A Vicious Female Rival Omega is Sweet and Soft - Chapter 3

Strictly speaking, Shen Qingran wasn’t wrong. How else could a notorious Scum Alpha in the eyes of outsiders explain stepping up to save a cleaning girl out of the blue? Aside from trying to hit on her, there really was no other logical explanation.

The onlookers gradually dispersed. Snapping out of her thoughts, Ye Yixi looked down at Zhen Xiaobai, who was half a head shorter than her, apologetically handing over a towel. The moment Ye Yixi flashed a smile and took the towel, the system chime rang out, announcing that 0.5 points had been successfully acquired. Ye Yixi cheerfully wiped away the wine stains on the edge of her clothes, thinking to herself that while the female lead was a bit reckless, she was quite sweet at heart. Being a naive “sweet and naive” character wasn’t all bad.

“What’s your name?”

“My name is Zhen Xiaobai…”

Faced with Ye Yixi’s inquiry, Zhen Xiaobai dropped her guard completely and blurted out her real name. Zhen Xiaobai, literally ‘Truly Naive’… The original author was really lazy with names. She’s the female lead, for crying out loud…

Ye Yixi couldn’t help but complain internally again. But Zhen Xiaobai seemed to be in a hurry to leave. “Kind person, thank you for helping me today. I’ll definitely repay you if I get the chance. Also… I still need that towel in your hand to mop the floor later, so I’ll take it back now!” With that, she snatched the towel right out of Ye Yixi’s hand and bolted.

Ye Yixi stood frozen in the wind. Mop the floor? Her eye twitched as she looked down at her clothes. She took back what she just said about “sweet and naive not being bad” immediately!

The first thing Ye Yixi did upon returning to the villa was take a hot bath, hoping to wash away the exhaustion of the day. Soaking in the tub, she replayed the day’s events. The female lead’s personality and logic didn’t seem too difficult to handle. If she could successfully romance her and become the official love interest, wouldn’t she be able to completely rewrite her tragic fate?

As Ye Yixi weighed the feasibility of this path, she casually scrolled through the mission tab. She found that the next main quest wouldn’t trigger for three days, but below it sat a newly unlocked side quest. Unlike the main story, side quests could be accepted or rejected. Curious, she tapped on it. A line of small, bold text read:

“Tomorrow at 6:00 PM, go to Xishe Restaurant and complete the ‘Mock Shen Qingran’ side quest. Reward: 0.1 Points.”

Mock Shen Qingran? That was unexpected. Ye Yixi recalled Shen Qingran’s sarcastic demeanor at the banquet. She hadn’t even had a chance to properly fire back yet! Besides, her current point balance was still in the negative. Free points were free points. Without further hesitation, she slammed the accept button. She decided to go test the waters with this Shen Qingran tomorrow.

Since it wasn’t a formal gala, Ye Yixi dressed much more casually. Wearing a loose, comfortable outfit, she timed it perfectly and drove over to Xishe Restaurant. Along the way, she wondered what kind of ending Shen Qingran had in the novel. She had only skimmed her own character’s tragic demise; she really should have looked up the second female lead’s fate too. Though, she guessed it probably wasn’t a happy one.

Arriving at the restaurant, Ye Yixi straightened her clothes. Today, she had pulled her long hair into a high ponytail. The casual styling and minimal makeup made her look sharp, refreshing, and handsome.

Pushing open the heavy glass doors, she scanned the restaurant. Finally, in a secluded corner, she spotted Shen Qingran dining alone.

Today, Shen Qingran looked far more approachable than she had at the banquet. She wore no heavy makeup and was dressed in a simple, solid-colored dress, giving off the charming aura of a beautiful older girl next door.

However, the fact that Miss Shen was sitting in the open dining area without booking a private booth surprised Ye Yixi. Making no attempt to hide her presence, Ye Yixi walked straight toward her. Under Shen Qingran’s astonished gaze, she pulled out the chair directly across from her and plopped down.

“Hi, Miss Shen. We meet again.”

Shen Qingran’s gaze instantly turned to pure disdain, as if she were looking at actual garbage. She lowered her head and went back to cutting her steak, clearly uninterested in entertaining her. “Shouldn’t you be accompanying your little cleaning girl, Miss Ye? What brings you here today?”

Shen Qingran’s opening salvo was infuriatingly sharp. Before Ye Yixi could even begin her mandatory mocking, she had already been blasted. Speechless, she adjusted her posture, called a waiter over, and ordered a few dishes, clearly prepared to dig her heels in and stay until the bitter end.

“Miss Shen keeps bringing up that cleaning girl. Don’t tell me you’re jealous?”

That line successfully choked Shen Qingran up. Ye Yixi watched with immense satisfaction as the other woman coughed violently. Finally, she had won a round! She took a slow sip of her wine, her expression turning smug.

Ye Yixi had always been a smooth talker in her past life, and after a few days of adapting to this body, she was using it like a pro. She swirled a forkful of steaming pasta that had just been served, secretly admiring her own adaptability.

“Ye Yixi, if you are planning to keep badgering me, I suggest you drop the idea right now,” Shen Qingran said, dropping the polite honorifics entirely and cutting straight to the chase by using her full name.

Ye Yixi didn’t quite understand. Badgering her? They had literally just crossed paths two days in a row. Was she still holding a grudge over the original owner’s past attempts to pursue her?

