When the bell rang at the end of the last morning class, Shen Zhi finally lifted her head from her textbook.
Good.
She had survived until noon.
No coffee thrown at her.
No getting locked in the bathroom.
And no class-wide petition to expel her from the elite academy.
Today's campus dungeon: temporarily rated three stars.
Two stars deducted because there were classes.
Shen Zhi packed up her things and headed for the cafeteria.
Xu Manman, sitting in the front row, glanced back at her, her expression a mix of grievance and resentment.
Like a peacock whose megaphone had been stolen.
Zhou Yue also glanced at her.
His eyes were full of "disapproval."
Shen Zhi calmly looked away.
[What are you looking at me for?]
[Is my face printed with the lunch menu?]
[If you have time for that, better memorize a few more school rules, so you don't choke up next time you're "administering justice."]
She slung her backpack over her shoulder and walked out of the classroom.
The elite academy's cafeteria didn't look like a cafeteria.
It was more like a shopping mall food court crossed with a five-star hotel buffet.
Chinese food, Western food, Japanese cuisine, desserts, fresh-squeezed juice—everything you could want.
Shen Zhi stood at the entrance in brief silence.
[The evils of capitalism.]
[Eating this well just by going to school.]
[If it weren't for the exams, I'd call this place a branch office of heaven.]
She decisively grabbed a tray.
Braised beef brisket.
Garlic shrimp.
Baby bok choy.
And a mango pudding.
Perfect.
Knowledge didn't have to enter her brain, but food had to enter her stomach.
Shen Zhi found a seat by the window.
She had just picked up a piece of beef brisket when voices from the next table drifted over.
"Have you heard? Shen Qingli is really coming to our school."
"I heard she grew up in an ordinary family. Life was really hard for her."
"Yeah, apparently her adoptive parents weren't well-off, but she kept working hard and got amazing grades."
"Oh my god, so tragic. The real daughter of a wealthy family, cast out into the world, while someone else enjoyed her blessings for eighteen years."
The "someone else" in the conversation didn't need to be named.
Gazes from all directions, subtle and not-so-subtle, landed on Shen Zhi.
Shen Zhi kept her head down and ate.
The beef brisket was tender and flavorful.
Not bad.
Way better than the twenty-eight-yuan pre-made meals from the shop downstairs at her office in her past life.
Seeing that she had no reaction, the next table got louder.
"If I were Shen Qingli, I'd be devastated."
"Eighteen years of her life, just taken like that."
"I heard Shen Zhi used to have a terrible temper too, always throwing around her rich-girl attitude."
"A fake is a fake. Once the real daughter of the family returns, how can she keep pretending?"
Shen Zhi took a sip of soup.
Utterly unmoved.
[Well said.]
[I suggest they publish a book. Title: Me and the Shen Family Household Registry: The Untold Story.]
[Why does the whole school care more about whether I'm a Shen than I do?]
[Should I photocopy the household registry and post it on the bulletin board to satisfy everyone's curiosity?]
Not far away, Xu Manman sat down with her tray.
She had deliberately chosen a seat diagonally behind Shen Zhi.
Close enough to watch her, and to make sure she could hear.
"Qingli is really so pitiful."
Xu Manman spoke softly, but her voice carried perfectly to the surrounding tables.
"She's so kind. Even after learning her true identity, she didn't immediately demand to return to the Shen family."
"Instead, she said she was afraid of disturbing Uncle Shen and Auntie Shen's current life."
"She even said she didn't want to put anyone in a difficult position."
Someone immediately sighed.
"So mature."
"That's the grace of a true daughter of a wealthy family."
"Some people are different—they take someone else's place and still act like they're in the right."
Shen Zhi picked up a shrimp.
Peeled it.
Dipped it in sauce.
Put it in her mouth.
Her movements flowed like water.
[Kind, strong, delicate and sensible.]
[The Female Lead's public persona promo has already started playing school-wide, right?]
[The suffering was real suffering.]
[But later, climbing over the Shen family to rise up—that was real efficient too.]
[Her whole thing is inheriting the inheritance in tears.]
She took another bite of rice.
[In the original book, after Shen Qingli came back, she really knew how to play the game.]
[On the surface, never fighting or grabbing; behind the scenes, every step landed just right.]
[The original owner went crazy, she got hurt.]
[The original owner fought for affection, she shed tears.]
[The more the original owner acted out, the guiltier the Shen family felt.]
[In the end, the Shen family went bankrupt, Father Shen fell ill, something happened to Mother Shen, Shen Wang got screwed over, and Shen Chi broke his leg.]
[Meanwhile she walked away spotless, and turned around to become the Young Madam of the Lu family.]
Shen Zhi's chewing slowed.
She sighed.
[Which is why: stay away from the Female Lead, cherish your life.]
[I just want to be a quiet background character.]
