The Villainess Is Pretending to Be Sweet Again Today (Transmigration) - Chapter 42

Lately, something rather odd had been happening—Mu Jiazhao frequently called Long Huaichang every few days. If the calls were about serious matters, that would be one thing, but they mostly revolved around trivial topics or sending Long Huaichang random novelties she found interesting.

Long Huaichang, however, wasn’t the least bit interested. Sometimes, she wouldn’t even pick up when she saw Mu Jiazhao’s name on the caller ID. But Mu Jiazhao didn’t seem to mind at all—she’d just call again later, never mentioning the missed call.

Long Huaichang often wondered what this woman, her father’s legal wife, was really after.

Recently, following the news of Long Yingjun’s death, the Long Corporation had undergone another major reshuffle. As the most prominent figure in the storm, Mu Jiazhao was naturally the busiest. Meanwhile, tabloids and media outlets were speculating whether the elderly matriarch would transfer her shares and assets to her daughter-in-law—after all, those holdings were originally meant for the now-deceased Long Yingjun.

Long Huaichang glanced at the missed call notification on her phone but didn’t bother returning it. Locking the screen, she went back to her homework.

After a while, she paused. An ad had popped up on her laptop while she was researching—it featured the Long family’s octogenarian matriarch, Long Huaichang’s grandmother.

The old woman had always been in good health, but after her son’s death, she spent half a year in the hospital. Since then, she had been confined to a wheelchair. And now, with the news of her grandson’s death, she had been rushed to the emergency room multiple times. People were already speculating how many more years the wealthy but ill-fated old lady had left.

Long Huaichang skimmed the headline: Long Matriarch Hospitalized Again—Long Family Floods ER.

No doubt, Mu Jiazhao’s earlier call was about this.

But that wasn’t her concern. After all, she was just an illegitimate child with no claim to anything.

In the neighboring office.

Nuo Yang sighed as she watched Chu Kexin’s latest article surpass 100,000 reads.

“Sigh…”

Chu Kexin frowned. “What’s with the sigh, Xiao Nuo? My article’s doing great—why the long face?”

“It’s not that…” Nuo Yang quickly clarified, “I was just thinking how messy the Long family’s affairs are. Last year, one of them died. Now another. Who knows who’ll be next?”

Cheng Bai wheeled his chair over. “My bet’s on the old lady next year.”

Chu Kexin perked up. “Right, right! I heard she was hospitalized again today. The ER entrance was packed—look at my social media feed, it’s everywhere!”

Nuo Yang blinked. “The old lady?”

Chu Kexin explained, “Long Aotian’s mother. She’s in her eighties, filthy rich—though no one knows exactly how much. She keeps a low profile, but I doubt she’s any less loaded than Mu Jiazhao.”

Cheng Bai cut in with a chuckle, “Even if Mu Jiazhao’s richer, it doesn’t matter. Hierarchy’s hierarchy—she’s still the daughter-in-law. She’d have to listen to the old lady.”

“True. Though if I had a wealthy mother-in-law, I’d happily orbit her too.”

“You’ll understand when you get married—having a wealthy mother-in-law isn’t necessarily a good thing, especially someone like Mu Jiazhao. Rich women like her particularly hate being overshadowed by others.”

“Really? I’m so poor, I wouldn’t know.”

“Like I’m any richer.”

As they chatted casually, Cheng Bai suddenly turned to Nuo Yang and asked, “Little Boss Nuo, have we prepared the holiday gifts yet?”

Nuo Yang blinked in surprise. “Finance is handling the procurement, right?”

“Finance handles the company gifts.” Cheng Bai sidled over with a grin. “Don’t we have the privilege of a little extra?”

After a moment’s thought, Nuo Yang smiled. “Alright, I’ll swing by the mall this afternoon and pick up some small gifts for you all~”

“Yay! Our Little Boss Nuo is the best!”

“Long live Little Boss Nuo!”

———

Right after lunch, Nuo Yang cheerfully said to Long Huaichang, “Xiao Huai, let’s go shopping!”

Long Huaichang was tidying up takeout bags when she looked up. “What for?”

“It’s almost New Year—we need to buy some employee benefits.” Nuo Yang swayed playfully. “Plus, kids should get new clothes for the New Year!”

Long Huaichang raised an eyebrow. “Which kid?”

“You, of course!”

“…”

Long Huaichang frowned. “Didn’t we just buy clothes recently?”

“That was winter wear. This is for the New Year!”

Sitting across from her, Long Huaichang asked, “So does that mean we’ll have to buy clothes for autumn and summer too?”

“Obviously!”

“Sis.”

Long Huaichang stared at her. “I only have one body. I can’t wear that many clothes.”

Nuo Yang pouted. “Don’t you like wearing nice things?”

“School only allows uniforms. What’s the point of new clothes?”

“But you won’t wear uniforms in college.”

“I won’t even be in college until next year.”

“You—!”

Nuo Yang was fuming. Why was it so hard to spend money on this girl?!

“No way, you’re coming shopping with me this afternoon!” She grabbed Long Huaichang’s wrist. “I don’t feel like working. You have to keep me company.”

Long Huaichang muttered under her breath, “Sis, it’s not like you actually work anyway.”

