Chapter 53: It Wasn't Me

Yu Qian snorted unhappily.

"The moment she arrived, she looked for you, called you sister, and kept saying that it was because of her that you transferred. Who on earth is she?"

She hadn't heard that the Lin family had another daughter. Lin Yuan and Lin Qian were similar in age; could she be a child from a relative's family?

"A poor relative, probably. Incredibly tacky. A wardrobe of big brand names still can't cover up that petty, small-minded vibe on her."

Another girl named Zhao Le'er, likely remembering Lin Yuan's impoverished demeanor as well, scrunched her face in disgust.

The two went back and forth like a double act, depicting Lin Yuan as a tacky, unrefined girl who only knew how to act pitiful and play weak.

Slumped over her desk, Shang Ying let out a silent sigh in her heart.

‘How far off from the truth.’ Lin Yuan was not only not a poor relative, she was the genuine heiress. Although her demeanor was somewhat lacking at the moment, after holding money for a while, she'd be just fine.

"She is the Lin family's daughter, my sister."

Lin Qian only spoke this single sentence before sending the two back to their seats. As they walked away, both still wore shocked expressions. Seeing that Shang Ying was no longer pretending to sleep, Lin Qian offered an apology, feeling somewhat bad for waking her up.

"It's no big deal." Shang Ying waved her hand. Since she didn't mind eavesdropping in the first place, how could she hold being woken up against her? She then asked, "Is it really fine to just say it outright like that? You sure are candid."

She hadn't expected that the lines spoken by the fake heiress in the book would be delivered in this kind of tone, completely devoid of any intention to cause trouble or put on a fake act.

Two girls of the exact same age. One suddenly transferring schools and claiming to be the Lin family's heiress, while the other was also the Lin family's heiress. Yet as everyone knew, the Lin family only had one daughter, making it hard for people not to overthink.

High-society circles were full of shallow snobs. Without the status to back them up, most people would keep a respectful distance, for how could a fake ever compare to the real thing?

Yet Lin Qian remained largely unbothered. She had started getting involved in the family business early on and had demonstrated considerable capability. Therefore, the Lin family, specifically Lin Jiancheng, would never cast her aside. They would publicly announce that she and Lin Yuan were fraternal twin sisters, and that both daughters were biological.

Moreover, she acknowledged Lin Yuan as a member of the Lin family, but she never denied her own status as a member of the Lin family either. The two didn't conflict. She wouldn't fight over Lin Yuan's identity, because her own identity was earned through her own efforts.

As for Yu Qian and Zhao Le'er, the two had been hanging out with her since middle school. Lin Qian knew their temperaments well. They were simply standing up for her out of indignation, not genuinely harboring malice toward Lin Yuan. Once things were explained clearly, they wouldn't go out of their way to make things difficult for Lin Yuan either.

Looking at Lin Qian's candid and confident demeanor, Shang Ying pouted her lips.

‘Great, she actually kind of admired this fake heiress now.’

Over the next few days, Shang Ying and Lin Qian got along quite well. Unlike Shang Yi, who was a cold, aloof genius, Lin Qian, though calm and composed, still possessed a bit of youthful vitality. The two of them would occasionally even arrange to visit the restroom together. After all, female friendships always started with accompanying each other to the bathroom.

Furthermore, Lin Qian would occasionally vent to her about the messy drama in the Lin household: like her things going missing, only to be found in Lin Yuan's possession, or Lin Yuan having an allergic reaction while eating, with peanut butter discovered in the dish when the only person who had entered the kitchen was Lin Qian.

In short, the drama between the real and fake heiress was endless, making an absolute chaotic mess at home. Mrs. Lin favored Lin Qian, Lin Youchuan helped Lin Yuan, and the head of the household, Lin Jiancheng, chose to make himself selectively invisible. A textbook CEO web novel plotline.

The school forum was equally brimming with curiosity regarding this new, beautiful transfer student. Many users were digging into the relationship between her and Lin Qian. Some guessed they were relatives, others guessed they were biological sisters, and some even wildly guessed that it was a real-versus-fake heiress situation, making things exceptionally lively.

