Chapter 31: "Are you crazy?!
After quickly washing up, Shen Lu naturally lay down on the bed.
Until she found a new place, she was prepared to squeeze in with Fu Cheng.
After a busy day, being able to lie down in bed and sleep was just perfect.
’I should be a little nicer to myself,’ Shen Lu thought. ’I’ll start by getting a good night’s sleep every day.’
For the residents of the Seventeenth District struggling to make ends meet, 9 p.m. was bedtime. Any later, and their stomachs would start to growl.
But for most people in the Upper City District, this was a time for entertainment and relaxation.
After dinner, Shen Lan watched TV with Mrs. Shen for a while before returning to her room to study.
After she returned to the Shen Family, Mr. Shen spent some money to get her into the Imperial Capital Advanced Academy. However, because he had to pull some strings, she was placed in the worst class.
Even so, Shen Lan couldn’t keep up with her studies.
After all, she had previously lived in a lower-class family and had never attended school. Now, even though she was enrolled, she had to start everything from scratch. She was far behind everyone else, making it incredibly difficult to learn.
So, she had no choice but to work hard to catch up on her own after returning home each day.
"It’s all Shen Lu’s fault!" Shen Lan complained, gritting her teeth. "If it weren’t for her, why would I have to study so hard?"
But in reality, it was Mr. Shen who had mixed up the babies all those years ago.
Shen Lan didn’t dare blame Mr. Shen, nor did she blame her adoptive parents. She directed all her resentment solely at Shen Lu.
’If Shen Lu hadn’t been the same gender as me, Mr. Shen would never have mixed them up. If they hadn’t been swapped, I wouldn’t have had to suffer for so many years. Even now that things are set right, the effects of the mistake still linger.’
Shen Lan opened her Light Brain and scrolled through her feed, but she didn’t find what she was looking for.
’What’s going on?’
’Didn’t I ask Chen Cheng to leak the news to Bai Wanwan?’
’I heard Bai Wanwan and Shen Lu have been at each other’s throats since elementary school. Wouldn’t she want to see Shen Lu make a fool of herself and kick her while she’s down?’
Displeased, Shen Lan bit her lip and tapped on Chen Cheng’s profile picture.
Shen Lan: Chengcheng, are you there?
Chen Cheng’s reply was slow to come, and her tone was cold.
Chen Cheng: What is it?
Shen Lan chose her words carefully: How come I haven’t seen Bai Wanwan post on her feed today? I heard she bought the same model sports car as Dog Hero, and I was hoping to get a look at it.
Bai Wanwan was the type to show off every little thing on her feed. Shen Lan had been counting on her to post about the whole process of ridiculing Shen Lu so she could get a vicarious thrill from it.
But it was almost ten o’clock, and Bai Wanwan still hadn’t posted anything.
Chen Cheng: How should I know? I’m not a mind reader.
Shen Lan: Oh, I see...
Shen Lan: By the way, Chengcheng, you didn’t tell Bai Wanwan that Shen Lu has a stall on Gold Street, did you? Please don’t tell her. Shen Lu is having a hard enough time as it is. It would be terrible if Bai Wanwan went over there and stopped her from doing business.
Chen Cheng read Shen Lan’s message and let out a sarcastic laugh.
’Does she really think people can’t see through her petty little schemes?’
’What does she mean, "please don’t tell Bai Wanwan"? That clearly means "you absolutely must tell Bai Wanwan." And she’s still trying to play the good guy.’
Chen Cheng closed the chat window, not wanting to reply anymore.
As for the news, she had already told Bai Wanwan. In fact, Bai Wanwan had gone looking for Shen Lu right after lunch.
She didn’t know what happened after that. After all, she and Bai Wanwan weren’t particularly close. If Bai Wanwan didn’t bring it up, there was no way she would ask.
However, knowing Bai Wanwan and Shen Lu, their meeting must have been a dramatic showdown. ’She’s probably still recovering from it,’ she guessed.
The next day, as Chen Cheng was heading to class, she happened to run into Bai Wanwan at the school gate. She raised a hand to say hello, but Bai Wanwan just shot her a glare and walked straight past.
