“Don’t touch me.”

The boy didn’t look at her, he just carefully wiped his hand touched by her with a tissue and casually threw it in the trash can; his voice was indifferent.

Bai Lian leaned against the tree, replaying the scene in her mind over and over.

Her wet black hair clung to her pale neck; she wrapped herself in a black coat, yawned lazily, and then reported a number to the elderly man beside her.

The elderly man adjusted his glasses on his nose bridge, happy to see that she finally remembered a number, and dialed it on his phone. The call connected quickly, “Hello, is this Song Min speaking?”

“Yes.”

The elderly man was very polite, “OK, Bai Lian fell into the water by accident at the lakeside of Mingtai Villa, could you come to pick her up?”

There was silence on the other end for a moment before he recalled who this name belonged to, his tone restrained and annoyed, “Don’t call me again.”

The call was disconnected.

The elderly man was stunned, “He…”

Bai Lian, still seated on the rock, chimed in, “He? My fiancé, I presume.”

Drenched, one might expect a desolate figure, but there she sat, with her hands crossed over her chest, leaning against a tree. Confusion shimmered in the depths of her dark eyes, like a white tiger that had nodded off in haste and woke up lazy, not knowing where it was.

“What about your other family members?”

She pondered for a moment, “They are hosting a banquet to celebrate the birthday of a daughter from a concubine.”

The old man looked at the pretty, well-mannered girl, unsure how to comfort her.

“It’s fine,” Bai Lian cocked her head, chuckling lightly, “Thank you for saving me, I’ll sit here for a while longer.”

He was busy with other matters, having saved Bai Lian from drowning by chance. He had initially thought the girl was determined to die, yet to his surprise, after her heartbeat stopped for two minutes, she woke up. She didn’t seem to have any intention of committing suicide again.

“Don’t sit too long, you might catch a cold.” He left her his phone number, took one more look at the black coat she wore, and then hurried away to catch his flight.

Bai Lian put away the note, watching him disappear into the distance.

She stood there for a long while before she tugged at her uniquely styled clothing and reseated herself on the rock, elbow propped on her knee, and the palm loosely supporting her chin.

This body was also named Bai Lian.

She had looked at her reflection in the water; she looked just like her.

Her mother, two years ago, upon finding out that her husband not only had a mistress but also had fathered two illegitimate children, divorced him and didn’t fight for Bai Lian’s custody. She left nonchalantly.

The original owner of the body was unruly and undisciplined, and this time, was caught cheating during the preliminary exams.

While being scolded in the office by her teacher, she saw Song Min delivering homework. On instinct, the original owner grabbed her fiancé’s hand, and he responded coldly and disdainfully, pulling away from her, saying that sentence “Don’t touch me.”

Remembering this, Bai Lian propped her chin on her hand, her fingers with distinct joints lightly resting against her cheek—tch.

What was the original owner doing with her pretty face?

She tightened the overcoat with a hint of silver grass scent around her.

Not strong, a bit chilly.

Bai Lian looked at the solar lights shimmering in the distance, her eyes sparkling with bright stars. She just sat there on the stone, quietly observing this amazing world.

She didn’t know how long had passed before a blinding car light approached.

She shielded her eyes with her hand to block the light.

“Miss,” the driver got out of the driver’s seat and opened the door to the back seat of the business car.

As the door to the business car opened, a graceful looking girl in an exquisite dress, sitting on the outer side, came into view.

After standing up, Bai Lian realized the back seat was not only occupied by Bai Shaoqi but also by a haughty young man sitting next to her, looking down at his phone.

Oh, Song Min.

“Sister,” Bai Shaoqi glanced lightly at Bai Lian. She moved to a seat in the front for her and took the last three-seater row in the back, “You sit in the front.”

The young man originally looking at his phone furrowed his eyebrows slightly.

Upon seeing Bai Shaoqi moving back, he too silently put away his phone and squeezed into the back seat without a word.

The driver gave Bai Lian an awkward glance. Each time this scene unfolded, the miss would become as if she were mad, “Miss, Master Song, he…”

Bai Lian flicked the hair from her forehead while sorting through her memories; she didn’t sit in the back but gestured for the driver to open the passenger door instead.

The car headed towards the Bai Family home.

“Min,” Bai Shaoqi suddenly broke the silence in the back seat, “Did you log into my account?”

“Hm, you solved that problem using Fourier transformation? That approach won’t work, I’ve tried it.”

“Looking down on me, what if I manage to solve it?” She reached for Song Min’s phone.

Song Min quickly guarded his phone; he would meticulously clean anywhere the original owner touched him, yet he didn’t have any aversion to Bai Shaoqi, “Then I’ll help you with your duty roster.”

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Bai Shaoqi, “Ah, duty roster again?”

“Are you complaining?”

“…”

Both of them were in the international class at Jingjiang Preparatory Camp, key talents of the year, and often took various competitive courses together. Bai Shaoqi was not at all inferior to any boy in the sciences.

They spoke as if no one else were present, impossible for others to interject.

The driver glanced at Bai Lian sitting quietly and obediently in the passenger seat, feeling a bit embarrassed. He explained to her, “The software Miss and Master Song are discussing is from Jiangjing Preparatory Camp. This year there are ten spots, and they…”

Halfway through his words, the driver remembered that Bai Lian had cheated for this spot and immediately closed his mouth.

