The compartment was empty, containing nothing but a bed—utterly incomparable to the luxury outside.
Still, it was inside a villa, and aside from being a bit cramped, there were no other drawbacks.
Moreover, the villa had a large garden at the back, and the compartment they lived in was close to it. Through the only small window, they could see various flowers and plants outside.
Song Enya collapsed onto the bed, utterly exhausted, and drifted into a deep sleep, as if she had finally found a place to rest after a long period of weariness.
From the time she and her mother moved into the Han household until they officially began working, Han Shixu never made an appearance.
However, when the servant assigned tasks to Song Zhenxian, she deliberately removed some of the heavier chores.
Song Zhenxian knew in her heart that it must have been his secret instruction.
In such a place, even among servants and maids, conflicts and troubles were unavoidable.
…
It wasn’t until two days later that Madam Han, Ji Hua, discovered that new servants had arrived.
Initially, she was displeased that a maid had brought her family along, and Song Zhenxian’s limp and missing finger only added to her disdain.
But she worked efficiently, bore hardships without complaint, and rarely spoke.
Moreover, her daughter left before dawn every day and returned late at night, so the two of them hardly ever crossed paths.
In the end, Ji Hua chose to turn a blind eye, treating it as an act of accumulating virtue for herself and her son.
As for Song Enya’s early departures and late returns, she deliberately stayed outside.
First, she feared the Han family might feel uncomfortable and drive them away, as renting a place outside would cost extra money.
Second, night shifts paid more, and overtime wages were higher, allowing her to save up for tuition faster.
So she always worked until two in the morning before returning.
Song Zhenxian had gotten up several times during the night and found her daughter collapsing onto the bed, too tired to move.
Before dawn, she would get up again to study for half an hour, then take the unfinished book with her to work.
This routine continued for several days, so much so that Han Shixu missed her every time he passed by.
He even wondered if she was angry about what had happened at the villa last time and was deliberately avoiding him.
…
Soon, the day of the start of school arrived.
Li Chengshuo deliberately had his driver pass by the Han household and wait outside.
Before long, Han Shixu and his mother, carrying a schoolbag, emerged one after the other.
Seeing Li Chengshuo, Han Shixu showed no particular expression and even gave him a slight nod.
He hadn’t dwelled much on the incident at the villa.
“Aunt Ji, hello,” Li Chengshuo called out cheerfully from inside the car.
“Chengshuo, here to wait for Shixu to go to school together again? I’ll have to trouble you to wait a little longer.”
Ji Hua smiled as she spoke, then turned to hand the schoolbag to her son, pulling his arm to remind him:
“Remember to say hello to Yuanxi at school today and invite her over to play after school, okay?”
“What does the Han family have that the Jing family doesn’t? Why would she come to our place to play…”
“What’s wrong with you? Fine, I’ll play with her myself—the Jing family doesn’t have me, does it? Honestly, even if you two are engaged, you still need to spend time together. Do you understand?”
Ji Hua was displeased with her son’s indifferent tone, but mindful of the outsider, she maintained a faint smile.
Han Shixu nodded perfunctorily on the surface, but once in the car, he promptly forgot her words.
Speeding along, the two luxury cars soon arrived at the entrance of Di’an International.
As if no conflict had ever occurred, Li Chengshuo still followed Han Shixu with a smile, walking side by side into the school.
After just a few steps, several more cars pulled to a stop behind them.
The other students around all walked close to the roadside, giving a wide berth and leaving a large empty space in the middle.
“Yuanxi~~ What a coincidence!”
Li Chengshuo turned his head and saw Bai Huina bouncing over to Jing Yuanxi, who had just gotten out of the car, and throwing herself at her.
There was also Jin Mingzhu, who flashed a smile as soon as she stepped out of the car, and Jin Mingzhen, who followed behind her with her head down, carrying two bags.
“Shixu, Li Chengshuo.”
Jin Mingzhu happily waved to the people ahead, but before her smile could widen, a cold snort came from beside her.
In the next moment, Yin Meiyan brushed past her disdainfully from behind.
Jin Mingzhu looked up angrily, “With such a wide road, you—”
“I want to walk here, so what? Are you going to have your master stand up for you again?” Yin Meiyan provocatively glanced at the girl beside her.
Jin Yuanxi curled her lips in a half-smile, “Still holding a grudge because you couldn’t steal the marriage alliance from me? What can you do about it? Why don’t you go beg Han Shixu and ask him to choose again?”
As soon as these words were spoken, the scene instantly fell silent.
Not to mention the other students, even Bai Huina and Li Chengshuo nervously swallowed, not daring to make a sound.
Han Shixu irritably shifted his gaze away, but fearing they might really cause trouble over this, he had no choice but to lean against the door and watch impatiently.
Back then, the Yin family of Shengjing and the Jing family of Zhongdu had both proposed marriage alliances with the Han family. The two families’ influence was actually quite similar, so Han Wenzhou had let Han Shixu choose for himself.
The result was that the Han family formed an alliance with the Jing family.
The head of the Yin family, Yin Jiahang, attributed the reason entirely to his youngest daughter, Yin Meiyan.
Although, in truth, Han Shixu had indeed chosen because of this.
Compared to her, he would rather form an alliance with Jing Yuanxi.
Mentioning this, Yin Meiyan’s expression instantly changed, her eyes fierce and cold, “Jing Yuanxi, I never imagined you’d turn into such a bitch.”
“Huh?”
Jing Yuanxi laughed strangely, “Did I hit a sore spot again? Do you want me to apologize? But even if you go beg him to choose again, you’d only be humiliating yourself.”
Her attitude was truly lofty, like an arrogant and triumphant victor.
Li Chengshuo tilted his head slightly, hearing Han Shixu beside him mutter, “Boring.”
Just as the two sides were deadlocked, Kong Shixuan, who had just gotten out of the car, walked straight through the middle.
He seemed unaware of the strange atmosphere, first nodding and smiling faintly at Jing Yuanxi, “Good morning, Yuanxi.”
Then, without glancing sideways, he walked into the school.
Completely ignoring everyone else.
The abrupt appearance of another person broke the deadlock and effortlessly tipped the scales of victory to the other side.
Jing Yuanxi couldn’t help but laugh out loud, then swung her single-shoulder bag and strode away triumphantly, “Let’s go, Bai Huina.”
“Coming.”
This movement seemed to flip a switch, and the flow of people at the school gate resumed.
Leaving Yin Meiyan alone, fuming on the spot.
…
Class 1, Grade 12.
The noisy classroom fell silent for a moment as Jing Yuanxi and her group entered.
As a result, the sound of a chair being kicked over in the corner of the room became particularly jarring.
Zhao Yupeng sat brazenly on a desk, his foot stepping on someone, with two or three other boys surrounding him.
“He Zhiyuan, do you have any idea you almost got me expelled?”
The boy named He Zhiyuan, kneeling on the ground, was filled with terror, trembling as he pleaded: “I’ve already been at the bottom three times in a row. If I didn’t do this, I’d be expelled this semester… I really didn’t mean to.”
Zhao Yupeng’s expression changed, and he kicked him hard, sending him sprawling to the ground. “You don’t want to be expelled, so you think you can make me the bottom?”