But just as that thought crossed her mind, Mu Wanqing suddenly remembered something and her expression slowly changed.
Wait…
She could always repeat the year.
After all, she was only seventeen.
Even if she failed to sit for the College Entrance Examination this year, what did it matter?
She could simply take it again the following year.
The realization was so simple that Mu Wanqing almost laughed at herself.
In her previous life, she had been so consumed by poverty and the circumstances forced upon her that she had never even considered the possibility of having another chance.
But now…
She had already been given that chance.
And there was another reason she wasn’t as far behind as she had initially thought.
When her grandmother had still been alive, Mu Wanqing had been exceptionally good at her studies during her middle school.
Not merely good, she had been considered something of a prodigy.
Her grandmother had always been proud of her academic ability.
Teachers had praised her, classmates had envied her, and she had consistently ranked among the top students in her year.
Because of her outstanding results, she had even skipped an entire grade during middle school.
While other students her age were still progressing through the usual academic track, Mu Wanqing had advanced directly into the final year of middle school.
That was why she was already in her final year of high school while many students of her age who were technically her peers were still one year behind.
Including…
Shen Ruoxi and Shen Zeyu.
The twins were only about a month younger than her.
Back in their middle-school days, the three of them had even been in the same class for a time.
But now, while Mu Wanqing was already a senior preparing for the College Entrance Examination, the two of them were still in their sophomore year of high school.
A faint smile appeared on her lips, “So that’s how it is…” The heavy feeling that had been pressing against her chest finally loosened.
She had been worrying over nothing.
Even if she did not appear for the examination ten days from now, she could simply take it again next year.
She would not truly lose a year.
More importantly…
She had time to prepare.
However, there was something else she needed to deal with first.
The smile on Mu Wanqing’s lips disappeared and eyes gradually turned cold.
The Shen family.
She had almost forgotten.
This was also the very day when the Shen family would make their first move against her.
Mu Wanqing turned her head and looked toward the central clock tower once again.
The electronic display continued to show the date.
28 May.
Her fingers slowly curled into a fist.
So it was today.
Her previous life had begun to collapse on this very day.
The decisions made by the Shen family had eventually pushed her onto a path from which she could never return.
But this time…
She would not allow them to make those decisions for her.
A cold glint flashed through her eyes.
“Since Heaven has allowed me to come back, then let us settle our accounts properly.” With that she turned around and walked toward her classroom.
The final bell had already rung.
But the atmosphere inside Class Three was unusually subdued.
The College Entrance Examination was only ten days away.
For most students, these ten days would determine the direction of their entire future, except for the wealthy second generation rich students who will be attending universities abroad.
At the front of the classroom, their homeroom teacher, Mrs.
Cao, was giving her final instructions, “Everyone, listen carefully.” The chatter gradually died down.
Mrs.
Cao adjusted her glasses and looked across the classroom, “Your admission cards have already been distributed.
Keep them properly.
Do not lose them, and do not fold them carelessly.
On the day of the examination, check everything twice before leaving home.”
Several students nodded seriously.
Mrs.
Cao continued, “You have ten days left.
From today onward, you should put your minds completely into your studies.
Do not waste time going out unnecessarily.
Review what you have learned, identify your weaknesses, and make good use of these final days and if there is anything you don’t understand, you can still come to school and ask your teachers.
We will be here.”
This was a familiar arrangement in Chinese high schools.
With the College Entrance Examination approaching, students were often given time away from their regular classroom schedule so they could study independently at home and prepare according to their own weaknesses.
For the students, these ten days were precious.
For some, they could mean the difference between an ordinary university and one of the country’s top institutions.
Mrs.
Cao gathered the remaining papers from her desk, “That’s all.
Go home and study properly.
Don’t think that because you are no longer attending regular classes, you can relax.”
A few students laughed nervously.
Mrs.
Cao gave them a stern look and picked up her handbag and walked toward the door.
But the moment she stepped outside, she saw someone standing in the corridor and stopped.
As her eyes landed on Mu Wanqing, she was stunned.
The girl before her looked completely different from the timid, plain-looking student she remembered.
She stared at her for two seconds.
Then her expression hardened.
She let out a cold snort and walked away without saying a word.
Mu Wanqing watched her leave however, her eyes remained indifferent.
Mrs.
Cao had never liked her.
Perhaps because Mu Wanqing was the only genuinely poor student in the class.
Most of the students attending South City No.
