Transmigrated as the Cannon Fodder Marked by the Villain (GL) - Chapter 33

“I’m sorry, I need to use the restroom.”

“I’ll go with you.”

Ruan Jiyan took her bag and walked with Zhou Wan.

The classic awkward line came out of Zhou Wan’s mouth. Ruan Jiyan finally couldn’t help but almost laugh, leaving only Lin Lesheng sitting there foolishly, waiting for her coffee.

“What’s wrong with that Alpha? I clearly don’t know her, but she kept chatting about so many things I’ve never even heard of.”

Ruan Jiyan smiled: “In my opinion, she’s probably doing the peacock display, trying to attract you.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. I don’t know her at all.”

“Don’t be skeptical,” Ruan Jiyan dried her hands with the hand dryer. She held her handbag, waiting for Zhou Wan to wash her hands, and said with a smile, “Alphas usually only act this way when they see someone they’re interested in. Otherwise, do you think she’s so idle she’d sit here talking to you non-stop?”

“Impossible.”

Zhou Wan looked at her face in the mirror and then touched it: “I’m not good-looking, and I don’t wear makeup. All I do is study, study, study. What Alpha would be interested in me?”

“Who says you’re not good-looking?”

Ruan Jiyan actually thought Zhou Wan had a very sophisticated look, a typical model face. If she wore makeup and suitable clothes, she would attract attention wherever she went.

But a person like Zhou Wan, who was solely dedicated to studying, would never spend time on grooming. Moreover, “a woman makes herself beautiful for the one who appreciates her.” Zhou Wan didn’t have an Alpha she liked, so of course, grooming was out of the question.

“By the way, you said you wanted to show me something earlier. What was it?”

“Nothing,” Ruan Jiyan shook her head. It was better for this matter to remain known only to the two of them. Lin Lesheng was Fu Qingyun’s roommate, and she was a big mouth who would certainly spread the word.

Leaving the restroom, Ruan Jiyan saw Lin Lesheng drinking coffee. To be honest, Zhou Wan didn’t want to interact with this Alpha anymore.

Seeing that Zhou Wan didn’t want to continue eating here, Ruan Jiyan said to the waiter, “Could you please pack this up for us? Thank you.”

Lin Lesheng saw the two Omegas leave with their Tiramisu. She followed behind them, holding her coffee. Anyone who didn’t know better would think she was a bodyguard.

“Why are you following us?”

Ruan Jiyan looked curious.

Zhou Wan felt very awkward with Lin Lesheng trailing them. She simply told Ruan Jiyan, “I’m going back to school. I have things to do. You go accompany your girlfriend.”

“You’re going back to school?” Lin Lesheng smiled when she heard this: “Perfect! I’m heading back too. Let’s go together.”

Zhou Wan: “…”

She was utterly helpless with someone who had no sense of boundary. She found it hard to refuse verbally, especially since the other person was from the same school and the roommate of her girlfriend’s roommate. They would inevitably see each other again.

“Zhou Wan, I’ve heard of you. The top student of the Finance Department.”

“Mhm, you’ve already said that once.”

“Did I?” Lin Lesheng walked shoulder-to-shoulder with Zhou Wan and smiled: “It’s fine, saying it again reinforces the impression.”

Zhou Wan couldn’t understand why she was always surrounded by so many strange people. Li Yanwei was one, and Lin Lesheng was another.

“It’s Saturday today. Why aren’t you going out to have fun? Why are you going back already?”

Zhou Wan fell silent again. She really wanted to say I’m only going back because of you, but she couldn’t.

“I haven’t finished my group project yet. I’m rushing back to work on it.”

“Oh,” Lin Lesheng looked thoughtful. She extended her hand to Zhou Wan, smiling ingratiatingly: “Hello, my name is Lin Lesheng. Lin as in Lin Daiyu, Le as in Coca-Cola (kele), and Sheng is the character for birth with the bamboo radical.”

Zhou Wan was silent for a moment. She didn’t shake Lin Lesheng’s hand, politely smiling as she said, “Zhou Wan.”

“Why are you following me?”

