A Cheng.
Luosi Xueyuan.
Ten minutes remained before the eight o’clock class bell rang, and a crowd had gathered outside Class A of the Finance Department.
Everyone’s gaze was fixed on the two figures at the center of the crowd.
A young man rushing to make it to the early morning class couldn’t help but stop in his tracks when he caught a glimpse of a handsome yet gloomy profile.
“Hey, isn’t that the genius from the slums in our school? What’s someone from Class F doing at the entrance of our Class A?”
“Keep your voice down! Pei Jinchuan just bumped into Xu Qiao and stained her clothes. He’s done for!”
“Who?” The young man perked up at the mention of Xu Qiao’s name, standing on tiptoe to peer toward the center of the crowd.
There stood a girl in a pale pink princess dress and eye-catching deep red patent leather shoes, her head lowered before Pei Jinchuan, the famously brilliant student of their college. Her delicate, palm-sized face was slightly furrowed at the brow, her round almond-shaped eyes shimmering with emotion, the corners slightly upturned. Her long, curled lashes framed a small, exquisite nose tinged with an unnatural pink, giving her an exceptionally charming and radiant appearance.
Following her gaze downward, a few conspicuous oil stains marred the expensive hem of her princess dress, while a glaring white vegetable stalk clung to the bright red patent leather shoes.
On the ground between them lay an overturned lunchbox, its contents—rice, vegetables, and some unidentifiable dark-colored items—all mixed together in a jarring mess.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I was walking too fast and didn’t notice you. Are you hurt?” Snapping out of the lingering sensation of the soft impact, Pei Jinchuan stiffened instantly. Meeting the girl’s undisguised resentment, he instinctively apologized.
But seeing Xu Qiao’s silent yet visibly furious expression, everyone around held their breath for him.
Who didn’t know that Miss Xu of Finance Class A was the beloved younger sister cherished by Chairman Xu of Xu Shi Jituan?
Raised with indulgence since childhood, she was known for her domineering, willful, and lawless nature, always strutting through Luosi Xueyuan as if she owned the place.
And what she despised most were those filthy, foul-smelling lowlifes from the slums.
Now, not only had Pei Jinchuan appeared before Xu Qiao, but he had also stained her clothes and shoes. It seemed unlikely he would last much longer at Luosi Xueyuan!
Staring at the oil stains on her dress and shoes, Xu Qiao’s mind went blank for a moment. As realization dawned, anger surged uncontrollably in her chest.
This princess dress was a limited edition brought back by her brother from L Guo just yesterday, and the patent leather shoes had been meticulously polished to a shine by Aunt Liu before she left home today.
Now, stained with greasy, dirty food, they looked both hideous and disgusting.
Xu Qiao lifted her foot and kicked off the vegetable stalk clinging to her shoe. It flew through the air, only to land squarely on Pei Jinchuan’s uniform trousers.
Her brow furrowed even tighter. Raising her head to look at the handsome young man whose eyes were obscured by his hair, an itch crept into her palm, and she prepared to teach him a proper lesson.
But just then, that strange mechanical voice echoed in her ears once more—
【Host, it’s almost your time to shine!】
【Qiyun Zhi Zi Pei Jinchuan accidentally bumped into the villainess Xu Qiao and stained her dress. Xu Qiao will slap him hard in front of everyone, humiliating him, tormenting him, and crushing his dignity.】
Xu Qiao’s eyes flickered. The hand she had been about to raise curled lightly into a fist and was subtly withdrawn.
Qiyun Zhi Zi?
Looking ahead, the young man was dressed in the standard uniform of Luosi Xueyuan. The gray shirt on his upper body was washed to a pale shade, the collar buttoned meticulously to the very top, with a conspicuous yellow oil stain on the chest. The black suit trousers still bore unironed creases.
He was slender in build, his skin pale from years of little sunlight, yet tall and long-legged. She had to tilt her head slightly to see his face clearly. The young man had striking bone structure, deep-set eyes, a high nose bridge, and a pair of star-like pupils as dark as ink. His gaze carried a hint of pressure.
