Chapter 14: Substitute — You look a lot like Song Jin.

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After returning to the shore, Yang Wei immediately posted a status update on Weibo—

Professor, Please Take Medicine: 「 Look quickly, there’s a cute fool flying through the sky.『bye-bye』」

Mama Yang had been shadowing Yang Wei the entire time, even all the way to the park. When she saw the final blind date leave, she immediately approached Yang Wei and asked, “How was it; how was it? Did you like any of them?”

Yang Wei smiled and turned to look at her before saying, “These men from today wouldn’t happen to have been introduced to you by those plaza-dancing teammates of yours, would they?”

Surprised, Mama Yang asked, “How did you know?”

Yang Wei waved at her and walked away. Am I really your biological child?

Mama Yang immediately chased after her as she inquired, “So none of them were pleasing to the eye?”

Yang Wei suddenly stopped and solemnly grabbed Mama Yang’s shoulder before saying, “Mom, it’s only through sheer force of will that I’m alive right now. Please don’t ask me such a bizarre question again!”

Mama Yang: “……”

“Furthermore, you’ve used up all of this year’s share today; you’re not allowed to arrange any more blind dates for me for an entire year.””

Mama Yang: “…”

Once Yang Wei got home, she immediately flopped onto the sofa, as she had no desire to move. Furthermore, since she’d been drinking coffee all afternoon, she didn’t feel like eating dinner either.

She took her phone out of her bag and sunk into the sofa. As she scrolled through Weibo, she saw that the update she’d posted earlier had already received two comments.

Calabash Baby Drawing Classroom【V】 : 「Didn’t see, false news, already reported.『doge』」  

Wait for Three More Minutes【V】: 「What happened? =3=」   

Look, look, look, look, both are women, yet the Great God Wait for Three More Minutes is far more considerate than Jian Shuang!

Professor, Please Take Medicine replied to @Wait for Three More Minutes【V】: 「My mother forced me to go on blind dates _(:з」∠)_」

Wait for Three More Minutes【V】 replied to @Professor, Please Take Medicine: 「Blind dates (⊙o⊙)? Based on your Weibo update, they must’ve been failures O(∩_∩)O~」

Professor, Please Take Medicine replied to @Wait for Three More Minutes【V】: 「Great God, I’m actually quite curious. Why did you choose the pen name Wait For Three More Minutes?」

Wait for Three More Minutes【V】 replied to @Professor, Please Take Medicine: 「Oh, that’s because I was waiting on instant noodles back then. 『doge』」  

Yang Wei: “…”

Some truths…should be kept hidden forever.

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Qi Xiao Yan stared at his computer monitor, rereading the conversation on Yang Wei’s Weibo three times, before finally clicking the little red cross in the upper right corner of his browser.

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Early Monday morning, the bus was more crowded than usual. As Yang Wei squeezed her way to the back, she gripped her milk in one hand and the handrail in the other.

In the back, there was a girl enthusiastically flipping through a magazine; she seemed to be completely unphased by the crowded bus as she sat in the back. Furthermore, Yang Wei couldn’t help but glance at the female celebrity with curly flaxen hair on the cover of the magazine.

Hehe, wasn’t this Professor Qi’s idol, Song Jin?

A year ago, the popular 《A Soul Haunted by a Painting》 had released, raising three or four actors to fame. The person that had undoubtedly gained the most was the debuting actress playing the female lead’s position, Song Jin. Back then, the public had been the one to decide the female lead for 《A Soul Haunted by a Painting》. The entire nation had been abuzz, before finally selecting Song Jin. She’d also made her first public appearance at 《A Soul Haunted by a Painting》’s premiere.

With an outstanding first performance and her title of ‘The Entertainment Circle’s Top Student,’ she became popular nationwide overnight. When 《A Soul Haunted by a Painting》 screened, it rose to the top of the box office, which in turn sent her skyrocketing to the top of the candidate list for ‘Best Leading Actress.’

Even Professor Qi browsed her home page.

Hehe!

Yang Wei had held an indescribable enmity toward Song Jin ever since the latter had made her debut. What she disliked most was how others would always tell her that she looked similar to Song Jin.

Only their hair was similar!

As she gripped the handrail, her eyes continued to drift over the magazine. The title was in gigantic pink calligraphy, which was very eye-catching.

The NEET Goddess also has a first love! An introduction to the Goddess’ Youthful Era! 

“Here, if you’d like to read it, I can lend it to you.” The girl suddenly closed the magazine and held it out toward Yang Wei. Yang Wei was a bit dumbfounded. She didn’t really want to read it…

“Are you a fan of Song Jin too? I can tell from your hair; did you get it done like Song Jin’s? It’s very pretty.”

