After Becoming Valedictorian, My Parents Were Arrested by the Police

Chapter One

After the college entrance exam, I became the provincial valedictorian and was admitted to Peking University as I had hoped. My parents were overjoyed and held a three-day banquet to celebrate. But on the day the village sent a special car to take us to the station, my mother desperately blocked me at the door, refusing to let me leave. My father, who usually obeyed my mother's every word, pushed her against the wall. While I stood there confused, they began arguing. "Daughter, trust me, I've been reborn. There will be a mudslide on the road to the station. If you leave today, you'll die," my mother pleaded. "No, daughter, trust your father. That's just her excuse. She doesn't want you going because you'll outshine her illegitimate child," my father countered. My mother's face flushed red with anger as she pointed at my father. "You bastard, you know perfectly well that if she goes to university, those people will... you're trying to get our daughter killed." My father fired back, "Don't twist things around. In your previous life, you were the one who prevented our daughter from attending her dream university, which led to her suicide from depression..."

I didn't try to reconcile them as I usually would. Instead, I returned to my room with a cold smile, slamming the door behind me. Neither of them knew that I, too, had been reborn. This time, no one would fool me again!

Chapter Two

I had been reborn! It happened just now, at the moment I opened the door. When I heard my parents' lies, identical to those from my previous life, I suddenly realized—I truly had been reborn! Sitting on the edge of my bed, my heart pounded with waves of emotion that wouldn't subside. Until I heard my mother's smug laugh from outside, I didn't regain my senses. "See? I told you my daughter would listen to me." My father remained silent, but I knew I couldn't sit back and do nothing. I repacked my luggage and opened the door again. My mother barely had time to hide her smugness before it froze on her face. "Daughter, why are you carrying your luggage?" she asked. I ignored her, looking past her at my father. "If you're done arguing, hurry and take me to the meeting point. We'll miss the special bus." My father dropped his cigarette and rushed over to carry my luggage. As he passed my mother, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows smugly. I pretended not to notice and walked straight out behind him. My mother tried to pull me back, her voice pleading. "Daughter, think again. Once you leave this house, you might lose your life!" I gave her an emotionless glance and freed myself from her grasp. "I've studied hard for nine years for this day. Even if it's raining knives, I must report to the school." My mother seemed about to speak but ultimately held back. As I crossed the threshold, I heard her sigh, "What a pity!"

My father acted like a victorious rooster the entire way, pedaling his tricycle more energetically than usual. At the meeting point, he unexpectedly gave me some advice before boarding. "Seven, study well, and get a doctorate to bring honor to our family, understand?" How hypocritical! I suppressed a cold smile, nodded, and turned to board the special bus. The driver was counting passengers—I knew without counting that there were 23 in total, all girls! Someone curiously asked the driver why everyone on the bus was female. The driver humorously replied, "We're afraid you'll find relationships too early, so we sent the boys on another special bus." "Can't help it—I'm still single and can't handle seeing boys and girls together," he joked. The girls burst into laughter, except for me—I couldn't laugh at all. I turned to look out the window as the bus was about to enter a certain road. Remembering my mother's words, I quickly went to the driver. "Uncle, can we take another road? My mother said there will be a mudslide on this road today." The driver paused, pointing to the light rain outside. "This little rain, and you're talking about a mudslide?" "Girl, don't overthink things. Go back to your seat. This slope is very solid." I bit my lip, fidgeting with my clothes, revealing some anxious urgency. "But my mother spoke so convincingly..." The driver, annoyed by my persistence, interrupted me. "What is your mother, an astronomer or a testing instrument, that you believe her so much?" "My mother said she was reborn." My words, spoken with all my courage, once again drew laughter from the entire bus. The driver chuckled too, but suddenly his expression grew serious. "Little girl, which family are you from?" Startled, I answered honestly: "My father is Chen Shu, my mother is Gu Shuixian." The driver frowned, thinking of something, and gave me a look. "Alright, go back to your seat. Uncle guarantees with his life that this road won't have problems." As the bus had already entered that road, I could only return to my seat. But despite his words, when the bus actually drove onto the road, everyone unconsciously grew tense. The rain fell harder, and in the distance, small rocks began sliding down the mountainside. Everyone stared intently at the path ahead...

