I Don't Want to Be the Villainess Anymore - Chapter 29

Gu Su left, and Rong Xi couldn’t help but giggle to herself, feeling an unprecedented sense of relief.

“Not bad at all, little sister,” Qin Yuzhen remarked. “You’re improving at lightning speed.”

“It’s alright,” Rong Xi replied, glancing around. “Did someone just stare at me earlier?”

“Yeah, quite a few people did,” Qin Yuzhen said.

Rong Xi sighed, trying to console herself that it was only for a month—she just had to endure it a little longer, and it would be over soon.

“What do you want me to do with you this afternoon?” Qin Yuzhen glanced at her.

“I… I want you to play badminton with me. The kind where you go easy on me,” Rong Xi said. She didn’t want to be crushed again; she wanted to experience the joy of not dropping the ball.

Qin Yuzhen pinched Rong Xi’s cheek.

Rong Xi frowned slightly. “What was that for?”

“Oh, just felt like it,” Qin Yuzhen replied nonchalantly, withdrawing her hand.

“How random,” Rong Xi muttered, rubbing her cheek. “I’m going to pinch you back.”

“Dream on. Wake up,” Qin Yuzhen retorted, quickly slipping into the water dispenser room to dodge Rong Xi’s hand.

Rong Xi huffed lightly.

During P.E. class in the afternoon, even though Rong Xi insisted her leg was fine, the teacher still made her sit out the warm-up run. Rong Xi was perfectly happy with the arrangement—she didn’t want to run anyway—so she sat on the field, watching Qin Yuzhen and the others jog.

Qin Yuzhen finished three laps without breaking a sweat, leaving Rong Xi envious. Though she had been reluctant to admit it when Qin Yuzhen pointed out her poor stamina, the comparison made it painfully obvious.

After warm-ups came free time. Rong Xi darted over to Qin Yuzhen. “Let’s go play badminton!”

“Senior!”

A girl came running toward Qin Yuzhen and Rong Xi. Rong Xi’s smile faded as she pouted and whined, “Sis…”

“Senior, want to play basketball with us today?” Cong Mian hugged a basketball to her chest.

Rong Xi pressed her lips together and stayed silent.

“Senior Rong, do you want to join too?” Cong Mian turned to Rong Xi.

Rong Xi studied Cong Mian. Honestly, if it had been Gu Su, she would’ve already started acting “tea-like,” but this junior… hadn’t really done anything wrong. Her pride was still too thin to pull off such theatrics.

“I promised Rong Xi I’d play badminton with her.”

Cong Mian froze, then looked disappointed. “Oh…”

“Do you want to join us for badminton?” Qin Yuzhen asked. “You two can team up against me.”

“I’m fine with that, but… Senior Rong…” Cong Mian cautiously glanced at Rong Xi.

“I don’t mind.”

Hearing Rong Xi’s voice, Cong Mian blinked in surprise. “Senior Rong, you seem… a bit different from last time?”

“She lost a bet,” Qin Yuzhen explained with a smile.

Cong Mian nodded, noticing Rong Xi’s awkward expression, and quickly changed the subject. “Then let’s go borrow some rackets.”

“Mm,” Qin Yuzhen agreed.

The three of them headed toward the equipment room. Ye Yunshen happened to be coming out with a basketball, but Qin Yuzhen didn’t even notice him—and even if she had, she wouldn’t have bothered greeting him.

However, Rong Xi, standing beside her, called out sweetly, “Brother Ye.”

Qin Yuzhen frowned slightly and turned to look at Rong Xi, whose ears had turned slightly red.

Ye Yunshen’s face was also slightly flushed. He cleared his throat awkwardly: “Are you here to borrow something too?”

“Mm.”

“Yes, we’re going to play badminton. Young Master Ye, could you step aside? Don’t block the doorway,” Qin Yuzhen interrupted Rong Xi’s words with a beaming smile.

Ye Yunshen shot Qin Yuzhen a glance, his eyes tinged with displeasure.

The system felt exhausted. The tiny pink bubbles that had just barely appeared were swiftly popped by Qin Yuzhen.

Having been called out like this, Ye Yunshen couldn’t very well continue blocking the doorway. He smiled apologetically at Rong Xi, then stepped aside to make way.

Qin Yuzhen quickly pulled Rong Xi away by the wrist.

“Why is your face so red?”

Rong Xi looked at Qin Yuzhen in surprise: “You made me speak in such an embarrassing tone and manner—how could I not blush?! I’m so mad!”

Cong Mian, standing nearby, couldn’t help but chuckle.

Qin Yuzhen snorted lightly. She suspected that the thick-skinned male lead might have misunderstood something. After borrowing the equipment and stepping outside, she found the male lead waiting by the door.

“Xixi, I can play with you. How can three people play badminton together?” Ye Yunshen said.

Qin Yuzhen narrowed her eyes: “Men and women should maintain propriety. Ye Yunshen, how can you be so frivolous? Who gave you the right to casually use pet names?”

“I’ve called her that since we were kids. Is that not allowed?” Ye Yunshen couldn’t understand why Qin Yuzhen always had to butt in whenever he spoke to Rong Xi.

“Some kindergarten boys and girls used to share the same bathroom. Do you think you can still walk into the women’s restroom now?” Qin Yuzhen stared at him expressionlessly.

Ye Yunshen opened his mouth but found himself at a loss for words.

