Strategy to Conquer the Vicious Female Supporting Character [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 29

Qi Lin ended up staying in the hospital for a full week. Teacher Lin came by to check on her whenever she had time. Qi Lin was more than happy to spend time with someone who might very well be her future wife, so she behaved especially well.

At first, Teacher Lin only pitied Qi Lin. But later, she genuinely began to like this well-mannered and intelligent girl. Teacher Lin wasn’t that old herself, still under thirty, and her age wasn’t too far from Qi Lin’s original age. Qi Lin, on her part, subtly catered to Teacher Lin’s interests, so the two of them got along very well.

Teacher Lin was amazed by this girl’s insight and couldn’t help treating Qi Lin like a friend. She often shared her own thoughts with her, and their relationship gradually deepened.

Even the review books Qi Lin needed for studying were brought to the hospital by Teacher Lin. Seeing the girl sitting there with bandages, hooked up to an IV, yet still studying so diligently, made Teacher Lin feel both distressed and proud.

Such a good girl… Why did she have to go through something like this?

Fortunately, Principal Wang had already dismissed Qi Lin’s homeroom teacher. That teacher flew into a rage afterward, to the point her husband couldn’t stand her anymore. Their home had been in constant chaos lately. The teachers at school couldn’t stop talking about it, everyone knew what that woman was usually like. Now that she’d gotten herself into trouble, everyone treated it as a joke.

Over those few days, Qi Lin didn’t miss any chance to test Teacher Lin, even acting spoiled and asking her to make her some tea. She drank it with high hopes, only to find that the taste was completely different from what she remembered.

…Could it not be her?

But in some ways, Teacher Lin was similar to Ji Huaixu, though not nearly as much as Dong Zheng had been back then. Even Dong Zheng hadn’t inherited all of Ji Huaixu’s habits and quirks. So maybe it was only natural that Teacher Lin’s tea tasted off?

The already-injured Qi Lin started to get a worse headache.

She asked 403 if it could detect anything, but the system whimpered, “Host, I don’t have that function, QAQ…”

[403: Last time I could tell that Dong Zheng had fragments of your lover’s spirit because there was an inter-world notification about your lover’s spirit fragments being scattered across multiple ‘white lotus heroine’ novel worlds… but this time, there isn’t anything like that, QAQ]

[403: B-but Host! I can guarantee that in this world, someone definitely possesses a fragment of your lover’s spirit!]

Qi Lin: “…”

Alright. That was still good news, at least.

A week later, Qi Lin was discharged from the hospital. She had no major problems anymore, though her face was still wrapped in gauze. Qi Lin didn’t mind it, but Teacher Lin, worried that such a beautiful girl might feel self-conscious about her appearance, bought her a simple yet elegant cotton mask as a gift.

Qi Lin smiled shyly. “Thank you, Teacher Lin.”

The next day, she returned to school, wearing the mask that neatly covered her wound.

Given the current air quality, respiratory problems were becoming more common, so even though it was only early September, wearing a cotton mask didn’t seem strange.

When Qi Lin entered the classroom that morning, there weren’t many people yet, but as soon as she appeared, nearly every student turned to look at her.

Hua Xiyu, being the undisputed school belle of No. 1 High School, already attracted plenty of attention. The recent dismissal of their homeroom teacher and the arrival of a new male teacher as her replacement was huge news among the students. And since this big event directly involved Hua Xiyu, almost everyone was curious about it.

The teacher had been replaced because she’d beaten Hua Xiyu so badly that she was hospitalized. It wasn’t exactly a secret. However, not everyone knew the truth behind the incident. Those who did know that Murong Shuyan was involved were utterly shocked.

What kind of background does Hua Xiyu have? they wondered. How could she dare lay hands on someone connected to Young Master Murong himself?

For a time, even Hu Rui, the one who used to bully Hua Xiyu the most in the original plot, didn’t dare make a move. Last week, she had been furious when she couldn’t find Hua Xiyu in the bathroom, but later discovered that Hua Xiyu had been busy taking care of the homeroom teacher! If Hu Rui had gotten involved back then, things would’ve gone terribly for her, she might’ve even dragged herself down with it…

Hu Rui shivered.

Thank goodness…

All the curious or probing glances from the students, some open, some subtle, some merely curious and some with hidden meaning, were completely ignored by Qi Lin. She went straight to her seat and patted Zhao Ting, who was in the middle of eating breakfast.
“Deskmate, could you move a little?”

Zhao Ting, chewing on a bun, scooted her chair forward, leaving a small gap.

Qi Lin squeezed into the seat, pulled out a book titled High School Classical Poems You Must Memorize, and began reading aloud.

At No. 1 High School, the morning reading sessions alternated between English and Chinese. This morning was for Chinese.

In the original story, Hua Xiyu’s deskmate Zhao Ting barely got any mention, just a chubby girl who was always eating. After the heroine was ostracized, Zhao Ting completely faded from the narrative, neither bullying nor helping her. Qi Lin simply maintained the same neutral relationship, minding her own business, and Zhao Ting minded hers.

