Chapter 5: 5

On the bike ride back to the dorm, Qin Juran experienced for the first time the feeling of the cool breeze blowing against her face on a warm summer night. She arrived at her dormitory to see Feng Jing and another girl student there. Noticing the unusual look on her face, Feng Jing burst into questions.

The other girl passed over a fresh bottle of water to Qin Juran, who then let out a sigh. Before she could utter a thanks, the girl declared, “Consider it payback for the instant noodles.”

…….

Qin Juran twisted open the bottle and took a few chugs. After she finished taking a shower, she returned to see that the lights were off, and quietly climbed into bed. She had always lived in single rooms during her studies abroad, so she still wasn’t used to sharing her personal space with strangers.

She laid tensely in bed until she could hear Feng Jing’s soft snores beside her. Qin Juran turned to the side and flipped open her cell phone – the screen was clear, as if the photo from Liu Qiang never existed.

According to Liu Qiang, Qin Juran was the one who sent it to Fan Chuan. In the original story, Qin Juran indeed liked Fan Chuan for a long time, but with her innocent personality, would she really send such a promiscuous picture herself?

Qin Juran pressed her phone shut, failing to come up with an answer.

Unfortunately, she had no way to further investigate the matter since she had already resolved to no longer involve herself with the male lead from then on. Why the picture was sent to Fan Chuan was beyond her, and how it ended up in Liu Qiang’s hands was even more of a mystery.

Pulling up her phone once again, Qin Juran promptly blocked the “Friend” contact and stalked some other suspicious-looking ones. Before she shut the phone off, she impulsively typed the word “Nan” in the search box. Up popped a group chat for a National Economy class, suggesting that the person was in it.

Qin Juran tapped onto Ruan Nan’s profile. Her profile picture seemed to feature a lucky cat from an Asakusa temple in Japan – it was so unlike her usual stoic character.

How cute~

Qin Juran turned her phone off, smiling to herself in the dark.

——

Having been awake the entire day before she died and transmigrated, then another day in her new world, Qin Juran had gone at least 30 hours straight without sleep. Thus, when she finally did, she didn’t wake until noon the next day. Thankfully, it was a Saturday, which meant no classes. She wobbled out of bed and tried to look for a sheet mask to treat her bloated face, but only found a bottle of facial mist lying on the table.

Qin Juran furrowed her brows, impatiently pressing open the TaoBao app and promptly purchasing a skincare set that she regularly used, as well as 20 face masks and some clothes that were more of her style. A series of ding sounds trailed after each other as Qin Juran continuously scanned her fingerprint to checkout.

The sound was caught by Feng Jing’s sharp ears, and she exclaimed, “You’re hoarding more instant noodles? Which flavor’s on sale this time?”

“…..”  Qin Juran stared at her account balance gloomily.

Never in her life was she this poor – it was simply impossible.

In her mind, Qin Juran imagined a glaring pop-up ad: If you could become 5 years younger, but become poor in return, would you do it?

She slammed frantically on the NO button.

But she was already here, so she might as well accept it.

Qin Juran boiled some noodles as she carefully studied the workings of this world’s stock market. Cautiously, she decided to invest a few thousand dollars.

Before, she didn’t even bat an eye when making business deals worth millions, but these precious thousands of bucks…

When she finished, Qin Juran proceeded to clean. Many of the belongings were related to Fan Chuan in some way; Qin Juran pulled on a pair of gloves and piled them together, spraying a good dose of air freshener over them. She let out a sigh of relief as she finally dumped them into the trash can.

A breeze came through the window, lifting the edge of her skirt up. As Qin Juran moved to straighten it, she glimpsed the mark on her right leg, and her mind filled with hatred.

Afterwards, Qin Juran decided to take a stroll around the campus. She didn’t know how transmigration worked for others, but she herself had no sense of the original owner’s memories or her feelings since she currently felt nothing towards the male lead.

Qin Juran tried to familiarize herself with the huge S University campus. Despite her experience with aristocratic schools, she was still taken aback by the grand auditorium. European design, topped with a dome, there was a red carpet leading from the door to the stage, on top of which stood 10 spotlights casting spots onto a large screen like starlight.

After the auditorium were the classroom halls. The building she had class in yesterday was the main hall, and there were other buildings for more specialized classes. As she strolled through the B2 hall, the line of artwork hanging up on the wall caught her eye. These were works produced by the finance students made in an attempt to decorate the bare halls.

The first to catch her eye was Ruan Nan’s work. She had painted a photo of a small white kitten perched in front of an old wooden building, back facing the audience. The brushwork and style were characterized by a subtle cuteness.

