Transmigrated as the Husband of a Vicious Villainess - Chapter 2

Ji Baiqing left as soon as she dropped Wen Miao off at the youth dormitory.

Wen Miao stood in place, staring thoughtfully at Ji Baiqing’s retreating back for a moment before heading inside.

The youth dormitory was actually a dilapidated mud-brick house. It was small, consisting of only two rooms, one for the women and one for the men. In the backyard stood a makeshift bathhouse, while the front yard held an open-air kitchen.

When Wen Miao entered, she saw Shen Niannian and Lu Yan standing together, whispering. The woman was all smiles, while the man maintained a cool, aloof expression.

Her entrance caught their attention. This was the first time Wen Miao had revealed her true face in front of Lu Yan. Seeing the flicker of amazement in Lu Yan’s eyes, Shen Niannian reflexively clenched her fists. Hiding her jealousy, she put on a concerned smile and spoke to Wen Miao.

“Miao-miao, are you alright? After you fainted, Lu Yan, the other youths, and I were all so worried about you.”

Seeing Wen Miao’s extraordinary beauty, Lu Yan’s irritation over her picky behavior during the journey dissipated slightly, and he gave a dignified nod.

Wen Miao merely spared Shen Niannian a cold glance, not bothering to acknowledge them. She walked straight into the room on the left. The door was open, and she saw another female youth, Pan Hongxia, already inside.

Lu Yan, annoyed at being ignored, felt a surge of displeasure. He internally blamed Shen Niannian for dragging him into the conversation only to be snubbed. Without a word to Shen Niannian, he turned and went back to his own room.

Left standing awkwardly alone, Shen Niannian bit her lip and stomped her foot in frustration.

Inside the room, Pan Hongxia greeted Wen Miao. Wen Miao didn’t dislike her as much as she did Shen Niannian, but she wasn’t particularly warm either.

The room was cramped, with a large communal platform bed meant for three people. Shen Niannian and the other girl had already claimed the two best spots, leaving only the space by the window. However, the window glass was cracked, the roof tiles let in slivers of light, and the straw on the bed felt damp to the touch.

Wen Miao took a deep breath. At this moment, she felt truly grateful for the candy Ji Baiqing had given her; otherwise, she feared she might have fainted from pure rage.

“The roof leaks. How are we supposed to sleep here?”

Pan Hongxia, sitting on her side, explained awkwardly, “Originally, Fang Haiyang and the boys said they’d take this room because the other one doesn’t leak. But Shen Niannian said that since the three of us are thin, we could squeeze together to avoid the rain…”

Hearing this, Wen Miao didn’t say a word. She picked up Shen Niannian’s quilt and threw it onto the wet spot by the window, then began spreading out her own luggage.

As she was finishing, Shen Niannian poked her head in and smiled. “I’ve almost finished cooking. Come out and eat.”

But when she saw Wen Miao sitting in the spot she had personally selected, while her own bedding lay in the leak-prone corner, her smile froze.

“Wen Miao, I claimed that spot first. Isn’t it a bit much to throw my bedding over there?” Shen Niannian glared at Wen Miao, gritting her teeth.

Wen Miao looked up and gave her a lazy, sidelong glance. Having eaten some snacks earlier, her color had returned, making her striking beauty appear even more aggressive.

She curled her lips. “Shen Niannian, didn’t you suggest we live in this room? Since it was your decision, it’s only right that you sleep where it leaks.”

Resentment flickered in Shen Niannian’s eyes. Her gaze shifted and landed on two pieces of broken jade resting on Wen Miao’s pillow.

On the train ride from Beijing, Shen Niannian had happened to sit next to Wen Miao. She had noticed a goldfish jade pendant hanging around Wen Miao’s neck. The carving was exquisite and the jade was translucent, like mutton-fat dew. Out of curiosity, she had asked Wen Miao to take it off so she could see it.

But Wen Miao had completely ignored her, refusing to let her even catch a glimpse.

Shen Niannian was spoiled but had a sweet tongue; despite her parents favoring her brother, she always got her way. She was the type who wanted things even more when she couldn’t have them, so she had secretly untied the red string while Wen Miao was asleep.

She had only intended to admire it, but it slipped from her hands and shattered into two pieces on the floor.

When Wen Miao woke up and realized her lifelong treasure was missing, she immediately targeted the guilty-looking Shen Niannian. After finding the shards in the girl’s pocket, Wen Miao had looked at her with icy eyes. Shen Niannian, deciding she had nothing left to lose, shouted righteously:

“It’s your fault for not showing it to me! If you had just let me see it, it wouldn’t have broken!”

At the time, Wen Miao had slapped Shen Niannian hard in front of everyone on the train, causing her to lose face. The two had been enemies ever since.

Seeing that Wen Miao was once again refusing to give her face, Shen Niannian’s anger boiled over. She lunged forward, grabbed the two pieces of jade from the pillow, and slammed them onto the ground.

“I chose this spot first! Why should you get it?” she shrieked. “Just because you’re pretty? We’re in the countryside now—looks don’t matter here! You think everyone has to cater to your temper?”

Wen Miao looked at the jade shards covered in dust on the dirt floor, then slowly moved her gaze to Shen Niannian. Her eyes were so dark they were bottomless, sending a chill down the spine.

