A month had passed, yet Li Yue’s two icy gazes gradually overlapped in Qin Yuan’s mind, lingering persistently. She had an inexplicable premonition that all her plans would be “set right.”
The protagonist’s will remained unshaken; Li Yue’s disdain for her seemed etched into his DNA.
If she put herself in Li Yue’s shoes, her meeting with Guan Youyi this afternoon was almost equivalent to her disguise finally slipping. “Qin Yuan” was still the same arrogant, domineering young lady she had always been, only now she was tormenting people in a different way.
Just like when she first met him and said, “I don’t want to play anymore,” it might simply be that the game had changed.
Everything had returned to square one. Qin Yuan felt utterly numb and decided to stop struggling.
It seemed as though a strange rule was pushing her forward—as long as she was Qin Yuan, she could never escape her identity as the vicious female supporting character.
So why bother trying? It was better to give up early. After all, the all-powerful male lead would appear ten years later. Living these extra ten years was already a bonus.
The alarm clock and knocking on the door sounded simultaneously. Having tossed and turned with chaotic thoughts all night, Qin Yuan was especially reluctant to get up and go to school today. She lay sprawled across the bed, rolling over to see her mother push the door open.
Madam Min Qiu saw her daughter lying haphazardly on the bed, sat down beside her, patted her hand, and asked whether she wanted milk or juice for breakfast.
Qin Yuan, eyes still closed, replied, “Coffee.”
She desperately needed a little pick-me-up to keep going.
Unable to bear seeing her daughter so listless, Min Qiu proactively shared a small surprise: “Tomorrow is the start of the holiday. Your father and I are free for the entire National Day break. How about we take you on a trip? Would you like to go to Japan or Singapore?”
“Not really interested,” Qin Yuan replied, still lacking enthusiasm. But seeing her mother’s concerned expression, she smiled and said, “Why don’t you and Dad go? Consider it a mini-honeymoon. I’ll stay home and rest.”
Min Qiu didn’t press her. After a moment’s thought, she decided it was a good idea. She opened her phone and tapped a few times. The next second, Qin Yuan heard the notification sound from her own phone.
Qin Yuan stared in disbelief, counting the string of zeros in the transfer amount. She looked up and asked, “Mom, are you going away for seven days or seven years? Will you even come back?”
Min Qiu laughed at her reaction, cupping her daughter’s face and giving it a gentle squeeze. “You’ll need money to go out with your classmates and friends too. Having fun is what matters most. If it’s not enough, just let me know.”
Qin Yuan was dazed by the sudden influx of money. As she walked into the classroom, her ears still seemed to echo her mother’s heavenly reminder to “start thinking about a gift list,” completely oblivious to Li Yue’s deep gaze as he passed by the front door.
In The Path of Legends, for Qin Yuan, the vicious female supporting character, to be so arrogant, she must have come from considerable wealth.
The Qin Family had numerous industries and investments, but the bulk of their income came from the family’s pillar company, Guike Electric. Qin Yuan’s father, Qin Tianliang, was the current chairman of Guike.
Qin Yuan didn’t spend much time with her father, as the company had expanded rapidly in recent years, growing in scale again and again, keeping him extremely busy.
Fortunately, Qin Tianliang was the kind of father who expressed “where love is, money follows” through actions, ensuring that both mother and daughter enjoyed the best material conditions.
Although this upbringing had fostered the original host’s spoiled and arrogant nature, coupled with the influence of her dubious friends, she had embarked on the path of the vicious female supporting character, never to return.
Qin Yuan took out the draft of her “redemption plan” and crossed out the words on it, one by one.
Putting the plot of the vicious female supporting character aside, even if she managed to escape the male lead’s grasp after all her scheming, living in fear for 50 years wouldn’t be as satisfying as living freely and happily for 10 years!
Wasn’t this the life she had always dreamed of? Enjoying her immense wealth to the fullest and then dropping dead, even before the male lead could come after her.
In that case, why bother with Li Yue?
Qin Yuan had an epiphany.
Recalling the transfer amount she received this morning, a sweet smile appeared on Qin Yuan’s face.