1 High School came from relatively well-off families.
Some had parents who were business owners, doctors, government officials, professors, or senior executives.
Mu Wanqing was different.
She had no wealthy parents or powerful relatives.
She had entered this prestigious school purely because of her own results in the High School Entrance Examination.
Her grades had been good enough to earn her admission through scholarship.
Nothing more.
In Mrs.
Cao’s eyes, however, a poor student like her did not belong among the children of influential families.
Mu Wanqing had known this for years.
But she had never cared enough to argue.
And now?
She didn’t even bother giving the woman another glance.
She walked straight into the classroom.
The moment she entered, the entire room fell silent.
Students who had been gathering their things froze.
Dozens of pairs of eyes turned toward her.
Mu Wanqing walked forward without changing her expression.
The silence lasted only a few seconds before whispers began spreading through the classroom.
“Isn’t she walking toward Si Yifan?” Someone lowered their voice.
Another student immediately became excited, “Could it be…?”
“Oh no.”
A girl covered her mouth, “Don’t tell me she’s going to confess to him again.”
“Has she lost her mind?” A few boys exchanged glances.
Someone snickered, “Maybe she’s really serious this time.”
Sitting in the middle of the farthest row, Si Yifan heard the whispers spreading through the classroom and slowly looked up to see Mu Wanqing walking towards him a d his fingers which were zipping the bag immediately stopped.
And he once again forgot to breath.
He still couldn’t belive, the girl was actually Mu Wanqing, the same girl he hated for the entire high school.
He hated the way she would occasionally stare at him during class.
He hated finding her eyes following him whenever he passed by the corridor.
He hated the awkward silence whenever she approached him.
Most of all, he hated the way his friends would deliberately tease him whenever her name came up.
He had never understood why she wouldn’t leave him alone, even when he never returned her feelings.
Until yesterday, he had considered her nothing more than an annoying classmate who refused to understand boundaries.
But this morning, everything changed when Mu Wanqing entered the classroom, Si Yifan had actually failed to recognize her.
In fact, he wasn’t the only one.
Almost everyone in the classroom had turned to look at her.
The girl who had walked through the door that morning was so beautiful that for a moment, the entire class had gone quiet.
She had paused near the entrance, and the morning sunlight spilling through the windows had fallen across her face.
No one knew who she was.
Some thought she was a student from another class.
Someone whispered that perhaps she was a relative of a teacher.
After all, no one could imagine that a girl with such an appearance could possibly be the same Mu Wanqing they had known for the past three years.
It was only after everyone’s eyes gradually moved away from her face and fell upon the familiar blue-and-white school uniform that confusion replaced their initial surprise.
She was clearly a student of their school.
But who?
Then the girl walked toward the empty seat that had belonged to Mu Wanqing, and sat down after placing an old schoolbag on the desk.
It was small, faded and badly worn.
One corner had been carefully stitched with several uneven lines of thread.
The fabric had lost its original color after years of use, and the zipper no longer closed properly.
That bag…
Everyone knew it.
It belonged to Mu Wanqing.
The girl then looked up, her eyes met Si Yifan’s and she smiled.
Only then did the truth finally strike them.
It was Mu Wanqing.
The classroom had practically exploded with disbelief.
No one could reconcile the girl before them with the Mu Wanqing stored in their memories.
In everyone’s mind, Mu Wanqing was the poor girl from the slums.
Untidy, unkempt, always wearing oversized glasses.
Her thick black frames hid most of her eyes, while uneven bangs constantly hung over her forehead.
Her clothes were always clean, but old.
She rarely spoke and laughed.
And because she had no family background to rely upon, she had gradually become almost invisible within a classroom filled with students from comfortable families.
But the girl sitting there that morning…
How could she be the same person?
Si Yifan still remembered the first moment he saw her clearly.
Her face was almost impossibly delicate.
Her skin was pale and smooth, with the soft, translucent quality of porcelain warmed by the faintest touch of sunlight.
There was no heavy makeup, no carefully applied cosmetics, nothing artificial about her appearance.
She simply looked like this.
Her eyebrows were naturally shaped, slender, dark, and gently arched, with the kind of elegance that seemed effortless.
Beneath them rested a pair of almond-shaped eyes.
Those eyes were the most striking part of her face.
They were dark and clear, like still water beneath a moonless night.
Their corners curved ever so slightly upward, giving them an almost languid beauty, yet when she looked directly at someone, there was an inexplicable depth within them.
Long, naturally curved lashes framed her eyes, casting faint shadows across her cheeks whenever she lowered her gaze.
