I Snatched the Male Lead’s "Cool Novel" Script - Chapter 48

The effort of suppressing herself made Yan Yu’s body tremble uncontrollably. She opened her mouth, only to discover that she could no longer accurately express her current feelings with words.

But that anger was still stuck in her throat, making her do something that even surprised herself.

Slap!

Palm collided with cheek, producing a crisp slap.

Yin Beiqing covered her left cheek in astonishment. This situation was reasonable, yet still beyond her expectations. She knew Yan Yu was bold, but she had not expected her to be this bold.

“You were right. My right hand is a little stronger.” So this slap had also been delivered with her right hand.

The pressure on her body withdrew. When Yin Beiqing raised her eyes again, all she could see was Yan Yu’s back as she quickly ran away. She blinked extremely slowly, then touched the trace of warmth that had just fallen onto her cheek.

Her finger was stained with that teardrop. She put it into her mouth, and very quickly, her brows furrowed.

So astringent.

The vile factors in her body faded from their fevered high, yet only a hollow emptiness remained in her chest. Something had been taken from her body, but she herself did not know what it was.

Yin Beiqing weakly lay back down, clenched her hand into a fist, and lightly thumped the position of her heart, murmuring softly, “It shouldn’t be like this.”

She should have felt even more excited, even more delighted.

But why was there a feeling of having lost something?

—It seemed she had messed something up.

…

For the next few days, aside from necessary answers during lessons, Yan Yu did not say another extra word to Yin Beiqing. When the latter proposed having actual combat lessons, she was also refused for all kinds of reasons. Over time, even the slowest person would know why.

Whether day or night, the door to Yan Yu’s room remained tightly closed. The four words “keep people out” were practically short of being written on a couplet and pasted to the wall.

The two little cubs naturally stood on their master’s side. They often guarded the doorway like door gods and had specially drawn a boundary line. As long as Yin Beiqing crossed even one step over it, they would bare their teeth and shout at her together.

“You made Master cry, bad person!”

Bad person, bad person.

Yin Beiqing had heard these words countless times over the past few days, so much that her ears were almost calloused.

She was terribly irritated, yet had nowhere to vent. She hoped Yan Yu could continue smiling at her the way she had before and speaking to her gently. But Yin Beiqing, who had never understood how to get along with others, did not know that this was a scene that could only possibly return after an apology.

…

That day, Yan Yu still got up early in the morning. She picked up the money pouch Jisang had left at the door and walked toward the rear mountain.

Lin Baizhu had recently returned to Langdie Valley for a temporary stay. She did not like sleeping on beds or in rooms. Usually, she would simply find a tree on the rear mountain and hang from it. Once she hung there, motionless, she would stay for half a day.

Yan Yu followed the scent and found her. Standing under the shade of the tree, she raised her head.

“Lin… Teacher.” After thinking about it, she decided this form of address was more suitable.

After all, if she entered Yuling Academy in the future, she would have to call Lin Baizhu “Teacher” sooner or later. Perhaps if Lin Baizhu began teaching new students this year, she might even teach Yan Yu’s class.

Lin Baizhu, who had been dozing, opened her eyes. Her tone was still not very warm, but it no longer had that resistance that urgently pushed Yan Yu away. “If you have something to say, say it.”

“Your money pouch.” Yan Yu lifted the money pouch in her hand. “I asked Jisang to pass along a message to you before. Making peach soup was only a small effort. You don’t need to give me this.”

“I gave you money because I wanted to feel better. That and whether you want to accept it are two separate things.” Lin Baizhu did not like taking advantage of others because she also disliked others troubling her.

Yan Yu knew that what she said was the truth, so she simply suggested, “Then why don’t you repay me with something else?”

Lin Baizhu thought for a while with a沉 face, then lightly landed from the tree. “What do you want?”

“Not a thing.” Yan Yu smiled as she answered. “I want you to practice with me.”

“Practice?”

“I’ve learned some physical arts moves, but I won’t make much progress just practicing by myself. I need someone to spar with. If you don’t mind, I’ll bring you a pot of peach soup every day from now on. You only need to occasionally spare some time to practice with me for a few hours.” As she spoke, she handed over the peach soup she had prepared.

Unlike her cold exterior, Lin Baizhu’s taste was the same as her Beast Soul Jisang’s. She loved sweets to death. She looked down on commoner food all the same, but if she went a day without eating a few mouthfuls of sweets, her entire body would feel uncomfortable.

Very clearly, she hesitated.

After thinking for a moment, Yan Yu added, “One hour… no, half an hour is fine too. It won’t delay you for too long.”

It was fine if she was only supervised doing stamina training, but if she had to do actual combat with Yin Beiqing again, Yan Yu could not stand it. That was why she had gathered the courage to make this suggestion to Lin Baizhu.

Although Lin Baizhu was not especially skilled in physical arts, the advantage was that she had the identity of a teacher. Teaching and educating people should be something she was very accustomed to doing.

