A Chan – CH 026

Chapter 26: Unruly Girl (2)

Zhang Jingchan watched Li Yunmo happily take a taxi away. He got into the driver’s seat, and Li Weiyi handed him the phone and SIM card. While installing the SIM card, Zhang Jingchan asked, “Sister-in-law?”

Li Weiyi: “Uh… a temporary measure, a temporary measure. Otherwise, what excuse would I have to come looking for you, a high school student?”

“Anyway, eight years ago and eight years later, you’ve always used the same trick.” Zhang Jingchan started the car.

“It works great,” Li Weiyi said matter-of-factly. “Otherwise, the two of us would be completely unconnected.”

Zhang Jingchan glanced at her but didn’t speak.

However, Li Weiyi was still very happy that Zhang Jingchan had come along; she was no longer alone and helpless. But thinking of what happened before she transmigrated, Li Weiyi’s heart sank. She said, “When we were in 2022… was it a traffic accident?”

“Yes.”

“Was it aimed at us?”

“Probably not.”

“Then… are we still alive in 2022?”

Zhang Jingchan gripped the steering wheel, looking straight ahead, and answered, “We’ll know the answer in three days.”

“That’s right! Since we are here, let’s make the best of it. Mr. Zhang, let’s go!”

Li Weiyi’s stomach suddenly growled twice clearly. She awkwardly touched her stomach and said, “It’s okay, I’m not very hungry. Let’s get down to business.”

Zhang Jingchan looked down and saw the light pink watch on his slender wrist. He frowned slightly, thinking that he should have made her buy a men’s watch earlier. It was already 12:30. He pulled over in front of a restaurant: “Let’s eat first; we can discuss it while we eat.”

The two entered the restaurant. Zhang Jingchan, wearing his high school uniform, strode ahead, while the 1.8-meter-tall Li Weiyi followed with light, quick steps.

A waiter approached. Zhang Jingchan said succinctly, “A private room, something quiet.”

The waiter: “…Okay, miss, how many people?”

“Two.” Zhang Jingchan gestured with his chin towards Li Weiyi behind him.

Li Weiyi instinctively gave them a bright smile, and the young waiter blushed instantly. Zhang Jingchan was also slightly taken aback.

The two sat down in the private room. Zhang Jingchan handed the menu to Li Weiyi. Li Weiyi said, “You order; I’m easygoing.” Zhang Jingchan didn’t refuse, and after asking Li Weiyi if she had any dietary restrictions, quickly ordered three dishes and a soup.

Li Weiyi could now properly observe him.

It was a truly magical feeling. They looked exactly alike, yet “her” demeanor and temperament were worlds apart.

“She” leaned back in the chair, relaxed, and spoke slowly and deliberately, with a voice low and indescribably captivating. After ordering, “she” closed the menu, tossed it lightly on the corner of the table, and placed “her” hand back on the table.

Then Zhang Jingchan looked up at her, his gaze clear and sharp.

Li Weiyi, who had been secretly watching and drinking water, almost choked, and her face flushed slightly.

Zhang Jingchan finally frowned, his delicate, dark eyebrows furrowing. “Could you…” he said.

Li Weiyi, still biting the rim of her cup, stared blankly at him, mumbling, “Hmm?”

Zhang Jingchan paused, turned his head away, smiled, and sighed, saying, “Never mind, it’s alright.”

Li Weiyi asked, “Oh, so where do we begin?”

“Let’s deal with your family’s affairs first.”

Li Weiyi hadn’t expected that they might only have three days; both families were facing life-or-death situations. Yet he didn’t hesitate to let her go first.

Li Weiyi immediately returned the favor: “I called your dad as soon as I woke up this morning, but he didn’t answer. Your mom said he’s on a business trip in Shanghai.”

Zhang Jingchan nodded: “Thank you for your thoughtfulness. Give me your phone.”

Li Weiyi handed him her phone, which he picked up and fiddled with, saying, “Tell me about your sister’s situation.”

Li Weiyi briefly explained.

Zhang Jingchan put down his phone: “What are your plans?”

Li Weiyi stared at him, her eyes sparkling: “I tried to persuade her last time, but it didn’t work. Now that you’re here, she should listen to her own sister; after all, she loves me the most.”

Zhang Jingchan ladled out a bowl of soup, sipping it slowly, and said, “This ‘Zhang Jingchan’ who popped up out of nowhere went to persuade her to break up with her boyfriend; of course, she wouldn’t listen.”

Li Weiyi: “Then you’re wrong. I won over their whole family back then.”

