Chapter 20

“What’s wrong?” A hint of unease rose in Yan Wan’s heart.

“I didn’t detect her lying,” the system replied.

The system could determine if someone was lying by detecting their brainwaves and heartbeat frequency while they spoke. Its accuracy was nearly 100%, making it one of the system’s very convenient features with no side effects. Yan Wan really liked using this “golden finger.”

The system had hesitated earlier because it found something strange. It hadn’t detected any lies from Yan Ning, but in reality, it hasn’t detected any fluctuation in her brain waves or any abnormality in her heartbeat.

However, even if someone wasn’t lying, there would still be psychological activity when they spoke, which would cause fluctuations in their brainwaves and heartbeat.

Yet, Yan Ning’s brainwaves and heartbeat showed no changes at all. The system found this very odd, but it didn’t know where the problem lay.

It was afraid that if Yan Wan knew, she might have other thoughts that would disrupt their subsequent plans, so it kept quiet about it.

Yan Wan trusted the system completely, and since the system said so, she didn’t think any further about it.

When she first found out she wasn’t Yan family’s biological daughter, she felt like the entire world had betrayed her. She had fallen from the peak of glory straight into the abyss, and everything around her seemed to mock and deny her existence.

Then she bound the “Wealthy Daughter System” and slowly climbed out of the abyss, reclaiming everything that belonged to her.

If Yan Ning was going to stand in her way, she shouldn’t blame her.

“Are there any inconspicuous but harmful tools?” Yan Wan asked the system.

She knew that Yan Ning had two more sports competitions tomorrow. She wanted to make sure Yan Ning wouldn’t be able to participate in the second round of the talent show.

She didn’t care about how well Yan Ning could dance, just that face, so much like Tang Minrou’s, was enough to make her not want to see it.

The next morning, Yan Ning woke up, checked her phone, and found there were no new messages.

Gu Han hadn’t contacted her for a whole day. If there was still no message by the afternoon, she would go over to check on him.

However, she still had to go to school in the morning to complete her two sports events.

Downstairs, she ran into Yan Wan and Yan Yu having breakfast. She sat down, and Aunt Chen brought over the breakfast. Yan Ning lowered her head to eat.

Yan Wan ate a few bites, put down her chopsticks, and reached for the water bottle beside Yan Ning. She couldn’t reach it.

“Ningning, could you help me pour a cup of water?” Yan Wan asked.

Yan Ning didn’t speak, but she casually pushed the water bottle a little closer to her.

Yan Wan stretched her hand again, but with a loud clatter, the water bottle tipped over, and the water splashed across the table.

Yan Ning reacted quickly as the water bottle fell, immediately standing up, pushing her chair away, and jumping aside.

The spilled water spread across the table and flowed off the edge, dripping onto the floor. The glass water bottle rolled on the table twice before falling to the ground and shattering.

“Ningning, are you alright?” Yan Wan asked with a furrowed brow, looking at her with concern.

Aunt Chen came out of the kitchen, saw the mess, and frowned, a little unhappy. “Oh my, Miss Ning, what did you do? How did you spill water everywhere?”

“Aunt Chen, don’t blame Ningning. It was my fault. I accidentally knocked it over,” Yan Wan said.

“Miss Wan, you’re so kind, but the water bottle was clearly right in front of Miss Ning. How could it have been your fault?” Aunt Chen said, turning to look for a cloth and broom.

Yan Ning’s gaze swept over to Yan Yu, who was frowning at her. With a disapproving tone, he said, “You’re so petty. Helping Sister Lily pour some water wouldn’t have been a big deal. You start the morning off with this, and now nobody’s happy.”

Yan Ning didn’t reply, nor did she sit back down. She grabbed a slice of toast and went out the door, thinking to herself that the brat better not give her any more chances to catch him doing something wrong, or she’d have to teach him how to speak politely to his older sister!

—

Around nine o’clock in the morning, Yan Ning stood on the 50-meter sprint track, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

The gazes around her were too intense. She was already tall, and standing with a group of seventh-grade girls, most of the girls were only about chest-height compared to her.

She felt like all the eyes on the entire track were focused on her, with whispers and quiet laughter, some intentional, some not. Unfortunately, her hearing was good, so she could clearly catch a few of the words.

“Is she that 17-year-old transfer student who’s in first grade?”

“I thought it was just a rumor, but it turns out it’s true. I’ve learned something new today!”

“She has a bad brain but no shame, competing against first graders? This is bullying!”

“What is she thinking? How can she have the nerve to participate in the sports meet?”

“That’s hilarious!”

Yan Ning felt helpless. What was she thinking?

Could she say that when the sports committee couldn’t find anyone to participate in the competition, she felt a bit sorry for them?

And since she happened to be capable of participating and didn’t think she would lose, she simply raised her hand to sign up without giving it much thought.

Who would have thought she would end up in such an awkward and difficult situation?

“Teacher,” Yan Ning raised her hand, “How about I step back ten meters and run?”

It was the same situation as yesterday’s high jump, Yan Ning was willing to take a step back voluntarily.

When Chen Kai saw Yan Ning raise her hand, he immediately felt uneasy. After hearing her request, he felt utterly powerless.

Here we go again?

Sprinting was different from long jump, after all. The total distance was only 50 meters.

