Ye family’s mansion.
Ye Ci walked into Su Yuan’s room.
“Mom, how’s your leg?”
Su Yuan was still feeling worried because of the mess Ye Chen made. She turned around, looking at Ye Ci with a worried look.
“Oh, it’s you, Little Ci. I’m fine. I took some meds, I think I’ll be fine after two days.”
Ye Ci walked over and sat next to her.
“Mom, are you still worried about Chen?”
Su Yuan put her fingers over her swollen temples.
“He was never a bad child. If not for Ning Li, he would never…”
5
Su Yuan did not really blame Ye Chen for the mess. Reading from in between the lines, she blamed the whole mishap on Ning Li instead.
1
She had already viewed Ning Li as a burden from the start, and as expected, the girl caused such a mess on her first day in the Ye family.
Then, she took a glance at the door.
“How’s Ning Li? Did she give you any trouble?”
Ye Ci shook her head.
“She went into her room and didn’t come out after that, but…”
A short pause and a hesitant look later, she added, “…when she walked past the painting room, she looked rather moody.”
Su Yuan frowned and started to recall what happened.
“Painting room? I heard she used to draw sketches for people on the streets…”
She abruptly stopped and somehow showed an awkward look.
Ning Li’s grandmother had been ill for years. She had been living off social welfare for the past few years.
Ning Li was forced to work at a young age. She had to take up all kinds of part-time jobs to support the family financially.
Su Yuan only found out about that recently, but when Ye Ci mentioned it, she somehow felt ashamed of Ning Li.
5
“I think she used to learn sketching from some random artist on the streets. She’s not even anywhere near as good as you.”
1
Ye Ci showed sympathy.
1
“It sounds like Big Sister Ning Li had been going through the mill in the past few years.”
Su Yuan felt relieved because she did not sense any contempt in Ye Ci’s words. She held her daughter’s hand.
“Little Ci, don’t worry. She’s just living here for a year.”
She planned to send Ning Li to a university in a foreign state after next year’s entrance exam. She would even settle for a specialized college.
Given Ning Li’s academic performance, Su Yuan did not place any hopes on her. Worst case scenario, she would have to spend extra to send Ning Li away.
“Huatsing Cup is around the corner. Don’t let this trivial matter affect your mood. Your father is waiting for your first place trophy.”
Ye Ci smiled a little more sincerely when her mother assured her.
“Mhmm.”
…
In the afternoon in a restaurant, the atmosphere at the dining table was dead silent and awkward.
Ye Ming had lost money. He might not look as moody on the outside, but he was emanating a chilly aura.
Ye Chen’s eyes were red. He sat in the corner, sulking silently. It seemed that he got scared from all the scolding.
He would glance at Ning Li from time to time like a vengeful spirit.
Ning Li reacted nonchalantly, as though she did not notice the strange gaze. She ate lunch at her own pace, ignoring all the gazes on her.
In the last few months of her past life, all she ate was liquid food, so she ought to eat every single dish she could now.
In the end, Ye Ming broke the ice.
“Ning Li, tomorrow is Monday. You’ll be going to school with Little Ci. The teachers in Yunzhou Second Senior High School are extremely knowledgeable, but they’re also strict with results. So, you’ll have to take a small test tomorrow morning. Better take note.”
Su Yuan added, “Being a transfer student in the third year of high school is not easy, especially in Yunzhou Second Senior High School. Uncle Ye went through the mill to make this happen.”
“Big Sister Ning Li, you can ask me about anything you don’t understand,” Ye Ci added.
Su Yuan did not agree with her daughter’s suggestion. “You should be busy preparing for the competition. You don’t have the time.”
“It’s fine. Big Sister’s entrance exam is much more important.”
Ye Ci might be going for special admission into the university, but her academic results had always been good. She usually ranked top 20 in school.
Ning Li finished the last sip of soup before she put the spoon down and looked at everyone.
She curled her lips into a soft grin and said, “Thank you, Uncle Ye. I’ll do my best on the test.”
…
On the second morning, Su Yuan accompanied Ning Li and Ye Ci to Yunzhou Second Senior High School.
Ye Ci glanced at Ning Li from time to time.
Ning Li had stayed in her room the whole day yesterday. Ye Ci was wondering if she had been studying at the last minute.
However, the tests conducted in Yunzhou Second Senior High School were difficult even for Ye Ci, so studying at the last minute would be meaningless.
She assumed that Ning Li believed she would certainly get admission because of the Ye family.
When the car arrived at the school’s entrance, Zhou Hua stopped the car.
Su Yuan gave several warm reminders to Ye Ci before she brought Ning Li to the teacher’s office.
Ye Ci turned around and headed to the third year’s building.
She came from a good background, her academic results were great, and she was beautiful. She could even draw amazingly. She was the most beautiful girl since the first year of school and her popularity had never decreased.
A girl with a round face came along and greeted her. “Little Ci!”
She walked to Ye Ci and signaled by moving her chin at Ning Li. “So that’s the new step-daughter in your house?”
“Don’t call her that. Big Sister Ning Li is also my mom’s daughter.”
Chen Xiangxiang rolled her eyes at Ye Ci before she suddenly thought of something exciting.
“Forget about her. I heard my cousin brought Second Master Lu to your house yesterday. Did you meet him?”
Ye Ci felt shy when she thought of the handsome but cold man who appeared in her house yesterday.
“Mhmm.”
“What do you think? He’s exactly as I made him out to be, right?! He’s planning to come over on Grandfather’s birthday.”
Ye Ci’s heart skipped a beat. “Really?”
…
Ning Li followed Su Yuan to the teacher’s office.
There was only one person in the office, though.
Su Yuan was surprised, but she knocked anyway.
“Is Mr. Sun here?”
The person behind the computer lifted his head up at Su Yuan. He was a young man with a youthful face, possibly just a little older than 20 years old. He looked energetic and handsome.
He looked more like a university student rather than a teacher.
He ended his mobile game, pulled his earphones out, and sized up the ladies at the entrance.
He smiled. “Mrs. Ye, am I right? Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Zhou Fei. Mr. Sun is away for an impromptu meeting, so I was put in charge…”
He paused and looked at Ning Li.
Ning Li noticed the man looking at her. “I’m Ning Li.”
“Right, right. Ning Li, I’ll be in charge of your entrance exam.”
He called Ning Li over and gave her a piece of paper that he took out from his drawer.
“Here, you can sit here and answer the paper. All the subjects are in this paper. It’s a general test. The full score is 300, and all you need to do is get a pass.”
Ning Li took the paper and raised her brow.
Due to her hospitalization in her past life, she had gone to school one month later than the rest of the students. Back then, the one who was in charge of her admission was not this person.
This paper was also not the paper that she took, but it was not much of a problem.
She sat down and started answering.
Zhou Fei sat opposite her and started playing games on his phone again.
Su Yuan planned to wait for Ning Li to finish the test, but she got a call and left for a while.
One hour and a half later, Ning Li put down her pen.
It had been ages since she answered high school academic questions. She had a rough start but was able to adapt and got better.
She handed in the paper.
“Mr. Zhou, I’m done.”
Zhou Fei was shocked when he lifted his head.
“I see that you’re quite fast.”
He nodded, but his hands never left his phone. His fingers were moving at a terrifying speed.
“Put the paper there. I’ll mark your paper after I finish this game.”
Ning Li was speechless. ‘Frivolous much?’
She put the paper under a book and wanted to go to the toilet.
Zhou Fei gave her permission without even moving his eyes from his phone.
When she was at the stairway, she heard a malicious sneer from behind her.
“Did you see that? She’s the one. I heard her father is a murderer!”