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Join the Server“Step two: Identity. Your ‘Vocational Institute’ is a cultivation system I’ve never heard of; it must be some obscure, wild path of a wandering rogue cultivator. Even if it’s powerful for now, its ceiling can’t be very high. Therefore, in our alliance, I shall be the leader, and you the deputy.”
“Step three: Exchange of interests. To put it bluntly: what can I get from you, and what assistance can you provide me?”
Having finished, she leaned back against the chair, crossed her arms, and watched Jiang Xiaoyu with a playful smile. “Begin.”
The paper doll nodded at these words and turned to face Jiang Xiaoyu. Its posture mirrored Dongfang Yueli’s exactly—arms crossed, chin tilted slightly up—a perfect miniature supervisor.
Jiang Xiaoyu was dumbfounded, his finger pointing at Dongfang Yueli, stuttering “You, you, you” for a long time.
Dongfang Yueli pursed her lips and scoffed, “Little simpleton. I suppose you don’t even know what you want. Fine, I’ll ask first as a gesture of good faith. Since you’ve moved into 1314, have you seen Wanxing?”
Jiang Xiaoyu turned red with anger. What three-step alliance? This was more like a three-step Dongfang special! Her so-called covenant didn’t consider his rights even for a second.
“This isn’t an alliance treaty; this is an outright bully’s contract! I don’t agree!”
Dongfang Yueli gave a soft “Oh,” brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, and looked up with a smile. “Speak slowly. A grown man acting so hot-headed just makes himself a laughingstock.”
The paper doll tilted its head and mimicked a gesture of covering its mouth to giggle.
The tone was exactly like his mother, Wang Xiulan’s. He wondered if being condescending was a mandatory skill for women, but the effect was immediate. Jiang Xiaoyu wilted on the spot, stammering in his defense: “This matter… in any case… if it’s not made clear, I… refuse to answer all your questions! You… you… you’re guilty of domestic bullying!”
The paper doll furrowed its brows and pondered, stroking its chin for a moment. It seemed to have come around to the idea that Dongfang Yueli’s alliance plan really was a bully’s contract.
Realizing this, it immediately switched sides, pointing at Dongfang Yueli and hopping up and down in protest.
Dongfang Yueli sneered with disdain: “Firstly, I, a Goddess, cannot defeat you, a Vocational Institute student. You are strong; I am weak. By confirming the safety of the weak, the alliance can establish trust. Tell me, is there a problem with this logic?”
The doll stopped hopping. It stroked its chin, thought hard, and nodded vigorously. Clearly, it identified with Dongfang Yueli’s logic.
Jiang Xiaoyu was completely baffled. What kind of logic was this? They hadn’t even fought, so how could she determine who couldn’t beat whom? And to think the Inquiry Spirit would confirm it as the truth—what… what was going on here?
He scratched his head, and suddenly, a flash of insight struck.
“Oh? Could it be that Dongfang Yueli is a Goddess who specializes in rituals and is essentially a mortal? In other words, a Goddess who didn’t earn her rank, and I, relying on a man’s slightly greater physical strength, could suppress her?”
“So that’s it. If that’s the case, I won’t hold a grudge. Wang Xiulan often says: boys should take care of girls when they’re out. Based on that view, there’s nothing wrong with her approach.”
Having figured this out, Jiang Xiaoyu began squeezing his right bicep while nodding cheerfully. “That part is no problem. Don’t you worry, Yueli. I, Jiang Xiaoyu, am a gentleman; I would never use my superior strength to bully you. If anything, you’re the one with a few too many schemes up your sleeve—just don’t bully me.”
The paper doll nodded vigorously, clearly agreeing with Jiang Xiaoyu. It pointed at Dongfang Yueli’s head with one hand and then its own with the other, sighing continuously.
“Right? You think she’s scheming too, right? Oh, little paper girl, our lives are so miserable—Oh Heavens, please open your eyes and look at Dongfang Yueli! She has so many schemes…”
Dongfang Yueli was incensed and slammed the table: “Shut up! You two are such drama queens!”
Jiang Xiaoyu was startled into silence.
The doll leaped three feet high, pointing at Dongfang Yueli in protest.
