Chapter 53: Saving the Bullied Top Student (1)

Under the pale moonlight, amidst a patch of weeds, abandoned factory buildings sparsely housed rusted machinery. These machines had long been claimed as homes by snakes, insects, rats, and ants, with occasional chirps breaking the silence. The lively chirping seemed to amplify the summer’s mugginess, making this stretch of factories appear exceptionally desolate.

Footsteps shattered the quiet. In the moonlight, several shirtless men with grim expressions hurriedly made their way toward the distant road.

Inside a factory building, on a moss-covered concrete platform, a small, thin figure lay motionless. Her hands were bound, her shoulder-length hair splayed out messily, concealing her palm-sized face. The wound and bloodstains on the back of her head were faintly visible.

Her chest was still, without breath.

Minutes later, the girl’s hand suddenly twitched, and her eyes snapped wide open.

As her dazed eyes slowly focused, a sharp pain in her brain caused a momentary disorientation. A familiar electronic voice chimed in Tang Qi’s ear: “Host has arrived at the 8th Plane, 3rd Universe, coordinate Small World 318. This Small World is a Retirement World for Taskers, please enjoy your retirement life.”

“Adjust physical condition.” Tang Qi’s vision was a blur.

“Spending 1000 Points. Remaining Points: 7,995,462,180. Body optimized. This body suffered severe blood loss. Host, please recuperate soon.”

The scene before her gradually cleared, and the headache subsided.

Only then could Tang Qi examine her surroundings. Around her were dilapidated buildings, waist-high weeds, and the occasional gust of wind producing a “whoosh” like human cries. The surrounding darkness made the place seem like a haunted house.

She spent 1 Point to exchange for a knife, cut the thumb-thick ropes, and sat up to assess her new body.

She was a young girl, barely ten years old. Her frame was slender and frail, her hands fair and tender, bruised purple from the bindings on her wrists. Her once-clean school uniform was now covered in dust and bloodstains.

The original host was a primary school student from a happy and well-off family. Misfortune struck; her parents died in a plane crash. After the accident, she lived with her grandfather. One day, the housekeeper who picked her up was a few minutes late. While waiting at the school gate, she was dragged into a car.

The kidnappers demanded a ransom from her grandfather. The original host found a chance to escape but was caught by the kidnappers, tied up, and thrown here. Unfortunately, the kidnapper used too much force, and her head struck the machine behind her, causing fatal blood loss. The kidnappers, only a few thugs, fled in panic when they saw she was dead.

“Host, those kidnappers have already run away. There’s no one here,” the System spoke up.

Tang Qi quickly accepted the fact that she had become a primary school student. She slowly stood, hopped off the concrete platform, and walked outside.

Beyond the factory was a vast wild grassland, with a few scattered lights in sight. This was a remote suburb, far from the city.

Without hesitation, she returned to the concrete platform and lay down in her clothes. She was just a child now; walking back to the city was impossible. What she needed to do was wait for rescue.

“Host, aren’t you leaving this place? It looks so scary here. Wuwuwu, are there really no ghosts?!” the System muttered. Tang Qi directly blocked it out, closing her eyes and thinking about how to find Luoluo.

If…

If she had found Luo Xu in her last life, could there still be a Luoluo in this life waiting for her?

Tang Qi touched her chest. For the second time, she had watched Luoluo die in her arms.

Tang Qi opened her eyes and, for the first time, actively let the System out: “Are there any world-line-related people nearby?” The System, which had been crying in the Dark Room, wiped its tears upon hearing this and initiated a search.

The System was not omnipotent. It could track specific individuals, but its wide-range search was limited to a two-kilometer radius. Crucially, without encountering a world-line-related person, it could not activate the Book of the World.

“No.” No one at all.

Tang Qi knew she was impatient. She suppressed her urgent feelings, closed her eyes again, and locked the System back in the Dark Room. The System shouted about her using it and discarding it before being shut away.

The next day, at noon, several police cars found this place. The blare of sirens echoed through the factory area. When the police rushed in, they saw Tang Qi sitting alone on the concrete platform.

She was covered in bloodstains, her face and hands smeared with dirt. Her dark, bright eyes were large but vacant, her pretty face slightly lowered, like a princess lost in a dark forest in a fairy tale.

Tang Qi smiled faintly. For the sake of realism, she had cut a gash behind her ear. Blood loss, combined with over twenty-four hours without food or water, caused her to faint directly.

When she woke up again, she was already in a hospital. Sitting beside her was an elderly man in his seventies. He wore a Zhongshan suit, supported by a cane, his usually stern face filled with anxiety and concern. Seeing Tang Qi awake, he immediately said, “Little Seven, you’re awake? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

Saying this, he quickly pressed the call bell. A crowd of doctors and nurses rushed in and surrounded Tang Qi, performing numerous checks.

After the nurse left, the police officers came to ask Tang Qi about yesterday’s events. She had long prepared her explanation: “I wanted to run, but they tied me up and threw me onto the concrete platform. After that, I fainted, and when I woke up, they were gone.”

The officer comforted her: “Little friend, rest well and recover. Uncle has already caught the bad guys. They won’t harm anyone again.”

Tang Qi nodded obediently. The System had already told her that the thugs were caught. They had thought Tang Qi was dead, and under simple interrogation, confessed everything.

