Chapter 7

In his previous life, Qin Yan never returned to school. But in this life, the female protagonist, Mu Xuehui, wanted him to go back, so there was a good chance he couldn’t avoid it. He would return to school, but he had no intention of going back to Mu Xuehui’s class.

Mu Xuehui was relieved; her efforts had paid off. Even though their homeroom teacher, Teacher Qian, was upset, she still agreed to let Qin Yan return.

The first class in the afternoon was supposed to be taught by Teacher Qian, but the schedule had been changed. Mu Xuehui frowned—why would Teacher Qian switch classes? As soon as class ended, she rushed to the office and sweetly asked, “Teacher Qian, the students all heard that Qin Yan is coming back to class, and everyone is united. They’ve all said they’ll take good care of him.”

Qian Meilan, in a sarcastic tone, replied, “He requested to go to Class Three. He hasn’t even transferred yet, and Teacher Qi from Class Three is already telling me not to talk about it. Mu Xuehui, you’re a good student—don’t let that bad student affect your grades. He’s still paralyzed, after all. Your future is far more valuable than some run-down courtyard. Don’t get caught up in vanity; focus on your studies. That’s what you should be doing right now.”

Qin Yan requested to transfer to Class Three? Mu Xuehui couldn’t accept that.

She had already decided to be good to Qin Yan, yet he wasn’t showing any gratitude. There were two reasons for this: first, Qin Yan was naturally resistant to her at the moment, and second, there was now a new, beautiful nanny suddenly by his side.

Having had over a decade of marriage experience in her previous life, Mu Xuehui felt that she must get rid of the nanny. Only when Qin Yan had no one to rely on would he turn to the person who cared for him the most.

Adjusting her attitude, Mu Xuehui said, “Teacher, you’ve misunderstood. My feelings for Qin Yan are purely those of classmates. I’m just worried that the nanny will deceive him and steal from his family. If that happens, Qin Yan’s life would be a living hell. As his classmate and teacher, we should prevent something like that from happening.”

After school, Mu Xuehui didn’t go home. In her previous life, she didn’t go home either, which resulted in her mother dying of carbon monoxide poisoning, and her father becoming a single parent.

Even if her mother was flawed, she was still her mother, and Mu Xuehui couldn’t bear to see her die.

She went to the butcher’s stall. At the end of last year, following the economic reforms, many people were reluctant to give up their stable jobs, and they looked down on those who set up small stalls. At the beginning of this year, Uncle Qian had resigned from his secure job at the fertilizer factory and rented a stall in the market to buy and sell pork. Though the job wasn’t prestigious, he loved her mother.

Mu Xuehui intended to find her mother a better future. Although Uncle Qian wasn’t as handsome as her father, he loved her mother more, had a sharp mind, and knew how to make money. Marrying him would make her mother happier than staying with her father.

Pretending to be a customer, she bought one kilogram of pork belly and two kilograms of bones. She gave Uncle Qian her house key and pleaded, “Uncle Qian, my mom is waiting to cook with this meat. If dinner is late, my dad will get angry again. But I need to run some errands for my dad. Can you help me take the meat back home?”

Qian Shigui and Mu Xuehui’s mother were childhood sweethearts. Out of his love for her mother, he cared deeply for Mu Xuehui as well. He didn’t even charge her for the meat. Once Mu Xuehui left, he handed his stall over to the vendor next door and hurried to deliver the meat to her home.

…

When Qin Yan heard about Mu Xuehui’s parents getting a divorce, he nearly burst out laughing. He just couldn’t help it.

Jiang Ruan had already been prepared to go to school with her brother, Qin Yan, but the school suddenly changed its mind and insisted that he return to his original class. After two days of back-and-forth, Qin Yan finally decided to compromise and return to his old class.

Jiang Ruan, ready with her school bag, curiously asked, “Brother, are you happy because you’re going back to school?”

If that were the case, then he should’ve gone back sooner.

“Hurry up. We’re going to be late for school.”

Qin Yan thought watching Mu Xuehui’s performance at school wouldn’t be too bad. In his previous life, after her mother died of carbon monoxide poisoning, he suspected that the reborn Mu Xuehui had deliberately refused to save her. He admitted to himself that he had become malicious, perfectly fitting the role of a villain.

But he hadn’t expected that Mu Xuehui would personally orchestrate her mother’s affair, have her father catch them in the act, and create a situation where her parents had no choice but to divorce. She even managed to paint her father as the innocent victim of the marriage.

Not only that, but through this kind of divorce, she maintained her innocent and pitiable image, and was able to live with her father without issue.

She was truly impressive.

After Qin Yan returned to school, his seat was arranged next to Mu Xuehui. A few of the girls, who were close friends of Mu Xuehui, were comforting her, telling her that her mother’s affair wasn’t her fault and that no one would look down on her for it.

“Qin Yan, your seat is over here,” one of the students said, offering him a spot.

Mu Xuehui, looking delicate and weak, had privately spoken to the homeroom teacher about her desire to reform Qin Yan. The teacher had praised her selflessness and had rearranged the seating, leaving the spot beside her empty for him.

Qin Yan noticed the hidden joy in Mu Xuehui’s eyes but paid it no mind. He had his nanny push him to the last row of the classroom. After a standoff with the school, he agreed to return to Class One, but only on the condition that his nanny would accompany him.

