Wei Ximing was very popular at Sai Yao. His every move attracted a lot of attention. The incident by the school gate naturally spread throughout the student body.

Some of the more well-informed families had already heard the news about the switched grandchild. After all, the Wei family had never deliberately tried to conceal it. Madam Wei wanted her son to earn the approval of others, so she had mentioned it at some gatherings with other wives. 

“Who are the two boys next to Madam Wei? They’re really handsome!”

“So what if he’s handsome! All you care about is looks! He’s the young master that just returned to the Wei family! He’s the reason Wei Ximing doesn’t have anywhere to return to!”

“Oh my god. Is that him?”

“I heard a little bit about the real and fake young masters, but I didn’t expect it to be true. That’s crazy!” 

“So Wei Ximing rode with Wei Ruoyang because Madam Wei wouldn’t take him? How pitiful.”

“How should I put it? Although Wei Ximing isn’t their child, that still doesn’t make it Wei Ximing’s fault. Wei Ximing’s an outstanding person. Plus, they’ve raised him for more than ten years. It’s not like the Wei family can’t afford to keep raising him. Why do they need to exclude him like that?”

“Madam Wei might agree with you, but her biological son probably doesn’t! There’s nothing Madam Wei can do.”

“His name’s Wei Mingzheng, right? Why is he so narrow-minded?”

“I heard that he was raised in a family of alcoholics. His grades were bad, and he even stole something before. Later, he claimed that he didn’t actually steal anything… sigh. So long as the Wei family intervenes, anything can be covered up!”

“A family of alcoholics? Stealing? Tsk, tsk. With an environment like that, who knows what kind of person he turned out to be?”

“Tsk, tsk. He’s the same age as Wei Ximing, but he’s still in his first year of high school. You can probably imagine.”

Wei Mingzheng had just walked through the school gates, yet there were already countless rumors about him. He instantly became the talk of Sai Yao International High School. The speed in which it happened was simply unprecedented. 

The villain and Shu Ning, who had just enrolled, weren’t aware of any of this. They didn’t even pay Wei Ximing’s little performance any attention. Instead, they curiously took in their new school.

Sai Yao International High School and Longpanshan Middle School were like day and night.

The school was huge, and the sports field was incredibly vast. Apparently, the teaching building was designed by a famous architect. It was stylish and classy. The school’s multimedia equipment dazzled the eyes. Literally any scene in a campus drama could be recreated here.

In fact, there was actually a campus drama filmed here at Sai Yao. It was incredibly popular. 

Since Madam Wei had come in person, the first year director received them himself and sent Wei Mingzheng and Shu Ning to Grade 10 Class 1.

Class 1 was the class with the best academic performance. Madam Wei wanted the best for her son, so she naturally put him in the class with the best teachers and resources.

The first year director also introduced Madam Wei to the homeroom teacher. The homeroom teacher had probably gotten used to seeing all sorts of wealthy and powerful people. He was neither humble nor arrogant. Madam Wei politely exchanged a few words with him. She asked that he take good care of the two children.

The homeroom teacher was refined and educated. He was about forty years old. He pushed up his glasses and said, “Don’t worry. I care a lot about each and every one of my students.” 

“However, I’ll be upfront with you. This class only takes the student’s grades into consideration, not their family background. If their grades aren’t up to standard, they will have to be transferred to a lower level class.”

Madam Wei’s face froze.

The first year director said, “We’ll talk about this later. Young Master Wei doesn’t look like he’ll have a problem. He’ll definitely have excellent grades like his brother.”

Madam Wei smiled. A proud expression graced her features. “My Mingzheng was ranked first at his previous middle school, and Shu Ning was ranked second.” 

The homeroom teacher and first year director didn’t show it on their faces, but they kind of looked down on this measly achievement. First place at an ordinary middle school in Chuzhou was just an average rank in Beijing.

However, neither of them were going to spoil Madam Wei’s mood.

The first year director even praised him. “That’s amazing! He’s really smart! Super smart!”

The homeroom teacher didn’t kiss up to her like the first year director. He maintained his silence. 

Shu Ning stood quietly on the side. He was determined to act out his role as a follower. He wouldn’t talk or cause trouble. If someone tried to bully the little villain, he would roll up his sleeves and go to war.

This was what he came to Beijing for!

This was what it meant to be a follower!

Before, he hadn’t really understood why the little villain wanted to bring him along to the Wei family. However, now, he realized that the little villain wanted a little follower who understood him. 

