Jiang Jinran even felt that her every move might already be under surveillance.
Clearly, the other party knew her very well. They even knew about the Hope Cup...
After school.
Jiang Jinran lowered her head and packed her schoolbag.
Tap, tap.
Someone lightly tapped the corner of her desk.
Jiang Jinran stopped what she was doing and looked up-
Shi Hui stood perfectly straight, looking down at her. "Jiang Jinran, have you thought it over? What's your answer?"
A faint smile rested on her lips, but her eyes were icy. "If you keep refusing, I'll have to find another way to make you agree."
"Then you can stop thinking."
Jiang Jinran calmly zipped up her schoolbag-
"I'll take part in the Hope Cup."
Shi Hui's eyes widened slightly in surprise.
She hadn't expected Jiang Jinran, who had refused to budge no matter what she said, to suddenly give in.
"Is it because of Ji Qingying?" Shi Hui gave her a strange look, her tone tinged with sarcasm. "Even someone like you has moments of softness, when you consider others..."
Jiang Jinran said no inwardly.
Ji Qingying certainly wasn't the main reason. The piece of iron that had suddenly appeared was what forced her to do this...
Whoever had carved that line onto the iron clearly wanted her to enter the Hope Cup very badly.
She didn't know who that person was, or what sort of relationship they had with the original owner of this body. Cooperation, or coercion? If she didn't comply, would they retaliate and put her in danger?
She was out in the open, while the other party remained in the shadows. If they punished her or retaliated, Jiang Jinran would undoubtedly be in a very passive, unfavorable position.
More importantly, only by entering the Hope Cup might she obtain some clues and find a tiny sliver of an answer to all the mysteries before her.
She couldn't tell the Jiang family about any of this, either.
These were the original owner's secrets. Rashly telling these so-called "family members," with whom she wasn't particularly close and who might even come to despise her in the future, was clearly unwise.
When Jiang Jinran had sought Jiang Qiche's help before, she had merely treated him as a tool person. She had no emotional foundation with these older brothers, nor had she lowered her guard.
"Then come to rehearsal today..." Shi Hui tapped the desk again, her icy words pulling Jiang Jinran out of her thoughts.
She blinked and smiled with apparent innocence. "I won't be going for now. Does a tree need to rehearse so hard? Isn't standing still all there is to it?"
"I'll join rehearsals when the finals are close."
"Jiang Jinran, is that your attitude toward this competition?" Shi Hui clearly wasn't buying it, her gaze sharp as she stared at her.
"Don't forget, you're the one who begged me to compete." Jiang Jinran smiled and stood up from her seat, schoolbag in hand.
"No..." Shi Hui was momentarily rendered speechless. Her mouth opened, but she couldn't think of a response.
"What, not happy? Why don't you kick me out, then?" The smile on Jiang Jinran's face was dazzlingly bright. "That would be perfect. Then I wouldn't have to compete."
With her schoolbag on her back, she walked straight past Shi Hui and out of the classroom.
If she went to rehearsals, she would inevitably be "tormented" by Shi Hui and her crowd. Naturally, the less time she spent with them, the better.
The first thing Jiang Jinran encountered upon returning home was yet another round of questioning from her eldest brother, Jiang Yuehan.
"Besides that female teacher and the boy who played that prank, has anyone else bullied you?" Jiang Yuehan stood before her, questioning her patiently.
The events of the past few days had made Jiang Yuehan realize that his younger sister's situation at school was far from promising.
This was also something he had overlooked all along.
He felt guilty, and he also wanted to seek justice for his sister. The principal had gone to great lengths to explain that everything that had happened these past few days had been an accident, mere coincidence, and that Jiang Jinran was usually quite popular in class, where everyone got along harmoniously...
Why couldn't he believe it?
Looking into her brother's dark eyes, Jiang Jinran silently sighed.
[What on earth turned a majestic, overbearing CEO into a nagging mother hen in just a few days? Was it the loss of humanity, or the collapse of morality?]
Jiang Yuehan: ...?
"There's really nothing major, big brother," Jiang Jinran said breezily. "School is just... like that."
"If there's nothing else, I'll go back to my room."
Jiang Jinran hurriedly slipped away from Jiang Yuehan. She felt that if she didn't run now, this eldest brother of hers, who had transformed into a "mother hen," would pester her for ages.
Jiang Jinran didn't want Jiang Yuehan interfering too much in matters at school.
For one thing, she didn't want her identity as the Jiang family's young lady exposed. If Jiang Yuehan drew too much attention, it would only be a matter of time before her cover fell off.
For another, the current situation was still manageable. There was no need to mobilize a great Buddha like Jiang Yuehan. Besides, if he started investigating what was happening at school-
The original owner's secrets would probably be exposed along with it.
Jiang Yuehan felt somewhat defeated.
Within a single day, both his own younger brother and his own younger sister had rejected him in succession. For someone who had always considered himself above everyone else, this was nothing short of a devastating blow.
He took a moment to calm down, hesitated repeatedly, then called Jiang Qiche again.
The result was the same as ever. As usual, no one answered.
He closed his eyes and waited a little longer before reluctantly hanging up.
"Sir, these things can't be rushed."
Cui Yan, who had been waiting by the door all along, had seen everything.
He couldn't help speaking up to comfort his big boss.
Jiang Yuehan's face was tense, his handsome features expressionless. He merely looked out the window without thinking and murmured to himself, "Dealing with these kids is harder than doing business."
"I only wanted Jiang Qiche to come home for the weekend."
"Getting the young master to come home might be harder than making five million in one night." Cui Yan shook his head, speaking from the heart.
Jiang Yuehan put his phone back on the desk and casually picked up the thread. "If anyone could get him to come back, I'd be happy to transfer five million to them on the spot."
"Big brother, do you mean that?"
Jiang Jinran, who had just come down the stairs, happened to hear Jiang Yuehan's words.
A bright light instantly flared in her eyes, and the young girl trotted all the way over to Jiang Yuehan.
At that very moment, only three words circled in Jiang Jinran's mind-
Five million yuan!
Those three words seemed to gleam with dazzling golden light, sprouting wings and waving at Jiang Jinran!
"Mean what?" Jiang Yuehan was a little confused.
Jiang Jinran answered, her expression brimming with excitement, "You just said you'd give someone five million as long as they could get Jiang Qiche to come home."
It had only been an offhand remark.
Jiang Yuehan knew full well that no one could soften Jiang Qiche's heart and make him turn back.
That fellow's heart was harder than iron now.
Five million wasn't much money, but even if he wanted to spend it, he needed a way to do so.
"Unfortunately, this money is destined to remain unspent." Jiang Yuehan's gaze darkened somewhat, and his voice was low.
"Who says it can't be spent?" Jiang Jinran curled her lips and looked at Jiang Yuehan, assured and brimming with confidence. "What if I said I could do it?"