There’re Always Paranoid Thoughts to Monopolize Me - Chapter 29.1

As soon as Qin Ke entered the Qin family’s house that evening, she immediately sensed an unusual atmosphere.

She looked up towards the dining room connected to the living room. Her parents and Qin Yan were sitting at the dining table, seemingly having been discussing something in low voices. They fell silent when they heard her come in.

Qin Ke’s eyes flickered, already guessing the reason. But she didn’t say anything, pretending not to notice. She changed her shoes in the entryway and headed upstairs to her room with her backpack.

As she passed the dining room, Qin Ke kept her eyes down and greeted them without expression.

“…Dad, Mom, Sister.”

After speaking, she continued upstairs without pausing.

At the dining table behind her, Qin Hanyi and Yin Chuanfang exchanged a glance before Yin Chuanfang spoke. “Xiao Ke, quickly wash your hands and come down for dinner.”

“Okay.”

Qin Ke went upstairs.

As the door on the second floor closed, Qin Yan finally couldn’t help but look up at her mother, her eyes full of resentment, “Mom, are you sure this will work?”

“Of course it will.”

Yin Chuanfang didn’t look up, saying casually, “Qin Ke has always listened to me. Don’t worry, I’ll tell her to give up that competition spot to you. Let’s eat dinner now.”

“…Mm.”

Qin Yan responded perfunctorily, but still couldn’t suppress the uneasiness in her heart. She looked up at the closed door on the second floor with a complicated gaze.

In the past, she also thought she understood Qin Ke thoroughly, even finding it easy to manipulate her foolish sister.

But it seemed everything had changed overnight. All matters related to Qin Ke started to make her uneasy… and all this seemed to have originated from the high school application incident.

Now she was increasingly losing confidence in her ability to outmaneuver Qin Ke, and found it harder and harder to see through the thoughts hidden behind her supposedly naive sister’s calm gaze.

So this time, when Qin Yan heard that the last math competition spot she had barely secured might be taken by Qin Ke, her first thought was to come back and seek help from Yin Chuanfang.

Qin Yan gripped her chopsticks tightly, unconsciously taking a mouthful of rice.

—

She hoped everything would go as smoothly as Yin Chuanfang said.

A few minutes later, Qin Ke came downstairs in her home clothes.

After washing her hands near the dining room, she sat down in the empty seat next to Qin Yan, opposite Yin Chuanfang. Yin Chuanfang scooped her a bowl of rice and placed it next to her chopsticks.

“Sit down and eat, Xiao Ke.”

“Mm, thank you, Mom.”

Qin Ke responded calmly.

“…”

Yin Chuanfang, who was about to continue speaking, paused for a moment. She looked at Qin Ke strangely—she wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt there was something different about Qin Ke’s demeanor today compared to usual.

Yin Chuanfang couldn’t spot anything unusual, so she didn’t think more of it.

She picked up her bowl and chopsticks, eating while speaking. “Xiao Ke, how are you doing in school lately? Are you adjusting well?”

Qin Ke: “Pretty good.”

Yin Chuanfang: “That’s good. I heard from Yan Yan that your school’s monthly test results are out?”

Qin Ke: “Yes, they just came out today.”

Yin Chuanfang: “Yan Yan said you ranked first in your grade. Is there anything you’d like as a gift? Your dad and I can buy it as a reward.”

“…”

Qin Ke’s chopsticks paused in mid-air, but she quickly covered it up without a trace.

“I don’t want anything, Mom.”

Yin Chuanfang nodded habitually.

What she didn’t see was the faint mockery that flashed in the eyes of the girl sitting across from her.

—

That mockery wasn’t just directed at the Qin parents, but more so at Qin Ke herself—at her naive and foolish past self.

In her previous life, countless times, Qin Hanyi and Yin Chuanfang would ask, just like now, under the guise of caring, if she needed anything.

Each time, Qin Ke would be deeply moved by this “sincere” care—but she never realized that when Yin Chuanfang and her husband bought things for Qin Yan, they never asked if she “wanted” anything. The reason they asked Qin Ke was merely to go through the motions, waiting for her polite refusal so they could conveniently ignore her.

Her past self, who could be deceived by such false sentiments, truly deserved the empty-handed ending she got.

The emotion in Qin Ke’s eyes turned cold.

This time, the things that belonged to her—whether her parents’ inheritance or her own competition spot—no one would be able to take them away from her.

…

As dinner was nearing its end, Yin Chuanfang put down her chopsticks and finally brought up what she really wanted to discuss.

“Xiao Ke, I heard from Yan Yan that your math teacher is planning to make an exception and let you take a second-year spot in the competition, is that right?”

“Mm,” Qin Ke responded expressionlessly, “The teacher did say that.”

“…”

Beside her, Qin Yan tensed up, unable to help looking up at her mother, Yin Chuanfang.

Yin Chuanfang gave her a reassuring look, then turned to Qin Ke with a smile.

“Xiao Ke has always been excellent. Gold will always shine, and I knew you would be favored by teachers at Qiande High School.”

Qin Ke didn’t look up, continuing to eat her rice.

“Thank you, Mom.”

“…”

This calm and unruffled response caught Yin Chuanfang off guard. She frowned instinctively, but quickly adjusted herself and continued, “There’s just one situation you might not know about—for the second-year to give you a spot, they’d have to eliminate the current last place. As luck would have it, that last place happens to be your underachieving sister.”

Yin Chuanfang finished speaking and paused, looking expectantly at Qin Ke.

In the past, Qin Ke would definitely have offered to give up the spot—Yin Chuanfang was certain of this.

However, this time, she waited and waited, until the smile on her face began to stiffen. Finally, Qin Ke slowly looked up from across the table, showing an innocent and confused expression.

“The last place is my sister?” Qin Ke turned to look at Qin Yan, smiling apologetically, “That’s really unfortunate.”

“…!”

At the table, Qin Hanyi was less affected, but both Yin Chuanfang and Qin Yan’s expressions changed.

Yin Chuanfang frowned even more.

She couldn’t believe that Qin Ke still didn’t understand her meaning after she had said so much—so Qin Ke was now pretending to be clueless.

The thought that this adopted daughter, who had always seemed foolish, was now developing her own thoughts and showing her claws, made Yin Chuanfang’s face darken, especially since just minutes ago she had assured her daughter that she could control Qin Ke…

With this in mind, Yin Chuanfang put on a smile again.

“Xiao Ke, it’s like this. You see, you’re only in your first year, and there must be a reason why your school gives all the limited spots to second-year students, right?”

“Mm.” Qin Ke responded perfunctorily, without looking up.

“…”

Yin Chuanfang’s expression darkened slightly. She gritted her teeth internally but continued to “persuade” with a smile, “Actually, the reason is quite simple. It’s because serious preparation for the college entrance exam starts in the second year, and they need to be ready for the final push—so, your sister needs this spot the most right now. You can totally wait until your second year to prepare for the competition, which would allow you to focus your energy better.”

“Hmm, yes.”

Qin Ke nodded.