I Don't Want to Be the Villainess Anymore - Chapter 35

Since the sports meet was next week, a few of them decided to go to the supermarket together and bought a lot of snacks.

“Sis, do you think the teachers will let us go out and have fun, considering how strict they’ve been lately?” Rong Xi was a little worried. Although she loved studying, she didn’t want to stay in the classroom during the annual sports meet—especially since this would be her last one in high school.

“Probably not,” Qin Yuzhen said. “Old Wang doesn’t even take over P.E. classes, right?”

“I hope so. I’m just afraid other teachers might interfere.” Rong Xi took a deep breath.

“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely make sure you come cheer for me. You won’t be stuck in the classroom.”

Rong Xi: “…”

“Senior, are you participating in the sports meet?” Cong Mian asked.

“Yeah.” Qin Yuzhen glanced at Rong Xi. “Rong Xi signed me up for a bunch of events.”

“Wow, Senior, you’re definitely going to win first place! I’ll be there to cheer you on!” Cong Mian said excitedly.

“Thanks,” Qin Yuzhen replied with a smile. “But first place isn’t guaranteed.”

“Senior, you’re the best! You’ll definitely win!”

Rong Xi shot Qin Yuzhen a disdainful look.

Since they still had school the next day, everyone went their separate ways after the supermarket trip.

As soon as she got in the car, Rong Xi rubbed her calves. “I’m exhausted.”

“We barely walked that much today,” Qin Yuzhen said, exasperated.

“For me, it was a lot!” Rong Xi shot her a glance. “By the way, now that you have a junior cheering for you, do you even need me anymore?”

“Juniors are juniors, and you’re you. Don’t even think about running away.” Qin Yuzhen ruffled Rong Xi’s hair. “You’re coming to cheer for me, no excuses.”

Rong Xi sighed. “So greedy.”

“True.” Qin Yuzhen nodded in agreement.

The sports meet was on Wednesday. Perhaps because this event held special significance for the senior students, the teachers didn’t force non-participants to stay in the classroom for self-study. Instead, they let everyone out to enjoy the event.

When Qin Yuzhen arrived at school that morning, she found her number tag—3011—already placed on her desk.

“I’ll pin it on your clothes for you.” Rong Xi happily picked up the tag. “I’ll take lots of photos of you today.”

Qin Yuzhen turned her back and leaned against the desk, letting Rong Xi fiddle with the tag. “No need.”

“Why not?”

“I have a feeling you’ll take unflattering pictures of me.”

“Sis, how could you think that of me?” Rong Xi pouted. “I’ll make sure you look amazing.” (Any accidental bad photos don’t count.)

“Tch.”

There was an opening ceremony for the sports meet. The principal kept his speech short this time, probably because the November field was much colder than the auditorium.

Each class had a banner holder, and Rong Xi was the one for their class. She had even worn a skirt for the occasion, while the rest of the class wore their unique Class 1 Senior uniforms.

Qin Yuzhen could only say that the uniform was testing the limits of her aesthetic tolerance. If not for Rong Xi’s insistence, she would never have worn such a thing. She should have just taken over Rong Xi’s banner-holding duty.

After the lap around the field, the entire class unanimously put on their school jackets—a moment of perfect synchronization. Compared to the class uniform, the school jackets were downright stylish.

“Aren’t you cold?” Qin Yuzhen glanced at Rong Xi’s bare calves.

“I’m fine. It’s not that cold.” Rong Xi said. “You have to wear the class uniform when you run, though.”

“No.” Qin Yuzhen refused outright, then quickly added, “Don’t try to act cute. It won’t work this time. I brought my sports clothes—I’ll change right after the opening ceremony.”

“Fine.” Rong Xi sighed, a little disappointed.

“I knew you just wanted to take ugly photos of me.”

“How could that be? Besides, no outfit could ever hide your beauty, sis.”

“Hmph.”

Qin Yuzhen had competitions both in the morning and afternoon, leaving little time for rest. Rong Xi followed behind her, saying, “Your first race is the 400-meter at 9 a.m., the 800-meter at 10 a.m., and the shot put is in the afternoon.”

“Mm.” Qin Yuzhen finished changing and stepped out of the restroom stall.

“So, you’ve got about forty minutes to kill now.”

“There are some athletes in your group, sis. Do you think you can outrun them?”

“By the way, sis, you’re so strong—how far do you think you can throw the shot put this afternoon?”

“You’re so noisy.” Qin Yuzhen adjusted her clothes in the mirror.

“Sis, I’m just worried about you.”

“Thanks, little sis.” Qin Yuzhen replied in a deliberately high-pitched voice.

“Ugh, so sarcastic.”

“Learned from the best—my dear little sister.” Qin Yuzhen grabbed Rong Xi’s hand and pulled her toward the field.

A few minutes before Qin Yuzhen’s race, Gu Sui and Cong Mian arrived, along with the three girls they’d had dinner with last time.

“Good luck, senior!” Cong Mian waved at Qin Yuzhen, her chest rising and falling slightly as she panted. She had gone to the registration desk earlier to look for Qin Yuzhen, only to be told the athletes had already left, so she had rushed over—thankfully, she hadn’t missed it.

Qin Yuzhen nodded and flashed a bright smile.

The 400-meter race was exactly one lap around the track.

Only when Qin Yuzhen stood at the starting line did she notice that quite a few of her classmates had come to cheer her on.

“Go, Lao Qin!”

“Yeah! You got this, Lao Qin!”

