The Couple I Ship Must…
Xiaolin wasn’t sure whether she should sit or not. She looked at Hua Lian in confusion, silently asking why. However, Hua Lian had no intention of meeting her gaze and instead continued, “First period is math class.” Her tone was serious, as if she truly loved math.
Xiaolin recalled Hua Lian’s first week in class she hadn’t even completed a single assignment. Was she genuinely eager for math class, or was there another reason?
‘Could it be that she thinks I’m too much of a third wheel?’
Sensing the subtle atmosphere between the two, Xiaolin quickly came up with a new idea.
“I feel like the Math God is calling me, so I’ll just go… As for you, Hua Lian, Luo Xizhi needs you.” Without waiting for Hua Lian to respond, Xiaolin turned and ran.
Seeing this, Hua Lian felt even more disheartened. She had wanted to escape too, but the thought of who might show up if she left made her stay. In the end, she did nothing, lowering her head to continue playing on her phone.
Luo Xizhi didn’t speak either. Hua Lian believed that if Luo Xizhi had politely asked her to leave, she might have gone without hesitation. But nothing happened. Luo Xizhi lay there with her eyes closed, while Hua Lian played on her phone, enduring every agonizing minute and second. However, the quiet didn’t last long. Before ten minutes had passed, the infirmary welcomed its first unexpected visitor Male #36.
His face practically spelled it out, and Hua Lian found it hard to digest the fact that there were dozens of male leads. But no matter who showed up, upon seeing Hua Lian the ‘rival’ they all wore expressions of extreme distaste.
“Why are you here?”
“Luo Xizhi, who do you choose to stay?”
In short, that morning, Hua Lian encountered a lot of numbers both male and female. Luo Xizhi kept her eyes closed the entire time, pretending to sleep, leaving Hua Lian to deal with the mess.
When the bell rang for the end of fourth period, Luo Xizhi conveniently opened her eyes. She glanced around first, then looked at Hua Lian, expressing her concern.
“Young Miss, you look tired.”
Hua Lian didn’t even want to speak. She merely glanced up at Luo Xizhi. For some reason, she thought she saw Luo Xizhi smiling. But considering that Luo Xizhi might be a black-hearted sesame paste filling, she dismissed the idea as impossible.
Just then, an orange cat happened to pass by outside the window, curiously glancing at them. Hua Lian suddenly felt like petting a cat to soothe her mood, but her system ignored her completely unless it was for missions, which only made her feel worse. Since cats were out of the question, she thought of dogs like the mother-daughter pair of gray wolves she had just adopted. Plus, having only spent a day with them yesterday, Hua Lian was genuinely worried about what Hua Zhengtai might get up to back home. She took out her phone and typed out a few lines of text.
Luo Xizhi watched Hua Lian’s series of actions with confusion, gradually realizing that this transmigrator, though seemingly quiet, had a lot going on inside. While she was somewhat surprised that Hua Lian had come to help her, Luo Xizhi believed this person would still fall eventually. If she hadn’t fallen yet, it was only because the right method hadn’t been used.
With this thought in mind, Luo Xizhi considered stirring something up, only to see Hua Lian stand up at that moment.
“Young Miss? Are you leaving?”
Hua Lian flinched, wearing a guilty expression like a thief caught red-handed. Luo Xizhi thought Hua Lian was about to do something earth-shattering, but after hesitating for a long time, Hua Lian finally managed to squeeze out a sentence.
“Can you still walk?”
“It should be fine.”
Luo Xizhi didn’t understand but still moved symbolically. All her injuries were faked, intended to make Hua Lian pity her. Seeing Hua Lian’s expression now, Luo Xizhi even felt a flicker of anticipation.
‘Could it be that she’s planning to stand up for me? After all, these people can’t stand losing face for their family, but it definitely wouldn’t be because I was beaten up.’
But Hua Lian didn’t say anything, only urging Luo Xizhi to get up. Reluctantly, Luo Xizhi complied, even signing a form when leaving the infirmary. This meant that if anything happened outside, the infirmary bore no responsibility, and if she wanted to continue resting, she would have to apply again with her homeroom teacher.
In short, this Paradise Middle School had created many cumbersome procedures just to avoid responsibility, making everything very troublesome.
Hua Lian began turning left and right, and Luo Xizhi was surprised that Hua Lian actually knew her way around the school. But soon, when Luo Xizhi realized they had circled the same spot three times, it dawned on her that Hua Lian was just pretending to be calm.
“Young Miss, where are we going?”
Luo Xizhi spoke up at this moment, careful not to expose the truth for the sake of Hua Lian’s fragile pride, lest she become embarrassed and ruin the show.
However, Hua Lian didn’t look at her. After staring at her phone for a while, she responded in a murmuring tone.
“To the back gate.”
“Huh? Why go to the back gate?”
