After the Early-Deceased White Moonlight of a Wealthy Family Returns (GL) - Chapter 31

Meng Dongdong’s mouth was wide open. She kept poking Shen You’an’s arm with her finger, her eyes screaming, “Did you hear that? Did you hear that?”

She had truly managed to land herself some juicy gossip this time.

“What does that even mean? I can’t make heads or tails of it,” Meng Dongdong whispered to Shen You’an in her lowest possible volume. “One second it’s a pheasant, the next it’s a phoenix. Shen Yanchen talks so weirdly—it’s not like his family runs a zoo.”

In the corner, facing Shen Yanchen’s arrogant and overbearing words, Shen Zhirou said, “I can’t help you.”

She continued, “Shen Yanchen, I will not help you cheat, and I won’t take the exam for you.”

“You!” Shen Yanchen exploded. “Shen Zhirou! Who do you think you are? Do you even realize your place in the Shen family? Don’t actually think of yourself as my aunt’s daughter. We both know exactly what’s going on here! You… why are you looking at me like that? What’s with that look?”

Meng Dongdong jumped, worried. “Is this idiot going to get physical?”

Shen You’an suddenly shouted, “Hello, Director!” Her voice was crisp, loud, and full of energy.

Meng Dongdong: “???” Where? Where? Where is the Director?

Before she could figure out what Shen You’an was up to, the sound of hurried footsteps scurrying away came from the corner.

Meng Dongdong gave Shen You’an a big thumbs-up.

“An-jie, I have to hand it to you, you’re sharp.”

She turned back to Shen You’an and said, “An-jie, what do you think is up with Shen Zhirou? Based on what that idiot Shen Yanchen said, it feels like there’s some major inside story, right?”

“What kind of secret do you think she’s hiding?”

“An-jie, why aren’t you saying anything? Why are you staring behind me?”

Meng Dongdong looked back suspiciously and nearly fell off the swing in fright.

Mama mia!

When did Shen Zhirou get there?!

Meng Dongdong let out a hollow cough, feeling that awkwardness of being caught red-handed talking behind someone’s back. She peeked at Shen Zhirou, not daring to look closely, and noticed that this girl—who was usually so aloof and never associated with “bad students” like them—actually had a look of “once in a lifetime” shock on her face.

?

???

Why did that look seem so strange? It was like the legendary meeting between the White Snake and the Green Snake.

Meng Dongdong instinctively moved in front of Shen You’an, blocking Shen Zhirou’s inexplicable gaze.

“An-jie, let’s go.” A natural sense of crisis made Meng Dongdong pull her friend’s arm to leave.

“Wait,” Shen Zhirou called out, as if suddenly snapping out of a dream. “Please wait a moment.”

This was the first time in several years of being at the same school that Meng Dongdong had heard Shen Zhirou proactively speak to her.

In Meng Dongdong’s impression, Shen Zhirou was a taciturn, arrogant top student.

“May I ask who you are…?” Shen Zhirou’s question was directed straight at Shen You’an.

Meng Dongdong: “She’s my friend. Do you need something?”

Shen Zhirou’s gaze didn’t leave Shen You’an’s face for a single second. She didn’t even dare to let her breathing get too heavy.

“May I know your name?”

“You are called You’an? Which You, and which An?”

Shen Zhirou immediately spotted the name tag on Shen You’an’s uniform.

Hearing her ask so meticulously and seriously, Meng Dongdong’s brow furrowed, sensing something was wrong.

Emergency! Emergency!

My status as the “First-born Bestie” is in danger!

“We have things to do, we’re leaving.” Meng Dongdong pulled Shen You’an and walked away, her steps firm and without hesitation. As they walked, she said to Shen You’an, “Xiao An, didn’t you think Shen Zhirou was super weird just now? That look in her eyes… it was like she knew you. Have you met before?”

Shen You’an shook her head.

Meng Dongdong: “So strange.”

“You don’t like her, do you?” she asked warily, remembering their conversation from when they first met.

Shen You’an chuckled: “The only friend I have right now is you.”

These were sincere words.

Meng Dongdong was instantly coaxed into a beaming smile. “An-jie, you’re the best.”

When Shen Zhirou returned to class, she was still acting like a wandering ghost. Even the teacher noticed she was distracted.

“Zhirou, are you okay?” her desk mate asked.

“Si Qi,” Shen Zhirou looked at her blankly and murmured, “Do you think there are two people in this world who look exactly, perfectly identical?”

