I Don't Want to Be the Villainess Anymore - Chapter 17

“No.” Liang Xuzhou shook his head, sensing something amiss from Qin Yuzhen’s eyes.

Qin Yuzhen sighed. “Isn’t it bad not to have your deskmate’s contact info?”

“Is there any need for us to stay in touch?” Liang Xuzhou asked earnestly.

“Didn’t you promise last time to help me deal with some trouble?” Qin Yuzhen sighed again. “Well, I get it—you’re scared. It’s fine, fear is only human.”

Liang Xuzhou: “…”

“Do you really think your reverse psychology works every time?”

“I’m just lamenting. After all, I just got here and don’t know many people. The few girls I do know all seem delicate and fragile—I’d feel bad dragging them into trouble.” Qin Yuzhen glanced at Liang Xuzhou. “I’ll just ask them for help instead. Even if they’re slender and petite, I know they won’t abandon me.”

Liang Xuzhou pulled out his phone. “Fine, fine. Request accepted. So annoying.”

“What’s the point of adding me? It’s not like I’ll follow you around.”

“Oh, I plan to lure the trouble out. That’s when you’ll need to follow me.” Qin Yuzhen smiled.

Looking at her expression, Liang Xuzhou had a strong suspicion that she was more likely to be the one causing trouble for others.

“Today, when I go to pick up my uniform, follow me—but not too close. Just trail me from a distance. I’ll message you if they take the bait,” Qin Yuzhen said.

“Got it.” Liang Xuzhou didn’t think it sounded like a big deal—nothing too difficult.

Qin Yuzhen used a prop card to spread the news to Cannon Fodder Zhao that she’d be picking up her uniform during gym class.

“Host, what if he doesn’t show?” the system asked.

“Then I’ll let him off for now.” Qin Yuzhen twirled her pen. “But I think he’ll go.”

Villains in this kind of story were usually pretty dumb—after all, this was just a modern romance, not some ancient political intrigue. If you dangled the bait, they’d usually bite.

“Come out for a moment.”

Startled out of her thoughts, Qin Yuzhen turned to see the math teacher standing behind her. She glanced at the English teacher still at the podium—were students really allowed to be called out so casually during morning reading?

Following the teacher to the office, Qin Yuzhen spotted the test paper on the desk as soon as she arrived.

“How did you do this?”

“On my own.” Qin Yuzhen stood to the side.

“It’s not that I doubt you, but this test shows a level completely inconsistent with the records from your previous school.” Old Qian pulled out another test and circled three questions. “Go do these over there.”

“Okay.” Qin Yuzhen nodded.

“Just write your rough work in the margins.”

“Got it.” Qin Yuzhen went to sit at a nearby desk.

“Host, I told you to keep a low profile. Look what happened,” the system remarked.

Ignoring it, Qin Yuzhen skimmed the test. It was noticeably harder than the last one, but nothing she couldn’t handle.

She finished all three problems in twenty minutes.

When she brought the paper back, Old Qian glanced up. “Couldn’t do it?”

“Done.”

“That fast?” Old Qian looked surprised, taking the paper and scanning it. Once again, it was spotless—no rough work, no corrections.

Old Qian fell silent, studying Qin Yuzhen for a long moment. The scarier part? Every answer was correct.

“Such strong mental calculation skills?” Old Qian glanced at the answer.

“Not bad.”

For some reason, Old Qian detected a hint of smugness in that tone.

“If you’re this capable, why were your grades so poor before?”

“Teacher, could we not dig into my past? Everyone has things they’d rather not talk about,” Qin Yuzhen replied.

Old Qian: “…”

“Alright, go back now.” Old Qian waved her off.

After Qin Yuzhen left, Old Qian went to find the homeroom teacher.

Back in class, as soon as Qin Yuzhen sat down, Liang Xuzhou beside her sighed dramatically, “Got all the math homework wrong yesterday, huh?”