Chapter Three

Without realizing it, the driver reduced speed. Suddenly, with a thunderous "boom," lightning flashed, and a huge boulder tumbled down from the mountain. The driver slammed on the brakes, barely stopping the bus before hitting the boulder. Still shaken, the driver wiped away sweat, his fear-filled eyes turning back to look at me, his Adam's apple bobbing. The other 22 girls were startled as well. Fortunately, no more rocks fell. Once everyone had calmed down, the driver unbuckled his seatbelt and got out. The boulder was quickly cleared away. The bus started again, but the earlier lighthearted atmosphere had completely disappeared. Not until the bus safely passed that mountain road did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

Suddenly feeling something unusual in my body, I quickly went through my backpack. Not finding what I needed, my heart sank. With a pained expression, I approached the driver's cabin again. "Uncle, is there a small shop or supermarket nearby? Could you please stop there?" The driver, still rattled from the earlier shock, was even more irritable seeing me again. "You again? Why do you have so many problems when traveling? What do you need? If you don't explain clearly, I won't help. There's a bus full of people—I can't just consider you alone." I lowered my head in embarrassment, my voice barely audible. "I... I got my period, and I didn't bring..." "What? Speak up." I nearly burst into tears. "My period came, and I didn't bring any sanitary pads." The driver gaped, then cleared his throat. "Alright, uncle understands. I'll stop at a store up ahead." "Thank you, uncle." I hurriedly thanked him and ran back to my seat, face burning.

The bus stopped at a small shop, and the driver knowingly led me inside. "Pick what you need. The restroom is over there." Following his direction, I couldn't hide my disappointment. An indoor bathroom... Still, I thanked him, walked to the shelf, selected my usual brand, and went straight to the bathroom.

When I came out, I unexpectedly met Fan Qichi, my former class monitor. Seeing me, his eyes flashed with surprise, then delight. "Chen Sangyu? I was wondering why I hadn't seen you on the bus. I..." "Fan Qichi, do you have your phone with you?" I interrupted him. Fan Qichi paused, then quickly checked his pockets. "Oh, I left my phone on the bus. Should I go get it?" Disappointment washed over me, but before I could reply, the driver appeared behind me. "What are you chatting about? It's hot, and people are waiting on the bus." The hairs on my neck stood up, and I turned back, biting my lip. "My parents forgot to give me living expenses. I have no money to pay, so I wanted to borrow my classmate's phone to call my mother." "Really? Your parents forgot something so important?" The driver stared at me like a hawk. I hung my head even lower. "They were arguing at home this morning..." The driver paused. "Arguing on such an important day?" My eyes reddened, on the verge of tears. "My mother might be sick. She wouldn't let me report to university, even saying she was reborn, claiming I'd die terribly if I went to school." Fan Qichi frowned, quickly swung his backpack behind him, and pulled some red bills from his pocket, pressing them into my palm. "Don't worry, Chen Sangyu. Here, take this for now. If it's not enough, just ask me for more." He was about to say something else when someone outside called his name, urging him to board. He could only flash me a quick smile before running out. "See you at Peking University, Chen Sangyu!" Watching his spirited silhouette, I couldn't help feeling a pang in my heart. Would I ever have the chance to go to Peking University in this life?

When I came back to my senses, the driver was deep in thought, his expression unreadable. I awkwardly said to him: "Uncle, thank you so much for today. Let me buy you a drink!" He raised an eyebrow. "Just got money from someone else and now you're being generous? Aren't you afraid of having no money at school?" I smiled. "Buying you a drink won't cost much." "Fine." Without further comment, he reached into the refrigerator, grabbed a cold soda, opened it, and gulped down more than half the bottle. Seeing this, I smiled and handed him another bottle.

