A few minutes earlier, she had rushed into the teacher's office, her expression panicked, looking just like a student who had discovered an injustice but only dared to tell the teacher: "Teacher, Zhang Ke is stealing other students' snacks again!"
Previously, the teacher had blamed Lin Cheng for hitting someone without even asking for the full story, not realizing that Zhang Ke was truly the instigator!
The teacher made Zhang Ke apologize to Lin Cheng and notified his parents.
Later, during the break, when they encountered each other again, Jiang Yan pulled Lin Cheng aside and asked Zhang Ke with a smile: "Do you know why that candy tasted so bad?"
Zhang Ke thought they were trying to trick him again and warily looked around for any sign of their homeroom teacher.
Suddenly, he heard Jiang Yan ask Lin Cheng: "What kind of poison did we put in it again?"
Lin Cheng was quick to react, immediately recalling a martial arts film his father had watched, and said loudly: "Five Poison Powder! It also contains heartbreak grass, which will slowly kill you with pain after eating it!"
Zhang Ke's eyes widened in terror, and he immediately wanted to vomit. But he had been eating it for several days already, so he couldn't throw it up. Tears were about to flow down his face as he reached out to Jiang Yan: "G-give me the antidote!"
Jiang Yan shook her head regretfully: "That poison has no cure."
Zhang Ke was so frightened that as soon as school let out, he dragged his mother to the hospital, saying he had been poisoned. Mrs. Zhang couldn't get a clear answer no matter how she asked, and finally took him for a physical examination, which naturally showed nothing wrong.
Zhang Ke still felt the doctor hadn't examined him thoroughly enough and, mimicking adult speech, clamored about suing the doctor. His mother, however, had already lost patience and twisted his ear, scolding him for wasting money on this false alarm.
After that incident, Zhang Ke never dared to approach them again, and Jiang Yan, Lin Cheng, and Qin Zhenzhen formed a tight-knit trio.
Jiang Yan was the one who came up with the mischievous ideas, Lin Cheng was the one who liked to take action, and Qin Zhenzhen was the one who pretended to be a quiet, well-behaved girl to smooth things over with the teachers afterward.
...
Perhaps it was because of Qin Zhenzhen's silent attempt to steal Jiang Yan's thunder when they were young that stimulated Lin Cheng.
Even though Lin Cheng had grown tall like a sprouting tree branch, no longer acted so impulsively, and had become very clean... transforming into a young man who walked like a refreshing breeze, the one thing that hadn't changed was his pettiness.
He still maintained a subtle wariness towards Qin Zhenzhen.
But since Jiang Yan and Qin Zhenzhen were his closest friends after Jiang Yan, Lin Cheng couldn't show it.
Madam Yang eventually figured things out and didn't divorce Mr. Qin, but only provided him with a meager allowance.
That money was pitiful compared to before, but Mr. Qin lacked the courage even to go out and earn money. Instead, he became docile, spending each day trying to please Madam Yang.
However, Madam Yang had long since given up on him, and her attitude never softened again.
Perhaps it was because Qin Zhenzhen's background was so tragic, or maybe because she didn't have a daughter of her own, but Qin Zhenzhen aroused a bit of pity in her.
She began to care for this girl who had no blood relation to her more frequently.
The current Qin Zhenzhen was a far cry from the girl who had first come to the Yang Family. With long black hair, silver-rimmed rectangular glasses, and an increasingly cool demeanor, she looked refined, clean, and beautiful.
Only Jiang Yan had changed the least, with her collagen-filled, energetic face that looked somewhat obtuse, maintaining her sweet, first-love appearance as always.
As they grew older, some things that had been lurking beneath the surface slowly began to emerge.
Jiang Yan always ranked second in the class, believing it was because she read comics during physics class. Qin Zhenzhen, on the other hand, consistently held the top spot and served as class president.
But suddenly one day, Jiang Yan felt she had been second place too many times and wanted to be first. Before the exam, she even joked with Qin Zhenzhen, telling her to watch out for her first-place position.
Qin Zhenzhen tossed her hair playfully, joking that she was terrified.
However, when the test results came out, Qin Zhenzhen was still first, and Jiang Yan second.
This happened too many times to be coincidence. At first, no one paid much attention. But later, no matter how hard Jiang Yan tried, no matter how much Qin Zhenzhen held back, the results remained the same.
Qin Zhenzhen was always unchangingly first, and Jiang Yan was always second, just below Qin Zhenzhen.
It was then that Jiang Yan and Qin Zhenzhen began to sense something was amiss.
They seemed to have discovered an absurd aspect of the world.
Moreover, this absurd phenomenon was gradually expanding.
Almost all of Jiang Yan's shining points were being overshadowed by Qin Zhenzhen: the subjects Jiang Yan excelled in, Jiang Yan's friends, even the people in their villa community – they all transferred their words of praise for Jiang Yan to Qin Zhenzhen.
Jiang Yan was still just as brilliant, but those people seemed to have gone blind, completely unable to see even a glimmer of Jiang Yan's radiance.
If it weren't for Lin Cheng, who remained wholeheartedly devoted to Jiang Yan, Qin Zhenzhen might have chosen to indulge in this phenomenon.
When Jiang Yan would question this in confusion, Qin Zhenzhen would pretend not to understand, telling her that failing once or twice was normal. She would pretend not to notice everyone's changes, or pretend that she too had been affected by the change.
If it were like that, only she would be able to see all of Jiang Yan's brilliance. Unfortunately, there was still the bright-eyed Lin Cheng.
This was initially the reason why Qin Zhenzhen and Jiang Yan worked together to combat this absurd phenomenon.
However, later on, a mysterious force seemed to guide them towards opposing actions, becoming the real reason for Qin Zhenzhen's resistance.
Lin Cheng was barely affected; he smoothly entered his family's company, with the only unusual thing being his persistent pursuit of Jiang Yan.
Jiang Yan wasn't oblivious to Lin Cheng's feelings, but at that time, her situation was too precarious.
Qin Zhenzhen smoothly became the adopted daughter of the Yang Family and rose to become the CEO of a listed company – she was pushed by that force to stand at the pinnacle far too early.
Jiang Yan wasn't one to back down either, but due to that force's meddling, she was repeatedly forced to become Qin Zhenzhen's opponent.
Projects that should have been completely unrelated were forcibly connected, as if they had to fight to the death. And at those times, Jiang Yan was always at a disadvantage.
The purpose of that force became clear.
It wanted Jiang Yan to lose to Qin Zhenzhen. But as the parties involved, neither of them wanted to do this.
Later, that force seemed to grow impatient and resorted to underhanded means against Jiang Yan, directly threatening her life.
After that, Qin Zhenzhen distanced herself from Jiang Yan.
Not only that, but she also publicly announced her split from Jiang Yan in various aspects, mocking and ridiculing her in front of countless people...
It was then that Jiang Yan woke up from her hospital bed.
Lin Cheng slowly began to notice something was amiss. But by that time, they didn't dare speak freely, because that force was truly too bizarre.
He simply resigned from his position at the company and moved into the hospital to accompany Jiang Yan.
The day Jiang Yan woke up, the weather was beautiful. The hospital windows were clean, and Lin Cheng sat nearby, peeling an apple.
Suddenly, Lin Cheng received a phone call. Without saying anything, he placed it next to Jiang Yan's ear.
It was an unknown number, and not a word was spoken. The only sound was unhurried breathing.
Jiang Yan responded: "Understood."
And so, a plan to deceive heaven and earth slowly unfolded.
