The Villainess Is Pretending to Be Sweet Again Today (Transmigration) - Chapter 16

Nuo Yang planned to find a tutor for Long Huaichang, but many training institutions wouldn’t accept students with her conditions, especially since it involved all subjects, which made things quite troublesome.

“It can’t be that difficult,” Nuo Yang muttered after several unsuccessful phone calls, glancing disdainfully at Long Huaichang’s test paper with its pitiful scores in the teens. “I could teach her myself.”

With that thought, she called out to Long Huaichang, who was busy cleaning the house.

“Xiao Huai, stop doing chores and come here!”

Nuo Yang enthusiastically waved her over. Long Huaichang had no choice but to put down the mop and walk over, sitting cross-legged on the sofa. “What’s up?” she asked.

“I want to try this test paper too. You can check my answers later,” Nuo Yang said. “Most tutors can’t handle all subjects, and your situation is a bit tricky. If we can’t find anyone, I might as well teach you myself.”

Long Huaichang’s eyes lit up with interest. “Sure,” she agreed.

Attending school wasn’t a big deal to her—she was mainly curious to see Nuo Yang take a test.

They made a deal, and Nuo Yang pulled out a mock exam, diving right in. About two hours later, she reluctantly handed the completed paper to Long Huaichang.

Long Huaichang had been waiting patiently. Noticing Nuo Yang’s awkward hesitation when handing it over, she asked curiously, “Was the test easy, sis?”

“Uh… it was okay,” Nuo Yang replied stiffly. “Actually, it was pretty simple. I just… might not have done well.”

Long Huaichang calmly took out the answer key with a knowing smile. “No worries, I’ll check it for you.”

The results were in:

Chinese—22, Math—17, English—41.

It was clear the test-taker believed in filling in every blank, even for questions they didn’t know.

Nuo Yang pointed at her paper triumphantly. “See? My English score is better than yours! If I just taught you English, it might actually work out!”

Long Huaichang countered, “But 40 still isn’t a passing grade.”

Nuo Yang flushed with embarrassment. She had been so confident earlier, but now her results spoke otherwise. Mumbling quietly, she admitted, “I didn’t think it’d be this hard…”

She had assumed her academic performance from just a couple of years ago would hold up.

Turns out, she and Long Huaichang were equally matched.

“Don’t be discouraged, sis,” Long Huaichang consoled. “When we hire a tutor, we can learn together.”

Nuo Yang huffed, “That means paying double!”

Long Huaichang grinned. “The tutor can teach me, and you can listen in for free.”

“No way! I just graduated—I’m not sitting through classes again.” The mere thought of lectures made Nuo Yang’s scalp tingle. She scrambled up from the floor. “It’s almost noon—go feed Gua Zi!”

Long Huaichang lounged lazily on the sofa. “Already fed her.”

“Then go clean the litter box.”

“Already done.”

Nuo Yang glared at Long Huaichang’s teasing expression and snapped, “Well, you can’t just laze around here. Go cook!”

Long Huaichang pouted. “Are you mad at me? Weren’t we just talking about ordering takeout?”

“I’m mad.” Nuo Yang’s little temper flared up uncontrollably. “No takeout today. Eating too much takeout makes you dumb. I’ll buy you some roasted nuts later to nourish your brain.”

Long Huaichang didn’t mind. Skipping takeout was fine—she could use the vegetables she’d just picked.

“Then I’ll cook. Sister, go downstairs and buy some snacks, and check if any tutoring centers need students while you’re at it.”

“Got it!”

While Long Huaichang cooked, Nuo Yang went downstairs to buy some walnuts and snacks. Since they had nothing to do at home on their day off, eating and drinking was the natural pastime.

She also grabbed two cups of milk tea before heading back upstairs.

When she first entered the neighborhood, Nuo Yang noticed the bulletin board at the entrance plastered with ads, mostly for training institutions. She skimmed through them and finally found a high school tutoring course buried among elementary school interest classes.

“Why is one class so expensive…?” Nuo Yang muttered, holding the flyer. She thought tutoring centers were outrageously pricey these days. If she had any skills, she’d consider opening a few herself.

But remembering she was only good at spending money, she quickly dismissed the idea.

After lunch, Long Huaichang obediently took out her old books to study. Luckily, she hadn’t thrown them away when she dropped out, though they felt unfamiliar now.

“I’m heading out,” Nuo Yang said while putting on her shoes. “I’ll be back soon. Xiao Huai, remember to take care of Guazi.”

Long Huaichang looked up at the sound of the kitten’s “ding-ding-dang-dang” running upstairs and replied, “Got it. Come back early, Sister.”

Nuo Yang didn’t go far, just followed the address on the flyer. The navigation led her into an alley.

Perhaps because of the scorching weather, the alley seemed deserted and eerily quiet.

After double-checking the address, Nuo Yang hesitantly stepped inside.

While the outside was sweltering, the alley felt oddly cool.

Many shops on either side were closed, their interiors cluttered as if they hadn’t operated in a long time.

Was there really a tutoring center here? Nuo Yang wondered if she’d gotten the wrong place.

“This can’t be it…” Nuo Yang folded the flyer, ready to turn back. The place felt off, even unsafe.