Her nose was straight and refined, neither too sharp nor too delicate, perfectly balanced with the rest of her features.
And her lips…
They were naturally soft and pink, their shape delicate, with a subtle fullness at the center that made even her faintest smile unusually captivating.
Everything flowed into everything else, as though every feature had been placed with deliberate care.
But perhaps the most astonishing thing was not any individual feature.
It was the harmony of all of them together.
She possessed the kind of beauty that did not merely make people think she was pretty.
It made them stop.
Look again and again and again.
And wonder whether they had mistaken an ordinary schoolgirl for someone who had stepped out of a painting.
Even wearing the same inexpensive school uniform as everyone else, she looked completely different.
Like a jade carving that had somehow come alive.
Si Yifan had stared at her that morning for several seconds before realizing what he was doing and had immediately looked away, but his heart had already betrayed his eyes.
As Mu Wanqing continued walking toward him, Si Yifan’s heartbeat inexplicably grew faster.
He had no idea what he was supposed to say if she really stopped in front of him and confessed, just as everyone was saying.
For some reason, the thought made him strangely nervous.
What was he supposed to do?
Reject her?
Tell her to stop bothering him?
Or…
His thoughts became a mess.
What Si Yifan did not know was that the entire rumor had been built upon a misunderstanding.
That morning, Mu Wanqing had approached him for one reason and one reason only.
She had wanted to ask him about a mathematics problem.
She had never confessed to him.
Yet, somehow, by the time the morning class ended, rumors had already spread throughout the school forum claiming that Mu Wanqing had finally confessed to Si Yifan.
Where those rumors had come from, Si Yifan had no idea.
He remembered the incident clearly.
Still he had never bothered to investigate.
Normally, he would have been irritated by such rumors.
But today for some reason, he did not feel like correcting anyone.
He simply let them talk, a strange thought had already begun taking root in his mind.
What if he and Mu Wanqing really were together?
The thought appeared so naturally that Si Yifan himself was startled.
His ears became slightly warm.
What was he thinking?
He immediately mentally slapped himself.
Besides, there was still the matter of their families.
Mu Wanqing came from a poor background.
His parents would never agree to such a marriage.
The Si family had always cared deeply about family background and social standing.
His parents had already planned what kind of woman he would eventually marry.
Mu Wanqing…
Could never be that person.
Si Yifan silently sighed.
But those were matters for the future.
Why was he thinking so far ahead?
He quickly shook the thoughts away.
For now, he only needed to deal with what was happening in front of him.
Mu Wanqing was getting closer.
Si Yifan straightened slightly in his chair.
His expression gradually returned to its usual indifferent state.
He had already prepared himself.
His gaze remained fixed on her.
She was almost in front of him.
He slightly raised his chin, preparing to say something in his usual dismissive tone.
But then Mu Wanqing walked straight past him.
She didn’t stop or even glance at him.
She continued toward the back of the classroom and walked directly to the last desk.
Si Yifan froze.
His prepared words died before they could leave his mouth and the entire classroom fell silent.
Everyone stared at Mu Wanqing in disbelief.
She bent down, picked up the schoolbag lying beside her desk, and slung it over her shoulder.
For several seconds, no one knew what to say.
Finally, someone whispered, “What’s going on?”
Another student immediately replied, “Could she be playing hard to get?”
“What nonsense are you talking about?
Isn’t it obvious?
She’s just picking up her bag.”
“But didn’t she come straight toward Si Yifan?”
“She did…”
“Then why did she walk past him?”
“How would I know?”
The whispers quickly became louder.
Si Yifan remained seated, looking toward Mu Wanqing’s retreating figure.
For the first time in his life, he felt genuinely confused by her.
Mu Wanqing, however, had no interest in any of them.
The moment she picked up her bag, she walked out of the classroom as quickly as possible.
She felt uncomfortable and slightly afraid.
If someone stopped her and started asking questions, what was she supposed to say?
She genuinely didn’t remember most of these people anymore.
The faces of her classmates had become blurry fragments.
Still, she knew enough.
The four girls in the washroom and rumors.
She already remembered who had been standing behind all of it.
A flash of ruthlessness passed through her eyes.
She left the school grounds and headed toward the subway station.
The area around South City No.
1 High School was well developed, with broad roads, modern commercial buildings, and busy traffic.
But after taking the subway and changing lines, the scenery gradually changed.
The further she traveled toward Hongkou, the more familiar the surroundings became.
