Strategy to Conquer the Vicious Female Supporting Character [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 28

Qi Lin was waiting for someone.

The surgery she underwent wasn’t complicated, it was mainly just bandaging the wounds on her face, so it didn’t take long. By the time it was finished, the sky outside had only just turned dark.

Qi Lin’s homeroom teacher never showed up; instead, two teachers from other classes helped get her onto the ambulance. By the time Qi Lin came out of the operating room, the male teacher had already left, leaving only a female teacher behind to help look after her.

Searching through the original heroine’s memories, Qi Lin recalled that this teacher seemed to be the homeroom teacher of Class 1, Grade 11. Her surname was Lin.

One really had to sigh at the stark difference between homeroom teachers. In any proper profession, once the number of practitioners grows large enough, there will inevitably be a few rotten apples.

Qi Lin had also been quietly observing this Teacher Lin, because there was a very real chance she was the person Qi Lin had been looking for.

After all, the one in her family just happened to be Teacher Ji.

(TN: “Teacher Ji” here refers to Ji Huaixu, Qi Lin’s ‘wife’ and the one she’s doing these missions for.)

Qi Lin, her voice weak, thanked Teacher Lin. The teacher quickly urged her to lie back and not move around.

“Sigh, what a mess this has turned into…” Teacher Lin sighed, then asked, “What’s your parents’ phone number?”

In the rush earlier, she hadn’t gotten the contact information of students’ parents from other classes. Now that the girl had finally opened her eyes, it was necessary to notify her parents as soon as possible.

Qi Lin lowered her gaze, her lips pale, and said nothing.

Her information didn’t come only from the original novel’s plot transmitted by 403, but also from the host’s own sixteen or seventeen years of memories. In the original story, the female lead’s parents were barely mentioned at all, probably because in a melodrama centered on tragic romance, parents didn’t play much of a role.

From the host’s memory, Qi Lin knew that Hua Xiyu’s family lived in a rather remote, small backwater county. Her parents were honest, simple people who ran a small convenience shop to make ends meet. The family’s financial situation was very average.

When the heroine took her high school entrance exams, she had an exceptional performance and barely made it into No.1 High School, a prestigious school in another city. She had to move away to study on her own. Her parents, with little education themselves, pinned all their hopes on her academics. Even when Qi Lin (as the heroine) told them she was being bullied at school, they would just advise her to endure it, “It’s only two years, just grit your teeth and get into university.”

It wasn’t that they didn’t love their child at all, but rather that they had suffered hardships all their lives and believed hardship wasn’t a big deal. They couldn’t comprehend what it was like for their teenage daughter to live in such a distorted school environment.

In the original story, later on, when the heroine miscarried and nearly lost her life, her parents rushed over as soon as the second male lead brought the news. They practically spent everything they had to save her, but all they could do was cry about their daughter’s misfortune, without the slightest thought of holding the scumbag accountable.

So not long after her teenage years began, the heroine stopped confiding in her parents. No matter how much she poured out her troubles, they would only tell her to endure it. This habit carried on to the present, aside from a monthly phone call to receive her living expenses, she hardly contacted her parents during school, only returning home during winter and summer vacations.

Qi Lin had no intention of breaking this status quo.

Seeing Qi Lin’s silent and rejecting expression, Teacher Lin wanted to persuade her again. She understood, most teenagers disliked communicating with their parents, thinking adults never understood them. But when minors encounter problems they can’t solve, the first people they should turn to are their parents, who can give them the strongest protection.

Teacher Lin’s thinking wasn’t wrong. Unfortunately, there are always exceptions in this world.

Before Teacher Lin could speak again, the person Qi Lin had been waiting for arrived.

It was a female vice-principal of No.1 High School, surname Wang.

Vice-Principal Wang looked to be in her fifties or sixties. She was not tall, a little plump, but carried herself with grace. Her face was round, her features delicate. Carrying a large fruit basket, she entered the hospital room. Seeing Teacher Lin by Qi Lin’s bed, she beamed and said warmly,

“Oh my, Xiao Lin, thank you so much for looking after Student Hua Xiyu. Your class has had quite a lot going on these past few days. Why don’t you head back to school and take care of your work there, I’ll stay here and watch over things.”

Her tone was affectionate and polite, but the meaning was very clear, a tactful dismissal.

Teacher Lin wasn’t so lacking in awareness; after introducing Hua Xiyu with a simple “this is Principal Wang,” he reminded her once more to cooperate with the doctors for a speedy recovery, then picked up his bag and took his leave.

Qi Lin watched Teacher Lin leave the whole time, unable to tell whether that was really her wife or not, but what she did notice was the reporters still loitering stubbornly outside the ward.

Principal Wang immediately closed the door, walked over to Qi Lin’s bedside, set the large fruit basket in her hand down on the floor beside the nightstand, and looked at her with concern.
“Xiyu, how are you feeling now? Let me pour you some hot water.”

Her voice was very gentle, as if she weren’t facing a student she’d only just met, but rather a younger generation she had watched grow up.

Qi Lin pulled her gaze back from the door and directly took out the phone hidden under her clothes.

She opened an audio file, adjusted the volume to where only the two of them could hear, and played back the recording she had made earlier for Principal Wang.

Even after the playback ended, Principal Wang’s expression barely changed.

She was, after all, someone who often represented the school in the original work, this little matter really wasn’t worth mentioning to her.

Once the recording was done, Qi Lin turned off the phone and put it away.

Her face, more than half-covered in gauze, showed no expression at all.