“Are you dreaming?”

“Then why else would they call you to the office first thing in the morning?” Liang Xuzhou gloated.

“Because I got everything right,” Qin Yuzhen shook her head. “A mere mortal like you wouldn’t understand how that feels.”

Liang Xuzhou: “…”

“Hey, desk mate, I heard the monthly exams here are used to weed people out. You won’t get kicked out next time, will you?” Qin Yuzhen asked with feigned concern.

Liang Xuzhou ignored her.

During break, Rong Xi also came over. “What did Old Qian want with you?”

“I accidentally got too many answers right on the math homework.”

Rong Xi: “…”

“Are you being sarcastic?” Rong Xi asked seriously.

“Little sister, in your heart, is your elder sister really that incompetent?”

“Usually, teachers only call in students who did poorly…”

“Then you must not be outstanding enough,” Qin Yuzhen said.

Rong Xi pursed her lips. “I never said you weren’t outstanding.”

Liang Xuzhou glanced at Rong Xi, then at Qin Yuzhen. “So you attack everyone indiscriminately?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. I never attack anyone,” Qin Yuzhen said.

Liang Xuzhou: “…”

Rong Xi: “…”

“Am I wrong? Little sister, this is just friendly banter. You wouldn’t understand.” As she spoke, Qin Yuzhen linked arms with Rong Xi.

Rong Xi forced a polite smile.

“Heh.” Liang Xuzhou chuckled unkindly.

Pei Jingyue, who had witnessed the entire exchange, didn’t like Rong Xi but could still read the word “suffering” on her face. She glanced at Qin Yuzhen, and a saying popped into her mind: “Evil begets evil.”

The system’s task cards were always reliable. During class, Qin Yuzhen received a notification—Zhao the Cannon Fodder had already learned, through a plausible means, that she would be picking up her uniform during the afternoon activity period.

At lunch, when Qin Yuzhen mentioned she’d go get her uniform alone, Rong Xi was taken aback.

“You don’t want me to come with you?”

“No need,” Qin Yuzhen said. “It’s just picking up a uniform.”

Rong Xi shot her a look. “What if you can’t find the place?”

“I’ll find it.”

Rong Xi poked at her food.

Qin Yuzhen didn’t understand why this was upsetting her.

“Zhenzhen, let me go with you. I have a secret spot at school I want to show you,” Gu Suo said, noticing Rong Xi’s gaze and smiling even brighter.

“No, I’ll go alone. We can visit the secret spot another time.”

Gu Suo was surprised by the refusal. In her mind, adding an extra incentive should have made rejection unlikely. “Do you have plans for the afternoon?”

“Yeah,” Qin Yuzhen nodded.

“What plans?” Rong Xi frowned at her.

“Kids shouldn’t meddle in grown-up matters.”

Rong Xi: “…”

She had never seen such a half-hearted answer in her life.

“We’re the same age,” Rong Xi retorted.

“In my heart, you’ll always be a kid.”

“I’m just asking—it’s not like I’ll interfere.” The more Qin Yuzhen refused to say, the more curious Rong Xi became. Mostly, she was afraid Qin Yuzhen might do something bad—after all, this person was utterly unreliable.

“No.” Qin Yuzhen flat-out refused. “Don’t even think about it. I won’t tell you.”

Gu Su, this time, didn’t press further like Rong Xi. Having already been slapped once (metaphorically), she had no intention of getting slapped twice in a row.

During the sports activity class, Rong Xi had wanted to follow Qin Yuzhen, but just a turn too slow, and she lost sight of her. Rong Xi realized Qin Yuzhen had deliberately ditched her. Soon after, she was dragged off to the library by others.

“Host, someone is waiting for you near the storage room,” the system reported. “Confirmed—it’s the Zhao cannon fodder.”

“Told you he’d show up.” Qin Yuzhen grinned.