“One hour.” Lin Baizhu chose the middle option. “Also, next time, add more white fungus and sugar to the peach soup.”

Yan Yu immediately smiled. “All right. I’ll add as much as you want.”

…

After lunch, in order to pay Lin Baizhu’s “lesson fee,” Yan Yu specially went to the storeroom and picked out a pack of high-quality white fungus. She added it into the pot with the peach soup, stewed it for a full hour, then sprinkled in plenty of rock sugar and sent it to be chilled.

After three o’clock, when the sun had grown a little gentler, Lin Baizhu finally arrived slowly with her hands clasped behind her back.

“Before starting, warm up by yourself first.” She lazily combed her shoulder-length silver hair with her fingers, looking as if she had only just woken not long ago. “If your body is too stiff, it will affect the speed of your moves.”

Yan Yu nodded, cherishing this hard-won proper lesson very much.

She raised both hands, crossed them, and twisted her wrists. When turning her neck, out of the corner of her eye, she discovered that Yin Beiqing had somehow appeared behind them.

Lin Baizhu knew most of the little twists between the two of them, but had no mind to care. Since Yin Beiqing did not take the initiative to greet her, she simply pretended not to see her. Leaning under the tree, she held a paper fan and lightly fanned herself, looking calm and composed.

As for Yin Beiqing, she stood there for quite some time without saying a word, nor did she cross the somewhat ridiculous boundary line Panpan had drawn.

She stood in place and watched for a while, then silently left.

After that one glance from the corner of her eye, Yan Yu did not dare send even half a look backward again. Only after smelling that cold fragrance drifting farther and farther away did she slowly stop the same warm-up movement she had been foolishly repeating.

That was right. She did indeed have some emotions, but more of them were toward herself.

Yin Beiqing’s words had always been unpleasant. Those words were piercing to hear, but everything she said had been true. If Yan Yu remained at this level, she would lose before the fight even began.

Most importantly, her mentality. No matter how poor her physical arts were, Yan Yu could endure it, but she absolutely could not stand herself losing control of her emotions. Perhaps if those words had come from someone else, her heart would not have hurt so much. But unfortunately, that day, she had exploded.

That kind of ugly loss of composure made Yan Yu want to travel back and erase herself from that period of time from the world.

Naturally, Yin Beiqing, who had seen her like that, had now become someone she avoided.

“Are you done warming up?” Lin Baizhu rolled up her sleeves as she spoke. “Then let’s start timing one hour.”

Yan Yu nodded, but when she once again had to make moves against a living person, she hesitated again. Lin Baizhu, however, seemed not to notice anything unusual and continued giving guidance.

“It’s best not to hesitate when making moves. You need to perform the whole set quickly to score points.”

Although Yuling’s entrance exam involved candidates fighting each other, it was not that victory or defeat directly decided everything.

Because the drawing of lots might arrange two very strong candidates together, or two very mediocre candidates together, the exam also included a scoring section as a way to balance the results.

“Stop for a moment.” Lin Baizhu called a pause. “Bring me your physical arts book.”

Yan Yu nodded and handed over the book that she had already flipped through until it had almost turned yellow.

Lin Baizhu did not look at the table of contents at all. She skillfully flipped open several pages and used a pen to mark a few moves for her.

“Moves three, six, and seven. Popular scoring points from previous years. You must practice them until you’re proficient.” She spun the pen between her fingers, then changed to another mark and circled several more sets of moves. “These are must-learn combos. They give many extra points. Completing one high-scoring set is easier than doing two low-scoring sets for the same number of points, and it’s more cost-effective.”

Yan Yu nodded. For some reason, facing Lin Baizhu gave her a feeling as if she had returned to her student days. Right now, they seemed like classmates gathered together before an exam to discuss key points.

“Your flexibility and agility are slightly better, but you lack strength and speed. The sets I marked with stars are high-scoring sets you can take down more easily. Learn them by today. Tomorrow, I’ll come check.” Lin Baizhu was someone who had always feared trouble and did not like meddling in other people’s business, but as long as she agreed, she would do her utmost to do it well.

So before coming, she had specifically researched the physical arts entrance exams from previous years. Although it looked as if she had casually circled a few questions, she had actually spent a great deal of time specially selecting them from thousands of move sets.

“So, if you encounter a relatively strong opponent and can’t beat them, you should still try to execute your combos and fight for extra points. But if you encounter a weak opponent, don’t end it too quickly either. Same as before: fight for extra points.”

Sure enough, communicating with a top student felt easy. More importantly, Lin Baizhu’s way of thinking matched Yan Yu’s perfectly. Yan Yu understood very quickly.

“Mm. I understand what you mean now.” Yan Yu sincerely expressed her gratitude.

If not for Lin Baizhu, she might truly not have known that an entrance exam contained so many twists and turns.

