Finding the dorm empty, Su Qingqing relaxed. She stretched, yawning as she got up to wash and change.
The dream from the previous night remained vivid. Thinking of the original host’s fate, Su Qingqing sighed again. Would the Plot Lord ever let her, a mere cannon fodder female supporting character, off the hook?
She strolled into the bathroom. Since she was alone in the dorm, she no longer had to hunch her shoulders to hide her figure.
After washing up, she caught a glimpse of someone sitting on a wooden bench in the small garden outside. The male… lead?
The morning breeze rustled the treetops, and the clear, melodious songs of birds and insects filled the air. Sunlight cast a soft glow over the man on the bench, highlighting his sculpted, jade-like yet frigidly cold profile.
Su Qingqing’s first thought was: Isn’t he hot?
Then she remembered the natural, bone-chilling aura he radiated. Of course, she thought, how could a man who carries a glacier with him ever feel the heat?
Just then, he looked up, his gaze meeting hers from a distance.
A sudden wave of unease washed over Su Qingqing. After yesterday’s underwear incident, she had completely forgotten to bind her chest.
As he walked toward her from the garden, she felt a sudden emptiness at her chest. She realized with a jolt that she had forgotten to put on her chest binder!
Her face went pale with panic. She dashed into the dorm, grabbed the chest binder from her bed, and stuffed it into her pajama pocket before peeking out at the approaching figure.
She bolted toward him. Mu Bai’s expression hardened, his eyes darkening with a growing disgust, as if the person rushing him harbored some unseemly intention.
But Su Qingqing skidded to a halt right in front of him, then pivoted and ducked into the bathroom, slamming the door shut as if afraid he would try to snatch it from her.
Mu Bai stood there, speechless.
His gaze, cold and thoughtful, lingered on the closed bathroom door.
Inside, Su Qingqing was panting silently. She waited until the sound of his footsteps faded into the distance. Thank goodness these pajamas are loose enough to hide my figure, she thought. Otherwise, I would have exposed myself as a girl.
It was hard to imagine what Mu Bai would do if he discovered she was a girl cross-dressing to get close to him. Given his ruthless nature, he would likely resort to drastic measures.
She wasn’t afraid of him, but there was no need to make an enemy of the story’s powerful male lead.
It was best to keep their interactions to a minimum. He was rarely at school, and his genius-level intellect made him the envy of everyone—even without attending classes, his grades remained top-tier.
She wrapped the chest binder loosely around her chest. She’d bound herself too tightly the last two days, and the only reason no one had noticed her lack of curves—even under her baggy school uniform—was that she’d been overly anxious the first few days here.
When Su Qingqing finally stepped out of the bathroom, the dorm was empty. Mu Bai had actually left.
Relieved, she grabbed her wallet and headed for breakfast. As she walked, she drew a steady stream of side-long glances.
Her face was simply too stunning; in the eyes of others, it was the kind of beauty that could topple kingdoms and stir up endless trouble.
The elite school boasted a sprawling campus with lush, meticulously landscaped greenery. Just as Su Qingqing was breathing in the fresh air, a girl appeared before her.
The girl had a pure, innocent look about her. Blushing slightly, she stopped in front of Su Qingqing. “Su Qingqing?”
“?”
Su Qingqing pulled her gaze from the scenery and looked at the girl blocking her path, her expression puzzled.
Du Ruo, her shy gaze meeting Su Qingqing’s, held out a love letter with both hands.
“Could you do me a favor?” Without waiting for an answer, she added eagerly, “This is a letter I wrote to Mu Bai. Could you please place it on his bed?”
Her eyes met Su Qingqing’s, brimming with a poignant, fragile quality that few could resist.
But Su Qingqing’s blood ran cold. Even without ever seeing the female lead before, she knew immediately. The girl holding the love letter was none other than Du Ruo.
In the original novel, the original host had agreed to deliver the love letter to the male lead but never did.
The original host had been madly in love with Mu Bai. When Du Ruo asked her to place the letter on his bed, the request had sparked a jealous rage in her. Yet she had forced herself to comply, promising to deliver it.
In reality, the original host had burned the letter the moment she turned away. When the truth eventually came out, the male supporting characters had mistaken her for a rival, assuming she was the one who loved Du Ruo. They had caused her endless trouble, fueling her bone-deep hatred for the female lead.
By now, passersby had stopped to watch, recognizing the school beauty, Du Ruo, and Su Qingqing.
Su Qingqing had no intention of getting dragged into this mess. She took two steps back, creating distance between herself and Du Ruo.
“No,” Su Qingqing said, her tone coolly dismissive.
