After Transmigrating into a Redemption Novel as the Evil Stepmother - Chapter 7

Zhou An’an liked Ji Shuangci quite a bit—currently, it was the kind of fondness one has for a kindred spirit.

But for some reason, her first reaction wasn’t to seek justice for Ji Shuangci; it was jealousy. A wild, frantic jealousy. A surge of envy rushed to her brain so fiercely it felt like it would burn right through her, finally manifesting as a resentful sentence:

“Ming Jiayue, you’ve never cared about me like this.”

The sudden spike in volume made one’s ears ache. Ming Jiayue was stunned for a moment, then she couldn’t help but laugh.

Was this that unique attraction between two female leads? Was Zhou An’an actually getting jealous already?

“Zhou An’an, what kind of messy nonsense is going through your head all day? I think it’s necessary to have a chat with your father about your education.”

At the mention of her father, Zhou An’an’s arrogance instantly deflated, but she still pressed for an answer.

“Then what is your relationship? Why do you pay so much attention to Sister Shuang?”

“You’ve been married to my dad for three years. In those three years, aside from scolding me, you’ve done nothing but belittle and mock me!”

With eyes shimmering with unshed tears and emotions running high, Zhou An’an completely forgot she was waiting for Ji Shuangci to finish school. Consequently, she didn’t notice Ji Shuangci appearing behind her.

The main crowd had already dispersed. A few scattered students passed by the Erudition Building, and for a moment, it became so quiet that only Zhou An’an’s loud voice could be heard.

Those last two sentences entered Ji Shuangci’s ears without missing a single word.

Her eyelashes fluttered rapidly. Ji Shuangci froze in place, her fingers involuntarily curling tight. Her entire focus instantly shifted to the phone Zhou An’an was holding.

Zhou An’an is on the phone with President Ming?

Out of some unspeakable private curiosity, Ji Shuangci didn’t make a sound. Like Zhou An’an, she waited with urgent longing for the answer from the other end of the line.

There was another soft laugh, its emotion hard to discern, carrying a hint of lazy, post-sleep nasality.

“An’an, I won’t scold you casually anymore.”

“Probably because… I suddenly want to be a kind, good person.”

Zhou An’an: “…”

What an unexpected answer. Zhou An’an was so annoyed she wanted to roll her eyes, yet she refused to let the obsession go.

“Then why is it different specifically for Sister Shuang?”

Rubbing her brow, Ming Jiayue got out of bed and pulled open the curtains. In the afterglow of the sunset, the distant city silhouette seemed submerged in an orange sea.

Ming Jiayue dithered for a moment, a relaxed smile gathering in her eyes.

“Probably… because she is exceptionally beautiful.”

“You know how human nature is; we tend to give preferential treatment to beautiful things.”

So basically, you think I’m ugly?

Zhou An’an felt a lump in her throat but didn’t ask. She had a feeling that if she did, Ming Jiayue would likely reply: “Indeed, your beauty isn’t quite obvious enough.”

Ji Shuangci’s eyes flickered, her heart filled with a strange sensation. After hesitating for a moment, she turned and tiptoed back toward the classroom.

She thought she should wait until An’an finished the call before going down, to avoid making things awkward for her.

Zhou An’an was rendered completely speechless by the irritation. Only then did Ming Jiayue bring up the matter of the forum post again.

Whether it’s school bullying or workplace bullying, it often intensifies through repeated testing. When bullies find that they don’t have to pay a price and that their actions won’t cause them trouble, they become increasingly excessive until they are eventually out of control.

Plan, then act.

How to plan? Preserve evidence in advance, identify the poster’s intent, and lure them into playing their trump card.

How to act? Follow the momentum, muddy the waters, seize the moral high ground, and finally use their own strength against them to defeat the enemy in one move.

Zhou An’an wasn’t stupid; she was just used to solving all problems crudely with money. If money didn’t work, she used more money.

As Zhang Ze’s only daughter and the sole heir to the family business, Zhou An’an had been raised to be far too naive.

Ming Jiayue intended to teach her a lesson. Her slightly raised voice carried a hint of sternness and majesty unlike before.

Even if she hadn’t “run with the pigs,” surely she had “eaten the pork”?

Zhou An’an hung around the playboys of H City. Occasionally, when they got into trouble and needed parents to step in, she had seen how their elders painstakingly taught them.

Except every single time, it was only Zhou An’an who had her father’s secretary handle it.

She didn’t have to do anything, didn’t have to learn anything; she just waited, and someone would settle everything for her.

The reason the powerful are powerful, aside from superficial money and status, is the heritage accumulated over years—like many principles of conduct that schools don’t teach. There are no ready-made classes for it; it’s all brought out bit by bit through the words and deeds of one’s elders.

Zhou An’an knew very well that in H City’s elite circles, many people looked down on her. She also knew she wasn’t very ambitious. While everyone was in the same circle and she was still seeking attention, peers her age were already talking and laughing in the business world.

For once, she didn’t talk back. She straightened her expression and listened to Ming Jiayue very seriously.

Zhou An’an had incredible execution. When she saw injustice on the road, she had to draw her sword to help. Turning around, she mimicked Ming Jiayue’s tone and spoke to Ji Shuangci with great gravity.

“If you cannot make the bully pay a price, then endurance is meaningless.”

“To make them perish, first make them mad.”

“Punishing evil is promoting good!”

Ji Shuangci was dazed. These didn’t sound like words Zhou An’an would say, but sensing the sincere concern, she nodded firmly.

