After more than half a day, Xue Jiao was still a bit dazed. Although she was known as a “bookworm,” her intelligence quotient had passed the passing line.

After waking up, she had not only transformed into another person but her mind was also filled with this person’s memories and the content of a book.

So was this transmigration?

Or had she possessed someone in a book?

At this moment, what Xue Jiao thought about wasn’t how she had become a supporting female character, nor was it the tragic ending of this supporting character being left as a corpse in the wilderness, but rather—how had she died before seeing her college entrance examination results?!

Eighteen years of hard work, finally finishing the exam, and she died before even seeing her results?

Xue Jiao, eighteen years old, just finished the college entrance examination, with no father or mother.

Gu Xue Jiao, sixteen years old, about to enter the second year of high school, parents divorced, mother Li Si Tong took her and remarried into the Cheng family.

Now, Xue Jiao had become Gu Xue Jiao.

“Gu Xue Jiao!” While she was lost in thought, a woman walked in angrily.

It was the original body’s mother, Li Si Tong.

Xue Jiao thought this way, her eyes still full of unfamiliarity.

As soon as Li Si Tong saw her sitting dazed on the bed, she became angry, raising her hand and slapping her across the face.

“Slap—”

The sharp sound accompanied the pain, and Xue Jiao, who was already in a daze, became completely stunned.

This was the mother of this body, the biological mother.

After waking up, she not only had her own memories but also the memories of this book, so she knew that the relationship between this mother and daughter wasn’t good, but she hadn’t anticipated that Li Si Tong would directly hit her. She was stunned for a moment and couldn’t dodge.

After slapping her, Li Si Tong was also stunned, looking at her hand and then at Xue Jiao, whose face was a bit red.

She opened her mouth, but in the end only said, “The day after tomorrow you start school, tonight the main house will give you all a send-off dinner. Gu Xue Jiao, you must apologize to Ming Jiao tonight!”

After a pause, she added, “I’m going to the main house first. I’ll come to pick you up at five o’clock. Wash that messy stuff off your face!”

After Li Si Tong finished speaking, she turned and walked out. Xue Jiao raised her hand to touch her face, her expression momentarily confused.

Was this her biological mother?

In her world, Xue Jiao had nothing to miss besides her college entrance exam results. Now as Gu Xue Jiao, she was still two years away from the college entrance exam. She had two more years, and surely she could do better than her former self who had to both work and study.

Thinking of this, she felt that her face no longer hurt, her mood was no longer complicated, and she was no longer lost. She only wished she could immediately take out the “Wu San” practice book that she had only gone through once and do it two more times.

No, she still had two years. She could do it five more times!

Xue Jiao stood up from the bed and walked into the bathroom, but as soon as she entered, she froze.

Bright red hair, two large round hoops hanging from her ears, her eyes black and smudged both above and below, her face covered in three layers of powder, bright red lips—it was impossible to see her original appearance.

“Ghost—”

——

It took Xue Jiao quite a while to wash her face clean. The face in the mirror was about eighty percent similar to her own, the remaining twenty percent even more delicate. The features were too exquisite, and along with a bit of baby fat and watery big eyes, she looked very young.

Only that head of blazing red hair was somewhat painful to look at.

She tied her hair into a bun with a rubber band and pinned up the red bangs. Although it was still hard on the eyes, it looked much more normal.

It was already four-thirty in the afternoon, half an hour before going to the Cheng family’s main house.

The slap from her mother today had been very painful. If she hadn’t known the content of this book, she would have been angry as well.

But knowing what would happen tonight made it impossible for her to get angry.

Gu Xue Jiao’s father had an affair, and when she was ten years old, her mother divorced him and took her to remarry Cheng Shuo, the eldest son of the Cheng family. Instigated by her father Gu Jing Xu and her stepmother, she believed that her mother remarried to climb the social ladder.

Additionally, during their years in the Cheng family, Li Si Tong showed great affection for her stepson Cheng Ming Ze, and with the occasional provocation from cousin Cheng Ming Jiao, the mother-daughter relationship deteriorated further.

Li Si Tong was very strict with her, and during her rebellious phase, Gu Xue Jiao, to defy her and attract attention, stopped studying, got into fights, and dressed like a delinquent all day to provoke her.

Xue Jiao was somewhat speechless.

Gu Xue Jiao had been pampered from a young age, focusing her attention on such absurd matters and easily being instigated by others, just like the incident that happened today.

Li Si Tong was discussing with the Cheng family patriarch about getting her into the advanced class when she got into an argument with Cheng Ming Jiao, who then fell down the stairs and blamed her.

Gu Xue Jiao was furious and lacked the intelligence to prove her innocence. In a fit of anger, she made harsh statements at the Cheng family’s main house and ran back.

And then Xue Jiao arrived.

In the original story, Li Si Tong also returned home, and Gu Xue Jiao had a big fight with her before running away from home.

In her desperate search for Gu Xue Jiao, Li Si Tong was too anxious, causing her to overturn her car at the bottom of the mountain and die on the spot.

Xue Jiao closed her eyes slightly. Naturally, she didn’t have deep feelings for Li Si Tong, but she didn’t want her to die either.

