Yao Ran’s Apology

Yao Ran was taken aback. She had been expecting them to laugh in her face and mock her for her current situation.

She could still remember how, when she had first moved out of the Yao residence, Meng Ling had brought her lackeys to Yao Ran’s classroom to gawk at her.

In any case, it no longer mattered to her. This was nothing more than a trifle.

“Did the sun rise from the West today?” Meng Yang remarked. He thought back to all the things Yao Ran had done in the past, then compared it to how she was acting now. A keen sense of alarm rose in his chest.

But Yao Ran only shot him a bashful smile.

“Actually, I came here today to apologize to you.”

“Apologize?” Qin Jing and Meng Yang asked in unison. Yao Tang, on the other hand, merely studied Yao Ran in silence.

“That’s right. I used to be so immature and foolish, and I caused a lot of trouble for everyone. I know that my apology can never wipe out my misdeeds. I don’t expect to be forgiven, but I still want to apologize. I’m very sorry. I promise, I will never repeat the same mistakes in the future.”

Yao Ran’s words were followed by a deathly silence.

In the end, it was Yao Tang who spoke first. “Yao Ran, I have no way of knowing whether your apology is sincere or fake. But there is a saying that goes, ‘True knowledge comes from practice’. Only time will tell if you really mean it or not.”

Yao Ran nodded in earnest. “I understand, Sister! Thank you. I’ll be sure to prove myself to all of you.”

With that, she turned around and made to leave. “Has your leg fully recovered?” Yao Tang called after her, her eyes fixed on Yao Ran’s ankle, her tone laced with mild surprise.

Yao Ran nodded again. “I volunteered to be the test subject of a new drug developed by my adoptive brother. As far as I know, it is fully healed.”

Yao Tang kept staring at the girl’s ankle and didn’t say anything else. After waiting for a while, Yao Ran sauntered out of the room.

Once she was gone, the class was instantly in an uproar.

“Wow, I think I just got goosebumps all over my body!” Meng Yang exclaimed, rubbing his arms.

“It is said that a phoenix in dire straits is inferior to a chicken,” a male student said, not bothering to hide his disdain for Yao Ran. “Since she can no longer claim the title of the Yao family’s daughter, she can only behave with her tail between her legs.”

His words seemed to spark a theme, and everyone dove into an animated discussion.

“I suppose you can say that. Didn’t she publicly acknowledge Yang Ming as her adoptive brother a while back? Rumors say that this so-called brother treats her very well. He gave her a villa and a luxury car, and often took her out to parties and social events. Now, we learn that he even cured her leg!”

“What’s up with that? He sounds more like a sugar daddy than a nominal brother.”

“But Yang Ming is already engaged to Meng Ling! If Yao Ran really is a sidepiece, given Meng Ling’s temper, she would eventually be torn apart.”

“I’m not sure what’s going on, exactly, but I have to admit that Yao Ran is kind of worthy of being called the campus belle.”

“Are you out of your mind? Yao Tang is the school’s only campus belle!”

After some time, the conversations circled back to Yao Tang. She swept a gaze over the class, and everyone immediately returned to their seats and got back to their practice tests.

Sure enough, Yao Tang was more formidable than the school’s actual principal.

Yao Tang decided to stop thinking about Yao Ran and focus on the matter at hand. She was about to do just that when she received a message from the Shadow League.

‘They couldn’t find anything?’ she muttered to herself.

She couldn’t believe that even her own network couldn’t find anything on one high school student.

This was getting interesting. Yao Ran rubbed her chin and made up her mind to pay a visit to the Yao residence after school.

Meanwhile, Yao Ran was already back in her classroom.

She sat quietly in her seat and minded her own business. From time to time, a student would approach her with a question, and she would readily advise them.

She was like a benevolent saintess now. But when no one was looking, Yao Ran would lower her eyes and let her true colors show.

Her master had been right. If she wanted to be sought after, she would first have to learn how to win everyone’s hearts.

Pretty girls already had an advantage in this area. All she needed was to alter her demeanor and be more friendly, and the crowd would flock to her like panting dogs eager to lick her hand. The perfect example of this would be Yang Ming, Xu Xuan, and her stupid classmates.

Yao Ran took a deep breath and plastered a gentle smile on her face.

Those who had already been staring at her couldn’t help but gasp.

They didn’t think she could get any prettier, or more genial, but it seemed like they were mistaken!

Over at the Meng family mansion, Madam Meng was wiping her tears, her heart aching for her daughter.

“Mom, it hurts so much!” Meng Ling was lying on the bed, struggling to breathe through the pain that racked her body.

They couldn’t understand why her condition was so much worse than before. Wasn’t she supposed to be well on her way to recovery?