“Don’t ask… so which way is the back gate?” Hua Lian still didn’t look at her, her voice sounding a bit weak. The surroundings were clearly too unfamiliar for Hua Lian. Luo Xizhi even remembered that on the first day this transmigrator arrived, she had circled the school three times before ending up at the back gate. But by then, Hua Lian was exhausted, and Luo Xizhi, fearing she might become the first person to die of exhaustion from getting lost, called the driver to pick her up. That was how Hua Lian later developed the impression that she always got picked up at the back gate.
“It’s over there.” Luo Xizhi pointed in the opposite direction of the back gate. Hua Lian didn’t doubt her and strode forward.
Another ten minutes passed, and Hua Lian walked slower and slower, seemingly unable to go on. It was already noon, and they had wasted half an hour. During this time, Hua Lian had many opportunities to ask Luo Xizhi or passersby for directions, but she didn’t. She stubbornly relied on her phone.
But strangely enough, Hua Lian actually managed to circle the school and find the back gate.
The driver had been waiting there for a long time and seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when the two appeared. However, the driver wasn’t much of a talker either, leaving Luo Xizhi, who was usually quiet, as the most talkative among the three.
Still, Luo Xizhi felt a bit disappointed. She had thought this transmigrator, having taken on Hua Lian’s identity, would be bold enough to confront those who had bullied her. Instead, she had “reluctantly” taken Luo Xizhi home. Her feelings were complicated for what felt like the umpteenth time, but compared to before, it seemed a bit more interesting.
‘But Hua Lian never used to come home for lunch on school days, so the kitchen probably hadn’t prepared anything.’
Luo Xizhi mischievously didn’t mention this, yet despite thinking so, when they returned home, they were greeted with steaming hot meals. The mother-daughter pair of gray wolves stood nearby, wagging their tails with enthusiasm as if they hadn’t seen Hua Lian in ten years, not at all like wolves but more like affectionate, friendly big dogs.
The animal trainer was also there, feeling a bit embarrassed about eating at the Hua family’s table.
As soon as Hua Lian put down her chopsticks, the gray wolf mother and daughter eagerly gathered around her, circling excitedly. They seemed genuinely fond of Hua Lian, wanting to show off what they had learned that morning. The trainer, also uncomfortable with the atmosphere, put down his chopsticks and left, following Hua Lian as she walked away.
In an instant, the dining room was left with only Luo Xizhi and the butler standing nearby.
“Did the young lady contact you? To have meals ready as soon as we returned?” Luo Xizhi couldn’t help but ask the butler, thinking Hua Lian was quite efficient with her phone.
“No,” the butler replied with a smile. Just as Luo Xizhi felt relieved, he continued, “The young lady said it was too troublesome to relay things through many people each time, so she created a group chat and had us all join. This way, whenever something comes up, she just needs to mention it in the group.”
The butler seemed quite pleased, feeling that Hua Lian had truly grown up recently, even learning how to manage things.
Luo Xizhi had no idea about this and felt an inexplicable sense of exclusion, which left her uncomfortable.
Unaware of her feelings, the butler showed Luo Xizhi their group chat. There were only a few lonely messages from Hua Lian, but Luo Xizhi couldn’t help but look at them a few more times.
【We’ll be back for lunch today, make something light.】
【The animal trainer will be joining us for the meal.】
【Please call the family doctor to come over.】
The words were simple, but Luo Xizhi understood that two of the three messages were spoken on her behalf. She glanced again at the food in front of her. The Hua family loved spicy food and had strong flavors, but today’s meal perfectly suited her own taste. Luo Xizhi had long grown accustomed to eating whatever was served, even overlooking such details. But now, she realized Hua Lian had done this for her.
“Miss Luo, please go rest for now. The doctor will arrive shortly,” the butler reminded her as Luo Xizhi stood up after finishing her meal.
‘She really knows how to care for others.’
Luo Xizhi gave a new evaluation, her mood lifting considerably.
The afternoon continued, with Hua Lian sitting there basking in the sun. The mother-daughter gray wolves ran and played around her, full of energy. The animal trainer chatted with her, his gaze clear, as if he was simply curious about how Hua Lian managed to make the gray wolves so obedient.
“I don’t really know either. I just felt a strong connection when I saw them,” Hua Lian replied, though she suspected it was due to the original owner’s ‘charismatic’ effect. Though it was a bit embarrassing to admit, Hua Lian’s character ranked as the female lead’s second-in-command in the story. In other words, beneath Luo Xizhi, she was the so-called female supporting character.
In this dark novel, the second female lead holds significant prominence in the early stages. The author seems to think that being popular with men is too common, so when creating the original protagonist, they crafted a femme fatale. This femme fatale has a pair of captivating peach blossom eyes, and everyone falls in love with her appearance. However, this femme fatale only loves Luo Xizhi, thereby highlighting that Luo Xizhi is the true object of universal admiration.