Just as she expected, not long after, she heard Luo Qin grit her teeth and say to her deskmate, "She's only been here a few days and she's already acting all high and mighty. What a cold and aloof persona! I really thought she was a good student who didn't care about anything. I never expected her to like hurting others for her own benefit!"
"Exactly!" Luo Qin's deskmate, Zheng Jiafei, quickly chimed in, "The Wen family is willing to take her back, and she really thinks she's something! It's hilarious, the Wen family won't even change her surname, those who know, know!"
They spoke without keeping their voices down, and Wen Yun heard them clearly, causing her to frown.
According to the book, there are many open and covert struggles between wealthy families, and the children of wealthy families will also band together to attack their rivals in various ways, such as academic performance, special skills, and information about other families' scandals.
The Luo family, to which Luo Qin belongs, and the Zheng family, to which Zheng Jiafei belongs, are enemies of the Wen family. Even the original owner of this body, a scheming woman with extensive connections and who rarely makes enemies, had her share of clashes with the two of them at school.
Wen Yun is actually a little hesitant now.
The tea-themed saying template has been loaded. As long as she puts on a sarcastic expression and reads it aloud, it will definitely disgust these two little wicked people.
But she had a vague feeling that Ruan Yu didn't want to stay in the Wen family in the future. If she really followed the template to argue with people, she was afraid that she would disgust Ruan Yu instead.
Before she could make up her mind, Ruan Yu said with a smile, "The Luo family's daughter has quite the magnanimity. She can't solve the problem and starts making malicious speculations. Is she a sore loser?"
Wen Yun was startled and looked in the direction of the sound.
The girl had already stood near her seat, her back straight, her hands clasped in front of her, her posture dignified and obedient.
"Who are you calling a sore loser?" Luo Qin scoffed. "I'm just stating a fact that everyone already knows!"
Zheng Jiafei chimed in, "Yeah! Only a country bumpkin like you, who's never seen the world, would daydream like that!"
Ruan Yu blinked. "I really didn't know that the standard for 'uncultured bumpkin' has become so high now."
As soon as she said this, the other students who were watching the commotion also changed their expressions, especially those middle and lower-ranking students who had seen the entrance exam results that the homeroom teacher had mistakenly sent out and knew that they were not as good as Ruan Yu.
Following Ruan Yu's line of thought, Luo Qin and Zheng Jiafei were subtly implying that they were inferior to a "country bumpkin" transfer student.
Luo Qin understood what she meant, but she still forced herself to continue, "Ha! Using your own entrance exam scores as a standard, you country bumpkin, you really know how to flatter yourself!"
“Of course! After all, he spent over ten years in a rural school and is a country bumpkin whose only knowledge is studying. All he has left to show off are his grades!” Zheng Jiafei said.
"Good heavens, calling everyone a 'country bumpkin'! Is this the kind of quality the young ladies from the Luo and Zheng families have?" Wen Yun was furious and couldn't help but retort. "And 'you know what you're talking about'? Have you all been living in my house eavesdropping? Oh, I'm so sorry, I forgot, all you have left to fool people with are these so-called 'family secrets,' since you can't even solve a simple math problem. I think you should give up on the exam and instead form a professional eavesdropping paparazzi team! You'd make a fortune!"
Probably not expecting her to be so blunt and sarcastic, Luo Qin and Zheng Jiafei were both stunned for a moment, as were the students watching the commotion.
Wen Yun felt good at arguing with people, but she started to feel scared afterward.
She even insulted herself, a complete math failure. What if these two got angry and made her do math problems on the spot?
Just then, she heard the "clack-clack" of high heels approaching from afar.
The homeroom teacher strode into the classroom, holding a document in her hand. When she stood on the podium, she glanced at them with a puzzled look, but then said to herself, "Listen up, everyone. We'll all go to the auditorium at 2:30 this afternoon for on-site confirmation of our elective subjects. I told you last week to bring your ID cards to school. You all have them with you now, right? If you didn't bring yours, you can confirm them again tomorrow. Do you all remember?"
A note from the author:
The power went out at home today, so I only had time to write 3,000 words. I'll finish the other 3,000 tonight!
Chapter 20
It was during English class. After the homeroom teacher finished explaining the on-site confirmation for the elective exams, she asked the audiovisual education representative to turn on the computer and prepare to import the courseware.
The argument temporarily subsided, and everyone returned to their seats. Wen Yun also breathed a sigh of relief, lifted her desk, and looked for the English test paper she had done last time.
"You're quite good at cursing," He Sheng's lazy voice came, light and airy, "Although your reaction time is really long."
Wen Yun recalled what she had just said and awkwardly chose to remain silent.
She had too many concerns and missed the best opportunity to retort. After her emotions exploded, she cursed recklessly, and also blurted out what she had wanted to say before.