To get some exercise, Shang Ying stopped skipping mandatory morning exercises. After it ended, she and Lin Qian went to the supermarket together to buy snacks, then headed to the restroom. The second they stepped inside, they saw Lin Yuan lying on the floor, soaking wet.

The conversation between the two ceased abruptly, both looking on in shock.

Before they could react further, a female teacher walked in behind them, completely stunned by the scene inside the restroom.

Seeing the teacher behind them and noticing the increasingly strange gazes from surrounding students, alarm bells instantly rang inside Shang Ying's head.

A notoriously violent villainess paired with a fake heiress who had ample motive to act. Their combined identities felt like a stack of ten thousand negative status debuffs! No matter where they went, they were prime suspects bound to draw the crowd's primary suspicion!

"It wasn't us! We just arrived, this wasn't our doing!"

Shang Ying hastily clarified, grabbing Lin Qian to take a step back, as if doing so could draw a clear line between them and the person lying on the floor.

‘Don't pull this nonsense!’ Even though one was a villainess and the other a fake heiress, this matter truly had nothing to do with them! ‘Don't stare at them with eyes that say 'you're the culprits', hey!’

Yet the more urgently she clarified, the more suspicious she appeared in the eyes of others. After all, how could perpetrators ever admit to their own bullying? It only looked like they were panicking after getting caught.

"I knew the two of them staying together would cause trouble! That Shang Ying is an absolute venomous snake. I heard people in her class say she used to lose her temper all the time, she's super scary!"

Shang Ying: ‘I didn't!’

"Ah? Really? I saw people discussing her quite intensely on the forum, and the other one is pretty popular too. Everyone is guessing whether she's a fake heiress!"

Lin Qian: "Yes, thank you for the concern."

"So the one lying on the floor is the real heiress? Let me see... Yes, yes, yes! It really is that transfer student!"

Shang Ying: ‘Stop looking, stop looking, hurry up and leave already!!!’

"How terrifying! How can those two be like this? Someone said earlier that Shang Ying hit people with a baseball bat and I didn't believe it, but who knew she actually has violent tendencies..."

Lin Qian: "There's such a thing?"

Shang Ying: ‘...There actually is.’

The female teacher looked at the fragile Lin Yuan on the floor, then at Shang Ying and Lin Qian, her brows knitting deeper and deeper.

"Which class are you three from? How can you bully a classmate?!"

The surrounding chatter gradually grew louder. Fragmented, terrible words like "bullying" and "pitiful" hammered onto Shang Ying like a gavel.

"It really wasn't us! We only arrived a few seconds earlier than you, teacher. Where would we find the time to act?!"

Shang Ying felt genuinely wronged. How did they happen to be the first ones entering the restroom to witness this scene? It was impossible to explain at the moment because the victim had fainted. This was an absolute setup!

‘Heavens above, clear our names!’

Lin Qian was the first to snap back to her senses. Knitting her brows, she squatted down and touched Lin Yuan's face. It was terrifyingly cold. Without a second thought, she took off her school uniform jacket and draped it over Lin Yuan.

Winter had arrived, and the Capital had grown freezing cold, with everyone bundled up in thick down jackets. Soaking wet and unconscious, Lin Yuan had to be sent to the infirmary immediately. Otherwise, she'd develop a severe fever later on.

It was also the female teacher's first time running into a campus bullying scene, leaving her furious. She quickly had people send Lin Yuan to the infirmary, then summoned Shang Ying and Lin Qian to the grade office for questioning.

Because the surveillance cameras were damaged, Shang Ying talked until her mouth was nearly dry explaining in the office. Using gestures and acting it out—before the teachers finally believed that this incident had nothing to do with the two of them, almost having to call their parents to handle it.

However, Lin Qian wasn't entirely off the hook. Because Lin Yuan's collapse required informing her parents, the Lin family indicated upon receiving the news that they would rush over immediately.