First Glimpse of the Real Daughter

The night was deep, and the room was brightly lit.

Lu Chenyuan tapped his finger lightly, opening the encrypted email sent by Lin Yuan.

The attachment was a heavily encrypted compressed file. Once unpacked, the life of a girl named "Ye Ruoxi" unfolded before him in a cold, clinical manner.

On the screen was a low-resolution ID photo.

The girl wore a faded blue-and-white school uniform, her face thin and delicate, her chin pointed, and her lips pale from long-term malnutrition.

But her eyes—they burned with an astonishing brightness.

Like stars in the frigid night, cold and unyielding, sharp with a refusal to bow to fate.

Lu Chenyuan’s gaze lingered on that face for several seconds.

This was his biological sister, Lu Ruoxi.

While another girl lived a princess’s life in the opulent castle that should have been hers, she was struggling to survive in the muddy backwaters of a remote town.

The email’s contents were detailed and brutal.

Anhe County’s urban village, a dilapidated two-story self-built house.

Father, Ye Sanqi, died ten years ago in a construction accident.

Mother, Zhang Cuilan, unemployed, scraping by on meager compensation and odd jobs, petty and cruel toward Ye Ruoxi.

Below were several candid photos taken from a distance.

In one, the frail girl carried a heavy basket of groceries, far too large for her frame, walking down a dim alley.

In another, she deftly skewered meat at a crowded night market stall, the back of her hands blackened by charcoal smoke.

And in yet another, she sat alone by a drafty windowsill, reading under the dim glow of a desk lamp.

Each photo was a knife driven into the face of the Lu family.

In stark contrast was another document—a scanned copy of Anhe County First High School’s grade reports.

From the first semester of her senior year to now, Ye Ruoxi’s name had consistently topped the rankings, leading by a staggering sixty or seventy points over the second-place student.

Her teachers’ comments overflowed with praise: "genius," "exceptionally gifted," "meticulous thinker," "boundless potential."

A girl raised in such harsh conditions, yet instead of being broken, she had blossomed into the brightest light.

Lu Chenyuan closed the email, his heart now still.

In the original timeline, the original owner of this body, consumed by absurd guilt and twisted emotions, had indulged Lu Qianqian in every way while turning a blind eye to his blood sister cast adrift.

Even after Lu Ruoxi was brought back to the Lu family, he had failed to mend the fractured relationships, allowing her to be ostracized, hurt, and ultimately pushed into the abyss of hatred.

This time, he would not repeat those mistakes.

Lu Chenyuan picked up the phone, his voice calm as still water. "Lin Yuan, arrange the earliest flight to Anhe tomorrow."

"Yes, Mr. Lu."

...

The next morning, a private jet landed smoothly at the nearest regional airport to Anhe County.

Soon after, an understated black Volkswagen Phaeton glided silently into the dust-choked county town.

Outside the window was a world utterly unlike the capital.

Low-rise buildings, tangled power lines, street vendors hawking their wares—the air thick with the unique grit and stagnation of a small town.

Lin Yuan sat in the passenger seat, eyeing the navigation marker for the "urban village" destination, his brow creasing imperceptibly.

He couldn’t fathom that the blood of the Lu family had taken root in such a place.

"Mr. Lu, are we really… going to see her in person?" Lin Yuan hesitated. "This is something I could handle."

Lu Chenyuan’s gaze remained fixed outside the window. "No. This must be done by me. And not as her 'brother.'"

Lin Yuan understood immediately.

Arriving as the heir of Lu Corporation to tell a struggling girl she was actually a wealthy heiress—it would sound like a clumsy scam, inviting only wariness, resentment, or even hatred.

For a girl whose heart was armored in distrust, sudden "kindness" could be more terrifying than malice.

The best approach was to give her a reason she could accept.

The Phaeton finally stopped at the gates of Anhe First High.

It was lunchtime, and students in identical blue-and-white uniforms streamed out in small groups.

Lu Chenyuan and Lin Yuan stepped out, their refined demeanor and tailored suits starkly out of place, drawing curious glances.

They first sought out Principal Zhen.

Whatever generous sponsorship terms were offered, by the time they left his office, the principal was practically clinging to Lu Chenyuan’s hand, beaming with undisguised delight.

Still, though his smile lacked restraint, it wasn’t obsequious—earning a sliver of respect from Lu Chenyuan.

"Let’s go see her," Lu Chenyuan instructed.

Lin Yuan, having done his homework, led the way across the playground toward the cafeteria.

The cafeteria buzzed with noise, the scent of food mingling with the clamor of teenagers.

Lin Yuan quickly spotted her in the farthest corner.

The girl sat alone, her tray holding nothing but a plain steamed bun and a bowl of watery, free seaweed soup.

She ate slowly, one hand holding the bun, the other pressing down on a scrap paper covered in scribbled equations, her brow furrowed in thought.

The surrounding chaos seemed to fade away as she remained immersed in her own world, quiet and focused.

Lu Chenyuan paused three meters away.

He noticed her hands resting on the table—slender fingers, the tips red and swollen from cold and labor.

Her grip on the pen was fierce, as if she wanted to crush it, pouring all her strength into the ink on the page.

The scrap paper was dense with advanced calculus and series derivation formulas, far beyond the high school curriculum.

This was a true genius.

Lu Chenyuan motioned for Lin Yuan to stay back and walked over alone.

He took a seat across from her, his tall frame casting a shadow that finally pulled the girl from her thoughts.

Lu Ruoxi looked up, revealing those clear, wary eyes.

She took in the unfamiliar man before her—his handsome features, composed aura, and the obviously expensive tailored suit—all unmistakable signs that he didn’t belong in this small-town school.

"Who are you looking for?" she asked, her voice cool, edged with a wariness beyond her years.

Lu Chenyuan didn’t answer immediately. Instead, his gaze fell on the scrap paper.

"A simplified model of the Riemann hypothesis? Interesting approach. But in the third step’s variable substitution, using the trigonometric form of Euler’s formula would make it cleaner."

His tone was steady and mild, as if this were an ordinary academic discussion between equals.

Lu Ruoxi’s pupils contracted sharply.

The Riemann Hypothesis—one of the ultimate enigmas in the world of mathematics.

She had only stumbled upon some rudimentary knowledge in old library books out of sheer curiosity, attempting to derive the proofs herself. None of her classmates or teachers could even engage in a discussion about it with her.

Yet the man standing before her had pinpointed the very obstacle she had been wrestling with all morning in just one sentence.

Who on earth was he?

Only then did Lu Chenyuan turn his gaze toward her, offering a brief introduction:

"Hello, Ye Ruoxi. I’m Lu Chenyuan from Lu Corporation."