And so, the brother and sister happily spent an entire year in this daily routine of mutual torment.
Meanwhile, Shen Yi finally escaped kindergarten and was gloriously promoted to a first-grade elementary school student.
Shen Wenta also ended his long suspension from school and returned to his international school, where the children of various powerful and wealthy families gathered.
The night before the new school term started, Shen Yi hugged her newly issued school uniform and happily bounced up and down a few times.
An elementary school student! An elementary school student!
This was awesome.
She was finally an elementary school student too.
Compared to Shen Yi's excitement, the one who was the most nervous every time school started was actually Wen Ya.
She had changed into more than a dozen outfits and still hadn't decided what to wear tomorrow to drop them off at school.
Shen Xun was like a robot; no matter what Wen Ya wore, he just answered, "It's alright."
Shen Yi yawned and sat cross-legged on the sofa. "Mom, you look beautiful in whatever you wear. There's no need to keep trying them on."
Wen Ya was an objectively beautiful woman. She only needed a touch of lipstick; her snow-white skin, elegant eyebrows and eyes, and a smear of bright red lips made her look stunningly gorgeous and exceptionally eye-catching.
"But you guys are going to Hejing International School," Wen Ya said while opening her jewelry box and holding pieces up against herself. "Of course Mom can't embarrass you."
What?
Shen Yi's sleepiness vanished in an instant. She caught the key words. "Mom, we are going to study at an international school?"
"That's right," Wen Ya turned around and smiled gently at her. "It's the same school your third brother goes to. Your dad pulled some strings with your grandfather and got both you and Little Xun in."
"When the time comes, I'll remind Shen Wenta to take good care of you two."
"..." Ahhhh.
Shen Yi kind of wanted to scream.
If she remembered correctly, Song Yi had studied at that very international school all the way from elementary school to middle school graduation.
Shen Yi really hoped she had remembered it wrong.
But despairingly, her memory had always been quite good.
She especially remembered when Song Yi graduated back then, she had happily shown her the certificate.
The young girl wearing a beautiful graduation cap and an expensive custom-made school uniform was full of youthful vitality.
It made her, who had been completing her coursework at home since she was nine and rarely interacted with peers, very envious.
"..." Shen Yi covered her ears.
She very much hoped she was hallucinating.
Finally, perhaps still holding onto a tiny sliver of hope, she asked, "Then Mom, which class are we in?"
A school like this obviously had more than one class.
Shen Yi hoped she could avoid the other party.
As the daughter of the richest man, Song Yi's class should be the international class, which was a gathering place for a bunch of rich kids.
Besides that, there was also the experimental class.
The experimental class consisted of top students who studied very well, could raise the school's overall scores, and were proper academic achievers.
Shen Yi desperately hoped she could be assigned to the experimental class.
"Of course it's the best international class, baby." Wen Ya took it for granted. Even for studying, her children had to go to the best class.
Even though the experimental class was full of good students, the students in the school were still divided into different ranks, and the educational resources of the international class were simply incomparable to those of the experimental class.
Wen Ya hoped the two children could receive a better education.
Shen Yi barely managed to control her urge to cry tears of despair.
She knew that being timid was useless.
All she could do was face it.
"Are you afraid of the unfamiliar environment?" Shen Xun, who was beside her, noticed her gloominess and reached out to pat her head.
"A little," Shen Yi said.
She forced herself to think optimistically; maybe she could also make some friends at the aristocratic school?
She probably wouldn't end up in a situation where she was enemies with the whole world like in her past life.
After all, even if she was an unbearable piece of crap, there would still be dogs who weren't picky eaters, right?
And there was one more thing...
"Brother," Shen Yi rolled back and forth on the sofa, troubled. "Hejing is Shen Wenta's turf, right? He will definitely cause trouble for me!"
Her joy of going to school had been completely extinguished by now.
She could almost imagine the living hell her future life would be.
Shen Xun, however, said, "Not necessarily."
"If you wanted to, you could completely wrap Third Brother around your little finger." Shen Xun saw it clearly.
Over the past year, he's been thoroughly beaten up by Little Yi, hasn't he?
Shen Wenta was probably dying to cry and beg Little Yi to come to him for help.
"Then what should I do?" Shen Yi blinked. She had always resorted to fists and kicks with Shen Wenta.
In her past life, she was a very unlikable child.
