There was no longer any figure in her field of vision to follow. Ji Jie adjusted her backpack and merged into the flow of students leaving the teaching building.
The break between classes was only ten minutes. She had to make a choice.
The countdown was at one hour—clearly not enough to last until lunch break. What would happen if she didn't complete the task? And if she did, what reward would she get?
She still didn't even know what Wei Chao looked like.
Where was the infirmary, anyway?
She weighed the risks as she descended the stairs. Not just the task itself, but also how to handle being late for class, and the possible questions from teachers and parents afterward.
That was just how she operated—a little slow, but steady. She didn't rush for results; she had her own convictions.
A year ago, a male colleague who had been vying for the same position as her crossed the line into a personal relationship with the company's vice president and got promoted with a raise ahead of her. Some people used that to hint, openly or otherwise, that she didn't know how to play the game.
But that insufferable colleague eventually imploded and was transferred away. The director position, even if delayed, still had to go to her.
She first looked for the building for her next class. Neither of the two nearby ones was it, and half the break was already gone. She had no choice but to stop a passing student to ask, only to learn that she'd have to run to make it—and even then, she might not arrive on time.
Since she was going to be late either way, a few minutes earlier or later didn't make much difference.
Ji Jie decided to go to the infirmary first.
From the moment the task panel refreshed, a small blinking red dot had appeared at the edge of her vision, like a map coordinate.
She turned toward the corresponding direction and entered the teaching building behind her. Sure enough, the red dot grew closer.
The infirmary's doorplate was right in front of her.
In the original novel, Duan Baoni had looked up Wei Chao's class schedule in advance and deliberately came to find him on the first day of school.
A nosy classmate told her that Wei Chao was catching up on sleep in the infirmary. She went looking for him as expected, and just as predictably, disturbed him—completing the first move of the new semester to be a nuisance to the male lead.
The male lead really did have privileges, Ji Jie thought. As the perennial first-place student, even if he cut class to sleep in the morning, the teachers would turn a blind eye.
The infirmary door was ajar. She gave it a gentle push, and it swung open. A breeze lifted the curtain, revealing the scene of a boy by the window.
He wasn't wearing his school jacket. He lay propped on two folded quilts, arms crossed, leaning against the wall in deep sleep. His hoodie was pulled over his head, half his face nestled into the collar. The hem of the hoodie had ridden up with his posture, exposing a sliver of lean, lithe waist. The "Calvin Klein" lettering along the waistband traced clean, smooth lines.
Ji Jie stood at the door and calmly pushed up her glasses.
Back in her teenage years, she'd read a few campus romance novels, and certain stereotypes would repeat themselves. For instance, the infirmary was a very common romantic catalyst. And also—
So the male lead really did wear CK underwear.
There were no prompts on the task subtitle, only the countdown still ticking away. So what was she supposed to do now—just wake him up?
There was exactly zero people here who wanted to reminisce.
The class bell rang abruptly.
Ji Jie snapped back to reality and met a pair of cold, weary eyes.
He had opened his eyes at some point and was staring at her. The stare made her heart skip. The atmosphere in the infirmary turned strange.
"Wei Chao," she spoke first, confirming his identity.
Wei Chao furrowed his brow, his expression growing more impatient. He didn't even bother changing his posture, yet he was already radiating the full force of hostility at being disturbed.
"You haven't changed your old habits, have you."
Then he realized this was not his own room—he was at school. His brows knitted even tighter. "Why are you here?"
"I transferred here." She raised her hand stiffly in a wave, speaking in a measured, recitation-like tone, "Long time no see. How have you been?"
Wei Chao looked at her as if she were insane. "What are you talking about?"
If his brain wasn't malfunctioning and his memory wasn't failing him, the two of them were not the kind of relationship that required pleasantries.
It had been a year since they last met. Everyone present at the time would rather not recall the circumstances.
And yet she had come back under a new identity, so with a clear conscience, so—
completely transformed.
