The Frail, Alluring O Always Wants Me to Mark Her (GL) - Chapter 13: 013
Zhu Lexing: “…”
Yan Mian’s sudden question also surprised Qiao Qiao.
Feeling Zhu Lexing’s rigid gaze, she raised an eyebrow and said, “Nothing, I just wanted to ask, how long have you and Zhu Lexing known each other?”
Yan Mian: “…Only a few months.”
Qiao Qiao’s question was very normal. Zhu Lexing had just relaxed when Qiao Qiao said, as if casually, “Oh, really? You two seem to have a pretty good relationship.”
“Just classmates,” Zhu Lexing said, to prevent Yan Mian from feeling awkward. “What’s this about a good or bad relationship? Do you have a bad relationship with your classmates?”
Qiao Qiao said, “Yes.”
Zhu Lexing: “…”
Zhu Lexing felt this conversation was a dead end.
Back in the rehearsal room, Xu He rubbed her ears and complained, “Why was the bell so loud today? It startled me.”
Song Yingying comforted her beside her: “Maybe it’s a new person and they don’t know.”
Xu He said, “If you can’t do it, can’t you just not do it—? Zhu Lexing! Why are you just getting back? What the heck is this ‘three parts roguish smile’ on the script?”
Her voice unconsciously rose when she saw Zhu Lexing, becoming sharp and a bit piercing.
Yan Mian looked up and saw Zhu Lexing holding up a hand gesture, telling Xu He to be quiet.
Xu He seemed not to have heard and asked again. Zhu Lexing could only let out a long sigh, walk closer, and explain.
Yan Mian turned her face and asked Li Nian, “How long was Zhu Lexing gone?”
Li Nian said, “She left after Qiao Qiao did. Did she go to cause you trouble?”
The phrase “just getting back” was enough for Yan Mian to guess that Zhu Lexing had been waiting for a long time.
She was silent for a few seconds and then said, “I understand.”
The second period was for running lines. During this time, the milk tea Xu He ordered arrived, one for everyone. Most people in the group were familiar with her and thanked her with a smile.
The one for Yan Mian was full of ice and sugar.
To maintain her health, Yan Mian rarely drank sugary iced drinks.
But it was Xu He’s kind gesture. Even if it was a bit awkward, she planned to give it to Li Nian on the way back and politely decline next time.
When the dismissal bell rang again, it was back to its normal volume.
Yan Mian put her book away and was about to leave with Li Nian when footsteps sounded outside the door. An impatient voice said, “Why, why, why! With so many problems, how can I solve them all by myself?”
This was clearly the other team arriving for their rehearsal time and starting to argue about problems among themselves.
Li Nian always loved gossip and rushed to the front line, pulling Yan Mian along. The milk tea was left beside the makeup mirror. When she came back to get it, the iced fruit tea had been swapped for an unopened cup of warm milk tea.
A piece of paper with scribbled handwriting on it read: [I like sweet drinks, so I swapped with you. Sorry about that.]
Under the paper was a twenty-yuan bill.
It was likely that the person who swapped the milk tea felt it would be rude to just take it, so they left enough money for a new cup.
Yan Mian was suspicious, but she knew so few people that she didn’t know who would be so kind.
Li Nian couldn’t figure it out either and could only comfort her: “You must be having a ‘Mercury in forward motion’ moment. You’re getting lucky with money. It’s okay, next time you can buy her a cup and leave it there—”
Yan Mian could only accept this suggestion.
….
In the classroom. Zhu Lexing bit the straw, and the first sip was so sweet it felt like her head would fly off.
As a professional artist, Zhu Lexing always had strict body management and never touched similar foods.
But just because Zhu Lexing wouldn’t touch them didn’t mean she couldn’t drink them.
Yan Mian was different; she was just in poor health and didn’t like them.
The burden naturally fell on Zhu Lexing.
Before Yan Mian returned, she didn’t forget to tear the label off the cup.
It took her half the period to finish the fruit tea. To be efficient, Zhu Lexing copied the answers to a few analysis problems from Song Yingying, and on the way home, she quickly finished the multiple-choice questions.
In the driver’s eyes, this was the result of Zhu Lexing’s diligent studying.
But in the system’s eyes, it was a different story: [You only got one of the ten questions right.]
Zhu Lexing: “…”
She had been working on the script for days and hadn’t been in class properly, so it was within Zhu Lexing’s expectations that her grades hadn’t improved.
But getting one out of ten? Was that a bit too cruel for a weak and ordinary high school girl?
System: [Getting one right is also quite impressive.]
After all, a few days ago, Zhu Lexing hadn’t gotten a single one right.
