A Self-Cultivation of a Stand-in [Transmigration GL] - Chapter 5

As soon as those words left her mouth, everyone in the room—including Hua Luoyue—was stunned.

The people present knew more or less about Hua Luoyue’s family situation. Just a month ago, debt collectors had blocked her at the school gates, and she had even approached the counselor to ask about dropping out. Although the counselor was biased toward wealthy students like Yuan Xiaoxiao, he had repeatedly urged her to persevere with her studies, suggesting she borrow money from relatives or friends to get by. At the time, Hua Luoyue had said that no relatives were willing to associate with her family anymore.

If she hadn’t truly been at a dead end, she wouldn’t have wanted to quit school to work. This extraordinarily elegant and beautiful woman had never appeared before, and at first glance, she didn’t look like someone Hua Luoyue’s background could easily connect with.

But since she claimed to be the guardian and Hua Luoyue didn’t refute it, the counselor could only suppress his doubts for the moment.

“You are… Hua Luoyue’s sister?” The counselor unconsciously adopted a respectful tone, and his wording became much softer. “You’re here to handle the conflict between Hua Luoyue and her classmates, right?”

Yu Zhezhi gave a noncommittal nod. Before the counselor could say anything else, her gaze swept over his desk, and she spoke unhurriedly: “Why don’t we first talk about your side ‘business’ for extra cash?”

The counselor noticed her gaze, and his face suddenly paled. The smile on his face nearly collapsed as he stammered, “What are you talking about? I don’t understand what you mean.”

Yu Zhezhi took a document handed to her by Assistant Li and glanced at the nearby students. “Should we let them stay and listen?”

The counselor snapped to his senses and quickly looked up at Yuan Xiaoxiao. “You guys go back first—a little friction between classmates shouldn’t be taken so seriously. I’ll have a proper chat with you all later when I have time.”

Yuan Xiaoxiao looked indignant, but the counselor was too unsettled to comfort her.

“But…”

Yuan Xiaoxiao wanted to say more, but the counselor glared at her. She could only shut her mouth in grievance, huffing as she turned to leave. Just as she stepped out of the office, she heard the counselor defending himself behind her.

“Student Yuan Xiaoxiao is usually a bit headstrong. She’s an only child, and all the family assets will be hers in the future. Growing up pampered, it’s inevitable she’s a bit spoiled. But she has no malice; it’s just a minor spat between classmates…”

Yu Zhezhi didn’t even lift her eyelids, giving Yuan Xiaoxiao zero extra attention throughout the entire process.

“The Yuan family, is it? Since she’s spoiled at home, then let her family handle the education.” Yu Zhezhi tossed the file onto the desk and said bluntly, “I’d like you to first explain why you’ve been blocking Hua Luoyue’s financial aid.”

With a bang, the office door slammed shut. The words following that were no longer audible.

Hua Luoyue came out following Assistant Li. Yuan Xiaoxiao originally wanted to curse her out, but when Assistant Li looked over with an icy expression, Yuan Xiaoxiao instinctively shrunk her neck. Not daring to say more, she huffed and turned away.

The boys with minor injuries were local thugs; seeing their employer run off, they glanced at each other and dispersed as well. In a real fight, a thin girl like Hua Luoyue naturally couldn’t beat several grown men, but her previous ferocity had been terrifying. Her kicks and punches aimed only at vitals, and she hadn’t flinched while facing so many people, seemingly feeling no fear or pain. Her calm, almost indifferent demeanor made her look like a genuine lunatic who didn’t value her own life.

If Yuan Xiaoxiao hadn’t brought the teacher in time, the fight likely wouldn’t have ended so simply. These thugs usually relied on numbers and verbal intimidation to extort timid students; once things reached the point of shedding blood, they felt fear too.

Now, seeing that Hua Luoyue had a powerful-looking woman as her backer—even if it was just a “Sugar Daddy” relationship—they dared not look for more trouble.

The aggressive crowd vanished in an instant, leaving only Hua Luoyue, Cai Xinyue, and Assistant Li, who was calling for a car.

Cai Xinyue finally snapped out of it. She looked at Assistant Li and, seeing she wasn’t paying attention, whispered to Hua Luoyue, “Is that really your sister?”

