"Ouch!"
The other person dropped the books he was holding to the ground. He bent down to pick them.
"Sorry"
Shen Rou immediately bent down to help him pick up the books. When Wendy saw who it was she froze in shock before recovering quickly. He was Ming Tao, a future big shot. He was going to be a renowned doctor in the future who died young in an assassination.
Seeing the young boy somehow reminded her of her own death in her young age.
Shen Rou stood up after, and handed the books she had picked to him and smiled at him. Ming Tao hurriedly lowered his gaze, his ears turning red.
"We are sorry for bumping into you", Wendy asked for his name and he introduced himself as Min Tao confirming Wendy's speculations. She had no recollection of ever knowing him in the school.
They escorted him to submit the books to his Biology teacher and as they interacted with him, they discovered that he joined the school months ago.
As they familiarised themselves with each other, they headed to get lunch in the lunch hall.
By the time they reached the canteen, the queues were shorter and each got what they wanted. Wendy had spicy noodles with chicken drumsticks, water and an apple while the other two got rice and vegetable sauce with soup and yoghurt on the sides respectively.
After their brief lunch, they each went to their next classes. Time passed quickly and before long, it was the end of the school day.
Just as she had arrived home, the system issued another task for her.
'Read the following medical texts: Volume 1-3'
'Time limit: 2 months'
'Rewards: An increase in beauty or a mystery gift'
'Punishment: Unavailable'
'Mystery gift? I wonder if it'll be something valuable'
She quickly completed her assignments and went online to monitor the stock market. AS She scrolled through the stocks, she noticed a couple of potential options that would yield huge amounts in the short term. Counting on her fingers, she realised that she could earn double on her amount in six days and ten fold in seventeen days.
She specifically remembered about two out of the five of these stocks because in her past life, as she was forced to watch the financial news with her father, it was reported that after the peak period, the company deceived the investors on the stock market to purchase more stock by inflating the price when the stocks were actually meaningless.
She decided to make her quick money from this before this ended. Without hesitation, she invested the rest of her money into the remaining stocks.
She went to refresh herself then lay down on her bed in her Teddy bear themed pyjamas. Mentally, she was already reading the first volume of the medical texts to pass the time.
She realised that the more she read, the easier it was for her to understand everything that she read. She found herself able to imagine scenarious and attempt to use the methods stated in the book clearly.
'Baobao', she called out.
'Wendy', she heard.Wwndy and Baobao had already decided to be on first name basis with each other.
'Where else can I find these medical texts to read apart from in here?'
'Nowhere else. These were specially made by the system features for you after carefully analysis of the illnesses that plague your kind'.
After twenty minutes, a knocking sound from her door resounded in the room. She hurriedly opened her eyes and opened the door to her mother.
She went to hug her mother and acted coquettishly with her.
"I missed you a lot mom. I don't know how I would have slept if I hadn't seen you today", Wendy playfully pouted as she looked at her mother who now stood beside her.
Everytime she thought about what happened, she still couldn't wrap her head around it all. From her past life's death to her rebirth. Seeing her mother after so many years, she wanted to stay by her side and act like a child again.
Even though everything felt real, it felt surreal as well and she always panicked at the thought of waking up and finding out that everything was her wishful thinking and that she was already in the netherworld.
"Wendy," her mother hugged her back, "why have you started to suddenly act like you were when you were still a baby". She punched Wendy's spiffy checks as she looked at her worriedly.
"I'm fine mom. Are you saying that I'm not your baby anymore? "
"If not you, who else would be my baby?"
*****
In her room, both mother and daughter sat on the bed discussing the most random topics. From Wendy asking her mother questions about her own childhood to questions about her mother's childhood. By the end of the conversation, they agreed that Sarah would teach Wendy how to cook proper meals aside fromthe somple frying of eggs which Wendy knew how to do.
Just as she was seeing Sarah out, she stopped to face Wendy.
"Your dad called me to ask about you. He said that he would like to have you stay over with him for a while. I think is your choice and you have the right to make your own decisions about this. Do you want to go?"
Even though she enquired, one could se the hesitation in Sarah's eyes. She knew Charles very well. He was not a sentimental person and never cares about Wendy. Now more than ever this was suspicious of him especially considering the fact that he had a new family.
Wendy's initial reaction was rejection. However she quickly thought things through and realised that she couldn't not go. Especially since she tried to avoid him yet he still inisited. As she was still a minor she knew that if her father contended with her mother for her custody now, it would be an easy win for him.
He has money and power, both of which her mother had none of. After weighing the pros and cons, she responded, "I'll go there".