Chapter 1 - Back to grade 7

Chapter 1-Back to grade 7Translator-zyzy Editor-Aru

“Sis, I’m begging you. There’s a lot of people out there, you’ll also want me to fit in at school right? ”

Meng Ting was already pushed to the front.

After listening closely to this familiar voice, her heart shuddered, she turned around and tightly grabbed the girl’s hand.

Shu Lan nearly screamed: “ Sis, you’re hurting me, let me go!”

Meng Ting started to realise something was off. 

Her vision started to dim like the world was covered with a layer of the curtain.

Meng Ting carefully touched her face, tracing to the glasses on her nose bridge, eyes slightly sore. Shu Lan looked like she was 16,17, her voice sounded young and immature, Shu Lan looked at her, warningly said: “You already promised me, you won’t regret now right?”

Regret?

Meng Ting looked around with her sore eyes, they were at a very dark place, the music on stage was playing, a blurred melody as the music echoed to the back. Meng Ting looked down at her hands, her fair delicate hands looked exquisite under the dim lights, not a trace of the horrifying hands after the burning incident, she wondered.

Shu Lan realised she was acting odd, terrified that she knew that something was indeed off, lowering her voice: “Sis, this is an important exam, if you don’t pass this, what can we do if  father’s sickness resurfaces…….”

Meng Ting only then turned around to face her, she wanted to ask Shu Lan: “Why did you let go of that rope, why did you let yourself slip down the cliff. ”

She knows that she is dead. However, after losing her balance, stumbling down the cliff, she reopens her eyes and there she is, the time had rewinded itself back to 5 years ago. The Shu Lan in front of her was still young and innocent, the familiar background. Meng Ting remembers this moment, this year she was in sophomore year and Shu Lan asked her to help her pass the art examination.

Shu Lan reemphasized the fact if she failed, she’ll be looked down by all her classmates in school. Shu Lan only took up piano for two years, she was not gifted with many talents musically, her performance was merely mediocre, Meng Ting was bugged for a long time, considering her father’s health condition, she eventually agreed to her younger sister’s request.

Maybe it was because it was her first time doing something bad, her life after this incident went on a terrible path.

After she was exposed for performing in behalf of her sister , the students in her school started to look at her differently.

After 2 months, her eyes recovered and Meng Ting suddenly became Seven High’s school babe. Her eyes couldn’t see for a period of 3 years, everyone just regarded her as the blind girl, however, her beauty was discovered, boys in her school were mesmerised by her beauty.

Meng Ting’s attempt to save Shu Lan resulted in her getting disfigured in the fire. Father Shu , being the unlucky one, was bullied by the relatives, unfortunately, passed away during the cliff incident.

Back to the present moment, Shu Lan softly whispered: “ Sis, I promise, it’s just a small test, no rankings are involved and other students won’t be affected, you also hope that your younger sister won’t be laughed at by her seniors, right? Our family was already poor, because of your eyes…….” she stopped abruptly, anxiously looking at Meng Ting.

Meng Ting shuddered, instantly understanding what she meant —— her family is in a worse off situation because she needed money to treat her eyes.

The funny thing is, Shu Lan’s annual school fees are also alarmingly high.

Getting to relive the moment again, Meng Ting knew that Shu Lan was lying.

It wasn’t an art examination, she did all of this for Jiang Ren, who was downstage. This year, Jiang ren was chased out of the Jiang Family to study here after making one fatal mistake, the whole grade of girls had things prepared to impress him.

The talent show happens as soon as school reopens, Shu Lan rushed to sign up, when the date came near she only realised that there wasn’t any talent she could perform and started asking Meng Ting to do her this favour.

In H City, everyone knows the Jiang family.

The Jiang’s family largely dominated the city, nearly half of the property in this seaside city is theirs. The newly developed sea view bungalows built along the coast are also theirs. No one knows what Jiang Ren had done wrong, but no matter how serious the issue, a wealthy man like him was a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet. Jiang Ren is Jiang family’s only successor, so everyone is going out of their ways to please him. 

Shu Lan is no exception. 

Shu Lan got to know about Mr Jiang’s loving relationship with his deceased wife. Jiang Ren’s mother is the true epitome of an elegant woman, talented and prideful. Mr Jiang never had intentions to look for another partner, even as she had passed away for many years.

Knowing this, Shu Lan decided to use her “talent” to impress Jiang Ren.

Meng Ting feeling confused, revisiting this moment of life, she feels both grateful and confused. No time to think of anything else, now looking at the ingrate sister of hers, she didn’t know how to face her.

