After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Bent by the Villainess (GL) - Chapter 16

Because of this sudden little interlude, Xia Chuci clocked out early.

Since her clothes were dirty, Su Yiming had to accompany her back to the dorm first. After she changed, Su Yiming would take her out for a big, delicious meal.

However, when the two arrived at the dorm door, they heard the people inside discussing Xia Chuci.

As the subject of the discussion, Xia Chuci didn’t rush in. Instead, she signaled Su Yiming to be silent and leaned against the door, listening intently to how her three roommates were fabricating her rumors.

Roommate A: “Did you hear? That motorcycle guy was actually Xia Chuci’s boyfriend. He wanted to kill her because she cheated on him. Tsk tsk, a textbook crime of passion.”

Roommate B: “What? Your news is wrong. According to reliable sources, that motorcycle guy was actually her sugar daddy. Later, she found a richer sugar daddy and dumped him, and now she’s getting revenge. She deserves it.”

Roommate C: “Let me tell you, this woman, Xia Chuci, is not simple. She often works in a bar, right? On the surface, she says she sells drinks, but who knows what she’s selling behind the scenes? Maybe she sold her first time long ago. In a place like that, how many people are clean? Tsk, she provoked so many men outside; she deserves to be targeted for revenge.”

Roommate B agreed: “Exactly! She’s used to pretending to be pure, hasn’t she? She probably used a lot of hard-to-get tactics on those men. Maybe one of her paramours turned love into hatred and wanted to destroy her when he couldn’t have her. That’s why he caused the car accident.”

My goodness! How did a simple car accident get blown into such a rumor?

Hearing this victim-blaming today, she was truly eye-opening, gaining a new perspective on the narrow-mindedness of human nature.

Although angry, Xia Chuci still didn’t rush in to argue with them. Instead, she continued to enthusiastically eat the melon (Chinese idiom for following gossip), as if the subject of the gossip wasn’t her.

On the other side, Su Yiming’s face darkened. Her whole body radiated a dangerous aura.

The three people separated by a door remained completely oblivious and continued to gossip.

Roommate A: “We’re so unlucky to be assigned to the same dorm as someone like her. If she catches some unmentionable disease outside and brings it back, we won’t be able to protect ourselves.”

Roommate C: “Ah, what should we do? Should we talk to the counselor about moving her to another dorm?”

Roommate B: “You go talk to them. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, but she’s now hooked up with Gu Xin. If you offend Gu Xin, you’ll be in big trouble.”

Roommate C: “What? The eldest young master of the Gu family? How could he fancy trash like her? And doesn’t the Gu family have an engagement with the Su family? Su Yiming is not to be messed with. Will she let her off?”

Roommate B: “You are so out of the loop. Some time ago, Su Yiming caught Xia Chuci and Gu Xin having an affair red-handed. The scene was incredibly exciting—it’s already the talk of the town! Hehe, it’s a pity I wasn’t there to witness such a thrilling scene with my own eyes. What a loss.”

Roommate A: “And then what happened? Did they fight?”

Roommate B: “How could they? Su Yiming is known as the cold and aloof goddess. She’s a genuine daughter of a prestigious family. How could she lower herself to the level of a wild pheasant that flew out of some poor mountain valley? She didn’t even spare her a glance and just left. See, that’s the posture of the main spouse.”

Roommate C: “Haha, this is going to be good. The Su family definitely won’t let this b1tch off the hook. People who don’t seek trouble won’t find trouble. She brought this upon herself. Hmph, she doesn’t know her own place, trying to fly up the branches and become a phoenix. Pure delusion.”

Roommate A: “Tsk tsk, a wealthy family drama: the original spouse fighting the mistress. What a great show.”

…

Hearing this, Su Yiming’s face grew even darker.

Then, Xia Chuci’s heart also panicked.

They were bringing up the exact topic that should be avoided. The good favor she had painstakingly accumulated couldn’t be ruined by these gossiping women.

Xia Chuci avoided eye contact with Su Yiming, feeling guilty as she forced a smile.

Seeing her embarrassment, distress, and fake smile, Su Yiming clenched her fists. Her temples throbbed with anger, and her heart ached intensely.

This was the person she treasured in her heart. How could she endure such arbitrary slander?

Xia Chuci stopped Su Yiming, who was about to kick the door in, and comforted her, “It’s okay. I’ll handle it. Don’t be angry. It’s not worth getting upset over people like them.”

Su Yiming’s remaining sanity told her not to act rashly. If she rushed in like this, and if uninformed people saw it, who knows what defamatory rumors would be spread about Xia Chuci. She absolutely could not tolerate anyone ruining her reputation.

Then, she reconsidered. There were plenty of ways to deal with these people and easily make them shut up, so there was no need to rush. She who laughs last, laughs best.

Seeing that she had calmed down, Xia Chuci took a deep breath, adjusted her demeanor, and opened the door as if nothing had happened.

