“What?! Everyone Except Me Is a Villain (GL) - Chapter 21

“Not smiling suits her better. Why does she like smiling so much?”
Pei Fuliu’s voice was soft as she studied the image of Jin Buning on the screen, as though she were looking at someone else through that young face.

“The mannerisms don’t match either. If it were her, she wouldn’t be so gentle.”
Her tone carried faint disappointment. The longer she watched, the more she felt that Jin Buning and the person in her memory were two entirely different beings. Eventually, she grew bored and switched the screen, rewinding to the moment after she had fallen asleep the part where Jin Buning entered the room.

What caught her interest was the girl’s expression when calling her name. Pei Fuliu’s gaze stayed calm until Jin Buning, after hesitating for a long time, finally whispered those three words, “Sister Liu.”

Countless people had used that name before, yet this time, something in Pei Fuliu’s chest stirred violently. Her heart began to race against her will. She hit a key to capture that short clip, isolating the few seconds that had shaken her composure.

Even though she knew she would never see that person again, the name still carried a power she couldn’t suppress.

“…Is it really you?”

The person in the recording, of course, didn’t answer just kept repeating “Sister Liu.”
And somehow, for the first time in years, Pei Fuliu, who suffered from chronic insomni, felt sleepy. She drifted off with those words echoing softly in her mind.

Meanwhile, Jin Buning was still walking through the long corridor, unaware that her small lie had been exposed. Beside her, Aunt Liu glided silently forward on a balance scooter, her movement ghostlike under the dim lights.

Aunt Liu looked slightly less corpse-like tonight, but Jin Buning was too exhausted to care. Her only wish was to reach her bedroom and collapse into bed.

Suddenly, a shrill scream cut through the quiet night. Jin Buning froze, startled. The sound was distant, but she couldn’t tell from where it came. She instinctively looked around, but Aunt Liu’s cold voice stopped her:

“Keep walking.”

Without a pause, Aunt Liu continued forward, unfazed, as though she hadn’t heard a thing. Yet the scream went on, bouncing through the narrow hallway in waves. The sound prickled against Jin Buning’s skin, raising goosebumps all over her arms.

But seeing Aunt Liu’s complete indifference, she bit her tongue and said nothing, following in silence until they emerged from the hidden passage.

When the surroundings shifted, Jin Buning realized they were now near her own bedroo,m not in Madam Pei’s quarters. Behind them, the wall closed seamlessly, the large painting sliding back into place.

It was an isolated corner of the mansion, one she had noticed before but never thought twice about. Now she understood there were probably secret passages everywhere in this house. Maybe even in her room. The thought made her scalp tingle. If someone decided to smother her in her sleep one night, she’d never even see it coming.

She needed to make herself useful.
Only value could buy survival. When she was valuable enough, these villains wouldn’t just spare her they might even protect her.

“We’re here,” Aunt Liu said flatly.

Jin Buning nodded. She had thought the escort unnecessary, it wasn’t far, but then she remembered this was her first time visiting the main Zhen residence as an adult. Pei Fuliu had probably sent Aunt Liu to ensure she didn’t get lost.

As expected of the ultimate boss, Jin Buning thought dryly. So attentive, even to a worthless side character like me. No wonder she has Zhen Batian and Zhen Wangzi completely wrapped around her finger.

She thanked Aunt Liu politely before slipping inside her room. As the door closed, she caught one last glimpse of that expressionless face. Strangely, the fear she’d felt earlier had lessened. Maybe she’d just been terrified too many times today. Her nerves were beyond numb.

Jin Buning washed up quickly, intending to sleep, but noticed a faint light glowing from across the courtyard.

From her window, she could see the opposite villa. A shadow was moving inside someone pacing, doing something she couldn’t quite make out. At three in the morning.

She thought of her “neighbor,” Zheng Si, and her mysterious connection with the academy. Students had vanished there without a trace. Even the calmest, kindest faces in this world hid unspeakable secrets.

They all could be the ones to kill her someday.

Her only mission was to survive and to balance the five major villains as perfectly as possible.

Eventually, her heavy thoughts gave way to exhaustion. Curling up with her blanket, she fell asleep in moments.

