Chapter 27

Song Yanyan's POV:

The next morning

I woke up at the crack of dawn, my body buzzing with restless energy. Rolling out of bed, I headed straight for the spare room, determined to put it to good use as an impromptu home gym. This curvy frame might turn heads back in Chicago, but here in dainty China? I needed to shred down to meet their petite beauty standards pronto.

As I worked up a sweat, my mind couldn't help drifting back to last night's bizarre dinner with Grandpa Grumps. There was just something about that cantankerous old coot that got under my skin in the most inexplicable way. Our rapid-fire banter had lit a fire inside me I couldn't remember feeling in forever - like finding a long-lost other half to my smart-mouthed soul.

I tried shoving those thoughts aside, berating myself for being some kinda sick creep fantasizing over a wrinkly ancient fossil. But I knew, deep down, my fixation wasn't anything perverted. The man had just...seen me. The real me beneath all the razor-edged attitude and unchecked snark. And for some bizarre reason, he seemed to revel in that rediscovered connection just as much as I did.

Shaking off the contemplative fog, I hit the spare room with renewed vigor. I'd worry about untangling my feelings for Weathered Gramps later. For now, I needed to focus on getting this bootylicious bodydown to China's stringent weight class.

A few squats and burpees in, sweat was already streaking down my temples as I made a mental note to invest in some actual gym equipment soon. This dancing competition wasn't gonna train for itself.

By the time I'd finished my makeshift workout, I was breathing hard but energized - that feeling of hard work and progress injection lightning into my veins. Checking the time, I realized I'd need to hustle if I wanted to make it to the academy gates before first bell.

The walk did me good, brisk morning air filling my lungs as I watched the city coming alive around me with a different set of eyes. No longer the kaleidoscope of danger and opportunity like back in my Chi-town hood, but an orderly current of wealth and privilege flowing through meticulously landscaped veins.

I was just approaching the front gates when a familiar giggle reached my ears. Wu Ling and my deskmate Yang Lixia were huddled together, obviously waiting for me to arrive. Ling's face lit up as she caught sight of me, waving excitedly.

"There she is! I was just telling Xia about your big move."

Yang Lixia's eyes widened as I sauntered over, sweaty tendrils of hair escaping my hasty topknot. "H-how was your first night in your new place?" She asked timidly, like she was afraid of overstepping some invisible elite boundary.

A lazy smile curved my lips as I looped my arms through theirs, the two girls stiffening briefly before relaxing into my casual camaraderie. 

"Peaceful as fuck," I confirmed with a wink. "No crazy family members screeching at all hours or waking me up with sneers and bullying over my weight."

Wu Ling burst into giggles at my saucy remarks, while Yang Lixia's porcelain cheeks went adorably rosy. But any remaining discomfort was forgotten as we settled into an easy rapport, chatting and snickering over the latest school drama like we'd been besties for years instead of mere acquaintances.

We were just approaching the doors when a familiar head of sleek black hair caught my peripheral vision. Zheng Mei and her friend were glaring daggers at our merry little trio from across the courtyard - obviously still stewing over the humiliating beatdown I'd delivered.

A wicked grin tugged at the corners of my mouth as I shot them a cheeky wink, relishing the way Zheng's beady eyes flared with outrage. She looked about two seconds from working herself into a frothy rage again when Wu Ling piped up beside me.

"I can't believe they were allowed back on campus so soon after that stunt they pulled," she muttered, shaking her head. "The administration must have had their hands tied by whoever's bankrolling those delinquents."

Yang Lixia shuddered beside us. "You mean that burly one?" She asked in a tiny voice, shooting a fearful glance over at Zheng Mei looming like a gargoyle beside her buddy. "They say her brother is some high-ranking thug working for a major crime syndicate in the city."

"A mafia princess playing at being a stuck-up little schoolgirl?" I cackled, loud enough to make Zheng's entire face contort with impotent fury at my brazen lack of fear. "How precious. Tell her big bad brother I'd be happy to break her other arm for old time's sake if she's looking to stir up more trouble."

The threat was an obvious bluff - I had no clue who Zheng's family was tied to. But there was no way in hell I'd let that hippo chick think she could intimidate me into cowering submission with a few scary stories about mobster ties. 

This was my turf now, and I fully intended to cement my status as the biggest, loudest badass bitch in the yard by a long shot.

As we pushed through the entrance amid hushed whispers and furtive stares from the other students, a familiar shrill voice cut through the noise - fucking figures my hag of a sister would choose now to make an entrance.

"Song Yanyan!" Song Yangyao shrilled shrilly, stomping over with all the subtlety of a rampaging bull as her crony sidekicks flanked her in a pitiful show of backup. "Where were you last night? Mother was worried sick!"

I rolled my eyes so hard it was a miracle they didn't get stuck staring straight back into my skull. "Oh no, the Mouth of Sauron had a panic attack over my whereabouts?" I deadpanned, casually checking my immaculate manicure as if her hysterics meant less than nothing to me. "How ever will I contain my overwhelming concern for her delicate constitution?"

"Don't be flip with me!" She spat through clenched teeth, clearly fighting to keep her rage bottled behind those pinched, hateful features. "You never came home last night. We all know you must have been out gallivanting with some boy again!"

The murmurs around us swelled, dozens of eyes glued to our steadily escalating showdown as Yang Lixia shifted awkwardly beside me. Wu Ling, on the other hand, watched the train wreck unfold with a sort of morbid glee glittering in her kohl-rimmed eyes.

Song Yangyao smirked at the gossiping onlookers like she'd already won some major victory over me. Well, if the bitch was gonna try and publicly slut-shame me, I'd just have to strip her naked in front of the whole damn school as payback.

"That's quite an assumption there, Sis," I drawled, tone going dangerously soft with that silky menace that always made hardened thugs back on my home turf wet themselves in fear. "You worried I was out fucking some rando while you were stuck at home polishing Daddy's parish pendant with your tongue again?"

A collective, scandalized gasp rippled through the crowd as Song Yangyao's face drained of all color. Her beady little eyes bulged from their sockets as shrieked something unintelligible in her apoplectic outrage.

I took a step forward, every inch of me radiating feral intensity as I sneered down at the two cowering sycophants flanking my immobilized sister.

"What's wrong, Chihuahua Chic and Skank-In-Training? Cat got your tongues?" I purred, gratified to see a hint of fear flicker in their eyes even as they tried projecting an air of blustering bravado. 

Another wave of horrified chatter and furtive whispers washed over the crowd as the meaning of my scathing vitriol sank in. Song Yangyao's whole body was crimson with fury and humiliation, rendering her practically mute as she gaped at me like a landed fish.