That morning’s gym class was tennis. Just as Chen Cheng walked out in her sportswear, Bai Wanwan grabbed her by the arm.
"You’re practicing with me today."
Without waiting for Chen Cheng’s reply, she dragged her directly onto the court.
Chen Cheng felt that something was off with Bai Wanwan today, but she didn’t give it much thought. It didn’t matter to her who she played with.
Bai Wanwan served the first ball. With a loud THWACK, the small, lemon-yellow ball flew over the net at an astonishing speed. Before Chen Cheng could even react, it smashed into her face.
"Ah!"
Chen Cheng fell to the ground, clutching her swelling face where the ball had hit her. She glared at Bai Wanwan, seething with rage.
"Are you insane?!"
Bai Wanwan walked up to the net and sneered, "What are you yelling about? Don’t you know perfectly well what you did?"
"What did I do?!"
"Wasn’t it you who deliberately leaked Shen Lu’s information to me?" Bai Wanwan snorted with contempt. "Chen Cheng, you’re a truly vile person."
Chen Cheng pressed her lips together. ’Bai Wanwan actually figured it out?’
’No, wait. When did she get so smart?’
"Was it really worth all this, just because I got a car first?" Bai Wanwan said with her hands on her hips. "Besides, my family gave you money for yours, didn’t they? You just have to wait a week for your car to be delivered. And you actually came up with a malicious trick like getting me to drive my new car to the Lower City District just to get it damaged! Good thing I’m smart and didn’t fall for your trap!"
Chen Cheng was speechless.
’So, that’s what she thought?’
’She didn’t realize I was deliberately instigating her to go find trouble with Shen Lu?’
Chen Cheng felt she had truly been hit for no reason. She really wanted to call Bai Wanwan a dumbass, but she held back.
"Bai Wanwan," Chen Cheng said, gritting her teeth. "I wasn’t trying to get your car damaged!"
"Of course you wouldn’t admit it. Who admits to doing bad things? Especially you," Bai Wanwan said, flicking her hair. "Actually, out of everyone in our class, I hate you the most. You’re the phoniest and most pretentious. I hate Shen Lu too, but at least she wears everything on her face. Not like you. You’re just sneaky."
She walked past Chen Cheng. "Your tennis skills are terrible. You can’t even return my serve. Forget it, I’ll find someone else to practice with."
After teaching Chen Cheng a lesson, Bai Wanwan was in an excellent mood. She casually found another classmate to practice with, and the morning passed quickly.
After showering and changing, a female classmate she was on good terms with asked her to go to the cafeteria for lunch.
"The cafeteria has new cupcakes. I heard they’re pretty good."
"I already had one yesterday." Bai Wanwan wrinkled her nose. "They’re not good at all, way too sweet. Not as good as Shen—"
Bai Wanwan stopped abruptly, mid-sentence.
Her classmate looked at her, confused. "Hm? Not as good as what?"
"Nothing." Bai Wanwan forced a laugh. "Anyway, they’re just not good. Um, I don’t feel like going to the cafeteria today. You guys go ahead."
’That was close! I almost exposed the fact that I went to see Shen Lu yesterday and even ate egg waffles from a street stall!’
’I’m the great young lady of the Bai Family! How could I eat from a street stall in the Lower City District? If anyone found out, they’d laugh me to death!’
Bai Wanwan walked to the parking lot, found her car, and sat down in the driver’s seat. She then began to worry about where to eat lunch.
"Besides egg waffles, I think Shen Lu’s stall also has malatang, right?"
Bai Wanwan muttered to herself, "I smelled it yesterday while I was waiting. It was pretty fragrant."
"She used to be a rich young lady, after all. She wouldn’t be like those uncultured lower-class people and add weird things to her food, right?"
"Probably not."
"Maybe... I should go try it again today?"
Muttering, Bai Wanwan started the car. "If I find anything wrong with her food, I’ll be the first to report her!"
"Right. I’m not craving it. I’m charging into battle for the food safety of the people of the Imperial City. Yes, that’s it."