Chapter 4

Jiang Muti was momentarily stunned by the cold, strict parent-like tone, then quickly realized and hurriedly clarified that she was just joking.

Yes, she needed to lose weight, but she couldn’t skip school. After all, she’s a straight-laced young lady who, despite being incredibly wealthy, insists on not using her privileges and diligently fulfills her student duties.

She wasn’t sure if Jiang Yunjuan believed her explanation, but at least she believed it herself.

But to be honest, the last time she heard something like this was back in her middle school days in her previous life.

Her parents hadn’t passed away unexpectedly yet, and during Chinese New Year when they visited relatives, she was playing a new gaming console which hadn’t been released in China yet, when her cousin’s unruly child saw it and insisted on having it.

Jiang Muti had been spoiled by her parents since she was young and had the final say at home. She wouldn’t let a spoiled child’s tantrums or relatives’ comments like “You’re the older sister, let him have a turn,” “Just let him play for a bit, it’s not like he’s keeping it forever,” or “He’s crying, can’t you be a little kinder?” sway her.

When she kicked the child away who tried to snatch the console and then got physically attacked by him, the family gathering ended in an argument.

There was no contact for a long time afterward, until one day her aunt came to her house, saying that Jiang Muti had corrupted her son, and now he couldn’t put the gaming console down, even playing during meals, and his eyesight had deteriorated.

Of course, before her aunt could even finish speaking, Jiang Muti’s protective parents kicked her out.

Later, when her parents died in a car accident, a bunch of people came crawling, hoping to get a share of the inheritance.

Her aunt, desperate to gain custody and control over the inheritance, played the role of a caring relative, asking how she was every day, pretending to be concerned. If Jiang Muti hadn’t confirmed that she hadn’t lost her memory, she might have thought she was their biological daughter.

Her parents, showing foresight, had made a will years ago, leaving all their assets to her, avoiding many troubles.

Jiang Muti wasn’t easily fooled, though. No matter how her relatives tried to manipulate her with emotional pleas or threats, she remained unaffected by their tactics. Even her grandparents, who had been thinking ahead for their own children, couldn’t sway her.

During that time, Jiang Muti’s skill in handling family disputes, already high for someone her age, soared to a whole new level, and she decisively defeated everyone in her family, young and old.

In the end, she severed ties with the entire family and, without shedding a tear, became a loner with her billions.

Okay, she wasn’t really sad. Those so-called close relatives, who showed their ugly side while her parents’ bodies were still warm, were all discarded by her.

After that, she never had to deal with her troublesome cousin again. And no one, not even the worst parents, protected her like that anymore.

So, it wasn’t that she found the “strict parent” attitude unbelievable. Given Jiang Muti’s warped views and the fact that she was already in a position of power, she could enjoy the benefits without any obstacles.

It was just that she never expected the person to be that type, which surprised her.

Jiang Muti’s statement satisfied Jiang Yunjuan, and the food on the table was replaced with a lighter, more balanced mix of dishes.

Seeing her eat without showing any dissatisfaction, Jiang Yunjuan finally believed her.

Although he didn’t know what had happened to make her suddenly have this realization, he knew his sister didn’t have a wide social circle, so it likely had to do with something at school.

“Has anything happened at school recently?” Jiang Muti was eating when he suddenly asked.

Without thinking, she answered, “No! I just suddenly realized this isn’t going to work. After all, I’ll be graduating from high school soon.”

Yun Duo heard this and glanced at Jiang Muti, thinking to herself that this person had indeed been hit hard today, as if she had suddenly unlocked the channels of her mind.

Jiang Yunjuan curled the corners of his lips, his expression softening slightly. “You don’t like me meddling in your school matters, and I promise I won’t.”

“But, I’ve told you before, when it comes to making friends, the most important thing is that you’re happy—that’s the big premise. Everything else doesn’t matter.”

“If a ‘friendship’ makes you uncomfortable, remember how I taught you to handle it?”

As he spoke, his phoenix eyes, with the corners slightly lifted, looked at her, signaling for her response.

The image of him giving this exact advice immediately appeared in Jiang Muti’s mind, and she blurted out, “Change friends, I’ll never be short of friends.”

At this moment, Jiang Muti felt two conflicting emotions intertwine. On one side, the original person felt helpless at these words, but on the other, she herself fully agreed with them.

The original person had been insecure and timid, ignoring her own strengths, and to maintain the so-called “friendship,” she often compromised.

But such “friendships” would never be lacking for someone like her. Jiang Yunjuan had emphasized this point repeatedly, but the original person never understood.