"Nothing. Just happened to run into you at the new school, came to say hi." Her words came faster and faster, carrying a hint of relieved joy. "I'm going to class!"
She walked two steps toward the door, then turned back, as if she couldn't help herself. "When you sleep, you should still cover your belly button."
"…"
Ji Jie paid no attention to his expression, leaving with light footsteps, heading straight for her classroom.
In the upper right corner of her vision, the subtitles refreshed.
【Completed】
【Current — 15/100】
**
Morning light spilled across Florence. Bathed in the warm gold of the old city of Firenze, Huo Jinge called home.
Huo Zhenyan had just finished an online meeting. He answered the video call and immediately saw his father embracing his new wife on the banks of the Arno. He was silent for a second. "Where did you go this time."
"Honeymoon, of course." Huo Jinge looked surprised. "I thought Alex would report the flight plan to you when he filed it."
Duan Feihong smiled charmingly, released his arm, and stepped out of frame, saying she'd give the father and son some privacy.
"Don't worry, little Yan. We just landed. The weather here is lovely." He chattered on cheerfully, completely indifferent to how the other party felt, then jumped to the next topic. "Have you met your new sister? What do you think of her?"
"I've met her." Huo Zhenyan was long accustomed to this. He minimized the video window, moved it to the upper right corner, and continued with his work.
Regarding his "new sister," he offered his assessment: "She's very good at reading the room."
So much so that during their brief meeting last night, one got the illusion that talking to her was like listening to a subordinate give a report.
"Oh, that's right, that's exactly it." Huo Jinge agreed, then said, "But she cut class today."
Cutting class on the first day of school?
Huo Zhenyan's brow twitched. He looked up at the video.
Sure enough, Huo Jinge was gazing at him with a beaming smile. "She's probably run into some trouble. Since you're all at the same school—you already look after Xiaoyu and Lingfeng—why not look after her too, while you're at it?"
Again.
The same pattern. When he feels lonely, he marries a woman, dumps her child at home, and then goes off traveling around the world. Does he think this place is a daycare?
Doesn't it ever get old?
Huo Zhenyan looked at him expressionlessly.
Huo Yuxi had been by his side since birth. He Lingfeng came the year of the middle school entrance exams. Those two were already hard enough to manage. Now, barely halfway through high school, here came another girl.
Huo Zhenyan said, "When do you plan to come back."
"End of the year. I'll be back by the end of the year. It won't delay the shareholders' meeting, don't worry." Huo Jinge assured him repeatedly.
He didn't mind at all that this capable son had sidelined him and was monopolizing power. He barely paid attention to the children at home, and was even less willing to go to the company—basically only showing up when it was time to collect dividends.
Most of the time, he just lived off the two wineries Huo Zhenyan had tossed to him and the returns from his trust fund. That was enough for a carefree life.
That effortless poise of his didn't come out of nowhere.
"Mom and Dad aren't home—thanks for keeping an eye on your younger siblings," he added. "I'll bring you gifts."
Huo Zhenyan irritably hung up the call.
School let out at 3:40 in the afternoon.
Ji Jie hadn't been kept after class. By the time she reached the school gate, it was already four o'clock. She called the driver to coordinate, trying to find the spot where she'd gotten off that morning.
"Miss Duan, you can really just come out any gate, and I'll drive over to pick you up," the driver said helplessly.
"No need. I'm just new here and not familiar yet. Once I settle on a spot, it'll be easier for pick-ups and drop-offs." She was slightly out of breath. "Also, just call me Xiao Duan."
This campus was way too big!
If people had HP bars above their heads, hers would definitely be down to a thin sliver of red, with even the border turned red.
She finally got into the car, her back damp with sweat. Just as she closed the door, her phone buzzed. She answered without even looking.
"Are you in the car?"
Ji Jie startled, then hurried to check the caller ID. It was as if they'd installed surveillance on her. "…Just got in."
