“What?! Everyone Except Me Is a Villain (GL) - Chapter 27

The PE teacher’s cheerful smile faded as she cleared her throat, forcing herself back into her usual, no-nonsense demeanor. The switch was so fast it was almost comical, and Jin Buning had to resist the urge to ask where she’d learned to change expressions that quickly.

“All right, Miss Baili is waiting for you inside. Go in.”

A few seconds later, the teacher’s face returned to its blank, disciplined calm as she gently knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

The voice that answered from within was cold and elegant, like a clear note of music echoing in a winter hall.

When Jin Buning pushed open the door, she saw Baili Ruobing seated behind her desk, posture straight and impeccable. She wore a tailored suit that emphasized her composure and authority. The sunlight streamed in through the blinds, gilding her features with a faint glow, but even that light felt cold in her presence.

Instinctively, Jin Buning glanced toward the air conditioner, assuming the office was simply overcooled. Yet when she checked, the display showed 27°C.

That left her genuinely confused. The room didn’t feel warm at all, it felt freezing.

Baili Ruobing caught her look and spoke coolly, “Feeling cold?”

Jin Buning shook her head. “No, just… a bit warm, actually.”

Baili Ruobing gave a soft hum, then pressed a button on her desk. The temperature on the air conditioner display dropped from 27°C to 25°C.

Apparently, that two-degree reduction was her idea of compromise.

Jin Buning nearly sighed aloud. As someone who trained regularly, she was far more sensitive to heat than to cold. Her ideal temperature was around 22°C. But clearly, this office belonged to a woman who thought 25°C was the edge of Arctic frost.

When Baili Ruobing noticed Jin Buning still glancing at the air conditioner, she adjusted it once more—to 23°C this time. Perhaps worried she might catch a chill, she began to boil water for tea, covering her unease with graceful precision.

In truth, Baili Ruobing suffered from chronic yang deficiency, low internal warmth, which made her sensitive to the cold and prone to chilly hands and feet.

“Shall we begin?” Baili Ruobing finally broke the silence, her voice returning to that of a person used to being obeyed.

Jin Buning nodded. Without another word, Baili Ruobing handed her a thick stack of documents at least three centimeters thick, dense with text like a miniature brick of bureaucracy. For a moment, Jin Buning thought it might actually be a sponsorship contract.

After all, what she knew of Baili Ruobing mostly came from what Xu Yixin had told her in passing: a classic villainess CEO, powerful, domineering, emotionally scarred, obsessed with women who resembled her long-dead beloved.

So when Jin Buning saw the document, her first thought was that she was being offered the role of replacement lover.

She took a deep breath, already preparing a polite rejection, only to discover the title on the first page:

Assistant Guidelines.

She blinked. Wait, what?

This wasn’t a sponsorship agreement at all, it was an employee manual.

For some reason, that realization didn’t calm her down. If anything, it made her oddly frustrated. Why was she always the one who got dragged around by these villains?

“What did you think it was?” Baili Ruobing’s voice was low and mocking. “A contract telling you to get out of the Zhen family?”

Her lips curved faintly, and for a second it seemed she might cross her legs until she thought better of it and wrapped her blanket more tightly around herself instead.

The contrast was striking: this legendary, untouchable CEO wrapped up like a little cat afraid of the cold. Her intimidating aura melted away in an instant.

“If I may, Miss Baili,” Jin Buning said carefully, “I didn’t exactly choose to become a Zhen heiress. If you want me gone that badly, maybe help me out, send me abroad or something.”

She spoke half in jest, but with Baili Ruobing’s -999 favorability rating, she doubted any help was forthcoming.

Baili Ruobing gave a short, mirthless laugh. “Don’t flatter yourself. I have no interest in dealing with anyone from the Zhen family; it disgusts me. The only reason you’re here is because you’re the assistant I selected. Nothing more.”

Jin Buning knew she wouldn’t win against someone like this. So, she simply hummed in acknowledgment and began skimming through the manual.

The first page looked perfectly ordinary, professional, structured, just like any workplace document. But by the second page, things went downhill fast.

“Obtain first place in every subject, graduate as top scorer in the national college entrance exam, maintain excellent conduct, moral and artistic development, no romantic relationships allowed?”

Jin Buning’s eyelids twitched. “Miss Baili, are these assistant requirements, or are you drafting an idol trainee contract?”

