The moment the words left her mouth, Zhu Shuiwen knew something was wrong.
Because she was too flustered, she’d forgotten her “cold” cover and had spoken in her real voice!
…No, it should be fine, right?
The sound would distort through the door; it probably wouldn’t sound so clear.
What made her even more uneasy, though, was that for a long while, the cold black metal door in front of her made no sound at all.
No voice, and no one came to open it.
She swallowed hard and checked the offset value again.
—Still no change.
This wasn’t what she had expected.
Could it be… she had guessed wrong?
She had just thought the villain was hard to read, but once she glimpsed the truth, the ups and downs of his favor didn’t seem so mysterious anymore.
In Rongjin Alley, his favor had dropped sharply because she had “cleverly” chased Su Qiming away.
At the fried chicken shop, his favor had risen slightly—not because he genuinely “liked teaching others,” but because—
Without realizing it, she had given him the perfect excuse to “delay going home.”
His aunt, the kindergarten, going back to admit fault.
And then, recalling how at the shop he had shown disdain for noisy children and said, “I hate kids”—
The truth was so glaringly obvious.
Yet it wasn’t until now that she slowly pieced it all together.
At the thought of water flowing over a blade, Zhu Shuiwen’s heart began pounding fiercely.
Was she overthinking?
Or had it already come to this, and she had arrived too late?
It wasn’t surprising she was paranoid—usually in movies and shows, a door that refuses to open on time means someone is either covering up an affair or dealing with a corpse.
Fortunately, soon after, the door slowly creaked open a crack.
[Offset value: 41%]
She froze, staring at it multiple times before confirming: it really had gone down.
The clear pattern she had thought she understood had returned to chaos.
She had messed up the villain’s plan again—wasn’t he supposed to be angry? Why had his favor increased?
Before she could figure it out, the door hinge turned and it opened fully.
“Hello.”
The door revealed a woman in an apron, clearly having hurriedly tidied herself; strands of her flattened hair still bore traces of water.
Her eyes darted nervously, but her posture was straight and rigid, giving off a casual, almost nonchalant air.
Zhu Shuiwen was stunned by the scene before her.
A house with a child… could really be this messy?
The floor was littered with crooked blocks and toys, leaving almost no room to step, densely packed like a honeycomb.
“Hello, Auntie. I’m He Xueqi’s classmate.”
Perhaps it was the Fuhai uniform that reassured her; the woman’s face brightened into a smile and she said repeatedly, “Ah, hello, hello. By the way, have you eaten?”
Her eagerness was almost peculiar.
He Xueqi, however, didn’t react at all, standing among the sea of red and green toys without even lifting his head.
The woman’s expression shifted slightly in mild reproach. “Qiqi, your classmate came to see you.”
“No, I’ve eaten already,” Zhu Shuiwen hurriedly said. “Classmate He treated me—thank you, Auntie.”
The woman was clearly taken aback. “Treated by Qiqi?”
But the younger woman behind her spoke first, smiling warmly: “I was wondering why my nephew didn’t eat at home tonight. If I were him and met such a cute little girl, I wouldn’t go home either.”
That must have been the so-called “little aunt.”
It was clear she must have been a striking beauty in her youth; even in slightly bulky and messy pajamas, her warm, friendly smile conveyed kindness and approachability.
Zhu Shuiwen awkwardly waved her hands. “No, no, I came to see him about something…”
The little aunt stepped forward and took Zhu Shuiwen’s hand. “Come in, come in. It’s so cold standing at the door. Thank you for coming to see our Xueqi…”
Then she turned to say, “Rui Rui, go get some fruit for our pretty sister.”
The little boy chirped obediently, ran off, and returned with an apple, holding it out to Zhu Shuiwen: “Sister, eat!”
Children are angelic by nature, and this innocent act of offering made him even more endearing.
Zhu Shuiwen couldn’t help smiling. “Thank you.”
Though smiling, her heart beat faster.
