Wen Tingxia had just taken a fragrant, hot shower. She was now applying hair serum to her long hair.
【Host, stop wasting your time. No matter how clean you get or how beautifully you dress up, the male lead won’t spare you a second glance.】
【Our male lead is a highly intelligent, aloof campus heartthrob. His mind is occupied entirely with academics and his career. He’s not that shallow. He never judges people by their appearance.】
System QQ looked at the girl in the mirror. She had rosy lips, white teeth, bright eyes, and long, jet-black hair cascading casually over her shoulders. Her small, fair face was sweet and adorable.
The words QQ had yet to finish died in its throat.
【Host, I never expected the original owner to turn out to be such a beauty after you worked your magic on her. She’s truly gorgeous!】 System QQ praised her sincerely.
Then its tone shifted, tinged with regret.
【But no matter how beautiful you are, it’s still useless. Don’t even think about seducing the male lead with your looks. He’s an upright man. He won’t have improper thoughts about you just because you’re pretty.】
“Making myself look clean and presentable is for my own comfort. It has nothing to do with the male lead.”
Wen Tingxia stood before the mirror and braided her long hair into a fluffy plait. She tied a ribbon at the end and admired herself from every angle.
The corners of her lips curved upward in satisfaction.
The system was right. The original owner really was beautiful.
She was the quintessential bunny-type beauty, with cool, fair skin and a pair of watery almond eyes that looked both innocent and alluring. Her eyelashes were thick and curled, and the corners of her eyes were slightly red from the moisture left behind by her recent shower. She looked so soft and endearing that anyone would want to tuck her away at home, protect her, and shower her with affection.
Unfortunately, the original owner had absolutely no sense of beauty and had wasted such a gorgeous face.
Wen Tingxia often heard celebrity fans say, “My idol is so beautiful that she’d still look gorgeous even if she wore a sack.”
Was that really true?
Imagine your idol going ten days without washing her hair or bathing. Her bangs would be uneven, as if chewed off by rats. She would wear oversized glasses that didn’t suit her, go without makeup, leave her face unwashed, and throw on a dirty sack with absolutely no sense of style.
Would she still be beautiful?
That was exactly what the original owner had been like.
Wen Tingxia had transmigrated into a novel.
She had become a cannon-fodder female character who shared her name, surname, and similar appearance.
In the original novel, Wen Tingxia fell in love with the male lead at first sight.
By a stroke of coincidence, the male lead had once lost a game while dining with his friends.
One of his friends had remarked enviously, “We’re both twenty years old. I’m still a sophomore, but you’ve skipped grades all the way to the second year of your master’s program. You’ve even founded your own technology company, and its market value keeps climbing.
“Don’t push yourself so hard. You need to take a break and relax sometimes. Before you know it, you’ve already graduated from university, yet you’ve never been in a relationship. That’s not a complete life.
“How about finding a suitable girl born in February right here and now? Try dating her for a month and have a spontaneous romance. What do you say?”
As luck would have it, Wen Tingxia worked part-time at that very restaurant.
Her birthday was in February.
She was eighteen years old and single.
Not only was she the right age, but she was also a freshman at Qing University, making her the male lead’s schoolmate.
And just like that, the matter was settled rather hastily.
Today was Wen Tingxia’s first date with the male lead since they had officially started dating.
【When you see the male lead later, you must maintain your character setting. Got it? You’re a lovesick girl, a vain and shallow clingy ex-girlfriend who can’t live without him. There are twenty-four hours in a day, and you’d love to spend twenty-three of them glued to his side. You follow him around desperately, acting as though you can’t survive without him.】
For the sake of the mission, the system once again reminded her patiently and earnestly.
“But I’m worried I won’t be able to do it properly.”
Wen Tingxia’s pretty, soft expression stiffened. Her slender, pale fingers nervously curled into tiny fists.
She had been timid by nature since childhood.
To put it bluntly, she was a coward.
Whenever she encountered an unfamiliar man, she became so nervous that she barely dared to say a word. She wished she could stay as far away from him as possible. How could she possibly cling to someone desperately and act as though she couldn’t live without him?
Wen Tingxia couldn’t even bear to imagine the scene.
Looking into Wen Tingxia’s watery almond eyes and seeing her slightly furrowed brows and pitiful, endearing expression, System QQ suddenly felt as though it were bullying her by demanding the impossible.
Its heart softened, and its voice grew gentler.
【Coo-coo, quack-quack! Don’t be too nervous. This is only your first date. Take things slowly. Being too clingy right from the start could lower his affection for you. What if the male lead can’t stand it and breaks up with you early? That wouldn’t be good either. Just make sure you don’t overdo it.】
Wen Tingxia’s mission after transmigrating was to follow the assigned character setting and complete the storyline. She had to date the male lead for three months, refuse to let him go when he initiated the breakup, and resort to disgraceful, despicable means to force herself on him.
Three months later, the female lead would appear.
The male lead and the female lead would end up together. Once Wen Tingxia achieved the title of ex-girlfriend, she could complete her mission and leave.
If he broke up with her prematurely, the mission would be considered a failure.
But there was a problem.
