Today was the last day of the first year of high school. Tomorrow would be summer vacation, and everyone was excited as school let out. At this moment, less than eight hours remained before Jiang Lai’s fate would be thrust into overdrive.
Before Jiang Lai could even put her pen into her pencil case, her best friend Zhang Yue tapped her on the shoulder.
“Come on, I’ll treat you to milk tea.”
Zhang Yue leaned over Jiang Lai’s desk, her eyes shining as if she’d won the lottery.
Jiang Lai packed her schoolbag. “Has your family’s demolition finally been settled?”
“It’s settled! We’re nouveau riche level now!” Zhang Yue lowered her voice, already tugging Jiang Lai’s arm to pull her outside. “My parents are transferring me to Mingde International Division next semester, but we can still go to the library together on weekends!” she quickly added, afraid her best friend would be saddened by the separation.
Dragged along by Zhang Yue, Jiang Lai felt a bit downhearted, but fortunately, she had always been easygoing since childhood.
“Sigh, I had a feeling. Our school isn’t too bad, but it’s clearly no longer worthy of you, young lady. Mingde International Division—isn’t the tuition super expensive?”
“One hundred twenty thousand a year!” Zhang Yue announced the figure, feeling amazed herself. “Our family is the classic nouveau riche style.”
One hundred twenty thousand a year. Her mother earned four thousand two hundred a month. Even if she saved every penny without spending a dime, it would take two and a half years to save that much.
The two chattered all the way, bought milk tea at the school gate, and when they parted, Zhang Yue walked several steps away before turning back and shouting loudly enough for the nearby convenience store owner to poke his head out: “Lai Lai, come out during summer vacation when you’re free. I’ll treat you to a big meal!”
Jiang Lai nodded, bidding her farewell as usual.
Passing by the street corner, a voice pulled her back.
“Child, come here, come here.”
It was the auntie who always camped outside the school gate telling fortunes. Living nearby, she set up a small red stool every day. Jiang Lai had seen her a few times, earnestly conversing with fortune-seekers.
Jiang Lai was puzzled. She’d been attending school here for a year and had never seen the auntie solicit customers like this.
She approached, and the auntie looked her over from head to toe, her eyes lingering on Jiang Lai’s face for several seconds. “Child, you have a naturally destined life of great wealth and honor.”
Jiang Lai blinked.
Dressed in her plain school uniform, how could the auntie possibly tell?
She chuckled. “Auntie, did you mistake me for someone else? That classmate I was walking with—her family’s house was demolished, so she’s indeed wealthy, but my family is very ordinary.”
The auntie didn’t argue, just smiled cheerfully. “That classmate of yours has a fortune that came midway through life, but you were born with wealth. You’ll understand in the future.”
On her way home, Jiang Lai wondered. If Zhang Yue’s fortune came midway, then even if she suddenly won the lottery, it should also be considered midway fortune. Maybe the auntie’s calculations weren’t accurate.
She pushed open the door to her home. The TV was on in the living room, and there were voices of guests talking.
Her mother, Jiang Shan, was sitting on the sofa crying.
Auntie Wang, their neighbor, was beside her, handing her tissues. When she saw Jiang Lai come in, her expression was hesitant.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
Jiang Shan looked up, her eyes so swollen they were barely slits. Seeing Jiang Lai, her lips trembled, and she burst into tears again.
Jiang Lai didn’t even put down her schoolbag. She walked over and crouched in front of her mother. “What’s wrong?”
Auntie Wang sighed beside her. “Your dad… he’s gone.”
Then, realizing the ambiguity, she added, “He walked out of your home.”
“Gone… where?” Jiang Lai felt utterly confused.
“He… he left with someone else. A wealthy woman.” Jiang Shan couldn’t form a complete sentence; it was Auntie Wang who helped her finish. “He said he’s not coming back.”
Jiang Wei ran away?
Jiang Lai crouched there, still holding her mother’s hand. Her mind spun just once, and she had already pieced everything together.
Jiang Wei had never been a responsible husband or father. Since childhood, it had always been her mother who handled the household chores, savings, and her education. Her father would take Jiang Lai out on weekends, but it wasn’t really for her sake—Jiang Wei enjoyed himself just as much, never paying close attention to her safety. Once or twice, when she was knocked over by older kids and cried on the ground, it took him a long time to rush over. In short, there was some paternal love, but not much.