Zhou Wan finally lost her patience. She felt uncomfortable seeing Lin Lesheng drinking hot coffee and trailing behind her as if it were none of her business. She finally asked the question directly.

“I’m going back to school too.”

Fine. She didn’t know what else to say. In any case, Lin Lesheng was going to take the subway with her.

The subway was crowded. There were no empty seats when Zhou Wan got on. She and Lin Lesheng both held onto the handles.

Her phone suddenly rang. Zhou Wan checked it and saw a video from Ruan Jiyan, which looked pitch black.

She was about to open it, but suddenly lost her balance and swayed backward.

“Careful.”

The fresh scent of lemon burst into her nostrils. Zhou Wan was firmly encircled by Lin Lesheng from behind. Before the other woman could let go, she quickly gripped the handle and stood up.

“Thank you.”

Zhou Wan felt awkward. She put her phone away, touching her cold nose sheepishly. She suddenly felt her face flush.

The scent of lemon pheromones. It smells nice.

This was Zhou Wan’s initial thought, but when she associated the pheromone with Lin Lesheng’s face, she immediately felt the pheromone was a mismatch.

The moment Lin Lesheng hugged Zhou Wan from behind, she caught a whiff of sweet, cloying strawberry ice cream.

Mhm…

Strawberry ice cream pheromones. They smell good.

However, Alphas with such sweet pheromones were usually soft and cute Omegas. She hadn’t expected the contrast between Zhou Wan and her pheromone scent to be so great.

The combination of a cool, dominant woman and strawberry pheromones. Lin Lesheng found the thought adorable.

Zhou Wan couldn’t figure out why this person was suddenly smiling wildly. For her, Alphas like Lin Lesheng had nothing in common with her.

She was clearly being distant with her words and actions, but Lin Lesheng seemed to ignore it, completely unbothered.

It would be better if she knew I didn’t want to talk much.

The two stood together until they reached Imperial University. Zhou Wan stepped out of the subway station first. Taking advantage of the crowd, she bent down and slipped away, leaving Lin Lesheng alone looking for her.

“Where did she go?”

Zhou Wan left the subway station and headed straight for the school library with her bag. She didn’t want to go back to the dorm; it had people she didn’t want to see. The only place she could go was the library.

After securing a spot, Zhou Wan remembered the video Ruan Jiyan had sent her earlier. She hadn’t had a chance to watch it yet.

Zhou Wan sat down, put on her headphones, and clicked on the dark video.

She initially thought it was a prank video, meant to scare people. She watched it for dozens of seconds but saw nothing.

However, Zhou Wan noticed the layout of the room.

The familiar curtains and beds—it was their dorm.

What was going on? How did Ruan Jiyan get surveillance footage of their dorm?

Zhou Wan continued watching. There was no anomaly in the room. Just as she thought it was another strange video, Zhou Wan saw Li Yanwei’s curtain move.

Li Yanwei climbed out of bed in her pajamas, clutching something in her hand. She seemed to be moving stealthily, trying not to be discovered.

Zhou Wan initially thought she was just getting up to use the restroom in the middle of the night, but she watched Li Yanwei walk to her bed and tuck the item in her hand into Zhou Wan’s own backpack.

A chill ran down Zhou Wan’s spine. She looked down at her backpack.

She had bought this backpack for convenience when carrying books and traveling. It had several zippered compartments. Zhou Wan unzipped layer after layer until she finally found something wrapped in tissue paper in the innermost layer.

She opened it to find a beautiful watch inlaid with pink diamonds.

Zhou Wan quickly grabbed the watch. At that moment, Ruan Jiyan sent her another message.

【Did you finish watching?】

She finished. She finally finished watching.

“Ruan Jiyan, I know where your watch is hidden.”

Li Yanwei shouted at Ruan Jiyan the moment the other girl opened the dorm door and walked in, but Ruan Jiyan didn’t spare her a glance.

Ruan Jiyan planned to return and pack her things. She wanted to take all her cosmetics, skincare products, and all her personal items with her.

She had sent the video to Zhou Wan an hour ago but still hadn’t received a reply.

This matter wasn’t urgent. She could wait.

“You know? Then tell me where it’s hidden?”

