Transmigrated as the CEO's Top-Tier Stand-in - Chapter 33

Chapter 33

“Crack—”

The sickening, unbearable sound of shattering glass echoed in the classroom, yet the girls practicing their dance inside seemed not to hear it. The shocking noise only registered in one person’s ears.

Chu Nanxing’s expression drastically changed. She looked at Ji Yu walking into the classroom from outside, her face impossibly ugly. The terrifying and eerie shattering sound continued in her ears, like a blaring alarm. Because this stage was divided into two groups, A and B, and she and Ji Yu had both chosen the aggressively explosive Sun style, the girls from both groups were studying in the same classroom.

Ji Yu briefly met her gaze and immediately guessed that Chu Nanxing’s expression must be related to Kong Rufan just now.

It made sense. Given Chu Nanxing’s relationship with Meng Rendong and the fact that Kong Rufan had previously worked at Huangting Entertainment and was now planning to manage trainees, Chu Nanxing would likely want to work with such a capable professional, given Kong’s reputation in the industry.

The thought passed through Ji Yu’s mind, but she maintained a neutral expression. After all, this wasn’t a transaction achieved through underhanded means; she had legitimately attracted a collaboration partner based on her own merits.

But Chu Nanxing didn’t think that way. She halted her dance moves and stared intensely at Ji Yu for a long time until the shattering sound in her ears became increasingly severe, like an alarm blaring.

Her face, as a result, paled slightly.

Chang Xue, who was grouped with her this time and had been elected as the team leader due to her consistently thoughtful and thorough approach, couldn’t help but ask when she saw Chu Nanxing’s expression:

“Nanxing, what’s wrong?”

Chu Nanxing was startled back to the present. Her brief exchange of glances with Ji Yu had gone largely unnoticed and was outside the camera’s range. She withdrew her gaze, shook her head at the person beside her, and then walked quickly toward the corridor outside.

In the moment she brushed past Ji Yu.

Ji Yu turned to look at her in confusion but saw nothing amiss. She watched Chu Nanxing’s figure pass by the translucent frosted glass of the classroom wall, then instinctively looked at the glass on the front and back walls of the classroom.

Rong Bai was sitting in the corner, wiping sweat. Because she also liked the dance style of Sun, she was grouped with Ji Yu. After Ji Yu was elected as the captain and chose not to compete for the Center position, Rong Bai won the battle for Center.

Her style was also capable of maximizing the charm of this dance.

Seeing Ji Yu looking around at the classroom’s furnishings, she called out to her, then reached into the pile of sponsored drinks nearby, lightly tossing a bottle of mineral water toward her, and said: “What are you looking at? Should we practice one more time?”

Ji Yu’s eyes curved in a smile. While twisting the cap, she replied: “Sure.”

Even as she said that, she took a sip of the cool water but didn’t rush to swallow. Instead, she held it in her mouth for a while, waiting for the water to warm up slightly before swallowing. During this time, she asked the system in her mind:

“Did you hear anything just now? I thought the mirror cracked.”

But no, every mirror in the classroom was intact.

Yet, that grating, incredibly sharp “crack-crack” sound was too loud for her to dismiss as a mere hallucination.

The system was bewildered for two seconds: “What sound?”

Ji Yu reminded it with a strange tone: “It was a very odd sound when Chu Nanxing walked past me just now…” At this point, Ji Yu observed the expressions of the people around her and found no sign of abnormality on their faces. Her formerly confident tone gradually became hesitant:

“Could it be that I haven’t been resting well these past few days and I’m hallucinating?”

Inside a spacious restroom stall.

Chu Nanxing stood on the low-key, faintly shimmering obsidian-like marble tiles. She smelled the light fragrance of the room and brought out the translucent narrative frame with her mind. She didn’t need to be inside the stall; she could have completed everything at the sink, looking at the mirror.

But there were two cleaning personnel whispering outside.

Although she had initially confirmed that only she could see the narrative frame, Chu Nanxing was inexplicably unwilling to take risks. Perhaps… knowing that her protagonist status wasn’t legitimate, and since she was able to steal the halo from Chu Jianyu, uncontrollable factors might inevitably happen to her too. Therefore, she was always cautious and never let this thing appear in front of outsiders.

Hearing the faint sound of chatting coming from the area near the corridor outside, Chu Nanxing fixed her gaze on the translucent frame in front of her. The transparent floating border, which usually contained lines of golden text, now looked as if it had been attacked. Its edges were a striking red and were flashing, exceptionally glaring.

And the content in the very center was indeed enough to alarm Chu Nanxing.

What was displayed was not just the current worldline content.

