In an instant, a massive crowd of people ran toward the playground.
Then... dozens of students dropped to the ground like turtles, moving forward inch by inch.
What a truly spectacular sight.
The corners of Li Jiu's lips curved into an attractive arc, yet her smile failed to reach her eyes.
To her, these petty little tricks were not enough to cause any major emotional fluctuations.
After all... she was someone who had already died once.
Meanwhile, Chu Yunyun was kneeling at the very front. Clenching her fists, she glared at Li Jiu, who was supervising not far away: "I won't let you off!"
Li Jiu lowered her gaze. There was still one thing left to do, and it was time to completely sever ties with the Chu Family.
...
The Chu Family members were happily eating hot pot.
"Miss Li is here," the butler announced.
Chu Hao put down his chopsticks and assumed the posture of an older brother in charge: "It seems... she couldn't hold out after all. Let her in."
The three older brothers looked on with leisure, all waiting to see Li Jiu beg for mercy. But to their surprise, Li Jiu was poised and elegant, her expression calm without a trace of panic.
Seeing the Chu Family eating a luxurious feast did not evoke the slightest bit of jealousy in her.
Chu Hao adjusted his glasses. "Something the matter?"
Li Jiu nodded with equal hauteur.
Chu Hao frowned, disliking this haughty attitude of Li Jiu's, as if... everyone owed her something.
"Li Jiu, you are no longer a member of the Chu Family. Since you've come to beg us, you should have the attitude of someone asking for a favor!" Chu Xun also found her insufferable; outspoken as he was, he blurted it out directly.
"Huh?" Li Jiu was baffled.
"At the very least, you should kneel down and apologize to our little sister first!" A thorn had always existed in the hearts of the three older brothers.
They all felt that Li Jiu had stolen the life of their little sister, and therefore... she deserved to kneel down and beg for Chu Yunyun's forgiveness.
Dawn broke in Li Jiu's mind.
So the source of hatred from her past life lay right here.
Li Jiu let out a scoff. It made sense, really, considering Chu Yunyun was the biological daughter.
"Apologize? Can she..." Li Jiu paused slightly, "...afford to bear it?"
"I don't owe any of you a thing." Li Jiu narrowed her eyes and spoke in a cold voice.
Arrogant and haughty.
Once she no longer cared about these people, she no longer needed to pander to them.
Chu Hao nodded, his expression turning somewhat strange. Why did it feel like their younger sister had turned into a completely different person?
"Then you've come back..." Chu Hao gathered his thoughts first and asked with a straight face.
As long as Li Jiu's opening words were a plea for help, then... they would have a reason to humiliate her.
"To get the household registration booklet," Li Jiu said casually.
Hearing those four words, all the members of the Chu Family froze.
"I want to change my name, so I need the household registration booklet," Li Jiu added.
Chu Qingtian was also slightly taken aback.
What was this...
"You want to completely sever ties with the Chu Family?" Chu Qingtian stood up, looking at Li Jiu in disbelief.
Li Jiu nodded. "Yes."
Chu Qingtian tested the waters. "Are you sure? Once you change your name and move your household registration away, you will have no relation to the Chu Family whatsoever."
Li Jiu smiled. "Does the Chu Family... have anything that attracts me to stay? Is it the indifferent family affection, or... the endless harm?"
Li Jiu's voice was lovely, but the words she spoke at this moment carried a bone-chilling coldness.
The Chu Family members looked at each other in dismay, none of them expecting that Li Jiu had returned this time precisely to cut off all ties.
They had thought... Li Jiu would soon come home to plead, begging everyone for forgiveness, and that she would also break ties with the Li Family.
That way, they could keep Li Jiu around—even... acting as a lucky charm wouldn't be bad. After all, having cultivated her for so long, if she could be used for a marriage alliance later on, it would be a decent option.
Yet they had considered many possibilities, but never dreamed that Li Jiu would choose to domineeringly sever ties with them.
"Have you thought this through?" Chu Qingtian put his hands behind his back, trying to give Li Jiu one last chance: "Leaving the Chu Family, you won't even have the chance to enter the Royal Academy. Without the Chu Family backing you up, you are nothing."
"That's right, stop putting on a stubborn front. Just soften up, apologize, and come back," Chu Xun sneered, his tone carrying a trace of contempt.
These brothers truly cared nothing for the affection of the past years.
Li Jiu's smile grew even more unrestrained, though it failed to reach her eyes: "The Chu Family will only be a burden to me. I can't drag it along, and I don't want to anymore. From now on, the Chu Family and I have no further relation."
None of them understood the full meaning of those words, but they clearly grasped Li Jiu's attitude.
"If the Chu Family continues to withhold my household registration booklet, I'll just have to go find it myself," Li Jiu said with a trace of impatience. She had no time to waste with this bunch.
"You!" Chu Xun felt deeply uncomfortable seeing her act so arrogant.
"Dad, since Li Jiu has made up her mind, let's grant her wish." A flash of confident brilliance crossed Chu Hao's eyes. "She will come begging us for mercy after all... because we determine whether she can enter the school."
Just as Chu Hao finished speaking...
The butler hurried over to report: "Word has just come in that... this year's top scorer has been announced."
"The top scorer? Wasn't that announced ages ago? How did another one pop up?" The three Chu brothers all wore perplexed expressions.
Chu Xi raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, what's going on?"
The butler shook his head. "Later on, someone took a make-up exam, and as a result... they took the top spot in the entire country! A perfect score!"
Chu Hao was stunned: "A perfect score? Capital City hasn't seen a perfect score in a decade. Did they water down the exam questions this time?"
"No, no, no. I've already asked around. I heard the difficulty of this exam directly rivaled university-level tests, and even... many of the exam questions had processes that professors didn't know how to write out. The value of this achievement is simply too high." The butler loved high achievers, so upon hearing these results, he had almost jumped for joy.
"This..." Chu Hao wondered: "So whose young lady or young master is it?"
The butler glanced at Li Jiu, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke: "It's... Miss Li."
"Li Jiu?" the three brothers exclaimed in unison!
In an instant, everyone's attention focused squarely on Li Jiu.
Seeing that this matter had been exposed after all, Chu Yunyun was consumed by raging jealousy.
Li Jiu had once again... captured everyone's gaze, and this feeling was simply too agonizing to bear.
"How is that possible?" Chu Hao wondered: "Li Jiu used to hate studying. How could she possibly score such high marks?"
Li Jiu smiled. She did indeed hate studying, but in truth... it was only because she had already mastered everything. She loathed studying things she already knew, but unfortunately... when she said these things, none of these brothers understood. They all thought she wasn't that smart.
After all... the three brothers had both struggled hard just to get into a decent university. They were dim-witted themselves, and assumed Li Jiu was just as dim.
"Can you give me my household registration booklet now?" Li Jiu stated her request once more, her tone entirely placid.
"Li Jiu, did you cheat?" Chu Hao demanded angrily: "Our Chu Family despises fakery the most! I never expected you to pull such stunts just to get famous!"
Li Jiu was left speechless. She shot Chu Hao a cold glance: "Got any proof? If you think I cheated, go ahead and report me, get someone to come arrest me."