September, the back-to-school season.
An elite primary school in Ye City.
Mu Hao rode to school in a high-end private car, wearing the uniform of the aristocratic school.
A white short-sleeved shirt, blue blazer, a Windsor knot tie, and gray shorts.
His hair was stylishly combed, making him look like a noble and proud young master.
Compared to his peers, Mu Hao was quite tall, already reaching 1.6 meters at the age of nine.
As soon as he entered the classroom, he was greeted with compliments and flattery from his classmates.
"Prince Hao, you ranked first in the entire grade again at the end of last semester. You're amazing!"
"Great grades, handsome, and multi-talented! We are so lucky to be your classmates!"
"Prince Hao, this is handmade chocolate my mom made. I want to give you a box."
Mu Hao was so perfect; he was simply Prince Charming in the girls' hearts.
Mu Ze entered the classroom through the back door.
Compared to the dazzling Mu Hao, Mu Ze was like an ugly duckling.
Emaciated, incredibly ugly, and so ordinary that he stood out in no way among the crowd.
To think that someone like him could be adopted by the Mu family and become brothers with a little prodigy.
He must have had incredible dumb luck!
Kids these days might be young, but they are incredibly shrewd.
They know how to flatter the high and trample the low, just like adults.
"After one summer vacation, I feel like Mu Ze has gotten even uglier."
"Compared to Prince Hao, it's truly a difference between heaven and earth."
"Can the ugly freak just stay out of the classroom? He's really dragging down our class's overall appearance and standard."
"Being ugly is one thing, but how can his grades be so trash? Do you guys know what he scored on the finals last semester?"
"A total of 30 points across three subjects, an average of ten points per subject. My God, how did he even manage that?"
"He usually looks pretty attentive in class, and the Mu family enrolled him in so many tutoring classes. Did all that learning go to the dogs?"
Facing the mockery and sarcasm of his classmates, Mu Ze lowered his head in shame.
He didn't know what was wrong with himself either. He clearly worked very hard, and the questions on the exams didn't seem difficult to him.
He had no problem getting full marks in all three subjects, but when he handed in his paper, the answers were somehow different from what he had written.
He wracked his brain but couldn't figure it out.
He even felt ashamed of his mother's efforts to cultivate him.
Tutoring was not cheap nowadays; the classes his mother signed him up for cost hundreds per session.
But he was truly useless, failing miserably in every grading and exam.
He could understand why the classmates liked Mu Hao and disliked him.
Compared to Mu Hao, he wasn't just a little bit lacking.
Mu Ze lowered his head and silently walked to his seat.
He was about to put down his schoolbag when he found his desk drawer full of garbage, and the desktop covered in doodles.
"Hahaha, Mu Ze, you are just like that trash. You belong in a garbage dump! You don't deserve to study in an elite school; you should go herd cows in the countryside!"
"Having you in our class is truly a disgrace!"
"It's only because Prince Hao is kind-hearted that the Mu family adopted you."
"Trash!"
Mu Ze lowered his red eyes, holding back the sourness in his nose as he silently cleaned up the garbage in his desk.
Mu Hao stood not far away, looking down at Mu Ze from on high, a contemptuous smile curling the corners of his lips.
"Why talk to a little piece of trash like him? Look at his half-dead appearance; he probably won't live much longer anyway."
"Exactly. He's lifeless all day long. Talking to him is just bad luck!"
Mu Ze carried the trash and walked out of the classroom.
He didn't dare cry in front of them; doing so would only make them mock him even more unscrupulously.
Mu Ze threw the garbage into the trash can.
He didn't return to the classroom immediately. Instead, he walked behind the bushes, crouched down, and silently shed tears.
They were right; he was a piece of trash, he was too useless.
No matter how hard he tried, he could only become a joke.
But his current life was so much better than the torment he suffered before.
At the very least, he no longer went hungry, had a warm bed to sleep in, and could save up pocket money to help Grandma Chu.
Thinking of this, Mu Ze felt a lot better.
He couldn't be discouraged, and he couldn't complain about others. He had to work even harder.
Mu Ze wiped his tears. Just as he was about to stand up and walk towards the classroom, a beautiful older sister, looking like a fairy, suddenly patted his shoulder.
Mu Ze blinked; he had never seen the pretty sister in front of him before.
But soon, another older sister he recognized walked over and handed him a bottle of milk.
"Little Ze, do you still remember me?" Si Youyou crouched next to Wen Yan and looked at Mu Ze with her.
Mu Ze took the milk and nodded. "I remember, you are Sister Youyou."
Si Youyou looked at the little boy whose eyes were still a bit red and swollen from crying, and reached out to rub his head. "Were you bullied?"
Mu Ze nodded, then shook his head.
Wen Yan looked at Mu Ze, whose facial features and face shape somewhat resembled Chu Man, and said softly, "Little Ze, are you wearing a necklace around your neck?"
Doubt appeared in Mu Ze's eyes. "How did the pretty sister know?"
Wen Yan smiled. "I guessed. Can you take it off and let me see it?"
Sensing Wen Yan's goodwill, Mu Ze took off the necklace and handed it to her.
Wen Yan glanced at the necklace. Sure enough, the necklace had been tampered with by the Taoist priest Madam Mu had hired.
While Mu Ze wasn't paying attention, Wen Yan took out a necklace identical to his. "Alright, here you go. Don't be discouraged, you are the best."
Mu Ze put the necklace back on.
Mom said that only by wearing the necklace could he live his current good life.
He didn't want to go back to the past, so he obediently wore the necklace around his neck every day.
Not long after returning to the classroom, class began.
The first period was a class meeting, followed by Chinese and English.
In the elite school's English classes, the teachers taught entirely in English.
Mu Ze sat in the corner of the back row. He was the poor student in the class, disliked by both teachers and classmates.
The English teacher looked at Mu Hao with a beaming smile. "I would like to invite Mu Hao to introduce his summer vacation in English."
The classmates looked expectant.
Mu Hao had a pure Oxford accent, standard and fluent, a level they still couldn't reach.
Mu Hao raised his chin and stood up proudly.
He organized his thoughts and spoke confidently and flamboyantly, "My summer holiday..."
After speaking a few English words, Mu Hao suddenly froze.
He found himself completely unable to output the words he wanted to say next in English.
What was going on?
He could speak fluently before, so why could he only say a few words now? His mind felt as if it had suddenly emptied out.
Mu Hao stammered for a long time but couldn't utter a single complete English sentence.
Moreover, his pronunciation seemed to have changed drastically. It was no longer a pure Oxford accent, but heavily accented with a rural twang, not even as good as the worst student in the class.
The English teacher and classmates all looked at Mu Hao in disbelief.
Mu Hao furrowed his brows tightly, an irritable expression appearing on his face. "I've been feeling a bit unwell these past two days. Teacher, let Mu Ze answer!"
