"hey, have you heard? ye qiuxue is back!""huh? she's coming back to study at our school? so soon?"
"of course not. sheâs just visiting for a bit. what, hoping things will go back to the way they were?"
"obviously! you know how han shuyiâs reputation has tanked since that cultural festival."
"yeah, true. that night, just from the atmosphere, anyone could tell who the winner shouldâve been. but then they handed it to han shuyi. what was that about?"
"shh, keep your voice down. ye qiuxue isnât the student council president anymore. if han shuyi hears you, who knows what trouble you'll get into."
"what's there to be scared of? iâm not part of the student council. anyway, i heard that anyone close to ye qiuxue from back then has already been removed. it's obviously a purge to plant his own people."
"exactly. itâs nothing like before. when ye qiuxue was around, the school was fair and just."
people often donât appreciate what they have until itâs gone.
the conversation between the two students made it clear: the fairness ye qiuxue had upheld was now a thing of the past.
they still remembered han shuyiâs declaration when he became student council presidentâhow heâd create a freer space for students.
but looking at things now, it was freedom under his iron control, even more stifling than before.
the two turned and headed to the cafeteria, unaware that han shuyi had been standing at the stairwell, listening the entire time.
his hand gripped the stack of documents so tightly that the papers were bent and crumpled.
han shuyi was in a foul mood. every time he resolved to deal with huming, something always got in the way.
he thought the cultural festival debacle would fade with time, but ye qiuxueâs return had reignited the flames.
dissatisfaction with him was growing within the school.
this was nothing short of a disaster for him!
and worse, ye qiuxue will officially return next semester. if he couldnât win back the students' favor by then, heâd have no chance of competing with her.
taking a deep breath, han shuyi tried to calm himself and think of a way to turn the situation around.
suddenly, a mocking voice came from the staircase behind him.
âpresident han, worrying about how to silence the students, are you?â
han shuyi spun around to see huming standing a few steps above, looking down at him.
the angle of humingâs gaze made han shuyi feel deeply uncomfortable.
"huming, donât think just because you beat me this time, youâve won everything. i know what youâre up to!"
"no, you donât. you never have, han shuyi. you always view things with such a narrow perspective. thatâs why your vision is short-sighted. you even used the han familyâs influence to claim the champion. but did it help? all youâve done is add another stain to your name."
the stairwell was empty, just the two of them. no one else could hear their words.
han shuyi stared at humingâthe person who had turned his life upside down and taken everything heâd ever wanted.
he hated huming with every fiber of his being. if it werenât for him, he would always have been the young master of the han family, not someone who spent years in a tiny village enduring the scorn of others.
rage bubbled up, consuming his reason.
he fixed his cold gaze on huming, his tone dripping with venom.
âhan humingâno, huming. after all, you were the one who discarded that name yourself.â
âoh? looks like youâve dropped the act too. but even if you know my true identity, what can you do about it? remember the knife on the cliff? you recall it well, donât you?â
han shuyi instinctively touched his shoulder.
of course, he remembered. lee tian might have wielded that knife, but han shuyi knew it carried humingâs intent.
from the start, huming had planned to use that incident to sever ties with the han family.
but why? what was humingâs goal in abandoning his family identity?
han shuyi couldnât figure it out at first. it wasnât until a conversation with a certain person that everything clicked. sÑarch* the novÑlf~ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
it had all been a mistake.
from the moment they were born, their identities had been switched.
the one who should have lived a lowly life now stood above him, while huming was the one who truly belonged at the top.
this truth shattered han shuyiâs pride. but now, he could only ally with that person to eliminate huming.
âi remember it clearly. huming, you schemed so hard to return, just to find the person behind me, right?â
huming raised an eyebrow, surprised that han shuyi had admitted it so readily. but that was fineâit saved him the trouble of probing.
âsince you know my goal, why persist like this? han shuyi, there was never any personal grudge between us. if you hadnât targeted me, i wouldnât have acted against you. now that you know the truth, iâm willing to overlook everything youâve done. just tell me whoâs backing you!â
at first glance, these words sounded like charity, but this was the greatest mercy huming could offer han shuyiâor rather, the greatest dignity he could afford the han family.
but to han shuyi, it was nothing but mockery.
humingâs words were as good as saying, âyouâre no match for me. just give up.â
he didnât trust huming. he couldnât believe huming would so easily let go of past grudges, especially when it came to him.
what han shuyi didnât realize, however, was that huming genuinely couldnât be bothered to hold a grudge over such things.
not everyone was as petty and narrow-minded as he was.
"huming, do you think you've already won? that we're all just pawns in your game?"
a strange smile crept onto han shuyiâs face, unsettling huming.
this han shuyi wasnât the same as before. he had been consumed by self-destruction.
straightening his posture, huming looked at him calmly.
he could have tried reasoning with han shuyi, but why bother?
show mercy whenever possible?
my ass!