Seventh High was far from peaceful that night. The wail of police sirens blared at the school gates, and several students were led away by the officers. No one knew the exact details of what had happened, but the student body was brimming with gossip-fueled excitement — the dormitories stayed noisy for over half an hour longer than usual before finally falling quiet.
Lin Xiaoxiao was still ranting nonstop at that moment. She remembered those four guys, the very same people she had once helped Mu Yue track down. She had explicitly warned them never to bully Mu Yue again, but it was clear her warning had done nothing at all.
Lin Xiaoxiao knew that perfectly well, and she was burning with a mix of shame and guilt. As Mu Yue's friend, she had no idea those four were still harassing her, and she hadn't managed to help at all. Not knowing how to make amends, she could only let her frustration spill out in a stream of angry words, though the more she ranted, the thicker her voice grew with unshed tears.
The four guys couldn't have cared less about Lin Xiaoxiao right then. It had just dawned on them that they were all adults now — were they going to end up in jail?
What do we do, what do we do? Could we just say it was all a joke, that we never bullied her, that we were friends? But would the police ever buy such a stupid lie?
They had been caught red-handed, there was no way to talk their way out of it.
One of the four was still wearing Mu Yue's jacket, the brand-new fabric streaked with obvious dust and scuff marks that were impossible to wipe away. Her new schoolbag was covered in footprints, and her phone was still in the four guys' grasp — the screen showed fresh transfer records and a long string of half-edited vulgar messages.
The guardians of the four teens arrived at the police station one after another after getting the notification. When they learned the full story and the possible consequences, the middle of the night station turned into a stage for all kinds of chaotic family dramas. The first was *Sorrow*, starring a couple who had rushed over straight from their snack stall, still in their aprons, who collapsed onto the floor in despair. Next was *The Prodigal's Family*, featuring an elderly couple who screamed and rolled around making a scene at the station, hurling insults at the police officers and at Mu Yue, the victim. When that got them nowhere, they turned on their timid, obedient daughter trailing behind them and started yelling at her. Then there was *Bitter Regret*, the story of a pair of parents who couldn't believe what they were hearing — they pulled a seven-brand cigarette whip out of nowhere, laying into their kid in a coordinated mother-and-son beating while sobbing uncontrollably themselves. Last was the cold, elegant woman who looked at her child like he was a piece of trash, putting on a performance of *The Indifferent Stepmother*.
Mu Yue finished giving her statement, watched snippets of all four of these "shows", and made no move to linger. She walked out of the police station flanked and protected by Qianqian and Lin Xiaoxiao, heading for the car — it was already very late, and she wanted to go to sleep.
The four families spotted Mu Yue coming out and all tried to rush over. They wanted to pressure her with their age, kneel down to force her into a moral compromise, or beg for forgiveness and negotiate a settlement. But Mu Yue didn't even spare them a glance, her pace never faltering for a second. She climbed into the car and shut the door behind her.
Carter stood by the car door, looking at the four families chasing after them, and said, "If you have anything to say, talk to our lawyer. We will not accept any form of reconciliation or mediation." With that, Carter the butler got into the car too, leaving only a smiling lawyer standing by the vehicle.
The case was rock solid. Multiple eyewitnesses, including teachers and police officers, had caught the whole thing in the act, and on top of that, Mu Yue had submitted a whole set of evidence. The four were definitely going to prison, the only question was how many years they would get. The lawyer had already told them the sentence would be on the longer side, not the shorter. Because Mu Yue's phone had a video sent to her by "the kind classmate" — the footage clearly recorded not just the whole course of the assault, but another illegal act the four were in the middle of carrying out, that they hadn't finished yet.
That "the kind classmate" was naturally the system, but Mu Yue had only given it instructions to send the video over as an anonymous classmate who didn't want to be named. In reality, the message she received read:
[Hi Mu Yue, I took this video behind the equipment shed. I thought about it for a long time and decided to send it to you, hope it helps]
[I'm also really sorry I didn't have the courage to step in and help you at the time]
[Please don't ask who I am, I don't want the head teacher to find out I was secretly smoking on the playground and get a demerit]
[Video]
[Monkey bowing emote.jpg]
Her phone had already been left at the police station as evidence, but when Mu Yue first saw the messages, she couldn't help but be amused. The custodian system was so clunky and robotic, none of this looked like something Little Custodian would have come up with. If she hadn't arranged the whole thing herself, she would have actually believed there was some kind classmate who just happened to be there at the right moment.
But who could it really be? Oh my, this is so hard to guess, Mu Yue thought, the corners of her lips lifting in a bright, cheerful smile.
"Phew, she has no idea it was us!" Tycoon let out a relieved breath. That was a close call, they almost got caught by their host for stealing Little Custodian's job.
The other three systems all looked away in unison, staring at that simple little cat head avatar. "..."
Top Student couldn't help but speak up. "Little Tycoon, go read more books when you have time, okay?"
"Meow?"
The other two systems fully agreed with Top Student's suggestion this time. Kid, you really need to get a clue. She didn't not figure it out, she definitely knew. But they had no plans to reveal their identities to their host just yet. They wanted to observe her a little longer, make sure everything was safe, so they didn't end up giving their trust away again, only to get a whole pile of garbage in return.
On the ride back, Lin Xiaoxiao was feeling really down, and with Carter the butler around, she didn't even dare talk to Mu Yue. It wasn't until they got back to the hotel and Carter the butler went to the guest room that she finally spoke to Mu Yue. "I'm so sorry Yueyue, I'm such a terrible friend. I didn't help you at all, I'm so useless."
