Half a day had passed, and Xue Jiao was still a bit dazed. Although she was famously known as a "bookworm," her IQ was definitely above average.
Waking up, she had not only become another person but also gained that person's memories and the contents of a book.
So, had she transmigrated?
Or possessed a character in a book?
At this moment, Xue Jiao wasn’t thinking about becoming a supporting female character or the tragic fate of this character dying alone in the wilderness. Instead, she was fixated on one thing—how could she have died before seeing her college entrance exam results?!
Eighteen years of hard work, finally finishing the exams, and she didn’t even get to see her scores before dying?
Xue Jiao, eighteen years old, had just finished her college entrance exams, with no parents to speak of.
Gu Xue Jiao, sixteen years old, about to enter her second year of high school, came from a divorced family. Her mother, Li Sitong, had remarried into the Cheng family.
Now, Xue Jiao had become Gu Xue Jiao.
"Gu Xue Jiao!" A woman stormed into the room while she was lost in thought.
It was the original body’s mother, Li Sitong.
Xue Jiao thought this, her eyes still full of unfamiliarity.
The moment Li Sitong saw her sitting blankly on the bed, anger surged within her. She raised her hand and slapped Xue Jiao across the face.
Smack!
The sharp sound was accompanied by pain. Xue Jiao, already in a daze, was now completely stunned.
This was the mother of this body—her biological mother.
After waking up, she not only had her own memories but also the memories from the book. So she knew the relationship between this mother and daughter was strained. But she hadn’t expected Li Sitong to hit her outright. Caught off guard, she hadn’t been able to dodge.
Li Sitong also froze after striking her. She looked at her own hand, then at Xue Jiao’s reddened face.
Her lips parted, but in the end, she only said, "School starts the day after tomorrow. The old mansion is holding a farewell dinner for you tonight. Gu Xue Jiao, you must apologize to Mingjiao this evening!"
After a pause, she added, "I’m heading to the old mansion first. I’ll pick you up at five. Wash off all that ridiculous stuff on your face!"
With that, Li Sitong turned and left. Xue Jiao raised a hand to touch her cheek, her expression momentarily blank.
Was this really her birth mother?
In her original world, Xue Jiao had nothing to miss except her college entrance exam results. Now, as Gu Xue Jiao, she still had two years before the exams—two extra years. Surely, she could do even better than before, when she had to juggle work and studies?
Thinking this, her face no longer hurt, her mood was no longer complicated, and her confusion faded. All she wanted was to immediately pull out the Five-Year College Entrance Exam Review she had only managed to go through once and do it twice more.
No—with two years left, she could go through it five more times!
Xue Jiao got up from the bed and walked into the bathroom, only to freeze the moment she entered.
Bright red hair, two large hoops dangling from her ears, thick black smudges above and below her eyes, a face caked in three layers of powder, and fiery red lips—her original features were completely obscured.
"A ghost—!"
——
It took Xue Jiao a long time to wash her face clean. The reflection in the mirror bore an eighty percent resemblance to her original appearance, with the remaining twenty percent being even more delicate. Her features were exquisitely refined, with a hint of baby fat and large, watery eyes that made her look very young.
Only the glaringly red hair was an eyesore.
She tied her hair into a bun with a hairband, tucking the red bangs up. Though still a bit jarring, it was at least more presentable.
It was already 4:30 in the afternoon—just half an hour left before heading to the Cheng family’s old mansion.The slap from her mother today stung badly. If she hadn't known the contents of this book, she would have been furious too.
But knowing what would happen tonight made her anger dissipate.
Gu Xue Jiao's father had an affair. When she was ten, her mother divorced him and remarried Cheng Shuo, the eldest son of the Cheng family. Under the instigation of her father Gu Jingxu and stepmother, she believed her mother remarried for wealth and status.
Over the years in the Cheng household, Li Sitong doted on her stepson Cheng Mingze while her cousin Cheng Mingjiao constantly provoked her, worsening the relationship between mother and daughter.
Li Sitong was strict with her. During her rebellious phase, Gu Xue Jiao refused to comply and sought attention by not studying, fighting, and dressing like a delinquent to provoke her.
Xue Jiao felt somewhat speechless.
Gu Xue Jiao had been pampered since childhood, focusing on trivial matters and easily swayed by others—just like today's incident.
Li Sitong was discussing with the Cheng family patriarch about getting her into an elite class when she quarreled with Cheng Mingjiao, who then deliberately fell down the stairs and framed her.
Furious but lacking the wit to prove her innocence, Gu Xue Jiao stormed out of the Cheng family mansion after making threats and ran back home.
Then Xue Jiao arrived.
In the original story, Li Sitong also returned, leading to a heated argument with Gu Xue Jiao, who ran away from home.
In her haste to find Gu Xue Jiao, Li Sitong got into a car accident at the foot of the mountain and died on the spot.
Xue Jiao closed her eyes slightly. She didn't have deep feelings for Li Sitong, but she didn't want her to die either.
