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The girl with snow-white hair seemed oblivious to the girl’s distress behind her, leaving without looking back.

It wasn’t until Nancy had completely walked away that Su Xiaoyu and the others realized what had happened.

“Nin… are you okay?” Kind-hearted Sylvia was the first to ask, her tone filled with concern.

After all, Nina’s eyes were red, tears swirling in her eyes, looking pitiful.

“I… sniff…” Nina couldn’t hold back the grievances in her heart anymore, tears finally streaming down her cheeks.

Seeing the tearful girl, Su Xiaoyu and the others couldn’t help but exchange glances.

They had heard Nina say in the morning that her sister was very strict with her, even to the point of being harsh. But now, it seemed more than strictness; it was outright family discord, wasn’t it?

Although they thought this way in their hearts, Su Xiaoyu and the others didn’t speak out directly. Su Ranran, at this moment, had no intention of leaving. She comforted the newly acquainted little sister along with Su Xiaoyu.

Sylvia, on the other hand, was pondering, remembering how Nancy had saved her that night. So when Nina came to school this week and spoke ill of Nancy, Sylvia was half in disbelief. Although Nancy’s behavior just now did match exactly what Nina had described, Sylvia still believed there was more to the situation.

At this moment, the fourth girl who had remained silent suddenly spoke up, her tone somewhat disdainful:

“If Nina’s sister really treats her badly, why don’t we go talk to her and sort it out? How can a sister treat her own sister like this?”

Su Xiaoyu was slightly stunned at this remark. He turned to the girl called Leah and furrowed his brows: “Leah, this is their family matter. It’s better not to interfere.”

Leah, as she was called, felt a little uncomfortable at Su Xiaoyu’s reprimand over such a trivial matter. What’s wrong? Was she, who had played with them since childhood, still inferior to this girl who had only known them for a few days?

“What’s wrong! Did I say anything wrong? Nina said yesterday that that girl, Nancy, even tied her up with an iron chain, and not just once. Isn’t this serious?!”

“This time she has been tied up by iron chains for three days. Who knows what it will be next time? If we just stand by, we’re complicit. We should call the police,” insisted Leah, crossing her arms defiantly.

Upon hearing this, Su Xiaoyu hesitated. He really didn’t want to meddle, after all, it’s someone else’s family matter… But they could indeed call the authorities; Nina’s situation could be deemed domestic violence.

Nina’s emotions had been gradually calming down under the comforting words of Su Ranran. However, upon hearing Leah’s suggestion of calling the police, she panicked, “No… You can’t call the police!”

Nina knew well the shady activities Nancy was involved in. Those so-called “business dealings” were downright illegal. If these people in front of her reported her sister to the police, Nancy would be done for!

Although… she despised Nancy, it hadn’t reached the point of wanting to send her to prison…

Su Xiaoyu thought Nina was worried that if the police got involved, Nancy would retaliate even harsher against her. So, he quickly reassured her, “Nina, you don’t need to worry. Your sister won’t retaliate against you. The police will handle everything properly.”

To his surprise, Nina vigorously shook her head, then bid a hasty farewell and left.

Su Ranran and Su Xiaoyu watched Nina’s sudden departure, slightly puzzled. Leah, on the other hand, rolled her eyes.

“Well, it seems this classmate prefers to endure silently. She doesn’t want us meddling in her family affairs.”

……………………

At this moment, Nancy and Hattori had already boarded the air shuttle back home. Unaware that after her departure, Su Xiaoyu and the others had begun contemplating reporting her, though even if she knew, she probably wouldn’t care.

Now, the snow-haired girl leaned against the air shuttle window, her eyes flashing with curiosity as various tall buildings whizzed by outside.

The air shuttle, a mode of transportation in this world, far surpassed cars in technological advancement. Resembling a sleek cone, it operated via an unmanned aerial network built over the Tianzhou City. Its speed rivaled that of airplanes from Nancy’s previous life, yet this technological marvel was merely akin to a public bus.

Sure enough, the level of technology in this world was quite advanced, at least thirty years ahead of Nancy’s previous life, if not more.

But whether the technology in this world could cure the original owner’s illness remained uncertain…

Beside her, Hattori sat quietly, lost in thought, his posture undisturbed as the air shuttle sped onwards.

And so, as Nancy pondered her future, the air shuttle reached its anchor point outside the Philo District after just a few minutes.

There were air shuttle anchor points within the Philo District as well, but they had been destroyed by unknown armed forces ten years ago, and the city government had inexplicably failed to repair them, perhaps because the Philo District was a lawless zone in the city.

Speaking of which, these air shuttles were quite expensive. Otherwise, Nancy wouldn’t have to hitch a ride with Jenna’s beat-up van every time she went to school…

Lost in such idle thoughts, Nancy soon arrived at the entrance of her rented apartment building.

Jenna’s van was parked there, but when Nancy went upstairs, she found that the orange-haired girl wasn’t there, and neither had she opened her door. Nancy had no idea where Jenna had gone.

Come to think of it, Nancy hadn’t seen Jenna since she went to school last week. Nancy had originally planned to take action with her tonight…

Once again, Nancy gave Hattori some money to stay in a hotel outside, and then she started boiling water to cook.

Little did she expect that just after finishing her meal, there came a knock on the door.

A knock? Jenna had a key to this place, so it definitely wasn’t her. Then who could it be at this hour?

Nancy got up and opened the door. After about ten seconds, the two girls standing in the doorway exchanged a wordless glance.

After a moment, perhaps sensing that the silence would persist if no one spoke, the girl with the backpack on her back finally spoke up:

“I… I’m back…” Her tone was noticeably lacking in confidence.

“…You’re back?” Nancy raised an eyebrow, but she wasn’t one to refuse entry. She stepped aside slightly to make way, casually saying, “How unfortunate. I just finished eating. If you’re hungry, you can make something yourself or buy takeout.”

Nancy was simply stating the facts, without any hint of sarcasm.

After hearing Nancy’s indifferent words, Nina pursed her lips, then entered without saying anything and grabbed a bucket of instant noodles.

For some reason… I suddenly regret coming back… the girl thought to herself.

Just as she finished boiling water for the noodles, Nina noticed her troublesome sister was about to leave again.

In that moment, Nina suddenly remembered Su Xiaoyu’s intention to call the police earlier.

Instinctively, she stopped the girl who was about to leave.

“…Nancy, could you please stop doing those things in the future? It’s illegal,” she said, her tone firm, as if she were the one giving up her livelihood.

Nancy: “…Heh.”

“Alright then, will you support me from now on?” Her tone was filled with mockery.

Nina was momentarily speechless.

“When advising someone to give up something, one should try to empathize with their situation.”

“Go ahead and dream your princess dreams,” Nancy glanced back at the backpack on the girl’s back. “You have your prince charming, but I don’t.”

“Clang.” Nancy left, and the door closed.