She needed someone who would make Lin Yang and the Lin Family pay a real price.
Liu Su was the perfect candidate.
As she dialed Liu Su’s number, Zhu Lexing recalled the Original Work’s portrayal of her.
Liu Su didn’t appear much, but every time she did, it led to a storm of conflict with Zhu Lexing.
Two strong personalities either compromised and got along uneasily, or one yielded unilaterally while the other pushed further, sparking fierce arguments.
The Original Host and Liu Su fell into the latter category.
But the call didn’t connect.
Liu Su was a Film Empress, after all, shuttling between film crews nonstop.
Zhu Lexing knew how demanding crew work could be and didn’t press, deciding to try again that evening.
With her thoughts roughly sorted, she headed to school.
What if Lin Yang showed up there and caused trouble for Yan Mian?
She was at the point where she suspected everyone of plotting against Yan Mian.
When she arrived at school and saw Yan Mian sitting unscathed at her desk, working on problems, Zhu Lexing felt a wave of relief like never before. She let out a long breath, ignored the stunned stares from her classmates the moment she walked in, and sat down next to Song Yingying.
Song Yingying was doing homework too. She startled at the sight of Zhu Lexing, then asked cautiously, “Why are you here?”
Zhu Lexing blinked. “?”
Hadn’t she only missed one morning of school? Why did it sound like she’d come back from the dead?
Song Yingying explained, “Yesterday’s incident blew up big time. Everyone thought you’d skip for a few days.”
Zhu Lexing replied, “No way.”
According to the logic of her drama-loving System, she had to be a positive Host, striving for college entrance exams!
Song Yingying didn’t know about Lin Yang’s involvement and saw Zhu Lexing acting as normal. She pulled a few test papers from her desk. “Perfect timing… The midterms are in a couple days. These are the ones the teacher handed out this morning. You should do them.”
Zhu Lexing said offhandedly, “Just some papers… Wait.”
“What did you say?” Zhu Lexing’s face was full of question marks as she repeated, “Mid…term…exams?”
Song Yingying gave her a weird look. “Yeah. Every year, right after the School Anniversary.”
“…” Zhu Lexing said in shock, “Shouldn’t a whole-school celebration like School Anniversary mean a vacation afterward?”
She’d thought today’s classes were just a formality, after which they’d get time off to goof around!
Who knew there was this trick up their sleeve!
Song Yingying replied, “Of course you get vacation—after the exams.”
Zhu Lexing stared at her utterly unfazed expression and felt like the sky was crashing down on her.
How could there be such a pitiful transmigrator in this world!
She hadn’t even dealt with the villain yet, and now a midterm exam had come out of nowhere.
A single teary-eyed emoji couldn’t even begin to capture her mood.
Zhu Lexing was utterly heartbroken.
Throughout the entire lunch break, she remained deeply sullen, her spirits in the dumps. Song Yingying assumed she wasn’t feeling well and quietly asked if she should fetch her some hot water. Only then did Zhu Lexing reply gravely, “I’m fine. I was just pondering the meaning of life for a moment.”
The excuse was far too profound. Song Yingying wanted to ask what conclusions she’d reached but felt too awkward to pry, so she kept a low profile to avoid disturbing her.
Song Yingying wasn’t the only one who thought Zhu Lexing was upset.
Yan Mian set down her pen and lifted her gaze toward Zhu Lexing’s seat, catching only the girl’s back.
She had noticed Zhu Lexing’s stare the moment she entered the classroom.
Yan Mian was rather surprised that Zhu Lexing had actually shown up to school. In her mind, Zhu Lexing had never shown much interest in studies. Her shock reached new heights when she saw Song Yingying pull out a practice test—and Zhu Lexing actually went through every single question, flipping pages back and forth.
Last night’s events flashed through her mind.
Yan Mian pursed her lips.
When the bell rang to end the break, Zhu Lexing stood up without a second thought, determined to head to the school convenience store for a couple cans of soda to poison her already fragile psyche.
She was just about to invite Song Yingying along when the system chimed in her ear: 【Limited-time task now issued.】
Zhu Lexing froze, then shot back with icy sarcasm: 【Finally watched that ad and came back to life?】
The system was the epitome of “away for years, back as a teen”—utterly unchanged.
It hadn’t issued a single warning about impending danger. After the host and the female protagonist nearly faced disaster, it had straight-up played dead, staying silent and slacking off day in and day out. She might as well take over the job herself!
The system caught the mockery in her tone but ignored it, pressing on indifferently: 【1. Obtain Yan Mian’s study notes within three days: 30 points. 2. Obtain study notes from any student ranked in the top hundred of the grade: 5 points. (Stackable.)】
Zhu Lexing: “…”
Study notes?
What kind of bizarre new task was this?
Compared to the last one—forcing Yan Mian to pin her school badge on her in front of everyone, at least—this felt downright easy.
If she just asked nicely, Yan Mian would probably hand them over without a fuss. Still, Yan Mian needed to study for her own exams too, so Zhu Lexing decided to wait until the very last day to avoid messing up her scores.
As for task two… Zhu Lexing glanced at Song Yingying.
“What was your overall rank on the last exam?”
Song Yingying’s expression fell a bit at the question. “I dropped quite a few spots.”
Zhu Lexing: “…Ah.”
