After Biting the Female Lead, the Vicious Female Supporting Character Turned Alpha [Transmigration] - Chapter 23: 023

Shi Qingfan’s lips moved, and she almost imperceptibly whispered a single word: “Okay.”

Fortunately, Jiang Xuenian’s hearing was excellent, and she heard it clearly. Shi Qingfan had agreed to praise her back at the hotel.

Jiang Xuenian had just been joking, wanting to tease Shi Qingfan, but she didn’t expect Shi Qingfan to actually consider it seriously and agree… it was a little too adorable.

Xu Jie had been flattered with a torrent of compliments by Li Ye, and she nearly floated away. Thankfully, she was used to hearing Jiang Xuenian praise Shi Qingfan, so she could quickly bring herself back down before truly drifting off.

Xu Jie said, “Shi Qingfan and Jiang Xuenian are both straightforward people, perhaps a bit impulsive in their actions, but impulsiveness doesn’t always lead to bad things, does it? If not for this drive, they wouldn’t have such brilliant performances today. If it accidentally affected others, Director Li, please don’t mind.”

Li Ye quickly waved her hand. “Not at all! I don’t mind in the slightest! It’s a competition, there are wins and losses. Dai Hongbo and Qiao Feixiang were simply not as skilled, so how could they blame others for being too strong and beating them? Their top priority now is to improve their own scores. Director Xu, rest assured, it’s fine if Dai Hongbo and Qiao Feixiang haven’t fully grasped it yet. I will actively work on their mindset.”

After Li Ye expressed her stance, Xu Jie said, “That’s good. These students are all chosen ones; it’s best if they can become friends, and it’s fine if they don’t, but they absolutely cannot become enemies. They are all future pillars of the alliance, and cooperation is beneficial for the alliance’s development.”

Li Ye immediately said, “Director Xu, you’re right! In fact, I’ve always thought so, and I’ve always taught them that way. But children grow up and have their own ideas; even parents sometimes can’t control them, let alone us who are just teachers.”

“Director Xu, I have a question I’m not sure if I should ask…” Li Ye glanced at Jiang Xuenian, who was currently huddled with Shi Qingfan talking.

Xu Jie had already anticipated what Li Ye was there for. “Go ahead and ask.”

However, she didn’t have full knowledge of Li Ye’s question, so it might be difficult to answer. “Jiang Xuenian, come here for a moment.”

Jiang Xuenian heard and turned to walk to Xu Jie. “Director Xu, you called me?”

Xu Jie pointed to Li Ye and introduced her: “This is Director Li from Mingxin Military Affiliated School.”

Jiang Xuenian smiled and extended her hand. “Hello, Director Li. We met on the bus, didn’t we? I just didn’t get a chance to greet you properly then.”

Li Ye’s expression subtly changed.

She reluctantly managed to maintain her composure and shook hands with Jiang Xuenian.

The bus ride wasn’t a good memory at all.

Dai Hongbo and Qiao Feixiang were insincere in their apologies, and she not only didn’t intervene but even tried to smooth things over. Li Ye felt that she had surely been blacklisted by Jiang Xuenian and Shi Qingfan.

Li Ye sighed inwardly and pulled Bai Yeyu aside. “You young people have topics to discuss. Bai Yeyu, Jiang Xuenian’s academic performance has improved so quickly; she must have good study methods. Ask her for some advice.”

After instructing Bai Yeyu, Li Ye found an excuse to pull Xu Jie aside to talk.

Bai Yeyu didn’t know how to chat with Jiang Xuenian and awkwardly smiled, saying, “Hello, my name is Bai Yeyu.”

Jiang Xuenian felt no ill will towards Bai Yeyu. Hearing her, she blinked. “Do I make people uncomfortable easily?”

Her tone was light and humorous, and her attitude was very gentle.

Bai Yeyu immediately shook her head. “Of course not. I can tell you have a very good personality. I’m just not very good at talking; please don’t mind.”

“She won’t mind.” Shi Qingfan, having overheard Jiang Xuenian and Bai Yeyu’s conversation, suddenly spoke.

Jiang Xuenian immediately beamed. “The class monitor is right.”

Although Bai Yeyu had guessed that Jiang Xuenian and Shi Qingfan had a good relationship, she hadn’t expected them to be so close that they could answer for each other, and the other person wouldn’t mind in the slightest.

“Bai Yeyu?” Jiang Xuenian called Bai Yeyu’s name. “Why did you suddenly space out? Do you have any questions for us?”

Bai Yeyu spaced out in front of them, and then got caught… She touched her slightly flushed cheeks and said, “I want to know how you suddenly became so strong.”

“Becoming strong, huh…” Jiang Xuenian turned and met Shi Qingfan’s gaze, then smiled. “Thanks to the class monitor, who has been tirelessly tutoring me every day, I am where I am today.”

