Fang Zhiyi quickly grabbed her: "Did you forget about the male lead?"
Xue Wanning suddenly realized and sat back down.
Fang Zhiyi hadn’t expected that, as the villainess, she’d actually have a moment of standing up for justice.
Sure enough, as soon as Liu Yue raised her hand, her wrist was seized.
"If you dare hit her, I’ll make sure you regret it."
"If you dare hit her, I’ll make sure you regret it."
Fang Zhiyi spoke the exact same words as Gu Mingyu, and Xue Wanning looked at him in surprise.
Fang Zhiyi shrugged: "Same old cliché. Haven’t you read novels before?"
Xue Wanning shook her head: "Books put me to sleep."
The two of them watched as the girl got slapped and then stormed off angrily.
"They’re holding hands again, look, look! They’re holding hands again!" Xue Wanning kept nudging Fang Zhiyi with her elbow. Rubbing his sore shoulder, Fang Zhiyi chuckled helplessly: "I see, I see."
Who would’ve thought Xue Wanning was such a gossip fiend?
"Wow, it’s like a soap opera," Xue Wanning said, her face full of intrigue.
The two whispered back and forth, with Xue Wanning occasionally giggling softly, completely unaware that Gu Mingyu had already noticed them.
Just as Fang Zhiyi and Xue Wanning finished their hushed conversation, they looked up to find someone standing in front of them.
"Can you two keep it down? This is a library!" Gu Mingyu’s expression was stern.
Fang Zhiyi sighed inwardly. Barely escaped the cafeteria drama, and now this?
Xue Wanning shot to her feet, and Fang Zhiyi quickly stood up too, ready to hold her back if needed.
"Excuse me, you two were way louder than us just now," Xue Wanning retorted, locking eyes with Gu Mingyu. Huh, this guy was pretty handsome—more mature than the one from the cafeteria.
Fang Zhiyi’s heart skipped a beat. His gaze drifted past Gu Mingyu to Qin Xiaocao, who was buried in a book at the back. He clicked his tongue: "Seriously, your girlfriend doesn’t even care, so why are you making a fuss?"
Gu Mingyu froze. Girlfriend? His heart pounded, and a grin slowly spread across his face. "Just keep it down," he muttered before turning to leave. As he walked away, he caught sight of the melon seed shells on the table and frowned. No manners—who eats melon seeds in a library? But he didn’t say anything, just hurried back to Qin Xiaocao.
Xue Wanning stared after him until Fang Zhiyi nudged her: "Still staring, Miss Xue?"
Snapping out of it, Xue Wanning sighed. "What a shame. How does that Qin Xiaocao have so much charm?"
Fang Zhiyi shrugged. "No idea. Maybe it’s just fate."
Xue Wanning walked off, sighing dramatically, with Fang Zhiyi trailing behind, cursing inwardly. The heavens must be insane, forcing the villain role onto them just to spice up the protagonists’ story!
Luckily, Xue Wanning quickly returned to her usual self, dragging him out for dinner and some shopping. Before parting, she even shoved a bag of pastries into his hands.
"Take these back for your sister."
Watching Xue Wanning get into her car, Fang Zhiyi felt a pang of gratitude. Say what you will, but the villainess treated him well.
Back in his rented apartment—he could’ve stayed in the dorms, but he had to take care of his sister—he asked her a few casual questions about her day before starting dinner.
Still, he couldn’t shake the unease. After today, would Xue Wanning still get dragged into the main couple’s drama?
The next day at school, he immediately spotted a fuming Xue Wanning.
"What’s wrong, Miss Xue?" Fang Zhiyi had a bad feeling.
"You’re just in time! I’m so mad!" She stomped her foot.
She’d arrived early, waiting for Fang Zhiyi at the gate, when Qin Xiaocao suddenly came running—as if fleeing someone—without looking where she was going, crashing straight into Xue Wanning and knocking her to the ground.
But Qin Xiaocao didn’t even apologize before bolting. Just as Xue Wanning stood up to yell, someone else grabbed her, asking if she’d seen a short girl. Xue Wanning recognized him—it was that simp from the cafeteria yesterday.
