Chapter 43

When Miss Huo appeared, Jiang Muti initially thought that when she got the opportunity to travel through a book, this would be her role. She was confident at first that this was the character she would play.

Objectively speaking, Jiang Muti didn’t dislike her. On the contrary, she even had a positive impression of her, her family background, and all her personal qualities.

She came from a wealthy family, was beautiful, had a proud and domineering personality, and did things in a somewhat unscrupulous way.

Jiang Muti initially thought that if she were to be cast as the malicious female side character, she could easily replace this person without feeling out of place.

After all, if there was any commonality, it was clearly that the female side character and herself overlapped in many ways, whereas the female lead, or the previous Jiang Muti, had little in common with her.

Of course, this fondness was limited to the pages of the book, largely driven by the other party’s strong personal and family conditions, and couldn’t hold up to scrutiny.

For example, right now, Jiang Muti wouldn’t think of her as cute anymore.

Jiang Muti didn’t expect that Miss Huo wouldn’t be cautious of the female lead, but instead came here to show off her power.

Then, it dawned on her—Miss Huo was in a different province, so it was unlikely she would know the details of Zhou Lu’s private life and past relationships.

However, being in the same circle, she likely couldn’t be unaware of the fact that she and Zhou Lu had once been in an engagement.

Jiang Muti and Zhou Lu had collaborated to deceive the adults, and by now, Zhou Lu’s parents couldn’t possibly be unaware of the situation. But, of course, his family’s business failure was a result of the Jiang family playing a role in it, and Jiang Muti’s actions were part of the plan.

Such a humiliating matter was tightly concealed by the Zhou family, and Zhou Lu had since broken up with Li Xi.

So, from Miss Huo’s perspective, it seemed that Jiang Muti was probably the only person in Zhou Lu’s past love life.

Jiang Muti caught on and smiled slightly, acknowledging Miss Huo’s claim to her territory: “Congratulations!”

With that, she was about to leave, but Miss Huo seemed unwilling to let it go.

The young lady, used to being domineering, couldn’t accept that Jiang Muti had been chosen over her by the Zhou family.

Her proud self-esteem made her confident she could outperform any other girl. Although she had gotten what she wanted, she craved a sense of absolute victory, not just a casual response from others.

So, Miss Huo became more annoyed, lifted her foot, and blocked Jiang Muti’s path again.

“I heard about the matter between your families.” She looked at Jiang Muti, and her gaze, unlike before, was now full of undisguised disdain.

“You Jiang family is simply shameless. As business partners, you have no sense of contract or agreement. Cooperation should be about mutual benefit, yet your family disregarded the basic principles for profit. No wonder you’re a nouveau riche family that only became successful in recent decades. Your greed and shortsightedness are truly astonishing.”

Jiang Muti could choose to ignore the posture of a little girl who was too eager to gloat. After all, money really does make people more generous with their temper…

But that didn’t mean she was so magnanimous as to tolerate someone being so aggressive.

She raised an eyebrow: “I say, Miss Huo Jin, did you take the polite exchanges between the adults at the dinner table seriously?”

“It’s Huo Xin!” she emphasized.

Jiang Muti shrugged indifferently: “Whatever, you can call yourself whatever you like, but I’ll forget your name in ten minutes anyway.”

“Look at you, acting so clever. Turns out your head is full of nonsense. As far as I know, the Huo family’s business style is notoriously sly and slick. Your grandfather’s nickname, ‘^[1]“Huo the Eel” (霍泥鳅) In Chinese culture, an eel (泥鳅, níqiū) is often used metaphorically to describe someone who is crafty, deceitful, and hard to pin down, much like how an … Continue readingHuo the Eel,’ has been circulating in X Province for decades, hasn’t it?”

“You’re looking so righteous now, but I’m afraid you’ve forgotten how your family made its fortune?”

Technically, since the two families were separated by a province, their interactions weren’t that frequent. However, among the top-tier wealthy circles, there weren’t that many people, and a province’s distance wasn’t that far.