Since she had entered, He Xueqi had not spoken a word.
She quickly glanced around; aside from the scattered toys, nothing seemed unusual.
With a sharp “clang,” a knife slipped from a completely torn plastic bag to the floor, clanging harshly.
The little aunt’s expression shifted slightly.
Xu Jiarui, curious, moved slightly, and she tugged his arm back two steps: “Sister, could you put that away?”
“Ah,” Xu Huifeng replied, conscientiously tidying it up, completely oblivious to the flickering expression on her sister’s face.
She had intended to bring out more dishes from the kitchen—her way of hosting—but Zhu Shuiwen refused.
“I’ll be leaving soon.” The girl took a brand-new exam paper from her canvas bag. “Mainly… I forgot to give him his competition paper.”
So clever.
Zhu Shuiwen had to give herself credit for that.
Earlier, to avoid damaging the original, she had made three photocopies of the sheet—something that now proved unexpectedly useful.
Only then did it occur to her that the paper couldn’t have been given to Zhu Feifei alone. With the stacks of papers on He Xueqi’s desk, he most likely already had a copy as well.
If she went to school early on Monday and took the math paper, everything would fall into place—a plan so seamless it seemed impossible to go wrong.
Yet his mother’s reaction still surprised Zhu Shuiwen.
“Competition?” Xu Huifeng asked, astonished. “Who? Our Qiqi?”
She acted as though she had no idea about the matter.
“Ah, right…”
Zhu Shuiwen flusteredly replied, “He… he’s amazing. The problems I couldn’t solve, I asked him…”
She suddenly realized something and hurriedly added, “Our Teacher Huang even said that, barring accidents, he could easily get guaranteed admission to Capital University in the future!”
Competitions were a strong point of Fuhai No. 9 High School, their golden reputation for admissions. For students with potential, the school spared no effort in cultivating them.
Though she was lying, based on He Xueqi’s grades, even Capital University might be…
Huh?
…Strange.
She wracked her brain, but realized she couldn’t remember which school He Xueqi had gotten into.
But it didn’t matter—even if Eagle Head were here, he’d agree with her!
This was the top student of their grade!
“Guaranteed admission? Capital University?” Xu Huifeng’s mouth hung open, as if she were hearing nonsense, her expression full of disbelief.
It was actually her younger sister who laughed first: “Ah, I told you, our Xueqi is amazing. I always tell Rui Rui to learn more from his brother. Sister, you should praise the boy more too—don’t always put him down; kids these days have strong self-esteem.”
Zhu Shuiwen breathed a sigh of relief. With the aunt backing her up, her next words flowed more easily: “Today, I asked a lot of questions, and he was so kind—he didn’t think I was dumb—but, well, he ended up teaching me for a long time… I might have delayed him from going home. I’m really sorry!”
Xu Huifeng wasn’t really angry at her son, and upon hearing this, her face immediately lit up with a smile, and she said repeatedly, “It’s okay, it’s okay! Learning is what matters!”
Zhu Shuiwen gathered her courage and voiced the main purpose of her visit: “Because the competition is coming up soon, during this period… we might… need to exchange ideas more…”
She hesitated as she spoke, but Xu Huifeng completely understood: “Oh, okay! You’re welcome, of course!”
After all, this was about getting into Capital University—what’s the harm if the boy gets home a bit later? Even if he stayed up all night, that wouldn’t be a problem! Kindergarten? What kindergarten—don’t disturb him from studying for college!
The atmosphere in the room immediately became cheerful.
As a mother, Xu Huifeng naturally loved hearing praise for her son. He Xueqi hardly ever talked about school to her. She knew his grades were good, but the exact level? She had no idea.
Now, with Zhu Shuiwen’s help, that “good” had become something concrete and measurable.
“On our school’s honor roll, wherever there’s a ranking, he’s always first!”
