Ch 42: After My Mother Returned to the Rich Family

Originally, Ruan Cha thought the system might be tricking her. But under the bright sun, in full view of everyone, three consecutive bolts of lightning striking Ren Qingqing proved the accuracy of the information on the white virtual panel.

She had transformed from being a target threatened by the system into the ultimate challenge boss within its framework!

From now on, any task the system assigned to Ren Qingqing could first pass through her hands, and its difficulty would escalate based on her mastery level—from beginner mode to nightmare mode.

Ruan Cha glanced at the lively discussion about Ren Qingqing’s bedraggled, fainted state and smirked, unapologetically hitting someone when they were down. “If you’d just stick to the A-tasks, I wouldn’t be able to meddle for now. But why insist on taking what belongs to others?”

It’s no wonder some people never learn. Compared to the tragedy of the “Ruan Cha” in the book’s previous timeline, Ren Qingqing’s current punishments were minor. No surprise she hadn’t wised up.

In a fantastic mood, Ruan Cha even had time to poke at the virtual panel floating before her. She couldn’t help but wonder: Is the system really malfunctioning? Otherwise, why would Ren Qingqing have one system, and I have another?

Moreover, her panel appeared to be of higher authority than Ren Qingqing’s.

Most importantly, she had never received any so-called binding request from the system. Whether it was harmful or not remained unknown.

But earlier, Ruan Cha hadn’t had time to think it through. If she hadn’t acted, it might have been too late to help Xu Nan.

And she wasn’t wrong. In Ren Qingqing and the system’s plans, Xu Nan wasn’t even supposed to attempt the physics task. Without competition, Ren Qingqing could complete the task with a 70% accuracy rate and no time limit, easily earning 1 intelligence point. This gain would have made future tasks much easier for Ren Qingqing.

Yet, no one foresaw the sudden spike in task difficulty. It caused Ren Qingqing to embarrass herself in class, be reprimanded by the chemistry teacher, and then face further public scolding after class. Already struggling with low intelligence points, her meager score of 68 was pure luck—like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.

Before Ruan Cha could piece together the system’s bugs, the panel she touched quivered. A faint ripple spread across its surface.

[Calculation (2) Complete: Task Devourer Ruan Cha has successfully defended Gate x1. Award: +2 Points (first-time reward doubled). Current Points: 2.]

[Note: Library Unlock = 3 Points. Temporary System Store Access = 10 Points. Permanent System Store Access = 20 Points.]

Ruan Cha: “???”

Defended the gate?

Did I just get promoted from a hapless player forced into survival challenges to the final boss guarding the gates?!

Frowning, Ruan Cha studied the panel, feeling more perplexed about the system than ever.

Meanwhile, the lightning incident had thrown the entire Second High into chaos. Once might be a coincidence. Twice could barely be explained as happenstance. But a second round of three lightning strikes? No one was buying “coincidence” anymore!

Groups of students huddled in threes and fives, skipping class to gossip fervently. The school administrators were overwhelmed, never imagining they’d one day have to perform PR damage control for lightning strikes.

Amid the noisy chaos of the Class Ten classroom, only two people remained detached: Ruan Cha, who lowered her gaze to the window (though she was secretly looking at her virtual panel), and Yu Zhiyan, who tilted his head to observe her.

Yu Zhiyan couldn’t figure out what Ruan Cha was thinking. Just as he was about to ask, he saw her pull out her phone and dial a number.

“Sister Zhen, yes, my brother gave me your contact,” Ruan Cha started politely before abruptly shifting her tone. “I have a news tip that I’m guessing South City TV would find very interesting. If you don’t rush to interview now, someone else might scoop it first.”

Yu Zhiyan initially didn’t grasp her intent. As he listened, his expression froze. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand, suppressing a violent cough to avoid catching her attention.

What the heck?!

Innocent? Naturally dark-hearted? Who’s she kidding?!

---

While things falling into Ruan Cha’s lap seemed like one pleasant surprise after another, Ren Qingqing could only count one disaster after another.

Ren Qingqing lay motionless on a hospital bed, her dazed expression resembling that of a comatose patient. The burnt smell of singed hair lingered around her nose as the doctor flipped her stiff limbs for examination.

Unlike the last lightning strike, which left her unscathed, the triple lightning this time had turned her into a “human barbecue.” Her skin darkened, her hair scorched, and only her face remained pale—so unnaturally pale it seemed eerie.