She became more and more frustrated the more she thought about it.
Zhu Lexing said angrily: [How can you be like this? You make me do problems but don’t give me any hints, and then you mock me for getting them wrong.]
System: [That is the Host’s personal problem—]
Zhu Lexing: [I don’t care! The system has a responsibility! Either you teach me how to do the problems, or I’m just going to give up—]
Zhu Lexing just asked to probe, not expecting the system to agree. But after a brief silence, the system actually started playing online tutorials for Zhu Lexing on how to solve the problems.
Zhu Lexing put her palms together: “Let me say thank you…”
The driver subconsciously asked, “Lexing, what’s wrong? Your voice sounds so strange. Are you sick?”
Zhu Lexing knew she was tone-deaf and sounded like she was chanting. She never thought she sounded so bad and was instantly discouraged: “…I just learned a new song today. Just singing a few lines. I’m fine.”
The driver then relaxed. Before she got out of the car, he reminded her: “Mr. Zhu’s flight is tomorrow afternoon. The restaurant is the one you said you liked last time—”
The news of Zhu Lin’s return was very sudden.
Facing a person through a phone and meeting them in real life were two different feelings.
Zhu Lexing was a little nervous at first and bothered the system, but the system reminded her: [Zhu Lin and Zhu Lexing do not have a close relationship. He also doesn’t know how to face you.]
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of having the driver notify Zhu Lexing.
In the original work, Zhu Lin and the original owner rarely spoke on the phone throughout the year. There was a bit of father-daughter affection, but not much.
So, just do whatever she wanted.
As long as she didn’t seriously deviate from the original owner’s “bad-tempered” heiress persona, she would be fine.
Zhu Lexing felt comforted. She immediately turned her attention to studying her lines.
Tomorrow would be the first official rehearsal for “Snow White.” Unoccupied faculty members would be present, making them the first audience.
Performing was not a shameful thing for Zhu Lexing.
But when she thought of acting on the same stage with Yan Mian, Zhu Lexing felt a strange awkwardness. She wished her persona wasn’t “silent and introverted,” but rather a mute, so she wouldn’t have to say a single word.
After lying on the bed for a while, Zhu Lexing received a friend request. The profile picture was a hand taking a photo in the sun, making a peace sign, with the note [Qiao Qiao].
As soon as she accepted, Qiao Qiao asked: [?? What is this?]
She sent a picture of the script, which read: [The Queen stands in front of the mirror, stroking her smooth long hair and sighing: For business inquiries contact xxxxx… Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in this world is the fairest of all? Mirror: Your beauty, my Queen, is a beauty that only East Asians can truly appreciate. It is… but in this world, there is one who is fairer than you.]
When Zhu Lexing thought of this part where the mirror praised the queen, her mind was filled with the over-the-top compliments fans wrote in her previous life. She thought it was perfect and wrote it down casually, not forgetting to add a citation.
She wrote it casually, but it thoroughly shocked Qiao Qiao.
Even if there was a citation, if she searched the entire internet and couldn’t find the source, wasn’t it still an original creation?
Qiao Qiao had thought Zhu Lexing could be complimentary, but she never imagined she was this good at it.
Her brain felt itchy, like a lovesick sap was about to grow.
[I just wrote to fill the word count. Don’t you fill the word count when you write essays?]
After responding, Zhu Lexing remembered Qiao Qiao’s question and angrily typed: [Besides, these were the lines we went over today, and the rehearsal is tomorrow. You’re just seeing this now?]
Qiao Qiao: […]
Looking at the six dots, Zhu Lexing finally felt she had gotten a rise out of Qiao Qiao. It felt good.
She rolled over and saw Qiao Qiao’s message: [So, are you and Yan Mian a couple?]
Smack—the phone hit her face.
Zhu Lexing: “…”
…
The next day.
After arriving at school, Zhu Lexing subconsciously rubbed her face, as if the pain hadn’t disappeared.
Qiao Qiao walked into the dressing room and said casually, “You don’t rub a bruise to make it go down. You pat it—”
Zhu Lexing said, “Mind your own business.”
Qiao Qiao: “You have quite a temper.”
Their words were a bit like a clash of swords, but the atmosphere was very relaxed, almost harmonious.
Qiao Qiao sat next to Zhu Lexing, pondered for a few seconds, and was about to speak again when Zhu Lexing said, “Yan Mian and I have no relationship. Stop asking!”
“…Who said I was going to ask you that?” Last night, after receiving several one-minute long voice messages from an agitated Zhu Lexing, Qiao Qiao knew when to back off and didn’t press the issue. “I just wanted to ask how you write those compliments?”