In the end, Long Huaichang couldn’t resist Nuo Yang’s relentless pestering and agreed to visit the nearby shopping district that afternoon.

Nuo Yang rarely went shopping—she was too lazy and preferred online purchases. Even after a year of being wealthy, aside from buying useless knickknacks, she had no idea where to splurge.

But now, with Long Huaichang—a pretty girl—by her side, she finally had a purpose.

First, she stopped by a cosmetics store to buy lipsticks for Cheng Bai, Chu Kexin, and other close colleagues. They’d been raving about them for ages, and Nuo Yang wasn’t stingy—she got one for each.

After having the store clerk deliver them to the office across the street, she dragged Long Huaichang to try on the latest shades.

Admittedly, Long Huaichang’s fair, delicate complexion made every shade pop, leaving Nuo Yang utterly smitten.

If only she had such a high-fashion face—flawless and radiant, able to pull off any lipstick color.

Seeing Nuo Yang go to the front desk to pay the bill, Long Huaichang casually grabbed a lip makeup remover wipe and cleaned her lips. She didn’t like having anything on her face—it made her uncomfortable.

“Sis, did you buy everything?” Long Huaichang walked over and tossed the tissue into the trash bin.

Nuo Yang had already finished paying by then. Seeing that Long Huaichang had wiped off the lipstick, she felt a little disappointed and asked, “Why did you wipe it off? It looked really good on you.”

Long Huaichang sighed softly. “Sis.”

“Never mind, you’re still too young for it anyway.” Nuo Yang took Long Huaichang’s hand and said, “Come on, let’s go buy some clothes!”

For the entire afternoon, Nuo Yang dragged Long Huaichang from the first floor to the fifth, then back down again.

She pulled her into several stores, picking out outfits she liked and making Long Huaichang try them on. Every time Long Huaichang stepped out of the fitting room, the sales assistants would shower her with praise.

“This young lady is so pretty! This outfit suits you perfectly.”

“Your skin is already so fair—wearing this makes you look absolutely stunning!”

“Here, try this hat with it too. Wow, you look amazing!”

Some even asked Nuo Yang, “Are you her manager? When are you two debuting? Can I get an autograph?”

Nuo Yang loved hearing people compliment Long Huaichang’s looks. Beaming with pride, she happily swiped her card, while Long Huaichang’s frown deepened with each purchase.

When they entered the next store and Long Huaichang emerged in a white dress, she saw Nuo Yang being sweet-talked by the salesperson into pulling out her bank card again. She called out, “Sis, come here.”

Nuo Yang walked over, puzzled. “What’s up?”

“Sis.” Long Huaichang glanced at the pile of already-purchased clothes on the nearby sofa and said, “This is more than enough. There’s no need to buy more.”

“But this dress looks so good on you.”

“Sis.” Long Huaichang took Nuo Yang’s hand and made her feel the fabric of the dress. “The material and craftsmanship aren’t worth the price.”

Nuo Yang ran her fingers over the gauzy fabric at Long Huaichang’s shoulder—the stitching was indeed sloppy, with loose threads sticking out.

“Besides, sis, you really don’t know how to shop for clothes.” Long Huaichang crossed her arms and looked at Nuo Yang. “Everything you pick out is cheap stuff you could find at a wholesale market. It’s not worth the money.”

Nuo Yang shrank back a little. “Is it really all that cheap?”

She had thought the styles were quite nice.

“Sis.” Long Huaichang repeated, “You really don’t know how to buy clothes.”

Nuo Yang pouted, displeased. “I just bought them because they looked good on you! It’s not my fault you have such a great figure…”

Besides, this was Nuo Yang’s first time being a wealthy woman—it was only natural she’d make some shopping mistakes.

Long Huaichang held Nuo Yang’s hand, knowing her words had upset her. “It’s fine that you bought them, but sis, don’t spend so much on me next time. I’m already so grateful you took me in. If you keep buying me things like this, I’ll start feeling like you’re keeping me.”

“Hmph.” Nuo Yang sniffed playfully. “If only you were being kept by me~”

Seeing Nuo Yang’s smile return, Long Huaichang finally chuckled helplessly. “Alright, sis, go pay for this. Didn’t you say you really liked me in this outfit?”

“Got it!” Nuo Yang cheerfully ran to the counter to pay with her bank card when she was suddenly interrupted by a notification sound from her phone. Checking it, she was surprised to see several deposits had come in.

The amounts matched exactly what she had just spent, down to the last cent, and there were multiple transactions. How strange—was the money somehow returning on its own?

“Excuse me.”

At that moment, a shop assistant approached Nuo Yang and Long Huaichang, saying, “Madam, you may take any clothing item you like from our store free of charge.”

Nuo Yang looked at her in bewilderment. “Such a good deal?”

Getting clothes for free? That couldn’t be right.

Long Huaichang instinctively furrowed her brows.

The assistant smiled. “It’s our boss’s instruction. The payments you made at several stores earlier have all been refunded. From now on, neither you nor this young lady will need to pay for anything when shopping in this mall.”

“Your boss?” Nuo Yang asked, puzzled. “Who is your boss?”

The assistant replied, “Chairman Mu of the Long Corporation.”