13: Chapter 13 The Little Nobody in a Pampered Novel 13

The young girl's life story was thoroughly dug up. A genius girl, a science and math prodigy, the top scorer in the city's high school entrance exam that year—every part of her resume was astonishing.

The middle school the young girl originally wanted to attend was The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, but the partial Parents of the Xu Family forcibly changed her preference, taking her and her burdensome sister into Yinghua High School.

Logically speaking, if such a talent entered your Yinghua High School, shouldn't you cherish her? But what did this old aristocratic high school do? It condoned campus bullying and was inactive in national competition selections.

The bullying group led by Liang Yiqing was also exposed. Because they were under 18 and the harm was minor, Liang Yiqing and others were given administrative penalties for public security.

Although the Liang Family bailed them out, Liang's stock immediately hit the daily limit down that day, and its market value evaporated by several hundred million.

Since then, Yinghua High School's reputation plummeted.

That day, the official Weibo of The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China directly issued a public statement: "Student Xu Zhao, Hua Luogeng Class welcomes you at any time."

Just as Li Shaoheng said, the situation's development was no longer within the Li Family's control. Several listed companies under the Li Family's Zongheng Group hit the daily limit down, suffering heavy losses.

No matter how powerful the Li Family was, they were merely merchants. Now, it was the country and the government that needed to rectify this unhealthy trend.

Outside, the clamor had not yet settled, but inside the hospital room, there was peace.

On the third day, Zhao Yan planned to slowly wake up.

Her long eyelashes trembled a few times, then she slowly opened her eyes. For a moment, there was confusion, a blur... oh, she wasn't wearing her glasses.

She propped herself up with her arms and sat up, calmly reaching for the cabinet by the bed. Suddenly, a pair of glasses was handed into her palm.

Putting on her glasses, Xu Zhao clearly saw the person beside her.

An unexpected person.

Li Shaoheng had been observing this girl. Her eyes were clear and overly calm, with no trace of surprise or unfamiliarity on her face.

This was interesting. Wasn't she curious how he appeared here? Nor was she surprised by a stranger in front of her.

"You are?" Xu Zhao's gaze met those deep eyes, then shifted to the somewhat familiar facial contours. It wasn't hard to guess the identity of the person before her—Li Shaoheng, the current head of the Li Family, A-Yan's third uncle, and they bore some resemblance.

"Li Shaoheng, Li Yan's uncle."

Xu Zhao quietly asked system 1105: "Is it still too late for me to pretend to have a headache or feel unwell?"

system 1105: "[Let you be confident, let you get carried away. Couldn't you have scanned the room with your consciousness before waking up?]"

So, Li Shaoheng saw the girl, who had just been very calm, suddenly tilt her head, reach up to touch the gauze on her forehead, and say weakly, "W-what happened to me? Where am I?"

Li Shaoheng: "..."

Although a bit far-fetched, at least this was more normal.

"Cough... you're in the hospital now. You were injured three days ago and rescued from the Xu Family by the police. Do you remember?"

"Yes... Mom and Dad, my eldest brother, second brother, and sister wanted me to give up my competition spot to Li Yan. I refused. Dad smashed me with a ceramic cup. My eldest brother said I was sick and couldn't go to school, so he had the nanny lock me in my room. I don't know what happened after that."

"The wound wasn't treated, and you later developed a high fever. Your classmate called the police, and you were rescued."

"Oh."

And then? And then...

Li Shaoheng waited for her to speak, but she simply remained silent, which was a bit unconventional.

"To be frank, I came to see what kind of person could make Li Yan stumble, bring down the Xu Family, and cause the Liang Family heavy losses."

"Then you've seen me. You can leave."

Li Shaoheng had gone to great lengths to get everyone else out of the ward, so he naturally wouldn't leave.

"This matter is Li Yan's fault; he did wrong. But I don't want the situation to escalate further and affect the Li Family. Tell me your conditions." If the old man hadn't been crying, making a scene, and threatening to hang himself at home, he definitely wouldn't bother with such a foolish matter.

"What do you want me to do?" Xu Zhao countered.

"The Li Family will hold a press conference immediately to clarify this matter, and Li Yan will publicly apologize to you. However, Li Yan was unaware of the spot issue."

Xu Zhao thought about it. She indeed had no evidence to prove that the Xu Family's actions were instigated by Li Yan, but Li Yan had definitely acquiesced or hinted to Xu Jiao.

"Also, regarding the Gu, Zhou, and Cheng families, Miss Xu, please tell them that this matter ends here."

Originally, he didn't need to come in person this time, but since it involved the Gu Family, he still came.

He heard that the young girl in front of him was the tutor for the sons of the Gu, Zhou, and Cheng families. In just two months, she had helped the three bottom-ranked students move up more than ten places in their classes. This incident was led by the Gu Family, with the Zhou and Cheng families fanning the flames.

