Chapter 236: Pay Tuition?
“Huh!?”
After hearing the whole explanation, Lin Muqing was so shocked that her mouth hung open. She stared at the jade pendant in her hands for a long time without speaking. According to her good brother’s guess, the cracks on the pendant might keep increasing until it was completely ruined.
“Then what do I do? Without this thing, how can I keep going to school? And what about my parents?”
After the shock faded, the questions came one after another.
Originally, her plan was to get through high school like this, and if she still couldn’t find a way to change back by the time she entered university, she would just continue studying as a girl.
But now, this situation completely messed up her plan and gave her a lot of pressure.
“Calm down, it’s just a guess.”
Seeing how flustered Lin Muqing was, Ye Ziming gave her a small comfort.
For her, this might be very bad news, but for him, it was actually good news.
The night before the end of the last holiday, he had sat in his room, looking at Lin Muqing’s jade pendant, thinking about whether to just throw it away. What he didn’t expect was that the pendant would be so “understanding”, before he even made a move, it started breaking on its own. Perfect.
“What should I do now…”
Lin Muqing had no idea what her good brother was really thinking. Right now, she was holding the jade pendant with both hands, looking troubled. If someone one day discovered her secret, would they think she was a pervert? Or suspect she had gone to country T for surgery or something?
“It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
With a small smile, Ye Ziming reached out to pat her head, giving her some comfort.
In his opinion, all her worries were unnecessary. It’s just that when you’re the one involved, it’s hard to see it clearly. As the little princess of the Lin family, if she just revealed her true identity, who at school would dare to cause her trouble? They’d all be rushing to please her instead.
By the time the afternoon came, the jade pendant matter was set aside for now. Lin Muqing wore it as usual and went to school.
The only good news now was that apart from a few people who knew her very well, no one really noticed anything strange about her.
But when school was almost over, she got a piece of terrible news, tomorrow’s P.E. class would have the 1000-meter running test!
“Ah! Big Bro, I think I’m doomed.”
Hearing this, Lin Muqing dropped her head onto the desk in pain, as if the end of the world was coming.
“Come on, you can do it.”
With a faint smile, Ye Ziming narrowed his eyes slightly and patted her shoulder. In his mind, he had already thought of a good way to help her pass the 1000-meter test. But he wouldn’t tell her now, if he said it early, it wouldn’t have the same effect.
“Ugh… Big Bro, can you run it for me?”
“I could carry you princess-style and run.”
“Uh… no, that’s not necessary.”
Their usual playful chatting continued, complaining about the 1000 meters, and then getting ready after school to go to the coffee shop for work with her good buddy.
Before leaving the classroom, Lin Muqing glanced at her cousin and noticed he was much quieter than before. The reason was that during break earlier, Ye Ziming had “talked” to him about life, and taught him how to behave.
Meng Wenwu: The thing I regret most in life is trying to mess with my cousin. (I lose every time.)
Then she looked at Lin Wenbin, this cousin was always honest and reliable, which was very comforting.
Lin Wenbin: Why is this elder looking at me like that?
After leaving school and arriving at the coffee shop, Lin Muqing went with her good brother to check the office first, then headed to the lounge to find Sister Yu.
Right now in the lounge, Sister Yu was chatting and laughing with her good buddy’s sister, Ye Mengze.
“Big sis?”
As soon as she opened the lounge door, Lin Muqing noticed Ye Mengze and instinctively called out “big sis.”
It was a bit surprising, she didn’t know before that Sister Yu and her good buddy’s sister knew each other.
“Hey!”
Before Lin Muqing could react, Ye Mengze quickly replied, then walked over and gave her a hug.
“Mm…”
Everything in front of her went dark, and something soft was pressing against her.
Darn it! What kind of dark power was this, that it could block her vision?
And the worst part was… instead of resisting this dark power, she actually felt a bit jealous.
“Still learning makeup, huh?”
After hugging Lin Muqing, Ye Mengze quickly took her small hand, led her to sit down nearby, and started chatting.
From her earlier talk with Sister Yu, Ye Mengze had learned a lot, including the fact that her “little sister-in-law” was hiding her real identity while working here. The pay here was indeed good, and the benefits weren’t bad either, but compared to Lin Muqing’s monthly allowance, it was almost nothing. That’s why she found it surprising.
“Mm-hmm.”
Lin Muqing nodded. She did still want to keep learning, and there were many reasons for that.
“Then… did you pay tuition yet?”
Ye Mengze tilted her head slightly, narrowed her eyes a bit, and looked at Lin Muqing with a sly smile.
“Tuition?”
Lin Muqing was a little confused, her eyes going blank.
“Of course. Do you know how much weight the name ‘Sister Yu’ carries in this industry? The people who want to learn from her could line up from here all the way to your home.”
Lin Muqing looked stunned and clearly didn’t get it, so Ye Mengze cleared her throat and began introducing Sister Yu to her “little sister-in-law.”
During all this, Sister Yu just sat quietly to the side, also wearing a sly smile.
“Wow… so you’re saying Sister Yu is really amazing?”
After hearing Ye Mengze’s explanation, Lin Muqing still felt nervous, but the way she looked at Sister Yu had completely changed. Then she thought of a saying: “A true master hides among ordinary people.”
She felt Sister Yu was exactly that kind of hidden expert.
“Pretty much. By the way, you’ve been in ‘seclusion’ for so long, when do you plan to ‘come out’?”
The first half of the sentence was to Lin Muqing. The second half was Ye Mengze turning her head to ask Sister Yu.
“Next year, maybe. No rush.”
Sister Yu gave an easy smile and replied casually.
They chatted a bit more. With just a few simple words, Ye Mengze had successfully shaped Sister Yu’s image as an industry big shot, which she actually was. The effect was that Lin Muqing’s gaze toward Sister Yu now carried an unconscious sparkle.
“Now… do you think you should pay tuition?”
Pulling back her gaze, Ye Mengze gave her a sideways smile and asked softly.
“Mm-hmm! Of course!”
Lin Muqing nodded firmly. She thought that even if “big sister” didn’t ask, she would still offer to pay tuition on her own.
Seeing Lin Muqing’s reaction, Ye Mengze smiled, stepped back, and gave Sister Yu a meaningful look while letting the “teacher and student” have the stage. Sister Yu caught her friend’s look, returned a subtle “I understand” glance, and then naturally took over the conversation.
All of this… was part of their plan.