Ch 67: After My Mother Returned to the Rich Family

“Ah! Let me go! I have something important to report to the nation! Some kind of high-tech force is controlling me!”

Ren Qingqing’s eyes were bloodshot as she struggled frantically, but it was useless. The orderlies firmly pinned her down on the hospital bed.

“I’m telling you! Something is controlling me—it’s called Virus X!”

Tears and mucus covered her face in a pitiful mess. She couldn’t understand—why, right in the middle of her performance, had Virus X suddenly issued a self-destruct warning?

A sharp zapping sound followed, and after that, no matter how many times she called out, Virus X never responded again.

Then, Ren Qingqing watched in horror as the entire audience stared at her with expressions of shock and disgust.

They pointed at her, mocked her, and laughed cruelly—

One word echoed over and over again from their mouths—

Ugly.

The word piled up layer upon layer, like a monstrous beast with a gaping mouth, ready to devour her whole!

Amidst the chaos, someone called out loudly—

“The patient’s emotions are unstable and potentially dangerous—administer a sedative!”

The next second, Ren Qingqing felt a sharp pain on her skin.

A rush of cold liquid was injected into her veins.

She muttered desperately, refusing to give up.

“Ruan Cha… Go check Ruan Cha…”

She had tried to have Virus X poison Ruan Cha, but Virus X had told her—

Ruan Cha had a system too.

It blocked the poisoning attempt.

Why?!

Why could Ruan Cha’s system save her, while her own system had only ever harmed her?!

Ren Qingqing refused to accept it.

If she was being dragged to a mental institution, then Ruan Cha had to go down with her!

“Ruan Cha has a system! Ruan Cha has a system! Go investigate her!”

But no matter how many times she repeated it, how many dozens of times she shouted—

To everyone else, Ren Qingqing was just moving her mouth without making a sound.

To them, she truly looked insane.

——

Outside the hospital room, three people stood watching.

Their expressions were ice-cold as they observed Ren Qingqing being restrained on the hospital bed.

The tall, fair-skinned young man frowned in disgust, lowering his voice as he complained—

“Mom, Dad, look at her. If my classmates find out I have a mentally ill sister, they’ll definitely make fun of me!”

The wealthy-looking woman also gazed at Ren Qingqing with thinly veiled disdain.

But at the end of the day, this was still the daughter she had given birth to. She couldn’t claim she felt nothing.

Yet, seeing the expressions on her husband and son’s faces, she could only soften her voice and try to console them.

“Baby, we just won’t talk about it. We won’t acknowledge her, and your classmates will never find out. You and your sister didn’t even go to the same schools growing up. If things get really bad… your father and I will send you to study abroad.”

At the mention of going abroad, where no one could control him, the young man’s mood visibly improved.

His expression relaxed.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged man silently evaluated the situation in his mind.

If Ren Qingqing was truly useless and could no longer bring any value to the family, then whatever little father-daughter bond he had left was meaningless.

“Let’s go home,” he said flatly.

“She won’t die in a hospital anyway.”

A daughter who only caused trouble was not worth any further investment from the Ren family.

Hearing this, the wealthy woman’s expression stiffened.

She opened her mouth to say something, but when she saw the cold, indifferent looks on her husband and son’s faces, she swallowed her words.

Ren Qingqing only had herself to blame for being such a disappointment.

What else could she do?

And so, the three of them left the hospital without looking back—completely unaware that Ren Qingqing, covered in mysteries from head to toe, was about to be forcibly taken away.

After all—

Would the state really allow someone so unnatural to remain outside, where she could be a threat to public safety?

——

While Ren Qingqing was locked away in the psychiatric ward, the online discussions about her disastrous live broadcast raged on.

A huge number of netizens swore up and down—

Ren Qingqing was possessed.

And if you looked closely, the evidence was eerie as hell.

The way her face collapsed in an instant, as if someone had turned off a beauty filter.

Her entire fanbase turning on her at the exact same moment, all claiming they had been blinded by her looks.

The suspicious voting data, as if something had been tampered with.

Even the mentors re-watching her fourth performance had directly stated—

“Something is wrong. This isn’t how we remember it.”

One incident after another.

One bizarre occurrence after another.

Especially the first one—

There was no scientific explanation for it at all.

——

Even Ren Qingqing’s private behavior had been exposed by several of her dormmates.

