Why Is the Wealthy Young Lady O Like That? - Chapter 4

On Monday, in the dorm, Xu Siran was sitting on the chair paired with her desk, thinking over a problem, when Jiang Wenqing, the roommate whose bed was across from hers, asked, “Siran, what’s wrong with you today?”

Pei Yan, who had just returned from class with takeout from the cafeteria, pushed open the door and walked in. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail, she was wearing a white waist-cinching dress, and her cheeks were flushed red from the heat.

She happened to hear Jiang Wenqing say that as she entered. She looked Xu Siran over, and finally came to a conclusion.

“That’s true. You really don’t look right today.” She sat down and stuck a straw into her grape boba with pulp, seventy percent sugar and light ice. “Usually when you come back from class, you’re all bright-eyed and still excited, like you haven’t had enough. How did you turn into a wilted little cabbage today?”

Xu Siran, the center of the topic, looked like she wanted to say something but stopped herself.

She could not very well tell her roommates that she had gone off and gotten married over the weekend, but because of all sorts of reasons, she had not wanted to get married at all, so on the very first day she received her marriage certificate, she had begun thinking about how to make the other party bring up divorce, right?

Such a bizarre thing was simply unheard of.

And… her mother had reminded her that before the Ni family officially announced the news, she could not parade it around or casually reveal it to others.

She had told Qinghe because Qinghe was the best friend she had made in the capital, and because Qinghe herself was part of the wealthy circle and had already known about the Ni family choosing a marriage partner from earlier on.

Xu Siran opened the tomato beef brisket rice bowl on her desk, curved her eyes, and said, “Nothing. I just had classes all morning today, so I’m a little tired after finishing.”

“Really?” Jiang Wenqing remained suspicious.

Pei Yan also opened her own curry chicken cutlet rice. “Then have a good rest during the lunch break later. Once you get into bed, don’t keep reading.”

“Mm-hmm!” Xu Siran answered.

Dorm 508 was a mixed dorm; all four of them were in different majors. Xu Siran and Pei Yan began eating lunch, while Jiang Wenqing, who had not had class all morning, was still waiting for her delivery.

Jiang Wenqing refreshed the campus forum while counting down the time. When her delivery arrived, she placed the egg and ham fried rice noodles on her desk, opened another box of barbecue skewers, and brought it over to the two of them.

“Want to try some? This is from that new barbecue place by the food street,” she said.

They had lived together for almost two years, so Xu Siran did not stand on ceremony. She took a lamb skewer covered in sauce. Jiang Wenqing smiled, knowing that Xu Siran usually liked ordering squid when eating barbecue, so she took a grilled squid skewer and handed it to her too.

When she turned to Pei Yan, Jiang Wenqing suddenly remembered something. “During the break between classes today, I heard a classmate say that Senior Cen from your college broke up with her girlfriend.”

Pei Yan took a beef skewer and a grilled corn. “Seems like it. A senior from our club said Senior Cen has a cold personality and likes quiet and solitude, but her girlfriend just had to be super clingy. Out of twenty-four hours a day, she wanted to stick to her for twenty-five. Even when she had something to do outside, she could still send her dozens of messages.”

Jiang Wenqing clicked her tongue. “That does sound a little too clingy.”

The two roommates were talking. Xu Siran’s thoughts had grown a little messy again, and she could not focus on the educational videos she usually watched either, so she simply listened to them talk about gossip from the Foreign Languages College.

“Right.” Pei Yan took a bite of corn. “That senior of mine knew because she had participated in an off-campus competition with Senior Cen before. While they were preparing, Senior Cen’s phone kept vibrating nonstop. In the end, her girlfriend called her, and only then did the messages stop.”

“Then no wonder. Why does it sound a little like that ‘hot violence’ that’s been popular online? For a flower-on-a-high-peak type like Senior Cen… she probably really couldn’t stand that kind of thing.”

? Hot violence? What was that?

Xu Siran was a little lost listening to them. She usually did not pay much attention to things like this, but she did know who this Senior Cen they were talking about was, because they were both in the same public welfare practice service club.

In her impression, Senior Cen looked like a relatively cold and distant person. But when they had gone to the welfare home together for volunteer work, Senior Cen had actually been very patient when facing the elderly people’s questions.

…? Wait!