“Today, the teacher’s questions were especially hard, and lots of people said, ‘Oh no, the top student isn’t here—who can solve this?’…”
“And even with the test papers, others had to request them from the teacher for competitions, but He Xueqi didn’t—he just got them directly.”
Xu Huifeng was all smiles while listening, though she said, “Ah, ah, our Qiqi isn’t that amazing yet, still needs to work hard…”
“Sister, don’t be too modest,” the aunt added. “Maybe he’ll be the first in our family to get into Capital University!”
Everyone seemed genuinely happy.
However, the center of this conversation—the boy himself—remained silent the entire time.
He Xueqi lowered his head slightly. The light fell on him, but there was an inexplicable sense of void around him, as if it swallowed all the bright spots, twisting the gazes and emotions of those around him.
Everyone was talking about him, yet simultaneously ignoring his presence.
He stood there, like… a transparent, intangible air.
Perhaps noticing Zhu Shuiwen’s gaze, the aunt laughed: “Right, boys shouldn’t let girls pay. How about this, Xueqi? Auntie will give you a red envelope later—remember to treat the young lady somewhere nice.”
Zhu Shuiwen quickly said, “No, no, next time I’ll treat…”
Before she could finish, a voice cold to the bone cut her off.
“No need.”
It was He Xueqi’s first sentence since she’d entered the house.
Her heart, which had been calming, shrank sharply, as if countless icy, tiny needles had pierced it.
Seeing her pale face, her aunt quickly smoothed things over: “He’s just not in a good mood—not aimed at you. Don’t take it to heart.”
Zhu Shuiwen nodded.
Of course she understood—because… the offset value hadn’t changed.
But still—
She whispered, “Is something wrong with him?”
Her aunt hesitated, then said after a while: “Living in the same house, there are bound to be conflicts. My child takes up a bit more space, leaving less for Xueqi… it’s normal that he’s unhappy.”
Indeed, that made sense.
A flash of Zhu Feifei’s hurt face crossed her mind, and she nodded unconsciously.
Her aunt’s explanation was reasonable.
Xu Jiarui cheerfully brought over a toy car: “Sister, here, play with this!”
Zhu Shuiwen shook her head to refuse.
“Then I’ll let you look at my storybook!” Xu Jiarui held out a dinosaur picture book, pressing it sweetly into her hands.
An angelic little kid, a gentle and considerate aunt.
Even her usually oblivious mother wasn’t unreasonable or difficult.
Then… why…
A flash of the fallen dagger crossed her mind.
The blade was pointing directly at the innocent, smiling Xu Jiarui.
—“I hate kids.”
When the boy had said this in the shop, his eyes were full of murderous intent.
“Qiqi, take your classmate along.”
He Xueqi lowered his head, silently changing his shoes.
The hallway was quiet. From behind doors came laughter and voices from different households, but none of it concerned the two of them.
They walked one after the other.
He kept his head down, soft strands of hair falling gently past his ears, making him look like a harmless little animal.
Silently, the hallway soon came to an end.
“Be careful on the way,” the boy said calmly.
There was no trace of emotion in his voice. The earlier “no need,” full of hostility, felt as if it had never happened—like it had been her imagination.
She took several deep breaths and did something she wouldn’t have dared a few hours ago.
“Classmate He.”
Standing on a slightly higher step, he instinctively bent down to hear her.
But the next moment, his expression stiffened.
The girl, without warning, tiptoed and gently but firmly reached over to brush aside the strands of hair at his temple.
He knew he should dodge, but for some reason, he couldn’t move.
Her fingertips stopped.
At the back of He Xueqi’s eye, a sharp object had left a blood streak.
On his pale, fragile skin, a vivid red flower of blood bloomed.
Maybe it was from a building block, maybe a toy, maybe a picture book—she didn’t know.
She only knew, judging by the blood dripping, it must have hurt a lot.
“Classmate He, you’re hurt.”
For the first time, his normally numb eyes contracted in shock.
A faint light fell on the abyss that was him.