Chapter 9

How could they even begin to find her? The fire had broken out while classes were still in session, and it seemed impossible for any student to have gone to the back hills. The fire was nearly extinguished by now, and the school hadn’t even realized there had been a fire.

The factory representatives insisted on expressing their gratitude. They brought two uninjured children to identify the person who saved them. One of the kids pointed at the soot-covered Jiang Ruan and said, “It was this sister! She ran into the fire and saved us. She even hit us, saying that playing with fire makes us bad kids. It hurt a lot, and I’ll never play with fire again.”

Jiang Ruan stepped back and mumbled, “I didn’t mean to hit the kids. I was too angry and couldn’t help myself. Please, don’t come looking for me.”

The factory representative quickly reassured her, “Don’t be afraid! You did the right thing. You hit them for good reason, and we’re here to thank you. We even plan to give the school a banner to show our gratitude.”

“Oh.” Jiang Ruan didn’t seem particularly excited. To her, a banner was far less practical than something like eggs or pork. Why not give something useful instead?

Teacher Qi seized the opportunity to plead on Jiang Ruan’s behalf, mindful of her feelings. He leaned close to the principal and whispered, “You can see that this little nanny is genuinely slow-witted. She didn’t mean to hit Teacher Qian; she’s just overly loyal to her employer. Considering she saved several kids, the school should recognize her efforts with a moral reward, to encourage and guide her. Principal, why don’t we allow Qin Yan to transfer to my class?”

The principal agreed, and Qian Meilan had no choice but to drop the issue this time. After all, the parents of the rescued children might storm the school if she pushed any further.

Qian Meilan was due to teach the next class, but she didn’t mention Qin Yan’s transfer.

Mu Xuehui, who hadn’t seen Qin Yan in class the entire period, grew curious. After the lesson, she asked the homeroom teacher, “Teacher Qian, where is Qin Yan?”

Qian Meilan stared at her intensely, suddenly snapping, “You don’t even care about your own parents’ divorce, yet you’re constantly asking about a paralyzed boy? Are you lovesick? Do you want me to call your parents in?”

Mu Xuehui was so ashamed that she cried for the entire lunch break. It was only later that she found out Qin Yan had already transferred to the third class.

…

In just a few days since returning to school, Qin Yan had transferred from Class One, where the female protagonist was, to Class Three. Now separated by just one classroom, Mu Xuehui would pass by Class Three’s windows after every lesson. Whenever she and Qin Yan made eye contact, his gaze was filled with undisguised mockery.

Mu Xuehui knew better than anyone what her parents were like. After being reborn, instead of trying to save herself, she still chose to trample over him and his mother’s remains in pursuit of her grand dream of wealth, hoping to move his heart.

But with such impure motives, she only drove him to loathe her more. Meanwhile, the nanny Jiang Ruan, through a twist of fate, managed to get him transferred to another class.

Jiang Ruan had been left in the countryside as a child, not very bright, with a personality that, much like his mother’s, was naturally docile. No, his mother had been born that way, but not Jiang Ruan. Her personality was shaped by her harsh environment. Disliked from a young age, she had been sent to the countryside in her early teens as a substitute for her sister. There was no need to guess—her life there must have been hard.

Did her family ever consider that a young girl like her, who ate a lot, might starve to death all alone in the countryside?

She had probably used all her strength just to stay alive, focusing on finding enough food to survive. She must have endured countless looks of disdain from the people in the village.

But in the previous life, she had never worked as his family’s nanny. In this life, things had changed, bringing her back to the city and, by chance, into his mother’s search for a nanny, which led her to his side.

One day, police officers showed up at Jiang Ruan’s house—not the local police, but detectives from the Public Security Bureau, which frightened Jiang Ruan’s mother immensely. When she heard they were looking for Jiang Ruan, she didn’t bother asking what the matter was, immediately apologizing:

“Officers, did my Jiang Ruan kill someone? We truly didn’t know. If she ran away, we’ll fully cooperate with you. If she comes home, we’ll inform you right away.”

Han Changfeng frowned—what kind of family was this, immediately assuming such extreme things? But thinking back to the girl’s fierceness, he couldn’t help but smile.

He explained the situation: their precinct had been tracking a case for over six months. The suspects had bounties on their heads, and a reward was offered for tips leading to their capture. Several suspects had fled to the countryside, and when they saw a girl walking alone at night, they tried to assault her, but she had fought back, crippling them. Oddly enough, the girl didn’t call the police—she ran away instead. Passersby reported the incident, and the suspects were caught. Following clues led them to Dahe Village, and upon verification, they identified the girl as Jiang Ruan, a returning educated youth.

The villagers said Jiang Ruan wasn’t very bright and had probably run away out of fear of being jailed for injuring someone. They provided her family’s address in the city, and the local police contacted the city bureau, which sent officers to confirm the details.

“The girl didn’t know her own strength, but she wasn’t in the wrong. First, it was self-defense, and second, her actions helped capture the criminals. There’s even a hundred-yuan reward for her tip, which she should come collect.”

Liu Jinyun, Jiang Ruan’s mother, said Jiang Ruan was working long hours, leaving early and returning late, so she went to the Public Security Bureau to collect the reward for her daughter.

Instead of going home afterward, she went to her eldest daughter’s house, where her daughter was resting, having taken time off work due to complications with her pregnancy.

Liu Jinyun wore a worried expression, “Qingqing’s older brother came looking for the family today.”

“Han Changfeng?”

“Yes, him. Even though he retired from the army, he’s now a criminal detective.”

Jiang Jianchun’s younger sister, currently living with the Han family, was in shock. Han Changfeng had served in the military for many years, and after retiring, he became a detective in Beijing. By sheer coincidence, he was now handling Jiang Ruan’s case. The situation seemed almost fated, making Jiang Jianchun deeply anxious.

