After Teasing the Villain and Running Away - Chapter 8

The activity room was covered in dust, the damp musty smell and stale air from lack of ventilation filling the nostrils. The corners were piled with banners from past events, faint black mold spots visible on their surfaces.

Streamers and balloons were scattered everywhere. In the center of the room, desks and chairs lay haphazardly strewn about. A thick layer of chalk dust had accumulated on the lectern, swirling into a gray haze the moment the classroom door opened.

Yang Yi and Jiang Huihui, standing by the blackboard, were already nervous and guilty, their hands trembling uncontrollably as they turned to look at the doorway in panic.

Yang Yi quickly stuffed the unfinished bottle of medicine into her pocket and met the newcomer’s half-smirking gaze. She nudged Jiang Huihui’s arm and whispered, “Didn’t I tell you to lock the door?”

Jiang Huihui: “I did lock it.”

Ruan Xin blinked, her smooth long hair cascading down, her slightly overgrown bangs obscuring her eyes, making her expression unreadable. “Sorry, I have a key.”

She walked toward them step by step, her faded canvas shoes old and worn, frayed at the edges, the laces tied tightly.

Ruan Xin kept her hands in the oversized pockets of her school uniform, accentuating her slender, delicate frame.

“Why so nervous? I won’t tell on you.”

Yang Yi’s pupils constricted. “What are you talking about?”

Ruan Xin glanced at the thermos in Jiang Huihui’s hand and slowly reached out, only for Yang Yi to swat her hand away before she could touch it.

A faint red mark bloomed on Ruan Xin’s jade-white hand. She frowned, her deep eyes flicking toward Yang Yi.

Yang Yi seemed burned by that gaze, biting her lip as she warily stared back.

Ruan Xin waved her hand dismissively, her tone teasing. “I just wanted to remind her to put the cap back on.”

Ignoring their stiffened expressions, Ruan Xin continued in a low, unhurried voice, “Stealing nutritional supplements from the infirmary, then sneaking here to pour them out… If I remember correctly, Su Qi has allergies, doesn’t she…?”

Jiang Huihui’s face paled. “Wh-what are you saying? We didn’t do anything.”

Ruan Xin shrugged. “Sure. But you’ve already decided to pin the blame on me, haven’t you? I heard everything you said in the infirmary.”

She crossed her arms, thoroughly amused as she watched them fidget in panic.

After silently enjoying the sight for a while, she spoke again, leisurely. “I have no interest in exposing you. But I wasn’t the only one in the infirmary. Whether she’ll let you off the hook… well, that’s another story.”

“So, let’s make a deal.” Ruan Xin smiled.

The three of them whispered in the room, their conspiratorial voices echoing, heard only by the lifeless objects lying silently on the floor.

Yang Yi agreed with Ruan Xin’s plan—after all, there would be someone willingly stepping into the trap, someone even more suitable to take the fall than Ruan Xin.

But as she looked at Ruan Xin now, an inexplicable sense of dissonance and unfamiliarity surged uncontrollably in her heart.

What was Ruan Xin like before? Gloomy, withdrawn, avoiding interaction, rarely fighting back when bullied—even somewhat cowardly.

But now—

A thought slowly formed: Had she ever truly known or understood Ruan Xin?

“Why are you helping us?” Yang Yi swallowed hard and asked. She wasn’t naive enough to think Ruan Xin’s assistance was just a whim.

Ruan Xin: “It’s fun, isn’t it? Changing the original course, following a newly plotted path.”

“Of course, that’s not my only reason. Since this is a collaboration, helping you also benefits me.”

Yang Yi: “What benefits?”

Ruan Xin scratched her head, her face glowing with a gentle, warm smile, but her words sent an inexplicable chill down the spine. “Is ‘I can’t stand Jiang Ruosheng’ reason enough?”

The rumors about Jiang Ruosheng bullying Ruan Xin in private had long spread through the class, their veracity unclear. But Jiang Ruosheng’s usual haughty attitude toward Ruan Xin made it obvious their relationship was strained.

