Pretending to Be a Scumbag A, But Being Targeted by a Paranoid O - Chapter 6

Xie Tang walked ahead, clutching her book, while Yun Shu followed quietly behind, her footsteps light.

As Xie Tang approached a long corridor, Yun Shu suddenly darted down a side path, cutting ahead of her. Her goal was to stage a deliberate “chance” encounter.

She pretended to be taking a leisurely stroll, completely unaware that her face was flushed from the sprint and her breathing still ragged.

Yun Shu let out a soft hum, adopting a deliberately bratty tone. “You kept me waiting forever.”

She asked the obvious question: “Why were you so slow?”

Xie Tang glanced at her, choosing not to call out her act. She simply replied calmly, “The teacher kept us late.”

Yun Shu hadn’t come looking for trouble; she was just putting on a show of annoyance.

Inwardly, she was even grateful to the teacher who had kept them late. Without that delay, Yun Shu might still be wandering aimlessly around campus.

“Here.”

She handed Xie Tang her phone.

In university life, being without a phone was practically impossible.

Xie Tang lowered her gaze, paused in surprise, then slowly took the device.

This girl is surprisingly thoughtful.

Her clear, bright eyes met Yun Shu’s for the first time, and she said with genuine sincerity, “Thank you.”

Yun Shu couldn’t meet her gaze. She glanced at Xie Tang’s slender, delicate wrist and couldn’t resist asking, “It’s almost noon. Aren’t you going to eat?”

After saying that, she added, “Don’t starve to death.”

Xie Tang, long accustomed to her way of speaking, shook her head. “I have something to take care of.”

“What could be more important than dinner?” Yun Shu asked, still remembering Xie Tang’s packed schedule from earlier that afternoon. “Studying so intensely every day while juggling other commitments can’t be good for your health.”

Xie Tang glanced up at her, her tone flat. “This really can’t wait.”

Her sudden coldness left Yun Shu feeling uneasy, wondering if she had said something wrong.

But the next moment, the System delivered triumphant news:

Congratulations, Host! Xie Tang’s Blackening Value has decreased to 61%!

Yun Shu: !

Shouldn’t she be angry with me? How did it drop so much?! O.O

By the time Yun Shu snapped out of her daze, Xie Tang had already walked away.

Staring at Xie Tang’s slender back, Yun Shu hesitated for a moment before following her.

She watched as Xie Tang entered one of the specialty food stalls in the school cafeteria, put on a mask and a pristine white apron, and took her place behind the counter.

So, the “something to take care of” was her part-time job.

Yun Shu suddenly regretted her earlier words.

To keep an eye on Xie Tang, she settled down in the cafeteria, studying calculus while discreetly observing her.

By the end, she was almost enjoying herself.

After all, her loathed math was nothing compared to the beautiful Xie Tang.

“Hey.”

A familiar, spoiled voice rang out.

Yun Shu, deep in thought over a math problem, mumbled a dazed “Hmm?” and looked up to find Xia Yan standing before her.

Though Xia Yan had always been portrayed as a pampered young miss in the main story, never actually harming Xie Tang, Yun Shu couldn’t bring herself to feel any fondness for her.

Her tone was flat: “What do you want?”

She had never spoken to Xia Yan with such coldness before. Xia Yan had always looked down on Yun Shu, seeing her as utterly useless beyond her looks and wealth.

Every time Yun Shu had pestered her, Xia Yan had been annoyed, wishing she would just disappear.

But now that Yun Shu had stopped bothering her, Xia Yan found herself strangely unsettled.

“My birthday is the day after tomorrow,” Xia Yan said.

She had never been one to spell things out completely, and this was the first time she had ever swallowed her pride to reconcile with Yun Shu.

Yun Shu stared at her, her phoenix eyes filled with confusion: ?

After a long silence, Yun Shu repeated, “And…?”

“You…”

Xia Yan was utterly infuriated, her eyes suddenly reddening. In previous years, Yun Shu had always prepared birthday gifts for her without being asked and had even proactively asked if she could be her dance partner that day.

Why was Yun Shu repeatedly putting her on the spot today?

“Are you doing this on purpose?” Xia Yan hissed, her voice low. “I’ll never talk to you again!”

With that, she roughly wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and stormed off, leaving Yun Shu standing alone, bewildered in the wind.

How utterly ridiculous.