Slap! A crisp, forceful strike landed on Shen Niannian’s face. Her cheek swelled instantly, and she stumbled back, falling to the floor. Shen Niannian clutched her face and screamed, tears streaming down her face.

Pan Hongxia stood by, helpless and terrified. “Wen Miao, Shen Niannian, please stop fighting…”

The men’s room wasn’t far, and hearing the commotion, the male youths rushed over.

“Youth Shen, what happened?” Wu Yanqing stood at the door, peering in with concern.

Seeing her “rescuers,” Shen Niannian wept piteously. Wu Yanqing, heartbroken for her, hurried in to help her up. “Are you two teaming up to bully Youth Shen?”

Shen Niannian immediately stopped her tears and said weakly, “No, it was my own fault… I tripped and fell.”

Hearing her try to cover for them made Wu Yanqing even angrier. “And the mark on your face? Did you hit yourself? Youth Shen, tell us the truth. we’ll settle this for you!”

Fang Haiyang and Lu Yan also entered, looking at Wen Miao and Pan Hongxia with cold, accusatory glares.

Wen Miao bent down to pick up her broken jade and spared them a fleeting glance. “What are you men doing in the women’s room?”

Fang Haiyang had been momentarily dazed by her alluring eyes, but her blunt words quickly soured his mood. “We’re here because you’re bullying Youth Shen. Two women ganging up on one girl, how can you live with yourselves?”

Pan Hongxia’s face turned bright red as she stammered, “It wasn’t me, I didn’t do anything.” She quietly shuffled toward Shen Niannian’s side. In an instant, Wen Miao was left standing alone against the other five.

Wen Miao’s fingers stiffened, but she soon gave a cold sneer. “I bullied her. So what? You want to hit me back?”

“You!” Lu Yan pointed at her, his teeth gritted at her defiant attitude.

Shen Niannian spoke up again, acting fragile. “Youth Lu, I only wanted to call Wen Miao for dinner. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I’m sure Youth Wen didn’t mean it. Don’t blame her.”

Wu Yanqing, fueled by his protectiveness of Shen Niannian, huffed, “You have the face of a fox spirit but the heart of a wolf. What a waste of good looks.”

Wen Miao let out a cold laugh. “Indeed. Still better than you—not only do you have the face of a pig, but the brain of one, too. Now get out. Looking at you for one more second pollutes my eyes.”

With that one sentence, she had offended all four of the remaining youths. They eventually stomped out to eat dinner, fuming. Since Wen Miao was acting this way, she clearly didn’t deserve the food Shen Niannian had cooked.

Pan Hongxia stole a glance at Wen Miao before leaving, but Wen Miao didn’t even lift an eyelid.

The room fell silent. Wen Miao rubbed the jade pendant in her hand. It was the only thing her late mother had left her, a treasure she had always cherished until Shen Niannian ruined it.

She and Shen Niannian could never coexist peacefully. As for the others… Wen Miao sneered. They were nothing but a pack of fools.

She had grown up in a wealthy family, pampered like a princess by her grandmother’s side. Even though her father, Li Wenyu, had remarried and had a son, ignoring her entirely, she had never suffered such indignity. This trip to the countryside was a trap set by her father and stepmother, leaving her with no way out.

Piecing together the broken jade goldfish, Wen Miao thought to herself: I must find a way home soon. I won’t let Li Wenyu’s family live in peace.

She suddenly remembered that village woman from today Ji Baiqing. She had said she was the daughter of the Village Secretary.

Ji Baiqing strolled home after recording the day’s work points. As she reached the door, a powerful, mouth-watering aroma hit her.

She sniffed the air. It smelled like stewed chicken.

“Mom, what are you making? It smells amazing!” Ji Baiqing called out with a grin as she walked toward the kitchen.

He Xiangyue glared at her. “Keep shouting like that and the whole village will know we’re eating meat!”

Ji Baiqing rubbed her nose. In this era, eating meat wasn’t easy. But her parents were capable people; while others didn’t see meat for half a year, her family managed to have it every few days. Naturally, they had to be low-key about it to avoid being reported.

As the only child, Ji Baiqing was deeply pampered by her mother, despite the woman’s sharp tongue. After locking the door and lifting the lid, the sweet fragrance of chicken and chestnuts wafted out.

He Xiangyue fished out a large chicken leg and handed it over. “Take this and go eat somewhere else. Don’t bother me.”

Ji Baiqing beamed and clung to her mother, acting spoiled for a while.

Since transmigrating, she was happy about two things: meeting Wen Miao, and having a set of parents who truly loved her. In her past life, she was an orphan who had to fight for everything on her own. Only in this life did she feel the warmth of a parent’s care.

Inhaling the scent of the food, she suddenly thought of Wen Miao. According to the original plot, today was the day Wen Miao would be completely isolated by the other five youths, leaving her to fend for herself from then on.

The thought made Ji Baiqing’s heart ache. Looking at the chicken leg in her bowl, she suddenly said:

“Mom, I met one of the new youths today.”

He Xiangyue nodded. “Your dad told me.”

Ji Baiqing asked tentatively, “Can I bring her some chicken? You have no idea, she’s so thin.”

He Xiangyue looked at her daughter in surprise. She knew her daughter best usually, she was very sensible and maintained a certain distance from people. Even with her best friend, Li Wenwen, she had never been this attentive.

“Ji Baiqing, were you a landlord in your past life? Our own family barely has enough, and yet you want to give it away!” she replied crossly.

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