Transmigrated as the Villainess’s Vicious Fake Stepmother - Chapter 13

Chu Qian was usually gentle, kindhearted, and timid when facing conflict. Yet even the timid carried a measure of iron in their spirit, and hers was set firmly on opposing Zhan Se.

Zhan Se had not expected to learn the truth of the saying that extremes can lead to the opposite result. She had thought that forcing this timid woman back into the house would make her compliant. Instead, Chu Qian became a constant source of trouble.

After completing her practice exercises and reviewing earlier lessons, Zhan Se turned on her computer and opened a past paper from the National Mathematics Knowledge Competition. In her browser’s bookmarks was the registration link she had saved earlier.

When Jiang Yuanyang had asked before, she had no intention of registering. At that time, the Zhan family’s assets were unstable, and her thoughts unsettled. Since Li Zongyi’s arrival, however, everything had seemed to fall into order. She began to think that Jiang Yuanyang might be right. A whole year had passed without a clear result, so perhaps it was worth attempting.

She clicked the link, entered her details, and registered. No sooner had she closed the page than a loud clatter rose from downstairs.

Her expression changed at once. She shut the computer and went down to find Chu Qian in the hall, standing with her hands on her hips as she directed people.

“Hey, over there, wipe that. Yes, just like that.”

“Take this away to wash and change that too.”

“Sir, can you replace the glass? Please do it quickly.”

Zhan Se stood at the top of the stairs, her eyelid twitching. She disliked having strangers in the house, yet Chu Qian had brought in more than a dozen.

“What are you doing?”

At the sound of her cold voice, Chu Qian turned, saw her unhappy face, and smiled. “Did you not tell me to have someone clean?”

“Does cleaning require over a dozen people?”

Chu Qian spread her hands, unconcerned. “I think it does.” She turned to the cleaners. “You can collect your wages from this young lady later. She is the owner here.”

Zhan Se’s brow tightened. Chu Qian, noticing her frustration, seemed even more delighted. With her hands on her hips and chin raised, her plain face lit up with smug little expressions. In the bleak autumn light, she seemed almost full of life.

It was as if her face said, I like seeing you dislike me but unable to do anything about it.

Zhan Se rubbed her temples, went upstairs, and took an auxiliary bank card from her wallet. She tossed it onto the table and said, “The password is the same. Keep the noise down and stop bothering me.”

She lightly brushed her stomach before continuing upstairs. Chu Qian did not notice the small gesture. She only gave a triumphant hum and kept directing the workers with even more energy.

Zhan Se did not return to her study. The noise downstairs was overwhelming, and she was not yet fully recovered from her illness. She had stayed up until two the previous night working on practice problems, then spent the morning dealing with Chu Qian. Her head felt heavy, and she wanted to rest on the third floor.

She had barely lain down when a series of loud bangs came from the stairs and stopped outside her door.

Bang. Bang.

Her head felt ready to split. She got up, opened the door, and shouted, “Chu Qian!”

Chu Qian leaned against the doorframe with a smirk. “Oh, sorry. I just moved in and I do not like this room’s décor. You will have to put up with the noise for the afternoon.”

Zhan Se’s gaze turned icy. She clenched her fists and shut the door with a sharp slam. Back in bed, she fitted earplugs into her ears and pulled the blanket over her head.

Chu Qian was unfazed by her temper. She wanted to provoke her, and the more upset Zhan Se became, the further she would push.

Once the furniture was moved, Chu Qian headed to the mall for a shopping spree. She bought luxury goods from brands she had never dared to consider before, unconcerned since the money was not her own.

Just as Zhan Se was finally drifting toward sleep, the alerts for multiple payment transactions began to chime one after another.

Her head throbbed, her stomach ached, and her fever had yet to subside. Seeing the string of deductions only fueled her anger. She silenced the phone, closed her eyes, and tried to sleep.

Chu Qian returned home with her purchases. Even the security guard’s expression darkened at the sight, but she ignored him. Looking at her haul, only one word came to mind, and it was satisfying.

Yet after laying the items out, worth hundreds of thousands, her interest quickly faded. She had bought them to irritate Zhan Se, to reinforce her image as a greedy woman. Once the initial thrill passed, she felt only boredom.

She unpacked each item in turn. “Crocodile leather? It feels no different from synthetic. And this is the latest autumn collection? Tsk. A plain cotton shirt is more comfortable.”

In the end, she kept only a knitted sweater worth a little over a thousand yuan and packed the rest to return the next day.

Stretching out on the expensive bed, she sighed and looked up at the crystal chandelier. After all that effort simply to upset a teenage girl, she felt childish. She was six years older in body and eight in mind. Was it really worth quarreling with a child?

She rolled on the bed a few times before getting up when it was nearly dinnertime and decided to cook.

Like Zhan Se, she disliked having outsiders in her home. If not for necessity, she would never have shared an apartment before.

While shopping for groceries, she recalled seeing hotpot equipment and a small grill in the kitchen earlier. Her eyes lit up. In her foul mood, she decided on hotpot and barbecue with spicy Sichuan broth, the hotter the better.

Across the hall, Zhan Se slept until six in the evening, waking from hunger. She had only eaten crystal dumplings that morning. Her stomach pain was starting again, so she ordered porridge through a delivery app. After a shower, she went downstairs to wait.

When she opened the door, the rich aroma in the air made her swallow without thinking. She followed the scent into the dining area.

The first thing she noticed was a hotpot on the table, filled with vibrant, fresh ingredients in a steaming, fragrant broth. From the balcony drifted the smoky, tempting scent of grilled meat.

Chu Qian placed the last skewers on the grill, then turned to find Zhan Se watching them closely. She smiled, lifted one, and took a bite in front of her. “It smells so good.”

She narrowed her eyes, her pink tongue lightly brushing her lips as if savoring the flavor.