Chapter 5
“It… it was a female Omega. There was also a carriage parked outside, and I vaguely… vaguely heard a child playing.”
That settled it.
From that description, it could only have been Ran Zhixi.
But why would Ran Zhixi do such a thing?
Although the original character and the female lead had a certain degree of “connection” in the novel, surely things weren’t supposed to develop this way?
This turn of events was completely wrong.
Cheng Jin frowned. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that the situation was deviating from how it should have unfolded.
Seeing her expression, Zhai Min assumed she was feeling unwell. Growing anxious, she instinctively raised a hand to touch Cheng Jin’s forehead.
Startled, Cheng Jin immediately took a large step backward.
Zhai Min… suddenly became uneasy as well.
Lowering her head, she began rambling nervously. “I… Ah Jin… I noticed that your waist seemed uncomfortable. I’ll go get you another quilt.”
The heated brick bed was uneven and bumpy. After sleeping on it for several days, Cheng Jin felt as though her waist was practically broken.
It really was uncomfortable.
Supporting her faintly aching waist with one hand, Cheng Jin pushed thoughts of Ran Zhixi to the back of her mind.
After all, she had more important things to deal with right now. She had gambling debts to repay, and she still needed to make a living.
She couldn’t afford to spend so much time thinking about other matters.
She needed to resolve this entire mess before she could live a peaceful, trouble-free life in this world.
The extra quilt Zhai Min brought allowed Cheng Jin to get a fairly comfortable night’s sleep. However, the lingering effects of her heat cycle had yet to subside, leaving her feeling somewhat weak and unsteady when she woke the following morning.
Fortunately, when she stumbled out of her room, she discovered that Zhai Min had already prepared a bowl of medicinal decoction for her.
“At a time like this, you’ll feel better after drinking a few more doses of this medicine.”
Although Zhai Min and Cheng Jin were mother and daughter, there was still a distinction between Omegas and Alphas. Some things were rather embarrassing to discuss, even between them.
So after saying those words, Zhai Min took her walking stick and headed outside.
The backyard and the fields beyond the hills were ready for planting, and Zhai Min had plenty of work to do.
Yet despite how busy she was, she never forgot to prepare three meals for Cheng Jin every day.
Cheng Jin wasn’t the original character. Seeing Zhai Min working so hard made her feel terrible, so she hurried forward and took the hoe from her hands.
“Mother, leave this work until I return from the Ran residence. You should rest for a couple of days.”
“No.”
Naturally, Zhai Min refused and tried to take the hoe back.
Cheng Jin casually tossed it beneath the eaves and began reasoning with her.
“Mother, I have plans for the vegetable patch in the backyard and the fields beyond the hills. I intend to plant some medicinal herbs and sell them in the city.”
Hearing this, Zhai Min stopped trying to retrieve the hoe, although her eyes were still filled with doubt.
Cheng Jin didn’t rush to explain further. Instead, she waited quietly for a moment.
After a period of silence, Zhai Min finally nodded and slowly returned to the house.
A river doesn’t freeze three feet deep in a single day. Given everything that had happened in the past, even this small change was already an improvement.
Her efforts to show kindness hadn’t been entirely in vain.
That realization brought a little comfort to Cheng Jin, who was still sleepy from getting up early.
Perhaps getting along with others was simply a matter of taking things one step at a time.
She smiled, went inside to drink the medicinal decoction Zhai Min had prepared, and changed into the clothes Ran Zhixi had sent the previous day. After informing Zhai Min that she was leaving, she hurried out.
The clothes she wore underneath were still the same ones from yesterday. Cheng Jin had washed them before going to bed and laid them on the heated brick bed to dry. They were still slightly warm when she put them on.
Bathed in the morning sunlight, she made her way toward the Ran residence.
Just like yesterday, the entrance to the Ran residence was crowded with people, and the constant shouting was rather irritating.
Cheng Jin stood in the same place as the previous day. Before long, a clerk approached to greet her.
It was a different person, and her attitude was entirely different from yesterday’s.
“Alpha Cheng? Manager Huo has been waiting for you for quite some time.”
The clerk led Cheng Jin into an inner hall. Before entering, she bowed and announced, “Eldest Miss, Manager Huo, I’ve brought her here.”
Cheng Jin had expected only two people to be inside.
But the moment she entered, she saw Ji Han.
Unlike Cheng Jin, Ji Han had changed her clothes. Instead of the crimson robe she’d worn yesterday, she was now dressed in dark blue.
