A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed

Outside the student council office.

Cornelia and Ailiya walked out with contrasting expressions, though both looked equally upset.

They had just been scolded by the student council president.

Cornelia’s face was filled with dejection and sorrow.

The thought of causing unnecessary trouble for Su Cheng weighed heavily on her heart, like a knife twisting inside.

She deeply regretted not coordinating with Ailiya beforehand, allowing the situation to escalate to this point.

Meanwhile, Ailiya was simmering with frustration and indignation. She had gone to the student council president out of concern that Cornelia was being deceived by some shady character—only to end up being reprimanded instead.

"Ailiya, this situation is really complicated. I can’t explain it right now, but you have to believe me—no one drugged me or forced me into anything!"

Cornelia tried to reassure her best friend first. She didn’t blame Ailiya; after all, she had acted out of genuine concern.

If their roles were reversed, and her best friend—who had just been chatting about desserts the day before—suddenly started dating a complete stranger without warning, she too would suspect foul play and take action to investigate.

"You don’t even know that scholarship student," Ailiya muttered, still hung up on the day’s events.

"I already told you, the backstory is complicated. If you really want to know, I’ll explain it properly later. For now, just trust that I’m fine and don’t go causing trouble for him."

Cornelia silently apologized to her friend again and again in her heart, but her words remained firm.

"Like I even care that much! If you weren’t such a hopeless idiot, I wouldn’t bother!"

Ailiya’s temper flared, and she stormed off, leaving Cornelia alone with her thoughts.

Truthfully, Cornelia knew Ailiya was just worried about her. But in this matter, she was truly powerless—she couldn’t even bring herself to tell Ailiya the whole truth.

After all…

Reincarnation?

Going back in time?

Who would believe that?

With these unshareable thoughts weighing on her, she descended the stairs alone—only to suddenly hear two startled gasps.

"Huh!?"

"Eh!?"

She quickly turned toward the sound and spotted two girls standing near a blind spot in the hallway’s surveillance.

It was Su Cheng and Li Guanqi.

The moment the two noticed her, they immediately stiffened, pretending nothing had happened, and walked side by side toward the school gates at a deliberately slow pace.

Cornelia watched them for a few seconds before shaking her head. She couldn’t fathom why Su Cheng was at the school—let alone seemingly in the same grade as her.

Clearly, this new world had too many deviations from the original timeline.

Her small brain couldn’t process it all. Just thinking about it made her feel overloaded, as if her head were about to short-circuit.

She decided to stop dwelling on it. Right now, her top priority was going home and replenishing her walnut milk to restore her super-brain to peak condition.

In her own words:

If an average person’s brain was rated a 5, hers had currently dropped to a 9.

After drinking walnut milk, it would return to its normal state of 10.

Su Cheng? She’d give him a 6.

As for Li Guanqi?

Gu Ruoxue?

Ji Qingyi?

All 4.5.

As a reincarnator, sharp judgment was a basic requirement—that’s why reincarnators always thrived in life.

And of course, she had that crucial perceptiveness too.

"Come out. Stop following me."

Cornelia suddenly halted and turned toward a nearby bush, speaking coolly. "Did you really think I wouldn’t notice you tailing me?"

"Who’s following you?! I—I just happened to be passing by!"

A brown-haired figure emerged from the bushes with deliberate slowness before storming off—none other than Ailiya.

"Such a tsundere," Cornelia sighed, shaking her head. She had no way to handle tsunderes, but there was no denying Ailiya’s concern for her. So she couldn’t really complain.

"Sorry, Ailiya."

Cornelia murmured the apology to her retreating back, guilt gnawing at her. She knew Ailiya would be troubled because of her.

But compared to Su Cheng…

She had no choice but to let Ailiya’s concern go unanswered.

…………………………

Villa District

Cornelia stared blankly at the three bottles of walnut milk on the table. She was certain—if she downed all three in one go, she would enter that elusive, almost mystical state.

