Ch 57: After My Mother Returned to the Rich Family

Ruan Cha carefully scrutinized the sticky rice dumpling-like System for a long while but eventually gave up. No matter how she looked at it—up, down, left, or right—all she could see was a big white dumpling. There was absolutely no way to tell if it was lying.

Fortunately, after the System had developed a sense of fear and self-preservation, it became perceptive. It rolled forward slightly.

[Back then, Yu Zheng did something that triggered the detachment program built into me. Afterward, I separated from Yu Zheng. However, something went wrong during the detachment process, causing me to crash for over a decade. When I rebooted, I had already been bound to the previous host, Ren Qingqing.]

Leaning lazily against her chair, Ruan Cha lowered her gaze to the System. “What did Yu Zheng do to trigger the detachment program?”

[My energy levels are too low right now, and the database is not fully accessible. I can’t retrieve any information about what happened back then.]

Ruan Cha retorted bluntly, “What’s the use of an outdated machine like you?”

[…] Considering the time spent in development and the years it was out of service, being called outdated isn’t entirely wrong.

Ruan Cha: “…”

The System looked a bit dim-witted.

“Can you attack the virus-afflicted System bound to Ren Qingqing? And what about Yu Zheng? Or rather, the person now calling himself Yu Zheng?” As Ruan Cha spoke, her gaze shifted to the phone on the table.

Before she returned from school, Grandpa Shen had sent her a message saying no one he knew was called Yu Zheng. He’d also asked her to describe Yu Zheng’s appearance in more detail.

Ruan Cha suspected that Yu Zheng might have changed his name. However, there were two conflicting points regarding this possibility.

First, in the novel, why did the Liang family believe Yu Zheng had made significant achievements in psychology and trust him to treat the original “Ruan Cha”?
Second, did Yu Zheng change his name before or after the System detached from him?

The sticky rice dumpling-like System kept rolling forward. [I can attack him. On the third day after binding to Ren Qingqing, Yu Zheng summoned Ren Qingqing and ordered her to defeat you academically within a year.]

[Yu Zheng was originally recorded in my database as… Yu Fan. After encountering him again, my database updated and replaced “Yu Fan” with “Yu Zheng.”]

Hearing this, Ruan Cha quickly drafted a WeChat message, asking Grandpa Shen to check if anyone in his circle knew a person named Yu Fan.

“You can really attack Yu Zheng?”

[Yes, yes. Yu Zheng uses the spiritual connection he established with the System’s virus program during his previous binding to monitor Ren Qingqing.]

[With this connection, he can receive updates on Ren Qingqing’s task completion. If sufficient knowledge energy is accumulated, I can reverse the connection and attack Yu Zheng’s spiritual domain.]

Interestingly, the System found something strange: during a few periods of significant emotional turmoil in Ren Qingqing, the virus area became unusually active, and a stream of information was transmitted.

The System was certain it didn’t send anything to Yu Zheng, so who did it go to? Could it have been the person who implanted the virus?

Ruan Cha thought the System had finally said something useful. Attacking Yu Zheng’s spiritual domain might turn him into an idiot.

Perhaps her mild demeanor gave the System a bit of courage. It rolled forward and stopped on Ruan Cha’s slippers, whispering, [Classmate Ruan Cha, do you want to bind with me to complete an A-level task?]

The System sounded a little aggrieved. Originally, it had only one task, but now, because of the virus, it had to specifically clarify that it was an A-level task.

Ruan Cha didn’t fall for it. “What’s in it for you if I complete the A-level task?”

[If you don’t bind with me, 50% of the knowledge energy you acquire will be allocated to me. If you do bind with me, that percentage will increase to 80%.]

Ruan Cha responded with a casual “Oh,” then turned back to her math book and rejected it concisely, “No binding.”

The System wasn’t ready to give up and continued struggling. [If you complete the A-level task, I can use future genetic science to enhance your brain’s development and improve your physical appearance. It’s a great deal.]

Smack!