“The front row is for the good students. I’m not worthy,” Qin Yan said coldly.

“Mu Xuehui is so considerate, always thinking about you, a disabled person. Qin Yan, don’t be ungrateful. Who brings a nanny to class anyway?” one student protested, defending Mu Xuehui. Surely, the other students could help care for someone like Qin Yan, who was paralyzed.

Qin Yan responded icily, “If you become a cripple, you can apply to the school for a nanny too. My family can afford it. Even if you were disabled, you wouldn’t be able to afford a nanny for fifty yuan a month.”

“Qin Yan, that’s so cruel!” The girl who had spoken was a close friend of Mu Xuehui and started crying on Mu Xuehui’s shoulder.

Mu Xuehui comforted her friend, but she wasn’t upset. Seeing the situation, she realized that Qin Yan despised all his classmates equally; it wasn’t just her that he disliked.

…

Qin Yan sat alone in the back row. When he turned his head, he could see his nanny sitting on the steps through the open door, quietly shelling edamame beans. She seemed quite at ease. Most of the students were shy, and apart from a few curious glances, no one bothered her.

After finishing with the edamame, she disappeared for a whole class period. When she returned after class, she told him that she had delivered the edamame to his mother’s small restaurant and earned five cents. She was beaming, like a silly sunflower, and then spent the afternoon peeling chestnuts. She peeled a small basketful, earning another five cents.

One yuan was all it took to buy her happiness for an entire day. She was so easily satisfied.

After school, Qin Yan’s sharp eyes spotted the nanny’s family lurking suspiciously outside the school gate. “That’s your mom and your older sister,” he pointed out.

Jiang Ruan followed his gaze and saw them. She quickly pushed Qin Yan away. “Let’s go before they see us.”

“Why are we hiding? Your wages are paid a month in advance, so there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Jiang Ruan explained, “Brother, because you’re going to school now, my sister says this job won’t last long, and she wants my mom to marry me off. I don’t want that, and neither does my dad. I just don’t want to see them right now—they’re always nagging me, and it’s really annoying.”

Marrying off Jiang Ruan would only bring a small dowry, a few hundred yuan at most, but working as a nanny earned her six hundred yuan a year—a steady, sustainable income. Her older sister’s insistence on marrying off their younger, unmarried sister was definitely suspicious.

In his past life, Qin Yan had never met this nanny and had no idea what her family situation was like.

…

Liu Jinyun and Jiang Jianchun had come to the school without their family’s knowledge, but they didn’t see Jiang Ruan, who had quickly run away.

It was the end of the school day, and Jiang Jianchun anxiously scanned the crowd from across the street. Suddenly, she pointed excitedly at a delicate-looking girl wearing a black dress, white socks, and black shoes. Her new clothes made her stand out from the drab surroundings, but otherwise, her appearance was rather ordinary. “Mom, that’s Little Sister!”

“Is it really her? My eyesight isn’t what it used to be. Let’s get a little closer to check,” Liu Jinyun replied, wiping her eyes.

Jiang Jianchun quickly pulled her back. “Mom, look how well Little Sister is doing now. Let’s just watch from afar and not disturb her life. She’s been pampered all her life, and her pride is high. If she knew her real father was just a factory worker and her mother was a temp worker, she wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

Liu Jinyun wiped her tears, suppressing her heartbreak. “My poor child. All these years, I’ve failed her.”

Jiang Jianchun’s eyes also welled up with tears. “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t been so young and foolish, Little Sister wouldn’t have been separated from our family.”

When Jiang Jianchun was born, there was an eight- or nine-year age gap between her and her younger sister. Their father had been busy with work when her mother gave birth, so Jiang Jianchun had stayed at the hospital to help. She had seen another family there, with grandparents and two boys about her age, all anxiously waiting for a new baby to be born.

At that time, she had envied her mother’s pregnancy. Later, both families gave birth to daughters. Her father came to the hospital just once to check on her mother, leaving money for her to buy food, while the other family’s mother received endless care and love.

When the nurse first took her newborn sister for a bath, Jiang Jianchun ran over to watch. She saw her sister and the other baby, who was destined for a life of privilege, and felt a surge of jealousy on behalf of her sister.

She had been so young and foolish then. In a moment of confusion, she swapped the wristbands of the two babies. She had only wanted her sister to experience a few days of being doted on, but before she had a chance to switch them back, it was too late. Her sister had ended up separated from her real parents.

That other family’s work transfer had brought them back to the city this year, and their mother couldn’t resist finding out about her lost daughter. So they had come to take a look, but only from a distance.

Jiang Jianchun added, “At the time, our head teacher was just a trainee, and he saw everything. He never said a word until I started working, and then he used it to blackmail me. He’s a pervert—he gropes me at every opportunity. Mom, I’m being harassed constantly at work. He’s interested in Ruan Ruan now, and if he marries her, he’ll leave me alone. Please, Mom, just agree to this.”

Liu Jinyun’s face was filled with sorrow. “What a terrible mess. Your sister is being well cared for by others, but we failed to care for the child we raised. How can we ever explain this?”

Jiang Jianchun replied, “Our family doesn’t have the means to support her. She eats so much more than me and my two brothers ever did, but we never stopped her from eating. Mom, don’t feel guilty—it’s all my fault.”