I Don't Want to Be the Villainess Anymore - Chapter 30

This meeting could be said to be very traditional in nature—boring.

The grade principal alone spoke for over half an hour, and judging by his lingering enthusiasm, it was likely a condensed version of his speech. After he finished, the heads of each subject department took their turns, each speaking for twenty minutes.

Qin Yuzhen nearly dozed off.

When she heard the host on stage mention her name, she was momentarily stunned. It wasn’t until Rong Xi poked her arm that she stood up.

Qin Yuzhen leisurely walked onto the stage and took her place at the podium. She glanced at the students and teachers below—her eyesight was excellent, and from this position, she could clearly see everyone’s faces.

“Hello everyone, I’m Qin Yuzhen. I just transferred to this school at the beginning of October, so many of you probably don’t know me yet. But you will soon.”

“Old Wang asked me to write about my learning insights, study methods, and share my experience.”

“Honestly, I don’t have much experience or insights. I thought about it for a long time but couldn’t come up with anything. Rong Xi says I have a high IQ, and I agree.”

The audience erupted into murmurs and chatter. Old Wang covered his forehead in exasperation.

Rong Xi: ???

“Shameless.”

Rong Xi turned around upon hearing the muttered complaint from behind and nodded at Liang Xuzhou in deep agreement.

“Before this exam, Rong Xi and I made a bet.”

Rong Xi immediately whipped her head around to stare at Qin Yuzhen.

Rong Xi: !!!

“If her score was lower than mine, I’d make her a hundred servings of silver-sprouted beans. If my score was higher than hers, she’d have to… ahem, talk to me like this for the next month.” Qin Yuzhen pinched her throat for the last part.

The audience burst into cheers. Rong Xi silently covered her face and lowered her head in embarrassment.

“So this time, Rong Xi scored significantly higher than the third-place student. You might want to try this method—having a guy talk like this for a month could be quite entertaining.” Qin Yuzhen said.

“For example, Liang Xuzhou, who’s consistently ranked fourth from the bottom in the science advanced class. If he doesn’t outperform me in the next midterm, he’ll have to talk like this for a month—to everyone.”

Qin Yuzhen flashed a benevolent smile. From the stage, she could clearly see what Liang Xuzhou was saying—she knew a thing or two about lip-reading.

System: …

“Host, you’re just stirring up trouble for fun,” the system said helplessly.

Rong Xi nodded in agreement. If she had to suffer, she wasn’t going down alone. Liang Xuzhou never expected Rong Xi to switch sides so quickly.

“So, do you accept my challenge, Liang Xuzhou?”

“Say yes!”

“Are you even a man if you don’t?”

“Liang Xuzhou, go for it! Show her what you’ve got!”

…

Liang Xuzhou: …

“You monster,” Liang Xuzhou gritted his teeth.

“Great, he agreed. Everyone’s a witness.” Qin Yuzhen said. “I saw him nod from up here.”

Liang Xuzhou: ???

“That’s the first male student in the middle of the third row, to my right. I hope everyone can witness his growth. I believe his grades will improve by leaps and bounds next time—though whether he can surpass me is another matter.” Qin Yuzhen smiled sweetly.

“Alright, that’s the end of my speech. Goodbye.”

She checked the time—exactly two minutes.

Descending the stage, she returned to her seat. The moment she sat down, Rong Xi punched her leg.

“What are you doing?!”

“Helping you.” Qin Yuzhen grabbed Rong Xi’s hand, which was about to hit her again. “This way, no one will find it strange if you talk to me like this in the hallway.”

“Oh, thank you so much.” Rong Xi’s face was bright red, but she calmed down after a moment. After all, Liang Xuzhou seemed to be in a much worse situation than her. Having someone to compare herself to made her feel a lot better.

“By the way, you can’t go easy on the midterm exams next time.”

“Don’t worry.” Qin Yuzhen smiled. “I’m also looking forward to seeing the joke.”

Liang Xuzhou leaned over the back of Qin Yuzhen’s chair. “You’re not human.”

“I was never human to begin with. Didn’t you already know that?” Qin Yuzhen glanced at him. “Besides, if you didn’t want to, why didn’t you object when I brought it up?”

“When did I agree?” Liang Xuzhou took a deep breath.

“Weren’t you the one who said ‘Okay’ from the audience?” Qin Yuzhen said expressionlessly. “What? Are you trying to back out now?”

She then shot Liang Xuzhou a look full of disdain.

Liang Xuzhou: “…”

The system could only remark that Qin Yuzhen’s ability to twist the truth was unmatched.

“Fine, if you don’t want to, then forget it.” Qin Yuzhen leaned back in her chair.

Liang Xuzhou’s face remained blank. “Now the entire grade knows about it. If I say forget it…”

He opened his mouth, struggling before finally spitting out a few words: “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

Qin Yuzhen gave him another look.

After all the speeches, it was time to hand out awards and certificates. Rong Xi received one every month, and her home was already stacked with a thick pile of them.

When the assembly ended and everyone filed out, Liang Xuzhou was immediately surrounded by a group of boys, all chattering at once.

“Lao Liang, maybe you should practice first?”

“Can you even outscore Qin Yuzhen? How could you agree to this?”

“Lao Liang, be honest—have you secretly wanted to talk like that for a while? This was just a convenient excuse.”

