Chapter 49: Will the Meng Family Fall?

“Did I say you could leave?” Cheng Yuan raised an eyebrow, her gaze settling on Li Liang’s spineless expression. “You might as well change your name to Li Coward.”

“Yes, yes, yes, whatever you say, Your Ladyship,” Li Liang stammered, the memory of her last beating still vivid—every bone in his body had ached for days. Just thinking about it sent a shiver down his spine.

Whether it was Meng Yue or Cheng Yuan, he figured it was best to steer clear of both.

Especially Meng Yue. He still couldn’t believe he’d once thought she was some kind of fairy. He must’ve been blind.

“Yuanyuan, what should we do?” Bei Xiaolin looked at Cheng Yuan worriedly. Meng Yue wasn’t the kind to back down, and even if Li Liang didn’t lift a finger, she might find someone else to do her dirty work.

Cheng Yuan gave her a calm, reassuring glance, then turned back to Li Liang, scrutinizing him from head to toe. He immediately started shaking, his knees nearly giving out. Would he even keep his legs after this?

“Li Liang, do exactly as Meng Yue says,” Cheng Yuan said coolly. “Just play the middleman. Nothing more. Got it?”

Li Liang blinked in confusion. “Why?”

“Let me ask you—why is the Li Family backing Meng Yue?” Cheng Yuan said pointedly. “Remember, fortune and misfortune come unexpectedly. The sky can change in an instant.”

“W-What do you mean?” Li Liang stuttered. “Are you saying… the Meng Family might fall?” The idea sounded ridiculous.

“Whether they will or not, I can’t say. But what goes up eventually comes down.” Her tone was calm, but her words struck deep. “This matter will go exactly the way I say. If you screw it up, you might not even be able to protect yourself.”

Her gaze dropped to his lower half. Li Liang immediately clamped his legs together and nodded like a puppet. “Don’t worry, Sister Cheng. I’ll handle it. Perfectly.”

“Good.” Cheng Yuan turned to leave, her voice slow and deliberate. “And remember—you never saw me.”

As soon as she was gone, Bei Xiaolin burst with questions. “Yuanyuan, what’s your plan? Are you seriously letting her bring those thugs here? Should we call Yu Qing? If it’s three against one, we should win, right?”

“Use your brain.” Cheng Yuan flicked her on the forehead. “I’m just going to give her a taste of her own medicine.”

“But Meng Yue’s no fool,” Bei Xiaolin said, still confused.

Cheng Yuan grinned. “Then we’ll just have to outsmart her.”

“Wait, that thing you said to Li Liang at the end—was that a warning?”

“Exactly. By keeping him from interfering or secretly undermining me, I’ve actually got him working in my favor. Even so-called neutrality can be useful.”

Otherwise, if Li Liang had tried to play both sides behind her back, it would’ve been much harder to predict his next move.

“But… do you really think the Meng Family could fall?” Bei Xiaolin asked. Her father had also invested a lot of money with them.

“Who knows?” Cheng Yuan looked off into the distance. Seeing Xiaolin’s unease, she added, “Don’t worry. She won’t try anything before we leave for Hai City.”

“Why not?”

“We’re at school every day. When would she even have the time?” Cheng Yuan already had some ideas, though nothing solid yet. Then she asked with a hint of mischief, “Xiaolin, do you ever think I’m a bad person?”

“Of course not!” Bei Xiaolin immediately grabbed her hand, pulling them closer together. “Yuanyuan, if Meng Yue hadn’t gone after you first, you wouldn’t have fought back. And you’ve always helped me… Have I ever told you how thankful I am?”

Cheng Yuan paused before saying softly, “No, you haven’t.”

“Back when things were really dark, you played games with me just to cheer me up. When we got bullied at school, we stuck together and got beaten up a little less. Now you’re helping me study, even taking me to Xia Wanwan’s concert. You feel like a real big sister to me.” It was rare for Bei Xiaolin to open up like this.

Cheng Yuan chuckled. “Oh, so I’m only a real sister if I take you to that concert?”

Bei Xiaolin had just been on the verge of tears, but Cheng Yuan’s teasing yanked her back to reality. The pain of the past softened slightly in the warmth of their laughter. Side by side, they walked toward the classroom, their shadows stretching long beneath the streetlights.

“Yuanyuan,” Bei Xiaolin said quietly, “we’ll be best friends forever.”

“Yeah,” Cheng Yuan smiled. “Best friends forever.”

As they exchanged a look of understanding, Cheng Yuan thought back to their past life. Bei Xiaolin had given her everything—money, comfort, companionship—without hesitation. When Cheng Yuan had been hurt by that awful guy at vocational school, Xiaolin was the one who helped her through it. They had leaned on each other time and again.

Now, Cheng Yuan only wanted to hold onto that friendship for the rest of her life.

The night deepened.

Meanwhile, in Hai City, Jun Nanye sat surrounded by towering stacks of documents. Tao An stood beside him, saying, “Brother Nan, here’s the list of every female high school senior named Cheng in the country. There are 8,900 of them.”

“And why exactly are you collecting all these Ch—” Tao An stopped himself, curiosity getting the better of him. “Brother Nan, what do you need these girls for?”

He was the kind of guy who never stopped talking once he got going.

Jun Nanye didn’t answer. Instead, he looked through the list. Names alone told him nothing, so he set the stack aside. “Where are the college entrance exam papers I asked for?”

“Right here! These are all the past exam papers from Jiang City.” Tao An returned quickly with another bundle. “Want me to mail them? Who’s that impoverished student you’re sponsoring again?”

Jun Nanye gave him a sharp look. If I knew, would I be digging through all this?

“Brother Nan?” Tao An blinked. “You want me to send the papers?”

Jun Nanye narrowed his eyes. “Sounds like you’re itching to go work in the mines in Africa. What perfect timing—my eldest brother said he needs a helper.”

“No, no, no! Brother Nan, I just remembered something urgent. I’ll see you later!” Tao An bolted out of the room.

Jun Nanye smirked and turned back to the papers. Xia Wanwan’s concert is just a few days away. Once that’s over, finding her will be easy.

In an oddly cheerful mood, he stuffed all the papers into his pajamas, his silhouette bulging comically with documents.

Sigh… If anyone knew I stuffed these into my clothes just to fall asleep at night, they’d die laughing.

But who cares? Better to be laughed at than suffer from insomnia. Besides, if I don’t tell anyone, who’s going to find out?

The familiar drowsiness washed over him, and Jun Nanye surrendered to it, letting himself drift into a deep slumber.

Cheng Yuan noticed his swollen belly. If one ignored the sharp lines of his physique, one might mistake him for a woman seven or eight months pregnant. She carefully removed the documents and saw they were Jiang City’s high school entrance exam materials. Tao An really is good to her, she thought. If she masters these precious practice papers, her scores should improve by at least fifty points. Otherwise, she’d be wasting these resources.