Leaving the Smith family was simpler than Maureen had imagined.
Indeed, the truth proved that she had only spun a web of her own making in her previous life.
Once she decided to leave her family behind, she no longer felt the sadness brought on by the interference of unworthy people.
Now, Maureen was solely focused on preserving her life.
She acted quickly and started packing up her books after processing her transfer procedures the next morning.
The system gave Maureen a bare potted plant with only soil - something only she could see.
"With each bit of luck you accumulate, a tiny bud will grow.
Only when the potted plant is entirely full will the negative karma of the villain brought upon you be essentially eliminated.
After that, your fate will no longer be 'meeting a miserable end,'" said the system.
"Even if you manage to grow the potted plant thick enough, your luck might even surpass that of Bianca."
Maureen asked, "Will this impact those who the luck is drawn from?"
"That won't happen.
Have you ever heard of Wi-Fi hotspots?
You are leeching off their luck, but their own luck won't decrease."
That put Maureen at ease.
After getting the potted plant, she was full of excitement and decided to try it out on the class president of class 6.
Before she left, she gave him a massive hug.
The class president was pleasantly surprised.
As Maureen held the president in a deep hug, she intently stared at the floating potted plant in the air, just as a husband would wait for his wife to give birth.
...After a full three minutes of hugging, the bare pile of soil in the potted plant didn't move an inch. It was like a static jpg. Maureen:
"The system is comforted,
"Your class president is just too unremarkable, the return rate is only 0.000001%, you should better focus on the people at the top of the list."
Maureen felt like her world was falling apart.
The pot of soil was as big as her head, how long will she have to plant trees?!
And she has to surpass Bianca, she has already given up, hoping not to suffer from an incurable disease and die.
With a wounded heart, Maureen pantingly helped the class president carry the books to the building where the Evergreen class, the Top-ranked class, and the International class were located.
She was wearing an oversized dark school uniform of A Middle School, her long black hair fell over her collarbones, her skin was pale white, and she had a red string around her neck, tied to a piece of jade.
Sweat dripped from her fair nose, and she always wore a mask on her face.
This mask made it difficult for Maureen to breathe.
But she couldn't just take it off.
In her last life, she did not listen to the doctor's advice and stopped wearing a mask early, relying only on sunscreen, and as a result, there was always a faint mark on her face that scar cream was ineffective against.
It wasn't so noticeable from a distance, but up close, it was like a stain on an otherwise flawless vase, the kind that would make its creator curse the heavens for putting a mark on a perfect creation.
If it wasn't for her face, Bianca probably wouldn't have been the school beauty.
Maureen was also helpless, maybe because she was a villain, so she was always at a disadvantage.
Anyway, she must bear it this time until the wound is completely healed.
Richard was dealing with the gifts people had crammed into his desk over the weekend.
The unfinished circuit board and the thick competition question book in his desk were all squeezed by the gift boxes.
He picked up the trash can and set it next to his desk with a "clang."
He hung his eyes low, not even bothering to look properly, he swept all the chaotically arranged gifts into the table drawer.
Using two fingers, he picked out a pink letter.
The likely afraid person who sent the love letter thought he would discard it without even laying his eyes on it, and had purposely tied a tight knot with a slim silk ribbon through the envelope, fastening it sturdily onto a gold medal he had dumped in the drawer.
Richard's chilly eyebrows knit so tightly it looked like they could squish a fly.
The next second, with a "plop," the love letter and the gold medal were both tossed into the trash.
Suddenly, a few people leaning on the windowsill spoke, "--- Isn't that Smith Maureen? Is she moving here?
Holy shit, she even got into the top five!" Richard was just about to pull his chair out, but his movement abruptly halted.
Richard, who twisted his head from the window asked:
"Holy shit, Richard, do you know what we just saw? Maureen is downstairs!
She's indeed awesome, "doggedly persistent", she studied tirelessly for a whole year--- just to be in your class, how do you feel about it?"
"Boring." Richard's expression didn't seem to falter at all, he sat down, lowering his gaze and connected the circuit board of the miniature robot,
"As per school rules, the top five from the regular class are free to transfer to other classes, this is her right, it has nothing to do with me."
"We are going to be in the same class, what if she sticks to you and doesn't let go?"
"The results have just been announced and she's already moving here, she's quick on her feet!"
Richard remained indifferent, not even raising his eyelids, and coldly said,
"I'm not in for puppy love."