So tonight, she must attend the dinner at the old mansion.
Five o'clock.
Xue Jiao went downstairs and was driven by the Cheng family's chauffeur to the old mansion.
Cheng Family Mansion.
"Sister-in-law, children must be disciplined properly. You can't spoil them too much, or they'll not only embarrass you but also hurt others..." Liu Yazhen, Cheng Mingjiao's mother, said meaningfully.
This Li Sitong was prettier than her and well-liked by her husband, but when it came to children, Liu Yazhen surpassed her a thousand times over.
She had an outstanding elder daughter and a younger son, while the other's daughter was useless and disgraceful, and the son... wasn't even her own.
Thinking of this, she lifted her chin proudly.
Li Sitong's face burned with shame. Cheng Shuo, who was talking to Cheng Kai nearby, noticed and waved her over. "Sitong, come here for a moment!"
She gave Cheng Shuo a grateful look and hurried over.
Liu Yazhen pursed her lips and glanced at Cheng Mingze, who was talking with the patriarch, then said to Cheng Mingjiao beside her, "The Cheng family genes are indeed good. Pity the best one isn't hers. Just look at what her own flesh and blood turned out to be."
Cheng Mingjiao nodded and sneered. "The Cheng family could never produce trash like Gu Xue Jiao. That burden is such an embarrassment to the family."
——
When Xue Jiao stepped through the Cheng family gates, the maid was already serving dishes while the rest of the family remained seated on the sofa.
The family wasn't large. The elderly Chengs had only two sons: the eldest, Cheng Shuo, and his son Cheng Mingze; the second, Cheng Kai, and his wife Liu Yazhen's children, Cheng Mingjiao and Cheng Mingyu.
Xue Jiao's first glance fell on Cheng Mingze—the male lead of this book.The family dinner wasn't formal. Cheng Mingze wore a white shirt with jeans. At seventeen, he was already about 1.8 meters tall—handsome and elegant, exuding an air of cleanliness. Just sitting there, he brought a different vibe to the room.
She paused for a moment before slowly walking over. "Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Cheng, Mom, Second Uncle, Second Aunt, Brother, Mingjiao, Mingyu."
This time, it was the Cheng family's turn to be stunned. The girl before them had a delicate, makeup-free face, dressed simply in a T-shirt and jeans. She slightly lowered her head as she greeted them obediently. If not for the red bun hairstyle, they might not have recognized her as Gu Xue Jiao.
But this girl had always been unreliable—who knew what mischief she was up to now?
"Ahem—" Old Master Cheng coughed and stood up. "Since everyone's here, let's start dinner."
"Yes, yes, let's eat!" Cheng Shuo and the second son of the Cheng family helped the elderly couple to the dining table.
Li Sitong approached Gu Xue Jiao, relieved to see her clean appearance. She opened her mouth but only managed to say stiffly, "Don't cause any trouble tonight!"
With that, she followed the others to the table.
No wonder their mother-daughter relationship was strained—Li Sitong was partly to blame.
Xue Jiao shrugged slightly, unfazed, and trailed behind them.
——
The housekeeper at the old residence was an excellent cook. Having skipped lunch, Xue Jiao ate heartily while the others seemed distracted.
Their gazes kept drifting toward her. The Cheng family didn’t follow the rule of silence during meals, so Liu Yazhen couldn’t resist commenting, "Xue Jiao seems normal today, not dressed like some ghostly creature anymore."
Xue Jiao paused mid-bite, raising her head with a clean smile. Her small face, still slightly chubby with baby fat, made her look even younger. When she smiled, her eyes curved into crescents, utterly charming.
"Yes, I was immature before. It won’t happen again."
Cheng Mingjiao clenched her chopsticks. She hadn’t expected Gu Xue Jiao’s clean face to be so pretty!
If it were anyone else, fine—but why did it have to be this detested tagalong?
As if struck by a thought, she put on a worried expression. "By the way, Cousin, even though your grades are a bit short of the experimental class standard, you shouldn’t give up on yourself. Are you really not going to try for it?"
"A bit short"…
What an overestimation of Gu Xue Jiao!
Out of over a thousand students in their grade, only two experimental classes existed. Her grades ranked at the very bottom—separated from the experimental class by the entire grade.
The original Gu Xue Jiao would have exploded at this, but the current Xue Jiao was a studious "nerd."
Her eyes lit up as she gazed at Cheng Mingjiao as if she were her favorite person.
"You’re right, Mingjiao!" She nodded emphatically, her tone sincere, earnest, and resolute. "I can’t give up on myself. Getting into the experimental class would be an honor!"
Gu Xue Jiao, Cheng Mingjiao, and Cheng Mingze all attended No. 7 High School, a nationally renowned institution. The teaching resources in its experimental class were undoubtedly far superior to those at Xue Jiao’s previous school.
