In mid-September, outside the Barlizi Prison in Wushui County.
A young woman with short hair and a slender build walked out through the massive iron gate, free once more.
The moment she crossed the threshold, she instinctively raised a hand to shield her eyes from the harsh sunlight and narrowed them.
So this was what freedom smelled like. It wasn’t pleasant at all.
The woman was Zhao Zhu, who had been imprisoned more than three years ago.
She had been released several months ahead of schedule. Thanks to her good behavior and the prison’s sentence-reduction policy, she had regained her freedom early.
More than three years behind bars had changed Zhao Zhu tremendously. The once-arrogant school bully who had thrown her weight around at school had become a woman with a slightly sallow complexion and a much thinner frame. Judging by her appearance alone, she seemed at least five years older than her actual age.
More than three years ago, she had entered through those very gates as an eighteen-year-old high school student.
Now, at twenty-one, she was walking out again.
She had missed the college entrance examination. She had no qualifications, and her youth had been spent. The three most precious years of her life were gone.
And the culprits responsible for all of this were those two bitches, Liu Yutong and Yu Xin.
Zhao Zhu had not told her family that she was being released. She didn’t want anyone to see her looking like this, either.
She planned to disappear for a while and only show herself again once she was ready.
Just then, a three-wheeled motorized taxi came by. She flagged it down and gave the driver the address of Wushui No. 2 High School.
Before long, Zhao Zhu was standing outside the school gates.
She did not go inside. Instead, she sat down at a noodle shop across the road, ordered a bowl of noodles, and watched the familiar school entrance from a distance as she ate.
Three years had passed, but the school had barely changed. The gates were still the same, and the teaching building was still the same. Almost everything looked exactly as it had when she left.
The only difference was the enormous electronic display that had been installed by the entrance. It played the school’s promotional slogans and highlighted the achievements of outstanding alumni.
Zhao Zhu’s eyes drifted toward the screen, and she froze.
A clipped news segment was playing.
On the screen, a poised young woman in a black suit stood at the center of a press-conference stage, speaking confidently. Behind her was a massive dragon-shaped logo and a rendering of the Longyao S1. The audience was packed with people, while camera flashes went off in a frenzy.
Then came a string of impressive titles.
Co-founder of Longyao Mobile. President of the Technology Business Group. Cover figure for Dragon Nation Entrepreneurs magazine’s 2010 issue. Ranked second among Forbes’ 30 Under 30 business elites for 2010…
The woman on the screen wore exquisite makeup and carried herself with confidence and composure. Even with more than a hundred reporters taking pictures of her, she did not show the slightest trace of nervousness.
“Ms. Yu Xin, how is development of the next-generation Longyao S1 progressing?”
“Mr. Yu, there are rumors that the Wanlonghui Group is preparing to go public. Is that true?”
“Mr. Yu, you’re only twenty-one years old. How did you lead Longyao Mobile to such astonishing success in such a short time?”
In response to each question, the girl who had once been so introverted in high school that she was practically reclusive now answered smoothly and confidently.
Zhao Zhu stared at that familiar yet unfamiliar face on the screen. The chopsticks in her hand were nearly crushed.
Yu Xin?
This was Yu Xin?
The timid coward she had slapped, pulled by the hair, and humiliated countless times in the school bathroom?
She had actually made it onto Forbes’ elite list? She had even become the president of some Longyao Mobile?
How was that possible?
How could that useless girl have become so dazzling?
Zhao Zhu could not accept what she was seeing.
That weak, timid coward now stood at a height Zhao Zhu could only look up to, basking in the praise and adoration of society.
The contrast was simply too great.
Especially when she thought about her own situation—more than three years in prison, missing the college entrance examination, her family’s business going bankrupt…
She was in utter ruin.
The more she compared herself with Yu Xin, the more glaring the disparity became.
The more unfair it felt.
“Why?”
“Why her?”
“That life should have been mine! Mine! You stole my life from me!” Zhao Zhu roared inwardly.
Just as she seethed with rage, convinced that the world was unbearably unjust, the old television mounted on the noodle shop wall began broadcasting news from Wushui County’s local station.
“Recently, renowned local entrepreneur Ms. Yu Xin was invited to visit her alma mater, Wushui No. 2 High School. According to reports, Ms. Yu Xin has returned to her hometown for two reasons: first, to visit the teachers and students of her former school; and second, to represent the Wanlonghui Charitable Foundation in implementing a student-aid program…”
“The county authorities attach great importance to this matter and will accompany her throughout the visit…”
Zhao Zhu’s head snapped up when she heard the news.
Yu Xin was coming back?
Back to Wushui County?
Back to No. 2 High School?
In an instant, a mad idea sprang into her mind.
If her life had already been ruined, then no one else was going to have it easy, either.
