Dedicated to studying, yet forced into a chaotic situation.

Chapter 226 Hug—

Having uncovered a juicy story, the reporter quickly released the interview video of Jiang Shu.

And it was embellished with added details.

In just a few words, the story of "a rebellious teenage girl arguing with her parents, running away from home, and causing the family to break up" is described.

The reporter knew that Shisui had the highest traffic volume.

The rebellious girl in the story is completely different from her image on the show, which maximizes her ability to attract attention.

Sure enough, the Weibo post garnered thousands of comments within five minutes and trended on Weibo within ten minutes.

In the eyes of netizens, Jiang Shu's apology to her daughter was sincere and heartfelt.

There are no parents who are not parents; everything parents do is right.

These passersby have begun to forgive Shi Sui.

[It turns out that some mothers really do apologize to their children.]

[My mom never apologizes to me; it's as if giving birth to me is an immense favor. I'm so envious of Shi Sui's mom.]

[A mother who apologizes is already ahead of many mothers.]

Why must it always be the parents who apologize? If the child does something wrong, can't she apologize? The adults didn't scold her for no reason.

[@StudyingHard The huge sum of money has arrived! Make up with your mom quickly, she's crying.]

[Even if there were conflicts before, those are all in the past.]

……

Shi Sui fast-forwarded through the video.

It's a bit suffocating.

More often than not, it was unexpected and ridiculous.

So Jiang Shu can cry too.

Having been away from the Jiang family for so long, Shi Sui hadn't heard any news about them for a long time and had almost forgotten that such people even existed.

The last time I saw Jiang Shu was at a parent-teacher conference.

At that time, Jiang Shu stood on the moral high ground to criticize her, complain about her lack of filial piety, and even looked at her with a vicious gaze.

And this time.

She actually cried in front of the camera and said things to gain sympathy.

Hypocritical, it's disgusting.

Shi Sui recalled that in the months immediately following her move away from the Jiang family, they ignored her and never appeared in her life again.

When did it start to reappear?

At the parents' meeting for her, who won a gold medal at the winter camp and ranked third in her grade in the final exam.

After she participated in "Super Student" and won the championship all the way.

Is it a coincidence, or human nature?

Shi Sui really couldn't imagine that she had only stayed at the Jiang family's house for a little over two months. Could there really be such a touching family bond between them?

Moreover, it was she who contacted the Jiang family through "Baby Come Home," not the other way around.

To be honest, she really wanted to go home at one time.

But now, 'going home' means betraying one's former self.

Shi Sui left the trending topic, and then suddenly the next one appeared.

My fingertips trembled slightly when I clicked on the trending search terms.

"Sui Sui." Song Xinying leaned in and hugged her, her eyes blurry with tears. "Was your life like this before...?"

Jiang Shu posted photos on social media of her just picking up Shi Sui.

The girl in the photo is wearing shabby clothes and looks disheveled, which contrasts sharply with the glamorous lady next to her.

Jiang Shu's original intention was to express her kindness and compassion through the photos and win the sympathy of netizens.

But this immediately put Shi Sui in the eye of the storm.

By examining the background of the photo, netizens quickly uncovered Shi Sui's past life.

The neighbor grandma who took her to collect recyclables.

The school's teachers.

The police officer I see often.

Some of them had also watched "Super Student," but found it hard to connect the contestant Shi Sui with the kids they knew.

"Shi Sui had a very miserable childhood. Her father beat and scolded her, so she had to collect recyclables with the neighbors..."

"Average academic performance, but very good at fighting..."

"She's very helpful and has done a lot of work for the bureau. We've received quite a few banners of appreciation from her..."

"I later found out she had been abducted..."

That's all in the past.

Shi Sui hugged Song Xinying and pulled out a tissue to wipe her tears: "That's all in the past, don't cry, I'm doing very well now."

Song Xinying's eyes were red; she was like a princess living in an ivory tower, completely unaware of the hardships of the world.

Most people present only knew that Shi Sui was the biological daughter of the Jiang family who had been found, but they were unaware of her past.

