Chapter Sixteen: Career Planning

“So, my sister joined the club later, became the center of attention, and was practically worshipped by the others. Naturally, not everyone was thrilled about it. After all, she stole their spotlight, so someone was bound to have it in for her.

Recently, my sister was in a pretty bad mood for a while. She said someone was spreading nasty rumors about her online, slandering her with harsh words. She suspects it was someone from the cosplay club who doesn’t get along with her, but she couldn’t find any proof, so she was upset for quite a while,” Yu Mengpeng explained.

“Do you know who in her club actually has issues with her?” came the next question.

Yu Mengpeng shook her head with an expression of helplessness. “I don’t know. I asked my sister, but she got annoyed and said telling me wouldn’t help anything. I’m not part of her circle, so even if she told me, I couldn’t solve anything—just gossip around! I really don’t know how much this has affected her. You can never figure out what she’s thinking; she never confides in anyone. If you ask me about any odd behavior lately, this is all I can recall.”

“Does Wang Yuluo have a habit of going to nightclubs?” Since Yu Mengpeng didn’t know about the previous matter, Ning Shuyi switched to another line of inquiry.

Yu Mengpeng was quite certain about this one and immediately shook her head. “She’s been to nightclubs, but it’s not her thing. Once, an old classmate insisted on inviting her, and she couldn’t find a polite way to refuse, so she took me along as her companion. We stayed for barely an hour before heading home. The place was noisy and lively, but my sister doesn’t like loud environments. After that, I never went with her again. I think her old classmate invited her out a few more times, but she probably never stayed long. If she ever came home very late from drinking at a nightclub, my mom would definitely know! Don’t be fooled by my sister locking her door upstairs and not letting Mom in, or telling her nothing—my mom is sharp! My uncle’s family might not know all their neighbors, but my mom knows everyone! If my sister comes home late at night, the old lady downstairs will mention it to my mom the next day!”

Wang Yuluo’s aunt’s “neighborhood information network” didn’t surprise anyone; Ning Shuyi listened calmly, since her own mother had similar abilities.

A person who isn’t fond of nightclubs, yet repeatedly gets dragged there by an old classmate—this struck Ning Shuyi as curious. But another person mentioned piqued her interest even more.

“Your sister’s old classmate must be close to her, right? Otherwise, how could she have such influence?” Ning Shuyi asked Yu Mengpeng.

“I don’t know. I only went with my sister that one time—the first time her classmate invited her out. It didn’t seem like my sister and that girl were especially close; it was the girl who was very enthusiastic, almost ingratiating, flattering my sister and treating her like royalty. Afterward, my sister went out with her a few more times, but I didn’t go, so I don’t know how they actually get along. Oh, I remember my sister called her ‘Wenwen.’ She’s not tall, quite slim, and has a pretty face, though it doesn’t look very natural—seems she’s had some work done. She calls my sister ‘Xiao Ye.’ I guess they were classmates when my sister was little, maybe in middle school. If you want to find out more, you could ask around among her middle school friends—someone might know.”

Ning Shuyi recalled that when she checked Wang Yuluo’s personal information, the system did note a former name: “Wang Ye.” The timing of the name change suggested it happened during middle school.

“If it was a classmate from high school or later, nobody would know my sister used to be called Wang Ye instead of Wang Yuluo,” Yu Mengpeng continued. “When she was in middle school, my uncle was busy and my mom attended all her parent meetings. People started saying she was a wild child with no one looking after her, and deliberately wrote her name as ‘Wang Wild.’ My sister came home crying and making a scene, didn’t even want to go to school anymore. My uncle heard that changing her name after the high school entrance exam would complicate things like the college entrance exam later, so he found someone to make the change while it was still possible. After she changed her name, she wouldn’t let the family call her ‘Xiao Ye’ anymore—everyone had to call her Yuluo. By high school, nobody knew her old name!”

“Your thinking is very clear, and your logic is excellent!” Ning Shuyi praised her with a smile after listening, “Talking with you saves us a lot of work.”

Faced with the compliment, Yu Mengpeng only gave a bitter smile, her eyes flickering with complex emotion. She tossed the straw she’d been stirring with into her cup, shook her head, and sighed.

“Even strangers can see my strengths, but my mother can’t!” It seemed she’d been holding back a lot, and being praised by a stranger suddenly sparked her pent-up feelings. “If she could just see me in a better light, maybe she wouldn’t have forbidden me from even attempting to take the graduate school exam!”

“Is your mother opposed because you want to study an unpopular major?” Yu Mengpeng had already complained about this several times, and Ning Shuyi was genuinely curious. For most parents, a child’s enthusiasm for pursuing a higher degree is a good thing; even if they aren’t overjoyed, they usually don’t strongly object—unless the chosen field seems too obscure, with poor job prospects, and thus ‘not worth the investment.’

“I want to switch fields and study law!” As Yu Mengpeng spoke, her eyes brightened. “I’ve always been timid and faint at the sight of blood, so I can’t study medicine. Being a teacher is too dull for me—I don’t like it, so law is all that’s left!”

Her reasoning left Ning Shuyi a bit confused. “There are so many majors you could study—just because you can’t do medicine or don’t want to teach, why must you study law?”

“Because I think, for a girl, the most respectable professions are doctor, teacher, or lawyer. All are admired and bring prestige! The first two either I can’t do or don’t like, so naturally, law is my only choice! I’d already decided to switch fields for law in grad school, then take the certification exam after graduation, and become a lawyer—it would be so impressive!”