Jiang Xue’s message in the class chat group made Su Miaomiao furious.
Her slender, pale fingers flew across her phone screen as she typed a line of text.
Su Miaomiao: Whew, He Mu just took me and Lu Shiyan on a time-space travel trip. We went to a primitive society from 1.7 million years ago and saw Yuanmou Man with our own eyes.
Jiang Xue: Oh, come on. Our class already has He Mu as a liar, and now she’s corrupting the class monitor too. The homeroom teacher’s forty-meter-long sword is about to be unsheathed!
Jiang Xue: And dragging Lu Shiyan into this? Everyone knows he and He Mu don’t get along.
Lin Jun: Su Miaomiao, we all know you and He Mu are close, but you shouldn’t give false testimony.
Fang Lin: Exactly. How long has it been? From when He Mu spoke in the group until now, it’s only been a little over half an hour. What could you possibly do in that time?
Su Miaomiao frowned. What could they do in that time? They traveled there and back in just a minute!
Fang Lin: You’ve really been led astray by He Mu.
Jiang Xue: Absolutely. He Mu dresses like a delinquent, with her red hair dye, and it drives the homeroom teacher crazy. I don’t know what tricks she used to get the school to let her keep her hair color.
Jiang Xue: Someone even saw He Mu bothering the principal’s son before.
Jiang Xue: He Mu is just not a decent person!
Su Miaomiao: Enough already! Does bashing He Mu satisfy your hypocritical sense of pride? What I said is true—I even recorded videos!
Su Miaomiao impulsively posted several videos and photos in the group.
As images of the primeval forest and Yuanmou Man appeared, along with a video of Yuanmou Man hunting, the group fell silent for two minutes before a wave of mockery followed.
Jiang Xue: That’s it?
Jiang Xue: AI technology is so advanced these days. What kind of photos or videos can’t be faked? I could even make a video of me shaking hands with Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
Lin Jun: The appearance of Yuanmou Man looks somewhat realistic, but, Miss Su, it’s still a bit rough. Why do the men, women, and children all have bulging bellies? And there are no elderly people, not even middle-aged ones.
Jiang Xue: Because it’s fake.
Then, many lurkers emerged, offering detailed critiques of the photos and videos Su Miaomiao posted, but they all agreed it was AI-generated.
This infuriated Su Miaomiao. Clutching her phone, she turned to He Mu beside her.
Su Miaomiao said, “Mu Mu, have you seen the group messages? They’re such narrow-minded and brainless people!”
“Group messages?”
He Mu hadn’t checked them, but after Su Miaomiao mentioned it, she opened WeChat. There were many messages in the group, and she saw the latest one, sent by Lu Shiyan.
It was a selfie of Lu Shiyan.
He was flashing a peace sign in front of the camera, with the open space in front of the Yuanmou Man cave in the background. In the distance, He Mu could be seen teaching Yuanmou Man how to identify useful herbs, while Su Miaomiao was filming He Mu. Su Mu also appeared in the shot.
Su Mu, dressed in a suit and leather shoes, stood out conspicuously among the Yuanmou Man clad in animal skins.
Those who had been mocking He Mu moments earlier fell silent and disappeared as if muted when Lu Shiyan personally stepped in with evidence.
He Mu and Su Miaomiao both looked toward Lu Shiyan, who was sitting by the window not far away.
Lu Shiyan glanced over, his gaze settling on He Mu. “They’re just a bunch of clowns. No need to explain too much or pay them any mind.”
He Mu nodded. “Mm.”
The chat interface popped up with new messages. Lu Shiyan’s deskmate, Li Siyuan, immediately responded, quoting a photo Su Miaomiao had previously sent in the group—the one of He Mu holding medicinal herbs and explaining them to Yuanmou Man.
Li Siyuan: Holy shit! Lu Shiyan and Su Miaomiao’s photos are connected!
Li Siyuan: Could time travel actually be real? Did He Mu really get visited by the system?