Everyone's sparks of gossip were doused by Richard's coolness.
Maureen transferred to this school a year ago, she never once took off the mask on her face, rumour has it that she accidentally wounded her cheek, wearing it for sun protection.
However, not many people in the gold class were interested in her face, probably just above average looks, nothing out of the ordinary.
What they were interested in was the matter of Maureen pursuing Richard.
This girl was rather fierce and determined, incredibly going non-stop from being just one of their plain, average classes all the way into the top five.
Again, all just to transfer to a different class. However, judging from Richard's indifference, they knew he had no interest in this socialite. Richard touched his nose,
"But you can rest assured. If she joins our class but can't keep up with the pace, she'll have to return to her original class.
She won't stay for too long.
If she clings too much and hinders your competition, the teacher would likely kick her out."
Richard raised an eyebrow, about to speak. The silhouettes of Maureen and the class president appeared in the corridor.
"She's coming," someone laughed, "
Richard, your life is about to become colourful, best luck to you—"
However, before he could finish his sentence, he saw Maureen and the class president of class six carrying books, passing right by them in the corridor.
The atmosphere inside their elite class instantly fell silent for five seconds.
Richard's face expressed his bewilderment,
"But ahead is the international class, did she go the wrong way?"
Oblivious to the thoughts of the neighboring elite class, Maureen had no mind to consider it.
As she walked into the back door of the international class with her arms full of books, her vision started to darken without any warning, as though she was stepping on cotton.
"In my past life, there were times when I felt like this too. I just thought I had low blood sugar, but wait--"
Maureen suddenly woke up, "could this be a precursor to some terminal illness?"
"Yes, what else could it be?"
The system said, "Even in novels, there's logic and foreshadowing.
Even the most annoying villain wouldn't suddenly drop dead.
It will certainly foreshadow readers through subtle sentences, such as 'Smith Maureen inexplicably felt unwell' or 'Smith Maureen had a bruise on her ankle that wouldn't fade.'"
"Maureen had no energy left to bicker with the system.
She held her book, swaying. In the pitch black before her eyes, a few pale white orbs of light appeared at various seats.
The system said, "Those are the fortunes/lifelines.
The brighter they are, the higher their rank on the list I gave you."
Maureen, like a drowning fish, heedlessly headed for the brightest position without a second thought.
When she sat down in a state of exhaustion, her hands loosened, and the book noisily hit the floor. She couldn't care less.
She slumped onto the table, deeply inhaling in the direction of the brightest light on the right.
A faint, pine scent infused with a hint of medicinal herbs unexpectedly filled her nostrils.
It was like fresh oxygen pumping into her brain, instantly relieving Maureen's discomfort.
The potted plant in front of her suddenly shivered.
At its edge, a tiny, weak sprout sprouted forth.
Less than one millimeter, it looked to be only about one-tenth the size of a complete sprout — but Maureen's eyes widened in awe, almost moved to tears.
"What is this?! Why did the first one suddenly sprout?"
She asked the system excitedly.
The system: "Look who's sitting next to you."
Maureen raised her head. The whole international class was deathly quiet, all eyes were fixed on her.
Everyone watched as this strange girl walked in with a mask and a book, not even saying hello, and went straight to the second last row by the aisle and plunked down!
Then she took a deep sniff towards Liam. Among the stupefying silent crowd, someone said, "Damn, you've got guts." Someone else whispered in alarm,
"That's Liam next to you, and you just smelled him.
You're done for when he wakes up."
" Liam equals Liam?"
Maureen immediately looks to her right. The first thing that catches her eye is the back of a head with a short red porcupine haircut that screams
"I'm the cockiest."
A young man is lying sprawled on the table, wearing silver noise-cancelling headphones, clutching a sports jacket, and is lazily sleeping with his back to her.
He is at least 1.88 meters tall and because of his long legs, which look almost coiled up under the table, he appears quite scrunched up.
He is wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with a pale neck and a thin black and gold skull chain hanging from it.
From Maureen's angle, she can only see half of his side face.
There is a small mole near the tail of his right eye. He is strikingly handsome.
His eyebrows are slightly furrowed, forming wrinkles that make him look unemployed and rebellious.
In Maureen's head immediately pop the words
"Irritable dumb beauty." Someone asks,
"Who are you? Nobody ever sits there!" Maureen turns to look at the person and replies,
"I'm Maureen, transferred from Class 6. Why can't I sit here?"
