The Villain is a Poor Little Thing
“Other rewards being calculated… The calculation was successful!”
“Please keep up the good work, dear.”
The interface before her kept refreshing, blue text scrolling endlessly. Jiang Quqi alternated between gasping in amazement and smiling. Seeing her strange behavior, Qin Jiao said nothing but quietly took a step back, keeping a certain distance from her.
***
By the time they left the police station, night had completely fallen. Streetlights flickered on, and food stalls along the roadside began setting up one by one. Jiang Quqi patted her empty stomach, only then realizing how hungry she was.
She turned her head to look at Qin Jiao, only to find that he was already looking at her.
His eyes were like obsidian, gazing at her openly—focused, yet devoid of any hostility. His skin was pale to the point of looking sickly, and his frame was so thin he seemed skin and bones. Coupled with his ill-fitting t-shirt and long pants, he looked oddly pitiful.
Jiang Quqi lowered her head and saw her own reflection in his eyes.
She asked, “How old are you?”
“Fifteen,” Qin Jiao replied softly, his voice barely a whisper.
“Fifteen…”
He looked more like he was only twelve or thirteen.
Jiang Quqi held out her hand to measure; at fifteen, Qin Jiao only came up to her shoulder. Other kids his age were tall and sturdy, but he looked like a strong gust of wind could blow him away.
As if on cue, a gentle breeze passed by, rustling the leaves. On a whim, she asked, “Are you hungry?”
Qin Jiao shook his head. “No.”
The words had barely left his mouth when his stomach let out a loud growl in protest. Jiang Quqi raised an eyebrow and looked at him. Qin Jiao immediately looked away, his ears turning bright red.
How amusing!
The smile on Jiang Quqi’s lips grew uncontrollably. She patted him on the shoulder, “Come on, big sister is treating you to a feast!”
In the end, Jiang Quqi practically coaxed and tricked him into going to a barbecue restaurant. She waved her hand grandly.
“Order whatever you want! Big sister has money!”
She was completely oblivious to the look Qin Jiao gave her, as if looking at a fool.
Though her intelligence was questionable, her heart was in the right place. Jiang Quqi ate enthusiastically, never forgetting to stuff skewers into Qin Jiao’s hands, urging him to eat more.
“Don’t be shy, eat up! Look how thin you are. You need to eat more to grow taller.”
Qin Jiao hesitated for a second before taking the food. He opened his mouth slightly and took a small, polite bite. On the other hand, he held a napkin, wiping his mouth from time to time.
He didn’t look like a child who had grown up being bullied; rather, he seemed like a young master from a wealthy family—if one ignored his cheap, ill-fitting clothes.
Jiang Quqi looked up at him, then down at herself. She silently put down her crossed leg and wiped her mouth with a tissue.
Oops, her mouth was covered in oil.
Looking down again, she saw that oil stains had splashed onto her white dress.
She tried to wipe it clean, but it was too late.
Jiang Quqi closed her eyes and decided not to care. She could just wash it when she got home and took a shower anyway.
They ate from past six until past seven. Two people who had just met sat opposite each other, eating in silence for an hour. Perhaps because Qin Jiao had such a low presence, Jiang Quqi didn’t feel awkward at all. In fact, having company who didn’t disturb her made her eat so much that she was stuffed.
Jiang Quqi paid the bill and turned to ask, “Are you going home?”
“Yeah.”
Qin Jiao was a man of few words.
“Let me walk you there.”
“No need,” he refused quickly, then seemed to realize his rudeness and added awkwardly, “But… Thank you for today.”
Jiang Quqi laughed heartily and, unable to resist, ruffled his hair. “Go on then. Be careful on the road.”
The warmth of her hand on his head seemed to linger. Qin Jiao unconsciously clenched his fingers. This strange feeling made his heart flutter. He bit his lip, whispered “Bye, big sister,” and then ran off quickly.
Big sister?
Jiang Quqi chuckled. The villain was actually quite cute when he was young.
“Are you full, dear?”
