Chapter 14
Tang Yiling and Li Lan didn’t say anything else.
They stayed wrapped in each other’s arms all the way until they got off the train.
Actually, after a few stops, the carriage had stopped being so crowded.
But for some reason, both of them acted as if they didn’t notice.
By the time they came out of the subway station, night had already fallen completely.
The city lights had just come on, and the area around the school was packed with people, lively to the extreme.
Tang Yiling secretly extended a finger and touched her lips.
The place where she had just brushed against Li Lan felt slightly warmer than the rest. She didn’t know whether Li Lan had felt it too.
The two of them walked side by side, drawing closer and closer to the school gate.
Li Lan spoke first. “Where are you staying tonight?”
Tang Yiling froze for a moment.
It was Wednesday. Did she even have any other place to sleep tonight?
She answered honestly, “I’m going back to the dorm.”
Li Lan gave a soft “Mm.” “You don’t have class tomorrow afternoon, right? Are you coming to the company?”
Tang Yiling seriously suspected that ever since the day they met, Li Lan had downloaded her class schedule from the campus network.
Otherwise, how could she know her schedule so well?
“Tomorrow probably won’t work.”
Tang Yiling already had plans. “I need to go home.”
“The Tang family?”
Li Lan tilted her head. “Didn’t they say they kicked you out?”
“I was kicked out.”
Tang Yiling hurried to explain, “I’m just going back to get something, then I’ll leave.”
She was going to get her medical report.
And while she was at it, she’d cooperate with Tang GeYun to finish that plot point.
Unknowingly, the two of them had already entered the campus.
After these past few days together, she’d almost forgotten that Li Lan was still a student too.
Li Lan said okay and didn’t ask anything else.
The streetlights stretched their shadows long behind them, as if they had already walked a very long way.
Tang Yiling’s dorm was a little closer.
“Sister, sister!” She stopped. “Then I’m going in first?”
For some reason, Li Lan seemed to have been thinking the whole way here; her expression gradually grew serious.
Tang Yiling called twice before Li Lan finally turned her head.
Li Lan nodded.
Then she kept walking forward without stopping.
Cold to the extreme.
They had clearly been so intimate just a moment ago; why had things become like this again once they got back to school?
Could it be that the heroine’s identity only took effect in certain places?
Tang Yiling stood where she was.
A few seconds later, feeling a little indignant, she chased after her again. “Sister, don’t you have anything else to say?”
They hadn’t even eaten dinner yet. Didn’t she want to go to the cafeteria together?
Even if Tang Yiling paid, she’d be willing.
Li Lan stopped and let her gaze fall on her face.
It was that same scrutinizing look, as if she didn’t know Tang Yiling at all.
“It’s going to get colder lately.” Li Lan let out a faint sigh. “Wear more clothes.”
After saying that, she started walking forward again.
Tang Yiling stood there and watched Li Lan’s back.
She shrugged slightly and turned back toward the dorm.
Maybe the time on the subway had been too warm.
Now that the atmosphere had suddenly cooled, Tang Yiling felt a hollow emptiness in her heart.
She let out a heavy sigh.
She bought a bucket of instant noodles from the shop downstairs. Even though she had plenty of money now, she still ended up eating like it was the end of the month.
The next day, after class, Tang Yiling took a car home.
When the Tang couple heard she was coming back, they sat in the living room like they were just casually relaxing there; in reality, they had been waiting a long time.
Broken fragments of piano music drifted down from upstairs.
He Wenwei lowered her voice. “Xiaoyun’s been learning piano lately.”
Tang Yiling nodded. That really was a must-have skill for a wealthy-family heroine.
However, in the novel, it didn’t seem to say Tang GeYun knew how to play.
Tang Fan also leaned over. “How have you been lately?”
“You finished the snacks from last time, right?”
Tang Yiling nodded. “Pretty good.”
There were actually still snacks left; she had even shared some with her roommates.
He Wenwei pointed to the suitcase standing by the wall.
“The snacks this time have been packed for you too.”
She said mysteriously, “There’s a bag at the very bottom.”
“You can take it and sell it for money.”
Tang Yiling’s eyes widened slightly.
In just a few days, her parents’ talent for pampering their daughter had advanced again?
