Baihe Fan

Chapter 8: Writing a Letter

Su Mi knew she was a bit clueless when it came to romance, so she wasn’t sure what the best course of action was in this situation.

If the goal was to touch the female lead’s heart… maybe… writing a letter?

She had heard that many people expressed their feelings through letters.

Alright, writing a letter seemed like a good choice.

Once she made up her mind, Su Mi began rummaging through her things.

She actually found two greeting cards from Shen Han buried in a dusty corner of her bookshelf. The handwriting on them was sharp and fluid, with a few words of blessing and Shen Han’s signature at the end.

Su Mi studied Shen Han’s writing style for half an hour and then confidently began her task.

She was very confident in her ability to mimic handwriting, so she carefully began writing.

[Nanqiao,]

Su Mi originally wanted to start with something like “Dear Nanqiao,” but she hadn’t seen Shen Han’s English handwriting and didn’t want to make things up.

She bit her pen and thought about her wording, then continued writing:

[I heard you were triggered into your susceptibility period. I am very distressed for you and am currently investigating. If I catch the mastermind behind this, I will… (crossed out)

I heard from Su Mi about what happened yesterday. Don’t worry, I will resolve this matter and give you an answer. The hospital yesterday is under the Shen family’s business. I am sending a gold card for the hospital with this letter… (crossed out)]

Su Mi threw that paper into the trash.

She started a new one again.

Why is this so hard? Why do people even fall in love?

The system, watching Su Mi’s series of actions, asked hesitantly, “Host, are you sure you want to write a letter?”

Su Mi: “Yes, I’m confident in my ability to mimic handwriting.”

System: “…It’s not about the handwriting.”

The system watched as Su Mi thought for a moment and then began writing another old-fashioned introduction on a new piece of paper. The system couldn’t help but ask, “Host, are you sure giving Xu Nanqiao a fake letter will work?”

By “work,” it meant that Xu Nanqiao would believe it was from Shen Han, accept it, and not realize later that it wasn’t genuine.

Su Mi said, “First, my handwriting is perfect. Second, whether Xu Nanqiao accepts it or not, it’s the thought that counts. Lastly, this letter is entirely based on Shen Han’s intention, and I’m writing it on her behalf.”

System: ?

The system went back to its database to review Su Mi’s background information from before she transmigrated.

It seemed to make sense, but it was still full of fallacies…

After crumpling seven or eight sheets of paper, Su Mi finally settled on a concise letter.

In what she thought was Shen Han’s tone, she briefly expressed concern for Xu Nanqiao’s attack and promised to resolve the issue.

Satisfied with her work, Su Mi put the letter away and opened her school bag and optical computer.

She started checking her answers on the test from today, cross-referencing with her textbooks to see what she didn’t understand.

She continued late into the night.

The next morning, Secretary Zhuang arrived at Su Mi’s house while they were having breakfast.

Yawning, Su Mi went to open the door and yawned again when she saw Secretary Zhuang.

Secretary Zhuang’s face was as stern as ever, with no expression behind his gold-rimmed glasses.

But why did he seem to have the same irritated look as someone who hadn’t slept enough?

Su Mi said, “Good morning, Secretary Zhuang.”

Secretary Zhuang politely returned the greeting and handed Su Mi a small envelope.

“Miss Su, this is from Miss Shen.”

Su Mi thanked him and squeezed the envelope. Inside was something hard, likely the gold card Shen Han mentioned.

Su Mi asked, “Have you had breakfast, Secretary Zhuang? Would you like to join us? Fresh coffee is great for waking up.”

Secretary Zhuang said, “Thank you, Miss Su. It is indeed my breakfast time, but I need to pick up Miss Shen soon, so I won’t intrude.”

Su Mi: ?

Watching Secretary Zhuang leave, she wondered aloud, “System, was he being sarcastic?”

A bubble with a question mark floated out from the system.

Su Mi admired the beauty of the gold card in the morning sunlight before putting it away.

“I’m doing this for Miss Shen’s future happiness and the safety of our world. He’ll understand my good intentions one day,” Su Mi sighed.

Back at the table, Su Mi explained briefly that Secretary Zhuang had brought something from Shen Han.

She gulped down a large cup of coffee, pinched her little brother’s cheek, and whispered, “Xiao Yi, sister is going to work hard on her task to earn you some toys.”

Su Yi only heard the word “toys” and clapped his hands, “Toys! Xiao Yi likes toys!”

Su Ciyu came down the stairs and said, “Xiao Yi already has enough toys, Yaya, don’t buy more.”

Su Mi smiled sweetly, “Yes, I know.”

At school, Su Mi waited until the end of morning self-study to hand Xu Nanqiao the forged letter and gold card.

“Nanqiao, these are from my sister. She asked me to give them to you to make up for yesterday… you know.”

Xu Nanqiao looked confused as she took the items, first opening the letter and reading it with a puzzled expression.

Then she examined the gold card, looking at it front and back.

After thinking for a moment, she frowned and handed both items back to Su Mi.