Most students during the sports activity class were gathered at the playground, library, activity rooms, or the school store. The office building was usually quiet, and now it was practically deserted.

“Three blind spots in the surveillance confirmed. Audio has been disabled.”

“Got it.”

“Host, go easy on him.”

“Sure.”

The moment Qin Yuzhen entered the storage room, someone yanked her hair from behind.

System: Oh no.

Qin Yuzhen smirked, letting out a scream while grabbing the person’s arm. On the surface, it looked like she was struggling, but in reality, she was maneuvering them into a surveillance blind spot.

Her scream echoed down the empty hallway—no need to send a message. Liang Xuzhou, hearing the noise, came running.

Zhao cannon fodder still had a grip on Qin Yuzhen’s hair. “How dare you bully Rong Xi? I’ll—”

Liang Xuzhou arrived just in time to see this scene and immediately lashed out with a kick toward Zhao.

Unfortunately, Zhao had some training. He released Qin Yuzhen, dodged the kick, and retaliated with a punch straight to Liang Xuzhou’s face.

Qin Yuzhen smoothed her hair, glaring at Liang Xuzhou, who was clearly losing. “Big bro! Weren’t you supposed to be the tough guy?”

Liang Xuzhou: “…”

Qin Yuzhen sighed internally, grabbed Zhao by the collar, and slammed him onto the floor in a swift judo throw. Then she twisted his arm sharply—his agonized scream reverberated through the hallway.

She freed Liang Xuzhou, whose face was already bruised.

“Following me, huh?”

“I bullied Rong Xi? Which eye of yours saw that? And you—how long have you been stalking her, you creep?”

“Sneaking around, watching her like some disgusting maggot—you know that, right?”

“I’m from the Zhao family!” Zhao screeched, his voice weak from pain. “I’m warning you—my parents won’t let you get away with this! How dare you treat me like this!”

Qin Yuzhen rolled her eyes, lifted her foot, and stomped on his hand. She flicked her hair back. “This was the hand that pulled my hair, right? Do you have any idea how precious my hair is?”

“I’m from the Zhao family!”

“I’m from the Rong family,” Qin Yuzhen said with a smile. “You attempted to assault me at school, only to be stopped by Liang Xuzhou, the top tough guy at Ninth High. Tell your parents to prepare a personal apology to me, or I won’t let this slide. When you yanked my hair earlier, it was probably caught on the surveillance footage.”

Liang Xuzhou was completely dumbfounded as he stared at Qin Yuzhen. He couldn’t shake the feeling that she was mocking him, but his mind was so blank he couldn’t even process the thought.

At the mention of “surveillance footage,” he glanced around, frowning slightly.

“Don’t worry, we’re in a blind spot here,” Qin Yuzhen reassured him.

Liang Xuzhou: “…”

“Someone’s coming,” Qin Yuzhen announced. The next second, she was sitting on the floor, curled up in a corner, trembling and sobbing uncontrollably.

Liang Xuzhou finally understood his role in Qin Yuzhen’s grand scheme—he was just the fall guy. This woman had probably never expected him to actually intervene.

The commotion was too loud to ignore, and it eventually drew attention.

Originally, all three of them were supposed to go to the teacher’s office, but since the cannon-fodder Zhao was lying on the ground, unable to get up, it ended with just two of them accompanying the homeroom teacher to the principal’s office. Zhao was sent straight to the hospital.

Before the principal could even speak, Qin Yuzhen burst into tears. “I was so scared! I just went to pick up my uniform, and then he—he grabbed my hair and dragged me out… I don’t even know him! I don’t even know his name!”

She babbled incoherently about her terror, perfectly playing the part of a traumatized victim.

“I’m close with Rong Xi because we live together. These past few days, we’ve been walking together. I’ve always been sensitive, and I could tell he was following Rong Xi. Because I was scared, I told her…” Qin Yuzhen took a deep breath. “He threatened me, said if I told Rong Xi again, his parents would come after me. He even told me to stay away from her.”