Qin Yuzhen: “…”

What kind of nickname was that? She was a young woman—why was she being called “Lao Qin”?

The referee called, “On your marks.” She bent slightly, waiting for the gunshot.

Qin Yuzhen’s reaction time at the start wasn’t much different from the athlete next to her, but by the 200-meter mark, she had fallen slightly behind.

“Go, sis!”

“Senior, you can do it!”

“Zhenzhen! Go, go, go!”

“Lao Qin!”

…

Qin Yuzhen could clearly distinguish the voices cheering for her in the crowd. Rong Xi’s awkward shouts almost made her laugh.

She came in second, three seconds behind first place, with third place trailing nearly a hundred meters behind.

As soon as Qin Yuzhen crossed the finish line, Rong Xi handed her a bottle of water.

“Tired?” Rong Xi asked.

“Not really.” Qin Yuzhen took a sip of water. She barely felt anything.

“That was so fast! Is there anything you can’t do, senior?” Cong Mian marveled.

Qin Yuzhen smiled but didn’t answer. She went to the referee to record her score, then found a spot to sit down.

“Did you go easy?” Rong Xi asked.

“Why would you think that?”

“Because when you were running… you looked way too relaxed and casual.” Rong Xi opened her phone’s gallery—she had recorded the race.

Qin Yuzhen paused for two seconds. “That’s just how I run.”

“Hmph.” Rong Xi scrolled through her photos. “See? I didn’t take any ugly pictures.”

In the photo album, every picture of Qin Yuzhen was stunning. Rong Xi was actually quite surprised—she hadn’t managed to capture a single unflattering shot of her.

Qin Yuzhen flashed a mysterious smile. To ensure no unflattering photos were taken, she had specifically used an item card.

Many people were taking photos of Qin Yuzhen. Liang Xuzhou had even brought a DSLR camera, hoping to capture her with a twisted expression to turn into memes later. But who would’ve thought… every single shot turned out perfectly beautiful and flawless.

It was downright eerie. He had even used burst mode. Refusing to give up, he checked again, but in the end, he had to admit defeat.

“Sis, let’s take a photo together.”

“We’ve never actually taken a photo together before, have we?” Qin Yuzhen remarked.

“Nope.” Rong Xi held up her phone and leaned against Qin Yuzhen, their arms touching. “Okay, look at the camera—1, 2, 3!”

Rong Xi dragged Qin Yuzhen into taking a bunch of photos. At first, Qin Yuzhen could still force a smile, but by the end, she had completely numbed out.

“Sis, smile a little! Why are you being so half-hearted?” Rong Xi tugged at Qin Yuzhen’s arm, shaking it.

“It’s not that many, just a few,” Rong Xi said, opening the album. But after seeing the sheer number of photos, she fell silent for two seconds before quickly locking her phone.

“Ah, it’s just because I’ve never taken photos with you before, so I got excited. Sis, you don’t mind, right?”

Qin Yuzhen chuckled and glanced at the track field. “Is that Liang Xuzhou running second to last?”

“Seems like it,” Rong Xi said. “Is he doing it on purpose, or is he really…”

“He’s just slow,” the system said.

“Probably just slow,” Qin Yuzhen echoed.

Rong Xi fell silent for two seconds. “Is this really the so-called ‘top dog’ of Ninth High?”

Qin Yuzhen: “…”

“How did he even save you back then?” Rong Xi asked curiously.

“No idea. I was dazed at the time,” Qin Yuzhen replied.

Rong Xi narrowed her eyes at Qin Yuzhen. Upon closer thought, there were many strange things about the relationship between Qin Yuzhen and Liang Xuzhou.

Liang Xuzhou seemed somewhat afraid of Qin Yuzhen, and he couldn’t even beat her in arm wrestling. The guy from the Zhao family was even more terrified of her. Meanwhile, Cong Mian, whom Liang Xuzhou had supposedly saved, was actually closer to Qin Yuzhen. Plus, given Qin Yuzhen’s strength, it was highly possible she had once pinned Zhao’s guy to the ground and beat him up.

“What are you thinking about?” Qin Yuzhen asked.

Rong Xi shook her head. “Nothing.”

“You’re clearly thinking about something,” Qin Yuzhen leaned in closer.

“You have little secrets you won’t tell me, so why should I tell you mine?”

“Fine.” Qin Yuzhen lowered her head and started editing Liang Xuzhou’s photos.

Rong Xi peeked over and saw a picture of Liang Xuzhou with his mouth open and his face twisted in an exaggerated expression. Qin Yuzhen had already photoshopped the words “Life is meaningless” onto it before sending it to Liang Xuzhou.

Rong Xi burst out laughing. “You’re so mean.”

“This is called artistic expression,” Qin Yuzhen said. “How is that mean?”

Liang Xuzhou felt like he was about to die after finishing his run. When he checked his phone and saw the meme Qin Yuzhen had sent, his foot slipped, nearly making him fall.

Liang Xuzhou: “…”

What kind of cruel world was this?

Liang Xuzhou: Can you not be a human for once?

Qin Yuzhen: Weren’t you the one taking photos of me too?

Liang Xuzhou thought about the photos he had taken and felt even more like crying. The boy supporting him by his side looked worried.

“Old Liang, last place is just last place, it’s no big deal. Don’t cry, man.”

“I’m not crying!” Liang Xuzhou snapped at him.

“Alright, alright, you’re not crying, you’re not crying.”

“Damn it.”