They revealed how she would cover her ears and scream in the middle of the night, how she would talk to herself for hours in the lounge, and how she was selfish, fake, and deceitful.

Truths and lies blurred together, and Ren Qingqing’s already notorious reputation on the internet only grew darker.

Of course, some random bystanders still tried to defend her.

But no matter how hard they argued—

They couldn’t avoid one undeniable fact.

Ren Qingqing’s mental state was truly not normal.

As her former school, No. 2 High became a hotspot for reporters.

For days, journalists were stationed at the main gate, back gate, and side gate, eagerly waiting for students or teachers to step out—so they could immediately ask for any information related to Ren Qingqing.

It wasn’t just online gossip—even No. 2 High’s students were buzzing with discussions.

The reason?

They realized that their memory of Ren Qingqing’s appearance had become strangely unclear.

In their minds, Ren Qingqing’s face had gone through several distinct phases:

Delicate and sweet → Slightly unattractive → Pretty and charming → And finally… outrageously ugly, as seen in the Starlight Trainee live broadcast.

Even if someone had plastic surgery, their face shouldn’t change so frequently in just a few months, right?

But when they thought back, they realized that at the time, they hadn’t noticed any of these changes at all.

It was terrifying to think about.

While the public remained confused, Ruan Cha understood everything perfectly.

Since Virus X had been eliminated by System 1128, all the modifications to people’s memories had naturally worn off.

That’s why everyone’s impression of Ren Qingqing’s face had gradually returned to reality.

As for why Ren Qingqing couldn’t speak about Ruan Cha’s system, no matter how hard she tried?

It was the same reason why, in the original book, “Ruan Cha” had been unable to expose Ren Qingqing before her death.

In the novel, System 1128 had been suppressed by Virus X, preventing Ruan Cha from revealing that Ren Qingqing was its host.

Now, with Virus X completely destroyed, Ren Qingqing similarly could not expose Ruan Cha as System 1128’s owner.

Of course, Ruan Cha wasn’t worried about Ren Qingqing suddenly regaining her ability to speak about it before her death, as “Ruan Cha” had in the book.

Not only had she ordered 1128 to monitor everything closely to prevent any accidents, but at school, the only noticeable change in her life was her improved grades.

Sure, her academic progress seemed abrupt—but when compared to her perfect scores from her previous school, no one could claim that she had been stupid before and suddenly became smart because of a system.

——

Cafeteria.

After getting her meal, Ruan Cha sat down and casually glanced at the glutinous rice ball-shaped system sitting on the table.

“1128, are you absolutely sure you completely eliminated Virus X? It suppressed you for so long… It still feels a bit unreal to me.”

【If I had relied solely on myself, killing Virus X would have been difficult. But with enough energy points and an antivirus program, I really did wipe it out completely. In the coming days, I’ll conduct a thorough cleanup of any lingering Virus X programs to ensure its total eradication.】

This was the third time Ruan Cha had asked the system the same question.

Seeing that 1128 answered without hesitation, she finally relaxed—though there was still one thing she found disappointing.

Logically speaking, Yu Zheng had linked his mental domain with Virus X.

So, if Virus X was destroyed, Yu Zheng’s mental domain should have suffered a major backlash as well.

However, when 1128 launched its attack on Virus X, it discovered something unexpected—

Yu Zheng had already cut off his mental link to Virus X long ago.

They had become two completely separate entities, meaning Yu Zheng remained unharmed.

The only silver lining was that 1128 had previously scanned Yu Zheng’s domain.

At least they hadn’t completely lost track of their biggest enemy.

——

Ruan Cha tapped her fingers lightly on the table.

“If Yu Zheng relocates in the future, will you still be able to track him down?”

System 1128 shrank slightly, rolling back a bit to make room as Huang Jiajia placed her tray on the table.

【Not unless we have enough energy points to fully unlock my sealed database. That’s the only way I can retrieve the DNA information from when Yu Zheng was first linked to me—and use it to track his new location.】**

Hearing this, Ruan Cha stopped worrying.

After all—if it was just a matter of collecting energy points, then it wasn’t a real problem.

And if she couldn’t gather enough, well—

There was always Yu Zhiyan.

If necessary, she could try to turn him against Yu Zheng.

As soon as Huang Jiajia sat down, she held up her phone and showed Ruan Cha a long post.

“Cha Cha, I think this blogger’s theory about mysticism makes a lot of sense. They say Ren Qingqing must have used some dark magic tricks to make herself beautiful, but in the end, she suffered a backlash because of it.”

