Eleven thousand and eleven

Ten minutes ago.

Yu Linghuan put her shopping bags back in the dormitory and headed to the cafeteria with Meng Xin for dinner.

The cafeteria at Langde Academy had a stellar reputation. With a diverse selection of both Chinese and Western cuisine, it was consistently praised by students and faculty alike. However, in the evening, only boarding students frequented it. Compared to the bustling lunch rush, only a few service windows remained open.

As Yu Linghuan and Meng Xin stood in line for the bibimbap, they chatted idly.

"You know, with so many windows in the cafeteria, we even have pizza, so why don't we have a dessert window?" Yu Linghuan asked, looking at the row of service counters ahead. "I heard the neighboring Xiuli Academy has one, and it's quite popular."

"Maybe it's because they haven't found a suitable supplier?" Meng Xin replied after thinking about it seriously for a few seconds. "Do you want a dessert window, Huanhuan?"

Yu Linghuan smiled. "No, I just thought of that dessert shop we visited earlier and mentioned it on a whim."

Meng Xin always took her casual remarks to heart. It was hard to say whether this earnestness was a strength or a flaw.

In the menu of that dessert shop earlier, there were a few items Yu Linghuan had been interested in, and she had originally planned to buy some to take back to the dorm for a late-night snack. Unfortunately, Meng Mingzhu had interrupted them, and she had completely forgotten about it.

With so few people in the cafeteria, it took less than a minute for them to get their food. Yu Linghuan ordered a tuna bibimbap, while Meng Xin chose the beef version.

They found an empty table, but before they could even get comfortable, Meng Xin's phone rang.

Yu Linghuan kept her head down, mixing her rice, and initially paid no attention to the call. But when she heard Meng Xin address the person on the other end as "Grandmother," she pricked up her ears.

Meng Xin's grandmother spoke in a loud voice. Even without the speakerphone on, Yu Linghuan could hear the gist of the conversation from across the table. She could no longer sit still.

Based on her understanding of Meng Xin, if Meng Mingzhu had truly invited her home for dinner, Meng Xin wouldn't be reluctant to go. Meng Xin might be able to endure being wronged, but Yu Linghuan's fiery temper could not.

Yu Linghuan set down her chopsticks and began searching through the files on her phone. During the break after P.E. class, when Tang Jingdan had called Meng Mingzhu, she had recorded the conversation on a whim. She had originally kept it just in case, never expecting it to be useful so soon.

Once she found the file, Yu Linghuan turned the volume to the maximum and held the phone out toward Meng Xin.

Meng Mingzhu’s words were broadcasted through the phone, straight into the Meng household.

After the recording finished, Yu Linghuan added with an air of affected innocence, "Oh? I think I clicked the wrong thing. Sorry, Xin-xin, I interrupted your call. Please, continue."

***

At the Meng residence.

Meng Mingzhu was panicking as she communicated with her System. She had realized something was wrong the moment the first few words of the recording played, but it had all happened so suddenly; the entire clip lasted only a few seconds, leaving her no time to react.

"Forgetfulness Potion! I need to redeem a Forgetfulness Potion!"

If her conversation with the System could be heard by others, her screams would have surely echoed throughout the living room.

[Insufficient balance! Your current point balance is 400. The cost of a Forgetfulness Potion is 500 points. Redemption failed!]

The Forgetfulness Potion was designed to wipe the last five minutes of memory from someone nearby. Because of its powerful function, it was one of the most expensive items in the points store. Hearing the cold, mechanical tone of the System, Meng Mingzhu’s face turned deathly pale.

That’s right—she had spent 300 points earlier at the dessert shop to redeem an Advanced Suppression Aura, and then lost another 100 points for acting out of character. Now, she was just short of the required points.

Meng Mingzhu was filled with regret: if only she hadn't redeemed the Suppression Aura just to win a petty argument, she wouldn't be in this predicament now.

Seeing that the item redemption route was blocked, she had to rely on herself. Meng Mingzhu took a deep breath. She was about to open her mouth to explain, but stopped when she saw a gesture from Tian Shuzhen.

Tian Shuzhen made a "hush" motion to Meng Mingzhu, then spoke into the phone: "Meng Xin, what was that playing just now? Was that a recording of your phone call with Mingzhu?"

"Grandmother, I..."

Tian Shuzhen: "Yes or no?"

"...Yes."

Tian Shuzhen closed her eyes. After two seconds of silence, she opened them again. When she spoke, her tone had softened considerably. "Grandmother knows you have your grievances, but regardless, we are your family. When you should come home, you must come home."

Tian Shuzhen continued, "How about this: your father will be back from his business trip this Friday. Come home early that evening, and our family will have dinner together and have a heart-to-heart talk."