The instruction was concise. "Come find me in the study when you get home."
"Okay."
It sounded like he wanted to settle the score.
She'd been late to that one class today, and the teacher had talked to her after. Ji Jie wasn't surprised. What she hadn't expected was that the parent notified wasn't Huo Jinge, but Huo Zhenyan.
This brother really did hold all the power.
She remembered that Huo Zhenyan had only gotten back from a business trip in the middle of last night. He was probably working from home today to adjust to the time difference.
Squeezing in time to discipline her—how was that not being a high-capacity individual?
Ji Jie had always been daunted by people like that.
The car went straight back to Yuzhang Mountain without picking up the other two students—so it had come specifically for her. With this kind of setup, the Huo Family probably had to employ at least four or five drivers.
Excessive. She took a moment to steady her breathing, then glanced at the subtitle in the upper right corner.
[Current — 15/100]
It might be her quest points, or it might indicate the completion progress of the novel's plot.
Ji Jie thought this mute system was a bit stingy. Completing a task gave her nothing but a small numerical increase—no substantive reward whatsoever.
If the numerical increase itself was the reward, then at least explain what it could be used for. Was she supposed to exchange it for eggs and rice at the supermarket?
Or maybe the task was just too easy. She'd achieved it with almost no cost—at most, going home to get scolded by the big boss.
Ji Jie wasn't afraid of being scolded.
She'd grown up hearing it at home, and after graduation, encountering eccentric bosses in the workplace was just everyday fare. Trained this way for over twenty years, she'd become quite thick-skinned and generally didn't take it to heart.
When she got home, someone was still waiting in the entry hall. It was the housekeeper, Auntie Ping—past fifty but still full of energy, with impeccable makeup.
Auntie Ping took her schoolbag and smiled. "I'll take you to the study. Are you hungry? Dinner won't be ready for a while. I've prepared some fruit and snacks—shall I send them to your room?"
"Sure," Ji Jie said. "Thank you, sister."
Auntie Ping laughed even harder. "Still calling me 'big sister'? Just call me auntie. Yu Xi and Lingfeng both call me Auntie Ping—they've called me that since they were little."
She obediently corrected herself. "Auntie Ping."
She genuinely didn't know where the study was. On the way back, she'd been wondering—if Huo Zhenyan wouldn't tell her, was she supposed to knock on every door one by one? This saved her a lot of trouble.
Auntie Ping had worked here for many years; she was someone Ji Jie ought to get along with.
In the novel, Huo Jinge was written as a vacation fanatic who was never home, and Duan Feihong would surely follow along. Living here in the future, she'd probably see Auntie Ping more often than her own parents.
"You two talk first—I'll put your backpack in your room," Auntie Ping said, leading her to the study before leaving. "Call me anytime you need anything."
Ji Jie cautiously searched for a doorbell, couldn't even find a door handle, so she tried knocking. "I'm coming in?"
The study door was very heavy. She pressed half her body weight against it to push, but once it opened, it slid smoothly. She didn't know there was a control button inside—if it was locked, it couldn't be pushed open from the outside.
Huo Zhenyan lived in a house with two rebellious kids. If the study door was left open, he often couldn't get anything done all day.
After his younger brother and sister started high school, no one but him had set foot in this study.
A faint sound came from the doorway. He saw a small face wearing black-rimmed glasses, draped in a soft fuzzy shadow in the afternoon light, hesitantly peering in. "Brother, you were looking for me."
Huo Zhenyan gestured for her to come in. "Sit."
A single armchair sat across from the desk. Ji Jie entered the room seemingly unassuming and sat down properly, knees together, waiting for him to speak.
"You skipped a class today." Huo Zhenyan got straight to the point. "What happened?"
"Actually, half a class." She explained, "The school is too big. I don't know many of the buildings, and I couldn't find the classroom, so I was late by quite a bit."
She'd prepared this excuse in advance, but just this alone clearly wasn't enough to play him for a fool. "Why didn't you ask other classmates to go with you? There are other people in your class taking the same course."
