Chapter 27: Turning Point

The chocolate was eaten.

The chicken soup was drunk.

Satiated, Meng Zhi finally washed up and prepared for bed. Maybe he’d gamed too long that afternoon, but he was exhausted, feeling like he’d pass out the moment his head hit the pillow.

Yet, just then, a knock came at the door.

“…Seriously? Another one?” Meng Zhi trudged to the door, exasperated.

But this time, it wasn’t a familiar face—just a delivery guy.

“Your takeout cocktail, sir.”

“? I didn’t order anything.” Meng Zhi glanced at the receipt, surprised to see his name.

“Maybe your girlfriend ordered it for you.” The delivery guy shrugged and left before Meng Zhi could clarify he had no girlfriend.

No choice but to take it inside. He set it on the table and opened the bag.

A Negroni cocktail.

…Now it clicked. Meng Zhi sighed.

Sure enough, his phone pinged with a message from Lin Yuhan: “Did you get it?”

“…Look, it’s the night before the exam. Who’s crazy enough to drink now?”

“A little alcohol helps you sleep,” Lin Yuhan replied calmly. “It’s because of the exam. Stress keeps people up, so I got you a cocktail. With your tolerance, you won’t get drunk—just tipsy enough to rest.”

She had a point.

But Meng Zhi was already so tired he didn’t need a drink to sleep.

“Thanks for the thought. But how’d you get my number and address?”

“I… asked your band friends.” She seemed embarrassed, but Meng Zhi knew only Feng Xiyao had his contact and address.

How’d she connect with Lin Yuhan?

“If you really don’t want it, no worries. Think of it as a good-luck charm,” she added nervously, as if choosing her words carefully. “Wishing us both luck tomorrow.”

“Yeah. You too.”

He closed his phone, eyeing the Negroni hesitantly.

…To be honest.

He did like Negroni.

A free drink, right in front of him—it felt a waste not to drink it.

After a moment, he decided not to let it go to waste. Alone on the couch, he sipped while organizing his exam supplies.

By the time he finished, the drink was gone. Eyes barely open, he yawned, finally ready for bed.

After washing up, he collapsed onto the bed, closing his eyes.

…What to do after the exam?

Build a PC. Internet cafés are a hassle.

Grind Valorant while the servers are still clean.

Find a place to rent. Home’s too far from X University.

Do I need a car? Maybe wait till the stocks grow.

Gotta get a driver’s license too. Re-taking it every loop is annoying.

And…

Lost in thought, Meng Zhi drifted into deep sleep.

…Ugh.

So tired.

Head’s foggy.

Eyelids heavy, won’t open.

What time is it?

Feels like I forgot something important…

…Wait.

Meng Zhi forced his eyes open.

The familiar ceiling stared back, but his body felt leaden, not his own, barely able to move.

Struggling, he sat up and grabbed his phone.

The time hit him like a shock.

12:40 p.m.

“How…” He frowned, checking his phone. “Did the alarm not go off?”

Dozens of messages. His teacher asking if he’d entered the exam hall. Feng Xiyao and Lin Yuhan wishing him luck. Chen Xinya, anxious: “Are you in the exam hall? Why don’t I see you?”

He squinted, checking his alarm.

…It had gone off. For a while. It just didn’t wake him.

From the moment he woke, something felt off. The grogginess, the exhaustion, the slight headache—it wasn’t normal.

Sick? He touched his forehead. No fever. Ruled that out.

That left one possibility.

“Drugged…” Meng Zhi closed his eyes.

Who? Why?

His first thought was Chen Xinya’s soup.

It was suspicious from the start. The day before the exam, she spent all day making it, waited five hours to ensure he drank it.

She drank it too, but that didn’t clear her.

Especially since this wouldn’t be her first time. In their last life, at her most paranoid, she’d spiked his dinner with sleeping pills to keep him home from work.

Was it her… but why?

He couldn’t figure it out.

No time to dwell.

Even missing the critical Chinese exam didn’t end his chances. X University’s law program had no single-subject minimum. He could still make it.

He’d just have to ace the remaining tests, no holding back.

Closing his eyes, he calculated the needed score.

…Should be enough. He didn’t need perfect scores across the board. With about a 20-point buffer, he could hit X University’s cutoff.

But there was another issue.

Assuming Chen Xinya drugged him, if he still got into X University after missing Chinese, she’d suspect something.

That was what he feared most—exposing his reborn identity.

Give up the exam? He shut his eyes.

The room was silent, only his breathing audible.

Then he opened his eyes.

…No way.

Start over at a new school or repeat a year with strangers? Not happening.

He’d planned it all—post-exam, college life, a youth just for himself.

Cancel that for this? Unacceptable.

Whoever drugged him, he’d promised himself this life was for him*.

No one would stop him.

With that clear, his next steps were obvious.

Last night, he consumed three things: Chen Xinya’s soup, Feng Xiyao’s chocolate, Lin Yuhan’s Negroni.

One of them drugged him.

He had to find out who before the math exam that afternoon.