With No. 2 High’s final exams over, all three grades were required to attend one more week of classes—

• First years were previewing new material.

• Second years were doing their first round of review.

• Third years were in their second or third round of revision.

As a result, the cafeteria was lively and crowded—and 80% of the conversations revolved around the name “Ren Qingqing.”

There were students who felt sorry for her, some who mocked her, and others who were just speculating.

Ruan Cha glanced at the long post on Huang Jiajia’s phone.

Normally, she wasn’t interested in discussing Ren Qingqing.

But this time, rarely, she gave her own opinion—

“I think there’s a high chance Ren Qingqing really suffered backlash from some kind of dark magic.”

After all—

Relying on Virus X to recklessly steal other people’s intelligence, beauty, and skills—if that wasn’t dark magic, what was?

Both Virus X and Ren Qingqing’s intentions were corrupt.

Hearing Ruan Cha’s words, Fu Chen instinctively looked up at her, deep in thought.

The two of them sat front and back, and since they often walked home together, Fu Chen had some understanding of Ruan Cha’s personality.

Just now, the way she spoke with such certainty, as if she truly believed in mysticism, made him feel something was off.

Ren Qingqing…

Fu Chen’s thoughts drifted to someone else—Yu Zhiyan.

He had looked into Yu Zhiyan’s background before.

His life history was clean—so clean that it was almost too perfect.

And that day on stage, the situation had been obvious—

Ren Qingqing not only knew Yu Zhiyan, but she also feared him.

Was her strange behavior somehow connected to Yu Zhiyan?

Moreover—

Fu Chen had a gut feeling that there was a secret between Ruan Cha and Yu Zhiyan.

They didn’t seem like close friends, yet they clearly shared something.

Either they had discovered the same truth, or they were secretly working together.

He didn’t expect Ruan Cha to tell him everything, even considering their friendship.

But Yu Zhiyan—

He was definitely hiding something.

——

“Fu Chen, hey! Earth to Fu Chen! What are you thinking about so hard?”

Ruan Cha waved a hand in front of Fu Chen’s face.

He hadn’t touched his food or even drunk his soup, just staring downward, lost in thought.

“If you have a problem, just tell us! We can brainstorm together.”

Fu Chen’s gaze shifted from her hand to her face.

After a brief silence, he curved his lips into a smile.

For a split second, his eyes held a kind of unwavering focus.

“No real problems… I just suddenly thought about the New Year’s fireworks festival. Are you—are you guys interested?”

“Fireworks festival?!”

The moment Ruan Cha heard it, she instinctively leaned forward slightly, her crisp voice rising with excitement.

Her bright almond-shaped eyes sparkled, filled with pure enthusiasm.

“Will there be huge fireworks displays?”

Back in her hometown, fireworks and firecrackers were strictly regulated.

Even during the New Year, the best she could do was wave around a few sparklers with her parents in their courtyard.

For years, she had wanted to see a real fireworks show, just like the ones broadcast on TV.

Seeing that she was genuinely interested, Fu Chen’s brows relaxed, and his expression softened.

“Of course. Every year on New Year’s Day, there’s a massive fireworks show at Xinghe Coast in Nan City. It’s spectacular. The only downside is that the crowd is insane—you have to go early to grab a good viewing spot.”

Actually, Fu Chen hadn’t attended the last fireworks festival.

He didn’t like big crowds.

But when he saw Ruan Cha’s excited reaction, his instincts told him that she would enjoy it—so he had subconsciously asked her.

Originally, he had planned to invite only her, but when he glanced at the other friends at the table, he changed his wording.

If Ruan Cha liked lively events, she would probably prefer to go with a group of friends.

Besides—

Once they got there, he wasn’t worried about finding a chance to be alone with her.

And if worst came to worst—

He could always pull Ji Feiyang in as backup support.

In just a few minutes, Fu Chen had already planned out the entire schedule for the day, down to every last detail—including for the completely clueless Ji Feiyang.

“I want to go,” Ruan Cha said immediately. Then, she turned to Huang Jiajia and Xu Nan, eyes bright with excitement, as she enthusiastically invited them—

“Jiajia, Nannan, let’s all go together! I really want to take photos under the fireworks with my best friends.”

Huang Jiajia was the first to raise her hand.

“Go, go, go! My family is going out on the third, so let’s meet up on the first!”

