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Even after she’d received the bank transfer, Sheng Jiaoyang still wasn’t all that happy. Her mind kept thinking back to Shen Zhining’s last words.
‘Using her name’…who was ‘her’?
Is that person called Jiaoyang, like herself?
He’d also said that even though there was a genius before her, she still insisted on copying someone else and making a fool out of herself! He’d clearly been stating that she was imitating someone else’s artistic style!
The world was vast, but the scope of artists with the same name was tiny. If there really was a person with the same name and in the same profession as her, how come she didn’t know?
If that person was her…
Sheng Jiaoyang was suddenly enlightened. She hadn’t thought of it before because she still considered herself as ‘Sheng Jiaoyang’, but to other people, she was now ‘Xu Jiaojiao’.
“Really, who would've thought it? So, it turns out that Shen Zhining’s impression of me is actually that good and he considers me a genius!”
Sheng Jiaoyang put the new ATM card in her bag and walked out of the bank in an exceptionally good mood. Then, she walked towards the car-free shopping street.
An hour later, Sheng Jiaoyang left the optometrists wearing a pair of glasses with a dark green frame. Now that she had more than enough money for glasses, she wanted to get LASIK surgery to correct her myopia.
The world had once again become clear, and she didn't have to move within one metre of a person to see their face. Plus, her pockets were finally full. It was currently the best time to be Xu Jiaojiao.
However, in the blink of an eye, her good mood was swept away. Her eyesight was now perfect, so naturally, she could look into the distance. Unfortunately, the vision of a man and a woman standing at the counter of a jewellery store across the street from her accidentally entered her field of sight.
Sheng Shiyun and Lin Yu.
One was her half-sister.
The other was the boyfriend that she’d been dating not too long ago.
Of course, these were all relationships that she’d had as ‘Sheng Jiaoyang’. Now, they had no connection with her whatsoever.
Remembering what had happened to her because of what they’d done, Sheng Jiaoyang felt that there should be some kind of atonement. And, one of her strongest strengths was that what other people gave her, she would always return it.
Sheng Jiaoyang looked around and spotted a tea shop nearby. After buying a cup of tea, she then entered the jewellery store.
Without hiding her intentions, she walked straight up to Sheng Shiyun and poured the tea all over her feet.
“Ahh!!” Sheng Shiyun shrieked as she jumped backwards.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Sheng Jiaoyang apologised with an insincere smile on her face. “My hand slipped.”
“You crazy bitch!! Do you know that my shoes are…”
“Very expensive, I know. They’re Christian Louboutin shoes.” Sheng Jiaoyang swept a glance over the high-heeled shoes on Sheng Shiyun’s feet, and a corner of her mouth curled into a smirk. “Last year’s edition.”
Sheng Shiyun was unaware of what the strange girl in front of her was trying to achieve, but at the moment, she felt utterly embarrassed. Under everyone’s gaze, she quickly picked up the damaged shoes and called out to Lin Yu as she rushed to the bathroom.
“Why did you do that to Shiyun?” Lin Yu frowned at the face of the unfamiliar girl before him, confused as to why her expression was full of undisguised malice. Even an idiot could see that there was a problem.
Sheng Jiaoyang looked at Lin Yu’s handsome face that closely resembled the sketch that she’d drawn at Hundred Flowers Square. She couldn’t help but remember the first time she’d met Lin Yu, and her heart was filled with sorrow. She’d suspected that Lin Yu was a member of the Lin family, and had specifically asked him whether or not he knew Lin Yan, but he hadn’t known who that was.
“Your girlfriend was just in an accident, and yet here you are on a date with Sheng Shiyun. Oh wait, that’s wrong! Even before the accident the two you had been fooling around together. The two-timing skills of Young Master Lin are truly exceptional!” Sheng Jiaoyang raised her brows and said indifferently.
“Don’t talk nonsense; Shiyun and I are just friends. Who are you and how do you know us?”
“I’m Sheng Jiaoyang’s…” Seeing Lin Yu’s face freeze in shock, Sheng Jiaoyang laughed. “Friend.”