As we boarded, the girls complained about the driver. "What happened? You locked the door when you got out. We couldn't even get off to buy water." The driver chuckled, pulling out a box of mineral water from under his seat. "Sorry about that. I thought I'd be back quickly and was afraid you'd wander off, so I locked the door." "Come on, girls, help me pass these out." I was about to step forward when I suddenly doubled over, clutching my stomach. The driver jumped in alarm, came to me, and crouched down. "Girl, what's wrong?" "My stomach hurts." Seeing me almost falling to the ground in pain, the driver quickly pulled me up and brought me back to my seat. "Wait here, I'll get you some hot water." Before leaving the bus, he instructed the girl in the front row, "Pass out the water to everyone, okay?" After he entered the store, the girl in front reached for the water box. I took a deep breath and couldn't help but warn them: "I advise you not to drink that water." The girls looked at each other, confused. "Why?" I didn't answer, just stared intently at the time display on the front panel. Whether they heeded my warning or not was beyond my control. The driver returned with a cup of hot water, but he didn't board. He scanned each girl's water bottle with a glance, handed the hot water through the window, and then ran back to the store, clutching his stomach. 9:20, the driver returned to the bus. Perfect timing! I curled my lips slightly, pretending to be asleep.

The bus drove into the city and soon entered Lucky Road. Navigating through traffic lights, the driver steadily pressed the accelerator through intersections. I gripped the seat in front of me tightly, opened my eyes, and watched the countdown on the display. 56. 57. 58. ... Here it comes! A blue Ferrari screamed from the side. Tires screeched, and the front windshield shattered. Despite being prepared, the impact slammed me into the seat back. My head rang, and I gasped for breath until the surrounding sounds gradually became clear again. Then I stood up and walked to the front. The driver lay motionless on the steering wheel, blood streaming from his forehead. I shook his arm, and seeing no response, quickly pulled his phone from his pocket. The girl sitting next to me, clutching her arm, anxiously approached. "Is he dead? What should we do?" I laughed coldly. "It's better if he is." The previously noisy bus instantly fell silent at my words. They all stared at me in shock and confusion. Ignoring them, I pushed past the girl in front of me and quickly opened the window, climbing out. The crowd gathering to help caught me without surprise, putting me aside. No one knew what had happened inside the bus, and they waved to the other students through the window. "Children, jump out! We'll catch you!" I retreated to the edge of the crowd, composing a message on the phone while quickly moving toward the periphery. I heard someone calling the police. But I knew the police might not arrive before those people, and even if they did, they might not save me. Looking back at the other girls in the bus window, I tossed the phone into a drain and ran. My time was limited; I had to leave this town before those people realized what had happened.

Standing by the road trying to hail a taxi, a motorcycle pulled up in front of me. "Little girl, where are you going? I'll take you." Hearing his voice, I widened my eyes and kicked the motorcycle. Both bike and man fell to the ground. Before he could react, I turned and ran again. The man got up from the ground, chased me for a few steps, then went back to his motorcycle to pursue me. Seeing this, I ducked into a shopping mall. The man dismounted and followed, cursing while searching for me and making phone calls. That night, crouching by a garbage bin disguised as a beggar, I overheard passersby discussing me. "The whole force is mobilized. Such a big operation just to find a female college student?" "What college student? She failed to get into university, her family wants her to go to a technical school, so she's having a tantrum with her family. Wasting resources, so inconsiderate." "This kind of girl won't be easy to deal with when she grows up..."

