Chapter 126: Need Money? I'll Give It to You
8:30 PM.
Ye Zhen and the others arrived at their hotel.
Seeing the resplendent, gold-plated hotel, the roommates all breathed a sigh of relief… fearing the academy's "five-star" rating was merely the hotel's name.
Thankfully, Mondstadt might be expensive, but it still had some dignity.
"Let me help you with your luggage."
Wang Xiaoya snatched Ye Zhen's suitcase from her hands.
Steps lay ahead. Wang Xiaoya, juggling two suitcases, weaved through the crowd with nimble agility, moving swiftly.
She soon obtained the room keys for the entire dormitory.
"Two people per room. No one else is sharing with me! I'm staying with Zhenzhen," Wang Xiaoya declared.
Qiao Xin raised her hand: "I object. I want to share a room with Zhenzhen."
Lu Chengcheng also raised her hand: "I object too. I want to share a room with Zhenzhen."
Wang Xiaoya glared. "Hey, you're doing this on purpose!"
"So, Zhenzhen, who do you want to share with?"
As all three turned to look at Ye Zhen, she cleared her throat softly. "I'm fine with either."
"Then let's decide by rock-paper-scissors."
Wang Xiaoya eagerly prepared to play rock-paper-scissors with them.
Just then, another group of students arrived outside the hotel, also led by a teacher from Mondstadt.
At the very back of the group walked Jiang Zao, wearing a mask and keeping her head down the entire time.
She was weighed down by five shoulder bags, a backpack strapped to her back, and two suitcases in her hands, looking somewhat disheveled.
"Jiang Zao, can you hurry up? I told you I need water!"
Jiang Zao nodded, set down the suitcase she was holding, and headed toward the beverage vending machine on the other side.
She bought a bottle of sparkling water and handed it to the sweaty girl.
The girl casually handed her a hundred-yuan bill and pulled one of the bags hanging from Jiang Zao's body with a look of disgust.
After collecting their room keys, the others also retrieved the bags they'd left with Jiang Zao.
"Breakfast for tomorrow—deliver it to our rooms before six."
"Remember to get me a milk tea—not too much sugar."
"I don't eat xiaolongbao—don't buy the wrong thing again."
Jiang Zao memorized each of their requests, then collected the bills one by one from their hands.
Ye Zhen and the others stood nearby, watching the scene unfold clearly.
"Is this bullying?" Wang Xiaoya frowned and asked.
"They're paying. At worst, it's just a difficult customer. Hardly bullying," Lu Chengcheng replied.
"All for a measly thousand or two!" Wang Xiaoya sighed. "Is it worth it?"
Hearing this, Ye Zhen couldn't help but wonder: Is this what a Mary Sue world looks like?
From school to here, it was only a short distance. Earning a thousand or two wasn't exactly peanuts!
Of course, in Mary Sue worlds, currency units are always astronomical. A thousand or two really is nothing to speak of.
"Come on, let's go upstairs."
Qiao Xin urged them to hurry.
Standing amidst the teeming crowd downstairs, the noise was deafening.
The three of them continued playing rock-paper-scissors in the elevator…
In the end, Lu Chengcheng won the right to be Ye Zhen's roommate.
Suddenly, someone's phone rang…
"Snow~flakes drifting, north wind~ howling~"
Wang Xiaoya couldn't take it anymore: "Stop playing that BGM! Dammit, why do you guys always beat me? Tell me, are you cheating?!"
"Rock-paper-scissors has its tricks. Figure it out on your own."
Lu Chengcheng pushed her glasses up and smiled meaningfully.
He casually took Ye Zhen's suitcase and led her into the room.
Closing the door shut out the outside commotion.
Lu Chengcheng wasn't one for many words, unlike Wang Xiaoya's impulsive nature, but she would quietly look out for Ye Zhen.
"I brought some eel rice. Just heat it up and it's ready to eat. Want some?"
After setting down the suitcase, Lu Chengcheng produced the food.
"Yes!"
Ye Zhen rarely turned down food; she was willing to try anything.
"I also brought canned fruit. Here, have one."
"Oh, thank you…"
"And some milk tea too! Here, take it."
"Thanks…"
"Want another box of Bakey?"
"Hmm… thanks."
Overfed Ye Zhen felt herself becoming more and more useless.
She couldn't believe she was living a life of ease and comfort just because of her pretty face.
This wasn't her original plan, you know!