Xu Nanqiao said quietly, “Su Mi, please tell Miss Shen that I can’t accept these.”

Su Mi said, “Not even the gold card? The hospital’s facilities are quite good.”

Xu Nanqiao said, “She already pays me generously for reading to her. I don’t need these things… It feels strange…”

She rubbed the letter in her hand and opened it again.

“It doesn’t seem like the kind of letter Shen Han would write.”

Su Mi blinked, “I think it looks just like her handwriting. Yesterday, when I told her what happened, she was so angry that she said she would turn the city upside down to find the mastermind for you!”

Xu Nanqiao: …

She showed a complex expression.

“Su Mi, this letter feels more like it was written by you.”

Su Mi: !

But Xu Nanqiao didn’t dwell on it, firmly returning the gold card and letter to Su Mi, asking her to give them back to Shen Han.

Su Mi felt a bit dejected.

But she remained persistent.

She placed the two items on the table, took a picture, and began editing her social media post.

Su Mi: Witnessed a touching moment of affection [/tears][picture]

This time, she remembered to block Shen Han from seeing the post.

During the second class break, Xu Nanqiao saw the post and came over to Su Mi’s seat, pinching her ear “harshly.”

Xu Nanqiao: “What nonsense are you posting on social media? Delete it now!”

“Alright, alright.” Su Mi opened her social media app. As expected, the post already had a slew of likes and comments, mostly filled with question marks.

Some had already guessed it was related to Xu Nanqiao.

Su Mi muttered under her breath, “It’s not really nonsense… I posted it so people would be wary of you and stop bullying you.”

Xu Nanqiao: …

Su Mi looked up at her, thinking that Xu Nanqiao’s expression of biting her lip should mean she was touched.

Then her poor ear was pinched again.

But the letter and gold card were taken away.

Xu Nanqiao said, “If you have time to do these things, you should be working on the test I gave you. The mid-term exam is next month, and if you want to get into Capital City University, you need to study harder, understand?”

Su Mi: … Okay.

As she handed Xu Nanqiao the completed test from her bag, she happily told the system, “System, see, it worked.”

System: …

System: “Host, are you an idiot?”

Su Mi looked puzzled. “Hmm? Of course not.”

She took out her textbook for the next class and said seriously to the system, “I’ve always been in the top three of my grade, scored 668 on the college entrance exam, had a GPA of 3.98/4 in university, and before I died, I was working at a top 2 industry company, with my performance ratings being the highest in my department for two years.”

System: “No… I meant, your way of assisting might be problematic… I’ll send you some romance novel materials to study.”

“Okay,” Su Mi said. “Thank you, I might indeed be lacking in this area. Sorry about that.”

The system sent a smiley face after a while: “Let’s work hard together on the mission^^.”

Su Mi couldn’t send a sticker back to the system, so she drew a similar smiley face on a piece of scratch paper.

For the next two days, Su Mi studied diligently with Xu Nanqiao.

On Friday after school, a member of her friend group approached Su Mi.

It was Friend Y from the chat group, named Yang Er, a gentle girl who spoke softly.

She stood in front of Su Mi hesitantly and said, “Su Su… there’s a dessert and jewelry exhibition at TIFI this weekend. Do you want to go see it together? You said we should celebrate your differentiation.”

Since her differentiation, Su Mi had only interacted warmly with them on the first day. From the second day onwards, she had barely spoken to them.

They were worried after being ignored by Su Mi for a few days. After discussing it, they decided to take the initiative to make peace.

Su Mi said, “Oh, this weekend might not be possible. After differentiating into a Beta, I realized that Saint Cross Academy isn’t suitable for me. So, I’m currently catching up on my studies to get into Capital City University.”

Yang Er was stunned for a moment and said, “Capital City University?”

Su Mi, gentle and kind, said, “Yes, and by the way, our school’s security hasn’t been great lately. Yesterday, Nanqiao and I were surrounded by a group of Alpha delinquents after school. They said a lot of nasty things and even tried to provoke Nanqiao into her susceptibility period. Although I’ve asked my sister to look into these gangs, you guys should be careful when you go out on weekends.”

Su Mi had initially thought about maintaining the superficial friendship with her so-called friends, as it was part of her original character. But one of them had already crossed the line by involving those Alphas in harassing and potentially marking Xu Nanqiao. This was beyond what Su Mi could tolerate. Besides, she had already asked Shen Han to investigate, so it was best for her to keep a low profile for a while.

Moreover, despite not paying much attention to her friends in the past few days, the system hadn’t alerted her that she was deviating from her character.

A small-minded person like the original Su Mi would definitely not tolerate her friends’ betrayal and plotting behind her back.

After saying this, Su Mi glanced meaningfully at the three friends and walked away with her bag.

However, as soon as she left the classroom, she saw a familiar figure at the end of the hallway.

The impeccably dressed man in a suit with gold-rimmed glasses and a stern expression was unmistakable.

Su Mi quickly turned back.

Xu Nanqiao had already left for her part-time job, so…

Was he here for… me?

Author’s Note:
Su Mi: I don’t want to face the villain (closes eyes).