As a young master, there’s no way he could start picking fights himself. That simply wasn’t what young masters do. This was a job for the young master’s followers.

The little villain had probably thought this all out a long time ago. He was just too embarrassed to say it.

Shu Ning came to his own conclusions and quickly accepted this new identity of his.

After Madam Wei finished chatting with the first year director and the homeroom teacher, she reluctantly headed back. Before she left, she kept reminding them to take care of themselves. She repeatedly looked back at them as she walked away. Finally, she left Sai Yao International High School. 

Shu Ning sighed. He said to the villain, “Aunt Su really loves you.”

This time, Wei Mingzheng didn’t refute. The corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, and he hummed softly.

After being hurt by Yin Qiang and Zhou Juan, he was very vigilant about familial affection. He was also sensitive towards any bit of malice. If it wasn’t for Shu Ning’s advice, he would’ve passed Madam Wei by the very first time he met her.

However, Shu Ning told him, “You can’t demand too much from her just because she’s your mother. She’s not a saint after all.” Because of that, Wei Mingzheng reluctantly decided to accept Madam Wei’s flaws. While she was hesitating between Wei Ximing and himself, he decided to give her time to think things over. 

The facts proved that Shu Ning was right. Now, Madam Wei had become more and more inclined towards him, and her strong maternal love was slowly starting to move him.

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Some of the first year students were from the high school’s middle school division, and some of them transferred in from other schools. The rumors about Wei Mingzheng weren’t as one-sided as they were with the second years or third years. After all, a lot of the first years didn’t even know who Wei Ximing and Wei Mingzheng were.

“Wow. So handsome.”

As soon as the two of them entered the classroom, the girls started whispering. 

“I’ve always heard that Sai Yao students are super attractive, but this is the first time I’m actually seeing it for myself!”

“Look at the one on the right. He’s tall and thin, and he looks like the cold and distant type. He’s so beautiful! God, I’m about to start drooling!”

“The one on the right’s super handsome, and he’s cute when he smiles… Wow, he even has dimples. I’m done for. He’s my favorite! What should I do? Both of them are so handsome. I want them both.”

“Dumbass. You won’t be able to get them just because you want them.” 

While the girls were happily chatting, the well-dressed girl sitting next to them said disdainfully, “The handsome guy that you’re talking about is from a family of alcoholics. Plus, he’s a thief. Didn’t you know?”

“Ah? Really? He doesn’t look like one!” The girls were surprised.

“It’s true. He’s the young master that just returned to the Wei family.” The girl took out her cell phone and pulled up a picture. “Sai Yao has a lot of handsome guys. For example, Ximing gege is smart, talented, and good-looking. He’s the most handsome guy in school.”

“Really?” The other girls leaned in to look at the photos. “He’s so handsome!” 

The well-dressed girl’s mood instantly improved. She had attended Sai Yao Middle School, and she had always been a fan of Wei Ximing. When she heard the other girls compliment her idol, she became happy. Then, she pulled several more photos for everyone to see.

She was stepping on Wei Mingzheng to praise Wei Ximing.

Everyone played along and complimented the photos, but they privately shot each other a look.

Wei Ximing was handsome. That much was true. However, didn’t he seem a little lacking when compared to the beautiful new transfer student? 

Well, beauty’s in the eye of the beholder.

They didn’t want to start a fight with their new classmate, so they changed the subject. “The sunny guy next to Wei Mingzheng is also really handsome!”

Shu Ning didn’t have any disagreements with Wei Ximing, so the well-dressed girl nodded in agreement. They all seemed to reach a consensus. “Yes, he is very handsome.”

The first day of high school was a bit chaotic. By the second day of school, the entire student body knew of Wei Ximing and Wei Mingzheng. Even the students who had transferred in from other schools knew about them. 

After hearing about the situation, there was only one thing on everybody’s mind. “What will Wei Ximing do from now on?”

Was he part of the Wei family anymore or not? A lot of the people around Wei Ximing were there for the sake of sucking up to his family. If he wasn’t the young master of the Wei family, was there any need for them to keep sticking with him?

Was his marriage agreement with the Jiang family’s little princess still valid?

Just as everyone was speculating, Jiang Yao, the princess of Sai Yao, spoke up. She claimed that her marriage agreement with Wei Ximing would not change and that the two of them were more in love than ever. 

As soon as the announcement was made, everyone was sent into an uproar.

