After Teasing the Villain and Running Away - Chapter 7

“Fetching water? You didn’t even bring a thermos—what kind of water are you fetching?”

But looking at Jiang Ruosheng’s icy back, Qiao Nan rubbed his arms covered in goosebumps from the cold and decided not to speak up again.

The water dispenser room was at the end of the hallway on each floor. To get there from Class One, one had to pass several other classrooms. Yang Yi carried several similarly styled thermoses in her hands, the slight clinking sound accompanying her steps.

She had volunteered to fetch water for everyone. Though her expression appeared calm, her unconscious tendency to hug the walls betrayed her nervousness.

The idea of pouring the nutritional supplement into Su Qi’s thermos had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. She was certain no one would find out. Steeling herself, she clenched her fingers and walked forward, seemingly unaware of Jiang Ruosheng following her.

With school nearly over, there weren’t many people in the water dispenser room. Yang Yi dragged her feet, waiting until she was the only one left before slowly pulling out a small transparent glass vial from her uniform pocket.

Opening it took some effort. With her back to the door, she carefully poured the contents into the thermos. From behind, nothing seemed amiss.

After emptying the vial, she shook the thermos several times to ensure the liquid had dissolved before preparing to screw the cap back on.

Then, a hand suddenly shot out and clamped around her wrist.

Yang Yi shuddered, her face twisting in surprise as she looked at the intruder. “Jiang Ruosheng?”

Deep, ocean-like eyes, long, voluminous curls cascading down—it made her cold, striking face even more breathtaking. Had Jiang Ruosheng always looked like this?

For a moment, Yang Yi felt as if she’d been bewitched by a siren before snapping back to reality.

Had she lost her mind? She actually thought Jiang Ruosheng looked stunning.

“Let go. What do you want?”

Jiang Ruosheng glanced down at Su Qi’s thermos in Yang Yi’s hand. “I should be asking you—what are you doing?”

Yang Yi feigned confusion. “What else would I be doing in the water dispenser room? Fetching water.”

“I saw you pour something into Su Qi’s thermos,” Jiang Ruosheng raised an eyebrow. “I think you need to explain this to the teacher.”

Yang Yi’s eyes widened in shock before she burst out laughing.

Jiang Ruosheng frowned, suddenly sensing something was off. She looked down at the thermos—a faintly sweet scent wafted up with the steam. The smell was oddly familiar…

Yang Yi raised her other hand, holding up the transparent vial, and waved it mockingly at Jiang Ruosheng. “You mean… this glucose?”

Jiang Ruosheng froze, taking the chipped glass bottle. Printed clearly in white letters on the side was: “Glucose Concentration 20%.”

The residual liquid at the bottom gave off a sugary aroma—it was indeed just ordinary glucose.

“You know Su Qi isn’t in good health, right? After every P.E. class, she gets a little oxygen-deprived. A bit of glucose helps. She brought this from home—there are several boxes in her locker.”

“Jiang Ruosheng, you didn’t think this was poison, did you?” Yang Yi’s tone was mocking. “Did you seriously think I was poisoning Su Qi just now?”

Jiang Ruosheng pressed her lips together, her expression grave. Yang Yi and Jiang Huihui had clearly taken the nutritional supplement from the infirmary, and their target was undoubtedly Su Qi. So why was it glucose now?

Could it be that the poisoning wasn’t supposed to happen today in the original plot?

Just to be safe, Jiang Ruosheng poured out the hot water from Su Qi’s cup.

Yang Yi rotated her sore wrist, watching this scene with a mocking and disdainful look in her eyes. “Are you playing bodyguard for Su Qi now? How laughable. She’s never short of alphas around her—what makes you think you’d ever stand a chance?”

She shook her head, her tone dripping with pity. “Su Qi doesn’t like you. No matter how affectionately you act, it’s useless. Have you forgotten the lesson Xin Ran taught you at the start of the semester? How pathetic. If it weren’t for Su Qi, you wouldn’t have been beaten so badly.”

As an omega, Su Qi was incredibly popular at school, with many alphas vying for her attention. But due to the presence of her childhood friend Xin Ran, no one dared to get too close.

