I Don't Want to Be the Villainess Anymore - Chapter 19

Qin Yuzhen had no interest in what had happened to the Zhao family and was merely waiting for them to come and apologize. The apology was scheduled for this Saturday. When the two members of the Zhao family arrived, only Rong’s mother was present. The moment they stepped inside, their expressions darkened for a brief moment.

The Zhao family’s cannon fodder, still hospitalized, didn’t show up, and Qin Yuzhen didn’t force the issue—after all, this person would still have to apologize in front of the entire school later.

Rong’s mother sat on the largest sofa, while Qin Yuzhen and Rong Xi occupied another one. The two Zhao family members sat facing them, a position Qin Yuzhen particularly liked because it gave her a clear view of their expressions.

“Mrs. Rong, where is Mr. Rong?” Mr. Zhao asked.

“He’s in City B and hasn’t returned yet,” Rong’s mother replied, glancing at Qin Yuzhen. “Besides, the main focus today is Zhenzhen. Whether he’s here or not makes no difference.”

Before Mr. Zhao could respond, Qin Yuzhen spoke up.

“Thank you for making the trip. In all my years, this is the first time someone has grabbed me by the hair and hit me. I simply can’t swallow this grievance, so I’d appreciate it if the two of you could apologize to me now.” Qin Yuzhen flashed an innocent smile.

Mrs. Zhao stared at Qin Yuzhen. Unlike her husband, she knew full well that Qin Yuzhen was the one who had actually beaten up their son. She couldn’t understand how such a young girl could put on such an act, lying through her teeth without batting an eye.

Mr. Zhao’s expression soured. “Our apologies, Miss Qin. My son overstepped this time.”

Rong Xi’s lips twitched. Not even a proper “I’m sorry”—what kind of apology was that?

“He certainly did overstep. Luckily, it was just someone as delicate as me. If he had offended someone else next time, he might not just be recuperating in a hospital bed.” Qin Yuzhen smiled sweetly, her gaze flickering toward Mrs. Zhao.

Mrs. Zhao’s expression grew even uglier. She felt Qin Yuzhen was outright threatening her.

Rong’s mother remained silent the entire time. She had little regard for the Zhao family, viewing them as nothing more than second-tier nouveau riche clinging to the Rong family’s coattails. As such, she saw nothing wrong with Qin Yuzhen’s behavior.

“Host, Mrs. Zhao probably already knows you were the one who beat up her son,” the system remarked.

“I can tell,” Qin Yuzhen replied.

“Nothing like this will happen again,” Mr. Zhao said. “Since Mr. Rong isn’t here, we’ll take our leave.”

Qin Yuzhen narrowed her eyes. Beside her, Rong Xi couldn’t help muttering under her breath, “Weren’t both of them supposed to apologize? Why hasn’t Mrs. Zhao said a word?”

Though Rong Xi’s voice was soft, it wasn’t soft enough to go unheard. Everyone in the room caught her words clearly.

Rong’s mother glanced at Rong Xi and chuckled. “Our children are straightforward—they say exactly what they think.”

She offered an explanation but made no move to suggest that Mrs. Zhao shouldn’t apologize.

Mrs. Zhao took a deep breath. “Miss Qin, we sincerely apologize for this incident.”

“Not sincere at all,” Rong Xi muttered again.

System: “Host, Rong Xi is clearly being corrupted by you.”

Rong Xi’s words plunged the room into silence. Mrs. Zhao’s face burned with humiliation.

Rong Xi glanced around, seeming to realize what she had done. She blinked, shot a look at Qin Yuzhen, and subtly scooted closer to her.

“Xixi is just honest—she says what she sees without sugarcoating. I’m sure you won’t take offense, Mrs. Zhao.” Qin Yuzhen smiled warmly.

Mr. Zhao frowned as he looked at Qin Yuzhen. To be honest, after observing her up to this point, he couldn’t see any trace of fragility in her. From her posture to her expression, everything about her exuded an air of someone not to be trifled with.

“Alright, since the apology has been made, we’ll take our leave now,” Mr. Zhao said, unable to stay another minute. In all his years, he had never felt so humiliated—especially by a girl several decades younger than him.

