I Got Together With the Fake Heiress - Chapter 34

The winter break flew by in the blink of an eye. On the first day Wen Yunqing returned to school, she was presented with a “back-to-school test package”—a set of exam papers with difficulty comparable to the Gaokao (National College Entrance Examination).

Since the exam was unannounced, most of the students were completely lost when they received the papers. Apart from the small group who had been diligently studying, everyone else had tightly knit brows, firmly clutching their pens and struggling with the questions.

In the days leading up to the start of school, Wen Yunqing had been researching the local market and thinking about the best angle for her venture, so she hadn’t touched a single textbook. She inevitably became one of the bewildered.

Fortunately, her memory was outstanding, and Zhou Jun’s previous tutoring had firmly established her fundamentals. After half an hour of confusion, she quickly got into the zone.

After the exam concluded, about half of the students were wailing in despair.

“Yimeng, Yunqing, how do you think you performed?” Zhou Jun asked, looking relaxed. She had studied very hard throughout the winter break, making this exam feel quite easy for her.

Wen Yunqing and Wen Yimeng exchanged a glance. Since they had spent most of the winter break together, they were both well aware of whether the other had touched a textbook.

“Ahem, I was busy with other things during the winter break and didn’t read much,” Wen Yunqing explained, trying to maintain her composure.

“Didn’t read?” Zhou Jun frowned. “Yunqing, isn’t your goal Jingda? The Gaokao is only a few months away. Why are you slacking off? Do you need me to help you create a study plan?”

Hearing Zhou Jun’s words, Wen Yunqing was reminded of how she was initially swamped by homework and immediately corrected her statement.

“Zhou Jun, you know the relationship between Yimeng and me. I had many people to visit, so I couldn’t spare much time,” Wen Yunqing said with a troubled expression. “But don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten the things I’ve learned.”

So, please don’t concoct a study plan for me! Just the extra hour of study, like before, is enough!

Zhou Jun nodded doubtfully. “In the last comprehensive exam, Yunqing, you ranked in the city’s top fifty. That score is near the threshold for Jingda, but to be on the safe side, you should aim for the top twenty, closer to Yimeng’s score.”

“Don’t worry, no problem!” Wen Yunqing gave a firm answer. “Yimeng and I can continue to review and fill in the gaps in the evenings, right?”

Wen Yimeng managed to suppress a laugh and nodded. “Yes, we will study two extra hours every night.”

Hearing Wen Yimeng’s response, Zhou Jun felt partially relieved. Wen Yunqing had helped her so much; she was determined to supervise her properly and ensure she got into the university of her choice!

The exam results were quickly announced. Since most students hadn’t reviewed, Wen Yunqing’s score was not poor. Based on the class ranking alone, she was already fourth, only trailing Zhou Jun, the Study Committee member, and Wen Yimeng.

“Quiet down, students. I have an announcement to make.” The Chinese teacher appeared on the podium with Lu Zhiming.

“Your former homeroom teacher, Teacher Lou, has left Ruihua for personal reasons. I will take over as your homeroom teacher for this final semester, and Teacher Lu Zhiming will take over as your Physics teacher,” the Chinese teacher announced.

“Welcome, Teacher Lu.” The Sports Committee member said, leading the applause, and the classroom was quickly filled with synchronized clapping.

“Ahem.” Lu Zhiming cleared her throat. “As you all know, I don’t have much teaching experience, so in this final semester, I will go through the knowledge points from start to finish based on the exam syllabus to help everyone.”

“I will be in the classroom during all self-study periods. You can come and ask me any Physics questions you don’t understand.” Lu Zhiming said, secretly weeping inside.

If she had known that using those highly destructive spells would lead to this result, she would have prolonged the confrontation. That way, her superiors wouldn’t have deemed her too reckless and assigned her the torturous role of a Physics teacher.

Seeing Lu Zhiming, Wen Yimeng remembered what Wen Yunqing had told her and couldn’t help but frown. Physics should be a highly scientific discipline, so why would Teacher Lu, who cultivated spells, be appointed to teach it?

What was even more ridiculous was that Teacher Lu was indeed a top student in Physics. Wen Yimeng could even find her theses on relevant websites!

As expected, Wen Yunqing and Lu Zhiming met discreetly in a quiet corridor.

“The whole winter break has passed. Is there still something dirty lingering at Ruihua?” Wen Yunqing asked directly.

Lu Zhiming shook her head. “The higher-ups felt that my personality needed refinement, so they assigned me this part-time job.”

Wen Yunqing raised an eyebrow. “Is it because of the school director’s incident?”

“Not entirely,” Lu Zhiming sighed. “After all of you left, people from the Association also found an excuse to enter Ruihua. I don’t know what they were doing, but they didn’t find the treasure. Instead, they dug up a Ghost General.”

“I was a bit impulsive at the time and used a spell with considerable destructive power, which caused some undesirable effects.” Lu Zhiming carefully chose her words.

“Such as?” Wen Yunqing was curious.

Lu Zhiming didn’t speak but gripped the railing with one hand, letting her gaze fall on the newly constructed swimming pool at the school. Twenty days ago, that place was a completely flat plot of land.

