Chapter 43: A Chance Encounter with a Classmate

The dinner at the mountain villa consisted entirely of pure, natural foods.

Qin Lian had a huge appetite, though she couldn't tell whether it was due to her good mood or the deliciousness of the food.

She figured it was a combination of both.

Thinking that she would soon be able to send Lin Mo, this jinx, away, and that she would get to meet the CEO of Yaoming Group through Mubai, it was truly a double blessing.

Now Wanwan had also successfully been admitted to her dream school.

The Lin family’s fortune was truly flourishing this year.

"In a couple of days, let's go pay our respects to the Buddha. I need to fulfill a vow I made."

Lin Tiancheng agreed readily, "As you wish. By next week, anyway, we won't have a single thing to worry about."

Qin Lian was all smiles.

Before the semester started, she still needed to take Wanwan out to buy plenty of pretty clothes and get everything properly prepared.

As a mother, it was only natural to fuss over such things.

Lin Yunhe placed a piece of food on Lin Wan's plate, "Wanwan, didn't you say you haven't been sleeping well lately? Eat more vegetables."

"You've grown quite haggard these past few days."

"Brother, of course not. You've all been worrying so much on my behalf; I haven't had to put any thought into it at all."

Just as their table was in the middle of the meal, a girl at a nearby table suddenly exclaimed, "Lin Wan!"

"Didn't you go to a vocational college? School hasn't started yet?"

Lin Wan looked up and was shocked to see her former classmate, Li Sisi, who had been the class commissar back then.

The two of them had never gotten along.

The fact that Lin Wan had failed to get into a regular university had been loudly broadcasted everywhere by Li Sisi, making her the butt of many jokes.

It was precisely because of this incident that Lin Wan had spent her days weeping at home, wringing her parents' hearts and ultimately driving them to come up with the desperate measure of stealing Lin Mo's identity.

"Heh, you must be mistaken?"

"Li Sisi, where did you pick up such petty gossip? Have you ever actually seen my transcript?"

"I was accepted into University A."

Li Sisi rolled her eyes, "Oh, please. Your grades all through high school were never anything special. You expect me to believe you got into University A?"

"Wait isn't Lin Mo our school's top-ranking student? Why is she eating with you?"

"Lin Mo, just how out of your mind are you to hang around with them?"

Qin Lian frowned, "Momo and Wanwan are both my daughters, so of course they are eating together."

Li Sisi looked somewhat surprised, "No way. Back in our senior year, nobody ever knew that the campus belle and our top student were sisters."

"Lin Mo, is this true?"

"Oh, right, since your grades were so good, you must have gotten into a really great school."

Lin Mo held her chopsticks steady, "I failed the exams."

Qin Lian, terrified that Lin Mo might blurt out something more and expose Lin Wan to public ridicule, immediately chimed in.

"Momo didn't fill out her college applications properly; she aimed too high and failed. She has no choice but to retake the exams next year."

Li Sisi's gaze turned skeptical.

Even someone of Lin Wan's caliber could get into University A; there was simply no way Lin Mo could have failed.

Li Sisi muttered a few more words to her family members, cast a disdainful glance at Lin Wan, and stopped talking.

Lin Wan's wonderful mood had been completely ruined.

Lin Hen looked somewhat puzzled, "Wanwan, didn't your test scores always look pretty high? Why did she say your grades were bad for all three years of high school?"

Lin Wan felt a guilty pang in her chest.

She whispered, "That person was our class commissar and the top student in our class. She's always been jealous of my family's wealth, so she frequently spreads slander about me behind my back."

Upon hearing this, Qin Lian scoffed, "How could someone like that exist? She must be dirt-poor and out of her mind with jealousy to behave like this."

Lin Mo sat there like an absolute outsider, watching Lin Wan spin her lies.

Throughout their three years of high school, Lin Wan had been the campus belle with countless pursuers, and the number of relationships she had been in was certainly beyond counting.

Her actual grades could be easily verified by simply checking with the head teacher at the school.

Yet the Lin family never once suspected that Lin Wan might have tampered with her scores.

When Lin Mo had once tried to bring it up, Lin Tiancheng had slapped her across the face for it.

After the meal, Li Sisi walked over to their table and asked, "Lin Mo, did you really fail?"

Lin Wan shot Lin Mo a warning look.

The contract was already signed; she must not start spouting nonsense behind the scenes.

Qin Lian also coughed twice sharply to signal Lin Mo to watch her words.

