I No Longer Belong To The Mu Family

Mu Qiqi smiled in return, and gave everyone in the car a wave when they reached the school gates.

Old Lin watched her leave worriedly, and asked Sheng Xiao, "Aren't you worried, Young Master?"

"She could handle it." Sheng Xiao did not doubt Mu Qiqi's determination to improve at all for some reason. "Let's go…"

"Yes, Young Master."

Old Lin rarely saw Sheng Xiao spend time with anyone, and Mu Qiqi could be considered the first to break that rule. Even if he was unsure what Sheng Xiao was thinking, Mu Qiqi's past suffering hurt him as a father.

Many would not believe Mu Qiqi's life story, but Old Lin had seen things even more harrowing: adults can be frightening in their pursuit of profit, and every living relation could become shallow or powerless as a result.

He could only hope that the day goes well for Mu Qiqi!

***

Soon, Mu Qiqi entered her class, readying herself to meet Mu Tangxue.

Mu Tangxue did not disappoint. In the first morning class, their class teacher led Mu Tangxue into class, leaving all of her classmates in an uproar.

"Qiqi… You resemble that transfer student so much!"

"Is she the younger or the older?"

"We never heard about her from you…"

Mu Tangxue started at Mu Qiqi, who did not try to evade and met her gaze in full.

The teacher smiled and make the introductions then. "That's right, she's Mu Tangxue, Mu Qiqi's twin sister who just transferred in from Van Gogh. Let's welcome her."

Mu Qiqi clapped along with the rest of her classmates, when her teacher turned towards her. "Qiqi, you'll be taking care of her since she's your sister."

Mu Tangxue stared at Mu Qiqi provokingly, because the teacher had just given Mu Tangxue an excuse to stick close to her.

And bully her like before.

However, Mu Qiqi suddenly raised her hand and said, "I'm sorry, teacher, but I think it's better to keep us apart. We don't get along with each other."

"Well…" The teacher smiled awkwardly.

"It's fine, teacher. I could sit somewhere else." Mu Tangxue came to the teacher's rescue immediately.

"Qiqi, you're being outrageous." The teacher glared at Mu Qiqi, blaming her.

However, she was also sincerely concerned about Mu Qiqi, and her grades prevented anyone from being too harsh against him.

"Teacher, I'm just preparing you so that you won't be confused about why I always bully her!"

"Alright, alright, but don't really bully her, okay?" The teacher told her. "Alright, time is short so let's get class started. We'll talk afterward if there's anything else—Tangxue, please go to your seat."

Mu Tangxue walked meekly to her seat, but there was anger just beneath her eyes.

After all, Mu Qiqi had disregarded the teacher about 'taking care' of her.

And worse, Mu Qiqi was boldly declaring that she would bully her.

In truth, Mu Qiqi was preparing everyone else, entirely because she knew that Mu Tangxue would put up an act to trap and bully her.

With that being the case, she would simply tell everyone else the truth—when Mu Tangxue did put up an act, their teacher would only think that she should not have told Qiqi to take care of Tangxue. Indeed, the class would not even be surprised that Mu Tangxue started crying and complaining.

Because she had declared that already!

Mu Qiqi solemnly made a 'I-will-bully-you' face then—if Mu Tangxue really started crying, she only would have herself to blame for trying something funny!

Moreover, she had made her relationship with her sister clear to stop Mu Tangxue from approaching her.

Mu Tangxue would now be unable to approach her now that the class knew that they were on bad terms, naturally cutting down the chance that she would be trapped. 

It was an idea Mu Qiqi spent the night to come up with, and it was certainly effective against Mu Tangxue.

Soon, the classmate Mu Qiqi shared a table with asked, "Qiqi, why couldn't you get along with your sister?"

"You'll know soon enough," Mu Qiqi said meaningfully. "Oh, by the way, we might look similar but you could actually differentiate us: Look at my nose—I have a small mole there but she doesn't. Besides, our figure is also a little different."

"I see," her classmate whispered. "Your sister also looks weak… you two appear very different for a pair of twins."

"Well, you'll know if she is really weak soon."

With those words, Mu Qiqi turned to glance at Mu Tangxue.

The twins had come to Eaton one after another and entered the same class, which left the rest of their classmates feeling a sense of freshness.

They had many questions for Mu Qiqi, which they would ask during recess.

Still, as Sheng Xiao had said before, the class was her territory. After spending four months in it, the foundation of their friendship was not built on nothing.

Meanwhile, Mu Tangxue was keeping herself in check as she docilely sat down. That way, everyone could clearly tell they were different: one was active, the other was passive!

Once the bell rang, the sisters did not have much time to talk to each other as expected—everyone else was surrounding Mu Qiqi, asking her about Mu Tangxue.

"Weird… Other twins I met never seemed to be apart from each other, but you two…"

"My family is special." Mu Qiqi replied as if it was only natural. "We have different guardians too—don't you think that fact is even weirder?"

Her classmates nodded.

"You'll know why later…" Mu Qiqi said, keeping them in suspense.

"Tsk. Can't you just tell us?"

Mu Qiqi laughed, teasing her classmates and completely ignoring Mu Tangxue's existence.

Mu Tangxue was definitely upset when she saw how Mu Qiqi had changed. Not only had her former shadow surpassed her, she was now not afraid of her threats.

How could Mu Tangxue accept that at once?

It seems like she was going to have to do something drastic so that Mu Qiqi would bend to her will…

With a plan in mind, Mu Tangxue carried her tray to sit on the same table with Mu Qiqi during lunch. 

Mu Qiqi looked up at her and said, "Someone's sitting there."

"I know, Sis. I just want to have a few words with you." Mu Tangxue said mildly.

Mu Qiqi put down her knife and fork, folded her arms and glared at her. "What are you planning again?"

"Won't you protect me like you did back in Van Gogh? I still need you like before…"

Need her… to be her scapegoat?

Mu Qiqi smiled and quickly replied, "I no longer belong to the Mu family."