Xu Qiao’s eyes revealed surprise.
Was this dirty, lowly slum dweller the Qiyun Zhi Zi her cousin had mentioned?
The mechanical voice in her ear continued—
[Host, after Xu Qiao’s slap lands, all you need to do is step forward and plead for Pei Jinchuan. His favorability toward you will break through zero!]
Then came the female voice Xu Qiao knew all too well: [Great, great! This mission is indeed simpler than the ones from the previous worlds.]
[For a male lead like Pei Jinchuan, who’s born in the slums—beautiful, strong, and tragic—all I need to do is lend a helping hand when he’s in trouble, redeem him, and warm his heart. He’ll surely become devoted to me and never leave my side in the future.]
Since waking up this morning, Xu Qiao had been hearing two strange voices.
One was an emotionless, cold mechanical tone, and the other belonged to her cousin, who had always been meek and silent in front of her.
At first, she thought her “good student” cousin had changed her ways and was playing some AI game. After irritably scolding her, she realized that only she could hear the conversation between her cousin and the mechanical voice.
Xu Qiao thought she might have hallucinated from staying up late gaming the night before.
But from Xu Jia Zhuangyuan to Luosi Xueyuan, during her half-asleep state while catching up on sleep, the two voices never stopped, chattering incessantly about “conquering the Qiyun Zhi Zi.”
So, was this dirty young man the one her cousin wanted to conquer?
Xu Qiao glanced casually at Xu Rou, who stood silently beside her.
Her cousin remained as gentle and quiet as usual, as if the conversation Xu Qiao had just heard was nothing but an illusion.
“I’m sorry, your shoe—let me wipe it for you.”
Seeing the charming and enchanting young girl before him squinting at him with a mix of anger and confusion, Pei Jinchuan’s heart trembled. He quickly crouched down, took a tissue from his bag, and began wiping Xu Qiao’s shoe.
Nine out of ten students at Luosi Xueyuan came from wealthy families.
Even though he never interacted with students from such backgrounds, he knew that Xu Qiao, the campus belle who frequently appeared on the academy’s forums, came from one of the most prestigious families. Someone like him, a slum dweller admitted on merit alone, could not afford to provoke her lightly.
As he crouched down, the sweet fragrance that had overwhelmed him when they collided seemed to grow even stronger. Pei Jinchuan couldn’t help but swallow hard.
“What’s going on? Xu Qiao isn’t teaching Pei Jinchuan a lesson? Could it be she’s taken a liking to him?”
“Impossible! Xu Qiao doesn’t even fancy someone like Eldest Young Master Jiang. How could she possibly be interested in Pei Jinchuan? Besides, Miss Xu despises those dirty, smelly slum dwellers the most!”
Seeing that Xu Qiao wasn’t throwing a tantrum as she usually did, the murmurs around them grew louder.
“Don’t touch me! Filthy thing.” Just as the tissue in the young man’s hand was about to touch her little leather shoe, Xu Qiao couldn’t hold back any longer and kicked him squarely in the shoulder.
The man holding the tissue was unexpectedly kicked to the ground, his leather shoe striking his chin. The hard impact made him grunt in pain, leaving a distinct red mark on his overly pale skin.
The button on his chest popped open, revealing a crisscross of glaring red welts beneath, as if from a whip or belt.
His shirt and black pants made intimate contact with the greasy food on the floor, and the stains were no longer confined to just the front of his chest.
In an instant, he became even dirtier and more repulsive.
Xu Qiao couldn’t help but frown, covering her nose as she took a step back.
She must have been out of her mind to believe that inexplicable voice, thinking this boy was some kind of Qiyun Zhi Zi her cousin was supposed to win over.
How could a filthy, disheveled slum dweller possibly be a Qiyun Zhi Zi?
And how could he, as her cousin and that voice claimed, become a ruler of this world?