Although Jiang Muti had relied on her brother to work and support her, she was gradually re-entering the social circle. Plus, her father had passed away and her mother had gone far away.

Before her brother found a wife, most of the Jiang family’s social responsibilities had fallen to her. While she couldn’t do much due to her age, preparation was essential.

Understanding the entire circle was the basic prerequisite, though she didn’t specifically focus on the Huo family.

Since the Huo and Zhou families had confirmed their cooperation and had intentions of an arranged marriage, their interactions at the dinner table were bound to increase.

In order to ease the atmosphere, talking about the weather or criticizing the Jiang family was a good choice. Since the Huo family and the Zhou family were on the same side now, mentioning the Jiang family would naturally spark a sense of solidarity.

But Miss Huo, Jiang Muti hadn’t expected her to truly take those words seriously.

But isn’t it a little absurd? Miss, your character is that of a sly, clever villainess. The female lead has suffered many setbacks at your hands, yet now you’re acting like this, it’s really giving off that awkward feeling of someone missing their step.

Huo Xin’s face darkened as soon as she heard her grandfather’s nickname.

“Eel” wasn’t a flattering term—slippery and pervasive, much like the Huo family’s business style.

However, her family was powerful, and even though everyone in X province was aware of it, they didn’t dare say such an unflattering nickname in front of the Huo family.

Huo Xin’s voice grew cold: “Shut up. I strongly suspect the upbringing in your Jiang family. Did your parents teach you to speak like this about your elders?”

Jiang Muti shrugged: “But I’ve noticed it’s quite natural for you to speak freely about my family. Did your parents teach you to not only question elders but also apply double standards?”

Huo Xin was choked and responded harshly: “No wonder—an upstart with little class. It’s my mistake to talk about dignity and grace with someone like you.”

“If I didn’t expose you earlier, it was because your self-glorification seemed too laughable and pitiful. Out of humanitarian concern, I didn’t want to disturb your narrow view of the world,” Jiang Muti said with a half-smile.

“My Jiang family may have lived in seclusion for a few decades, but that was merely a sign of the times—modesty and restraint. Now that you’ve come to this city, do you seriously think your Huo family’s domineering style from X province will work here?”

“I’m not expecting you to understand the history of this city, but at least check who you’re picking a fight with before making a move. My Jiang family has held this position in the province for centuries, spanning three dynasties.”

“Not to trace the roots, but a hundred years ago, your Huo family was still digging around in some pit. This is the first time I’ve heard some ignorant fool call me an upstart, and even if I were an upstart—”

Jiang Muti pulled her long hair back and continued, “I’m an upstart whose worth is at least ten times higher than yours.”

Huo Xin didn’t know this. At their age, young ladies from prominent families rarely encountered someone like Jiang Muti, who had conspired with her brother to take down her parents when things weren’t going well.

Living a carefree, princess-like life, she didn’t know much about the intricacies of social interactions.

Hearing this condescending insult to her and her family, Huo Xin couldn’t contain her fury: “You are simply—”

Before she could finish, Jiang Muti suddenly cut her off and corrected her: “Oh, sorry, I’m not very good at math. I miscalculated. It just occurred to me that your Huo family has a large population. Your grandfather has five or six children, right? I remember.”

“And your father is the eldest, but you still have several older brothers, plus all those uncles, aunts, and cousins—”

“Hmm, and the one who ended up with the family fortune…” Jiang Muti paused, looking apologetic. She turned to Huo Xin and said with an apologetic smile, “I’m sorry, I was too sharp and rude earlier.”

“How could I be so harsh toward a girl from a poor family? I’m not that heartless of a person.”

Ignoring the fact that Huo Xin’s face alternated between red and pale, Jiang Muti poked Yun Duo and scolded, “Why didn’t you stop me?”

Yun Duo looked puzzled. “So, should I pull her hair now?”

Jiang Muti waved her hand. “Forget it. If someone sees us, they’ll think we’re bullying her. If the news spreads in the circle that a rich girl bullied a beggar on the street today, I won’t be able to show my face anymore.”