If the government's mainstream media didn't let up, the heat wouldn't die down.

"Did Li Yan get beaten?" the young girl said quietly, "I'm already this miserable. If he still gets away unscathed, I'll be very angry."

Li Shaoheng thought he had misheard, seeing that resentful expression.

"Li Yan is scum. I don't necessarily need this competition spot, nor do I necessarily want to destroy him, but this is the second time he's acted against me! In my first year of high school, beating him and winning the national league championship was the catalyst. How narrow-minded is he? So narrow-minded that he could let my sister put sleeping pills in my milk, making me miss the national training team exam."

Li Shaoheng frowned slightly; he hadn't known about this.

He knew that his nephew, beneath his appearance as a refined young master, was actually very petty and vindictive, much like his elder brother. This was one of the reasons he didn't think highly of him, but he hadn't expected his heart to be so dark, resorting to such unscrupulous methods.

system 1105 exclaimed: "[Zhao Zhao, how did you know? Even the original host didn't know!]"

After Xu Zhao inherited the original host's memories and talents, she began to question things. The original host was the national league champion last year but wasn't selected for the national training team. If it was due to insufficient ability, that was impossible. She rummaged through distant memories and found that she had overslept on the day of the exam, and no one in the family had woken her up.

Because of this, the young girl blamed herself for a long time, wondering why she had overslept specifically that day.

The original host never suspected her family, which is why she didn't know.

She missed it last year, which is why she valued this competition even more this year; she really wanted to join the national training team.

But from the clear perspective of an outsider, Zhao Yan noticed clues.

For example, the milk on the night before the first-year high school exam was kindly brought into her room by Xu Jiao, who watched her drink it. Before this, Xu Jiao had never been so kind.

Another example was that not long after, Xu Jiao and Li Yan's relationship progressed rapidly. Before, it was just an ambiguous stage, but it suddenly escalated to boyfriend-girlfriend status.

Also, every time she was implicated because of Xu Jiao's ambiguous relationships with the male leads and supporting male characters, the supporting male characters would sometimes stand up and say a few insipid words, but Li Yan never said a word for her. Instead, he always played a role in fanning the flames.

The first time she met him after transmigrating was at the school stairwell. She immediately felt Li Yan's deep hostility towards her, not just that damned possessiveness, but more so jealousy and hatred.

What made him so hostile towards her?

It was simply that ever since entering Yinghua, he, the so-called 'pride of heaven,' became the perennial second place.

Xu Zhao's name on the honor roll was always above Li Yan's.

"The Li Family is very strict with Li Yan, especially regarding his academics, right?"

"A-Yan's grades are indeed excellent; he's been first place since childhood, except—"

"Except after entering high school," Xu Zhao continued, "After high school, no matter if it was a major or minor exam, his best result was always second in his grade, because of me."

"Yes." Li Shaoheng seemed to understand the meaning of her words.

"It's okay to be a bit slow, but with insufficient intelligence, a narrow mind, and a strong desire to win, is the Li Family sure they want to cultivate such a person?"

Only now did Li Shaoheng truly look at the young girl before him, his eyes filled with unsettled emotions. The pit she dug was truly massive, trapping Li Yan, the Li Family, the Liang Family, and the Xu Family. In the end, she claimed to be the victim, yet she was also the biggest winner.

"I won't pursue what he did before. For this incident, if he publicly admits his mistake and apologizes in public, I won't hold onto it. But I have two demands: First, revoke the guardianship of the Parents of the Xu Family. I've researched our country's legal system, and revoking guardianship is not easy, even though I sustained minor injuries this time. But I think if the head of the Li Family handles this, there shouldn't be any problem."

It wouldn't be a complete estrangement; when they get old, she would provide for their support. But such partial parents should no longer be her guardians. Who knows when they might exploit her again for profit. Anyway, she was over 16 years old and had a large scholarship income every year.

Li Shaoheng agreed almost without hesitation.

"Second, I don't want to see Li Yan again. Take it or leave it, I need to rest."

She lay down, pulled up the covers, and closed her eyes to rest, all in one smooth motion.

Xu Zhao wasn't afraid of Li Shaoheng recording or videotaping at all. He came to the ward to negotiate with her, and daring to speak so candidly with her indicated that he had already checked that there were no surveillance devices in the room.

The next day, Li Zhangyuan and Li Yan held a press conference, publicly bowing and sincerely apologizing to the public.

Afterward, Li Yan was directly packed up by the Li Family and sent abroad to study.

Zongheng, with lightning speed, removed Li Zhangyuan from his position as chairman of Zongheng Group's pharmaceutical company. From then on, one of Zongheng Group's most valuable assets fell into Li Shaoheng's hands.