She would be kind to the whole world, except for Li Yue.
Her good mood lasted until just before school ended in the afternoon.
With the holiday just around the corner, everyone was restless, and the entire school was chaotic. The last class for Class 37 was simply changed to self-study, and the students were already rustling around, packing their bags.
During the break, Qin Yuan rested her chin on her hand, watching Xing Baitao pack her things.
“I need to bring the physics book home to review formulas, the English notes, and maybe the politics book too, just in case I have time to memorize…”
Little Xing had nearly emptied half her desk. Qin Yuan teased her, “Will you actually look at them when you take them home?”
Xing Baitao waved her hand grandly, “Don’t worry about it. It’s the thought that counts.”
The classmate in front turned around and called Qin Yuan, indicating that someone was looking for her outside the classroom. Qin Yuan leaned forward to look toward the front door and saw a former follower of Zhu Yunle.
Probably following Zhu Yunle’s instructions, the follower didn’t step into Class 37 at all. Instead, he peeked in from the doorway, making himself even more conspicuous.
Qin Yuan had no choice but to go out and see what was going on.
The follower grinned and, under Qin Yuan’s questioning gaze, explained his purpose: “Sister Qin, Brother Yunle wants you to take him off the blacklist. He said he has something to discuss with you during the holiday.”
After saying this, he quickly slipped away. Wu Zhuoyuan, who had been eavesdropping by the railing, widened his eyes in surprise. “Wow, they really call you Sister Qin?”
Qin Yuan: …
She didn’t know why Wu Zhuoyuan’s focus was on that, but she suspected this kid had imagined her as some retired second-in-command of a school gang. She laughed and scolded, “Get lost.”
Wu Zhuoyuan: “Sure thing, Sister Qin.”
Just then, Li Yue passed by the corridor carrying physics homework to distribute. In such a narrow space, both he and Qin Yuan kept their eyes straight ahead, as if the other person didn’t exist.
Wu Zhuoyuan watched the two of them, whose dynamic had changed three times in just a few days, scratched his head, and slipped over to Xing Baitao’s side, hinting meaningfully, “The ecosystem in our class is just too complicated.”
Xing Baitao looked serious, glancing back and forth between the two cold faces that treated each other like air, and nodded in agreement.
It wasn’t until the second day of the holiday that Qin Yuan remembered she needed to take Zhu Yunle off the blacklist.
She had practically slept herself into a stupor the day before. Probably because she had been too tense recently, now that she had shed her psychological burden and completely relaxed, her sleep was surprisingly good.
Her parents were already in Singapore, leaving only her, the housekeeper, and Uncle Wu, the driver, at home.
Qin Yuan slowly got up at eleven to have breakfast. Sitting at the dining table, she flipped through her contacts. In a good mood, she decided to grant Zhu Yunle a special pardon.
Zhu Yunle on the other end of the network had probably been sending her messages every now and then to test the waters. Within two minutes, Qin Yuan received a new message.
Zhu Yunle: 111
Zhu Yunle: ?
Zhu Yunle withdrew a message
Two seconds later, Qin Yuan saw a new message box pop up: “Want to grab lunch?”
Fortunately, he still remembered promising to have a meal with her on the first day of school. Unfortunately, Zhu Yunle’s amnesty list didn’t include this item.
Qin Yuan: Not going. If you have something to say, just say it directly.
A minute passed before the other side replied, “Come out. I’ve prepared a surprise for you, at the school’s Laboratory Building.”
Qin Yuan frowned, instinctively sensing this wasn’t anything good.
During the holiday, Ninghe City No.1 High School was empty and silent. The rooftop of the Laboratory Building was surrounded by protective walls over a person’s height, while the ground was coated with a pitch-black waterproof layer. Under the blazing midday sun, it felt even more stiflingly hot, as if the air itself had stopped moving.
Zhu Yunle sat on the stairs leading to the rooftop with two underlings, fanning themselves with their hands from the heat. Guan Youyi stood on the landing below, staring at her phone.
She somewhat regretted coming here—there wasn’t even a place to sit.
