Chapter 21: No One Understands Better Than Chuyao

Shen Ning should have been a little angry. But the moment Xu Chuyao jumped out, she looked so stunning—so unexpectedly big and right in her face—that Shen Ning forgot to be mad.

Meanwhile, Chuyao, who had spent so long preparing this surprise, didn’t even get any Villain Points for it. A total loss.

“Looks like you’ve gotten bolder lately. Not so easy to scare anymore.” The Big Thunder girl pouted. “Come on, where are we going?”

Shen Ning stood up from the bench and extended her hand to her.

“Oh, right, right,” Xu Chuyao suddenly remembered, “the pure-hearted request of the pure-hearted schoolgirl.”

When Shen Ning had asked to make a request earlier on the path, Chuyao had gotten a bit nervous, thinking it might be something perverted. But it turned out to just be holding hands.

Just like her old online buddies from her previous life, who always talked big in group chats with things like “I wanna gra— you”, but would freak out if they so much as touched a hand in person.

“Here we go.”

Xu Chuyao’s hand was small, soft, and fragrant—once you held it, you didn’t want to let go.

Shen Ning’s hand was a little cool, her palm delicate, fingers slender, and there was a faint roughness at her fingertips—likely from the calluses formed during her time as a miner.

[Congratulations, Host, on successfully holding hands. One-star milestone task in progress. Countdown initiated—]

The system notification buzzed in her mind, but Shen Ning didn’t have time to look at it. Chuyao, who had claimed she didn’t know where to go, suddenly tugged her hand and started walking forward.

“Where are you taking me?”

“You said you wanted to stroll around campus, right? Obviously, I’m taking you to all the scenic spots.”

Their first stop was the library. As the biggest building on campus, it wasn’t exactly the most scenic—it was just a giant square block. Only once inside could you really feel the atmosphere of knowledge.

But Xu Chuyao insisted on taking a photo in front of the library, even picking a camera angle that included the whole building in the background.

“Don’t underestimate it just because it looks fine now,” Chuyao explained seriously in response to Shen Ning’s confused look. “You never know, what if the school gets attacked someday and the library is blown up? Then everyone will only have this photo to remember it by.”

It made no sense—but since they were still holding hands, Shen Ning didn’t object.

Their second stop was the artificial lake. Hardly anyone came by the lakeside in autumn and winter, but the area was still well-maintained, with clean water and polished stones.

Chuyao had initially planned to climb the decorative mountain in the lake’s center, but a sudden chilly breeze made her change her mind.

“Let’s just take a picture here. We’ll come back in summer. This place probably won’t be bombed… I think.”

Time was short. Before the lunch break ended, they made one last stop at the school’s clock tower—the tallest building on campus. Every student knew it well, as the morning wake-up bell rang from there daily.

The two girls climbed the tower, one after the other. Xu Chuyao reached the top first and began searching around the big bronze bell.

“Look what I found!”

A modern-looking speaker was sitting right next to the bell. Clearly, the wake-up sounds didn’t come from traditional bell ringing at all.

Chuyao took pictures of both the speaker and the bell, determined to expose the “fake.”

“There’s even a place to sit here. Shen Ning, come have a seat.”

This high up, with the wind howling? What was there to sit for?

Though she thought this, Shen Ning obediently sat beside Xu Chuyao, watching as she made peace signs at her phone camera and captured yet another photo—she’d lost count of how many at this point.

Before today, Shen Ning had no idea there were so many beautiful places at the school. To her, Ascension Academy had always felt like a cage—every step she took was cautious and restrained. But then this girl took her hand and led her down shaded paths, to places captured in smiling photos.

Who grabbed whose hand first? She didn’t remember anymore. Time had long since been enough. The one-star milestone task was ready to be claimed at any moment.

“Shen Ning,” Xu Chuyao suddenly said, “did you know? When school first started, a bunch of students would sneak up here at night. They thought making a wish to a shooting star from the clock tower was super effective. But instead of stars, all they got was frostbite—ha↗ ha↘.”

Really?

Shen Ning imagined shivering students huddled up at the top of the tower, and nearly burst out laughing. Fortunately, she held it in.

“I didn’t know. This is my first time up here.”

“Then have you made any wishes since starting school?” Chuyao asked again.

Shen Ning slowly lifted her head to the sky and fell into silence.

Back in her first few weeks here, when she was locked in that white lab room, she had looked up countless times and made wishes to the sky—just to get out. But there were no windows in that room. Above her was nothing but a cold, blinding ceiling.

Xu Chuyao turned to her and immediately noticed her expression. It looked like she’d touched on something painful.

“Forget it, forget it. Class is starting soon. Let’s head back.”

She grabbed Shen Ning’s hand and pulled her away from the clock tower—pulling her not just from the building, but from the weight of her memories.

They headed back the same way. As they neared the classroom buildings, the two girls happened to cross paths with a woman in a white coat.

“Shen Ning? What are you doing here?” Helena asked, surprised. “Wandering around during lunch break? That’s a blatant school rule violation.”

The moment she appeared, Shen Ning’s mood soured. The good vibes from the entire day vanished.

Helena was the person Shen Ning feared most—not because of power or skill, but because her job was to assess Shen Ning’s mental and psychological state. If she found anything suspicious, she could report her and have her thrown back into the lab.

And Helena wanted to do just that. She just hadn’t found the chance—until now. A perfect violation, right in front of her.

“Given the current sensitive period, you probably don’t understand how serious violating school rules can be. If I just report—”

“What’s it to you?” Xu Chuyao suddenly cut in. “Who gave you the right to butt in?”

Helena hadn’t expected to be snapped at by a girl. She glared at the Big Thunder girl. “How dare you speak to me like that? Do you even know who I am?”

Of course I do. I don’t just know who you are—I know your entire backstory, what happens to you in the future, how you rise, and how you fall.

Xu Chuyao grabbed Shen Ning’s arm and said firmly, “I don’t care who you are. Do your words count for anything? How much does the school even pay you? I get 3,000 yuan in monthly student subsidies. What about you? Don’t tell me you’re working for free.”

“You…”

Helena was speechless—for the simple reason that she didn’t get paid by the school. She finally snapped, “What class are you from? What’s your name? I’m reporting you to Director Luo. You and Shen Ning are both in trouble!”

Xu Chuyao covered her mouth with her hand in mock fear. “Oh, so Ascension Academy is run by Director Luo now? I thought the principal was Dean Lu.”

“You… just wait!”

Helena threw out a threat and stormed off, clearly heading toward the admin building to complain to Luo Kangsheng.

Shen Ning felt satisfied, but she knew her own situation too well. She sighed. “You don’t need to worry. She can’t do anything to you. But I’m different—she’s targeting me.”

“No, you don’t need to worry, dummy little minion~” Xu Chuyao winked. “She only has Director Luo backing her. And pretty soon, you’ll see—Luo Kangsheng won’t even be able to protect himself.”

What?

For the first time, Shen Ning realized that Xu Chuyao actually seemed to know some things. That playful, adorable face suddenly held a trace of mystery in Shen Ning’s eyes.

Bzzzz bzzzz, bzzzz bzzzz.

“My phone—wow, it’s from our homeroom teacher? Hello? Yeah, what’s up… Oh.”

Xu Chuyao put her phone away and told Shen Ning, “Teacher said we don’t have afternoon classes. We’re going straight to her office now.”

“Why?”

“No clue. But it’s not because of that doctor just now.”

She didn’t even have time to snitch yet.