The door to the ancestral hall was closed.

The butler's heart, which had been in his throat, slowly settled down.

His gaze towards Harper was complex.

River City, the most remote and the farthest from River City University in North City, was a place of chaos and depravity, lacking even a train station.

Harper, deep in thought, looked at the Bair family memorial tablets, a mere two hundred years old.

Her mood complex, she asked the butler, "Is 'Elegy in White' still played?"

"Elegy in White," one of the ten great ancient melodies and the school anthem of River City University, was so well-known that even a primary school student could recognize it. Thinking she was making conversation, the butler said, "Miss, why bring yourself to this state? A person's fate is what it is from birth. See, some can turn their adversity around, while others waste even the best conditions given to them..."

The eldest son, despite growing up in unfavorable conditions, topped the city's exams and went to River City University, mentored by a doctoral supervisor and backed by the River City family, solidifying the Bair's status in North City. Everyone knew the eldest son was destined for greatness.

Mr. Bair was waiting for his children, Sean and Bianca, to bring honor to the Bair family by excelling at River City University, hoping to be mentioned in the city's records.

As for Harper...

"What's not yours will never be yours, and Bianca's achievements today are all due to her own abilities," the butler said after a while, feeling it was unnecessary to waste more time on Harper, and turned to leave.

He had to deliver the letter of apprenticeship to Bianca immediately.

Just as the butler turned, Harper's voice floated up eerily, "Where are you taking my things?"

The butler paused, "I..."

Before he could finish, suddenly—

Harper's hand shot out, grabbing his collar with her slender, fair fingertips, exerting a slight force.

A clear sensation of being choked emerged around his neck, forcing the butler to stoop involuntarily, his heart gripped by an unseen force as he was compelled to meet her dark, penetrating gaze!

It dawned on him then; Harper's mother was Melissa Ji, whose beauty had once startled all of North City.

It seemed everyone believed Harper hadn't inherited any of her parents' good qualities, himself included.

Now, he wasn't so sure.

Harper observed him for a moment, then suddenly smiled again. Tightening her grip on his collar, she asked in a leisurely manner, "Do you know what happened to the last person who annoyed me?"

The butler's face rapidly turned red from the suffocation.

She released her grip on his neck, calmly straightening his collar, her voice low and gentle, "See, it was just a little joke. What are you afraid of?"

The action could be described as gentle.

However, inside, the butler was terrified, alarm bells screaming in his head!

He coughed, hand clutching his neck.

His look at Harper was filled with fear.

Harper then pushed him away, her laughter abruptly stopping.

Like boiling water suddenly freezing over.

Calmly, with two fingers, she lazily picked up the letter of apprenticeship from his hand, indifferently blowing away non-existent dust from the paper, and cryptically said, "Arrange it, I'm going to River City."

Two days later, in River City.

The most remote border town in the country, untouched by three years of poverty alleviation efforts. Lacking advanced transportation and even moderately tall buildings, it was a rare sight here.

Harper stood beneath the city tower, lifting the hood of her sweatshirt to look up. The ancient city walls, weathered by centuries, showed signs of collapse and were covered in moss in their shaded parts. Lazy banyan trees lined both sides of the road, their shadows dancing through the gaps in the sunlight.

She held a black backpack in one hand, with five sticks of incense burning steadily at her feet, their smoke curling up into the clear sky.

A little boy squatting nearby, fixated on a large waterwheel, glanced at her twice before returning his attention to the waterwheel when Harper didn't leave.

Her phone's ringtone pulled Harper back to reality.

"Harper, haven't you arrived yet?" It was the voice of the original body's aunt in River City, cautious and tentative.

Harper slung her backpack over her shoulder, "I'll be back soon."

She faintly saw a droplet of water fall, absorbed into the dust and spreading out.

After watching the incense burn out, she pulled her sweatshirt's hood over her head and headed towards the bus station.

River City was bordered by a protective moat that branched off and flowed into the city, with a large wooden windmill perched over the water within the city gates. As the water flowed, the windmill turned leisurely.

Noticing her departure from the corner of his eye, the little boy finally moved, following her to the bus stop.

Harper stood in the shade of the trees, looking down at the little friend who barely reached her waist. She tapped idly on her phone with her slender fingertips.

This little friend had followed her from the train station onto the bus and had been with her ever since.

His eyes were black and bright, with a buzz cut, wearing a white shirt, a blue knitted vest, and black leather shoes—clean and neatly dressed.

Out of place and beautiful in this rundown town.

"Why are you following me?"

The boy just lowered his head, fiddling with the button on his sleeve, then fastening it again. He focused on the button, saying, "This morning, my brother gave me half a banana, half a banana, half..."

The bus stop was quite rudimentary with no seats, and the road wasn't busy, just a few cars passing by now and then.

Leaning against the bus stop sign, Harper lazily dozed off, "I don't understand."

"Oh, I'm waiting for my parents to come and take me to their world," he again looked at the red ribbon on Harper's left hand, "My brother can find out where I am, he just doesn't bother with me."

"Ah," Harper tilted her head, suddenly opened her eyes wide to stare at him for a moment, then flicked his forehead, "Then your brother is pretty cool."

"Oh." The boy's gaze shifted to a slowly approaching black car across the street.

Silently disputing her last comment.

**

Across the street, a black luxury Maybach.

The driver, with a buzz cut, kept one hand on the steering wheel, always on alert even on the harmless streets.

