Chapter 1: Cheng jiyuna

Meiying central High school

The morning sun filtered through the tall windows of the assembly hall, painting golden streaks across the polished wooden floor. Rows of students sat restlessly, their chatter filling the air like a buzzing hive. Excitement and curiosity electrified the atmosphere.

“Did you hear? There’s a new student joining today,” a girl whispered to her group of friends, her voice low but giddy. “It’s a girl, apparently. I wonder what she’s like.”

“Do you think she’s from some wealthy family?” another murmured, leaning in close.

“I bet she’s just average. They’re making such a big deal out of it,” someone scoffed.

The whispers continued until the sharp echo of footsteps silenced the hall. The principal, Mrs. Han, a dignified woman in her late fifties, stepped onto the stage. With her poised demeanor and the faint smile on her lips, she commanded attention effortlessly.

Behind her, walking slowly yet gracefully, was a girl.

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

The girl moved with a quiet confidence, her presence impossible to ignore. She was beautiful in an unconventional way—a sharp elegance that captivated the eye. Her hair, cut short in a striking wolf style, framed her face perfectly. But it was her eyes that froze the room. A deep, clear blue, like an endless sky at twilight, shimmering with an almost otherworldly star-like glint.

“She looks like…” someone murmured, the words dying on their lips.

Mrs. Han’s calm voice broke the stunned silence. “Students, please welcome our new addition, Miss Cheng Jiyuna. She will be joining Class 12, Section 1. I trust you will all help her adjust and treat her with kindness.”

The name seemed to hang in the air like an echo, stirring something unspoken among a select few.

Near the front, Ruifeng Wang, heir of the prestigious Wang family, leaned toward his younger sister, Xinyue. His dark brows furrowed in suspicion as his sharp eyes scrutinized the girl on stage.

“Xinyue…” he whispered, his voice low. “Doesn’t she look like… her?”

Xinyue’s gaze locked onto Jiyuna, her expression unreadable, though her hand trembled slightly against her skirt. Her voice wavered when she finally replied. “Yes… she does.”

But it can’t be, Xinyue thought, her mind spinning. Shuyin Yue Wang… she’s dead. She died in that fire at the Wang estate. How could she possibly be here?

As if sensing the weight of their stares, Jiyuna glanced up. For the briefest moment, her striking blue eyes met Xinyue’s.

A boy whispered somewhere in the crowd, excitement barely contained. “Her eyes… they’re like Ai Hoshino’s! You know, from Oshi no Ko! Look at that star symbol—it's unreal!”

The hall erupted again with murmurs, the awe spreading like wildfire.

Before the whispers could consume the room, another disturbance swept through the lines of students.

Soft gasps and squeals followed as a figure strode confidently toward the stage. The crowd parted instinctively as a young man approached. He couldn’t have been older than nineteen, but his presence was magnetic.

He had sharp, piercing green eyes that seemed to take in everything and everyone at once. His white hair, a perfect mirror of Jiyuna’s, fell artfully across his forehead. His expression was relaxed yet unreadable, as though he cared little for the attention he was commanding.

A hush fell as he finally reached the stage. In one hand, he held a sleek, silver water bottle.

“Jiyu,” he said casually, his voice low but carrying through the hall. “You forgot your bottle.”

The students watched in stunned silence, trying to process what was happening.

“Who is he?” a girl whispered, eyes wide as she clutched her friend’s arm.

Another voice chimed in. “Wait… look at his shoes. Those are worth over 5,000 yen!”

“And his shirt,” someone else added breathlessly. “Isn’t that the new release from Louis Vuitton? It was only launched last week!”

The murmurs grew louder, spiraling into a cacophony of speculation and awe.

Jiyuna turned to face the young man, her expression softening slightly. She reached for the bottle, her slender fingers brushing against the cool metal. “Thank you, Gege,” she said softly, the word rolling off her tongue with practiced familiarity.

The boy—Cheng Jinhai—simply nodded, his expression neutral but his green eyes holding an unmistakable protectiveness. With an air of indifference to the stares, he turned and began to walk back the way he had come.

Jiyuna remained still for a moment, clutching the bottle in her hands. Then, with a graceful bow to the principal, she stepped off the stage, her movements measured and composed.

As she walked toward her assigned class, whispers and glances followed her like shadows.

“Who are they?”

“She called him ‘Gege’… brother? But they don’t look like siblings.”

“They must be from an incredibly wealthy family. Look at the way they carry themselves!”

Among the crowd, Ruifeng’s gaze hardened. He exchanged a glance with Xinyue, whose face had gone pale.

There’s no way this is a coincidence, Ruifeng thought. That girl… those eyes…

In the midst of it all, Jiyuna remained silent, her expression calm and unreadable. She had learned long ago how to hold herself together, no matter how heavy the weight of the past pressed against her.

But in her heart, the words echoed like a curse:

Shuyin Yue Wang is dead.

And Cheng Jiyuna has taken her place.

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