“Mom, not everyone in Qingqing’s family likes her. Her older brother left to join the army a long time ago and has the weakest bond with her. Soldiers are tough—if he finds out that Jiang Ruan is his real sister, he’ll definitely want to switch them back. Mom, we can’t wait any longer. We need to arrange for Jiang Ruan to marry far away.”

“Don’t bring up Ruan Ruan’s marriage again. Your father will never agree.” Liu Jinyun sighed. “The truth about Ruan Ruan and Qingqing being switched at birth is only known to you and me. As long as we don’t tell anyone, no one will ever find out.”

But there was one more person who knew—the director at her workplace had been blackmailing her. When Jiang Ruan was sent to the countryside and Qingqing’s family was living in another province, she could still deal with that scoundrel. But now that they were both back, she feared he might get desperate and do something drastic.

That man was determined to marry her, and to force her into a divorce, he might go to any extreme. Jiang Jianchun, panicking, had no choice but to confess to her mother, “Mom, there’s actually one more person who knows.”

The students in Class Three were quite friendly. After attending for a few days, some even shared homemade dried sweet potatoes with Jiang Ruan.

One student, Han Qingqing, who had transferred in, was very popular. She shared biscuits and chocolates, saying her father had brought them back as souvenirs from a business trip to Shenzhen, and offered some to Jiang Ruan to try.

Jiang Ruan declined, “You keep it for yourself.”

“You should have it; I don’t like sweet things,” Han Qingqing replied. She had already shared with several of her close friends. Her deskmate had mentioned how pitiful the little nanny was, likely never having had the chance to taste such high-end treats in her life. Feeling a pang of sympathy, Han Qingqing decided to give her some.

Jiang Ruan, who had learned to survive in the apocalypse, knew that anything offered should be eaten if you wanted to stay alive. It was a habit she couldn’t shake. Just as she was about to take it, an angry voice called out from behind her:

“Jiang Ruan!” It was Qin Yan.

Jiang Ruan immediately ran over, “Qin Yan, what’s wrong?”

Qin Yan glanced at Han Qingqing, then turned to Jiang Ruan and said coldly, “Don’t just take things from others. Be careful, or one day they’ll demand ten times the payback.”

Han Qingqing’s deskmate, already annoyed by Qin Yan’s troublesome reputation, snorted. Though he was a wheelchair-bound student, which should have made his story inspiring, his unpleasant personality left everyone tired of him.

She pulled Han Qingqing away, saying, “Some people don’t deserve your kindness. Such expensive treats—he’s not worthy of them.”

At lunchtime, one of Qin Yan’s friends showed up at the school with some things he had bought for him—fancy liquor-filled chocolates.

These were pricey, and Qin Yan had bought more than fifty pieces. He announced that it was his birthday and invited his classmates to share. Out of politeness, no one refused, afraid of hurting his feelings. Many hadn’t tried liquor-filled chocolates before, and some even saved theirs to take home for their siblings.

When Qin Yan reached Han Qingqing’s desk, he circled around it and said, “Since my nanny and I aren’t worthy of your treats, I’m sure you wouldn’t want mine either.”

Humiliated, Han Qingqing slumped over her desk, unwilling to look up.

With forty-odd students in the class, there were still a dozen chocolates left after everyone had received theirs. Qin Yan gave all of them to Jiang Ruan, saying, “I don’t give my things as favors to anyone else—you must eat them yourself.”

Jiang Ruan discreetly saved a few. She couldn’t quite understand why Qin Yan was so upset. When her classmates had shared dried sweet potatoes with her before, he hadn’t said anything. Why was chocolate and biscuits a problem?

She asked, “Qin Yan, do you dislike Han Qingqing?”

Qin Yan did dislike Han Qingqing—she cried at the slightest provocation, always making it seem like others were bullying her. In their previous life, Han Qingqing had been close friends with Mu Xuehui, and over time, she had visited their house several times, eventually developing feelings for Qin Yan’s crippled stepbrother.

Because of her feelings, Qin Yan had almost been killed by her brothers.

Han Qingqing had been raised in luxury, but she foolishly fell for someone paralyzed, assuming that Qin Yan was avoiding her out of insecurity. She even had a falling out with her family over it, further ruining his already bad reputation.

“I don’t like anyone.” Qin Yan fished out the liquor-filled chocolates Jiang Ruan had hidden in her pocket, unwrapped one, and, while looking at her, ordered, “Bend down.”

“Oh,” Jiang Ruan thought to herself. Does Qin Yan mean that he doesn’t like her either?

“Open your mouth.”

As soon as Jiang Ruan opened her mouth, the chocolate was already placed inside. When she bit down, the sweet liquor flavor melted on her tongue—it was so sweet.

Qin Yan, folding the candy wrapper, slowly asked Jiang Ruan, “You really can’t see that Han Qingqing’s kindness to you is just to get my attention?”

“Huh?” Jiang Ruan had no way of knowing. “So does Han Qingqing, like Mu Xuehui, also like you, brother?”

“I don’t want anyone’s affection,” Qin Yan told her. “Don’t force your feelings on others, and don’t let others force theirs onto you. Both are really unpleasant, understand?”

“Mhm,” Jiang Ruan nodded. She made up her mind that if her brother ever said he no longer liked her being a nanny, she wouldn’t beg or do anything to annoy him.

Mu Xuehui quietly watched the scene of Qin Yan feeding his nanny the liquor-filled chocolate. The proud and cold Qin Yan was actually feeding the little nanny chocolates. Was he deliberately trying to provoke Han Qingqing, hoping to get her attention?