"Excellent!" A deep, hearty middle-aged male voice rang out, as a man walked over toward Mu Yue with a broad grin. "You handle that sword remarkably well, young lady. May I ask what this sword technique of yours is called?"
Mu Yue had already sheathed her sword. The newcomer was dressed in a martial arts training uniform, and his facial features bore an obvious familial resemblance to Wen Yuanting — there was little doubt he was Wen Yuanting's father.
"Hello, uncle," Mu Yue greeted him politely first, before continuing, "This sword technique is called *Floating Light, Skimming Shadow*."
This set of swordsmanship focuses on using softness to overcome brute force, making it ideal for women or men who do not possess overwhelming physical strength. After sparring with Wen Yuanting just now, Mu Yue had already gotten a taste of how this technique differed from others.
Or rather, how the sword technique she had exchanged for from the system mall was different from modern sword arts. Most modern sword routines have been modified over time, designed primarily for fitness and a degree of visual appeal — they were never meant to be used to kill.
But the one Mu Yue bought from the mall was nothing like that. It was a genuine ancient martial arts inheritance, packed with lethal moves. The few forms Mu Yue had used earlier were the mildest ones in the entire set; every other move after that was more vicious than the last, completely at odds with the gentle, ethereal-sounding name "Floating Light, Skimming Shadow."
"What a wonderful name!" the gym owner praised, clapping a heavy hand on Wen Yuanting's shoulder with a faintly teasing, exasperated look. "You still have a long way to go, kid!"
Wen Yuanting was still dazed when his father's pat knocked him off balance. He stumbled two steps forward, closing the gap between himself and Mu Yue once more. He looked up at her, his ears burning bright red, and mumbled a distracted "Mm-hmm" in response.
The gym owner, amused by his son's flustered, foolish look, fought to keep a straight face and asked, "Yanting, aren't you going to introduce us?"
Mu Yue tilted her head and looked over at him with crinkled, smiling eyes. It was then that Wen Yuanting finally remembered to make the proper introductions for everyone present. The second he finished, he blurted out that he was going to get Mu Yue a drink and hurried off.
"Tsk tsk tsk, you are so gone, bro," Gu Zhiyou handed him a bottle of water from behind the front counter, her face full of the same teasing grins everyone else in the gym was wearing.
"Don't talk nonsense!" Wen Yuanting didn't take the water, and nudged his sister to swap it out. "Change this one, she doesn't like bitter drinks. Grab the grapefruit tea instead."
"Ooh~" Gu Zhiyou made a playful exaggerated face as she swapped the drink. "You even know exactly what she likes and doesn't like, huh?"
"Not worth arguing with you over," Wen Yuanting said. The truth was, he had deliberately noted down her preferences. He thought to himself that since Mu Yue had helped him out so many times, the least he could do was pay attention to these little details to make sure she was comfortable — he couldn't repay her for the big favors, after all. He grabbed the grapefruit tea and headed back to the training floor. By then, Mu Yue had already started sparring with his other junior fellow apprentices, her moves far sharper than they had been earlier. None of the boys could last more than a few rounds against her.
She seemed to know everything, to excel at everything. Right then, she naturally drew every eye in the room to her, bright and dazzling.
Wen Yuanting pressed a hand to his chest to steady his racing heart, took a few slow breaths to calm himself, then walked over to her. He unscrewed the bottle cap and handed the drink to Mu Yue. This little act of service was not new between them, so Mu Yue took it naturally and took a couple of sips.
Mu Yue didn't stay at the gym for much longer. Mid-afternoon, she got a call from Wen Xue, who was inviting her out to dinner again. It was obvious Wen Xue had a lot more free time these days. Mu Yue changed out of her training clothes and headed out to meet her. Before dinner, Wen Xue invited her over to hang out at her place first. She promised Mu Yue no man had ever stepped foot in that apartment — it was a secret hideout even Wei Xuan didn't know about.
Wen Yuanting walked Mu Yue out of the gym. He had changed into a set of casual clothes at some point too. Mu Yue hadn't planned to make him act as her driver that day, since if he dropped her off he would have to take a taxi all the way back.