Then, just as Huo Xin was about to explode, Jiang Muti poured more fuel on the fire. “Don’t worry, about the thing with Zhou Lu before, you don’t have to overthink it. Just focus on getting along with him. After all, supporting each other through hard times is the rarest thing.”

Huo Xin had always been the one who reduced other girls her age to speechless silence. Even her family’s brothers and sisters had to give way to her princess temperament.

Even elders didn’t dare scold her easily because of her sharp tongue and domineering attitude, often managing to anger people with a few words.

But today, she had unexpectedly kicked a metal plate, and what was worse, she did it without wearing shoes, so the pain contorted her face.

This was the first time she encountered someone more arrogant, vicious, and self-satisfied than herself.

All the anger and embarrassment made her speech stammer. Her composure had already been lost. “Y-You dare to call my Huo family a slum?”

Jiang Muti quickly attempted to soothe her, “Calm down, calm down, don’t take it too personally! Wealth is always relative. Although your family’s big compared to my Jiang family, it’s more like a slum where there’s not enough porridge to go around. But you can compare yourselves to others and regain some confidence.”

Huo Xin was seething with anger, but before she could respond, students, who had been quietly watching her entrance due to her flashy appearance, began gossiping with the spirit of the very thing Jiang Muti always criticized.

Someone in the crowd couldn’t help but comment, “Tsk, another one knocked out. People with thick skulls really never stop coming up, always offering themselves up as easy targets.”

Then another voice joined in, “Don’t say that, after watching for a while, I kind of feel a bit of satisfaction—I’m not the only one, right?”

“Yeah, yeah! It’s actually pretty good when the sharp end of the sword is pointed outward rather than inward.”

Some girls, who had never liked Huo Xin’s aggressive beauty, seized the opportunity to throw in their own remarks. “Showing off like that, and in the end, just a ^[2]“Flower vase stuffed with straw” (塞了草的花瓶) is a Chinese metaphor used to mock someone who looks good on the outside but lacks substance, intelligence, or capability. It’s … Continue readingflower vase stuffed with straw.”

“Coming in all high and mighty without knowing what’s going on, acting like they’re something special, and in the end, they’re still humiliated.”

“That’s not how it is, though. After all, the wealth gap is so huge. Maybe she’s just looking for trouble and trying to get into a fight.”

Someone shouted toward Jiang Muti, “Hey, Jiang Muti, don’t you want to step back a bit? What if she sits down and makes a scene, blaming you for it?”

Jiang Muti casually replied, “Well, you guys can be witnesses, right?”

Indeed, no matter how much Jiang Muti was disliked, she was still someone from the school. People gossiped about her, envied her, and even secretly resented her, but no matter how others felt privately, one word from someone so high up still left people in awe.

How could they let someone bully her?

Huo Xin shot a glare at the one who spoke, her voice dripping with disdain, “Is this what you teach your people? How to gang up, mock, distort facts, and maliciously speculate?”

“Of course, after spending three years with someone like this, it’s no wonder you can’t expect any class around here.”

To be honest, most people would be a little intimidated in front of a rich, arrogant girl like Huo Xin. The class difference was so obvious even elementary students could understand, and high schoolers were no exception.

If there were a crowd, it would be easy to blend in and join in mocking, but when the person’s gaze locked onto you, in a one-on-one situation, most people would prefer to settle things quietly.

The student didn’t say anything, but Yun Duo turned to Jiang Muti and said, “Look, she really is like you said. After realizing the gap between the rich and poor here, she went to others to find some confidence.”

“You—” Huo Xin retracted her gaze and glared at Yun Duo.

First it was Jiang Muti, then it was the gossiping student, and now it was Jiang Muti’s follower. It felt like everyone standing here was against her.

Fortunately, Zhou Lu finally came out. Seeing the standoff between Huo Xin and Jiang Muti, he immediately felt a headache.

He walked straight over, ignoring everyone else, and said to Huo Xin in a deep voice, “Let’s go!”

As soon as Huo Xin saw him, her eyes lit up, and her previously deflated anger, which Jiang Muti had defused, flared up again.

