Chapter 2

Shen Yue was about to get off the car, her foot already halfway out, when she pulled it back in.

"Uncle Zhang, we're not at school yet."

Uncle Zhang sighed helplessly, "Your father said not to drive you all the way to the school gate."

Shen Yue promptly laid down flat on the back seat, clearly indicating she would not go to school unless driven right to the entrance.

After trying unsuccessfully to persuade her for a while, Uncle Zhang had no choice but to check with Shen's father again. The answer he got was that the doctor had cleared Shen Yue and she had no health issues. If she was throwing a tantrum, just carry her directly to the teacher.

Uncle Zhang sighed again. He felt this was not the best approach, but did not dare defy the boss. Reluctantly, he went to the backseat and unceremoniously threw the limp Shen Yue onto his back.

One's parents are more important than anything.

Sorry, little Yueyue.

Only then did Shen Yue realize what had happened. She felt perfectly fine, even comfortable.

In short, she felt blessed as long as she didn't have to move.

This was not laziness, she told herself, but conserving energy for future labor reform.

Having found a "valid reason" for herself, Shen Yue continued lounging on Uncle Zhang's back, even letting out a yawn and accidentally spotting a nearby breakfast joint, yelling "I want to eat that!"

Uncle Zhang was exasperated. Shen family children were never allowed to eat outside food, so how could he dare to randomly buy her some. He could only refuse, "You can't."

But Shen Yue persisted, "Why not!"

Because your dad and mom don't allow you to eat it. Why make things difficult for me, a laborer!

But Uncle Zhang did not dare tell the truth. He was afraid the little girl would gossip everywhere and he'd lose his job. So he solemnly started making up excuses, "It's not that I won't buy it for you, it's that uncle doesn't have money on hand."

Having her memories, Shen Yue instantly empathized. She understood the pain of having no money.

It was to the extent of counting every penny even for a small gummy bear.

How could a fake rich girl make life difficult for a laborer? She felt ashamed for wanting to spend his hard-earned money. It was like being so hungry in prison that she'd steal another inmate's last meal.

The pain, the pain!

In that moment, Uncle Zhang was no longer just a laborer in Shen Yue's eyes, but her fellow revolutionary!

Comrade seeing comrade, both eyes brimming with tears.

But Uncle Zhang shuddered, realizing this was bad. Uh oh, the little ancestor's not about to cry is she? That would cause a scene. He had to hurry and drop her off at school.

Uncle Zhang got ready to sprint the last stretch and throw Shen Yue at the school gate. But just then, he saw Shen Yue's eyes glimmering with tears as she spoke, "Uncle Zhang, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been demanding. Don't feel upset." Uncle Zhang stopped in his tracks.

Actually, he wasn't very upset himself. He was just worried the Shen boss would scold and dock his pay.

But seeing Shen Yue sincerely apologize made Uncle Zhang suddenly feel that not buying the girl breakfast and then lying to her to the point of tears was beastly.

Shen Yue didn't know that her apology would haunt Uncle Zhang's dreams, leaving him with immense guilt.

After intense ideological struggle, Uncle Zhang said, "Next time, I will definitely buy it for you."

Let's slip away from the bodyguards next time and eat.

But Shen Yue misunderstood his perfunctory words as the usual polite brush-off. She politely played along, "Okay!"

Just then, Shen Yue's classmate Zhang Peng happened to walk past and overheard their conversation.

He was shocked by what he discovered. Shen Yue...her family is so poor they can't even afford breakfast? So Shen Yue's parents are destitute?! She always uses nice things at school, who would've thought...

At 12 years old, not quite an adult but no longer a child, at that impulse-driven age without forethought.

The classmate who had heard the "secret" rushed ahead of Shen Yue into the classroom, eager to share the big news with everyone.

"Guess what I just overheard! You'd never guess, Shen Yue is actually a fraud!"

As soon as he said this, the classmates who had been minding their own business all looked over.

"Shen Yue is a fraud?"

"What's going on?"

"Are you still asleep? Which Shen Yue are you talking about?"

"Our class's Shen Yue?"

Zhang Peng slapped the lectern and picked up the chalk eraser, ready to reveal all. But then he remembered the teacher would arrive to start class soon, so he quickly summed up, "On my way here today, I heard Shen Yue and her uncle talking. Her family is so poor they can't even afford breakfast! Her uncle even said, 'It's because uncle is useless and has no money.' Then Shen Yue started apologizing."

"I thought Shen Yue grew up together with Shang Junyu, so even if her family's not as rich as the Shangs, they'd still be pretty well-off..."

"But Shen Yue uses pretty expensive stuff at school."

"They must be knock-offs. If they can't even afford breakfast, no way she can afford real deals."

"Maybe she steals them?"

"Ew, so gross. Why does Shen Yue have to pretend to be rich like this by stealing?"

"The nerve to treat us with stolen money before!"

"Fenced goods for sure."

"Should we report her to the police?"

The saying goes three people make a tiger. Though the accusation of stealing started as speculation, as more people echoed it, it became truth.

Especially since it was this Shen Yue. Shen Yue who went to school with Shang Junyu every day, talented in piano and dance, already gaining fans for her sweet looks and nice personality.

For someone like her to actually be a liar, even a thief, how interesting.

Sometimes, people find happiness in others' pain. Looking down on the excellent feels better about one's own failures, a comforting self-deception.

So when Shen Yue finally wandered into the classroom, she found everyone looking at her differently.

Shen Yue couldn't describe their gazes. She only knew if it were prison, anyone who looked at her like that would be dead by next morning.

She thought nothing of it and headed straight for her desk to sit down. But she discovered her stool was sopping wet, and even the previously tidy desktop was scribbled all over, with dense writing everywhere.

Fraud.

Poor.

Disgusting.

Vain.

Thief.

...

These were the more refined words. There were also cruder, explicit insults.

Shen Yue examined closely, thinking happiness had come too suddenly, seeming unbelievable. So she looked to her neighbor and asked, "This is my desk?"

The other ignored her, but someone yelled, "That's your desk alright. It suits you perfectly, hahahahaha."

Now Shen Yue understood. She was being bullied.

She never expected this to happen to her. Though unsure of the reason, at least she could go home and lounge properly with an excuse.

"Hey Shen Yue, not sitting down?"

"The noble princess can't sit on a glue-covered stool, of course."

Shen Yue ignored the taunts and calmly took out her phone to call Uncle Zhang.

To make her mood seem more genuine, she viciously pinched her thigh, squeezing out some tears.

"Uncle Zhang...I...I don't want to go to school." The child's voice trembled slightly despite her efforts to control it. Uncle Zhang could still hear the fragility and distress in Shen Yue's words.

He immediately turned the car around towards the school, gently consoling, "Don't be scared, I'll be right there."

After hanging up with Shen Yue, Uncle Zhang hesitated, then called Shen Yichen's assistant.

On the other end, Shen Yue's pitiful expression disappeared as soon as she set down the phone. As she rubbed at the writing on her desk, she sorted through the extra memories in her mind.

Hmm, supposedly today they falsely accused her of taking someone else's belongings, so how did it become words on her desk?

The memories in her head don't seem very accurate either.

Yet for some reason, Shen Yue never doubted one thing, even as she told herself this.

That prison would be her final destination.