"That's right, I failed." Lin Mo looked directly at Li Sisi. "There's no need to be surprised; this outcome was inevitable."

Li Sisi found Lin Mo's words rather bizarre. "How can that be? Ever since you transferred to our school, you were always ranked first!"

"Even if you messed up your college choices, with your grades, wouldn't you have been accepted anywhere you wanted?"

The more one spoke, the more mistakes one made.

Lin Wan's complexion was already looking ghastly.

She was terrified that Lin Mo would leak the secret.

Once she finished her four years of college, most people would have forgotten her past academic record.

If the truth about her stolen admission came out now, she would become the eternal laughingstock of everyone around her.

"Alright, alright, let's hurry up and leave. We still have to go boating on the lake; we don't have time to stand here and listen to outsiders gossip." Qin Lian unceremoniously grabbed Lin Mo by the arm and yanked her away.

"Momo, honestly, don't just blurt out whatever comes to your mind."

"Have you forgotten what your mother instructed you before we left home?"

The family walked quite a distance away.

Lin Tiancheng's expression was somewhat dark.

He felt a vague sense that this sort of affair was hardly dignified.

As a prominent and successful entrepreneur, he actually had to stoop to such shady, shameful dealings behind the scenes.

It was truly disgraceful!

"Wanwan, look at you. If you had just studied hard and gotten decent grades, would you be here today getting mocked by strangers?"

Lin Wan felt deeply aggrieved, "Dad, my grades used to be very good. The only reason the final exam went wrong was because Momo upset me..."

Lin Tiancheng had heard this excuse too many times and was no longer moved by it. "Alright, alright, what's done is done."

"In any case, it's because of Lin Mo that you almost couldn't go to college!"

Lin Wan lowered her head, a fresh surge of resentment toward Lin Mo welling up inside her.

Her father was actually speaking up for her again!

Lin Jianchen offered comfort, "Wanwan, don't be upset. Dad just spoke out of anger. Study hard from now on, and your future will definitely be bright."

Lin倦 smiled and added, "With five older brothers guarding your path, it would be harder for your future not to be bright."

Lin Mo mocked herself bitterly in her heart.

It wasn't that this family was incapable of showing affection; it was simply that their affection was never meant for her.

They reserved all their blame and cruelty for her.

And gave all their tenderness and warmth to Lin Wan.

"Alright, alright, let's go boating on the lake now."

"Oh, but I heard the inflatable boats at the reservoir next door are much more fun. The water in this lake is full of silt and looks so dirty."

Lin Wan feigned utter disgust. "I don't want to go boating on this lake at all."

Qin Lian sighed helplessly, "You're the only mischievous girl who knows how to have fun. Fine, fine, we'll do whatever you want. You've just been wronged, so making you happy is what matters most."

No sooner had Lin Wan spoken offhandedly than Mubai hurried off to arrange it.

Lin Yunhe followed right behind Mubai.

"I'll go with you. We still need to be careful when playing with inflatable boats on the reservoir."

Mubai dismissed the concern, "Don't worry, it's just an amusement facility. They usually put some small fish in that area so children can sit in the inflatable boats and fish."

"The safety coefficient is quite high; nothing will go wrong."

Lin Yunhe, who was always overthinking and overly cautious, replied, "Alright, let's do it your way then. Wanwan said you're the most meticulous person, so I have nothing to worry about."

Lin Wan walked over and playfully poked Lin Yunhe, "Brother, what are you saying? It sounds as if I'm always secretly praising Brother Mubai behind his back."

"I'm a young lady, after all. Won't I feel embarrassed?"

Lin Yunhe naturally reached out and patted Lin Wan's head. "Right, right. You'll always be the little child in front of your brothers."

A sour ache gradually spread through Lin Mo's chest.

Clearly, she had already severed ties with them completely.

Why was it that at this very moment, seeing them so full of joy and harmony, her heart still ached?

Lin Mo raised a hand and pressed it against her chest. "I really am incorrigible, aren't I?"

"I don't even want this kind of affection... what is there to envy?"

Watching them gradually walk away, Lin Mo lifted her hand and found, to her surprise, that the corners of her eyes were damp.

She finally understood.

She wasn't envying the fact that Lin Wan had people doting on her.

She was grieving for herself—for always being someone else's stepping stone, bound by familial ties, drained to the bone, and battered beyond recognition.

She was pitying herself.