The golden text revealed other information:

Outline Character Setting (2)

Meng Rendong: Height 170cm; Weight 48kg; Born November 1, 1994

Character Importance: Five Stars

Current Occupation: CEO of Huangting Entertainment

Personality & Experience 1.0: Because she was not favored at home, Meng Rendong’s personality was initially very withdrawn, cold, and disliked interacting with people. But through her association with Chu Jianyu, she gradually learned to open up to people, retracting her sharp, cold thorns, becoming gentle and considerate. Through the long years spent with Chu Jianyu, she would slowly become Chu Jianyu’s most suitable lover. They would be the enviable celestial couple in the eyes of the world. (Discarded)

Personality & Experience 2.0: Because of Chu Jianyu’s death, Meng Rendong also lost her soul and gradually closed off her heart. Only Chu Nanxing could make her treat others differently. Aside from her, everyone else was dust. No matter how others treated her with sincerity or warmed her with enthusiasm, she could not hear, see, or feel it. She only accepted the love given to her by Chu Nanxing, and only Chu Nanxing could grant her salvation. (In the process of collapsing! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!)

Chu Nanxing was no stranger to this page.

Because after Chu Jianyu died, she had meticulously modified the settings of every friend around Chu Jianyu, to varying degrees. Meng Rendong was not the first, but she was the only one who consumed so much of her time and effort.

Seeing the striking, repeated “WARNING” in parentheses after the 2.0 version, Chu Nanxing’s eyes became bloodshot, the corners turning red as if she deeply hated everything she was seeing. She fiercely slammed her hand onto the panel in front of her—

A silent tremor spread, disturbing invisible dust.

She held back her voice, a raspy statement emerging from her throat: “Why…?!”

Staring at the three words “Meng Rendong” on the page, Chu Nanxing looked as if she wanted to physically gouge her name off the panel, as if that was the only way to vent the hatred in her heart. She murmured, as if possessed: “Why do you always resist me? Isn’t being with me good? I can give you everything…”

As she rambled, the redness in her eyes intensified.

Her thoughts suddenly leaped back seven years.

It was the summer when Chu Jianyu died.

Chu Nanxing stood by her father, feigning panic and alarm, clutching her father’s suit coat, nearly crushing the fabric. She kept softly mumbling: “It wasn’t me… I didn’t… It wasn’t me…”

However, neither her father, who was right there, nor her mother, who had been helped away due to excessive grief, paid any attention to her. Chu Huaide could barely hold her nearby, then stood in the scorching sun all afternoon, staring at the fishing lake, lost in thought. Wang Luoshui, Yan Xi, and Meng Rendong were also nearby, along with people from the nearby fish farm and the police investigating the case. The scene was utterly chaotic.

Tears hung in Chu Nanxing’s eyes, but her gaze was cold. She watched even the stray dog from the fish farm run over to sniff Chu Jianyu’s corpse, yet no one paid attention to her, the little girl who was “highly likely to be traumatized after witnessing her sister drown.”

It was then that she first saw this transparent panel flashing with golden light.

She watched the golden text on the panel change, erase, and reappear line by line. She saw the three words “Chu Jianyu” gradually disappear from the protagonist column, replaced by “Chu Nanxing.” Then, a warm, exceptionally powerful light fell upon her.

In that instant, the surrounding chatter, the dog barking, and the sound of fish tails splashing out of the small lake all vanished. Chu Nanxing could only stare hypnotically at the transparent panel, feeling the extraordinary power radiating from it.

As if a string in her mind was quietly plucked, she suddenly received the entire contents of the book, finally realizing the absurdity of the world she was in…

Her life was just a book.

No matter how much she struggled, how hard she tried, no one would ever see her, because as long as Chu Jianyu was there, she, a supporting character, could never surpass the protagonist.

Whether it was family, friends, or future colleagues, as long as she and Chu Jianyu were in the same world, the other would always overshadow her.

Fortunately…

Chu Jianyu was dead.

Thinking of this, an unparalleled sense of satisfaction rose in Chu Nanxing’s heart. She even instinctively knew how to use the transparent panel, cleverly designing a perfect path for herself, even changing Yan Xi and Wang Luoshui into her best companions.

Only Meng Rendong.

She was like an unyielding stone.

Chu Nanxing modified new versions of her character setting repeatedly, but they all shattered after a short time. No matter how many times she appeared beside Meng Rendong with a sweet smile, the woman remained aloof, even seeming to subtly resent her for not saving Chu Jianyu at the time, even though she knew Chu Nanxing hadn’t learned to swim then.

Chu Nanxing could only manually create some “minor accidents” for Meng Rendong.

For example, a sudden accidental smash to the head by a falling chandelier while sitting at home, a blown tire due to overheating while driving, causing the car to swerve into the roadside greenery, or… an accidental injury during a kidnapping by an extortionist.

During this process, even Yan Xi and Wang Luoshui were concerned, assuming Meng Rendong was constantly plagued by guilt from the loss of her friend, unable to live properly, which led to such frequent accidents.

Her friends would try to persuade her. Every time, Chu Nanxing would also blend into the crowd, secretly observing Meng Rendong.

And she would meet those dark, calm eyes, like a deep abyss staring back at the long night, sending shivers down the spine of anyone who inadvertently met her gaze.

