Chapter 2

When Yan Can got back to the classroom, class was already halfway over.

Ji Yun didn’t ask her anything.

The original Yan Can had excellent grades and good behavior; she was also pretty and well-mannered.

So when she stood at the door and called out to report in, Ji Yun merely lifted her chin and let Yan Can go back to her seat.

She didn’t even ask why she was late.

That made Zhang Ru, who sat at the same desk as her, intensely jealous.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, Ji Yun’s gaze on the podium shifted to her.

Instinctively, Zhang Ru ducked her head like a little quail.

But the more you tried to avoid a teacher’s attention, the more likely you were to get called on.

“Zhang Ru, translate this sentence.”

Which sentence?

She hadn’t listened at all. It was only when the dreaded teacher said, “Let’s have a student translate this,” that she snapped back to attention.

With a reluctant squeak, Zhang Ru stood up and, head down, kept winking at Yan Can, signaling frantically.

But Yan Can was distracted too. She hadn’t been listening either, and could only offer Zhang Ru a helpless look in response to her pleading eyes.

The students in front of and behind them wanted to whisper a reminder, but this was Ji Yun’s class. She was the sort of teacher who would make you copy things as punishment without hesitation.

Someone had once failed to answer in class, and the classmate beside them had whispered a hint; in the end, both of them were punished together and made to copy the text one hundred times. According to the person involved, their hand had practically cramped off.

After that, no one dared prompt anyone in Ji Yun’s class again.

The classroom fell so silent you could almost hear the dust moving. Everyone looked at Zhang Ru with pity.

She was definitely going to be made to copy the textbook.

“Sit down.” To everyone’s surprise, Ji Yun didn’t make her copy anything. Instead, she said something that made Zhang Ru blush furiously. “Teacher knows Yan Can is beautiful, but you don’t have to stare at her the whole time, do you?”

The whole class…

“Hahaha—”

There were only three classes in the afternoon, and school got out at four.

“Yan Can, are you going to practice golf today?”

“I’m going home.” She still had to go find Su Ci. She had to keep a close eye on her; now that she’d finally managed to stop the female lead, she absolutely couldn’t let anything go wrong.

“Alright, if you’re not going, I’ll head off first.” Zhang Ru said that, slung her bag over her shoulder, and left.

“Then I’ll go too,” Yu Ting said. Her mother had told her to come home early today; her bastard half-brother was coming over for dinner tonight.

At the thought of that, Yu Ting sighed. When she looked at Yan Can, her eyes were full of envy. It was nice to have a father who didn’t mess around.

After the original owner’s two friends left, Yan Can turned and headed out of the classroom, hurrying toward the building where Su Ci was.

Her leather shoes clicked rapidly against the floor. Along the way, students stared at her in surprise, apparently wondering how someone wearing the school’s leather shoes could still run that fast.

The school uniform was undeniably beautiful; after all, one set of clothes and shoes cost as much as a normal family’s annual income. But the black little leather shoes, elegant as they looked, weren’t made for running.

Over time, they would rub the feet raw, especially for someone like the original owner, a young lady who was already delicate and frail.

At noon, she had been focused entirely on stopping the female lead, so she hadn’t felt uncomfortable. Only after returning to the classroom, sitting down, and letting her mind relax did the pain in her feet become obvious; she probably already had blisters.

Yan Can’s feet hurt too, but she still ran as fast as she could, not daring to stop for even a second, until she reached the doorway of the classroom and saw the person quietly organizing her bag at her seat.

Su Ci was in Class One of Senior Two, and most of the students had already left; only two class monitors were still cleaning up.

After catching her breath a little, Yan Can let out a soft exhale and walked toward Su Ci’s seat.

A shadow fell over her. Su Ci looked up, and her light brown eyes met Yan Can’s.

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Were her eyes always this pretty?

Yan Can was struck by her beauty all over again. “Let’s go.”

Su Ci slung her bag over her shoulder, stood up, and followed behind Yan Can out the door.

After the two of them left, the girl wiping the blackboard looked toward the doorway and asked the boy sweeping the floor, “Was that Senior Yan Can from the third year just now?”

The boy nodded. From the looks of it, they seemed pretty familiar.

The girl wiping the blackboard said in surprise, “Su Ci, that sour-faced girl, actually knows Miss Yan!”

Who was Yan Can? She was the daughter of the chairman of this elite school, a heaven-blessed daughter ordinary rich kids couldn’t even hope to reach.

She was always aloof and noble, rarely socialized with anyone, and usually only interacted with two senior girls from the same distinguished background as hers.

What exactly did the eldest Miss Yan see in that sour-faced girl?

The more the girl thought about it, the angrier she got, and the harder she scrubbed the blackboard.

As soon as Yan Can stepped outside, she saw Uncle Chen, the driver, waving at her. When he spotted the unfamiliar face beside her, he looked a little surprised.

But their young lady had always been quiet, so although he was curious, he didn’t ask.

The two of them got into the back seat together.

Su Ci sat very straight, unlike Yan Can, who immediately slumped back into the seat as soon as she got in.

Su Ci kept her back and shoulders straight. As soon as she got into the car, she placed her bag on her lap and folded both hands neatly on top of it. She looked even more like a young lady than Yan Can did.

Through the rearview mirror, Uncle Chen was somewhat surprised when he looked at Yan Can.

Their young lady had been taught since childhood by her father and mother to keep her joy and anger from showing on her face; her manners and etiquette, among girls her age, were not necessarily the very best, but they were certainly presentable. So why did she seem a little... unrestrained today?

Maybe the pressure of classes had been too much?

The driver was puzzled for a moment, then glanced at Yan Can’s classmate.