The old district was not particularly far from her school.
Yet it felt like another world.
Hongkou still contained some of the older residential neighborhoods of Shanghai, places where narrow lanes and aging brick buildings survived among the city’s rapidly modernizing skyline.
The district had already been marked for redevelopment.
Everyone knew it would eventually be demolished.
And among those old homes stood one property that meant more to Mu Wanqing than anything else in the world.
Her grandmother’s house.
As Mu Wanqing walked through the familiar streets, her eyes gradually reddened.
The memories came back one after another.
Not all of them were painful.
Some were warm and precious.
Those memories had survived even after everything else had been destroyed.
Mu Wanqing’s eyes became misty.
Whatever the Shen family had done to her, this place had never betrayed her.
Because this was where the people who truly loved her had once lived.
Her grandmother and uncle.
The only family she had ever truly known.
Mu Wanqing had lost her mother shortly after she was born and her father died when she was six.
From then on, her grandmother had raised her.
For years, the old woman had been both grandmother and parent to her.
She had taught Mu Wanqing how to read and had accompanied her through school.
She had saved every bit of money she could so that the girl would never have to worry about her studies.
And when Mu Wanqing’s academic talent began to show, her grandmother had been prouder than anyone.
Her uncle had also been there.
He was a military officer and had never married.
After their parents died, he had quietly taken responsibility for both his mother and his young niece.
Two years earlier, when her grandmother’s health finally failed and she passed away from old age, Mu Wanqing had been left alone.
At that time, her uncle had wanted to take her with him.
But there was a problem.
Mu Wanqing had already been admitted to South City No.
1 High School.
It was one of the most prestigious high schools in the city, and leaving Shanghai would have meant abandoning the education she had worked so hard to obtain.
Moreover, because her uncle was an active military officer, making the necessary arrangements for legal guardianship and having Mu Wanqing live with him was far more complicated than it appeared.
That was when Mu Qinglan entered her life.
Mu Qinglan was a distant niece of her grandmother.
Back in their hometown, the two families had lived in the same compound, with their farmland adjoining one another, they had known each other for many years.
Whenever Mu Qinglan came to Shanghai, she would bring her children with her.
She would let Shen Ruoxi and Shen Zeyu play with Mu Wanqing.
She would bring small gifts for the old woman and would sit beside her grandmother, speak sweetly, and call her “Auntie” with such affection that anyone watching would have believed they were close relatives.
She knew exactly how to win the old woman’s trust and it worked.
Her grandmother had always worried about her second son.
She felt guilty that he had spent so many years taking care of the family and had never married.
She often feared that if Mu Wanqing became his responsibility, he would continue sacrificing his own life for her.
So when Mu Qinglan repeatedly assured her that she would take good care of Wanqing, the old woman finally felt relieved.
She believed Mu Qinglan was family, entrusting her granddaughter to someone she could trust.
So, before her death, she handed Mu Wanqing’s legal guardianship to Mu Qinglan.
It was the greatest mistake she had ever made.
Because the moment the old woman was buried and Mu Wanqing’s uncle left to return to his military service…
Mu Qinglan and her husband, Shen Yucheng, did not even wait a single day.
They moved into the house and simply took possession of everything.
The house that had belonged to Mu Wanqing’s grandparents suddenly became their home.
And Mu Wanqing became a burden inside it.
But there was another reason they had been so eager to claim that property.
Her grandmother’s house was not an ordinary old residence tucked away in some forgotten alley.
It was a proper compound.
During the turbulent years of the Cultural Revolution, several families had lived within the same compound.
Later, when China’s housing policies changed and private home ownership became possible, Mu Wanqing’s grandfather had been quick to understand what was happening.
He had taken almost all of his savings and purchased the property.
At the time, many people thought he had wasted his money on an old house, but they were wrong.
The compound occupied an exceptionally valuable location.
It stood only a short distance from a major interchange station, surrounded by established roads and convenient transportation.
As Shanghai expanded, the value of the land beneath the aging house increased year after year.
And because the entire district was eventually marked for redevelopment, properties like this could command enormous demolition compensation.
That was the real reason the Shen family had wanted the house.
They were truly shameless, who knows how they managed to sollow the compensation money, when it was supposed to be her and her uncle who were legally the owners.
Mu Wanqing stopped at the end of the familiar lane.
Her gaze slowly lifted.
The old compound was there.
Her gaze gradually hardened and the softness disappeared from her face.
The battle begins…