A Self-Cultivation of a Stand-in [Transmigration GL] - Chapter 15

When Cai Xinyue passed by the notice board in the corner with her textbooks in her arms, her footsteps came to an involuntary halt.

The senior student walking beside her followed her gaze and couldn’t help but ask, “What, do you want to find a part-time job too? Is your allowance not enough?”

Cai Xinyue shook her head. “I’m just looking.”

Half of the notice board was dedicated to work-study programs, mainly aimed at students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Most were short-term gigs and didn’t pay much.

In the past, Cai Xinyue never paid attention to these things, but after learning about Hua Luoyue’s situation, she found herself glancing at these boards every time she passed them.

To put it bluntly, Hua Luoyue was basically being supported by someone else right now. One could say it was a necessity of circumstance, and from what Hua Luoyue said, the other person wasn’t cruel. However, one should always have a sense of vigilance during times of peace.

What if things changed in the future? She would still have to go on living.

It would be great if there was a part-time job that didn’t affect her studies but allowed her to save up some money. Cai Xinyue was just thinking about it, but whenever she saw news about part-time work, she couldn’t help but pay closer attention.

The jobs on this notice board were clearly not suitable for Hua Luoyue.

Cai Xinyue withdrew her gaze and continued toward the activity room. The senior followed behind, asking curiously, “Hua Luoyue isn’t coming today?”

“She went to the hospital to see her mother,” Cai Xinyue replied. “And she has a guest coming in the afternoon. Oh, she has classes tomorrow, so she’ll probably be free the day after.”

Today was Friday. Originally, there was only one major course in the morning, but the teacher had rescheduled it, leaving the day open.

Hua Luoyue hadn’t come to school at all today.

Cai Xinyue had planned to go home, but unfortunately, because of her frequent absences recently, she was missing some assignments. To avoid failing, she had to find the teacher to explain the situation and submit the makeup work.

Yuan Xiaoxiao was in a similar situation.

As Cai Xinyue said goodbye to the senior who helped her carry her things, Yuan Xiaoxiao happened to walk by with a few of her lackeys.

The senior looked at Cai Xinyue’s backpack stuffed with books and asked again, “Are you sure you don’t need me to help you carry them?”

Cai Xinyue’s gaze merely swept over Yuan Xiaoxiao’s group before she looked away and shook her head with a helpless smile. “I still have to ask the teacher to help me mark the scope of the exam… I hope the teacher won’t be angry.”

“Didn’t you take a leave of absence? And it really was because you weren’t feeling well.” The senior glanced at the clock on the wall and didn’t say more, waving goodbye. “Then I’ll wait for you in the activity room.”

Cai Xinyue nodded. When she turned to go to the elevator, Yuan Xiaoxiao and her group also arrived to wait.

She glanced at them, earning a massive eye-roll from Yuan Xiaoxiao.

The incident where Hua Luoyue fought last time had been settled quietly. On the surface, no one was punished. But the counselor was transferred, and Yuan Xiaoxiao had to stay home for a week. Upon her return, she showed no sign of restraint; every time she bumped into Hua Luoyue, she put on a menacing face.

As an indirect participant, Cai Xinyue didn’t receive much of a warm welcome either.

However, Cai Xinyue didn’t care. She already had a bad relationship with Yuan Xiaoxiao, and after finding out she brought thugs to bully a classmate, her impression of her was even worse. Normally, Cai Xinyue was friendly to everyone, but now when she encountered Yuan Xiaoxiao and her lackeys, she didn’t even bother to say hello.

The elevator stopped on the top floor. Although the Eldest Miss Yuan was in a bad mood, she was too lazy to take the stairs. Even though Cai Xinyue had arrived first, Yuan used her group’s numbers to push Cai Xinyue aside.

Cai Xinyue frowned, but she didn’t want to start a conflict here. She turned toward the stairs, stepped back, and decided to take a different route.

Yuan Xiaoxiao looked triumphant, glancing at the direction the senior had left. Then she scowled and “spat” loudly toward Cai Xinyue’s back.

“Seductress! No wonder she gets along with Hua Luoyue. They’re both the same kind of trash!”

The voice echoed clearly in the empty stairwell. Cai Xinyue paused for a second, but she didn’t stay. Without looking back, she continued climbing the stairs.

She had heard similar things many times before. She had been in a band since middle school, and most of her current teammates had known her since then. Even when there were more girls in the band, rumors still spread. But rather than romance-related gossip, the criticism was usually directed at her personality and way of doing things. However, malicious voices were a minority, and she had long learned to ignore them.

Yuan Xiaoxiao and Cai Xinyue were making up for different classes, so their teachers were in different offices.

By the time Cai Xinyue finished explaining things to her teacher and came out, she passed a corner office and caught a glimpse of Yuan Xiaoxiao acting pitifully toward a teacher. “Please, just this once…”

She sounded nothing like the girl who acted tough toward her classmates in private. Cai Xinyue rubbed the goosebumps on her arms and hurried downstairs.

Not long after she left, Yuan Xiaoxiao also came out of the office. Her lackeys were waiting for her downstairs. Seeing her, one of them walked up with a stack of photos.

“Is it done?” Yuan Xiaoxiao asked.

“Yes…” The girl nodded repeatedly. She looked around to make sure no one was watching before handing the photos to Yuan Xiaoxiao. “A brother of mine handled it. There’s no record. We’ll just say we found them on the ground.”

Yuan Xiaoxiao flipped through the photos one by one, her lips curling into a smirk.

