The Frail, Alluring O Always Wants Me to Mark Her (GL) - Chapter 2: 02
The door to the lounge was knocked just as Yan Mian finished fastening her last button.
The girl in the mirror was no longer as pale as before, her face flushed with a faint pink. The long dress perfectly accentuated the curves of her soft body, her ebony-black hair smoothly tucked behind her ears, her neck slender and fair, like a swan about to spread its wings.
Until her entire upper body was enveloped in a jacket printed with the Ming Middle School emblem. The jacket’s fabric was comfortable, long, and breathable, but its drawback was its ugliness, so ugly that even Ming Middle School students couldn’t bear to look at it for more than five seconds.
All its advantages were completely concealed, making Yan Mian appear drab and ordinary, but Yan Mian liked it this way.
She hated the gazes of others falling upon her.
After repeatedly checking her attire in the mirror to ensure it was fine, Yan Mian opened the door.
Outside the door, Li Nian, who had jogged all the way there, breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Yan Mian standing before her, completely unharmed. She wiped the sweat from her neck. Her stray hairs stuck to her skin, and she kept her distance from Yan Mian, smiling brightly: “Zhu Lexing said you were here, I thought she was lying to me.”
The next second, as if remembering something, her expression turned serious: “Oh, right, she also said you weren’t feeling well. Do you want to go to the infirmary? I’ll go with you!”
“Zhu Lexing,” “infirmary.”
When these six words were combined, Yan Mian’s knuckles hidden beneath her skirt hem clenched suddenly.
Zhu Lexing’s “desire to torment” wasn’t particularly strong.
Rather than leaving Yan Mian bruised and battered, she enjoyed Yan Mian’s fear and the pleasure of having everything under control. Therefore, except for rare moments of emotional loss, she never left injuries on Yan Mian’s body.
But Yan Mian was born with a constitution prone to scarring; any bruises that lingered overnight would be exceptionally alarming. She didn’t dare to go to the hospital, fearing that the driver who picked her up would notice something strange and report it to Zhu Lin. She could only coordinate with Zhu Lexing to arrive at school earlier to get medicine from the school doctor.
After several such instances, the school doctor recognized her. Believing she was being bullied at school, the doctor indignantly reported it.
The outcome was obvious: in the face of power, the doctor received a dismissal letter and disappeared in disgrace. Zhu Lexing, meanwhile, smashed Yan Mian’s phone, which contained photos of her injuries, warning her that there shouldn’t be a next time.
Otherwise, Zhu Lexing herself wasn’t sure what fate awaited the next “good person.”
The girl’s sinister expression still lingered in her mind, and Yan Mian’s eyelashes trembled slightly.
Yan Mian didn’t know if Zhu Lexing’s threats were merely for venting anger or truly intentional. She only knew that Zhu Lexing was impulsive, and if something irreversible truly happened, she would be the only one pushed out to take the blame.
She saw clearly, knowing she couldn’t gamble, and thus became even more submissive and cautious in her words and actions.
When she met Li Nian, it had been more than a month since the school doctor left. Zhu Lexing initially didn’t want to become close to her, worrying that the other party would also be implicated. Unexpectedly, Li Nian seemed completely oblivious to her coldness, speaking up for justice and being considerate everywhere, making it impossible for Zhu Lexing to resist her kindness.
Just like now, Li Nian immediately noticed Yan Mian’s abnormality and lowered her voice: “Mian Mian?”
“…”
Yan Mian sighed inwardly and smiled softly: “She didn’t do anything to me, I’m fine.”
Li Nian saw that she didn’t want to say more and pursed her lips: “Your face is much paler again… Forget it. Zhu Lexing asked for leave for you, so you rest well here. I’ll get your bag after school. We can’t afford to provoke her, but we can at least avoid her, right?”
“…Leave?” Yan Mian looked at Li Nian, puzzled: “You said… who got me leave?”
The twilight was crimson.