The girl sat there quietly and coolly. Her features were clearly bright and striking, but because of how cold her expression was, she gave off the impression that she wasn’t easy to approach.

And the two of them didn’t look close at all; there was a wide gap between them.

Had they had a disagreement?

Chen Shu couldn’t quite make sense of it and silently withdrew his gaze. “Miss, are we going straight home?”

Usually, Yan Can would linger at school for a while after classes; this was the first time he’d come to pick her up so early.

Yan Can glanced at Su Ci out of the corner of her eye. “Home.”

There was no music playing in the car, because the original owner liked quiet.

Come to think of it, the original owner’s personality was the complete opposite of Yan Can’s.

The original owner could go an entire day without saying a word, but Yan Can couldn’t. She was naturally lively and talkative, and because she had entered this book, she had no choice but to hold herself back.

The car’s fragrance had a calming effect, and Yan Can was getting sleepy. She bit her lip and forced her eyes wide open, staring straight ahead and making herself not look at Su Ci.

But her ears stayed perked up, listening for any movement beside her.

There was no sound from Su Ci’s side. Yan Can occasionally pretended to look at the scenery and stole a few glances in her direction.

That person kept the same posture the whole time; Yan Can even wondered if her legs or back would go numb.

Thinking of that, she shot another look over.

She still couldn’t understand why the female lead would jump from the roof, and why it had to be today.

Yan Can hadn’t read this book, so she didn’t know much about the female lead. But in the first hundred loops, she had checked Su Ci’s records in the archives.

In the file, the space for Su Ci’s parents was blank, and the guardian listed was “Wei Li.” Yan Can had asked around; she was the female lead’s mother’s friend, and her current guardian.

She hadn’t been able to find out much more than that.

But one thing was certain: Su Ci’s family situation was probably ordinary. After Su Ci jumped, her guardian was notified by the teachers and came to school. A photo of that woman had appeared on the campus forum.

She looked like a very honest middle-aged woman, dressed extremely plainly, with the edges of her shoes worn through.

Quite a few people had mocked the situation at the time, saying that if the female lead had no money, she shouldn’t have been attending a school like this; they even speculated that the reason she jumped was because she was too vain.

But Yan Can didn’t think it could be that simple. Based on the usual setup for heroines in romance novels, the author shouldn’t have given a female lead a vulgar, petty trait like vanity...

So why would she want to kill herself?

Yan Can’s gaze was so intense that Su Ci couldn’t help turning her head. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” Yan Can awkwardly looked away, then saw a shop flash by outside the window and hurriedly called, “Pull over for a second.”

Chen Shu stopped the car at the nearest place where they could get out. Thinking he should open the door for Yan Can, he was stopped by her. “Wait here. I’m just buying something; I’ll be right back.”

She had only taken two steps when she stopped and came back, still uneasy.

Chen Shu lowered the window. Yan Can glanced at Su Ci in the back seat, then quietly gave Chen Shu a brief instruction by his ear.

Chen Shu nodded, and only then did Yan Can finally leave in peace.

After Yan Can left, Su Ci still sat there quietly. Not long after, her phone in her pocket buzzed once:

Wei Li: Are you doing okay lately?

Su Ci lowered her eyes and typed back:

Very well. How about you, Auntie?

Wei Li: Auntie’s doing fine too.

Su Ci: Good

After a while, Wei Li didn’t send any more messages, so Su Ci put her phone away and looked out the window.

Today was Friday, and this was a main road, so the shops along the street were crowded with customers. Su Ci’s gaze drifted aimlessly until it landed on Yan Can, who had just come out of a bakery. The girl was carrying a pink cake box, and her eyes were also looking this way.

Su Ci looked away. A moment later, the door beside her was pulled open, and Yan Can set the cake box tied with a red ribbon between them. As the door shut again with a thud, Yan Can’s voice fell at the same time: “We can go.”

After Chen Shu drove the car into the villa courtyard, he had originally intended to help Yan Can carry the cake inside before leaving, but Yan Can waved him off, took it herself, and went into the house together with Su Ci.

The villa had three floors. At the back of the first floor was a custom-built golf garden; when the original owner was resting, she liked to play golf, but Yan Can herself didn’t know how at all.

She could practice after breaking the loop.

The original family liked quiet, and unless there were special instructions, the household staff and cleaners wouldn’t come by.

So at this moment, aside from Yan Can and Su Ci, there was no one else at home.

After entering, Yan Can went straight to the kitchen to put away the birthday cake.

Su Ci had been standing in the living room the entire time after coming in. Only when Yan Can had a free moment did she look at her and ask, “How long do you want me to stay with you?”

Of course, the longer the better; ideally, until today was over.

But Yan Can didn’t dare say that now. She was afraid that if she did, this person would turn around and leave immediately.

So she simply threw the question back. “How long can you stay with me?”

Su Ci frowned.

That looked like she was unwilling? Even if she was, it wouldn’t do. Yan Can lowered her head slightly and deliberately softened her voice, looking pitiful as she said,

“Don’t let the size of my house fool you. On my birthday, there isn’t a single person here to keep me company. My dad is overseas on business and busy to the point of spinning in circles, and my mom is fully devoted to education; she’s probably still exchanging ideas at some university in the United States right now. As for this birthday of mine..."

Her voice gradually took on a sobbing edge. “I really hope someone can spend my birthday with me. If I could just get through today..."

Looking at the girl with her head lowered in front of her, Su Ci seemed to think of something; the guard around her suddenly dropped, and the coldness in her features softened. Looking at the swirl of hair on top of the girl’s head, she let out a very light breath. “Alright, I’ll promise you then.”

Yan Can hadn’t finished speaking when she abruptly looked up.

Had she just heard Su Ci say she agreed?