Seeing this, Xu Nan’s cheeks turned slightly red as she hesitantly raised her hand too.

“I’ll go as well.”

In the past, Xu Nan had never dared to visit crowded plazas or shopping districts.

But after spending so much time eating meals with Ruan Cha and the others, she had started to realize—

Liveliness wasn’t as overwhelming as she had imagined.

And more importantly—

Xu Nan’s face flushed even deeper as she thought about it.

Back when they studied at the Liang family’s home, she had caught a glimpse of her idol once.

She had never expected that her idol would be so lively and playful in private—completely different from how they appeared online.

She hoped that one day, she could be as confident and outgoing as them.

Seeing that the two of them had agreed so quickly, Ruan Cha’s smile widened, her eyes curving like she had a mouthful of sweet cotton candy.

For the first time in her life, she was genuinely looking forward to New Year’s Day.

If she counted the days carefully, it was actually coming up soon.

That afternoon, once the exam results were announced, the whole school would start winter break—and in just twelve days, it would be the Lunar New Year.

Just as Ji Feiyang was about to step in and object, he saw Huang Jiajia and Xu Nan raising their hands to agree without hesitation.

In that instant, he felt utterly betrayed.

Seriously?!

Couldn’t they see what was happening?!

Fu Chen’s true intentions had nothing to do with the fireworks!

Fu Chen glanced across the table and politely asked, “Are you three coming too?”

Hearing this, Ji Feiyang secretly observed Fu Chen, smacking his lips.

His bro really had it down to an art—there wasn’t even a trace of emotion on his face.

Couldn’t tell if he wanted them to go or not.

Unlike Ji Feiyang, Xie Chang’an—who had successfully infiltrated their small group through his connection with Huang Jiajia—immediately raised his hand.

“Going! Definitely going! I’ll bring my DSLR and shoot an entire fashion photoshoot for you guys!”

Ji Feiyang, seeing that their team already had a traitor, sighed in resignation.

With an arm around Xie Sui’s shoulder, he muttered, “Fine, we’re going too.”

Then, he turned to Fu Chen with a sympathetic look—

But the very next second, he realized he had wasted his pity.

Fu Chen didn’t even glance at him.

Instead, he turned his head straight toward Ruan Cha.

Wow.

Absolutely ruthless.

No loyalty at all.

When Ruan Cha saw that everyone was coming, she clapped her hands happily, full of excitement.

“Looks like we’ve got another group activity besides just eating together! The Fireworks Viewing Group is officially formed!”

Before anyone could react—

Fu Chen, completely in sync, followed up smoothly—

“Ruan Cha, may I ask if you’re available to serve as our viewing group’s leader?”

“I’m available!”

Ruan Cha loved how Fu Chen played along.

Without giving anyone a chance to object, she immediately secured her position as group leader.

Then, with a serious expression, she put on an air of authority and declared—

“As leader of the Fireworks Viewing Group, I hereby officially appoint Fu Chen as our vice leader!”

Fu Chen smiled slightly.

“I’ll make sure to fulfill my duties.”

The remaining people: “…”

Are you two rehearsing a play from the English club or something?!

Xu Nan tilted her head and observed Ruan Cha and Fu Chen for a while. She felt like there was something strange about the atmosphere between them, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Maybe… they just had too much natural chemistry?

The group was casually chatting when suddenly, a student shouted—

“Hey, hey, hey! The class group chat just announced it—final exam results for first and second years are out! They’ve already been posted on the bulletin board!”

Almost instantly, the entire cafeteria erupted into action.

Did anyone run to check the board?

Of course not—they weren’t stupid. Someone was guaranteed to take pictures and upload them to the school forum!

Sure enough, in less than a few minutes, an anonymous Good Samaritan had already snapped clear photos of the entire grade’s results and posted them.

[Let’s take a look at our second-year science champions!]

Considering how, during midterms, Ruan Cha had unexpectedly dethroned Fu Chen—the longtime top student—many students instinctively looked straight at the first-place ranking.

Some students had even placed bets earlier, gambling on whether Ruan Cha would hold onto her number-one spot.

Among all the betting students, Class 10 was the most united—every single one of them had wagered that Ruan Cha would stay in first place.

After all—

They had personally supervised her studies with their own efforts!

Sure, their “supervision” had only lasted three days before finals, but last-minute cramming still counted as serious studying!

