The Stand-In, Ah Zhao (GL) - Chapter 3

After the hailstorm, Jiangcheng remained under heavy rain for the next three days.

Because of the weather, all the plans Shen Zhao had made with Rui Si’er fell through. They only managed a quick look around the nearby area.

They spent nearly all of their less than three days together at the hotel.

On the last day, the rain was still pouring.

All of Jiangcheng looked as though it had been flooded.

Rui Si’er had booked a high-speed train for the afternoon, and Shen Zhao went with her to the station.

Throughout the journey, Shen Zhao clung to Rui Si’er’s arm, feeling glum. They rarely got to see each other, and after less than three days, they had to part again.

Rui Si’er tilted her head and gently brushed against Shen Zhao’s hair. “Feeling sad?”

Shen Zhao tried to lift the corners of her mouth. She murmured an acknowledgment but said nothing else.

Rui Si’er laughed softly. “I’ll come back during the National Day holiday and celebrate your birthday with you, okay?”

Shen Zhao looked up at her. There were only two weeks until the holiday. “Really?”

“Really,” Rui Si’er said with a smile. “I promise.”

The taxi arrived at the train station. Neither of them wanted to say goodbye, but Shen Zhao couldn’t go past the ticket checkpoint. She stood outside and watched Rui Si’er walk farther and farther away until she disappeared from sight.

Feeling lost, Shen Zhao stood beneath her umbrella by the roadside outside the station. More than half an hour passed before she slowly pulled herself out of her sadness.

Her phone rang with an unfamiliar number. She looked down at it and hesitated for two seconds before answering.

“Hello?”

“Hello. Am I speaking with Ms. Shen Zhao?”

“Yes.”

“The clothes you brought in for dry cleaning the day before yesterday are ready. You can come pick them up.”

Only then did Shen Zhao remember the woman she had bumped into outside the school gate. She had stained the woman’s jacket and promised to return it the next day, but the woman didn’t seem to have contacted her.

Shen Zhao pressed her lips together, said she would come, and hung up.

Holding her large umbrella, she looked up at the dark, heavy sky. She took a deep breath and stepped out into the rain.

Twenty minutes later, Shen Zhao arrived at the dry cleaner’s.

She gave the clerk her phone number, and the clerk brought out the jacket along with a small transparent bag. “Ma’am, we found this in the clothes you brought in. Please check whether anything else is missing.”

Shen Zhao paused, then took the bag. Inside was a blue stud earring. The stone was clear and looked expensive.

It must have been something that woman had left in her jacket.

Shen Zhao was at a loss. She had left in such a hurry that day that she had only given the woman her own number, without asking for hers. If the woman didn’t contact her, Shen Zhao had no way to find her.

After paying, Shen Zhao had little choice but to take the jacket back to her dormitory for now.

She had taken Monday off. When she got back, her roommates had just returned from class.

“Oh, Zhaozhao, did you buy new clothes?” Her roommate Zhou Jinghan spotted the bag on Shen Zhao’s desk and poked at it as she asked.

Shen Zhao was listless. She lay sprawled on her bed, arms and legs spread, and answered weakly, “No. It’s a jacket from the dry cleaner’s.”

Zhou Jinghan took it out. One look, and she exclaimed, “Oh! Zhaozhao, this is a Burberry jacket?!”

Shen Zhao frowned. She had never paid much attention to brands, but even she paused when she heard “Burberry.” She sat up, blinked twice, and asked, “Is it expensive?”

Zhou Jinghan nodded emphatically. “Very expensive!”

Shen Zhao fell silent. In that case, the blue sapphire stud was probably expensive too.

She glanced at the jacket on her desk and took a couple of deep breaths. A sudden feeling of irritation welled up in her.

Zhou Jinghan loved gossip. She pestered Shen Zhao. “Come on, Zhaozhao, tell me the truth. Did your girlfriend give it to you?”