Yang Wei: “…”

This was the same hairstyle she’d had when she was in university! That Song Jin didn’t know which corner to play with the mud in! [1]

The girl continued to unremittingly hold the magazine out toward Yang Wei. She eyed Yang Wei and then said, “Hey, you actually look a lot like Song Jin.”

Yang Wei pursed her lips as she accepted the magazine, before casually flipping to the page with Song Jin’s interview. Alongside the interview were several photos of Song Jin. As Yang Wei glanced through the article, the look in her eyes darkened further.

She’d entered Imperial Capital University at sixteen, with her first love being a fourth-year male senior who was a year older than her. Just based on these two facts alone…even the students in her class could count how many first-year university students were fourteen years old. As for those that had been accepted into Imperial Capital University at fourteen, there was only one—Qi Xiao Yan.

Not to mention they’d been in the same club, but this same male senior had also gone abroad to pursue his studies.

Yang Wei had often seen the phrase ‘an explosion went off in one’s mind, after which everything went white’ in the novels she’d read. Before now, she’d felt that those authors were simply exaggerating too much. Was the explosion supposed to represent the person’s brain exploding?

However, she now suddenly felt that these authors were people who’d been around the block. If she were to describe herself now, she’d probably use the same phrase.

Qi Xiao Yan had previously told her that he’d fallen in love with her at first sight. What “love at first sight”! It had clearly been an unforgettable old love! He’d probably felt that, since she looked a lot like his first sweetheart, she was a suitable substitute! No wonder that, when she divorced him, Qi Xiao Yan had merely stared at her for a bit before agreeing! How many times had they fought because she normally took half an hour to shower?!

It turned out that his first love had been looking to return to him… so he’d simply gotten rid of her in order to rest and fly together with his first love? [2]

As if!

Yang Wei slapped the magazine shut and handed it back to the girl beside her.

Yang Wei entered the office absentmindedly, even ignoring Teacher Luo’s greeting. Teacher Yao was carrying an English textbook as he stepped out of the office, but upon seeing her enter, he stopped and slyly asked, “Where did that Maserati guy from the other day take you?”

“Ah?” Yang Wei glanced at her with a confused expression before gasping in realization. “He’s Liang Ming Hao’s uncle.”

Teacher Yao blinked before regretfully saying, “If I’d known earlier, I would’ve agreed to be the substitute for class 5-2.”

Yang Wei walked toward her seat and sat down before raising her gaze to look at Teacher Yao. “He’s also an old primary school classmate of mine.”

Teacher Yao gaped, dropping the textbook she was holding.

Yang Wei felt like a mashed eggplant the entire day. Luckily, she only had to teach one class today, so she arranged for them to work on their own. She couldn’t help but immediately think that, if Qi Xiao Yan hadn’t gone abroad back then, would the present Mrs. Qi be Song Jin?

Based on the article’s description, Song Jin was also in the Mathematics Department. Furthermore, her IQ was very high. Even if Qi Xiao Yan was to talk to her about Goldbach, she probably wouldn’t feel bored, right?

Yang Wei thinned her lips, before beginning to tidy her things in preparation to leave work.

When she exited the school building, she immediately spotted the eye-catching Maserati near the school’s entrance. Fang Cheng Ran had originally been smiling as he stood there, waiting for her. However, when he saw her come out, a slight frown crossed his face. “What wrong; why’re you unhappy? Did that youngster Liang Ming Hao make you angry again?”

Yang Wei shook her head and replied, “No, it’s just my own mood being no good.”

Fang Cheng Ran paused, before his lips suddenly curved and he opened the door for her. “When your mood’s no good, you should enjoy some gourmet food. That way, your mood will improve.”

Yang Wei thought it over and took a seat in the car. Fang Cheng Ran started the car and then turned to look at her. “What would you like to eat? Barbecue? Ah, I recall that you really like to eat spicy things. How about we go eat hotpot?”

Yang Wei mumbled to herself for a while before turning to ask, “I think I’d like to get my hair done first; can I?”

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Author’s Note:

The Great Chestnut: Your family’s baby says that you were using her as a substitute; what do you think?

Qi Xiao Yan: Why didn’t she directly ask me?

The Great Chestnut: Don’t think that I don’t see you wanting to seize the opportunity to see her. I’m afraid to tell you that the secondary male lead will confess his profound love next chapter.

Qi Xiao Yan: You mean that guy pretending to be a woman on Weibo?

Fang Cheng Ran: When writing a romance novel, you’d naturally choose the female gender!


Footnotes:

[1] ‘didn’t know which corner of the mud to play in’ is the Chinese version of ‘can’t find her way out of a paper bag’

[2] lit. to rest and fly together (idiom); fig. to live in each other’s pockets, to be inseparable


Translator’s Note:

So this is what happens when you have to temporarily move out while the house is being renovated, pack, unpack, deal with a new school quarter, and the dread midterm season…

…aka the translator disappears. Sorry! Updates…will probably still be spotty qwq

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