Then Jiang Muti understood the nuance—it turned out that Jiang Yunjuan wasn’t completely unaware of her social life at school.

On the contrary, he was very clear about it. He knew what kind of person his sister was, and those who surrounded her for their own benefit were just temporary playmates she could use, to prevent her from becoming more isolated.

Although they were flatterers people, at least their backgrounds were clean, and their extracurricular behavior was simple. He wasn’t afraid they would lead his sister astray, so he allowed her to stay in her stubborn comfort zone.

Jiang Muti looked up and observed Jiang Yunjuan again. This person seemed to have obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Even when eating, he gave off a neat, tidy, and efficient vibe. The arrangement of the utensils after he was done eating was exactly the same as when they started.

In fact, the original owner had always been placed in an activity range that Jiang Yunjuan deemed safe, didn’t she? It was laughable that the original owner thought throwing a tantrum could push her older brother away from interfering with her school matters.

Leaving aside his controlling tendencies, his unabashed arrogance, and the distorted values he subtly passed on to her, she unexpectedly found these traits very appealing.

Jiang Yunjuan was very satisfied with her response. He patted her head and said she could tell him anything she needed or make arrangements herself.

He then asked about Yun Duo’s recent coursework and her brother’s competition.

Despite the age difference, Jiang Yunjuan was actually closer to them than to Jiang Muti, who was of the same age.

After all, he had watched them grow up, and he was like a half-brother to them. Jiang Yunjuan was still very much looking forward to the future of the two siblings.

After dinner, he had his own matters to attend to, and Jiang Muti stayed in her room with Yun Duo, reviewing their recent coursework while casually asking some probing questions.

Through this, Jiang Muti learned that her current parents spent most of the year flying around on airplanes. Ever since she was very young, the family had been managed by Jiang Yunjuan.

As the conversation deepened and memories were triggered, Jiang Muti was shocked to learn that Jiang Yunjuan wasn’t actually her biological brother.

It was said that thirty years ago, Jiang Muti’s parents and Jiang Yunjuan’s parents had started a business from scratch. They caught a good break, and with wise management, they gradually became wealthy.

Later, when Jiang Yunjuan was five, his parents died in an accident, and he was adopted and raised by Jiang Muti’s parents.

The two families had also been close relatives—Jiang Muti’s grandfather and Jiang Yunjuan’s grandfather were cousins.

The Jiang family wasn’t without its own struggles. Jiang Muti had two older brothers, but they both died young. The eldest brother was born in the same year as Jiang Yunjuan.

Jiang Muti was also a child who had to be painstakingly nurtured. Her current weight was a side effect of the medication used to treat her childhood illnesses.

In other words, for this generation of the Jiang family, the only surviving children were the two of them—what a tragic situation.

Having pieced all of this together, Jiang Muti now had a clear understanding of the original person’s background.

So, it was even harder for her to understand why the original person would give up on life.

Yes, her transmigration was a stroke of luck that fell from the heavens, but the transmigration bureau wouldn’t just take a life without reason.

It must have been because the original person had a strong, unwavering desire for someone to take over her life and live it according to her imagined ideal.

Then the transmigration bureau, after a selection process, found that Jiang Muti’s personality was the one that most closely aligned with the original person’s expectations.

This—

To ease the awkwardness, Jiang Muti thought that the original person’s wish was actually quite attainable. After all, she had all the necessary conditions to do as she pleased, what she needed was only to take control of herself.

Was stepping forward really more difficult than giving up on life? This was something Jiang Muti just couldn’t understand about the original person’s mindset.

Having learned what she wanted to know, Jiang Muti noticed that it wasn’t too late, so she decided to take a walk in the garden.

With all this weight, even sitting down made her feel guilty.

As she stepped outside, she ran into a servant who was preparing to walk the dogs—two black Great Danes owned by Jiang Yunjuan. He was busy with work and didn’t have much time to care for his beloved dogs, so he had hired someone to look after them.

The original person had gotten along well with the dogs, and Jiang Muti liked them too when she saw them, so she took the leash and decided to walk them herself.

However, as soon as the two large dogs stepped out of the yard, they became excited. With her weight, Jiang Muti had a hard time keeping up, and soon, walking the dogs turned into the dogs walking her.

She was pulled out the gate at full speed by the two dogs, right as a car came to a stop.

The car door opened, and a tall, athletic young man stepped out. Upon seeing the dogs, he immediately smiled.

He crouched down and petted their heads, saying, “Oh! You guys came to pick me up? I bet you know I’ve brought you some treats.”

