“Ji Rou, I don’t care what you did to wrong Shen Xingbai before, but from now on, I won’t let you get involved with those rich playboys anymore.”
“I understand…” Ji Rou replied timidly.
In any case, she had no intention of associating with them again—she wasn’t that materialistic anymore.
“And also, you really need to find a job.”
Before, Xu Qingmei thought Ji Rou had a “brother” supporting her, so she never worried about her finances. But now that she knew that “brother” wasn’t real, she was determined not to let Ji Rou spend Shen Xingbai’s money anymore.
If Shen Xingbai ever found out about all the foolish things Ji Rou had done at school, it would surely end in a huge fight—and likely a breakup. Without any financial support, how would she survive? The thought made Xu Qingmei deeply anxious.
What she didn’t know was that Shen Xingbai had already learned everything—and was currently thinking about how to get back at Ji Rou.
“Ji Rou, you’re beautiful. There’s a selection contest happening right now, and the top winners get a pretty generous prize. I believe you can win first place.”
“I—I can’t do that!”
Ji Rou immediately refused. She was just an ordinary office worker in her past life—how could she handle something like this?
Xu Qingmei grabbed her shoulders and said firmly, “Rou Rou, you have to believe in yourself. You don’t need to do anything special. Just stand on stage, and all eyes will naturally be drawn to you.”
Ji Rou felt a surge of embarrassment. She didn’t even realize she was that attractive!
But… this was a fast way to earn money.
She hesitated for a moment, but when she thought about her empty pockets, her wavering expression turned resolute.
“Qingmei, you’re right. For the money—no, I mean, to live up to your expectations—I’m definitely joining this selection contest.”
Xu Qingmei looked at her with relief. This girl had finally grown up.
Ji Rou gave an awkward smile. In her previous life, she had actually been older than Xu Qingmei. Now being treated like a younger sister made her feel nothing but awkward.
This was all the original owner’s fault, Ji Rou grumbled inwardly.
Returning to her bed, Ji Rou glanced at her locker, and suddenly an idea struck her.
How could she forget? The original Ji Rou, in her attempt to break into high society, had pretended to be a wealthy heiress and used Shen Xingbai’s money to buy a large number of luxury goods.
She could sell those items—wouldn’t that solve her money problem?
Ji Rou didn’t care whether these things originally belonged to someone else. Since she had taken over this body, everything now belonged to her.
Without hesitation, she opened the locker and began rummaging through it.
Tsk, tsk.
She didn’t have much savings, but she sure had a lot of luxury goods. Had she really been living entirely off Shen Xingbai’s money?
No wonder the original Ji Rou dumped him the moment she heard he was disabled and couldn’t earn anymore.
But now that she had become the original owner, not only could she not leave him, she even had to try to please him. The thought alone felt miserable.
Thinking about her future being completely controlled, Ji Rou made a bitter face.
Life might be harsh, but it had to go on. She carefully took photos of each luxury item and listed them all on a secondhand website for sale.
After finishing that, Ji Rou began researching the “selection contest” Xu Qingmei mentioned.
The contest was organized by an entertainment company, aiming to discover promising talent from the public.
She vaguely remembered that the female lead had also participated in this competition—and had won first place.
One would assume the winner must be breathtakingly beautiful, but this competition was always full of surprises. The female lead wasn’t the most striking in appearance. Instead, she had a gentle, delicate charm—the kind of soft, innocent beauty—completely different from Ji Rou’s more bold and glamorous looks.
Maybe most male leads in novels just preferred that type.
Ji Rou didn’t expect to win first place, but she was confident she could at least make it into the top seven. Otherwise, entering the competition would be pointless—only the top seven received prize money.