Chapter 14

Neither Tang Yiling nor Li Lan spoke again.

They remained in that embrace all the way until it was time to get off.

In truth, after a few stops, the carriage was no longer so crowded.

Strangely enough, however, both of them seemed completely unaware of it.

By the time they exited the subway station, the sky was fully dark.

The city lights had come on, and the area near the university was bustling with people.

Tang Yiling secretly raised a finger and touched her lips.

The spot that had brushed against Li Lan seemed warmer than the rest.

She wondered whether Li Lan had noticed.

The two walked side by side, drawing closer and closer to the university entrance.

Li Lan asked, “Where are you staying tonight?”

Tang Yiling paused.

It was Wednesday. Was there really another option besides returning to the dormitory?

She answered honestly, “I’ll go back to the dorm.”

Li Lan murmured in acknowledgment.

“You don’t have class tomorrow afternoon, do you? Are you coming to the company?”

Tang Yiling seriously suspected that Li Lan had downloaded her timetable from the university website on the very day they met.

How else could she know her schedule so thoroughly?

“I probably can’t tomorrow.”

Tang Yiling already had plans.

“I need to go home.”

“To the Tang residence?”

Li Lan tilted her head.

“Didn’t you say they threw you out?”

“They did.”

Tang Yiling hurriedly explained, “I’m only going back to pick something up, then I’ll leave.”

She needed to retrieve her medical examination report.

While she was there, she could also cooperate with Tang Geyun and complete the next plot point.

Without realizing it, the two had already entered the university grounds.

After spending so much time together lately, Tang Yiling had almost forgotten that Li Lan was still a student too.

Li Lan said all right and did not ask anything further.

The streetlights stretched their shadows long across the path, as though the two of them had already walked a great distance together.

Tang Yiling’s dormitory was closer.

“Sister, Sister!”

She stopped walking.

“Then I’ll head inside?”

Tang Yiling had no idea what Li Lan had been thinking about during the walk, but her expression had gradually become solemn.

Only after Tang Yiling called her twice did she finally turn her head.

Li Lan nodded.

Without stopping, she continued walking forward.

Utterly cold and indifferent.

They had clearly been rather intimate only moments ago. Why had she changed back into this version of herself the instant they returned to the university?

Could it be that her role as the heroine activated whenever she entered certain locations?

Tang Yiling remained standing there.

A few seconds later, she grew increasingly annoyed and ran after her.

“Sister, don’t you have anything else to say?”

They had not even eaten dinner yet.

Did Li Lan not want to go to the cafeteria together?

Tang Yiling would even have been willing to pay.

Li Lan stopped and looked at her face.

Once again, it was that scrutinizing gaze, as though she did not recognize Tang Yiling.

“The weather will be getting colder soon.”

Li Lan sighed lightly.

“Wear more layers.”

After saying that, she resumed walking.

Tang Yiling stood where she was and watched Li Lan’s retreating figure.

She shrugged slightly, turned around, and returned to the dormitory.

Perhaps the time they had spent on the subway had been too warm and intimate.

Now that the atmosphere had abruptly cooled, Tang Yiling felt strangely hollow inside.

She let out a heavy sigh.

She bought a cup of instant noodles from the shop downstairs.

Even though she now had enough money, she was already eating an end-of-the-month meal.

After class the next day, Tang Yiling took a car back to the Tang residence.

The Tang couple knew she was coming. Although they appeared to be sitting casually in the living room, they had actually been waiting for quite some time.

Intermittent piano music drifted down from upstairs.

He Wenwei lowered her voice.

“Xiaoyun has been learning piano recently.”

Tang Yiling nodded.

That truly was an essential skill for a wealthy-family heroine.

However, she did not remember the novel ever mentioning that Tang Geyun could play.

Tang Fan also leaned closer.

“How have you been lately?”

“You finished all the snacks from last time, didn’t you?”

Tang Yiling nodded.

“I’ve been doing well.”

She had not actually finished the snacks. She had even shared some with her roommates.

He Wenwei pointed toward the suitcase standing beside the wall.

“We packed more snacks for you this time.”

She lowered her voice mysteriously.

“There’s a bag at the very bottom.”

“Take it and sell it for money.”

Tang Yiling’s eyes widened.

