The school forum was bustling with activity, but the people involved were still discussing where their meal cards had gone. Shang Yan herself was completely unaware of this, as she had no concept of meal cards and hadn’t used one yesterday.
Seeing her frowning, Shang Yi hesitated for a long time before finally speaking up, “Backpack.”
Shang Yan shook her head, “No, I checked when I put my books away.”
Realizing that Shang Yi had actually spoken, even if it was just two words, Shang Yan couldn’t help but tease him, “Oh, you’re willing to talk now?”
Shang Yi’s slightly parted lips immediately closed, and he stood straight in place. Finally, he placed his meal card on the table, silently picked up his salad, and left.
Completely ignored, Xia Wen stared intently at Shang Yi’s back, her eyes filled with heavy emotions, as if she had entered a realm that belonged only to her. Shang Yan called her several times before she was brought back to her senses.
Sitting at her seat, Xia Wen absentmindedly ate her noodles, occasionally glancing up to observe Shang Yan. Shang Yan, however, didn’t notice; her attention was focused on the variety show playing on her phone, occasionally letting out a laugh.
Finally, as she finished her noodles, Xia Wen hesitantly asked the question that had been bothering her, “Yan Yan, when did you and Shang Yi meet?” She hadn’t noticed before.
Shang Yan hummed in response, “We’ve known each other all along.”
Biologically, they’d known each other since birth; in fact, it was yesterday.
A little noodle remained on her plate, which Shang Yan couldn’t finish, so she left it there and picked up her cola to drink.
Hearing this answer, Xia Wen’s fork involuntarily rubbed against the plate, making a harsh sound.
“Oh, I see.”
In the distance, Shang Yi sat in a corner, able to see Shang Yan directly. He didn’t touch his salad, only staring at her with his calm eyes.
It was strange.
He had tentatively placed the card down; in the past, Shang Yan would never have bothered touching it. But now, she had put it in her bag.
This unusual behavior caused a cold glint to flash in Shang Yi’s dark eyes.
Why had Shang Yan suddenly asked him to ride the bus together? Why had she stopped him at school to swipe her card and even accepted it?
Was it to better humiliate him later, or…?
He couldn’t figure it out. His brows furrowed slightly, as if he had encountered an extremely difficult problem. No, that wasn’t right; Shang Yan was far more difficult to understand than any problem.
Shang Yan finished her meal and stood up. The girl sitting opposite her walked intimately next to her as they left, exchanging a few words every now and then.
Shang Yi glanced coldly at the girl before looking away and taking a bite of his finely shredded salad.
After school in the afternoon, Shang Yan slung her backpack over her shoulder and rushed out of the classroom as fast as she could. As soon as she stepped out of the school gate, she precisely located the car with the license plate number 京A11111 among a row of luxury cars.
After settling in, the driver started to leave, but Shang Yan called out to stop, pointing to the school gate, “Shang Yi hasn’t arrived yet, don’t go.”
There was a reason why Shang Yan came out before the other students, which stemmed from her sleeping in chemistry class. After class, the chemistry teacher told her to go to the office after school.
Of course, she didn’t listen and ran off quickly.
The driver, quick-witted, kindly reminded her, “Young Master has club activities after school, so another car will pick him up.”
“Club activities?” Shang Yan, scrolling through short videos, nodded knowingly. “Then let’s go.”
The idea of going to club activities after school instead of rushing home to hug her bed was something she, with her severe aversion to school, couldn’t understand.
After showering, Shang Yan comfortably lay on the soft bed and began to analyze the novel’s plot.
The point in her life should be before the female lead, Lin Yuan, transferred schools. Lin Yuan was the true heiress of the Lin family, lost for many years, and had a storyline with the fake heiress after returning home.
The male lead, Huo Yunjian, was a high school sophomore, the school’s heartthrob, but his true identity was actually the illegitimate son of the Xie family in Beijing. He hadn’t been officially recognized yet, so he took his mother’s surname. Because of his illegitimate status, he suffered endless scorn from the Xie family, leading to a twisted personality.
The innocent Lin Yuan, after transferring to Beijing No. 1 High School, had a beautiful encounter with the gloomy Huo Yunjian, and then attracted his attention with her excellent grades.
The novel’s plot revolves around Shang Yan and Huo Yunjian’s feud. Shang Yan accidentally witnessed him fighting four people at once, only to be beaten to a pulp, yet still shouting that he wouldn’t let those people off the hook.
Shang Yan, passing by, called the police, but was told he was meddling. So Shang Yan rolled her eyes and called him a show-off.
From this perspective, Shang Yan did the right thing!
Let’s award the 2015 Best… cough cough, I digress.
Therefore, as long as she doesn’t get involved in Huo Yunjian’s mess, she won’t be resented by this shady kid.
Damn it, Shang Yan clicked her tongue in annoyance. Other characters only had a minor conflict with the female lead after transmigrating into the book, but she, on the other hand, offended both the male and female leads—a double whammy, a happy prison meal.
Just as she was complaining, there was a knock on the door, and Aunt Zhao’s voice called from outside, “Miss, you can come downstairs for dinner.”
Aunt Zhao has worked at the Shang family for over ten years and is an old woman who has looked after Shang Yan and Shang Yi since they were little. She’s always been the one to call Shang Yan for dinner, because others are afraid of offending her.
But even Aunt Zhao gets a little nervous speaking to Shang Yan; she can only try to keep her voice gentle so as not to upset the young lady.
Shang Yan responded, got out of bed, opened the door, and went downstairs. Dinner was already laid out on the dining table; it wasn’t extravagant, just enough for four people.
The Shang family has a rule against extravagance and waste, so they don’t have the bad habits of other wealthy families.
When Shang Yan came downstairs, everyone else was already seated. Shang Yuanlin noticed her hair was a bit messy and couldn’t help but scold her, “Shang Yan, can’t you pay attention to your appearance? What kind of well-bred young lady acts like this?”
Seeing the old man nitpicking again, Shang Yan retorted irritably, “If you like any well-bred young lady, bring her back. I’ll take my bag and go to someone else’s house. Are you satisfied now?”
Scolding children at the dinner table is a major taboo. Why isn’t there such a rule in the Shang family’s regulations? It’s only right that adults bully children.
Ning Wanyun had been scolded by Shang Yan yesterday, so she was behaving herself today, no longer trying to mediate the conflict between the father and daughter, and quietly drinking her beauty soup.
Shang Yi was even quieter. He followed the principle of not speaking while eating, and even the sound of chewing was barely audible. No matter what happened, as long as it didn’t concern him, he could pretend he didn’t see it.
Shang Yuanlin took a sip of tea, trying to calm himself down. “I didn’t mean that. I just wanted you to dress presentably.”
“Do you have to keep talking during the meal?” Shang Yan put down her chopsticks, her brows furrowed, her lips pursed—a typical unhappy expression.
“I’m just eating at home, why are you making such a fuss? Am I in your way? Fine, I’m not leaving. If you’re not eating, then leave.”
It was annoying, really. Shang Yuanlin, her adoptive father, had been picking on her these past few days, so Shang Yan was holding back her anger, and her words were always sarcastic and pointed.
She hadn’t asked him to eat her hair, so why did he care if her hair was cut or not? Why was he making trouble? Was he going through menopause?
Looking at his younger daughter’s increasingly unhappy expression and her rude words, Shang Yuanlin felt his heart pounding, as if he was about to faint from anger.
How come he hadn’t noticed before that Shang Yan was so quick-witted?