Compared with Cheng Jin’s worn, jujube-red clothing, Ji Han looked considerably more composed and dignified.
She stood beside Manager Huo, watching Cheng Jin with a smile in her eyes.
Ran Zhixi sat quietly to one side, beautiful and elegant, as though she had no intention of participating in today’s discussion.
Cheng Jin couldn’t resist glancing at her. Seeing Ran Zhixi lift her teacup, she returned her attention to Manager Huo.
She waited for the manager to speak.
“As it happens, when I examined Alpha Cheng’s documents yesterday, I noticed that the information didn’t match the name plaque. It turns out that yours had been mixed up with Ji Han’s.”
“Since that’s the case, after discussing the matter with Eldest Miss and the other members of the family, we’ve decided that both of you may enter the Ran family’s pharmacology academy.”
Cheng Jin’s eyelids twitched at those words, and she instinctively looked toward Ji Han.
Ji Han clasped her hands and bowed politely.
“My name is Ji Han. We met briefly yesterday, Alpha Cheng. I wonder if you still remember me?”
“Of course. How could I possibly forget someone as remarkable as Alpha Ji?”
After all, Ji Han was the protagonist of this novel. It would be difficult for Cheng Jin to forget her.
Besides, Cheng Jin knew not only how remarkable Ji Han had appeared yesterday, but also how remarkable she would become in the future.
The mere fact that Ji Han had appeared at the Ran residence today was proof enough.
After all, most of the students invited to enroll in the academy came from reasonably well-off families and possessed some knowledge of pharmacology.
Another portion had simply purchased their places with money.
And then there were people like the original Cheng Jin, whose families had longstanding connections with the Rans.
The ancient world Cheng Jin had entered was quite different from the traditional social hierarchy she knew, in which scholars ranked above farmers, artisans, and merchants.
Here, merchants didn’t occupy a low position in society. In fact, apart from pursuing an official career, engaging in commerce was considered one of the best paths to success.
Of course, farmers and artisans weren’t looked down upon either.
In the State of Yue, social distinctions weren’t particularly rigid when it came to these occupational classes. Instead, power and influence mattered more than anything else.
Farmers and artisans could spend their entire lives working and enjoy a peaceful existence, provided they didn’t offend anyone they couldn’t afford to provoke.
Conversely, scholars and merchants wouldn’t fare any better if they offended someone powerful.
In some ways, the system was equal.
In other ways, it wasn’t equal at all.
But poverty was something people from every social class wanted to escape.
That was true for Ji Han, and it had also been true for the original Cheng Jin.
However, Ji Han didn’t belong to any of those categories. She merely possessed a little knowledge of pharmacology.
Under normal circumstances, that wouldn’t have been enough to attract anyone’s attention.
But as the protagonist, Ji Han had something extraordinary about her.
She was practically someone everyone adored, as though all the luck in this world naturally gravitated toward her.
Therefore, even though Cheng Jin’s arrival had disrupted Ji Han’s original path into the Ran family, she believed Ji Han would inevitably carve out another route for herself.
And it would probably be a path delivered straight to her doorstep.
So even without Cheng Jin surrendering her enrollment slot, Ji Han still had the ability to enter the Ran residence and join the pharmacology academy.
In fact, she would eventually marry into the Ran family and become Ran Zhixi’s Alpha husband.
With the protagonist’s halo protecting her, even Manager Huo regarded Ji Han with special favor, looking thoroughly satisfied with her.
As for Ran Zhixi…
Her attitude was somewhat difficult to read.
She glanced at Ji Han with a faint smile, then turned toward Manager Huo.
Setting down her teacup, she spoke with a hint of impatience, without sparing Ji Han another glance.
“Since the matter has already been settled, Uncle Huo, I’ll be leaving now.”
“Eldest Miss… you’re still supposed to visit Teacher Zhou later…”
“Xiangxiang is waiting for me.”
Ran Zhixi had clearly run out of patience. She put down her teacup, rose to her feet, and headed toward the door.
Throughout the conversation, Cheng Jin had felt like an outsider.
But when Ran Zhixi walked past her, she suddenly became acutely aware of her own presence.
Because although Ran Zhixi carried herself with a cool, detached composure, as though they were complete strangers, the fragrance of Angelica dahurica emanating from her still carried traces of Cheng Jin’s own scent signals.
It was a silent reminder that her very existence seemed to be disrupting the original novel’s plot.
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