Du Ruo was stunned. She had relied on her beauty and the fact that she’d chosen a moment with a large audience to ensure Su Qingqing wouldn’t dare refuse her. Yet here she was, rejected.
Before Du Ruo could even react, Su Qingqing had already walked around her and left.
The onlookers were just as surprised by the rejection. Since no one knew the full story, they assumed Du Ruo’s love letter had been meant for Su Qingqing, only for Su Qingqing to spurn it.
The news spread through the school with alarming speed, growing more distorted with every retelling.
Su Qingqing thought she had dodged one of the plot’s pitfalls, but the Narrative Will wasn’t letting her off so easily.
The moment class ended, trouble found her. The professor had barely stepped out before a crowd stormed in, driving all the other students out and leaving Su Qingqing alone.
She remained calm. She had faced similar confrontations several times since arriving in this world, and she knew the outcome: they were always the ones who ended up hurt.
Meanwhile, in the campus cafe, Chu Yunhan was idly playing a game on his phone when his friend leaned in, elbowing him with a gossipy grin.
“Young Master Chu, Mu Bai’s roommate Su Qingqing is being cornered by Nangong Li.”
Chu Yunhan’s fingers froze for a split second before resuming their rapid tap. “She gets targeted all the time,” he said coolly. “It’s nothing new.”
“True. I guess we’re used to it by now.”
The cafe was quiet and cozy, yet Chu Yunhan felt a surge of irritation. Su Qingqing’s captivating face kept flashing in his mind, disrupting his peace.
“Dammit!” He shoved himself out of his seat and strode out of the cafe.
“Young Master Chu! Where are you going?” his friend called out, baffled as his friend vanished from sight.
Outside, Nangong Li stood with his hands in his pockets, his long legs crossed casually. He looked down his nose at Su Qingqing, his expression one of pure disdain.
Su Qingqing stood cornered by the crowd, her slender frame held rigid, her strikingly beautiful face showing not a hint of panic.
Nangong Li stared at her for a moment, his expression blank with surprise before his lips curled into a sneer of disdain.
Outside the classroom, a silent crowd had gathered, all waiting to watch Su Qingqing get her comeuppance at Nangong Li’s hands.
“I heard you rejected Du Ruo’s love letter,” he drawled, his voice as melodious as his looks. “And you made her cry?”
Su Qingqing blinked. So, she thought, the plot isn’t something I can just avoid. Since I’m stuck in it, I might as well face it head-on.
The man before her was the spitting image of the school bully from her dreams, the one who had strangled the original Su Qingqing.
This had to be him—the third male lead, the campus bully.
“And?” Su Qingqing met his gaze steadily. She had the right to refuse a love letter, and what happened to Du Ruo after that wasn’t her problem.
Nangong Li hadn’t expected her to be so defiant. “You’ve got some nerve,” he said, his voice dropping. “Do you know Du Ruo is under my protection? Making her cry… are you tired of living?”
Another cliché, Su Qingqing thought, her ears practically calloused to such lines. “So what you’re saying is, I have to do whatever she tells me?”
Nangong Li was about to reply, perhaps satisfied she finally knew her place, but Su Qingqing scanned him with a mocking glint in her eyes. “If you want to act like a lapdog, that’s your business,” she said, each word dripping with contempt. “But forcing everyone else to be just as pathetic as you? Are you mentally ill or something?”
Su Qingqing pointed at his head.
Being a chuunibyou wannabe isn’t his fault, she thought, but coming out here to terrorize people is on him.
Her words fell like a bomb. Not just Nangong Li’s expression darkened—the crowd surrounding Su Qingqing fell deathly silent, their faces masks of horror.
She’s insane! How dare she insult Li-ge like that!
Nangong Li’s sneer vanished, replaced by a dangerous glint as his eyes narrowed. He stepped toward Su Qingqing, closing the distance slowly, but she didn’t flinch, meeting his gaze without taking a single step back.
They stood so close now that Nangong Li could see the fine fuzz on her face, her skin looking impossibly soft and luminous. Her dark, grape-like eyes seemed to hold a shimmering depth, and her lips looked as tender as jelly…
He seemed to drift off for a moment, then suddenly recoiled, his eyes wide as if he’d just witnessed something unbelievable.
Su Qingqing blinked. What? She had been mentally bracing herself for a fight, only for him to suddenly back off.
Nangong Li’s handsome face was grim, his jaw clenched as he forced out the words, “Just you wait!” He spat the threat and turned, leading his followers away in a sweeping exit.
That’s it? Su Qingqing stood there, stunned. She’d expected a proper showdown, not for him to just walk away.
She shrugged with a hint of disappointment and then followed them out of the classroom.
The onlookers stared in disbelief. He just left? He didn’t even touch her, let alone teach her a lesson…