She gave up 10 meters, meaning while others were running 50 meters, she had to run 60 meters. Could she still win?

Yan Ning waved to Chen Kai, who was standing by the track, signaling that he didn’t need to worry.

The physical education teacher supervising this event discussed it with another teacher and agreed.

Yan Ning’s starting line was moved back by 10 meters.

The spectators around, not understanding what had happened, stood up to watch.

It was then that they realized Yan Ning had been booed, but she had voluntarily asked to extend her race by 10 meters, and the teacher had agreed.

Those who had just booed her quickly changed their attitude and became more interested in watching.

If she lost, it would be even more entertaining.

What was originally a low-stakes sprint race for younger students suddenly attracted a lot of attention. It wasn’t just the middle schoolers, high school students were more eager to watch, many leaning over the railing.

Yan Ning crouched at her starting line, assuming a standard starting position.

As soon as the signal sounded, she shot forward like an arrow, “whoosh—”

By the time everyone regained their senses, in just two seconds, she had surged from the last position to the front, leaving all the other girls behind.

Yan Ning quietly calculated in her mind that she needed to wait a little longer. If the distance became too large, it would look unnatural. She decided to wait for the others to catch up before making her final sprint.

“Biubiu—” Two very faint sounds of something piercing the air were heard, as if sharp objects were flying toward her.

The sounds were high-pitched and sharp, and with the surrounding noise, it was hard for anyone else to notice them.

But Yan Ning’s senses were more acute than most people’s. When the sharp objects flew toward her, she executed a beautiful sidestep. She distinctly heard two heavy objects hit the ground, but when she looked down, there was nothing there.

Before she could think too much, Yan Ning quickly dodged the two unseen blades that followed, executing a swift somersault to evade them. She turned her head to check the ground, but there were still no traces.

Her movements were fast and smooth, but the other competitors had already caught up.

Yan Ning, worried that if she ran side-by-side with them, she might be attacked again, possibly injuring someone else, decided to stop holding back and accelerated toward the finish line.

The students in the audience only saw Yan Ning suddenly make a strange move while leading by a large margin, but despite that, she was still the first to cross the finish line.

Once Yan Ning reached the finish line, she immediately turned around, trying to spot the person who had attacked her in the crowd.

At the window of a fourth-floor classroom, Yan Wan’s eyes were full of resentment. She questioned the system, “Didn’t you say no one could see these bullets? How did she dodge them?”

The system was stunned, unable to speak. After a long pause, it managed to recover its thoughts, “Ah, this item actually uses water beads. The secret to its invisibility is its extremely fast speed, but the downside is that the sound is quite loud. She might have heard it.”

The system had given Yan Wan a water bead weapon, which was nearly invisible to the naked eye due to its speed. Of course, the water used in the beads was not ordinary water—it could cause significant harm to living beings. However, immediately after being struck, the pain would be felt, but the wound would not be visible.

Yan Wan had intended for Yan Ning to be injured before the second round of the competition and drop out, which was why she had used this item.

But she truly didn’t understand how Yan Ning managed to dodge. Even though the sound of the water gun was relatively loud for some creatures, human hearing should not have been within its range.

Who exactly is this woman?

On the side of the track, Meng Qing was serving as the timer for this event. After all the participants crossed the finish line, he recorded their times.

He saw Yan Ning still standing on the track, looking around. “What’s wrong?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.” Yan Ning turned around and noticed it was Meng Qing. “What are you doing here?”

“As a student council member, I’m here to help wherever needed,” Meng Qing shrugged. “What just happened? Was there something strange during your race?”

Yan Ning scratched her head, unsure how to explain, as she hadn’t figured out what had just happened either.

“Ah, don’t mind it.”

“Yan Ning!” Chen Kai ran over, his expression excited. “What were you doing just now? That move—swish—like that—is it meant to disrespect your opponent?”

“Huh? That’s not it. How could you think that?” Yan Ning’s head hurt. “It’s over, let’s just go back.”

Yan Ning had barely sat down for half an hour when Chen Kai came to call her again—the 800-meter race was starting.

Yan Ning stood on the track, and this time, she didn’t need anyone to tell her. She directly said to the teacher, “I’ll run two and a half laps, 1000 meters.”

“Uh…” The PE teacher scratched his head.

Next to Yan Ning was a small girl, petite and slim but exceptionally cute, the kind of princess-like cute with round eyes, a cherry mouth, and smooth, fair skin.

Was this little one going to race against her too?

The little girl noticed her gaze and looked up at her with a smile. In that moment, it felt so sweet it reached her heart.

“Hello, I’m Gu Tian.” The little girl extended her hand, her name just as sweet as her smile.

“I’m Yan Ning.” Yan Ning forced a smile, barely able to make it. If she didn’t try harder, she felt like she might be ruining the country’s young flowers.

After chatting with Gu Tian for a bit, Yan Ning felt a strong gaze. She looked up and saw Yan Yu standing on the edge of the track, looking at her with a kind of expression she had never seen before… directed at the little girl beside her.

Yan Yu noticed Yan Ning’s curious gaze, his expression changed, and he awkwardly avoids eye contact, his ears turning red.

Yan Ning squinted her eyes.

Oh, it seemed like she had found something interesting.