And she calls herself my White Moonlight?

Xia Yan had completely ruined Yun Shu’s perfectly good mood.

Yun Shu sighed.

She glanced up, hoping to find Xie Tang nearby to help her clear her head, but Xie Tang was gone.

Yun Shu immediately stood up and scanned the area to confirm Xie Tang’s absence.

“Did she already leave for the day?” Yun Shu murmured to herself.

Before she could dwell on her disappointment, she spotted Xie Tang sitting nearby, her posture perfectly straight, head bowed as she quietly ate her meal.

Xie Tang’s table manners were impeccable. Even with just two simple vegetarian dishes, she ate with such grace that even someone who disliked bean sprouts would be tempted to try them.

But after teaching all day, was this really enough to eat?

Yun Shu frowned deeply.

She approached Xie Tang, adopting her usual bratty demeanor, and tilted her chin slightly. “Why are you only eating this?”

Xie Tang’s expression remained unchanged. “I like it.”

The single word “like” completely shut down Yun Shu’s next words.

She glared at him and snapped, “Will eating more meat kill you?”

As she spoke, she pulled out her phone and tapped furiously. After scanning the surroundings to make sure no one was nearby, she leaned down and whispered into Xie Tang’s ear, “I’ve added ten thousand yuan to your meal card. If you don’t spend it all in three months, you’re dead!”

Xie Tang glanced at her. “Thirty-three hundred and thirty-four yuan a month? One hundred and eleven yuan a day? Are you trying to fatten me up like a pig?”

Yun Shu: O.O

Oh…

Her earlier boastful words had already made her uncomfortable, but now her entire face flushed crimson with embarrassment.

“Then… then four months?” she suggested in a small voice.

System: Character! Host! Character!

Yun Shu immediately snapped back to her senses and began backpedaling. “If I hadn’t been doing so many problems earlier, I wouldn’t have made such a mistake.”

Unseen by her, the corners of Xie Tang’s lips curled upward slightly.

Still uneasy, Yun Shu coldly said, “Wait five minutes,” before heading to the food stall to pack three meat dishes for Xie Tang and buy herself a grilled meat bibimbap.

“Eat up,” she said, placing the dishes in front of Xie Tang. Her tone was haughty, but it lacked any genuine sense of superiority.

As she spoke, Yun Shu kept glancing at Xie Tang with her bright, black eyes, like a dog returning from a hunt.

A mischievous thought sparked in Xie Tang’s mind. She glanced at Yun Shu’s plate of grilled meat over rice and asked, “Didn’t you say you don’t eat at the cafeteria?”

Yun Shu: !!!

Her face flushed visibly. “I’m eating here now,” she snapped. “What’s wrong with that?”

Xie Tang had only intended to tease her lightly, so she didn’t press the matter and quietly continued eating.

Before long, Yun Shu realized that sitting across from Xie Tang while she ate was a mistake.

For some reason, her gaze kept drifting involuntarily to Xie Tang’s face.

Her skin was fair, and her features embodied the gentle, refined beauty of southern China.

From Yun Shu’s angle, she could see Xie Tang’s delicate, porcelain-like skin and the straight bridge of her nose.

Whatever perfume Xie Tang was wearing had a pleasant, soothing scent.

Yun Shu stared blankly for quite some time. After Xie Tang finished eating at her leisurely pace, she wiped her mouth with a tissue and asked, “How much longer are you going to stare?”

The question snapped Yun Shu back to reality.

Just as Yun Shu was about to turn as red as a peach, Xie Tang picked up her plate and left.

Yun Shu felt like she could have worked as a space heater.

What was she just doing?! Aaaaaah!

At the same moment, the System suddenly buzzed with excitement: Xie Tang’s Blackening Value has dropped to 59%!

Host, you’re amazing! It’s fallen so much in just a few days!

I feel like you can definitely save this world this time!!

Yun Shu herself was still dazed.

So, just having dinner with Xie Tang can lower her Blackening Value?

She touched her still-flushed cheeks, suddenly looking forward to their next meal together.

But what excuse will I use next time?

To supervise her?

Unseen by Yun Shu, Xia Yan had been watching them the entire time.

She pursed her lips.

What could that inferior Omega, good for nothing but her looks, have done to make Yun Shu change so much?

Yun Shu spent the entire afternoon studying until she felt completely drained, as if she were on the verge of collapse.

