Chapter 1

Before the university entrance exams, I rescued a schoolgirl from a group of thugs and helped her report the assault to the police.

The next day, she brought the police into my classroom and pointed at me.

She claimed I was her attacker—and that the thug was innocent.

I was taken away and branded a molester.

I lost my guaranteed place at Peking University.

Then classmates posted fabricated accusations online until the school expelled me.

Desperate to prove my innocence, my mother left a letter written in blood and livestreamed her fatal jump at my school.

Under public pressure, the police finally released me for lack of evidence.

But my life was already ruined.

I had lost my chance at university and the only family I had.

When I confronted the girl and demanded to know why she had repaid my kindness with betrayal, she told me her attacker was the richest man in the county’s son. She couldn’t afford to cross him.

“I still want to study and get into a good university. I can’t make trouble!

“Besides, you chose to save me. I never asked you to. Who told you to meddle?”

The thug stepped out of the shadows, smugly put his arm around her and kissed her hard.

“So what if you get into university? You’ll still end up working nine to nine, six days a week, at my family’s company.

“Wouldn’t it be better to marry into my family and live in luxury without lifting a finger?”

The girl smiled shyly. My head spun. The world turned upside down.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day I saw her being assaulted.

This time, I chose not to get involved.

“Let go! Let go of me!”

“If you don’t, I’ll scream!”

Through the haze, I heard a woman calling for help and turned in surprise.

In a dark alley, a blond thug was forcing himself on a girl in school uniform.

The scene felt overwhelmingly familiar.

I looked down at my own uniform, then back into the alley.

After standing stunned for a long moment, I bit my hand hard.

I was back.

I really was back.

Right at the moment my fate had changed.

What was happening in that alley brought the memories flooding in.

In my previous life, I had grabbed a stick and rushed to help Liu Ruyan.

After several blows to the head, the blond thug had hastily pulled up his trousers and fled, clutching his head.

Liu Ruyan had slumped to the ground, sobbing that her life was ruined.

I had wrapped my jacket around her over her disheveled clothes and told her none of it was her fault.

She was the victim.

I urged her to face what had happened with courage.

Encouraged, she decided to call the police. I went with her to the station and gave a witness statement.

At home, I told Mom I’d done something good that day and helped someone in trouble.

She was delighted and praised me.

I never imagined that one act of kindness would destroy my whole family.

The next morning, I went to school as usual.

Liu Ruyan suddenly burst into our classroom with the police. In front of everyone, she claimed I was the man who had assaulted her.

According to her, after the assault I had returned to collect some clothes I’d left behind and overheard her calling the police.

Then I had threatened to kill her entire family.

Weeping, Liu Ruyan said she’d had no choice but to agree to my demands to keep them safe.

She pointed at me and cried:

“He wasn’t a witness! He was the one who molested me!”

My head buzzed.

Before I could understand what was happening, the police handcuffed me and marched me out.

Coming to my senses, I struggled desperately.

“I’m innocent! Why are you framing me? I saved you!”

She only cried harder.

“No girl would joke about her own chastity.”

Everyone believed her.

I was branded a molester. Everyone called me a criminal.

My classmates treated it as a sensational scandal and posted it online.

Soon it was trending.

I became a target for every self-appointed online crusader.

They called me less than human and told me to die.

The rumors spread, growing more absurd.

Then they began inventing stories about my mother too.

They called her a whore and said I’d been conceived with one of her clients.

Under public pressure, the school expelled me to make the trouble go away.

I lost the guaranteed place at Peking University that I’d fought so hard to earn.

With thousands condemning me, Mom was the only person in the world who believed me.

Desperate to prove my innocence, she took her letter written in blood and forced her way into the school to livestream.

Then, in front of the online audience, she jumped from a tall building.

She used her death to testify to my innocence.

The livestream made the case an even bigger sensation.

Public opinion began to turn. More rational voices questioned the story.

They examined Liu Ruyan’s one-sided statement word by word.

Under enormous pressure, the police investigated repeatedly and finally released me for lack of evidence.

But what good did that do?

My university place was gone. So was the only family I had.

Wherever I went, people pointed behind my back.

“That’s the rapist.”

They said I’d only been released because someone powerful had protected me.

I had no university, no job and no family.

I barely existed in the home where my mother no longer lived.

Numb, I wandered the streets, collecting plastic bottles from rubbish bins. The little I earned by selling them kept me alive, a hollow shell of myself.

Until one day, I saw Liu Ruyan.

She had changed completely.

Curled hair, perfume, designer clothes. Even the bag on her shoulder looked expensive.

She was back.

After the case had exploded online, she’d disappeared. Now that the old rape case had faded from public attention, she’d resurfaced.

