Rumor Has It I Don’t Follow A-Class Morals - Chapter 49

Ming Muyao looked at Su Yin, who was avoiding her gaze, and knew the girl was nervous about the test. Her question had only made things worse. After all, what student isn’t scared when family asks about their exam scores?

Seeing Su Yin like this, Ming Muyao couldn’t help but chuckle and say, “It’s just a test. Don’t get too worked up. As long as you did your best, that’s enough.”

Su Yin looked up at her, too embarrassed to admit she probably didn’t even manage to do her best.

After being away from school for a year, she had only been back studying for a few weeks before having to take this exam—it was already a big challenge. Just keeping up with the teacher had been hard enough. Today’s placement test had left her feeling guilty. She didn’t even think she’d score 500 points.

If I did this badly in the mock exam, how many points will I get on the real college entrance exam?

But the actual results weren’t out yet, and panicking now wouldn’t help.

Ming Muyao took Su Yin’s hand and led her inside. Aunt Chen had already finished preparing dinner and was just coming out of the kitchen with a bowl of soup. Seeing the two of them walking in side by side, she smiled brightly and said, “You’re both here? Go wash your hands, dinner’s ready.”

After dinner, instead of going upstairs to study like usual, Su Yin did something out of character—she sat on the sofa and slowly started peeling an apple.

Ming Muyao glanced over at her, dressed in a cream-colored dress. The wide skirt draped neatly over her thighs, revealing her smooth, pale knees and two slender legs. Su Yin was holding an apple in one hand, a small paring knife in the other, carefully peeling it. The pink-and-white skin fell in a long, unbroken strip.

Watching her peel an apple so intently, Ming Muyao couldn’t help but stare a little longer.

Su Yin seemed to have filled out lately. Her cheeks were rounder, and her once-pointed chin had softened. With her naturally fair skin and better complexion, she looked just like a ripe peach, sweet and fresh.

Sure, the old Ming Muyao was a terrible person, but she really did marry a great wife.

Ming Muyao found herself staring until Su Yin started cutting the apple into slices on a plate. Then she finally walked over.

“No homework today?” Ming Muyao stood behind the sofa, hands loosely clasped, looking at her.

Su Yin glanced up, paused her slicing, and replied, “There was a mock exam today, so the teachers didn’t assign anything. I just… wanted to take a break.”

The more she spoke, the less confident she sounded.

The truth was, Su Yin was just a 19-year-old girl. Anyone would need a break after a week of nonstop studying, especially someone young and still adjusting. It was only natural to want to slack off a little.

Ming Muyao understood and didn’t scold her. Instead, she said, “I’m heading to the study to finish up some work. You and Aunt Chen can watch some TV, then go rest. Eat more fruit and snacks.”

Su Yin nodded. “I’ll bring you the sliced fruit in a bit.”

“Okay.” Ming Muyao didn’t argue and headed upstairs after chatting for a few more minutes.

There was still plenty of work to do. Heng Jingxian’s team handled site visits during the day, and in the evenings, Ming Muyao and a few senior managers had to hold video conferences to summarize issues and plan improvements.

The meeting started around 8 p.m. and lasted until almost 11. Everyone looked drained, slumped in front of their cameras, clearly exhausted.

“Let’s stop here for today,” Ming Muyao said, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her head ached from fatigue. She exited the virtual meeting room and slumped into her soft chair.

But no chair, no matter how soft, could ease the ache in her shoulders. It was too late to ask Aunt Chen for help, so she grabbed a small plush massage hammer and started lightly thumping her sore muscles.

She’d barely started when her phone rang on the desk. Annoyed, she glanced at it—An Jinyao was calling.

Didn’t we just finish a meeting? Why couldn’t she bring this up earlier? What’s so urgent now?

Still, since An Jinyao looked exactly like her former best friend, Ming Muyao sighed and answered the call.

“President Ming, I just got a few more files from the night shift staff. I’ve organized them and sent them to your phone. Take a look when you can—President Heng might ask about them tomorrow,” An Jinyao said, her voice tired but still responsible.

Ming Muyao leaned on the desk, tapping her shoulders with the plush hammer while asking, “Was this really so urgent? Am I going to drop dead before tomorrow or what?”

That made An Jinyao laugh. “You’ll be fine. I’m more worried the company won’t be.”

Fair point. If Heng Jingxian’s inspection failed, they’d be filing for bankruptcy.

The thought gave Ming Muyao a headache. Everyone else who transmigrated got to be empresses or harem queens. She got stuck running a failing company and taking care of a mistreated but beautiful wife.

Look on the bright side—I do have a gorgeous wife and a company. I guess I’m winning in my own way.

“I got it. I’ll read them later,” Ming Muyao said, sitting up straighter. “If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up. I need rest.”

