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Yu Linghuan blinked: "A computer?"

Meng Xin nodded, looking a bit embarrassed: "Yes... I'm sorry, I don't know much about electronic products. You might have told me before, but I don't remember."

Yu Linghuan waved her hand and pointed to the single bed beside her: "There's nothing to apologize for. Sit down first."

She didn't like others sitting on her bed, but it was fine if it was Meng Xin.

As she typed on her keyboard, Yu Linghuan told Meng Xin to wait a moment. On the computer screen, a half-naked male character was going wild, jumping left and right, and repeatedly sending invitations for another duel.

Yu Linghuan first sent a private message to Zhao Wenxing: [Something came up, wait for me a bit.]

She then turned to Meng Xin: "This computer of mine is an L-brand gaming laptop series. The model is, what was it... 4 something? I’ve forgotten. Why the sudden question? Are you looking to buy a new one?"

Lande High School implemented a hybrid of traditional and digital learning, equipping every student with a laptop. While the specs weren't top-tier, they were certainly sufficient for schoolwork. Yu Linghuan had bought an additional gaming laptop specifically for playing games, using the school-issued one for homework.

Meng Xin's eyes flickered: "Um... I suppose so."

Yu Linghuan: "Are you planning to use it for school?"

This wasn't uncommon at school, especially among the international class students. Many felt the school-issued laptops weren't good enough and would spend ten or twenty thousand yuan on high-spec notebooks. For those students, the price of a designer garment or a luxury bag was enough to buy several such computers; they didn't care about the cost.

Meng Xin hesitated slightly, not answering immediately.

Yu Linghuan: "Mine is specifically for gaming, so it’s not really a good reference. If you want a computer for studying, I can recommend a few—"

"No, no need!" Meng Xin interrupted her hurriedly. "I just wanted to... well..."

Yu Linghuan raised an eyebrow in confusion. What was wrong? Meng Xin didn't usually stutter like this.

Meng Xin bit her lip slightly. After a few seconds, her eyes drifted away: "It's... it's my brother. He said he wanted to give me a computer. I already have a Fruit-brand one for studying, so I wanted to buy a different type."

"Oh..." Yu Linghuan frowned slightly. "Your brother, huh."

To be honest, her first reaction to hearing Meng Xin mention Meng Qichuan was disgust. When Meng Mingzhu told the system she wanted to "conquer" Meng Qichuan, that sweet, sugary "good brother" was something Yu Linghuan found hard to forget. Although she knew rationally that Meng Qichuan was innocent in this, the mere thought of him potentially getting involved with Meng Mingzhu later made her feel a bit nauseated.

However, since Meng Qichuan was Meng Xin’s biological brother and it was clear Meng Xin held some affection for him, Yu Linghuan couldn't make her distaste too obvious.

Yu Linghuan: "Alright, let me see."

Meng Xin seemed a bit strange, but thinking about it, there was no reason for her to lie. Yu Linghuan didn't dwell on it. Since Meng Qichuan was paying, there was no need to save him money; she might as well pick something expensive. Besides, a gaming laptop wasn't just for gaming, so it wasn't a waste.

Yu Linghuan decisively opened a shopping platform, searched with keywords, and sorted by price from high to low. After filtering, she said: "This one, this one, and this one are all good—they're the top-tier gaming laptops. I’ll share the links with you; just pick whichever one you like."

"Okay." Meng Xin revealed a relieved smile. "Then I'll go back and choose. You’re still playing your game, right? I won't disturb you anymore. Bye."

With that, Meng Xin waved and gently closed the dorm door for Yu Linghuan.

When she switched back to the game interface, the private chat was already flooded by Zhao Wenxing.

Yanxing War God: [Sister, where are you!]
Yanxing War God: [I've been waiting for a full two minutes!]
Yanxing War God: [Three minutes now!]

Yu Linghuan was speechless for a second. She clicked the "Accept Duel" button in the center of the screen, and as soon as the countdown ended, she unleashed an attack skill.

The half-naked male character on the screen stood stunned for several seconds before firing his first skill, but he couldn't escape the fate of having his health bar rapidly depleted.

The private chat was flooded again.

Yanxing War God: [Damn! How could you play dirty? I wasn't ready yet!!!]
Yanxing War God: [Again, again! I'll definitely win the next round!]

...

In the next ten minutes, excluding the sneak attack, Yu Linghuan "killed" Zhao Wenxing four more times. Including the first, that made five in total. When the sixth duel request popped up, Yu Linghuan clicked decline.

She sent a WeChat message to Zhao Wenxing: [No more. I need to wash up. Besides, with your skill level, the result would be the same even if we went another five rounds.]

Brightest Star in the Night Sky: […………]
Brightest Star in the Night Sky: [You don't have to be that blunt, sister?]
Brightest Star in the Night Sky: [Fine, just wait until I go back and practice hard, then we'll go again!]

Yu Linghuan hadn't intended to reply, but after thinking about it, she added a warning: [By the way, don't provoke Meng Mingzhu for no reason.]

In the novel, Zhao Wenxing was a background character with even less presence than her; the author hadn't even mentioned his fate. But now that Meng Mingzhu was the "Child of Luck" bound to a system, Yu Linghuan thought it best to remind him not to look for trouble.

