Lu Nian remembered that she should have died. She was hit by a car on her way to buy new textbooks, but didn’t survive despite the rescue efforts.

When she opened her eyes again, what she saw was the cold winter sun shining on the iron-gray cement floor, looking bleak.

She looked down at her feet and saw a pair of very slender legs wrapped in delicate deer-skin boots. She remembered that her legs were not that thin. Looking at her hands, she saw a pair of very tender little hands, with skin that looked translucent in the sunlight.

“Ring, ring, ring.” Before Lu Nian could think much, she suddenly heard the familiar school bell ringing by her ear, a bell that almost everyone had heard before, the bell for class.

Lu Nian looked into the distance and saw a white school building in the sunlight. It seemed to be in a school, but the building was far away from where she was.

It seemed she wasn’t in the teaching area.

Lu Nian tried to move by leaning on the wall, and realized that this body was really weak. Even walking felt heavier than before.

After only a few steps, Lu Nian heard a commotion not far away.

She turned a corner and saw the source of the noise.

There was a group of semi-grown teenagers, about fourteen years old, none of them wearing school uniforms. Among them was a chubby boy with seemingly equal dimensions in every direction, like a ball.

Lu Nian wanted to go over and ask them what was going on.

The chubby boy didn’t notice her and was speaking in a very nasty tone to someone.

Lu Nian then noticed that in the middle of the group, there was a boy who looked only eleven or twelve years old, even younger than the others.

His face and hands were bleeding.

In the dead of winter, he was only wearing a thin, old, dark sweatshirt.

His ears and the exposed parts of his wrists were red from the cold.

His white school uniform lay beside him, covered in dust and footprints.

Three big boys were holding down his arms and legs, and he couldn’t move at all.

Was this bullying? Bullying the small with the big, and ganging up with numbers?

Lu Nian was still a bit dizzy and hadn’t quite figured out the situation, but seeing this, she naturally felt uncomfortable.

“Qin Si, I’ve had enough of you for a long time.” The chubby boy covered his still-bleeding eye, furious. “You act all high and mighty at school usually. Still acting now? I’ll make you stop acting.” He viciously kicked the boy, hitting his back and hands.

He’s just a poor kid without parents, doesn’t give in to anyone, and is fierce in fights. Several people can’t even hold him down. Luckily, he’s still young. If he were a bit older, they probably wouldn’t be able to control him.

“You guys hold him down for me.” The chubby boy spat on the ground, his voice filled with malice. “Damn it, let’s see if I can’t deal with you today.”

Qin Si?

Lu Nian was startled.

She suddenly remembered something. This name was very familiar to her; it was the name of the main villain in a novel she had read before going to bed last night.

Could it be that she had died, and then her soul had crossed over into the world of a book? Or was it just a coincidence that they shared the same name?

But the ruthless and ferocious main villain in the book, and this pale and weak little boy, the contrast was too great, wasn’t it?

The boy’s pale face was covered in bruises and cuts, still bleeding, looking very pitiful.

Only his messy hair and his big, dark eyes, shining like cold stars, were particularly striking on such a face.

He didn’t make a sound, letting those fists fall on him, making dull thuds.

It seemed like he didn’t feel any pain at all, no matter how they hit and scolded him, he just wouldn’t show any weakness.

Lu Nian couldn’t bear to watch any longer and stepped out from behind the corner.

The first person to notice her was Qin Si.

He raised his eyes and stared coldly at her from the corner, his gaze as sharp as ice, chilling to the bone.

Lu Nian was startled by his gaze and involuntarily stopped in her tracks.

Did he know her? Why was he looking at her like that? It was even more intense than the way he looked at those who were hitting him.

But since she had already come out, Lu Nian could only brace herself, pretend she hadn’t seen Qin Si’s gaze, and walk forward.

“What are you guys doing?” She spoke up, only to realize that her voice seemed a bit hoarse, a soft and tender voice typical of a little girl. “Stop hitting him.”

The group of people heard the voice and temporarily stopped.

It seemed they hadn’t noticed that there was someone behind the corner on the rooftop.

They were momentarily stunned.

“Nian Nian?” The group stopped, and a boy stared at her, hesitantly calling out, “What are you doing here?”

He was the only one among the group who looked less disheveled, dressed more neatly, with a somewhat delicate face and a fairly symmetrical appearance.

Another tall boy heard the name and hesitated, pointing at Qin Si on the ground, “Lu Nian? His sister?”

“Is he worthy?” Lu Yang sneered, looking at Qin Si in the middle with disgust. “He wasn’t even officially adopted by my uncle. He’s just a wild seed.”

Lu Nian was also stunned.

Lu Nian? Was that the name of this body now?

Lu Nian carefully recalled in her mind and surprisingly found this name in that book as well.

The protagonist of the book was not called this name; this name belonged to a cannon fodder supporting character, with no significant role, only appearing as a background in the story of the villain Qin Si, who was raised in an orphanage from a young age and was a child adopted halfway by the Lu family.

Lu Nian remembered this Lu Nian simply because they shared the same name and surname that happened to sound alike.

But why did the original Lu Nian have a grudge against him?

It seemed that Qin Si wasn’t as fierce as he looked when facing those who had just bullied him.

Lu Yang and the tall boy both let go of Qin Si’s arms.

Before the other person could react, Qin Si had already climbed up from the ground and viciously bit the chubby boy’s arm.

The chubby boy let out a scream and tried to punch him again, but Lu Yang, relying on his height, and the tall boy pressed Qin Si down again.