Ruan Cha was about to zoom in on the image to check her score against Fu Chen’s when—

Before she could even see clearly, she suddenly felt a wave of intense gazes surrounding her from all sides.

Startled, her hand slipped, and she nearly dropped her phone.

“Holy shit!”

“Tied for first place?!”

“747 points?! What kind of monsters are you two?!”

As a die-hard Ruan Cha fan, Xie Chang’an slammed the table so hard that the plates and bowls shook violently.

He was even more excited than the actual top scorers, his face flushed red with exhilaration as he practically sang his reaction for the whole cafeteria to hear.

“**AHHHHHH! Ruan Cha, you’re insane! You only lost three points in total for English and Chinese! THREE POINTS! What kind of brain do you have?!”

Huang Jiajia was just as thrilled. She immediately wrapped her arms around Ruan Cha in a tight hug.

“Cha Cha, you’ve made Class 10 so proud!”

Sure, Ruan Cha was now in Class 1, but she had come from Class 10—and Class 10’s WeChat group had never removed her!

Being first in the grade was already impressive, but scoring 747 points was on a whole other level!

During midterms, with the extra 10 bonus points from math, Ruan Cha had scored 755.

This time, with a 150-point full mark in math, she had still scored 747.

Her performance was rock solid.

Because of her personality, Ruan Cha was already well-liked at No. 2 High.

Her Arts Festival performance and her appearance on Dear Life had only further spread her name across the school.

Now, with her report card out, several girls even approached her in the cafeteria to congratulate her—some of them so shy and blushing that other students began to suspect they were about to confess their feelings.

Compared to Ruan Cha, Fu Chen’s surroundings were noticeably colder.

The only one who reacted was Ji Feiyang, who playfully punched Fu Chen’s shoulder.

“Fu Chen, yeah, you’re tied for first place with Ruan Cha—but look at the popularity difference. She totally outshines you.”

Fu Chen’s eyes carried a soft smile as he gazed intently at Ruan Cha.

“If she takes first place, then I’ll just permanently claim second.”

One at the top, one right below—their names side by side.

Not bad at all.

Ji Feiyang: “…”

Insane. Absolutely insane.

At the table, only three people remained silent—

Ruan Cha, the person in question, Xu Nan, who was a little socially anxious, and Xie Sui, who had already eaten his fill and fallen into a deep sleep.

Seeing the excitement on Xie Chang’an and Huang Jiajia’s faces, Ruan Cha couldn’t help but curl her lips slightly.

Achieving good results and immediately having friends to celebrate with—

It really was a happy feeling.

She had never experienced this before, back when she was just focused on being a lazy slacker.

Snapping back to reality, Ruan Cha looked around the table full of smiling faces and locked onto Fu Chen with precision.

She finally voiced a question that had been weighing on her mind for a long time.

“Fu Chen, during midterms and the previous monthly exam, why didn’t you do the extra questions on the math test?”

The moment she asked, aside from the one person still sleeping, every other pair of curious eyes turned to Fu Chen, gleaming with the same intrigue as Ruan Cha’s.

Fu Chen hadn’t expected her to bring up math.

His brows furrowed slightly in surprise, but then he let out a quiet laugh.

His expression turned serious, and he answered just as earnestly—

“I just think getting exactly 150 points in math feels more ceremonial.”

He really hadn’t been trying to frustrate his math teacher.

He had sincerely explained his reasoning and personal belief.

“…”

Silence.

Complete silence at the lunch table.

No matter how you looked at it—

The fact that Ruan Cha and Fu Chen were tied for first place, both scoring 747 points, quickly spread across No. 2 High.

The reporters stationed at the school gave up on digging for more dirt on Ren Qingqing and instead broke the news about Ruan Cha’s first-place final exam ranking.

After all, there had been plenty of people online who had been skeptical of Ruan Cha—

Saying that she was too young to have real ambition, that she had been blinded by wealth, that she was just another privileged girl with no real future.

Well—

To all the doubters, why not go back to high school and try scoring 747 yourselves?

Ironically, the biggest hassle Ren Qingqing had left behind—the lingering reporters—

Had actually helped clear up some of the misconceptions and false rumors about Ruan Cha online.

——

Back in the classroom, Ruan Cha glanced at the trending search terms and noticed that some of the photos taken outside No. 2 High’s gates were already circulating on Weibo.

She clicked her tongue lightly.

Well—thanks, Ren Qingqing, for your contribution.