My heart seemed to start beating properly again.

I dropped my bottles and rushed over, demanding to know why she had betrayed the person who saved her.

She recoiled, covered her nose in disgust and tried to leave.

I blocked her path and kept asking.

At last, she lost patience and shouted:

“Do you know who the guy was? The richest man in the county’s son! How was I supposed to stand up to him?”

I screamed until my voice was almost gone.

“What about me? Did I deserve to be framed and lose everything?”

She answered with perfect self-righteousness, not a trace of guilt.

“I still want to study and get into a good university. I can’t make trouble.

“Besides, you chose to save me. I never asked you to. Who told you to meddle?”

Just then, the thug came up behind her with a smug look, slipped an arm around her and kissed her hard.

“So what if you get into university? You’ll still end up working nine to nine, six days a week, at my family’s company.

“Wouldn’t it be better to marry into my family and live in luxury without lifting a finger?”

Blushing, Liu Ruyan gave him a playful little punch.

What more was there to understand?

Dizzy, I collapsed.

The back of my head struck the ground.

When I woke, I was here.

I glanced at the pair in the alley.

Then I turned away.

Behind me, I thought I could still hear cries for help.

But what did they have to do with me?

I went home.

As I changed my shoes, Mom came to greet me with a spatula in her hand.

“Our genius is home! I made your favorite braised noodles with pork ribs and green beans. Wash your hands. Dinner’s almost ready!”

In my previous life, she had given up her life to force the whole internet to pay attention and prove me innocent.

I had been in custody. I hadn’t even seen her one last time.

She was my last remaining relative.

Dad had died in an accident when I was little. To raise me, Mom had worked several jobs at once, leaving early and coming home late every day.

She wasn’t even fifty, but gray already showed at her temples.

Seeing her smile and remembering everything, I couldn’t stop the tears.

Alarmed, she put a hand on my shoulder.

“Xiao Ming, has someone been bullying you?

“Tell me. I’ll stand up for you!”

I wiped my eyes, smiled and shook my head.

“No one’s bullying me. I was just thinking about my guaranteed place at Peking. Soon I’ll be able to take you to the capital and give you a good life. I’m happy, that’s all.”

Mom laughed.

“Well, that’s what happens when my son is so talented!”

Yes.

More than anything, I wanted to grow up quickly and give her an easier life.

In my previous life, that wish should have come true long ago.

Peking University had offered me admission without the entrance exam, a full tuition waiver and a full scholarship.

That alone would have lifted so much of her burden.

After graduating, with that degree, surely I could have joined a large company and earned a good salary.

Then Mom could have rested after a lifetime of hard work.

Instead, one ungrateful traitor had ruined me and my entire family.

My bright future had gone dark.

This time, I would never meddle in anyone else’s business again.

But I’d imagined things would be far simpler than they were.

The next morning, I went to school.

Liu Ruyan stormed up to me, eyes red.

“Why didn’t you help me yesterday?”

What the hell was wrong with her?

Plenty of people had passed by. Why single me out?

I pretended not to understand.

“What are you talking about?”

“After school yesterday! You could have saved me, but you chose to ignore me. How can you be so selfish?”

Her raised voice made the classmates revising around us look up.

Every face said they weren’t about to miss a good show.

I lowered my head and went on working, with no intention of engaging.

She snatched the practice paper from my hand and tore it to pieces.

Anger flared. I stood and slapped her across the face.

Stunned, she covered her reddened cheek and trembled.

“You hit me? Liu Feng, you actually hit me!”

She seized my collar, shaking me and screaming.

“Is it because you feel guilty?

“Did he pay you to look the other way? Are you two in this together?”

I knocked her hand aside and slapped her other cheek. I wasn’t about to go easy on her.

“If there’s something wrong with you, get help!

“What the hell are you talking about? I don’t understand a word!”

Clutching her face and grabbing at her hair, Liu Ruyan looked as though she’d just escaped from a psychiatric hospital.

“Liu Feng! You’ve fucking ruined my whole life! Why don’t you fucking die?”

Her screams were raw enough to hurt my ears.

I sneered.

“What are you talking about? What does your business have to do with me?”

In my previous life, she had been the one who truly destroyed my future.

Without her vanity and ingratitude, why would my life have fallen into darkness?

Why would Mom have had to die to prove my innocence?

Remembering that, I felt no pity for Liu Ruyan now.

Quite the opposite.

I wanted to laugh.

She tried to fight me, but she was no match for my strength.

Fortunately, our homeroom teacher arrived before things got worse.

“The university entrance exams are almost here!” she barked. “What are you two doing standing around?”