The Villainess Is Pretending to Be Sweet Again Today (Transmigration) - Chapter 20

Early in the morning, as Nuo Yang arrived at the company, the receptionist hurried her off to a meeting while asking her to help carry some things along the way.

Unsure of what was happening, Nuo Yang quickly set down her bag, grabbed her laptop, and headed to the conference room next door.

The moment she stepped inside, she could sense something was off.

Several editors who were usually late were already seated, their expressions grim. The general manager, looking equally troubled, stared at his phone with clear displeasure.

Once everyone had gathered, the manager set his phone down and spoke sharply, “Chu Kexin, do you realize the gravity of the situation?”

Chu Kexin sat across from him, an unfinished pancake still in front of her, her own expression sour. “What did I do?”

The manager rapped his knuckles on the table. “How many times have I told you? Your articles are too inflammatory—you’re going to get us in trouble!”

Chu Kexin stiffened. “Was I wrong? That child who jumped—who pushed them to it? The family and the school both failed them.”

“That’s not the point! You can’t just lash out like that!”

“But that article already hit 100K+ views. Isn’t that the engagement you wanted?”

“Chu Kexin, you still don’t get how serious this is?”

As the argument escalated, Nuo Yang leaned toward Cheng Bai beside her and whispered, “Cheng Bai-jie, what’s going on?”

Cheng Bai tilted her head and replied quietly, “Chu Kexin wrote about that elementary school student’s suicide a couple of days ago. The manager got called in yesterday—they demanded the article be taken down.”

Nuo Yang frowned. “But wasn’t that piece well-written? Why delete it?”

“Because it touched on… sensitive issues.”

“Chu Kexin!” The manager slammed his hand on the table. “Do you even want to keep your job? If the higher-ups say no, then it’s no. Arguing with me won’t change that!”

Chu Kexin’s eyes burned with anger. “Everything I wrote was the truth. If even one word is wrong, you can have my head!”

The tension in the room was about to boil over when others quickly intervened, pulling the two apart and trying to calm them down.

The manager, visibly exasperated, pressed his fingers to his temples. “You’re suspended from writing for now. Nuo Yang will take over your assignments. You need to rein in that temper of yours.”

Hearing her name, Nuo Yang blinked in surprise. “Me?”

The manager turned to her. “Yes. I’ve reviewed the sections you handle—your content and topics are solid. For the next month, you and Chu Kexin will switch roles.”

Chu Kexin scoffed. “Fine. Saves me the headache anyway.”

An awkward silence fell over the room. Thankfully, the manager didn’t let it linger. “Today’s headline slot won’t feature an article. We’re running an ad instead.”

Cheng Bai immediately protested, “The headline is our highest-traffic spot. How can we waste it on an ad?”

“It’s not just any ad,” the manager said. “It’s for Long Family.”

Back in the editorial office, Chu Kexin sulked in silence. Not daring to disturb her, Nuo Yang followed Cheng Bai to check out the Long Family ad the manager had mentioned.

But when she opened the link, her jaw dropped.

The bold headline read: Long Family’s Trillion-Yuan Assets Finally Distributed—Legal Wife Mu Jiazhao Inherits 91.477 Billion!

Cheng Bai stared at it for a long time before saying, “The Long family patriarch has been dead for over half a year. Why is the asset distribution only happening now?”

Nuo Yang didn’t know how to respond. Her gaze lingered on a woman in the report, dressed in a sleek black business suit. The woman had fair skin, delicate features, and an air of refined elegance, with a captivating teardrop mole at the corner of her eye that gave her a faintly melancholic look.

It had to be said—Mu Jiazhao, despite being in her forties, still looked as youthful as a girl, no different from someone in their early thirties.

“If you add the shares Mu Jiazhao already held in the company, her net worth might be even higher,” Cheng Bai pointed at the screen, where the 90% inheritance figure was displayed, and said to Nuo Yang, “Mu Jiazhao is probably the largest shareholder of the Long Group now.”

Nuo Yang chuckled. “She’s got so much money. If only I had even a fraction of it.”

After all, Nuo Yang’s own assets amounted to just 800 million. Compared to someone with over 90 billion, it was enough to make anyone green with envy.

Cheng Bai sighed helplessly. “Just keep dreaming. Anyway, let’s get started on drafting this article. Don’t stress too much—once you’re done, I’ll review it, and if there are no issues, we can publish it this morning.”

With that, she rapped her knuckles on the desk and called out to Chu Kexin, who was still sulking, “Hey, little errand girl, go find some reference materials for Editor Nuo Yang. If you’re too slow, watch out for my whip~”

Chu Kexin shot her a glare, rolled her eyes with a laugh, and snapped, “You jerk, always teasing me!”

