After saying that, Jiang You was cringing so hard her toes curled.
’Ugh, what kind of spoiled rich girl persona is this?’
This was the personality she had figured out for her role after receiving the "script."
To put it simply: busty but brainless, foolish and malicious—the perfect "vicious female supporting character" archetype.
"Miss, miss, I’m so sorry! He’s just clumsy. Let us take you to the hospital. He’ll cover all the medical bills, and we’ll dock a day of his pay. How does that sound?" the manager asked, hurrying over to apologize.
The little boy who had bumped into her was now hugging the manager’s leg.
Jiang You’s expression soured. It was clearly the little boy’s fault for running around and bumping into people, yet the manager was placing all the blame on the young man.
But even as she thought this, she was still wary of deviating from her assigned character.
"You don’t need to take me to the hospital. My driver will be here soon." Jiang You’s alluring eyes turned cold as she looked back at the manager. "So his pay is docked, but what about the boy who ran into me? If it weren’t for him, *I* wouldn’t have been splashed in the first place."
’She wasn’t sure if that last part was just to maintain her persona.’
’Saying it like that didn’t break character too much, right?’
"Miss, he’s just a child," the man said, his expression strained.
"Apologize!" Jiang You said coldly. "Or you can forget about keeping this shop open."
The man knew students from the Noble Academy were either rich or from high-ranking families; they could absolutely shut him down.
Cold sweat dripped down the man’s face as he quickly forced his son to apologize.
"I’m sorry, miss. I won’t run so fast next time," the little boy apologized reluctantly, his voice barely a whisper.
’Jiang You wanted to make the little boy apologize to the young man, but she was afraid of breaking character and decided against it.’
"Miss." The Jiang Family’s driver arrived.
"Let’s go. Take me to the hospital." Jiang You ignored them and walked out.
The moment Jiang You left, the manager turned on Zhou Yu. "You’re fired. Pack your things, get your pay for the day, and get out."
The little boy also took out his frustration on the young man, kicking him several times in the leg.
Zhou Yu didn’t react. The tall, slender young man stood there, quiet and somber. His slightly long black hair covered his dark eyes. He just grunted softly in acknowledgment.
In the back changing room, Zhou Yu took off his uniform, revealing a lean yet powerful back covered in whip marks, knife scars, and burns.
He changed back into his own clothes. A faded white shirt fell over his lean waist, hiding the scars.
Zhou Yu, dressed in his own clothes, walked out.
"Xiao Yu?" Uncle Ji had just gone to the restroom and was surprised to see Zhou Yu leaving when he returned. "Your shift isn’t over. Why are you going?"
"I was fired," Zhou Yu said simply, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and heading out.
Outside, the little boy was playing with a small mecha toy. "Fight the monster! Fight the monster!"
Zhou Yu’s tall, slender figure hid silently behind the cover of the trees. Only after he saw the little boy get called inside for a meal did he leisurely walk over.
A moment later,
the small black mecha lay on the ground, shattered into pieces.
Zhou Yu walked away, his black backpack slung over one shoulder. He wore a black shirt, casual black pants, and a black baseball cap, his entire presence as dark and somber as his clothes.
Behind him, the little boy’s miserable wail could be heard. "My mecha’s broken! My mecha’s broken..."
Under the brim of his cap, Zhou Yu’s cold, damp eyes twitched. He thought of the slap the girl had given him, and the tip of his tongue gently pressed against the inside of his cheek. A thick, dark emotion flashed in his eyes before he quickly lowered his gaze, his expression becoming vacant as he walked away.
Meanwhile, Jiang You left the hospital and went home.
She had already finished registering for school and had just gone to a coffee shop for a drink when she ran into this mess.
’If I’m not mistaken, that young man is the female lead’s adoptive brother. He’s also one of the male leads—the sickly possessive, gloomy type. Who doesn’t love that?’
’Too bad he wasn’t meant for a villainess like her.’
This was a Mary Sue, "everyone-loves-the-heroine" Interstellar Beast World novel. The female lead and her mother had formed a blended family with two single fathers, living together in the slums. As a result, she gained two step-brothers, one older and one younger, neither of whom she was related to by blood.
Leaving aside the romantic battlefield between the two brothers, the female lead used her Level 3A spiritual power to get into Rose Liss Noble Academy. There, she got entangled in a series of dramatic, "forced love" scenarios with the school’s powerful "F4."
And Jiang You was cast as the busty-but-brainless villainess who was obsessed with the F4. She shamelessly tried to seduce them, and because they were all in love with the heroine, she constantly targeted the heroine, bullied her step-brothers, and committed a series of other self-destructive acts.
Jiang You was devastated. ’Lust is truly a blade hanging over your head.’ Her current misery was directly proportional to how quickly she had accepted this role.
’But there was no use thinking about it now. She just had to treat them like characters in a novel and complete her mission. It was just like a full-dive VR RPG—beat the game, and she’d be free!’
Having convinced herself, Jiang You returned home to a large, detached villa. The original owner’s parents had bought it for her, but they were always busy with business trips, and their relationship with their daughter was distant.
Other than a part-time cleaner and a cooking robot that came at a scheduled time each day, there was no one else in the huge villa.
’But that was nothing to Jiang You. As an only child whose parents just wired her money every month to spend as she pleased, this was already a dream come true, okay!’
’She was a corporate drone in her past life, and now she gets to live like a rich heiress. How is that not its own kind of happiness?’
Jiang You also discovered that when she was alone, she didn’t have to stick to her persona!
She bought tons of snacks and soda, changed into a fluffy, casual nightgown, and plopped down cross-legged on the living room sofa. With the heat on, eating a huge slice of watermelon, and watching the giant TV—this was pure bliss.
The awful feeling of being tricked and bound by the system didn’t seem so hard to bear anymore.
’So what if she was the villainess? She’d just have to be the best villainess she could be!’
The opening ceremony was held in the school’s grand auditorium.
Jiang You’s awakened spirit body was a pink cat of the A-level Healing System. She was assigned to Healing System, Class One, and was now on her way to the grand auditorium.
As the resident villainess, it was no surprise that she had three minions.
The Rabbit Beastman, Lin Xue, said cheerfully, "I heard this year’s student representative is Xi Cheng! I’ve heard about him before. They say he’s won a ton of national research awards and is already part of the Imperial Science Institute. He’s only coming to school as a formality to get his diploma."
The Cat Beastman, Chen Yu, sighed. "Gods, I wonder what kind of female he likes, or what kind of female master he’d choose to follow. Only an equally outstanding female could possibly be worthy of him."
"If you ask me, no one is worthy of Xi Cheng," Lin Xue blurted out.
"Who says? I think our Sister You is more than worthy of that Xi Cheng guy!" said the Raccoon girl beside them, Yu Lin, her tone matter-of-fact.