In her past life, her estimated scores had barely scraped the first-tier cutoff, with luck possibly landing her in a 211 university. Now, with Gu Xue Jiao’s privileged background, no need to work part-time, and two extra years to prepare…
Could she dare to aim for her dream university?At this thought, the light in her eyes was almost blinding. "Mingjiao! That was so well said!"
"..."
The dining table fell into a brief silence. Almost everyone's mouths were slightly agape as they stared at her in astonishment.
After a while, Cheng Shuo coughed lightly. "Ahem, yes, study hard. Don't worry, Jiao Jiao, everything's already been arranged."
Ten-year-old Cheng Mingyu scooped a mouthful of rice and said coldly, "The experimental class weeds out students every semester. You'll just be kicked out after one term anyway."
"Mingyu!" Cheng Kai glared at him. Mingyu curled his lip and shot Xue Jiao a disdainful look.
Every single one of the younger generation in the Cheng family looked down on her.
Old Madam Cheng also frowned. She had never been particularly fond of this child who didn't share the Cheng bloodline, but since Cheng Shuo protected her, she reluctantly treated her as family. However, Gu Xue Jiao's behavior had been so unreliable that the Cheng family was thoroughly disappointed in her.
She glanced at the old master, who set down his chopsticks and said, "Xue Jiao, we've arranged for you to enter the experimental class because we genuinely hope you'll study hard. If your grades aren't good by the end of the semester and you get expelled, we won't intervene again."
As soon as he finished speaking, Cheng Mingjiao raised her eyebrows and looked at Xue Jiao mockingly, her expression full of schadenfreude.
Xue Jiao nodded earnestly. "That's only fair."
The table fell silent again. Throughout the meal, Xue Jiao was the only one who ate with focus—everyone else was distracted.
After dinner, Cheng Shuo, Cheng Kai, and the old master went to the study to discuss company matters. The two daughters-in-law accompanied the old madam for a walk, leaving only the four youngsters standing in the middle of the living room.
Cheng Mingjiao lifted her chin and pulled Cheng Mingze and Cheng Mingyu to sit on one side. "Mingze-ge, Mingyu said he has some questions for you. Let's sit here and chat for a while!"
She shot Xue Jiao a challenging look, but contrary to her expectations of an angry outburst, Xue Jiao simply sat down on the opposite sofa, staring blankly at a corner.
Mingjiao's provocation felt like punching cotton—it only made her angrier.
Until everyone came downstairs, Xue Jiao remained motionless, her gaze fixed in one direction. Not only Mingjiao and Mingyu, but even Mingze couldn't help glancing at her in surprise several times.
When Li Sitong saw Xue Jiao sitting alone, far apart from the others, her heart skipped a beat, fearing she was stirring up trouble again.
"Jiao Jiao?"
No response.
Her anxiety grew—she was afraid this troublemaker was gearing up for another outburst.
She walked over to Xue Jiao and raised her hand, only then hearing a soft murmur—
"...'Looking up, I observe the vastness of the universe; looking down, I behold the multitude of living things. Thus I let my eyes roam and my mind wander, enough to...'"
Li Sitong: "......" ???
"Mom?!" Xue Jiao widened her eyes at the hand on her shoulder, looking startled.
Li Sitong froze, momentarily dazed, before stiffly turning away and saying, "We should get ready to leave..."
"Okay." Xue Jiao stood up obediently.
Old Madam Cheng glanced at the clearly divided seating of the children and suddenly asked, "What were Jiao Jiao and Mingjiao arguing about this morning?"
Li Sitong immediately shot Xue Jiao a glare. "You still haven't apologized to your cousin!"
Xue Jiao, ever compliant, opened her mouth. "I'm sorry."
Cheng Mingjiao's eye twitched. This swift apology didn't bring her satisfaction—instead, it only fueled her anger further.
She hastily blurted out, "This is what happened—cousin said she likes Mingze-ge!"Xue Jiao frowned as she looked at her. In her memory, the argument that morning had been because Cheng Mingjiao despised her for being a poor student, saying it was shameful for her to be in the experimental class, and that she wasn't worthy of liking Cheng Mingze.
Upon hearing this, Gu Xue Jiao had bristled and fought with her, only for Mingjiao to throw herself down and frame the original host.
This Cheng Mingjiao's scheming was something even two straightforward Gu Xue Jiaos combined couldn't outmaneuver.
The Cheng family instantly turned their gazes toward Xue Jiao, with Cheng Mingze especially furrowing his brows, his eyes flashing with disgust.
"What?!" Li Sitong and Cheng Shuo turned their heads in shock, staring at Xue Jiao.
Denying her words now wouldn't convince anyone. Not only had Gu Xue Jiao indeed liked Cheng Mingze, but her current credibility was far below Mingjiao's.
After a moment's thought, she suddenly raised her head, blinked her large eyes, and nodded earnestly. "Yes, I did say I liked Brother."
Li Sitong pointed a trembling finger at her, seething with anger. The faces of the two Cheng elders also turned cold, their eyes narrowing as they stared at her intently.