But before she could enjoy her triumph, she heard Jiang Muti call out to Zhou Lu, “I shouldn’t be the one to say this, but we’ve had a period of time together, so—”

Zhou Lu thought to himself, “We have no such possibility,” but after dealing with Jiang Muti for so long, he knew exactly what she was like.

This person definitely was trying to provoke her. As expected, hearing words like “we’ve had a period of time together” and “possibility” made Huo Xin jealous and furious.

But it didn’t end there. Jiang Muti continued, “Earlier, your fiancée seemed to say that our school’s quality was unworthy of praise, that everyone here was pretty unbearable. Does that include you too? Although it’s not my business, having such a condescending attitude toward your marriage partner—Zhou Lu, is that alright? Don’t sell yourself short.”

“If you’re not okay with it, you could go tell your parents. They might not be too pleased seeing their son being treated like this.”

“You’re spouting nonsense!” Huo Xin immediately panicked, quickly looking at Zhou Lu’s expression. “I didn’t!”

Someone in the crowd piped up, “She clearly said it. We all heard it just now.”

Huo Xin was furious, grinding her teeth as she glared at the people around her. Seeing Zhou Lu’s thoughtful expression, she grew even more anxious.

Fortunately, Zhou Lu had also suffered from Jiang Muti before. Putting aside the current situation, he could guess the backstory. Most likely, Huo Xin had foolishly treated Jiang Muti as her rival, acting arrogantly in her own little world before trying to stir things up.

But Jiang Muti was no ordinary person. Zhou Lu could confidently say that she was the most formidable woman he had ever seen when it came to fighting back against others.

She was practically born to stir up trouble. Zhou Lu even suspected that the recent hit drama about rich heiresses fighting it out was based on Jiang Muti’s life.

Although Huo Xin looked like she fit that type, she wasn’t at Jiang Muti’s level.

Zhou Lu restrained his urge to roll his eyes, didn’t listen to Huo Xin’s explanation, and climbed into the car by himself.

Huo Xin became even more anxious. She didn’t know whether he believed Jiang Muti’s words or what he meant, but in the end, explaining herself to her fiancé was more important.

What started as a powerful provocation ended with a defeated retreat, tail between her legs.

Jiang Muti and Yun Duo got into their car and drove home, feeling relaxed.

On the way, Yun Duo curiously asked, “Zhou Lu has suffered so many times because of you. Why didn’t he call you out for stirring up trouble? He didn’t seem like the type to just walk away like that.”

“Now he’s being smart,” Jiang Muti replied. “He knows the best thing to do right now is to take her away quickly. And I didn’t mention how Li Xi switched her focus to annoy that Huo person. He should be thanking me and won’t turn against me.”

Although Zhou Lu had broken up with Li Xi, he preferred the situation to quietly fade into the past.

Everyone could see what kind of person Huo Xin was. Jiang Muti, who had once had a family-matched engagement proposal with her, held such a strong sense of animosity towards her. Imagine how things would be if Zhou Lu’s real past love relationship came to light.

Li Xi was different from Jiang Muti, though. Setting aside whether she could handle Huo Xin, her ordinary family background meant that if this spoiled rich girl suddenly felt jealous and wanted to stir up some trouble, it would be nothing more than a few flicks of her fingers.

Jiang Muti didn’t like Li Xi and was quite annoyed at always being dragged into their matters, but unless necessary, she wouldn’t joke about someone’s entire family’s future.

Of course, if Li Xi were ever exposed to Huo Xin, it wouldn’t be her problem.

After returning home, she ran into Ji Feishi’s car again at the garden’s main gate.

Jiang Muti asked, “You guys have been coming back early recently, haven’t you? No training?”

Ji Feishi replied, “The final exams are coming up, so all club activities have been suspended recently.”

He then asked, “What are your plans for the winter break? Any vacation plans?”

When Jiang Muti heard this, she suddenly became a bit interested, “Hmm—haven’t decided yet, but going to a sunny place to soak up some sun sounds nice in the middle of winter.”

