I Turned Out To Be The Paranoid Villain’s White Moonlight - Chapter 6

People often said that after giving someone the whip, you had to offer them a piece of candy.

Considering how Zhan Yao had behaved lately, Xu Yingxi reflected on herself for once and decided that she had indeed been too harsh with her these past few days, which was why Zhan Yao had begun to resent her.

In Xu Yingxi’s eyes, Zhan Yao was like an adorable, fragile little white rabbit. She was quiet, submissive, and accepted everything without complaint, while Xu Yingxi enjoyed her obedience and endlessly took advantage of her understanding and tolerance. Over time, she had carelessly overlooked quite a few things.

For example, even a cornered rabbit would bite.

To keep the rabbit from slipping out of her control, Xu Yingxi realized she should restrain herself for a while, put away the whip in her hand, and replace it with a piece of candy to confuse her.

So before leaving that morning, she carefully selected a bouquet for Zhan Yao, changed into Zhan Yao’s favorite dress, and arrived at the café on time, placing the flowers on the table.

Before long, someone arrived.

Xu Yingxi curved her lips and raised her eyes toward the person sitting across from her. “You’re—”

Before she could finish, she froze.

The person before her was not Zhan Yao at all, but an unsavory-looking man.

“Well, look at that. You’ve changed quite a bit overnight.” While Xu Yingxi examined him, the man was also looking her over.

When he had seen Zhan Yao at the summer market the night before, her pure and beautiful appearance had left such a deep impression on him that he had gone to great lengths asking around for her contact information, hoping to meet her again.

However, now that he saw her today, he realized she looked somewhat different from what he remembered.

It was probably because she was wearing makeup. After all, people online always said that makeup gave women an entirely different face. There was nothing strange about her looking different.

“I can tell you really like me.” The man raised an eyebrow and struck what he believed was his coolest pose. “You even dressed yourself up specially just to see me.”

“But I don’t like women who wear makeup, and I don’t like women who dress this provocatively either,” he continued. “If you’re going to be with me in the future, I hope you’ll change those bad habits.”

“What?” Xu Yingxi frowned.

The man before her seemed to be speaking some alien language. She could not understand a single word he said.

“Who are you? This seat is taken. Get lost.”

Get lost?

She dared tell him to get lost?

The little girl certainly had a fiery temper.

“Why are you pretending?” The man immediately became irritated as well. “You already came here, so why are you still acting reserved?”

“And you even bought flowers.” As he spoke, the man snatched the bouquet from the table. “Look at these. They’re for me, right? This flashy color suits my temperament perfectly.”

“You must really like me, don’t you?” At this point, the man leaned closer, waggled his eyebrows, and grinned at Xu Yingxi. “Does your heart feel all fluttery? Hurry up and call me gege~”

The words “please punch me” were practically written across his face.

On a summer morning, the breeze carried the warmth of sunlight toward them. The two were standing extremely close. The man’s unkempt face gradually filled Xu Yingxi’s vision, along with the unpleasant smell emanating from his body, overwhelming her senses.

Xu Yingxi had never been in such close contact with someone like him before. Before she could even speak, the stench made her gag.

When she raised her head again, her face had turned green.

“…”

According to Jiang Yi, Xu Yingxi’s assistant eventually had the man dragged away.

“This is the first time I’ve realized Xu Yingxi’s germaphobia is so severe,” Jiang Yi said, laughing as she spoke. The show today had been far too entertaining. “You should’ve seen her. After that man left, Xu Yingxi stayed locked in the bathroom for ages. When she finally came out, she had even thrown away her coat, and her face looked absolutely awful.”

“Serves her right!” Ding Xiaoxiao quickly chimed in. “That’s karma for treating Yaoyao so badly before.”

“Did that feel satisfying, Yaoyao?” Jiang Yi asked.

“Very.” Zhan Yao nodded.

As long as Xu Yingxi was miserable, she was happy.

Disgusting her brought joy to everyone. Amen. Let us light a candle for that piece of trash who had willingly sacrificed herself for the happiness of others.

The morning passed quickly.

At noon, Zhan Yao received two messages.

One was from Xu Yingxi. She had probably figured out what had happened and viciously told Zhan Yao to wait and see.