"You're looking for death?"
he exclaims,
"Have you ever heard of the future head of the Williams family?"
He's the school bully.
Anyone who dares to sit on his side will definitely be threatened and average errands. But Maureen wouldn't mind running some errands for Liam.
Run more errands, wouldn't her luck value come in torrents?
It's a lose-lose situation anyway.
She doesn't think that a seventeen year old stupid brat could pose a bigger threat than the villainous backlash to her.
Quickly seizing the chance, Maureen inhales deeply in stealth, and continues pulling in some of the luck value of Liam.
As she watched the faint white light enveloping him finally transitioned a tiny bit onto her, she felt a ray of hope, even though it was as small as a fingernail and could be easily neglected.
She gracefully picked up the books on the ground one by one.
"Yeah, I got it. But there are no other seats available, so I will just sit here."
The international class students were dumbstruck.
Many had tried to get close to Liam, but this masked girl, whose face couldn't even be seen clearly, was the first to approach him with such a "screw it all" attitude.
She was... smelling him.
Smelling him, like how one would smell a cat. Oh my god!.
The commotion woke Liam up.
Once Liam woke up, no one dared to make a sound, eagerly waiting for Liam to explode his anger.
Liam took off his noise-cancelling headphones and nonchalantly tossed them onto the desk.
He rubbed his hair listlessly, his actions seemingly soft and limp.
Then, he started rummaging through his desk, eyes closed as he pulled out several white bottles. Whether they contained vitamins or something else, no one could tell.
He poured a handful into his palm with a swooshing noise.
Maureen watched him with impressive sparkling eyes.
Her gaze was like how one would look at WiFi hotspots on busy streets, at chilled watermelons during summer, or at the most expensive cat in a cat cafe.
She picked up the water jug on his desk and handed it to him.
"Thanks," Liam, who had just woken up, said hoarsely.
He took a sip of water and swallowed the pills with his eyes closed.
Only after swallowing did he suddenly become aware of Maureen's presence.
Liam reacted strongly and stood up abruptly.
His tall and long-legged frame almost knocked the table behind him over. He looked down at
Maureen from a superior position, his facial expression darkening suddenly.
He seemed to have a "stay away from stranger" sign written all over him.
"Who is this woman sitting next to me?"
Everyone in the international class thought to themselves:
Don't even think about it, she obviously has a crush on you.
Maureen, patient as ever, explained herself to the one destined to be her optimal wifi hotspot in the future.
"My name is Maureen Smith, I just transferred from Class 6."
Damn.
The crowd collectively thought to themselves: she actually worked so hard to be among the top five in her grade and transferred over.
Studying into the wee hours, diligently doing exercise after exercise must have been tough.
Unbelievable, she must really like this.
Liam apparently also thought of this point, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
He swallowed back the curse he was about to utter, but his face was still irritable.
"Change seats immediately. No one ever sits next to me."
Maureen knew that it wouldn't be so easy.
She was reluctant to move, grinding her bottom against the chair without getting up.
If this was before, she would've left already.
But glancing around, among the whole international class, Liam's aura was the most prosperous —- perhaps sucking in a little more every day, she might sprout several tender shoots after ten days or half a month.
"Send me away as if I threatened your life."
Just as Maureen was saying this inwardly, she suddenly sensed a silence sweeping the classroom.
She shivered as she raised her head, all faces in the room were gaping at her in astonishment, eyes wide in utter shock. Liam's ears turned a physiological crimson-red, he was infuriated.
"What, what did you just say?"
Damn it. It was then she realized that she had accidentally vocalized her inner monologue.
"Pack up her books and move her away."
Just as Liam finished his cold command in an iron tone, the head teacher of the international class stormed into the room carrying a stack of books.
As soon as he entered, his eyes scanned through the class and landed directly on Liam.
Maureen suddenly recalled the scene in her mind.
The original storyline focuses more on Bianca, Smith Oliver and herself, with bits and pieces on Liam.
However, Maureen remembers that in her previous life, just the day after Bianca was discharged from the hospital, the school flag pole noticed criticized a few students from the international class who rode in a motorbike wild race over the weekend.
Of course, with Liam's status, he couldn't possibly be punished, so the list only carried names of insignificant students.
But when the teacher walked in, she glanced straight at Liam, meaning this matter must have something to do with him.
Just as she expected, the teacher walked toward them, face as stern as stone, and slapped down a stack of newspapers,
"Liam, look at this mess you've caused!"
The newspaper slammed down in front of Maureen, giving her a start.
