Chapter 2418 — A Wretched Birth

As soon as Yu Yi shut the car door, he turned to Shen Yushu with a dark expression and said, "The old master is furious. You botched this business badly!"

"There was nothing I could do. Wei Zhao is too formidable — what was I supposed to do? If he stops giving me the antidote and lets me burn to death, I can only accept my fate." At this point Shen Yushu grew a little tense; the whole pile of facts she had laid out earlier about how formidable Wei Zhao was had been meant to save her own skin — after all, no one is willing to die.

"Since the old master reckons this was not your fault, he is giving you one more chance," Yu Yi said.

"Oh?" Shen Yushu had not expected her gamble to actually pay off — the Yu family had no intention of killing her. Yet outwardly she remained impassive as she asked, "What chance?"

"Watch Wei Zhao!" Yu Yi said. "Under no circumstances is he to have any dealings with our Yu family's Yu Ning. If anything unusual happens, report it to us at once!"

"Yu Ning?" Shen Yushu was taken aback. "What does he have to do with Yu Ning?"

"You don't know?" Yu Yi was startled too; he had not expected Shen Yushu to be ignorant of the matter between Wei Zhao and Yu Ning.

"Know what?" Shen Yushu was all the more baffled. "Wei Zhao knows the Yu family?"

"You don't need to know that much!" Yu Yi gave a cold snort. "You only need to understand this: keep him away from Yu Ning. Otherwise, we will cut off your supply of medicine!"

"Oh... all right." Shen Yushu nodded.

"Do not forget your own position! You are our Yu family's spy in the mundane world. If you want to be rid of the fire poison for good and see your parents, then obey our arrangements honestly!" Yu Yi said.

"Oh... my parents... are they well?" A flicker of sorrow passed through Shen Yushu's eyes. From childhood to now she had never seen her parents' faces, nor known who they were — what could be more wretched than that? The only thing Shen Yushu knew was that they had been locked away by the Yu family...

"If you are well, they will naturally be well. If you are not, they will naturally be buried with you!" Yu Yi said flatly.

"Oh..." Shen Yushu sighed. Every time she asked, the answer was the same. If she had not secretly taken Chen Yuxuan's blood sample for a DNA test, she would never have believed it herself — that she was not Chen Yuxuan's biological sister at all!

But she dared not ask the Chen family's parents the truth of the matter, still less dare ask Old Master Chen! She feared the Yu family would see through her and do her parents harm! And the Yu family would not permit her to divulge this secret.

"I have given you the chance to atone for your crimes by good service. You know the rules. Do not develop feelings for Wei Zhao, and do not sleep with him — otherwise, you die, and your parents die with you," Yu Yi warned.

"Oh..." Shen Yushu nodded.

"All right, that is about enough time. Go back," Yu Yi said flatly.

"Oh..." Shen Yushu pushed open the door and stepped out, her underclothes already soaked through with sweat... In a scant half hour or so, she had passed through life and death. "Phew..."

Shen Yushu let out a long breath, striving to settle her emotions into calm. Once again the old silly, sly grin appeared on her face as she walked toward the Economics Department's teaching building...

"Drive, Yu Si," Yu Yi said to the driver.

"Yes, big brother," Yu Si answered.

"Both of them are young ladies of the family, yet their fates could not be more different..." Yu Yi sighed softly, murmuring to himself.

"Big brother, what did you say?" Yu Si was startled, having failed to catch Yu Yi's words.

"Nothing. Drive," Yu Yi said. Naturally he could not explain anything to Yu Si; many matters were the Yu family's highest secrets, known only to him, Old Master Yu, and the current head of the family, Yu Xiaochen.

"Right." Yu Si did not press further. He understood the Yu family's rules well enough himself.

Shen Yushu returned to the classroom, said a word to the teacher, and then sat down beside Gu Mengyao.

"Xiaoshu, what happened to you? You went to the restroom and were gone over half an hour?" Gu Mengyao glanced at the time on her phone and asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Oh, I got up too rushed this morning and forgot to use the restroom..." Shen Yushu stuck out her tongue.

"Even so, that was far too long. How come you didn't fall in!" Gu Mengyao asked no more and went back to listening to the lecture.

"Hee..." Shen Yushu said. "I nearly did fall in."

The class period passed quickly. Wei Zhao, too, finished his cultivation and opened his eyes. He was just about to say a couple of words to Wang Xinyan when he saw You Panhu and Kang Jinglong walking toward him together.

"Xinyan, how about we go out for a walk together?" Kang Jinglong walked to Wei Zhao's desk as though no one else were there, extended his hand, and invited Wang Xinyan — as if he did not have Wei Zhao in his eyes at all.

"Han Jingyi, how is your alchemy study coming along? Shall we compare notes?" At the same time, You Panhu plopped himself down beside Han Jingyi and asked.

Wei Zhao could not help frowning. What were these two up to? One working his way close to Wang Xinyan, the other to Han Jingyi — had the two of them planned this beforehand?

"Sorry, I need to read," Wang Xinyan said to Kang Jinglong. She showed no particular aversion, but neither did she show much warmth; she merely raised the book in her hand calmly.

"Heh, Xinyan, we are boyfriend and girlfriend after all. We haven't seen each other for so long — won't you give me a chance?" Kang Jinglong said with a smile.

"I'm sorry, the final exams are coming up and I need to study hard. There are still so many questions I haven't worked out," Wang Xinyan said, keeping her smile, neither warm nor cold.

"Is that so... heh, I am a doctoral student, after all. If there is anything you don't understand, you can ask me and I'll explain it," Kang Jinglong said, quick on his feet; if Wang Xinyan wanted to study, he could find a way to engage her too. With a slight smile, he sat down directly in the seat in front of Wei Zhao.

Since it was the break between classes, the student in front of Wei Zhao had conveniently gone out for some activity, giving Kang Jinglong a fine opportunity.

"Oh, that works too." Wang Xinyan opened her notebook, pushed a question in front of Kang Jinglong, and said, "Then I'll trouble Dr. Kang to analyze this question for me: in this prescription, what role does charred betel nut play, and can it be replaced by another Chinese medicine? After replacement, would the efficacy be stronger or weaker than the original prescription?"

"Let me have a look..." Kang Jinglong took the notebook with a great show of ease, but after a careful glance at the question, his expression changed at once! This was a highly obscure prescription — Kang Jinglong had never even seen it before! If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to come vote