Morning came with urgent knocking. Jin Buning sat up abruptly, her heart pounding. The headache hit first, then the faint ache in her chest that made her feel like dying.

It was 6:30 a.m., half an hour before her time-limited mission expired. She exhaled in relief and went to open the door.

“Little Miss, Miss asked me to wake you,” said a maid nervously. The door opening so suddenly had clearly startled her.

Jin Buning nodded wordlessly. The maid, mistaking this for permission, stepped forward with a change of clothes, apparently intending to help her dress.

“That won’t be necessary. I can do it myself.”

The maid froze, then smiled awkwardly. “Alright. Just call me if you need help.”

Jin Buning studied her, puzzled. “Do all the maids here serve people like this?”

The maid didn’t realize she was being tested. She answered naturally, “That’s how we were trained, but neither Sir nor Madam likes being touched.”

That surprised Jin Buning. Pei Fuliu, sure she definitely wasn’t the touchy type. But Zhen Batian? Everything about him screamed lecherous patriarch, and every servant in this mansion looked like they’d stepped out of a model catalog.

So why hadn’t he laid a hand on them?
Was it Pei Fuliu’s influence keeping him restrained or something darker?

“Well, at least it saves you some work,” Jin Buning said casually.

The maid gave a small, bitter smile. “Not really. It just means I haven’t earned their trust.”

Her tone was oddly wistfu,l too honest, almost greedy for approval. Jin Buning frowned. The girl’s attitude was strange, and she didn’t remember seeing her before.

She took a closer look. The maid was delicate and pretty, her figure curvy in all the right places. Yet her eyes… didn’t seem to match her face.

A disguise?

Jin Buning’s mind spun. The worlds she’d passed through before had all kinds of settings tech dystopias, horror worlds, even cultivation. At this point, even if a ghost or shapeshifter appeared, she wouldn’t blink. So a little disguise magic? Hardly worth surprise.

Still, why would a villain bother disguising herself as a maid here?

She decided to test it. “Do you want to earn my trust?” she asked sweetly, a teasing smile curving her lips, her eyes hinting with deliberate warmth.

The maid froze for half a second, then smiled back. “How does Little Miss plan to trust me?”
The flirtation in her tone was unmistakable. Her expression might have been demure, but those eyes were anything but. Jin Buning’s heart gave a small, involuntary thump.

That charm… it can’t be…

She reached out and rested her hand on the maid’s waist, soft, slender, but strong, the kind that tempted rather than broke. It felt far too familiar.

The maid flinched but kept her smile. For an instant, disgust flashed in her eyes before vanishing. Jin Buning caught it and knew instantly who she was.

System prompt:
Xu Yixin’s favorability toward host: -10
Current favorability: -10

Of course. The woman pretending to be a maid her future best friend, Xu Yixin.

“Feels pretty nice,” Jin Buning said calmly.

The “maid” tilted her head, voice breathy and teasing. “Little Miss, do you… like women?”

“Maybe,” Jin Buning replied vaguely, withdrawing her hand. She didn’t dare push too far. Xu Yixin could easily decide to chop that hand off.

“Then, does Little Miss trust me now?” Xu Yixin asked again, her tone sugar-sweet but her jaw tight. It wasn’t hard to imagine her grinding her teeth behind the smile.

“I don’t know,” Jin Buning said honestly.

Xu Yixin glared at her for half a second, then forced herself back into character, voice dropping low as she leaned close to Jin Buning’s ear.

“Then you’ll have to learn to trust me more.”

Her breath was warm against Jin Buning’s skin, and her hand caught Jin Buning’s wrist, guiding it back to her waist, as if tempting her to “feel” again.

Jin Buning stiffened. What does she take me for a pervert?

Even if she liked women, she wasn’t so easily swayed. And this woman? She only loved money, nothing else.

Jin Buning deliberately pinched once, hard.

“Little Miss, gentle please you’re hurting me,” Xu Yixin whispered in a trembling voice.

Goosebumps rippled all over Jin Buning’s arms. She let go at once, trying not to look revolted, and reached into her old jacket pocket for somethin,g anything to wipe her hand clean.