Without warning, a voice suddenly sounded in her mind. Jiang Quqi wasn’t used to it and was so startled she jumped, her hairs standing on end.
“Good grief! Can you please not scare me like that?”
“Oh.”
The system replied coldly.
“Fine, what is it?”
“Ding! You have a new mission. Do you accept it?”
Jiang Quqi rubbed her full stomach and frowned. “Can I refuse?”
“No can do, dear.”
Then why even ask!
Ignoring her complaints, the system proceeded to issue the task.
“Phase Mission Two: Adopt Qin Jiao.
Reward: 500 Yuan in cash.
Punishment: Erasure.
Time Limit: 15 Days.
Countdown begins now.”
Only 500 Yuan as a reward, but the punishment is death? System-chan, that’s not fair!
Although she often complained about being tired, hungry, and wanting to die, when it came down to it, she still wanted to live. Jiang Quqi stared at the interface and sighed in despair.
“System-chan, why didn’t you give me this mission earlier? How am I supposed to find him in this huge crowd now?”
“Missions are issued by superiors; I only receive and transmit them.”
“Secondly, regarding mission-related information, I can provide it, but there is a fee.”
Jiang Quqi narrowed her eyes slightly. “How much?”
“Minimum 5,000 Yuan. No upper limit.”
“Are you robbing me?!”
“Not at all, dear. We have clear rules and regulations.”
She was in an unfamiliar place. She couldn’t just walk up to strangers and ask, “Excuse me, do you know a boy named Qin Jiao?” That would be too weird, and she might get arrested.
Oh well. Thinking about her balance of 30 million plus 500 Yuan, she felt a bit more confident.
“I’m not gonna be a sucker! You have to tell me what the information is first, otherwise I might be buying garbage.”
“Of course.”
“Dear, we have two pieces of relevant information. One is Qin Jiao’s home address, the other is his school address. The former costs 10,000 Yuan, the latter costs 5,000 Yuan.”
That’s a huge difference! She decisively chose the latter.
“Guangming Middle School.”
Four characters appeared on the interface.
Jiang Quqi opened her map app and searched. Guangming Middle School was nearby, only a forty-minute walk away.
Suddenly, she realized something and zoomed out the map. It turned out that within a five-kilometer radius, this was the only middle school!
What a rip-off! Total robbery! Jiang Quqi felt a sharp pain in her chest.
Since Qin Jiao was hanging around here, it was obvious he went to school nearby.
To think that 5,000 Yuan bought such obvious information. She clutched her heart, feeling the pain.
But now wasn’t the time to feel heartbroken. Her top priority was to get home. However, she hadn’t inherited the original owner’s memories, which meant—she had no idea where she lived.
In the end, she spent another 5,000 Yuan to buy her own address. In less than twelve hours since transmigrating, she had already spent over 10,000 Yuan.
Barbecue: -100 Yuan
Information purchase: -10,000 Yuan
Total: -10,100 Yuan
Walking down the path towards home, the streetlights cast dim, eerie glows. A small red arrow floated in the air, guiding her way.
The system had said that even if it gave her the address, she wouldn’t be able to find it, so it would just guide her directly. She had scoffed at the time, but now looking at the bumpy, muddy path, she seriously doubted if she had walked into the wrong place.
“Hey, System Baby, are you sure about this?”
“Please do not doubt me, dear.”
But this route looked completely wrong no matter how she looked at it!
As she walked further, the streetlights disappeared completely. Jiang Quqi turned on her phone’s flashlight. The weak beam of light made her tread carefully, step by step.
The wild grass beside the path grew taller and taller, the tallest reaching almost to her knees.
She followed the red arrow through the grass, walking slowly along a narrow trail trodden by people.
The chirping of insects filled her ears, and the wind howled like voices calling out.
Finally, light appeared ahead. Looking up, dilapidated buildings came into view.
The houses stood haphazardly, and the air felt heavy with decay, as if the stench could be smelled hundreds of meters away.
The stairs leading up were made of wood, with wide gaps between each step. The thin planks creaked loudly under her weight, the sound sharp and unsettling in the silence of the night.