After Jiang Yao spoke up, Wei Ruoyang soon followed suit. He announced that Wei Ximing had saved their grandmother’s life, so their grandmother declared Wei Ximing a member of the Wei family regardless of their blood ties.

Wei Ruoyang was the child of the Wei family’s second branch, so his words held a lot of weight.

Their declarations immediately changed everyone’s thoughts about Wei Ximing. 

Regardless of whether he was from the Wei family or not, Wei Ximing was simply a winner at life! He was able to make the Jiang family’s princess declare her loyalty to him to the world, and he was able to stay in the Wei family despite not having any blood relation. Just how amazing was he!?

In contrast, the real young master, Wei Mingzheng, was neither liked by the Wei family nor did he have a marriage agreement with the Jiang family. All he had was his pretty face. He was completely crushed by Wei Ximing in all other aspects.

There was a lot of discussion among the students. Even the school forum was full of posts about the two of them.

Among the students of Sai Yao International High School, nine out of ten were the children of powerful people. Most of them were planning to go abroad. Sai Yao had a lot of resources, and there were many opportunities to study abroad. Therefore, not a lot of people were concerned about their studies. They were more concerned about gossip. 

If this was some other school, it might not have caused such a huge commotion, but this was Sai Yao! Plus, the protagonists of it all were the Wei family and the Jiang family!

Wei Ximing slowly let out a breath after seeing the discussions on the forum.

Back at home, he was crushed by Wei Mingzheng. However, he didn’t want to lose to Wei Mingzheng at school. He made Jiang Yao and Wei Ruoyang speak out on his behalf in order to let everyone know that, even if he wasn’t related to the Wei family, he was still the best of the best.

After finding out about his origins, Wei Ximing felt all kinds of fear and shame. He hated his bloodline and his destiny. He didn’t want to come down from the pedestal upon which he lived his entire life. 

As someone who had stood above the others ever since he was a child, he would much rather die than be relegated to the position of an ordinary person.

Wei Ximing was now in a very delicate state of mind. On the one hand, he hated his origins, and, on the other hand, he was jealous of Wei Mingzheng. On the one hand, he knew that he needed to be patient, and, on the other hand, he didn’t want to put up with even the slightest bit of humiliation.

He had barely managed to maintain his foothold within the Wei family. Naturally, he wanted to make up for it by suppressing Wei Mingzheng at school.

He wanted everyone to know that he was a hundred times better than Wei Mingzheng! 

When he saw that no one was speaking up for Wei Mingzheng, he felt a great sense of satisfaction. He felt that he had defeated Wei Mingzheng.

The students were chattering a lot about them, but Wei Mingzheng and Shu Ning didn’t pay any attention to it at all. They simply didn’t care. Wei Mingzheng truly did not care one bit. He had always been very independent since he was a child. Shu Ning was a little concerned, but he believed in the villain’s abilities. Time would prove everything. There wasn’t any need for him to rush out and show off. Rather, it would make them seem mediocre and lame.

His baby would amaze everyone soon enough!

After the school’s opening ceremony, the student council started organizing a dance. 

Shu Ning finally understood. In a CEO novel, there was no need for reading or studying. Instead, everyone spent their days gossiping, having tea, planning dinner parties, and attending school events. Shu Ning couldn’t even find any fault with them.

After all, they were the children of the rich and wealthy. Their lives were set. They didn’t need to worry about money or studies. What else were they supposed to do besides throw parties and fall in love?

Wei Mingzheng didn’t have any interest in these things at all. Shu Ning was a little curious about what the dance would be like. Students could only attend if they had an invitation, and all invitees were carefully selected by the student council.

For the students of Sai Yao International High School, receiving an invitation was an honor. 

The student council’s criteria for the attendees varied from year to year. It was pretty much entirely up to the members of the student council. Some said that it was decided by lottery, some said that there was a certain standard, and some said it was a combination of both.

All in all, only two hundred people could attend.

Wei Mingzheng and Shu Ning each received an invitation letter.

Shu Ning started getting interested. “Wow, that’s great. Mingzheng, let’s go check it out.” 

The first half of The Big Shot’s Sweetheart took place in school. The second half took place after they graduated. The plot was crazy and imaginative. The author really wasn’t afraid of being too unrealistic.

Wei Mingzheng didn’t care. “Sure.”

He wasn’t interested. However, Shu Ning wanted to go, so Wei Mingzheng decided to accompany him to the dance.

