Chapter 112: Devoid of Conscience

Chapter 112: Chapter 112: Devoid of Conscience

After the reinstatement of the college entrance examination, domestic policies did not fall into a period of confusion and hesitation. However, Deng Yuyuan was deeply confused. Her understanding of this era’s history was strictly limited to the scope of the history exams following the reinstatement of the college entrance examination; her knowledge of world history was pitifully scarce. She had to go to the university library to find some books on world history.

"What’s wrong?" Wei Yin asked, her voice lowered inquiringly as she subconsciously took a half-step forward upon noticing Deng Yuyuan’s sudden change in expression and abruptly tensed shoulders.

Deng Yuyuan relaxed her body and leaned back. "It’s nothing. I just suddenly thought of the past and spaced out for a moment." She still had to model today; the book hunt would have to wait.

[*The Farm System Shop sells history books about this world.*]

"No thanks, I want to find free ones," Deng Yuyuan immediately rejected the system out loud.

Wei Yin continued to analyze her romantic prospects with her. "I thought long and hard about my mistakes and realized that the guy I found to provoke him last time wasn’t good enough. My fake boyfriend and I completely lacked physical contact. Anyone could tell we had no feelings for each other at a glance, so it didn’t successfully provoke Ah Zhao. Instead, it just angered him.

"This time, I’m going to spend a fortune to hire a handsome, elegant man with a blank romantic history to be my fake boyfriend. I want to make Ah Zhao put himself in my shoes and realize that it’s wrong for him to keep wavering between two women. I know he’s just being kindhearted and can’t bear to reject Chu Luo for fear of breaking her heart, but his indecisiveness will only end up hurting both of us."

Deng Yuyuan applauded her.

"I’ve been asking my friends to help me find a candidate, but we haven’t had any luck. I’m thinking of raising the budget to ten thousand yuan to see if that helps," Wei Yin said, looking somewhat distressed. The fake boyfriend she needed had to look like a perfect match standing next to her so it wouldn’t seem too fake. However, most young men who possessed both elegance and good looks came from extraordinary family backgrounds themselves and would never agree to such an absurd request.

Deng Yuyuan’s half-closed eyes widened in shock.

"Do Wei Shu, his wife, and your parents know about this?"

Wei Yin placed a finger to her lips, signaling her to keep her voice down. "Of course not! I’m using a small portion of the money I made from selling my paintings and my bonuses. If I still can’t find anyone, I’ll add a little more. If Ah Zhao remains completely indifferent to me, I’m willing to accept the fact that he doesn’t have me in his heart and finally give up. But if this helps him see our true feelings for each other clearly, then I can have a good outcome too."

"...Great, great plan," Deng Yuyuan praised against her conscience.

By some stroke of luck, Wei Yin was actually on the right track. As the heroine of a classic groveling-to-win-her-back romance, she really could try finding a new love interest to let Zhao Mingzhao experience the feeling of loss and subsequent regret. After all, finding a fake partner was much easier than faking her own death.

"Oh, right. The Wei family is having guests over this afternoon. It’s actually a schoolmate of yours, Bai Miaomiao. I’m not sure if you know her, but her family is coming to visit." Seeing no obvious reaction on Deng Yuyuan’s face, Wei Yin understood. "Anyway, it’s mostly business between Wei Shu and Bai Zhenglin. If you don’t want to see them, just stay in here after lunch and don’t go out for a while."

Since Wei Yin already considered Deng Yuyuan a friend, she confided in her. "If you ever run into that Bai Miaomiao at school, don’t get too close to her. She’s full of schemes. I really don’t understand her. With all those smarts, why doesn’t she focus on her academic research instead of constantly using them against people?

"The elders in their family can’t distinguish right from wrong, either. They believe whatever she says. Just last year, they suddenly announced they had taken in an adopted daughter. Before she had even been with them for a year, they claimed the adopted daughter was always jealous and trying to frame Bai Miaomiao, so they kicked her out. I thought that adopted daughter seemed very honest and capable.

"That adopted daughter had good grades too. I heard she didn’t participate in this year’s college entrance examination. They shouldn’t have adopted her in the first place. The poor girl was doing perfectly fine at her own high school. She could have taken the exam after graduation. But because of all the messy drama in the Bai family, she didn’t even finish high school. They said she took a leave of absence and ended up missing the exam.

"Absolutely heartless," Wei Yin summarized indignantly.

Deng Yuyuan nodded in agreement. Ever since she discovered that karma truly existed in this world, she had started doing good deeds to accumulate good karma. Although the effectiveness of good deeds done with an ulterior motive was usually discounted, having some was better than none. Besides, a good person was judged by their deeds, not their motives.

"I don’t like the Bai family either. They always think I’m unchaste. What era is this? I believe in freedom of love, and it’s not like I’m promiscuous. If their family was like my parents and just thought there was something wrong with my brain, I could tolerate it. But they actually think I have loose morals and that Ah Zhao is pitiful for being pestered by me."

Wei Yin rolled her eyes dramatically.

Unexpectedly, the Bai family arrived sooner than they had anticipated, showing up right at the tail end of lunchtime.

Wei Yin winked and made faces at her, mouthing, "Who on earth visits right during mealtime?"

Deng Yuyuan returned a wink to show her complete agreement.

Having finished her meal, Deng Yuyuan quickly stood up to leave with Wei Yin. Tuantuan, however, was still holding her newly bought small wooden bowl, eating her post-meal boiled egg. After politely saying goodbye to her mom, she buried her head and continued eating diligently.

The Bai family walked in and politely offered their greetings. Arriving early was an accident on their part; their car had broken down on the way. Bai Zhenglin went to get it repaired, so Mrs. Bai, Mr. Bai, and Bai Miaomiao came over first. The Bai family and the Wei family had originally lived in the same compound. Later, after the incident with Wei Shu, and with Wei Yin acting foolishly, the Wei family simply moved out.

"Oh, it’s Tuantuan!" Bai Miaomiao exclaimed in pleasant surprise when she saw Tuantuan, who was still struggling with her egg and had eaten until her face resembled a messy little kitten’s.

"I didn’t expect to see you here, Tuantuan. Is your mom neglecting you again?" she asked as she walked up to the little girl.

Tuantuan looked up to see an unfamiliar girl saying stinky things and immediately felt displeased.

Bai Miaomiao began introducing her to Mr. and Mrs. Bai. "Tuantuan is very famous at our university. Mr. Chu takes her out to play every day. Because of this, Mr. Chu was even misunderstood and assumed to be Deng Yuyuan’s boyfriend. Her mother is the woman my brother fell in love with at first sight during the registration days. She’s just as popular as Tuantuan."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present couldn’t help but frown. Mr. and Mrs. Bai frowned because they looked down on the promiscuous Deng Yuyuan, while the Wei family felt that Bai Miaomiao’s words were both passive-aggressive and grating.

"I don’t think Xiao Yuan is that kind of person. You must have some sort of misunderstanding," Wei’s mother said, forcing a polite but distant smile.

Bai Miaomiao stuck out her tongue. "Maybe. I’ve only seen Deng Yuyuan a few times. She’s always very busy and doesn’t like taking care of her child. My understanding of her is a bit one-sided. I even thought Deng Yuyuan didn’t want Tuantuan anymore. She doesn’t seem to care about her child at all."

"Are the people next to you your mom and dad?" Tuantuan asked suddenly.

Bai Miaomiao revealed a harmless smile and replied, "That’s right! Does it make you sad that you don’t have a dad, Tuantuan?"