“Lao Li, let’s make a bet too. Whoever scores lower next time has to come to school in girls’ clothes. Saturdays don’t require uniforms anyway.”

“Sounds good to me.”

…

Old Wang followed behind the group of students, his lips twitching slightly. Still, it wasn’t a bad thing—healthy competition drove progress. He was also curious what these two burly boys would look like in girls’ outfits.

“That speech of yours probably pissed off the principal,” Old Qian said, walking behind Qin Yuzhen. “His face turned green while you were talking.”

The physics teacher gloated. “Old Wang will probably get called in for a lecture by the principal.”

Qin Yuzhen glanced at the physics teacher’s face and could only sigh at the superficial camaraderie of the office.

Old Wang was indeed summoned by the principal, but when he returned, he didn’t say anything to Qin Yuzhen.

Back in the classroom, several girls crowded around Rong Xi, hoping to hear her speak in a high-pitched voice. Rong Xi firmly refused every request.

“You could always make a bet with Rong Xi too—just score higher than her,” Qin Yuzhen said with a raised eyebrow. “But you can’t just hear it for free. This is a reward that belongs only to me.”

The girls exchanged glances before declining. They had no intention of shooting themselves in the foot.

Rong Xi glanced at Qin Yuzhen. She had thought Qin Yuzhen would deliberately make her speak, but to her surprise, this time, she had unexpectedly taken her side.

“Why are you looking at me?”

“Oh, I thought you’d force me to talk like that.” Rong Xi replied.

Qin Yuzhen said nonchalantly, “I just want you to talk to me like this alone. Is that not allowed?”

Rong Xi was taken aback, blinking her eyes before finally responding after a long pause, “Oh.”

She touched her face, feeling like something was off.

“Sis,” Rong Xi cleared her throat, “Since you’re not attending the training tonight, are you heading back first?”

“Yeah, why? Do you want me to wait for you?” Qin Yuzhen chuckled.

“Who needs you to wait?” Rong Xi huffed lightly after speaking.

“That’s sarcasm, which doesn’t meet the terms of our bet.”

“You only said I had to talk like this, not that I couldn’t be sarcastic,” Rong Xi retorted.

“Tsk.”

At 5:30, Qin Yuzhen packed her things and glanced at Rong Xi beside her. “I’m leaving.”

“Oh, if Sis wants to leave, just go. No need to tell me.” Rong Xi’s sweet voice paired with a pitiful tone made Qin Yuzhen seem even more like an irredeemable villain.

Qin Yuzhen fell silent for two seconds.

“Host, I feel like after your speech, Rong Xi has kind of let loose,” the system remarked.

“Naturally, since the whole grade knows about it now.” Qin Yuzhen stood up and headed for the door, while Rong Xi watched her with longing eyes.

“Little sister, tone down the look in your eyes,” Qin Yuzhen said helplessly.

“I just can’t bear to part with you, Sis.”

Qin Yuzhen paused again for two seconds before quickly stepping out, failing to notice Rong Xi stroking her chin with a thoughtful expression.

In truth, Qin Yuzhen hadn’t asked the driver to pick her up—she had her own plans.

The system had helped her open a bank account untraceable by the Rong family, though it was empty for now. She was acutely aware that the likelihood of a falling-out with the Rong family was as high as ninety percent, so before that happened, she needed to secure some money. Only with financial security could she live happily.

A few days ago, Qin Yuzhen had signed up for a knowledge competition where the final prize was one million yuan—the very money in her system’s point account. When she learned what the system had done, she almost wanted to replace it. The fact that she had to compete with others just to access her own money was utterly ridiculous.

Today was the preliminary round. If she passed, she’d likely have to appear on TV for the recordings. The preliminaries started at 6 p.m., and the venue wasn’t far from the school.

She arrived at the building hosting the preliminaries in just three minutes. This round was an interview.

By the time she got there, quite a few people had already gathered.

With her backpack, Qin Yuzhen clearly looked like a high school student. Many glanced at her, but most were clustered in groups, chatting and subtly probing each other’s strengths. No one bothered to test Qin Yuzhen—after all, she looked like a mere pretty face.

She found a spot to sit and started playing on her phone.

At 5:50, someone came by to hand out number tags.

Today’s preliminaries were just one batch; she wasn’t sure how many people there were in total. She stuck the number tag on herself—27—meaning she’d probably have to wait about an hour.

She was growing impatient.

“Host, what if you don’t pass the preliminaries?”

Qin Yuzhen: ???

“You can’t guarantee I’ll make it through?”

“Nope. This crappy world is full of restrictions. The fact that I could create this competition out of thin air is already impressive,” the system grumbled.

Qin Yuzhen gritted her teeth. “Then why couldn’t you arrange for me to help some rich person cross the street, and have them thank me with a million yuan?”

The system fell silent for two seconds.

“You can do it like that too,” the system mused. “I’ll try it next time.”

“After hundreds of years, you still haven’t improved at all,” Qin Yuzhen complained.

“You didn’t mention it earlier, why blame me? Coming up with this program was exhausting, you know,” the system muttered.

Her system was indeed the oldest model, never replaced all this time. Qin Yuzhen claimed it was too much trouble, but the system believed she just couldn’t bear to part with it—though the system usually kept this thought to itself, since Qin Yuzhen would never admit it out loud.

She yawned and sat down alone beside Qin Yuzhen.

“Hello.”

Qin Yuzhen glanced at the person beside her and froze for a moment.