He was even more neglectful toward his wife. Forget Valentine’s Day or anniversaries—he couldn’t even remember her birthday and had never put any thought into buying Jiang Shan a meaningful gift.
Her mother had recounted countless times how sweetly her father had pursued her back in the day, but as Jiang Lai grew up, she understood: relying on expired sweetness from over a decade ago to keep going was nothing short of a slow, suffocating drowning.
And today, Jiang Wei had simply run away.
“Did he leave anything behind?”
“A text message.” Jiang Shan covered her face. “He said he was sorry.”
Alright then. She knew he was unreliable, but she never imagined he could be this unreliable.
Seeing Jiang Lai return, Auntie Wang knew this was a family matter between mother and daughter. She excused herself, saying she still had to go home to cook dinner, and left.
Jiang Lai went to the kitchen, poured a glass of water, and placed it in front of her mother before sitting down.
She too felt stunned, disappointed, and helpless. But her mother had always been timid and not very strong-willed, and in her current fragile state, Jiang Lai needed to be the more rational one.
“Mom, you’re the one in charge of the family’s bank cards, right?”
Jiang Shan froze, her tears halting for a moment.
“He can’t take much.” Jiang Lai said this with a calm expression. “Rest early tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll figure out how much money we have left and plan for the future.”
Jiang Shan opened her mouth, then burst into tears again. Jiang Lai comforted her mother for a while before returning to her own room.
That night, Jiang Lai lay in bed, staring at the crack in the ceiling. The cheap paint in this old house had been peeling for years.
It stretched from the corner of the wall to the light fixture, taking a turn right in the middle of the ceiling.
Her best friend had transferred schools, and now her father had abandoned her and her mother. All the bad news seemed to have crowded into today, as if deliberately trying to ruin her excitement for summer vacation.
For the first time, she couldn’t sleep. The hands of the small alarm clock in her room pointed to midnight—a new day in the literal sense.
As Jiang Lai’s mind wandered, a voice that didn’t belong to her suddenly intruded into her thoughts.
[Host’s fate turning point detected. Qualification met. System manifesting.]
Jiang Lai lay there, staring motionlessly at the ceiling.
Was she so overwhelmed by grief that her subconscious had conjured up a hallucination of the system novels she often read as a coping mechanism?
[Hello, Host. I am your System. As mentioned, your living circumstances have changed, and I am here to assist you.]
[Host identity information unlocked: You are not the biological daughter of Jiang Wei and Jiang Shan.]
Two thoughts struck Jiang Lai simultaneously:
The sky had fallen—she wasn’t their biological child.
And, it made sense—a System wouldn’t appear for an ordinary person.
The System continued:
[Compensation Mode triggered: Whenever someone mentions or alludes to the Host’s biological family, the Host will randomly receive a sum of wealth.]
[Additional compensation issued: Adult-level intelligence—prefrontal cortex development completed.]
Her heart was racing, yet emotionally she felt calm, perhaps having completely shut down.
Being switched at birth meant her biological parents were someone else—no wonder relatives always said she didn’t look much like her mom or dad.
She tried communicating with the System in her mind, like in novels: “System, who are my biological parents, and where are they?”
System: [Unknown. The System only has information about the Host herself.]
“When will I reunite with my biological parents?”
System: [Unknown. Please wait patiently, Host.]
What kind of single-player system is this? So unintelligent.
She changed her line of questioning.
“So, whenever someone brings up my family, you’ll reward me with wealth? How much money? It won’t be like those few cents from Pinduoduo, right?”
System: [Unknown. The Host must experience it for herself. However, the rewards will definitely be delivered. Since the Host has no bank account under her name, the money will be deposited into her WeChat balance. Other rewards will appear directly. All rewards will not be detected as abnormal by anyone.]
Jiang Lai almost laughed. It took her exactly 0 seconds to accept this clueless system.
Her dad running away suddenly felt like good news—life’s twists and turns were truly strange.
Then she thought about not being biologically related to her parents. Did they know? Was she adopted or switched at birth? If they were unaware, she definitely couldn’t bring it up now and upset her mother.
Jiang Lai closed her eyes. Such a mature thought—was this her newly intelligent adult brain at work?
She suddenly remembered the fortune-telling aunt from earlier today.
Tomorrow, she needed to figure out how the System’s rewards worked. This summer, with life suddenly turned upside down, was bound to bring many changes.