[Don't cue me, everyone. Thanks.]
Unfortunately, the world did not respect her retirement dreams.
Xu Manman, seeing that she wasn't getting angry no matter what, couldn't help standing up.
Carrying a glass of juice, she walked over to Shen Zhi's table.
"Shen Zhi."
Shen Zhi looked up.
"What is it?"
Xu Manman bit her lip, looking aggrieved on someone else's behalf.
"Do you really not feel guilty at all?"
Shen Zhi looked at the juice in her hand.
Perfect.
Orange juice.
A classic plot prop.
She silently slid her tray three centimeters to the side.
Xu Manman didn't notice and continued, "Qingli suffered so much out there, yet you can still eat with such a clear conscience."
"Don't you feel uneasy?"
The cafeteria instantly quieted down quite a bit.
Quite a few people secretly looked over.
Shen Zhi wiped her mouth with a napkin.
"Xu Manman."
Xu Manman immediately straightened her back.
Shen Zhi asked earnestly, "If I stop eating, will the suffering she went through get discounted?"
Xu Manman choked.
"Don't twist logic!"
Shen Zhi asked again, "If I starve to death right here, will her life automatically restart?"
Someone nearby held back a laugh.
Xu Manman's face turned ugly.
Shen Zhi's tone was calm. "If not, then I suggest you eat too."
"After all, your brain is already running low. If your body doesn't refuel, it'll get even more dangerous."
"Pfft."
Someone at the next table finally couldn't hold it in.
Xu Manman was so angry her eyes reddened.
"Shen Zhi, you're heartless!"
Shen Zhi nodded.
"Mm."
"Anything else?"
Xu Manman: "…"
That line again.
That same thick-skinned, nothing-can-touch-me attitude again!
She was so angry her hands were shaking.
Zhou Yue walked over at this point.
Frowning, he looked at Shen Zhi.
"Shen Zhi, Manman is just speaking up for Shen Qingli. There's no need to be so aggressive."
Shen Zhi looked at him.
"Class Monitor, is lunchtime also time for the morality lecture hall?"
Zhou Yue's face darkened.
"An attitude like yours will only make everyone more disgusted with you."
Shen Zhi went, "Oh."
"Then keep being disgusted at your own pace."
"I'm in a hurry."
Zhou Yue was stunned. "What are you hurrying for?"
Shen Zhi lowered her head and picked up some food.
"Hurrying to finish my meal."
"I have class this afternoon."
The whole room: "…"
She was actually seriously eating her meal.
Xu Manman's punch had landed in thorny cotton once again, and she was so furious she nearly crushed the orange juice cup.
Just as undercurrents surged through the cafeteria, a phone call came in on the Shen family's end.
Mother Shen was trimming roses in the greenhouse.
Her phone rang. Seeing the caller ID was a teacher from school, her heart immediately tightened.
"Hello, Teacher."
The voice on the other end sounded a bit awkward.
"Mrs. Shen, here's the situation—there's been some talk at school today about Student Shen and… Student Qingli."
"We've already asked the homeroom teacher to keep an eye on things."
"Student Shen's emotions are fairly stable at the moment. You don't need to worry too much."
Mother Shen's hand slowly tightened around the scissors.
Fairly stable.
Those words fell into her ears like fine needles pricking her heart.
Zhizhi hadn't done anything at all.
Yet she had already been pushed to the center of all the gossip.
Just that morning, she'd said with a smile that it was a good thing her sister had come home.
But at school, she had to face all this malice alone.
Mother Shen's voice softened.
"Has she been wronged in any way?"
The teacher paused.
"From what we can see, Student Shen has handled it… quite calmly."
Calmly.
Yet Mother Shen's eyes turned red.
How little sense of security must a child have, to force herself to stay calm even at a time like this?
She said quietly, "Please look after her, Teacher."
After hanging up, Mother Shen stood in the greenhouse for a long time without moving.
The sunlight outside was lovely.
But she felt a chill spreading through her heart, wave after wave.
In the cafeteria, Shen Zhi finally finished the last bite of her pudding.
She set down her spoon with satisfaction.
[An argument doesn't stop me from eating dessert.]
[Excellent. I've grown as a person.]
Xu Manman was still standing there, like an NPC who hadn't completed her quest.
Shen Zhi picked up her tray and walked around her toward the return station.
Just as she reached the cafeteria entrance, a sudden commotion arose outside.
"She's here! She's here!"
"Who's here?"
"Shen Qingli! She's really coming to finish her enrollment paperwork today!"
"At the school gate!"
The crowd, as if drawn by something, surged toward the windows and the door.
Shen Zhi's steps halted.
Through the cafeteria's huge glass windows, she saw a low-key black sedan slowly pull to a stop at the school entrance.
The car door opened.
A girl in a light-colored dress stepped out of the car.