Liang Xuzhou was numb by now. If possible, he would’ve clapped.

“Liang, it’s good that you stepped in to stop bullying, but you went too far. Just stopping it would’ve been enough,” the principal said wearily. The three students involved all came from influential families. “The hospital just called—Zhao has two broken ribs and a fractured arm.”

Liang Xuzhou: ???

Liang Xuzhou: !!!

He instinctively wanted to look at Qin Yuzhen, but the sharp pain on his foot stopped him.

“I’ll cover his medical expenses,” Qin Yuzhen offered. “Liang was just dragged into this because of me. Please don’t blame him, teachers. Zhao was just… too terrifying. He probably lost control.”

Liang Xuzhou was beyond numb.

Soon, representatives from all three families arrived—assistants and lawyers, no parents, as they were all too busy. They gathered to review the surveillance footage.

The footage was sparse, and the system had been edited. The original scene of Qin Yuzhen struggling and leading Zhao had been altered to show Zhao deliberately dragging her into a blind spot. Then came an empty hallway—no figures, just Qin Yuzhen’s screams. By the time Liang Xuzhou appeared in the frame, sprinting down the hall, three minutes had already passed.

The evidence from the surveillance footage was already quite clear, not to mention the teacher had also heard from students that Zhao Paohui had been inquiring about Qin Yuzhen’s whereabouts.

The three families involved were in no position to file lawsuits or report to the police—negotiation was the only way forward. None of them wanted such an unsightly incident to make headlines.

The Rong family, being the protagonist’s family, naturally had an aura of privilege. While the Zhao family was influential, they couldn’t possibly take on both the Rong and Liang families simultaneously.

“I refuse to stay in the same school as that pervert!” Qin Yuzhen cried out during the negotiations, appearing deeply traumatized. “When I walked with Rong Xi before, someone warned me that he liked to threaten anyone close to her. I didn’t take it seriously—I thought we lived in a society governed by law, that such things couldn’t happen.”

“But now he’s already resorted to physical violence against me. Who knows what he’ll do next…”

The Zhao family’s lawyer looked visibly uncomfortable.

Qin Yuzhen was strikingly beautiful, and even her tears seemed picturesque. Paired with her pale complexion, she looked pitiful and tragic, evoking sympathy from everyone present—except for Liang Xuzhou.

“I don’t want compensation. I want him to apologize to me in front of the entire school, and I want his parents to apologize to me and Rong Xi at the Rong family home,” Qin Yuzhen declared. “And then he needs to transfer schools.”

“That’s out of the question,” the Zhao family’s assistant replied with a smile. “This is just a minor dispute between children. Miss Qin, you may make other demands—we’ll do our best to meet any financial requests.”

“If this is just a minor dispute between children, then why are you even here?” Qin Yuzhen shot back, as if angered. She wiped her tears and gasped, “Besides, the Rong family doesn’t need money. Are you looking down on them?”

Rong Xi rushed over upon hearing the news. The moment Qin Yuzhen saw her, she dashed forward and wrapped her arms around Rong Xi’s waist.

Rong Xi stiffened in surprise.

“Little sister, the Zhao family is bullying me!” Qin Yuzhen sobbed, her voice thick with grievance. “My head hurts so much—he hit me.”

Rong Xi frowned slightly, unsure whether Qin Yuzhen was being genuine or not. Still, she patted her back and turned a cold gaze toward the Zhao family. “Did my sister make any unreasonable demands?”

“Not at all, Miss. She simply wants an apology,” the Rong family’s assistant interjected helpfully.

“So, a member of the Rong family gets cornered and beaten, and we can’t even get an apology?” Rong Xi asked. “Does the Rong family really have so little face?”

Qin Yuzhen remained clinging to Rong Xi, her face resting on her shoulder. She was slightly surprised—Rong Xi actually seemed quite impressive when she got serious.