“…Young Master Ximing sure is nice. He went out of his way to invite the two of you to the dance.” The well-dressed girl saw Shu Ning holding the black invitation letter and couldn’t help but say a few words. 

Surprised, Shu Ning turned his head and found that the person speaking was Wei Ximing’s little fangirl, Yu Chengcheng. On the very first day of school, she noticed everyone complimenting the villain and immediately publicized everything that happened between Wei Mingzheng and Wei Ximing. She tried her best to gather sympathy for Wei Ximing and alienate Wei Mingzheng.

Shu Ning didn’t like her. However, she was a girl, so he didn’t want to quarrel with her. He just let her be.

Wei Mingzheng didn’t even take Yu Chengcheng seriously.

Yu Chengcheng said, “I heard that neither of you met their criteria. You two were only able to get invited because Wei Ximing made a special request.” 

Shu Ning didn’t know about this. He asked, “Really?”

“Of course.” Yu Chengcheng nodded. She continued, “Wei Ximing’s the student council president. He treats people very well, so I hope you guys can treat him with sincerity. You shouldn’t keep targeting him, okay?”

Shu Ning: “…”

What the hell was Yu Chengcheng talking about? 

Shu Ning patiently explained, “We didn’t target him.”

Yu Chengcheng was so immersed in her own little fantasy that she couldn’t listen to anyone else. “Since you’ve received the invitation, you should be nicer to Wei Ximing. Old Lady Wei already decided that he would stay in the Wei family, so you should treat him like a brother. You’re a family after all. You should learn to love each other.”

Wei Ximing was silently doing them a favor, yet Wei Mingzheng kept trying to target him. He was really so ungrateful! Wei Ximing was so kind and good. Why did something like this have to happen to him?

After listening to Yu Chengcheng’s strange little spiel, Shu Ning instantly lost all interest in the dance. He said coldly, “Oh, really? We don’t really want to go.” 

Yu Chengcheng was stunned. She bit her lip and said, “How could you spoil Wei Ximing’s kind intentions like that?”

Shu Ning was speechless. “He sent the invitation without even asking for our opinion. Why do we have to go? What law says that we have to go?”

Yu Chengcheng was angry now. “There are a lot of people who want to go but can’t. Wei Ximing went out of his way to invite you, yet you’re not going?”

Wei Mingzheng, who hadn’t said a word this whole time, took the invitation in Shu Ning’s hand and ripped it along with his own. Then, he crumpled it into a ball. 

He didn’t say anything, but his actions were free and easy. There was a smile hanging from the corners of his lips. His eyes were cold and indifferent, and he carried a hint of provocation.

Yu Chengcheng was taken aback. “How could you rip the invitation? Are you picking a fight with the student council?”

Sai Yao’s student council had a lot of power. The little villain’s actions surprised everyone in the class. Even Shu Ning found it unexpected.

When he thought about it again, he still found it unexpected, it wasn’t beyond reason. 

The little villain’s personality had always been pretty arrogant.

“Oh my god. He actually ripped up the invitation.”

“Is the student council going to punish him?”

“He’s the young master of the Wei family though. They probably won’t. Plus, Wei Ximing’s the student council president, so he’ll definitely let it slide.” 

When he heard their classmates’ chatter, Shu Ning remembered the student council in The Big Shot’s Sweetheart. He immediately cringed a little. The student council’s power was comparable to that of the teachers. They were allowed to both punish and reward students. Honestly, it was a little chuuni.

When Shu Ning was reading the novel, he did think it was kind of over the top. However, since it was a crappy romance novel for kids, he reluctantly accepted it. Now that it was real, Shu Ning felt that it was really, truly way too over the top.

“We’re not going,” Wei Mingzheng said calmly.

Yu Chengcheng felt humiliated, and she felt that her idol’s good intentions had been completely insulted. She stood up and said angrily, “You’re so petty!” 

Then, she ran out of the classroom, probably to find someone she can vent to. Pretty much everyone in the entire school knew about Wei Ximing being “driven away” from the main branch of the family and living with his grandmother. They all said that Wei Mingzheng didn’t have any tolerance for others, that he was narrow-minded. They were probably going to start calling him “petty” as well after what happened today.

In the afternoon, Shu Ning was called to the office by the homeroom teacher. He wanted to ask about the conflict between Wei Mingzheng and Wei Ximing. Shu Ning pressed a hand to his forehead. The teacher was afraid of offending those two big shots, so he ended up pulling Shu Ning out of class to ask about them.