Shi Sui only mentioned it to one person.

An awkward atmosphere filled the room; some people had red eyes and were looking down at their phones.

More often, people looked at Shi Sui with sympathy and pity, offering words of comfort.

Shi Sui seemed to be transported back to the past in an instant, bound by an invisible constraint, unable to speak, and left under the pretext of going to the toilet.

*

Regarding the past.

Shi Sui didn't really think it was a big deal, because there were far too many people worse off than her.

People really do bully the weak, but thankfully she was never weak.

So there's no need to pity them.

……

Shi Sui suddenly felt a surge of sourness in her nose, which she couldn't control and didn't know why.

She practically fled the villa, found a dark corner where she couldn't see anything, and slowly squatted down, hugging her knees.

I came out for some fresh air.

she told herself.

After a while, everyone will shift their attention to other things and stop paying attention to her.

Shi Sui buried her head in her knees and suddenly closed her eyes.

The darkness of the past seemed to be swallowing her whole, making every breath feel suffocating and powerless.

Shi Sui told herself this over and over again.

Don't dwell on the past; she's already gone.

She didn't care about the Jiang family's media posturing; these people had nothing to do with her.

but why--

The system, which was busy with calculations, quickly noticed something was wrong and asked in confusion: [Host, what happened? Why are you crying?]

Shi Sui bit her lip in silence, and after a long while, she finally suppressed her emotions.

[System.] She paused, her voice strained to remain calm: [Gu's Group, the stock price has rebounded, hasn't it?]

The news that Shi Sui saw on Weibo was about the Gu Group donating to a poverty alleviation fund.

The Gu Group, which has always donated money and never engaged in marketing, deserves recognition for its quiet good deeds!

Shi Sui doesn't care about the past, nor does she care about the Jiang family.

But why is it that the Gu Group always manages to escape danger?

Even after her relationship and cheating scandals were exposed, Jiang Tianyao's popularity and online buzz remained undiminished, and she even brought her family along for a publicity stunt.

Even if the Gu Group is exposed for its capital operations and its heir's marketing mishaps, it can quickly turn things around and weather the crisis safely.

Is it the protagonist's halo?

So no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't escape her fate?

Plot-driven death.

Shi Sui is afraid of death.

Cowardly and timid, they never dare to respond to passionate and open love, and only retreat and escape.

So I studied hard, wanting to change the plot and become a better person.

So in the end, all efforts were no match for the original novel?

The moment Shi Sui saw the Weibo post, she felt like her support was about to shatter.

……

The system has retrieved the stock price of the Gu Group.

Just as Shi Sui said, the Gu Group donated money, certified itself as a conscientious enterprise, and did an excellent job in crisis public relations, resulting in a rebound in the stock price.

The system reassured: [Host, stock prices are always fluctuating. They might go up a little now, but they'll plummet in a few days...]

Shi Sui quietly huddled together.

After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly asked, "[Is there still time?]"

The system knew she was afraid.

He immediately replied: [There's still time, host. We have plenty of time.]

Shi Sui softly said "okay," then forced a smile: "[I'm sorry, System, I lost control of my emotions just now and made you worry.]"

[I've figured it out. As long as the Gu Group is genuinely engaged in charity and truly helping people, then its stock price deserves to rise.]

If the Gu Group were truly a conscientious and ethical company, it shouldn't have gone bankrupt.

[System, I...]

[Then... I don't care.]

Shi Sui recalled that before she met the system, before she knew what fate had in store for her—

Her very first dream was not to get rich quickly.

Only a villainous female supporting character with a tragic past can become completely evil after losing everything.

All her clumsy and wicked deeds were simply because she wanted a home.

……

But in fact, she already had a family.

The night was deep, and the girl who had been hugging her knees looked up.

She looked up at him, her eyes misty with tears, sparkling brightly in the moonlight.

She stretched out her arms and said in a pitiful voice, "Hug—"

She had heard the footsteps long ago and knew he was waiting for her.

They briefly deviated from their predetermined life path.

But no matter which path they ultimately chose, they were reunited.