The original host had liked Su Qi since last semester but held back until the new term began. Seizing an opportunity when Xin Ran was absent, she lured Su Qi to the building in front of the small grove—yes, the very same place where she had bullied Ruan Xin.

Using the same old tricks, she made an overbearing confession to Su Qi.

Thinking back on the specifics of that confession, Jiang Ruosheng couldn’t help but cringe.

The original host had pinned Su Qi against the wall and then uttered a flirtatious line: “Su Qi, be my omega. I’ll love you more than anyone else in this world.”

Su Qi, caught off guard by the sudden “kabe-don,” initially thought “Jiang Ruosheng” was about to hit her. Hearing those words of confession, she was utterly bewildered.

Just as she was about to reject her outright, “Jiang Ruosheng” leaned in without warning and tried to kiss her.

What followed was a textbook example of how these scenarios usually play out.

Xin Ran appeared as if out of thin air, kicking the original host away and shielding Su Qi behind her—perfectly fulfilling the role of a cannon-fodder antagonist.

Now, faced with Yang Yi’s taunts, Jiang Ruosheng simply pretended not to hear. She rinsed the cup thoroughly inside and out before refilling it with fresh hot water.

Seeing Jiang Ruosheng remain unfazed, Yang Yi’s expression darkened. She snatched the refilled cup from Jiang Ruosheng and stormed off.

Lost in thought about the deviations from the original plot, Jiang Ruosheng had just stepped out of the water room when she bumped into Ruan Xin.

Ruan Xin asked curiously, “Find anything? Do you suspect Yang Yi poured the nutrient supplement into Su Qi’s drink?”

“Everyone knows about Su Qi’s allergies. They’re on good terms—Yang Yi wouldn’t do something like that.”

Jiang Ruosheng: “Then why did they go to such lengths to get the nutrient supplement from the infirmary?”

Ruan Xin shrugged, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Who knows? Maybe her heat is coming up, and she’s worried about losing control. She might be preparing to take medication in advance to regulate it.”

“An omega’s physical condition naturally can’t compare to an alpha’s.”

Jiang Ruosheng nodded, hoping Yang Yi had given up on her plan.

Back in the classroom, Qiao Nan sidled up to her, her tone gossipy. “Is it raining bl00d outside? You and Ruan Xin were actually together?”

She muttered under her breath, “Weren’t you always at odds with her before? Are you burying the hatchet now? But honestly, she’s scheming and always so gloomy—she doesn’t seem like a good person. You should stay away from her in the future…”

Jiang Ruosheng ignored her again, flipping open her math textbook for the next class with relief.

At least there were normal subjects.

As a top student, she couldn’t tolerate being at the bottom of the class.

But just as Jiang Ruosheng immersed herself in the sea of knowledge, an unexpected turn of events occurred.

Halfway through math class, Su Qi, who was sitting in the front row, suddenly let out a startled cry before collapsing to the floor, her face flushed red and her breathing labored.

“Ghk—” Choking as if an invisible hand had seized her fragile throat.

“She’s having an allergic reaction—call an ambulance!”

“How did this happen so suddenly? It looks really serious.”

“Let’s take her to the infirmary first. This seems worse than before.”

The classroom erupted into chaos as students whispered among themselves. The teacher quickly instructed everyone to study on their own before carrying Su Qi to the infirmary.

Jiang Ruosheng’s spine went cold. Her gaze shifted to Yang Yi and Jiang Huihui in front of her—both on the verge of tears, their expressions filled with worry, as if they had nothing to do with the incident.

Yang Yi sobbed, “Qiqi has allergies. She’s always careful about what she eats and drinks. How could this happen all of a sudden? Wuwu…”

Jiang Huihui comforted her, then glanced at the thermos cup on the desk. “Qiqi suddenly had a reaction after drinking from her cup just now. We all saw it—she was fine before that.”

Upon hearing this, Luo Yi, the class vice president, frowned and walked over to inspect the cup.

The hot water inside looked completely clear at first glance, but after gently swirling it, a faint yellow powder could be seen settled at the bottom.

Luo Yi leaned in and sniffed—amid the steam, there was a subtle, milky scent.

“There’s… something else in here. It smells like nutritional supplements.”

