After Transmigrating into a Novel, I Am in a Relationship with My Scummy Ex-Girlfriend’s Mother - Chapter 4

Shen Junfu kicked the chair belonging to Huo Qingzhuo’s desk-mate aside. Someone automatically moved Shen Junfu’s own chair over, and she sat down next to Huo Qingzhuo as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Watching this juvenile, “chuunibyou” scene unfold, Huo Qingzhuo’s lips twitched. She lowered her head and continued looking at her textbook, intending to ignore it.

However, someone simply refused to let her have her way. Shen Junfu leaned her body toward Huo Qingzhuo and said, “Didn’t you ask me out yesterday? Why did you run the moment you saw me? What, am I going to eat you?”

So, she was here to settle the score.

Huo Qingzhuo set down the math textbook she was using as a shield and turned to look at Shen Junfu with complete composure. “I suddenly remembered I didn’t turn off the gas at home. My apologies.”

Clack.

The pen Shen Junfu had been spinning fell onto the desk. Looking at Huo Qingzhuo’s righteous expression as she uttered such a blatantly bullshit excuse, Shen Junfu was actually left speechless for a moment.

“A whole summer break has passed, and your courage has grown quite a bit, Huo Qingzhuo. You actually dare to speak to me like that now.”

Shen Junfu felt a flicker of surprise toward Huo Qingzhuo. She had actually found Huo Qingzhuo’s previous timid and subservient personality a bit annoying and had planned to break up with her at the start of the term. But now, it seemed she could wait and see.

Huo Qingzhuo had no idea she had accidentally delayed the timing of their breakup. She only felt a headache coming on as she looked at the still-adolescent Shen Junfu, feeling a strong urge to slap a shoe sole across her face.

“Is everyone here? Come on, settle down.”

Before Huo Qingzhuo or Shen Junfu could say anything else, the Class 9 homeroom teacher, Wenren Heyu, entered.

This teacher had started leading Class 9 last semester. He was very young, not even thirty yet. Word was he held a doctorate; he was tall, handsome, and had an easygoing personality. He was one of the few teachers who could actually handle Class 9 and mingle well with the students.

Dressed in black casual wear, Wenren Heyu gave a slightly helpless look at Shen Junfu, who was clearly not sitting in her assigned seat, but he didn’t say anything.

“I’m a bit late today because I just went to the principal’s office to pick up a new student for our class. Everyone, let’s have a round of applause to welcome our new classmate.”

After Wenren Heyu’s brief introduction, the classroom erupted in warm applause. A girl wearing a white dress, looking every bit like a “goddess,” walked in carrying her schoolbag. She stood beside Wenren Heyu with poise and grace.

Huo Qingzhuo sharpened her gaze, sizing the girl up.

Well, here we go. The other protagonist had appeared. The moment for the historic meeting of the two leads had arrived.

According to the original novel, the moment Shen Junfu saw Wei Qingqing, she should have felt an intense sensation—a racing heart and a blurred mind. It was standard love at first sight.

Huo Qingzhuo had zero self-awareness regarding her role as the “vicious female supporting character.” Instead, she looked at Shen Junfu beside her with curiosity, waiting for a reaction.

Huh? No reaction?

She saw that Shen Junfu, who was supposed to be staring at Wei Qingqing without blinking, merely flicked her eyelids to take a glance. Then, treating the other girl like thin air, she started spinning her pen again. Forget love at first sight—there wasn’t even a spark.

Just as Huo Qingzhuo began to doubt if this was truly the other protagonist, Wei Qingqing, the girl began her self-introduction.

“Hello everyone, my name is Wei Qingqing. I’ve just transferred here. I hope we can all get along and look after each other.”

Dignified and gentle, she was a soft-spoken goddess. With a simple introduction, she had successfully captured the hearts of ninety percent of Class 9. The remaining ten percent consisted of the completely indifferent Shen Junfu and the detached bystander Huo Qingzhuo.

【007, has the plot changed again?】 Huo Qingzhuo tried communicating with 007 in her mind for the first time without speaking aloud.

【Of course it has,】 007 replied, sounding like it wanted to cry. 【What on earth happened? In the original work, Shen Junfu should be sitting in her own seat in the very last row. Seeing Wei Qingqing from a distance, she would suddenly feel she looked like her ‘White Moonlight,’ which triggered the intense heartbeat. But why is Shen Junfu sitting next to the Host? Sitting in the first row, she sees Wei Qingqing too clearly. Where’s the mystery? Heartbeat my foot!】

So that was it. Huo Qingzhuo’s eyes shifted. 【Shen Junfu has a ‘White Moonlight’?】

【Of course. However, the text never specified who it was. It only appeared once in the latter half of the novel when Shen Junfu reminisced about her first encounter with Wei Qingqing. The rest was never explained.】

It was only then that 007 realized its Host hadn’t actually finished reading the original novel carefully.

But Huo Qingzhuo didn’t care about that right now; she only cared about her own life.

【If this happens, that ‘Plot Correction’ thing won’t target me again, will it?】

【This shouldn’t count. This is the protagonist’s spontaneous behavior. No matter how unreasonable the plot repair is, it can’t forcibly pin the blame on the Host. You can rest easy.】

007 had encountered situations where the protagonist naturally deviated from the plot before. Generally, the world would find a way to round it back out on its own without much impact.

Hearing 007’s words, Huo Qingzhuo’s eyes brightened. She felt like she had found another good strategy.

After Wei Qingqing finished her introduction, it was time to arrange seating. Indisputably, everyone wanted to be desk-mates with such an excellent new classmate, but there was only one empty seat—right next to Shen Junfu in the back row.

Either someone else had to be moved next to Shen Junfu, or Wei Qingqing had to be placed there.