At least now, her second brother could save money on advertising fees.

Otherwise, the moment he heard about her grades, Liang Cunjin would have immediately bought a trending spot just to shut down those hired online trolls stirring up false narratives.

——

That afternoon, there weren’t many formal classes left.

Most teachers were just assigning homework and handing out review booklets.

Stacks of papers and piles of practice books—ensuring that students’ twenty-something days of winter break would be completely filled.

Before school ended, both Ruan Cha and Fu Chen were called to the office by their homeroom teacher for a discussion about skipping ahead to senior year.

By the time they were released, the school was nearly empty, with most students already gone.

Their teacher had mainly conveyed two points—

• The official evaluation date for their placement test.

• A reminder to reconsider their decision, since the senior year was already in its third round of review, and the pressure would be intense.

As they walked out of the office, Fu Chen turned to Ruan Cha and asked—

“I’ve been meaning to ask—why do you want to skip ahead to senior year?”

When Fu Chen was in middle school, he had taken a year and a half off due to illness.

By the time he entered high school, he was already well ahead in all subjects, so skipping a grade had been the natural plan for him.

But Ruan Cha was different.

He could tell—she hadn’t originally planned to skip grades.

Ruan Cha tightened the straps of her backpack, momentarily at a loss for words.

She couldn’t exactly say that she had been blinded by the dream of graduating college a year early.

With a resolute tone, she declared—

“I want to contribute to future technology as soon as possible.”

Her voice was firm and unwavering, not guilty in the slightest.

“High school textbooks can no longer satisfy me. I’m eager to enter university, study advanced theoretical knowledge, and make my mark in the world of science and technology!”

She wanted to ensure that people like her would never again be threatened by something as sinister as Virus X.

And if any other corrupt systems appeared in the future, they would be immediately handed over to specialized research departments—for direct termination.

Fu Chen: “…”

Should he play along and say, My family business has always been devoted to the tech industry—would you be interested in joining us to shine and succeed?

Just as Ruan Cha finished speaking, she looked up and saw her family’s driver waving at her.

She was just about to walk over when she paused, quickly rummaged through her backpack, and pulled out a small box, shoving it into Fu Chen’s hands.

Her clear, cheerful voice carried a hint of warmth in the cool evening breeze—

“Fu Chen, happy eighteenth birthday!”

Birthday? Happy?

Fu Chen lowered his gaze, staring at the delicate little box that had just been stuffed into his hands.

For a moment, he didn’t react.

It was true—today was his birthday.

And he was used to receiving gifts from family members and classmates.

But—

This small palm-sized box in his hands felt heavier than any other gift he had ever received.

“The birthday wishes were already given at midnight yesterday. Now I’m just making up for the gift. I’m heading home—see you on the first!”

Fu Chen looked up at her bright, radiant smile.

His lips curved upward unconsciously as he responded with equal sincerity—

“See you on the first.”

——

After watching Ruan Cha’s car drive away and disappear into the distance, Fu Chen finally looked down and opened the gift box.

Inside, a pair of dark jade cufflinks lay quietly in the center.

Encircling the jade was a thin ring of silver, glistening in the warm hues of the setting sun.

Fu Chen thought back to that banquet—

To the moment when Ruan Cha had curiously asked about the cufflinks he was wearing.

He let out a low chuckle.

So she had already thought about getting a birthday gift back then?

After a moment, he picked up one of the cufflinks and fastened it onto his uniform sleeve.

By chance, the movement revealed his wristwatch.

The dark strap of the watch and the jade cufflink looked unexpectedly well-matched.

If Ruan Cha were here, she would probably notice—

That the watch on Fu Chen’s wrist looked very, very similar to the one she had received as a birthday gift from Fu Chen just a few days ago.

Fu Chen glanced at the remaining cufflink in the box and smiled again.

“Looks like we have good chemistry.”

Even our gifts are matching pairs.

Even—

They were mirror versions of each other.

After a long pause, Fu Chen tucked the gift box into his school uniform pocket and let out a barely audible sigh—

“Before graduation… will I be able to give her a real matching set?”

…

Sandy: I was thinking about dropping this novel, but after receiving a few emails from readers asking me to continue, I decided to find a middle ground. I’ll keep translating, but without editing, so there might be some errors in terms of names (for eg., Starlight trainee might be translated as Starshine trainee) along the way. Other than that, there shouldn’t be any issues. Hope you don’t mind! 😁