Transmigrated Into the Stand-In of the Tragic Novel’s Heroine - Chapter 2

Xie Qingtang didn’t have much in the way of possessions.

This penniless setting actually saved her a lot of trouble.

The landlady of the dilapidated building she rented, who used to greet her with a forced, unfriendly smile, now completely changed her usual harshness and meanness—as long as she kicked out Xie Qingtang, this stubborn eyesore, she could raise the rent on her flat to a higher price.

Xie Qingtang couldn’t be bothered with her.

She quickly walked out of the rundown apartment complex and immediately saw the sedan parked not far away.

The awkwardness of last night was still vivid, but was Xie Qingtang the type of person to be easily defeated by embarrassment? She tapped on the car window, heard a faint sound, and the window slowly lowered, revealing Chang Yishao’s pale, scholarly face. Xie Qingtang reached in, took off Chang Yishao’s glasses, and tossed them onto her lap. With another raise of her hand, her fingers almost touched Chang Yishao’s nose, but she stopped at that dangerous position and snapped her fingers.

“My girlfriend, open the trunk,” she chuckled softly, her tone suggestive, like a frivolous playboy.

Chang Yishao disliked this habit of hers and couldn’t help but frown. She gripped her glasses, gazing intently at Xie Qingtang, trying to find old memories on the face so similar to He Yanjin’s—but she found nothing.

Xie Qingtang sat in the back seat, playing with her phone.

This phone, which she only used occasionally for work, was naturally the most valuable thing she owned. She found her live-streaming channel and scrolled through a few messages—other than some explicit harassing content, there was nothing else. According to the book’s setting for “Xie Qingtang,” she would silently endure these things, but Xie Qingtang was clearly not the rigid, pre-set character. She curved her lips into a smile and casually tapped the report button—to hell with all the big spenders who threw gifts.

She had a proper job now.

Chang Yishao rented an apartment alone in Gantang Street, facing Gantang High School across the street.

Xie Qingtang was conscious of being a guest, so when she was face-to-face with Chang Yishao on the sofa again, she patiently asked one more time, “Are you sure you need that?”

She asked subtly. Chang Yishao was momentarily stunned before she realized what Xie Qingtang meant. She casually glanced at Xie Qingtang and indifferently replied, “Yes.”

Seeing this, Xie Qingtang shrugged. She leaned forward slightly and smiled faintly, “Then I’ll trouble my girlfriend to help me unpack.” She had thought that a young woman of Chang Yishao’s background would be completely hands-off with chores, but Chang Yishao immediately stood up, took her belongings, and went into the master bedroom.

The master bedroom? Sharing a room and a bed? Was that part of the agreement?

This time it was Xie Qingtang who was out of sorts. When she finally realized what was happening, she took a few steps to catch up to Chang Yishao, watching her take out her intimate wear from the suitcase, meticulously folding it, and putting it into the closet. Even with her thick skin, Xie Qingtang couldn’t help but blush. This clearly exceeded expectations!

“Did you take the wrong one?” Xie Qingtang twirled the stray strands of hair on her shoulder, deliberately asking.

Chang Yishao gave her a gentle smile. Her gaze lingered on Xie Qingtang’s face for a moment before returning to the clothes. Her calm voice followed, “It’s not wrong.”

Xie Qingtang: “…” She examined the gray and white checkered duvet, then slowly shifted her gaze to the books and pens carelessly piled on the bedside table. She wanted to find traces of Chang Yishao’s ex-girlfriend in the room, but all signs seemed to have been burned away. “Alright then.” Her tone sounded somewhat helpless. After saying it, she suddenly realized. Chang Yishao told her to be as unpleasant as possible, which didn’t mean she couldn’t refuse, did it?

Of course, she had no way of knowing how Chang Yishao might respond after being refused.

Compared to Chang Yishao, who could relax and unwind on her day off, Xie Qingtang was far from idle.

In the book’s setting, she signed with a small, free-spirited live-streaming platform. The platform didn’t dictate what they streamed but required them to stream for at least three hours a week. The platform would offer recommendations based on popularity and take a 30% cut of the streamer’s profit. In such circumstances, competition was fierce. Although Xie Qingtang had found Chang Yishao as her “boss,” she hadn’t planned on abandoning her original streaming platform.

This week, she hadn’t opened the streaming app at all.

“What do you need?” Chang Yishao asked after tidying Xie Qingtang’s clothes, her voice concerned.

Xie Qingtang looked up at her and replied, “A quiet working environment.”

Chang Yishao was silent for a moment before answering, “The study.”

Clearly, the study held an important place in Chang Yishao’s life.

