After Becoming the Love-Brained Female Lead’s Best Friend - Chapter 4

Fang Shu and Ye Wanyin had a height difference of about three centimeters. Standing between them in the formation was another girl who seemed to be on good terms with Fang Shu, as she kept whispering in her ear before the radio broadcast started.

Ye Wanyin noticed that they occasionally glanced back while chatting, seemingly talking about someone behind them.

She recalled the boy who had turned red that morning. Could they be talking about him?

As if the boy himself had noticed the two girls’ gazes, his face began to redden again.

The radio announcement began, and the girl in front was tapped on the arm by the passing homeroom teacher, signaling her to step back into line.

When the calisthenics ended, the students dispersed in order of grade and then class. Not long after their class returned upstairs, the bell for the third period rang.

This period was Chinese. Unsurprisingly, Fang Shu was called on. One has to wonder—is this the so-called “heroine’s aura” at work?

The Chinese teacher was a bit older, wearing silver-rimmed reading glasses that forced her to squint and lean in close to see the book. Her finger tracked the text in her lesson plan as she waited for Fang Shu to begin.

Fang Shu started steadily: “The Six Kings were ended, the Four Seas became one. Mount Shu was denuded, and the Epang Palace arose.”

Ye Wanyin looked at Fang Shu in slight surprise. She actually memorized it?

The teacher nodded in approval.

Fang Shu continued: “Alas! Those who destroyed the Six Kingdoms were the Six Kingdoms themselves.”

Her tone was flat and her expression natural, as if this was the logical next sentence.

Chinese teacher: “…?”

Ye Wanyin: “…”

The class: “…Pffft.”

She had skipped the entire middle section.

The teacher looked up. “The one next to her, you stand up and recite.”

Ye Wanyin stood up and, after clearing her throat, recited the text fluently. The teacher nodded continuously throughout and looked at her several times afterward. “Not bad, not bad at all. Say, what’s your name? I don’t seem to have an impression of you.”

Before Ye Wanyin could awkwardly explain, her classmates answered for her. Upon hearing the name, the teacher’s expression became even more surprised than before. “I really couldn’t tell… Alright, sit down.”

Ye Wanyin sat as instructed. As the teacher called on a few more people, Fang Shu used the gap to sneak her phone out. With her head bowed expressionlessly, she began playing a tile-matching game.

Ye Wanyin wavered between respecting personal boundaries and snatching the phone away. Finally, she decided to pass her a note.

She fished her backpack out from the desk drawer. As she pulled it out, a white envelope fell out. Ye Wanyin picked it up with a face full of question marks. Fang Shu’s gaze drifted over lazily but quickly retracted in disinterest.

Underneath the Chinese textbook, Fang Shu’s phone screen was actually on the class group chat. The last topic was everyone frantically tagging Fang Shu to ask why Ye Wanyin had changed so much.

Unfortunately, Fang Shu couldn’t see any change in her at all. She had simply replied with a period and left it at that.

Who knows which student was taking the chance to fish in troubled waters?

Fang Shu moved her fingers, deleting several private chat windows. When she reached a certain person, she didn’t just delete the chat; she clicked into their profile, blocked them, and then deleted them.

Her expression didn’t change at all throughout this process. She even found the time to pick up a pen and draw a line in her textbook, as if she had heard an important point to note. Only her fingertips, hidden behind the book, were tapping rapidly. If Ye Wanyin hadn’t been sitting right next to her, she wouldn’t have known this girl was on her phone.

Recalling her main goal, Ye Wanyin stuffed the envelope back into her desk, tore a page from a new notebook, and wrote:

(Do you know how to do that math problem the homeroom teacher explained this morning?)

She nudged Fang Shu’s pinky. Without a change in expression, Fang Shu’s finger quickly dropped the lifted corner of the textbook. Because the phone was thin, the book barely showed a bulge.

Seeing the note, a faint light flickered in Fang Shu’s hollow eyes. Ye Wanyin looked closely and decided that “light” translated roughly to: Are you kidding me?

Ye Wanyin was silent for a moment. Just as she thought Fang Shu wouldn’t look at the note, the girl picked it up.

A moment later, Ye Wanyin received a crumpled scrap of paper back with a single word on it: Annoying.

Ye Wanyin: “…”

Fang Shu’s mood wasn’t great. In fact, she hadn’t been in a good mood for days. She felt like Ye Wanyin had become much more bothersome than before.

By the time the note-passing ended, the recitation segment was over. Two more people were standing alongside Fang Shu. The teacher lectured them from the podium: “Stop thinking about playing all the time. The College Entrance Exam is right around the corner! How long have you been ‘memorizing’ The Epang Palace? Especially you—Fang Shu. You’ve been at it so long and still only remember the first line. I’ll check again on Wednesday. Put some heart into it these next two days, okay?”

