Fake heiress tore up the script, acted lazy and dumb, and got eliminated.

Chapter 7: I Love Sheet Music, and Sheet Music Loves Me

After speaking, Lu Qian turned and left with a flourish. She didn't forget to tell the waiter to bill her later for the damages. The hallway was in chaos, with Mrs. Gu's curses growing more vicious by the second. She wished she had strangled Lu Qian in her cradle. The general manager arrived after receiving the news to handle the aftermath and promptly kicked the three Gu family members out. Standing outside the restaurant, surrounded by onlookers, their faces burned with embarrassment.

"We're VIP guests here! How dare he be so disrespectful?" Mrs. Gu seethed.

Mr. Gu, sensing something odd, mused, "The general manager showed up right after Lu Qian left... Hua Hua, you lived with the Lu family for so long. Could they have some powerful backing?"

Hua Gu hesitated before shaking her head. "No, they're just a regular working-class family. Her uncles are all struggling too. It's probably just a coincidence."

She refused to believe—or rather, didn't want to believe—that Lu Qian could thrive after leaving the Gu family. Otherwise, her own scheming return to the Gu family would look like a joke.

Back in the private room, Lu Qian's mind raced. Earlier, when she leaned close to Hua Gu, she'd heard a mechanical voice: "Task failed: crush the female lead to seize her luck. Host about to face punishment." Could that have been Hua Gu's system? The thought horrified her. The female lead had a cheating device—a system to steal her luck through tasks. But if she could eavesdrop on the system's prompts by staying near Hua Gu, couldn't she predict the female lead's moves and counteract them? All she needed was proximity; beyond a certain range, the sounds faded.

That night, exhausted, Lu Qian fell asleep in the car and was carried to her room by Shi Lusen. He noticed her still-swollen wrist and remembered how she'd thrown herself into danger without hesitation. His heart, frozen for years, thawed slightly. Just then, sleep-talking Lu Qian raised her hands. "Seagull, lightning, grant me power to roast the male and female leads to perfection!"

Shi Lusen: "..."

Though she was foolish, she was sincerely so. After leaving the room, he summoned the butler. "Investigate Lu Qian's past fifteen years at the Gu house and report back. Also, find me a book."

"Yes, sir. Which book?"

"A parenting guide."

"...?"

By the weekend, Lu Qian's wrist had healed enough for school. Groaning, she dragged herself out of bed. Shi Lusen checked the time, adjusting his tie. "Eat faster, you'll be late." This was his first time sending a child to school; he felt out of place.

"Grandpa, can I skip school? I feel awful." Lu Qian clutched her chest. "Thinking about unfinished homework makes it hard to breathe."

Shi Lusen's eyebrow twitched. "Almost finals week and no homework? What scores do you usually get?"

"Perfect scores! Check my old tests."

"Full marks without homework?"

"I have special techniques." She stuffed air into her head, chanting, "I love scores, scores love me, endless points flow to me—"

Shi Lusen's vein throbbed. The Lus were elites in every field, yet this girl cast spells for exams. Would her school expel her?

"Not always," she said, pulling out a turtle shell. "Last test, I used this for perfect multiple-choice answers." Shaking it, she muttered, "Show me today's weather." All coins landed tails. "Grandpa, bring an umbrella! It'll rain."

Shi Lusen: "..."

Exams relied on spells or divination? How did she score full marks? Had heavens blessed this simpleton? As she played with the shell, he snapped, "Eat now or go hungry to school."

"End."

After breakfast, Shi Lusen drove Lu Qian to Silkwater Academy, a prestigious private school in Floating Light City. Fees were astronomical; students were mostly from wealthy families, led by the Gu, Ling, Xu, and He clans.

On the luxury bus bound for a field trip, murmurs died as Lu Qian entered. Sympathy flooded the room.

"Lu Qian, are you okay? The Gu family went too far, no respect for old loyalty!"

"They should care after so long!"

"Hua Gu's nice, but the Gus were cruel to you."

"If you're homeless, stay with me! My room's huge!"

But from the back seat, a cold laugh sliced through. "Pitying this nest-robbing fake? Better pity Hua Gu, stolen from her life. Lu Qian, we saw you arrive in a man's car—desperate for cash? Prostitute yourself?"

"Haha, who'd want this twig?"

Her classmates—once friends—now echoed Ling Qian's hostility. Familiarity sharpened their blades; they knew where to cut deepest.

Lu Qian wouldn't tolerate it. "You sound experienced. Working for a sugar daddy? No wonder you know so much."

Heng Fanzhi slammed the seat. "Liar! I'll kill you!"

Lu Qian: "You've got greens stuck in your teeth."

Heng's hand flew to his mouth. Xu Zhiqing shook his head, disappointed. "You pushed Hua Gu into the water and never apologized. Still brazen? No wonder Ling Qian dumped you."

"It's like you're doused in perfume, but I smell pure stupidity. Choking me."

"Unmannered brute!"

"Manners are for people, not cattle who don't listen."

Xu Zhiqing's face turned purple. How did Lu Qian grow so venomous? Ling Qian's rejection or the Gu family's expulsion must've unhinged her. But she deserved it—she'd never match Hua Gu's fingertip.

Lu Qian claimed her seat. Heng Fanzhi stood, declaring, "Anyone sitting with Lu Qian is against us! Choose sides wisely!"

The bus rumbled on, tension thick as dust. Lu Qian stared out the window, her fingers tracing the cool metal of the turtle shell in her bag. The mechanical system's warning echoed in her mind. Crush the female lead, seize her luck. She smirked. Let's see how fate plays when hunters become the hunted.