"It's no trouble," Wen Yuanting said. "Taking a taxi back is nothing, and besides, I genuinely want to do what I can to help out a junior like you. Please, do me the favor of letting me run this errand for you."
Mu Yue laughed. "Fair enough." She handed her car keys over to Wen Yuanting, and the two of them quickly drove off.
The address Wen Xue had given them was in a nice enough neighborhood, but it was clearly just an ordinary residential complex. That caught Mu Yue a little by surprise. Wen Xue wasn't a top-tier A-list celebrity, but she had massive online traffic, hordes of fans and even more anti-fans. Living in a regular apartment building like this would make it so easy for strangers to pry into her private life.
"Yueyue! Over here!" As soon as Wen Yuanting parked the car and Mu Yue stepped out, a person waved at her from the neighborhood entrance.
Mu Yue squinted for a long while, trying to make out who it was. It wasn't until the person winked at her that she realized it was Wen Xue.
"Damn, that's impressive," Mu Yue gave her a thumbs up. The person standing before her looked nothing like the young star — she was a perfect, convincing middle-aged woman. Mu Yue had no idea how Wen Xue had pulled it off, not just her face but her entire bearing was completely transformed. No wonder she dared live here; no one would ever recognize her.
"Thanks for the ride, senior. You can head back now," Mu Yue said.
"Oh, right, sure," Wen Yuanting handed the car keys back to Mu Yue. He didn't ask any prying questions, and before he left he tapped his phone to signal Mu Yue to call or text him if she needed anything.
Wen Xue looped an arm through Mu Yue's, watching Wen Yuanting's retreating back, then glanced sideways at Mu Yue with a teasing smirk. "Looks like our Young Miss is eating really well these days. That boy's got a solid, built frame, if you know what I mean."
Mu Yue was completely speechless. "You're not even pretending to be subtle, are you?"
"Come on, come on!" Wen Xue tugged at her arm, looking barely able to contain her excitement. "Xiaoxin's here today too. I've got something super fun to show you."
Even though most of their chats happened over their phones and they hadn't met all that many times, the two of them had hit it off right away — that whole "instant connection" thing people talked about was exactly what they had. Of course, normally it would be reckless to trust someone you met online enough to go over to their house, but Mu Yue had the skills and the system cheat code to keep herself safe. And besides, as the leading romance novel heroine, Wen Xue would never pull the kind of dangerous, criminal stunts the male lead was prone to.
A short walk later, they arrived at Wen Xue's apartment. It was a perfectly ordinary, modestly sized three-bedroom place, around ninety square meters total. Right then, a PPT was projected onto the living room wall, the title on the slide reading *On How to Be a Qualified White Moonlight — Lesson 3*.
Mu Yue was stunned. "Wait a second — you're holding actual classes for this stuff? And you're already on Lesson Three?"
Whoa. Wen Xue, the canonical female lead of this romance novel, had just blown Mu Yue's mind completely.
"Heehee!" Wen Xue grinned proudly.
"Where's Xiang Xin? You said she was here. Don't tell me she's your student?" Mu Yue craned her neck to look around the room.
Wen Xue clapped her hands twice. Xiang Xin stepped slowly out of the bedroom, wearing a flowing white dress. Her eyes were cast demurely downward, and she took smaller, gentler steps than usual, though it was clear she hadn't quite nailed the act yet. The second she spotted Mu Yue, she almost broke character and blurted out a "Mu!" before Wen Xue shot her a sharp glare to shut her up.
Xiang Xin quickly averted her gaze, following the script they had rehearsed. She sat down gracefully on a bar stool off to the side, turning so that only her back was facing Mu Yue. With her long black hair cascading over her shoulders, she looked genuinely soft and gentle from both the back and the side — nothing like her usual self at all.
"What on earth are you two doing?" Mu Yue couldn't hold her curiosity in any longer and asked.
Wen Xue raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it obvious? Professional stand-ins. This line of work has massive potential, and you can make money faster than you ever could in the entertainment industry."
Mu Yue was utterly stunned. This Wen Xue, the female lead, was such a far cry from how she was portrayed in the original novel! She had actually turned being a stand-in into a proper career?
