Chapter Five: Ruan An'an and the System

As soon as the words fell, Jiang Yiran’s face paled slightly.

He… how could he not know?

When Jiang Wuyang was a child, she was allergic to fish, and he was the first to find out.

Back then, he was still young. Their father was away on a business trip, and the cooking maid was new and didn’t know about Jiang Wuyang’s fish allergy.

She cooked fish.

After eating it, Jiang Wuyang suddenly broke out in rashes all over her body, and even her lips began to swell.

Jiang Yiran was terrified and it was the maid who eventually called 911.

Little Yangyang, delicate and precious, lay all alone and pitiful in the hospital.

His heart nearly shattered. He took leave and stayed by her side, caring for her day and night for a whole week.

When their father returned, he gave Jiang Yiran a harsh beating.

From then on, Jiang Yiran never let her touch anything containing fish again.

But now, how could he have forgotten...

"Yangyang..."

Guilt clouded Jiang Yiran’s eyes as he looked at Jiang Wuyang.

Jiang Wuyang said nothing more, took her tray, and left, leaving Jiang Yiran drowning in regret.

Ruan An’an watched Jiang Wuyang’s retreating figure, grinding her teeth in anger.

She had intended to escalate the conflict but had only succeeded in provoking Jiang Yiran’s guilt.

Beside them, Duan Jinyan remained expressionless, as if nothing had happened, silently focused on his meal.

Jiang Yiran slumped, pondering despondently. Clearly, Jiang Wuyang hadn’t always been like this.

The former Jiang Wuyang was so obedient, so sweet—just a little girl clinging to him. When did she change into this?

After some thought, Jiang Yiran realized that since he suggested to Jiang Wuyang that An’an should come home, she had become like this.

It was jealousy of An’an after all!

With this realization, the guilt in Jiang Yiran’s eyes vanished.

If Jiang Wuyang’s character hadn’t been problematic, how could they have favored An’an so much?

If only Jiang Wuyang could be as sensible as An’an...

Ruan An’an carefully watched Jiang Yiran’s expression.

When she saw the familiar arrogance return to his face, she almost laughed out loud.

Jiang Yiran was truly a fool who self-sabotaged, but that also made things easier for her.

“System, system, help me check the affection levels of these two,” she whispered.

---

“Query complete. Jiang Yiran’s affection level: 82; Duan Jinyan’s affection level: 88.”

Ruan An’an asked quietly in her heart, and upon receiving the answer, a faint smile curved her lips. These affection levels had risen as easily as drinking water.

When she first arrived, their affection was below ten.

Once they reach one hundred, she could seize everything they owned and have everything she desired!

But if not for that incident, Duan Jinyan’s affection wouldn’t have risen so quickly...

She glanced at Duan Jinyan, whose gentle features bore a distant aloofness.

Yet such an ethereal being showed worry in his eyes because of her injury and thoughtfully shielded her behind himself...

Thinking this, a warm sweetness stirred within Ruan An’an.

Her resolve only grew firmer: that incident must be buried forever!

“An’an, what are you thinking about? Hurry and eat,” Duan Jinyan noticed her daydreaming and softly called.

Ruan An’an snapped back to reality.

Smiling brightly, she nodded: “Okay.”

“An’an, you’re still young. Skipping directly to the second year of high school—won’t it be hard for you to keep up?” Jiang Yiran suddenly grew very considerate.

Ruan An’an obediently shook her head shyly: “No, if I can’t keep up, I won’t force myself.”

As if she were like an ordinary person who had to learn everything by herself.

Jiang Yiran nodded: “If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask us anytime. Mu Bai also tutors Yangyang every day; you can join in.”

Ruan An’an nodded vigorously, grateful.

Her delicate and charming demeanor greatly satisfied Jiang Yiran’s vanity as an elder brother.

This was how a girl should be.

After returning to class, Jiang Wuyang began filling out the subject application form.

There wasn’t much to fill in; she finished within minutes.

At the end, a parent’s signature was required. Without hesitation, she signed it herself with a flourish.

Just as she was about to hand it to the homeroom teacher, she paused for two seconds, then folded it and slipped it into her bag.

After all, the middle-aged homeroom teacher was quite nagging. If she found out the signature was forged, she probably wouldn’t approve and would make her fill out another form.

To avoid extra paperwork, Jiang Wuyang decided to submit it tomorrow.

Yuncheng is a typical southern city with connected corridors between teaching buildings.

Yuncheng No.1 High School has first and second years sharing a connected building, while the third year has a separate one.

Before class started, Jiang Wuyang stood at the doorway, leaning on the corridor railing, basking in the warm sunlight.

At that moment, she truly felt alive.

This time, she vowed not to repeat past mistakes. She would stand on the highest podium and chase her dream!

Sunlight bathed her; her ponytail swayed; her profile was proud, lips curved into a joyful smile.

Nearby, a girl was stunned by the scene, raising her CCD camera and snapping a shutter to capture the moment.

When the bell rang, Jiang Wuyang returned to class.

Not being good at humanities and deciding to transfer classes, Jiang Wuyang’s mind was elsewhere the entire afternoon.

When class ended, she packed up early and left immediately.

When Jiang Yiran and the others came to pick up Ruan An’an, only she remained.

Jiang Wuyang walked to the exit, where Uncle Wang’s car was waiting.

This was usual.

Uncle Wang always waited early at the entrance, while she liked to wait in the classroom for Jiang Yiran and the others. Their dawdling meant she never left on time.

So Uncle Wang was a bit surprised to see her right after class today.

“Miss, you’re early today,” Uncle Wang said as he started the car and headed toward Lishui Bay Villas.

Jiang Wuyang nodded: “I came right after class.”

Uncle Wang responded cheerfully and pressed the accelerator, driving her home.

Back at home, she saw Aunt Zhang on the phone.

“Alright! Alright! Okay! I’ll definitely do it!”

Jiang Wuyang’s steps halted upstairs.

She called out to Aunt Zhang: “Aunt Zhang, I want sweet and sour pork ribs for dinner tonight.”

Aunt Zhang replied perfunctorily, her tone completely different from when she was on the phone.

Jiang Wuyang didn’t care about the attitude; as long as she obeyed, that was enough. If not, she wouldn’t be so polite!

She entered her bedroom and placed her schoolbag on the desk.

Her gaze was drawn to the English notes lying there.

Curiously, she picked up the notebook and studied it.

The handwriting was neat and delicate; the name on the inside cover was Wen Mubai.

Reading the content made Jiang Wuyang smile. She casually tossed the notebook aside.