After Transmigrating, I Lived with the Charismatic/Beloved Female Lead - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“What are you looking at? Aren’t you going to eat!”

Noticing that the number of gazes directed towards her had clearly increased, Wei Yue glared back at the surroundings and spoke testily. Since she was currently maintaining the image of an arrogant villainess, acting fiercely like this actually helped to lower her OOC level.

The people around silently retracted their gaze, pretending nothing had happened and continuing to eat.

Xu Mengning was still a bit stunned. From the moment Wei Yue rushed over and started a verbal battle with Zhou Ling, to Lu Yuanqiu intervening to deliver the fatal blow to Zhou Ling, and then to Wei Yue’s finishing move that completely shooed Zhou Ling away, the entire operation was smooth as silk.

But this was Wei Yue!

Although Wei Yue and Zhou Ling were also arch-enemies, she clearly used to dislike Lu Yuanqiu even more. Why would she team up with Lu Yuanqiu to deal with Zhou Ling? The reverse seemed much more likely.

Xu Mengning was a bit curious, looking at the two people opposite her with complex eyes.

However, the two people opposite seemed to ignore her eager gaze, both burying their heads in their food.

Xu Mengning: “…” Never mind, time to eat.

Wei Yue couldn’t guess what Lu Yuanqiu and Xu Mengning were thinking, or rather, she couldn’t afford to worry about it right now.

At this moment, she couldn’t suppress the smile on her lips as she looked at the rewards credited on the screen in front of her.

Congratulations to the host for completing the side mission, successfully helping the female lead get rid of Zhou Ling’s harassment, earning 12 hours of life value. Current cumulative life value: 67 hours. Acquired 1 Plot Key. You can choose to unlock one segment of the plot. Key validity: 7 days.

She finally had the Plot Key item!

She was a transmigration into a book, but she had never read the novel Night Whispers and completely lacked the advantage of knowing the plot in advance. She was even completely clueless about some of the larger background settings.

Since the main plotline had already begun, she could use this Plot Key to prepare for subsequent missions.

The system brought up a new panel for Wei Yue, which displayed “Worldview and Story Background,” “Character Relationships,” and “Main Plot 1, 2, 3, 4.”

The main plot was divided into 4 parts, and she could only choose one to view.

Glancing at the main mission panel again, Wei Yue made her decision.

“Use this Plot Key to unlock the Story Background of the small world,” she said to the system in her mind, taking a bite of fried chicken.

Understood. The Story Background has been clicked open for the host. Please select the segment to unlock.

Hmm…? Why are there categories even after clicking in!

Wei Yue saw that the “Worldview and Story Background” section, once clicked open, was actually divided into dozens of small sections. From macro backgrounds like “K City Development History” and “Future Professional Development Prospects in K City” to detailed influential families like the “Lu Family” and “Lan Family,” everything was divided into specialized sections, and all required 1 Plot Key to unlock.

Wei Yue: “…”

I thought I could take a shortcut and use this Plot Key to directly unlock the background of those powerful families to complete the current main mission.

I knew this system wouldn’t be so kind!

“Then let’s unlock the Lu Family Background first,” Wei Yue sighed, reluctantly spending the Plot Key.

Since she was the female lead of a stock-buying novel, the main plot would certainly revolve around Lu Yuanqiu. Starting with the female lead’s family would more or less involve other influential families related to the main plot, making it the most cost-effective option.

“Wei Yue.”

While Wei Yue was still checking her system panel, a soft voice suddenly called her name by her ear.

She looked up and saw that Lu Yuanqiu had stood up, seemingly preparing to leave. She heard the other person say: “Thank you this time.”

Because she was backlit, Wei Yue couldn’t clearly see Lu Yuanqiu’s expression when she thanked her, only her figure enveloped by the sunlight.

She froze for a moment. By the time she reacted, Lu Yuanqiu and Xu Mengning had already left together.

“The female lead is really too kind…” Wei Yue murmured, gazing at the other person’s slender back.

The original owner had done so many things to make her life difficult, yet now, just by “seeming” to help her out, the female lead thanked her with such a good attitude.

Compared to her, the original owner was truly inhumane!

Wei Yue took advantage of the afternoon class meeting to browse the Lu Family background information the system had sent her.

As the family of the female lead in a stock-buying novel, the Lu family had an extremely profound foundation, involved in industries such as finance, medicine, and law. Lu Group was the leading enterprise in K City, and the current head of the Lu family was Lu Yuanqiu’s father.

As his seemingly only child, it was no exaggeration to say Lu Yuanqiu was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.

Lu Yuanqiu also did not disappoint, showing extremely high learning ability from a young age. Whether in academic performance or various extracurricular talents, she excelled. Coupled with her superior looks and warm, pleasant personality, up to this point, the influential families in K City all praised her highly.