“You’re applying for the Healing Arts department, right?” Lin Baizhu drank a mouthful of water and turned to look at her. “The physical arts admission score for the Healing Arts department is lowered by twenty points. If you work hard… you can give it a try.”

Yan Yu nodded. “But I’ll hold myself to the average score line.”

“Oh, whatever.” Lin Baizhu did not care much about such things. “Since you understand, continue practicing.”

“Mm-hm.”

Yan Yu got up and continued sparring with her. Lin Baizhu’s physical arts also leaned toward speed, which suited her very well.

This feeling was equivalent to looking into a mirror. She could quickly compare the differences between the two of them, find her own shortcomings, absorb the other party’s advantages, and adjust herself rapidly.

An hour later, Jisang on the tree called the two of them to a stop on time like an alarm clock.

Lin Baizhu withdrew her movements and wiped her sweat.

There was one thing that surprised her. Although Yan Yu looked so weak that a gust of wind could blow her over, the moves she occasionally burst out with carried an extremely fierce momentum. That kind of aura even gave Lin Baizhu a familiar feeling.

—The same path as Yin Beiqing.

If not for having to respond to Yan Yu’s varied move techniques, she would not have been so mentally drained.

“You fought all right, but you’ve practiced too few high-scoring combos.”

“I’ll learn them tonight. You can check tomorrow,” Yan Yu answered very quickly.

She did not know whether it was because she had finally met a reliable teacher, but now she felt full of interest in physical arts.

It was like solving a math problem. Only after figuring out the scoring points did one have the patience to continue solving it.

“Up to you.” Lin Baizhu raised her hand and called Jisang down.

The huge golden eagle swooped down with flapping wings and landed steadily on her arm. Its voice was sweet as it called out to Yan Yu, “Pretty Sister, peach soup~ peach soup~”

How could Yan Yu not understand such an obvious hint? She smiled. “Of course I prepared it.”

The two people and one bird went to the cold storage. Yan Yu respectfully offered up the specially made upgraded peach soup. “More white fungus and more sugar. Please try and see if it suits your taste.”

Lin Baizhu picked it up and tasted a mouthful. She did not speak, but very quickly tilted her head back and directly drank more than half the cup.

It seemed she liked it.

“I used the remaining peaches to make some candy and sweet cakes too. If you like them, please take them along as well.” Yan Yu took over another small box from the side.

“You should do less of this kind of bribery in the future.” Lin Baizhu’s tone carried some reproach, but very quickly, she placed a fist by her lips and coughed twice to conceal herself, then silently reached out and accepted the things.

Perhaps she truly had been “bribed,” because today, she spoke especially much.

“Pray you get assigned to Group A. That day’s proctor prefers physical arts students of your type.”

Yan Yu nodded repeatedly. “Starting tonight, I’ll pray devoutly every night.”

The two of them talked as they walked back. When they were about to pass the corridor leading to Yan Yu’s room, Lin Baizhu suddenly changed direction. “Go back. I still have something to do.”

“Ah… all right. Take care, Teacher.”

Yan Yu continued walking toward her room with Panpan in her arms and Lujia on her head. The moment the outsider left, the two little cubs immediately began acting spoiled.

“Master, we want to eat sweet cakes and peach candy too…” The little fatty twisted its butt in her arms and burrowed around. From its voice, it even seemed a little awkwardly wronged.

Yan Yu smiled and tapped its nose. “Of course I saved an extra portion. Would I really forget you two?”

“Yay, yay, yay! I knew—” Halfway through speaking, Panpan’s voice seemed to suddenly get stuck, and it instantly stopped talking.

Yan Yu seemed to sense something as well. Her gaze looked forward, and when she met that red figure, the smile on her face instantly withdrew.

She did not speak, only tightened her hold on Panpan and planned to lower her head, pretending not to see as she walked past.

But when she passed beside that person, a hand reached out and stopped her.

“Why won’t you talk to me?”

“There’s nothing to say.”

After the words left her mouth, Yan Yu saw the arm blocking her quickly clench into a fist. She raised her eyes again and looked at the other party.

“What, are you going to use violence against me?”

Yin Beiqing was coldly stabbed by that emotionless gaze. Reflexively, she curled her hand and withdrew it.

“No.” Her expression revealed a bit of frustration.

She felt that too many of her emotions had been pulled by Yan Yu. Just because Yan Yu no longer treated her as gently as before, she had begun to feel lonely.

“Then you can’t stop me.” Yan Yu stepped around her, crossed past her, and closed the door.

Yin Beiqing raised her head, only to see the little fatty’s grimacing face as it stuck out its tongue.

“Big villain, bleh, bleh, bleh!”

Author’s Note:

This bad thing Yin Beiqing will be educated. Although it’s hard to see right now, this person will actually become a loyal dog in the future—only toward Yan-mei. Toward outsiders, she’ll still act like a lunatic, quq.