She didn't know how to speak softly, and she didn't know how to act spoiled with her father, so it was normal that people didn't like her.
Shen Yi was a very practical person who knew how to adapt to circumstances.
As long as she could ensure her future school life would be peaceful enough, bowing her head to Shen Wenta was absolutely not a problem.
"If you just show a little goodwill, he will be overwhelmed by the unexpected favor." Shen Xun exuded a low-energy aura; he hated it when his sister asked him such idiotic questions.
Why did she suddenly care about Shen Wenta?
Could it be because of the environment?
Did that school have something she feared, so much so that she even wanted to make peace with their third brother?
Shen Yi: "Show goodwill?"
How should I show it?
She had absolutely no clue.
But it didn't matter.
Even though she didn't understand, she could learn!
After all, in an aristocratic school, worldly wisdom and social relations were still very important.
Shen Yi decisively adopted her fourth brother's suggestion.
She decided that from now on, she would show Shen Wenta a pleasant attitude.
...
Early the next morning, Shen Yi woke up bright and early.
She changed into the school uniform that her mother had ironed flat overnight.
A dark blue small suit jacket, a gray pleated skirt, and a white shirt paired with a light blue bow tie.
Wen Ya specially combed her hair into a side ponytail and tied it with a matching butterfly ribbon for decoration.
Perfect!
When she went downstairs, Shen Wenta was in the living room, looking down and adjusting his cuffs.
He wore the school's uniformly issued, well-tailored black school uniform. However, rather than calling it a school uniform, it looked more like a custom-made suit.
The black color made his skin look even paler and outlined the youth's slender waistline. His hair was a bit longer than a year ago, with soft black strands hanging over his forehead. His eyebrows and eyes had shed some of their childishness, carrying a bit more of a raw, straightforward beauty.
So pretty!
In just one year, not only had he grown incredibly fast, but his face had also become even better looking.
Shen Yi was not someone who judged people by their looks. In fact, she preferred ugly people.
Ugly people made her feel especially secure.
Their long history of mutual torment caused the girl to stand at the top of the stairs and subconsciously glare at him with hostility.
Sensing Shen Yi's gaze, he turned around and looked at the fully dressed little girl at the staircase.
In an instant, the youth's sickly aura completely vanished. He subconsciously curled his lips into a mocking arc and struck first, saying coldly, "What are you looking at?"
Shen Yi didn't make a sound.
He continued to sneer, "What?"
"Now that you know you're going to study at Hejing, you finally remembered to suck up to me?"
"Hoping I'll be magnanimous and let you off the hook?"
"..."
Shen Wenta was still speaking smugly, but the little girl suddenly ran down the stairs with a patter of footsteps.
And surprisingly, her first reaction wasn't to hit him with her fists... nor did she curse at him?
Shen Wenta hadn't anticipated this development. His body tensed for a moment, and the hand that was tying his tie paused as he stared at her.
He wasn't sure what kind of trick she was trying to pull.
"What do you want to do?" he murmured.
The next second.
The little girl suddenly threw her arms around his waist.
Oh ho!
Shen Yi marveled in her heart.
Shen Wenta really did smell nice.
Whenever she hit him, she could always smell that faint fragrance on him. It wasn't overpowering, but rather like the scent of some expensive fabric softener.
Now, with her head buried against his waist, the close proximity made the scent even more distinct to her senses.
He really was quite the well-groomed guy.
Shen Yi even found herself distracted, trying to pinpoint the exact notes of his fragrance.
Shen Wenta, however, had frozen completely.
Instead of the expected attack, he was met with a soft embrace.
Shen Yi had her face buried against his waist, and from the physical sensation alone, he could even tell that she seemed to have taken a curious sniff of him.
Her bizarre, uncharacteristic behavior made Shen Wenta swallow the harsh words he had been about to say.
In a rare moment, he was at a bit of a loss.
Likewise, their long history of constantly bickering as siblings meant Shen Yi wasn't used to sweet-talking him either.
Tilting her head up, she found him scrutinizing her with his dark eyes.
Shen Yi asked directly, "Will you help me at school from now on?"
Shen Wenta did not answer.
Her question was blunt and reckless.
Her intentions were far too obvious.
Shen Yi also realized that her request sounded too cold and rigid.
She quickly added in a soft whisper,
"Brother."
"..."