Shen Zhao’s roommates knew she had a girlfriend.

She talked to Rui Si’er on the phone every few days, so she had never hidden their relationship. But because it was long-distance, none of them had met Rui Si’er.

“No,” Shen Zhao said with a frown. “It belongs to a friend. She asked me to have it dry-cleaned, and I’ll give it back in a couple of days.” She didn’t mention what had happened at the school gate. Instead, she pressed her fingers to her temples and added, “I have a bit of a headache. I’m going to sleep for a while.”

Zhou Jinghan wanted to ask a few more questions, but Shen Zhao didn’t look well. She folded the jacket herself and put it back in the bag.

That evening, a message suddenly appeared in the class group chat, and the dormitory grew noisy.

Shen Zhao woke to her roommates chattering. She sat up, pulled aside her bed curtain, and asked, “What’s going on?”

Lin Manman had just showered. With her wet hair in a tangle, she held up her phone and said, “Check the group chat! The school says a sponsor is coming this weekend. They’ve set up a scholarship program for the university, so there’s going to be a celebration. The first ten student ID numbers in each class have to attend as audience members, and I’m one of them! Damn it, do I have to go? I have plans this weekend!”

Still half asleep, Shen Zhao pulled her phone out from beneath her pillow. As she read the message, she said, “It probably won’t matter if you don’t go. We’ve skipped assemblies before.”

The words had barely left her mouth when the group administrator posted another message.

[All students named above must attend. No absences!]

“Fuck!” Lin Manman cursed. “This is infuriating!”

Student ID numbers were assigned alphabetically by name, and Lin Manman happened to be tenth.

Shen Zhao gradually woke up. “If you have something to do, go ahead,” she said slowly. “I’m free this weekend. I can go in your place.”

Lin Manman shrieked and threw herself at her. “Ahhh, Zhaozhao, my wife, I love you!!”

Shen Zhao planted a hand against her forehead to hold her back. “Don’t get so familiar. Who’s your wife? Watch out, or my wife will come beat you up!”

Beside herself with excitement, Lin Manman grabbed Shen Zhao’s hand in both of hers and kissed it twice. “Let her! I’d be happy even if she beat me up!”

They were English majors and had relatively few classes, averaging only half a class period a day. Three days a week, they had the entire afternoon free.

A week passed, and the owner of the jacket and stud earring still hadn’t contacted Shen Zhao.

On the weekend, Shen Zhao went to the tiered arts lecture hall with another roommate, Chu Chu. She brought a book, intending to find a corner and read through the entire event.

They arrived early, so Shen Zhao and Chu Chu took two seats in the last row.

The lecture hall was large. Once it filled up, people in the back could barely see the front.

At events like this, those sitting in the back usually relied on the big screen. But at assemblies of this sort, Shen Zhao never even raised her head from beginning to end.

The Song Group had established a Creative Excellence Scholarship for Jiangcheng University students. The event had been arranged well in advance by the university and the Song Group.

The moment Song Ling entered, she spotted Shen Zhao in the last row. But Shen Zhao never once looked up at her.

Halfway through the event, Chu Chu nudged Shen Zhao’s arm and tipped her head toward the window, suggesting that they leave early together.

Their seats were perfectly placed for it.

They exchanged a look, packed their bags, and slipped out through the back, keeping low.

Afraid of being spotted, they stayed bent over all the way out. They had just come through the rear door when Shen Zhao collided headfirst with someone, her forehead striking the person’s stomach.

“Ow!” Shen Zhao looked up, wincing and ready to apologize. Then she saw who it was and froze. “Um, wait a moment.”

Song Ling held out both hands to steady her. Her gaze fell on Shen Zhao’s eyes, and she could not look away.

Chu Chu stood by the stairs, waving to Shen Zhao.

Shen Zhao hesitated. “Chu Chu, wait for me a moment,” she said quietly.