However, whether it was because her words were too bizarre, or because her reaction today was so different from the original owner's, which frightened people, Luo Qin and Zheng Jiafei did not cause any more trouble for Ruan Yu throughout the morning.
When it was time to go to the cafeteria for lunch, Wen Yun went to find Ruan Yu to walk together as usual, and reminded her to bring her ID card with her.
"Are you afraid they'll steal my ID card?" Ruan Yu suddenly asked as they walked out of the classroom.
"Pretty much." Wen Yun nodded. "Although there are surveillance cameras in the classroom, and there are ways to retrieve and replace them, it's better to avoid trouble. It's better to be cautious before the big exam."
“You’re so thoughtful,” Ruan Yu emphasized with a smile. “Compared to that, you don’t seem to be afraid at all of people noticing the difference between you and others.”
“Then I still have to be a little afraid.” Wen Yun knew what she meant and helplessly replied, “I can only say that people are not machines. Even if you want to become another person, the personality and habits formed by your past experiences cannot be completely changed in a short period of time.”
She paused, then added, "What's more, he's the kind of person I don't even approve of."
As they spent more time together and Wen Yun got to know Ruan Yu's personality better, she couldn't help but try to bring up some things about herself with her.
If she really has to live in this world for the rest of her life, at least she will have someone by her side to share her thoughts and feelings with.
Whenever they talk about this kind of topic, the two of them are like riddle tellers.
This was actually skirting the rules of the system, but since the system never issued a warning, she dared to speak up.
After listening to her words, Ruan Yu remained silent for a few seconds. "If you don't agree with it, why become her instead of someone else?"
Wen Yun felt a lump in her throat at this question. If she had a choice, she wouldn't want to be that vicious, manipulative Wen Yun either!
"I have no choice but to accept it," she sighed as she replied. "Didn't you just say that if I don't become her, those who know her will notice something is wrong?"
Ruan Yu moved her lips, wanting to ask her why she dared to open her heart to her so openly, but she stopped herself from speaking.
This seems like... not the right question to ask at this stage.
Wen Yun was unaware that the girl had already distanced herself from them, and changed the subject, asking, "Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's talk about how you plan to treat Luo and Zheng."
Luo Qin and Zheng Jiafei are completely different from Lin Qiqi, belonging to the opposing villainous camp. After listening to their mockery of Ruan Yu, Wen Yun was preoccupied with how to humiliate them, preferably by having the protagonist trample them underfoot.
Of course, she would never tell the protagonist such a malicious thought, and she would even ask about it in a tactful way.
"Don't provoke them, but play to your strengths and make them unhappy," Ruan Yu said softly. "I'll get a good ranking in the exam at the end of the month."
"You're amazing!" Wen Yun clapped.
Ruan Yu was amused by her exaggerated praise, but couldn't help asking, "If I couldn't play the piano, would you think I was a bookworm?"
"Is there any necessary connection between the two?" Wen Yun asked, puzzled. "In your old school, were you called a 'bookworm' because you couldn't play the piano?"
"……Won't."
"That's fine then." Wen Yun patted her back reassuringly. "Just figure out the path you're determined to take. That's the career you really want to pursue for the rest of your life. Everything else is just a hobby or interest. It's nice to have, but it doesn't matter if you don't. When your peers talk about this, just think of it as them trying their best but still not being able to outperform you, so they try to find superiority in other areas to fill their inferiority complex."
As an outsider who had been away from campus life for many years, Wen Yun had long since become indifferent to the petty squabbles among students.
It's true that there's not much pressure besides academics, so they're bored. Instead of watching others gossip and spread rumors, they'd rather do some math problems to clear their heads.
Wen Yun wanted to eat some hot beef noodles today, but when she arrived at the cafeteria, she was told that there was a power outage and repairs were underway, so the stoves couldn't be turned on. She had no choice but to go to the buffet with Ruan Yu.
After lunch, Ruan Yugang returned to the classroom and immediately checked his desk and schoolbag as soon as he sat down.
Sure enough, there were signs that her bag had been rummaged through. Although nothing was missing, there was an extra, very important item in her schoolbag.
Ruan Yu was used to this kind of thing. She pretended nothing had happened, calmly closed her desk, casually touched the surveillance camera that was already installed on the wall, and took out her phone to edit a message.
Hesitant to speak: [My desk and schoolbag have been searched.]
Cloud: [What?! These guys actually dared to steal?!]
Ruan Yu didn't reply. She opened the automatically saved surveillance video on her phone and started taking screenshots. With her other hand, she lightly tapped the table with her fingernails, waiting patiently.
Cloud: [I think we should apply to install a security camera on the wall next to your seat, filming you face-to-face, making it crystal clear. If they dare to steal again, we should release clear photos and videos of them committing the crime! When I get home, I'll tell my parents that we should all agree on this, and if they ask, we'll say that the Luo and Zheng families are working together, and you're just trying to protect yourself!]
