Jiang You didn’t look at the group chat messages anymore.
Yun Yue didn’t seem to want to argue with her much, either. It looked like she had tacitly agreed with her. After all, it didn’t matter what methods were used—the first one to win someone’s heart would be the winner.
Jiang You could finally relax in the grand villa, happily eating stir-fried noodles, drinking milk tea, and indulging in some mala tang while binge-watching her shows.
But before she could go out, she had to take a shower, work up a rich lather, and spritz on perfume to make sure there were no suspicious scents on her.
It wasn’t easy maintaining the persona of a rich young miss.
「Evening self-study.」
Most of the students in the class were rich, powerful, and well-connected. They were only there to coast their way to a graduation certificate, so very few were actually studying. They were all talking or playing on their terminals, making the classroom a noisy mess.
Jiang You wasn’t studying either. The system wouldn’t let her, anyway. So, bored, she started studying makeup techniques again.
Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the back of the female lead’s head. The girl was studying diligently.
While everyone else was messing around, the female lead was focused on her studies, which made her stand out.
There were actually a few other special admission students in the class, but the way the female lead was treated was different.
And just like that, a group of them set their sights on the female lead first.
"Well, look here. The special admission student, studying so hard?" A few boys from the class gathered around Zhou Yan’s desk. One of them even snatched her textbook away. "Wow, what a try-hard. You’re already on Chapter Two."
’Here we go,’ Jiang You thought.
’She wasn’t the only villainous cannon fodder in this story.’
’In this novel, it was a common occurrence for the female lead, a girl from a poor background, to be bullied.’
"Give it back." Zhou Yan reached for her textbook.
But the boy simply held it high out of her reach. Just as Zhou Yan jumped up to grab it, he tossed the book to another boy.
"Hey, I’ve got your book now!" the other boy taunted, deliberately waving Zhou Yan’s textbook.
Zhou Yan’s face tensed, and she ran over to snatch it back.
But the boy just threw it to another one of his friends.
And so, the boys started tossing Zhou Yan’s textbook back and forth, toying with her and treating her like a source of entertainment. The air filled with their boisterous laughter.
One of them threw the book too hard. With a loud RIPPING sound, the textbook tore apart.
No one in the entire class stepped in. Instead, they watched with amusement, all because the female lead wore a gray rose brooch—a symbol of the lowest status at this school.
Jiang You saw the female lead’s eyes turning red.
’Even though she knew this was all part of the novel’s plot, she still felt a little upset.’
’She could only console herself. ’It’s fine, it’s fine. The female lead’s good days are just around the corner.’’
’Besides, Jiang You knew that the textbook was about to hit the male lead, and then those guys would be in for it.’
However, Shen Lan was in the back, sleeping with his head on his desk.
’Jiang You was suddenly unsure. The male lead wasn’t sitting behind the female lead anymore. Could the textbook still hit him?’
The next second, the textbook came flying straight at her.
’The power of the plot truly is immense,’ Jiang You was just thinking to herself.
’Even sitting over here, the male lead can still get hit by the textbook...’
The textbook slammed heavily onto her arm.
The impact knocked the hand that was applying lipstick, smearing the color from the corner of her mouth.
Her arm throbbed with pain, and she couldn’t hold on to the lipstick. It fell to the floor with a sharp clatter.
The boisterous laughter and noise died down for a moment.
The area around them fell silent in an instant.
"Sister You! Are you okay?" Yu Lin, who had also been enjoying the show, snapped to attention at the sight. She hurried over and offered Jiang You a silk handkerchief.
Jiang You took the silk handkerchief and wiped the lipstick smudged at the corner of her mouth.
"Who threw that? Show yourself!" Lin Xue slammed her desk and shot to her feet.
"Who’s so blind that they’d hit our Sister You!" Chen Yu yelled furiously.
"I... I..." The boy who had thrown the book saw that he had hit Jiang You. All the color drained from his face, and his lips started to tremble.
The boy, who wore a red brooch, was shoved roughly in front of Jiang You, trembling.
"S-Sister You, I’m sorry." The boy knelt before Jiang You, his body shaking uncontrollably.
Jiang You said nothing, which made the boy even more terrified. He felt like he was done for.
In truth, Jiang You was having an existential crisis.
’Why did the textbook hit her?’
"Sister You, what do you want to do with him?" Yu Lin asked.
As if snapping back to reality, Jiang You turned her head and saw that it was the boy who had been leading the bullying against the female lead.
’If she retaliated, wouldn’t she be stealing the male lead’s scene?’
’But if she didn’t, it would be out of character for her persona.’
’The textbook hit *her*!’
’Heavens, why did the textbook have to hit her, the villainess side character?’
Jiang You sneered. "Slap him."
Her three lackeys immediately grabbed the boy and began to slap him hard.
For such petite girls, their slaps were surprisingly heavy and loud.
The sound made Jiang You’s own face ache in sympathy.
’Still, the boy deserved it.’
’If the book had hit the male lead, the consequences wouldn’t have been this simple.’
’Besides, he was the one leading the bullying against the female lead. He wasn’t a good person, so getting slapped was just what he had coming.’
With that thought, Jiang You felt no guilt at all.
"That’s enough." Jiang You only called them off after the boy’s face had swollen to the size of a pig’s head.
The boy stumbled away in disgrace.
"Sister You, let’s go get something good to eat to cheer you up," her three lackeys immediately proposed.
’Her persona, naturally, would choose to skip class with them.’
As she stood up, she noticed Shen Lan’s gaze on her from behind. In fact, she had noticed it earlier—he had been watching her for a while.
Jiang You was already numb to it.
[Mission Six Issued.]
Jiang You’s eyelid twitched.
Shen Lan, who had been tapping his fingers on the desk, paused. Then, as if he had heard something interesting, the corners of his lips curved up slightly.
"Sister You, are you coming?" Yu Lin asked, turning back when she saw Jiang You hadn’t moved.
Jiang You snapped out of it and looked toward her mission target.
Who would have thought her mission target was also looking at her? His pair of blue eyes shimmered with a dazzling, almost dizzying light that was somewhat intoxicating.
The system wanted her to pester the male lead, Shen Lan.
’According to the plot, she was supposed to drive away the female lead, take her seat, and then pester Shen Lan, who sat behind the female lead.’
’The problem was, Shen Lan was sitting behind *her* now!’
"I’m not going." Jiang You averted her gaze and sat back down.
’How could she complete the mission if she left?’
Seeing Jiang You’s expressionless face, her three lackeys assumed she was in a bad mood and didn’t want to move. "Should we go buy some peach milk for you, Sister You?" one of them offered.
Jiang You gave a demure nod.
The three little lackeys left.
Jiang You sat there, unmoving for a long moment. ’Can I just skip the part about driving away the female lead and go straight to pestering the male lead?’ she wondered.
’Let’s give it a try.’
Jiang You slowly turned sideways in her chair, crossing one leg over the other so she was facing the aisle. Her slender fingers came to rest on Shen Lan’s desk, as if by accident, though it was entirely intentional.
Shen Lan’s gaze fell to the slender, pale hand on his desk. Her nails were perfectly trimmed and rounded, painted with a delicate, pinkish-white polish.
Jiang You leaned toward the desk behind her, turning her head to look at Shen Lan.
"I heard you’ve had a lot of girlfriends. Does that mean you’re an amazing kisser?"