They had noticed the Tang family was wealthy and Tang Qi had no parents looking after her, so they targeted her. They hadn’t intended for Tang Qi to die.

After a few days of recuperation in the hospital, Tang Qi returned home.

After the original host’s parents died, her grandfather brought her back to the Qizhou Old Residence. The Old Residence was a traditional Chinese-style courtyard house, with winding streams, small bridges, and covered corridors. A plaque hung above the double doors, inscribed with “Tang Residence”.

“Host, you’ve transmigrated well this life. The original host is a solid third-generation rich kid. You were born on someone else’s finish line…” the System marveled at the luxurious house before it: “But it still can’t compare to the Imperial Palace. Being an Emperor in the last life was pretty good too, wasn’t it?”

It was blocked once again.

Tang Qi’s gaze fell upon the elder beside her. Old Master Tang had lost his wife in middle age and his son in old age. His once straight back was now deeply bent.

Perhaps the love from Zhao Yi in her past life made her empathetic; Tang Qi held Old Master Tang’s hand: “Grandpa, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

Tang Jiu stroked Tang Qi’s head: “Little Seven is blessed with great fortune. Good fortune will follow disaster.”

After this incident, Tang Jiu became extremely strict about Tang Qi’s care. Trips to and from school were assured by private car, daily outings had bodyguards in tow, and a specialist was hired to teach her self-defense.

Every day, Tang Qi studied while constantly using the System to search the people around her.

Time passed slowly. Tang Qi grew increasingly anxious, yet no world-line-related person ever appeared. As she gradually grew older, Tang Jiu’s surveillance relaxed somewhat. Tang Qi traveled to many places but found nothing.

In midnight dreams, she even doubted if she would ever find someone connected to the World Line, or find Luoluo.

Sometimes, she even thought, what if she did find a World Line, but her Luoluo wasn’t there?

She searched like this for a full ten years. When Tang Qi was seventeen, a distant relative of the Tang family came to visit Tang Jiu. The Tang family had started in ocean shipping, gradually developing industry and continuously expanding their business territory. Over a hundred years of entrepreneurship, the business was supposed to have been passed to the original host’s father.

After the accident, Tang Jiu retook control of the Tang family. This time, the distant relative came to seek advice. He was of the same generation as Tang Qi, his family in the textile industry, and the family elders had given him a company to practice with.

Tang Jiu was actually quite happy to receive the junior and specifically asked Tang Qi to accompany him. Tang Qi was initially indifferent, but the moment she laid eyes on Tang Mu, the System suddenly screamed in her mind: “Host, he’s connected to the World Line! He’s the main villain!”

Tang Mu wore ordinary casual clothes. For a man, his features were overly delicate. The mole near his eye gave him a slightly feminine look, though a sharp glint occasionally flashed in his brows and eyes when he spoke, preventing people from mistaking him for a girl.

After sitting down, Tang Qi remained silent, flipping through the Book of the World in her mind.

This World Line was a story of a poor boy striving for success. It told of a boy from a poor family in a big city who, after dropping out of high school, climbed the ladder step-by-step to become a business magnate.

Tang Qi read rapidly but never saw anyone with the surname Luo appear in the World Line. She even doubted if she had thought wrong, or perhaps this World Line simply didn’t have a Luoluo.

When she was halfway through the Book of the World, her eyes suddenly lit up.

Here, it wrote that the Male Lead returned to his hometown and finally saw his high school crush, and that crush’s name was Luo Xun. Looking at the timeline, the Male Lead and that crush were currently right at high school age!

Tang Qi abruptly stood up. Tang Jiu and Tang Mu, who were in mid-conversation, were startled. Tang Qi suddenly spoke: “Grandpa, I want to transfer schools!”

…

Haishi No. 1 High School, the best high school in Haishi. Most of the students who came here were high-achieving scholars. A small portion were poor students placed here due to Haishi’s student allocation policies.

The classroom of Class 12, Grade 12 was exceptionally stuffy. During break, most students rushed to rest, while a few gathered to chat.

The bell rang. The Homeroom Teacher entered the classroom, knocking on the blackboard to rouse the resting students: “Classmates, our class has a new transfer student today. Let’s welcome her.”

The Homeroom Teacher led the applause somewhat reluctantly. The other students immediately lost their drowsiness. Transferring in senior year of high school meant either a top student or a deadbeat. A new classmate brought a spark of interest to the dull grind of studying. Everyone stared wide-eyed at the door.

Tang Qi wore a neat high ponytail, the white short-sleeved shirt and pleated skirt of the summer uniform, and a backpack as she walked into the classroom. She scanned the surroundings, her gaze landing on the person sitting in the middle of the first row.

A wave of cheers rippled through the classroom. The Homeroom Teacher casually said, “Pick a spot and sit down.”

Tang Qi retracted her gaze. “Teacher, my eyesight isn’t good. Can I sit in the middle?” She pointed to the empty seat in the second row.

“That’s fine.”

Tang Qi walked over, put down her backpack, and looked around again. Her eyes settled on the person in the front row who had never lifted her head. She reached out and patted the girl’s back gently.

The girl seemed to pause for a moment before slowly turning her head back after a few seconds.

A slender oval face, large, round almond eyes, looking at Tang Qi with a hint of confusion. Tang Qi extended her hand: “Hello, I’m Tang Qi. Can I… be your friend?”