“I also think it’s not appropriate to call her that. What if others misunderstand?” Cong Mian chimed in. “We should focus on studying hard in our senior year.”

Ye Yunshen glanced at Cong Mian. Perhaps because she also seemed gentle and proper, and didn’t appear to be deliberately provoking him, his expression softened slightly.

“Let’s go play badminton,” Qin Yuzhen said, pulling Rong Xi past Ye Yunshen.

Rong Xi nodded at Ye Yunshen, offering an apologetic smile.

“Tch.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Flirting right in front of me.”

Rong Xi frowned slightly: “Who’s flirting with him? I was just expressing polite regret for turning him down.”

“Oh.”

“How unreasonable.”

Qin Yuzhen didn’t say anything more and focused on playing badminton. To her, it made little difference whether she played with one person or two. She didn’t favor either, usually feeding a ball to Rong Xi and then one to Cong Mian to prevent them from fighting over it.

“Impressive skills,” remarked a few boys playing basketball nearby.

Liang Xuzhou wiped the sweat from his face and scoffed.

“I’d like to play with the girls too.”

“Who wouldn’t?”

“Have you noticed Qin Yuzhen is much gentler with girls than with boys?”

“That must be because you’re all ugly,” Liang Xuzhou said, taking a sip of water. During his time as Qin Yuzhen’s deskmate, he had observed that while she was polite and kind to everyone, she clearly had a soft spot for the prettier girls in class.

“Old Liang, so you’re saying you think you’re ugly?”

Liang Xuzhou touched his face and said, “Just average, I guess.”

The next second, a ball hit him square in the face.

“If even Old Liang isn’t considered handsome in Qin Yuzhen’s eyes, then just how good-looking does someone have to be to catch her attention?”

“Who knows?” Liang Xuzhou dribbled the ball and glanced toward the field again. He had a feeling Qin Yuzhen was about to fall asleep.

Qin Yuzhen really was on the verge of dozing off. When the bell rang, she even startled a little. Rong Xi and Cong Mian, on the other hand, were having a great time, their faces lit up with smiles. Qin Yuzhen couldn’t understand what was so fun about such a non-competitive ball-tossing game, but if her little sisters enjoyed it, she could tolerate it.

The monthly exam review assembly was scheduled for Saturday. When the homeroom teacher came to remind Qin Yuzhen, she still hadn’t written her speech—and by now, she had no intention of writing one at all.

“If you really don’t know how to write it, I can help you draft one,” Rong Xi whispered. She had a feeling that if Qin Yuzhen went up there unprepared, she might say something utterly shocking.

“No need. Isn’t this something I can just improvise?” Qin Yuzhen propped her chin on her hand. “It’s not like there’s a time limit anyway.”

Rong Xi: “…”

“You’re not going to go up there and say something like, ‘Because I’m smart,’ like in those novels, are you?” Rong Xi felt this was exactly the kind of thing Qin Yuzhen would do.

Qin Yuzhen fell silent for two seconds. She had indeed considered doing just that. “Being smart is one of my traits. What’s wrong with that?”

Rong Xi let out a soft huff, opened her book to start her homework, and ignored her.

On Saturday afternoon, before the assembly, Qin Yuzhen went to the auditorium early to prepare. Rong Xi had to go too—as the second-highest scorer in the grade, she was among those being honored. Their seats were in the second row, right next to each other.

Usually, everyone sitting in the second row knew each other, so the appearance of an unfamiliar face naturally bumped a familiar one out of place. Many people eyed her curiously, but Qin Yuzhen calmly took her seat. When she turned her head, she saw Liang Xuzhou sitting right behind her.

“What a coincidence,” Qin Yuzhen raised an eyebrow.

“Sure is.”

Liang Xuzhou was also among the students being honored—for his improvement. In the eyes of many teachers, his progress was significant, and this was partly to encourage him to stop messing around on his exams.

“By the way, what exactly are you planning to say?” Rong Xi couldn’t resist asking.

“Nothing special.” Qin Yuzhen crossed her legs, rested her chin on her hand, and absentmindedly swung her foot a couple of times.

The grade-level principal, entering from the front door, noticed her casual posture and gave her a disapproving glance but said nothing.

Once all the classes had settled in, the assembly began.

The school, in its infinite boredom, had even set up a camera to pan over the students. When a boy’s face appeared on the big screen—caught mid-nose-pick—the audience burst into laughter.

The camera swept across the crowd before landing on Qin Yuzhen and Rong Xi.

Qin Yuzhen didn’t change her posture. She raised an eyebrow at the camera and flashed a grin. Beside her, Rong Xi lowered her head shyly—she didn’t have Qin Yuzhen’s level of shamelessness.

“Is that the girl who topped the science division?”

“Damn, sis is so domineering. I love it.”

“She’s actually this good-looking? I thought she’d be some nerdy bookworm.”

“I don’t know why, but she kinda gives off a cool vibe.”

Whispers buzzed behind them. Qin Yuzhen uncrossed her legs, her smile growing even brighter.

She wasn’t sure about others, but as someone with a thick skin, she loved being praised so loudly.

The audience footage on the big screen finally disappeared, replaced by the cover of a PowerPoint presentation.

The vice principal in charge of the grade and the grade-level director took the stage.

Qin Yuzhen was a bit puzzled—if these people were going to be sitting on stage the whole time, what was the point of leaving seats for them below?