In a flash of lightning, an idea suddenly burst into her mind. It was as natural as a seed falling to the ground, sprouting, flowering, and bearing fruit. She quickly opened her phone and typed into the search box of a certain social media app—

[Hot violence]

A large number of scientific explanations immediately appeared below. There were explanations from psychology, sociology, communication studies, and also a newer interpretation that had become relatively popular online. It usually referred to a mode of romantic interaction in which lovers were overly intimate, overly involved, and overly attached to the other person.

When it came to relationships, Xu Siran was truly a blank slate who knew absolutely nothing. After reading the explanation, she still felt that it was somewhat vague, so she tapped open the most-liked video below, a fire-sign dramatization of the popular “hot violence” meme.

At the very beginning was a blank chat page. The next instant, like a bubble machine spraying bubbles, one message after another kept popping out.

[What are you doing?]

[I finished self-study! I read a classic mystery novel. It was so interesting.]

[So do you want to video call and listen to me tell you what this novel is about?]

[Are you there, are you there!]

[! Where are you?]

[Sigh, this novel is really super good. I think you’d definitely like it too.]

[You’re not replying to me?]

[Fine, if you don’t want to listen to me talk about this novel, then do you want to play the script game for this novel together? We can clear the levels together. I’ll carry you!]

[I’m going back to the dorm right now to turn on my computer.]

[It’s been thirty seconds! Why haven’t you replied to my message yet?]

[Ahhh, I’m back at the dorm and my computer is on!]

[Oh my god, the weather is so hot. I sweated so much on the way back. I definitely need to change my pheromone-blocking patch!]

[Hello, hello? Are you there, are you there!]

[(little parrot flapping wings.jpg)]

[xxx, you didn’t go to another planet, did you?]

[Another two minutes have passed. Even if you did go to another planet, if you still don’t reply to my message, I’m really going to get angry!!]

……

(twenty messages omitted)

[Fine, fine, fine, I’ll give you one more chance. Hurry up and pay attention to me!]

[I really miss you.]

[(little cat making a heart.jpg)]

After watching a short video only a few dozen seconds long, Xu Siran suddenly understood. She felt as if she had been surrounded by a super enthusiastic and clingy lion running circles around her, rubbing her with its tail every time it circled around and demanding that she say her most sincere words of praise.

Even she felt that she would be a little unable to handle such high-density emotional demands every day…

So! What about Eldest Young Lady Ni, who was as cold as ice and kept people a thousand miles away?

Immediately afterward, she tapped open the second video in this blogger’s “hot violence” series. Because there were several rules to “hot violence.” The first was what the first video had shown: sharing, reporting in, and chatting about every detail, no matter how small. The second video was based on rule two—clinging in the name of love, like a spider, using spider silk woven in the name of love to bind the other party.

Just like that, Xu Siran ate her tomato beef brisket rice bowl while wearing earphones and watched an entire series of dramatization videos about “hot violence.”

Only when Jiang Wenqing came over and patted her shoulder did she come back to herself and take off her earphones. She turned to look at her roommate with a confused expression but brightly shining eyes.

“Siran, what were you watching? You were so absorbed.” Jiang Wenqing explained, “We called you just now, but you never answered. We were discussing going to participate in practical volunteer activities together this weekend. Have you completed all your practice credits?”

Xu Siran answered, “Sure. I completed the practice credits a long time ago, but doing more volunteer practice is a good thing.”

Pei Yan, off to the side, smiled and said, “Great. But why are you in such a good mood now? What did you just watch? Don’t tell me…”

Seeing that they were about to tease her, Xu Siran honestly confessed, “I just heard you mention the term ‘hot violence,’ and because I was a little curious, I went to search it up.”

“Oh, that.” Jiang Wenqing said, “That went viral last year. At the time, someone made a post asking everyone to help her come up with ideas. Based on the content she described and her chat records, netizens guessed that she was suspected of being subjected to hot violence and told her to break up. After that post blew up, some relationship bloggers made a lot of related videos, along with some fan-made content. Now netizens all use hot violence as a joke for a new and effective way to break up. It’s actually not as popular this year anymore. The buzz has dropped a lot.”

Xu Siran thought for a moment and asked, “Does it really work?”

Pei Yan was very certain. “I think it works. A lot of couples break up through cold violence and sudden cliff-drop breakups. Although it’s kind of bizarre that this hot violence thing managed to become popular on a small scale… how should I put it? Compared with cold violence and hysterical arguing, it really isn’t that hurtful. Most people can’t stand it and will bring up breaking up themselves.”

