Although she’d briefly encountered the female lead once before at the lingerie store, Chu Luyu had been hiding in the fitting room with Jiang Hezhou at the time and hadn’t actually seen her.
So, strictly speaking, this was the first time since she’d entered this short-drama world that she was meeting the female lead—the other center of this universe.
The girl at the serving window was wearing the same uniform as the cafeteria auntie, with a hairnet and a transparent half-face shield.
She had a pleasant appearance—not the kind that immediately stunned you at first glance, but the kind that made you feel comfortable just looking at her.
As Yao Meng led Chu Luyu over to the window, the girl took the initiative to greet Yao Meng.
“Deputy Captain Yao, didn’t go home again last night?” The girl chatted with Yao Meng while ladling out a bowl of millet porridge. “The usual, right? Millet porridge with a salted duck egg and two pork buns?”
Yao Meng nodded with a smile, then turned to Chu Luyu. “Tell Xiao Meng what you want—this girl’s got a steadier hand than the aunties when she’s serving. She’ll definitely give you plenty.”
Meng Wantian heard what Yao Meng said and turned her attention to Chu Luyu as well.
Her first thought was that this girl looked vaguely familiar, as if she’d seen her somewhere before. But she didn’t think much of it and looked back at Yao Meng.
“Is this a new intern on the team?”
“Her? She’s no intern.” Yao Meng smiled with a hint of meaning. “She’s our Forensic Doctor Jiang’s fiancée.”
The hand holding the ladle inside the window visibly trembled—barely, but still noticeable. No one else seemed to catch it.
Meng Wantian maintained her smile on the surface, but upon closer inspection, it looked a bit forced.
She began sizing up Chu Luyu again, her gaze carrying an assessment that only she herself could fully feel.
The girl outside the window looked quite young—at first glance, she seemed no different from Meng Wantian herself, still a student who hadn’t yet left campus.
That face she’d imagined hundreds of times in her mind wasn’t as unpleasant as she’d expected.
No—it wasn’t just not unpleasant—it was even somewhat stunning, though Meng Wantian didn’t want to admit it.
This woman was very pretty. Even if Meng Wantian didn’t want to acknowledge it, she truly was beautiful.
Meng Wantian thought back to the rumors she’d heard at school, and that time on the anonymous wall when the forensic department students had confirmed this woman’s looks…
Her nerves suddenly tightened, and her grip on the ladle unconsciously grew stronger.
“Professor Jiang’s fiancée? So she’s our ‘madam,’ then? She’s so beautiful.” Meng Wantian greeted Chu Luyu in as natural a tone as she could manage. “Hello, madam. I’m a nursing student at Zhouhua University, working here part-time to earn some money.”
Chu Luyu was still caught up in her surprise, having been talking to the system in her head. When the female lead suddenly greeted her, she quickly nodded politely in return.
“Hello, hello.” Chu Luyu felt inherently inferior standing before the female lead in her villainess identity, and hurriedly added, “You don’t have to be so formal and call me ‘madam’—you’re not Jiang Hezhou’s student.”
Chu Luyu thought about how the male and female leads were supposed to end up together later. If she actually cemented a teacher-student relationship between them, wouldn’t that be forbidden?
But Meng Wantian interpreted it differently—she felt the person across from her was looking down on her.
Because she was just a nursing student, she wasn’t worthy of claiming a teacher-student relationship with a forensic medicine professor?
Meng Wantian didn’t want to engage with her anymore and turned back to Yao Meng: “I noticed no one from the team came for breakfast today. I asked around and heard they’re out on a case.”
“Yeah, there was a homicide in the city yesterday. Our unit’s been busy with that case for the past couple of days.”
“Then why didn’t you go with them? Is it…” Meng Wantian glanced over at Chu Luyu again. “…because you were specifically left behind to take care of Professor Jiang’s family member?”
“Huh? No, no.” Yao Meng quickly explained. “I tweaked my back a couple of days ago. The team has enough manpower, so they didn’t need me at the scene.”
“I see.” Meng Wantian smiled and didn’t say anything more.
Later, while they were eating, the system finally figured out what was going on with the female lead.
System Cuihua: [The development right now is a bit different from the original plot. The female lead seems to be chronically short on money, which is why she’s taken up this part-time job at the cafeteria.]
Chu Luyu hesitated: [Then now that she’s coming and going from the male lead’s workplace every day, will that affect the original plot?]
System Cuihua: [Theoretically, there shouldn’t be any issues. After all, given the male lead’s personality, as long as he’s still engaged to you, he won’t spare a second glance at any other woman.]
Chu Luyu: [But she’s the female lead! Isn’t there supposed to be a natural attraction between the male and female leads?]
System Cuihua: [Are you afraid they’ll meet ahead of time and mess up your missions?]
There was some truth to that, but it wasn’t the whole reason…
Chu Luyu tried to push aside the complex, indescribable feelings in her heart and went along with the system’s suggestion: [Yeah, I’m worried that if things change on their end, my missions might change too.]
