Chapter 7: helpless

They left the house after that, they went to a furniture mall first. Lanru chose a set of lamps and a light shade that goes along. She added some plastic plant vases, an exercise carpet, just anything useful she could find to lower the suspicion. And of course, she bought a new lock. Meili then took her to a shopping mall. They didn't buy a lot of stuff since it was already too late, about 9 PM, they ate out before going back. Maili promised her she would take her for another round of shopping another time.

After they returned Mr. Gubi took care of installing the light shade on the ceiling while she replaced the lamps herself, and stored the other ones in her closet for now. She put the vases and other things she bought around her room.

When Mr. Gubi finished, she handed him the new lock, he nodded, "Miss, give me the keys, this would take a while, you can do whatever you want meanwhile."

She shook her head, "Actually, I like to learn how things work. If my stepmom didn't insist I would have tried to do it myself," thought she trusted Mr. Gubi, he didn't know her yet, and he was still a worker in this house, he could be affected by his colleagues or follow orders. She decided to take no risk when it came to her safety, it wouldn't be too late later when she knew the culprit.

"OK, it's always good to be handy," he nodded and didn't insist.

It didn't take him long before he finished, "you're great Mr, Gubi, thanks for your help."

"It's my job, Miss," he said, carrying the old light shade and his toolbox, "by the way, Miss Lanru, where are the old lamps, I will put them away for you if you wish."

"No, I'll keep them, I might use them,"

"I'll put them in the storeroom, you can get them whenever you want,"

"No, auntie bought them for me, I want to use them often."

Holding his tongue for a moment, he nodded with a smile, "ok, miss, have a good night."

"Good night for you Mr, Gubi," she locked the door behind him, and could finally relax after a long day. She took her phone and dialed her mother's number. She forgot to call her, it was too careless of her.

"Hello mom.. sorry, I forgot to call you.. they are nice.. don't worry, mom, she seems like a nice person.. OK, you too, mom.. have a good night, and kiss my brother for me."

Only then did she have free time to think to herself. She had an unanswered big question, she was interrupted because of the hidden cameras issue.

She didn't know the gangsters personally, they can't be the mastermind behind what happened. There has to be a link, someone she knows, or even someone close, who can it be?

On her mother's side, indeed her relatives weren't good, especially her aunt. She exhorted her mother many times to keep her father's identity a secret. Her mother didn't want to make her life complicated when she knew the man was married, and from an affluent family. She just went to a high-class bar to celebrate her success in the National College Entrance Examination. She was drinking for the first time with her friends and her sister. The latter was supposed to watch over Mayin but she went ahead and drank herself silly, and that led to a one-night stand. their family harassed Mayin and kicked her out when she decided to keep the baby, they didn't even blame her sister for what happened.

Her mother's side wasn't wealthy, though, they shouldn't have anything noteworthy to fight over. Even if supposedly it was them, it would make more sense if they targeted her mother to sign instead. It couldn't be that someone she doesn't even know existed, left her something worth being killed for. Add to that, they didn't seem to have the capabilities to make such a big and ruthless scheme.

Her father can't be the one, he died as well. Back then when she knew her father died, she was numb, unable to think straight. Now, she can see a clear link between his death and her brother and mother's death. His death was the only way for her to get significant wealth. If someone wanted to take over her inheritance, killing her beneficiaries may be reasonable. Even if she signed those documents, if any of them remained alive, they could challenge its credibility.

It's just that she never imagined her father would leave her with anything, let alone something greed worthy. It was clear in the family that her brother would inherit most of the family wealth, and the remaining goes to her stepmom and sister. She didn't have a good bond with her father, to begin with, It was already a miracle that he didn't disown her after the shame she brought to the family when the footage incident happened, they even talked about her anonymously in the news. There was no way in her mind she would get anything from him, but maybe she was wrong. What if he didn't leave a will? Yeah, they even suspected she killed him for inheritance.

Her father's family looked really like the prime suspect, and especially her brother, she had a good relationship with her stepmom, her sister, but not her brother. He was too cold. He might have found her an eyesore, a stranger, a sibling from another mother that popped out of nowhere. He might have deemed her a potential threat.