Just as she was about to leave, a hand gently lifted the half-open door of a nearby shop. A woman in revealing clothes, heavily made up, leaned against the doorframe and smiled at Nuo Yang. “Looking for something, little girl?”

Seeing a person, Nuo Yang asked, “Is there a tutoring center around here?”

“Closed long ago,” the woman exhaled a smoke ring. “What do you want to learn, little girl? I know all kinds of positions—800 a pop, 2000 for the night.”

Nuo Yang froze. What was this woman talking about?

The woman seemed amused by Nuo Yang’s stunned expression. Nuo Yang’s fair, delicate face made her wide-eyed confusion look even more naive. Leaning closer, the woman blew another smoke ring at her. “Made up your mind? 800 per session, cash only—no credit.”

“No, no need!” Nuo Yang’s face turned pale with fright. Although she liked women, she wasn’t willing to do such things and quickly turned to run away.

Just as she dashed out of the alley, she bumped straight into someone.

Staggering back a couple of steps, Nuo Yang looked up to see several tall, burly men standing there, watching her with calm expressions.

“Don’t move,” one of the men said, pulling out a small booklet from his pocket. “We’re conducting a vice raid. Come with us to the station.”

Nuo Yang: “?????”

—

When Long Huaichang arrived at the nearby police station after receiving the call, she saw Nuo Yang sitting in a corner, completely out of place amidst the noisy chaos of the station. She looked so small, as if trying to erase her own presence.

“Officer, I already told you I wasn’t soliciting! How can you slander me like this?” A heavily made-up woman, smoking a cigarette, snapped angrily. “This girl really isn’t my client—why won’t you listen to me???”

The officer sitting across from her frowned helplessly. “Every time, you say they’re not your clients. Don’t think just because we didn’t catch you in the act that you can deny everything. Just admit it already.”

“I didn’t do it, so why should I admit it??? How unfair is this?!”

Nuo Yang felt she was the one being treated most unfairly!!!

Just then, a staff member standing nearby noticed Long Huaichang enter and asked, “Can I help you?”

Long Huaichang glanced at him, then pointed toward the arguing group. “I’m here to pick someone up.”

The man looked over, then back at Long Huaichang, and nodded. “Go ahead.”

Nuo Yang’s eyes were red by now. She had only wanted to find a tutor for Long Huaichang —how had she ended up in this mess???

The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt, and her heart ached with the urge to cry!

“Sis.”

At that moment, a familiar voice sounded above her. Nuo Yang looked up to see Long Huaichang’s familiar face and immediately threw herself into her arms!

“Xiao Huai, you finally came to get me, wuuuuu!!!”

Long Huaichang felt a weight against her stomach as Nuo Yang clung tightly to her waist.

Nuo Yang was genuinely terrified. She had always been a law-abiding citizen, and this was her first time ever being dragged into a police station—naturally, she was crying buckets.

Long Huaichang reached out and gently stroked Nuo Yang’s chestnut hair, sighing. “Alright, alright, stop crying. I’m here now, aren’t I?”

Nuo Yang wailed loudly, “My reputation!!!”

In the end, the police fined Nuo Yang a few hundred yuan before letting Long Huaichang take her away.

As they walked, Nuo Yang tearfully complained, “That alley doesn’t even have surveillance cameras! The moment I stepped out, they blocked me—why did they only see me leaving and not entering?”

Long Huaichang sighed. The night breeze was chilly, and as she watched Nuo Yang ramble on, she reached out a hand.

“Huh?” Nuo Yang, tear stains still on her cheeks, didn’t understand what she meant.

“Hold my hand.” Without waiting for a response, Long Huaichang firmly grasped her fingers and murmured, “Does this make you feel better?”

The warmth in her palm did, in fact, make Nuo Yang feel a little more at ease.

Though it felt a bit embarrassing to admit, the moment Nuo Yang saw Long Huaichang at the police station, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief wash over her.

How could she, the older sister, have such thoughts?

Feeling awkward, Nuo Yang averted her gaze and muttered, “I’m the one holding your hand, not the other way around. You’re not comforting me.”

Faced with her stubbornness, Long Huaichang sighed helplessly. “Alright, whatever you say, sis.”

“Hmph, you sure know how to sweet-talk.” Finally relaxing, Nuo Yang exhaled deeply. “Next time, I should call ahead instead of just dropping by because it’s close by.”

Long Huaichang nodded in agreement as they walked side by side toward home, the streetlights stretching their shadows long behind them.

“Sis,” Long Huaichang spoke softly after a while, “I’ll find my own tutor. The exams are next week, and I want to put in more effort.”

In the past, Long Huaichang never cared much about grades—her mother never asked, after all. As long as she stayed by her side, she could get whatever she wanted.

But Nuo Yang was different. She would beam with pride over even the smallest achievements. Now that Long Huaichang had nothing left, this was the one thing she didn’t want to let Nuo Yang down on.

“Finding your own tutor sounds great!” Nuo Yang grinned, squeezing her hand. “That’ll save me some trouble. Don’t worry about the cost—I’ll cover it!”

“Thanks, sis.” Long Huaichang smiled warmly. “I love you the most~”