Wait a second. Maybe she was always this way in the original story, it just never showed through in the text itself.
This was genuinely brilliant. Wen Xue had a fantastic head for business, so much so that Mu Yue was half tempted to invest in the venture herself. Though, the professional stand-in industry did come with pretty big risks.
"Sis Mu!" Xiang Xin had already hopped down from her chair, and bounded over to greet Mu Yue with a bright, surprised smile. "I had no idea the friend Sister Xue was talking about was you! You two know each other?"
"Mm-hmm!" Wen Xue chimed in, then turned Xiang Xin around to look her over from every angle, shaking her head. "Your skin is still in terrible condition, you need to start taking proper care of it. Quit all those odd jobs that leave your hands chapped and make you go out all the time."
"I can't do that, Sister Xue," Xiang Xin immediately protested the second quitting her jobs was mentioned. "I still need to earn money to pay for my tuition."
When she turned to face Mu Yue and Wen Xue head on, it was obvious her skin really was in rough shape, and her complexion was far from ideal. A white moonlight was supposed to have skin as fair and flawless as snow, so Xiang Xin really did need to put effort into nursing hers back to health.
"Didn't I tell you already?" Wen Xue frowned, looking a little displeased. "I'm covering your tuition for you."
Xiang Xin tried to argue back, but Wen Xue cut her off in a rapid, non-stop stream of words. The gist of what she said was pretty similar to what Mu Yue had told Fang Baiwei: tuition was a top priority as far as they were concerned, but the truth was that one's studies came first. That money was nothing, and once they were capable later on, they'd be able to earn it all back in no time.
But Xiang Xin's family situation was far more difficult, and the final line Wen Xue said was what finally made Xiang Xin stop objecting entirely. "When you go back home, just tell them most of the money you earned from working went straight to your tuition. That way it makes perfect sense for you to give those leeches far less money."
"And another thing. Don't be too stubborn, don't pick a direct fight with them. If they show up making a fuss at your school, it'll be such a hassle. Just string them along, tell them once you graduate you'll make way more money, so you'll be able to send even more back home later. That'll keep them quiet..." That whole speech was pure hard-earned wisdom, exactly the kind of tactic Wen Xue was using to deal with her own family right then.
"I get it now, Sister Xue." Xiang Xin nodded, taking her advice to heart.
"Your target client is Wei Xuan right now?" Mu Yue asked Wen Xue, then glanced over at Xiang Xin. Xiang Xin didn't seem to care about men at all, her whole focus was just on making money.
"For the time being, yeah," Wen Xue said as she pulled off the frumpy middle-aged woman wig she'd been wearing on her head. "In this line of work, you have to know your clients thoroughly. Wei Xuan is a total idiot, but he's clean and doesn't mess around, so there's no risk on the hygiene front. On top of that, he doesn't get up to any weird, perverted stuff, and he never lays a hand on anyone. Most importantly, he pays extremely well, and he's repeatedly made it clear that his stand-in isn't allowed to fall for him."
"If I want to take on more clients later, I'd have to do way more in-depth research on them. What if I end up with a monster in human skin? Not only would it be dangerous, I'd struggle to get away from them. So all things considered, it's way better to just focus on this one client for now."
After that, Wen Xue showed Mu Yue all the results of her work over the past two or three years. She had detailed, comprehensive notes on every aspect, from makeup and styling, to facial expressions and tone of voice, to building a complete persona, and even all the little tricks for creating the right atmosphere.
She was professional—seriously, impressively professional!
Mu Yue couldn't help but applaud her again and again. With that level of dedication and drive, Wen Xue would have succeeded no matter what she did.
When Mu Yue asked why she was training Xiang Xin, Wen Xue explained that once she was ready to step away from Wei Xuan, Xiang Xin could take her place. That money was there for the taking, there was no reason to leave it on the table.
As for the actual white moonlight herself? Come on, Wen Xue knew exactly what kind of scumbag men could be. Everyone got bored of what they had eventually. Men were always craving what they couldn't have, but the second they finally got that long-sought white moonlight, they'd stop cherishing her in no time.
