Realizing she might have said too much, Wen Ying clammed up after receiving praise from the big shots, sitting quietly and playing the good girl.
After dinner, Boss Qin and a few others wanted to play cards, and Deng Shangwei naturally had to join them.
Wen Ying started wandering around the villa on her own.
Before dinner, Boss Qin’s driver picked up his daughter, Qin Jiao, from school and brought her over.
Unlike the plump Wen Ying, the seventeen-year-old Qin Jiao had already shot up, with long arms and legs, a straight back, standing around 1.7 meters tall. She resembled a high-definition version of Boss Qin, her demeanor cool and serene like the moon—not the sharp crescent of early month, but more like the full moon on the fifteenth, cool yet softened with a touch of warmth, not so distant as to intimidate.
Wen Ying’s scalp tingled.
She should’ve figured it out sooner!
Boss Qin’s daughter was the same person as Qin Xuejie, the school legend from her past life!
Qin Jiao was two years ahead of Wen Ying. When Wen Ying started high school, Qin Jiao was already in her senior year.
The school had plenty of Xie Qian fangirls and no shortage of Qin Jiao fanboys. Wen Ying, the ugly duckling, had now, after her rebirth, met Xie Qian early and, just days later, Qin Jiao too.
What kind of twist was this?
At 16, Wen Ying would’ve felt inferior meeting someone as outstanding as Qin Jiao.
At 31, after Boss Qin introduced them and suggested they become friends, Wen Ying could shamelessly nod, “Uncle Qin, I’ll definitely get close to Sister Qin Jiao!”
Qin Jiao was a bit baffled. She’d thought it was just a casual dinner pickup by her dad, something that’d happened before.
She hadn’t expected him to introduce her to a “friend.”
Knowing her father well, if he was主动 introducing someone, this “friend” must have something he valued. Boss Qin often told her that people should keep learning to grow—better to befriend and learn from someone’s strengths than to envy them in the shadows or make them an enemy.
So, what strengths did this Wen Ying have?
Qin Jiao studied her for a while, overlooking Wen Ying’s plain clothes and round figure, but couldn’t pinpoint anything standout… wait, not entirely. Wen Ying’s eyes sparkled when she looked at her, not with flattery or fawning, but with genuine fondness—a mix of admiration and warmth.
Huh, was her charm already this strong, winning over a girl she’d just met?
Qin Jiao decided Wen Ying’s strength was her warmth—sincere and likable, not off-putting.
She couldn’t help but smile, finding Wen Ying’s round face kinda cute.
First impressions matter.
In her past life, hustling in Modu, clients often doubted Wen Ying’s skills because of her youth. Early on, she couldn’t land big cases—even when her firm recommended her to major clients, they’d see her and bluntly ask for a more seasoned male lawyer.
Later, He Zhen taught her that youth wasn’t the issue; she needed to cultivate an elite vibe, a confidence that said she was the one. Even if clients didn’t trust her at first glance, they wouldn’t doubt her outright… Sigh, thinking of He Zhen again.
Wen Ying didn’t want to dwell on her past life too much, but she couldn’t deny He Zhen’s role in shaping who she’d become.
To shake off thoughts of He Zhen, she主动 sat close to Qin Jiao. After mentioning she wanted to apply to Qin Jiao’s high school, Qin Jiao calmly analyzed it for her:
“Our school offers自主招生 slots every year. For someone like you, whose residency isn’t in Rongcheng city, last year’s cutoff was 540. This year should be close to that. Are you confident?”
No, it wasn’t 540 this year—it was 546. Wen Ying remembered that cutoff vividly.
How could she not? She’d lived it in her past life.
In her last life, her mock exams before the high school entrance test hovered around 560, with English alone scoring over 130, or at least 120 even on tougher papers.
By the time the real exam rolled around, her skills were pretty much set, which is why she’d been confident she could get into Qin Jiao’s provincial key school.
She had the chops!
If her English hadn’t tanked, even a 110 would’ve scraped her past the自主招生 line.
But she’d run a fever during the exam and scored just 91… Wen Ying remembered her total was 521.
That 521 was enough to pick any high school in her small hometown, but it fell 25 points short of the provincial key school’s line.
How’d she end up there anyway? One point short cost a thousand yuan—her family paid 25,000 in “school-building fees,” not counting the favors Chen Li and Deng Shangwei called in!
This time around, Wen Ying wasn’t clueless anymore. Things she hadn’t understood last time were now clear as day.
Chen Li and Deng Shangwei must’ve gone through Teacher Lin to get her in. Wen Ying figured, including the obvious “school-building fees,” her parents shelled out at least 50,000 to 60,000.
For a moment, she zoned out.
She’d always blamed her parents for being overbearing, controlling, constantly bringing up her exam flop, leaving her with baggage. Now, thinking how they’d spent an extra 50,000 to 60,000 just for her high school—more than others—it did sting a bit.
In 2004, prices and wages were low. The neighborhood Boss Wang recommended, Chen Ru bought at 3,700 yuan per square meter. A 100-square-meter place with a 30% down payment was just 110,000. To get Wen Ying into that school, Chen Ru and Wen Dongrong spent half a house’s down payment…
Qin Jiao, seeing Wen Ying go quiet, assumed the 540 score had spooked her.
For Qin Jiao, 540 was a breeze—her education resources had always been top-notch. Realizing Wen Ying came from a county-level city below Rongcheng, Qin Jiao didn’t judge; instead, she softly reassured her, “If you’re a bit short, don’t worry. Ask Uncle Deng for help, or my dad. He seems to like you, he wouldn’t say no.”
She was giving Wen Ying a tip—use connections when needed.
Wen Ying felt a warmth.
No wonder so many liked Qin Jiao in her past life.
But it also highlighted the gap between kids from rich families and her own modest one. At a genuine 16, Wen Ying had been too shy to even mention money, let alone suggest pulling strings.
Qin Jiao said it so casually.
Boss Qin’s hard work gave his kids a different starting line. To Qin Jiao, not using connections when you had them was just dumb.