During her hospital stay, Qi Lin had quite a bit of free time, so she developed a new function for 403 (the system) that allowed it to check on Murong Shuyan’s situation.

Murong Shuyan was caught off guard by Qi Lin’s move to have their homeroom teacher switched. He was a suspicious and paranoid person, so he immediately began overthinking things, trying to find out what had gone wrong, and for the time being, held off on taking further action.

For that, Qi Lin gave the male lead a genuine round of applause.

After all, Young Master Murong had been searching for a week and still couldn’t figure out what was wrong. He could never imagine that the Hua Xiyu he had already thoroughly investigated, the naive and harmless “sweet fool”, had been replaced by someone entirely different inside.

But for Qi Lin, that was just a temporary measure. If she really wanted to study in peace, she’d have to properly deal with the male lead sooner rather than later.

Qi Lin thought of Situ Lan.

In the original novel, Situ Lan was Murong Shuyan’s fiancée, the eldest daughter of the Situ family, someone the male lead didn’t dare cross before marriage.

She figured it’d be best if she kept an eye on his fiancé. Qi Lin had great faith in this second female lead’s abilities.

If only Situ Lan hadn’t loved and trusted the male lead so deeply, she wouldn’t have ended up murdered by her husband and his mistress after marriage.

Besides, Miss Situ was in Class One, the senior science experimental class, the one taught by Teacher Lin. If worst came to worst, Qi Lin could always ask Teacher Lin for help… and that would give her another excuse to see her, too.

So, the moment morning reading ended, Qi Lin dashed out of Class Thirteen and ran straight to Class One.

Zhao Ting frowned as she watched Qi Lin’s hurried back.

Wasn’t her deskmate the type who liked to stay holed up in the classroom during breaks? Why has she been running off so often lately?

Popping a fruit candy into her mouth, Zhao Ting pondered.

Class Thirteen was a liberal arts class, while Class One, the science class, was in a different building altogether. Hua Xiyu’s body wasn’t very strong to begin with, and she’d only just recovered from a serious illness, by the time she reached Class One’s door, she was already out of breath.

This won’t do… She might have to face group fights someday. At this rate, she wouldn’t even be able to run away.

Panting heavily, Qi Lin resolved to start exercising from today onward.

Situ Lan sat in the middle of the classroom, her posture composed and elegant, reading a dark-covered novel.

Sunlight from the window streamed over her coiled long hair and refined, striking features, beautiful, like a warm-toned oil painting.

She was the true picture of a noble young lady.

As soon as Qi Lin stepped into the classroom, she didn’t even need to look around, just one glance was enough to tell that the person she was looking for was Situ Lan.

…Honestly, how did Hua Xiyu ever get the title of “school belle”?

In terms of looks, Situ Lan was in no way inferior to the heroine, right?

But that wasn’t the point. Qi Lin immediately walked up to Situ Lan.

The book in Situ Lan’s hands was shadowed slightly as Qi Lin approached. Situ Lan looked up to see a girl wearing a cotton mask, her hair tied into twin ponytails behind her ears, gazing right at her.

…Her eyes are quite pretty.

That was Situ Lan’s first impression of the uninvited visitor.

The other girl was clearly here for something, but she seemed nervous, too nervous to explain her reason right away.

Situ Lan wasn’t in any hurry. Her good upbringing and manners allowed her to calmly meet Qi Lin’s gaze, waiting for her to speak, or leave.

The break between morning reading and the first class wasn’t long. Since this girl clearly wasn’t from their class, if she didn’t speak soon, she’d have to head back to her own classroom.

“Y-you must be Miss Situ, right?” Qi Lin twisted her fingers unconsciously. The school uniform was too loose on her, her pale, slender fingers half-hidden by the sleeves. “I-I have something I’d like to discuss with you about Young Master Murong… After the third period this afternoon, at the school cafeteria, would that be okay?”

The schedule of high schoolers was really troublesome. It was already hard enough for her to run between two classes during a short break. Their school didn’t dismiss students until 9:30 p.m., so meeting Miss Situ after school wasn’t convenient. The only suitable time was the forty-minute lunch break after the third period.

The moment she heard the words “Young Master Murong,” Situ Lan’s expression changed, her eyes instantly sharpened.

Qi Lin sighed inwardly. She really couldn’t understand why, in these stories, the beautiful, wealthy second female leads always had to fall for the scummy male lead, losing all sense and dignity just to fight with the heroine over him. At least in the last world, she had managed to stop Dong Zheng in time…

Wait a second.

This Miss Situ’s character setup was extremely similar to Dong Zheng’s. Both were the heroine’s strongest rivals in love, the “vicious” second female leads who loved the male lead, schemed against the heroine, and ultimately helped bring the main couple together.

In other words, the so-called vicious supporting character.

Qi Lin’s gaze fell on the book in Situ Lan’s hands.

It was an English novel, Wuthering Heights.

Wuthering Heights.

Ji Huaixu’s favorite foreign novel was Wuthering Heights.

Qi Lin froze completely for a moment.

…Could it be that she had mistaken Teacher Lin’s identity?

Was this Miss Situ before her, the one she had actually been looking for all along?