And Jiang Ren?

She remembers the teen that would climb over walls for her, chase after a bus for 3km just so she’ll look back at him from her last life. 

Everyone knows that Jiang Ren has bipolar disorder, he can’t control his temper. But Meng Ting also knows that he’s paranoid and stubborn. She would never want to cross paths with him. In her memories, after a few years from now, he killed someone.

No one could afford to piss him off, but avoiding him wouldn’t be that hard right?

“Welcome student from 7th grade (8) class, Shu Lan.”

The host of the talent show’s bright voice echoed through the room, Shu Lan hurriedly helped Meng Ting put on her white lace hat, and took off her sunglasses.

Under the dim light, Shu Lan’s eyes met with her bright ethereal eyes, for a moment, Shu Lan lost herself in them. 

Who would ever think that under a blind girl’s sunglasses, would be a pair of eyes that shimmered brighter than the starry sky? Shu Lan felt bitter and also relieved. Relieved that, in these 3 years, everyone knew Meng Ting as the blind disabled girl.

No one would associate a blind girl to be pretty. Her beauty was hidden away from the spotlight, no one ever thought of uncovering it.

Shu Lan snapped back to reality, knowing her big sister’s soft temper, she softly said: “Sis, I already told my crew friends to use a darker yellow tone during your performance, if your eyes hurt up there, just close them. You remember the piano keys right? I think you’ll be fine, I’m trusting you on this.”

With her father’s health worsening in mind.

Meng Ting zoned out, her thoughts jumbled up. Right until Shu Lan pushed her on stage, and the spotlight was on her.  

Shu Lan didn’t lie to her, the stage light wasn’t overly bright to the extent that it’ll hurt her eyes, it turned into a dim warm shade of colour. This year, Meng Ting’s eyes just underwent corneal surgery after wearing glasses for a bit over 3 years, using her walking stick to walk. Before the month started, she finished the surgery, two more months left until she really could take down her glasses. 

The crowd went quiet since she walked on stage.

The white lace hat covered half of her face, slightly showing her gorgeous silhouette and dainty chin. She was wearing a white lace dress, a red ribbon tied around her waist, and long hair that reached her waist. Matching this with a pair of black leather shoes.

She was like the moonlight fairy straight out of fairy tales.

Meng Ting lowered her gaze, completely aware that Jiang Ren was seated at the very back end of the hall.

She told herself to not panic, he didn’t know her then. She was just standing in for Shu Lan.

The piano was not too far away from her, the piano keys glittered under the light, grand.

Meng Ting’s heart softened at the sight of the piano.

She sat down, placing both hands on the piano keys, fond memories instantly flowing through her, the sound of the piano made her heart tremble. She finally reassured herself of this surreal feeling, that she really did come back alive. 

The crowd was still silent.

This is a vocational high school, so the majority of the participants went for sexy dances or the guitar, very few people picked to perform a piano performance. Sᴇaʀᴄh the ɴøvᴇl_Firᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Halfway through the performance, the crowd started to whisper: “ She’s from class 8 right, how pretty.” Even with her blurry silhouettes, she still gave off an unexplainable kind of beauty. 

“What piece is she playing?”

Someone who knew piano replied: “ Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor.”

“Wow, such a long name for one piece?”

“……It’s also called the ‘Moonlight’ Sonata.”

“What’s her name?”

“The host did mention, Shu Lan from class 8.”

Shu Lan peeked through the backdrop, both happy and envious. She always knew how talented Meng Ting was. She was aware of this fact since their childhood. If it wasn’t for her eye injury, her beauty wouldn’t be hidden, the whole school would have known about her in the past few years.

Happy, as after this performance, she would be popular.

So what if Meng Ting is really talented? The credits of the show were all hers.

She glanced towards the back of the hall.

At the back of the hall, the silver-haired teen put down the pair of ‘K’ poker cards in his hands, the moment Meng Ting started to play. He raised his glance and took a peek at the stage.

Her heart raced, Jiang Ren. 

Jiang Ren here had bright grey hair, wearing a black shirt and a leather jacket, the jacket remained unzipped, slightly restless. He sat on the chair in an unrestrained manner, sitting on the hand rest, folding up his legs, feet stepping on the next seat’s cushion.  

The student sitting beside didn’t comment a word even if he dirtied his seat, just sat there frozen stiff. 

