Marrying the Ugly Woman of a Rich and Powerful Family - Chapter 17

The original host’s final sentence was that even someone as weak as Cang Yan could live strongly, yet she was constantly suppressed.

Shen Qingyuan curiously asked, “Who suppressed her?”

“Who the heck knows,” Cang Yan said inexplicably. “Why are you showing me this? I don’t want to know the thoughts you had when you wrote it. Wrong is wrong; no amount of grandstanding excuses can change that.”

Shen Qingyuan realized then that she had been confused after waking up and had looked at the matter from an outsider’s perspective, but from Cang Yan’s point of view, the person who wrote the diary was her.

Shen Qingyuan took the offensive: “It’s you who read my notebook without my permission.”

At most, this was a notebook, not a diary.

“Otherwise, how could I understand your filthy thoughts?” What Cang Yan cared about was that the book clearly said she wasn’t good-looking, and the handwriting was different from Shen Qingyuan’s.

Her thoughts were currently oscillating between whether Shen Qingyuan genuinely thought she was beautiful and whether Shen Qingyuan was lying to her.

“Don’t you think what’s written here contradicts what you said? You clearly said before that you wrote I was an S to attract my attention, and now it’s turned into a way to reinforce it,” Cang Yan questioned. “Which of your words is true? So young, yet full of lies.”

Shen Qingyuan explained seriously, “Who writes a diary if they’re a proper person? Something that will be discovered sooner or later and become a handle, of course, I have to write it ambiguously. I couldn’t possibly tell the diary-peeker outright: I have a niche aesthetic, and I like Cang Yan’s appearance.”

She was praising with apparent criticism.

She admitted that she really thought Cang Yan was beautiful, otherwise, saying someone was beautiful one moment and then saying they weren’t in a diary the next would be too hurtful.

She could only blame herself for not tidying up the original host’s things.

Cang Yan, the diary-peeker, felt subtly insulted, but since Shen Qingyuan admitted she was beautiful, she was in a good mood, only muttering, “Writing a diary like a spy, what’s the matter with you?”

Shen Qingyuan, with an “I am who I am” look, said, “You wouldn’t understand a young girl’s thoughts. Don’t look at my things randomly in the future. If you have any questions, ask me directly, and I promise to tell you everything I know, without holding anything back.”

Cang Yan was disgusted by the phrase “young girl” and waved her hand dismissively, saying, “You summarize it yourself.”

Shen Qingyuan, like giving a report, said, “First, I genuinely think you’re beautiful. So beautiful that even if you dripped wax on me, I wouldn’t hold a grudge. This is beyond doubt, and you don’t need to think I’m flattering you.”

Cang Yan glared at her: “Continue.”

“Secondly, that fanfiction is out of character. Just treat it as a novel where the female lead happens to be named Cang Yan, and it has nothing to do with you personally. Does that make you feel better?”

“Impossible. You must submit what I told you to write on time.” Cang Yan reluctantly accepted the explanation, then added, “How do you explain the handwriting?”

Shen Qingyuan spread her hands, saying, “I can write with my left hand too. Both my hands are very flexible. Would you like to try?”

Cang Yan: “…”

The conclusion Cang Yan reached at Shen Qingyuan’s house was that Shen Qingyuan truly had a niche aesthetic. Shen Qingyuan, however, nervously tidied the original host’s room again, locking up all text-related items, and eventually discovered that the original host did not share her aesthetic.

As for why she searched for Cang Yan’s information, it was purely out of curiosity, and then on a whim, she wrote fanfiction about her, she just never expected it to become popular.

The original host also knew she couldn’t afford to offend Cang Yan, and when she learned she was to marry her, she happened to be in a bad mood, so she agreed.

It seems the original host was really chuunibyou and rebellious.

Even her aesthetic preference had to be rebellious.

Cang Yan was eager to go home and change clothes. After saying hello to Shen Tongtao and his wife, she led Shen Qingyuan back home. As for Shen Songsong, she hadn’t appeared before they left.

