The Villainess Is Pretending to Be Sweet Again Today (Transmigration) - Chapter 15

Nuo Yang rushed to the office on Monday to return the pacifiers and other baby items gifted by Cheng Bai and the others.

When the colleagues realized it had all been a misunderstanding, an awkward atmosphere settled over the office.

Chu Kexin clutched her returned baby bottle to her chest, muttering, “What am I supposed to do with this now?”

Cheng Bai tapped the back of her hand and said, “You can always regift it when a friend gets married.”

“With all the overtime I’ve been pulling, where would I even find friends?” Chu Kexin sighed. “Now that we’re not allowed to work late this month, I feel completely out of sorts.”

“Tell me about it,” another chimed in. “My roommate thought I got fired when I started coming home on time every day.”

“Yeah, my mom thought the same!”

After returning the last two bags of milk powder, Nuo Yang sat at her desk and asked, “So, what do you all do at night now?”

Chu Kexin thought for a moment. “Watch TV, play games, occasionally belt out some tunes.”

Cheng Bai raised an eyebrow. “Belting out tunes? That’s some enthusiasm. Got any recordings? Maybe we can feature you in a column.”

Chu Kexin grinned. “Next time we hit up KTV, I’ll give you a live performance!”

“Speaking of which,” Cheng Bai lowered her voice conspiratorially, “I’ve found a few cool new spots. We should plan another outing soon. Last time at Punk Night, I didn’t get to fully enjoy myself—Nuo Yang, you absolutely can’t bail early this time.”

Nuo Yang scratched her head sheepishly. “I’ll have to pass. Got a minor at home to look after.”

“Is it that little sidekick you brought last time?” Cheng Bai asked. “She looked about sixteen or seventeen. Why isn’t she in school? Did something happen?”

Nuo Yang had never pried into Long Huaichang’s school situation—partly because the girl never brought it up, and partly because Nuo Yang suspected it involved the Long family, a topic she knew was a sore spot for Huai Chang.

“Probably. I don’t know the details,” Nuo Yang replied before suddenly perking up. “Hey, do any of you know of good high schools nearby?”

“There’s one right next door,” Chu Kexin said. “No. 3 High—a four-star school. Not top-tier, but decent enough to get into a good university.”

Nuo Yang mulled it over. No. 3 High?

Wasn’t that where the young female lead would eventually attend?

Actually, it didn’t seem like a bad choice…

—

That evening, Nuo Yang brought up the school topic with Long Huaichang.

Despite the sweltering heat, the apartment remained tightly sealed. Huai Chang, dressed in a low-cut black tank top, was in the kitchen preparing ice jelly. She showed little reaction to Nuo Yang’s suggestion, simply drizzling brown sugar syrup over the dessert and sprinkling raisins before bringing it out.

“Anywhere is fine,” Huai Chang said, placing the chilled treat in Nuo Yang’s hands. “Try it, sis. Let me know if it’s good.”

Nuo Yang, busy tying up her hair, didn’t hesitate when offered a spoonful.

Crack!

The plastic spoon snapped violently in half.

Nuo Yang also froze in place, not realizing her teeth were strong enough to bite through a spoon in one go. She forgot to continue tying up her hair and just stood there stiffly.

Long Huaichang looked at the broken half of the spoon in his hand, then back at her.

Nuo Yang: “Mmm mmm mmm mmm!” Get me a trash can!

Long Huaichang, pretending not to understand, feigned confusion. “Sister, what are you saying?”

Nuo Yang: “Mmm mmm mmm ugh!” The trash can!

Long Huaichang tossed the spoon aside and leaned in closer. “Since when did Sister start liking to eat spoons? Should I get you more next time?”

Nuo Yang was clearly annoyed by this mischievous kid. Puffing her cheeks, she wriggled her tongue to push out the spoon fragment, her light-colored eyes glaring at Long Huaichang. Finally, she spat the broken spoon into her palm, shook her messy hair, and said, “I told you to get me a trash can!”

Long Huaichang snickered, and Nuo Yang realized this little brat had heard her all along but pretended not to understand.

Some people die from stupidity, others from recklessness—Nuo Yang was certain Long Huaichang would grow up to die from sheer wickedness!

This little devil!

After tossing the spoon into the trash, Nuo Yang picked up her bowl of chilled jelly and gulped it down. Long Huaichang sat beside her, watching her eat.