Chapter Four

The entire town was subject to a thorough search. I constantly changed positions in the city, nearly getting caught several times. I knew this couldn't continue, so I risked hiding in the forest. Mountain towns had eighteen villages, and mountains were abundant. The endless mountains stretched for thousands of miles. The townspeople reacted quickly; within three hours of me hiding in the forest, they had come looking. Watching the long line of lights at the foot of the mountain, I took out a finger-sized flashlight from my backpack and carefully walked down the mountain. No one knew that while they were searching the mountain, I had silently returned to the town. Garbage bins were dirty, but I needed to eat to regain strength. I had to survive. Just as I found half a rice cake in a garbage bin, a familiar voice sounded behind me. "Chen Sangyu?" The hairs on my back stood up. I slowly turned around to see the girl who had sat next to me on the bus staring at me in shock. My eyes sharpened, and I pulled her into a small alley. She had somehow injured her leg and followed with difficulty. Once certain no one was around, I released her hand. "Why are you here?" Logically, they should have either been sent back or been locked up by now. How could she appear here? The girl seemed frightened by me and timidly stepped back. "I... I saw you run away, so I followed." I remained silent, staring into her eyes, trying to discern the truth in her words. She suddenly bit her lip and stepped forward. "Chen Sangyu, why did you run? Aren't you going to university anymore?" I was momentarily speechless. But she seemed very anxious and grabbed my arm forcefully. "Chen Sangyu, I heard the people who caught me say our parents were arrested. They said... they said it's because the driver lost something important." "At the time, after the driver fainted, only you approached him. It was you who took it, right?" "I didn't," I said, pushing away her hand and interrupting her. "They're all lying. Everyone's lying." The girl stared at me blankly, her eyes filling with tears. I sighed. In the current situation, I couldn't let her go back. After crouching in the corner for a while, I reluctantly asked: "Do you want to follow me or go on your own?" She hadn't wiped her tears, and her eyes were brimming. "I... I want to follow you. I'm scared alone." "Fine, you can follow me, but you must obey me and not ask questions, understand?" She nodded eagerly. I then asked, "What's your name?" "Liu Wei." I nodded, supported myself against the wall to stand, and led her forward. But after just a few steps, a sharp pain struck the back of my head. I turned in disbelief to see her holding a dark brick. She sniffled, her voice tearful. "Chen Sangyu, I didn't want to do this, but they said only by bringing you back would they release my parents..." I fell to the ground unwillingly, feeling warm liquid flow from the back of my head to my mouth. In the distance, shadows moved, running toward me. I curled my lips in mockery. Still can't trust others too easily!

Chapter Five

When I woke up, I was hanging in a room full of iron bars. My head throbbed, and my wrists ached from being pulled. A man with a face full of scars sat in front of me smoking. Seeing me awake, he blew a smoke ring at me. "Well, awake now? I hear you're quite the runner?" I remained silent, looking past him at several iron cages behind him. In my previous life, I had been kept in those cages, forced by their whips to fawn and please. Now, I wasn't in those iron cages, and neither were the other twenty-two girls. Seeing me ignore him, Scarface didn't get angry. He pushed his tongue against his cheek, rolled his eyes, and asked: "Old He says you drugged him. I'm curious, where did you get the drugs?" Old He was the bus driver. As for drugging him, it was completely fabricated. Not only did I lack the means, but even if I had them, how could I possibly know which drink he would choose? Actually, it was quite simple. When I boarded, I heard the driver chatting with my father, saying he had eaten spicy noodles that morning. So when I offered him cold drinks, his digestive system would naturally malfunction, causing diarrhea. For these long-distance drivers, how good could their stomachs be? So buying sanitary pads wasn't the goal. From the beginning, I had wanted to offer him cold drinks, but I couldn't be too obvious about it. Yet they couldn't understand such a simple logic.

Scarface seemed to think my upturned lips were mocking him, and his expression darkened. Pressing his whip against my chin, his tone grew unpleasant. "Talking to you. Gone mute?" I was completely exhausted and didn't want to speak, but to avoid being beaten, I weakly opened my mouth. "Why would I drug him?" "Why? To make it easier to escape, of course." "Did I escape?" Scarface froze. Indeed, without the car accident, I could never have escaped midway. But he didn't know that I had been reborn. I knew exactly when the boulder would fall and when the Ferrari would crash at Lucky Road. I precisely remembered the official report—that accident happened at 9:40! So I made the driver have diarrhea to delay the bus passing through Lucky Road. If we had been too early, I had even thought of other delaying tactics. But fortunately, everything worked out perfectly!