—

At the entrance of City No. 3 High School.

It was dismissal time, so the area was packed—parents picking up their kids, students heading home on bikes or buses.

Long Huaichang walked out of the school gate and headed straight for the convenience store to grab some snacks.

Honestly, these little mom-and-pop shops were the best. Despite their cramped, dingy interiors, they had everything you could want.

Long Huaichang used to wonder what the appeal of such grubby places was, but she’d since succumbed to their charm. The snacks here were things she’d never even seen at her old elite school, and they tasted surprisingly good.

As she picked out a few treats to take home for a study snack session, Shi Tian stood beside her, holding her backpack. Suddenly, he yanked hard on her uniform. “Long-jie, Long-jie! Look at the TV!!”

“What is it?” Long Huaichang barely spared a glance at his dramatic reaction before turning toward the store’s small television. The news was playing—a report about Mu Jiazhao inheriting 90% of the estate and becoming the Long Group’s largest shareholder.

The woman in the black business suit sat calmly at the press table, her expression unreadable as she faced the cameras.

Long Huaichang stared at that face, unsure how to react.

Back when her mother was still alive, Long Huaichang had often heard this woman’s name. In her mother’s words, Mu Jiazhao was the most hated person—the legal wife, the rightful spouse, while her mother had been nothing more than a nameless mistress who bore a child out of wedlock.

Mu Jiazhao came from a good family and was beautiful—the perfect matriarch. But she had never been the true love of Long Huaichang’s father.

The unresolved conflicts of the previous generation had now fallen upon Long Huaichang’s shoulders, making things exceptionally complicated.

Hatred?

Neither Long Huaichang nor her mother were in any position to feel it.

Jealousy?

The mother and daughter had already obtained things Mu Jia Zhao could never have in this lifetime.

As Long Huaichang stared at Mu Jia Zhao’s face on the screen, a mix of emotions churned within her. She didn’t even know what expression to wear in response to this situation.

After paying and stepping out of the convenience store, Long Huaichang took her backpack and said to Shi Tian, “You can go back. I want to walk home alone.”

Shi Tian, aware of the Long family’s conflicts, didn’t press further. After exchanging goodbyes, he left.

Slinging her backpack over her shoulders, Long Huaichang tore open a bag of chips and prepared to walk home.

Just then, her gaze landed on the peacock-green supercar parked across the street. Standing beside it, wearing sunglasses and smoking, was none other than Long Ying Jun.

Long Ying Jun spotted her too and waved with a smile.

Long Huaichang watched as Long Ying Jun approached her. “Long time no see, little sister,” he said with a grin. “I thought you’d dropped out of school. So… seen the news?”

“…How did you find me here?”

Long Ying Jun exhaled a smoke ring. “I’ve been keeping tabs on you. I know you’ve been taken in by that tenant and are living together. Naturally, I also know she got you enrolled in a new school.”

“Long Huaichang,” he stared at her intently, “are you really that desperate for the inheritance?”

Long Huaichang met his gaze and after a long silence, finally spoke. “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to fight for the family assets anymore.”

Long Ying Jun smirked, clearly unconvinced.

“I think my current life is good enough. I don’t plan to return to the Long family or compete for the inheritance,” Long Huaichang continued. “You were right—I’m an illegitimate child, with no rightful claim to anything. Now that you’ve driven me out of my former life, let’s just… call it even.”

“My mother is already dead. She can’t threaten anyone anymore,” she added. “I just want to focus on getting into university and living a peaceful life. Can you please stop coming after me? Let’s pretend we never knew each other.”

Over the past six months, Long Huaichang had come to realize that she was perfectly content living in that small room with Nuo Yang. She no longer wanted anything to do with the inheritance or the Long family.

All she wanted was to live peacefully with her sister, to grow up and buy that house someday, making it their shared home.

Long Ying Jun was taken aback by the girl’s words. For a moment, he couldn’t tell whether she was putting on an act or genuinely uninterested in the inheritance.

Without another word, Long Huaichang turned and walked toward home, as if determined to sever all ties with him and the Long family.

Watching her retreating figure, Long Ying Jun removed his sunglasses and pulled up a photo on his phone. It was a blurry shot of Nuo Yang and Long Huaichang entering the residential area together, taken without their knowledge.

“Back at the hospital, you were so defiant, and now you claim to have no interest in the inheritance? Do you really expect me to believe that?” Long Ying Jun muttered to himself, zooming in on Nuo Yang’s profile in the photo. “I’d like to see who has the audacity to shelter the Long family’s illegitimate child.”