Seeing that her thoughts coincided with that person's, Ruan Yu smiled slightly, sent a cute bunny nodding "Mmm" emoji, put away her phone, and looked up at that person's back.
After looking at it for a while, she finally lowered her head, took out a chemistry exam practice paper, and started working on the questions one by one.
-
At 2:30 p.m., halfway through the biology class, the teacher was still calculating the probability of black-bodied, white-eyed offspring after fruit fly hybridization when the teacher responsible for on-site confirmation knocked on the door.
The students were well-prepared and immediately found the materials and documents they needed to bring. They all stood up, and those who were in convenient locations and moved quickly had already reached the classroom door.
But before they could even step outside, someone suddenly exclaimed, "Where's my ID card?!"
"Zheng Jiafei, what's wrong?" the biology teacher asked hurriedly.
"My ID card is missing!!" Zheng Jiafei raised her voice, sounding like she was about to cry. "I saw it in the drawer this morning!"
Zheng Jiafei's shout made Wen Yun tremble, as she felt the lines were strangely familiar.
A few seconds later, she vaguely recalled that this day in the original story seemed to have a similar plot, and the missing ID card should have been found in the most inconspicuous layer of Ruan Yu's schoolbag.
However, in the original text, the person who shouted was Lin Qiqi, and the person who deliberately put the ID card into Ruan Yu's schoolbag when the power suddenly went out at noon and the surveillance cameras stopped working was also Lin Qiqi. Now, because she has firmly stood on the side of the protagonist, the participants in the plot have also changed.
This "ID card theft" incident was also the source of Su Manying's later suspicion and disappointment towards the protagonist.
Most of the students had already left the classroom. Apart from Wen Yun and Ruan Yu, only the biology teacher, the class monitor, and a few boys and girls who were close to Zheng Jiafei remained in the classroom, since on-site confirmation was still more important.
But Zheng Jiafei didn't stop acting because there were few viewers. Instead, she acted even more hard, frantically opening her backpack layer by layer, her face flushed with anxiety.
"Calm down!!" The class monitor grabbed her shoulder. "Think carefully about where you took it today!"
"I didn't take it anywhere!" Zheng Jiafei's eyelids drooped, and tears welled up in her eyes with genuine emotion. "Where did it go?!"
Wen Yun felt a little uneasy watching this, and was pondering how to expose this self-directed and self-acted drama when Ruan Yu asked unhurriedly, "You put your ID card in there yourself, how could you not know where it is?"
"What do you mean?!" Zheng Jiafei immediately turned her gaze to Ruan Yu, sizing her up and down. Suddenly realizing what she had done, she angrily exclaimed, "You did it, didn't you?!"
As she spoke, she angrily left her seat and walked towards Ruan Yu. Luo Qin made a token attempt to stop her, but "couldn't hold her back," and had to follow behind Zheng Jiafei.
"...What exactly happened between you two?" The biology teacher was completely bewildered. Sensing that something was amiss, she quickly stepped down from the podium, sending a message to the homeroom teacher to inquire while anxiously glancing at the group in front of her, ready to separate the two sides at any moment.
Zheng Jiafei strode aggressively towards Ruan Yu, gritting her teeth: "I only told you a few truths this morning, did you have to steal my ID card?!"
"That's what I should be asking you." Ruan Yu sat in her seat, tilted her head slightly, and said calmly, "I just told you a few truths this morning, why are you framing me for stealing your ID card?"
"I framed you?! Then do you dare let me check your—" Before Zheng Jiafei could finish speaking, she saw the girl in front of her raise her right hand, and between her index and ring fingers was her ID card!
“You don’t need to lift a finger.” Ruan Yu flicked her fingers, her voice soft and relaxed, without a trace of aggression. “I’ve already found your ‘lost’ ID card.”
"How can you be so arrogant?!" Zheng Jiafei exclaimed. "You stole someone's ID card and you're still acting so self-righteous?!"
She immediately reached out to grab it, but an arm suddenly blocked her way, almost hitting her and startling her so much that she took two steps back.
"So, the professional eavesdropper has lost his temper so quickly and switched to being a professional smear campaigner?" Wen Yun stood directly in front of Ruan Yu, sneering sarcastically, "You keep calling it 'stealing.' Since you're so sure that my Xiao Yu stole it, surely you can produce some conclusive evidence, right?"
“She even showed her ID card, isn’t that irrefutable proof?” Luo Qin walked up and stood shoulder to shoulder with Zheng Jiafei, asking loudly.
Wen Yun clicked her tongue inwardly, glanced at the biology teacher beside her, and was about to recite the teasing phrases when she suddenly heard a soft laugh behind her:
"Teacher, I have evidence to prove my innocence."
A note from the author: