After Transmigrating, I Lived with the Charismatic/Beloved Female Lead - Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Wei Yue felt that Zhou Ling definitely didn’t understand the saying, “A wise person submits to circumstances.”
Didn’t she see that I didn’t reply to any of her numerous previous messages? Yet she still dared to send me another one.
She was about to continue ignoring Zhou Ling, but seeing the 80% OOC level, Wei Yue suddenly thought of a method to solve her immediate crisis.
“Um… Lu Yuanqiu, I’m going out to buy a drink!” Wei Yue thought for a moment and still told Lu Yuanqiu. Concerned about further changes in her OOC level, she added, “I won’t take the key. Don’t go to sleep yet; help me open the door when I get back!”
This extremely self-assured statement should be very consistent with the original owner’s nature, yet it lacked strong aggressiveness, so it shouldn’t provoke Lu Yuanqiu’s dislike.
Indeed, the system announced: OOC level reduced to 75%.
Lu Yuanqiu, across from her, seemed used to this behavior. Her gaze was completely unfazed as she nodded and said, “Alright, got it.”
Although the development was as expected, Wei Yue still mentally shed tears as she closed the dorm door and slowly walked out of Wanghu Apartments: When will these days of having to put on the original owner’s persona finally end!
She genuinely worried that being too aggressive would either worsen Lu Yuanqiu’s impression of her or make her suspect Wei Yue was schizophrenic.
It was Saturday afternoon, and most people had either gone out to play or were taking a nap in the dorms. There were very few people on Linhu Road—the path next to the artificial lake.
“Wei Yue!”
From a distance, Wei Yue saw Zhou Ling standing under the shade of a tree in a sun-protective jacket. The other girl called out and hurried over, reaching out a hand as if to grab her.
Wei Yue subtly dodged Zhou Ling’s outstretched hand, narrowing her eyes. Her normally sweet features now carried a hint of capriciousness and impatience. She said, “What do you want? How dare you call me out again?”
“I… I already apologized!”
Zhou Ling knew Wei Yue had a vengeful personality. Thus, even though she disliked Wei Yue, she didn’t want to become sworn enemies with her—after all, Wei Yue’s capacity for causing trouble was too strong.
“If apologies worked, why would we need the police?” Wei Yue scoffed dismissively. “What did you call me out for? Speak quickly!”
After this performance, Wei Yue was delighted to hear the system’s electronic voice: OOC level reduced to 60%.
Yes, the method Wei Yue thought of was to temporarily maintain her OOC level through other characters.
And Zhou Ling, who was similarly positioned as a “villainess,” was the most suitable candidate.
This outing could both lower her OOC level and allow her to find out what the other girl was up to.
“I… I came to discuss the birthday banquet next week!” Zhou Ling didn’t hold back and stated her purpose directly. “You must have heard the rumors, right?”
Rumors? Is she talking about the marriage alliance?
Wei Yue was confused and asked, “What aspect are you referring to?”
“The Lu family wants a marriage alliance!” Zhou Ling became slightly agitated. She said, “I saw Zhou Jing today and heard from him that the Lan family is very actively pursuing this alliance. You don’t mean you didn’t know?”
Good heavens, she’s well-informed and here to stir up trouble again.
Wei Yue subtly curled her lip. Zhou Ling’s words were clearly meant to provoke conflict between “her,” who liked Lan Shangui, and Lu Yuanqiu.
“I heard, but what can I do?” Her face remained impatient. “Why are you telling me this? Even if I made a fuss with my mom about this, it wouldn’t help.”
Zhou Ling wasn’t surprised by Wei Yue’s reply. She continued, “Actually, it’s not just the Lan family. Zhou Jing is back… He had been refusing the family’s marriage arrangements, specifically waiting for Lu Yuanqiu. He definitely won’t let this opportunity slip by!”
“You don’t want the Lan and Lu families to form an alliance, and I don’t want Lu Yuanqiu joining our family. Individually, we can’t stop the families’ decisions, but together, we might have a chance!”
Zhou Ling grew more and more excited as she spoke, even staring at Wei Yue with a look of fervor afterward.
Wei Yue: “…”
Please, you just framed the female lead and got punished. Why don’t you know how to lay low and avoid trouble!
And what kind of logic is this? If one person can’t stop it, how can two people? Aren’t both of them just relying on their families for everything right now!
More importantly, Wei Yue had already skimmed the original plot about the birthday party. While it did involve Lu Yuanqiu being harmed, that was done by the original owner and didn’t mention Zhou Ling.
Wei Yue decided to continue fishing for information. She put on a facade of being convinced and said, “Together? What are you planning to do?”
Seeing Wei Yue interested, Zhou Ling became even more excited. She took a step closer, reducing the distance between them, and whispered, “The thing our families value most, besides profit, is face.”
“As long as we make her look foolish in public at the banquet, even if they reach a marriage intention, they won’t be able to announce it. Then, there will still be room for everything to change.”
As Zhou Ling spoke, she smiled as if she had already seen her plan succeed. Her eyes, which should have been seductively cat-like, were instead filled with hatred.
Wei Yue felt a chill down her spine looking at that expression.