“Before Sheng Jiaoyang had her accident, she told me that her sister had given her a picture of her boyfriend and herself. Sheng Shiyun had also told Sheng Jiaoyang that Brother Yu was very busy recently and that if nothing important occurred, not to go looking for him. That slut is so pretentious! If she really fancies you, then she should just say it straight to your face. Instead, she’s a disgusting person that stabs people in the back.”
“What are you talking about?” Lin Yu’s expression became solemn.
A corner of Sheng Jiaoyang’s mouth raised into a slight smirk as she said, “I find you increasingly interesting. There’s a white lotus hanging around you that considers you her own, yet you’re completely unaware. You can’t even refute it. I know better than you the kind of person Sheng Shiyun is!”
“It’s her fault that Sheng Jiaoyang had an accident, and yet you, as her boyfriend, still accompany the main culprit jewellery shopping. It seems that your kind of ‘like’ is half-hearted at best!”
Looking at Lin Yu’s shocked expression, Sheng Jiaoyang turned around and walked away, filled with satisfaction.
Come on, hurt each other~
While tunelessly humming, Sheng Jiaoyang entered a popular cafe.
Although they hadn’t been dating for very long, she nonetheless understood Lin Yu. Among all the men she knew, Lin Yu was a rare pure-hearted person, but his character was interpreted as unusual by other people. He was very good to his friends, but a friend was only a friend; he made that extremely clear to the females around him. It was no wonder that Sheng Shiyun had never dared to confess her crush before. If she exposed her true feelings to Lin Yu while he had no feelings of affection for her, he wouldn’t hesitate to cut off all connections with her.
Now that Sheng Shiyun’s malicious actions had been exposed, her beautiful dream of slowly winning over Lin Yu was dashed. Based on Sheng Shiyun’s character, the more Lin Yu distanced himself from her, the more ardent her attempts to stick to him would be. Unfortunately for her, Lin Yu would only be increasingly disgusted by her advances.
Due to this, Sheng Jiaoyang had always been unable to understand why Lin Yu, who was incapable of turning a blind eye, could’ve liked her when she’d continuously slandered Sheng Shiyun. At that time, almost all of his friends had advised him against dating her, but he’d never wavered. When she was busy on the days that she’d promised to go on a date with him, he would personally get food for her.
Sheng Jiaoyang didn’t think that her charm was so great that it would make a person like Lin Yu so resolute in his feelings. Otherwise, why would the person that she liked, who obviously had feelings towards her, refuse to accept her. She could only conclude one thing: Lin Yu was a weirdo.
As for those who’d taken advantage of her, Sheng Jiaoyang didn’t care whether or not that person had an uneasy conscience. Could a conscience be eaten or used? Could it change the fact that she'd become a poor girl? What use does it have? She only knew that those who dared to mess with her would be paying her back for the rest of their lives.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Sheng Jiaoyang had finished her meal as previously, she’d needed to abstain from consuming certain foods. After eating, she cheerfully left the cafe.
“I want to recharge my phone credit,” Sheng Jiaoyang said as she once again entered the post office.
The same clerk who’d previously served Sheng Jiaoyang was behind the counter and vaguely remembered this girl who was secretly ridiculed. Immediately, the smile on the clerk’s face disappeared, and she coldly asked, “How much this time?”
“For now, recharge it with one, no, two…”
“In the end, how much do you want to recharge it with?!” the clerk interrupted impatiently.
Sheng Jiaoyang glanced at the clerk, leisurely opened her bag, and took out a stack of money. Under the clerk’s wide-eyed stare, Sheng Jiaoyang slowly counted out twenty banknotes before placing them on the counter.
“Here, two thousand dollars to recharge my phone with!”
The clerk blinked a few times as she looked at Sheng Jiaoyang in disbelief. Although there were only a few changes, she was able to confirm that it was indeed the same person who’d recently recharged their phone with a mere ten dollars. It wasn’t until the two thousand dollars had cleared the counterfeit detector twice that she spoke to Sheng Jiaoyang politely.
“Ma’am, we’re currently offering a promotion, where if you buy two products in the same transaction, we’ll offer you a special discount~” The attitude of the clerk had now gone through an unprecedented 180-degree change.
“Is there an international call package?”
“Ah, unfortunately, we don’t currently offer one.”
“Oh.” Sheng Jiaoyang adjusted her bag on her shoulder and turned away.
“Ma’am, we also have gifts available!”