Hua Luoyue had no intention of explaining in detail and simply said, “In a way…”

Cai Xinyue speculated, “Is she someone who just returned to the country or just recently got back in touch…?” She looked worried. Everyone knew how difficult Hua Luoyue’s life had been; it made no sense to have a sister like that and still live in poverty. If a rich relative suddenly appeared out of nowhere, it looked suspiciously like a scam.

Hua Luoyue smiled and said, “We’ve known each other a long time, we just only recently got back in touch.”

This wasn’t exactly a lie. Yu Zhezhi was a successful young entrepreneur; her name appeared occasionally in financial news. A few years ago, when she took over the Yu Corporation and rebuilt the branch in City X, she had even been on the local evening news. A one-sided acquaintance still counted as knowing someone.

Cai Xinyue breathed a sigh of relief before turning the conversation to Yuan Xiaoxiao. “I didn’t think she was that kind of person. In freshman year, I heard she forced two girls to drop out back in high school. I thought it was an exaggeration, but now it seems it might be true… She looks so cute; you really can’t judge a book by its cover.”

In the Foreign Languages College, girls far outnumbered boys, and there were many small cliques. Friction and arguments were common, but usually, the worst thing was tattle-telling to teachers or reporting cheating. Most people just kept their distance. This was the first time Cai Xinyue had seen someone bring thugs to corner a classmate.

Cai Xinyue seemed even more furious than the victim, Hua Luoyue. Noting this excessive enthusiasm, Hua Luoyue looked at her sideways. As they talked, she began to recall things about Cai Xinyue—the girl was the opposite of the original host. Cai Xinyue was a loner who was always in a hurry, but she was cheerful and popular. However, since neither had the habit of expanding their social circles and lived in different dorm buildings, they were only nodding acquaintances.

There was no reason for Cai Xinyue to suddenly take such an interest just because of one tip-off during class. Hua Luoyue asked, “Do you need something from me?”

Cai Xinyue blinked, then slapped her forehead as if remembering. “Right, right! About that event from a few days ago, I’ve been wanting to find you—”

Before she could finish, Assistant Li hung up and walked over. “I’ll take you to the hospital for a check-up first. If everything’s fine, I’ll bring you back to pack. I’ve arranged for someone to move your things to the apartment.” Noticing Cai Xinyue, she asked, “Do you have anything else?”

Seeing Assistant Li was like a primary student seeing a headmaster; Cai Xinyue stood up straight and nodded like a chick pecking grain, before shaking her head. “It… it’s nothing urgent…”

Assistant Li replied, “Then we’ll talk after we’re finished here.”

Cai Xinyue: “…” She was just being polite.

But Assistant Li was a woman of action. She thanked Cai Xinyue, told Hua Luoyue to treat her to a meal next time, and hurried her toward the school gate where the car was waiting. Due to this emergency, Yu Zhezhi’s schedule had been pushed back repeatedly, and Assistant Li was worried about making her unhappy.

Hua Luoyue nodded and said “Thank you” to Cai Xinyue.

Cai Xinyue could only wave from where she stood. “Then I’ll find you during class on Monday!”

Watching Hua Luoyue follow Assistant Li with an uneven gait, she couldn’t help but worry. Did she get hurt in the fight?

The office door behind her creaked open. The counselor, wiping cold sweat from his brow, saw Yu Zhezhi out while murmuring apologies and excuses. Cai Xinyue didn’t have time to listen; she saw Hua Luoyue stumble downstairs and look as though she was about to collapse.

“Oh no!” Cai Xinyue cried out and ran downstairs.

Yu Zhezhi looked over and witnessed the moment Hua Luoyue fell. Her brow furrowed. She stopped wasting time with the man behind her and headed down.

Assistant Li, who was in front of Hua Luoyue, was the one truly terrified. She turned around to see the girl already on the ground. Before she could even dial for an ambulance, Yu Zhezhi swept past her like a gust of wind.

“Is she hurt?” Yu Zhezhi asked.

“I don’t know…” Assistant Li shook her head frantically. “Her expression seemed normal just a moment ago.”

Except for the fact that she hadn’t been talking much. But since the old Hua Luoyue was used to keeping her head down and remaining silent, she hadn’t thought much of it.

“I’ll call the ambulance directly,” Assistant Li said.