She realized that perhaps what Zhou Ling truly cared about wasn’t Lu Yuanqiu marrying into the Zhou family or anything else. What Zhou Ling genuinely wanted was to humiliate Lu Yuanqiu.
Wei Yue asked, puzzled, “Before we discuss the details, I have a question for you.”
“I hate Lu Yuanqiu because… uh, because of Brother Shangui… Well, why do you hate her so much?”
The original owner was lawless and would stop at nothing to get what she wanted, even resorting to irrational antics. She liked Lan Shangui, but he wasn’t interested in her, so she directed her hatred toward Lu Yuanqiu, whom Lan Shangui liked.
But what was Zhou Ling’s reason? She couldn’t possibly have a secret crush on Lan Shangui, could she?
Hearing Wei Yue’s question, Zhou Ling’s expression went blank for a moment. She seemed stumped by the question. After a long pause, she finally said in a low voice, “I hate how she’s constantly the center of attention… Why should she be the one everyone loves so much?”
Wei Yue: “…”
Seriously, is being liked really a sin?!
“So, this book really lives up to the flavor of its old-fashioned serialization title. Even the villainesses’ reasons for hating the female lead are so cliché,” Wei Yue grumbled to the system while walking toward the convenience store.
This outing could be considered worthwhile.
Firstly, her OOC level had successfully dropped to 40%, allowing her to survive for a while longer. Secondly, she now knew that Zhou Ling would not stop targeting Lu Yuanqiu.
Therefore, she pretended to agree to Zhou Ling’s “invitation,” planning to act according to the situation when the time came.
However, Zhou Ling was not mentioned in the original plot for this scene. Wei Yue wondered if the plotline had already shifted or if the original owner was being used as a pawn, with Zhou Ling remaining hidden behind the scenes.
“Wei Yue? What are you doing here?”
A gentle female voice sounded. Wei Yue, still deep in thought, saw the person in front of her and her mind went blank.
Lu Yuanqiu?!
Why did she suddenly appear here!
Wei Yue was walking back from Linhu Road, and this direction clearly didn’t look like she had just come from the dorm to the convenience store.
The most critical thing was… she had just parted ways with Zhou Ling. Standing here, the view of Linhu Road was completely clear. When did Lu Yuanqiu get here? Did she see her talking to Zhou Ling?
If she saw…
She wouldn’t be able to clear her name even if she jumped into this artificial lake!
“Wei Yue?” Lu Yuanqiu was looking at Wei Yue, seeing the complex emotions on her face. She asked again, “What’s wrong? You don’t look well.”
Wei Yue looked up at the person’s picturesque features and the hint of worry contained in those light-colored eyes. Her initially anxious heart gradually calmed down, replaced instead by a slight feeling of guilt.
She said, “I’m fine. I just took a stroll around the artificial lake. But why did you come out? I didn’t take the key. If you’re not in the dorm when I get back, won’t I be locked out?”
Even though she was the one with the guilty conscience, she was the first to question Lu Yuanqiu, and the other person was still asking about her well-being…
The more Wei Yue thought about it, the more uneasy she felt, but to stabilize her OOC level and cover up her contact with Zhou Ling, she had to proceed this way.
Due to this internal emotion, she didn’t even realize that the look in her eyes toward Lu Yuanqiu had become softer.
Lu Yuanqiu seemed to have just arrived here. She said, “I came out to find you. Didn’t you see the message? The counselor asked us to go see her. She probably wants to reassure us about the post incident.”
“Ah…”
Focusing only on the birthday banquet, Wei Yue had completely ignored her phone notifications. She then realized the counselor had sent her a friend request. After accepting, the counselor immediately messaged her, asking her and Lu Yuanqiu to visit her this afternoon.
“Since you came out, I thought we might as well deal with this matter along the way,” Lu Yuanqiu explained softly. She curled her lips into a smile and said, “Want to go together?”
Wei Yue listened carefully, but her gaze involuntarily fell on Lu Yuanqiu’s thin, moving lips.
The lips were rosy, and the glimpse of her clean, white front teeth clearly showed the definition of “red lips and white teeth.”
She immediately realized what she was doing and quickly covered it up: “Mm… cough, the counselor said we both need to go, so how can we not go together!”
Whoa, what was she doing just now? Why was she staring at Lu Yuanqiu!
Wei Yue felt her heart rate subtly increasing.
She knew that as the female lead, Lu Yuanqiu was highly attractive in both looks and personality. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so popular and adored.
But staring at someone’s face, a very rude thing to do, how could it happen to her! Especially when she was supposed to be playing the villainess!
She couldn’t be mesmerized by the female lead’s beauty!
Wei Yue was internally panicking, only able to constantly remind herself to be careful of the OOC level and save her life.
“Then… are you still buying a drink?”
Lu Yuanqiu blinked, her long lashes fluttering, a smile reaching her eyes.
“…Yes, I am.”
Wei Yue looked away, deciding not to look directly at Lu Yuanqiu for the time being, and to buy a drink to calm herself down.
It was all Zhou Ling’s fault! If she hadn’t insisted on calling her out, would she be so terrified right now! Not to mention feeling so conflicted and having all these thoughts around Lu Yuanqiu!
After deep reflection, Wei Yue pinned her current abnormality on Zhou Ling.