This time, Mu Yue's smile was completely genuine. She looked at Lin Xiaoxiao seriously and said, "Xiaoxiao, kindness is such a wonderful trait. The fact that you were willing to step up and stand by me was already such a big help. You have no idea how important your appearance was to the old 'Mu Yue' back then, in that exact moment."
After all, there were so many people who wouldn't even have the courage to show up at all when they saw something like that happening. Even if Lin Xiaoxiao had that bad case of being hopelessly love-struck, she was still a brave, kind, and sincere girl who cared deeply for the people around her.
Lin Xiaoxiao laughed through her tears, and said in a mock-petulant tone, "Ugh, you're so annoying! When did you get so good at saying nice things? Did you secretly learn some special trick? Hand it over right now!"
Mu Yue said she did have a trick, and reached out to tickle her. Soon Lin Xiaoxiao was laughing so hard real tears were streaming down her face. They tussled and joked around for a while before heading off to their own rooms to rest.
With all the factors that were distracting her from her studies out of the way, Mu Yue was in a fantastic mood the next day, and her energy was through the roof. She finished breakfast early and headed to school with Lin Xiaoxiao, with Carter and Qianqian tagging along too.
Carter had been released from the card at a safe spot near the school the night before, right before Mu Yue went inside. They had wasted a few hours during the evening self-study session, but there was no helping it — she couldn't very well summon Carter in the middle of school. When Carter went to rest last night, Mu Yue had put him back in the card, and she still had over three hours of usage time left.
The butler and the assistant were heading to the school to talk about the incident from the previous night. Since the whole thing had happened on school grounds, the school's poor management meant they owed everyone a proper explanation. They also came to sort out the paperwork for Mu Yue to switch to day student status.
With such a serious incident having just occurred, the application for day student status was approved without a hitch. Mu Yue decided she wouldn't even attend the evening self-study sessions anymore, and would study on her own with custom tutoring instead. Later on, she might even apply to review for her exams entirely from home, and only come to school on test days.
Word soon got around that the four troublemakers had been taken to the police station. The school administration announced they would issue a formal notice of criticism, deal with the incident seriously, and extend a formal apology to Mu Yue. Mu Yue did not press the matter further—she had no intention of wasting her time on such trivial matters, for her top priority was her academic work.
The school planned to announce the disciplinary action at the flag-raising ceremony next Monday, a formal occasion that would drive home the gravity of the incident to all students. The school leaders were far from being muddleheaded. They knew that incidents like this would repeat if left unchecked, so by taking a firm stance, they could at least reduce the likelihood of similar troubles happening again, if not eliminate them entirely.
However, most students this week had not yet learned of the arrangement for Monday, and were still speculating about why the police had showed up at campus the previous night. Mu Yue's class and the class the four troublemakers belonged to were the first to get the full story, and by that afternoon, the whole school had heard the news.
Mu Yue clearly noticed that her classmates were keeping their distance from her. It was not that they disliked her, but that they were deliberately avoiding any contact or conflict with her. Those who had run their mouths nonstop about the incident where Mu Yue was seen getting into a luxury car some time ago were especially eager to stay as far away from her as possible.
Mu Yue herself might have seemed soft and yielding, but everyone could tell that her powerful, well-connected elders from a wealthy background were certainly not. She used to have no one to back her up, but things were completely different now.
Lin Xiaoxiao was upset to see her classmates acting this way toward Mu Yue, but Mu Yue, on the contrary, was perfectly content with the situation. This was exactly the effect she wanted—she hoped everyone would give her a wide berth and leave her alone, so they would not waste any of her time.
It had to be said, the effect was remarkably good. Mu Yue's cousin, who had originally planned to storm into her classroom that morning to confront her and demand to know why she had blocked every single member of his family and ignored all their messages, immediately turned into a cowardly turtle after hearing the news. He wanted nothing more than to become an invisible turtle, hoping that Mu Yue would never think of him or any of his family members at all.
Mu Yue, for her part, was not thinking of them at all, nor did she have the spare time to do so. The monthly exam was coming up on Friday, so every minute and every second was precious. She threw herself deep into her studies, completely absorbed. The money she earned from her daily check-ins, after spending some on new seasonal clothes and tutoring fees, she had no time to spend the rest, and besides, she planned to save all of it. She intended to use the double reward card over the weekend to rent an apartment as soon as possible.
As Mu Yue threw herself into her busy study schedule, Lin Xiaoxiao, who had stayed by her side all this time, not only felt unaccustomed to the new rhythm, but also began to feel lost. She started wondering what on earth she had been doing throughout her entire high school years.
This feeling of confusion was hit hard like a blunt stick, and completely jolted awake on Wednesday, when her father called to tell her he had found a place to rent, and asked her to come with him to check it out.
It was an old walk-up apartment in a dated residential community. The two-bedroom unit her father had rented was shabby, with old furniture and old appliances. Apart from the daily necessities they had just bought, there was barely anything new in the small, cramped space.
Standing inside that tiny, squeezed apartment, Lin Xiaoxiao clearly realized for the first time what her family's real situation was now. She had grown up in a luxury villa, wanting for nothing. Even when her family fell on hard times, they had still been able to live in a nice apartment. When that apartment was destroyed, they immediately moved in with the Leng family, who were even wealthier than her family had been at their peak, so their living standards had remained very comfortable.
This had led to a serious problem: she had been completely blind to reality, and had no sense of what her future would hold. All her thoughts and time had been spent chasing after dreamy, idealized romance. This was the first harsh truth Mu Yue had wanted her to see: to recognize the reality of her life.