Even so, someone as shrewd as Principal Wang could easily tell, the things Hua Xiyu had said to her homeroom teacher in the recording were intentional, designed to bait and provoke. But judging from the teacher’s reaction, those words were all true.

Principal Wang smiled faintly, still wearing that kindly expression.
“Xiyu, what is it you’d like me, as your principal, to do for you now?”

The moment she received the news, she had rushed to the hospital. A teacher physically assaulting a student was a scandal in itself, made even worse because their school was so well-known, meaning the incident would attract even more attention.

When she saw that there was only an injured student and a teacher from another class in the ward, with no parent present, she actually felt relieved. As long as she could get rid of that teacher quickly and coax this teenage child, the matter could be smoothed over. Even if the parents showed up later, her guidance and the good impression she left on the student could minimize the price the school would have to pay.

Who would have thought this student would be even harder to deal with than many adults, and more importantly, that she held evidence in her hands.

When she first heard the homeroom teacher’s insult in the recording, Principal Wang had the sudden urge to snatch the phone from Qi Lin and delete the file. With such a frail-looking girl, it wouldn’t have been difficult.

But the thought lasted only an instant before disappearing.

Leaving aside the risk of a struggle if Qi Lin tried to grab it back, what if she got injured again? Just looking at how calm and straightforward Qi Lin was while playing the recording showed that she definitely had other safeguards in place.

Someone who deliberately set up their abuser to be provoked and captured the evidence, wouldn’t they have made backups of that evidence?

And if Qi Lin truly wanted to blow the matter wide open, weren’t the reporters waiting right outside the ward door?

Since she had chosen to play the recording just for her, it was obvious she had a request.

Or to put it more bluntly, she was using this as leverage to bargain for something.

So Principal Wang asked directly.

“…The cause of everything is just as it was said in the recording…” Qi Lin’s voice was weak, barely a whisper.
“I don’t know who’s targeting me, but both my teacher and my classmates have started bullying me… I’m so scared, their methods are only getting harsher and harsher, and I don’t know what they’ll do next… I needed proof, so this time I recorded my homeroom teacher…”

“At first, I really thought about giving the recording to the reporters outside. I don’t have any other way to fight back, so I could only try to make as big a fuss as possible, hoping something might change… But then I thought again, if it really blows up, it won’t just drag down the ones who bullied me, it’ll drag the whole school into it. No matter what the truth actually is, once it’s reported, people will think it’s the school as a whole at fault. Even kind-hearted teachers like Teacher Lin would get caught up and implicated…”

Qi Lin lifted her misty eyes, looking sorrowfully at Principal Wang.
“Principal Wang, you’re so kind. Even though you’re very busy, you still came to see me… you’re also someone I don’t want to drag down. That’s why I want to let you hear this recording first. If you’re willing to dismiss my homeroom teacher, I’ll hand over the recording and all the backups to you. Or, if you prefer, you can watch me delete them all.”

Principal Wang: “…”

This girl… Her way of speaking and her acting skills are both remarkable.

She should first explain the reason to her clearly, show that she himself was forced into a corner, then tell her that choosing not to hand the recording over to the media is for the sake of the school’s reputation, and for her own sake as well. Finally, she should list out the benefits she would gain if she agreed.

Reasoning with logic and moving with emotion, this little girl has done both extremely well.

But what if she doesn’t agree?

Right outside the ward are the reporters eager to get their hands on this recording.

Even setting aside the strength of the evidence, just with this girl’s speaking and acting skills alone, anyone can imagine how much trouble the school would face.

Principal Wang couldn’t help letting out a soft sigh.
“Xiyu, why not let the principal directly find the person who targeted you? Treating the symptoms is never as good as curing the root cause.”

Of course Qi Lin could hear the probing intent behind Principal Wang’s words. Since she wanted to form an alliance, she had to show some sincerity. Her lashes trembled slightly as she replied softly,
“Treating the symptoms can bring instant results. But curing the root… that isn’t something that can be solved in just a day or two. Please don’t worry, Principal Wang. With someone like you in the school, I won’t do anything to make things difficult for the school.”

In other words, she would handle it herself without needing the school to interfere.

And hidden beneath her words was also this, if Principal Wang refused to help, she didn’t mind making things difficult for the school.

To see the situation so clearly, confident but not arrogant, Principal Wang was almost amazed at how sharp this girl’s mind was.

Given time, she would definitely become someone important.

Dismissing a teacher was really not a difficult matter. To exchange that for resolving a PR (public relations) crisis for the school and to earn goodwill with a future influential figure, Principal Wang naturally had no reason to refuse.

She even had all of Qi Lin’s medical expenses covered under the school’s name.

Qi Lin had a fair amount of trust in Principal Wang’s credibility. Once the agreement was made, she promptly deleted all the recordings and backups. Before the media, she presented the image that her injuries were nothing more than an accident, and she expressed heartfelt gratitude for the school covering her medical costs.

Even with half her face covered in gauze, Hua Xiyu’s beauty held up under the camera. Qi Lin’s award-winning level of acting carried immense emotional weight, and with the subtle effect of her {“Charm Enhancement Spray”}, the sight of such a delicate, pitiful young girl, trying hard to conceal her nerves during the interview, looking bewildered when asked about being “deliberately beaten by her teacher,” yet smiling shyly and sincerely when thanking the school, was enough to sway public opinion completely in her favor.

Principal Wang let out a sigh of relief.

The very next day, Qi Lin’s homeroom teacher was dismissed from No. 1 High School.