In a foul mood, she snapped at him, and Fu Jingxuan recognized her too. They exchanged a few heated words before he ran off, leaving her fuming.
"That Qin Xiaocao is seriously messed up!" Xue Wanning grumbled.
Fang Zhiyi tried to calm her: "Let it go, Miss Xue. Think about how she acted yesterday."
Xue Wanning thought for a moment. "Just as rude!"
"No, don’t you think there’s something… off about her?" Fang Zhiyi tapped his temple.
After a pause, Xue Wanning gasped. "You’re right! I didn’t notice before. Is she… not all there?"
Hesitating, she added, "Do you think Fu Jingxuan knows?" Her expression turned strange.
Fang Zhiyi rolled his eyes. Seriously?
"More importantly, Miss Xue, aren’t you curious why one’s running and the other’s chasing?"
Xue Wanning blinked. "Oh, right?" Instantly, her face lit up with gossipy excitement.
"Let’s go!" Fang Zhiyi motioned for her to follow.
He didn’t have to get involved, but after thinking it over, abandoning her felt wrong. Might as well bring her along.
After some twists and turns, they actually found the pair. Qin Xiaocao stood with her head down, nervously wringing her hands.
"Xiaocao, why? You promised to watch the fireworks with me last night!"
"Jingxuan, I—I was studying with Mingyu, and by the time I remembered, it was too late…"
"Gu Mingyu? Again?" Fu Jingxuan’s voice rose, making Qin Xiaocao flinch. He immediately softened. "Xiaocao, why do you always spend time with him? Am I not good enough?"
"No, no! It’s not like that! We’re just… just friends…"
Unbeknownst to them, two people crouched in the bushes nearby, wide-eyed.
"Holy crap, it is a soap opera!" Xue Wanning whispered.
Fang Zhiyi nodded vigorously.
"Miss Xue, I’ve figured it out—if we follow Qin Xiaocao, we’ll never run out of drama."
Xue Wanning was thrilled. As a rich heiress, her usual hobbies were shopping and spending money, but this kind of real-life drama? Priceless!
"Zhiyi, starting tomorrow—no, today—keep an eye on Qin Xiaocao. Update me whenever there’s gossip."
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
host is extracting the Celestial Bone of the Destiny's Female Lead! The Destiny's Great Villain System has successfully bound!] Mo Tianxiao: "Destiny's Great Villain? Me?" Looking at the radiant Celestial Bone in his hand and the beautiful woman lying on the bed, Mo Tianxiao felt somewhat confused. How could he, a law-abiding citizen, become a villain? Mo Tianxiao: "Fine, villain it is then. With the system here, even a Chosen One isn't unbeatable." [Ding! Detected 18,653 Chosen Ones in this world. Please seize the destiny of all protagonists to become the true Destiny's Great Villain!] Mo Tianxiao: "Seize how many?! What kind of lousy great villain is this? I'm a perfectly good citizen!"
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
mance] After transmigrating for eighteen years, Lin Qi lived as an utterly ordinary herbalist in the countryside. One day, he kindly brought home a sickly, beautiful girl covered in blood. They married in a flash and began their blissful, intimate life together. Right then, his long-delayed system finally activated. [Warning! Host detected in contact with the "Crimson Calamity," the world-ending witch!] Lin Qi looked at the adorable wife currently curled in his arms, who couldn't even open a jar lid and trembled at the sight of a mouse. Lin Qi: "System, are you insane? This is clearly just a weak and delicate sickly girl!" Thus, Lin Qi treated the system as a "Contrast System," where taking care of his wife made him stronger. Combing his wife's hair rewarded him with [Free Attribute Points]. Taking his wife out for sunshine rewarded him with [Forbidden Spell: Arcane Explosion]. Lin Qi: "This soft life tastes so good!" ... Yet, in the eyes of outsiders: The strongest Beastkin Assassin: "That man dissected a Beast King with a common skinning knife! That was a show of force towards the powerful!" The Holy Son of the Radiant Church: "I infiltrated his home as a tutor, but he had me babysit the children... He must have seen through my disguise!" The World-Ending Witch, Felucia: "I hid all the way in the countryside. How is it that the husband I married on a whim is stronger than I was at my peak?"
