She’s Being Naughty - Chapter 14

In the days that followed, Xu Zhaoyi found an excuse to move into the school dormitory.

Her reasoning was that final exams were approaching, and staying on campus made it easier to access the library for studying.

Her father didn’t say much, simply telling her to stay safe and call if she needed anything.

Jiang Yao was somewhat surprised but didn’t stop her. Instead, she helped pack Zhaoyi’s luggage and prepared a large bag filled with snacks and daily essentials.

“Dorm life might be a bit tough. Remember to call home if you’re missing anything,” Jiang Yao said softly as she tucked items into the suitcase.

Xu Zhaoyi stood nearby, watching in silence.

She still didn’t know how to act toward Jiang Yao.

After finding out about those secrets, every time she saw Jiang Yao being kind to her, she couldn’t help but wonder: Is this genuine? Or is it just part of the mission?

This constant speculation was exhausting.

“All done.” Jiang Yao zipped the suitcase, stood up, and looked at her. “Shall I drive you to school?”

Xu Zhaoyi shook her head. “No need, I’ll just call a taxi.”

“Let me take you,” Jiang Yao insisted. “You have so much luggage, it won’t be convenient to handle it alone.”

Xu Zhaoyi opened her mouth to say she could ask a classmate for help, but in the end, she stayed quiet.

She didn’t want to argue with Jiang Yao.

Besides… she knew she wouldn’t win.

The car ride to school was quiet.

Jiang Yao drove while Xu Zhaoyi sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window.

It was late autumn. The roadside trees had turned yellow, and with every gust of wind, leaves fluttered down in rustling heaps.

“Is everything okay at school?” Jiang Yao suddenly spoke. “How are your classmates?”

Xu Zhaoyi gave a non-committal hum. “They’re fine.”

“That’s good.” Jiang Yao smiled and didn’t push further.

Once they arrived, Jiang Yao helped carry the luggage upstairs.

The dormitory was on the fourth floor with no elevator. Jiang Yao carried the heaviest suitcase up all four flights in one go, without even breaking a sweat.

Xu Zhaoyi’s roommate, Liu Yuanyuan, was there. She looked surprised to see them enter. “Zhaoyi, you’re back?” Then she looked at Jiang Yao. “And this is…?”

“She’s…” Xu Zhaoyi paused. “A friend of my father’s.”

She couldn’t bring herself to say “stepmother.”

Jiang Yao glanced at her and smiled, then turned to Liu Yuanyuan. “Hello, I’m Jiang Yao. Zhaoyi has been staying at home lately. I’ll have to trouble you all to look after her.”

Liu Yuanyuan waved her hands dismissively. “It’s no trouble at all! We always look out for Zhaoyi.”

Jiang Yao set the things down and scanned the room.

The dorm was small, with four bunks beds on top, desks below. The conditions were very basic.

“If you find it inconvenient, you can always come back home,” Jiang Yao said softly. “The housekeeper can take care of you there, and it’s quieter.”

Xu Zhaoyi shook her head. “It’s fine here.”

Jiang Yao didn’t try to persuade her further. She simply said, “I’ll head out then. Call if you need anything.”

She reached the door, then turned back once more. “Um… are you coming back this weekend?”

Xu Zhaoyi hesitated. “I’ll see.”

“Alright.” Jiang Yao nodded and left.

As soon as she was gone, Liu Yuanyuan leaned in and whispered, “Zhaoyi, who was that? She looks so elegant and beautiful.”

Xu Zhaoyi opened her suitcase and began unpacking. “Just a friend of my dad’s.”

“Just a friend?” Liu Yuanyuan was skeptical. “She cares about you so much, and she even calls you Zhaozhao…”

“It’s just a nickname.” Xu Zhaoyi didn’t want to talk about it. “Stop asking.”

Sensing her reluctance, Liu Yuanyuan dropped the subject. “Fine, fine. You unpack. I’m heading to the library.”

Left alone in the dorm, Xu Zhaoyi sat at her desk and stared out the window.

From the fourth floor, she could see the school’s artificial lake, the water shimmering under the autumn sun.

She dazed off for a while before taking out her phone.

No unread messages.

Jiang Yao hadn’t messaged her again.

Maybe she knew Zhaoyi needed space, or maybe… she just didn’t care.

Over the next week, Xu Zhaoyi didn’t go home once.

Her life became a repetitive cycle: classroom, library, dormitory.

Occasionally, she received texts from Jiang Yao, simple greetings:

• “Have you eaten?”
• “The weather is getting cold, remember to wear more layers.”
• “Coming home this weekend?”

Her replies were equally brief:

• “Eaten.”
• “Got it.”
• “Not coming back.”

She was cold, but she didn’t know how to be warm.

Every time she thought of that note or the conversation she overheard in the restroom, she felt a suffocating knot in her chest.