She was uneasy. “Is that really okay?”
“Give it a try,” Tang Fan said with a sly smile. “Anyway, the Administration Bureau doesn’t do asset inventories.”
He Wenwei reminded her, “But you absolutely can’t let anyone see that you’re rich.”
“Try to keep up the poor act and take the money out a little at a time to spend.”
Seeing the two of them secretly coaching her like this, Tang Yiling felt a little like laughing.
Of course she didn’t dare show off wealth. Even the five thousand from Li Lan had been spent with great caution.
“Right.”
She suddenly remembered something. “Mom, what happened to the report I asked you to file last time?”
“The report?” He Wenwei froze for a moment. “You mean the identity verification?”
“That still hasn’t come out. It takes ten working days.”
“Usually the reply comes very quickly.”
“This time it’s slow. Probably because the staff are busy.”
That explanation sounded way too much like real life.
Tang Yiling couldn’t help asking, “Does the Administration Bureau also get weekends off?”
Tang Fan shook his head. “Shift work. Four on, three off.”
Tang Yiling’s eyes lit up. Wasn’t that every worker’s dream?
“Then do they have social insurance and housing fund?”
He Wenwei said, “No, but there are employee benefits like cars and houses.”
“And if you want to enter a script, you also get some priority when choosing roles.”
That was great!
Tang Yiling looked at her parents. “Then why didn’t you just work directly at the Administration Bureau?”
Tang Fan chuckled twice.
“Our current job pays more, and the hours are freer.”
She envied them.
Tang Yiling suddenly felt a huge sense of belonging toward the Character Management Bureau; she was genuinely very willing to become one of them.
Good benefits, respect for employees, and a wide range of choices.
Those who liked socializing could play characters; those with social anxiety could work at headquarters.
She didn’t know who the bureau’s leadership was, but they were certainly capable.
Tang Yiling silently decided that if she ever met them in the future, she would treat them with proper respect.
The piano music upstairs still hadn’t stopped.
The three of them wanted to sit down, but they were worried something might happen at any moment, so they could only stand and talk.
“Mianmian, why did you want to verify Li Lan?”
He Wenwei had wanted to ask that since that day. “Do you have a lot of contact with her?”
“Well...”
Tang Yiling’s gaze drifted away. “We keep running into each other at school, and we ate together twice.”
She was already being very restrained.
In reality, their relationship was much closer than that.
“Li Lan is, after all, the female lead of the script. Whether she has awakened or not, it’s better not to get too close to her; it’s easy for problems to come up.”
He Wenwei took her daughter’s hand and reminded her softly, “You’re almost done with the formalities, so don’t get involved in too much unnecessary trouble.”
Tang Yiling pressed her lips together.
But she was already deeply entangled with the heroine.
“Ah!”
Tang Fan suddenly clapped his hands hard and shouted.
Tang Yiling and He Wenwei had already been on edge.
Mother and daughter both jumped in fright and instinctively hunched down, trying to hide.
A few seconds later, He Wenwei reacted.
She slapped Tang Fan hard. “What are you trying to do?”
“I just remembered something important!”
Tang Fan tried hard to lower his voice. “That day I was looking up Li Lan’s verification result, and I saw on the system that someone had reported our daughter.”
“Huh?”
He Wenwei slapped Tang Fan again. “How could you forget to mention something that important?”
Tang Yiling was shocked at first, then frowned.
She hadn’t interacted with many plot characters, and she also hadn’t done anything wrong. Why would someone report her for verification?
“It’s fine, Mianmian’s verification result already came out.”
“The Administration Bureau’s conclusion was: non-awakened character.”
Tang Yiling’s brows furrowed even more.
“That’s not right, is it? Aren’t I a waiting-to-be-employed staff member?”
“The identities between us employees are hidden too.”
“Verification only gives two answers: awakened character and non-awakened character.”
Tang Fan stopped explaining the complicated rules and started soothing Tang Yiling instead. “It’s okay. Just be a little more careful when dealing with the plot.”
“At this stage, you’ve got your assessment results backing you up. Don’t pay attention to the verification reports.”
Tang Yiling answered with an “Mm.”
In her mind, she replayed what Tang Fan had just said over and over, trying to make sense of it.
