“All these years, Wu Jin has never had to do anything at home. She can finish eating and go watch television. Me? After I eat, I have to wash the dishes, mop the floor, and wipe the table. By comparison, Wu Jin is the one who seems to be your biological daughter, isn’t she?”
Jiang Chan’s expression remained indifferent. These were not things she had experienced herself, after all, so she spoke as though she were telling a stranger’s story. To everyone else, however, she seemed utterly brokenhearted.
A crowd of students had gathered at the office door to watch. They had never imagined the top student in their year had such a miserable background. Were these her biological parents? Surely they were stepparents?
“Even if you hadn’t come to find me, I would have gone to find you. I’ve had enough of this whole family, every one of you so hypocritical and affected. I’m in my second year now, and I’ll soon be able to take the college entrance examination. I’ll calculate the cost of raising me all these years, adjust it for inflation, and pay you back in a lump sum later. As for supporting you in your old age, I’ll contribute whatever Lian Yanbin and Wu Jin contribute. That’s all I have to say. Unless there’s something necessary, let’s not see each other again. The sight of you makes me sick.”
“Lian Qiao, do you have to quibble over every little thing? We’re a family. Why turn things into this?” Lian Shuguo looked exhausted. “Weren’t things fine before?”
Jiang Chan raised a finger and wagged it. “No, no, no. Things were fine before because I kept giving way. Now I don’t want to anymore. Don’t I deserve to be treated like a little princess too? Why should I wrong myself and let myself be mistreated? You all live in harmony while I’m left in torment. Am I really that self-sacrificing?”
“Oh, and I intend to transfer my household registration to the school. I believe the school will be happy to take it on. Isn’t that right, Mr. Tang?”
Jiang Chan smiled at Mr. Tang. He snapped to attention and immediately nodded vigorously. “Of course. I’ll make sure it’s all handled properly.”
“Good. Mr. Tang, I have faith in you!”
Jiang Chan patted Old Tang’s shoulder, entrusting him with this important task.
“One more thing. Push me too far, and none of us will come out of it well. If I expose this to the media, let’s see whether you can keep your job, Lian Shuguo. And then, who knows whether Lian Yanbin will be able to find a good job?”
After leaving them with this threat, Jiang Chan pushed through the crowd. Seeing Wu Jin standing behind it, she scoffed. “There. Your whole family is reunited. I, the outsider, will have the good sense to get out of your way. I wish your family every happiness!”
Wu Jin’s face was pale. “I’m sorry, Lian Qiao. I apologize on Mom and Dad’s behalf. You’ll hurt them by doing this.”
Jiang Chan snorted. “What right or standing do you have to say that to me? Don’t forget that while they wronged me, you received the actual benefits. What use is an apology? Without them, I feel much lighter.”
“My dear, wonderful sister, I wish you an even better life from now on.” Jiang Chan smiled as she left these words beside Wu Jin’s ear, then headed back to Class One without looking back. The students in the corridor parted at once to let her through.
Now this was someone formidable. She did not hold back even when tearing into her own parents. But thinking of everything Jiang Chan had just described, the students felt she must have been utterly disappointed to take such a step.
The bell rang, and the students scattered in a rush. Like a valiant warrior, Jiang Chan made her glorious entrance late. The English teacher smiled. “You’re back. Go sit down.”
The teacher now looked at Jiang Chan like a pitiful little waif, her gaze full of affection. Under that look, Jiang Chan shuddered. Oh dear. It seemed she had overdone the pitiful act a little.
But then Jiang Chan felt entirely justified again. This was the life the original owner, Lian Qiao, had truly lived. She had merely spoken about it. It was all fact.
In the office, Wu Xiuzhen and Lian Shuguo’s faces alternated between red and pale. Under the teachers’ gazes, they were unbearably embarrassed. Old Tang poured each of them a cup of tea. “Now let’s discuss transferring Lian Qiao’s household registration…”
Looking at the tuition money on the desk, Old Tang pushed it toward Lian Shuguo. “Lian Qiao is an outstanding student. Our school has waived her tuition, living expenses, and accommodation fees. Please take this tuition and living money back.”
Lian Shuguo’s face burned with shame. Jiang Chan’s words were like slaps to his face, puncturing the false image he had used to deceive himself all this time and forcing him to confront the ugly truth.
“Please give this money to Lian Qiao. She’s a girl. How can she live without money?” Lian Shuguo still had some sense of shame. Wu Xiuzhen had no such scruples. “We must take this money. I’d like to see what that girl can accomplish without any money. When the time comes, she’ll have to come home whether she wants to or not.”
Lian Shuguo wanted to say something, but then he thought this might be a good opportunity to take Lian Qiao down a peg, so he fell silent. Old Tang sighed. “You should both calm down. I’ll come to your home tomorrow to transfer Lian Qiao’s household registration to the school.”
He was informing them, certainly not asking. Jiang Chan had also vaguely guessed that Old Tang was no ordinary teacher. Teachers who stayed with the same class as it advanced were usually older and highly experienced, whereas Old Tang looked far too young. Entrusting this matter to him was therefore the quickest approach.
Old Tang did not tell Lian Shuguo and his wife about Jiang Chan’s scholarship. What use would saying so be? These two were unbelievably stubborn and saw only what they wanted to see.
Jiang Chan paid no more attention to what followed. A week later, Old Tang told her that Lian Qiao’s household registration had been transferred to the school. In the future, even when she filled out her university preferences and the like, the Lian family would have little power to restrict her.
Once her household registration was transferred to the school, even Jiang Chan’s steps grew lighter. The mountain weighing on her had been removed. Now it was time to rack up achievements.
Time flew, and a semester passed in the blink of an eye. During that semester, Jiang Chan had become a prominent figure on campus. It was not merely her grades, but even more so her talents.
At the National Day performance, Jiang Chan overturned everyone’s image of top students with a guqin piece. Top students could have all kinds of talents too! They were certainly not the bespectacled bookworms everyone imagined.
When Jiang Chan first enrolled, the school had given her a three-thousand-yuan scholarship. At the end of the semester, it awarded her another three thousand. There was little she needed to spend money on at school.
Apart from buying a phone, Jiang Chan saved all her money. She was poor now, after all. She still needed to find a way to earn money.
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