Ch 34: After My Mother Returned to the Rich Family

The new student, Yu Zhiyan, had a pale complexion, the kind that suggested he hadn’t seen sunlight in a long time. According to the teacher, he had always been physically frail.

He wasn’t particularly tall, so the homeroom teacher arranged for him to sit behind Ruan Cha, thinking that since both of them had good grades, they could help each other. Perhaps they could both make it into the top 20 of the grade during the midterms.

Ruan Cha, however, felt a subtle discomfort with Yu Zhiyan sitting behind her. Perhaps it was the influence of the book’s contents, but his presence made her feel a prickling unease, as though she were sitting on pins and needles.

Lost in thought, she felt a light tap on her back.

Adjusting her expression, she turned around to face Yu Zhiyan, only to meet his amber-colored cat-like eyes. “What is it?”

Seeing her turn, Yu Zhiyan’s pale lips curved into a faint smile as he held up a ballpoint pen in his hand. “My pen’s out of ink. Can I borrow one? I’ll return it after class once I buy a new one.”

“Here you go.” Ruan Cha handed him a spare pen she wasn’t using and, after a moment’s thought, added, “You can keep it. No need to return it.”

Yu Zhiyan’s eyes curved into a smile. “Thanks.”

Ruan Cha couldn’t help but feel he was naturally inclined to smile, his eyes occasionally narrowing lazily like a perpetually sleepy cat.

Without saying more, she turned back around. However, as she sat down, she couldn’t help but frown. Yu Zhiyan didn’t look very healthy and didn’t seem to recognize her. Did he really know Yu Zheng?

She pondered for a while but couldn’t piece together a plausible connection, reluctantly admitting that she wasn’t naturally skilled at deductive reasoning.

---

The morning passed quickly, and during the final chemistry class, news of Ruan Cha’s combined score of 216 on Monday’s chemistry quiz spread through Class 10, sparking another round of cheers.

The chemistry teacher, full of praise, looked at Ruan Cha. “You all saw how unfamiliar Ruan Cha was with experiments when she first started in the lab. But in just one month, not only did she master every experimental procedure herself, but she also helped her group members do the same. This kind of spirit is worth learning from!”

At the teacher’s words, a boy in the back row couldn’t help laughing. “Teacher, as long as we have Ruan Cha to make us proud, do you really want us to learn to lead? What if we turn everyone into slackers who don’t study and just play around?”

“Ha! I think that’s highly likely.”

“Exactly! We’ve got Ruan Cha, that’s enough. Ruan Cha, go bold! Class 10 has got your back!”

The chemistry teacher glared at the rowdy boys. “If Ruan Cha maintains her performance, she’ll transfer to Class 1 after midterms. You’d better find someone else in this class to step up and make us proud!”

Class 10: “???”

Damn! Miscalculation!

As Ruan Cha watched her classmates’ reactions, amused, a crumpled piece of paper suddenly fell onto her desk. Opening it, she found a single line written inside: “Congratulations, but I noticed you’ve been avoiding me all morning. Do we have a misunderstanding?”

The simplicity of the message sent her heart racing again. She had to admit that last night’s dream, where she experienced “psychological therapy” through the perspective of the book’s “Ruan Cha,” had left her almost developing PTSD toward anyone with the surname “Yu.”

After being rattled by someone surnamed Yu in her dream, seeing Yu Zhiyan in class that morning felt like too much to brush off.

As for Yu Zhiyan’s comment about her avoiding him, he wasn’t wrong. Despite sitting front and back, even when Yu Zhiyan tried to start a conversation with a cheerful smile, Ruan Cha had shut him down with curt, one-word replies.

Huang Jiajia, who had been watching the entire scene, struggled to hold back her laughter. During the break, she leaned over with her phone and asked Ruan Cha in a hushed tone, “Yu Zhiyan looks pretty good. Why are you acting like you’ve seen a monster?”

Just as Ruan Cha was pondering how to reply to the note, the system’s cold, electronic voice suddenly rang in her ears.

[Ding! The host has been unlinked from the associated target, Ren Qingqing. From now on, this system will no longer transmit data related to Ren Qingqing to the host. Please be advised.]