"Alright." Unable to respond, Scarface nodded and asked another question. "How much do you know about our operation? And how did you find out?" I deflected with a prepared excuse. "Just last night, I was too excited about going to my new school and couldn't sleep. I got up to use the bathroom at midnight and overheard my parents discussing whether to sell me or not." "At first, I thought they were joking, until the next day when my mother told me she was reborn and asked me to give up going to university." "Hearing such an absurd excuse, I naturally understood everything." "How big your organization is, how many people you have, I don't know. I just instinctively chose to run for self-preservation." Scarface clearly didn't believe me. He let out a scoffing laugh. "Then why did you take Old He's phone?"

Chapter Six

"I took his phone to call the police, of course." "Is that really it?" I looked up into his eyes without speaking. Of course, that wasn't all. In my previous life, after they disfigured and exploited me, Brother Mask discovered my talent in programming. He took me as his assistant, and for five solid years, he taught me almost everything he knew. So after getting Old He's phone, to avoid being detected by their internal network, I briefly cut off the monitoring, switched to the second system, created a virtual number to send messages. Then I set the system to self-destruct, switched back, and used the first system to make an emergency call. Finally, for safety, I threw the phone into a drain. Scarface narrowed his eyes at me, his fox-like eyes gleaming. "Then why did you throw Old He's phone down the drain?" I shook my head. "An instinctive reaction." Scarface lowered his eyebrows and smoked, pondering for a while before suddenly standing up and kicking me hard in the stomach. I spat out acid water, my body swinging in the air, my wrists feeling like they might snap. He spat to the side and grabbed my face, cursing. "Fck your mother, little btch, causing us all this trouble for something so trivial, huh? You've got some nerve." "Don't want to learn the trade? I'll make sure you master all eighteen 'skills' in there." His final words brought back memories of the torture from my previous life, and I began to shake uncontrollably. He released my face, nodded to his subordinate at the door. "Take her to the academy." I was lowered, but the ropes weren't untied. The subordinate dragged me out like that. Passing the last iron cell, I saw Chen Shu and Gu Shuixian. Gu Shuixian hung from the ceiling. Seeing me, she thrashed about wildly, trying to scream. Unfortunately, her mouth was empty, unable to form a single word. And Chen Shu, his arms broken, sat lifelessly in the corner. Hearing the commotion, he looked up, his face contorted with murderous rage, yet helpless without arms, barely able to stand. "Little bastard, you miserable little bastard, your mother and I are ruined because of you." "Kill her, boss, kill her." Seeing them like this, I couldn't help but laugh. "Parents? What kind of parents are you to me?" In my previous life, I had lived in their lies. Until I scored the city's top marks in the college entrance exam and was admitted to Peking University. Behind my back, they rejected Peking's invitation, sending me to that women's vocational school to be trained as their money-making tool. I will never forget how they threw me naked into a crowd of men, smiling at them: "My daughter isn't just a grown woman, she's also a college entrance exam champion. Never been with anyone before, you know? Such opportunities don't come often." I glared at them furiously, but Gu Shuixian stepped forward and slapped me. "What are you glaring at? I didn't deny you choices. You chose to listen to your father and go to school rather than me. You can't blame me." But what kind of choice had she offered me? If I didn't go to the women's school, she would have sold me as a bride to an old man for 800,000 yuan, to become a breeding tool! I once reached for a bright future—how could I willingly be locked in the depths of hell by them?

So, after being reborn, I deliberately revealed to the driver that my mother had tried to prevent me from going to school, including later telling the driver about their argument, all on purpose. Because I knew their rules very well. People like Chen Shu and Gu Shuixian were merely "dressings" in their eyes. Once they leaked information, making us "money trees" discover the truth, they would undoubtedly be severely punished. So I deliberately led them on, waiting for my escape, for them to arrest these two for rigorous interrogation. However, this wasn't my entire purpose. Though I hated them, I hated the shadowy figures behind it all even more! So I set an even bigger trap!