Friday afternoon, Zhou Xiaoxiao called to invite her out.

“You’ve been holed up in that dorm for a week. Aren’t you bored? Come out and play! Same old spot, my treat.”

After a moment’s thought, Xu Zhaoyi agreed. She really did need a distraction.

At the bar, Zhou Xiaoxiao was already waiting with a few other friends.

Seeing her arrive, Xiaoxiao waved. “Over here!”

Xu Zhaoyi sat down, and Xiaoxiao poured her a drink. “Try this, it’s a new arrival. The flavor is great.”

Zhaoyi took a sip. It was indeed good.

“So, how’s dorm life? Settling in?” Xiaoxiao asked.

“It’s okay,” Zhaoyi replied. “Just a bit noisy.”

“Then move back,” Xiaoxiao said. “Your house is so big, it’s much more comfortable to live there.”

Xu Zhaoyi remained silent.

Xiaoxiao leaned in closer. “Did you… have a falling out with that stepmother of yours?”

Xu Zhaoyi’s hand jerked, nearly spilling her drink. “How did you know?”

“Just a hunch,” Xiaoxiao shrugged. “Why else would you leave a giant villa to stay in a dorm? Plus, you haven’t posted on social media lately and barely pick up your phone. You clearly have something on your mind.”

Xu Zhaoyi took another sip of her drink.

“It’s not exactly a fight,” she said. “I just… have some things I haven’t figured out yet.”

“What things?” Xiaoxiao pressed. “Tell me. Maybe I can help you analyze it.”

Xu Zhaoyi hesitated. She needed someone to talk to, and Xiaoxiao had been her friend for years, she could trust her to keep a secret.

So, she explained the situation simply.

She didn’t mention the note, but she told her that she had accidentally discovered that Jiang Yao and her father’s marriage might not be for love, but rather some kind of business partnership.

Xiaoxiao’s eyes widened. “Really? That’s so… like a novel.”

“I don’t know if it’s true,” Xu Zhaoyi said. “But I heard rumors, and I’ve noticed some signs myself.”

“Like what?”

“Like,” Zhaoyi paused, “my dad and her don’t act like a normal couple. They’re very polite, so polite it feels distant. And Jiang Yao gets involved in company matters, which isn’t something a typical housewife does.”

Xiaoxiao rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “That does sound a bit strange. But Zhaoyi, even if they really did marry for a partnership, so what?”

Xu Zhaoyi blinked. “What do you mean, ‘so what’?”

“I mean,” Xiaoxiao raised her glass, “even if they aren’t ‘madly in love,’ even if the marriage is technically a sham, so what? How does it actually affect you?”

Xu Zhaoyi opened her mouth, but no words came out.

How did it affect her?

Actually… it didn’t seem to change anything.

Jiang Yao was still kind to her, her father was still good to her, and her life remained the same.

But she just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

“You don’t understand,” Xu Zhaoyi said. “If everything is a lie, then all those things she said to me and everything she did for me might be lies too. She might not truly like me, it might just be… because of my status.”

Zhou Xiaoxiao looked at her. “And so what?”

“What do you mean ‘so what’?” Xu Zhaoyi frowned. “This is important, okay?”

“Is it?” Xiaoxiao countered. “What do you think is important? Whether she genuinely likes you as a person, or the fact that she treats you well?”

The question left Xu Zhaoyi speechless.

Zhou Xiaoxiao continued, “Zhaoyi, let’s take a step back. Even if she’s only nice to you because of who you are, the fact that she is nice to you is real, isn’t it? At least she hasn’t hurt you. And from what I’ve seen during your time together, she seems like a decent person, not some wicked stepmother with a hidden agenda.”

“But it could all be an act,” Xu Zhaoyi argued.

“Faking it for a day or two is easy. Faking it for a month or two isn’t hard either. But faking it for a lifetime?” Xiaoxiao said. “If she plans to act like a stepmother who treats you well for the rest of her life, then what’s the difference between that and the real thing?”

Xu Zhaoyi was stunned.

Xiaoxiao patted her shoulder. “Zhaoyi, I’m not trying to persuade you to accept her. I just think you don’t need to take this so heavily. Regardless of whether her marriage to your dad is real or fake, or whether her kindness toward you is genuine or performative at least so far, she hasn’t done anything to hurt you, right?”

That much was true.

Jiang Yao truly hadn’t hurt her.

On the contrary, she had been incredibly patient and kind. Even before finding out about the note, Zhaoyi had felt that way.

“Alright, enough of this,” Xiaoxiao raised her glass. “Drink up! We’re out to have fun, don’t dwell on unhappy things.”

Xu Zhaoyi clinked glasses with her and downed her drink in one go.

But Xiaoxiao’s words kept echoing in her mind.