Ruan Cha: “!!!”

The unexpected joy hit her so hard that she froze for a moment, even rubbing her ears to make sure she hadn’t misheard.

Did the system just say that the damned Ren Qingqing had been unlinked from her?

Did this mean she no longer had to endure the system’s threats, forcing her to study hard?

Her intelligence and beauty stats were fully intact???

Excitement and disbelief swirled in her chest. A surprise she had been hoping for forever had suddenly dropped into her lap, leaving her slightly dizzy.

She clutched her pen and tapped it repeatedly against the desk, itching to dash to Class 2, grab Ren Qingqing by the shoulders, and ask her, word by word: “Are you really done with the link?!”

But she couldn’t.

Once she calmed down, Ruan Cha’s thoughts turned back to the events in the book. While Ren Qingqing might have severed the link, what about the mysterious Yu Zheng? Why had he intentionally increased the psychological burden on the “Ruan Cha” in the story?

What was his connection to Ren Qingqing?

Last night, Ruan Cha had tried searching for information about Yu Zheng online. By all accounts, the Liang family’s chosen psychologist was renowned in his field, yet strangely, there was no trace of Yu Zheng anywhere on the internet.

Ruan Cha sighed. Her life had once been simple and carefree, but now it felt like a tangled ball of yarn. Every time she straightened one thread, countless more chaotic strands popped out, leaving her frustrated and with a splitting headache.

After replaying the events in her mind several times, Ruan Cha became certain she hadn’t misheard. Ren Qingqing, after losing 1 beauty point and 2 intelligence points, had finally learned to stop coveting what wasn’t hers!

This meant her only potential adversary now was Yu Zheng.

Glancing at the chemistry teacher passionately explaining on the blackboard, Ruan Cha suddenly felt sleepy. Her inherent slacker nature seemed to be making a comeback.

Study?

How could studying compare to the joys of slacking off?

Besides, even if she studied, without being linked to an associated target, her efforts wouldn’t trigger any backlash against Ren Qingqing, depriving her of intelligence or beauty points.

Just as Ruan Cha convinced herself to lay her head down on the desk for a nap, her phone buzzed in the desk compartment. She pulled it out to see a new WeChat message. Reading the contents, her face froze.

[Fu Chen: I heard you scored perfect marks on both the written and experimental portions of the chemistry test. Looks like we’ll be classmates soon.]

Ruan Cha: “…”

After the monthly exams, Ruan Cha had once boasted shamelessly that she’d compete with Fu Chen for the top spot in the grade. Her classmates had even promised to book several tables at the Xiji Hotel for an abalone feast to celebrate.

Reading Fu Chen’s WeChat message, Ruan Cha pressed her lips together, briefly wrestling between her natural inclination to slack off and the need to study. Ultimately, she conceded to the latter. What if the system was trying to mislead her? What if Ren Qingqing’s rank ended up higher than hers, and the system still drained her intelligence and beauty points?

Ruan Cha suddenly sat up straight. Oh no, how had she not considered that the system might be playing dirty?

Lowering her head to look at the chat, her expression shifted from blank to resolute, her eyes sparkling with clarity. She sincerely replied, “Fu Chen, thank you so much! You’ve helped a fairy nearly ensnared by a conspiracy see through the scheme!”

Ruan Cha felt like she’d been too naïve. Even if the system was flawed, it would eventually catch on after she repeatedly outmaneuvered it. If the system had discovered that she could overhear its tasks, it might have intentionally planted false information to make her lower her guard.

If she had truly slacked off and maintained mediocre scores for the midterms, she’d regret it immensely!

Terrified by her own imagination, Ruan Cha broke into a cold sweat. After replying to Fu Chen, she immediately adjusted her attitude and focused on the lecture. Slacking off? Not happening!

Sitting behind her, Yu Zhiyan noticed that Ruan Cha had time to reply to WeChat messages but hadn’t spared a word for him after reading his note. He couldn’t help but chuckle softly, his amber eyes curving with amusement.

-Ah, it seems I’ve been disliked.-

Propping his chin on one hand, Yu Zhiyan stared at Ruan Cha, who seemed to be paying rapt attention to the lesson. After a moment, he shook his head, lay back down on his desk, and pulled his hoodie over his head to nap.

