I Don't Want to Be the Villainess Anymore - Chapter 43

“Could there be… some kind of problem?”

“It’s fine,” Qin Yuzhen replied. “The other party hasn’t contacted you, which means they don’t even care about you. We’ll deal with it when they do. Go back and take a shower, get some rest.”

“Oh. If you need help, you have to tell me.”

“Mm.” Qin Yuzhen nodded.

Rong Xi gently closed the door.

The next morning, Assistant Wang informed Qin Yuzhen that Yu Qie happened to be in City A and could meet that afternoon. The meeting place, booked under Qin Yuzhen’s name by Assistant Wang, was a coffee shop with good privacy.

Qin Yuzhen went alone, wearing no jewelry and dressed very plainly.

She didn’t have to wait long before Yu Qie arrived—even earlier than the scheduled time, likely because Qin Yuzhen had initially used the Rong family’s name to arrange the meeting.

Yu Qie was momentarily taken aback when he saw Qin Yuzhen alone but didn’t dwell on it, assuming she was just a fan who admired him. To be honest, he hadn’t expected the painting to sell for 500,000 yuan.

“Hello, I’m Qin Yuzhen, the one who bought that painting,” Qin Yuzhen said, toning down her sharpness, appearing like an innocent young girl.

“Hello.” Yu Qie sat down across from her, and his agent took a seat as well.

“When I saw that painting, I was shocked,” Qin Yuzhen said, looking at Yu Qie. “Because that painting was done by me.”

Yu Qie’s expression stiffened slightly.

“Are you mistaken?” Yu Qie asked.

“My name is Qin Yuzhen. Didn’t you see the signature on that painting?” Qin Yuzhen replied.

“Proof?” Yu Qie’s agent cut in before he could speak further. “If it really is your painting, and you sought the Rong family’s help, this matter should be easy to resolve, right?”

The agent had already concluded that Qin Yuzhen was insignificant in the Rong family—after all, she had only been accompanied by an assistant at the auction yesterday, and today she had come alone. Even the meeting had been arranged through the auction house.

Qin Yuzhen clenched her fists. “This painting depicts a corner of the Rong family’s estate.”

“There are many similar scenes in the world.”

“Then have him paint another one just like it. I can do it—can he?” Qin Yuzhen challenged.

The agent laughed. “Miss Qin, painting requires inspiration and the right state of mind. It’s not an industrial product. Even if you can reproduce it, it would only prove you’re good at copying, nothing more.”

“So, what you’re saying is, the painting A Corner of the Garden was unquestionably done by Yu Qie, correct?” Qin Yuzhen asked.

“Yes,” the agent said, staring at Qin Yuzhen. “Little girl, are you so desperate for fame that you’d try to ride on Yu Qie’s coattails? I don’t know what kind of publicity stunt you’re planning, but let me tell you—don’t even think about it.”

Qin Yuzhen smiled, glancing at Yu Qie. “So, you absolutely refuse to issue a public apology, is that it?”

“Why apologize when we’ve done nothing wrong?” the agent retorted.

“Alright.” Qin Yuzhen nodded. “Then I’ve achieved my purpose in meeting you today.”

Qin Yuzhen stood up and smiled at the two of them, flashing a look of disdain. She gazed down at Yu Qie condescendingly: “Trash will always be trash. No matter how well it’s packaged, it’s still just a piece of finely decorated garbage. And garbage, in the end, belongs in the trash can.”

“I gave you a chance.” Qin Yuzhen said nonchalantly, picking up her bag and checking the time. “See you around.”

After leaving the private room, Qin Yuzhen activated one of her item cards.

The room fell into silence for a few seconds after her departure.

“What do we do now, Hao-ge?” Yu Qie asked. “That girl didn’t seem like she was bluffing about having evidence, and—”

“Just putting on a brave face, that’s all. She’s just an underage girl,” the manager sneered. “Probably read too many novels. As long as we don’t admit to anything, we’re fine. You’re the pillar of Huanyu Entertainment—the company won’t abandon you.”

But Yu Qie still had a terrible premonition.

The conversation between the three had been so brief that they hadn’t even ordered anything. Qin Yuzhen had done this on purpose—she had no intention of treating these people to drinks. Spending 500,000 to buy back her own painting was already disgusting enough.

Rong Xi had been waiting for Qin Yuzhen’s update. The moment she saw her return, she sprang up from the sofa and hurried over. “How did it go? What did they say? Did they bully you?”

“Nothing much. They refused to admit anything, but they didn’t bully me.”

“How can they be so shameless!” Rong Xi took a deep breath.

“That’s what I thought too.”

“So what are you going to do now?”

“Make sure he loses everything—his reputation, his career.”

Rong Xi: “…”

Rong Xi was stunned for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

“I thought you might say I was overreacting.”

“I don’t think so,” Rong Xi said. “Besides, what he did was fraud. He’s not some prodigy, yet he insists on faking it. If he wants to sing, he should just focus on singing. Traditional painting isn’t a required skill—was it really necessary to go this far?”

Qin Yuzhen ruffled Rong Xi’s hair.