He Jun Ming’s gaze fixed on the stage, mouth wide open, coming back to his sense midway performance, thought: “ She’s from our school? Doesn’t look like it.”

Licai Vocational High is heaven for kids from wealthy families, the whole cohort had terrible results, very playful, this girl did not give off such a vibe.

She felt so pure and innocent, that everyone around her felt like bad gangsters.

Fang Tan was also surprised and glanced at Jiang Ren.

Jiang Ren lit a cigarette, but he didn’t smoke it, merely just holding onto it with his fingertips. He noticed Fang Tan’s stare, popped the cigarette between his lips and asked: “Why are you staring at me? You really believe the myth?”

Fang Tan, being scared that he’ll get angry at him, replied: “ I don’t believe it.”

Deep down, they all knew that Jiang Ren hated this type of girl.

As Jiang Ren’s mother always complained that his father was just a filthy rich coward, his father forever was viewed like he was something dirty in his mom’s eyes.

The kind of woman she is, extremely lofty-minded and ambitious. Never thought about the fact that without the money, she wouldn’t be able to finance her luxurious lifestyle and elegance.

Jiang Ren was too far away from the stage, he couldn’t clearly see what she looked like. However, her performance was good. He put down the cigarette in his hand, gaze still on her.

Meng Ting looked down, she was most sensitive to Jiang Ren’s gaze. This time she wasn’t dumb, her fingers shifted right to the key beside as she pressed down, intentionally playing the wrong note. Meng Ting also missed a few black keys, the breathtaking wave sensed by the crowd only then disappeared and started talking amongst each other, playing amongst themselves.

Shu Lan was stunned as she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Meng Ting made mistakes?

Jiang Ren snickered out loud, how would someone dare embarrass herself like this? He shifted his gaze, signalling for He Jun Ming to reshuffle the deck.

Meng Ting didn’t want her father to feel disappointed and sad, but she’ll never help Shu Lan again. In her previous life, it was because she outperformed herself tonight, she instantly turned into the talk of the school, the Li Dai Tao Jiang’s news only would have been leaked, bringing such big repercussions. 

She bowed after finishing her performance, bracing her slightly sore eyes and left the stage. Shu Lan hurriedly pulled her into the fitting room: “ You made mistakes……”

Meng Ting searched for her glasses, she felt better from the light after putting them back on. She did not reply to Shu Lan’s question, but Shu Lan had even more desperate matters to address, unphased by the incident earlier: “ We need to change back our outfits.”

The two sisters changed back to their own clothing, Shu Lan bore with the sudden tight waistline and reminded Meng Ting: “Remember to exit from the backdoor.”

Meng Ting abruptly pulled hard on her arms: “ Shu Lan, do you hate me?”

Shu Lan’s expression stiffened for a while and laughed it off: “ Sis, what are you talking about, you’re great, why will I hate you? Shu Yang never liked you, but I always liked you.”

Meng Ting let go of her arm, weakly closing her eyes. Lies.

Given the chance to relive, she only understood, Shu Lan and Shu Yang this pair of twins, one seemed to like her on the surface, but secretly hated her to the guts. The other one seemed cold and distant but was willing to help her gather funds to treat her injuries. There is no knowing what someone’s heart is really like, one will only know after paying such a big price.

It was a shame that in her past life, she passed away before she had a chance to grow up.

This time it won’t be the same

Returning to this year, everything will restart.

Meng Ting watched as Shu Lan hurriedly rushed out while lifting her dress, she knew that she’s heading off to look for Jiang Ren. Previously, Jiang Ren’s casual comment of her performance being good, Shu Lan got super excited. How about this round? Would Jiang Ren still be interested in the imposter, Shu Lan?

She took her walking cane, pushing the backdoor to walk out,  October’s golden autumn enveloped in front of her, but all she could see was grey. The bright sound of birds chirping, with a hint of autumn’s chilly weather, the flowers on both sides of the walkway bloomed with flowers, giving off a sweet smell that comes after the rain stopped.

The sun started to shine, Meng Ting closed her eyes, slowly walking to the front. Her surgery was successful, two months left until she could finally look at the sky and rays of sunlight again. This life, there’s still time for everything.

“Boss Ren, look there.” He Jun Ming said and stopped on second thought.

Looking out from the lounge, the sky emerald blue. A girl wearing Seven High’s school uniform was walking out the school compound with a walking stick in hand.

Jiang Ren rested his hands on the windowsill, his gaze followed He Jun Ming’s pointed direction, landing on Meng Ting’s slender figure.