Chapter Seven

Being brought back to the familiar place. This place that once made me tremble with fear now brought me relief. The 22 girls stood at the end of the corridor watching me. Scarface's subordinate pulled the rope, throwing me to the ground. "See? This is what happens when you don't obey." The next moment, a crisp slap landed on his face. "Who allowed you to throw my goods like that? If you damage them, can you pay for it?" The subordinate's arrogance instantly deflated. "I'm sorry, Sister Yuan, I just wanted to help you teach them a lesson." "That, um, the goods are delivered. I'll go back and report to Boss Dao." Paper Kite held her head high, pushed her gold-rimmed glasses up her nose, and coldly snorted: "Get lost." But if you thought Paper Kite was an easy person to deal with, you were wrong. Though a woman, her methods were far more terrifying than direct physical pain. For girls who wouldn't obey training, she would embed very thin embroidery needles into their bodies, making even the slightest movement unbearably painful. Besides this, she would also feed them drugs—the kind that would make you itch to the point of madness from the inside out. In my previous life, I was the most disobedient of the 23 girls, and I experienced all her techniques. In this life, I decided to be the most obedient one, doing whatever she told me to do. Until three days later, when the police burst in. Paper Kite refused to surrender, planning to fight to the death, but I stabbed her from behind. "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time, Paper Kite!" As she fell bleeding into my arms, I released the knife and stepped far away, letting her crash to the ground. In my previous life, when I refused to submit, it was her idea to have my parents "educate" me. That led to me being stripped naked and thrown among men. From then on, I could hardly bear to live in my own skin. I couldn't even sleep peacefully, dreaming of pairs of large hands roaming over my body. I felt disgusting, broken, full of self-loathing. Later, unable to endure it any longer, I disfigured my face. But that wasn't all—all 23 of us girls suffered her torture. The other 22, even those who were obedient, eventually died from her jealousy-driven abuse. Paper Kite was a complete psychopath!

We were all taken to the police station. While giving my statement, the police asked how I discovered this fraud. My explanation was identical to what I told Scarface in the iron prison. But obviously, the police weren't as easily fooled as Scarface, and they could gather more clues from others' testimonies. So, after struggling to find precise wording to answer their questions, I was eventually cornered in a dead end. "You say you discovered the fraud by accident, that you suspected the water on the bus was problematic based on a guess. Then, what about the clues you provided to those bloggers?" "How do you explain this?" "From our investigation, the people you normally have contact with, they couldn't possibly know about the three production lines outside the academy." "Chen Sangyu, don't try to lie to us. It won't do you any good!"

What was bound to come finally arrived! My fists clenched and unclenched. Finally, I had to bow my head in surrender. "Uncle, I can't explain this issue to you, because some things may be beyond scientific understanding." "Oh? Well, let's hear it first." I had no choice but to reveal my rebirth story in detail. Fearing they wouldn't believe me, I even explained how I had calculated the timing on the bus. If I hadn't been reborn, how would I have known exactly when the boulder would fall and when the Ferrari would lose control at the intersection? In addition, I mentioned several things my current self couldn't possibly know. For example, the organization had four lines, each centered around a women's vocational school. Each line had a leader: Brother Dao, Paper Kite, Dragon One, and Brother Mask. Brother Mask controlled the internet aspect, Brother Dao handled underground black chains, Dragon One ran nightclubs, and Paper Kite was in charge of training.

Chapter Eight

I tried my best to prove it, though I knew the police wouldn't accept such a statement. To my surprise, after hearing my explanation, the two officers simply paused briefly and concluded the questioning. "Alright, we'll arrange for psychological experts to evaluate you later." "For your safety, it's best not to mention this to anyone outside of us." I sat stunned in my chair, hardly believing it. "You... believe what I said?" The officer paused while gathering his things but gave me a somewhat kind smile. "No, we're just reserving judgment!" "This case is big and sensational; we'll probably need to investigate for a long time. As of now, we haven't found any connection between you and the criminal gang, or any collusion." "But if later on, we find you were involved, we'll still arrest you." I felt a bit lost. The note-taking officer seemed to want to comfort me and leaned across the table. "Actually, though we police are materialists, we have to admit there are many things in this world that science can't explain." "Just to avoid public panic, these things are never made public." My eyes suddenly felt very sore, as if I'd found understanding and consolation. "Tsk." The questioning officer found his colleague too talkative and glared at him, then looked back at me. "One more thing." "That girl called Liu Wei, though she's