Even Wenren Heyu found it difficult. He hadn’t expected the principal to cram a new student into his class right at the start of the term. There were no extra desks in the classroom, so he could only wait to rearrange the seating later.

“Shen Junfu,” Wenren Heyu looked at Shen Junfu, who was daydreaming next to Huo Qingzhuo. “How about letting student Wei Qingqing sit next to you for now?”

“No.”

Having her daydreaming interrupted, Shen Junfu lowered her eyelids and coldly rejected the suggestion.

“Hey, now, Student Shen. Right now, the only empty desk in our class is the one next to yours. Either you go back to your seat, or we let Student Wei Qingqing sit with Student Huo Qingzhuo.”

The moment Wenren Heyu spoke, Huo Qingzhuo’s original desk-mate—who had been banished to Shen Junfu’s seat in the back—panicked. He frantically signaled Wenren Heyu with his eyes; he had no desire to sit next to a “plague god” like Shen Junfu every day.

“That won’t work either,” Shen Junfu spoke up just in time, saving the desk-mate’s eyes from twitching into a cramp. “Forget it, I’ll just stay here. Give the back seats to the two of them.”

“Shen Junfu, we only have a few good academic prospects in this class, and you still have to steal their seats.” Wenren Heyu was routinely driven crazy by Shen Junfu.

“What academic prospects? You’re treating a piece of chive like it’s a gourmet dish. Even the top scorers here can’t break into the grade’s top 100. It doesn’t matter where they sit. Why don’t you ask him if he’s willing to sit back there?” Shen Junfu acted like a rogue with total confidence.

“I’m willing to sit in the back! Teacher, I’m willing to sit in the back!” Huo Qingzhuo’s former desk-mate raised his hand with extreme enthusiasm.

Wenren Heyu gave the fellow a look of “disappointment in a failing student” and then patted Wei Qingqing on the shoulder. “Student Wei Qingqing, I’ll have to trouble you to sit in the back for now. We will rearrange the seats after a while, and we’ll talk then.”

“Teacher, I have no objection.” Although Wei Qingqing had just transferred, she had grown up having to read people’s faces; she certainly had the skill of observing others.

“Alright, since no one has any objections, we’ll leave it like this for now. Everyone, return to your seats and prepare for class.”

Wenren Heyu checked the class schedule and then looked back at Shen Junfu. “Shen Junfu, come out with me. The term just started and you’re already giving me trouble.”

With a sigh, Shen Junfu tossed her pen down and stood up to follow him out. As she left, she glanced back at Huo Qingzhuo, then let her gaze fall on the new girl, Wei Qingqing.

“Hey, you. Help me move the things from your current desk to this one. I’ll treat you to lunch.”

Having given her casual instructions, Shen Junfu obediently followed the teacher out to receive her lecture.

Wei Qingqing looked at the people around her who seemed accustomed to such behavior and could only resign herself to moving her things.

Huo Qingzhuo rested her chin in her hand, watching the two leads who were supposed to have fallen in love at first sight—one being indifferent, the other laboriously moving books. She felt a bit sentimental about the power of the Butterfly Effect; all of this happened just because Shen Junfu moved her seat.

By the time Wei Qingqing finished moving the books, Shen Junfu had returned. However, unlike her nonchalant attitude when she left, her expression was now somewhat heavy.

Huo Qingzhuo hadn’t intended to ask. She was about to start on a couple of math papers to get back into the swing of high school life when Shen Junfu couldn’t hold it in herself.

“Tell me, is that ‘Bird Feather’ [Wenren] looking for trouble? It was just a small matter of a fight, and he insists on calling my parents. Is that something a human does?”

Since everyone else around was a bookworm, Shen Junfu could only direct her frustration toward Huo Qingzhuo, grumbling as she ruffled her hair in annoyance.

Forced into a conversation, Huo Qingzhuo glanced at her and offered a bad idea. “Why don’t you just pay someone to pretend to be your parent?”

“Oh? You’ve turned bad?” Shen Junfu looked at Huo Qingzhuo with surprise. Huo Qingzhuo had her hair draped casually over her shoulders. “Too bad that won’t work. ‘Bird Feather’ knows my parents. Tsk, it’s a pain. He already called them just now and set the meeting for this Friday.”

“Well, the die is cast. What’s there to worry about? Just take it like a dead pig that doesn’t fear boiling water.” Having never faced the trouble of having her parents called, Huo Qingzhuo spoke lightly.

With a complex expression, Shen Junfu gave Huo Qingzhuo a thumb-up. She discovered that after one summer break, she understood this girlfriend of hers less and less.

On the first day of school, the teachers knew the students wouldn’t listen to new material, so they just handed out several sets of papers for constant practice. Huo Qingzhuo worked on the papers seriously, maintaining a level consistent with the original host’s abilities. As for Shen Junfu beside her, she slept like a log, her head buried under the stack of papers until not even a strand of hair was visible.

After finishing a relatively simple English paper, Huo Qingzhuo stretched her stiff wrist. Before she could check the time, she saw Shen Junfu lift her head from the pile of papers.

“Is class over?” Shen Junfu stretched.

Just as the words left her mouth, the bell rang. Huo Qingzhuo felt a certain level of admiration for Shen Junfu’s uncanny ability.

Shen Junfu was already used to it. “Yeah, it’s over. Let’s go, let’s go eat together.”

Without even asking for an opinion, Shen Junfu patted Huo Qingzhuo on the shoulder, stood up, and turned to look at Wei Qingqing. “Hey, you, come on. Let’s go eat together.”

Shen Junfu pulled Huo Qingzhuo along, called out to Wei Qingqing in the back, and the three of them headed out the back door together.