Yu Zhezhi reached out to touch Hua Luoyue’s forehead. It was burning hot. Seeing her pale face and cold sweat, Yu Zhezhi decisively bent down and picked her up. The weight—lighter than she had expected—made her pause for a fraction of a second.

She quickly recovered and turned to the following Cai Xinyue. “Where is the nearest hospital?”

“Wenhua West Road, about three or four kilometers away,” Cai Xinyue answered quickly.

“Please lead the way.”

Yu Zhezhi carried the unconscious Hua Luoyue toward the parking lot. Cai Xinyue froze for a second before rushing to follow.

The hospital wasn’t busy. After a series of tests, no major illness was found. However, the doctor’s gaze toward the “relative,” Yu Zhezhi, was full of condemnation, as if looking at an abuser.

“Hypoglycemia caused by malnutrition… Also, do you know how long it’s been since she last ate?”

Yu Zhezhi’s face stiffened. This was the first time she had been accused of “mistreating” someone—and that someone was her legal partner. Faced with the doctor’s glare, she found herself unable to defend herself.

She didn’t feel guilty, but this was likely the first time she truly grasped the extent of the hardship Hua Luoyue had been living in. It might have been exhaustion, or perhaps she really had no money and couldn’t bear the cost of a meal. Then there was the bullying at school.

Yu Zhezhi had known Hua Luoyue was a loner at school, but she herself had come from a prestigious university with a strong academic atmosphere where such petty disputes were rare. Judging by her own experience, she had assumed the cold treatment at school wouldn’t amount to much of a storm. To put it bluntly, she wasn’t Hua Luoyue’s mother; she didn’t have enough affection to be concerned with every detail.

But a single phone call had laid the facts she was too lazy to look at right in front of her, and she could no longer sit idly by. At the very least, as of yesterday, Hua Luoyue was hers. If the girl brought trouble upon herself, that was one thing, but if others dared to bully her, it was a slap in Yu Zhezhi’s face.

Now, being accused of mistreatment, Yu Zhezhi was almost driven to a cold laugh by the absurdity.

Emerging from the doctor’s office with the report, Yu Zhezhi scanned it from start to finish, her brow twitching. When Assistant Li returned from finishing the hospitalization paperwork, she saw Yu Zhezhi sitting on a hallway bench, grinding her teeth in frustration with nowhere to vent her anger.

Seeing the assistant, Yu Zhezhi tossed the report at her. “Find her a chef and supplement her diet according to a nutritional plan.”

Assistant Li scanned the report and couldn’t help but look sympathetic.

“How can someone be this stupid,” Yu Zhezhi said, then paused, realizing it was inappropriate to speak that way about an bullied patient. She added, “How can someone be this unlucky.”

Assistant Li nodded in agreement. Hua Luoyue’s life thus far had been a giant definition of the word “tragic.” Even if she wasn’t very resilient, the amount of external malice she had suffered was simply too much. If she hadn’t met Yu Zhezhi, it was hard to imagine what kind of swamp her life would have ended up in.

Assistant Li recalled what Hua Luoyue had told her the day before—that she would be grateful just to finish school in peace. She had initially thought it was just politeness, but now she saw the girl wasn’t entirely senseless.

“She hasn’t woken up yet; she’s on an IV in the ward,” Assistant Li said. “Do you want to go see her?”

Yu Zhezhi didn’t hesitate for a second. “No. Bad luck!”

Assistant Li checked the time. “Should I book the flight back for this afternoon? If we leave now, we can reach City A before dark.”

Yu Zhezhi twirled the end of her hair, looked at the clock at the end of the hallway, hesitated for a moment, and then said, “Let’s wait a bit longer.”

When Hua Luoyue woke up, she smelled the pungent scent of disinfectant and saw the stark white ceiling. She was clearly in a hospital. For a split second, she thought she had successfully transmigrated back. However, she heard no medical machinery—only the sound of people walking past outside. It felt more like a regular ward.

Hua Luoyue sat up and saw her scar-free hands, realizing she was still in the new world. As she stared blankly at her palms, someone pushed the door open.

She looked up and met Yu Zhezhi’s gaze. Yu Zhezhi paused, her eyes shifting away slightly. After a microscopic pause of half a second, she walked into the room and placed a bag of apples heavily on the bedside table.

“I was just passing by,” Yu Zhezhi said coldly.