There was a pause. Then An Jinyao asked, “President Ming, have you checked the trending searches?”

“I’m exhausted. Whatever the drama is, I’ll deal with it tomorrow, okay?”

“…I still think you should look. It might be about you.”

Ming Muyao: What now?

Couldn’t she just get a single peaceful night?

Without hanging up, she opened the trending topics on her phone—and right there at the top was a headline with her name:

#MingMuyaoAndFangQiongyanGoPublicWithRelationship

Ming Muyao: …Excuse me?

Who?

Who the hell was Fang Qiongyan again?

She frowned and thought for a moment—ah, that minor celebrity who had come to her office.

When did I start dating her? And why am I the last to know???

She clicked into the post, and it all made sense. Someone had photographed Fang Qiongyan entering her company and having tea with her mother, Mrs. Ming Zheng. Fang Qiongyan hadn’t denied anything, so the internet had run wild with speculation.

“I’m in a relationship and no one told me?” Ming Muyao asked the still-on-call An Jinyao. “When did you find out about this?”

An Jinyao let out an awkward laugh. “Before the meeting started.”

“You’re really good at keeping things in, huh? You sat through that whole long meeting and didn’t say a word.”

“I was just being professional,” she replied dutifully. “But the meeting’s over now, so I figured I should tell you.”

“Thanks so much,” Ming Muyao said dryly, about to hang up.

But An Jinyao quickly asked, “Aren’t you going to say anything?”

She so wants the gossip. If she were here in person, she’d already be glued to my side.

“This has nothing to do with me,” Ming Muyao said helplessly. “They usually offer the story to the parties involved first. Fang Qiongyan mentioned wanting to generate buzz together, but I didn’t agree. I’m guessing she did this on her own. Just stay out of it and go to bed.”

“Oh.” An Jinyao sounded disappointed as she ended the call.

Ming Muyao stared at her now-dark screen and lazily thumped her shoulders with the plush hammer a few more times. Then she threw it aside, pulled up the contact her mom had sent for Fang Qiongyan, and dialed without caring that it was already past 11 p.m.

The call took a while to connect—clearly, the other party saw who it was. Finally, a sweet voice answered, “President Ming, how could you bear to call me this late at night?”

“You know exactly why I’m calling,” Ming Muyao said coldly. “You’ve had your moment in the spotlight. Now take that post down. I don’t want to see that trending topic when I wake up tomorrow.”

Fang Qiongyan paused before replying, “Sure. My studio already has a statement ready. If you’d called earlier, I could’ve taken it down sooner.”

Ming Muyao couldn’t be bothered to argue. Before hanging up, she warned, “Don’t pull stunts like this again, or don’t blame me for being rude.”

After the call, she took a shower. When she came out, the trending post was already gone. Fang Qiongyan had posted on Weibo saying they were just friends, not romantically involved.

She even implied that she came from a wealthy family—no less privileged than the Mings—which had fans flocking to call her “rich queen.”

Ming Muyao shook her head, feeling mentally drained.

At the training center, Su Yin sat in the back row, watching the teacher hand out the mock exam results. When her name was called, she immediately got up and walked to the front to collect hers.

Before she even looked at the score, the teacher gave her a glance and gently said, “You haven’t been here long. It’s normal if you’re still catching up. There’s still over two months left—keep working hard.”

Su Yin didn’t react at first. But the moment she saw her score, she felt dizzy.

Zhou Zhou lazily took her own paper and glanced at it. The awful score didn’t surprise her. She was only here to kill time—getting anywhere near 300 or 400 points was already better than she expected.

Back at her seat, Zhou Zhou slapped her paper down and decided to skip her nap. It was almost lunchtime anyway. As she pulled out her phone to decide whether to order in or eat out, she casually asked her deskmate, “Su Yin, what are you eating for lunch? Is your housekeeper bringing it again?”

Su Yin just stared at her score and didn’t answer.

Zhou Zhou glanced sideways and caught a glimpse of the paper. She leaned over, curious. “51, 69, 63… total 441. Not bad! That’s more than 40 points higher than me.”

Su Yin turned toward her, dazed. Zhou Zhou grinned and shook her own test in the air. “I got 397. I’m dead last. What rank did you get?”

That hit Su Yin like a punch to the chest.

Zhou Zhou spent every day napping in class and still got nearly 400 points. Meanwhile, Su Yin had been staying up late studying every night and only managed 441—almost 100 points short of the score needed for the education college she wanted.

“Hey?” Zhou Zhou was about to joke that they were the bottom-rank duo, but when she saw Su Yin’s eyes go red, she quickly pulled out a tissue and leaned over. “Why are you crying? Don’t cry! It’s just second-to-last place!”

Just second-to-last place?

Hearing that only made Su Yin cry even harder.