Only when he saw the boy across the street did he relax, pressing the Bluetooth earpiece in his ear, "All teams withdraw, turn off the infrared, don't target ordinary people."

In the back seat was a young man, with an unmarked laptop in front of him, his white shirt buttoned up neatly to the top, his eyes light in color, and his complexion coldly pale.

Flicking through the computer screen, he opened a file.

The document in the email was filled with complex numerical formulas.

He glanced over, his dense eyelashes slightly drooping, typing comments with one hand—

【Stop sending me junk】

Ethan Reed pressed a few keys, and a voice pop-up appeared from a man in a lab coat in the bottom left corner of the computer, complaining, "Ethan, what exactly did you do to those researchers from R-country?"

"Speak," Ethan said, sparing his words.

"Damn," the man seemed to recall something amusing, laughing uncontrollably, "They collectively reported you to the Mensa Alliance today. You know I can't even reach the alliance's threshold, I heard it from a teacher, could this cause you trouble?"

The Mensa Alliance, the world's premier high-IQ society.

The entry requirements were extremely stringent, with only a hundred members globally.

Most countries didn't have a single individual who could meet the criteria.

Only three people in the country had passed their assessment.

Ethan tapped the table idly, his critique sharp, "Then I wish them success."

The man on the other side let out a short laugh, "OK, I got it."

Ethan turned off the computer screen, his gaze lazily shifting to the window, his pale eyes carrying a natural indifference.

Through the one-way glass, he could clearly see outside.

The girl in a white sweatshirt, casually carrying a bag on her right shoulder.

Her left hand pressing on the little boy's forehead.

Because of her movement, the wristband and the red ribbon tied around it, about an inch wide and loosely wrapped around her wrist twice, were faintly visible. The bright red of the ribbon contrasted sharply against her pale wrist, gently swaying in the wind.

As she sensed something, Harper glanced carelessly in this direction—a fleeting glimpse.

Ethan's fingertips paused on the black lid of his laptop.

A bus abruptly entered the scene, slicing through the moment.

The little boy watched the bus's wobbly exhaust, wanting to follow Harper onboard but not daring to. So, he stood still.

The car across the street wasn't in a hurry, calmly staying put.

He fiddled with his button, unfastening and fastening it again, dawdling for about ten minutes before finally stepping across the street. The back door of the vehicle opened automatically, and he clumsily climbed in.

"Master Ethan Crane," the buzz-cut driver glanced back and greeted.

It took a while for the little boy to respond with a slow, "Uncle Ming."

---

Meanwhile, at the Bair family's mansion in North City.

In the family conference room, the meeting was drawing to a close.

Bianca entered, holding her exam papers.

An elder's eyes lit up, immediately speaking up, "Bianca's finished school, come in, we've just finished our meeting."

The others stood up to greet Bianca.

"Senior year, right?" The elder then spoke to Mr. Bair, "Bair, our clan fully supports you, whatever Bianca needs, just ask."

Their Bair clan had a history of two hundred years, but it was only from the first generation in their family tree, a scholar, that their lineage began, who was also their ancestor.

Since then, no notable figures had emerged from the Bair clan.

Until Sean appeared!

"Thank you, great-grandfather, she's in her senior year," Mr. Bair smiled and then shook his head, "But the competition this year is fierce."

Just from those mentioned as competition for the top academic position, including Alex, there were already ten.

"Why haven't I seen Harper?" The clan's great-grandfather looked towards the open door, puzzled not to see Harper.

It was precisely the topic Mr. Bair didn't want to touch upon, causing his mood to sour, his smile fading.

The conference room fell silent, others too wary to speak.

"Great-grandfather, let's go," Mr. Bair, now flourishing thanks to Sean, had the clan's support, making it natural for others not to upset him, especially as the meeting had ended, hastily guiding the great-grandfather out.

Once outside the conference room, someone explained to the great-grandfather, "Harper was caught cheating on an exam at Central High, she might be expelled."

Getting into Central High, one of the top ten schools in the country, wasn't easy. The Bair family had gone to great lengths to get Harper enrolled, only to end up with such a scandal.

"I had thought, with Melissa Ji being such a talented woman, her offspring wouldn't turn out too poorly," the great-grandfather expressed his disappointment and disdain upon hearing this, "Well, from a humble family background, they were never meant for the spotlight."

Inside the conference room.

"Very well done," Mr. Bair took Bianca's exam papers, unsurprised to see a perfect score, signed them, and handed them back, "Don't compare yourself with your sister."

"I know," Bianca nodded lightly.

She had never considered Harper a rival, to begin with.

Mr. Bair comforted his daughter, "Though this year's competition is fierce, if you can pass Dean Jian's interview and get her mentorship and recommendation, you might still make it into River City University."

"I'll try."

Her demeanor proud, Bianca was ambitious, firmly believing she wouldn't end up like Harper, stuck in place and looking up at others.

Mr. Bair, naturally trusting in her, had never worried about these siblings, having raised them well from a young age.

He asked Bianca to return to her studies.

After everyone left, the butler came in to refill Mr. Bair's tea.

Taking a sip, Mr. Bair suddenly thought of Harper, his expression turning cold, "Where is she, still not admitting her wrongs?"

The butler knew "she" referred to Harper.

He dared not speak.

Mr. Bair set down his tea, picked up the phone on the table, and coldly instructed the servant on the other end, "Have Harper come to the conference room to see me."