After Teasing the Villain and Running Away - Chapter 5

The school infirmary was located on the second floor of the sports complex, sharing the same level as the counseling office and the gym.

When the on-duty school doctor saw a student carrying someone in, they immediately had Jiang Ruosheng bring the person into the inner room.

Ruan Xin’s chest heaved violently, her lungs burning as if on fire. Her consciousness sank deeper, consumed by pain and flames.

School Doctor: “Your classmate is an omega, right? She must be approaching her heat cycle.”

A diagnosis just from a glance? Was this doctor serious? Why did they seem so unreliable?

Ding! New character unlocked.

Character Profile: Name: Chen Mo
Personality: Kind and gentle, with skilled hands and a compassionate heart.
Danger Level: -%
Friendly Reminder: Chatty and loves gossip.

Jiang Ruosheng: “…”

“She’s an alpha. She suddenly collapsed during P.E. class and now seems to be running a high fever.”

The school doctor paused, momentarily stunned, their hand hovering over the omega suppressants before putting them back and grabbing a thermometer instead.

The precursors to an omega’s heat cycle were persistent high fever and overall weakness, whereas an alpha’s rut was entirely different—their pheromones raged within, making them exceptionally irritable and aggressive. Without timely suppressants, severe cases could develop intense destructive urges.

The school doctor seemed baffled, eyeing Ruan Xin as if they’d never seen an alpha with such poor constitution.

Jiang Ruosheng frowned and shot them a sharp glance, prompting the doctor to awkwardly avert their gaze. This one was clearly an alpha—and a fierce one at that.

“With the season changing and the weather cooling down, she must have caught a chill due to her weak immune system. An IV drip should do the trick.”

As the sedative slowly flowed into her veins, the scorching heat gradually subsided, and Ruan Xin’s expression eased into calm.

Jiang Ruosheng let out a relieved sigh. After all, Lu Ran had bullied Ruan Xin to stand up for her. If anything serious happened to Ruan Xin, she’d be consumed by guilt.

After adjusting the medical equipment, the school doctor turned their attention to the strikingly beautiful yet intimidating alpha sitting by the bed and suddenly remarked, “Your neck is bleeding…”

Jiang Ruosheng touched the bandage on her neck, feeling a damp trickle of bl00d sliding down. Her fingertips came away stained crimson.

“Your wound care is way too rough… The bandage is sticking to the injury. This isn’t treatment—it’s just making it worse.” The doctor chattered away as they cleaned Jiang Ruosheng’s wound and replaced the bandage with a larger one.

“That’s a pretty deep cut, and you didn’t even react? How did you get hurt? If the angle had been slightly off, it could’ve sliced right into your scent gland. Have some sense of self-preservation.”

Jiang Ruosheng awkwardly rubbed her nose. She couldn’t exactly say the person lying in the other room had shoved her into it.

School Doctor: “And that alpha classmate of yours—frail and sickly. Who knows if it’s a congenital condition or a past serious illness, but if her nutrition doesn’t improve, her health will only deteriorate further.”

Jiang Ruosheng: “Is it that serious?”

The doctor flipped through Ruan Xin’s past medical records. “It’s worse than that. Since enrollment, her pheromone instability has barely stayed within the normal range. I’ve seen a few alphas like her—most either deteriorate or lose their minds. Though, exceptions do exist.”

“The next step after emotional instability is mental collapse. You should keep a close eye on it. My recommendation is to get a professional AO diagnostic check-up.”

So, Ruan Xin’s extreme personality and subsequent descent into darkness might very well be linked to unstable pheromones!

Jiang Ruosheng touched the bandage on her neck, the rough texture grating against her fingertips. The pain from the wound reminded her of the storm brewing in Ruan Xin’s eyes the moment she pushed her—vivid and haunting.

If the villain’s danger level was this high, perhaps nothing she did would make any difference.

Wouldn’t choosing to run away outright be the more realistic option?

Transferring abroad would put her far away from Ruan Xin in minutes, but could she hide forever?

Gazing at Ruan Xin lying quietly on the single bed, Jiang Ruosheng’s heart wavered.

At this moment, Ruan Xin’s eyes were closed, her fair, jade-like face serene and pure. All her sharp edges were tucked away, every trace of gloom hidden beneath those eyelids.

The longer she looked, the more Jiang Ruosheng saw hints of innocence and vulnerability in her.

Vulnerability?

Calming down to think rationally, the current Ruan Xin was just an ordinary high schooler—introverted, gloomy, unpopular, and bullied.

She hadn’t done anything yet, just a pitiable little thing, worlds apart from the future villain who danced on the edge of the law.