Then he noticed Jiang Muti, who had been dragged all the way, and smiled even more brightly, “Getting pulled by the dogs?”

The young man wore a sporty single-shoulder bag, his short hair still damp from a recent workout. He gave off a refreshing scent of shampoo, radiating an overall clean and invigorating vibe.

As for his looks, he shared a similar type to Zhou Lu—both had deep, handsome, and rebellious features.

But no one would ever compare the two, as the young man’s face lacked the slightest hint of arrogance or impatience. His radiant smile seemed to blend into the sunlight, making people feel instantly cheerful.

Jiang Muti finally realized that this was Yun Duo’s older brother—Yun Cheng!

A typical sporty youth, and a key player in his school’s athletic team who was highly regarded in professional circles. However, he and Jiang Muti weren’t from the same school.

But both were top-tier schools in the city, so it wasn’t surprising that Jiang Yunjuan admired him.

After teasing Jiang Muti, Yun Cheng turned back and waved to the person in the car: “Thanks! I’ll hitch a ride with you again tomorrow.”

Although Jiang Muti couldn’t hear what the person in the car said, she caught a glimpse of a side profile through the narrow gap when the car door slammed shut due to inertia.

The person inside wore a uniform just as neat and handsome as Yun Cheng’s, casually sitting with legs crossed in the back seat.

One hand rested carelessly on his crossed legs, with clear, slender, and fair fingers. You could instantly imagine that if he suddenly clenched his fist, it would be hard to move.

The car then started and slowly drove out of the Jiang family’s gate.

Seeing that Jiang Muti had glanced at the car, Yun Cheng casually explained, “He’s my teammate. He was just dropping me off after our competition.”

Jiang Muti shrugged. It was pretty obvious, and she wasn’t one to be overly curious.

Yun Cheng was easygoing and got along well with everyone. He and his sister shared similar personalities, though he was more carefree and oblivious, with more of a young man’s straightforwardness.

Even though he knew Jiang Muti was trying to keep some distance from them, he didn’t hold back and kept joking, though usually, if she didn’t engage, they’d just stop the conversation.

Once inside, Yun Cheng didn’t rush to eat, instead, he dug out some snacks he had brought from his bag and started playing with the dogs.

The two dogs and Yun Cheng played happily together, making it easy to forget that they weren’t human.

They looked like three huskies!

One of the huskies—no, Yun Cheng suddenly remembered that Jiang Muti was still there.

He quickly raised a finger to his lips and grinned, “Don’t tell Yunjuan. If he finds out I’m feeding the dogs snacks, he’ll punish me.”

Jiang Muti felt a mischievous urge and almost blurted out, “You’re begging me, huh? If you beg, maybe I’ll consider it.”

She barely stopped herself. This bright, cheerful young man was just too fun in her eyes, especially since she used to tease people like him without hesitation in her past life.

So, really—

The people in the Jiang family were all quite nice, and Jiang Muti once again couldn’t understand why the original person had distanced herself from them while maintaining shallow relationships with others outside.

Jiang Muti didn’t take Zhou Lu’s words seriously, but by the afternoon the next day, the news had already caused a stir at school.

By the time Jiang Muti went to school the next day, from the moment she encountered the first person at the school gate, she could feel the strange atmosphere.

Today, she had come by car. Losing weight was one thing, and that could be done at home under professional guidance, but she wouldn’t intentionally make things harder on herself.

Moreover, the original person had walked two to three kilometers and taken the bus to school every day, arriving sweaty. Jiang Muti couldn’t stand that mess.

So, she had simply arranged for the family to send a car to pick her and Yun Duo up every day.

But as soon as she entered the school gate, she ran into her “friends,” who must have seen them getting out of the car.

After exchanging pleasantries, one of them pointedly asked, “Fat Muti, were you beaten badly yesterday? Are you still not feeling well after the whole night?”

Another one chimed in, “Of course! Otherwise, how would you be making such a big show of coming to school today? Normally, you take the bus.”

“Sigh! You’re so lucky. You have a car and a driver, and you can ride whenever you want. My parents don’t even give me a ride to school if it’s not on their way to work, so I have to take the bus every day.”

If this were the original owner, just a few words of jab would have probably made her feel guilty for even riding her own car to school.

They were used to her apologizing and trying to please them when they showed any dissatisfaction.

They were waiting for her response, but instead, they saw her curve her lips into a smile. However, upon closer inspection, it was just her facial features creating a smile-like arc.

Jiang Muti looked at the three of them and said, “First of all, thank you for acknowledging my family’s situation. I also think it’s very convenient.”

