Wen Ying felt a bit dazed thinking of Song Shao.
Song Shao was an outstanding student, excelling in both academics and character.
At Wen Ying’s junior high school, while not as wildly popular as Xie Qian at the key high school, Song Shao still had a strong following.
Unlike Xie Qian’s cool, perfect demeanor, Song Shao was the warm, approachable big-brother type. He served as class president all three years of junior high, gentle and polite to everyone. When some classmates skipped homework and got caught by Song Shao, he wouldn’t cover for them and reported it to the teacher without hesitation. But after they faced their punishment, he’d check in, asking why they didn’t do their work.
Were they too busy playing to finish?
Did they lack interest in studying and choose not to bother?
Or were their grades slipping, making the homework too hard, leading them to give up over time?
Some grumbled that Song Shao was hypocritical, reporting them only to act concerned later, and ignored his kindness.
Others were genuinely touched by his sincerity.
Many of Wen Ying’s peers were among the first generation of left-behind children after China’s reforms. With parents working far away for long periods, lacking supervision and self-discipline, their grades often slid, and over time, they couldn’t keep up.
In eighth grade, two boys in Wen Ying’s class wanted to drop out and “make it big” in society. The teacher’s home visits failed to sway them. Song Shao said he’d try talking to them.
No one knew what he said, but the boys returned to school.
Later, Song Shao started a study group for students in similar situations. He figured they had no supervision at home, so after school, he gathered them to do homework together at school. If they had questions, Song Shao would explain. If even he couldn’t solve a problem, they’d ask the teacher the next day.
Song Shao’s group saved several kids from dropping out.
Wen Ying wrote about him in her diary not just because he helped those students but because he noticed her always footing the bill for her “good friends” and warned her about it.
Honestly, it wasn’t Song Shao’s business.
Plenty of classmates saw the imbalance in Wen Ying’s relationships with her “good friends,” but no one spoke up.
Yue Shanni and her clique were popular in class. Yue Shanni, the class’s cultural committee member, was outgoing and well-liked, not just in their class but across others too.
Under Chen Ru’s strict control, Wen Ying was reserved and lacked confidence. She subconsciously overcompensated to maintain her hard-won “friendship” with Yue Shanni’s group. Even classmates thought it was natural.
Song Shao said it was wrong and urged Wen Ying to find real friends.
True friends wouldn’t drag her away from studying to hang out, expect her to pay for everything, or treat her like an errand girl.
Wen Ying heard his advice.
But for a teenage girl, constantly criticized at home and friendless at school, life would’ve been unbearable!
Even plastic friendships were something the old Wen Ying couldn’t let go of. Her gratitude for Song Shao only found an outlet in her diary.
Unfortunately, Yue Shanni and her group found the diary and, too scared to confront Song Shao, took it out on Wen Ying, deciding to teach their “follower” a lesson.
During a self-study class, they jokingly read Wen Ying’s diary aloud to the class.
It was like a public execution.
Song Shao stopped Yue Shanni, who laughed and asked if he liked Wen Ying too, teasing about the class president starting an early romance.
Song Shao snatched the diary from Yue Shanni and returned it to a stunned Wen Ying.
Wen Ying didn’t cry then, but facing Yue Shanni’s “jokes,” she couldn’t smile or retort, her face burning red. Before university, she’d get flustered and tongue-tied when anxious, unable to explain herself.
Junior high kids cared deeply about such things. Song Shao, likely disappointed by Wen Ying’s weakness and wary of rumors, helped her get the diary back but stopped talking to her.
Yue Shanni’s group humiliated Wen Ying, yet she didn’t cut ties. When Yue Shanni offered a half-hearted apology, Wen Ying forgave her.
In her past life, Wen Ying was too consumed by insecurity. Now, reflecting, she realized if she were Song Shao, she wouldn’t bother with someone so spineless either.
Argh!
Wen Ying wanted to scream.
Being reborn at the high school entrance exam was too late.
She should’ve been reborn during that self-study class!
When Yue Shanni’s group read her diary aloud, she’d have slapped them silly!
Then she’d have told the righteous Song Shao, “Thank you” and “I’m sorry.”
“Are you even listening to me?” Yue Shanni snapped, noticing Wen Ying’s distraction.
After the entrance exam, Yue Shanni hadn’t seen Wen Ying. Now, spotting her at the key high school’s gate, slimmer, in the school’s uniform, looking more polished than before, Yue Shanni was far from pleased.
In junior high, Yue Shanni shone because of her school presence. But her exam score, under 500, was far from the key high school’s cutoff.
Wen Ying got into the school Yue Shanni couldn’t.