The other was from Yu Wanqiao, telling her she was free that afternoon and would accompany her to submit her application to move out of the dormitory.

It really was not necessary. Zhan Yao could handle such a small matter herself.

They were already in their third year. Once they entered their fourth year, they would begin their internships. The internship period varied slightly between majors at XX University, but for Zhan Yao’s finance major, it usually lasted an entire year.

To adjust to living off campus in advance, quite a few students applied to move out around this time.

After signing the agreement, Zhan Yao had found time to write her application and had originally planned to visit her academic adviser that afternoon.

She had not expected Yu Wanqiao to come too.

Had they only just signed the agreement, and Yu Wanqiao already intended to start putting on a show of marital devotion?

Zhan Yao did not plan to investigate. She merely lowered her eyes and replied to the two messages in turn.

To Xu Yingxi:

【Get lost.】

To Yu Wanqiao:

【All right.】

Later that afternoon, the two met in front of the dormitory building as agreed.

Yu Wanqiao looked as though she had just finished handling business matters. She was still dressed in an exquisitely tailored women’s suit that accentuated her waist and long legs, making her breathtakingly beautiful.

Zhan Yao raised her eyes toward her and noticed that she had not come alone today. Two assistants, one man and one woman, followed behind her. Both were attractive, but ultimately neither could compare to Yu Wanqiao.

Perhaps noticing Zhan Yao as well, Yu Wanqiao greeted her.

“Good afternoon, Yaoyao.”

Zhan Yao nodded. “Good afternoon.”

Yu Wanqiao’s lips curved slightly. She stepped forward and took the small handbag from Zhan Yao’s hand. “Let me carry that for you.”

Not only had she come, but she even wanted to carry her bag.

Zhan Yao had no idea what she was planning. She glanced sideways at the two assistants from the corner of her eye before ultimately deciding to cooperate.

“All right. Thank you.”

“You really didn’t have to come specially to accompany me,” she added afterward.

“It’s all right,” Yu Wanqiao replied. “It’s only proper.”

“Besides, I wanted to see your university and personally understand the environment you live in.”

Her words made Zhan Yao pause.

She could hardly believe something like that had come from Yu Wanqiao’s mouth. Apparently, this woman had two faces as well.

So she had started acting now, had she?

Since they had signed an agreement, Zhan Yao had accepted money in exchange for doing her part. Whenever Yu Wanqiao needed her cooperation, she naturally had to play along. Zhan Yao was not someone who broke her promises, so she immediately changed her tone and expression.

“I see.” As she spoke, she raised a hand and linked her arm through Yu Wanqiao’s, looking both touched and delighted. In a soft voice, she said, “Wanqiao, you’re so good to me~”

Her tone made the system’s entire body crawl.

“How was that? Did I make it convincing?” Zhan Yao asked the system inside her mind.

“Convincing…” After a moment of silence, the system finally replied, “Very convincing. Very good.”

Satisfied, Zhan Yao continued walking with her arm hooked through Yu Wanqiao’s, looking sweet and affectionate.

The application to move out of the dormitory went exceptionally smoothly.

Before leaving, Zhan Yao remembered what had happened earlier and voluntarily linked arms with Yu Wanqiao again.

She was not particularly short, but she was still considerably shorter than Yu Wanqiao. Maintaining this position for too long inevitably became tiring.

Yu Wanqiao probably noticed something and said, “There’s really no need to go this far.”

“Why don’t we…” As she spoke, she began reaching toward Zhan Yao.

However, Zhan Yao was clearly one step faster.

The moment she heard the words “no need,” she immediately released a long breath and swiftly let go of Yu Wanqiao’s arm.

“You should’ve said so earlier.”

She looked exactly like a heartless scumbag who discarded someone immediately after getting what she wanted.

“…”

Yu Wanqiao paused and quietly withdrew her hand.

The weather was particularly hot today.

They had only walked a few steps out of the academic building when a thin layer of sweat appeared on Zhan Yao’s forehead. In contrast, Yu Wanqiao showed no change at all, as though she were unusually insensitive to temperature.

“Would you like an iced coffee?” Out of courtesy, Zhan Yao still asked her. “There’s a convenience store nearby. I’ll go buy some.”