“Post these on the notice board for me. The more visible the spot, the better.”

City A.

After signing the contract, Zhao Xinyan personally walked Yu Zhezhi to the parking lot. The business matters had been concluded in the meeting hall; the walk down was for “private matters.” The second Miss Zhao was very concerned about her friend’s affairs and couldn’t help but say a few more words.

“For the wedding banquet in a month, please, Sister Yu, do us the honor of attending.”

Yu Zhezhi had just received Miss Zhong’s wedding invitation from her. The date was set for New Year’s Day, January 1st. Even though it was a political marriage, Miss Zhong wasn’t unwilling; compared to a joke-like romance, the more grand the wedding ceremony, the more prestige she gained.

Yu Zhezhi accepted the invitation, giving face to Miss Zhao, and promised she would be there.

Miss Zhao was naturally pleased and joked, “The 1st is a holiday, so the student should be off as well. We’ve heard rumors for so long; Sister Yu should finally let us meet her.”

Yu Zhezhi’s expression remained unchanged as she said “Alright,” but she was sighing inwardly. This was the downside of pretending to marry for “love.” Miss Zhao had no malice; she was actually being kind by providing a suitable occasion to make her partner public, which would silence those spreading rumors behind her back.

Yu Zhezhi had already set her stance; she had no reason to refuse such a well-intentioned “help.” Fortunately, based on her recent behavior, Hua Luoyue was being quite obedient.

Yu Zhezhi entered the airport with the invitation. After thinking it over, she felt relieved. Her original plan was to go to City X after signing with the Zhao family anyway. Mainly because there were branch office matters requiring her presence; seeing Hua Luoyue was just incidental. Now with the wedding invitation, she could explain it in person.

When she got off the plane, it was past mealtime. Yu Zhezhi had eaten a little on the flight, so she went straight to the branch office upon arriving in City X.

Before she could finish reading the documents on her desk, Assistant Li called from City A.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hua Luoyue…” Assistant Li hesitated.

“What happened to her now?” Yu Zhezhi’s hand stopped.

“She…” Assistant Li hesitated, then spoke quickly in a low voice. “She seems to have gotten into another fight.”

Yu Zhezhi: “…”

I was just praising her for being obedient.

Assistant Li continued, “A teacher from the school just called me. It seems there’s a new teacher in charge…”

Last time, Assistant Li’s number was left as the contact for the fight, so they called her again this time. Yu Zhezhi looked down at the documents, finding it impossible to read a single word. She closed the folder, massaged her brow, and asked, “What was it about this time?”

“The teacher didn’t say, they just said they want to have a proper talk with the guardian. But it seems it’s that same student surnamed Yuan from last time.”

Yu Zhezhi recalled the previous incident, and her anger subsided slightly. “Didn’t I tell you to send a warning to that family last time?”

Assistant Li felt a bit wronged. Last time, it was clear that the girl named Yuan was a bully. Yu Zhezhi had told her to “send a greeting” to the Yuan family, but also told her not to be too flashy about it. She could only give a subtle warning to the parents to discipline their daughter.

Upon hearing who the warning was from, President Yuan had agreed immediately, apologizing repeatedly and promising to “properly educate his daughter.” He was quite sincere afterward; he identified the disreputable thugs around his daughter, taught them a lesson, and grounded her at home for a few days to reflect. He had even reported the identities of those thugs to Assistant Li.

Assistant Li had mentioned it to Yu Zhezhi, but the latter, hearing that they had already been disciplined, didn’t take it to heart and let it go.

Now, regardless of how much blame lay with Hua Luoyue, it was clear from the opponent’s identity that President Yuan’s “education” of his daughter hadn’t been very effective. But it made sense—if President Yuan truly knew how to educate his daughter, she wouldn’t have developed such a lawless personality in the first place.

Of course, Assistant Li couldn’t blame Yu Zhezhi for being too indifferent, which caused others to take it lightly as well. She could only change the subject.

“They’re all standing in the office right now; it just happened. President Yu, should I have someone from the City X office go over?”

Yu Zhezhi glanced at the wedding invitation on her desk. “No need. I’ll go take a look.”

At the school gates, Yu Zhezhi still remembered the way to the office.

Hua Luoyue and Yuan Xiaoxiao were standing on opposite sides of the room, by the front and back doors respectively, as punishment. The latter’s hair was a mess, and her face looked much more tragic—aside from a glaring black eye, her makeup was ruined by tears, smudging around her eyes and mouth. It was hard to tell what was a wound and what was smeared makeup. She was currently sobbing loudly and pitifully.

Hua Luoyue stood by the front door, silent and clean-faced. If it weren’t for the fact that a teacher had called her guardian again, she wouldn’t look like she had been in a fight at all.

In contrast, Cai Xinyue, who stood beside her, had three obvious scratches running from the corner of her right eye to her cheek, a bruise on her lip, and a popped button on her inner shirt with loose threads. At a glance, she looked more like the one who had been fighting.

Yu Zhezhi’s gaze lingered on Cai Xinyue’s face for a few seconds. She remembered that during the last fight, the witness was also this girl. Then her gaze shifted downward. Between the two girls, a bouquet of withered flowers lay at their feet, the stems broken and half the petals torn off, looking exceptionally miserable.

Hua Luoyue was whispering to Cai Xinyue with her head down. Hearing the approaching footsteps, she looked up and met Yu Zhezhi’s gaze. She looked somewhat surprised.

“Obedient? Huh?” Yu Zhezhi gave a light snort. “You little liar…”