The Heroine Fell Deeply For Her [Quick Transmigration] 13

Chapter 13: The Cold School Beauty’s Fierce Love

When Tao Ning turned her head, Zhou Tong knew she had been mistaken. The bubbly sweetness was gone.

Holding her briefcase, Zhou Tong stepped out of the car in her flats, inwardly relieved that she had prioritized comfort over style when retrieving the documents.

As Tao Ning walked towards the car with her backpack, her smile gradually faded, settling into a polite, shallow curve by the time she reached them.

Uncle Liu opened the car door, and Zhou Tong said, “Miss, the information you requested is ready.”

Tao Ning nodded: “Thank you for your hard work, Assistant Zhou. Please, sit.”

“Working for you, this is all part of my job, it’s not hard work,” Zhou Tong replied, while circling the car to get in the back seat from the other side.

“Get in from this side…” Tao Ning’s outstretched hand froze mid-air. Watching Zhou Tong circle the car like a hamster before sitting down, she got in as well.

The task assigned three days ago was already completed by Assistant Zhou today. It wasn’t difficult to investigate these matters.

This statement only held true in the context of the Tao Corporation.

Zhou Tong pulled out a stack of printed papers, complete with recent photos: “The information on all of the Nangong patriarch’s children is here. This section is for those aged fifteen to twenty-five, regardless of gender.”

Zhou Tong didn’t quite understand the purpose of this, but she was tasked with it, so she did it. Asking too many questions only led to trouble.

Moreover, Tao Yan hadn’t asked, so as an employee, she shouldn’t either.

“Let me see.” Tao Ning flipped through a few pages, her eyes starting to hurt. She closed them and put the documents back. “I memorized quite a few formulas today, could you read them to me?”

“Certainly.” Zhou Tong picked out the key points and read them aloud.

Name, gender, mother’s identity, and life experiences.

As she read, she thought: I heard Miss is interested in the favored Nangong Yunfei. Is she doing this investigation in advance to eliminate potential rivals?

However, Zhou Tong was mistaken, her guess completely off the mark.

“Pull out the files on these three people for me.” Tao Ning got out of the car and gave her three names.

Zhou Tong, who thought Tao Ning hadn’t been listening, realized she had been paying attention after all.

Finding the files on the three individuals, Zhou Tong briefly wondered if Tao Ning was planning something sinister. These three were all troublemakers who had narrowly avoided juvenile detention.

All three appeared ordinary on the surface but had various peculiar hobbies in private.

Especially the first one. In the photo, he looked refined and elegant, the quintessential white-shirt male god on campus. In private, however, he used his good looks to engage in promiscuity, tempting classmates into forbidden acts and then persuading them to have abortions, refusing to take responsibility and even spreading rumors to slander the girls.

No wonder Zhou Tong considered him a delinquent who had slipped through the net. He also had a habit of animal cruelty, which he had developed since childhood. His medical records were attached to the file.

Later, presumably to maintain a healthy image, his mother stopped taking him for treatment to avoid leaving any trace.

As for the other two, one was a seemingly good student who was secretly drowning in debt from gambling, the other plagiarized ideas and drove someone to suicide but remained unscathed.

However, they all had one thing in common: they appeared clean and respectable on the surface, even deserving of the title “young talent.”

Tao Ning looked through the photos, memorized their faces, and returned the files to Zhou Tong. After a moment of thought, she said, “These three are the key targets. Have someone approach them. When the time is right, leak the information that the Tao family is helping them. Not the gambler, he’d climb anything for a chance. The other two are harder to fool.”

Zhou Tong: “…?”

Tao Ning: “And they should all know about each other.”

Zhou Tong: “Four?”

Tao Ning looked at her as if asking What’s so surprising?: “We need to lay low initially. After we’ve built up our resources, add in Nangong Yunfei, and that makes four.”

“…” Zhou Tong suddenly realized something. As expected, she heard Tao Ning counting: “One Nangong, three others. Later, it will become four Nangongs. Time to play elimination.”

After figuring out the young miss’s plan, her worldview shattered.

Zhou Tong: “So your goal wasn’t to help…?”

“…” Tao Ning paused, wondering just how deeply rooted the idea of her liking Nangong Yunfei was, even her own employee thought so.

She clarified again: “No, what if I told you I want to bring down the Nangong family?”

Zhou Tong gasped audibly, her intake of breath loud, and blurted out, “But some of them seem smarter, more competitive.”

Tao Ning: “The Nangong family is about to fall, what would I do with well-behaved children?”

Zhou Tong’s brain short-circuited for a few seconds.