Wen Ying forgot all about their group.
Wen Ying was hanging out with Li Mengjiao, who’d gained fame from a talent show.
These were things Yue Shanni couldn’t stomach, so her tone with Wen Ying was sharp.
Before Wen Ying could respond, Li Mengjiao jumped in, “Lady, do you have a problem? If someone doesn’t want to stay in touch, maybe look at yourself first instead of coming here to confront them. It’s not like you’re exes breaking up!”
Her tone suggested Wen Ying was some heartbreaker.
If Yue Shanni were a guy, Li Mengjiao might’ve been curious. But a girl, talking so arrogantly? Li Mengjiao’s sharp tongue never lost a verbal spar.
“My own reasons?” Yue Shanni stepped forward, her finger nearly jabbing Li Mengjiao’s face. “She just found a new backer at the key high school, didn’t she? With a big star like you around, she looks down on us now!”
Yue Shanni didn’t mention that she’d also signed up for the *Super Girl* auditions in Rongcheng.
She was stopped mid-song by a judge named Fang, who said her singing was shrill and fake.
Yue Shanni didn’t even pass the prelims.
Meanwhile, Li Mengjiao sailed through, becoming Rongcheng’s runner-up and the national runner-up, appearing with stars at the Mango TV National Day gala. For a starstruck girl like Yue Shanni, the envy and jealousy were overwhelming!
Thinking Li Mengjiao, petite and image-conscious, would back down, Yue Shanni tried to provoke her. But Li Mengjiao was a firecracker, never losing a war of words.
She coolly sized Yue Shanni up from head to toe, smiling, “If you know she looks down on you, why come groveling? That’s just humiliating yourself. Want respect? It’s not about sour words—it’s about working hard!”
“You—” Yue Shanni glared.
Li Mengjiao puffed out her chest, “You what? I’m better than you, so I’m worthy of being Wen Ying’s friend!”
Wen Ying was amused by Li Mengjiao’s fierce loyalty, fully shaking off the emotional weight of her past life.
The “thank you” and “sorry” owed to Song Shao—she could say them this life.
As for Yue Shanni and her ilk, they wouldn’t get a cent of advantage from her anymore, not financially or even verbally.
“Yue Shanni, why are you here? Don’t tell me you kindly came to inform me Song Shao’s studying in Rongcheng. That’s not your place to play the good guy. You know better than I do what our ‘friendship’ was and why Song Shao stopped talking to me. I don’t want to hear your nonsense. State your purpose—you’ve got thirty seconds to figure out what to say!”
Yue Shanni shouldn’t have come so early.
Wen Ying was curious about this.
If it was a ripple from her butterfly wings, she needed to ensure it wouldn’t harm Xie Qian.
Any small thing that could negatively affect Xie Qian mattered to her.
With Wen Ying’s blunt tone, Yue Shanni wanted to snap back, but Wen Ying glanced at her watch, “Countdown starts: 30, 29, 28…”
Yue Shanni huffed, “I need to borrow money. Lend me 1,000 yuan, I’ll pay you back next month!”
Pfft—
Li Mengjiao burst out laughing.
So it was about borrowing money.
With that attitude, a passerby might think she was collecting a debt.
Borrowing money so brazenly? No way!
Wen Ying thought the same.
1,000 yuan wasn’t much for her, an amount she could cover.
But how did Yue Shanni know she had it?
Even when Wen Ying was their human ATM in the past, she’d only shell out one or two hundred at a time. Yue Shanni had never asked for such a large sum.
Though many students at the key high school came from affluent families, parents didn’t let their kids carry too much cash.
With a routine of school and home, why would a student need so much money? Too much cash could even be a hassle.
“I do have money, but I haven’t decided if I’ll lend it to you,” Wen Ying said, her smile innocent like Little Red Riding Hood—the kind who’d trick and sell off the wolf grandma. Coaxing the tall but brainless Yue Shanni, she asked, “Who told you I could come up with that much cash?”
Yue Shanni snapped impatiently, “Why do you care? Are you lending it or not?”
…
“And then?” Wang Shuang, sweaty and panting from basketball, heard a “delinquent” had confronted Wen Ying at the school gate. Rolling up his sleeves, he was ready to charge over.
Li Mengjiao grabbed him, “She’s already been scared off by Wen Ying. What’s the point of going now? What ‘and then’? Wen Ying obviously didn’t lend her the money!”
If Wen Ying had lent money to that idiot, Li Mengjiao might’ve thrown a tantrum on the spot.
Xie Qian, wiping sweat, caught a key detail.
“That person… was it Song Shao?”