Digging into the original owner’s memories, she tried desperately to recall past events. There had to be a detail she was missing. But no matter how hard she tried, her mind drew a blank, as if a door had locked that part of her brain away. Just as she was about to give up, the System’s voice suddenly rang out:

【 Would the Host like to explore the Hidden Plot? 】

There’s a hidden plot?! This was news to her. She hesitated for a moment but ultimately agreed to explore it. Immediately, the floodgates opened, and a brief memory rushed into her mind.

A vivid scene flashed by: She was pinning Shen Qingran against a bathroom stall, forcefully kissing her. Their tongues entangled, ending with a sharp, resounding slap across her face.

??? Ye Yixi was completely horrified. Unbelievable. She—or rather, the original owner—had actually kissed Shen Qingran? And it was a forced one at that!

Years ago, the original playboy Alpha had developed designs on this high-society beauty who perfectly matched her status. However, Miss Shen had always looked down on her. During a certain family banquet, a heavily intoxicated Ye Yixi had cornered her and done that, causing their relationship to turn completely toxic.

This was wild. None of this had been mentioned in the main text of the novel. Ye Yixi began to realize that this novel world wasn’t as simple as she had thought. The moment these characters were created, the world developed its own autonomous logic. While the main plot remained fixed, the characters would flesh out their own side stories based on the overarching framework of their personalities.

No wonder Shen Qingran loathed her so much. Alphas and Omegas had their glands on their tongues in this universe; normally it was fine, but a bite would trigger a temporary marking. Ye Yixi wanted to slap the original owner herself for such an atrocious act. She truly hadn’t expected her cannon fodder character to have such a dark history with the vicious rival.

Ye Yixi sat frozen for a long time. When she finally looked back at Shen Qingran, she couldn’t even meet her eyes. Overwhelmed with secondhand guilt, she wanted nothing more than to flee the scene immediately! But she couldn’t just abandon a quest…

Forcing her expression into compliance, her hands trembled slightly as she held her knife and fork. “Miss Shen is as conceited as ever. I’m just here for a meal and happened to run into you. How does that equate to badgering?”

The moment she spat out that retort, the urge to slap herself grew even stronger. Fortunately, Shen Qingran didn’t push the issue. She kept her head down, looking thoroughly unbothered to waste her breath. Ye Yixi could tell her mood was terrible today; a palpable aura of exhaustion and gloom surrounded her. She was likely dealing with something incredibly stressful.

“Miss Shen doesn’t look like she’s in a great mood today. Tell you what—how about I keep you company for a few drinks?”

“Hmph. What do my affairs have to do with you?”

Shen Qingran let out a cold laugh, maintaining her eternal attitude of contempt. She grabbed her purse from the table and began packing her things, clearly done dealing with Ye Yixi. She stood up, ready to storm out.

If Shen Qingran left, what would happen to her quest? Wouldn’t all this effort be wasted? Panicking, Ye Yixi blurted out the first thing that came to mind: “I guess Miss Shen is just afraid to drink. If that’s the case, feel free to run along!”

Ye Yixi figured she had definitively botched the 0.1 points, but to her surprise, Shen Qingran actually sat back down, her face flushed with defiant pride. “Who said I’m afraid to drink?”

Wow, I can’t believe she fell for such a low-tier reverse-psychology trick. Ye Yixi wondered if this was a hardcoded character trait that she had accidentally triggered.

Since she had successfully made her stay, Ye Yixi quickly signaled the waiter to bring over a few bottles of wine with a moderate alcohol percentage. She poured half a glass for both of them, then raised hers to toast.

Seeing no response from the other side, Ye Yixi took a small sip herself. The wine was rich and mellow, leaving a faint floral aftertaste on the tongue. It was genuinely excellent.

“Miss Shen, why aren’t you drinking?”

Ye Yixi had already taken several sips, but Shen Qingran remained utterly motionless, looking profoundly conflicted. What’s her problem? Ye Yixi was baffled.

“Fine! I’ll drink!”

Under Ye Yixi’s bewildered gaze, Shen Qingran picked up the glass with an expression of grim martyrdom, as if she were facing a firing squad, and slammed the liquid down her throat.

Is a drink really worth all that drama? Anyone looking would have thought she was being forced to swallow poison. Ye Yixi thought Shen Qingran’s personality was truly bizarre, mentally throwing another round of shade at the original author. If it wasn’t a poorly written character setting, what else could explain this?

Ye Yixi opened her mouth to ask something, but in the blink of an eye, Shen Qingran collapsed face-first onto the table. Terrified, Ye Yixi scrambled up to check on her, only to find that the woman was flushed bright red from her neck all the way to her ears. Her entire face was burning up.

Right on cue, the system notification pinged:

【 Congratulations to the Host for completing the ‘Mock Shen Qingran’ side quest. Reward: 0.1 Points. 】

What the hell, that actually worked? Ye Yixi put two and two together. Did I just successfully mock her with my alcohol tolerance? Oh my god… Who would have thought that the fierce Miss Shen is a legendary one-glass knockout?

Ye Yixi’s expression was a mix of deadpan disbelief and amusement. No wonder her attitude toward drinking was so strange, yet she had stubbornly forced it down anyway. Thinking about it now… it was actually kind of cute?

But what now? The girl was completely passed out; she couldn’t just leave her here, could she? Ye Yixi gently poked the unconscious Shen Qingran, suddenly realizing she was in a massive predicament. She had no idea who to call to pick her up. Calling anyone from their social circle would definitely lead to a massive misunderstanding.

Ye Yixi rubbed the bridge of her nose, completely torn. Should I… just take her back to my place first?