As if she could see through her tricks at a glance.

Whenever this happened, Chu Nanxing would try to please her, timidly stepping forward with a smile, asking about her injuries like others, but Meng Rendong would only reply coldly: “I’m fine.”

Chu Nanxing: “…”

How is she fine again?

Is her head made of iron?

She was frantic inside but didn’t want Meng Rendong to become an idiot. Yet, she was also annoyed by Meng Rendong’s strong will and resistance to surrendering to the plot. Chu Nanxing struggled with her for a full six months.

Until one time.

Chu Nanxing herself couldn’t remember what plot she had arranged. After Meng Rendong was sent to the hospital and woke up, the moment she saw Chu Nanxing, she smiled faintly at her.

Yan Xi and Wang Luoshui all thought Meng Rendong had mistaken Chu Nanxing for Chu Jianyu, but that wasn’t the case.

Chu Nanxing was overwhelmed and accepted Meng Rendong’s kind gaze for a long time. When she finally sneaked away, she discovered that the “Personality & Experience 2.0” content she had written about Meng Rendong long ago was now glowing golden. This character setting had solidified.

The Meng Rendong who was discharged from the hospital that time followed Chu Nanxing wholeheartedly. If Chu Nanxing pointed east, Meng Rendong wouldn’t look west. Her mind and eyes seemed completely focused on her, as if she were bewitched.

Chu Nanxing initially relished this treatment until she grew tired of Meng Rendong’s puppet-like behavior. So, she started trying to give Meng Rendong new character settings, wanting to continuously modify her appearance.

But she then discovered that the line “Meng Rendong lost her soul and gradually closed off her heart” always remained in the character setting.

Chu Nanxing finally realized that this line might not be a metaphor…

But a statement of fact.

This conjecture was too bold, but recalling the Meng Rendong who had refused to yield not long ago, she tried to believe in this possibility…

Chu Nanxing subsequently spent several years—

She wanted to see if Meng Rendong’s soul returned, whether she would still be this compliant.

It wasn’t until she was studying abroad that she discovered a person named “Ji Yu” had an affair with Meng Rendong and stayed by her side for four years.

And during those four years, the frequency with which Meng Rendong actively contacted her decreased each year compared to the previous one.

It reached the point where even Yan Xi felt compelled to remind her of the fact that a woman had been with Meng Rendong for a long time. Chu Nanxing, observing this abnormal, somewhat “rebellious” Meng Rendong, finally decided to return to the country to check.

Now.

Meng Rendong had given her another huge surprise, just like seven years ago.

Chu Nanxing was extremely certain that Meng Rendong’s original soul had returned, and just like long ago, it brought with it “little surprises” that were enough to infuriate her.

Chu Nanxing watched the text of “Personality & Experience 2.0” slowly fade and shatter, as if under some impact, as if the person she had constrained and modified was about to return to her original form.

She stared intensely at the translucent page in front of her, raising her hand to hastily scribble modified content line after line, but it was all in vain. The words could only disappear along with the rest of the paragraph, sometimes even faster.

Chu Nanxing truly couldn’t understand.

Why?

Why was Chu Jianyu dead for so many years, yet Meng Rendong was still struggling here?!

The only reason she could think of was Ji Yu. This suddenly appearing woman, who looked exactly like Chu Jianyu, had somehow influenced Meng Rendong. She widened her eyes, questioning the page like a whispering demon:

“She’s back, isn’t she?”

“Ji Yu is her, isn’t she?”

The page remained unmoved, offering no response.

Chu Nanxing thought again of that summer years ago, then slammed her hand on the page and asked: “Who exactly is Ji Yu?”

This time, as if understanding human speech, the page switched to another view:

Outline Character Setting (7)

Ji Yu: Height 168cm; Weight 44kg; Born August 14, 1997

Character Importance: Three and a Half Stars

Current Occupation: Dream Chasing 100 Trainee

Personality & Experience: Lost her parents young, once pursued a dream with a friend. Meng Rendong’s lover for four years. Gentle and considerate personality.

A standard personal profile.

Chu Nanxing, however, felt something was wrong.

She took a few deep breaths, intent on using her own methods to investigate Ji Yu thoroughly, but then suddenly remembered her phone had been confiscated.

After pacing anxiously for a moment, a cruel smile emerged in her eyes. She thought: I wasn’t going to use this method to deal with you, Ji Yu, because it’s too much credit for you, but I have no choice…

She raised her hand and slowly wrote some content, then watched the words turn golden and fly into a new chapter.

Love of a Substitute Chapter Thirty-Eight:

…Ji Yu went with Kong Rufan to the magazine shoot, but the magazine invited them to an evening cocktail party. Kong Rufan agreed, considering Ji Yu was in an upswing period.

But the cocktail party was not as simple as they thought.

A wealthy boss took a fancy to Ji Yu’s appearance and found a way to send Kong Rufan away…

That night, Ji Yu leaped from the top floor of the cocktail party building.

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