The male lead’s dating bet with his friend lasted only one month. For the remaining two months, Wen Tingxia would have to rely on her own charms. She would either have to cling to him relentlessly or resort to some crude tricks to keep him entangled with her.
Before the breakup, she would even have to sleep with him.
“The female character and the male lead are destined to break up anyway. Why go to all this trouble? Wouldn’t it be better if both the male lead and the female lead had only ever been with each other?”
For a timid, shy girl like Wen Tingxia, this mission was far too difficult.
【The original author’s explanation was that the male lead had been adored by girls ever since childhood, so he needed to experience some romantic suffering and learn a lesson. He had to realize how sinister women outside could be. Only then, when the kind and innocent female lead appeared, would he cherish and spoil her even more.】
【Host, this is an essential part of the main storyline. You must follow the requirements!】
【Besides, no male lead in a female-oriented novel is ever ugly. He’s also quite capable in bed. Don’t you want to experience what it’s like to do it seven times in one night? Don’t worry. You won’t be losing out.】
Wen Tingxia: “…”
She wouldn’t be losing out, but she was a coward.
Even if she had the desire, she didn’t have the courage.
She hugged herself timidly.
What kind of hellish starting point was this? It was clearly an impossible mission!
But she had no choice. She had to complete it.
In her original world, Wen Tingxia had died while trying to save a little girl who had fallen into the water. System QQ had brought her into the world of a novel, which was, in a way, giving her another chance at life.
She ought to cherish it.
“I’ll try my best to complete the mission according to the requirements,” Wen Tingxia said obediently.
Since she was already here, she would just take things one step at a time.
For the sake of staying alive, if she really couldn’t handle things when the time came, she could always borrow a page from the original novel’s plot. She would use drugs to force the male lead to comply, leave immediately afterward, and hide somewhere far away.
Who could blame her? She was the wicked female supporting character, after all.
Heh heh heh~
【Aaaah! You’re already gorgeous, and your voice is so lovely. Your personality is wonderful, too! You’re the most beautiful host I’ve ever had. I wonder who’ll be lucky enough to end up with you in the future.】 QQ gazed at her with starry eyes.
It certainly wouldn’t be the male lead.
Apart from the first time, his future would belong entirely to the female lead.
The date was approaching, so Wen Tingxia left fifteen minutes early and headed toward the wisteria corridor not far from the women’s dormitory.
From a short distance away, she spotted a tall, elegant man standing in the corridor. He had a straight posture and a refined, handsome appearance.
Handsome!
Incredibly handsome!
His face looked almost perfectly sculpted, with deep-set features, relatively thin lips, and a well-defined jawline. A pair of gold-rimmed glasses rested on his high nose, giving him an abstinent yet scholarly air.
He wore a simple grayish-white shirt paired with black trousers, which made his long legs especially eye-catching.
【Host, host! That’s the male lead. With a face like that, you won’t have any trouble forcing yourself on him, right? He’s even a virgin!】
He Xu Lin raised his lean arm and lowered his gaze to check his wristwatch. His strikingly handsome face remained calm and expressionless, revealing nothing about his mood.
Wen Tingxia, who had been about to approach him, unconsciously slowed her steps.
Her pale, slender fingers nervously pinched the hem of her skirt.
“S-Small Penguin, I… I’m not late, am I?”
When Wen Tingxia had first learned the system’s code name, she had automatically associated it with the penguin mascot of a major tech company.
【No. There’s still six minutes until your agreed meeting time.】
“Then why is the male lead already here? He’s supposed to be an aloof campus heartthrob. Shouldn’t he have some kind of obsessive punctuality disorder? The sort where he has to show up at the exact appointed time, without even a one-second discrepancy?”
After seeing the male lead in person, Wen Tingxia grew nervous. She moved forward in tiny, hesitant steps, like a snail.
【Of course not! The male lead comes from a top-tier wealthy family, after all. He’s a well-educated young gentleman from an affluent background. It’s perfectly normal for him to arrive a few minutes early out of respect for a woman on their first date.】
【Why are you walking so slowly? Are your legs bothering you? Don’t be late for your first date. You don’t want to leave the male lead with a bad impression.】
“Oh, I’ll try to walk a little faster.”
When He Xu Lin turned his head, he saw a pretty young girl approaching him. Her hair was tied in a braided plait, and her small face looked delicate and soft. The fair skin around her neck seemed to glow beneath the setting sun.
Her figure looked slender and fragile, and her long, straight legs resembled those of a character from a manga. In particular, her tiny waist made He Xu Lin’s hand, hanging by his side, curl into a slight fist without him realizing it.
That waist looked so slender it could be encircled with one hand.
“S-Senior.”
Although she had walked very slowly, Wen Tingxia eventually arrived in front of He Xu Lin.
He Xu Lin glanced at the nervous girl who was deliberately keeping at least three meters between them.
His voice was clear and pleasant.
“Are you looking for me?”
“Mm.” Wen Tingxia nodded mechanically.
“Small Penguin, what’s wrong with the male lead? I thought we were supposed to be on a date. Why is he acting as though we’re strangers?”
QQ replied, 【See? I told you the male lead wouldn’t judge people by their looks. Even if you’re beautiful, it won’t help. Maybe he’s even a little face-blind. How about taking the initiative and introducing yourself?】