Jiang Lianyu was almost at her limit. Back when she was still with Jiang Yu, she at least had enough pocket money. Even though Jiang Yu had married Qi Yan, he hadn’t mistreated her and had been generous with her allowance.
But now that she was with Qin Miao, perhaps holding a grudge because Jiang Lianyu had chosen to follow Jiang Yu back then, Qin Miao treated her harshly. Jiang Lianyu originally had several thousand yuan in pocket money, but it was all taken by Qin Miao.
The amount of pocket money she was given was minimal, and Jiang Lianyu instantly found herself living a tight and stretched life. Sometimes, when the school required supplementary materials, Qin Miao wasn’t even willing to pay for them.
When Jiang Lianyue tried to reach out to Jiang Yu, he would simply transfer a fixed amount of money to Qin Miao each month and wouldn’t ask any further questions. Later, when Jiang Lianyue called him too often, Jiang Yu simply changed his phone number.
That’s when Jiang Lianyu understood clearly, she had been completely abandoned by Jiang Yu. Just because she had caused Qi Yan’s son to be born prematurely, Jiang Yu now bore a deep grudge against her.
Jiang Lianyu dug her nails into her palm. From the corner of her eye, she saw Jiang Chan and Mo Xingyu chatting behind her, with a group of girls gathered around. What was so great about Jiang Chan? Wasn’t it just that she was good at studying? Her grades weren’t bad either. So why didn’t anyone crowd around her?
Wasn’t it all because of the Lin family name? Jiang Lianyu slumped over her desk, the more she thought about it, the more hopeless her future felt.
She didn’t stop to consider that while her grades were indeed good, she hoarded her knowledge. It wasn’t as if no one had ever come to ask her for help, but she always brushed them off, claiming she didn’t know. After a few times of that, compared to Jiang Chan’s selflessness, anyone would know who to turn to.
Especially since Jiang Chan explained things simply and clearly, often resolving questions in just a few sentences. That made classmates even more inclined to approach her.
Time flew by, and Jiang Chan excelled in science. When it came time to choose between science and liberal arts, she confidently chose science, as she had wished. Jiang Lianyu, on the other hand, chose liberal arts, as she was truly bad at science and always relied on liberal arts subjects to pull up her scores.
Naturally, Mo Xingyu followed in Jiang Chan’s footsteps and continued to sit beside her after the division. Once they were seated, she sighed to Jiang Chan, “Finally free of her. After being classmates with her for years, I always felt stifled.”
Jiang Chan twirled her pen. “It’s not that exaggerated. Just pretend she doesn’t exist.”
This year, Jiang Chan didn’t deliberately cause trouble for Jiang Lianyu. Knowing she wasn’t doing well, Jiang Chan didn’t bother kicking her while she was down. As long as Jiang Lianyu didn’t actively provoke her, Jiang Chan could pretend nothing had happened.
She wasn’t someone who liked gossiping behind others’ backs. Jiang Chan never talked about Jiang Lianyu in class, so over the years, very few people even knew the two were related.
Back when Jiang Chan had torn into Jiang Lianyu, the entire school had been in an uproar. But as time passed, the incident faded from memory, and most had forgotten.
Especially after the class reshuffle and entering high school, even fewer people knew about these events, which allowed Jiang Lianyue to keep her past hidden.
Once the arts and sciences were divided, Jiang Chan’s strengths became fully apparent. Chinese was also one of her strongest subjects. Under Jiang Sen’s influence in her previous world, even a blockhead like her had been enlightened.
Math, physics, and chemistry were actually easy to score in. As long as you mastered the formulas and theorems, Jiang Chan almost never lost points in those subjects. The only thing she needed to improve was English. Luckily, Liang Chen was excellent in English, thanks to her frequent trips abroad to attend fashion shows.
With all this in comparison, Jiang Chan continued to dominate, far ahead of the rest. Eventually, whenever grades were released, no one even looked at who was first. It was always her without question.
Now everyone competed for second place, trying to narrow the gap with Jiang Chan. Time passed quickly, and Jiang Chan soon entered her final year of high school.
The class atmosphere suddenly grew tense, but Jiang Chan remained the same, seemingly unaffected. She never stayed for evening self-study and routinely visited the company for inspections. Compared to classmates who were buried in their books, her relaxed attitude made her an easy target for resentment.
When the college entrance exam results came out, Jiang Chan once again shocked everyone. She achieved a perfect score and secured the top rank in the province. The title of top college entrance exam scholar was very prestigious, and Jiang Chan’s past was once again dug up.
Provincial top scorer in the high school entrance exam, never once dropping from first place in her regular exams, and balancing company responsibilities on top of that. Once all this was reported, she immediately became the gold standard child in everyone’s eyes.
The Lin family was already used to her achievements. Hadn’t she been the top scorer in the high school entrance exam too? Given all her efforts over the years, the family felt this honor was well deserved.
Just like with her teacher appreciation banquet after the high school entrance exam, Jiang Chan’s banquet for the college entrance exam was held just as grandly. The hotel had already hosted one before, so they were experienced and familiar with the process.
Old Master Lin rarely appeared in public now, but for this occasion, he specially sat with all of Jiang Chan’s teachers, his face glowing with pride as he listened to their praise.
All of Jiang Chan’s classmates attended. Who wouldn’t want to be invited to her banquet? Even if they weren’t in the same class, just becoming familiar with Jiang Chan was seen as a good opportunity.
Better yet, they might even be able to establish a connection with the Lin family behind her. The students might not think that far, but the parents certainly did. So, the banquet was packed with guests.
Jiang Yu and Qi Yan sat at a table in the corner. Qi Yan was feeding a boy around three years old. This boy was Jiang Yu’s lifeblood now. Of his two original daughters, Jiang Chan had already cut ties with him completely.
And after what Jiang Lianyu had done, Jiang Yu had fully given up on her as a daughter. When it came down to it, this son was all he had left to rely on in his old age.
Qi Yan was happy to have Jiang Yu pour all his attention into their son. Right now, the only one Jiang Yu could rely on was her son. Jiang Chan had made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him.
That meant everything Jiang Yu had in the future would go to her son. As long as she kept a tight grip on the boy, everything Jiang Yu had would eventually be hers.
So Qi Yan took extreme care of Jiang Xiaobao, unwilling to leave anything to others. In Jiang Yu’s eyes, this meant Qi Yan was diligent and caring about the child.
Truth be told, living with just one person for so long, Jiang Yu had started feeling lonely. But when he looked at his son’s chubby little face, that loneliness vanished.
However, when he saw Lin Qiao Liang Chen and others accepting toasts and being praised for Jiang Chan’s excellent exam results and bringing them honor, Jiang Yu still felt a pang of resentment.
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