When the Villainess Transmigrates as the Heroine of a Sadistic Novel [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Stepping Out

From the countryside to the city, Ning Yunqing’s primary task was to find a place to stay, and then buy a computer to start her career. In her view, although this world was modern, it wasn’t as advanced as the future. Having lived in the future, she possessed state-of-the-art technology.

With a computer, she could develop things modern people didn’t have yet for instance, holographic online games. However, that required large servers and a full team, which would take too much time. Under current circumstances, there was something that could show results much faster: developing apps.

In this world, technology was in its early stages of development. E-commerce had just started to pick up, and no one had moved into the app sector yet; it was a great opportunity. With her level of skill, she could finish a project within a week. Once she secured sponsors, things would grow rapidly. With money, she could travel further and use the app to check if her lover was among the users.

With a direction set, Ning Yunqing took immediate action. The first step was finding work. She needed money for the initial phase and didn’t want to spend her last 500 yuan on accommodation not that such a small amount would be enough to rent a room in Xincheng anyway. Relying on this body’s youth and lack of fear for late nights, she planned to find several jobs, working morning and night to save up for a computer as soon as possible.

Driven by this momentum, Ning Yunqing found three jobs: a daytime hourly worker, a chef at a small restaurant working only during lunch, and a staff member at a bar working from 9:00 PM until dawn. The hours were long, but the pay was good, and she could doze off when it wasn’t busy.

Ning Yunqing excelled in all three jobs, becoming a standout in three different fields within a few days. The ladies in the neighborhood liked her so much they scrambled to introduce her to more work. However, Ning Yunqing didn’t take on more because hourly work didn’t pay as much as the bar, and she had to manage her time for maximum profit.

After a week, Ning Yunqing’s body had slimmed down considerably. Feeling that the body in this world wasn’t superhuman, she decided to quit the restaurant job, extend her bar hours, and relax a bit. Hearing she wanted to leave, the restaurant owner—who had originally hired her just to give her a try hurriedly tried to keep her. “Don’t go! Since you’ve been here, my business has nearly doubled. I couldn’t tell at your age, but you cook like a master chef. Tell you what, I’ll raise your pay; just don’t leave.”

Hearing the new salary, which had doubled, Ning Yunqing unprincipledly changed her mind. She decided to quit the hourly work instead and focus on the restaurant and the bar.

With her workload reduced, Ning Yunqing found some relief. At night, seeing few customers, she leaned against the counter and calculated her savings from memory. It wasn’t bad; it had tripled to 1,500. Once this month’s salary from the bar came in, she would have 6,000 yuan. She’d use 5,000 to buy a decent laptop, and the rest should be enough to rent a small room for a month.

Not bad. Ning Yunqing’s lips curled into a smile, but when she looked up, she saw a woman with permed hair leaning her chin on her hand, watching her with a playful, mischievous smile.

“I lost a game of Truth or Dare, and they made me come over to kiss you.” The woman took a stack of cash from her bag and slammed it onto the bar, smiling with narrowed eyes. “Let me give you a kiss, and this money is yours.”

This was a good bargain, especially for someone short on cash. However, Ning Yunqing was loyal to her lover. Aside from Yin Fengxuan, she would not have intimate physical contact with anyone. Shaking her head, Ning Yunqing politely declined. “I’m sorry, I’m currently working. Please find someone else.” She lowered her head and returned to her task.

“Not enough?” The woman slapped another stack of cash onto the table. “This should be enough for a month’s salary, right?”

Ning Yunqing didn’t look up. The woman raised an eyebrow. “Still not enough?” She slapped down another stack without hesitation.

A local tycoon? Ning Yunqing washed the glass in her hand and replied helplessly, “It’s not that I think it’s too little money.” She looked up at the woman, who had her arms crossed and her chin slightly raised in dissatisfaction. Her heart skipped a beat; this posture was one of the things her Fengxuan loved to do most when she was unhappy. Could she be Fengxuan? Ning Yunqing’s lips curled as she played along with the woman’s temperament. “I’m not for sale. Please go back.”

“Interesting.” The woman leaned against the bar again with her chin in her hands, scrutinizing Ning Yunqing’s face. Seeing those two patches of “plateau red,” she burst into a laugh, stood up, and left.

“Miss, your money.” Ning Yunqing called out behind her. The woman waved her hand and said without looking back, “It’s yours. Use it for some beauty treatments.”

Ning Yunqing was caught between laughter and tears, replying bluntly, “I don’t want it.”

“Hmm?” The woman stopped, turning back to look at Ning Yunqing. Her face was calm, without a trace of heartache over the money. Strange there really was someone in this world who didn’t get excited at the sight of money?

Ning Yunqing chased after her with the money and handed it over with both hands. The woman was stunned; the money she gave away was never returned. Having it rejected felt awkward.