After she had fully appreciated the three people’s fascinating transformation from astonishment to awkwardness, and finally to terror, she very calmly opened her closet, took out a set of clothes, and went to the bathroom.

Xia Chuci didn’t linger for too long. After all, Su Yiming was waiting outside, so she only took a quick shower.

Ten minutes later, upon exiting the bathroom, she couldn’t help but shiver because the atmosphere in the entire dorm was extremely strange, and, despite it being the middle of summer, it was rather cold.

Well… more accurately, it wasn’t just rather cold; it was freezing!

Su Yiming was sitting on Xia Chuci’s chair, crossing her legs. One arm rested on the desk, and her fingers tapped lightly on the desktop. The thud-thud sound was particularly crisp and loud in the silent dorm room.

Meanwhile, the three roommates stood rigidly nearby like tree stumps, heads bowed, their faces pale with fear.

Xia Chuci was secretly amazed. What exactly had Su Yiming done to them in those short ten minutes to make them so submissive and frightened?

However, now was not the time to ask. For the sake of their past as roommates, she would be the bigger person and offer a helping hand to these poor souls targeted by the major villain. She said, “Yiming, I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.”

Su Yiming’s suffocatingly powerful aura was instantly dissolved by her simple sentence, vanishing without a trace, as if everything just now had been an illusion.

“Mm, let’s go. I’ll take you out for something good to eat.”

After the two left, the three trembling roommates wiped the cold sweat from their brows, exchanged glances, and let out a long sigh of relief.

In a private room at a Cantonese restaurant, Su Yiming placed a pan-fried dumpling with thin skin and ample filling into Xia Chuci’s bowl, then happily watched the other person devour it.

Xia Chuci, who had been eating steamed buns every day since leaving the hospital, completely forgot about table manners in front of the feast. She was already being very polite by not eating until she burst.

However… if Su Yiming hadn’t stopped her, she might really have eaten herself to death.

“Have your roommates been bullying you like this all along?”

Xia Chuci thought back carefully about her daily interactions with those NPCs and said, “It’s not exactly bullying. I usually don’t spend much time in the dorm, and even when I am there, they don’t want to talk to me. So, besides gossiping behind my back, they haven’t done anything else to me.”

Her indifferent tone made Su Yiming even more convinced that she had been suffering from silent campus bullying.

The pity in her heart intensified. Su Yiming said, “How could you be so foolish? You didn’t even know to seek help from a teacher when you were being bullied.”

“I’m not foolish. I don’t like them anyway, and I’m too lazy to socialize or go along with them. It’s fine for everyone to mind their own business. The dorm is just a place to sleep. They don’t affect me. Don’t worry.”

The strong female lead, carrying the mission to boost reader enjoyment, stated coldly: Hmph, a few NPCs are nothing. They are completely outside the heroine’s social circle. No reader will be interested in a few irrelevant NPCs!

But in Su Yiming’s eyes, she was clearly trying to act strong. No one liked being isolated. She must have been subjected to too many cold words and dismissals since childhood to become accustomed to silent bullying and even reassure herself that it was a good thing.

In just a few minutes, Su Yiming had already conjured a melodrama in her mind titled “Xia Chuci’s Tragic Life.” She felt very uneasy, and her desire to protect her became stronger, overwhelming her.

If Xia Chuci knew what was going through her mind right now, she would be overjoyed to the point of tears, kowtow in gratitude, and swear to repay her in her next life. It would definitely be worth all her diligent effort in clinging to the thigh during this time.

“You should move in with me.”

“Cough~” Xia Chuci, who was drinking tea, choked. Did a perfectly normal sentence need to be said with such earnestness and deep affection!

Anyone who didn’t know would think you were making a solemn vow to your lover!

Xia Chuci took three seconds to confirm her gender setting: female, correct. Then she took three seconds to consider her sexual orientation setting: straight as a steel pipe, correct.

That left only one possibility, and it was the one she was most reluctant to accept: that in Su Yiming’s eyes, she was just a small, weak chicken who needed protection. Otherwise, it was hard to explain where this damn protectiveness was coming from.

“Drink slowly, no rush.” Su Yiming handed her a tissue and added, “Don’t worry, I’ll talk to the teacher. You just need to move in without any concern.”

A close neighbor is a lucky star. If they lived together, they would only have more time to spend together, not less. She could boost favorability and cling to the thigh anytime, anywhere. Thinking about it, living together was a great thing.

Moreover, Su Yiming’s dorm was a premium one—it was practically a luxury mansion compared to her previous dorm!

Xia Chuci secretly ridiculed the heinous nature of capital while feeling smug about her imminent move into the luxury residence.

Hmph, only a fool would refuse to enjoy good fortune. Smart Xia readily agreed, accepting the offer.

Good things came in pairs. The system also sent congratulations:

[Congratulations to the host! Strengthened the character correlation between the protagonist and the villain. Reader Enjoyment Level +50.]

Oh yeah, sure enough, being closer meant earning more Enjoyment Level.