Perhaps those two strange voices were just hallucinations caused by her lack of rest.
But before Xu Qiao could continue her thoughts, a gentle, reproachful voice suddenly sounded from beside her. “Qiaoqiao, how could you kick a classmate? Even though he bumped into you, he didn’t mean to.”
Xu Qiao furrowed her brows and turned to the side, meeting the somewhat angry gaze of her cousin, Xu Rou.
Xu Rou walked toward Pei Jinchuan, pretending to help the man up.
Though both wore the same Luosi Xueyuan uniform, Xu Rou’s was far more refined than Pei Jinchuan’s, which had been washed to a faded white.
The girl’s eyes were clear, her willow-leaf brows arched delicately. Her face, free of makeup, carried the warmth of early spring, and she looked at the boy on the ground with just the right amount of gentleness.
At the same time, that mechanical voice echoed in Xu Qiao’s ears:
【It seems my memory was off. Xu Qiao didn’t slap Pei Jinchuan—she kicked him instead. But the effect is the same.】
Xu Qiao stiffened, her palms breaking into a sweat.
That mechanical voice… hadn’t been mistaken.
When she first saw her skirt and leather shoes dirtied by Pei Jinchuan, her instinct had been to slap him.
But at that moment, her attention had been diverted by the mechanical voice.
So—
That mechanical voice could predict future events, even her own actions?
She wasn’t hallucinating—she really could hear her cousin’s and the mechanical voice’s inner thoughts?
The mechanical voice continued: 【Compared to the arrogant and domineering villainess Xu Qiao, host, by extending a helping hand to Pei Jinchuan in his time of need, his favorability toward you is sure to increase!】
Xu Qiao then heard her cousin ask the mechanical voice, 【System, you said Xu Qiao is a villainess. If I openly help Pei Jinchuan and embarrass her like this, won’t she target me?】
【No, Xu Qiao is just a beautiful but brainless fool. Although her brother Xu Feng spoils her rotten and she looks down on everyone, in the setting, she values family ties and treats her relatives well. You won’t be targeted by her for now.】
After the system finished speaking, Xu Qiao clearly saw the corner of her cousin Xu Rou’s mouth curl upward.
“Pei, are you alright?” Xu Rou crouched down, helping Pei Jinchuan up by his arm. As the boy rose, more glaring scars were exposed through the gaps in his shirt.
Instantly, the surrounding whispers grew louder, peppered with words like “domestic violence,” “gambler,” “part-time job,” and “good-for-nothing.”
“You—” A sudden, humiliated growl escaped the boy’s lips.
Xu Qiao, who had been frozen in place, suddenly kicked Pei Jinchuan in the chest, sending the boy who had just risen back to the ground. Her delicate face was filled with rage, her tone both haughty and willful. “You filthy thing! You dirtied my clothes. Did I say you could get up?”
“I knew it. With Xu Qiao’s temper, there’s no way she’d let Pei Jinchuan off so easily.”
“Exactly. Pei Jinchuan, a lowlife from that filthy, stinking slum, shouldn’t even be allowed in our school. I support Miss Xu in driving him out!”
“If it weren’t for Pei Jinchuan, Young Master Xie would be the top student in our grade. How could a lowlife like him ever surpass us? Only those foolish professors favor him…”
The onlookers hurled one malicious remark after another, their sharp, scornful words like daggers piercing the boy’s ears. Pei Jinchuan’s expression grew increasingly grim.
The wounds from last night’s belt lashings had yet to be treated, and now they tore open again, sending a searing pain through his body.
The girl’s round-toed leather shoes pressed against his chest, and he could even feel the scabs from earlier splitting open, fresh blood seeping out.
The familiar scent of blood completely overwhelmed the cloyingly sweet fragrance.
His initial shock and bewilderment were now entirely replaced by fury and humiliation.
What top campus belle of Luosi Xueyuan?
She was nothing but a tormenting devil!