The Rolls-Royce Phantom purred as it glided through the school gates. Shen Luoluo leaned against the tinted window, her freshly manicured nails tapping rhythmically on the glass.
Her sharp eyes caught something unusual.
On the crowded walkway, Su Ning—thin, pale, wearing her wrinkled school uniform—was smiling.
It wasn't a nervous smile, not the timid, broken expression Shen Luoluo was used to. This was different. Subtle. Cold. A smile that shouldn't belong on someone like Su Ning.
"Did you see that?" Shen Luoluo's lips curled. "She dares to smile?"
Shen Mixi leaned forward from the back seat. "Maybe she's finally gone mad. Poor beggar probably dreams she's rich in her sleep."
She chuckled, her voice dripping with mockery. "She should be grateful. At least madness suits her better than poverty."
Their laughter filled the car as it rolled into the private parking lot, leaving Su Ning walking steadily toward Class 3.
The moment she stepped inside, the snickers began.
"She's here, the scholarship leech."
"Look at her collar—wrinkled again. Did she wash it with river water?"
"Careful, don't sit too close, or poverty might rub off."
Their scorn pressed in from every side, but Su Ning's steps didn't falter.
She walked past them, her back straight, until she reached her seat at the far corner. Chen Anya looked up, relief softening her tired eyes.
"Good morning, Su Ning," she said gently, her voice almost drowned out by the noise of the class.
Su Ning turned to her, the cold edge in her eyes softening. "Good morning, Anya."
Chen Anya was quiet, her dark hair tied neatly, her uniform well ironed. Her father ran a street stall, selling fried noodles and buns, earning barely a hundred yuan a day. Compared to Su Ning, she lived slightly better—but her status in school was the same: poor, trampled, invisible.
They had always sat side by side, two discarded shadows in a class where wealth decided worth.
The teacher entered, the click of her heels sharp against the floor.
"Settle down, students." But her gaze slid past Su Ning and Chen Anya as if they didn't exist. Her smile bloomed instead at the front row. "Young Miss Lu, I heard your father's investment project was reported in the news—such vision. Miss Tu, your bracelet is exquisite; Parisian, isn't it?"
The rich preened under her praise, chatting loudly, throwing paper balls, laughing openly. The teacher pretended not to see.
But when Chen Anya's pen accidentally rolled off her desk, the teacher snapped coldly, "Scholarship students should learn not to disturb class."
A few chuckles rippled through the room.
Su Ning's lips curved faintly. How pitiful. Even authority bends to money.
The classroom door opened again. Shen Luoluo entered, her heels clicking against the floor like a queen's procession. Around her neck glittered a diamond necklace that caught every ray of light.
"Luoluo, you look stunning!"
"That necklace—it must be the latest design!"
"Only you could pull it off so perfectly."
Students who weren't even her friends rushed to fawn over her, desperate to polish their connections. Shen Luoluo basked in it, her smile smug.
Su Ning's gaze flicked to her once, then away. For the first time, she felt no envy, no fear. Only calm.
When the lunch bell rang, Su Ning walked past the cafeteria where the aroma of five-star cuisine wafted through the air. Her stomach clenched, but she didn't stop.
No gym. Not this time.
She found her way to the garden instead. A secluded paradise of cherry blossoms, carved stone bridges, and fountains sparkling under the sun. It was breathtaking, a place students came to show off their romances. For Su Ning, it was a place of escape.
But escape didn't last long.
"Found her."
Shen Luoluo's voice cut through the air, followed by mocking laughter. She appeared with Shen Mixi, Lu Shasha, and Tu Ling'er, their shadows falling across the stone path.
"Well, well," Lu Shasha smirked, "skipping meals? Or maybe even the cafeteria refuses to feed you?"
Tu Ling'er tilted her head, smiling sweetly. "Be careful, Su Ning. If the wind blows too hard, you might break in half."
Su Ning lifted her eyes, her expression unshaken. "What concern is my hunger or my body to you? Are your lives so empty you need me to fill them with your noise?"
Their laughter cut short. For a brief moment, they froze, stunned at the venom in her voice.
Shen Mixi recovered first, her eyes narrowing. "What did you say, you rat?"
Su Ning stepped forward, her gaze like ice.
"Shen Mixi, without your family's hotel, you'd be scrubbing dishes. Lu Shasha, your father may run a hospital, but he should treat your rotten tongue before anything else. Tu Ling'er—your mother's boutique sells luxury, yet here you are, desperate for scraps of attention."
Her words lashed like a whip, each strike leaving their faces pale with fury.
Shen Luoluo's eyes darkened, but Su Ning's cold smile grew.
"Here's my deal," she said, voice steady and sharp. "Tomorrow, I'll bring twenty thousand yuan. If I succeed, you will apologize to me in front of the entire class and stay out of my way. If I fail—I'll leave this school forever."
They burst out laughing, cruel and mocking.
"Twenty thousand? You can't even afford a pair of socks!"
"She's really gone insane."
"Even if you sold your organs, you'd never see that money."
Shen Luoluo leaned closer, her smile dripping with malice. "Lets make this better, if you fail, you'll strip and run naked around the whole school."
Their laughter echoed through the garden like knives.
Tu Ling'er smirked as they turned to leave. "Don't even think of running away, Su Ning. We'll be watching."