After Reborn, I Became the Bigshots' Beloved-Chapter 376: Want to See Her Fall from Grace

...Shi Yuwei?

It wasn’t that this name was particularly special, drawing Lu Sheng’s attention—it was the surname.

Shi. That wasn’t a common surname.

"This Shi, could it be the Shi Family from Beijing?" Lu Sheng asked over the phone.

Lan Yu seemed to be reading a report about Shi Yuwei, then said with surprise, "Ah, it really is!"

"This Shi Yuwei is actually the daughter of the Shi Family, the heiress of Chenshi Pharmaceutical, and the daughter of Chairman Shi Chengyun."

Indeed, she was Shi Chengyun’s daughter.

During their last night market encounter, in the car Lin Yi had mentioned to her that Shi Chengyun’s deceased first wife had three sons, with Shi Suyu being the second son.

Later Shi Chengyun remarried, taking a second wife, and had one daughter and a pair of twin sons.

By this account, Shi Yuwei was the daughter born to Shi Suyu’s stepmother, which made her Shi Suyu’s younger sister.

But almost instantly, Lu Sheng recalled what Shi Suyu had said to her in the police station interrogation room that day.

[My younger sister has a congenital heart condition. This summer, she had an extremely severe attack. At the time, her condition was critical—her heartbeat even stopped during the rescue efforts.]

[However, afterward, perhaps because she couldn’t bear to leave this world, she miraculously came back to life. But since then, her personality has changed significantly, no longer resembling how she used to be.]

A heart condition that once led to a failed rescue attempt and cardiac arrest, followed miraculously by survival—and then an altered personality.

Connecting these points together, this instantly brought a possibility to Lu Sheng’s mind—

Borrowed identity.

Demons can borrow bodies for reincarnation. A soul enters the freshly deceased human body, using it to be reborn and then inhabiting it to live as a human.

However, only demons with exceptionally strong Soul Power could come to the Human Realm and borrow bodies for reincarnation. Such demons were rare, so Lu Sheng had initially dismissed the thought as overthinking.

The only demon she knew capable of borrowing bodies for reincarnation in the Human Realm—aside from Ning Yu—was just one other.

But could such a coincidence really occur?

This resurrected Shi Yuwei, whose personality changed drastically after coming back to life, then aced the college entrance exams with an astonishing score of 750—the kind of score that’s almost impossible for a human to achieve.

"Lan Yu," Lu Sheng asked over the phone, "does the report mention what Shi Yuwei’s grades were like originally?"

"No. Didn’t I tell you already? Shi Yuwei had a weak constitution before—she’s had home tutoring all her life and has never sat for an exam. Naturally, she didn’t have any grades to speak of."

"Still, she is really exceptional. Without attending formal school or having the benefit of subject-specific teachers, assessments, and the grind of homework and exams, her very first major test was the national college entrance exam—yet she scored full marks."

"If the college entrance exams weren’t impossible to cheat on, I’d think this was straight out of a fantasy novel."

"I’ve been skimming the comments, and now everyone online is worshipping her, but..."

As Lan Yu spoke, her tone faltered hesitantly. So Lu Sheng pressed, "But what?"

Lan Yu exhaled deeply, before her voice turned indignant, "But, these online commenters are just ridiculous. She’s trending, and people are comparing Shi Yuwei to you."

"They’re saying things like, at least you’ve actually been to school, while Shi Yuwei hasn’t even set foot in a classroom and yet scored full marks in the entrance exams—she’s far better than you."

"Some are bringing up family background, claiming you’re just an illegitimate child whereas Shi Yuwei is the rightful heiress of the Shi Family, defeating you in status hands down."

"Others are comparing your photos, saying she’s far prettier than you, that her beauty is elegant while yours is provincial and lacking presence..."

"I just don’t understand. You two don’t even know each other; why are these people rushing to pit you against one another? If they want to praise Shi Yuwei, they can do so fine—but why trample on you to elevate her?"

Lu Sheng could understand.

Ever since FSI stepped in to vouch for her, confirming her identity as Lan Xing’s heiress, public perception of her online had started with praise. But within months, the narrative began to shift.

For someone exceptional beyond comparison, a lot of people would envy them. But there were also many dark-hearted individuals filled with jealousy and hostility. The higher her pedestal, the stronger their urge to see her fall.

These recent months, even baseless rumors circulated by opportunistic accounts could easily spur people to flood her social media with abuse.

Still, in the end rumors were just rumors—flimsy and insubstantial. She wouldn’t respond, making the trolls seem like clowns.

But now with Shi Yuwei, a Shi Family heiress who also aced the tests like her, it seemed the internet finally found something real to use against her.

"Let them talk," Lu Sheng said. "Public opinion changes rapidly every day. If I don’t pay attention to it, they can’t hurt me."

"True," Lan Yu recalled something else. "Oh, Shengsheng, Beijing has opened registrations for college preferences this morning."

"Huo Yu has already been pre-admitted to Beijing University’s computer science department. Han Jing and I both applied for Beijing University’s finance program. What about you and your Fourth and Fifth brothers?"

"I applied for Beijing University’s law program. My Fourth Brother applied for Qing University’s applied mathematics. My Fifth Brother’s first choice was Beijing Aerospace University, and his fallback was Beijing University of Technology."

"Your Fifth Brother scored a 614, right? That’s not a bad score—he stands a chance with Beijing Aerospace. Regardless, all of you are staying in Beijing."

"Exactly," Lan Yu’s tone brimmed with joy. "Though we won’t be in the same class like high school, we’ll still be in the same city for university. Even if not on the same campus, all the schools are close to each other. Just thinking about it makes me so happy."

Indeed.

College entrance exams marked the first major turning point in life. Many people leave their hometowns to start anew, parting ways permanently with most of their high school friends and classmates.

But for Lu Sheng, her closest friends and two brothers were coming with her to new schools and a new city—an incredible fortune.

And there was Li Muchen—he had also begun establishing a new company in Beijing, its operations already taking root. When she moved to Beijing, he would accompany her there.

Everything was heading in a good direction, life tranquil and fulfilling.

Yet at that moment, Lu Sheng was unaware that this peaceful existence was about to be disrupted.

A little over two weeks after the exam results came out, on an August afternoon—

Knock knock—"Shengsheng, are you in your room?"

Lu Sheng had been reading in her bedroom when she heard Lu Jingyan knocking on the door outside.

Lu Jingyan rarely came to her room to seek her out. She couldn’t guess what it might be about.

"Big Brother, I’m here. Wait a moment." Lu Sheng rose at the sound and went to open the door.

But as she opened the door, Lu Sheng saw that Lu Jingyan outside carried a tangled expression, with an uncharacteristically solemn demeanor.

He took a deep breath before speaking, "Shengsheng, come with Big Brother to the living room. There’s something important to discuss with you."