After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Bent by the Villainess (GL) - Chapter 4

Tonight was clearly not her lucky night, and it was best not to linger.

To avoid any more trouble, Xia Chuci had planned to say goodbye to Gu Miao and leave after changing her clothes.

However, when she reached the door of Gu Miao’s bedroom, she noticed people inside were plotting something. She lowered the hand that was about to knock and pressed her ear against the door to eavesdrop.

“Miaomiao, the Su sisters are showing you too much disrespect, actually embarrassing your friend in public.”

“Exactly, Miaomiao. I think those sisters want to kill the chicken to scare the monkey. On the surface, they’re making things difficult for your friend, but in reality, they want to slap your face. You can’t let them off easily this time.”

“Hmph, they’re going too far. So, what good idea do you have to show them what’s what?”

…

Xia Chuci sighed internally. Gu Miao was still too naive. Her emotions were easily stirred up by a few words. She was indeed a greenhouse flower, too well-protected by the Gu family, ignorant of the wickedness of the human heart.

“After the cake-cutting ceremony, Su Yiming has to play a piece to celebrate your birthday, right? We can secretly put some laxatives in her wine beforehand. It’ll definitely make her make a fool of herself on stage, and she’ll never have the face to show up again.”

“Hahaha, I can’t stop laughing just thinking about the usually high-and-mighty Miss Su shitting her pants publicly on stage.”

“Good, let’s do that. I’ll leave this matter to you.”

“No problem. Just sit back and enjoy the show.”

…

That’s too vicious! How can you young ladies, who claim to be nobility, even come up with such a nasty trick?

Sigh, since she stumbled upon this, no matter who was being pranked, she couldn’t just stand by, much less the major villain. She had even less reason to stay out of it.

Ultimately, she was the fuse for this incident. When the major villain settled old scores in the future, she wouldn’t be able to escape responsibility.

“Let’s go, we need to hurry up and act.”

Xia Chuci was afraid of being discovered and wanted to hide, but looking around, there was nowhere to conceal herself.

The sound of footsteps inside the room grew closer. Thinking quickly, she quickly ran out a few meters, then immediately turned back and walked toward the door, pretending she had just finished changing and was coming to find Gu Miao.

Gu Miao had just opened the door when she saw Xia Chuci approaching. She quickly went forward and held her hand, saying, “I’m sorry you were wronged tonight. I didn’t treat you well, and something like this happened.”

Xia Chuci generously said, “It’s okay. Today is your special day. You should be happy and cheerful. Don’t let such a small thing spoil your mood, or I’ll feel bad.”

“Mhm, mhm.” Gu Miao nodded, her face wreathed in smiles.

The two other girls who had just been plotting with Gu Miao exchanged a few pleasantries with Xia Chuci, then excused themselves and left, not forgetting to give Gu Miao a meaningful look before they went.

Xia Chuci knew their plan well. To prevent Su Yiming from falling for it, she had to get away quickly. She said, “Miaomiao, everyone is waiting for you, the star of the night. Hurry up and go, don’t delay.”

Gu Miao saw that she wasn’t planning to go with her and asked doubtfully, “Aren’t you coming?”

Xia Chuci pointed to her dress and said helplessly, “Look at my clothes. They already feel out of place for the banquet. If I go in with you, I’ll draw too much attention. You go first. I’ll sneak in quietly a bit later, so everyone won’t notice me.”

Gu Miao understood. Thinking about how the culprit would be humiliated tonight, she secretly gloated and smiled, “Alright, I’ll go first. I invite you to watch a good show tonight.”

Watching the wilful girl’s retreating back, Xia Chuci shook her head helplessly, then grimly hurried towards the banquet hall to stop a landmine that someone had set and might explode in the years to come.

In the banquet hall, a waiter secretly handed a note to Su Yiming and whispered, “Miss Su, someone asked me to give this to you.”

Su Yiming opened the note, her brow slightly furrowed. She asked suspiciously, “Who asked you to give this to me?”

The waiter shook his head, indicating he didn’t know, and then left.

Su Yiming put away the note and glanced around, but found no suspicious person.

At this moment, in an inconspicuous corner not far away, Xia Chuci was quietly observing Su Yiming’s movements.

Soon after, the two girls walked over, holding wine glasses, and struck up a conversation with Su Yiming. The three of them appeared to be chatting happily.

Su Yiming’s original glass was quickly emptied. One of the girls eagerly refilled her cup, and the other girl clinked glasses with her, boldly drinking it all. However, Su Yiming only took a small sip, then used a handkerchief to wipe her mouth, her demeanor extremely dignified and elegant, leaving no room for fault.

Su Yiming chose to trust the note of unknown origin and spit the wine onto her handkerchief. Once she was alert, it wouldn’t be so easy to set a trap for her.

The crisis was averted. Xia Chuci let out a long breath, and the tension in her heart finally eased.

System: [Beep—OOC warning, Reader Enjoyment Level -50.]

The abrupt system notification made the corners of her mouth, which hadn’t yet turned up, freeze.

Xia Chuci took a deep breath and comforted herself: You can’t catch a wolf without sacrificing a child. She could earn the enjoyment level back later. If a grudge was formed, it wouldn’t be so easy to resolve. Just consider it a loss of money to avoid disaster.