Lu Chengcheng propped her chin on her hand, watching Ye Zhen eat with the look of a proud mother.
That look was truly…
"Cough cough cough."
Ye Zhen coughed twice, nearly choking on her rice.
After finishing her meal, Lu Chengcheng asked if she wanted to watch cartoons together.
Ye Zhen was about to agree, but upon seeing the title and that iconic protagonist, she couldn't help but cough twice: "Let's pick something else. This… this isn't really suitable for screen casting."
"What's wrong? My old classmate told me it's a romance anime, super sweet."
A romance anime?
You're telling me Cheng Ge is the male lead in a romance anime?
This damn thing is a walking, talking cannonball!
Ye Zhen couldn't bring herself to state the truth outright, so she offered a gentle reminder instead: "Whatever friend told you this was a romance anime… you might want to cut ties with them…"
Lu Chengcheng pursed her lips thoughtfully.
"Alright, let's watch this one then."
She switched the scene.
"This one… should be fine, right?"
As the familiar melody of "You Are the Wind, I Am the Sand" began to play, Ye Zhen sighed. "It's fine. This one is definitely a romance. But I'm feeling a bit sleepy now. I'm going to wash up and hit the hay."
"Alright, you go ahead and sleep. I'll turn the volume down a bit."
……
……
The next morning.
Ye Zhen was awakened by urgent knocking on the door.
"Hurry up, hurry up! Get up and watch the show!"
Wang Xiaoya shouted excitedly as she roused the two girls.
"Downstairs in the lobby—two rich, beautiful women are fighting!"
Lu Chengcheng was still groggy from sleep, her eyes half-closed. She snorted, "Hmph. I'm not really interested in watching women fight."
She said that, but she was already dressed and scrambling out of bed.
Ye Zhen, however, had been up for ages.
Since her roommates were all heading downstairs, she followed suit. She figured she could grab them some breakfast on the way down as a way to return the favor.
Downstairs in the lobby, He Ying's voice boomed.
"What are you doing? Bullying someone has its limits, you know!"
Facing He Ying were the girls who often made Jiang Zao do chores.
As for Jiang Zao, she had a bowl of silver ear fungus porridge splashed all over her.
Luckily, the porridge was cold; otherwise, the consequences would have been much worse.
"Bullying?" The ringleader smirked, turning to Jiang Zao. "Tell us—have we bullied you?"
Jiang Zao shook her head, wiping the porridge off her body with the calmness of a wooden puppet.
She was used to this kind of thing.
The girl's smile faded slightly. "She wants to earn money, we want to spend it—it's just a fair transaction. Miss He, isn't your sense of justice a bit too strong?"
He Ying sneered coldly. "What kind of background do you have, talking to me like that?"
The girl remained silent, but the one standing to her left stepped forward.
"If Miss He insists on using her family background to intimidate us, we really can't do anything about it."
She pulled a wad of cash from her purse and flung it at Jiang Zao's feet.
She laughed mockingly, her cold gaze fixed on the silent Jiang Zao.
"Jiang Zao, congratulations on landing such a big fish. You won't have to work for us anymore."
Just as Jiang Zao bent down to pick up the money, He Ying grabbed her arm.
"Don't pick it up."
But Jiang Zao shook off her hand, crouched down, and carefully picked up every single bill.
"You…!"
This action infuriated He Ying to the point of fury.
She took a deep breath, struggling to suppress her rage.
This timid, submissive demeanor increasingly overlapped with the Ye Zhen she remembered.
He Ying felt her teeth throbbing with pain, forcing her to clasp one side of her jaw.
"If you want money, I'll give it to you."
Jiang Zao, who had been looking down, paused slightly.
He Ying hissed softly, gently massaging her jaw.
"You don't need to worry about these people. Just be yourself. Do what you want to do! I'm here. With me around, no one will dare…"
Her words trailed off.
A mocking voice echoed from the second-floor hallway of the hotel: "Oh my, Miss He, playing the saint again?"
The voice sent cold sweat trickling down He Ying's back and made Ye Zhen, who had been watching the scene unfold from the crowd, flinch.
Ye Zhen quickly crouched low, hunched her back, and squeezed her way out of the crowd.
She slipped away~
On the second-floor corridor, Ye Fuli, dressed in casual attire, watched the girl crouched on the floor picking up money with a smile.
Yet her eyes held a hidden chill.
Was this…
role-playing?