“I don’t need any.”
Returning to the cheap rental house, Sheng Jiaoyang began to pack up the free stuff that she’d managed to score off her cousin yesterday. Although they were all small brand name products that she wouldn’t have touched before, they were still better than her original body’s cheaper products. They would suffice until she could earn enough money.
When Xu Qing came home, Sheng Jiaoyang was searching online for rental information on nearby high-end residential areas.
“Jiaojiao, have you eaten yet?”
“Yeah,” Sheng Jiaoyang answered without lifting her head.
Xu Qing was standing beside Sheng Jiaoyang with a somewhat hesitant look on her face for a while before she finally mumbled, “Jiaojiao, I found a job.”
“Oh? This is good news!”
“Unfortunately, I’ve been asked to stay there at night.”
Sheng Jiaoyang felt that it was a bit strange and looked up at Xu Qing. “What kind of job did you get? You have to work overtime?”
“It’s a housekeeping job.”
“Housekeeping?” A frown formed on Sheng Jiaoyang’s face. “That’s so exhausting; forget about it.”
“She said that it wouldn’t be tiring. It’s just taking care of a villa’s hygiene and helping the kitchen aunt make meals. It’s not that hard, and it pays five thousand dollars a month,” Xu Qing hurriedly explained.
Five thousand dollars is a lot? Sheng Jiaoyang’s mouth flattened into a straight line. Li Shen, who used to take care of her daily life, had more bonus pay per month than that!
“Okay, if you think you can do it.” At most, she could always resign in the future.
“But, at night I won’t be able to come back,” Xu Qing said with no small amount of hesitation.
“That’s okay, it just so happens that I entered a contest anyway. I have to be there all day and can’t come back at night either.”
“Contest?” Xu Qing was utterly surprised.
Sheng Jiaoyang didn’t want to say anything more than that and quickly changed the topic. “Where are you working?”
“On Yun Jin Road, close to College Road. It’s not too far from your university.” Talking about this made Xu Qing slightly cheerful as she’d be able to take care of her daughter in the future.
“Oh.” Sheng Jiaoyang lowered her head and went back to searching for information on renting an apartment.
Ding!
“Done!” Sheng Jiaoyang said as she clicked on the mouse to confirm the payment, her fingers then quickly tapping across the keyboard to enter the password.
Xu Qing, who was sitting beside her, was shocked and hurriedly asked, “What’s done?”
“I rented us an apartment on College Road. The deposit has already been paid, so now all that we have to do is move in!”
“What?” Xu Qing was shocked once again. “Where did you get so much money?”
“From selling my sketches. Alright, don’t ask anymore; my money was fairly earned anyway. In the future, when I make more money, you won’t have to go to work and will be able to relax at home.”
Xu Qing packed up her belongings in a daze. When she was wondering what else they should bring with them, her daughter insisted that they should just abandon those shabby things and only take themselves. But, after negotiating for a while, they finally settled on being allowed to bring two sets of clothes each.
Subconsciously, the backbone of the family had suddenly changed from Xu Qing to Sheng Jiaoyang.
After leaving the cheap rental house, Sheng Jiaoyang hailed a taxi under Xu Qing’s stunned gaze and arranged for them to be driven to the new apartment.
When they arrived, the landlord was already waiting for them in the house.
Afterwards, Sheng Jiaoyang left her mother to get settled while she efficiently and decisively sorted any remaining details. She first signed the rental contract, organised the locks to be changed, and then bought all the daily necessities. As well as new bedding, she swapped out all the mattresses for new ones and called for housekeeping to clean up the inside and outside of the house. In just a short time, the apartment was completely re-arranged.
Xu Qing stayed quiet throughout the whole process, even though she really wanted to help in some way. She thought that personally handling some of the details to save money would’ve been better, but Sheng Jiaoyang disagreed and brought her to stand nearby to help direct everyone with their tasks.
Sheng Jiaoyang’s thoughts were: Why bother getting tired when you could spend money to solve it instead?
That night, Sheng Jiaoyang no longer had to cram into a small bed. She was finally able to have a peaceful sleep with sweet dreams. In the dream, she was just about to embrace a handsome man when suddenly, she was awoken by a phone call from the staff of the National Supermodel contest.