Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When it was almost time for me to start school, Uncle Zheng and Aunt Wang solemnly asked me what kind of name I wanted.

They said a person’s full name would form a bond with their life.

For something this important, they wanted me to decide for myself.

They even let me choose my own surname.

“As long as you don’t call yourself something like Huangfu Iron Bull, Uncle and Auntie will support you!” Uncle Zheng said with a grin.

“What Huangfu Iron Bull? Old Zheng, can you be serious for once? Our daughter has much better taste than that.”

Uncle Zheng always loved cracking jokes in front of Aunt Wang.

Only after earning a few solid punches from Aunt Wang would he laugh in satisfaction.

The atmosphere was so warm and harmonious.

Even someone like me couldn’t help laughing along.

I looked at the two people before me, people who shared no blood with me, yet were willing to pull me out of the abyss.

Softly, I said, “I’ve decided.”

“I want to be called Zheng Hao.”

“Because everything is just right.”

Uncle Zheng and Aunt Wang froze.

Then, when it sank in, they were overjoyed.

“Good!”

“Zheng Hao is a wonderful name!”

“Tomorrow, Uncle and Auntie will go get the paperwork done for you!”

After I started middle school, I could occasionally learn about Cheng Yun’s situation through the comments.

The wealthy couple who adopted her happened to have the surname Chen.

So they simply changed Cheng Yun to Chen Yun.

Chen Yun was now a true young lady of a rich family. Every day, she was busy learning foreign languages and all sorts of musical instruments. The Chen couple clearly intended to raise her into a refined young lady.

Again and again, the comments compared her current life to mine.

They said my adoptive parents were dirt poor and couldn’t afford any extracurricular classes for me, so I could only end up as someone at the bottom of society.

But I thought they were wrong.

Uncle Zheng and Aunt Wang didn’t sign me up for classes, but they taught me so much.

Uncle Zheng Yi taught me to be honest and trustworthy, and he also taught me some simple combat and self-defense techniques.

Auntie Wang Shu was in charge of my studies. She taught me that learning should be put to use, and that I should hold on to my ideals and convictions.

Gradually, I seemed to become capable of resisting those vile, instinctive behaviors.

Because I knew I no longer needed to fight and grab for anything.

By eighth grade, our class had to pay class fees.

All the money was kept in the desk drawer of my deskmate, the class monitor.

It wasn’t a small amount. When gathered together, it made a thick stack.

For middle schoolers, that counted as a huge sum of money.

I couldn’t help glancing at it one more time, then reminded him,

“You’re really careless. Aren’t you afraid someone will steal it if you leave the money here?”

The class monitor didn’t take it seriously. He turned around and went off to play basketball with his friends.

At that moment, the comments appeared again.

[I remember that in the original plot, she was sent back to the orphanage because she stole Mother Chen’s jeweled necklace.]

[A thief is a thief. She isn’t thinking of stealing the money, is she?]

[Haha, no necklace to steal, so now she’s stealing the class fees. A dog can’t stop eating shit.]

I found the comments ridiculous.

Because I had never thought that way.

But in the next second,

my hand, out of my control, quietly reached toward my deskmate’s drawer.