“What?! Everyone Except Me Is a Villain (GL) - Chapter 12

Jin Buning’s mind buzzed, completely blank for a moment. In all her 137 past reincarnations, Xu Yixin had never once mentioned moving into her house. Yet here she was, on the very first day of the new term, casually bringing it up.

Her stomach throbbed with pain, urging her to agree before it got worse. If she didn’t, she might just die right here again.

“Alright,” Jin Buning managed, forcing her voice steady. “But I’ll need a few days to handle it.”

The Zhen family definitely wouldn’t allow outsiders to move in easily, so this was more of an empty promise for now. The only thing that mattered to her was staying alive.

Xu Yixin smiled in satisfaction, her eyes bright as she handed over a key. Their fingers brushed by accident. Xu Yixin’s hand was warm, smooth like jade. But Jin Buning felt nothing but discomfort; she walked stiffly to the locked medicine cabinet, placing the key on the sensor.

The cabinet opened with a click, drawers sliding out to reveal neatly labeled boxes Western medicine, traditional herbs, and sealed vials of special compounds.

Jin Buning took a moment to think, then carefully picked out a few herbs, weighing them with precision on the digital scale. Xu Yixin, watching from the side, had initially assumed she was just pretending to know what she was doing or worse, trying to make something illegal. But as she observed the practiced motions and the exact weights, she began to doubt that. Jin Buning looked… competent, almost like an old Chinese doctor.

Still, traditional medicine required boiling, and Jin Buning was trembling from pain. How was she going to manage that?

Xu Yixin was still lost in thought when Jin Buning began grinding the herbs into powder. She dipped her finger into it, tasting it lightly, expression focused and serious. Xu Yixin’s mind flashed with strange associations, but seeing that calm, clinical face, she didn’t say anything.

“Senior Xu, do you have any water?” Jin Buning asked naturally.

Xu Yixin glanced at her own thermos. She hated others touching her belongings just the thought made her skin crawl. She hesitated, ready to refuse. But before she could speak, Jin Buning had already turned away, using the paper cup by the water dispenser instead.

Xu Yixin should have been relieved. Instead, a strange emotion flickered through her chest. Most people would have jumped at the chance to touch something she used some even fantasized about indirect kisses. But this girl looked at her as if she were poison, afraid to even get close.

Jin Buning stirred the powdered medicine into the cup, and it turned pitch black. It didn’t look drinkable at all, but she downed it in one go, exhaling in relief as the tension melted from her brow.

When she was done, she tidied up, returned the key, and looked much better. The whole process had taken less than ten minutes, leaving Xu Yixin incredulous. Who agrees to let someone move in, then feels satisfied after a single drink?

Curiosity kept her watching. Jin Buning’s pain had eased maybe not instantly cured, but enough to feel human again. As she was about to lie back down, she caught Xu Yixin staring at her.

Jin Buning forced a weak smile. “Senior Xu, is there something you wanted to say?”

Xu Yixin blinked, then asked bluntly, “What exactly did you make?”

“My own stomach medicine,” Jin Buning replied without hesitation. “I overate at lunch.”

The lie sounded casual enough. Even if Xu Yixin didn’t believe her, it was better than telling the truth that it was a recipe she’d learned from a cultivation world. That would sound like madness.

“Your method’s quite… unique,” Xu Yixin said, lips curving.

“Yeah,” Jin Buning replied with a wry smile. “That’s the Zhen family for you. You never know how you’ll die next.” She mimicked her teacher’s tone, half-joking about death as if it were nothing. The warmth spreading in her stomach told her the medicine was starting to work.

Feeling better, she asked, “By the way, Senior Xu, why do you want to move into my place? I don’t live with the main Zhen family. If you’re trying to get close to them, there’s no need to stay with me.”

“And you,” Xu Yixin countered, “why did you only take a few herbs when you could’ve taken more? Are you that generous or is there another reason?”

Neither answered. They both smiled, their gazes sharp and knowing. For the first time, the air between them carried an edge of danger a familiar kind of pressure Jin Buning hadn’t felt in a long time.

“I don’t care about the Zhen family’s fate,” Jin Buning said first. “And I only needed those few herbs. The rest are too common, not useful to me.” She chose honesty or something close enough. No point in provoking Xu Yixin unnecessarily.

Xu Yixin nodded slightly. “Then I’ll answer you, too. Your house is closer to the university. I don’t want to live on campus, but the apartments nearby are too expensive.”

Her voice was calm, neither proud nor defensive. She loved money Jin Buning knew that but there was nothing vulgar about her. Xu Yixin carried her greed with grace.

Still, Jin Buning couldn’t figure out why she loved money so much. “I see,” she murmured. “Then… I can charge rent, right?”

That question made Xu Yixin pause. No one had ever dared to say that to her. Her beauty was striking, overwhelming; she’d never once lost a social battle. Yet this simple, reasonable question caught her off guard.

She laughed softly. “Of course. Just don’t make it too expensive.”

“Deal. I’ll sort things out soon. Let’s exchange contact info. I’ll message you when it’s ready.”

As their phones connected, Jin Buning glanced at the “affection meter” in her system. Xu Yixin’s favorability remained perfectly at zero. She almost laughed, either that zero was an illusion, or Xu Yixin truly didn’t care about anyone.

Still, as long as she didn’t try to kill her, Jin Buning was fine with whatever schemes she had.

After exchanging contacts, silence returned. Jin Buning, now feeling physically stronger, checked the system data she hadn’t reviewed earlier.

Name: Zhen Xier
Age: 17
Identity: Daughter of the Zhen Family
Strength: 5
Intelligence: 90
Charm: 99
Overall Rating: S-class Chosen One
Favorability toward Host: –90

Almost perfect charm just one point away. Jin Buning couldn’t help wondering what kind of person had a perfect 100.

She switched to the next profile:

Name: Xu Yixin
Age: 17
Identity: Student, Investor
Strength: 80
Intelligence: 90
Charm: 100
Overall Rating: S-class Chosen One
Favorability toward Host: 0

Apparently, the system preferred the seductive type. Jin Buning personally thought all five villains were beautiful in their own way. But beauty often came with dark hearts. She decided not to linger on meaningless numbers and focused on collecting more useful data.

Time slipped by, and it was past one when the school nurse woke up. Forgetting anyone else was in the room, she greeted Xu Yixin with a reverent, “Master.”

Jin Buning froze. She didn’t want to hear any of this she’d died too many times from knowing too much. Xu Yixin obviously knew she was listening, but didn’t stop the nurse.

The nurse, thrilled to get a reaction, knelt eagerly and begged for “punishment.”

Xu Yixin chuckled, voice soft and syrupy, her tone perfectly normal yet somehow laced with something unsettling half playful, half cruel.

Jin Buning looked away. For her, survival always came first.