***

After hanging up, Tian Shuzhen looked sternly at her granddaughter, Meng Mingzhu. Although she was usually strict, her expression was always much gentler when facing the grandchildren she had raised since they were small. However, at this moment, there was an unusual look in her eyes.

Seeing this, Wu Minli spoke up from the side, "Mother—"

She had barely uttered a word before Tian Shuzhen stopped her.

"You don't need to get involved in this," Tian Shuzhen waved her hand. "I will speak with Mingzhu alone."

"...Yes, Mother." Wu Minli knew that saying anything else would only add fuel to the fire, so she agreed. Before leaving, she gave Meng Mingzhu a look: *Apologize properly.*

In the large living room, only the old woman and Meng Mingzhu remained. Meng Mingzhu couldn't help but clench her fists, her manicured nails digging into her palms, causing a dull ache. She knew for certain that no matter how she explained it, her image in her grandmother's mind would inevitably be tarnished.

Fortunately, she still had her trump card: the bond she had built with Tian Shuzhen over more than a decade. This was something Meng Xin lacked, and it was her greatest advantage.

Meng Mingzhu took a deep breath and pinched her palm hard with her nails. Tears welled up in her eyes immediately, and she said, "Grandmother, actually... actually, I got into an argument with Meng Xin today. She said she was the real granddaughter and that I was just someone who had lived with you for ten years, and that I was nothing."

At this point, Meng Mingzhu choked up even more. "I was so, so sad after hearing that, which is why I... why I asked a friend to help me vent my frustration during P.E. class."

As she spoke, Meng Mingzhu raised her right hand, her voice trembling. "I swear! I only asked my friend to say a few words to Meng Xin; I didn't do anything else! Meng Xin is perfectly fine; she even went to the mall after school and bought a lot of expensive things!"

Today at Tianyue City, Meng Mingzhu had seen Yu Linghuan carrying several shopping bags with logos; there was no need to guess that Meng Xin must have paid for them. Meng Mingzhu subconsciously brought this up, perhaps believing on some level that Meng Xin’s reckless spending would irritate her grandmother.

However, the response was not what she had imagined.

Tian Shuzhen did not ask about the shopping, but simply said slowly, "Mingzhu, I know you feel wronged by the fact that Meng Xin was brought back into the family."

Meng Mingzhu felt a surge of joy: *As expected, Grandmother is still on my side.*

However, Tian Shuzhen’s next sentence made Meng Mingzhu’s heart sink again.

"But Meng Xin has the blood of the Meng family, and you were raised by the Meng family since you were a child. You are sisters; you shouldn't be jealous of her, and you certainly shouldn't find people to bully her."

Meng Mingzhu: "I didn't—"

"Enough," Tian Shuzhen said with an tone that brooked no argument. "Don't say anything more. Go back to your room, tidy up, change your clothes, and get ready for dinner."

***

After Meng Mingzhu left, Tian Shuzhen closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

Mingzhu was a child she had watched grow up; she could turn a blind eye to some harmless little flaws. Children at this age, raised in luxury, which one didn't have a bunch of faults? Even if Meng Mingzhu had lied today, Tian Shuzhen could understand. A new person had suddenly entered the house, and it was human nature for Mingzhu to feel uncomfortable and fear that her affection would be stolen.

The affection built over a dozen years wouldn't just vanish because of a single lie.

It was just that today’s events made Tian Shuzhen realize that, from now on, the truthfulness of what Meng Mingzhu said to her might have to be questioned. This included the tearful plea Mingzhu had just made; it might not be the whole truth. But, after all, she was the granddaughter she had raised for over a decade, and that tear-streaked face made it impossible for her to continue being harsh.

Thinking of this, the image of Meng Xin suddenly appeared in Tian Shuzhen’s mind. The girl was the same age as Mingzhu, though her figure was much thinner. Yet, in the two months since she had been brought home, Tian Shuzhen couldn't remember ever seeing Meng Xin shed a tear.

***

Learning that Meng Xin had agreed to return to the Meng house for dinner this Friday, Yu Linghuan was very annoyed. The old woman in the Meng family was so biased that she didn't even know where it started; she had only listened to Meng Mingzhu’s one-sided story and then called to lecture her own biological granddaughter.

When Meng Xin went home, without her there to support her, it was obvious she would be bullied.

The System told Yu Linghuan that the female lead returning to the Meng family for dinner this Friday was a main plot point, which was why Meng Xin had to agree. If Yu Linghuan forced a change, not only would there be no benefits, but Meng Xin might also suffer from the backlash of the plot's power.

However, there was some good news—when Meng Xin was on the phone with the Meng grandmother earlier, Yu Linghuan had once again seen that white halo! This meant that Meng Xin’s "Awakening Value" had increased again.

Yu Linghuan speculated that only important plot points related to family or the novel's male lead would trigger changes in the Awakening Value. The last time Meng Xin's value increased was because of Meng Mingzhu. As for the male lead, it hadn't been verified yet; that was purely her own guess.