Wen Yunqing had spent more than half a semester at Ruihua, so she quickly noticed the change in that specific area and laughed outright.

“Perhaps you really do need some tempering,” Wen Yunqing commented. “Before you wield your power, you must first learn to master it skillfully.”

Just as Wen Yunqing was about to head back to class, an unpleasant sound of insults drifted from the end of the corridor.

Wen Yunqing looked back at Lu Zhiming. “I think someone is being bullied, and the victim is likely a student from a low-income background.”

Lu Zhiming frowned slightly. This was the corridor she had deliberately chosen; there were no classrooms nearby. How could such an incident still occur here?

“Go back to class. I’ll take care of it.” Lu Zhiming, committed to her duty, already couldn’t stand the bullying of the weak, let alone now that she held the title of a teacher.

Wen Yunqing nodded. Hearing the class bell ring, she accelerated her pace back to the classroom.

When school ended, Wen Yunqing noticed a notice on the bulletin board: three girls from a certain Grade 11 class had been given major disciplinary warnings and were required to pay five thousand yuan each for emotional distress compensation.

“How is your industry plan coming along?” Wen Yimeng asked.

Wen Yunqing withdrew her gaze, then sighed softly. “We are both still too young. Before we reach adulthood, we should focus on capital accumulation first.”

Wen Yimeng couldn’t help but chuckle. “Is the ‘capital accumulation’ you’re talking about just asking Dad and Mom for money?”

“Of course not! I’m going to earn money through my own skills!” Wen Yunqing raised an eyebrow. “I’ve looked into it. Excluding illegal activities, there are three methods most suitable for us: first is winning the lottery, second is finding treasure in antique dealing, and the third is gemstone gambling.”

“And then?” Wen Yimeng asked.

“The lottery relies on luck; I’ll just buy tickets on my phone on time every day,” Wen Yunqing said. “The antiques business is too murky. I think gemstone gambling is more suitable for us.”

Wen Yunqing had a reason for this. Gold wouldn’t appear out of thin air, but jade and other gemstones naturally emerge from stones. If she bought enough rough stones, she could directly monetize the jade and gemstones already in her storage space!

“That sounds quite reasonable, but An City doesn’t have a large gemstone street. If you really want to go, you’ll need to go to the neighboring New City,” Wen Yimeng didn’t discourage her. She knew they would only find out if they could make money by trying.

Action followed quickly. As soon as the weekend arrived, Wen Yunqing put on her backpack. Using the excuse of going to the neighboring city for fun, she took Wen Yimeng and left the Wen family, boarding a bullet train.

Two hours later, Wen Yunqing and Wen Yimeng arrived hand-in-hand at the gemstone street enthusiastically recommended by the driver. As the name suggests, all the shops on this street were related to jade and gemstones.

The street started with jade jewelry stores, followed by shops selling semi-finished products and offering processing services. After walking to the end of the street and turning a few corners, they finally reached the shops that sold rough stones.

“You want to buy stones?” The shop owner, in his mid-thirties, couldn’t help but laugh when he heard the two wanted to buy rough stones. “Kids, if you want to buy finished goods, follow this road, turn a few corners, and keep going straight. That’s the busiest area.”

“I don’t want finished products. I want to buy rough stones, preferably the fully-sealed ones,” Wen Yunqing said.

“Are you two serious about buying?” the owner asked. His previous advice was well-intentioned, but if they insisted, he wouldn’t actively push his ‘god of wealth’ away.

“Of course. I want to buy rough stones of better quality,” Wen Yunqing said.

“Alright, ladies, follow me.” The owner patted his cotton coat, bypassed the low-price area, and led them inside. “The stones here are one thousand yuan per jin (half a kilogram). If the total price exceeds 100,000 yuan, I can cut them open for you for free!”

Wen Yunqing had arrived just around dinner time, so the shop was relatively quiet. Besides the two of them examining stones, there were only two other people in the vast inner room.

“How do you choose these?” Wen Yimeng curiously looked at the rough stones laid out on the floor. Frankly, if it weren’t for the 1,000 yuan per jin price tag, she wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between these stones and ordinary river rocks.

“I think we need this.” Wen Yunqing pulled two powerful flashlights out of her backpack. “The rest, we’ll leave to feeling.”

“Feeling?” Wen Yimeng raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you tell me you did your homework properly?”

“Of course, but the information isn’t always accurate. After all, before cutting the stone, who knows what’s inside?” Wen Yunqing blinked. “Anyway, avoid ones with cracks, avoid ones with black spots, and the rest is down to luck.”

“…” Wen Yimeng started to suspect she had been tricked. Avoid black spots and cracks? Isn’t that the first rule that appears when you search online for how to choose jade?

“Yimeng, what do you think of this one?” Less than five minutes had passed, and Wen Yunqing had already spotted a stone she liked.

“Kids, a shape like that, even if there’s jade inside, it won’t be worth much.” Before Wen Yimeng could speak, a voice interrupted them.

“Oh?” Wen Yunqing turned around, meeting a disdainful gaze.

Oh ho. I’m being looked down upon? This isn’t just a world in a book anymore. Why is someone still setting themselves up for a face-slap?