Seeing this, Wei Yue looked up at the girl who was surrounded by most of the students in the Finance Class 01 after the class meeting ended, thinking: She seems to be the “Man Magnet” type of female lead.

If Lu Yuanqiu had any regrets, it was that her mother passed away from illness when she was nine, meaning she lost her mother’s love relatively early.

Aside from that, Lu Yuanqiu’s life was quite smooth. Even her grandfather the previous head of the Lu family highly recognized her abilities, believing she was the undisputed next successor to the Lu Group.

However, on the day of her 18th birthday celebration, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

Clang. Suddenly, the dorm room fell into darkness.

Wei Yue checked her phone; it was 11:30 PM, K University’s lights-out time.

The dorm room was very quiet, but through the walls, she could vaguely hear laughter from the next room. Since it was the first day of school, everyone was naturally trying to communicate more with their new roommates.

But between her and the female lead…

Lu Yuanqiu was likely dragged into conversation by her new classmates and returned much later than her, only giving her a faint smile when she saw her.

Wei Yue, however, intuitively felt that Lu Yuanqiu was slightly tired. She looked at the other person’s bright amber eyes and did not initiate a conversation.

“So, we remained silent until the lights went out…”

Wei Yue lay on the bed, scrolling through the system screen and complaining to the system.

After all, the host is currently in the role of the villainess. Even if you seemingly helped her out in the cafeteria, it could also be interpreted as a personal grudge between you and Zhou Ling. The female lead is definitely still guarded against you.

However, I must remind you that due to the villainess’s overbearing personality and her hostility towards Lu Yuanqiu, according to the persona and plot, you should have engaged in appropriate provocation and mockery towards her today. Since you haven’t done so yet, the OOC level has increased.

Wei Yue: “!”

She watched helplessly as the OOC level value on the screen changed from 10% to 30%, wanting to beat up the system: “Why didn’t you say so earlier!”

This is an implicit requirement that the host needs to figure out on their own. This time, the system’s reminder is already an exception.

Not only did the OOC level rise, but as midnight of the second day arrived, her remaining life value also changed. Since she had previously accumulated 67 hours of life value and had passed today’s 24 hours, she was now only left with 43 hours.

Less than two days of survival time. Alarm bells blared in Wei Yue’s mind.

But then she reconsidered. In just two brief encounters with Lu Yuanqiu today, she had gained 21 hours of life value, and the main mission still had a 96-hour reward waiting to be completed.

The female lead truly had become her life preserver. Whether to maintain the OOC level or to trigger missions and accumulate life value, she absolutely must increase her interaction with the female lead.

It’s like playing a game. To hoard resources, you always have to grind for experience points.

Thinking this, Wei Yue dispelled her worries and became somewhat eager to try.

However, just as she was preparing to fall asleep, a subtle murmur suddenly echoed in the silent darkness.

“No… wait…”

Wei Yue immediately woke up. She sat up in bed, straining her ears to listen. The sound gradually became clearer.

“Don’t…”

The voice came from her right it was Lu Yuanqiu’s voice.

It sounded like she was talking in her sleep, having a nightmare.

Wei Yue recalled the latter half of the Lu Family information she had read today.

Lu Yuanqiu’s glorious life continued until age 18, when it was shattered by an accident.

During her coming-of-age ceremony, she accidentally fell into the natural lake behind the hotel. The lake was extremely deep. Even though Lu Yuanqiu was a good swimmer, it was difficult to return to shore, especially since she had inhaled water when she first fell in.

Later, Zhou Yue—the cousin mentioned by Zhou Ling sacrificed herself, jumping into the water to save Lu Yuanqiu.

Unfortunately, the girl failed to make it back to shore and drowned in the lake.

Although it was an accident, Zhou Yue was highly favored by the Zhou family matriarch, and the Lu and Zhou families thus became enemies.

Furthermore, even though Lu Yuanqiu was successfully rescued, the drowning led to prolonged oxygen deprivation in her brain and a lung infection, causing her to fall into a coma. Half a year into her coma, her father, believing Lu Yuanqiu had no hope of waking up, brazenly brought his illegitimate son into the Lu family.

Now that Lu Yuanqiu was awake, the situation facing her was extremely difficult—external pressure from the Zhou family and internal indifference from her father, along with the ambitious illegitimate son.

Under such immense pressure, it must be hard not to have nightmares. Wei Yue thought silently, feeling that Lu Yuanqiu also fit the “beautiful, strong, and tragic” character archetype.

While thinking, she pulled aside her bed curtain, climbed down, and walked to Lu Yuanqiu’s bedside.

For Wei Yue, waking Lu Yuanqiu up now was a great opportunity—she could rescue Lu Yuanqiu from the nightmare and save her OOC level value. It was a win-win situation!

So, Wei Yue didn’t hesitate. She tapped the metal railing at the head of Lu Yuanqiu’s bed and called out: “Lu Yuanqiu, wake up!”