Shu Ning, of course, stood on the villain’s side. He repeated everything that Yu Chengcheng said today. The homeroom teacher didn’t say anything. He just nodded and allowed him to leave.

When he left the office, he just so happened to see Yu Chengcheng and a couple of other girls in the hallway. Shu Ning didn’t want to get into an argument with Yu Chengcheng and the other girls, so he walked towards the staircase and headed up. He intended to wait for Yu Chengcheng and the others to pass by before heading back down. 

The floor above the first years was the second years.

Shu Ning was waiting in the middle of the stairwell. He was planning on going back down after a couple of minutes. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard several boys approaching. They were talking right above him.

“Yu Chengcheng just said that Wei Mingzheng ripped the invitation. He doesn’t plan on attending. What should we do?”

“I heard that the two of them were planning to attend, but Yu Chengcheng, that idiot, just had to go and provoke them! She’s completely ruined our plans!” 

Shu Ning was stunned. This didn’t sound quite right.

What were these so-called “plans”?

What exactly were they planning to do to Mingzheng?

The boys were on the second year floor, so those boys were most likely second year students. Wei Ximing and Jiang Yao were also second year students. 

“If Wei Mingzheng isn’t going to attend, are we still going to do the raffle?”

“You’ll have to ask the president about that.”

The boys talked for a bit and then left. Shu Ning quietly went downstairs, full of anger.

He had been wondering this whole time about why Wei Ximing would invite the villain to this dance. It turned out that he had these “plans” for the villain all along. 

He still didn’t know what the “plans” entailed, but he could be sure that it wasn’t going to be anything good.

Wei Ximing had been causing trouble for the villain since the very first day they got here. If it wasn’t for Hu Mei’s betrayal, the two of them might still be oblivious to it.

The incident with Jiang Yao was even more blatant. He tried to drive a wedge between them. He wanted to eliminate any possibility of the little villain replacing him.

Shu Ning quickly ran back to the classroom and told the villain what he had heard. He said, “Fortunately, we don’t need to go to the dance. Otherwise, we definitely would’ve fallen into their trap. They probably plan on messing with us.” 

Wei Mingzheng pondered, “Raffle?”

Shu Ning nodded.

Wei Mingzheng thought about it for a moment. Then, he slowly smiled.

Shu Ning looked at his smile and felt very puzzled. 

That afternoon, the second year students came to their classroom and personally sent invitations to Wei Mingzheng and Shu Ning.

After Wei Mingzheng tore up the first invitation, the second year students sent a second invitation to Wei Mingzheng and Shu Ning in person. It was absolutely unbelievable!

The students in Class 1 were all shocked.

Despite all the eyes on him, Shu Ning coldly refused, “We won’t go.” 

The second year student seemed a little surprised. “Why?”

Shu Ning didn’t like this group of people. He squinted his eyes and said, “If I don’t want to go, I won’t go. Why do I need to explain myself?”

The boy was outright rejected. His expression slightly changed. Any normal person would probably leave it at that, but the boy stuck around to persuade them. “It’s very hard to get invited to this dance. You two just transferred to Sai Yao. It’s best for you to attend…”

He had been rejected so many times, yet he still insisted on inviting them. This only confirmed Shu Ning’s suspicions that they had other plans. Shu Ning glanced at the villain, and his face darkened. “We’re not going!” 

The boy probably realized that Shu Ning was not going to relent. He pondered for a moment. Then, he said, “We already heard about it. Yu Chengcheng was talking nonsense, so you ended up tearing up the invitation and refused to attend.”

The topic suddenly shifted to Yu Chengcheng. The noisy classroom suddenly quieted down.

Yu Chengcheng was dumbfounded. She stood up and asked, “Lian Feng, when was I talking nonsense?”

She was being accused of talking nonsense in front of the whole class. It was pretty much the same as being slapped across the face. Yu Chengcheng definitely wasn’t going to admit it. 

The second year student named Lian Feng pushed up his glasses and said, “It was the student council who had invited Wei Mingzheng and Shu Ning, not the president. The president didn’t know anything about it from beginning to end. Are you trying to accuse the president of using his power as student council president for his own personal benefit?”

Yu Chengcheng was stunned. “No… I didn’t…”

She clearly heard this from the student council members. The student council had taken Wei Mingzheng and Wei Ximing’s bad relationship into consideration and excluded Wei Mingzheng from the candidates early on. Later, Wei Ximing personally asked for the two of them to be invited. Why were they switching up now?