Fang Shu ended up standing for the entire period. During the second period, the others snuck into their seats, and Fang Shu hadn’t planned on standing either. However, her “selective memory” of the text had left such a deep impression that the teacher let everyone else off but specifically called her out to stand for another hour.

Ye Wanyin found it both pitiable and hilarious. However, it didn’t seem to affect Fang Shu; she kept playing regardless.

Ye Wanyin tried to warn her, but the girl ignored her, making Ye Wanyin doubt the “best friend” status once again. Is this system really second-hand?

While Ye Wanyin was worried that large movements would attract the teacher, Fang Shu was playing on her phone with complete abandon, not caring about her at all.

When the bell rang for the end of the fourth period, it was lunchtime. Fang Shu habitually walked out alone. But as she reached the door, something felt wrong; she had the impression that Ye Wanyin was always walking beside her.

She frowned and waited for Ye Wanyin. The latter didn’t even notice she was being waited for; she was still adjusting her glasses and looking at the blackboard, determined to jot down the last bit of information before strolling out. Seeing Fang Shu at the door, surprise flashed in her eyes.

Fang Shu waited patiently for her to catch up, then realized it felt even weirder—having another person walking beside her felt very uncomfortable.

She really should just walk alone.

Once they had their food, Ye Wanyin finally found some private time and began her relentless chattering: “I went to the homeroom teacher this morning to ask about your grades. Actually, you’re only a bit weak in the sciences. If you memorize your Chinese texts well, you can pick up points there. I can teach you some tricks for the English multiple-choice questions later. For math, physics, and chemistry, if you master just a few problem types, your score will shoot up. For biology, just memorizing a few key points…”

“In short, your grades have a huge room for improvement. Don’t give up.”

Fang Shu let the words go in one ear and out the other.

Huge room for improvement? No kidding—the “room for improvement” in math and science was over 300 points.

As for why Ye Wanyin said she was only “a bit weak” in science, Fang Shu felt certain the girl simply thought those subjects were beyond saving.

But none of that mattered to Fang Shu.

“By the way…” Fang Shu started to speak, but before she could finish, someone intercepted them.

The newcomer was a boy Ye Wanyin didn’t recognize, but Fang Shu seemed to know him. She gave him a casual glance. “Something up?”

“Are you free this weekend?”

Fang Shu spat out, “We’ll see.” Who knows if she’d be free by then?

The boy watched Fang Shu immediately go back to eating seriously. He wanted to say more but felt awkward interrupting, so he eventually left.

Throughout this, Ye Wanyin buried her head in her food awkwardly. Recalling the plot points she had skimmed on her first day, she felt like she was starting to “get it.”

Ye Wanyin hadn’t actually finished the novel. She had spent a day skimming the beginning and the final chapter, deciding the middle was unnecessary.

The beginning explained that Fang Shu had a relationship in middle school that “enlightened” her to romance, after which she became an unstoppable “love-brain.” Then began the romantic subplots with various cannon fodder boys.

In this context, Male Leads 1 through 4 didn’t refer to screen time, but rather the first boy, the second boy… Judging by the ending she saw—failing the exam due to being too focused on love—this book likely had no true male lead.

The only thing that comforted Ye Wanyin was that the author wasn’t a total monster. While Fang Shu wasn’t written as a saint, she wasn’t a “player” either. Even with a sea of suitors, she wouldn’t date two people at once.

Thus, Ye Wanyin looked at the departing boy with a hint of pity. He had poor timing, asking her out right when she was already in a relationship.

Fang Shu ate for a while, remembered her interrupted thought, and looked up at Ye Wanyin. “Let’s eat separately from now on.”

Ye Wanyin was stunned for a moment, then realized: she probably wants to eat with her boyfriend.

She said, “Okay.”

After lunch, Fang Shu didn’t go back with Ye Wanyin. They split at the teaching building, and Fang Shu headed straight for the sports field.

There were a few people walking on the track, and a few couples were sunbathing on the grass in the center. Fang Shu walked along the track. Soon, a boy ran over and slowed down to walk beside her.

He was tall with healthy tan skin and a buzz cut. He wasn’t wearing a jacket, just a white T-shirt, making Fang Shu look exceptionally petite beside him.

Fang Shu saw him, realized the person she was actually waiting for wasn’t coming, and turned to leave.

However, he clearly wasn’t going to let her off easy. The moment she turned, he grabbed her arm. “Is it fun to play with my feelings?”

Fang Shu was annoyed. “I thought I made it very clear to you.”

“Let’s try one more time. This time, I’ll make you truly convinced!”

Fang Shu wrenched her hand away, looking at him with disgust. “You’re sick.”

Stung by her gaze, the boy grabbed her arm again and pulled her forcefully to the side. “I don’t care! You have to say yes!”

Others on the field were startled by the commotion. Upon seeing who it was, they hurriedly scurried away.

Fang Shu clicked her tongue, not wanting to spare him even a single glance.