Beside it was a portrait of a man.

The painter’s skills were not lacking; although he looked nothing like him, the man was obviously Fan Chuan. Qin Juran attested the likeness to the gold wire-rimmed glasses and the western-style clothing. Who else dressed like that?

She glanced at the signature which read – Qin Juran.

She was quite the romantic, wasn’t she?

Qin Juran squinted at the painting for some time, fingers trailing down the side of the frame, but in the end, she left it as is.

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—–

Early Monday morning, Qin Juran found herself being pushed awake by Feng Jing. As she moved to avoid her hand, she asked displeasingly, “I thought I didn’t have class this morning?”

Feng Jing replied, “I know that, but hurry and look at the school forum.”

The other roommate, Huang Ying, nodded. “Yea, Qin Juran, look! The pictures have already been posted – the counselor will probably want to contact you soon.”

At the sound of the word “picture,” Qin Juran froze.

She pulled out her phone to see a link sent by Feng Jing titled, “Rich Kids Sure Are Messy! The Drama Amongst the Finance Department Celebrities.”

She frowned and clicked open the link. The page displayed various pictures accompanied with captions; they were all taken from that night at BLUE HOUSE, blurry with poor lighting.

That picture wasn’t there.

Qin Juran let out a breath as she scrolled down.

The first photo was of Qin Juran and Liu Qiang sitting at the table, the latter wearing a crazed laughing expression on his face. The captain below read, “Qin Juran making an appearance at a high-end bar, joking with Liu Qiang as they wait for someone.”

The second featured Qin Juran and Ruan Nan standing in the doorway. From the angle, there was only a trail of smoke visible, but you couldn’t tell who was holding the cigarette. Underneath the hazy photo of the two ladies read, “Miss High and Mighty blocks and blows smoke into our Campus Belle’s Face, scaring the bookworm to tears.”

？？？

Question marks popped into Qin Juran’s head as she zoomed into the picture. Scared? Her expression seemed to her as 30% flirtatious and 70% indifferent.

Qin Juran took a closer look at Ruan Nan’s expression, noticing something that she failed to earlier since she was so absorbed by her face. In fact, as she was exhaling the smoke, Ruan Nan discreetly held a hand to prop her up against the door behind her.

Her long, slender fingers were slightly curled, the red manicure looking especially pretty in the cool-tinted light. Her tense fingers behind her betrayed a sense of alarm that her face managed to hide.

If this expression were in a different context…

Qin Juran’s lips curved and she saved the picture onto her phone.

The third picture was even more stunning: Ruan Nan was standing over Liu Qiang, grabbing his collar as two trails of blood flowed from his nose.

“Miss High and Mighty personally punishes the traitor lapdog.”

Qin Juran softly brushed the screen as she examined the photo. Ruan Nan and her circle never usually interacted with Liu Qiang, so her appearance at the bar yesterday must’ve stemmed from Liu Qiang’s invitation.

Liu Qiang must’ve meant to force Qin Juran to personally apologize to Ruan Nan in hopes of upgrading from his status as lapdog. He never would’ve expected that Qin Juran would outsmart him – and with his explosive nature, there’s no way he wouldn’t tell Ruan Nan afterward.

Then she…hit him after finding out he was using the picture as blackmail?

As Qin Juran stared at the image, a strange feeling fluttering in her chest. The so-called “evil second female lead,” the “black lotus”….

The last photo was of Fan Chuan’s back; it seems like he hurried over soon after. Qin Juran didn’t even bother to look at the caption as she scrolled down to the comments.

They were indeed the celebrities of the Finance Department – the forum interaction was amazing, comments were rolling in by the second:

【 What could Qin Juran possibly be doing with Fan Chuan and Ruan Nuan? Discussing the homework solutions? 】

【 Isn’t Liu Qiang supposed to be Fan Chuan’s lapdog? Why is he bullying Qin Juran? 】

【Ruan Nan is so cool, ahhh!!! This upper-class lady shows off by blocking doors and smoking?! I think I’m gay~】

【@ the above comment, do you have eyes? Qin Juran is the real star of these photos – just look at that makeup and red dress! Ahh I’m falling for her!! 】

【Quit arguing – just wait, Qin Juran’s gonna show up to class on Monday and start crying】

Qin Juran pursed her lips, continuing to scroll through the jumble of comments. Most of it was speculation on the three peoples’ relationships, some even found out their contact details.

She scrolled until she stopped on a poll question asking, “Who’s better looking—Qin Juran vs. Ruan Nan.” She pressed open the comments and thought for a moment, then typed a few words:

【Qin Juran thinks Ruan Nan is very pretty. 】

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