Even the handrail was broken, and the whole place reeked of filth and grime.
Jiang Quqi covered her nose and mouth as she climbed. By the time she reached the third floor, she was covered in sweat. She had just let out a sigh of relief when a dark shadow darted towards her. Instinctively, Jiang Quqi reacted with a judo throw, slamming the figure to the ground. The shadow yelped and shouted, “Yanyan! It’s Dad!”
The female lead’s father?
Jiang Quqi immediately turned to run.
She remembered this man all too well; he had made her so angry when she read the novel.
The female lead’s father was originally named Jiang Tao, but later changed his name to Jiang Peng.
He dropped out of school at sixteen, went to work in the city at seventeen, and met Jiang Yan’s mother at eighteen. That same year, he got her pregnant.
With a child on the way, they were supposed to get married. Jiang Peng brought Jiang Yan’s mother back to his hometown, but before the wedding could happen, he developed a gambling addiction and lost all the money saved for the ceremony. When he ran out of money, he would beg from his mother or Jiang Yan’s mother. If they refused, he would resort to violence. Unable to take it anymore, Jiang Yan’s mother ran away right after giving birth to Jiang Yan and was never heard from again.
But that didn’t change Jiang Peng; it only made him worse. He watched his own mother lie in the hospital without money for treatment, yet he still schemed every day to squeeze money out of Jiang Yan.
Eventually, when Jiang Yan became a famous star, he went to the media crying about how unfilial she was, causing her to be bashed by the entire internet.
Jiang Quqi wanted nothing to do with this man. Who would have thought he’d be hanging around here, even waiting right at her doorstep?
“Yanyan! Yanyan! Give Dad some money, please! Just this once, for the last time!”
He clung to her legs, refusing to let go no matter how much she kicked or struggled. He looked up at her with teary eyes, looking like a desperate ghost.
“Get away from me!”
“Yanyan, you can’t do this to me! I’m your father! If I don’t pay them back, they’ll kill me! I’ll die, Yanyan…”
“Then just die!”
Jiang Peng froze for a moment, his grip loosening slightly. Jiang Quqi seized the opportunity and kicked him hard. She shook him off and ran down the stairs as fast as she could.
She practically flew down the stairs she had just climbed, not daring to stop for a second. Clutching her crossbody bag, she ran towards a more crowded area.
“I… I’m dead tired… I didn’t run this hard during the 800m test…” Jiang Quqi panted heavily. Seeing that he hadn’t chased her, she finally relaxed. Her head was spinning. Not caring if it was dirty or not, she plopped down on the steps of a shop, staring blankly at the passing cars and pedestrians.
“Dear, what are you doing?”
“I just realized something.”
“What is it?”
“I realize why Jiang Yan ended up with the male lead. It actually makes sense now.”
“Think about it. Even though the male lead is blind and foolish, causing her to be bullied, humiliated, and hurt… just look at the kind of people surrounding her otherwise.”
“After her grandma died, she was stuck with a gambling father who just wanted to leech off her, a ruthless boss who wanted to exploit every bit of her value, and media outlets ready to slander her the moment she slips up… basically surrounded by demons and monsters. I guess it was just picking the least bad option. Though honestly, I don’t think the male lead is much better. He’s still worse than the villain. At least the villain only targets the male lead.”
After a long silence, the system spoke again.
“You seem to have a good impression of Qin Jiao.”
“I treat anyone with a functioning brain with basic respect.”
“Although the villain has issues too, at least he doesn’t go after the female lead.”
“Oh.”
“One thing you can rest assured about: we will not force you into a romantic relationship with the male lead. There is only one mission: Save the villain.”
Jiang Quqi rolled her eyes. “Should I praise you now?”
“Wow, you’re so great! Is that what you want to hear?”
System: …
“Kind Reminder: It is 22:12 now. Please rest early, dear. I’m clocking off now.”
“?”
“System?”
“System!”
A short static sound echoed in her mind, and no matter how much she called, there was no response.
Jiang Quqi looked at the empty street, feeling utterly defeated.