I Don't Want to Be the Villainess Anymore - Chapter 16

“Then let’s wait until the holiday, or after the college entrance exams?” Rong Xi tentatively suggested.

Qin Yuzhen thought for a moment, then nodded.

Rong Xi looked at Qin Yuzhen with some surprise, never expecting her to be so agreeable for once.

While Rong Xi couldn’t fathom Qin Yuzhen’s thoughts, the system knew perfectly well—Qin Yuzhen was simply afraid Rong Xi might actually draw her ugly.

“Have you finished your homework?”

“Didn’t I finish it by Friday?” Qin Yuzhen glanced at Rong Xi.

“Ah, you’re not in the class group chat yet. There’s more homework—let me add you,” Rong Xi said.

Qin Yuzhen: ???

“Don’t add me!” Qin Yuzhen protested, but Rong Xi was too quick—she had already swiftly pulled her into the group.

“How am I supposed to pretend I didn’t see it now that you’ve added me?”

Qin Yuzhen slumped on the sofa, utterly defeated.

Rong Xi watched Qin Yuzhen. Though she didn’t want to admit it, seeing her so flustered gave her an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

“Well… you can just leave the group yourself?” Rong Xi said cautiously.

Qin Yuzhen narrowed her eyes. “Rong Xi, your grin is about to split your face.”

Rong Xi instinctively touched her cheek. “Is it that obvious?”

“Absolutely,” Qin Yuzhen replied, opening her phone to glance at the group chat. Several people had already welcomed her, so she responded with a cute sticker.

Rong Xi looked at the sticker, then back at Qin Yuzhen.

“I’ll send you the homework.”

Qin Yuzhen didn’t reply. She opened Rong Xi’s message, saw the list of assignments, and felt tears welling up again. How could there be so much? Even though she worked quickly, she still didn’t want to do it.

“Sorry, I forgot about it yesterday while we were shopping. There’s quite a bit—maybe you should start soon?” Rong Xi blinked, her expression tinged with apology.

“You did this on purpose.”

“Oh, how could I, sis?” Rong Xi said. “I genuinely forgot.”

Qin Yuzhen took a deep breath, recognizing the familiar tone in Rong Xi’s voice. “You’re learning fast.”

“Huh?” Rong Xi froze. It wasn’t until Qin Yuzhen went upstairs that she realized how infuriating her own tone had just been.

Rong Xi covered her mouth. Had she really been influenced so much in just a few days?

The next day at school, Rong Xi carefully observed Qin Yuzhen’s expression and was relieved to find her in a normal mood, with no signs of displeasure.

“You didn’t bring any of your stuff back—how did you finish the homework?”

“You really did do it on purpose,” Qin Yuzhen sighed. “Morals decline, and hearts grow cold.”

Rong Xi: I shouldn’t have asked.

“I just forgot, that’s all.”

“Save it,” Qin Yuzhen cut her off. “Let me nurse my wounds in solitude.”

Rong Xi: …

“Then what do you want?”

System: This girl still isn’t very bright, is she? This is clearly a trap—why engage with it?

“Write my homework for me?”

“In your dreams,” Rong Xi refused outright.

“Let me copy yours?” Before Rong Xi could reject the idea, Qin Yuzhen dismissed it herself. “Never mind, I don’t trust your accuracy.”

Rong Xi: ???

“Then I’ll think about it later.”

“I’m not making silver-stuffed bean sprouts,” Rong Xi immediately declared.

“Yeah, they weren’t that good anyway.”

Rong Xi: ???

She really wanted to complain to Qin Yuzhen about how troublesome that thing was, but she was afraid that after hearing it, Qin Yuzhen would make her continue doing it just to torment her.

Rong Xi felt aggrieved but couldn’t say a word.

Qin Yuzhen leaned against the car window with her eyes closed, resting. Rong Xi glanced at her several times.

When the car stopped, Qin Yuzhen couldn’t help but sigh, startling Rong Xi beside her.

“I don’t want to go to school.”

“Are you a grade-schooler?” Rong Xi couldn’t resist teasing.