Shen Qingyuan also took everything she needed to bring. The moment she received her ID card, she felt at peace. From now on, she truly had to live in this world with this identity.

She didn’t know whether this was a blessing or a curse.

Shen Qingyuan returned to Cang Yan’s villa and continued to study diligently. She had thought about changing majors, but given the original host’s academic situation, it was unlikely any department would take her.

“I went to Shen Tongtao’s house yesterday and just came back this morning.” Cang Yan was on the phone with Wen Jinshu with one cell phone and using the other to search for information about cacophilia and niche aesthetics. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Shen Qingyuan, but her curiosity about this group made her want to know more.

“Going to see her parents so soon, it seems you’re quite interested in her.” Wen Jinshu particularly hoped her daughter could have a lifelong companion.

When Cang Yan chose Shen Qingyuan from a group of people, they initially thought Shen Qingyuan was too young and unreliable, but now they felt that being young meant she was easier to manage, and she seemed spirited and not lifeless.

Cang Yan said distractedly, “I am somewhat interested.”

Wen Jinshu was about to speak, but Cang Yan added, “But it has nothing to do with ‘an old cow eating young grass.’ I just want to abuse her now; I want to see her cry and beg me.”

Wen Jinshu: “…” Do young people play such trendy games now?

After saying it, Cang Yan realized she did have a bit of an S tendency. Perhaps the suggestiveness of the fanfiction was too strong, leading her to feel that S-ing Shen Qingyuan would be very interesting, but it was just a thought.

That night, Cang Yan finally returned to a familiar environment and had a good night’s sleep. However, when she woke up in the morning and was just taking a sip of tea, Shen Qingyuan, wearing sportswear, pulled her to go exercise, like a cult member.

“Come on, start the new day with wellness. Let’s do some exercise together?” Shen Qingyuan looked radiant, as if she would never get tired.

Cang Yan, however, just wanted to find a place to collapse and refused, “No.”

She didn’t want to exercise, nor did she want Shen Qingyuan to see her sickly appearance.

Shen Qingyuan said, “Come on, how can you S people without strength?”

Cang Yan raised an eyebrow, “Who told you I’m an S?”

Shen Qingyuan said, “You said it yourself before. I don’t even mind that you’re an S; let’s do the mass calisthenics together.”

Shen Qingyuan felt she was getting old and nosy. She particularly wanted to see Cang Yan healthy, so she insisted on dragging Cang Yan to exercise with her.

Cang Yan remained unmoved.

Shen Qingyuan compromised: “Then just come with me to the yard. You can watch me. I really need an audience right now; otherwise, I feel like I’m performing a monologue, and I won’t have any sense of achievement.”

She also realized that Cang Yan liked to be begged.

Cang Yan pondered for a moment: “Fine.”

Walking on the cobblestone floor in cotton slippers, basking in the morning sun, it was warm and not at all harsh, in fact, quite comfortable to sunbathe in.

Cang Yan wanted to find a place to sit again.

Shen Qingyuan had already started exercising.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight…” A clear voice recited from the phone. Shen Qingyuan followed the rhythm and the movements on the phone, but her movements were not standard, which made Cang Yan stifle a laugh.

Although she didn’t remember all the mass calisthenics moves, they were definitely not what Shen Qingyuan was doing. Shen Qingyuan was moving her arms and legs awkwardly, clearly lacking athletic ability.

She said, “Kindergarten kids do it better than you.”

Shen Qingyuan said while exercising, “That’s still better than some people just sitting there. At least I’m moving.”

“I love sitting. What are you going to do about it?” Cang Yan moved to sit on the swing. The swing swayed slowly. The sky was azure, and the white clouds looked like cotton candy. A gentle breeze blew, immediately putting one in a relaxed mood.

After finishing a set of mass calisthenics, Shen Qingyuan started swaying her head and memorizing her textbook. The Chinese Language and Literature major required too much memorization, and she also had to memorize vocabulary. She constantly felt time was insufficient.

Cang Yan said, “Is cramming now going to help?”