System Cuihua: [Probably not. But if anything does change, I’ll report the situation to headquarters on your behalf. There was actually a world before where two transmigrators and two systems ended up in the same story, and neither group knew the other existed. They were more than halfway through their missions when both sides felt something was off and reported back to headquarters. It turned out there’d been a major oversight at the administration, which caused the plot to break. But that time, as an apology, the administration gave both transmigrators double rewards, and the plot was fully restored—no lasting impact.]
Chu Luyu thought of something and unconsciously pursed her lips: [So strictly speaking, the final outcome of the plot won’t change from the original setting, right?]
System Cuihua: [Details might differ, but the ending direction definitely won’t change.]
Chu Luyu sighed inwardly, feeling a melancholy she couldn’t quite explain even to herself. She said nothing more, picked up her tray with the food she’d gotten, and went to eat with Yao Meng.
·
Meng Wantian’s part-time shift only lasted until nine, and then she could leave.
Because they took her student status into consideration, the cafeteria staff only arranged for her to work the morning shift and didn’t schedule her for lunch.
As she walked out of the bureau gates, she unexpectedly ran into Feng Yiyi, a student from the forensic medicine department.
In her previous life, Meng Wantian hadn’t met Feng Yiyi until much later.
By then, her relationship with Jiang Hezhou was already stable, and Feng Yiyi—as one of Jiang Hezhou’s former students—had gone with other classmates to visit their teacher at home.
In that past life, Feng Yiyi had really liked her as a “teacher’s wife.” They were close in age, had plenty in common, and had grown quite close over time.
After being reborn this time, she’d found a way to get to know Feng Yiyi ahead of schedule. Now, as they happened to run into each other at the bureau entrance, both were a bit surprised.
“Wantian? What are you doing here?”
“I found a part-time job at the cafeteria here.” Meng Wantian smiled. “And you, senior? Why are you here at this hour?”
“Professor Jiang has been too busy lately—another teacher is covering his classes at school. But there’s some material he still needs to handle himself. I just finished organizing it today, and after calling him, he told me to drop it off at the bureau’s security booth.” Feng Yiyi said, already rummaging through her backpack for the documents. “Wait for me a moment—I’ll deliver this and then we can head back to school together.”
Feng Yiyi knew Meng Wantian wasn’t well off financially, and since she was going to take a taxi back anyway, she figured she’d give her a ride.
Once they were in the car, Feng Yiyi got curious and asked about Meng Wantian’s part-time job.
“Logically speaking, the bureau should have pretty strict controls on outsiders—how do they even hire part-timers from outside?”
Meng Wantian replied: “I don’t know either. I just came across the job posting and thought I’d give it a try, and then I got it.”
Feng Yiyi muttered: “That’s strange… But hey, finding a new job is great! It’s just that it’s a bit far from school—you must be exhausted commuting by bus back and forth.”
“It’s not too bad. I don’t mind the hard work.” Meng Wantian smiled at Feng Yiyi, but beneath the surface, a feeling was beginning to stir restlessly. “Senior Feng, have you ever met Professor Jiang’s fiancée?”
“Are you talking about our ‘madam’? Yeah, I have. We ran into her and the professor at a restaurant in the mall once and had a meal together.”
“Ah… So what was your impression of her?”
After she asked, Meng Wantian immediately recalled what Feng Yiyi had said about that woman in her previous life—
[She was a terrible person. Very selfish, and her behavior… wasn’t exactly dignified. She wasn’t a good match for the professor at all.]
That dark feeling stirred within Meng Wantian once more. She desperately hoped that this time, she’d hear something similar from Feng Yiyi’s mouth.
But—
“Madam is great! You have no idea—she was so adorable when we had that meal…”
Feng Yiyi seemed to have suddenly found a subject she could talk about endlessly, every word filled with affection and praise for Chu Luyu.
Meng Wantian’s mood sank further. She couldn’t directly contradict Feng Yiyi—that would be too strange and deliberate—so she could only force a smile and nod along.
“That girl is indeed very pretty. I ran into her at the cafeteria window when I was serving food earlier. She seems to have… followed Professor Jiang to the bureau. It looks like she even stayed at the dormitory last night.”
Feng Yiyi’s eyes lit up. “Oh my god, are they this sweet even in private?!”
“What do you mean?”
Meng Wantian didn’t understand. She’d brought up the topic hoping Feng Yiyi would think Chu Luyu was unreliable—since there was no special reason for her to follow Jiang Hezhou to the bureau when he was so busy.
But Feng Yiyi clearly didn’t get her point and interpreted it completely differently.
“Don’t you think this is so sweet? The bureau’s not a casual place—any outsider has to submit a report and register to get in! If Madam was able to stay at the professor’s dorm, that means the professor arranged it himself. Just imagine—our professor, all cool and aloof, still thinking about bringing his fiancée to his territory even when he’s swamped with work… This is peak sugar! The aloof god turns into a clingy husband, hehehehehe.”
Meng Wantian unconsciously clenched her fists and said: “It might not have been Professor Jiang’s initiative. I’ve heard that girl can be a bit clingy—maybe she insisted on coming?”
“Probably not. Madam and the professor have a great relationship, but she’s not that clingy. Anywhere else, maybe, but coming to the bureau… I’m pretty sure it was the professor’s arrangement. You don’t know this, but those two are really, really in love!”
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