Then she took Song Ling by the wrist and led her to one side. Looking up at her with wide, innocent eyes, she asked, “Hello. Do you remember me? I bumped into you outside the school gate on Monday and got your jacket dirty.”

Song Ling lowered her gaze to the hand around her wrist. Its fingers were pale and slender. They were standing so close that she could see Shen Zhao’s face clearly: the faint flush on her fair skin, and those clear, bright, beautiful eyes.

“Yes,” Song Ling said softly, her voice growing gentler without her realizing it.

Seeing that she remembered, Shen Zhao hurried on. “I’ve had the jacket cleaned. Wait here, and I’ll go get it from my dormitory. Please wait for me. Don’t leave.”

She let go and started off quickly, only to remember something and turn back. From her pocket, she took out the small transparent bag containing the blue stud earring and held it out. “This was in the jacket pocket. There’s only one. Nothing else is missing, is it?”

Shen Zhao cautiously searched her face, afraid Song Ling might claim something else was missing and demand that she pay for it.

She couldn’t afford to.

Song Ling glanced at the blue stud in Shen Zhao’s palm and picked it up without betraying anything. Then she looked at her again. “Nothing’s missing. Thank you. There’s no need to bring the jacket. I don’t need it.”

Shen Zhao watched her leave with only the earring.

The woman’s tone had been cool, and she had barely said a few words. It was a little strange.

Shen Zhao didn’t dwell on it. Maybe wealthy people simply didn’t care about one jacket. When she went downstairs, Chu Chu was still waiting for her.

“You know her?” Chu Chu asked.

Shen Zhao shook her head. “No. I accidentally bumped into her last time and got her jacket dirty.”

“Oh.” Chu Chu thought nothing more of it.

“There’s a prize draw over there!” Chu Chu loved anything lively. When she saw a crowd gathered beneath a tree nearby, she immediately pulled Shen Zhao over.

[Download the Gugu Cub app for a chance to win a trip to Moscow to see the Northern Lights!]

Chu Chu was tempted. “The Northern Lights! I’ve never seen them before!”

Shen Zhao raised an eyebrow and glanced at the sign. “It’s a trick. You won’t win.”

“Let’s try! It’s almost the end of the month anyway, and I still have mobile data left. I’ll download it and give it a try.”

Downloading the app and registering were such a hassle that Shen Zhao only gave in after Chu Chu wore her down. She downloaded it too.

It took more than ten minutes to finish registering.

“When do you announce the winners?” Chu Chu asked the promoter.

“Before October First. Our grand prize is a seven-day trip to Moscow to see the Northern Lights. It’s timed for the National Day holiday, so we’ll announce the winners before the thirtieth.”

“What are the odds of winning?” Shen Zhao asked.

“0.001%.”

“…Goodbye.”

Shen Zhao pulled Chu Chu away. “One winner out of a hundred thousand people. I’m starting to think it’s a scam.”

Chu Chu was an optimist. “But what if we win?”

Outside the arts lecture hall, Song Ling stood on the balcony, looking down at the two women walking away in the distance.

Ji Mingshu hurried over from the stairwell. Seeing Song Ling outside, she asked, “Boss, is the event over?”

Song Ling lifted her face slightly. “Which company is running that promotion?” she asked, her gaze cool.

Ji Mingshu paused, then followed her line of sight and understood. “It’s for a new app from Jiaming Entertainment. They’ve been promoting it heavily lately. The prize draw is for a voucher for a trip to Moscow to see the Northern Lights.”

“What are the odds of winning?” Song Ling asked.

“One in a hundred thousand,” Ji Mingshu said.

Song Ling was silent for a moment. Then she said, “Add another prize. Give it to that girl.”

Ji Mingshu followed her gaze again and saw a familiar figure in the distance.

She recognized her. A few days earlier, she had sent the girl’s information to her boss. Ever since that night at the hotel, she had known Song Ling would cross paths with her.

“Yes,” Ji Mingshu said.