St. Thomas Academy was well-funded, with top-tier facilities, and the nutritional supplements provided for alphas and omegas were high-grade, mass-purchased formulas—rich in nutrients and effective at stabilizing erratic heats.

The only downside was their cloying sweetness, which made them unbearable after prolonged use.

Luo Yi, an alpha, despised the sickly-sweet taste of these supplements, especially when nearing his own heat cycle, so he recognized the scent immediately.

Jiang Huihui’s eyes widened in shock, her own eyes reddening. “Qiqi is allergic to this supplement. She always uses a different formula during her heat. Who would do this? Qiqi has a weak constitution—even a little exposure to allergens makes her suffer for days. Pranks should have limits!”

Luo Yi’s expression darkened. “Did anyone else touch Su Qi’s cup?”

Jiang Huihui stayed silent, but Yang Yi, tears streaming down her face, suddenly gasped as if remembering something. “The water—the water was… fetched by Jiang Ruosheng.”

In an instant, every pair of eyes in the classroom locked onto Jiang Ruosheng. The air grew heavy with silence for two seconds before hushed whispers and accusatory glances turned the room into a courtroom.

Luo Yi turned to Jiang Ruosheng, whose expression remained unchanged from start to finish. “Did you really fetch the water in Su Qi’s cup?”

Jiang Ruosheng’s voice was calm and detached. “I did fetch the water, but it was just hot water. I didn’t add any supplements.”

Yang Yi’s eyes burned with fury as she snapped, “I was the one supposed to get water for Qiqi. Why did you follow me to the water dispenser for no reason? You even took Qiqi’s cup, pretending to check if it had been tampered with—like a thief crying ‘stop thief!'”

“I was busy filling my own bottle and thought she was just trying to suck up to Qiqi. I didn’t notice her sneaky actions…” Her voice broke into sobs.

The stares directed at Jiang Ruosheng were now filled with condemnation and disdain.

“Is this a case of love turning to hate? I never thought Jiang Ruosheng would stoop this low.”

“She must be mentally twisted. Xin Ran hit her before, and it was pretty severe.”

“I always thought she had poor character, stirring up trouble everywhere, not studying properly, ranking at the bottom, and always bullying others…”

“Who told the Jiang family to be so powerful and wealthy? My dad said their family previously developed…”

“That still can’t compare to the Xin family. Once Xin Ran returns and finds out about this, she’s completely finished.”

Facing Yang Yi’s hypocritical performance, Jiang Ruosheng realized she had been thoroughly framed.

Hearing the malicious remarks, Jiang Ruosheng’s icy gaze swept across the room, like a bone-chilling gust of wind, sharp as a blade piercing through.

The murmurs gradually died down. Sensing the terrifying aura emanating from Jiang Ruosheng, the others didn’t even dare to meet her eyes.

Someone could only mutter under their breath, “What’s with the attitude? Can’t we talk about the bad things she’s done?”

“With that look, is she planning to stab someone or what?”

…

Jiang Ruosheng exhaled softly in her heart, quickly piecing together the logic in her mind.

When had Yang Yi prepared to pin the blame on her? Was it when she noticed Jiang Ruosheng following her to the water dispenser room?

No, it must have been earlier.

She must have deliberately lured Jiang Ruosheng to the water dispenser room, even putting on a “glucose” act to frame her.

—She had known all along that Jiang Ruosheng was watching her.

Ruan Xin.

It was Ruan Xin.

A chill ran down Jiang Ruosheng’s spine as she reflexively turned to look at the girl sitting in the last row.

A solitary single seat, tucked away in a corner of the classroom, like a forgotten island adrift in its own ocean currents.

But at this very moment, the island’s owner was resting her chin on her hand, watching the scene with keen interest.

She wasn’t detached—she was quietly savoring the story she had orchestrated.

Noticing Jiang Ruosheng’s gaze, Ruan Xin curled her lips into a smirk, wicked and teasing, then suddenly tapped the desk lightly with her finger.

“Blessing” struck the mind—

Jiang Ruosheng slowly reached into her desk drawer.

Her fingers quickly brushed against something abrupt and unfamiliar.

—A square paper packaging shell.

Jiang Ruosheng: Liar!