Dongfang Yueli snatched the doll into her palm. Her expression remained sweet as she lowered her voice with a giggle: “Don’t forget who cut you so beautifully. Remember who dug the well when you drink the water, or next time I’ll cut you into an ugly monster!”
After that, she placed the doll back on the table, patted its head gently, and smiled. “There, that’s better.”
The doll nodded obediently at Dongfang Yueli, its two paper hands folded neatly in front of it.
Jiang Xiaoyu, unable to see clearly, thought Dongfang Yueli was threatening the spirit and barked: “Dongfang Yueli, what are you doing? Intimidating a child?”
Dongfang Yueli scoffed: “Nonsense! The hairpin on its head was crooked, so I was kind enough to fix it, and to you, that’s bullying? Hmph…”
“Oh, I see… my mistake, hehe… I can’t see very well.”
“Blind fool!”
With that, Dongfang Yueli clapped her hands in satisfaction, crossed her arms, and leaned back against her chair. “Secondly, there is the disparity in our status. Tell me, since I said I am a Goddess, didn’t your first impression lead you to believe I was incredibly powerful?”
The paper doll pivoted, pointing a tiny finger at Jiang Xiaoyu, as if interrogating him with the same question.
Jiang Xiaoyu looked utterly bewildered: “Nonsense! Who doesn’t know what a ‘god’ is? The moment you mention a goddess, all I picture is a descended immortal traversing heaven and earth. Putting any word after ‘god’ makes it sound formidable—what does that have to do with the leadership of our alliance?”
Dongfang Yueli abruptly pushed herself off the back of her chair, planting both hands on the table, bringing her face close to Jiang Xiaoyu’s, staring unblinkingly into his eyes. The move was so sudden that even the paper doll scrambled to jump aside, fleeing the epicenter of their locked gazes.
Dongfang Yueli’s voice rang out across the razor-thin distance between them: “Since you understand that, why won’t you obey properly? Must this young lady waste her breath on you? Are we supposed to declare to the outside world that our alliance belongs to the ‘Vocational College’ lineage? Who on earth knows what kind of Daoist sect a ‘Vocational College’ is! Even if you’re powerful, what use is that? As the saying goes: He who finds the Dao gains abundant support, while he who loses it finds little. Do you understand that or not?”
As the words fell, she smiled, crossed her arms, and settled leisurely back into her chair.
She was in no rush; she was waiting for Jiang Xiaoyu to throw his own lines into disarray and obediently become her little follower—after all, she knew better than anyone just how terrifying someone completely immune to Daoist arts truly was.
A talent like this is someone I, Dongfang Yueli, must secure.
The paper doll seemed to grasp Dongfang Yueli’s intention, leaping right into the center of the table with one hand on its hip and the other pointing at Jiang Xiaoyu, blatantly backing up Dongfang Yueli’s pressure tactics.
Hearing the words “Vocational College,” Jiang Xiaoyu instantly felt guilty. Did it even need to be said? Their statuses couldn’t just be called mismatched; they were worlds apart. If he could cling to the golden thigh of a goddess wife, what more could he ask for?
With that thought, he softened immediately: “Fine, fine, fine, I’ll follow your arrangements. But let’s get one thing straight beforehand—it’s not that my Vocational College falls short of your Goddess status, but rather that as your husband, it’s only right for me to indulge and support you. Don’t take it the wrong way and waste all my sincerity.”
Hearing this, the paper doll spun around, clapping its paper hands toward Dongfang Yueli while hopping up and down. The movement was less about agreeing and more about egging them on.
Dongfang Yueli’s smile widened. She stood up lazily, took a long stretch, and then suddenly leaned down, bringing her face right up to Jiang Xiaoyu’s.
Jiang Xiaoyu felt his skin crawl under her gaze, and just as he was about to ask what she wanted, she barked at the top of her lungs.
“Answer me!”
The paper doll was so startled it collapsed onto the table on its backside.
Jiang Xiaoyu leaped straight out of his chair in terror, his mind flooded entirely with that soul-searching meme: Answer me! Look into my eyes!
The adventure continues! If you loved this chapter, The Fake Young Master Only Wants to Study After Rebirth is a must-read. Click here to start!
Read : The Fake Young Master Only Wants to Study After Rebirth
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