**

The Bai Family mansion.

Bai Qiming sat on the sofa in the living room, waiting for Bai Shaoqi and Song Min to return.

“Song Min came back with me to get my brother’s notebook,” Bai Shaoqi said to Bai Qiming with a smile.

Bai Lian ignored their pleasantries and sat down directly on the sofa, tapping the coffee table absentmindedly with her fingertips to signal the butler to pour her some tea.

After the butler served her the tea, she lowered her head and casually blew on it.

“You have intense study sessions and also practice the guzheng. Don’t overexert yourself,” Bai Qiming gently handed the teacher appreciation card to Bai Shaoqi, speaking gently, “Practice ‘The White Robed Journey’ well these next two days, Principal Jian is very fond of it.”

Song Min was clearly surprised, “You know ‘The White Robed Journey’?”

Bai Shaoqi was modest, “I’ve only learned a little.”

Bai Lian leaned back on the sofa, gathering her half-dry black hair behind her ear, gazing at the teacher appreciation card for a long while before lazily interrupting their polite chat with a tap on the rim of her cup, “That appreciation card was my birthday gift from two years ago.”

Bai Shaoqi’s voice paused, and she narrowed her eyes at Bai Qiming’s teacher appreciation card.

Then, with a smirk that was not quite a smile, she said, “Sister also learned to play the Chinese Zither?”

Upon hearing this, Song Min, who was standing nearby, lowered his head.

Everybody in Beicheng knows that Bai Lian has no real skills.

Bai Qiming cast a reassuring glance at Bai Shaoqi and then turned his gaze to Bai Lian, his voice turning cold, “Principal Jian is a professor at Jiangjing University; she’s very strict with her students. You have no musical talent, so it’s useless for you to have it. Shaoqi is more suitable than you are.”

“Hmm,” Bai Lian held the teacup, looking very harmless as she replied, “…No musical talent?”

She chuckled.

Quite interesting.

She had switched bodies.

“Did I say something wrong?” Bai Qiming’s eyes were heavy, but he thought she was being evasive, “You drove away three teachers, even fell asleep in Teacher Li’s music room, and after studying for a year, tell me, do you even know how many strings a guzheng has?”

So that was it.

Bai Shaoqi withdrew her gaze, “Dad, if sister wants to learn, then let her have it. I’m going upstairs.”

Lowering her eyes with an openly mocking smile, she touched her sleeve, clearly disgusted by Bai Lian’s behavior—it was nothing more than—

Parroting.

She went upstairs, not in the best of moods. Seeing her leave, Song Min followed her.

He indifferently walked past Bai Lian without sparing her a glance.

Song Min had known since childhood that Bai Lian was his fiancée. Others said his fiancée was quite attractive, but to him, Bai Lian was just that—a title, a “fiancée.”

In his eyes, she had no presence; she had left no impression on him in all these years.

He had not the slightest interest in the “very attractive” Bai Lian spoken of by others.

**

Once the two left, Bai Qiming’s face darkened, and he handed the teacher appreciation card he was holding to the butler.

He looked at Bai Lian indifferently, “Why did you cheat?”

Bai Lian retorted, “I didn’t.”

The Bai family’s young lady cheated.

What did that have to do with her, Bai Lian?

Bai Qiming sneered coldly, “So you’re telling me you ranked in the top ten at school all on your own?”

“Why is that impossible?”

Bai Qiming found her refusal to admit any wrongdoing utterly hopeless, “Come with me to the ancestral hall.”

The ancestral hall contained many spirit tablets. Bai Qiming took three sticks of incense, solemnly paid his respects, and then said to Bai Lian, “Bai Lian, you’re eighteen now, not eight. When your elder brother was your age, he had already won several awards and handled several cases.”

He meant no sarcasm; he was simply telling the truth.

When Bai Lian was in her first year of high school, Bai Qiming also put in a lot of effort, specially arranging for her to be in the same class as Song Min to foster affection. But Bai Lian did not keep up with the international class’s curriculum and fell to the regular class after the first exam.

In contrast, Bai Shaoqi thrived, getting into the international class on her own merit and participating in various extra-credit competitions.

Bai Lian was looking at the spirit tablets behind him, his every word treading upon her minefields.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Can the son of a mistress also count as my elder brother? Don’t you have your own family tree? Or do you have to piggyback on mine?” she said, still in her clothes from outside, the black hair winding about her slender, pale neck.

She leaned on her overcoat, against the door frame, and lightly laughed at Bai Qiming.

The family butler watched from the side, his heart racing. The recognition in Bai Lian’s strikingly beautiful face as she smiled was akin to that of a highly intelligent psychopath.

A scent of blood was in the air.

“You…” Bai Qiming had never been defied like this before, especially by Bai Lian, the daughter he least respected. His face turned red with anger, “Rebellious child, you’re completely unreasonable!”

He placed the incense properly.

“Not to mention competing with Shaoqi, even if you had one-tenth of her! But throughout Bai Family’s two-hundred-year history, there has never been someone like you,” he looked Bai Lian up and down, defining her word by word, “a cheat in exams, a good-for-nothing scholar!”

“Repent properly in front of your ancestors, and don’t come out until you realize what you’ve done wrong, otherwise—” he looked down at Bai Lian from his superior position, as if appraising an inconsequential product, “go back to Xiangcheng and don’t ever set foot in the Bai Family mansion again!”