Brightest Star in the Night Sky: [Why? You hit her yourself, and now you're telling me not to provoke her?]
Yu Linghuan: [...I told you that was fake news, I didn't hit her!]
Yu Linghuan: [Anyway, don't ask why, just stay away from her.]

After sending this, Yu Linghuan stood up and took her toiletries to shower.

Meanwhile, at the Zhao family villa, Zhao Wenxing clicked his tongue and tossed Yu Linghuan’s warning to the back of his mind.

A private message popped up in the game chat from his classmate, Yuan Qiwei.

Fascinated by Brother: [Was that the master you’ve been telling me about?]
Fascinated by Brother: [Your technique is indeed impressive!]
Fascinated by Brother: [Have you met her in person? Is she really a girl? It's not a guy playing a female character, right?]

Zhao Wenxing rolled his eyes. Not only was she a girl, she was a girl from their own school. He actually wanted to tell his classmate that this "master" was Yu Linghuan, but keeping secrets to himself was hard. He had promised Yu Linghuan not to tell anyone. Yu Linghuan hadn't said why, but Zhao Wenxing guessed it was because she was afraid it would reach their teachers' ears. After all, Yu Linghuan’s class was the high-pressure key class for the college entrance exam, a place where even puppy love would get you a lecture. They were strictly guarded against things like gaming that could affect studies.

Unlike their international class, where as long as you weren't kissing in class, no one cared if you were dating. Like Meng Mingzhu in their class; her eyes were practically glued to Sheng Han every day, and the head teacher hadn't said a word.

Yanxing War God: [Why would I lie to you? Of course she's a girl!]
Fascinated by Brother: [Is she pretty?]
Yanxing War God: [Does it matter to you if she’s pretty? Get lost!]

Zhao Wenxing certainly thought Yu Linghuan was pretty—big eyes, high nose, oval face; a quintessential energetic beauty. But he didn't intend to tell Yuan Qiwei the truth. Men understood men best; Zhao Wenxing could tell exactly what Yuan Qiwei was planning, so he snapped back. With Yuan Qiwei’s looks, he was barely even decent-featured—he wasn't worthy of Yu Linghuan!

After replying to Yuan Qiwei, Zhao Wenxing teleported back to his sect, ready to study combos before sleep, aiming to knock off four-fifths of Yu Linghuan’s health next time.

...

The next morning, Yu Linghuan groggily hit the alarm. On the second day of the senior year, waking up to the white walls of the dorm instead of the ceiling of her home was still a bit hard to get used to.

Unlike the relaxed pace of the international class, the college entrance exam department required early morning study, with students expected in class by 7:30 AM every day. Although the head teacher didn't always check punctuality, you would inevitably be criticized if caught.

Yu Linghuan and Meng Xin were close, eating lunch and dinner together for the past two years, but breakfast was the exception. Meng Xin was used to getting up early and would go to the cafeteria before 7:00 AM. Yu Linghuan was different; she preferred to sleep in as long as she could, even at the cost of skipping breakfast.

So, every morning after eating, Meng Xin would buy an extra breakfast and bring it to Yu Linghuan. This way, Yu Linghuan could eat on the way from the dorm to the teaching building, while Meng Xin would walk beside her, wearing headphones to recite English vocabulary.

The dorm area was quite far from the teaching building and the cafeteria. Going from the cafeteria to the dorm and then to the teaching building meant an extra ten-minute detour. At first, Yu Linghuan had told her several times not to go through the trouble, that she would just skip breakfast. But every time, Meng Xin would solemnly refuse: "Skipping breakfast is bad for your health. A few extra minutes of walking is fine."

Yu Linghuan couldn't argue with her. At this hour, Meng Xin must have already gone to the cafeteria.

Yu Linghuan took her toiletries to the floor's washroom and ran into her classmate, Yao Qian. There were fewer than ten boarding students in Senior Class 1, even fewer girls, and Yao Qian was one of them. They weren't particularly close, though.

Yu Linghuan greeted Yao Qian simply and began brushing her teeth in front of the mirror. Halfway through, she noticed that Yao Qian hadn't left after washing up and seemed to be watching her, looking hesitant to speak.

Yu Linghuan didn't like keeping things to herself. After spitting out the foam, she asked: "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

"No, no," Yao Qian said quickly. She hesitated for a moment before adding, "It's just that after school yesterday... I heard Li Hongwen and a few boys in class making a bet."

Yu Linghuan raised an eyebrow: "Does it concern me?"

Yao Qian nodded: "He said that when you come to class today, you'll definitely be wearing the watch Meng Xin gave you yesterday, and showing off other things you bought at Tianyue City."

Tianyue City was right next to the school, so it was common to run into acquaintances. It wasn't surprising that their shopping trip had become known, especially since Meng Mingzhu had brought her entourage to find them yesterday.

Yu Linghuan said "Oh," thinking to herself that these boys were truly bored. Being in their senior year, she felt most of the boys in class were more immature than the girls, especially the group led by Li Hongwen who loved to play the "brothers" game. The only boy she felt was more mature than his peers was the "study god" Song Congqian, who topped the grade every year. She heard that, like the old Meng Xin, his family background wasn't great, which was perhaps one of the reasons for his early maturity.

Yu Linghuan asked casually: "So, what was the bet?"

Yao Qian: "It seems to be that if you arrive in class today without any of the things Meng Xin gave you, Li Hongwen has to do a lap of frog jumps around the soccer field at noon."