Jiang Wenqing was also completely certain. “Right. And I saw that someone on that social media app really did this. The other person couldn’t stand that whole set of moves and really broke up with her.”

Xu Siran nodded and sighed. “So that’s how it is.”

They talked a little more about the weekend public welfare practice. When it was time for the lunch break, Xu Siran washed up briefly, changed into a set of cotton pajamas, and climbed into bed. But she was not sleepy. More accurately speaking, at this moment, a blazing fire of learning was burning in her heart.

She opened the social media app and searched “hot violence breakup method.” Sure enough, many examples appeared below.

She browsed through them one after another and had basically understood sixty to seventy percent of it. But she was still a little worried, so she told her good friend Qinghe about this idea and shared one of the highly liked hot violence imitation videos with her.

Her good friend Qinghe replied almost instantly: [Ah! I know this method!]

Xu Siran typed: [Do you think it will be effective?]

Qinghe quoted the video she had shared and replied: [If it’s like in the video, ordinary people really can’t stand it. You didn’t know? Hot violence is also known as the least hurtful breakup method, and the one most suitable for cold, sensitive, fragile people ><]

Xu Siran truly had not known before. In the past, whenever she went online, she only cared about studying and rarely learned about this side of things. Now she understood the benefits of broadening one’s horizons!

She asked back: [Then do you think it’ll work on Eldest Young Lady Ni?]

Qinghe replied: […I think it should, possibly, probably, definitely!]

[A flower on a high peak and a busy person like Eldest Young Lady Ni—forget hot violence, she probably wouldn’t be able to stand even a slightly clingy person, right? And wealthy-family marriage alliances all leave appropriate distance and space for each other. I’m guessing she definitely won’t be able to stand it at all!]

[But have you really thought this through?]

Xu Siran had tossed and turned last night precisely because she had been thinking about this matter. She did not deny that when she saw that one billion had been deposited, she had been dazed for an instant.

Because that was a huge sum of money. At least, to her, it was. She had only ever heard of that kind of amount before; she had never seen it, much less possessed it. And such an amount was already enough for one person to lie flat and live a life without worries about food or clothing.

But that daze had lasted only an instant.

She knew very clearly what kind of lifestyle she liked and wanted, and she was willing to work hard for it. Hardship, sweat, and tears could not make her stop chasing it.

Moreover, no matter what happened, she had always firmly believed that she had the ability to live the life she wanted.

Although it might be very difficult to casually earn a huge sum like one billion, it would still be enough. She was not greedy. Her past life had taught her to balance happiness and satisfaction. In the past, on her birthday, as long as Grandma bought her a sweet, old-fashioned little cake, she was already very happy and content.

Besides, just as Grandma had said, only by relying on oneself could a person have a free world of their own. She had always firmly believed this.

The dorm lights had been turned off. Inside the bed enclosed by curtains, the light was very dim. But at this moment, Xu Siran’s eyes were sparkling brightly, bursting with hope and burning with determination.

She typed seriously—

[Mm. You know this too. I never wanted a marriage alliance in the first place, and I don’t want to keep living like this either.]

[In the past, I never hesitated when doing things. I followed my heart. This time, the situation is generally quite complicated, and you know my family situation is also pretty complicated, so these past few days, I’ve been listing out reasons for divorce for myself. Now, I’ve made up my mind!!]

[I heard from my mom that after getting the certificate, Eldest Young Lady Ni probably received the old madam of the Ni family’s equity transfer and will soon take over as Yuanlong’s chairwoman. These days, she’s probably busy with the shareholders’ meeting.]

[So, divorce edition · hot violence plan, officially begins!]

Doing something impulsive just because she wanted a divorce definitely would not do. No matter what, she did not want to hurt the other party. So, under the premise of not hurting the other party, after thinking it over and over, only this method of attaching herself to the other party in reverse and making the other party unable to stand it in reverse, until she voluntarily brought up divorce, remained.

The more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. So she opened the social media app again and continued studying the key points. But what she did not notice was that among the sea of posts, there were a few buried ones complaining that hot violence was completely useless.

Not only that, it would even further satisfy the other party’s desire for control, making the other person become more and more… per/verted!!!