What danger could someone like that possibly pose?

Jiang Ruosheng turned inward to question the system that only ever beeped. “If I promise never to bully Ruan Xin again from now on, turn over a new leaf, and start fresh, will she still come after me after her descent?”

System: “Detected villain’s descent index at 62%. She holds grudges. Host, please prioritize your safety.”

Jiang Ruosheng’s vision darkened. Just because of Lu Ran’s provocation, the index had risen this much?

Jiang Ruosheng: “So if I fail to stop Ruan Xin’s descent, I’m doomed, right?”

System: Ding—Host has confirmed the mission.

Mission: Reduce the villain’s descent index to zero.

Time limit: Before the college entrance exams.

Friendly reminder: A descent index of 100% will be considered an automatic mission failure.

Heh… The moment I mention doom, the mission triggers.

The deadline is before the college entrance exams—so the original plot’s point where Ruan Xin kicked her into the lake must be around then. What a fateful date to die!

Cool water lapped at her body. Ruan Xin felt as though she were lying on a small boat adrift in turbulent waves. Then the scene shifted—she saw herself standing on the shore and Jiang Ruosheng kneeling before her, pleading desperately.

The dream’s structure was hazy; she couldn’t make out their faces, but she could vividly recall the sensation of Jiang Ruosheng clutching at her pant leg.

Then came the sound of that person being kicked into the water. The boat rocked again, the waves growing fiercer, pushing her further away.

She knew exactly where that distant place led—an abyss from which there was no return.

The dream finally dissolved. Ruan Xin slowly opened her eyes to a white ceiling. As she moved her hand slightly, the IV line swayed, and there, quietly resting beside her, was that aloof, proud girl.

A few strands of her voluminous, cascading curls spilled onto Ruan Xin’s arm. The girl’s serene face was nestled in the crook of her arm, only half-visible, her long, thick lashes like delicate brushes as she breathed steadily.

A cold glint flashed through Ruan Xin’s fierce eyes as fragmented memories resurfaced.

She extended a pale hand, slowly reaching toward the exposed nape of Ruan Xin’s neck—the most vulnerable spot.

Her fingertips brushed against smooth black hair, her palm poised in a grasping motion. Ruan Xin took a sharp breath, forcibly suppressing her emotions as she withdrew her hand.

Jiang Ruosheng wasn’t sleeping deeply. Feeling the touch against her hair, she cracked her eyes open and saw Ruan Xin sitting upright against the headboard.

“You’re awake? How are you feeling?”

Ruan Xin didn’t answer, only fixing Jiang Ruosheng with a heavy stare. “Why did you bring me here?”

Jiang Ruosheng hesitated briefly. “…If something really happened to you, I wouldn’t… be able to explain it to my mother.”

She couldn’t very well say it was to keep her from falling for Su Qi.

Ironically, this excuse sounded perfectly reasonable.

In the original host’s memories, Ruan Xin was a financially struggling student personally sponsored by Jiang Ruosheng’s parents. Not only had the Jiangs paid her exorbitant tuition fees, but they had also taken her into their home for convenience, treating her almost like an adopted daughter.

The original host, having grown up pampered as the youngest and most beloved child in the family, had developed a spoiled, willful, and arrogant personality.

When a complete stranger suddenly appeared in the household—one her parents constantly reminded her to take care of—she couldn’t help but feel resentful.

Over the past six months, she had caused Ruan Xin endless trouble at school, all in an attempt to drive her out of the Jiang household.

But the original host’s reckless bullying had backfired spectacularly. After several failed schemes and incidents, Jiang Ruosheng’s parents caught wind of it.

From then on, they only grew more protective of Ruan Xin, even forbidding Jiang Ruosheng from harassing her.

Yet “Jiang Ruosheng” hadn’t stopped—she simply became more discreet, careful not to push things too far lest her mother notice again.

Ruan Xin watched Jiang Ruosheng impassively. She had long understood the principle of bowing to circumstances when under someone else’s roof.

The Jiangs had already done more than enough for her. She didn’t want to trouble them further, so she endured Jiang Ruosheng’s torment in silence.

Just endure it a little longer.

If she could make it through these three years of high school, get into Beijing University, and come of age, she could finally take her mother away from here.

That had been her sole wish in her past life. Was that really too much to ask?

So why had she still failed in the end?

Thinking of Jiang Ruosheng’s recent odd behavior, Ruan Xin smirked derisively. “If you’re planning some new trick, I suggest you save your energy.”

“No tricks.” Jiang Ruosheng’s tone was firm. “I bullied you before because you, an outsider, were an eyesore. But looking back, it was pretty pointless. My mother always hoped we could be friends, so I suppose I could…”

Friends? Her and Jiang Ruosheng?

