The day started even before the sun rose. All the students of Silver Leaf's special class were awake, with some still yawning and rubbing their eyes, as they were forced to start the day early.
"Xin Jiejie, should we switch the task for today?" Tang Lilou asked worriedly. Today, her favorite cousin and Meng Jiao were assigned to gather ingredients for their lunch and dinner meals. The sinister smile that she'd seen plastered on Meng Jiao's lips earlier was giving her some goosebumps.
Tang Lilou never trusted that woman. Whenever Meng Jiao looked at Lu Xinyi's way, she emitted this jealousy and hatred that Tang Lilou never understood. What did her Xin Jiejie do to Meng Jiao to receive such treatment from her?
Lu Xinyi adjusted the strap of her backpack before regarding the young woman beside her. She could sense that Tang Lilou was worried and tense for whatever reason she had on her mind.
"Are you worried that you couldn't plan ahead? Don't worry. The pheasants that we'd hunted yesterday should suffice for today's meals. We still have enough herbs and spices we can use if we couldn't get anything with this kind of weather." Lu Xinyi assured her.
Tang Lilou didn't have the heart to tell Lu Xinyi that she wasn't worried about their meals. She was worried about Meng Jiao. Maybe she should ask some of their teammates to accompany the two.
"Sister Lu, I'm ready when you are," Meng Jiao called out.
"We should go. I'll help you tonight if you still can't think of anything to cook later." Lu Xinyi bid goodbye and followed Meng Jiao outside.
Three hours later, Lu Xinyi found herself shivering from the coldness of the late morning. Unlike the previous days, the sky was dark and threatening to give a massive rainfall anytime soon. Lu Xinyi lifted her head after picking up some mushrooms. The temperature was starting to get cold.
Black clouds sprawl across the sky, billowing in from the west. The air grew heavy, and the humidity pressed down, suffocating. The scent of rain was dark and heady. Stillness fell over the thick forest, and in the silence came a low crackle of thunder, rolling across the sky to the pattering of tiny raindrops on the ground.
For a moment, everything stopped. Even the wind held its breath. A streak of hot silver split the sky, and the downpour began.
'Oh, shit,' Lu Xinyi cursed inwardly. She took out her raincoat from her backpack and hurriedly wore it. While it protected her from the rain, it was enough to keep her warm.
She shouldn't have agreed with Meng Jiao's idea that they should split up to speed up the collecting of ingredients they needed. She and her ex-best friend were assigned to collect it together, but her shameless partner said that they should part ways and do the task individually… for she couldn't stand to be in Lu Xinyi's presence anymore.
Both took the route towards the southwest border of the mountain since it was the only route they hadn't scouted. Lu Xinyi agreed with Meng Jiao to meet her up at the main route where the two split up. She just hadn't anticipated that the weather today would change drastically from the hot morning she'd woken up to.
Lu Xinyi ran fast towards the direction where she would meet with her ex-best friend, but the slippery and muddy ground forbade her to go any faster. With a miscalculated step, Lu Xinyi's eyes widened when she felt herself falling. She stumbled to keep herself up and was fortunate to hold herself up by hugging the trunk of a tree near her.
"That was close." She groaned and sighed in relief.
Her damp clothes were starting to cling on her body, and the cold breeze that hit her made her shiver. The continuous rainfall made everything around her soaking wet. The mud was pitted and without a single print—just the same as it was after a snowfall but deep brown. It wasn't pristine of course, but the fragrance of the pines and trees around Lu Xinyi wasn't something she could experience back to the city grounds.
When she arrived at their meeting place, not even Meng Jiao's shadow could be seen. Why wasn't Lu Xinyi surprised by this? Ah, did Meng Jiao really hated her that much to abandon her in the middle of nowhere?
"Meng Jiao!" She called out her name, but silence was the answer she received.
She started to wonder if Meng Jiao had planned this from the start. Of course, Lu Xinyi was aware of her team's displeasure about Meng Jiao and how they forced her and Tang Lilou to step up to cook the meals they should present for each round.
Seeing that her old friend insisted on becoming a pain in a butt, Lu Xinyi wasn't surprised that Meng Jiao had only subtle obstacles to her until now. Ah, if she couldn't go back at their campsite in an hour, Tang Lilou would surely suffer the pressure for this round.
Adjusting her backpack, Lu Xinyi started to follow the trail down the mountain and disregarded the idea of looking for Meng Jiao any further. The woman had already chosen her decision, and Lu Xinyi couldn't change anything. Without the map, Lu Xinyi knew that the circumstances weren't favorable for her.
She continued to walk at the muddy path, tripping on her own feet and falling on her butt twice. The rain continued to pour down making it hard for her to see where she was going.
The trail was starting to confuse her. The way back to their campsite was almost impossible to see as the rain continued to wash off the remnants of the marks she and Meng Jiao left along the way.
Unbeknownst to her, Meng Jiao—covered with a thin raincoat—was watching her from her hiding place. She'd arrived earlier than Lu Xinyi at their designated meeting place. The woman had concealed herself at the thick bushes. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.webnovel.com for visiting.
Her hatred against Lu Xinyi was so great that would rather cut all her connections and affiliation with Lu Xinyi. For as long as Lu Xinyi existed under the same sky, Meng Jiao would never shine and would always be her ex BFF's shadow.
Her face was black like the dark clouds above her. Jealousy flashed in her eyes as she stared at Lu Xinyi's retreating figure. It was all Lu Xinyi's fault. If it wasn't for her, Gong Yijun would be hers alone; and the baby she'd carried would live in this lifetime. Alas, all great things that Meng Jiao wanted fell on Lu Xinyi's hand without working on it.
Who told her to be born with a silver spoon and become the third miss of the Sun family? What kind of luck did she obtain from her past life to become Lu Sibai's daughter?
The talent and skills she had, the family that was fighting to have her, men that in love with her without her knowing… Meng Jiao couldn't understand why Lu Xinyi had these while she struggled to keep everything on herself.
"Lu Xinyi, don't blame me for this. You shouldn't have come to Silver Leaf. All of this glory should be mine, but you willed to become a thorn in my eye." Meng Jiao hissed before deciding to descend the right route back to their campsite.
After persevering for a long time, how could she not take this opportunity to harm Lu Xinyi? The reward waiting for her was almost at the tip of her fingers. Sun Mingai and Sun Qiyan should be happy that she was disposing of the third miss for them.
If she couldn't beat Lu Xinyi, then there was no other way but to let her live a life worse than death. If she hadn't overheard their proctor and Long Feng talking about forbidding the students to take the southwest route because of the possible bandits roaming the area, she wouldn't get the idea of pushing Lu Xinyi at this path.
"Lu Xinyi, get lost and never come back!"
Meng Jiao lifted her head, revealing a vicious smile. For a woman, her reputation and innocence were of utmost importance. Those bandits who had been deprived of meat for so long would surely take an interest in Lu Xinyi.
It didn't matter if she had President Shen's support right now. Sooner or later, he would discard Lu Xinyi after this. If the bandit would spare Lu Xinyi's life after losing her innocence, then she had no other choice but to lead her life in hell above earth.
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