In the office, Zhu Hang drank tea while occasionally glancing at Yan Mian, who was sitting at the desk.
Yan Mian looked at the leave slip in front of her. At the “applicant” section, the three neatly written characters of “Zhu Lexing” were firmly placed. She held the pen, and in her ears, she could still hear Li Nian rephrasing Zhu Lexing’s original words.
After truthfully recounting the process once, not only was Yan Mian silent in place, but even Li Nian noticed something odd: “Why is she so kind today? Is Uncle Zhu coming back?”
Yan Mian rarely talked to Zhu Lin and wasn’t aware of his schedule. Remembering the wet wipes by her hand and the fading footsteps, she assumed this was true.
She didn’t immediately refute, and Li Nian’s mood instantly brightened—
Zhu Lexing disdained acknowledging Jiang Yue, let alone Yan Mian, the “burden” brought by Jiang Yue.
To this day, apart from the high-ranking school officials and Zhu Hang, her bullying of Yan Mian was merely seen by outsiders as the unpleasant actions of a rich young lady.
Li Nian only learned of their relationship after becoming familiar with Yan Mian.
Since it was a family conflict between “sisters,” Li Nian couldn’t really do anything to Zhu Lexing. She could only act like a paper tiger, constantly warning the other party and doing her best to protect Yan Mian.
She had traditional views, believing that since Yan Mian had relied on her mother for many years, her mother must have loved Yan Mian dearly, and once the “parent” returned, everything would be fine.
The Zhu family’s affairs were secretive, and Yan Mian couldn’t and shouldn’t tell Li Nian too much, so she could only tacitly agree with the other’s optimism.
Along the way, she also felt much lighter due to Li Nian’s cheerful mood.
But now, looking at the three characters “Zhu Lexing” on the leave slip, which filled her with both fear and disgust, Yan Mian became surprisingly calm—
Even if Uncle Zhu was returning, what then? Her situation wouldn’t change at all.
All of Zhu Lexing’s “kindness” was merely a brief “respite” before she humiliated herself again.
Zhu Hang took the leave slip. Her handwriting was like her person; Yan Mian wrote in beautiful running script. It was neat and square, just like her resilient and forbearing personality. In comparison, Zhu Lexing’s handwriting, even if written earnestly, was very superficial and irregular.
He looked at Yan Mian speechlessly, unable to find words of comfort, and said stiffly: “It’s best if this kind of situation doesn’t happen again. The school isn’t that big, and it takes teachers this long to find you, let alone outside school. Remember to contact your parents in time if something happens.”
After a few such admonitions, Yan Mian’s reaction remained distant. Zhu Hang sighed and pulled a test paper from a folder beside him. This was the only thing he could do.
“It’s not long until class ends anyway. This is today’s homework. Just do it here until class is over.”
Yan Mian remained stunned, saying nothing, and took the test paper.
After a long time, an almost inaudible “thank you” finally fell in the empty office.
When the decaying twilight completely enveloped the classroom, the melodious saxophone finally sounded.
As the aged teacher coughed and dismissed class, the long scraping sound of desks and chairs filled the air.
Boarding students didn’t even have time to put on their bags, heading straight for the cafeteria.
Day students, in twos and threes, chatted and laughed while packing their bags.
The crowd in the classroom was clearly divided; everyone chose to be in groups. Only Zhu Lexing’s surroundings were empty; even her deskmate, as soon as the bell rang, took her bag and squeezed together with her friends.
Zhu Lexing was initially confused by the “original owner had a group of followers” setting. After thinking for a while, she remembered that Ming Middle School had a special “flying class” for transfer students who were “a bit poor in academics” but wealthy.
The original owner thought Yan Mian would be assigned to the flying class with her, but she never expected that the other party, with excellent grades, went through the regular admission process and was assigned to Class 7. To torment the other party at close range, she could only pester Zhu Lin to transfer classes, thus becoming the only “anomaly” among a group of three-digit scores who didn’t get full marks in every subject.