Zhu Lexing: “I just say them off the top of my head.”
Qiao Qiao was intrigued: “Oh? Like what?”
Zhu Lexing was about to speak but paused: “You’re asking for help and you’re not even saying thank you?”
Qiao Qiao: “You haven’t said anything, and I haven’t learned anything. Wouldn’t it be a loss to say thank you right away?”
Even while saying that, Zhu Lexing still gave a few examples of “crazy literature” she had seen before. As she spoke, Qiao Qiao’s expression went from shocked to enlightened to thoughtful.
Finally, she was calm and confident: “I’ve learned. Thank you.”
“Are you going to confess?” Zhu Lexing asked casually.
Qiao Qiao: “Sort of, but not really. You’ll know in a couple of days.”
Zhu Lexing: “…”
If she wanted to be a puzzle-master, Zhu Lexing couldn’t do anything about it.
As more people gathered, Zhu Lexing began directing them to set up the props on the stage.
People started trickling into the auditorium. Before the performance officially began, the other team also arrived. Zhou Yang was among them, even sitting in the front row.
Clearly, he wasn’t resigned to being kicked out. But Zhou Yang didn’t dare to confront them directly, so he blended in with the other team, trying to watch with a scornful look from a safe distance, hoping to infuriate everyone.
Many people in the new team had been successfully convinced by Zhou Yang that Zhu Lexing and Qiao Qiao had created a terrible, rotten play, and they came to get a front-row seat to the gossip and mockery.
But as the curtain fell and the music began, from the moment Qiao Qiao spoke her first line, no one paid any attention to Zhou Yang’s eye-rolls, their hearts captivated by the development of the main and supporting characters.
However, the rehearsal was still full of problems.
Throughout the performance, Zhu Lexing held her breath, not for herself, but worried that others would mess up.
The seven dwarves each had their own hobbies—loving to eat, sleep, and fish. But the one who loved to sleep actually fell asleep, and the one who loved to fish couldn’t find his fishing rod. Zhu Lexing stood backstage, almost laughing out of exasperation.
The only thing to be happy about was that Yan Mian’s performance was flawless. After putting on the pure white, heavy tulle dress and tying her hair back, she looked even more charming and delicate under the lights.
Qiao Qiao sighed, “She really is beautiful.”
A beautiful heroine! She should be praised and put on a pedestal, and live a life without worries!
Zhu Lexing felt a sense of pride.
Qiao Qiao said, “No wonder you like her—”
Zhu Lexing instantly fell silent.
Zhu Lexing was too lazy to argue with her.
After the final bow, everyone had to swap places with the other team. It was their turn to be the audience.
Qiao Qiao spotted Zhou Yang in the crowd at a glance and waved: “Hey, long time no see. Did you learn a new word today and want to show off?”
Zhou Yang was speechless. The others didn’t understand their conflict and just said, “You were great!”
“Don’t just dance, go into showbiz. I feel like you could beat a hundred male idols.”
“Give me your autograph first! I’ll sell it when you get famous. We can split it 80/20!”
As Qiao Qiao responded casually, Zhu Lexing sat next to Song Yingying. The girl’s face was flushed, and she seemed a bit excited: “You were so good!”
Zhu Lexing couldn’t help but feel a little smug.
Acting was her profession!
But she didn’t forget to be humble and happily said to the people around her, “Everyone was great. What do you want to eat tonight? It’s on me—”
At the same time, Yan Mian had changed back into her regular clothes and was walking over with Li Nian.
Hearing this, Yan Mian was stunned: “Lexing, tonight—”
Zhu Lin was coming back.
The two “daughters” naturally both had to be informed.
Yan Mian thought Zhu Lexing had forgotten and subconsciously spoke.
Having gotten used to calling her “Lexing” in front of Zhu Lin, Yan Mian realized her mistake as soon as she said the name and bit her lip.
The group was sitting in the middle rows and instantly began to tease: “Wow—”
“Lexing, tonight? What about tonight? Do you have a date?”
“You two are a couple both on and off stage? Lexing?”
Qiao Qiao arrived late, but her playful words were right on time: “Zhu Lexing? Why are you not talking? Are you embarrassed?”
Zhu Lexing never expected Yan Mian to call her that in front of others. The ears under her hair instantly turned bright red: “What are you talking about! Why would I be embarrassed? I wasn’t the one who said it—”
She realized her mistake as soon as she said it and was about to try to fix it, but Qiao Qiao seized the opportunity: “Yan Mian? Why did you call her that?”
“You call her Lexing, what does she call you?”