She honestly felt dizzy.

Especially that first condition, if she always ranked first, how was Zhen Xier supposed to reclaim her glory as the Zhen family’s rightful heir?

“Why not?” Baili Ruobing’s tone sharpened. “You were always top of your class before. Or are you planning to disappear after a year? Life is long, Jin Buning. College is what truly matters.”

Even wrapped in her blanket, Baili Ruobing managed to look formidable.

Jin Buning was stunned for a moment. She hadn’t expected Baili Ruobing to bring up her future.

But once the Zhen family reclaimed their real daughter, what future did she even have left? Her academic achievements would be dismissed as stolen, her reputation as fake. The Zhens had already cut off all her escape routes. She didn’t belong among the rich, nor did she fit back into ordinary life.

She had tried to find allies before, but betrayal always followed. Every decent person who sided with her eventually turned into a villain too, dragged down by this twisted world.

Still, Jin Buning wasn’t about to be manipulated again.

“This has nothing to do with being an assistant,” she said calmly.

Baili Ruobing’s eyes turned glacial, sharp enough to pierce.

Unlike the other villains, she didn’t need to lift a finger thousands of fanatics would gladly do her bidding just for a single approving glance.

For the first time, Jin Buning truly felt the weight of her presence, the suffocating pressure of power barely restrained.

“To be my assistant,” Baili Ruobing said coldly, “you must excel at everything.”

“Then you’d better find someone else,” Jin Buning replied. “I can’t meet those standards. Besides, I still want to fall in love someday. High school’s my last chance.”

Her tone was calm but firm as she took a careful step back, widening the distance between them.

She remembered: the PE teacher’s strength stat had been 90, while Baili Ruobing’s was 95, one of the highest among all villains. But unlike Pei Fuliu, Baili was at least straightforward with her moods, less insidious in her manipulation.

Jin Buning waited in defensive silence for several seconds, expecting retaliation, but Baili Ruobing never moved. Her killing intent slowly ebbed, replaced once more by that familiar chill.

Honestly, Jin Buning thought, these villains must all have taken advanced acting classes. Their emotional control was impeccable.

“If that’s all, Miss Baili, I’ll take my leave,” she said evenly.

When Baili Ruobing didn’t answer, she turned toward the door.

But just as her hand reached for the handle, a voice low and cold cut through the quiet.

“What if I told you… that a year from now, you won’t live to see another day?”

Jin Buning froze, then smiled faintly without looking back.

“I already know,” she said softly. “I’m part of the game. There’s no running from it.”

And with that, she stepped out.

Ye, she knew her fate better than anyone. The first death might have been an accident, but she’d died 138 times already, each time for a different reason, at a different hand.

If anyone could break the cycle, it would have to be her.

Certainly not Baili Ruobing because once she’d used Jin Buning against the Zhens, she’d discard her just the same.

Still… seeing Baili Ruobing’s frail condition today gave Jin Buning an idea. Every villain in this world had some kind of illness or weakness. If she could use the alchemy techniques she’d learned in the cultivation world to create pills that helped them, she could make herself indispensable.

If she convinced them that her death meant the pills could never be made again, then instead of wanting her dead, they’d fight to keep her alive.

The thought alone reignited her determination. She straightened her back and headed toward the cafeteria, energy returning to her stride.

——

Meanwhile, inside the office. Baili Ruobing remained perfectly still at her desk. But up close, her body was trembling slightly, her face pale with cold. Her eyes, however, were sharp enough to bore holes through the closed door, filled with barely restrained fury.

A moment later, she frowned and raised the temperature back to 27°C.

“So cold…” she murmured to herself, curling up tighter in her blanket.

Then she picked up her phone and pressed a button.

“It’s me… yes. Withdraw the protection detail around Zhen Ning. I want to see how long she lasts.”

Her tone was calm, detached. She ended the call without waiting for a reply.

Bored now, she opened a drawer and took out a photograph. Her fingers brushed the surface gently, her gaze soft and full of longing.

But that tenderness twisted quickly into rage.

“Make sure Zhen Batian keeps running from country to country,” she said into her communicator, her voice like ice. “Preferably forever.”

After giving her orders, she shivered again and sighed.

“So cold…”

Finally, she turned off the air conditioner entirely, wrapped herself even tighter in her little blanket, and curled up like a small, shivering kitten trying to stay warm.