Rebirth: Daily Face Slaps - Chapter 103

“It seems there’s definitely something off about Lin Mengting.”

Even though he had only spoken to Lin Mengting once over the phone and hadn’t met her in person, Zheng Gang felt that she was vastly different from the Lin Mengting he remembered from his previous life.

Even if there was such a thing as the “butterfly effect,” Lin Mengting’s transformation couldn’t be simply explained by that.

So, what exactly caused this change?

…

After a long silence, Zheng Gang sighed and tentatively said, “Is it possible that Lin Mengting is also like us?”

“How could that be?!” Xu Meili replied without thinking. Did he think that being reborn was as common as picking up cabbages in a field?

Zheng Gang shook his head and slowly said, “Logically, she should still be working at that struggling base, living a precarious life exposed to the elements. It’s only in February next year that she joins Wanda Company and becomes our colleague. After that, she meets the low-profile son of a high-ranking official from G Province who is interning at our company. They fall in love and get married three years later, propelling her into a luxurious life…”

Xu Meili’s eyes narrowed, hiding her surprise and understanding behind her long lashes.

So, Zheng Gang’s so-called “love” was actually just “utilization.”

Should she feel sorry for herself for once loving such a “profit-driven” person, or should she pity Lin Mengting, the poor girl about to fall into Zheng Gang’s “love trap”?

“I remember when we received Lin Mengting’s wedding invitation, everyone congratulated her on marrying into wealth, but many secretly speculated that she was just a sparrow who’d become a phoenix, and could be knocked back down at any moment.”

Xu Meili stirred her drink slowly, avoiding Zheng Gang’s incredulous gaze. She smirked inwardly but didn’t show it. “But after talking to Manager Ding at the conference, I realized that Lin Mengting’s marriage was actually a well-matched alliance.”

“What do you mean?” Zheng Gang didn’t catch the oddity in Xu Meili’s actions but frowned deeply, his mind racing with speculations.

Though his suspicious expression lasted only a moment, it still made Xu Meili’s heart turn cold. She resolved to keep their partnership purely professional and never trust him fully.

The most important thing was to be cautious and, if possible, gather leverage against Zheng Gang to protect herself if he turned against her after leveraging Lin Mengting’s luck to become incredibly successful.

“I heard that Lin Mengting is currently staying with her uncle. Her uncle is the Deputy Minister of Finance in S City, and her aunt is the Deputy Director of the Tax Bureau.” So, marrying the son of a high-ranking official from G Province was perfectly normal.

“Is that so?” Zheng Gang was very puzzled. “If that’s true, why did she hide this in the past life, not revealing it to anyone, even her close friends?”

If he had such connections, he would subtly leverage them to make his work and life smoother. Wouldn’t that be a win-win?

“Who knows?!” Xu Meili laughed softly. “Maybe it’s just how their family operates, like that low-profile official’s son who interned at our company.”

Zheng Gang nodded but didn’t speak further, though his flickering gaze and repeatedly clenched and unclenched fists indicated his turmoil.

Xu Meili watched this with a mocking smile, feeling an intense disdain for men like him.

No matter how deeply they professed their love, when you stripped away the façade, they were often selfish and dirty inside.

Why had she ever fallen for someone like him? It must have been her hormones at work!

Luckily, although she still felt complex emotions seeing him now, she had moved on from her painful one-sided love.

…

“Teaching a class?!” Despite having gone through two lifetimes and having a steady heart, Lin Mengting was still shocked and instinctively cried out when Professor Yu told her the news.

“What’s all this fuss about?” Professor Yu scolded. If she were in front of him, he’d have surely knocked some sense into her.

“As my student, what’s there to be surprised about in teaching a class? Oh, and copy the books I gave you three times and bring them to me.”

Copy books? Copy books!

This is the modern era. Who still uses this kind of “punishment” for students?

But Professor Yu was an “old-school” type who wouldn’t tolerate anyone challenging his authority. Moreover, Lin Mengting, who always respected “big shots,” could only scratch her head and pull a face, not daring to argue, lest Professor Yu increased the punishment to copying the books five times.

At least he didn’t insist on her using a brush pen, or she might have felt like smashing her head against a wall.

Consoling herself with that thought, Lin Mengting sighed and said, “Teacher, you haven’t forgotten that I didn’t graduate from an official art school, right?”

Having a non-professional teach a class – wouldn’t she get chased out? Even if the students were little kids!

“Aren’t you a member of the G Province Painting and Calligraphy Association?” Professor Yu narrowed his eyes. “You’re just teaching beginners. You don’t need to act like you’re instructing university students. What’s there to panic about?”

“Teacher, don’t you think I might ruin these kids?” Lin Mengting said helplessly, wondering who gave Professor Yu such a terrible idea.

Even though being reborn had given her the chance to join the G Province Painting and Calligraphy Association early, earning the admiration and mentorship of many seniors, it didn’t mean she, a self-taught artist, could teach kids properly!

Especially kids in a youth center training class!