So she had to attend tonight’s dinner at the main house.

Five o’clock.

Xue Jiao went downstairs and was driven to the main house by the Cheng family’s chauffeur.

At the Cheng family’s main house.

“Sister-in-law, you really must discipline the child properly. You can’t spoil children, otherwise they not only embarrass themselves but also hurt others…” Cheng Ming Jiao’s mother, Liu Ya Zhen, said meaningfully.

This Li Si Tong was more beautiful than her and very much liked by her husband, but when it came to children, she surpassed her a thousand times over.

She had an excellent eldest daughter and a young son, while the other’s daughter was good-for-nothing and embarrassing, and her son… wasn’t her biological child.

Thinking of this, she proudly raised her chin.

Li Si Tong’s face flushed red. Cheng Shuo, who was talking to Cheng Kai not far away, saw this and waved to her, “Si Tong, come over here for a moment!”

She gave Cheng Shuo a grateful look and quickly walked over.

Liu Ya Zhen pursed her lips, looking at Cheng Ming Ze who was being pulled aside by the patriarch for a talk, and said to Cheng Ming Jiao beside her, “The Cheng family genes are indeed good. It’s a pity that no matter how good they are, she didn’t give birth to him. Just look at what her biological child is like.”

Cheng Ming Jiao nodded, then pursed her lips, “The Cheng family indeed couldn’t produce someone like Gu Xue Jiao. That baggage brings shame to the Cheng family.”

——

When Xue Jiao stepped through the Cheng family’s front door, the housekeeper was already serving the food, and the rest of the Cheng family was still sitting on the sofa.

This family wasn’t very large. The Cheng elders only had two sons: the eldest, Cheng Shuo, and his son Cheng Ming Ze; the second, Cheng Kai, and Liu Ya Zhen’s daughter Cheng Ming Jiao and son Cheng Ming Yu.

The first person Xue Jiao noticed was Cheng Ming Ze—the male protagonist of this book.

The family dinner wasn’t formal. Cheng Ming Ze wore a white shirt and jeans. At seventeen, the young man was already about 1.8 meters tall, handsome and elegant, clean and neat from head to toe. Just sitting there, he gave off a different aura.

She was stunned and walked over slowly, “Grandfather, Grandmother, Uncle Cheng, Mom, Second Uncle, Second Aunt, Brother, Ming Jiao, Ming Yu.”

Now it was the Cheng family’s turn to be stunned. The girl before them had a clean and delicate face, wearing a T-shirt and jeans, her head slightly lowered, obediently greeting everyone. If not for the red bun on her head, they probably wouldn’t have connected this girl with Gu Xue Jiao.

But this girl had always been unpredictable, and they didn’t know what trick she was pulling again.

“Ahem—” Grandfather Cheng coughed and stood up, “Since everyone is here, let’s eat.”

“Yes, yes, let’s eat!” Cheng Shuo and the second Cheng brother helped the two Cheng elders to the dining table.

Li Si Tong walked up to Gu Xue Jiao and sighed in relief. Seeing her clean appearance, she opened her mouth, but in the end, only said stiffly, “Don’t cause trouble tonight!”

After speaking, she followed the others toward the dining table.

No wonder the mother-daughter relationship was strained. It seemed that Li Si Tong was partly responsible as well.

Xue Jiao shrugged slightly, not caring, and followed behind them.

——

The main house’s housekeeper was a good cook. Xue Jiao hadn’t eaten lunch and was enjoying her meal, while the others seemed somewhat distracted.

Their gazes occasionally drifted toward her. The Cheng family didn’t have the habit of not speaking during meals, so Liu Ya Zhen couldn’t help but say, “Xue Jiao looks normal today, no longer dressing like a human or ghost.”

Xue Jiao paused in her eating, slightly raising her head, revealing a clean smile. Her small face and baby fat already made her look young, and when she smiled, her eyes curved like crescent moons, particularly charming.

“Yes, I was ignorant before. It won’t happen again.”

Cheng Ming Jiao’s chopsticks tightened. She hadn’t expected Gu Xue Jiao’s clean face to be so pretty!

If it had been anyone else, it would have been fine, but it had to be this baggage she despised!

Thinking of something, a look of concern appeared on her face, “By the way, cousin, although your grades are somewhat distant from the experimental class, you shouldn’t give up on yourself. Are you not going to the experimental class?”

Some distance…

She thought highly of Gu Xue Jiao!

Out of over a thousand students in the entire grade, there were only two experimental classes. Her grades were at the bottom of the entire grade, a whole grade level away from the experimental class.

If it had been the original Gu Xue Jiao hearing this, she would definitely have exploded, but now it was Xue Jiao, a… learning-loving “nerd.”

Her eyes lit up, looking at Cheng Ming Jiao with shining eyes, as if Cheng Ming Jiao was her favorite person.

“Right! Ming Jiao is right!” She nodded vigorously, saying sincerely, earnestly, and firmly, “I shouldn’t give up on myself. It would be my honor to enter the experimental class!”

