After Transmigrating into a Book, I Became the Vicious Female Supporting Lead - Chapter 3

One class period isn’t particularly long, but Lin Qiyan’s feet were starting to ache from standing.

After class ended, the female teacher walked past her in high heels without a single glance, as if she didn’t exist. Lin Qiyan sighed, leaning against the wall and alternating legs to stretch.

Students trickled out of the room, some shooting her sideways glares or cold snorts as they left. Others took wide detours around her, as if she were the epicenter of a virus. Lin Qiyan pretended not to notice. Once her legs felt better, she walked into the classroom.

The people around her turned their eyes toward her, eager for a show. Some students who had already left ran back in, peeking through the doorway.

The state of the original owner’s seat was even worse than what she had seen through the window.

The trash can was right next to the desk, yet trash was piled high in the corner. Discarded chewing gum was stuck to the sleeve of her uniform hanging off the chair, along with some suspicious, transparent sticky substance. The filling of an unfinished meat bun was scattered across the desktop, mixed with dried milky-white liquid—looking like the kind of disgusting vomit they’d censor in a TV drama. Textbooks, torn to shreds, lay in damp puddles covered in black footprints, the writing blurred beyond recognition.

Lin Qiyan looked down at it, silent. The people watching were waiting for a reaction.

“Hey. Are you blind?”

A girl couldn’t wait any longer and spoke up arrogantly. “What, waiting for someone to clean up for you? Still think you’re the Eldest Miss of the Lin family?”

Lin Qiyan turned to look at her and instantly recognized her as a member of the bullying clique the original owner had formed. The original owner had given her plenty of money.

What a waste, Lin Qiyan thought regretfully. I wonder if I can get it back?

Upset by the stare, the girl stood up from her seat. “What are you looking at?”

Lin Qiyan noticed she was actually a bit taller than the original owner and was slightly surprised. What’s up with this world? Am I a midget at 165cm?

Maintaining her composure, she asked, “Did you do this?”

Everyone loves gossip, especially a “dog-eat-dog” scene. Many students whipped out their phones to record.

The girl gave her a smug look. “It was me.”

Lin Qiyan nodded. “Then clean it up. I need to use it for the next class. Try to be quick.”

The girl hadn’t expected this response. Memories of being bossed around by the original owner flashed through her mind. Her face went blank, then turned a mottled purple with rage. She hissed through gritted teeth, “Lin Qiyan, what makes you think I’d do that?”

Lin Qiyan spoke logically: “Because you made the mess, and this is my private space. If you like living in a landfill, do whatever you want at your own seat—that’s your freedom. But not here.”

“Do you understand, Ran Lie?” She looked at her and said calmly, word by word, “Not. Here.”

Silence fell over the room, followed by small gasps. She was clearly still the arrogant Miss Lin, yet something was different.

Ran Lie’s fury intensified, her chest heaving. Lin Qiyan thought to herself: Just like the original owner, she can’t handle a provocation.

The next moment, Ran Lie strode over. Just as everyone expected a bloodbath, she grabbed a water bottle from a nearby desk and poured it directly over Lin Qiyan’s head.

The moment the water hit her, Lin Qiyan felt a wave of relief: Thank god it’s not boiling water.

The gasps grew louder. Ran Lie laughed. “Still acting tough? Lin Qiyan, how was the cold shower?”

The bottle was quite large. The water soaked Lin Qiyan’s loose hair, and streams ran down her strands onto her white T-shirt, making a large patch translucent and faintly revealing her pale skin.

Lin Qiyan said nothing. She searched her memory for a moment, then walked over to Ran Lie’s seat and raised her foot.

CRASH!

With a loud bang, books went flying everywhere. The entire desk was kicked over, and the high stack of books tumbled into a chaotic mess on the tile floor.

Lin Qiyan pulled her soaked hair to the front and wrung it out with both hands. Water dripped down, soaking the fallen papers, and she added a final touch by stepping on them to leave a footprint.

The room went dead silent. Having finished, Lin Qiyan felt quite amused. Resource recycling—nothing wasted.

Ran Lie stood there, stunned. Suddenly, someone shouted: “The teacher is coming!”