[Ouch!]

Ruan Cha bent down, retrieved the thick English dictionary she had just slammed onto the System, and stared at the dented sticky rice dumpling without a shred of sympathy. “So, you’re dissatisfied with my intelligence and looks?”

Without waiting for the System to reply, she added, “I’m very satisfied with both my intelligence and appearance. I don’t think they can get any better. Give up.”

Ruan Cha couldn’t completely trust the System. A weak, virus-infected System? What if binding with it made her vulnerable to another virus attack?

Besides, this System had already switched between two hosts, Yu Zheng and Ren Qingqing, both of whom were far from impressive. Could it really be trusted?

Regardless of the System’s credibility, Ruan Cha had gleaned some useful information: Xu Nan’s immediate threat seemed to have been eliminated. She’d need to confirm this over time, but if Xu Nan remained safe for a while, she could finally put her worries to rest.

That night, Ruan Cha slept soundly and dreamlessly.

The next morning, well-rested, she went to school in high spirits—until she ran into Song Mengyu, who had clearly been waiting for her on the second floor of the teaching building.

Ruan Cha was surprised to see Song Mengyu bare-faced, an unusual sight at school. “Do you need something?”

“I do,” Song Mengyu replied bluntly. Without any elders around, she didn’t bother pretending to be gentle. Sisterly affection? That had run dry during their last reality show appearance together. Her tone carried a trace of accusation. “What did you and your parents say to my mom at last Saturday’s banquet?”

Song Mengyu hadn’t cared about the banquet introducing the Ruan family of three and had opted to stay home. But when Liang Qianling returned, she had dragged Song Mengyu aside to instruct her not to embarrass Ruan Cha in public again.

Checking a few classmates’ social media posts, Song Mengyu assumed her mom had taken a liking to Ruan Zhengfei’s connections and wanted to maintain peace with the Ruan family for now.

But last night, something strange happened—her parents, who had always gotten along, suddenly had a fight.

Song Mengyu could only suspect that the Liang family had said something to her mom that caused her to distance herself from the Song family.

Ruan Cha shook her head, her expression unusually sincere. “I have no idea. I was busy chatting with my classmates.” The adults had been talking upstairs, and she genuinely didn’t know.

Seeing Song Mengyu’s disbelief, Ruan Cha could only shrug. As they brushed past each other, she suddenly remembered Grandpa Shen’s subtle hints in the reception room and paused slightly. “Song Mengyu, I think you should pay more attention to what your parents discuss. It might give you a different perspective.”

The thought of someone repeatedly giving psychological suggestions to their partner was chilling. What was that person trying to do—make their partner see them as the only one in their world?

Ruan Cha didn’t like Liang Qianling, but she liked even less the idea of Song Mengyu’s father subtly manipulating Liang Qianling. As the saying often goes in dramas: Does he even deserve it?

Having said her piece, Ruan Cha didn’t care whether Song Mengyu listened or not. She headed upstairs, returning to Class One.

During the early self-study session, homeroom teacher Wang announced a piece of news that left the students slightly surprised: Ren Qingqing, who had just transferred from Class Two to Class One after the midterm exams, had taken a leave of absence!

The students exchanged puzzled looks. They couldn’t fathom why Ren Qingqing would suddenly leave school. Was it just because she couldn’t answer a question in math class? Did it really warrant taking a break from school?

The boys, in particular, were in utter dismay. Just yesterday, they had realized that Ren Qingqing perfectly matched their ideal of a sweet and beautiful goddess. Before they could even muster the courage to confess, she was gone.

Their hearts shattered into irreparable pieces.

After announcing Ren Qingqing’s leave of absence, Teacher Wang went on to list the students who would represent the class in various subject competitions. Ruan Cha noticed that out of the fewer than ten names mentioned, she was familiar with nearly half.

For instance, Xu Nan was competing in the chemistry contest, Xie Sui in the physics contest, and both Tang Ruobing and Sun Feng in the English contest. Sitting in the Class One classroom, Ruan Cha truly experienced what it felt like to be surrounded by top students.