Si Qi coughed twice. She had always been sickly and was currently in a wheelchair, making her a subject of special care in Class 1.

“The diversity of circulating genes is limited,” she said. “Probabilistically speaking, it is entirely possible.”

Si Qi asked with concern: “Zhirou, did something happen?”

Shen Zhirou shook her head, flipped open her physics workbook, and stared at the pages in silence.

After a moment, she couldn’t hold it in anymore and stood up.

Si Qi looked up at her in surprise. “Where are you going?”

Shen Zhirou said, “The restroom.”

She walked out the classroom door, went around the corner, and took the elevator.

Class 7 was upstairs.

Shen Zhirou was famous in school, mainly for her prideful intellect and cold personality. Seeing her come upstairs, the students watching along the way had their jaws drop.

“What is the God of Study doing on our floor?” someone muttered.

“Delivering a message for a teacher?”

Shen Zhirou turned a deaf ear to these remarks. She arrived at the back door of Class 7.

Meng Dongdong and that other person were both gone. Shen Zhirou felt a wave of disappointment. She turned to ask a passing student, “Excuse me, is there a female student in your class who hangs out with Meng Dongdong? Black hair, high ponytail…”

“You mean You’an,” the student replied immediately. “She just transferred in today as a guest student.”

Shen Zhirou froze for a moment, confirming repeatedly: “What did you say her name was?”

“You’an,” the student said. “You as in the four-stroke one, An as in peace.”

“Top Student Shen, are you looking for her?”

Shen Zhirou muttered a thank you and wandered off toward the corner. Reaching a place where no one would come, her legs gave out, and she slid down the wall to the floor.

Same appearance.

Similar name.

Was this really just a probabilistic coincidence?

If she were really still alive…

But ten years.

Ten years had passed.

How could she look exactly the same as she did ten years ago? Shen Zhirou couldn’t find a single reason to convince herself.

Just what was going on?

Shen Zhirou bit her lower lip, thought for a moment, and decided to take the initiative and test the waters.

She waited at the door of Class 7 for a long time.

After about twenty minutes, Meng Dongdong finally returned with the girl. As they walked, Meng Dongdong was saying, “An-jie, see? Our school isn’t bad, right! The only flaw is that it’s a bit too big. If two classes are far apart, running there in the ten-minute break will tire you to death.”

“…Why are you still here?!”

Seeing Shen Zhirou, Meng Dongdong turned pale with shock.

Shen Zhirou looked at the girl beside her. “I have some things I want to ask her.”

Meng Dongdong: “Who? An-jie?!”

Shen Zhirou nodded.

Meng Dongdong: “Villain! What are your intentions?!”

Shen You’an patted her shoulder. “It’s fine, I’ll chat with her.”

Meng Dongdong: “Then I want to listen too!”

Shen Zhirou: “It’s a private matter, it’s not convenient.”

Meng Dongdong: “…?”

Are you kidding?

You two just met, and now it’s a “private matter”?

Nonsense!

Her skin was thick; she completely ignored Shen Zhirou’s resistant and dismissive gaze.

“I’m staying right here,” Meng Dongdong said. “Whatever you have to say, say it straight.”

She had accepted a mission from her big sister before leaving this morning: to take good care of An-jie at school. She wouldn’t let Shen Zhirou have her way! Who knew what she was planning.

Shen Zhirou had no choice; she truly didn’t have the extra energy to bicker with Meng Dongdong. The question mark hanging over her heart was too massive for her to care about anything else.

“Hello, I am Shen Zhirou,” she introduced herself politely. “I might have been a bit presumptuous just now, and I’m truly sorry. It’s because you look like an old acquaintance of mine.”

Meng Dongdong was speechless.

What era is this, sister? You’re still using that line to pick up girls?

How tacky.

“Her name is also very similar to yours,” Shen Zhirou said softly.

As she spoke, her gaze stayed focused on the girl, looking for any reaction to her words. However, to her disappointment, facing her inquiry and story, the other party remained entirely calm and unruffled.

“What a coincidence,” she said.

Shen Zhirou’s hands, hidden behind her back, twisted together nervously.

She tested: “Is it really just a coincidence?”

Shen You’an: “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“She was my savior,” Shen Zhirou said. “But sometimes, I wish the person who died back then was me.”

Meng Dongdong’s jaw dropped as she listened. What is Shen Zhirou saying?! Where is this coming from?!

Shen You’an didn’t understand: “Isn’t it good to be alive?”