"I did ask. But I walk a bit slowly, and I didn't want to make others wait for me." She slowly lowered her head, making it hard for anyone to read her expression.
"I saw He Lingfeng. I thought I could just follow him. But he ran off as soon as class ended, so I couldn't keep up."
Everyone knew He Lingfeng looked down on her.
So although these words were spoken very objectively, not sounding like tattling at all, there was plenty of room for imagination.
She did have a bit of a vengeful streak sometimes.
"It won't happen again. I've already apologized to the teacher." Ji Jie raised her head and said earnestly, "I've also written down the coursework. I'll do it well."
Huo Zhenyan studied her without a word, as if weighing the truth in her words.
Huo Jinge's marriage had bloomed four times. When the news reached the family, He Lingfeng had caused a scene over it. He didn't care who his stepmother was—he was only deeply unhappy about this incidental stepsister.
Huo Zhenyan had inevitably learned some things too.
Yet seeing her in person was vastly different.
She was precocious.
It was easy to see. Not from her looks or her clothing, but from those eyes whose spirit had long since been crushed. So faint, unlike a child of her age.
Explain what needed explaining, apologize what needed apologizing, bow her head when she should. She didn't presume on her status, nor did she show the slightest arrogance.
She still seemed like a subordinate giving a report—painfully diligent.
A child like this made it hard to fault her further.
"You need to remember this lesson," Huo Zhenyan said. "One instance of cutting class, and I'll deduct a week's allowance. Do it again, and I'll deduct the next week's as well, accumulating until it's all deducted for the year. That's how it's always been in our family, and you're no exception."
Ji Jie was stunned.
Huo Zhenyan was laying down rules for her. Yet all she heard were those incredibly lovely three words—
"Allowance." Meekly, she asked, "When is it usually given?"
"Usually on Thursdays." Huo Zhenyan paused, not expecting that to be her first reaction. "Do you need money urgently?"
"Not especially urgently…"
She denied it verbally, but her flickering gaze hinted otherwise. Hesitating to speak, she glanced at him, then immediately lowered her head.
As if the desire for money and adolescent self-respect were at war.
Being nearly thirty and pretending to be a young girl here was somewhat shameful, which inadvertently made her current conflicted demeanor all the more genuine.
Yet even more genuine was that in the face of financial crisis, all shame counted for nothing!
From the day she opened her eyes, Duan Feihong had never given her an allowance. She didn't know what the original arrangement between mother and daughter had been, and afraid of giving herself away, she didn't dare ask.
At school, she had chosen swimming as an elective. Compared to equestrianism, fencing, pole throwing, and ball sports, it was already the most approachable of physical activities.
If she didn't buy a swimsuit and goggles soon, she'd have to swim naked like a savage in class the day after tomorrow.
"Understood," Huo Zhenyan said.
"Okay." She immediately looked up again. "So when will you transfer it to me?"
"…" So she really did need it urgently.
Huo Zhenyan felt an inexplicable urge to laugh. He picked up his phone. "Watch."
Hearing this, she immediately took out her phone too—excited heart, steady hands.
A transfer soon arrived on WeChat.
50,000.
Four zeros.
Fifty thousand!
Ji Jie pressed her lips together hard, not wanting to be too obvious, like smug triumph. She kept that honest look, nodding at him shyly and gratefully. "Thank you, bro."
By actual age, Huo Zhenyan was at most a year or a year and a half older than her. But with fifty thousand in hand, that "bro" came out all the more sincerely.
Even a real brother might not give that much.
She was very restrained, but when excited, her body still reacted honestly—a faint blush appeared on her face, and her flickering eyes shone brighter.
Huo Zhenyan watched her, his phone spinning once in his palm. His expression didn't change much, but his gaze seemed teasing. "Happy?"
It made her think she'd gotten carried away, so she hurriedly put on an act and gave a small, meek "mm."