Chapter 52: Do You Want to Be My Child Bride?

Lin Qian calmly pulled textbooks out of her bag, arranging them neatly on her desk one by one. Facing Shang Ying’s questioning, she replied expressionlessly.

"I transferred classes. Conveniently, the seat next to you was vacant, so here I am."

The implication was clear: it wasn't that she specifically wanted to sit next to her, but that she had no other choice.

Naturally, that wasn't what Shang Ying was asking. She rubbed her swollen, dry eyes.

"I mean, why did you suddenly come to our class? Weren't you in Class 1?"

With Capital No. 1 High School's midterm exams only a week away, there was zero chance Lin Qian had slid out of Class 1 due to poor grades.

When asked this, Lin Qian suddenly let out a sigh.

"As you know, Lin Yuan came back. She transferred to our school and happened to be placed in Class 1."

Perhaps because Shang Ying had witnessed that major drama with the Lin family earlier, Lin Qian had no intention of hiding anything and laid out the whole situation.

"My mother told us to look out for each other, but Lin Youchuan went crazy, insisting I was bullying Lin Yuan and demanding I leave Class 1. I couldn't be bothered to argue with them, so I just transferred classes."

When mentioning Lin Youchuan, a crack appeared in Lin Qian's usually calm composure, as if speaking that name disgusted her to the core.

Shang Ying's foggy brain was now mostly awake. She remembered that in the original novel, the fake heiress had indeed deliberately transferred classes and put on a pitiful act for Mrs. Lin to see, making her heart ache for her and subsequently cold-shouldering Lin Yuan.

Yet, looking at Lin Qian's completely composed appearance now, aside from being slightly annoyed by Lin Youchuan, there didn't seem to be an ounce of deliberate drama in her actions at all.

‘Had she gone blind? Or was it because Lin Qian was a villain, giving her a hypocritical 'birds of a feather' filter?’

‘Surely not, that wouldn't make sense.’

…

‘Well, fine. Truth be told, the original novel's plot didn't make much sense to begin with.’

"So how did you 'bully' her?"

Shang Ying rested her face on her hand, putting on a gossipy expression.

Remembering what had happened, Lin Qian felt as disgusted as if she had been force-fed a fly. Since she hadn't found anywhere to vent yet and happened to run into Shang Ying, one of the few people who knew the "Lin Family Secrets", she poured it all out.

"Yesterday, to help Lin Yuan and me get along better, my mom had me accompany her to the mall to buy a watch as a gift. Lin Yuan didn't know how to put it on, so I offered to help."

"Then that Lin Youchuan slapped my hand away, insisting I was using the watch to humiliate Lin Yuan and picking on her for never seeing such things before. You have no idea. He had eaten two large pieces of durian beforehand, and the smell nearly choked tears out of my eyes."

‘Holy crap.’ Shang Ying's eyes widened slightly. Turns out the fake heiress's eyes turning red in the novel wasn't from feeling wronged. It was from being choked by durian odor!

‘Talk about being down-to-earth…’

Lin Qian could still remember that stench right now, feeling nauseous to death. She continued, "I couldn't stand it and said a few words to defend myself. Lin Yuan probably thought Lin Youchuan was caring for her, so she spoke up for him. It ended up making my mom unhappy too."

"During dinner, my dad brought up the topic of transferring classes, and Lin Youchuan made a huge deal out of it, insisting I shouldn't be in the same class as Lin Yuan. My dad didn't agree, and Lin Yuan looked pretty upset. She probably didn't want to be in the same class as me either so I took the initiative to ask the homeroom teacher today."

Since Lin Yuan wasn't very keen on interacting with her, staying far away was for the best. After all, she had enjoyed the blessings that should have belonged to Lin Yuan, and she didn't want to make things difficult for her mother either.

With the story reaching its end, the frustration held in her chest was finally vented, and Lin Qian let out a long sigh of relief, feeling thoroughly refreshed.

Just then, a crisp crunch, crunch sounded beside her ear. Puzzled, she turned her head, only to see Shang Ying crunching on a bag of potato chips at some point, listening with absolute relish. Seeing her look over, Shang Ying even extended the bag toward her.

"All done? These chips taste great. I don't know where Shang Yi bought them. Have some to cheer up."

Lin Qian: (◦◦)

Morning reading bells rang out, and the new homeroom teacher stepped into the classroom right on time. The chatter in the room died down instantly as everyone pulled out textbooks to read aloud earnestly, giving Shang Ying ample time to let her thoughts wander.

What Lin Qian described, aside from the characters' inner thoughts being slightly different, matched the original plot almost identically.

The only difference was that in the original novel, Lin Qian hadn't transferred to Shang Ying's class. Perhaps the author hadn't wanted to put two bad apples together to cause trouble.

But what was the situation now? The fake heiress and the female villain were actually deskmates! And they were getting along quite peacefully too! Would she end up getting disposed of by the male lead alongside the fake heiress later on?

Why was it that the more she wanted to stay away from the main plotline, the more it dragged her right into the center of the whirlpool, as if terrified she wouldn't get a taste of prison food?!

‘Annoying, annoying, annoying.’

Shang Ying began scratching her chin, a small, habitual movement she did whenever she felt agitated.

The new homeroom teacher's surname was Luo, a Chinese literature teacher with ear-length short hair and small eyes. When she smiled, she looked like a festive doll, and her outfit was meticulous, fitting her temperament perfectly.

Amidst the resounding reading voices, Lin Qian was earnestly reciting classical prose when, completely off-guard, a cool female voice sounded abruptly beside her.

"Do you want to be my child bride?"

That way, she could leave the Lin family without being affected by the plot or competing with the female lead for affection.

"?"

Lin Qian simply couldn't believe her ears. She turned to look at Shang Ying with a complex gaze, her eyes seemingly asking: ‘Are you even awake right now?’

Indeed, she wasn't awake. Otherwise, she wouldn't spout such brainless words.

So the very next second, Shang Ying walked back her own statement.

"Just kidding."

‘Forget it.’

‘As the saying goes: 'Accept things as they come; when demons rise, the Dao rises higher; soldiers block, water dammed.' Shang Ying genuinely wanted to stay far away from the male and female leads, but it wasn't because she was afraid of them—she simply thought it was simpler this way.’

After sleeping through two straight classes like an immovable rock, Lin Qian's friends from Class 1 came over to find her during the long break.

They gathered around the desk, chatting non-stop, which woke Shang Ying up.

"That Lin Yuan was assigned to your old seat. The moment she arrived, she tried to greet Shang Yi, but he ignored her completely. Talk about overestimating herself!"

"Exactly! When she couldn't answer questions, she just stood there looking on the verge of tears, needing the teacher to comfort her. Total waste of time."

Shang Ying maintained her sleeping posture without moving, secretly listening to their conversation.

‘These indignant girls had to be the cannon fodder around the fake heiress who stepped up to bully the female lead on her behalf. Even their lines were so classic.’

Lin Qian listened to their complaints without much of a reaction, even speaking up in Lin Yuan's defense.

"She just arrived, so it's normal if she can't keep up in some areas. If you don't like her, just treat her as invisible."

‘Mm, makes sense,’ Shang Ying thought secretly.

Yu Qian, who was unhappy and had her arms crossed, said with a bit of resentment, "But you left Class 1 because of her! How can I treat her as invisible?!"

The moment these words left her mouth, Lin Qian knit her fine brows slightly, asking in return, "What did you say?"

‘She clearly hadn't told anyone besides Shang Ying the reason for her class transfer, so there was no reason Yu Qian and the others would know.’