The crowd of onlookers scattered like startled birds. Lin Qiyan walked to her seat, pulled a roll of toilet paper from an uncontaminated part of her desk cubby, and began drying her hair.

The male homeroom teacher, having heard rumors of the commotion, rushed in. He looked sternly at the messy classroom, his voice low and heavy: “Lin Qiyan, Ran Lie, both of you—come with me!”

Ran Lie glared at Lin Qiyan and walked out with her head held high.

From the moment the two had started clashing, the girl in the front row had been pressing herself against the edge of her desk, making herself as small as possible to avoid being targeted. When Ran Lie poured the water, some had inevitably splashed onto the girl’s hair.

As Lin Qiyan passed her, she placed the roll of toilet paper and a sticky note on her desk.

—I’m so sorry you got caught up in this. Wipe yourself off; it’s bad to have wet hair.

The girl froze. Her fingers clenched as she stared at the note for a long time. She bent down to find her own paper, wrapped it around her hand, and tremblingly picked up the roll of toilet paper to place it back on Lin Qiyan’s desk in a clean spot. She hadn’t forgotten the lessons of the past.

Lin Qiyan happened to see the girl’s tightly pursed lips and retreating hand through the window.

The bell rang just as the two left. The wide office was quiet; most teachers were in classrooms, with only a few at their desks grading or preparing lessons.

A soaking wet Lin Qiyan and a haughty Ran Lie stood before the homeroom teacher. The middle-aged man seemed to have a massive headache regarding these two. His gaze landed on Lin Qiyan with undisguised disgust.

“Lin Qiyan, you have no one to back you up anymore. Rein in that ‘Eldest Miss’ temper. If you’re at the bottom of the rankings again during the next exam, expect to be kicked out of the Affiliated High School.”

Lin Qiyan had expected this. The original owner was a poor student; she only got into this elite school because her family paid her way. Now that the Lins were bankrupt, this opportunistic teacher naturally wouldn’t show her any kindness.

Ran Lie glanced sideways at Lin Qiyan with a “villain-in-triumph” look. Lin Qiyan didn’t understand what she was so smug about. She said calmly, “Ran Lie destroyed my things first.”

Ran Lie immediately defended herself: “Teacher, you saw it—Lin Qiyan is the one destroying school property. She kicked my desk over! She should pay for it. If you hadn’t come, she probably would have punched me.”

This statement, paired with Lin Qiyan’s dripping hair, was unintentionally hilarious.

Lin Qiyan: “You clean up my seat first, and I’ll pay for what I should.” She looked at her strangely. “And I wasn’t going to punch you.”

Ran Lie wanted to argue, but the teacher cut her off. “Enough! This will be recorded as a mutual fight. Lin Qiyan, it’s not too much to give you a demerit, is it?”

Lin Qiyan: “What about her?”

The teacher looked at her with loathing. “She is the victim.”

Lin Qiyan sighed again. “Teacher, you can check the surveillance cameras.”

The teacher was impatient. “That’s enough. No more nonsense. The decision is made. I have things to do, get back to class immediately.”

Ran Lie, looking victorious, gave a disdainful snort at Lin Qiyan and turned to leave. Lin Qiyan stood there with her head bowed. No one paid her any mind; the teacher was already busy with work.

After a long while, she slowly walked out of the office. Her soaked clothes clung to her body. Caught in a breeze, the summer air felt bone-chillingly cold.

Lin Qiyan didn’t go back to class. She walked down the stairs and began wandering aimlessly. The Yanda campus was vast, covering over a thousand acres. At this hour, few people were out. In the late July heat, the dry air was thick with warmth. It didn’t take long for Lin Qiyan’s clothes and hair to dry.

In the corners of the school were gardens, filled with expensive trees and flowers. She found a stone path leading to a bench and sat down.

Lin Qiyan wasn’t sad; she was just thinking about what to do next. According to the System, she needed to get forgiveness from the victims and change her image—or pay off the debt.

The latter wasn’t urgent. She knew the debt was managed by the bank, and because she was deemed to have no current ability to pay, she was protected until high school graduation. Thus, the creditors couldn’t bother her yet. In the original plot, her tragic end only happened because she offended Mu Yunge; someone with that much power could break a bank’s protection like snapping a twig.

