was undeniably satisfying!

Perhaps due to her overly joyous mood or the small victory in resisting the system, Ruan Cha had a vivid dream that night. In her dream, she once again saw the book titled [Top Scholar in the Spotlight (System)], where the protagonist was named Ren Qingqing.

Unlike the content she had glimpsed from Ren Qingqing’s perspective on her first day back at the Liang family’s house, this time, Dream Ruan Cha experienced the entire book from her own character’s point of view, reliving every event in the narrative.