In only a few days, her parents’ ability to spoil their daughter had evolved again?

She asked uneasily, “Is that really allowed?”

“Why not give it a try?”

Tang Fan smiled slyly.

“The bureau doesn’t conduct asset inventories anyway.”

He Wenwei warned her, “But don’t flaunt your wealth.”

“Try to maintain your miserable circumstances and spend the money gradually.”

Watching the two of them conduct this secret exchange with her made Tang Yiling want to laugh.

Of course she would not dare show off.

She had even been spending the five thousand yuan Li Lan gave her with extreme care.

“By the way.”

She suddenly remembered something.

“Mom, what happened with the report I asked you to submit last time?”

“Report?”

He Wenwei paused.

“You mean the identity investigation?”

“The results haven’t come back yet. It takes ten working days.”

“They usually respond quickly.”

“This time it’s been slower. The staff are probably busy.”

That explanation sounded far too similar to the real world.

Tang Yiling could not resist asking, “Does the bureau have weekends off too?”

Tang Fan shook his head.

“They work shifts—four days on, three days off.”

Tang Yiling’s eyes lit up.

Wasn’t that every worker’s dream?

“Do they provide social insurance and a housing fund?”

“No,” He Wenwei said, “but they provide housing and transportation benefits.”

“And if you want to enter a script, you receive a certain degree of priority when choosing.”

That sounded wonderful!

Tang Yiling looked at her parents.

“Why don’t the two of you work directly at the bureau?”

Tang Fan chuckled twice.

“Our current positions pay more and give us more freedom.”

Tang Yiling was filled with yearning.

She suddenly felt an enormous sense of belonging toward the Character Management Bureau.

She would be more than willing to become one of its employees.

Excellent benefits, respect for employees, and a wide variety of choices.

People who enjoyed socializing could enter scripts and play characters, while introverts could remain at headquarters.

Tang Yiling wondered who the bureau’s leader was.

They had to be incredibly capable.

She secretly decided that if she ever met them, she would show them the utmost respect.

The piano music upstairs continued.

The family of three wanted to sit down, but they were worried something unexpected might happen, so they could only remain standing while they talked.

“Mianmian, why did you want Li Lan investigated?”

He Wenwei had wanted to ask that day.

“Do you interact with her often?”

“Well…”

Tang Yiling’s gaze wandered.

“I see her around the university fairly often, and we’ve eaten together twice.”

She had already greatly understated the situation.

In reality, their relationship was much closer than that.

“Li Lan is one of the main characters in the script.”

“Whether she has awakened or not, you should avoid interacting with her too much. It could easily lead to complications.”

He Wenwei held her daughter’s hand and reminded her softly, “You’re about to pass your assessment. Don’t involve yourself in unnecessary trouble.”

Tang Yiling pressed her lips together.

But she was already deeply entangled with the heroine.

“Oh!”

Tang Fan suddenly clapped his hands and shouted.

Tang Yiling and He Wenwei were already on edge.

The mother and daughter both flinched at the noise and instinctively bent down as though preparing to hide.

A few seconds later, He Wenwei recovered.

She slapped Tang Fan hard.

“What are you doing?”

“I suddenly remembered something important!”

Tang Fan tried to lower his voice.

“When I searched for Li Lan’s investigation results that day, I saw that someone had submitted our daughter for investigation too.”

“What?”

He Wenwei slapped Tang Fan again.

“How could you forget to mention something this important?”

Tang Yiling was surprised at first, then frowned.

She had barely interacted with any scripted characters, and she had not made any mistakes.

Why would someone submit her for investigation?

“It’s fine. Mianmian’s investigation results have already come back.”

“The bureau concluded that she is not an awakened character.”

Tang Yiling frowned even more deeply.

“That doesn’t sound right. Aren’t I a prospective employee?”

“Employees’ identities are concealed from one another too.”

“An investigation only gives one of two answers: awakened character or non-awakened character.”

Tang Fan stopped explaining the complicated regulations and began reassuring her instead.

“It’s fine. Just be more careful when handling the plot from now on.”

“At this stage, your assessment results take priority. They won’t look at investigation reports.”

Tang Yiling murmured in acknowledgment.

She replayed Tang Fan’s words in her mind, trying to understand them.