“Your things.” Ning Yunqing smiled purely. The woman was dazed; this girl was too interesting! Finding it amusing, she took the money back but left a single bill in Ning Yunqing’s hand. As Ning Yunqing went to hand it back, the woman laughed and said, “This is a tip. Consider it payment for entertaining me. You’re not allowed to return it; this is earned through your labor.”

How righteous. Ning Yunqing accepted it calmly and thanked her with a smile. “Well, alright then.”

Finally, the money wasn’t returned. The woman smiled happily, gave Ning Yunqing a careful look, then turned and went back to her seat.

“Yunqing, are you crazy?”

After leaving Pojiu Village, Ning Yunqing had privately changed “Xiaohua” to “Yunqing.” Seeing her colleague staring at her in shock, Ning Yunqing was curious. “What is it?”

“Do you know who that was just now?” the colleague asked with an envious face.

Ning Yunqing shook her head honestly.

The colleague sighed, looking at her as if she were a hopeless case. “That’s ‘Jin Youqian’ (Gold-Has-Money)!”

“Jin Youqian?” Why was the name as vulgar as “Xiaohua”? Ning Yunqing laughed playfully.

The colleague lamented, “You really have good luck, but you don’t know a blessing when you see it. Who is Jin Youqian? She’s the daughter of the Jin Group, the largest enterprise in Xincheng. She’s worth hundreds of millions; throwing money around is like child’s play to her.”

“Oh.” Ning Yunqing responded casually, asking the question she cared about: “Is her name really Jin Youqian?”

The colleague was speechless and replied helplessly, “How could someone from the Jin family actually be named that? It’s a nickname because she’s so lavish and looks very rich, so everyone calls her that. Her real name is Jin Youxian.”

Still sounds a lot like ‘Jin Youqian’. Ning Yunqing pursed her lips, and her colleague continued, “The ‘Jin Youqian’ part is also partly because of the homophone. Anyway, that’s not the point. The point is you actually rejected her! MONEY!”

“It isn’t mine, why should I take it?” Ning Yunqing asked flatly.

The colleague was a bit dazed; she felt that if money was given for free, it would be a waste not to take it. Looking at Ning Yunqing with a strange expression, she asked curiously, “Are you serious? Don’t you still have no place to live? With that money, you could have rented a room for a whole quarter.”

“So, I should take money that doesn’t belong to me?” Ning Yunqing asked with a smile. She was an honest girl from the countryside; she couldn’t break character.

The colleague was stunned and shook her head in disbelief. “A saint.” Turning away, she couldn’t help but mutter, “You deserve to be poor.”

The voice wasn’t loud, but it couldn’t escape Ning Yunqing’s superb hearing. People; there’s always a part of them that sneers at the virtues they can’t achieve themselves. Ning Yunqing looked at her colleague’s back and smiled to herself: You don’t even understand the concept of playing the long game to catch the big fish. As a bit player, you’re destined to stay right here.

A couple of days later, Jin Youxian returned to the bar. This time, the servers and bartenders all swarmed around her. Jin Youxian looked at the enthusiastic staff, then looked at Ning Yunqing, whose eyes hadn’t even drifted toward her since she entered. She pursed her lips in dissatisfaction and asked a nearby staff member, “I heard there’s a newcomer here who is great at mixing drinks?”

The staff member desperately wanted to say it was him, but with so many eyes on him, he had to shift his gaze to Ning Yunqing, saying with a hint of resentment, “Yes, but ‘great’ might be an overstatement.”

“It’s her?” Jin Youxian ignored the staff member and looked directly at Ning Yunqing. Seeing Ning Yunqing stop her work and finally glance at her, she hooked her index finger. Ning Yunqing looked at the hostile glares around her, turned her head away, and attended to other customers.

Jin Youxian raised her chin. She was unhappy but waited patiently for a while. Seeing that Ning Yunqing no longer looked at her, she sat directly at the bar. “Mix me a drink. Your best one.”

A guest is a guest; now you can’t blame me. Ning Yunqing nodded, picked up the shaker like a circus master, and performed a highly skilled routine. Jin Youxian clapped her hands in praise. “Not bad.”

Ning Yunqing smiled slightly and handed the mixed drink over. “This is one I newly developed called ‘Crazy with Longing.’ It hasn’t been officially launched yet, but since you asked for my best, I mixed this one.”

“Crazy with Longing?” Jin Youxian pondered the phrase and took a small sip. The taste was mellow and soft on the palate, but the aftertaste was incredibly strong; as it hit her throat, it made her heart sting. “This drink is interesting.” Swirling the glass in praise, she slapped a stack of cash from her bag onto the bar. “This is a tip. Thanks for letting me taste such an interesting drink.”

“It seems my drink is quite valuable.” Ning Yunqing smiled, pulled a single thin bill from the stack, and turned to serve other customers.