Tao Ning spread her hands, “Besides, those without weaknesses are unreliable. I believe the Nangong patriarch thinks the same. To be a worthy successor to the Nangong family business, one has to be ruthless.”

That… seemed correct.

To handle a business spanning both the legal and illegal worlds, one had to be ruthless. Zhou Tong finally understood why the Nangong family had first abandoned this group.

520, staring at the data page, asked: [Are you really a newbie?]

Why did the page show that Tasker Tao Ning was completely normal?

Tao Ning said, “Zero Zero, I am a newbie, but my IQ isn’t.”

[…] 520 was silent for a long moment, then said faintly, [I understand why it took you three years to pass the exam.]

Tao Ning’s problem-solving approach was basically the opposite of the exam questions. Perhaps she was aware of this, but she still insisted on answering this way.

It wasn’t that her answers were wrong, but they always left people feeling that she wasn’t wrong, but something felt off.

Oh my god, I’ve bound with a stubborn mule TAT.

Tao Ning said matter-of-factly: “Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad. A few years in jail is too lenient for them. It’s better to let them experience the taste of falling from grace.”

520 cried, covering its head: [Let time rewind, back to when I first met you. Back then, you hadn’t dropped your pretense QAQ]

Tao Ning ignored the system’s lament, convinced that this was the way to fulfill the original owner’s wish. She muttered softly, “I have to complete the task I was given. However, the Nangong family is a behemoth. Attacking from the outside won’t work for now. We have to start from the inside, sow discord, and then seize the opportunity.”

Zhou Tong didn’t hear her clearly and asked involuntarily, “What did you say?”

Tao Ning smiled at her, pointing towards the dining room, and said, “I said I’m hungry. Assistant Zhou, why don’t you stay for dinner?”


After dinner, Tao Ning went next door to Lü Xinxi’s house with her homework.

To complete the mission, she couldn’t favor one friend over another. Life had to be good, and friends had to improve too.

Tao Ning flipped through her book and said, “We’ll study quietly and amaze everyone.”

Jin Yue, who was in the middle of filming a makeup tutorial: “…”

Lü Xinxi, who was pondering what game to play tonight: “…”

Now they were all dragged into studying.

Lü Xinxi held a pen between her teeth: “So, why do I have to study too?”

Tao Ning wrote quickly: “Haven’t you always wanted a yacht? Show them your good grades and ask them to buy it, they’ll definitely agree.”

Lü Xinxi’s eyes lit up: “You’re right!”

Then, grabbing the less materialistic Jin Yue, Lü Xinxi smiled sweetly: “Yueyue, you won’t abandon us, right?”

Jin Yue: “…Uh, well.”

She couldn’t refuse, she really couldn’t.

So, tonight, the lights at the Lü residence stayed on until 12:30 am.

Although the effect was similar to “accompanying the prince in his studies,” the two girls went to bed unusually early, not needing to bother with concealer.

This continued for two days. During lunch, Lü Xinxi said, “This is the first time I’ve submitted all my homework since starting high school.”

Tao Ning was eating lunch in the private room: “How does it feel?”

Lü Xinxi pondered for a moment, then said, “A bit tiring, and a bit strange.”

“After the monthly exams, it’s National Day, right? Where are we going this time?” Jin Yue asked.

“A seven-day holiday…” Tao Ning thought of the “hero saves the beauty” plot point. She couldn’t leave the city, no matter what, lest the progress of breaking the fated connection reset to zero.

After lunch, as they went downstairs, Tao Ning saw Xu Qiuyi chatting and laughing with Doctor Liu.

The friendship line was successfully reconnected. Tao Ning had merely returned the opportunity; the rest depended on individual choices.

Always mindful of her mission, Tao Ning didn’t approach them but left with Jin Yue and Lü Xinxi.

Jin Yue looked at her arm and muttered, “We have PE this afternoon, not sure if it’s indoors or outdoors. I’ll apply sunscreen just in case.”

Tao Ning walked behind them. Unbeknownst to her, after she turned around, Xu Qiuyi, who was still chatting, turned her head and glanced at her.

The last class of the afternoon was PE. The students in Class A were playing tennis. Tao Ning used her lack of athleticism as an excuse to decline all invitations to play.

Many people believed this excuse. In their eyes, Tao Ning was indeed a lazy homebody.

The class was held indoors, but the venue was large enough to accommodate two classes simultaneously.

Tao Ning rested her chin on her hand, watching the two small figures in yellow and green play tennis, her eyes unfocused.

Back and forth, back and forth, she was getting sleepy again.

Might as well go find Xu Qiuyi and increase her presence.

However, Xu Qiuyi had been called away by the teacher shortly after class started, her excellent calligraphy skills once again needed for a calligraphy competition, this time in English.