She took a glance and saw that A Middle School students made the news.
She guessed the teacher's bonus was probably all gone, no wonder she was furious.
The class, majority of them seemed aware about the issue, fell silent, with no one daring to speak up.
Liam hooked the chair with his foot and sat down resolutely.
He casually picked up the newspaper to browse, and laughed,
"Teacher Logan, it's not the era of reading newspapers anymore."
The teacher was fuming, the veins on her forehead throbbing,
"You think no one can manage you? Now you go run thirty laps for me!
If you don't finish, I'll do nothing but wait in the office for your parents!"
The smirk on Liam's lips faded.
He was eyeing the teacher, just about to say something when Maureen suddenly stood up.
"Um, can I run for him?"
The international class went completely silent, and everyone was caught by surprise. The system said,
"Exchanging labor for luck has the highest return ratio.
If my calculation is correct, after you finish running, you should be able to grow at least three sprouts."
Maureen's eyes lit up with excitement, a bit dizzy from the happiness.
Thirty laps add up to twelve kilometers, how much luck can she gain from this?!
Her hand was shaking with excitement.
Suddenly, gaining a pot of fortune energy doesn't seem too challenging, she might actually be able to escape the fate of a tragic side character suffering from terminal illness!
Everyone was thinking:
Damn, is she that fond of him?
There were not a few who approached Liam, but honestly speaking, there were not many women who truly liked their 'Liam'.
They were just after either his money or his family name.
Apart from these pursuits, the most they did was present love letters and chocolates.
This was the first time anyone had taken it this far.
They were all dumbfounded.
Even Liam, who was seventeen years old, was encountering this for the first time in his life.
He had encountered those who feared him, those who buttered up to him, and those who confessed their love to him, but very few had done anything genuine for him.
Liam finally turned his head, giving Maureen a thorough look.
The girl was slender and petite, her skin was pale like jade.
The hand she raised was as delicate as a scallion, trembling ever so slightly—she was clearly terrified of the thirty laps, even her hand was shaking, but she stepped up.
The Classroom teacher was near the end of his tether.
His anger was suddenly redirected towards Maureen:
"Good, you go and run.
You're not allowed back in class until you finish!"
"Yes!" Maureen darted out like an arrow. —
Was she so scared that the teacher would continue to punish Liam, was she so afraid the teacher would regret his decision that she immediately and without hesitation started running?
Niel, seated in the last row, lifted his dropped jaw, snapped it shut, and stared dumbfounded, patting Liam on the back:
"Liam, where on earth did you find such a girl who is—"
Unable to find the right adjective, Niel resorted to an old-fashioned phrase,
"madly in love."
Liam's gaze fell on the window, on Maureen's figure as she ran down the stairs.
He tried hard to maintain his indifferent expression, but he couldn't control the blush creeping up his ears.
He lowered his gaze, licked his lips, suppressing his sense of pride and happiness.
"Sheesh." He seemed very troubled.
"It's charisma, I can't help it."
"We can't let her actually run the thirty laps, that would be a disaster for my reputation." He said leisurely.
"Let's have someone go to the gym and stop her."
"News in the International Class always spread at a swift pace.
Just as their class ended, students at the Gold Medal Class were informed.
A boy burst into the room, shouting,
"Bombshell news, Richard, you're spared!
I heard Smith Maureen has applied to transfer to the International Class!"
Ever since Richard became a part of their class, everyone knew Smith Maureen as his most ardent suitor.
Upon hearing the news, everyone swiveled in their seats to look at the source, faces expressing nothing short of astonishment. Richard:
"How is that possible???" The boy continued,
"And it seems she...she has shifted her target - she's chasing Liam now. Folks from the International Class are saying she was punished by running laps because of Liam."
"The air held its breath for five seconds. "What's with Smith Maureen? Richard, is this some kind of prank?"
Richard flat out refused to believe it.
Even mentioning Liam - they'd never even met before.
Aside from that, why would she transfer to the International Class?
She worked hard to rank into the top five, opened up the opportunity to transfer classes, only to not transfer to the Gold Medal Class. Next month, getting into the top five won't be as easy.
"That's none of your business."
Richard had unfathomably turned towards the window during the conversation.
There were no figures on the track; punishment by running was generally enforced in the indoor stadium.
But when Richard looked his way, he quickly averted his gaze.
His expression appeared colder and sterner than it had at any point before:
"Go back to your own seats." ...