Zhang Jingchan looked up. Perhaps because she was in front of him, she didn’t need to pretend to be a boy, so she straightened her back, raised her chin, closed her legs, and placed her fists on her lap. Even though she was smug, her posture still exuded obedience. Zhang Jingchan could easily imagine what kind of posture she had used with her 1.8-meter frame to win over the Li family.

Zhang Jingchan felt a rare sense of defeat and humiliation. However, when he recalled waking up at school, needing to use the restroom, and being confronted by the faces of boys who were either surprised, shy, or excited, his mood turned to silence.

Li Weiyi was stunned: the girl before her seemed to have grown increasingly powerful and natural in “her” aura over time.

“She” held the bowl in one hand, “her” slender, pale fingers lightly tapping the rim as “she” drank “her” soup. “Her” lowered eyes and tightly pursed lips exuded a cold, unapproachable aura. Li Weiyi had never imagined that her round face, small arms, and legs could be so cool, instead of always being seen as “hahaha” by her classmates and friends.

Zhang Jingchan noticed her gaze: “What’s wrong?”

Li Weiyi’s pretty face flushed slightly as she sincerely praised, “I was just about to say it; you look…indescribably beautiful.”

Zhang Jingchan: “…”

“Enough, let’s get down to business!” He interrupted her rambling thoughts. “What’s your parents’ attitude towards Zhou Zhihao?”

Li Weiyi’s expression darkened: “They strongly agree.”

“Then I’m afraid it’ll be difficult. You’re a high school student now. What’s your stance and reason for asking your sister to break up with her boyfriend? How much weight can a minor’s words carry in a law-abiding family?”

Li Weiyi’s eyebrows lowered; it was highly probable that her parents would constrain her. “Then we’ll have to use some extreme measures!” she said, raising her head as if making up her mind, slamming her fist on the table, and leaning forward toward him. Her eyes were stunning and bright.

She did look a bit like him, and her words even had a touch of masculinity, Zhang Jingchan thought.

Li Weiyi told Zhang Jingchan about Zhong Yi, the retired soldier, and then said, “I think my sister always had feelings for him, and he probably did too. It’s just that they weren’t meant to be. If Zhong Yi is willing, maybe he can win my sister over.”

Zhang Jingchan hadn’t expected Li Weiyi’s seemingly ruthless and unconventional methods—it was all about poaching someone else’s girlfriend… He clearly sensed the vast difference between men’s and women’s ways of thinking. He said, “Even if we can convince Zhong Yi to pursue her, there are too many variables if we can only stay for three days.”

Li Weiyi frowned. “Then what should we do? There’s so little we can do in three days.”

Zhang Jingchan, dressed in his full high school blue and white uniform and white sneakers, crossed his arms, leaned back, crossed his legs, and gazed out the window for a moment, then said, “Then let’s cut off their supply lines and prevent Zhou Zhihao from pursuing your sister.”

“What do you mean?”

“No big moves, and nothing particularly honorable. The Zhou family’s main assets are three storefronts and two shops. You, in my capacity, give a few instructions to have someone investigate their family for any shady dealings or set a trap to bankrupt their businesses, leaving them insolvent. Even if we go back, our subordinates will handle it. Without his family, Zhou Zhihao is just a hoodlum. What will he use to pursue your sister then?”

Li Weiyi’s eyes lit up. Zhou Zhihao had been abusing his sister, using all sorts of methods to humiliate her, leaving her barely recognizable as a human being. He had even abused Niu Niu. His parents were accomplices; his mother had also physically assaulted her sister, frequently verbally abusing her. The whole family engaged in psychological manipulation. Li Weiyi was well aware of all this, and she felt a sense of satisfaction upon hearing Zhang Jingchan’s idea.

However, she still said, “Isn’t that a bit too harsh?”

Zhang Jingchan’s delicate face with cherry lips slightly upturned, “her” eyes cold: “Just normal business tactics, using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”

Li Weiyi thought he… no, she herself was incredibly handsome at that moment and eagerly refilled his teacup, saying, “President Zhang is so domineering! Why not have someone carry out economic sanctions while persuading Zhong Yi to pursue my sister, giving us double insurance!”

Zhang Jingchan looked at her beaming, fawning expression and chuckled: “Alright, that’s what you call harsh.”

T/N: Just to be clear with the pronouns, I’m keeping ZJC-in-Weiyi as he/him and LWY-in-Jingchan as she/her. You’ll need to mentally take note of when they are body-swapped. But in reference to others like Weiyi’s sister or Jingchan’s father, I will retain her sister and his father.

Please forgive any inconsistencies along the way. It’s a bit tricky with body swap stories.