---

Class 1.

Fu Chen glanced at Ruan Cha’s reply on his phone. While his sharp, handsome features softened with a smile, there was also a hint of puzzlement.

He usually found Ruan Cha’s lazy, carefree demeanor endearing. But when it came to studying, it stirred an odd feeling within him, making him want to encourage her to work harder.

After mulling over her reply, Fu Chen felt slightly reassured. It seemed he hadn’t annoyed her, but he realized he’d need to find a different approach if he wanted to nudge her without being overbearing.

Besides, the thought of them becoming classmates in the future was genuinely delightful.

---

Ruan Cha initially believed she could treat Yu Zhiyan with a neutral attitude. After all, whether or not he had any connection to Yu Zheng was still unclear.

However—

Running into him at the cafeteria during lunch was one thing, but encountering him on the way to the school’s back gate after evening self-study—when she was the last person to leave the classroom—was starting to feel a bit strange.

Yu Zhiyan slung his backpack over one shoulder and followed her with a lazy smile. “We only met for the first time this morning, but I feel like you’re a bit hostile toward me.”

“You’re imagining things,” Ruan Cha replied firmly, refusing to admit she harbored any hostility. Keeping her eyes fixed ahead, she strode toward the back gate. “Like you said, we just met. I’m just slow to warm up to people.”

Yu Zhiyan quickened his steps and positioned himself directly in front of Ruan Cha, walking backward while flashing a casual smile. “No worries if you’re slow to warm up. We’ve already bumped into each other several times today. Give it a few more days, and I’m sure you’ll warm up.”

After saying this, he stopped, extending a pale, slender hand toward her. “Let’s start over. Yu Zhiyan, just transferred from Shen City. I’d really like to be your friend.”

Ruan Cha looked at the hand stretched out in front of her and frowned slightly. Following the pale, almost translucent skin, she could clearly see the veins underneath. She confirmed again in her heart—Yu Zhiyan’s health was probably not in great shape.

Instead of shaking his hand, she pointed behind him with an exasperated expression. “Big guy, do you really have to make your formal introduction in the middle of someone else’s romantic scene?”

Yu Zhiyan: “???”

Turning around, he spotted two people partially hidden in the shadows by the wall. One of them, a sharp-featured boy, was glaring at him with a particularly hostile expression.

Yu Zhiyan didn’t know them, but Ruan Cha did. This was the typical romantic spot in the novel—by the wall. The people caught in the act? Ren Qingqing and Xu Shen.

Ruan Cha hadn’t expected the two to escalate their relationship to kissing in school! Weren’t they practically living together already? Wouldn’t it be better to save the kissing for home?

Ren Qingqing looked visibly uncomfortable being caught, but Xu Shen appeared entirely unfazed. He even reached up to wipe the corner of his lips, then asked Ruan Cha with a suggestive smirk, “Tsk. Enjoying the view?”

Ruan Cha: “???”

“What do you think? Don’t you know yourself?”

The unexpected voice cut through the scene, leaving the area in utter silence.

Hearing the words, Ruan Cha silently cheered, agreeing wholeheartedly. She wished she could give the speaker a big thumbs-up. Exactly! People should know their limits!

Second High didn’t outright ban student relationships, but public displays of affection, like kissing in campus common areas, were strictly forbidden. After all, if every couple started kissing in public, it would corrupt plenty of innocent fairies like herself—or innocent fairy boys, for that matter.

When Ruan Cha turned toward the source of the voice, her expression instantly shifted to seriousness. Fu Chen had been standing there for who knew how long.

His bag was slung loosely over one shoulder, and he held a school blazer in one hand. His dark eyes were cold as they bore into Xu Shen and Ren Qingqing. His voice was distant and icy. “Xu Shen, Ren Qingqing, violation of Article 15 of the campus rules. Starting Wednesday, you’re assigned to clean the forest path for one month.”

After delivering his sentence, Fu Chen turned his head, his steady gaze falling on Yu Zhiyan, who was standing beside Ruan Cha.

Ruan Cha: “…”

Suddenly, she felt like she’d just been caught in a collective early-dating scandal by the student council president.