Li Siyuan: Lu Shiyan, is it too late for me to sign up now?
Li Siyuan: Oh, wait—Sister He Mu, is it too late for me to sign up now?
Then, several of Lu Shiyan’s followers chimed in, and the tone of the conversation began to shift.
Meanwhile, inside the car, Su Mu was secretly messaging his assistant—investigate He Mu, a senior at F High School, as quickly and thoroughly as possible!
His curiosity about He Mu had reached its peak. This treasure of a girl would undoubtedly become a wealth code in the future!
Assistant Zhao: Boss, is she underage? That’s illegal, you know~ I’m not planning to change bosses anytime soon.
Assistant Zhao: It’s hard to find a boss like you who pays well and doesn’t give too much trouble.
Su Mu gritted his teeth and replied immediately: Did you get your head squeezed by a door? What are you even thinking? Go investigate now!
Assistant Zhao: Mr. Overbearing, infringing on citizens’ personal information is illegal, you know~
Su Mu: Deduct your pay!
Assistant Zhao: Yes, boss. Understood, boss. Please wait a moment. I’ll go find out about this girl, He Mu, right away.
Basement Level 1 of the hospital.
A man and a woman stood outside the morgue. The man was smoking, while the woman was on the phone.
“Miss Nian, don’t worry. Aunt Jing really didn’t mean to leave without saying goodbye. Something urgent happened back home, so I had to rush back. Don’t worry, I’ll return as soon as I finish handling things here.”
After hanging up, she turned to the man impatiently and said, “This is really too much. Why did she have to die now, of all times? Does she know how much pressure high school seniors are under? Miss Nian needs to drink the bird’s nest soup I make every day to fall asleep. How many days will I have to go without seeing her because of this trip?”
This woman was He Mu’s mother, Chen Jing, who worked as a nanny for the Zhang family, the wealthiest family in City A. She had an exceptionally close relationship with the family’s young lady, Zhang Nian.
The man was He Mu’s father, He Fendou, one of the Zhang family’s private drivers. He smoked one cigarette after another, his face dark with frustration. “Do you think I wanted to come back at this time? Because of this, I couldn’t accompany the boss on his business trip. That trip would’ve been very lucrative!”
Working for the Zhang family had always been a source of pride for the couple. The Zhang family was immensely wealthy, and even the smallest things that slipped through their fingers were enough to sustain an ordinary person for a lifetime—enough for them to live lavishly for generations.
But what made them even prouder was a secret.
The Zhang family’s cherished treasure, Zhang Nian, was actually their biological daughter!
As for He Mu?
She was nothing but the “wildcat” swapped for the princess. Their daughter was the real princess!
The more He Fendou thought about it, the angrier he became. “It’s all He Mu’s fault, that little bastard. She can’t accomplish anything and only messes things up. She can’t even take care of an old woman properly.”
Chen Jing chimed in, “I’ve said it all along—a woman without talent is virtuous. We shouldn’t have let her go to school. A middle school diploma is more than enough for her. She should’ve stayed home to take care of the old woman. Once the old woman dies, we can find her a husband and sell her for a good price.”
He Fendou snorted coldly. “Did I pay for her education? Since elementary school, I haven’t spent a single cent on her tuition. It was my mother who used her savings to pay for it.”
Chen Jing said, “I heard He Mu’s grades are among the top three in her grade. The college entrance exam is coming up soon—she might actually get into a prestigious university. But the tuition for such good schools is no small sum, it’s like a bottomless pit. Anyway, I won’t be giving a single cent for her tuition.”
He Fendou chimed in, “I don’t have tuition money for her either.”
He Mu wasn’t his daughter, so he had no intention of going all out to support her through college.
Zhang Nian was his precious treasure; he only needed to look after Zhang Nian.
Thus, He Fendou and Chen Jing quickly reached an agreement: once the old lady’s funeral was over, they would make He Mu drop out of school and marry her off, collecting a hefty bride price to squeeze out the last bit of value from He Mu.