The low-pitched sleep talking abruptly stopped. The dorm room fell into complete silence.

She must be awake, Wei Yue estimated, and continued: “Why are you talking in your sleep? You’re so noisy! I had to personally come down and wake you up!”

Faint light filtered through the sliding balcony door into the room, falling upon Wei Yue’s fair face. Lu Yuanqiu, roused from her nightmare, pulled open her curtain and saw Wei Yue’s figure vaguely defined in the dark.

“I’m sorry. I’ll be sure to watch myself in the future.”

Since she was the one at fault first, even with her conflict with Wei Yue, Lu Yuanqiu apologized softly first.

“Miss Lu, don’t just say empty words, okay?” Wei Yue’s tone shifted. Thinking of the female lead’s current predicament, she continued testily, “I advise you to take some real action. Tomorrow, I expect to see the honey and milk you bought.”

“…Thank you. I will.”

Lu Yuanqiu nodded, a slight smile curving her thin lips.

This smile seemed different from the ones she saw during the day. Looking at the other person’s clear and beautiful face bathed in moonlight, Wei Yue’s heart skipped a beat.

“Hmph, I, I hope so!”

Fortunately, it’s night, Lu Yuanqiu couldn’t see her shifting gaze.

And naturally, she couldn’t see the complex emotions in Lu Yuanqiu’s eyes, nor the small knife she held in her hand, hidden by her side.

“Finance 1, 2, 3 classes! Fall in!”

Accompanied by a crisp whistle and loud slogans, groups of students, uniformly dressed in military green training uniforms, gathered, listening to the instructor’s lecture.

For almost all university students, military training was unavoidable.

But there were always exceptions.

Wei Yue bought a bottle of mineral water from the school supermarket and slowly strolled towards the military training formation of her class.

The Finance Academy’s training spot was on the open ground in front of the teaching building. She found a step and sat down, looking completely at ease.

As an essentially “second-year slacker,” Wei Yue had already prepared for military training.

The original owner had a car accident during the summer break, and her body was indeed not fully recovered. So, she contacted Wei Ling and tearfully pleaded her case. Wei Ling naturally couldn’t let her daughter suffer and immediately sent over hospital certificates.

After reviewing the documents, the instructor and counselor naturally wouldn’t force her to participate in the training, only requiring her to follow along by the side to ensure she earned the credits.

Seeing the envious glances of the freshmen, Wei Yue even more nonchalantly pulled out her phone and started browsing forums.

Unfortunately, the system wouldn’t let her rest.

Ding-ding! Due to the host’s choice to unlock Lu Family related content yesterday, a special side mission has been triggered: According to the plot development, the physically weak female lead collapses from exhaustion after the first round of military training. The villainess must seize this opportunity! Escort Lu Yuanqiu to the infirmary. Reward: 12 hours of life value. Time Limit: 15 minutes.

It seems that unlocking specific plots can trigger these so-called “special missions.”

Wei Yue took a sip of water and looked up at Lu Yuanqiu.

The other person’s long hair was tied up and tucked into the military training cap, exposing her slender, long swan neck. Her straight posture and elegant demeanor made her stand out even within the crowd.

Wei Yue had excellent eyesight and could see that Lu Yuanqiu’s face was indeed a bit pale. Since she was recently recovered from a serious illness, participating in such high-intensity training must be physically challenging for her.

Judging by the system’s time limit, this segment of military training was about to end. Wei Yue planned to quickly approach Lu Yuanqiu by blending in with the resting crowd and then, amidst the confusion, follow her to the infirmary.

Completing this mission will be a breeze!

With a whistle, the formation standing at attention broke up, and the freshmen, with wobbly steps, searched for a place to sit and rest.

Seeing Lu Yuanqiu and the others walking in her direction, Wei Yue felt the time was right. She stood up, ready to walk over.

But she clearly overlooked that the original owner’s body was also weak from a recent serious illness.

Because she had been sitting for a long time, as Wei Yue stood up, her vision instantly blackened. Her head swam, and she couldn’t balance her body once she started moving. She stumbled and lunged straight down the steps.

Several shouts and gasps rang out, accompanied by the sound of a heavy object falling and the wind whistling past her ears. Wei Yue felt herself falling into a warm embrace.

“Teacher! Teacher! Someone fell down!”

A faint, pleasant fragrance wafted to her nose, but Wei Yue quickly realized what had happened.

Her vision gradually cleared. She used her hands to prop herself up, meeting Lu Yuanqiu’s slightly confused eyes.

“You… why…”

Lu Yuanqiu’s thin lips moved, uttering a few words, before she completely fainted.

Wei Yue: “…”

The female lead did faint, but why did she faint from being knocked down by me?!

The system, which watched the entire event: Great. So you truly have the heart of a villainess.