She thought she’d touched a sore spot and was about to backpedal when Song Yingying added, “Just over thirty. What’s up?”
Zhu Lexing: “Thirty… out of the whole grade?”
Song Yingying nodded.
Zhu Lexing couldn’t help but marvel at how top students were on another level—even their “disappointments” sounded like humblebrags to an academic slacker like her.
“So… could I maybe borrow your study notes—”
Song Yingying immediately slid her notebook over. Zhu Lexing quickly said, “No rush, in a few days is fine.”
But Song Yingying just smiled and insisted it was no trouble.
The two of them emerged from the supermarket and nearly ran straight into Qiao Qiao. She clicked her tongue. “I didn’t believe the rumors that you’d actually shown up at school… but here you are.”
Song Yingying tactfully headed back to the classroom alone. Once they found a quiet spot, Qiao Qiao whispered, “How’d you sort out yesterday’s mess? Lin Yang was involved, right?”
“…You know about it?” Zhu Lexing’s expression turned serious.
With no surveillance footage and the props team denying everything, what they needed most was a witness.
Qiao Qiao shrugged. “I just heard whispers. I’ll dig around more tonight.”
Zhu Lexing felt a pang of disappointment but quickly rallied. “If you get any leads… let me know right away.”
Qiao Qiao nodded.
The events of last night had hit too hard—even Qiao Qiao wasn’t in the mood for jokes. But Zhu Lexing remembered the system’s tasks and mentioned her request.
“…Study notes? From the top hundred?” Qiao Qiao had never heard such an odd ask. She gave Zhu Lexing a few puzzled looks before nodding. “Got it. I’ll keep an eye out for you.”
Her expression was so earnest, radiating pure reliability.
Zhu Lexing nodded solemnly, genuinely impressed by how dependable Qiao Qiao seemed.
That impression held until the end-of-day bell rang. Qiao Qiao sauntered in with her bag slung over her shoulder and spotted Zhu Lexing hunched over her desk, scribbling furiously.
“…What are you doing?”
Song Yingying had gone to the office to hand in homework, leaving her seat empty.
Zhu Lexing spared a quick glance at Qiao Qiao, now plopped down beside her. Qiao Qiao eyed the problems on her page—all the words were familiar, but strung together, she only half-grasped them. “Why are you taking this so seriously? It’s just one midterm. Flunk it, and your family won’t disown you or anything.”
Zhu Lexing thought coldly: You think I want to?
Ever since getting Song Yingying’s notes, the girl had gone into full coach mode, pulling blank practice sheets from her folder and insisting that if Zhu Lexing followed the notes and grinded enough problems, she’d make massive gains come midterms.
Zhu Lexing couldn’t say no to such sincere enthusiasm. Refusing would’ve been rude, so now she was faking it till she made it, coolly declaring, “Like I told you before—I’m aiming for a top university!”
Qiao Qiao didn’t buy it but couldn’t call her out. With a sigh, she pulled her notebook from her bag and set it on the desk. “Fine, fine. Won’t hold up your grand ambitions.”
Zhu Lexing flipped through a couple pages. The handwriting was elegant and refined, the notes crystal clear. But the more she read, the more familiar it felt—until she compared it to Song Yingying’s notebook right there beside her.
Identical.
Zhu Lexing: “…”
Why on earth did Song Yingying have two sets of notes?
Zhu Lexing’s expression instantly darkened. She had jumped to conclusions, assuming Qiao Qiao was just like the original Zhu Lexing—a bully who enjoyed tormenting others.
This notebook had been forced out of Song Yingying in a rush job.
Qiao Qiao saw right through her thoughts and clicked her tongue. “Am I such a wicked person in your eyes? This is Song Yingying’s notes from her first year of high school. You couldn’t even recognize a single problem, and you talk about going to university? Beida Bluebird?”
Qiao Qiao laughed and sauntered off, completely at ease.
Zhu Lexing resolved to burn the midnight oil.
At the very least, she had to prove to Qiao Qiao that her grades were better!
The entire scene fell into Yan Mian’s eyes.
Once home, Zhu Lin had prepared another lavish spread, trying to win Zhu Lexing over.
Jiang Yue didn’t even appear at the dinner table, seemingly afraid Zhu Lexing would give her more trouble.
Zhu Lexing wasn’t swayed by soft words or hard tactics. She ate her fill and called it a night.
Zhu Lin sighed and retreated to his room.
Before heading upstairs, Zhu Lexing remembered Liu Su and dialed her number again. This time, the line was busy.
She could only push their evening plans back to tomorrow once more.
While waiting, Zhu Lexing didn’t sit idle. She warmed up a cup of milk and left it out for Yan Mian.
As she set it down, she spotted a notebook on the coffee table. Its cover bore the No. 1 High School emblem—clearly a school award.
Zhu Lexing figured Yan Mian had left it behind.
Yan Mian was always meticulous about her belongings. Once she noticed, she’d come out to retrieve it for sure.
Without giving it another thought, Zhu Lexing headed straight upstairs.
It wasn’t until the next morning, as she rushed to make morning self-study, that Zhu Lexing noticed something off. The coffee table—where a full glass of cold milk was usually waiting each morning—stood empty.
And right beside the spot for the cup sat that same notebook emblazoned with the school emblem.
Zhu Lexing froze for several seconds before stepping forward to flip it open.
The title page held just two words.
Yan Mian.