If she had to describe it, it was like becoming an observer within her own memories, able to move freely and uncover details she had previously missed.

Most importantly, in this state, her mind became incredibly agile, her thought speed skyrocketing.

If she had to name this ability, she’d call it "Memory Interference" or "Memory Exploration"—simple and straightforward.

"Begin!"

Seated in her gaming chair, Cornelia placed her last hope in the three bottles of walnut milk before her.

Drink these three, and there were still sixteen left.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them again, her entire face was set in solemn determination.

And then—

"Gulp, gulp, mmm~"

One bottle after another.

All three were gone within three minutes.

Soon, a dull ache pulsed in her head, followed by a wave of dizziness that swept through her entire body. Just as she was sinking into the sensation of her brain shifting—

She felt herself slowly rising, as if floating away from the ground, shedding the constraints of her physical form and beginning to soar.

When she opened her eyes again—

"The most important thing in cooking and making soup is putting your heart into it!"

Her mom’s familiar voice rang out.

"Oh~ Got it~"

Another voice—her own younger self—responded.

Cornelia froze for a moment. Before her eyes, the scene of her mom gently instructing a younger Cornelia (standing on a small stool) on cooking and soup-making materialized.

But then—

"This isn’t right!"

Cornelia’s face twisted in disbelief. Normally, shouldn’t she have returned to the opening ceremony?

Why was she back in this memory of her mom teaching her to cook?

"Why not just hire a maid for this stuff?"

"Ah, you silly girl! There’s an old saying—to capture a man’s heart, you must first capture his stomach!"

Watching her past self interact with her mom, Cornelia felt a surge of emotions. But she quickly steadied herself and began analyzing.

Why had she returned to this specific moment?

As she observed the mother-daughter pair working side by side, warmth filled her chest. But the problem was—

She hadn’t wanted to revisit this memory. She needed to return to the opening ceremony to check Gu Ruoxue’s notebook.

As she was racking her brain over this question, her Mom's voice suddenly rang out again—

"Don’t think I don’t know—you often go to his place for meals, don’t you?"

Her Mom suddenly straightened up, placing a hand on Cornelia’s shoulder in the memory, and said with a playful smile, "If you learn how, you can take care of him in return someday!"

But the Cornelia in the memory only lowered her head in embarrassment, completely ignoring her Mom’s teasing, and replied shyly, "Oh, how did you know? I only go there occasionally..."

Yet, the very question she had shyly avoided back then now made the observing Cornelia’s heart skip a beat.

Then, in a flash of clarity, she understood.

"Wait, go back!"

Cornelia blurted out, wanting to hear it again. To her surprise, the scene in her memory rewound like a playback, flashing back to the second before her Mom straightened up and spoke.

"If you learn how, you can take care of him in return someday!"

"Oh, how did you know? I only go there occasionally..."

This unexpected discovery caught Cornelia off guard. Instinctively, she quickly issued more commands: "Fast forward, slow down, pause, rewind, speed up!"

Holding her breath, she stared intently at the scenes flashing before her.

To her surprise, she realized she could fully control the speed of her memories—whether fast-forwarding, pausing, rewinding, or adjusting playback speed, it all came effortlessly.

But that wasn’t the point. The point was, she now understood why she had returned to this particular memory.

It was this very moment that had enlightened her, making her realize that she could now take care of Su Cheng!

With this thought, she began watching the scene in her memory with utmost focus—her Mom teaching her how to cook. She even forgot she was in this surreal, meditative state, completely absorbed in observing every subtle movement her Mom made: the precise amount of seasoning, the control of heat, the balance of flavors—everything.

She wanted to engrave every technique into her mind.

Once, twice... five times... ten times!

As time passed, her mental exhaustion grew, but the thought of Su Cheng being in a weakened state during that period forced her to stay alert. She kept watching.

Because this time—it was her turn to take care of Su Cheng!