Ruan Jiyan casually packed all her belongings into cardboard boxes, then lifted her eyelids to look at Li Yanwei.

“Zhou Wan took it. I saw her sneakily putting something into her bag today. It looked like a watch.”

“Did you really see clearly? What color was the watch?”

Li Yanwei swore confidently: “I saw clearly. The watch was silver, with pink diamonds set in the face. Isn’t that the one that was lost?”

How could there be such a stupid person in the world? Ruan Jiyan couldn’t understand how she managed to get into Imperial University.

“You’ve never seen my watch. How do you know my watch is silver?”

“I!”

Li Yanwei stammered: “Most women’s watches are silver. Yours is too.”

Ruan Jiyan didn’t look up and countered: “Then how do you know my watch face is set with pink diamonds?”

“I…”

Li Yanwei was completely stumped this time. She stood up and walked over to Ruan Jiyan, yelling: “I just saw it! Believe me or not! Wait until Zhou Wan gets back and search her bag. It must be in her bag!”

Bang! The dorm room door was violently pushed open. Zhou Wan stood in the doorway, holding her phone, surrounded by intense anger.

Ruan Jiyan saw Zhou Wan return and immediately addressed the situation: “Zhou Wan, you’re back. Li Yanwei just said you took my watch.”

Li Yanwei was also startled by Zhou Wan standing in front of her: “Why didn’t you say anything before coming in? You scared me.”

“I heard everything you just said,” Zhou Wan’s face was grim. She laughed coldly at Li Yanwei: “And I recorded it too.”

Ruan Jiyan had almost finished packing. She stood up, picked up the doll on the table, and gouged out the doll’s eye.

Zhang Xiaolan, who had just come out of the restroom, noticed things were wrong. Both Zhou Wan and Li Yanwei’s expressions were off, but Ruan Jiyan looked like she was watching a play.

“Go ahead and record! It’s useless anyway! You’re the one who stole the watch! Even if you recorded it, it won’t help you!”

Li Yanwei, the thief crying “Stop thief,” shouted, relying on her loud voice: “I’m just stating facts. Go ask Ruan Jiyan yourself. Maybe she’ll forgive you!”

Zhou Wan saw Li Yanwei’s incorrigible nature and decided to completely sever their relationship.

“Oh really? Didn’t you sneakily put this watch in my backpack last night? And now you’re crying ‘Stop thief’?” Zhou Wan swore for the first time in her life: “How shameless are you!”

As expected, Li Yanwei froze when she heard this.

How did she know it was me last night? That shouldn’t be possible. She put the watch in when both of them were sound asleep in the middle of the night. How could she have been discovered?

“It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it!”

Li Yanwei’s tone became frantic. Little did she know that she looked exactly like an exposed clown in Ruan Jiyan’s eyes.

Ugly, shameless, and ridiculous.

“Is that watch worth stealing? Probably only someone like you, Zhou Wan, would steal it. We’ve never been without money. Why would we steal a cheap watch?”

Zhang Xiaolan finally understood. She looked at Li Yanwei in astonishment and questioned: “Li Yanwei, did you really do it? You stole Ruan Jiyan’s watch and hid it in Little Zhou’s bag? Aren’t you trying to frame her?”

Li Yanwei was speechless. The evidence was irrefutable. She couldn’t utter a word.

“Did you see clearly? That person is you.”

“No… Zhou Wan, you secretly recorded me! You invaded my privacy! I’m going to sue you! I’ll have my parents hire the best lawyer! I’ll make you go to jail!”

Ruan Jiyan shrugged, watching the farce unfold. Sure enough, a legal illiterate is a legal illiterate. Someone like Li Yanwei, even if she managed to graduate, would likely spend the rest of her life in prison.

“We can talk about privacy rights later. I’ll ask one more time. The evidence is irrefutable. Did you take that watch or not?”

“I took it!”

Li Yanwei’s voice was sharp, grating, and full of bitterness. She grabbed Zhou Wan’s phone and violently smashed it on the floor. The phone shattered into pieces.

“So what if I took it? Do you really think that watch is worth five million? I’m telling you, it’s fake! Ruan Jiyan used it to fool fools like you!”