“I have no choice. It’s better than not cramming at all.” Shen Qingyuan continued to memorize her books and vocabulary. Cang Yan, who had no intention of going out today, surprisingly stayed with her until nine o’clock without feeling bored.

“I’ll go to the library first. I have class this afternoon.”

“Go ahead.” After Shen Qingyuan left, Cang Yan took off her shoes and walked barefoot on the cobblestones. The smooth stones were a little prickly, but she heard it could stimulate the meridians, so Cang Yan patiently walked a few rounds.

This should count as exercise, right?

Shen Qingyuan ate breakfast at the school cafeteria. After thinking for a moment, she asked Li Xinyan and Mu Qing to join her at the library.

Li Xinyan was surprised: “Are you serious? Cang Yan is too scary. If I had a Cang Yan watching over me, I wouldn’t be attending university here.”

Then she thought, if a Cang Yan had a crush on her, she wouldn’t need to study; she could just stay home and spend money honestly.

“Just tell me if you’re coming or not?”

“Coming, coming. I was originally planning to play games, so I’ll go to the library too. Qingqing wants to take a certification exam anyway, and I’ll keep her company. It’s boring otherwise.” Li Xinyan said.

Actually, she had been studying diligently during the first semester of her freshman year, but seeing everyone else so relaxed, plus no one in her dorm liked to study, and the only student with good grades, Tang Zijing, was always passive-aggressive, she unconsciously started to slack off.

Now that Shen Qingyuan was planning to study seriously, she also wanted to push herself.

The three went to the library together.

The study atmosphere in the dorm was always important, especially during university. Shen Qingyuan was very clear about this: if one person slacked off, the whole dorm would basically fall into decline.

Mu Qing suddenly said, “I see you don’t like this major very much. Have you considered taking the postgraduate entrance exam?”

Shen Qingyuan was surprised by her keen observation, saying, “I have. I plan to switch to the Mathematics major.”

Of course, her current goal was just to pass the makeup exams.

“…” Li Xinyan nearly dropped her jaw, thinking Shen Qingyuan was joking and not taking her seriously.

The three stayed in the library until noon, had lunch, and then went to class. On Mondays, they only had classes in the fifth and sixth periods.

Shen Qingyuan returned to the dorm to take a nap. Unexpectedly, when she drew open the curtains, there was a black and gray spectacled cobra.

“Holy sh1t!” Shen Qingyuan fell directly from the bed ladder, hitting her bottom, which made her tailbone tingle with pain.

“What’s wrong?” Li Xinyan quickly helped her up.

Shen Qingyuan’s legs were shaking from fright: “There’s a snake.”

“A snake? Where?” Li Xinyan’s face also turned pale.

Mu Qing came over with a drying rack, took a closer look, and said, “It’s fake. It’s a prank toy snake.”

Li Xinyan felt a chill run down her spine, “It must be Tang Zijing. That’s too much.”

“No, I need to find the counselor.” Shen Qingyuan felt that having a roommate like Tang Zijing was too dangerous. If the other party got unhappy one day and poisoned her, she might die again.

The counselor was very familiar with Shen Qingyuan, who was named by professors every semester for skipping classes. Seeing her suddenly come to her, she was a bit surprised and kindly advised, “I heard from Teacher Zhou that you started being serious this week. As a student, you must focus on your studies, or you won’t even get a graduation certificate, and no one will want you in society later.”

Then she remembered that Shen Qingyuan was married to Cang Yan, so finding a job wasn’t something she needed to worry about.

Shen Qingyuan acted like a good student, nodding repeatedly. Then she recounted what had just happened in the dorm. The counselor was shocked: “How could Tang Zijing do such a thing? Are you alright now?”

“I’m fine now, but I don’t dare to live in the same dorm as her anymore. I’m afraid she might use something else to scare me when she’s unhappy.” Shen Qingyuan said, her face pale and voice weak.

The counselor thought for a moment and said, “I’ll call her here. You should confront her face-to-face first. If she didn’t put it there, it wouldn’t be good to wrongly accuse a classmate.”

