Chapter 2
Chapter 2
I had never thought about it.
I had been pretty since I was little, like a porcelain doll. Plenty of people at school liked me.
Anything too heavy to carry, any homework I didn’t feel like doing, any snack I wanted but couldn’t afford—one smile at a boy, one tiny pout, and it was mine.
Mom was always stroking my hair and telling me, “Our Ruanruan is so pretty. You were born to be a princess.”
“What’s a princess?”
“A girl who dresses beautifully every day and never has to do anything. A handsome prince dotes on her, and she gets whatever she wants.”
“Then I’m going to be a princess,” I announced proudly.
A princess didn’t need to be smart. Passing grades were enough; being a little dim only made her cuter.
A princess didn’t do chores herself. She merely pouted at boys, and they did classroom duty, swept the floors, and brought her snacks and flowers.
My life sailed along without a hitch.
When I was fifteen, Mom brought me into the Jiang household and told me to call Uncle Jiang “Dad.”
But Jiang Zhan still called my mother “Auntie.”
He didn’t like me much. Whenever his father wasn’t home, he was cold to me.
“Be nicer to your brother,” Mom said, smiling as she stroked my hair. “Our Ruanruan is so lovable. How could anyone possibly dislike you? Just act sweet. Your brother will grow fond of you.”
So all I had to do was smile—harmlessly, innocently—and call him in my softest voice.
“Jiang Zhan, will you play with me?”
“You’re amazing. Ruanruan can’t understand any of this.”
“Jiang Zhan… Ruanruan is so silly. Could you please help me?”
Jiang Zhan went from distant at first to gentle now.
He still called Mom “Auntie,” but he had already accepted me as his little sister.
“Why are you asking me that?” I said to the system. “What’s all this about pride being worth something?”
Then realization struck.
“You saw how many men liked me and got jealous, didn’t you? That’s why you don’t want me touching them.”
A rush of superiority filled me. “You might as well give up. I’m the heroine. They all like me.”
The system said nothing.
“I hit the nail on the head, didn’t I?”
At my desk, I took out a compact mirror and checked whether my makeup had smudged.
“Tsk, tsk. I really am a natural beauty. You don’t even have a physical body. How piti—”
“Xue Ruanruan.”
A cool male voice cut me off.
“Homework.”
One word. Nothing wasted.
I lowered my mirror.
Wei Yan.
He ranked first in our grade and served as our class study representative.
The classroom fan tousled the boy’s already-messy hair, revealing sharp, defiant brows and eyes. Normally, I never did my homework. I would pout, let him scold me a few times, and then he would cover for me with the teacher.
How was that not the classic sharp-tongued, secretly-soft male lead?
But today, I had done it.
Beaming, I pulled my workbook from my desk. “Here.”
Wei Yan paused. “Don’t bother handing it in if it’s blank.”
“I did it.” I blinked up at him.
He opened the book and looked. The pages were full of corrections and crossed-out answers, but it was unmistakably my handwriting.
“A pig would have gotten more right.”
He snapped the book shut and turned to collect everyone else’s work.
I rested my chin in my hands and gazed at his straight, sword-like back. My ears burned.
What if…
What if Wei Yan and I studied alone? He would teach me, and if I made a mistake, he would punish me. He would look at me coldly, asking, “Do you understand now?” while he…
Uh.
Heat rushed straight to my head.
I grabbed my textbook and began reciting at the top of my lungs.
“Ah, girls, do not lose yourselves in men! Men may escape their infatuation, but women cannot!”
My deskmate whispered, “Ruanruan, we’re doing history in morning reading today.”
Ha. Ha.
Fighting the study lust blazing through me, I pulled out my history book and tore through it ten lines at a time while cursing inwardly.
Stupid system!