As long as Lin Qiyan didn’t provoke her, she could survive until graduation. But after that? The mountain of debt meant she’d never be able to pay it off.

That left only one way: gaining forgiveness and changing her image.

Lin Qiyan sighed melancholically. The wind rustled the flowers, spreading a fresh fragrance. A figure stopped in front of her.

“What are you doing here?”

A familiar voice, as beautiful as ever. Lin Qiyan looked up.

The girl in front of her was as stunning as the first time they met, her high ponytail giving her a sharp, assertive edge. She looked down at Lin Qiyan.

“Mu Yunge?” Lin Qiyan asked. “Are you skipping class?”

Mu Yunge sat down beside her. “I was helping a teacher deliver some things and saw you sitting here alone while passing by.” She asked gently, “Class is in session; why are you here? Did something happen?”

Though she asked, she could guess the reason. A once-arrogant heiress suddenly going bankrupt—forget those she had bullied, even those who simply enjoyed kicking others when they were down wouldn’t let her have an easy time.

Lin Qiyan lost count of how many times she had sighed today.

[All the original owner’s sins…]

She smiled. “The classroom was too stuffy. I came out for some fresh air.”

Mu Yunge’s eyes darkened slightly. Lin Qiyan, oblivious, continued to smile. “Well, if you encounter any difficulties, you must tell me. I’ll help you.”

Lin Qiyan looked at this incredibly beautiful girl, remembered the System’s warning, and hesitated before asking: “You said your name is Mu Yunge. Are you… the one I’m thinking of?”

Mu Yunge blinked, feigning ignorance. “Which one?”

Lin Qiyan wavered. Mu Yunge curled her lips into a smile. “What do you think? Am I?”

Lin Qiyan shook her head honestly. “I don’t know.”

[There’s no Mu Yunge in the original owner’s memories. Based on rumors, her personality shouldn’t be like this, but is the name just a coincidence?]

Mu Yunge’s smile remained. She hated superficial social interactions; they were meaningless and valueless, so she usually used coldness to reject them. But when she had a goal, acting came naturally. Unprovoked kindness usually accompanies a great conspiracy. Especially for truly kind people, vulnerability and perfectly timed care are the most lethal weapons.

The two were sitting close. A faint scent of Milan flowers drifted between them. Smelling it, the pain Mu Yunge had suffered from her rut/heat cycle over the past few days vanished, leaving her refreshed.

She reached out and brushed a stray hair from Lin Qiyan’s face. Her voice was low and soft: “If I said I was, what would you do?”

Lin Qiyan froze, thinking seriously.

[Kneel down and sing ‘Conquered’ while begging her not to hurt me? …That seems weird.]

Mu Yunge suppressed the urge to smile, even as a bit of curiosity bubbled up.

Lin Qiyan looked up at her sincerely. “Should we… pretend we don’t know each other? You take your path, I take mine?”

Mu Yunge laughed. “Why?”

Because I’m afraid you have a hidden agenda. Lin Qiyan swallowed those words. She didn’t seem to have anything worth plotting for.

Before she could think of a reason, Mu Yunge spoke again. “Yan Yan.” She paused, asking considerately, “Can I call you that?”

Lin Qiyan didn’t mind and nodded.

Mu Yunge’s smile deepened, her eyes searching. “Yanjing is so big, yet we happened to meet, and you stepped in to help me.” She smiled meaningfully. “Yan Yan, don’t you think this is a great stroke of fate?”

Lin Qiyan didn’t follow. “So?”

Mu Yunge scanned her face, her smile fading slightly as she leaned back. “So, do I not even have the qualification to be your friend?”

Lin Qiyan thought it over.

[True. The original owner happened to die in that alley, and I inherited the body there. There are two ways out, and the hotel I booked required a right turn, which took me right past the corner where Mu Yunge was.]

[I’m currently isolated and helpless without a single friend. If Mu Yunge is that person from the book, being friends with her is a steal for me. Besides, I have nothing now; there’s nothing for her to scheme over. If she isn’t that person, wouldn’t I be missing a chance to not be lonely?]

Lin Qiyan convinced herself and perked up, nodding happily.