“There’s no need.” Yu Wanqiao turned her head toward her, then took a packet of tissues from her pocket. She pulled one out and carefully wiped the beads of sweat from Zhan Yao’s forehead. “I’ll go.”

“That works too.” Zhan Yao nodded. She had not particularly wanted to move anyway.

The summer cicadas were rather noisy, while the two assistants were far too quiet.

Bored, Zhan Yao sat down on a bench after Yu Wanqiao left and stared blankly into space for a while.

While she was lost in thought, she suddenly heard someone calling her name from a distance.

“Yaoyao! Yaoyao!”

Zhan Yao raised her head and saw a middle-aged couple.

Using the original character’s memories, she quickly recognized them. Weren’t these the original Zhan Yao’s parents—the couple who valued sons over daughters?

Ever since Zhan Yao started university, she rarely went home except for major events, even though her family lived nearby. This couple never missed her either and would not visit her even once in a blue moon.

Their sudden appearance this time was probably due to some special reason.

Before long, Xu Yingxi’s face surfaced in Zhan Yao’s mind.

She had to admit, that woman moved quickly. She had already found another way to disgust her.

While Zhan Yao was thinking, the couple had already approached.

“Yaoyao.” Her father spoke first. “Have you been doing well lately? We heard you haven’t been in a good mood recently, so your mother and I hurried over to see you.”

As soon as he finished, her mother quickly agreed. “That’s right, that’s right.”

“Oh. Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts.” Zhan Yao nodded lightly.

After a moment of silence, she continued, “But… who are you?”

Her parents both froze.

“Y-Yaoyao, what are you saying?” After a while, her mother reacted first. “Is this some new joke you learned? How could you possibly forget your own parents?”

“Oh~” Only then did Zhan Yao act as though she had finally realized. “So you’re Mom and Dad. Look at my memory. It’s been so long since we last saw one another that I’ve almost forgotten what you look like.”

“Dad, I have to say, why have you gotten even darker? And Mom, why do you look even older?”

Her words immediately left the couple awkward.

“Haha. Haha.”

“So?” Zhan Yao asked.

Too lazy to keep circling the subject with them, she went straight to the point.

“What are you here for?”

“Well, we need your help with something,” her father hurriedly said. “You know our family has been going through a difficult time lately. There hasn’t been much work on my end, so I can’t earn much money. Your mother is about to retire and won’t have much income either. On top of that, your younger brother still needs money for school. One problem after another has left us struggling to breathe.”

“We heard you recently started dating a rather impressive woman. Your mother and I thought it over again and again, and we only came to ask because we had no other choice. Have mercy on us. Could you ask her to help our family?”

So this was what Xu Yingxi had been planning.

She had always known about Zhan Yao’s family circumstances.

The former Zhan Yao had been softhearted and deeply valued family ties. Although her parents had never shown her much care, she still could not bear to leave them to fend for themselves. Whenever she could help, she did.

Xu Yingxi understood this, which was why she had deliberately brought Zhan Yao’s parents into the matter to manipulate her.

Unfortunately, she did not know that the current Zhan Yao was no longer the same person.

She had evolved into Niohuru Yao.

“I see.” Zhan Yao nodded sympathetically. “You truly have it difficult.”

“But I’m sorry, you two. I can’t help you.”

“You can’t?” Her mother froze again. “What nonsense are you saying? How could you not help?”

“Don’t you know that eldest daughter of the Xu family? Don’t try to hide it from me. We already know. It wasn’t easy for your parents to raise you all these years. Now that you’ve made something of yourself, you want to kick us aside and pretend you don’t know us? Do you have no con—”

Before she could finish, Zhan Yao suddenly heard footsteps behind her.

They were steady and purposeful, coming directly toward her.

Her instincts told her it was Yu Wanqiao.

She immediately abandoned her previous demeanor and replaced it with a weak, pitiful, helpless expression.

Before the woman in front of her could finish speaking, Zhan Yao interrupted her. She raised a hand to cover her arm and said, “I already told you I don’t know you. It’s one thing if you refuse to listen, but how could you hit me?”

“It hurts so much.”

As she spoke, she turned toward the woman behind her and symbolically squeezed out a few crocodile tears.

“I’m being bullied.”

“Wanqiao, aren’t you going to do something about it?”