"System, put surveillance on Mei Qinghua."
--
The next day, Bai Lianhua informed her parents that she was invited to a ball and they didn't mind her going - the only thing that Daddy Hu emphasised was not to lose his face and to make high ranked connections for his benefit. Bai Lianhua didn't refuse because this was beneficial to herself. Who doesn't want to be rich?
At school, Bai Lianhua felt as though she hadn't been abused much by the teacher since the first incident when she arrived in this world. 'Did he forget about bribes or was he told not to by Yue Linlan?'
Bai Lianhua also wanted to meet Yue Linlan to ask about Mei Qinghua and how she knew the both of them but Yue Linlan didn't come to school that day.
Wu Chenren was there though and he didn't seem to have any problems. He looked as comfortable as a sea breeze in the class and Bai Lianhua couldn't be bothered to disturb him. An announcement was made through the school speakers that her presence was needed in the head master's office.
When she arrived, a bundle of documents was thrown at her and she dodged. 'Isn't this assault? My gosh, l thought for a second that l was in an ancient world and my master threw porcelain at me.'
"You -" It was Dad Hu who had thrown the documents and Bai Lianhua was vvery confused as to what was happening. She looked at the principle but the principle pretended that the trees reflected in his window outside were more interesting. He didn't want to get involved.
"What are you doing? Bribing teachers? Engaging in love? What is this?"
Mei Qinghua had already struck and reversed black into white forcing Hu Lianhua to confess to 'crimes'. As long as she denies it and says that it was Yue Linlan who did it instead, everything else would be history. Bai Lianhua didn't know she had fallen into a trap.
"Dad! It's not me! It's Yue Linlan!"
Dad Hu slapped her across the face: "Don't try to shirk responsibility for your crimes! Just because your sister looks like you, you want to push the crimes to her? I'm very disappointed."
Bai Lianhua felt cold in heart but she continued speaking: "I have evidence!"
Both Dad Hu and the principle looked at her in shock. 'Sorry Yue Linlan, l cannot go to jail for something l didn't do - this is what you deserve.'
Bai Lianhua pulled out surveillance footage of the bank slips that the teacher had and asked the principle to check the name on the account slips. The principle called a teacher to go and retrieve those things. Next, she also pulled out the video of Wu Chenren's confession and her rejection clearly showing that she wasn't falling in love early. She also said that Yue Linlan may be framing her in advance so that she didn't go to jail.
"Why didn't you say so sooner?" Dad Hu felt guilty but didn't want to blame himself so he continued blaming his daughter.
"You didn't give time to speak. Also, these videos were sent to me anonymously - l didn't break any laws on privacy. That person said that someone wanted to deal with me and l didn't know whether it was Yue Linlan so l kept the video evidence just in case."
The principle apologised and let Dad Hu take her home directly. In the car, there was silence and no one wanted to speak. Dad Hu was embarrassed and Bai Lianhua felt that no one in the world truly loved the original owner so she was sad.
The system felt it could earn some profits so it bounced out and said: "Do you want to know who schemed against you? This information will cost you 7 points!"
"Profiteer! I know it has to be Mei Qinghua - she is up to something again. It can't be Yue Linlan because last time, we parted amicably. It can't be Wu Chenren because he's busy trying to seduce Yue Linlan - where does he have time for me? Damn! I've haven't suffered such a loss in a while!"
Bai Lianhua didn't say anything about Dad Hu's behaviour but she was disappointed. She didn't know that he was such a person who refused to admit mistakes and blamed her. 'Does he really love Hu Linlan?'
--
She don't know who spread the rumours at school but people were saying that Yue Linlan was so vicious because she tried to frame her sister but failed and her crimes were exposed. Because of this, her class teacher was fired and Yue Linlan was suspended. Even the police was involved and she was monitored as they tried to find evidence against her.
Bai Lianhua didn't know whether the client was sane because the task progress increased to 30%. She guessed that Hu Lianhua still had unwillingness and wanted to punish Yue Linlan but now that has been basically completed.
As all these rumours were spreading, Bai Lianhua was racing against time to improving her acting and hacking skills. She managed to hack into her own phone remotely using a laptop and she was so overjoyed. The system also reminded her to keep working hard.
During this time, Yue Linlan tried to talk to her and find her but she managed to escape everytime. She felt guilty that she exposed Yue Linlan so directly.
It came to the point where Yue Linlan directly waited at the front of her house and Bai Lianhua knew she couldn't avoid her at all this time. She entered the car and the driver drove slowly to school. Yue Linlan gave her two slaps and Bai Lianhua didn't dodge. She felt bad so naturally didn't mind being bitten.
"You ruined my reputation! Do you know what people are saying about me? Do you?"
Bai Lianhua suddenly didn't feel guilty anymore but looked at Yue Linlan subtly: "But isn't this all that you actually did? Could it be that l should agree to doing things that l have never done?"
Yue Linlan nodded vigorously: "Yes, you should. You aren't rich and you don't have many responsibilities but l am from Yue so l am different. If you own up to it now, l can pay you $100,000 and you can move schools. No one will know anything. The police have also been bribed already so there won't be any action." She patted her chest in relief and said that her family took care of everything for her.
Bai Lianhua was so speechless and she even wanted to pinch herself to see whether she was dreaming. She knew Yue Linlan was vain and loved status but she excused her earlier behaviour because she didn't know she was being schemed against by Wu Chenren. That doesn't mean that she wanted to be responsible. "Are you serious? This is a joke. I refuse to own up to things l haven't done. And also, you should know that the more you bribe people, the more crimes you commit. Even if the President wanted to save you and the Yue family now, he wouldn't. You better be careful - some rich families may grab your handle because of this and ruin your family."
Yue Linlan didn't think so at all: "The Yue family is powerful - there is no way that we will be ruined."
"If you say so."
Bai Lianhua couldn't wait and once she got to school, she ran far away from Yue Linlan as if she was an infectious disease.
"Hey System, can l ask a question?"
The system wanted more energy so it replied: "Yes, but it will cost points from now on. One point per question."
Bai Lianhua chose to deduct a point from physical strength and immediately felt weaker than before. She paused to catch her breath and then asked: "If l don't do anything directly but Wu Chenren and Mei Qinghua are dealt with by other people, will it count as the task being finished?"
"As long as you fanned the flames from behind, it will count as the task being finished. Any more questions?"
Bai Lianhua asked: "This is just a general question but if l don't want to lose points, is there any other way to pay when l ask questions?"
The system knew it couldn't charge for this question so it replied: "There is another way - you can pay in time. I didn't tell you this but there is a time limit to the amount of time you can spend in a world - in this world, it is until you die because the client doesn't want to come back. So you have a total of 65 years in this world. You are 15 right now so you only have 50 years left. Each question reduces your time by 10 years. The cost also varies for each world. Let's say you go to a world that only gives you a limit of one month. Because it is such a short time, you pay in hours instead of days."
Bai Lianhua knew that this was a better alternative than using points. If she used points, she would go to hell sooner or later since she had such low stats. 'So 5 more questions left again before l die huh?'