Yang Yi: “That’s a pretty ruthless tactic.”

Ruan Xin widened her eyes, covering her mouth in exaggerated shock. “Hearing that from you is truly something.”

“You’re the one doing the dirty work here. Su Qi should count as your friend, right? You two seemed close. Who would’ve thought someone could act all righteous on the surface while stabbing others in the back without hesitation?”

Yang Yi stiffened, her face flushing with shame, and she stammered, “I… I didn’t really mean to hurt her. It was just a little nutrient supplement, a very small dose. I just wanted her to… suffer a bit, to stop being so arrogant…”

Ruan Xin scratched her ear impatiently, cutting her off. “What’s the point of making excuses after the deed is done?”

“I’m not interested in your justifications. Hand it over.” She extended her hand.

Yang Yi: “What?”

“The packaging for the nutrient supplement. Weren’t you trying to frame Jiang Ruosheng? Right now, you’re all under her close watch. Anything suspicious would raise alarms. So, I’ll handle this.”

Seeing Jiang Ruosheng’s expression darken instantly, Ruan Xin’s smug grin faded slightly. She lowered her gaze, letting the malice in her heart fester and spread.

Compared to what Jiang Ruosheng had done to her, her retaliation wasn’t nearly enough.

Turn over a new leaf? Did you really think I’d be foolish enough to believe that?

The Jiang family wielded immense influence. Even if Jiang Ruosheng had actually done this, the school would at most give her a disciplinary record—nothing serious would happen to her.

Besides, she hadn’t done it at all.

The situation was sudden, and without concrete evidence, pinning it all on Jiang Ruosheng was nothing more than Yang Yi’s delusion.

But pushing her into this predicament was enough. Once the seeds of doubt and prejudice were sown, they would take root and grow before long.

As someone who’d been through it, she knew all too well.

Yang Yi was still ranting, “After Xin Ran taught you a lesson for Su Qi’s sake, you’ve held a grudge ever since. Since you couldn’t take it out on Xin Ran, you redirected your hatred toward Su Qi.”

Jiang Ruosheng calmly withdrew her hand from the packaging and said to the agitated Yang Yi, “Your ability to spin stories is truly impressive. I wonder if you came up with this on the spot or rehearsed it beforehand.”

Jiang Huihui spat, “We’re just stating the facts. Do you think playing dumb will help?”

Jiang Ruosheng: “She’s the one who said I followed her to the water room. She’s the one who suspected I tampered with the water. She’s the one who immediately pointed fingers at me. She’s the one who kept throwing accusations at me with every word. And now, she’s the one claiming I’ve been holding a grudge all along.”

“You’ve even figured out the time, place, method, and motive for the crime—complete with a flawless logical chain. Solved the case in under ten minutes. Detective, I think our humble class is too small for your talents.”

Her razor-sharp sarcasm instantly cooled the heated emotions of the previously outraged classmates.

That doesn’t sound entirely unreasonable—it does seem a bit… too smooth.

Well aware that wild speculation and conspiracy theories were inherent human traits, Jiang Ruosheng scoffed. “Such blatantly obvious framing—surely no one would actually take her word for it?”

True enough—Yang Yi had done all the talking, but there was no concrete evidence…

Yang Yi: “I didn’t frame anyone! Why would I? It wasn’t me! It must’ve been you—you did it right before class, so there must be evidence you didn’t have time to destroy. Jiang Ruosheng, dare to let everyone check your desk!”

Finally having spoken the most crucial line, Yang Yi secretly sighed in relief, her previously tense nerves calming down.

Jiang Ruosheng crossed her arms. “Impressive. Now we even have evidence—quite thorough, aren’t we?”

Yang Yi gritted her teeth in frustration. “Luo Yi, go check Jiang Ruosheng’s desk. There might… there might be clues there.”