Tang Fan’s shout had also caused the piano music upstairs to stop.

Tang Geyun walked out of her room and stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at them.

“Oh, I was wondering why the house was so lively.”

“So Little Sister came home.”

He Wenwei discreetly winked at Tang Yiling and moved farther away from her.

Tang Fan’s expression instantly changed, and his voice rose again.

“There’s no room for you here anymore!”

“We already told you that your room upstairs has become your sister’s dressing room!”

The change happened without warning.

Tang Yiling was not as professional as her parents, so she could only lower her head to hide her expression.

To Tang Geyun, the gesture instead looked like panic and heartbreak.

She walked down the stairs and heard Tang Yiling ask quietly, “Then where are my things?”

Tang Fan pointed toward a door beside the kitchen on the first floor.

“We threw everything into the storeroom.”

“Dad, how could you put it like that?”

A smile rested on Tang Geyun’s lips.

“Although that room is a little small and doesn’t receive much sunlight, it’s still Little Sister’s bedroom.”

She raised a hand and patted Tang Yiling’s shoulder, startling her.

“Welcome back home, Little Sister!”

Tang Yiling raised her eyes and glanced at Tang Geyun.

She walked around the others.

“I’ll go get my things first.”

The door was unlocked and opened with a push.

The window faced west, and broad rays of sunset streamed inside, filling the entire room with light.

As expected, wealthy families had an entirely different definition of a small room.

This bedroom was at least eight square meters and even had its own bathroom.

It was not as nice as the room at Li Lan’s apartment.

But compared with the place Tang Yiling had rented before, it was already much better.

She sat at the desk and began searching for her medical examination report.

Tang Geyun’s voice came from outside. She was probably acting spoiled toward He Wenwei.

“Mom, Little Sister has moved back in, but I’m still the person you love most, right?”

He Wenwei did not answer directly.

“Weren’t you the one who wanted her to leave our family? Why did you arrange another room for her?”

Tang Geyun sounded unconcerned.

“It’s fine. This way, no one can accuse us of bullying her. That would be bad for the Tang family’s reputation.”

Tang Yiling’s hand paused.

Didn’t she remember Tang Geyun driving her out of the house in the novel?

Although this room was decent, Tang Yiling did not intend to move back.

Therefore, the final outcome was not particularly different.

She continued searching and soon found the medical examination report.

She photographed it with her phone and sent it to Chang Yurou.

Chang Yurou replied quickly.

Yiling, I happen to be at the restaurant right now.

The owner said it’s fine. You can come for a trial shift tonight if you’re free.

Tang Yiling had not expected things to proceed so smoothly.

She sent a grateful sticker.

A smile unconsciously appeared on her lips.

She would soon have another source of income!

At that moment, a suppressed voice came from the doorway.

“What are you smiling about?”

Tang Yiling’s hand trembled, and the report fell to the floor.

At some point, Tang Geyun had come over and was now leaning against the doorframe, watching her.

“I wasn’t smiling.”

Tang Yiling firmly refused to admit it.

She bent down, picked up the report, and put it away.

She did not want to speak with Tang Geyun any longer, so she stood and prepared to leave.

Tang Geyun entered and blocked her path.

The two confronted one another inside the room.

Tang Yiling felt somewhat dejected.

Why was Tang Geyun’s presence more imposing than hers too?

Tang Geyun suddenly raised her hand and pressed her index finger into Tang Yiling’s cheek.

The touch left behind a faint red mark.

“If that wasn’t a smile, then what was it?”

She had not used much force.

Instead, the gesture seemed strangely intimate.

Tang Yiling froze slightly and stepped half a pace backward.

She avoided Tang Geyun’s hand.

“You saw wrong. I wasn’t smiling.”

Tang Yiling had no idea how those words managed to anger Tang Geyun again.

The pressure in the room abruptly dropped.

Tang Geyun narrowed her eyes slightly and advanced toward her.

The desk was behind Tang Yiling.

She braced one hand against it, leaving herself seemingly trapped within Tang Geyun’s reach.

Tang Geyun’s brows drew together, and her voice sounded as though she were suppressing anger.

Their similar faces were less than four inches apart.

She stared directly into Tang Yiling’s eyes.

“You were clearly smiling. Why won’t you admit it?”