Chapter 6

Chapter 6

In the days that followed, Gu Zhiyue’s malice only intensified.

When I opened the lunchbox the nanny had prepared for me, I found it filled to the brim with thumbtacks.

Dead spiders would be squeezed out of my facial cleanser and toothpaste.

The dresses in my wardrobe were riddled with holes burned by cigarette butts.

And every time I looked up in a start, I would meet Gu Zhiyue’s wicked smile.

He mouthed the words to me: [Gu Shichu, you deserve it.]

Gu Zhiyue expected me to cry.

Instead, I calmly poured out the thumbtacks, threw the spiders into the trash, and folded my dresses neatly to put them away.

Consequently, the smile on Gu Zhiyue’s face vanished.

He glared at me, his voice nearly trembling with suppressed rage. “I want to see how long you can keep up this act.”

…

Fortunately, while I had to endure Gu Zhiyue’s malice this time, the Gu Family’s resources were also entirely at my disposal.

I no longer had to spend my days at school and my nights forced to help my foster mother with her chores.

On the contrary, I had a nanny to look after me and a driver to take me wherever I needed to go. I only needed to focus on my studies.

In my past life, if I wanted to buy extracurricular teaching materials, I had to save money for a long time while constantly guarding against my foster father, who would try to steal my savings to buy alcohol or gamble.

Now, my wardrobe was filled with designer clothes, and my jewelry box held pieces from Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier-all of which Madam Gu gave me on a whim, costing me nothing.

In addition, I received fifty thousand yuan in cash as pocket money at the beginning of each month, along with a credit card with a hundred-thousand-yuan limit. If I ever ran out, I only had to mention it to the butler, and new funds would be deposited into the account within half an hour.

Meanwhile, the hardships of my past life had fallen entirely onto Zhou Shiman.

I saw her sleeping through every class because she had to help her mother with work at night and couldn’t get enough rest.

Gradually, she stopped doing her homework and began turning in blank papers during exams.

In my previous life, I had survived on black coffee and stabbed myself with a compass whenever I felt drowsy, desperate to study at any cost.

But Zhou Shiman had lived the pampered life of a wealthy young lady in her past life. She lacked that drive and perseverance, and more importantly, she didn’t care about academics.

In her eyes, becoming the fiancée of the Gu Family’s young master was far more valuable than getting into Tsinghua University or Peking University.

Thus, Zhou Shiman poured all her energy into making Gu Zhiyue like her more.

She ignored the math lectures, instead secretly writing a diary under her desk specifically for Gu Zhiyue to read.

She skipped dance rehearsals, climbing over the school wall to go for drives in the countryside with Gu Zhiyue to watch the stars.

As a result, on the eve of the dance performance…

She sat outside the rehearsal room, weeping.

I guessed that Zhou Shiman had specifically studied how the female leads in idol dramas cried-looking up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, tears shimmering in her eyes, stubbornly refusing to let them fall.

Sure enough, Gu Zhiyue happened to pass by and saw her.

The moment Gu Zhiyue asked her what was wrong, Zhou Shiman’s long-suppressed tears finally spilled over.

She threw herself into Gu Zhiyue’s arms and wailed,

“Zhiyue, I’ve lost my spot on stage.”

“Every girl in class is performing, but Gu Shichu won’t let me participate…”

Gu Zhiyue already loathed me to the core, and he flared up instantly upon hearing this.

“Why?”

Zhou Shiman bit her lip, trying her best to stop crying but still unable to suppress her sobs.

“She said… she said my mom is just a cleaner and my dad is just a security guard.”

“She said I can’t even afford the costume and that I’m not worthy of being on stage.”

Gu Zhiyue’s expression grew grimmer by the second.

Looking at the breathless, sobbing Zhou Shiman, he said in a low voice, “Is it just a costume? I’ll buy it for you.”

Zhou Shiman shook her head, radiating the righteous air of a Little White Flower in poverty. “No, it costs eight hundred yuan. I can’t accept such an expensive gift from you.”

Gu Zhiyue was both furious and heartbroken.

“How does Gu Shichu dare?” he spat out in anger.

Zhou Shiman shook her head through her tears. “She is your sister, after all-the eldest miss of the Gu Family.”

“Your family donated several buildings to the school, and your father is an honorary board member. Even if the teachers knew she was bullying me, what could they possibly do…”

Zhou Shiman didn’t notice that a reporter, who happened to be at the school for an interview, was passing behind her at that moment.

Poking their head forward like a shark scenting blood, the reporter asked keenly,

“Bullying? What bullying?”