The girl was none other than Anna, the older sister Jiang Fan had bumped into in the alley last night.

Jiang Fan was equally stunned. Jingjiang City wasn’t some backwater—it was a metropolis with over a million residents. The odds of crossing paths again so soon were slimmer than pulling a five-star character on your first Genshin wish. Suspicion flickered in his mind.

"Hey, did you hurt your arm?" Anna asked, tilting her head. "It wasn’t like that when we parted last night..."

Her words trailed off as she finally noticed Lin Mengyao watching her with quiet confusion from across Jiang Fan. Anna clasped her hands together, gave a playful wink, and stuck out her tongue. "Oops! Sorry, little sis—are you his girlfriend? Don’t get the wrong idea! He just helped me out when I had nowhere to stay. Nothing weird happened, promise!" She flashed Jiang Fan a thumbs-up. "Your girlfriend’s gorgeous. And she tied that bow on your bandage so neatly. She’s a keeper!"

The library’s spacious corners muffled their chatter. With few patrons around, Jiang Fan finally seized a gap in Anna’s nonstop monologue. "Anna-jie, you’ve got it wrong. She’s just... well, a classmate. Not my girlfriend."

*Just a classmate... is all...*

Lin Mengyao’s chest tightened with a nameless heaviness.

They weren’t lovers. Not even friends. Barely acquaintances.

Just upperclassman and underclassman who knew each other’s names. That was the sum of their twisted fate.

"Eh? Really?" Anna’s surprised gaze landed on Lin Mengyao, who nodded stiffly.

"...Yeah. If anything, I’m tutoring him at the teacher’s request."

*Though I probably won’t be for much longer...*

Suddenly, the homework sheet Jiang Fan had filled out felt like a glaring eyesore in her hands. A wild urge to tear it up prickled under her skin.

*It’s just frustration*, she told herself. *I can’t stand walking away without trying. It feels like deserting before the battle even starts.*

"Tutoring?" Anna grinned, nudging Jiang Fan. "So our big guy needs a classmate’s help with studies?"

"My grades are average. Doesn’t matter anyway—I’m not aiming for some elite university. Passing is enough."

Anna studied his indifferent shrug. "Huh. Your uniform’s from No.1 High, right? My friend says it’s top-tier. No dreams of acing exams? Or..." She winked. "Inheriting a billion-dollar empire after graduation? Then yeah, college wouldn’t matter much."

Despite being Russian, Anna’s jokes felt oddly familiar. Yet Jiang Fan hadn’t forgotten how she’d appeared last night—this breathtakingly beautiful woman was a human battle machine. *Too dangerous to get close to.*

"You’re overthinking it," he said flatly. "I just can’t get into a good university. Might as well find a factory job early. A normal college degree just lands you a slightly bigger factory four years later. I’ve accepted my fate."

Part truth, part lie. He genuinely didn’t care about college—he’d even told Shu Yue he’d "work at a factory after graduation" during a survey.

*Why slave away for a mortgage and car loan?* he mused. *After breaking up with Mu Yuli, I’ll just retire to some backwater town. Or keep bartending for Chen Jing—I’m already making over ten grand a month with tips. No family to support. And with my System... money’s never been the problem.*

*Worst case? The System vanishes. But after so many rebirths, my girl-charming skills won’t disappear. I’ll just find some rich, pretty young heiress to take care of me. Life’s easy when you know how to lean.*

*Yep. My ultimate dream? To be a professional dependent.*

*Blame my weak stomach—it only digests soft rice.*

*That’s why I always say: if Mu Yuli’s personality hadn’t turned so extreme, I’d have happily spent my life with her. Who’d chase a breakup otherwise? That’d be like swimming against the tide.*

Anna stroked her chin, thoughtful but silent. She wouldn’t judge a stranger’s choices—though she privately disagreed. *To each their own.*

But someone else wasn’t so accepting.

Just as Jiang Fan opened his mouth to ask why Anna was here—

***SLAM!***

Lin Mengyao’s palms crashed onto the table. She shot upright, face inches from his, voice trembling with fury:

**"HOW DARE YOU THINK LIKE THAT!"**

The outburst shattered the library’s hush. Patrons turned, startled. Lin Mengyao ignored them, eyes blazing.

"You haven’t even *tried*! How can you write off your future like it means nothing?!"

She hated being caged—by her father’s expectations, by rules she never chose. She’d rebelled with bar visits and "inappropriate" outfits, only to have her aunt Xia Yining clean up the mess.

*She knew she couldn’t truly break free.*

But Jiang Fan?

He’d always seemed untouchable. Unbothered by cliques, unshaken by teachers’ "for your own good" lectures, unchained by fake gentlemanly manners around her.

*She’d envied his freedom. His right to speak and act as he pleased.*

Now she saw the truth: he wasn’t free. He’d just surrendered.

*"There’s no freedom,"* he’d whispered. *"Just choosing to stay in your cage."*

"Don’t you *dare* joke about this!" she screamed, spit flecking his cheek. "You’re throwing away the last shred of hope I had for you!!!"

*Wants to coast through life?*

*Not while I’m here. Jiang Fan won’t become that person—not on my watch.*