Tang Zijing was the class academic representative and always kept in touch with the teachers. She arrived quickly and said indifferently, “That’s a toy snake my friend gave me. I didn’t expect it to end up in Shen Qingyuan’s bedding.”

The counselor said, “It’s best not to bring things like this to the dorm. Some students are naturally afraid…”

Before she could finish, Shen Qingyuan suddenly leaned back and said, “I can’t. I think I’m going to faint.”

Then she decisively fainted.

Tang Zijing gritted her teeth. She knew Shen Qingyuan’s personality. She was not afraid of snakes at all, and she wouldn’t faint on and off like this. She originally just wanted to annoy Shen Qingyuan, and she had already planned to check out of the dorm.

She thought Shen Qingyuan would argue and make a scene, perhaps even fight her, and then get a demerit. After all, Shen Qingyuan was usually senseless. She didn’t expect her to just pretend to faint now.

The counselor stood up and said, “Let’s send her to the infirmary first.”

She thought about it and decided against it. She called Cang Yan.

Cang Yan had previously contacted the school about the reporters, seeming to care deeply about Shen Qingyuan. Moreover, Tang Zijing’s father was the principal of B University. No matter how she, as a counselor, handled it, she would displease both sides. It was better to let them handle it themselves. Besides, when something happens to a student, calling the parents is the most logical thing to do.

“Hello, Shen Qingyuan is in the infirmary.”

Cang Yan was dumbfounded when she received the counselor’s call, thinking it was about academic issues again. She never expected it to be about the infirmary. While thinking that Shen Qingyuan caused too much trouble, she asked, “Did Shen Qingyuan get into a fight?”

“Not exactly. Are you free to come over? She just fainted, and it looks quite serious.” The counselor wanted the parents to handle it, so she exaggerated the severity.

Cang Yan frowned, finding it hard to believe that the lively Shen Qingyuan from the morning had fainted. She said with a displeased look, “I’ll be right over.”

She was free today, so she changed clothes and headed out. In the car, she was still wondering why she had to go. Shouldn’t Shen Tongtao and Yin Ruyun be the ones to find out when Shen Qingyuan fainted?

It was all Shen Qingyuan’s fault for randomly filling in her phone number!

Shen Qingyuan woke up as soon as she arrived at the infirmary. Seeing Tang Zijing with a dark expression on the side, she felt secretly pleased. Most counselors preferred to downplay serious issues, thinking what major conflicts could students have?

But she wanted to blow the matter up, preferably so that Tang Zijing would no longer share a dorm with her. Otherwise, the risks of attending school were too great. She also wondered what kind of animosity the original host had with Tang Zijing.

The doctor on duty at the infirmary checked Shen Qingyuan and found nothing wrong. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Go back and rest, and you’ll be fine.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” Shen Qingyuan was very obedient. “I’m particularly afraid of snakes, and now I feel traumatized.”

Li Xinyan and Mu Qing exchanged glances. Earlier, after Shen Qingyuan knew it was a fake snake, she even picked it up to feel its texture, but now she looked pitiful. Her acting was truly good.

The kind doctor said gently, “If you feel traumatized, you can go to the school’s psychological counseling room.”

Shen Qingyuan nodded vigorously: “Okay.”

The counselor, who arrived shortly after, said, “I’ve informed your guardian. You rest here for a bit. If you faint again, you can get timely medical attention.”

“Thank you, Teacher,” Shen Qingyuan said with her head lowered.

Shen Qingyuan sat in the infirmary’s rest area. The fall had made her butt hurt, but it was too embarrassing, so she didn’t mention it.

Then Cang Yan arrived.

Shen Qingyuan thought the counselor meant Yin Ruyun when she mentioned a guardian. She was already planning how to act pathetic, but she was stunned when Cang Yan showed up. She immediately pounced into Cang Yan’s arms, her voice trembling, “Sister, you finally came. I was so scared.”

Cang Yan looked utterly confused: “…”

She was stumbled by Shen Qingyuan’s impact, almost losing her footing. She gritted her teeth and managed to hug Shen Qingyuan.

Onlookers: “…”