Yeah, at least so far, Jiang Yao hasn’t hurt me.

So why was she being so difficult?

Was it because… of disappointment?

Was she disappointed because she realized that gentleness might not be sincere?

Xu Zhaoyi had another glass.

By the third glass, she was feeling a bit lightheaded.

Xiaoxiao was also feeling the alcohol. She leaned in and whispered, “Zhaoyi, let me ask you something. Don’t get mad.”

“What?”

“Do you… actually kind of like this stepmother of yours?”

The glass in Xu Zhaoyi’s hand nearly hit the floor.

“What are you talking about!” Her voice spiked, drawing stares from people around them.

She quickly lowered her voice. “Don’t talk nonsense!”

“I’m not,” Xiaoxiao giggled. “Look at you, you get so emotional the second she’s mentioned. If you didn’t care, why the reaction?”

“I care because she’s my stepmother and because there’s something wrong with her marriage to my father!” Xu Zhaoyi defended herself.

“Please,” Xiaoxiao waved her off. “If you really hated her and found out her marriage was a sham, you should be happy. It would mean she’d leave sooner or later, and you’d be the only ‘young lady’ of the house again. But you don’t look happy at all, you look miserable.”

Xu Zhaoyi had no reply.

Because she knew Xiaoxiao was right.

She really… wasn’t happy about the possibility of Jiang Yao leaving.

On the contrary, she felt… upset.

The realization startled her.

How could she… be upset over Jiang Yao?

Impossible.

Absolutely impossible.

It was just a habit formed from living together for a while. That had to be it.

“Alright, alright, I’m done teasing you,” Xiaoxiao laughed and patted her. “Think about it yourself. Just don’t make yourself too miserable.”

The party broke up after 11 PM.

Xiaoxiao offered to drop her back at the dorm, but Xu Zhaoyi declined, wanting to walk alone for a bit.

The night breeze was cool against her face, clearing her head slightly.

She walked slowly along the street, her thoughts a tangled mess.

Passing a park, she found a bench and sat down.

The streetlights were dim and yellow, the surroundings were quiet.

She took out her phone and saw several messages from Jiang Yao.

• “Did you have dinner?”
• “It seems to have gotten colder outside. Are you wearing enough clothes?”
• “Are you sure you aren’t coming home this weekend?”

They were all just ordinary expressions of concern.

Xu Zhaoyi stared at the messages for a long time.

Then, she typed back a reply:

“I’ve been drinking.”

She regretted it the moment she sent it and tried to delete it, but it was too late.

The phone vibrated almost immediately. It was a call from Jiang Yao.

Xu Zhaoyi hesitated but answered.

“Where are you?” Jiang Yao’s voice sounded frantic.

“At a park,” Zhaoyi said. “I’m fine. I’ll head back after sitting for a while.”

“Which park?” Jiang Yao pressed. “I’m coming to pick you up.”

“No need…”

“Give me the address.” Jiang Yao’s voice was firm.

After a moment of silence, Xu Zhaoyi gave her the location.

Twenty minutes later, Jiang Yao’s car pulled up to the curb.

She hopped out and ran over. Seeing Xu Zhaoyi sitting on the bench, she let out a sigh of relief.

Then she noticed Zhaoyi was only wearing a thin jacket and frowned. “It’s so cold, and you’re wearing so little.”

She took off her own coat and draped it over Xu Zhaoyi’s shoulders.

The coat still held her body heat, warm and carrying that familiar scent.

“Let’s go. Let’s go home.” Jiang Yao helped her up.

This time, Xu Zhaoyi didn’t refuse.

The car heater was on full blast.

Xu Zhaoyi leaned against the seat, watching the streetscape recede through the window.

Jiang Yao glanced at her occasionally in the rearview mirror but didn’t speak.

When they got home, Jiang Yao helped her upstairs and poured her a glass of warm water.

“You get thirsty after drinking, have some water.”

Xu Zhaoyi took the glass and took small sips.

Jiang Yao watched her and said softly, “If you want to drink in the future, you can do it at home. It’s not safe outside.”

Xu Zhaoyi gave a soft “Mm.”

“Go take a hot shower,” Jiang Yao said. “Or you’ll catch a cold.”

Xu Zhaoyi set the glass down and stood up. She took two steps, then stopped and turned back to look at her.

“Jiang Yao.”

“Yes?”

“You…” Xu Zhaoyi paused. “Why are you so good to me?”

Jiang Yao was taken aback for a second, then smiled. “Because you’re Zhaozhao.”

The same answer again.

Xu Zhaoyi stared her down. “Is it because I’m Zhaozhao, or because… I’m Xu Zhaoyi? Xu Jiancheng’s daughter?”

Jiang Yao’s smile faded slightly.

Their gazes met in the air.

The silence in the room felt heavy.