The idea struck Ruan Xin as absurd and chilling, a cold gleam flashing in her eyes.

“Spare me the friendship act. All I want is for us to stay out of each other’s way.”

By the time the IV drip finished, the on-duty doctor was nowhere to be seen in the infirmary.

Ruan Xin deftly removed the needle and got out of bed, walking over to the desk outside to retrieve a set of keys before unlocking the medicine cabinet.

The crisp jingle of metal echoed loudly in the quiet room, the sharp scent of disinfectant thick in the air.

Ruan Xin’s gaze swept over the various medications before casually picking out a few and closing the cabinet door.

Jiang Ruosheng couldn’t distinguish between the differently colored pills that were all roughly the same size, so she reminded, “You shouldn’t take medicine randomly. It’s better to wait for the school doctor to prescribe—”

“I know exactly what medicine I need.” Ruan Xin didn’t turn around, tossing Jiang Ruosheng a bottle of vitamins and a few replacement band-aids instead. “Now we’re accomplices.”

Jiang Ruosheng looked up at Ruan Xin, feeling strangely conflicted.

Compared to the overly slender and fragile frame for an alpha, Ruan Xin’s slightly pale face was even more distressing.

She poured a cup of warm water and slowly swallowed the pills in her palm, her delicate brows furrowing slightly. Her thick, raven-feather-like lashes fluttered, exuding a mix of stubbornness and pitiful fragility—quiet and soft, like a pliable little dumpling that could be kneaded at will.

Those tender, thin lips pressed against the transparent plastic cup as she took small sips, her mouth slightly damp and glistening, looking irresistibly plump and adorable.

Jiang Ruosheng unconsciously swallowed, inexplicably feeling a little thirsty. She pursed her lips and was about to stand up to get herself some water when she suddenly met Ruan Xin’s sharpened gaze.

Jiang Ruosheng, guilty: “I… I wasn’t staring at you…”

“Shh—someone’s coming.”

At the same time, low murmurs and footsteps sounded outside the door.

Before Jiang Ruosheng could react, Ruan Xin grabbed her wrist, and the two retreated back into the lounge.

Jiang Ruosheng rubbed her nose, irritated by the smell of disinfectant. An alpha’s senses were sharper than those of betas and omegas, but sometimes that wasn’t an advantage.

“Why hide? We… mmm… mmm…”

Ruan Xin coldly watched Jiang Ruosheng, whose mouth she had covered, instinctively pressing harder. “It’s not the school doctor. I just stole some medicine—I don’t want to get caught.”

The two were pressed close together, and Jiang Ruosheng’s cheeks flushed from being muffled, feeling the coldness of the hand against her lips.

To eavesdrop, Ruan Xin crouched low by the door, peering through a narrow crack.

The figures outside moved about, their actions unclear. Ruan Xin slowed her breathing and leaned in closer, while Jiang Ruosheng’s fair ears turned noticeably red.

She shifted uncomfortably, wanting to move aside, but Ruan Xin shot her a glare, suspecting she was being restless. A jade-like arm blocked her by the cheek, leaving her no room to escape.

Jiang Ruosheng felt her entire body burning up.

Then, the system suddenly chimed.

Ding! New character unlocked.

Character Archive:

Name: Yang Yi

Personality: Domineering, shrewish, cunning, and envious.

Danger Level: 20%

Hint: Low combat ability, but full of malicious schemes.

Jiang Ruosheng froze. Since the system had triggered, it meant this character had some significance in the story—perhaps even tied to the current main plot.

Gathering her focus, she also leaned closer to the door to listen carefully.

“Can you hurry up, Yang Yi? The teacher will be back soon—Xiangxiang can’t stall forever,” an impatient female voice rang out.

Yang Yi, sweating nervously, fumbled with the keys on the desk, trying each one on the medicine cabinet in a rush. “Almost there, almost there! Stop rushing me!”

After a while, the medicine cabinet’s lock finally clicked open, and the two hurriedly rummaged through the bottom drawer.

“Are you sure this plan will work? What if we get caught…”

Yang Yi: “What are you worried about? Even if we’re discovered, it’ll all be pinned on Ruan Xin. We won’t have the slightest connection to it.”

Ruan Xin? She’s involved in this too?

Jiang Ruosheng couldn’t help but turn her head, meeting Ruan Xin’s gaze directly. The deep, still waters of a secluded pool suddenly gained a spring’s clarity.

Ruan Xin moved her lips soundlessly, mouthing, “Classmate Jiang, you’ll have to testify for me.”