Advanced Calculus, please have mercy on me.

With final exams approaching, the school’s pace had accelerated significantly. In just a month, every university student would be entering the dreaded final exam month.

As the last class ended, Yun Shu’s eyes were dull, and she forced a wan smile. “Tongtong, is it still possible to switch departments now?”

The System cautiously suggested, “Well… how about just failing the course and then talking to your aunt about it?”

Yun Shu shook her head firmly, her expression resolute. “No, I have to stay here.”

Now it was the System’s turn to be confused. “But Host, once you complete the mission, you can leave. You don’t need to worry about what happens to the Original Host.”

“No.”

Yun Shu shook her head again, her snow-white cheeks flushing crimson. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“……”

Humans were so complicated.

Yun Shu suddenly remembered Xia Yan mentioning at lunch that her birthday was coming up soon.

Then… Yun Shu grew curious. When is Xie Tang’s birthday?

I’ll ask her sometime.

Xie Tang…

Is she still staying there tonight?

Could it be too dangerous?

All the lights are off there.

What if someone’s lying in wait?

Plus, it’s not close to school—a taxi takes over twenty minutes. Wouldn’t Xie Tang be getting home too late every day?

Yun Shu frowned, deep in thought.

In the end, she decided to return to her old habit: following Xie Tang.

It wasn’t safe for a girl to walk home alone at night.

But Xie Tang would never agree to Yun Shu picking her up every day. Following her was the best option.

Before she could even feel pleased for a few seconds, Yun Shu’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen—an unfamiliar number.

At first, she assumed it was a spam call. But having worked part-time as a phone operator before, Yun Shu now felt a certain empathy for these callers.

Might as well answer it, she thought.

“Hello?” she answered warmly.

“Yun Shu, I’ve heard you’re holding a girl from your school captive?”

The woman’s voice was deep, carrying the calm authority and scrutiny of someone in a position of power.

Simultaneously, the System alerted her: Host, this is Yun Zhengyu, the Original Host’s biological mother.

In the original story, Yun Zhengyu had been locked in a cold war with her wife for life and felt no affection for this daughter she had regained after so long.

Yun Shu had no experience interacting with her mother, and Yun Zhuxi’s previous attitude had left her with psychological trauma.

She pressed her lips together, her voice low and dejected.

“I’m sorry, Mom.”

“I know I was wrong.”

“……”

Yun Zhengyu fell silent.

After a long pause, she finally asked, “What did you call me?”

On the other end of the line, the daughter who had always been arrogant and domineering, who used to curse her as a madwoman, repeated, “…Mom?”

Yun Zhengyu thought she might be hallucinating.

She paused again, her tone softening slightly. “Yun Shu, you’re grown now. You should know what’s appropriate and what isn’t.”

“Those low-quality Omegas are fine for a fling, but don’t get close to them again.”

No matter how rebellious Yun Shu was, she was still young, barely an adult.

Yun Zhengyu had been monitoring her every move.

She had seen everything Yun Shu had done to Xie Tang.

But today, Yun Zhuxi had called, revealing everything Yun Shu had done and expressing her intention to persuade Yun Shu to withdraw from the competition.

Yun Zhengyu couldn’t afford such a public humiliation.

Yun Shu’s expression darkened, her voice losing its earlier politeness. “She’s wonderful, not a low-quality Omega.”

Yun Zhengyu sneered, causing the hands of her subordinates to tremble slightly. “An Omega with underdeveloped glands? What else would you call it but inferior?”

Yun Shu’s lips pressed into a tight line. She couldn’t stand hearing Xie Tang spoken of this way.

“I was the one who provoked her,” Yun Shu retorted. “It has nothing to do with her. Besides, judging someone based on their secondary gender is wrong.”

Yun Shu was still too young. She reacted defensively whenever someone touched her sore spot, unaware that she was revealing her most cherished values to others.

Yun Zhengyu didn’t argue further on that point. Instead, she changed the subject. “Xia Yan invited you to her birthday banquet today. Why did you refuse?”

Yun Shu pursed her lips. “I didn’t want to go.”

“Yun Shu, you can’t be so willful,” Yun Zhengyu said. “The Xia Family is the best marriage prospect. I’ve tolerated your flings with other Omegas, but you need to understand the gravity of this situation.”