A Self-Cultivation of a Stand-in [Transmigration GL] - Chapter 4

Yu Zhezhi carefully sifted through her memories of Hua Luoyue.

The girl’s primary impression was one of withdrawal and gloom; she was someone who disliked social interaction and always kept her distance from crowds. Before the marriage, Yu Zhezhi had investigated her background thoroughly. The evaluations from her former neighbors aligned perfectly with that impression.

One could also add “innately cowardly” to the list.

Two specific incidents stood out most vividly to Yu Zhezhi. First, a neighbor mentioned a period when the sounds of violent arguments frequently erupted from the Hua household. Hua Luoyue would return from school and stand outside the front door for hours, only daring to open it once the noise inside had subsided.

Second was the time after Hua Luoyue’s mother fell ill. At that point, Mother Hua was still conscious and possessed a strong will to live. Gritting her teeth, she sold the family home to fund her medical treatment.

At that time, Father Hua had not yet been arrested. For a while, he acted the part of a devoted, attentive husband, fully supporting his wife’s treatment and showing great enthusiasm for the house sale. However, the moment the money from the sale touched his hands, his true colors were revealed. He not only claimed the proceeds as his own but also ransacked the house during the move, stripping it of all savings, jewelry, and anything else of value.

Hua Luoyue had been tasked by her mother to keep an eye on her father. But the moment her father turned and roared at her, she froze in place, unable to squeeze out a single word of protest. The neighbors, seeing the front door wide open and the injustice occurring, even tried to step in and stop him. While the interference of outsiders did little good, Hua Luoyue merely hid in a corner and watched, too terrified to speak.

The neighbors also noted that one of the parents had violent tendencies while the other was naturally severe; both had raised their daughter with a cycle of scolding and physical punishment since she was a child. This was exactly why Hua Luoyue had developed such a timid personality. To say she was someone who “wouldn’t hit back when struck or talk back when scolded” was an understatement.

Someone so accustomed to submissiveness should, by all accounts, have nothing to do with fighting. Unless, of course, a bottom line had been breached.

Yu Zhezhi’s first instinct was that the other party must have done something even more heinous than her scumbag father to provoke such a violent retaliation from Hua Luoyue.

She had even prepared for the worst-case scenario: “She wasn’t… assaulted, was she?”

Assistant Li quickly interrupted her mental runaway: “Supposedly, Hua Luoyue was the one who started it.”

Yu Zhezhi: “…”

Well, she certainly has grown some a spine.

In the school office.

“They were clearly the ones who started the verbal abuse! They even insulted her critically ill mother!” Cai Xinyue spoke with righteous indignation as she pulled out her phone. “I even have a recording! And they were the ones who threw Hua Luoyue’s phone into the fountain!”

The counselor responsible for mediation looked awkward, glancing briefly at Yuan Xiaoxiao, who was standing to the side.

Yuan Xiaoxiao sat there nonchalantly playing with her nails, treating Cai Xinyue’s accusations like wind whistling past her ears. Once Cai Xinyue finished, Yuan Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes and pointed at the several boys nearby who were sporting “battle scars.”

“Hua Luoyue injured them—isn’t that a fact?” Yuan Xiaoxiao said righteously. “We were just cracking a few jokes with her. Who knew she’d be so sensitive?”

She then began pointing accusingly at Hua Luoyue: “I heard her father was arrested and sent to prison because of gambling and fighting. Like father, like daughter. Being around a classmate with violent tendencies makes me feel terrified. Teacher, can’t you expel her? Or at least transfer her to another class. I don’t dare stay in the same room as her anymore.”

As Yuan Xiaoxiao spoke, she put on a pained expression and gestured to a tiny scratch on her face.

When the fight actually broke out earlier, she had run faster than anyone. With a crowd of boys blocking the way, no matter how fierce Hua Luoyue was, she couldn’t have jumped over them to hit Yuan Xiaoxiao. That tiny scratch was actually from a bamboo branch she had accidentally brushed against while fleeing through the grove.

In the end, she was the one who called the counselor, reporting that Hua Luoyue was fighting on campus.

The report was: One girl beating up several boys.

Those boys weren’t even students of the university. They were currently grimacing in pain; the worst among them had a black eye, which looked somewhat comical. In contrast, Hua Luoyue had a bruise on the corner of her mouth and an abrasion on her forehead, making her look like the one who had taken the heavier beating.

Furthermore, everyone involved seemed to have only superficial injuries—no missing limbs or broken bones.

Normally, such a matter could be handled as a big deal or a small one. As a representative of the school, the counselor naturally didn’t want a scandal and would have been happy to turn a blind eye and let it go.

The problem was that Yuan Xiaoxiao was currently gripping the issue and refusing to let go, demanding the school take action. On the other hand, there was a witness, Cai Xinyue, who insisted Yuan Xiaoxiao’s side provoked the fight; if the recording on her phone were released, it wouldn’t look good for anyone.

The counselor had always been biased toward Yuan Xiaoxiao in the past, but now he found himself in a difficult position. Finally, he could only look at the other party involved, Hua Luoyue, hoping she would apologize and give everyone a way out to settle the matter.

“Hua Luoyue, regardless of the reason, getting into a physical fight at school is wrong of you,” the counselor cleared his throat, adopting a fake serious tone. “How can you resort to violence over such a trivial matter? You’ll suffer greatly once you enter society. However, considering your young age, there is still a chance for you to correct your ways…”

Knock, knock, knock…

A sudden knock on the door interrupted the counselor’s long-winded lecture. Even Hua Luoyue was stunned by the person who pushed the door open and walked in.

The first person to enter was Yu Zhezhi.

But Hua Luoyue had only called Assistant Li.

The school didn’t want the situation to escalate and required that if mediation failed, a guardian must come to resolve the issue. Everyone knew that Hua Luoyue’s family consisted only of a mother lying unconscious in a hospital. Aside from her mother, the only connection she had was Yu Zhezhi’s side.

Assistant Li had previously pulled her aside and told her quite clearly: Do not bother Yu Zhezhi unless it’s necessary. If there was a special circumstance that required intervention, she was to call Assistant Li, who would handle the arrangements.

Naturally, Hua Luoyue had called Assistant Li directly. She had expected Assistant Li to send a subordinate to smooth things over with the school and suppress the incident.

She never expected Yu Zhezhi to show up in person.

What happened to being “very busy with work”?

After entering the room, Yu Zhezhi’s gaze swept the area until it locked onto Hua Luoyue’s startled eyes. When she saw the clear injuries on the girl’s face, her gaze instantly darkened.

To Yu Zhezhi, damage to that face was an extremely infuriating matter.

Her presence, forged by years of being in a high-ranking position, was unlike an ordinary person’s. Everyone in the office was momentarily stunned by this stranger’s sudden arrival. The counselor’s eyes instinctively glued to her, scanning her from her face down to her figure.

Yu Zhezhi cast a cold glance at him and asked, “Are you the teacher?”

A chill ran down the counselor’s spine, snapping him out of his daze. He finally remembered to ask: “And you are…?”

Yu Zhezhi walked over to Hua Luoyue’s side, lifted the girl’s chin with her fingertips, and carefully inspected the wounds on her face. After confirming they were merely superficial and hadn’t actually disfigured her, she felt relieved. She turned back to answer the question.

“I am Hua Luoyue’s guardian.”