Vice class monitor Luo Yi hesitated, frowning for a moment before slowly approaching Jiang Ruosheng. “Once we check, your suspicion will be cleared…”

Jiang Ruosheng looked up at her, her beautiful glass-like eyes glinting with an inorganic coldness.

Luo Yi: “If you refuse to cooperate…”

A mocking smile curled at Jiang Ruosheng’s lips as she abruptly stood up. “Just because she says to check, I have to comply? That’d make me look pathetic.”

“Then if I say I suspect her, shouldn’t you go search her desk too?”

Yang Yi sneered. “Go ahead and search! What’s there to hide? I didn’t do anything, so why not?”

Ignoring Luo Yi, Jiang Ruosheng instead walked to Su Qi’s seat and slowly picked up the “incriminating” thermos.

Jiang Huihui clenched her fists, ready to snatch it back. “You’re not thinking of destroying evidence now, are you?”

Jiang Ruosheng suddenly paused, scanning the surroundings as if searching for something.

“This isn’t Su Qi’s cup.”

Everyone froze, their eyes turning to the thermos.

An utterly ordinary appearance—a very common design with a faint golden-pink hue.

It was unmistakably the one Su Qi usually used.

Jiang Ruosheng ran her fingers over it. “It’s similar—or rather, the exact same model and color. But the scratches on this one don’t match the previous one.”

Yang Yi stiffened. “This is Su Qi’s cup! Don’t talk nonsense!”

Jiang Huihui, as always, chimed in to support her.

Jiang Ruosheng: “I rinsed it with hot water several times earlier and remember how it looked. This one feels newer too.”

Yang Yi was stunned by Jiang Ruosheng’s unexpectedly sharp memory, a sense of foreboding creeping into her heart.

“Besides, Su Qi’s original cup is right here.” Jiang Ruosheng dropped another bombshell. Amid the crowd’s bewildered stares, she lifted Jiang Huihui’s thermos.

Her slender fingers traced the velvet texture of the cup holder, its drawstring tightly cinched, obscuring the thermos inside.

These portable cup holders had once been popular in class for their cute patterns, though their lack of practicality eventually made them fall out of use.

Jiang Ruosheng had found it strange earlier—she’d inspected Su Qi’s thermos repeatedly, so how could there still be traces of nutritional supplements?

The only explanation was that the cup had been swapped.

Just as Jiang Huihui lunged to reclaim the thermos, Jiang Ruosheng yanked open the drawstring bag, revealing an identical golden-pink thermos inside.

“Don’t tell me your thermos is exactly the same as Su Qi’s.”

“Hui Hui, wasn’t your thermos green before?”

“Yang Yi, was it really you guys? I thought you were closest with Su Qi?”

Some classmates spoke up as the irrefutable evidence left everyone stunned, creating momentary chaos in the classroom.

Ruan Xin watched the dog-eat-dog drama conclude so quickly with displeasure, pursing her lips slightly.

Yang Yi’s substitution plan was indeed too sloppy—her acting was terrible, and her desperate attempts to frame others were too obvious. She deserved to have Jiang Ruosheng expose her flaws and catch her in contradictions.

Jiang Ruosheng.

Ruan Xin rolled the name silently on her tongue, her gaze icy.

How had she never noticed before how troublesome this person was?

“Ruan Xin.” A familiar voice sounded beside her ear. Ruan Xin looked up, realizing she had been so lost in thought that she hadn’t noticed Jiang Ruosheng weaving through the noisy crowd to stand by her desk.

The same Jiang Ruosheng who had just been sharp-tongued and relentless now wore an expression of gentle concern.

That familiar fake smile sent an involuntary shiver down Ruan Xin’s spine.

Ruan Xin: “Here to get back at me?”

“Why would you think that?” Jiang Ruosheng adopted a sisterly tone, lightly placing her hand over Ruan Xin’s cool fingers. “I just wanted to remind you that mistakes should be corrected. The teacher has probably been waiting for you in the infirmary for a while now.”

Ruan Xin: ??? You still reported me?

“Stealing medicine is wrong, Ruan. We should always strive to do better.”