The Humiliation of Her Archenemy Back Then

After morning math class ended, the professor had barely left when the whispers from the back row stabbed into Lu Xiaoxiao's ears.

"She still has the nerve to come to class? If it were me, I'd have transferred schools ages ago."

"It's only because Campus Hunk Shao was softhearted and didn't pursue it. Otherwise, she'd be sitting in a police station right now."

Lu Xiaoxiao's fingertips tightened around her books.

In her previous life, she certainly hadn't seen her classmates act so viciously.

All she had done was force a kiss on their male god in public, and every one of them was green with envy.

She slammed her books down on the desk.

The sharp sound stunned the whole classroom into silence, and every gaze turned to her.

Lu Xiaoxiao had never been one to start trouble, but she wasn't afraid of it either.

She cast a sidelong glance at the people who had been gossiping the loudest and scoffed. "Since when did Peking University's admissions standards sink this low? Any fly can buzz in here and make a racket. How utterly grating."

The three students' faces flushed red at her retort. Furious, they raised their voices. "Lu Xiaoxiao, don't throw your weight around just because your parents are professors! Shao Enci is the crown prince of Guanghuan Group. His family background leaves yours ten streets behind, and he can't even be bothered to hold it against you!"

"No one forced you to put yourselves in the picture. What are you getting so worked up about?"

Lu Xiaoxiao lifted her eyes, and her breezy remark left them speechless.

Just as they were about to argue again, a gentle female voice cut in at just the right moment.

"All right, all right, everyone, let's say a little less. You'd be better off using this time to work through a couple more advanced math problems."

Ruan Qingyan walked slowly over to Lu Xiaoxiao, her features gentle and her smile innocent, looking every bit the well-meaning peacemaker. "I actually think Shao Enci and Xiaoxiao are quite well matched. One comes from a scholarly family, the other from a top-tier wealthy family. They were high school classmates, too, and got into Peking University together. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were fated to be."

The troublemakers rolled their eyes and dispersed in a huff.

Lu Xiaoxiao looked at Ruan Qingyan's harmless face and sneered inwardly.

She looked like a pure and innocent campus belle without a calculating bone in her body, but inside she was rotten to the core. In their previous life, she had fooled Lu Xiaoxiao terribly.

For years, Ruan Qingyan had clung to Shao Enci under the banner of being Lu Xiaoxiao's best friend, repeatedly using her name to send gifts and convey her feelings, while never ceasing her little schemes behind the scenes. Worst of all, in their junior year, Ruan Qingyan had actually drugged Shao Enci's birthday cake, then sent it to him under Lu Xiaoxiao's name.

That night, rain poured down in torrents. In the depths of the night, Shao Enci, drenched to the skin and in a sorry state, pounded on her front door.

Shao Enci stood outside her house, soaked through and no longer the spirited figure he once was. The corners of his eyes were faintly red, and his hoarse voice came through amid the thunder and rain:

"Lu Xiaoxiao, do you hate me that much?"

"So much that you'd send a woman to my bed to disgust me?"

Thunder and rain raged together, and lightning wailed in the dark clouds.

She stood inside the door, watching him lose control in his anguish, unmoved.

She had been in a bad mood that day after someone stood her up. Shao Enci had happened to walk into her line of fire, so she took all her anger out on him.

"Yes," she said coldly. "I despise you more than anyone. I can't wait for you to disappear from my sight forever."

Shao Enci's body seemed to crumble until he could barely stand. The hope in his eyes shattered bit by bit, and he let the darkness swallow him little by little.

Later, he went abroad and disappeared from her world completely.

By the time she learned the whole truth, she had slapped Ruan Qingyan and severed all ties with her, but she never saw Shao Enci again.

Then she died.

Lu Xiaoxiao put her thoughts away, unwilling to dwell on her previous life any longer. Thinking about it now, those classmates who had deliberately picked on her in the classroom earlier had most likely been prompted by Ruan Qingyan behind the scenes.

Playing the villain in secret and the good person on the surface—she really had watched too many palace intrigue dramas, to have such a poisonous heart.

"Xiaoxiao, let's go out to lunch together. Consider it my apology for stepping in to help you just now." Ruan Qingyan reached out to take her arm.

Lu Xiaoxiao stepped aside, avoiding her touch. She glanced down at her phone and said in a flat, distant tone, "I have plans."

She walked out of the classroom, and Ruan Qingyan, unwilling to give up, immediately followed. "Is it with Shao Enci? We all know each other, so why not bring me along?"

Lu Xiaoxiao stopped in her tracks and gave her a cold look. "He and I are dating. Are you coming along to be a third wheel?"

Those words instantly shattered all of Ruan Qingyan's disguises.

The gentleness vanished from Ruan Qingyan's face in an instant. Her eyes reddened slightly, and her voice choked. "Xiaoxiao, you're lying to me, aren't you? You knew perfectly well that I liked him, and you kept encouraging me to pursue him. It's only been a week. How could you become like this..."

The students nearby who hadn't gone far looked over at the sound, their gazes converging on them.

Lu Xiaoxiao found it laughable and coldly exposed her clumsy act. "Miss Ruan, you change faces faster than a huadan on the opera stage. One second you were sweet-talking about how he and I were a match made in heaven; the next you were publicly calling me to account, playing pitiful and wronged. You may not be tired of acting, but I'm tired of watching."

Ruan Qingyan's face turned ashen, then pale. Utterly humiliated, she gave a fleeting, vicious look, but still lowered her voice and feigned humble grievance. "Aren't we the best of sisters? Even if you really did fall for him, you should at least have told me beforehand, so I could have prepared myself..."

"Don't go claiming a relationship that isn't there."

Lu Xiaoxiao cut her off coldly and said in a calm tone, "My only good best friend is Meng Yuan. As far as I'm concerned, you're an ordinary classmate at most."

"Lu Xiaoxiao, you..."

Ruan Qingyan trembled all over with anger, but with others watching, she didn't dare lash out. She could only clench her fists tightly.

Lu Xiaoxiao couldn't be bothered to look at her hypocritical act any longer. She turned and walked straight away from the classroom.

When she reached an empty corridor, she composed herself and asked inwardly.

037, the murderer who killed me was Ruan Qingyan, wasn't it?

037: [Xiaoxiao, you currently have two attempts remaining. Are you sure you want to answer now?]

"Yes."

In her previous life, the only people with whom she had formed a deep enmity were Shao Enci and Ruan Qingyan. 037 had said that Shao Enci couldn't possibly be the murderer.

[System notification: Ruan Qingyan is not the murderer.]

Lu Xiaoxiao: "What?"

She froze on the spot.

Not Ruan Qingyan? Then who could the murderer be?