Nuo Yang’s face had always carried a youthful softness, typical of a fresh college graduate still holding onto some childish charm. Now, as she sulkily hugged the bowl and munched away, she looked especially adorable. Her chestnut hair cascaded messily behind her, but somehow, Long Huaichang didn’t find it off-putting.

After staring at Nuo Yang for a while, Long Huaichang suddenly spoke up. “Sister, let me help you with your hair.”

Nuo Yang gave her a doubtful glance but didn’t refuse. She fetched a hair tie and a comb from the bathroom, then happily plopped onto the sofa, continuing to munch on her chilled jelly.

On a scorching summer day, nothing beat the bliss of eating something cool.

And having a ‘little servant’ comb her hair? That happiness was practically sky-high!

“Xiao Huai, this is so delicious—way better than the ones sold outside,” Nuo Yang praised generously. “Make more tomorrow. I want to bring some for my coworkers to try.”

Long Huaichang worked efficiently, quickly twisting Nuo Yang’s hair into a neat bun that bobbed cutely at the back of her head.

“If Sister likes it, I’ll make more tomorrow.”

“Mm, thanks, Xiao Huai!”

The two of them lounged on the sofa. Long Huaichang glanced down at Nuo Yang’s fair legs and mused, “Sister, about that school you mentioned earlier…”

“Ah, Third High!” Nuo Yang looked up at her. “I asked about it after work today. They said if you want to transfer, you can join their second-year class, but you’ll need to take an entrance exam.”

Long Huaichang’s voice turned serious. “What’s the passing score?”

Nuo Yang patted her shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry, just take it easy. It’s only 10,000 yuan per point—I’ll cover it.”

As long as Long Huaichang wasn’t a complete idiot, the exam wouldn’t be a problem.

And even if it was, wasn’t there her rich older sister to bail her out?

An older sister spoiling her younger sister—what could be more natural than that?

Having set her goal, Nuo Yang spent these days gathering all the information about Third High School. Just as Chu Kexin had said, it wasn’t a top-tier institution—naturally incomparable to the elite school Long Huaichang had previously attended—but it was still decent enough.

However, Nuo Yang soon encountered a rather thorny problem.

That weekend, Nuo Yang collected past transfer exam papers for Long Huaichang to try out. But when she checked the answers afterward, she fell into stunned silence.

Across from her, Long Huaichang—usually so composed—now fidgeted nervously, her gaze darting around.

After a long pause, Nuo Yang finally looked up from the papers and said, “Out of 100 points… you scored 32?”

Long Huaichang coughed awkwardly and defended, “I never claimed to be a good student.”

But this wasn’t just “not good”!

Even a poor student shouldn’t perform this badly! Scoring 32 on a multiple-choice test meant Long Huaichang hadn’t even tried—she’d just guessed randomly!

Subsequent attempts at other subjects yielded similarly dismal results: 21 in Chinese, 33 in math, 17 in English…

Nuo Yang clutched her head in despair. With grades like these, getting into Third High would require at least donating an entire building!

Should she fund a classroom block? A lab building? Or maybe just build them a new cafeteria? Even if Long Huaichang couldn’t excel academically, at least she could eat her way to compensation!

Resigned, Nuo Yang began calculating construction costs.

Long Huaichang, too, seemed shocked by her own performance. Though never a top student at her previous school, she’d at least been average. But months of lazing at home, obsessing over cooking, had completely wiped her mind clean of studies.

Unaware that Nuo Yang was already planning which building to donate, Long Huaichang offered weakly, “Maybe I’ve just forgotten everything after not studying for so long…”

Nuo Yang nodded reassuringly. “It’s fine. There’s still time before the exam. We’ll take it slow.”

Every penny saved was a penny earned!

If they could avoid donating a building, all the better!

Nuo Yang’s money didn’t grow on trees!

“I’ll study after washing the dishes,” Long Huaichang promised.

Nuo Yang tugged her sleeve. “No dishes today. I’ll handle them—you focus on studying. Tomorrow, I’ll hire a tutor.”

They had to get those scores above passing within the week!

Long Huaichang sighed but didn’t argue. “I’ll do my best, sis.”

Touched, Nuo Yang said, “Believe in yourself! It’s just an exam. There’ll be plenty more.”

Long Huaichang: “…”

Suddenly, she wasn’t so sure about going back to school.