In the school cafeteria, Chu Baiyi sat on a plastic chair in the corner, with a bowl of bland white porridge and half-cold steamed buns in front of her.

She poked at the bun, her brows furrowing. The filling was greasy, the dough was hard, and it was cold; she simply couldn't swallow it.

"You call this breakfast?"

She complained under her breath, but still forced herself to take a bite, and almost spat it out.

Damn, this tastes awful!

Frustrated, she put down her chopsticks, took out her phone, and found that the dozen or so messages she had sent to her parents last night were still unread, and they hadn't replied on WeChat either.

She now looks like a princess exiled to a desolate land.

She tapped the screen a few times with her finger and dialed her mother's number again.

The phone rang for a long time before it was finally answered.

"Hello? Who is it... calling so early?"

Chu's mother's voice carried the languor of early morning, with soft piano music in the background, suggesting she hadn't gotten up yet.

"mom!!"

"I called you and Dad a lot last night... What were you doing? Why didn't you answer the phone!"

Chu Baiyi gripped her chopsticks tightly, trying to make her voice sound calm.

"Oh, last night."

Mrs. Chu interrupted casually, "Your father and I went to a charity gala. My phone was on silent. What's wrong?"

Chu Baiyi felt a tightness in her chest. She had been bullied like that last night, and they were actually attending some kind of banquet over there!

But she had to explain things to her parents first, her nails almost digging into her palms: "I...the school might contact my parents about what happened in the dorm yesterday."

"The dorm? What's up?"

Chu's mother's tone finally wavered a little, but it was mostly impatience.

Why do you keep rambling on and on all morning? Can't you just get to the point?

"It's like... the teacher took me to the dormitory and let the girls there bully me. They even threw my suitcase out! They were the girls there, so they bullied me because I was an outsider!"

"Mom, I really can't stay here any longer. Please let me transfer back to a school in S City!"

She gave a vague answer, unwilling to admit that she had angered the people in the dormitory because she disliked the poor environment, and that she had gotten into a fight with them.

"contradiction?"

"Yiyi, I remember you just went to school yesterday, right? How come you had a conflict with a classmate you just met? You didn't deliberately cause trouble just to get back to S City, did you?"

"We sent you to this school you wanted to attend so you would study hard, not so you would get into fights!"

Madam Chu's voice suddenly turned cold.

Even though she had never raised this daughter, she could clearly see from their short time together that Chu Baiyi's selfishness and ruthlessness in achieving her goals were exactly the same as hers.

Otherwise, with her family background, how could she have squeezed out Chu's father's first wife and married into the Chu family?

Chu Baiyi bit her lower lip, her eyes stinging.

Even if she was in the wrong, she didn't want to be scolded by her family like that.

She was just found and is the only girl in the family. Shouldn't they pamper her?

"Do you know how many people asked me about you at the banquet last night? Your dad even praised you to others for being sensible, but what did you do?"

"If you continue like this, don't expect us to throw you a banquet or help you transfer schools!"

Madam Chu grew angrier the more she spoke; what a troublemaker!

This is just a small matter now. If it affects her son one day, she will definitely skin Chu Baiyi alive!

Mr. Chu's muffled voice came from the other end of the phone. Mrs. Chu gave a few perfunctory replies, and finally coldly said, "Handle it yourself, don't embarrass the Chu family, or you don't want to stay there for the rest of your life!"

The call ended.

Chu Baiyi stared at the blacked-out screen, her throat tightening.

No, that's not right.

When I first came back, the way my parents were so affectionate and my brother welcomed me felt like it was just yesterday. It shouldn't be like this!

The noisy sounds from the cafeteria suddenly became jarring; the laughter of the surrounding students and the clattering of plates felt like needles pricking her nerves.

Just then, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye.

It's that madwoman Jiang Yanli!!!

Why is he chasing after me again!

And how did he know she was here?