Because of Tang Fan’s shout, the piano music upstairs also stopped.
Tang GeYun came out of her room and stood on the stairs, looking down from above.
“Oh, I was wondering why the house was so lively.”
“So it was my little sister who came back!”
He Wenwei unobtrusively winked at Tang Yiling and put some distance between them.
Tang Fan’s expression changed instantly, and his voice rose again.
“What room is there left for you?”
“Didn’t we say the upstairs has already become your sister’s dressing room?”
The change happened so suddenly.
Tang Yiling wasn’t as quick as her parents; she could only lower her head to hide it.
To Tang GeYun, that looked more like panic and hurt.
She came down the stairs, hearing Tang Yiling ask softly, “Then where are my things?”
Tang Fan pointed to the door beside the first-floor kitchen.
“We threw everything into the utility room for you.”
“Dad, how can you say it like that?”
A smile played at Tang GeYun’s lips. “Although that room is a little small, and the lighting’s a little poor, it’s still little sister’s room.”
She lifted a hand and patted Tang Yiling on the shoulder, startling her.
“Welcome home, little sister!”
Tang Yiling looked up and glanced at Tang GeYun.
She went around the others. “Then I’ll go get my things first.”
The door wasn’t locked; it opened with a push.
The window faced west, and the setting sun poured in in broad swaths, making the whole room bright.
Sure enough, the definition of a “small room” in a wealthy family was completely different.
This bedroom was at least eight square meters, and it even had its own bathroom!
It wasn’t as good as Li Lan’s bedroom.
But compared with the place Tang Yiling had rented before, it was already much, much better.
She sat down at the desk and started looking for the medical report.
Tang GeYun’s voice drifted in from outside; she seemed to be acting spoiled with He Wenwei. “Mom, now that little sister is moving back in, the person you love most is still me, right?”
He Wenwei didn’t answer directly. “Wasn’t it you who wanted to drive her out of the house? Why did you arrange a room for her again?”
Tang GeYun didn’t mind. “It’s fine. That way no one can say we’re bullying her. It wouldn’t look good for the Tang family’s reputation.”
Tang Yiling’s hand stilled.
How did she remember that in the book, Tang GeYun was the one who drove Tang Yiling out?
Even though this room was nice, she had no intention of moving back here.
So the result, in fact, didn’t make much difference.
Tang Yiling kept searching, and quickly found the medical report.
She took photos with her phone and sent them to Chang Yuruo.
Chang Yuruo replied very quickly: “Yiling, I happen to be at the shop.”
“The boss said it’s fine. If you’re free tonight, come try a trial shift.”
Tang Yiling hadn’t expected it to go so smoothly; she sent back a thank-you emoji.
A smile also rose unconsciously at the corners of her mouth. She was about to have another paycheck coming in!
Just then, a suppressed low voice came from the doorway.
“What are you smiling about?”
Tang Yiling’s hand shook, and the medical report fell to the floor.
Somehow, Tang GeYun had come over and was leaning against the door, looking at her.
“I’m not smiling.”
Tang Yiling denied it flatly. She bent down to pick up the report and put it away.
She didn’t want to have much more interaction with Tang GeYun, so she stood up, preparing to leave.
Tang GeYun walked in and blocked her path.
The two of them faced off in the room.
Tang Yiling felt a little deflated. Why was Tang GeYun even more imposing than she was?
Tang GeYun suddenly raised a hand and poked Tang Yiling’s cheek with her index finger.
She left behind a faint red mark. “If that’s not smiling, then what is it?”
She hadn’t used much force.
Instead, the gesture somehow seemed a little intimate.
Tang Yiling froze slightly and stepped back half a pace.
She dodged Tang GeYun’s hand. “You saw wrong. I really wasn’t smiling.”
Somehow, that sentence made Tang GeYun angry again.
The air in the room dropped sharply; Tang GeYun’s eyes narrowed slightly as she pressed closer.
The desk was behind Tang Yiling.
Tang Yiling braced one hand behind her, as if Tang GeYun had trapped her in place.
Tang GeYun frowned, her voice sounding like it was being forced through suppressed fury.
Their two similarly shaped faces were less than ten centimeters apart as she stared into Tang Yiling’s eyes.
“You clearly were smiling. Why won’t you admit it?”