A trace of a helpless smile pulled at the corner of Shen Zhirou’s mouth. She stared at her, feeling like she had probably gone crazy. She let out a bitter laugh as her logic returned. “I apologize to you again; I was presumptuous today.”

No matter how she looked at it, the theory in her head was too shocking and defied common sense.

Resurrection from the dead, frozen time.

She knew those eight characters separately, but putting them together like this? Shen Zhirou believed it was simply impossible.

She apologized and turned to leave.

Meng Dongdong clicked her tongue. “Crazy. She’s truly gone crazy from studying.”

“Did you understand what she was talking about just now?” she asked.

Shen You’an hid her sweat-drenched palms in her pockets and said to Meng Dongdong, “Don’t worry about it. Forget it once you’ve heard it. Dongdong, is it almost time to leave?”

Meng Dongdong nodded. “Let’s go! I’ll take you to get something delicious at the school gate!”

Shen You’an said, “I can’t go. You go ahead. My assessment results weren’t great today, so Teacher Guo invited A-jie to come over.”

Meng Dongdong: “Sister Su Wu?”

Shen You’an nodded.

Meng Dongdong: “Fine, since it’s a parent-teacher thing, I won’t stay with you. I’ll head off then? Same time, same place tomorrow, I’ll pick you up for school!”

Shen You’an said okay and walked her near the school gate to see her off.

As she turned to head toward Teacher Guo’s office, she suddenly heard a call etched into her memory.

“Xiao Man.”

Shen You’an instinctively turned around.

It was her mother.

Just like in her memory, she had a gentle smile on her face and was carrying freshly bought sugar-roasted chestnuts—her favorite treat in the autumn.

Shen Zhirou was walking through the crowd, smiling as she ran toward her mother. Even though Shen Zhiyu’s gaze passed over her, it was only like seeing a stranger—a fleeting glance.

At the end of school, the dark green uniforms were bustling everywhere. Shen You’an froze in place.

Even though she had known this moment would come, witnessing it with her own eyes made her feel like she couldn’t breathe. She felt like a hollowed-out pumpkin; she was right here, and people around her saw her as normal, but except for herself, no one knew exactly what she had lost.

“Careful.” A hand pulled her into an embrace. A boy playing it cool while dribbling a basketball said a careless “sorry.”

A scent that had made Shen You’an restless for days wafted over.

Cedar, white tea.

The sweetness of blood.

She slowly looked up. Su Wu was looking at her helplessly. “What are you spacing out for? Standing in the middle of the road.”

“Just now…” When she spoke, Shen You’an’s voice was incredibly raspy.

“I saw,” Su Wu said. “If you don’t mind, I can also go buy some sugar-roasted chestnuts, and you can call me Mom.”

The thoughts in Shen You’an’s mind were startled away by this sentence.

“A-jie! What… what are you talking about?!”

Su Wu said seriously, “Maybe I’m being serious? Fate stole your mother; I’ll give her back to you.”

Shen You’an was so confused by these nonsensical words she didn’t know what to say.

Oh no.

Su Wu looks really serious.

Just as she was struggling with how to tactfully refuse Su Wu’s bizarre suggestion, Su Wu let out a faint smile.

“Don’t worry, I’m joking.”

Raising her like a daughter was fine.

Actually becoming her daughter?

If Shen You’an was willing, she wouldn’t be.

Shen You’an let out a huge sigh of relief and whispered, “A-jie, your sense of humor is truly unconventional.”

“Is it?” Su Wu lightly raised her eyebrows. “But the dark clouds over your head have vanished.”

“So this joke served its purpose and met expectations.”

“I’d really like to hear how your day at school went, but…” Su Wu glanced at her wristwatch. “Teacher Guo is still waiting for us.”

At the mention of this, Shen You’an felt guilty. She acted obediently beside Su Wu. Su Wu pulled her toward the office.

Approaching the teaching building, a scorching gaze awakened her predatory instincts—it felt as if a hunter were standing behind her with a gun. Turning to look, people were coming and going; nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“What is it?” Su Wu asked.

Shen You’an shook her head. “Nothing, A-jie.”

Su Wu gave a soft “mhm” and put her arm around her shoulder, leading her forward.

She said, “Let’s go.”

“To meet the parent-teacher conference that arrived on your very first day.”

After saying this, as Shen You’an lowered her head in shame, Su Wu looked back surreptitiously.

A young girl sitting in a wheelchair by the corridor gave her a gentle smile.

Su Wu recognized her.

The daughter of the Si family, Si Qi.