There are a lot more people, though, her father's siblings and their children, the company shareholders, her sister's finacé, etc. It was too early to point fingers now. She was still helpless now, she can't risk alerting her enemy. All she can do now is keep things as much as possible the same as in the past. At least on the surface. That way she can use her knowledge to her advantage, avoid hastening her demise, and give herself more time to gather clues.

'I have to observe them for now,' she needs a way to keep a close eye on her brother, and father. Even though the latter might not be the one behind her demise, he was the key, he was the one holding the wealth of the family, she might gather some clues from him.

The next morning she woke up early to the sound of her smartphone's alarm, it was 6:40 AM. She prepared herself and joined the family for breakfast.

This time her father, Shuji, accompanied her stepmom outside to the car, he looked at her sternly, "you better study well this time, don't act wildly like you're used to and make me lose face."

She knew nothing good would come out of his mouth, so she wasn't bothered. She nodded at him with a smile, 'you have no idea how wild I'm gonna act, father,' she didn't want to per se, she just knew she was gonna have to.

She took the car with her sister to school, leaving behind her stepmom waving at them. The school was close, about a 5 min drive. The school soon appeared, a modern reception building, mostly of glass, arched inward welcoming the visitors.

She took a deep nostalgic breath, it wasn't a positive feeling, though. She doesn't have any good memory in this place. She was belittled, bullied, and shamed in this place. By students and teachers alike. This time it would be entirely different.

She checked her schedule, and her classroom number on the notice board before she left. Crossing the reception building, appears the first of 3 buildings in a row, a wide tree stories building where she was gonna spend her first year. To the left stretch a big soccer field along with the 3 buildings.

Her sister was a sophomore, so they separated and went to their respective buildings. Lanru took the stairs to the second floor and found her way to her classroom. Getting in, she didn't stand out wearing the same uniform as anyone else, so her classmates didn't pay her much attention after the first look, some boys thought looked longer, even though she wasn't a fair lady from her hard life before, she had good features.

Taking a look herself, she could see a few familiar faces, a few class friends that became strangers once they leave it. She was only interested in a quiet girl she wasn't familiar with, honestly, she doesn't even remember her name. The girl was cute between her petite frame and big sad eyes. Surprisingly, she was the only one who kept contact with her after her footage scandal, sending her notes and whatnot. She didn't need it since she already bought the necessary books to prepare for the national exam, but she appreciated the gesture. If she had a chance, she would make sure to express her gratitude. She smiled at her briefly, the girl was confused a bit, but Lanru didn't say anything and looked away. She found an empty seat on the back, put her bag beside it, and sat down. She took out her smartphone. Her master's degree in a university was in Finance and Management, so the high school program wasn't challenging for her, she wasn't interested in wasting her time taking it seriously. She downloaded the school guide instead, she still needs to understand her rights and responsibilities well so she could handle things better this time.

The clock turned nearing the first period, a short teacher entered the class, his stomach was preceding him, and a briefcase was under his arm. His hand brushed the few strands of hair left on the crown of his head, his eyes scrutinizing his new batch of students one by one. He was preparing to leave his first deep impression when he arrived at his disk. His eyes stopped abruptly on Lanru, she was playing with her phone instead of studying.

It was just the first day of school, so there wasn't really anything to do yet, but some teachers tried to affirm their authority early on. Even if he wanted to ignore it he couldn't, it has to be the worst of his class. As the headteacher of this class, he still remembers her from after reading the students' profiles, she only made it to the school by paying sponsorship fees. His hand banged on the desk face. The students were alerted, especially Lanru, she almost dropped her phone, she frowned and looked at the teacher, only to find him looking at her.

"You, how dare you play with your smartphone in class."

As she expected, she won't be able to spend her years peacefully in this school, especially when it concerned people who tormented her in the past, and one of the worst among the teachers was this one, Mr. Wang. He destroyed her self-esteem, her confidence, her hope.