Tang Ruobing’s eyes showed visible surprise when her name was called alongside Sun Feng’s. She instinctively turned to look at Ruan Cha. In her mind, Ruan Cha’s English scores were among the best at Second High School, so it didn’t make sense for the teacher to exclude her from the competition.

To Tang Ruobing’s credit, though she had her own small schemes, she was someone who could let go when needed. After being rejected in her confession, she had decisively chosen not to pester further. As a result, even her view of Ruan Cha had become more favorable.

In fact—

Tang Ruobing was starting to hope that Ruan Cha and Fu Chen might end up together. After all, she didn’t think any other girl was better than her.

As Tang Ruobing glanced at Ruan Cha, Ruan Cha happened to look away from Xu Nan. Their gazes met, and Ruan Cha clenched her fist and said to Tang Ruobing, “Good luck.”

Tang Ruobing: “…”

At that moment, she felt a bit foolish for ever seeing Ruan Cha as a rival.

Ruan Cha seemed completely oblivious.

[Classmate Ruan Cha, aren’t you going to participate in any competitions? Winning first place in the preliminary round can earn you 50 knowledge energy points.]

Ruan Cha had grown accustomed to the System’s soft, sticky voice whispering in her ear. Without changing her expression, she turned the page of her book and replied, “No, I won’t. Reading a book also gives me 10 knowledge energy points. Isn’t that easier than competing?”

[…]

Fair point. After all, by future standards, Ruan Cha’s current intelligence was already exceptional.

Ruan Cha wasn’t deceiving the System, and she was certainly being responsible. With Ren Qingqing and Yu Zheng as examples ahead of her, she had every reason to tread carefully.

During the break between morning classes, Ruan Cha completed two test papers provided by the System. These were based on key points from the second semester high school math and English textbooks. She scored 150 on both, far exceeding the 120-point threshold required to gain knowledge energy.

The System, gazing at the 20 points of energy in its pool, silently retreated into a corner. Why, oh why, had it crashed back then? If it hadn’t, maybe it could have successfully bound with Ruan Cha. Once bound, it could collect 100% of the energy and completely annihilate Virus X.

Seeing the light dot representing the System go still, Ruan Cha poked at it with her pen. “1128, don’t play dead. You’ve already got 20 points of energy. Even crumbs add up to a meal. Now go follow the plan we discussed last night and make things difficult for Ren Qingqing.”

Now that they finally had an opportunity to attack, even if the System’s current capabilities only allowed for minor, superficial disruptions, Ren Qingqing still deserved a taste of her own medicine. Otherwise, wouldn’t the past few months of threats have been in vain?

Ruan Cha felt her days of lounging around were over. To even the score, she had to make sure Ren Qingqing wouldn’t enjoy her time as a trainee.

The System looked at Ruan Cha as if she were a relentless taskmaster, reluctantly poking at the energy pool before sneaking off to make trouble for its former host.

Currently, the former host hadn’t completed a single idol task. The System wasn’t scared of Virus X at all—hah, a virus that couldn’t even sustain itself was no better than trash!

While waiting for the System to report back, Ruan Cha felt her chair being tapped from behind. Turning around, she saw Fu Chen’s hand still in the air.

Fu Chen tilted his head and glanced at the textbooks on her desk. “The homeroom teacher said you’re planning to skip a grade?”

Hearing this, Ruan Cha confidently nodded in agreement before asking, “Did the homeroom teacher also ask you to help your desk mate with their studies in your free time?”

At her question, a trace of complicated emotion flashed in Fu Chen’s eyes. “The homeroom teacher said—” He paused briefly, then a slight smirk appeared at the corner of his lips as he added with a hint of laughter in his voice, “I’d corrupt the new student.”

Ruan Cha: “…”

Nonsense! You’re clearly leading the new student to compete for the title of ultimate slacker—no, wait, to strive for excellence!