The rooftop of the Laboratory Building was usually deserted, with dust as thick as the sun outside. Guan Youyi didn’t want to sit on the ground or lean against the wall, as that would dirty her white dress.
Zhu Yunle shot an annoyed glance at Guan Youyi, who hadn’t said a word, then took out his phone to check the time. It was almost noon. Out of habit, he opened his chat with Qin Yuan and sent a string of “1”s.
The familiar red exclamation mark didn’t appear. Zhu Yunle thought he might have misread it, so he sent a question mark. Seeing that his message was actually delivered normally, he quickly withdrew it.
“Qin Yuan unblocked me,” Zhu Yunle said happily.
One of the underlings beside him nearly failed to keep a straight face when he suddenly laughed out loud.
Although he hadn’t witnessed the incident on the first day of school, he had heard about it.
He’d heard that Sister Qin had slapped Brother Yunle in front of so many people and even blocked him for a whole month. Yet, not only was Brother Yunle not angry, he was still eagerly trying to get close to her.
He even remembered clearly that Sister Qin had told him not to look for her in the classroom, forcing him to send someone to deliver messages in person.
The underling couldn’t help but crane his neck to peek at Zhu Yunle’s phone screen. He was too curious, feeling that Zhu Yunle might have awakened something extraordinary after being slapped.
Zhu Yunle gleefully invited Qin Yuan out for a meal. When he was promptly rejected, he was already used to it.
Without taking his eyes off the phone screen, he asked Guan Youyi, “Qin Yuan says she’s not coming. Do you have any ideas?”
Guan Youyi looked at the system message after sending her own text—[“You are not yet a friend of the other party”]—and adopted a worried tone. “Yuan Yuan isn’t replying to my messages.”
Her words carried an intimate tone, carefully avoiding any mention that she had also been blocked.
Zhu Yunle cursed under his breath and huddled with his underlings to discuss how to reply without getting blocked again by Qin Yuan.
Seeing that he wasn’t looking at her, Guan Youyi finally revealed an impatient expression.
It was true that Zhu Yunle was easily swayed by her, but it was also true that he was useless. He couldn’t even manage to get Qin Yuan to come to the school. What good was he?
A minute later, Guan Youyi’s phone screen lit up with a message from Qin Yuan.
Qin Yuan: Are you also at the school’s Laboratory Building?
Qin Yuan: What are you all up to again? Is it related to Li Yue?
Qin Yuan paced around her living room, her brow furrowed tightly.
From the moment she stopped Zhu Yunle from breaking the male lead’s leg, everything that followed was new territory.
She had no idea how things would unfold, but based on the original book’s pattern, almost every move by the villainous clique was aimed at tormenting Li Yue to death.
Zhu Yunle and Guan Youyi combined barely made up a villainous version of “courage and strategy.” If they were truly working together this time, the male lead was likely in for another round of suffering.
Although she had resolved not to care about the male lead’s attitude toward her anymore, Qin Yuan genuinely worried they might bring back the broken leg plotline. If that happened and she got dragged into it again, her already dwindling survival time could be cut in half.
These two really never gave her a moment’s peace. Qin Yuan removed Guan Youyi from her blacklist and sent three consecutive messages demanding answers.
Soon, she received a reply.
Guan Youyi: Yuan Yuan, you’re not mad at me anymore?
Qin Yuan immediately let out a cold laugh. This evasive attitude likely confirmed her suspicions.
Guan Youyi put away her phone, a relaxed smile spreading across her face.
As expected, Qin Yuan would probably arrive soon.
With idle curiosity, she walked over to the previously locked rooftop iron door, unhooked the key, and jingled it. Leaning closer to Zhu Yunle, she glanced at his phone screen, which displayed Qin Yuan’s latest message: “I’m on my way. You’d better not have done anything.”
The next moment, the iron door that had kept the outside heat at bay was pushed open. Zhu Yunle’s third underling rushed over from behind another Equipment Room, nearly colliding with Guan Youyi, who was still leisurely swinging her legs.
“Bad news, Brother Yunle! Li Yue… he’s passed out. It seems… his breathing is really slow…”
Author’s Note:
Hero Saves the Beauty 3.0 in preparation…