The Stand-In, Ah Zhao (GL) - Chapter 4

“I love her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be. Once for all.”

At the front of the classroom, the words flowed slowly in an authentic London accent. The class was examining this famous line from Great Expectations.

Professor Ma said, “Shen Zhao, please translate that line for everyone.”

Shen Zhao picked up her British and American Culture textbook. She had read Great Expectations many times and studied its various translations. She had even looked up several versions of this famous line, spoken by the protagonist to the heroine early in the story, to compare them. It had left a deep impression on her.

Shen Zhao translated: “To love her was to defy reason, jeopardize my future, lose my self-control, shatter my hopes, and sacrifice my happiness. It meant being destined to endure every frustration and disappointment. Yet once I fell in love with her, I could never stop loving her.”

For a moment after she finished, the classroom was silent.

Clearly, everyone had been captivated by the translation.

Professor Ma smiled appreciatively. Shen Zhao added, “That’s Mr. Wang’s translation. I came across it by chance before and thought it was wonderful, so I remembered it.”

Professor Ma nodded and smiled. “That’s right. It’s Wang Keyi’s translation. You’ve put a lot of thought into your studies, Shen Zhao.”

Praised in front of the class, Shen Zhao felt a little awkward. After all, everyone spent Professor Ma’s classes on edge, afraid she might lose her temper.

The bell rang just as they finished analyzing the last passage, and Professor Ma left.

Beside Shen Zhao, Chu Chu let out a long breath.

“Zhaozhao, you’re amazing! You actually got Professor Ma to praise you!” Zhou Jinghan leaned forward from the row behind them, sounding impressed.

“Of course she did,” Chu Chu said. “Zhaozhao’s the top student in the whole department. She scored 700 on the CET-4.” Then she turned around. “Hey, our next two periods are PE. Zhaozhao and I need to go out for a bit. If the teacher asks, say we went to the bathroom, okay?”

Zhou Jinghan turned to Shen Zhao. “What are you two doing?”

Shen Zhao looked helpless. “Chu Chu and I entered a prize draw last week with one-in-a-hundred-thousand odds. I’m going with her to check the results.”

“You won?” Zhou Jinghan asked, surprised and delighted.

“What do you think?” Shen Zhao said.

“…” One look at Shen Zhao’s utterly defeated expression told Zhou Jinghan they hadn’t. She wouldn’t look like that if they had won.

Chu Chu was still dreaming as she packed her bag. “Hey, we’ve already entered. What if we win?”

“What if?” Shen Zhao said. “The odds are one in a hundred thousand, Sister.”

Once they had packed up, they headed out, telling Zhou Jinghan, “We’ll get to PE a little later.”

Zhou Jinghan nodded. “Got it.”

The prize draw closed at ten that morning, at the same place as before.

By the time Shen Zhao and Chu Chu arrived, a large crowd had gathered.

“There are this many people?” Shen Zhao asked suspiciously. “Is the grand prize really that tempting?”

“It’s the Northern Lights! I’ve never seen them in my life, and I’ve heard they’re incredibly beautiful, like a dream! Travel, accommodation, and meals are all covered. There’s even extra money for shopping. You won’t have to spend a cent the whole trip. Isn’t that tempting?”

Shen Zhao hadn’t read the prize details closely or paid much attention to them.

Now that Chu Chu had explained, it did sound tempting.

“Let’s go take a look.”

At exactly ten, the staff put up a QR code for checking the results. Everyone who had downloaded the app had to scan it.

Shen Zhao didn’t believe she had any real chance of winning. But since she was already there, she scanned the code along with Chu Chu.

The page took a long time to load. After what felt like ages, a card finally appeared.

“Zhaozhao, what does yours say?” Chu Chu leaned over to ask.

Shen Zhao looked at her screen and blinked. It took her a while to answer. “It doesn’t say anything… Huh? There’s a gold card…”

The moment she said it, surprised looks turned toward her from all around.

Chu Chu’s mouth fell open. “Z-Zhaozhao, did you win?!”

Chu Chu hurriedly pulled Shen Zhao over to the staff. They were stunned too. The app had set up scanning stations not just at Jiangcheng University but at universities everywhere, so even they were startled to hear that someone had won.

The staff checked repeatedly and spoke to their superiors by phone before finally confirming that she was a winner.

Shen Zhao was in a daze. She looked at the gold card on her phone, then at the prize details on the nearby sign. It felt as if a huge windfall had dropped straight into her lap.

“Can I really be this lucky?” she asked with a broad, disbelieving smile.

Chu Chu was even more excited. She shrieked several times. “Ahhh, Zhaozhao, you really won!! You’re going to see the Northern Lights! Waaah, I’m so jealous!”

Shen Zhao could hardly believe it herself. Still dazed, she registered her information and confirmed the itinerary and other arrangements. Only then was she certain she really had won the grand prize.

A prize with one-in-a-hundred-thousand odds.

The staff member congratulated her with a smile, then added, “You’re incredibly lucky. We just contacted the big boss, and apparently an extra place was added at the last minute. Besides you, a student from Nancheng University won. There are two places in total.”

After hearing the explanation, Chu Chu let out a couple more mournful cries. “Zhaozhao, how can you be so lucky? I’m turning green with envy!”

Shen Zhao laughed happily too. She spread her arms and hugged Chu Chu. “Chu Chu, I have to thank you!”

If Chu Chu hadn’t pulled her over that day, she probably wouldn’t have entered at all.

Chu Chu patted her shoulder and sighed. “And it’s right around your birthday. Take your wife and go see the Northern Lights together. Waaah, now I’m sad again. Remember to take lots of photos—high-resolution ones! I want to use them as wallpapers when you get back. Waaah!”

“I’ll take videos for you!” Shen Zhao said with a smile.

That same day, Shen Zhao called Rui Si’er and told her she had won the grand prize.

“Si’er, it’s right around my birthday. Can we go see the Northern Lights together?”

Rui Si’er heard the excitement in her voice. Without a second thought, she smiled and said, “Of course. We’ll go together.”

——

That evening, in the top-floor office of Song Group headquarters.

Ji Mingshu opened the door and came in. She set a cup of coffee beside the desk and called softly, “Boss.”

Song Ling had just finished a meeting. She was looking down at the document in her hand, then picked up a pen to sign it.

She raised her head. “Have the Northern Lights arrangements been made?”

“Everything’s arranged,” Ji Mingshu said. “Miss Shen’s itinerary is included.”

Song Ling lowered her eyes to the document in her hand. Her expression remained indifferent, though she seemed distracted for a moment.

After a long pause, she looked up without giving anything away and asked, “And Rui Si’er? Has she been taken care of?”

Ji Mingshu froze slightly and hesitated.

“Rui Si’er… is currently interning at an auditing firm. She’s performing well…”

“Take care of it.” Song Ling closed the document, cutting Ji Mingshu off.

Ji Mingshu’s expression stiffened. Understanding what Song Ling meant, she nodded. “Yes.”