“She returned the money to me again!” Jin Youxian sat in her chair with her arms crossed, looking at Ning Yunqing with her chin raised, thinking: Once, twice, but not a third time. I don’t believe that girl will return it next time! Standing up, she pushed the stack of cash to the nearest waiter and stormed out angrily.

What a spendthrift child. Ning Yunqing shook her head. It seemed she would have to properly educate her lover in this world.

Since meeting Ning Yunqing, Jin Youxian had developed a habit of coming to the bar every few days. Sometimes she’d go over to exchange a few words with Ning Yunqing. If Ning Yunqing wasn’t there, she would sit in the shop and chat with friends, though her eyes would constantly drift toward the bar. A friend noticed and teased with a smile, “Could it be that the eldest Miss Jin has fallen for that girl with the red cheeks?”

Jin Youxian was stunned. She felt that her feelings toward that “plateau red” were indeed a bit off, but she had seen countless people how could she fall for a girl who looked so rural? Shaking her head defensively, Jin Youxian slapped some money on the table and turned to leave.

Less than ten minutes after leaving, she turned back and walked in. Just as she had gotten into her car, she had seen Ning Yunqing returning with a backpack. Sitting back at the bar with practiced ease, Jin Youxian waited for Ning Yunqing to start her shift. Scanning the table she had just left, she saw her friend was gone. Her delicately drawn brows quirked as she grumbled: Only ten minutes and she’s been lured away? So lackadaisical.

“Is the beauty sitting here all alone?”

Turning her head, she saw a man dressed somewhat fashionably bringing a drink over. Jin Youxian thought that since she was idle anyway, she might as well chat with a handsome guy, so she nodded. “Mm.”

“How could a beauty like you be left sitting alone? What a waste! Here, let me buy you a drink.” He pushed the glass toward her. “I just mixed this myself; it’s called ‘Love at First Sight.’ Would you like a taste?”

Love at First Sight? Another interesting name. Jin Youxian thought it was fun, took it, and had two sips. The drink was a bit harsh not as good as Ning Yunqing’s “Crazy with Longing.” She pushed the glass back. “Not good. You can have it back.”

“Beauty, this kind of drink needs to be savored. Give it a moment and check back; maybe you’ll have a different feeling.”

Her hand, reaching into her bag, paused. Jin Youxian suddenly felt her face burning. Looking at the handsome guy again, he had started to double. What on earth had she drunk? Realizing something was wrong, she immediately tried to leave, but her legs were weak; she couldn’t even manage to stand up.

“Beauty, have another sip.” The guy held the glass to her lips, and she sipped it involuntarily.

“The taste isn’t bad, right?” The man’s eyes gleamed. He wanted to feed her more, but was stopped by Ning Yunqing, who had changed into her work uniform. Snatching the drink from his hand, Ning Yunqing took a light sniff and said with a curl of her lip, “Loss-of-Virginity wine?”

“Loss-of-Virginity wine” (shishen jiu) was a high-alcohol drink developed by a foreign merchant containing stimulants; it was a banned substance domestically. The man didn’t expect this rustic-looking girl to identify it with just a sniff. He panicked, thinking the sooner he secured the rich lady the better. He glared fiercely at Ning Yunqing and reached out to grab Jin Youxian.

By this time, Jin Youxian’s mind was no longer clear, but seeing the man, she still shook her head in disgust. She grabbed Ning Yunqing’s shoulder with both arms, clinging tightly like a gibbon hugging a tree. Even before the man could move, Ning Yunqing had stepped in front of Jin Youxian; now it looked as though she was carrying Miss Jin on her back. Gently touching her lover’s face, Ning Yunqing asked, “Do you have any friends still here?”

Jin Youxian couldn’t hear clearly and just grunted, shaking her head.

If this continued, something bad would happen. Ning Yunqing gave the man a cold look, then spoke gently to the person on her back. “Then I’ll take you to rest, okay?”

“Mm,” Jin Youxian answered vaguely. The man tried to interfere again. Ning Yunqing timed it perfectly swinging the Miss Jin on her back, her pointed heel kicked exactly into the man’s groin. A piercing scream echoed behind them. Ignoring whether he lived or died, Ning Yunqing only said a quick “sorry” to her colleague, then turned to pull her lover around to her front, supporting her as they walked out.

“Where is your home? I’ll take you back?” Ning Yunqing asked softly. Jin Youxian couldn’t reply; her head hurt so much she couldn’t remember who she was. Shaking her head irritably, she grabbed Ning Yunqing’s arm and pointed her chin toward a tall building nearby.

It was a five-star hotel a perfect place to get a room. Ning Yunqing asked with a smile, “Go there?”

Jin Youxian didn’t know where “there” was, so she just gave a random “Mm.”

Receiving a response, Ning Yunqing said, “Alright.” She led her lover into the hotel together.

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