“What?! Everyone Except Me Is a Villain (GL) - Chapter 17

“Madam, please don’t come down! It’s not safe here, you absolutely cannot!”

The female commander’s voice suddenly rose through her earpiece, as if Pei Fuliu herself were already on-site, sitting in a helicopter and looking down at them.

Jin Buning’s muscles tensed even more. She couldn’t help but glance toward the descending helicopter. The area was narrow, and once the aircraft landed, it made the already small space feel suffocating. The female commander looked visibly conflicted but still ended the call and walked forward.

Moments later, an automatic ladder extended from the helicopter. Liu-ma carefully pushed down a wheelchair. Pei Fuliu sat in it, descending gracefully from above.

At once, the special forces surrounding them straightened up, their expressions taut with vigilance. They scanned the perimeter as if expecting snipers or assassins to burst out of the shadows.

The scene left Jin Buning bewildered. Just how many layers of hidden identity did Pei Fuliu possess to make even the nation’s elite soldiers so cautious around her?

“Liu-jie, you came in person?”

Zhen Wangzi scrambled to his feet, quickly stripping off his dirty jacket to reveal a somewhat clean shirt underneath. He even tried to tidy his hair, desperate to present his best image before Pei Fuliu. But it was hopeless his once-flashy red sports car lay in ruins, and no amount of charm could disguise how disheveled he looked.

Pei Fuliu’s gaze softened with a faint smile. Elegance seemed to flow naturally from her refined, poised, and approachable in a way that made people instinctively lower their guard. Everyone’s eyes were drawn to her. Only Jin Buning kept her head down, trying to calm herself so she wouldn’t let Pei Fuliu see the flicker of fear inside her.

“So, you’re Ning Ning?”

After exchanging a few polite words with Zhen Wangzi, Pei Fuliu turned her attention toward Jin Buning. Her eyes looked gentle, but under that warmth, Jin Buning felt stripped bare like an onion peeled layer by layer until nothing could be hidden.

Jin Buning forced herself to look up and meet her gaze with a bright, steady smile. “Yes, hello, Mrs. Pei.”

Her tone was polite and proper. Whether she was the real or fake daughter of the Zhen family, her relationship with her stepmother would never be simple. She had heard of Pei Fuliu before, but this was the first time she was seeing her in person earlier than in her past life, by almost half a year.

“Come here.”

Pei Fuliu beckoned with a wave of her hand. Jin Buning hesitated, frozen in place.

“Liu-jie’s calling you,” Zhen Wangzi said impatiently, puffing up with self-importance as if Pei Fuliu were his girlfriend, not his stepmother.

Jin Buning had long known that both Zhen Wangzi and his father were infatuated with Pei Fuliu, but she hadn’t expected Zhen Wangzi to be so shamelessly obvious about it.

“Yes, Madam, what is it?”

Reluctantly, Jin Buning approached. When she was about three meters away, she realized that if Pei Fuliu wanted to throw a knife, the distance would be perfect. As she got closer, fragmented memories flashed in her mind the memory of Pei Fuliu killing her in another life.

“A little closer.”

Pei Fuliu’s hand lifted slightly, the motion elegant and deceptively calm. Her fingers were slender and pale, the kind of hands that could be used in a jewelry advertisement. But Jin Buning noticed the faint calluses along her knuckles signs of long, practiced precision.

The kind that came from handling scalpels.

A chill ran down Jin Buning’s spine, but she still obeyed, stepping close enough to crouch down before Pei Fuliu’s wheelchair so their eyes were level.

Pei Fuliu smiled approvingly and gestured for Liu-ma, who immediately retrieved a packet of disposable wet wipes from her bag. Pei Fuliu accepted them and, without a word, tilted Jin Buning’s chin upward.

“Madam?” Jin Buning stiffened, not understanding her intent.

Pei Fuliu gently began wiping her face. The white wipe quickly turned red, revealing just how messy and bloodstained Jin Buning had been without realizing.

System Message: Pei Fuliu’s Favorability +5. Current favorability: 10.
System Message: New character profile unlocked   Pei Fuliu. View now?

Jin Buning froze. Favorability? She couldn’t believe Pei Fuliu of all people could possibly have a positive impression of her.

“You look just as I imagined such a pretty face,” Pei Fuliu said with an easy smile, her tone pleasant but detached, as if she were making a polite remark about the weather.

Jin Buning could only mumble a compliment in return, praising Pei Fuliu’s beauty while silently wishing she could vanish into thin air.