Ren Qingqing was losing her mind, her features twisting in fury. “System, didn’t you say tasks would align with my abilities?! Why did it suddenly require 100% accuracy within thirty minutes?! Even Ruan Cha couldn’t have completed that!!!”

Ruan Cha: Heh heh heh.

[Apologies, the system has conducted an internal inspection. The task assigned to the host was indeed pre-coded in the internal task bank. Bug-checking programs have not reported any errors, and the entire process complies with the requirements.]

Ren Qingqing was so angry her lips twitched, but her skin—stiff from the lightning strikes—made her expression bizarrely distorted, sending chills down the spines of her observing classmates.

The few onlookers exchanged uneasy glances, their eyes practically communicating the same thought: Has Ren Qingqing been possessed? And what kind of sins did she commit to be struck by lightning twice, totaling four strikes?!

[Ding! As the associated target’s physics experimental task score exceeds the host’s by 30 points, the host has received a negative rebound effect x3, deducting 1.5 intelligence points. Immediate execution!]

Under normal circumstances, the rebound penalty would only deduct half of what the host gained. However, with Ren Qingqing’s score gap so wide, it inadvertently tripled—from 0.5 to 1.5.

Ren Qingqing: “!!!”

Before she could respond, her head buzzed and went completely blank. What once felt like mush now seemed like a puddle of rotting sludge. In an instant, she couldn’t even recall the key points she had memorized that morning!

Her eyes turned red with rage. Thrashing her arms wildly, she screamed hysterically, her voice echoing in a shrill roar. “Aahh! You liar! You’re all liars!!!”

“You said you’d check if she wasn’t doing the physics paper! She wasn’t!!!” Ren Qingqing gasped like a burnt, defeated hen, panting heavily, her appearance utterly alarming. “You’re all lying! Big, fat liars!”

The deduction of 1.5 intelligence points instantly brought forth a torrent of hatred in Ren Qingqing’s heart. Her bloodshot eyes glared at everyone around her as if they were demons or monsters.

The system remained silent.

It felt wronged too.

When assigning the task, it had clearly verified that Xu Nan was in self-study, focusing on her area of expertise—chemistry. Who could have predicted that in the next moment, she would suddenly open a physics paper? Not only that—

She had flawlessly opened the exact experimental paper assigned to its host.

Utterly bizarre.

---

Xu Shen, having just finished covering the hospital expenses, pushed the door open only to find Ren Qingqing’s classmates cowering in a corner like frightened quails. Meanwhile, doctors and nurses were struggling to restrain her on the hospital bed.

His face darkened immediately. Taking two steps forward, he reached out to pull the doctor away, his voice cold and sharp, “What are you doing?!”

The quailing classmates didn’t manage to stop him in time. In the next moment, Xu Shen had already yanked the doctor so forcefully that they staggered, nearly falling to the ground.

The doctor, maintaining a calm demeanor, saw that Ren Qingqing stopped struggling after being given a sedative. He explained patiently, “The patient’s emotions are highly unstable. We had no choice—”

“Bullshit!” Xu Shen exploded with anger, his voice teetering on the edge of violence. He looked as if he was ready to throw a punch, sending the medical staff flying. Shoving two nurses aside, he positioned himself protectively in front of the bed. “I brought her here to be treated. You call this treatment?! What are you doing, treating her like she’s mentally ill?!”

Doctor & Nurses: Struck by lightning, acting deranged—what else should we do if not check for mental issues…?

One of the cowering boys cautiously stepped forward, lifting his sleeve to reveal an arm marked with fresh scratches. “Xu Shen, Ren Qingqing might’ve lost her mind after the lightning strikes. Just now, she was crying and cursing on the bed, attacking everyone indiscriminately. The doctors had no choice.”

Xu Shen’s gaze darkened as he stared at the arm, with its raw streaks of blood, his brows furrowing deeply.

---

Knock, knock, knock.

Everyone in the ward turned to look at the door. A moment later, it opened, revealing a poised woman dressed in professional attire with a microphone in hand. Her crisp enunciation and fast-paced speech filled the room as she briefly glanced at the bedridden Ren Qingqing before directing her sharp gaze at the doctor.

“Apologies for the intrusion. Our TV station received a tip from a concerned citizen about someone being struck by lightning and emerging completely unscathed. May we interview the person involved?”

The just-awakened Ren Qingqing: “???”

Lying system, I’ll curse your ancestors!