The System told Yu Linghuan that it could now detect Meng Xin's awakening level, which was currently at Grade D. Although, according to the System, the Grade D awakening was still too low to be very useful, Yu Linghuan was still very happy. If she had reached D on the first day, could C, B, or even higher levels be far off?

[Host, don't set your expectations too high. Even if she reaches Grade C, she will only be able to resist minor plot points. Only when she reaches B or A will Meng Xin be able to truly change the main plot, and only after reaching S can she be completely free.]

"It doesn't matter!" Yu Linghuan remained optimistic. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!"

Just like her first monthly exam in seventh grade, when her ranking was only in the 300s, she hadn't improved bit by bit until she reached the top ten in the grade by ninth grade and got into Langde Academy.

After dinner, Yu Linghuan returned to the dormitory and took her homework out of her bag. On the first day of school, the teachers had been merciful. Before nine o'clock that evening, she had finished all the homework that hadn't been completed during study hall.

After finishing, Yu Linghuan took out her vocabulary book and began reciting the English words the teacher had assigned for the summer. Those words were all within the scope of the college entrance examination; even though the placement test was over, she would have to memorize them sooner or later. The book contained about 3,500 words, but Yu Linghuan already knew a large portion of them. Her poor performance that afternoon was partly because the test paper had focused on the relatively difficult part of the vocabulary.

So, she set a plan for herself: to consolidate 120 words every day. This way, the task wouldn't be too heavy, and she could review all the words before the monthly exam at the end of September.

By the time she finished the words for today and looked up again, the hour hand was pointing to ten. Yu Linghuan stretched her limbs and picked up her phone.

Zhao Wenxing had bombarded her with over a dozen messages. The first ten were real-time updates on her progress in finding a power-leveler. Zhao Wenxing had strong initiative; she had started contacting people on the way home from the mall and quickly found someone to handle the daily tasks. They would log into her account during the day, which worked out perfectly since that was when she was in class.

During the summer, the two had often logged into each other's accounts, so Zhao Wenxing already knew her password, meaning no effort was needed to coordinate the handover. At a quarter past eight, Zhao Wenxing had sent a message saying the daily tasks were already done. The subsequent messages were all Zhao Wenxing asking if she could log into the game.

20:17
Star in the Night Sky: [Come on, log in! I'm waiting for you at the gate of Wanling City for a duel!]

21:01
Star in the Night Sky: [It's already nine o'clock, you haven't finished your homework yet? Do you really have that much homework on the first day of school?]

22:00
Star in the Night Sky: [It's ten o'clock!! Are you really not coming?]

Seeing so many messages, Yu Linghuan had to admire Zhao Wenxing’s persistence.

Yu Linghuan: [Still there? I can log in for a little while now.]

Within ten seconds, the reply came back.

Star in the Night Sky: [Yes yes yes yes yes! Come! Waiting for you at the gate of Wanling City!]

Yu Linghuan took out her gaming laptop and entered her username and password. The computer wasn't cheap; she had only been able to buy it two years ago because she did very well on her high school entrance exam, and her mother had allowed her to use her saved-up red envelope money and pocket money. However, after two years of use, it had started to lag recently.

It took Yu Linghuan six minutes to boot up and log into the game. During this time, her phone pinged with several more messages—she didn't need to check to know that Zhao Wenxing was getting impatient. That girl came from a wealthy family and used a high-end desktop; she couldn't understand the pain of playing on a dorm laptop.

During the holidays, they would usually use voice chat while playing, but since it was late in the dorm, Yu Linghuan didn't log into the voice channel. Once she logged into her character, she checked the quest list first. Sure enough, the daily tasks had all been cleared; the person Zhao Wenxing found was reliable.

Yu Linghuan teleported to Wanling City. As soon as she landed, she saw a male character with a flashy outfit and exposed abs jumping around like crazy. Immediately, a notification popped up: "Yanxing War God invites you to a duel."

Yu Linghuan clicked "Accept."

Two minutes later...

Several kilometers away, a wail echoed through the Zhao family's villa.

"Damn it, how is this new combo useless? I died even faster than last time!"

Immediately following, an angry female voice came from outside the door: "Zhao Wenxing! What time is it for you to be howling like that! Get to bed now!"

On the other side, in the girls' dormitory, Yu Linghuan touched the cooling vent of her laptop. "This piece-of-junk computer, why does it start getting hot after just a few minutes of gaming?"

The next second, there was a knock on the dorm door.

Yu Linghuan called out, "Come in," and saw Meng Xin poking her head inside.

"What's wrong?" Yu Linghuan asked. "Just say it, I'm not busy."

Meng Xin: "Huanhuan, I wanted to ask... what model is the computer you use to play games?"