Dog men are real dogs.
Although his youthful voice now was different from the cold, ruthless tone of years later, it still overlapped with that man in her memory and stirred Chu Yin's recollections.
He liked to loop his arm around her waist, hold her close, and inhale deeply at her neck.
"What perfume?" the man asked hoarsely. "It smells good…"
If Chu Yin didn't answer, he would keep asking, pressing her into submission until she finally replied helplessly. There was no perfume, only the faint mix of body soap and laundry detergent.
Back in time, Chu Yin had been asked the same question by the same person.
She suddenly realized that some things in the dark always followed their predetermined tracks. Since she couldn't completely avoid this dog man, wouldn't it be faster to make him dislike her?
After all, she knew what Lu Zhen liked.
The power-holder of the Lu family seemed deep and composed, but he actually liked wild roses with thorns. In her previous life, Chu Yin had been unruly and defiant, rebelling everywhere, which strangely aligned with his perverted preferences.
This time, she would be the kind of good student he disliked the most.
Unremarkable, docile, and dull on the surface, but secretly sharp, a hidden thorn.
Chu Yin licked her lips under the mask, voice flat and obedient, eyes feigning confusion. "Classmate, I don't know any perfume."
Lu Zhen had felt a slight impulse, but when he looked at her forehead fragments and the clarity in her eyes beneath the mask, that impulse faded. She looked like a peaceful little nerd, exuding an instinctive resistance to a bad boy.
Lu Zhen usually had no interest in such people, but he felt a faint, inexplicable sourness prick his heart.
"Do you know me?" he asked.
Chu Yin ground her teeth under the mask. More than just knowing, she even remembered the mole between his abdominal muscles and the mermaid line.
Yet on the surface, she frowned slightly as if he were strange and dared not answer him.
Finally, she shook her head. "I don't know."
Lu Zhen's dark eyes lingered, then he thought: forget it. It's hard for a little nerd to make a move.
The slender figure of Chu Yin left, head slightly bowed, like someone who could disappear in the crowd. But under the mask, her claws were sharpening as she thought:
No dog man, not a chance.
From the moment Lu Zhen left the classroom, the international class erupted in gossip.
"Did Brother Zhen just talk to that girl?""Who is she? Does she know him?""Isn't she the redneck the Chu family picked up from the village?"
Chu Qiuqiu frowned. She had no idea how her sister had managed to speak to Lu Zhen.
Soon, the news spread like wildfire across the school. Everyone knew a girl had gone to the international class just to ask a question and ended up talking to Lu Zhen alone.
Fu Mingxuan was shocked. She couldn't believe it. Lu Zhen had never ignored her, and the most she had ever spoken to him was a gift exchange. Yet this hillbilly spoke to him for a few minutes?
In Class 5, students couldn't stay calm and kept turning to stare.
Song Zhaolin whispered to Chu Yin: "Dai Zhuo, do you know Brother Zhen?"
Chu Yin, still focused on her work, said coldly: "I don't know."
Song Zhaolin was surprised. She didn't even know Lu Zhen.
"Then why are you talking to him?" Song Zhaolin asked quietly, covering her mouth. "Girls who like him are crazy."
Chu Yin tapped her pen. "...he was talking to me."
Song Zhaolin's expression said, although I won't laugh at you, don't tease me either.
The school bell rang, and Fu Mingxuan approached with her little sister. She looked at Chu Yin, soft and gentle as always, and asked, "Hey, what did you say to Lu Zhen?!"
Chu Yin twirled her pen and raised her eyes. "Do you have a relationship with him?"
Song Zhaolin internally applauded her sister Yin.
Fu Mingxuan, flustered, asked anxiously: "Are you teasing him? Otherwise, why would he care about you? What did you say?!"
Chu Yin "slapped" her pen on the table, smiling. "Do you think I am like you?"
Fu Mingxuan felt crushed. "You?!"
Chu Yin stood, indifferent, and pushed her aside. "Want to know? Ask Lu Zhen yourself."
That night, someone posted on Huiwen's anonymous forum:
[The daughter of the eighteenth-eighth daughter went to the international sophomore class to ask questions and talked to Lu Zhen]
The main post went viral. The elder sister was Chu Yin, Class 5, a countryside girl adopted by the Chu family, sister to Chu Qiuqiu and Chu Shi, the male leader of the high school.
The name Lu Zhen drew instant attention.
1l: The front row handed over the lid to the host. If you dare mention a certain name, you're a true top fan.2l: I heard about her. Grew up in the village, bold and stubborn.3l: How did she even match with Lu Zhen? I don't believe she asked a serious question.4l: Going upstairs to check, I had no face and no skin.
All major grade and class groups buzzed with discussion. Lu Zhen was the school heartthrob, and anyone trying to approach him caused chaos. The story of the hillbilly asking a difficult question made it seem plausible and even clever, rather than a romantic interest.
Someone asked:70l: Is that hillbilly really good at studying?71l: Maybe a village genius? She even solved a very difficult math question in public class.
Chu Qiuqiu watched the thread closely, smiling. The timing was perfect.
Minutes later, Fu Mingxuan received an anonymous email while replying to the post.
Ten minutes later, a new post appeared:
[Expected, come and see the transcripts of the Chu family's "Xueba" daughter!]
The picture in the post was Chu Yin's transcript:
Chinese 102, Mathematics 69, English 99, Liberal Arts & Comprehensive 161, total 431, ranking 302.
1l: Horrible!2l: Xueba? In the village, over 300 people laughed!3l: Chu Yin pretending to be Xueba to attract Lu Zhen, pathetic.
The post spread quickly. Everyone was mocking, yet Chu Qiuqiu defended her sister:
[Don't laugh at my sister, I will help her!]
Chu Qiuqiu then went to the forum. Seeing everyone's ridicule, she posted:
[Poor grades are not a reason to insult others. Don't pretend to be a schoolmaster if your grades are bad. If you pretend, you must laugh at yourself.]
Anonymous forums let everyone speak freely, but Chu Yin probably panicked now.
Chu Yin had just finished her homework.
"Dip—the task is complete. Unlock the next script and gain permission to change the story."
The glowing book spread out. Xue Ji said, "Host, the current plot is very lively."
Chu Yin didn't join groups or forums, but after reading the script, she knew she had been exposed. She looked at all the chaos, with posts floating on the homepage. She blamed Lu Zhen slightly.
Her phone dinged. Brother sent a note: "Xiao Yin, don't pay attention to the internet. Let me handle it."
Two seconds later: "Do you want ice cream?"
Xue Ji said nervously: "Host, the situation is like this. What will you do?"
Chu Yin propped her cheek with her hand, eyebrow raised. Poor high school grades, yes. The transcript was hers. If it was posted, it was posted. She didn't care.
But for her golden finger, she couldn't let this slide.
She moved the pen over a character in the script:
"Want to play?"
She changed [Anonymous] to [Real Name].
"Then everyone, play big—Welcome to Huiwen Real-Name Forum."
At 10:39 pm, the forum crashed.
A second later, under every post, account names appeared. All the hidden white lotuses and pretenders vanished.
Chu Yin narrowed her eyes.
Come on, everyone—run naked together.