“Miss, we should head back,” Liu-ma reminded softly.

Pei Fuliu ignored her and instead asked, “Ning Ning, what do you like to eat?”

The abrupt change of topic caught Jin Buning off guard. After a moment’s pause, she replied, “I don’t eat much meat. I like leafy vegetables.”

Pei Fuliu smiled again and lightly brushed Jin Buning’s arm. The simple touch made her stiffen. Pei Fuliu wasn’t supposed to be this tactile. Ten points of favorability shouldn’t make her this… warm.

Jin Buning’s mind buzzed with confusion. Before she could sort it out, Pei Fuliu spoke again. “Since we’ve met today, why don’t you come home for dinner?”

Jin Buning’s thoughts screeched to a halt. The storyline was completely off-script. Pei Fuliu the terrifying, unpredictable villain, was inviting her home?

“What’s wrong? You don’t want to have dinner with your aunt?”

Her tone was calm, but the words pressed against Jin Buning’s nerves like invisible blades. Every instinct screamed trap, yet her system’s mission timer was still ticking down. She didn’t have the luxury of refusal.

“…Of course, Auntie. I’d be happy to.”

Jin Buning reached out and carefully held Pei Fuliu’s hand. It wasn’t cold or fragile as she’d imagined it was surprisingly soft, warm even. For a brief moment, she was startled by how human Pei Fuliu felt.

They looked at each other, each assessing, neither willing to break eye contact first. Zhen Wangzi’s expression twisted with jealousy, but surrounded by soldiers, he didn’t dare make a scene.

Soon after, they all boarded the helicopter. The flight felt surreal, like a lucid dream. As the landscape shrank below them, Jin Buning couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being drawn deeper into a web she couldn’t escape.

Pei Fuliu sat beside her in silence, scrolling through something on her tablet her expression calm, businesslike. Jin Buning couldn’t guess what kinds of high-stakes deals were being made with those few gestures.

When the helicopter finally landed on the Zhen family’s rooftop, barely ten minutes had passed. Yet Jin Buning couldn’t help remembering how she had spent nearly an hour earlier running for her life from the Crow Syndicate. Pei Fuliu’s efficiency was unnerving.

The sprawling estate below was an elegant maze of courtyards and ancient-style buildings. To Jin Buning, it felt less like home and more like a gilded cage. Her rebirth had begun here and in her past life, this was also where it ended.

“Is this your first time visiting the main house, Ning Ning?”

“Not exactly. I came here when I was little,” Jin Buning replied softly. She remembered that day clearly, it was after she’d signed the contract to act as the Zhen family’s fake daughter. The visit had ended in disaster after she’d lost her temper and beaten Zhen Wangzi half to death.

“This place hasn’t changed much,” she added quietly.

Pei Fuliu’s eyes softened. “You must have been such a cute child.”

Jin Buning didn’t answer. She had never thought of herself as cute. In the orphanage, they’d called her “the demon’s daughter.” Her parents had been executed for crimes she didn’t even understand, leaving her alone and unwanted. Fear and loneliness had shaped her early years, but also taught her how to fight back.

“Liu-jie, don’t be fooled by her!” Zhen Wangzi suddenly burst out, clearly unhappy with how much attention Pei Fuliu was giving Jin Buning. “She’s been bad since she was a kid don’t trust anything she says!”

Jin Buning didn’t react. She knew Pei Fuliu would have already investigated everything about her. Lies wouldn’t sway her. Still, Pei Fuliu listened to Zhen Wangzi with a gentle smile, her expression unreadable.

Encouraged, Zhen Wangzi kept talking, trying to earn sympathy. “Liu-jie, if you hadn’t come when you did, I’d be dead right now!” His tone was dramatic, almost tearful his adoration for her was obvious.

“I came as soon as I heard,” Pei Fuliu replied with a light chuckle. “You did well holding out that long.”

Her voice was patient, kind. But when Jin Buning glanced at her, she noticed the smile didn’t reach her eyes. There was something distant there, something cold.

And suddenly.

System Message: Pei Fuliu’s Favorability  10. Current favorability: 0.

Jin Buning blinked. Pei Fuliu’s expression hadn’t changed at all. She was still smiling, serene as ever yet the system’s cold tone echoed in her head.

Whatever the reason, she had clearly misstepped.

Don’t try to guess the villain’s mind, Jin Buning thought bitterly. You’ll never get it right.