Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“As if she has the brains for that. Most likely, even a blind cat catches a dead mouse now and then.”

…

Good.

Keep looking down on me.

In broad daylight, I snatched away Jiang Zhao’s snacks, plushies, figurines, clothes…

To keep up her persona, my stepmother took my side every single time.

And I would often whisper in Jiang Zhao’s ear, “Your mom is so good to me!”

Jiang Zhao never said anything, but I could feel that she was starting to resent my stepmother.

Weren’t you trying to drive a wedge between Dad and me?

Then I’ll let you have a taste of what it’s like when mother and daughter turn against each other!

When Dad was home, I studied diligently and openly.

When Dad wasn’t home, I turned on the speakers, locked the door, put in noise-blocking earplugs, and studied.

Having lived once before, I had fallen behind on far too much.

I honestly told the tutoring center teachers that my foundation was weak, so they all started from the very basics with me.

Memory is a strange thing.

The knowledge you think you’ve long forgotten is actually just missing the key.

Once you find the key, brush away the dust, and open the box again…

That vanished knowledge will slowly resurface in your mind.

During that time, my stepmother repeatedly tried to coax me into going out for fun.

She bought me tickets to a water park.

She gave me a card for free late-night KTV sessions.

She gave me comp vouchers to a bar, saying there was an in-house singer who performed original songs there and that I could go ask for a few pointers.

I accepted everything she gave me, but I never actually went.

As for tutoring, rain or shine, I never missed a class.

My stepmother began to panic a little.

Once she was certain I wouldn’t give up my tutoring class and that her own daughter wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the gap, she hurriedly signed Jiang Zhao up for classes too.

But by then, half of summer break had already passed. All the one-on-one slots had long since been filled.

Jiang Zhao was shoved into a six-person class for group lessons.

I deliberately fanned the flames. “Auntie is really something. She knew there would be lots of people taking summer tutoring classes, so why didn’t she plan ahead for you?”

“I heard Song Lingling is in one-on-one tutoring too.”

Jiang Zhao and Song Lingling had never gotten along.

Sure enough, after we got home, she immediately gave my stepmother the cold shoulder.

“Why didn’t you sign me up earlier?”

Under my burning stare, my stepmother truly had no way to explain herself.

Between all our scheming and sparring, summer break quickly came to an end.

In the placement exam at the start of eleventh grade, I ranked 250th in the grade.

After two months of effort, I was already very satisfied with that result.

The day the rankings came out happened to be my stepmother’s birthday.

Everyone went out to eat together.

At the table, my stepmother deliberately brought it up. When she heard my ranking, she couldn’t help letting out a snort of laughter.

But she quickly composed herself and asked with a face full of worry, “Zhizhi, what happened? Your dad spent so much money sending you to one-on-one tutoring. How did you end up dropping ten places compared to the final exam?”

“Xiao Zhao was in a six-person class, and this time she still moved up eighteen places. She’s even made it into the top one hundred in the grade.”

As she spoke, she turned to Dad. “Old Jiang, I think Zhizhi’s heart just isn’t in academic subjects. Why don’t we make plans early? If she wants to study music, then let her.”