Her grand gesture of pouring a drink on someone on the first day was too intimidating. No one in Class 7 wanted to offend her, so they voluntarily kept their distance. One or two people keeping their distance was still called “keeping distance,” but when everyone did it, it became “isolation.”
Yan Mian was not good with words and, after months of transferring, only had Li Nian as a friend, so she naturally didn’t notice this subtle change.
The original owner, who had been immersed in crowds since childhood, was extremely perceptive of this change. But perception didn’t mean she had a solution; she could only vent her ignored anger on Yan Mian.
Around and around it went, and the unlucky one was still only Yan Mian.
Thinking of this, Zhu Lexing lowered her gaze, meeting the eyes of her deskmate who was doing exercises with a pen.
Seeing her glance, the girl quickly lowered her head, her thick bangs covering her eyes, like a startled bird, her hand holding the pen trembling slightly.
The girl’s textbook beautifully bore the name “Song Yingying.” Zhu Lexing hesitated for a few seconds, then said, “See… see you later?”
What the original owner did was the original owner’s business. Without being forced, Zhu Lexing still wanted to be herself.
Song Yingying didn’t react, and Zhu Lexing didn’t push it, picking up her bag and leaving. She left decisively, naturally missing Song Yingying’s surprised gaze that followed.
Zhu Lexing squeezed through the crowd on the spiral staircase, her gaze drifting. She debuted as a child star and had just turned nineteen before transmigrating. In those nineteen years, her days at school combined weren’t as long as her travel time between various locations, so everything felt new to her.
Thinking about it carefully, transmigrating wasn’t so bad, especially transmigrating as a villainess—
She had both parents who didn’t interfere with her life, power, influence, and good looks. As long as she didn’t target the protagonist, her life would be smooth, fulfilling, and happy, and she’d live a long time.
Zhu Lexing’s confidence grew, and she thought of Yan Mian again. She wanted to go see her, but was afraid of scaring Yan Mian. Fortunately, she didn’t struggle with it for long before Li Nian, with her ponytail fluttering, descended from the heavens, humming a song.
Zhu Lexing thought her glances were discreet enough, but she and her distinguishability were high. Across a crowd of heads, Li Nian precisely rolled her eyes at her.
“…”
Her reaction at least proved that Yan Mian was fine. Zhu Lexing relaxed and voluntarily stepped back half a step.
As for Li Nian’s disdain… let her be disdainful, she despised the original owner herself anyway.
Zhu Lexing’s concession once again reinforced Li Nian’s belief that “Zhu Lin is coming home.” She scrutinized Zhu Lexing up and down, pursed her lips, but didn’t utter any curses.
Zhu Lexing wasn’t annoyed by being ignored. Massaging her wrist where she held her bag, as she stepped out of the school gate, a silver Maybach had already been waiting for a long time, accompanied by a dull gray nanny van.
Her occupational habit kicked in, and Zhu Lexing instinctively opened the door to the latter.
The main driver was a thin woman, with gaunt cheekbones and a spiritless look in her eyes. Startled by the sudden movement, she instinctively gestured back at Zhu Lexing.
Zhu Lexing watched her gestures, which were faster than hand seals, her face full of confusion.
At the same time, the system’s cold prompt sounded in her ear: [Detecting a plot turn has occurred, one point of reader energy collected, minimum startup energy reached. Notifying host.]
The car was silent for a few seconds. Zhu Lexing awkwardly nodded at the other person, reached for the handle, and got out of the car without paying attention to the woman’s reaction.
The Maybach sped into traffic half a minute later as if fleeing for its life. By the time the woman’s gaze changed from worried to purely bewildered, the rosy glow of dusk had been stained gray by the inky sky.
The car window was tapped. Yan Mian carried her backpack on both shoulders, her hair softly clinging to her neck. Fragmented light fell into her eyes, and she smiled faintly: “Good evening, thank you for your trouble today as well.”