System: “No, she’s a five-hundred-year-old monster.”

As soon as Qin Yuzhen got out of the car, she saw the cannon fodder character Zhao loitering at the school gate, craning his neck to look around. She pretended not to notice and casually drifted over to Rong Xi’s side.

“What’s wrong?” Rong Xi lowered her voice, glancing at Qin Yuzhen and then around her. She still remembered the presence of a certain pervert nearby.

“You don’t feel it?”

Rong Xi pursed her lips. “Well, a lot of people usually stare at me anyway… The really weird ones, I could only sense on Friday.”

Rong Xi looked around and waved at a few people.

“It should be fine. I’m usually surrounded by people anyway.” She suddenly realized this—she rarely moved around alone. At school, she always had company.

“Oh.”

Rong Xi glanced at Qin Yuzhen and tentatively asked, “Is it possible that person is targeting you?”

“I just got here. Who could I have offended? My desk mate?”

Rong Xi: “…”

“So you do know you offended them.” Rong Xi sighed, subtly signaling Qin Yuzhen with her expression as she spoke.

Qin Yuzhen smirked. “I did it on purpose. So what can you do about it?”

“Oh.” Rong Xi felt that the tables would turn eventually. Right now, Qin Yuzhen was bullying her, but in a few years, it might be her turn to bully Qin Yuzhen.

Though it seemed like a difficult feat, anything was possible. Rong Xi had already made up her mind—once she finally turned the tables, she’d make Qin Yuzhen organize the walk-in closet.

The corners of Rong Xi’s lips twitched upward involuntarily.

“Dreams really are beautiful.”

Rong Xi’s smile froze for a few seconds.

“Tsk.” Qin Yuzhen leaned in close to Rong Xi’s ear. “Little sister, control your expressions. Even if you don’t say your thoughts out loud, I can already guess them from your face.”

Rong Xi silently edged away. “I wasn’t thinking anything.”

“Mhm, definitely not about hanging me up and beating me.”

“Wait, do you think what you’ve done is bad enough to deserve being hung up and beaten?” Rong Xi asked, puzzled.

Qin Yuzhen: “…”

The system burst into wild laughter. It had been a long time since it had seen someone rendered speechless by a comeback.

Rong Xi also noticed Qin Yuzhen’s speechlessness and stifled a giggle.

“This female lead learns fast.”

“True, but she picks up the bad habits instead of the good ones,” the system agreed.

“I think you might want to be sent back to the factory for disposal,” Qin Yuzhen said.

Back in the classroom, Qin Yuzhen took her seat and glanced at her desk mate, who was already fast asleep. “Liang Xuzhou.”

“Have you been to the hospital?”

Liang Xuzhou didn’t respond.

“You sleep eighteen hours a day. Could it be…”

Though Liang Xuzhou wanted to pretend he hadn’t heard, Qin Yuzhen’s words were getting increasingly outrageous. He finally lifted his head. “How do you know I sleep eighteen hours a day? There’s nothing wrong with me, thanks.”

“Host, you can’t just take out your frustration from Rong Xi on your deskmate,” the system sighed gloomily.

“I was just giving a friendly reminder,” Qin Yuzhen said. “And who said Rong Xi made me angry? Would I even get upset over her? Absolutely not!”

Liang Xuzhou, noticing Qin Yuzhen’s expression growing darker by the second, silently scooted closer to the wall. He had a feeling he was just collateral damage.

“Today, I have to deal with that creep,” Qin Yuzhen said, cracking her knuckles.

“Actually… that’s the male lead’s job.”

“The male lead hasn’t even shown up yet, thanks. At this rate, if we wait for him to act, who knows how long it’ll take?” Qin Yuzhen scoffed. “By then, it’ll be way too late.”

System: Oh, so you DO realize that!

Qin Yuzhen rubbed her chin, then glanced at Liang Xuzhou, deep in thought.

“Deskmate.”

“…What now?”

“I sent you a friend request on QQ. Accept it.”

System: Liang Xuzhou—DANGER.