Ji Shuangci was used to enduring, but she wasn’t only capable of enduring.

The two of them divided the work. By the next day, Zhou An’an had identified the poster.

It was a small clique at school, boys and girls whose families had a bit of money. Apparently, one of the boys had praised Ji Shuangci’s looks a few times, which earned her the resentment of a girl who had a crush on him, leading to this whole drama.

Furthermore, that boy was no good either. He had harassed Ji Shuangci before, but after being rejected ruthlessly without any face-saving, he started spreading rumors.

Similar things had happened more than once.

“What a narrow-minded, petty piece of trash.”

Zhou An’an was fuming. Ji Shuangci, organizing evidence nearby, was touched and amused. She reached out and ruffled Zhou An’an’s hair.

“Anger is bad for your health. Thank you, An’an.”

Although Zhou An’an had many friends, very few were truly close. Ji Shuangci rarely had physical contact with anyone, so Zhou An’an’s irritable heart instantly calmed down. Her round eyes sparkled as she looked at Ji Shuangci.

“Sister Shuang, you have such a good temper. I like you even more now.”

Ji Shuangci smiled faintly but didn’t explain. Actually, it wasn’t a matter of having a good or bad temper; it was just that the anger of the weak isn’t worth mentioning.

Meanwhile, the smug little clique grew even angrier when they saw Ji Shuangci didn’t react. They doubled down on their rumors, adding more “spice” and frantically topping and forwarding the posts in school. The new comments were even more eyesores.

“That bitch is so thick-skinned. I wonder how many people have been with her. Can I have a turn too?”

“Aren’t you afraid of getting sick? Careful you don’t catch some nasty disease; it’ll be too late to cry then.”

“I heard even the principal has a thing with her. Why else would she be specially admitted? Someone as poor as her literally lowers the standard of our school.”

“…”

Many students who were just “eating melons” (watching the drama) popped up as the news exploded. The poster confidently forwarded a video from Douyin, vowing to nail Ji Shuangci to the pillar of shame.

[Shocking! XX High School Top Student actually with the Principal in the office…]

[Chauffeured in luxury cars, the background of H City’s most famous top student is actually…]

The titles were all ambiguous yet eye-popping!

More and more students, and even teachers and students from other schools, began to follow the drama.

It was a carnival for the abusers and the ignorant.

Finally, at the moment the original post hit over 5,000 shares and 30,000 likes, the carnival met its curtain call.

One reason was that the video on Douyin suddenly went viral for some reason, getting hundreds of thousands of likes. Netizens in the comments section began tagging the school principal to verify the truth of the video.

The matter eventually alerted the police. The poster and the alt accounts that had been stirring the pot in the comments were all taken away directly from the campus without exception.

At the same moment, evidence posts regarding the clique’s history of bullying and slandering other students began to trend. Every single case was enough to spark public outrage.

There were still voices of doubt online.

“Must be the sugar daddy stepping in.”

“This kind of ‘pure’ girl is just trash. She’ll get what’s coming to her sooner or later.”

“…”

But Zhou An’an was already prepared. Following Ming Jiayue’s instructions, she had secretly found an editor. Once the video was released, the heat of the matter reached a new climax.

There was no leading copy; every sentence was a brief and powerful counterattack.

[On what basis? On the basis of ranking 1st in the city for the high school entrance exam. On the basis of topping the charts in every single subject for three years. On the basis of a landslide victory in grades. On the basis of her being an upright person who never slanders or spreads rumors!]

[…]

Zhou An’an wasn’t a superfan, but she knew some “fandom” tactics. Seeing the heat rising, she added a few more videos on the fly.

[In a world of ugly ducklings, the existence of a swan is a sin.]

[She is truly good, sincere, excellent, and beautiful. She just lacks a bit of the luck required to be liked by the majority.]

The photos used were all candid shots Zhou An’an had taken—at the hospital, at school, at home. No filters or Photoshop were needed; even a fleeting glimpse was pleasing to the eye.

XX High School, Chart-Topping Scholar.

XX High School, Peerless Beauty.

These two titles quickly hit the trending searches. In just a few hours, the comments section underwent a stunning transformation. There were even people claiming to be talent scouts sending private messages, asking if she was interested in entering the entertainment industry.

“Total passerby here, but WOW, that’s a direct crit to the heart from her beauty!”

“Finished reading all the posts. The hate was totally groundless. There wasn’t a single piece of evidence. I really feel for her.”

“Supporting the sister! Does anyone notice even her ID photo is gorgeous?”

“Is no one following her grades? Topping every subject… what kind of god-tier talent is that?”

“She has the looks AND the brains. I want to be a fan, what do I do?”

“Witnessing a top-tier human being.”

…

the organic traffic was impossible to suppress. To Zhou An’an’s surprise, official Douyin accounts from other schools even started openly posting videos to scout her.

The video captions were particularly savage, mocking Mingya High School for being blind to talent.

The principal of Mingya High School was currently dealing with a massive headache—the matter had escalated to the point where the Bureau of Education was calling him!

Truly, “when one side is in trouble, eight sides come to make it harder.”

Ji Shuangci naturally saw the news online as well. She had never felt so vindicated—never this satisfied!

Ji Shuangci finally seemed certain that she really hadn’t done anything wrong. She blinked back tears. She seemed to have a thousand words, but they ultimately converged into the most powerless yet most earnest sentence:

“An’an, thank you.”

“And, thank you, President Ming.”