The antique objects and strange stones placed on the curio shelf assaulted Xie Qingtang’s vision. She finally found the words “wealthy family” reflected in Chang Yishao. Her gaze swept across the rows of bookshelves—she found a door, which suggested there was a small partition room within the study, though it was only “small” in a relative sense. These wretched rich people—Xie Qingtang muttered softly, then turned to look at Chang Yishao, saying sternly, “I’m going to work, don’t bother me.”

Chang Yishao responded gently and turned to leave.

Xie Qingtang’s streaming schedule was irregular. Even with a thousand or so fans, people wouldn’t deliberately wait for her to start streaming. Therefore, under normal circumstances, there were only a handful of people when she entered the live-stream room.

But today, right after she reported those few harassing messages, the live-stream room became “lively.” The bullet comments scrolled rapidly, every single one of them unbearable to read. Evidently, the person who was reported couldn’t take the slight and was specifically waiting for Xie Qingtang to come online.

Seeing this, Xie Qingtang sneered and immediately enabled the comment-ban status. However, that person was somewhat erratic. When unable to post bullet comments, he started a gift-spamming spree, but his expression was not one of admiration for Xie Qingtang, but rather of abuse. Seeing his persistence, Xie Qingtang decided to ignore him. Thinking of the streaming time she needed to complete today, she blinked and began to sing. As a former employee of the Space-Time Bureau, she had acquired many skills through her various assignments—singing was one that she had nearly mastered.

“The dense sweet pear, cut not nor injure it, where the Duke of Shao rested…①”

Xie Qingtang’s singing was not diminished by the lack of professional streaming equipment; it was vastly superior to the original character’s setting.

She didn’t care whether there were viewers in the live-stream room, but was focused on completing her week’s assignment.

The insults from the person who hated her never stopped, but because of his “generosity,” Xie Qingtang’s live-stream room was sent to the gift-ranking chart—a form of recommendation that neither Xie Qingtang nor the accidentally entering viewers had anticipated.

The number of viewers kept rising, but apart from the occasional flickering messages, the screen was filled with the disgusting insults left by that malicious person.

Xie Qingtang pondered for a moment and opened the bullet comment channel.

【Ahhh, finally I can speak? What’s going on here?】

【Who is that rich guy? Why is he constantly cursing? My damn curiosity, I can’t hold it back.】

【I’ve never heard of this ‘Tang Xi’ Miss. My god, I’ve been overwhelmed by beauty, I’m going to follow right now!】

【Who am I? Where am I? I don’t understand?】

【The Miss is singing “Gantang” la, but I haven’t heard it either.】

The surge in viewers and the flow of bullet comments gradually drowned out the abusive voice.

After singing a few songs, Xie Qingtang planned to continue. However, a large portion of the three hours was still left, and she didn’t know how to pass the time. She glanced at the bullet comments in the live-stream room and randomly picked a few questions to answer.

“That person was reported by me, and he wanted to insult me with money. Clearly, he succeeded. I plan to donate this money that made me feel so insulted to the zoo. I heard the monkeys there are lacking care.”

“The song? Just humming whatever came to mind.”

“Next streaming time? …I’ll let you know when I’ve decided.”

…

As time went on, Xie Qingtang became less and less interested, even the rhythm of her speech slowed down considerably. Yet, despite this, the number of people in the live-stream room continued to increase—thank goodness for giving her this face.

Of course, this face also brought minor troubles.

【The Miss looks like the singer He Yanjin oh.】

Someone opened up the topic, and titles like “Little He Yanjin” started popping up. Xie Qingtang suddenly felt a bit offended, but on second thought, she was already a substitute for He Yanjin, so what did this kind of talk matter? If she willingly degraded herself, should she be afraid of others cursing her?

The atmosphere in the live-stream room was fairly harmonious.

But outside, someone was throwing a massive fit.

Zhang Yi was the young master of the Zhang family and also the top gifter in Xie Qingtang’s live-stream room. After discovering his account was banned, he immediately contacted the platform manager to unban him, but even so, he wasn’t satisfied and called the platform manager, Han Shu, again.

Han Shu and Zhang Yi only had the acquaintance of having drunk together a few times. Rather than giving Zhang Yi face, he was giving the Zhang family face. “The one called Tang Xi? It’s a small matter, it can definitely be handled.” His tone was gentle and calm, completely unaware of the disaster his decision would bring to others.

The three-hour “tea party” was not over, but with the platform’s arbitrary interference, the live-stream room named “Tang Xi” vanished instantly.

On the forums, only a small group of people were originally discussing “Tang Xi,” but this sudden change caused the discussion to grow rapidly.

Xie Qingtang was also stunned for a moment before realizing what had happened. She looked at the ban message in the backend and sneered, knowing it was the platform’s doing. This live-streaming platform called “Maya” was one of the more popular platforms on the market. She chose this platform without change because she liked its freedom and individuality, which set it apart from other platforms.

But at this moment, its individuality and freedom were both choked by those filthy hands.

Support