Ruan Jiyan smiled faintly, watching the scene. The timing was perfect. She glanced at her watch and said with a smile:

“Teacher, you can come in now.”

Ruan Jiyan’s words struck Li Yanwei like a bolt from the blue, leaving her utterly shocked.

The counselor was a middle-aged woman in her thirties, wearing silver-rimmed glasses. Her eyes were serious as she looked at the infuriated Li Yanwei with an expression of disappointment.

“Teacher, I…”

“Li Yanwei, what do you have to say for yourself?”

Cen Yin rubbed her temples and sighed: “When Ruan Jiyan came to me, I simply didn’t believe you would do such a thing.”

Ruan Jiyan stood innocently by the bed, watching the drama. Although her face was expressionless, her heart was icy cold.

Cen Yin’s words carried a hidden meaning. As a counselor, she clearly favored Li Yanwei over herself.

When she had gone to Cen Yin’s office earlier and explained the situation, Cen Yin had shaken her head, saying it was impossible, making Ruan Jiyan feel like the clown who was falsely accusing someone.

From that moment on, Ruan Jiyan would never fully trust anyone again.

In this world, she couldn’t trust anyone but herself—the stronger version of herself.

Zhou Wan’s eyes were red. It was the first time she had been betrayed and almost wrongly accused of theft.

“Ruan Jiyan, come out with me for a moment.”

Hearing Cen Yin’s words, Ruan Jiyan felt something was amiss, but she followed Cen Yin out anyway, leaving the three roommates to stare at each other.

“How about you settle this privately? After all, the watch has been found, and student Ruan hasn’t suffered any loss.”

Straight to the point. That was Cen Yin’s original intention. Ruan Jiyan found it utterly ridiculous.

The woman called her outside alone for no other reason than to plead for Li Yanwei, and she completely disregarded Zhou Wan’s situation.

“Student Ruan, this matter isn’t a big deal. It was just caused by poor dorm relations. How about this? I’ll arrange for Li Yanwei to change dorms. What do you think?”

“Teacher, you are a counselor. You must have studied law, right?”

Ruan Jiyan countered.

Cen Yin knew the gravity of Li Yanwei’s mistake, but as Li Yanwei’s aunt, she had to protect her.

“The teacher knows you are a good child and will surely give Li Yanwei a chance to redeem herself.”

Ruan Jiyan chuckled twice. It seemed this Cen Yin thought she was a fool who could be easily persuaded. She didn’t take her seriously, and she certainly didn’t take Zhou Wan, who was unfairly implicated, seriously.

“Why are you so sure that I will forgive Li Yanwei?”

Cen Yin was silent. It was the first time she had been questioned by a student she managed.

“Well, if it must be as you wish,” Ruan Jiyan looked earnestly at Cen Yin: “Then what about Zhou Wan? Are you not going to give her an explanation?”

“I will handle student Zhou Wan’s matter properly.”

Listening to these pretentious words, Ruan Jiyan’s eyes turned cold, and she felt utterly disgusted.

Did such a person really deserve to be a teacher and a university counselor?

“But Teacher, I’ve already called the police.”

Cen Yin’s face changed dramatically when she heard Ruan Jiyan’s words: “You called the police?”

Ruan Jiyan nodded, looking innocent: “My first thought was to call the police, Teacher. Your face doesn’t look very good.”

Ruan Jiyan looked like a soft, weak female student, yet she had the audacity to call the police directly.

Cen Yin knew from the start that this transfer student came from an extraordinary background and was certainly a spoiled young lady. She assumed that some kind words would persuade her not to make a fuss about Li Yanwei. But now, the matter was entirely different from what she had imagined.

Ruan Jiyan was not as easy to deal with as she thought.

“Teacher, you’ve studied law. What is the consequence for theft exceeding one million yuan?”

Ten years to life imprisonment.

Cen Yin couldn’t possibly be unaware of this.

“And there’s another one: the crime of false accusation.”

Ruan Jiyan hadn’t studied law, but that didn’t mean she was a legal illiterate.

Cen Yin’s heart went cold again. She felt weak all over, almost collapsing to her knees against the wall.

“I heard that the crime of false accusation is punishable by less than three years in prison.”