“We were planning to invite you both for lunch, but since you’re in such a hurry, we’ll let it be,” Mrs. Rong said politely, though she hadn’t actually informed the kitchen about any such arrangement.

“No need for lunch, we wouldn’t want to trouble Mrs. Rong further,” Mrs. Zhao replied before she and her husband quickly exited the Rong residence.

Mrs. Rong yawned, casting a glance at the two still seated on the sofa. Her gaze lingered on Qin Yuzhen for a couple of seconds. “I’ll head upstairs now. Have someone call me when it’s time to eat.”

“Alright,” Rong Xi nodded.

“Host, Mrs. Rong definitely thinks you’re the one who corrupted Rong Xi. The old Rong Xi would never have spoken like that.”

“Oh,” Qin Yuzhen leaned back on the sofa, studying Rong Xi. “Didn’t expect you to be so good at delivering finishing blows, little sister.”

“It’s mainly because those two were so infuriating. Their son did something so terrible, yet they showed no remorse at all—and they didn’t even take you seriously,” Rong Xi said indignantly, growing angrier the more she spoke.

“Well, I’m not exactly important, so it’s normal for them to disregard me. They only came to apologize because of the Rong family’s influence,” Qin Yuzhen remarked.

Rong Xi clenched the hem of her clothes. “If your true identity were restored, they’d never dare act this way.”

Qin Yuzhen sighed helplessly. She realized Rong Xi was deeply fixated on this matter. “I’ve told you before—I don’t care.”

“But I do,” Rong Xi muttered. She had thought that if Qin Yuzhen cared, she could find a reasonable excuse to distance herself. But now that Qin Yuzhen claimed not to care, she didn’t know what to do.

“If I beat you up, would that make you stop obsessing over this?” Qin Yuzhen asked.

Rong Xi’s mouth fell open, and after a long pause, she managed a single word: “Huh?”

“Then it’s settled. I’ll beat you up,” Qin Yuzhen said, flashing her a benevolent smile.

Rong Xi: ???

Ten minutes later, both of them had changed into comfortable workout clothes and were standing in the home gym. Rong Xi herself wasn’t sure how things had escalated to this point.

“Go easy on me…” Rong Xi said cautiously, shivering slightly at the thought of Qin Yuzhen’s strength.

“Host, she’s the female lead. Isn’t it bad for you to hit her?” The system voiced its concern. Why did this person always act so unpredictably?

Qin Yuzhen walked up to Rong Xi, raised her fist, and swung it toward her face. Rong Xi instinctively shut her eyes but didn’t dodge. However, after a long moment, she felt no pain.

Cautiously, Rong Xi opened her eyes—only to find Qin Yuzhen pinching her cheek and giving it a light tug.

Rong Xi: …

“Qin Yuzhen!”

Qin Yuzhen let go and flicked her forehead. “There, done.”

Rong Xi covered her head, then touched her cheek.

It didn’t exactly hurt, but she couldn’t help feeling utterly humiliated.

“Done beating you up. Please don’t bring it up again.” Qin Yuzhen sat down on the nearby chair.

“If that’s all, why bother changing clothes?”

Qin Yuzhen glanced at Rong Xi: “Do I need to change clothes to hit you? Do you need to change clothes to get hit?”

Rong Xi: …

“Do you really think I’d hit you?” Qin Yuzhen asked, staring at Rong Xi’s face.

Rong Xi’s gaze wavered; she didn’t know how to answer the question: “I don’t know.”

“Ah, what a waste of time changing clothes for nothing.”

“It wasn’t a waste. Go ahead, run on the treadmill for an hour before coming down.” Qin Yuzhen tilted her chin toward the treadmill.

Rong Xi: ???

“Your stamina is too weak. You need to exercise.”

“Who says my stamina is weak!” Rong Xi retorted.

“I do.”

“You already changed clothes.” Qin Yuzhen said.

Rong Xi: …

“Since you already changed…”

Rong Xi stepped onto the treadmill and glanced at Qin Yuzhen, only to find her playing with her phone.

“You should exercise with me too,” Rong Xi said.

“Little sister, saying things like that can easily be misunderstood,” Qin Yuzhen remarked casually.

“Misunderstood how?” Rong Xi frowned slightly. “Exercising alone isn’t good—there’s no motivation.”

Qin Yuzhen looked up at Rong Xi: “What kind of exercise requires two people?”