That evening, the hashtag #AHighSchoolerStruckByLightningFourTimesInTwoMonths made its way onto the real-time trending list.

The highest-liked post under the hashtag was a detailed long-form tweet recounting the bizarre incidents of “Miss Ren” being struck by lightning multiple times in her classroom.

Although it wasn’t a promoted trend, the sheer peculiarity of someone surviving four lightning strikes without apparent harm drew widespread fascination.

By the time Ruan Cha finished her coursework and had the chance to browse social media, she discovered that the long post she had written herself had been organically pushed to the #15 spot on the trending list by netizens.

The buzz included hospital gossip from students who had accompanied Ren Qingqing, leaks from on-duty nurses, and some half-true, half-fabricated accounts that blurred the line between rumor and reality.

Watching the lively online discussions, Ruan Cha’s eyes curved into a satisfied smile. “Ren Qingqing, look at you. You might not have become an actress, but you’re famous now.”

She had been too softhearted in the past, allowing Ren Qingqing to remain oblivious to the horrors of B-level tasks. But now, with the system having struck Ren Qingqing with three consecutive lightning bolts, Ruan Cha was determined to seize the opportunity and not let up.

She wanted to see how long Ren Qingqing could endure the pressure of public scrutiny while trying to complete her B-level tasks.

Ren Qingqing’s act of dragging Xu Nan into her schemes had deeply infuriated Ruan Cha. Family and friends were her bottom line—she could tolerate being targeted herself, but plotting against her loved ones was unacceptable.

From the moment she saw the lightning strikes listed on the task panel, Ruan Cha had devised a comprehensive plan to deal with Ren Qingqing.

From escalating the task difficulty to leveraging a TV interview and then to trending on social media, Ruan Cha utilized every resource at her disposal. If not for her strategic use of tools, the incident wouldn’t have snowballed so dramatically in just half a day.

Some people, she thought, simply didn’t deserve to be treated as human beings.

For the first time, Ruan Cha fully understood the meaning behind her father’s oft-repeated saying.

Leaning back comfortably in her chair, she scrolled through the growing number of trending discussions.

Uncle Wu’s marketing lessons had really paid off. While she had only played pretend before, applying the skills to a real scenario felt thrilling and oddly satisfying.

---

The next day.

When Ruan Cha saw Ren Qingqing at school after her discharge from the hospital, she could only marvel inwardly at the perks of system privileges. Being struck by lightning three times in one day, yet not ending up dead or paralyzed? Incredible.

To be honest, Ruan Cha barely recognized Ren Qingqing at first glance. Her scorched short hair and dry, lifeless skin made her look less like someone who’d lost intelligence points and more like someone who’d been docked beauty points.

It wasn’t just Ruan Cha—most of their classmates didn’t recognize her either. Some even burst out laughing.

“Ren Qingqing, did you become the Thunder God or something?”

“Seriously though, what does getting struck by lightning feel like? Can you tell us?”

The trending hashtag, the TV interviews—many students were genuinely curious. How could someone survive being struck by lightning four times and still be up and about? Could science explain this?

When science failed, people turned to mysticism. And in mysticism, what kind of person gets struck by lightning? Usually, it’s someone who’s done something bad.

Ren Qingqing’s face was a mix of embarrassment and anger as she looked at Ruan Cha and the classmates surrounding her. Losing 3.5 intelligence points had left her mentally scattered, unable to strategize as she once did.

With tears welling up, she snapped and screamed hysterically at the crowd.

“SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU, JUST SHUT UP! You want to know what it feels like? Go stand outside in a thunderstorm and wait to get struck! If I’m the Thunder God, I’ll make sure to fry every last one of you!”

Her outburst stunned everyone into silence.

The once-noisy crowd grew eerily quiet.

After venting, Ren Qingqing froze, realizing the weight of her words. Seeing the shocked and alienated expressions on her classmates’ faces, her own face flushed a deep red. She clutched her face with both hands and, for the first time, didn’t even bother glaring at Ruan Cha. Instead, she fled the scene, crying in humiliation.

Her classmates exchanged awkward glances, guilt creeping in. Had they accidentally bullied her too much?

Ruan Cha watched Ren Qingqing’s retreating figure and tilted her head, quietly guessing that Ren Qingqing might already regret her choices. But regret wouldn’t change anything—her system points were down to just three.

As for herself?

She couldn’t bring herself to feel a shred of sympathy.