Not wanting to stay there any longer, Tao Ning stood up, dusted herself off, picked up a tennis ball that had rolled to her feet, and tossed it idly. She decided to go to the changing room and take a nap on the bench.

Unnoticed in the corner, Tao Ning strolled over. However, someone was there before her, quietly opening a locker with Xu Qiuyi’s nameplate on it.

The lockers were shared, and students simply hung their nameplates on them during PE class to indicate they were in use. This made things convenient for those with ill intentions.

The locker door opened, and a faint scent of medicinal wine wafted out. It should have been a strong medicinal smell, but it carried a subtle fragrance from the owner’s clothes.

The girl inside pulled out a folded jacket: “What’s this smell? It stinks! So poor, she doesn’t even wash her uniform for days.”

When you disliked someone, even their breathing was wrong. Even a pleasant fragrance could smell like stinky tofu to a biased nose.

Pinching the collar between two fingers, she spread the uniform out, back facing up, a permanent marker poised to write. She had chosen this type specifically, the ink wouldn’t wash off.

Suddenly, a tennis ball flew over and knocked the marker out of her hand.

The solid tennis ball landed and rolled a few times. The girl, already feeling guilty, looked at the suddenly appearing tennis ball, startled and suspicious, and shouted, “Who’s there?!”

“I should be asking you that. These lockers are for the senior students, what are you, a junior, doing here?” Tao Ning emerged from behind the lockers and recognized the girl as a sophomore.

“Tao Ning?” Seeing who it was, the girl calmed down, rubbing her wrist and complaining, “I thought it was someone else, it’s you.”

Tao Ning looked at her strangely, thinking she might be someone she had forgotten. But no matter how she looked, she couldn’t find a matching person in her memory.

The junior picked up the marker: “Why are you back… Oh, I get it, you also want to vandalize Xu Qiuyi’s uniform, right?”

Tao Ning: “…?” Don’t look so smug, I don’t know you.

The school uniforms were expensive, custom-made. Xu Qiuyi had deliberately given larger measurements in her first year, so she had been wearing the same uniform for three years.

But since the girl had already said so, Tao Ning played along: “Yeah.”

The junior pulled out another marker from her pocket: “Here’s one for you, let’s do it together.”

Tao Ning took the marker, then said, “No, I want to do it myself.”

“You’re so bossy, just like the rumors say.” The junior was happy to shift the blame. She smoothed out the uniform. “Go ahead, what do you want to write? ‘Bitch,’ or ‘slut’?”

Tao Ning looked at her. The junior looked back, her expression innocent yet cruel: “Why are you looking at me? I know you also hate Xu Qiuyi because of Nangong-gege. And you sneaking around here, isn’t it for this?”

“You know Nangong Yunfei?” Tao Ning asked.

The junior’s voice rose: “Of course I do! I was at the banquet the other night, he’s so handsome.”

Tao Ning gave a soft “oh”: “I see.” Then she picked up the jacket and draped it over her arm.

“What are you doing? Weren’t you going to vandalize her uniform?”

The junior was getting anxious seeing Tao Ning motionless. Who knew when other students would arrive? She tried to snatch the jacket back but couldn’t, feeling both angry and anxious. She lowered her voice and asked, “What do you mean?”

Tao Ning looked indifferent: “Can’t you see? I’m being a good Samaritan, stopping a bad student from vandalizing a classmate’s uniform.”

The junior pointed at herself, incredulous: “You’re calling me bad? It’s just a warning, I didn’t even have someone go warn her directly.”

Tao Ning: “Am I the bad one then?”

“…You…” The junior was almost speechless. She tried to grab the jacket but couldn’t, and said angrily, “Do you know what I heard Nangong-gege say that night? He said…”

Tao Ning’s voice was flat: “Not interested. I even hit Nangong Yunfei. Haven’t you noticed he hasn’t been to class lately?”

In the little fan girl’s mind, her gege was invincible and would never be beaten up, only he would be the one doing the hitting.

The junior immediately exclaimed, “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Tao Ning: “Then what nonsense are you trying to tell me?”

Footsteps approached, and a voice said, “Who’s still lingering in the changing room during class?”

Seeing someone enter, the junior panicked and spoke first: “Teacher, Tao Ning was trying to vandalize Xu Qiuyi’s uniform, and I caught her!”

She pointed at Tao Ning’s hand holding the marker: “Xu Qiuyi, look! She even has your uniform and a marker!”

The first accusation didn’t faze Tao Ning, but the second made her turn around.

Xu Qiuyi, who had been called away by the teacher, had returned at this very moment and was standing there with the teacher, looking towards them.

Tao Ning: “…” Oh crap.

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