Next came the solemn cake-cutting ceremony. Gu Miao, surrounded by admirers, clasped her hands, closed her eyes to make a wish toward the one-meter-tall castle cake, and the corners of her happy mouth curled up slightly.

Some people are born with a silver spoon, carefree, enjoying endless love, while others struggle just to stay alive.

Standing in the corner, Xia Chuci lowered her eyes, and sorrow welled up from deep within the original host’s heart—a feeling of self-pity.

Thinking that the original host hadn’t even had a birthday cake on her birthday for over twenty years, a hint of sympathy rose in her eyes.

When all the candles on the cake were blown out, everyone offered their blessings, creating a joyful and harmonious atmosphere.

Madam Gu was visibly emotional, wiping away tears and lamenting that her precious daughter had grown up.

Beside her, Gu Xin smiled, gently comforting his mother while affectionately stroking Gu Miao’s head as she acted spoiled.

And Father Gu looked at his proud son and daughter with contentment, his face beaming with smiles.

Xia Chuci took in this tender scene, full of envy.

Suddenly, Gu Xin turned his head and looked at her. Their eyes met, and his eyes sparkled with an inexplicable emotion, a gentleness mixed with a hint of pity.

Xia Chuci was stunned, puzzled: Has the male lead fallen for the heroine at this point? That shouldn’t be the case.

Not knowing how to respond to Gu Xin’s gaze, she subconsciously lowered her eyes, avoiding his sight.

Then she thought, She hadn’t done anything wrong, so why was she feeling guilty? So, she raised her eyes, met his gaze, and nodded and smiled openly, acknowledging him.

Gu Xin returned her smile, then shifted his attention back to Gu Miao.

Xia Chuci felt a sense of relief, but her heart hadn’t completely settled.

She inadvertently flicked her gaze and was caught by Su Yiming’s meaningful eyes. A chill instantly ran down her spine, her body temperature rapidly dropped, her heart raced, her legs went weak, and she knew something bad was brewing.

She couldn’t possibly think I was flirting with Gu Xin just now, could she! That’s a miscarriage of justice! I’m more wronged than Dou E!

It seemed she and the major villain were fundamentally incompatible, destined rivals. Whenever the two of them were in the same frame, some melodramatic spark was bound to fly.

Xia Chuci silently parted her lips, wanting to speak but holding back. She wanted to explain this ridiculous misunderstanding but didn’t know where to start.

“To celebrate the coming-of-age birthday of Princess Miaomiao, Miss Su Yiming has specially prepared a performance. A round of applause, please!” The host’s announcement pulled her chaotic thoughts back.

Su Yiming withdrew her gaze and walked onto the stage amidst applause, seating herself gracefully. Her slender fingers danced lightly on the black and white keys. The pure yet rich sound was as gentle as winter sunlight, with a hint of languor in its soft warmth.

She played with composure, lost in the music. The beautiful notes transformed into beautiful little sprites, fluttering and dancing around her, their movements elegant and noble.

Standing on one side of the stage, Xia Chuci couldn’t see the expression on her face, but she was deeply captivated by this figure immersed in music.

She just couldn’t figure out why such a breathtakingly talented goddess of a villain would lose to an utterly ordinary, novice heroine.

The scene on stage was like a poem or a painting, and the audience below was mesmerized.

The music ended, and applause erupted.

Xia Chuci breathed a sigh of relief. The performance was finally over without any trouble.

Only a few girls had pale faces, their brows furrowed. Gu Miao turned and glared at the two girls who had failed to execute the plan.

Xia Chuci took all this in and smiled triumphantly.

However, before she could retract her smugness, an unexpected scene unfolded.

Just as Su Yiming was about to stand up for her curtain call, the zipper at the back of her dress got snagged on the decorative ribbon of the chair’s backrest. The moment she stood up, the zipper was pulled down from top to bottom along her spine.

Before the dress could fall, Xia Chuci rushed over like a gust of wind, grabbing Su Yiming in a hug, shielding the audience’s view with her body. Then, she reached behind her, untangled the ribbon snagging the zipper, and quickly pulled the zipper back up.

Xia Chuci sighed with relief, giving her a sweet smile, and said, “That was truly beautiful music.” Before the other person could react, she ran away, truly living up to the phrase ‘came in a rush and left in a rush.’

The audience below was unaware of the small hiccup on stage, assuming that someone was simply so moved by the beautiful music that they ran up to hug the performer—nothing out of the ordinary.

Su Yiming bowed for her curtain call. After stepping off the stage, she looked around, trying to find that fleeting figure, but couldn’t. She couldn’t help but lower her eyes in disappointment.

At this moment, Xia Chuci was hiding in a dark corner, gloomily drawing circles and cursing the system.

The reason was that after her heroic rescue, she was not greeted with flowers and applause, but with the system’s cold punishment:

[OOC warning! Reader Enjoyment Level -50. Current Enjoyment Level is 150.]

Losing 100 Reader Enjoyment Level in one night! At this rate of loss, she might be eliminated and vanish before she could even complete the OOC-removal mission. She might even become the first heroine in web novel history not to survive past the second chapter.

It seemed best to avoid the major villain until the primary mission was completed. One slip and it’s OOC, deducting enjoyment level. Who could stand that!