“But I don’t like being called that way, so please remember it.”

She said this without even a hint of a polite tone, simply informing them of her preference.

The three girls flashed an awkward expression before it quickly turned into anger.

One of the girls with a long face and a ponytail smiled and said, “What’s wrong with you? We’ve always called you that, right? It’s just a nickname between friends! Could it be because of the word ‘fat’? You know we didn’t mean anything bad, right? You’re not really going to get upset over this, are you?”

The other two nodded in agreement, completely convinced by this reasoning and genuinely believed that Jiang Muti was being petty and overly sensitive today.

One of them even said, “The whole forum went crazy yesterday about what happened between you and young master Zhou. We’re still greeting you, and we consider you a friend. How can you be so prickly and ungrateful?”

Jiang Muti had dealt with people like this before—clueless and tactless, always picking on the weak, and once they were caught off guard, they’d turn around and accuse the other person of being petty.

Most people wouldn’t make a big deal about such slights, but if they did, it would make them seem petty.

But Jiang Muti, whether dealing with a three-year-old brat or an elderly person trying to scam her, had no shame in confronting anyone.

She didn’t press the issue again but simply glanced at the three of them.

The girl who had spoken first, the one with the ponytail, had slightly protruding front teeth, and her name was Wang Zhenzhen.

Another girl, with medium-length hair, was very thin, flat-chested, and named Zhang Xia.

The last girl didn’t have any notable features, except for slightly larger nostrils, and you could faintly see untrimmed nose hairs. Her name was Li Liying.

Jiang Muti smiled, “Let’s go, let’s head to class together, Crooked Teeth Zhen, Washboard Xia, and Nose Hair Ying.”

She directly hit their insecurities, sharp-tongued and merciless.

It wasn’t just the people involved—any outsider could hear it.

The three girls were so angry their faces turned red, and they shouted, “What’s your problem?”

“Eh? Is there a problem?” Jiang Muti turned around in feigned confusion. “It’s just a nickname! Nicknames between friends aren’t meant to be malicious. You guys understand me, right?”

“Why are you standing there? The early class is about to start, hurry up and run, Buck-tooth Zhen, Washboard Hero, and Nose-hair Ying, or you’ll be late.”

“You—” The girl with the ponytail was about to speak.

But she saw the person, who had already climbed a few steps, turn around and smile. However, the look in her eyes was full of condescending disdain, like she was looking at a clown from above.

No, perhaps it couldn’t even be called disdain. They couldn’t describe that gaze, it was as if she had seen a cockroach crawl by, stepped on it, and didn’t even bother to check if it was dead.

This gaze, which should have made people furious, came from the chubby girl who usually tried to please them.

It made them feel utterly ashamed for no reason.

Jiang Muti’s classroom was on the third floor. The building wasn’t very tall, but with all her weight, she was out of breath by the time she reached the top, so she wasn’t walking very fast.

The three girls, who had fallen behind, soon overtook her.

Perhaps they were deliberately doing it out of anger. As they passed her, they deliberately ran swiftly and lightly, then gathered ahead, laughing and joking, occasionally glancing back at her, their every look dripping with unspoken mockery.

Jiang Muti didn’t care about the yapping of these little dogs from far away, only for them to deceive themselves and salvage a little bit of their pitiful dignity.

She immediately spotted the back door of the classroom diagonally opposite the stairs. Since her seat was at the back, the original person always entered and exited through the back door.

Today, however, this door wasn’t open like usual, nor was it closed. It was only slightly ajar. It looked like it had been blown open by the wind, but it somehow seemed deliberate.

When you know you’re going against someone, you have to stay alert, keeping your eyes and ears open. If you’re slow to react, you’re not suited for a big confrontation.

She turned her steps and headed toward the wide-open front door, because the teacher might enter at any time through the front, and in a minor conflict, no one would be so bold from the beginning.

Sure enough, just as she entered through the front door, she heard a bucket of water splash down from the back door, soaking her three ‘friends’ through and through.

The whole class turned to look in that direction, and Jiang Muti only saw a bunch of heads.

When the prank was ruined by a clumsy fool, not managing to get to the right person, the class let out a collective disappointed hiss.

Then they turned around to see Jiang Muti standing at the podium.

Ignoring the screams from the three girls who got caught in the splash, many people leisurely watched the person at the podium.

Jiang Muti knew they were waiting for her reaction. Even though she had avoided the mishap, from where she was standing, her desk and chair were nowhere to be seen.

She smiled and then stretched out her leg, kicking the entire podium over with a loud crash.