“You guys, stop…” Lu Nian’s mind went blank, and she didn’t think about anything.

She wanted to go over and pull Lu Yang away, but she didn’t expect that this body was so weak. When the chubby boy’s arm blocked her, she was directly pushed back and stumbled back several steps.

The building was about four or five meters high, the school’s rooftop, seemingly very far from the teaching area, had been abandoned for a long time, very desolate, and the rooftop was just open, without any protective measures around.

It’s so dangerous, don’t these kids have any safety awareness? Why play here instead of somewhere else?

She had been afraid of heights since she was a child. Although two stories were not particularly high, standing on the edge like this, Lu Nian’s legs went weak, and she couldn’t control her tendency to fall backward.

The chubby boy turned his head and noticed something was wrong, “Someone, someone’s going to jump off the building.”

Damn, she didn’t want to jump off, but her toes were already off the ground.

“She, she’s jumping off!” The chubby boy was dumbfounded and didn’t have time to care about Qin Si anymore, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Lu Yang was also panicking, “Nian Nian!”

The wind whistled past her ears.

In the last second before losing consciousness, Lu Nian thought she must be the unluckiest person in history to jump off a building right after crossing into a book.

This was much more exciting than the bungee jump she had done at the amusement park before.

Dying twice in a row, she was really something.

…

When Lu Nian opened her eyes again, she saw the snow-white ceiling of a hospital, glaringly white.

This time, it seemed she hadn’t really died.

She tried to move her limbs and found that they were all there, but there was a piercing pain in her right hand when she moved it.

“Nian Nian.” She heard someone call her name beside her. Lu Nian struggled to turn her head and saw a middle-aged man with gold-rimmed glasses and a serious face.

The woman next to him, holding a thermos, looked pleasantly surprised. “Nian Nian, you’re awake. How do you feel now?”

Lu Nian tried to speak but found her throat very hoarse.

She could only nod slightly to indicate that she was okay.

She checked her body and felt that she hadn’t lost any parts and there were no particularly painful areas. She suddenly felt very lucky.

It seemed she was staying in a separate VIP ward now.

The doctor came in shortly and examined her, respectfully saying to Lu Zhihong, “Mr. Lu, apart from a minor fracture in her right hand, the child doesn’t have any other major issues. It’s just that her physical condition is very poor. I suggest she stay in the hospital for a few more days and rest well.”

This child is also lucky. Falling from that height, she only has these minor injuries.

Lu Zhihong nodded to him. The doctor pushed the door and went out. Lu Zhihong said to the woman beside him, “Let them in.”

The door opened again, and in came the familiar faces, the chubby boy, the tall boy… Lu Yang, and lastly, a familiar face.

Qin Si.

It seemed that no one had helped him treat his wounds. Lu Nian saw his face, with a scab on his left cheek, seemingly washed roughly by himself, not sure if it was infected… His face was still swollen, looking very miserable.

“Tell me what happened.” Lu Zhihong took off his glasses and rubbed his forehead. “What happened?”

The teenagers stood together, no longer arrogant. The chubby boy mumbled a few times with his lips, but didn’t say anything.

It wasn’t until Lu Yang, with a pale face, said to Lu Zhihong, “He pushed Nian Nian down.”

He was referring to Qin Si.

The room fell silent.

Lu Yang knew that his distant cousin, Lu Nian, had always disliked Qin Si. Having the opportunity to accuse him of this, maybe he could send him back to the orphanage or even to a juvenile detention center.

He didn’t believe that Lu Nian wouldn’t cooperate.

Qin Si looked indifferent. Since entering this ward, he hadn’t said a word.

“Yes, yes, it was him. We all saw it,” the chubby boy said.

“Yes, we didn’t have time to stop him.”

Since Qin Si came to the Lu family, he had always been moody and antisocial, a small boy who didn’t get close to anyone, was inscrutable to everyone, and often had those eyes that seemed to devour people. Lu Zhihong didn’t say anything, but his eyes already believed three-quarters of it.

Lu Zhihong said, “Qin Si, if you continue like this, we’ll have to contact the orphanage and consider sending you back.”

A deep furrow appeared between the middle-aged man’s eyebrows.

When Qin Si was brought from the orphanage, the initial purpose was for Lu Nian. However, two years had passed, and Lu Nian showed no interest in him, even resisting him.

The Lu family could afford to support such a small child, but they also didn’t raise idlers. If he continued to be useless and might even have a negative impact on Lu Nian, then naturally they could send him back.

Sending him back…

If he was sent back, he might not have the chance to study again.

He might even have to endure hunger and eat sparingly again.

The boy remained silent, hanging his head. His overgrown, messy hair covered his eyes, making it impossible to see his expression clearly, but his lips were tightly pressed together, almost devoid of color.

He didn’t say a word in his defense.

No one would believe what he said.

Since birth, he had been accustomed to this treatment and had become somewhat numb to it.

He remembered the cobwebs on the orphanage walls, the cracked wall paint, how cold it was in winter, and how he curled up in bed, wrapped in the thin blanket, watching the endless snowflakes outside, carried by the wind.

“It wasn’t him,” came a hoarse voice from behind.

Lu Nian struggled to sit up straight on the bed, her childish face still pale.

She repeated, “It wasn’t him. Qin Si didn’t push me.” This time, her voice was slightly louder, very clear.

Qin Si looked up, looking at her for the first time, and the room fell completely silent.