“And… no matter what, I’ll always be on your side,” Rong Xi added, glancing at Qin Yuzhen with a hint of bashfulness. “After all, you’re my sister.”

“Well, thank you very much, little sister.”

“Aren’t you going to school tomorrow?”

“Nope.”

“What is it that you can’t tell me?” Rong Xi muttered.

“Don’t want to distract you from your studies,” Qin Yuzhen said. “Wouldn’t want you to lose focus.”

Rong Xi: “…”

“What a perfectly noble excuse,” Rong Xi said in a sarcastic tone.

Qin Yuzhen pinched Rong Xi’s neck lightly. “I’m heading upstairs.”

“Oh, you don’t have to announce it to me just because you’re going upstairs,” Rong Xi huffed.

“Just keeping you in the loop, so you won’t say I never tell you anything.”

Rong Xi: “???”

Qin Yuzhen turned and went upstairs. She was curious whether Yu Qie would make any further moves after this.

Though their meeting had lasted only a few minutes, one thing was clear: Yu Qie’s manager was domineering and had significant control over him—but Yu Qie himself was no saint either.

“Host, what’s your next move?”

“Let’s wait until the show airs,” Qin Yuzhen said. “I love watching them panic.”

After appearing on the show, Yu Qie’s manager would likely assume they had guessed Qin Yuzhen’s intentions correctly, becoming even more relaxed. They would also take Qin Yuzhen’s participation without any support from the Rong family as confirmation that she held no status within it, emboldening them further.

Qin Yuzhen opened the backend of her wristband and found a new video already stored inside.

From then on, no matter what happened, as long as this video existed, it would be enough. Nothing was more effective than their own words. Moreover, Qin Yuzhen had also recorded everything the three of them had said earlier.

It had to be said—cheat codes were incredibly useful.

On Monday morning, when Rong Xi left for school, Qin Yuzhen was still in bed.

Rong Xi was deeply convinced that the “something” Qin Yuzhen had mentioned was probably just sleeping at home.

By the time Qin Yuzhen woke up, it was already 8:30 a.m. The show’s recording was scheduled for 2 p.m., but she needed to arrive an hour early for preparations.

She hadn’t received a script, only knowing that the competition consisted of six rounds, with ten people eliminated in the first. As for how the show would proceed, she wasn’t sure. She suspected there would be revival rounds later, since with only fifty participants and six rounds, without revivals, the final episode might end up with just one or two people left.

Qin Yuzhen picked a relatively plain dress from her wardrobe and took a taxi to the recording location.

Normally, she would have had to queue for makeup, but since she had already done it herself, she skipped that step.

“Sister.”

Seated on the sofa, Qin Yuzhen glanced at Huo Yaoxu standing in front of her. “Don’t call me sister.”

“But you’re older than me,” Huo Yaoxu said. “Besides, I call everyone else brother or sister.”

Qin Yuzhen: “…”

“One sister is enough for me—I don’t need another brother. Also, we’re not that close.” She offered a distant smile.

Huo Yaoxu sat down on the other side of the sofa. “Are you angry?”

Qin Yuzhen ignored him.

“I didn’t congratulate you at first because I had something to do,” Huo Yaoxu explained.

Qin Yuzhen closed her eyes to rest.

With fifty people sharing one large dressing room, the noise was overwhelming. Qin Yuzhen frowned slightly.

“It’ll be more comfortable once fewer people are left later.”

Qin Yuzhen still didn’t respond.

“Pretty arrogant, aren’t you? The competition hasn’t even started, and you’re already assuming you’ll make it to the later rounds?” someone sneered.

“When I walked in, I thought I’d stumbled into the Dream Chaser 101 next door—wrong place,” another added.

Qin Yuzhen remained still, eyes closed. Novels were never short of brainless cannon fodder like this, and she couldn’t be bothered to engage.

Huo Yaoxu had expected Qin Yuzhen to lose her temper—after all, all signs and rumors suggested she wasn’t the patient type. Yet she remained unmoved. Was she asleep? Unlikely.

“I heard someone got in just because of their looks. That’s you, right?”

Qin Yuzhen opened her eyes and swept a glance over the person standing before her, sizing them up. “Whether I’m the one who got in on looks, you can find out during the show. But honestly, you really aren’t much to look at.”

“If you can pull strings to get in, who’s to say you won’t get the questions in advance later?”

“Do you have any proof when you say things like that?” Qin Yuzhen glared coldly at the other person. “In your eyes, is it acceptable to spout nonsense and slander others without evidence? How truly outstanding of you.”

“After all, from what I’ve seen so far, you’re the only one who fits the standard of getting in based on looks—oh, and this kid here,” the other person retorted, their expression sour.

“My sister is really amazing,” Huo Yaoxu chimed in from the side. “In the recent six-city joint exams, she only lost four points in total.”

“Don’t bother explaining,” Qin Yuzhen yawned. “If you keep going, he’ll just accuse me of bribing the exam writers.” She glanced at the troublemaker again. “Tsk, come to think of it, can I take this as you complimenting me for being good-looking?”

The troublemaker: “…”