Gu Xue Jiao, Cheng Ming Jiao, and Cheng Ming Ze all attended the Seventh High School, a nationally renowned high school. The teaching resources of their experimental class were far better than those of the school Xue Jiao had attended in her previous life!

In her previous life, her estimated score was about enough for a first-tier university. With a bit of luck, she might have gotten into a 211 university. In this life, Gu Xue Jiao had a good family background. She didn’t need to work, and she had two more years to review…

Wouldn’t she be able to hope for her dream university?

Thinking of this, the light in her eyes was almost blinding, “Ming Jiao! What you said is good!”

“…”

There was a moment of silence at the dinner table, almost everyone slightly open-mouthed, staring at her in a daze.

After a while, Cheng Shuo coughed, “Ahem, right, study hard. Don’t worry, Jiao Jiao, it’s already arranged.”

Ten-year-old Cheng Ming Yu scooped a mouthful of rice and said coldly, “The experimental class kicks people out every semester. You’ll just be kicked out after one semester.”

“Ming Yu!” Cheng Kai glared at him, and Cheng Ming Yu pursed his lips, looking at Xue Jiao with disdain.

Each of the Cheng family’s younger generation held her in extreme contempt.

Grandmother Cheng also frowned. She wasn’t particularly fond of this child without Cheng’s family blood, to begin with, but since Cheng Shuo protected her, she reluctantly treated her as family. However, Gu Xue Jiao was too unpredictable, which had thoroughly disappointed the Cheng family.

She glanced at the patriarch, who put down his chopsticks, “Xue Jiao, we’ve placed you in the experimental class because we hope you’ll study well. If you don’t do well at the end of the semester and get kicked out, we won’t intervene again.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Cheng Ming Jiao raised her eyebrows and looked at her mockingly, with a schadenfreude attitude.

Xue Jiao nodded and said seriously, “That’s only right.”

The dinner table fell silent again. Throughout the meal, only Xue Jiao ate with focus, while everyone else was distracted.

——

After dinner, Cheng Shuo, Cheng Kai, and the patriarch went to the study to discuss company matters, and the two wives accompanied the matriarch for a walk, leaving just the four of them standing in the middle of the living room.

Cheng Ming Jiao raised her chin, pulling Cheng Ming Ze and Cheng Ming Yu to sit on one side, “Brother Ming Ze, Ming Yu said he had some questions for you. Let’s sit here and chat for a while!”

As she spoke, she glanced at Xue Jiao in a challenging manner. Unlike the expected fury, Xue Jiao sat down on the sofa on the other side, staring blankly at a corner.

Cheng Ming Jiao’s punch seemed to hit Cotton, leaving her frustrated instead.

Until everyone came downstairs, Xue Jiao kept staring in one direction without moving, surprising not only Cheng Ming Jiao and Cheng Ming Yu, but even Cheng Ming Ze, who glanced at her several times in amazement.

When Li Si Tong saw Xue Jiao sitting alone far away from them, she felt a jolt of anxiety, fearing she was causing trouble again.

“Jiao Jiao?”

No response.

She became more panicked, afraid that this troublesome child was preparing for another major outburst.

She walked to Xue Jiao’s side, raised her hand, and only then heard a soft voice—

“…Looking up at the vastness of the universe, looking down to observe the abundance of all things, thus wandering with eyes and mind, enough to…”

Li Si Tong: “…”???

“Mom?!” Xue Jiao looked at the hand on her shoulder with wide eyes, appearing startled.

Li Si Tong was stunned for a moment, mentally dazed for an instant, before stiffly turning to speak, “We need to get ready to leave…”

“Okay.” Xue Jiao stood up obediently.

The matriarch looked at the children sitting distinctly separated, and suddenly asked, “What were Jiao Jiao and Ming Jiao arguing about this morning?”

Upon hearing this, Li Si Tong glared at Xue Jiao, “You still haven’t apologized to your sister!”

Xue Jiao was very obedient and opened her mouth, “I’m sorry.”

Cheng Ming Jiao’s eye twitched. This straightforward apology didn’t satisfy her; instead, it made her angrier.

She hastily opened her mouth, “It’s like this, cousin said she likes Brother Ming Ze!”

Xue Jiao frowned as she looked at her. In her memory, the morning argument was because Cheng Ming Jiao despised her poor academic performance, saying she would embarrass the experimental class and that she wasn’t worthy of liking Cheng Ming Ze.

Gu Xue Jiao exploded upon hearing this and fought with her, causing her to fall and blame the original body.

This Cheng Ming Jiao’s cunning was beyond what two straightforward Gu Xue Jiaos combined could handle.

The Cheng family members all turned to look at Xue Jiao in an instant, with Cheng Ming Ze furrowing his brow more tightly, disgust flashing in his eyes.

“What?!” Li Si Tong and Cheng Shuo turned their heads in shock, looking at Xue Jiao.

If she denied saying it now, no one would believe her. Not only because Gu Xue Jiao indeed liked Cheng Ming Ze, but also because her current credibility was far below that of Cheng Ming Jiao.

After thinking for a moment, she suddenly raised her head, blinking her big eyes, and nodded very seriously, “Yes, I did say I like my brother.”