She thought about it for a moment and realized that it would be exactly one year since she crossed over and spent this winter here. With school taking up most of her time and the last two months spent staying at home to lose weight, she hadn’t really gone out to play.

She actually enjoyed vacations a lot. In her previous life, she had almost visited all of the world’s popular vacation spots.

Ji Feishi was also a little tempted by her words but didn’t say anything for now.

At this moment, Yun Cheng piped up with enthusiasm, “Going on vacation? I want to go too, I want to go too.”

He nudged Jiang Muti’s shoulder, “Don’t you have an island? When are we going to visit it?”

Jiang Muti was also quite interested, “True, I should visit my territory sometime.”

“Oh, right. I’ll first ask my brother if that island has any national borders. If not, we can just declare it a country. I’ll be the emperor, Yun Duo will be the princess, and you can be the prime minister.”

Yun Cheng frowned, “What’s this arrangement? It’s too messy. If little Duo is the princess, I should at least be the crown prince, right?”

Jiang Muti retorted, “Oh, you think you can inherit my fortune just by flapping your lips? How conceited.”

Yun Cheng thought for a moment, “Yeah, but it feels like suddenly I’m lower than you. How about this, you make me the grand pope. I’ve heard the pope has as much power as an emperor.”

“Well, at least you need followers to establish a religion, right? Just so you know, I’m an atheist.” Jiang Muti shrugged.

Yun Duo raised her hand too, “I won’t believe my brother either. How lame.”

Yun Cheng pouted, “I don’t care about you guys. I still have Ji Feishi.”

Saying that, he turned to Ji Feishi with a grin, “Feishi, you’re not like them, right? You’ll support me, right?”

Ji Feishi twitched the corner of his mouth. He thought that even his ten-year-old distant nephew probably wouldn’t play such childish games, but these three kept getting more into it.

But then again, it was quite enviable to have people with whom you could be eternally childish.

In the end, Jiang Muti’s plan to establish a country was stillborn. When the three of them excitedly told Jiang Yunjuan about it, he informed them that the area already had a nationality.

Jiang Muti visibly looked disappointed, “I already had the country’s name and flag design figured out.”

Yun Cheng slumped like a deflated eggplant, “I’d have been fine even being the prime minister!”

Yun Duo said, “I was so close to being a real princess!”

Jiang Yunjuan looked at the three little fools in front of him and couldn’t help but laugh.

“But there’s a well-built vacation villa over there, the ocean views are great, and there’s also untouched, undeveloped natural scenery. It’s a good place to visit.”

As expected, the three of them got excited again, pulling Jiang Yunjuan to free up some time before the New Year so the whole family could go on vacation together.

Then they’d come back in time for the New Year!

Jiang Yunjuan thought about how, for the past few years, he had been traveling everywhere for work. Of course, he was always warmly hosted and invited to tour the local sights, but it had been a long time since he had taken a truly personal vacation.

So he nodded and promised to set aside as many days as possible to spend with them. He couldn’t guarantee he’d stay for the whole trip, but even a little was better than nothing.

Final exams arrived quickly. In the first few days after returning, Jiang Muti was caught off guard by the intense schedule of tests.

But after adjusting for a few days, she quickly got back into her usual rhythm and performed well in the exams.

When the final results came out, she remained firmly in the top three. Every time there was a major exam, the teachers would use her as a role model, encouraging students to work hard and catch up to her.

Hearing it so often, even Jiang Muti—thick-skinned as she was—felt a little embarrassed. She had an unfair advantage, after all: a solid foundation from her past life, plus the broader perspective of someone who had already attended university. She was basically cheating.

Since all three kids in the family had good grades, and with this steady trend, it was almost certain they would get into a top-tier university in China after next summer’s college entrance exam.

Old Yun was in a good mood. In a rare display of generosity, upon hearing they were going on vacation, he gave Yun Cheng a card, telling him to buy whatever vacation supplies he needed.

The next day, Yun Cheng went out and bought an expensive set of diving gear—

Old Yun: “…”

Everything was ready, and they were about to leave home, taking a private helicopter to their destination.

But just as they were about to depart, something unexpected came up, blocking their trip.