Jiang Xuenian joked, “If you also had such a good class monitor, you could definitely achieve the same results as me today.”

Bai Yeyu was stunned for a moment before realizing Jiang Xuenian was joking. She had genuinely considered transferring to St. Lyceum just now, then suddenly remembered that with so many people at St. Lyceum, Shi Qingfan only tutored Jiang Xuenian; she probably wouldn’t have time for more.

Perhaps it wasn’t just a lack of time; Shi Qingfan might not want to teach everyone.

Because of Jiang Xuenian’s performance in the match, many people specifically adjusted their order of play to target her, operating on the principle that the more points Jiang Xuenian lost, the more they could gain. The students with the highest academic scores from the remaining three schools were all assigned to face Jiang Xuenian.

Anyway, whoever faced Shi Qingfan would lose, so they might as well try to see if they could win against Jiang Xuenian.

Jiang Xuenian had only competed against Dai Hongbo once, so the other schools didn’t know her exact strength.

Although Jiang Xuenian defeated Dai Hongbo in the exact same way Shi Qingfan defeated Qiao Feixiang, Shi Qingfan had been famous for a long time, and her strength had stood the test of time. Jiang Xuenian hadn’t had enough real-world experience, so one or two victories might just be due to sheer luck.

Therefore, they needed to continue testing her.

Soon, it was St. Lyceum Academy’s turn to compete again. This time, their luck was average; they had no rest time and needed to compete three matches consecutively, with a maximum of ten minutes of rest in between.

The brain’s high-speed operation time tripled, which was difficult for anyone to adapt to. Prolonged standing and intense mental focus caused Jiang Xuenian to feel physically weak and break out in cold sweats, but nothing else.

The match began, with St. Lyceum Academy facing Bin City Second Academy in the first round.

Bin City Second Academy lost to Shi Qingfan in the first match, to Meng Baichun in the second, and in the third match, despite fielding their strongest student, they still lost to Jiang Xuenian.

Almost everyone was watching Jiang Xuenian’s matches.

“Jiang Xuenian won again!”

“Wow, how is her brain wired?”

“So quick to react! She’s already won six questions; Bin City Second Academy has no hope of winning.”

“Huh? Why isn’t Jiang Xuenian buzzing in anymore?”

“She… she wouldn’t be letting the opponent win, would she?”

“She definitely has to. I just heard some gossip. Dai Hongbo’s group and Jiang Xuenian’s group took the same bus here. The reason Jiang Xuenian and Shi Qingfan targeted Qiao Feixiang so much is because the two of them offended Jiang Xuenian on the bus.”

“I see. The other schools didn’t offend them, so they were given enough face.”

••••

“Look, the third match has started!”

St. Lyceum was unstoppable, winning two consecutive matches. Their final match of the day was against Bin City First Academy.

Rong Ling, the second-place finisher in the city-wide league semi-finals round, was a twelfth-grade student from Bin City First Academy.

Before the match began, Rong Ling approached. Meng Baichun thought he, like others, was coming to talk to Jiang Xuenian, but instead, Rong Ling went straight for Shi Qingfan.

Jiang Xuenian had just finished speaking with Shi Qingfan when Rong Ling arrived.

His eyes seemed to see only Shi Qingfan; everyone else was unimportant dust.

“Qingfan, we meet again!” Rong Ling’s gaze was fervent as he stared into Shi Qingfan’s eyes.

Shi Qingfan’s icy demeanor softened slightly. “Long time no see.”

“How have you been lately? I always wanted to visit you at St. Lyceum, but I never had the time.”

Shi Qingfan said, “I’m okay.”

Meng Baichun whispered to Jiang Xuenian, “You might not know this person. His name is Rong Ling, from Bin City First Academy. He’s Shi Qingfan’s suitor.”

“Suitor? Rong Ling?” Jiang Xuenian’s eyes immediately changed after hearing this, and she looked at Rong Ling with a critical gaze.

Rong Ling had short black hair, a delicate face, and was about the same height as Shi Qingfan, and very thin… Shi Qingfan’s official partner was Jiang Yue. To replace the male lead Jiang Yue, one would have to surpass the male lead’s appearance and his intellect.

Meng Baichun noticed Jiang Xuenian’s change in expression and looked thoughtful.

She had long found it strange. Jiang Xuenian and Shi Qingfan’s relationship didn’t seem like just classmates or friends.

Compared to Gong Linglang, Shi Qingfan was more possessive of Jiang Xuenian. Although Meng Baichun didn’t easily perceive Shi Qingfan’s emotions, when Jiang Xuenian was around, Shi Qingfan was always remarkably agreeable and sometimes even smiled.

So what kind of relationship did Jiang Xuenian and Shi Qingfan have?

Were they a couple?