Rong Xi fell silent for two seconds before finally realizing the implication.

Thus, the system witnessed the first instance of Qin Yuzhen getting hit.

Rong Xi’s face flushed bright red before she grabbed a nearby napkin and hurled it at Qin Yuzhen, hitting her squarely on the forehead.

“You’re the worst!” Rong Xi huffed angrily afterward, though the sound carried no real threat.

“Little sister, what kind of dirty thoughts are you having? Why is your face so red?” Qin Yuzhen picked up the fallen napkin and looked up at Rong Xi, suddenly feigning realization before clicking her tongue three times. “Tsk tsk tsk, never would’ve guessed, little sister. You’re that kind of person.”

Rong Xi stared at Qin Yuzhen—she had never met someone so shameless. “You’re twisting things around!”

“Me? When did I twist anything?” Qin Yuzhen blinked innocently. “The ‘misunderstanding’ I mentioned was about you not wanting to exercise properly. The second thing was just a question—there are plenty of two-person exercises. What did you think of that made you hit me?”

Rong Xi covered her face, her cheeks burning. “You’re awful.”

“Rong Xi, I haven’t even settled the score with you for hitting me yet.”

“I’ll hit you if I want!” Rong Xi snapped before quickly jumping off the paused treadmill and darting out of the room.

The system could only comment, “Host, you’re truly shameless.”

“What does it have to do with me? She was the one with impure thoughts.” Qin Yuzhen smirked even wider.

“Host, let’s not pretend between us.”

“Who are you again?” Qin Yuzhen raised an eyebrow.

System: …

System: Today is another day praying for a big shot to come and beat up this lazy troublemaker.

Rong Xi returned to her room, pulled out her diary, and started scribbling furiously without even writing the date.

Qin Yuzhen is absolutely despicable! She’s the one with dirty thoughts, yet she blames me! She obviously set me up on purpose and won’t even admit it!

Shameless, twisting the truth, spouting nonsense.

Too bad napkins don’t hurt when thrown. I should carry something for self-defense. I’ll look it up online when I have time.

Rong Xi left, and Qin Yuzhen didn’t linger in the gym either, leisurely strolling back to the third floor. She glanced at Rong Xi’s tightly closed bedroom door.

“Zhenzhen.”

“Hmm?” Qin Yuzhen turned toward the voice and saw Rong’s mother standing on the stairs.

“Did you bully Xixi? I just heard her running upstairs.”

“Why does her running upstairs automatically mean I bullied her?” Qin Yuzhen looked at Rong’s mother, utterly baffled by the logic.

“She usually doesn’t make such a commotion at home.” Rong’s mother frowned slightly, displeased with Qin Yuzhen’s attitude. “And today’s incident—Xixi normally wouldn’t speak like that. I hope your bad habits don’t rub off on her. After you graduate high school, I’ll arrange an etiquette tutor for you.”

Qin Yuzhen smiled, the corners of her lips curling slightly. “I think my etiquette is just fine, and I don’t see standing up for myself as anything shameful. I’m not sure what exactly you find so unsatisfactory about me.”

“Speaking to an elder like this is already a lack of etiquette.”

“I’m calm and not cursing—just raising a question.” Qin Yuzhen rested her hand on the railing. “Where exactly is the lack of etiquette here?”

Rong’s mother took a deep breath. “Since you’re now part of the Rong family, you must follow the Rong family’s rules. All I want to hear from you is the word ‘yes.'”

“My surname is Qin, and I’m a distant relative of the Rong family.” Qin Yuzhen’s smile remained unchanged.

The system noted that Qin Yuzhen was truly asking for a beating.

“Host, you’re eating their food and using their resources. How on earth do you still have the audacity to argue like this?”

“Thick skin.”

System: “…”

“Then, tally up how much of this world’s currency I can exchange with my points and tell me whether I should have this kind of confidence. Worst case, if things go south, I’ll pay them back and leave.”

The system glanced at the conversion chart. “Too many digits. Can’t be bothered to calculate.”

While Qin Yuzhen chatted idly with the system, Rong’s mother stood before her, too furious to speak for a long moment.

“You really are a child raised in the countryside—no manners.”

“Not discriminating against others is basic decency. Do you have any?”