Chapter 21

Shen Xiche glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "Why did you take so long to come out today?"

Shen Anya gripped the hem of her skirt. She couldn't let her second brother know the teacher had called her in for a talk!

"I, um..." Inspiration struck. "There were a few problems I couldn't solve, so I went to ask the teacher. Going over them took a little time."

"Speaking of which, the monthly exams are coming up." Shen Anya smiled at Shen Luoluo. "How's your preparation going, sis?"

"But don't put too much pressure on yourself. The questions here in Jingbei are a little harder than the ones where you used to live. It's normal if you don't do well and your grades slip. It's okay."

Her lips curved. Let's see how you talk your way out of it when the results come out!

"We haven't even taken the exams yet. How do you know I'll do badly?" Shen Luoluo hadn't wanted to engage with her. She just wanted to stay in the corner and keep a low profile.

But some people wouldn't let her sit in peace. If she remembered correctly, this was the first time she'd said so much to Shen Anya. Usually, they both avoided each other, deliberately or otherwise. Even when they did meet, they only exchanged a greeting for appearances' sake. Today, though, Shen Anya had insisted on dragging her into the conversation.

Did she think Shen Xiche would take her side because he was here? So what if he did?

Shen Anya hadn't expected Shen Luoluo to push back so directly in front of Shen Jiayan and Shen Xiche. Panic flashed through her eyes, but she quickly composed herself.

Her voice trembled. "That's not what I meant. You've misunderstood me, sis. I was only trying to comfort you." Shen Anya's eyes reddened and filled with tears. "Mom and Dad told me to help you more. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me..."

"Ask you what?" Shen Jiayan couldn't listen any longer. "You're in the International Class, and she's in the Rocket Class. You're not even studying the same material. How's she supposed to ask you? If anything, you might be the one asking her!"

"And school's already over. Can you stop going on about grades? So what if someone gets a low score? Can't they live anymore? If that were true, I'd have to jump off a building!"

Everyone knew Shen Jiayan had the worst grades in the Shen Family. He was often near the bottom of his class. It wasn't that he refused to study—he went to class and did his homework on time, didn't cause trouble during lessons, and even listened now and then. His grades just never improved.

Shen Ting'an and Zhao Huizhen had hired tutors for him, but it had barely helped. Eventually, they'd come to accept it. They no longer forced him to study and let things take their course.

But who didn't want good grades?! Shen Anya had accidentally hit a sore spot.

Shen Jiayan was sick of hearing it. "You get whatever score you get. You still go on living, don't you? Why make such a big deal of it?"

Shen Anya's eyes grew even redder. She clenched her skirt so tightly her knuckles ached. What did Shen Jiayan mean by that? Was he taking Shen Luoluo's side just to embarrass me?

"Enough," Shen Xiche said, cutting them off. "Stop arguing. We're here."

As he spoke, the car pulled up in front of a courtyard-style restaurant, where they were attending a family dinner that evening.

Today was the seventieth birthday of Zhao Huizhen's father, their maternal grandfather. The old man liked peace and quiet, so he hadn't thrown a lavish banquet or invited acquaintances from their social circle. Only family would be dining together.

They had specifically chosen this secluded courtyard restaurant. Built beside a hill and a stream, it had the classic style of a Jiangnan courtyard, with gray bricks and white walls. A cobblestone path led in from the entrance.

The four of them had just entered when they ran into Shen Jingyao coming from another path. He was carrying several gift boxes for their grandfather.

Shen Xiche stepped forward and took the boxes from him. "Have Mom and Dad arrived?"

Shen Jingyao was a little surprised that he'd offered to carry something, but he said nothing about it. He handed over the boxes and replied, "They're already here. Let's go in."

After speaking, he gave Shen Luoluo's head a gentle rub. "Don't be nervous. Just think of it as an ordinary family dinner. There's nothing special about it."

Shen Luoluo nodded. It was her first time attending a family gathering like this, but she'd already been through the banquet where she was introduced to the family. This was nothing special to her.

Besides, now that she had the Intelligence System, a wealthy family's banquet was just one big field of gossip waiting to be harvested.

She was rather looking forward to it. Who knew what might happen over dinner?

As she thought that, she suddenly stopped short. No way. I only took a quick look, and there really is gossip?

[Before dinner even starts, someone's going to bring his illegitimate daughter home to acknowledge her ancestry? And the illegitimate daughter is dating his biological son? The two of them are planning a wedding?]

What? How does any of that make sense?!

Chapter 21

The illegitimate daughter wasn't his biological child!

"Huizhen, why haven't your precious sons and daughters arrived yet?" In the banquet hall, dinner had yet to begin, and everyone was chatting in small groups.

The woman glanced toward the door, beaming. "Things were so busy at the family introduction banquet that I didn't get a proper look at Luoluo. I'm going to take a good look at her today!"

There were six siblings in the Zhao Family. Zhao Huizhen was the third child, with two older brothers. Zhao Yuan was the fourth, and two younger brothers came after her.

The woman speaking was Xu Yinglan, the wife of Zhao Huizhen's elder younger brother, Zhao Zhan. The youngest brother was still unmarried.

Zhao Yuan was there too, and she chimed in first. "Go ahead and look. I guarantee you'll like her more the longer you do! Luoluo looks exactly like my sister did when she was young! Especially those bright eyes of hers—they're gorgeous!"

Xu Yinglan's eyes lit up. "Really? Then I have to take an even better look. Huizhen used to be famous around here for her beauty! Even my brother told me he had a crush on her for a while back then!"

"Really?" Zhao Yuan was instantly intrigued. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened. He liked her, but she didn't feel the same way. She never even looked his way—in fact, she didn't know who he was. My brother moped around for a while when he found out!"

Zhao Yuan burst out laughing. "If my sister had to know everyone who had a crush on her, she'd have more people to remember than she could count."

"That was all years ago. Now that I'm a mother, I'm old and past my prime." Embarrassed by the praise, Zhao Huizhen's ears turned faintly red.