Ruan Jiyan calculated the time, staring quietly at the pale-faced Cen Yin, and smiled: “Teacher, you’ve studied law. Do you think I’m right?”

Looking at the Omega in front of her, whose face was full of insincerity and a fake smile, Cen Yin was terrified, as if she had seen a ghost.

“Teacher, do you know about the crime of intentional cover-up?”

Ruan Jiyan pressed on relentlessly: “Teacher, you are a professor at Imperial University, a place countless people dream of entering. Are you really willing to be fired from the school for a student who is completely unrelated to you?”

If she didn’t intercede for Li Yanwei, she could keep her job as a university teacher, but Li Yanwei would be sentenced to prison.

Cen Yin felt like her head was about to explode. She didn’t have time to think and immediately knelt down in front of Ruan Jiyan.

“Student Ruan, I beg you, please let Li Yanwei go, okay?”

Beg her?

Ruan Jiyan lowered her eyes to look at Cen Yin, who was kneeling on the ground, humbly begging for Li Yanwei. She immediately made a gesture to help her up.

“Teacher, why are you begging me? You should be begging the police.”

Li Yanwei inside the room still maintained her arrogant demeanor, her ugly face repulsive.

Zhou Wan had taken out the watch without touching the face or the strap. She had become cautious. If the watch was touched by anyone other than Ruan Jiyan, that person’s fingerprints would be left behind.

Since Li Yanwei touched it, she must have left her fingerprints, and that was the evidence.

Li Yanwei saw Cen Yin push the door open and immediately grabbed her wrist: “Teacher, help me.”

Cen Yin gritted her teeth and said, “Student Li, prepare yourself. The police will be here soon.”

The police arrived on campus in the afternoon, and the person was taken away that afternoon.

Zhou Wan and Ruan Jiyan went to the police station together.

Fu Qingyun didn’t know that the three people in Ruan Jiyan’s dorm had been taken away until she returned to school. When she came back in the evening, only two people remained.

Ruan Jiyan saw Fu Qingyun waiting for her in the cold wind the moment she arrived at the school gate.

A day apart feels like three years. Fu Qingyun had been desperately missing Ruan Jiyan.

“Ruan Bao, you went to the police station?”

Fu Qingyun felt a wave of self-reproach. It was a crucial time, yet she hadn’t been by Ruan Jiyan’s side, and it was a serious matter like going to the police station.

“I went with Zhou Wan. Don’t worry.”

Although Ruan Jiyan had told her to handle the matter herself, Fu Qingyun was still worried about her safety.

Zhou Wan stood aside, watching the couple, and smiled with relief: “The matter is finally over for now. I can breathe a sigh of relief.”

This time, Li Yanwei had completely hurt her. Zhou Wan had intended to spend the rest of her university days peacefully in the dorm, but fate had other plans. She was wrongly accused of theft at an age when she shouldn’t have to endure such things.

“Zhou Wan, why are you here?”

Lin Lesheng felt a surge of anger when she saw Zhou Wan. She hadn’t expected to see her at the school gate.

“Lin Lesheng?”

“We got off the subway together. You disappeared in a flash! Do you know how long I looked for you at the subway station? I was afraid you’d be kidnapped and sold to a remote mountain village to be someone’s wife.”

Zhou Wan: “…”

It was indeed her fault, but she had acted impulsively and snuck away then. She hadn’t expected Lin Lesheng to care so much about her.

“Are you two…”

Fu Qingyun looked at Zhou Wan and Lin Lesheng with an expression of one watching a good show, feeling they had been secretly doing something under the nose of her and Ruan Jiyan.

Lin Lesheng had a stomach full of grievances with nowhere to vent: “Do you know how long I looked for you at the subway station? I even asked the staff to make an announcement to look for you!”

“You…”

Zhou Wan didn’t know what to say. The Alpha in front of her looked foolish, but she was different from what she had imagined.

“Let’s go, Ruan Bao,” Fu Qingyun looked like she had understood the core of the matter. She put her arm around Ruan Jiyan and walked away, whispering into Ruan Jiyan’s ear: “It looks like my roommate and your roommate are about to get together.”