Actually, She's Just an Idiot - Chapter 3

Wen Yue was not a person who liked to lie. The number of times in her life that could be counted as lying could be counted on one hand. When Wang Qianqian asked if she knew who Lan Xi was, her answer of “I don’t know” could count as one of them. Or perhaps, to put it another way, Wen Yue couldn’t be certain if it counted as “knowing” someone when she had had direct contact with Lan Xi, but only learned her name from Wang Qianqian.

Last Thursday, the class schedule was unusually light, so Wen Yue had enjoyed a leisurely dinner before deciding to wander around the campus. It hadn’t been long since the semester started, and there were events being held everywhere, even for students who took a wrong turn. There was a unique charm to aimlessly walking around.

Just as she stepped out of her dormitory, she bumped into Jiang Yun, who was emerging from the room next door. As their eyes met, before Wen Yue could even offer a greeting, Jiang Yun clung to her like she had just found her savior. Jiang Yun let out a small whimper, leaning half her weight on Wen Yue, and held onto her arm in a delicate, bird-like manner. “Ah Yue, are you busy later?”

Being led forward by the other girl, Wen Yue blinked in confusion. “No, I was planning to go for a stroll.”

Hearing this satisfying answer, Jiang Yun hooked her arm through Wen Yue’s and began to ramble. She explained that her roommate, Yao Xin, had promised to accompany her to a departmental interview, but had flaked on her at the last minute. This left her having to go alone, feeling particularly small, helpless, and pitiful. She added how fortunate it was to have bumped into Wen Yue, otherwise she wouldn’t have known what to do.

After listening quietly to her grievances, they had already made their way downstairs. Since Wen Yue didn’t have any specific plans anyway and figured a stroll was a stroll regardless of the direction, she reached out and patted Jiang Yun’s shoulder. “Don’t be sad, I’ll go with you.”

Hearing this, Jiang Yun, who was still pretending to be tearful, instantly froze. She stared at this sweet, petite girl—who even had to stand on her tiptoes to comfort her—and felt her heart melt.

Wen Yue had come to this university from the south. While it wasn’t strange for university students to come from all over the country, students from their province didn’t like traveling far from home, and regardless of their grades, most preferred to choose local universities. Thus, once they started classes, most of the students in the same program were from the same province. Jiang Yun had lived here since she was a child, and the people around her were all tall and sturdy, with voices that were exceptionally loud.

During the self-introductions on the first day of school, Jiang Yun was instantly conquered the moment she saw Wen Yue. The girl stood on the podium, tiny and delicate, yet introducing herself with the utmost seriousness. Her voice was steady and unhurried, much like a veteran official, yet she looked cute, charming, and fair-skinned. When she smiled, her large eyes curved into crescents, staring directly at you. Who could possibly resist that?

Jiang Yun’s lips trembled in an exaggerated fashion, and she felt that Wen Yue’s slim figure appeared particularly imposing at that moment. She squeezed Wen Yue’s arm tighter and said happily, “Besides Ah Yue, who else could spoil me like this!”

By the time they arrived, the recruitment event for the department was already underway. A group of people stood in the open space below the teaching building, holding banners and flyers, promoting their groups with great fervor. Jiang Yun had already set her sights on a specific goal. Therefore, they didn’t linger outside, but bypassed the crowd and headed straight for the classroom where the interviews were held.

There were people queuing outside in every corridor, but it wasn’t noisy. Everyone chatted in hushed tones, and the buzzing of voices could only be heard as they passed by the classroom doors.

Following Jiang Yun as she made several turns to reach their destination, Wen Yue looked at the banner by the door, which read “Youth League Committee Organization Department.” She exchanged a lost, blank look with the person beside her. There were still quite a few people sitting inside waiting, so it would probably take a while.

Jiang Yun didn’t want Wen Yue to stand around waiting for her like a fool, so she leaned in and whispered, “There are many other departments around here that are quite interesting, so you can go take a look. I’ll call you once I’m finished, okay?”

Wen Yue nodded. “I’ll make sure to turn my phone volume up.”

After settling the details, Jiang Yun patted her head, waved at her from the doorway, and stepped into the classroom to wait. After watching her disappear from sight, Wen Yue began to roam the floors with interest. It wasn’t just at the entrance of the teaching building; there were actually many department representatives recruiting new members along the hallways as well.

Wen Yue had already turned down several of them along the way. Everyone was very enthusiastic, but once they realized she wasn’t interested, they simply offered a polite smile and let her be. Only one boy, who had dyed his hair red, kept pestering her.

“Come inside and take a look, classmate, our department is great.” He stood in Wen Yue’s path, repeatedly trying to hand her a flyer. “The seniors are all very easy to talk to, it won’t hurt to learn more about it.”

“No thank you, I’m not interested.” This department felt like the Sports Department, as it was filled mostly with boys, and there was an intermittent smell of cigarette smoke drifting from the doorway. Wen Yue didn’t like it.

“Oh come on, why are you being so shy, little sister?” Seeing that his persuasion wasn’t working, he tried to reach out and pull her inside.

Wen Yue dodged, and seeing him reach out again, she clenched her fists, forcefully suppressing the reflex to kick him. She said, “I told you I am not int—”

“Sun Qiang, she already said she isn’t interested, not interested… are you deaf?”

The person who spoke had a cold voice, her arms crossed as she leaned against the wall, projecting an oppressive, commanding presence. Sun Qiang’s movements froze, and upon recognizing the person, he retracted his hand sheepishly and called out, “Sister Lan.”

The girl shot him a sideways glance and strolled over slowly, standing right next to Wen Yue.

“I was wondering why you hadn’t come over yet, so it turns out you were being blocked by this guy.” Lan Xi’s tone was level, but her expression was as cold as ice.

Realizing he was in the wrong, Sun Qiang rubbed his nose in embarrassment, offered a few words of defense, and slunk into the classroom.

Wen Yue watched the entire ordeal from the side, her eyes wide with admiration. Once the boy had left, Lan Xi abruptly turned her head to meet Wen Yue’s gaze. Wen Yue gave a slight jolt, blinked, and instinctively took a step back. She stammered, her posture so respectful it was as if she were about to have protection money extorted from her, “Th-thank you, Senior.”

Lan Xi leaned over slightly, resting her palms on her knees to look Wen Yue straight in the eye. The distance between them suddenly closed, allowing her to see the other girl’s features in great detail. The girl had slender, almond-shaped eyes, and a facial structure with such high definition that her features looked exquisite. Her long hair was held loosely behind her head with a claw clip, with only a few strands dangling by her cheeks. She was the type of person who, if she just stood still on the road, would be treated like a work of art.

The remaining frost melted away completely, and the corners of Lan Xi’s mouth curled into a smile, making her entire demeanor turn warm in an instant. She tilted her head and asked Wen Yue in a tone that sounded like she was coaxing a naive child, “Would you like to come join our department for fun?”

Perhaps it was the allure of her beauty, but Wen Yue swallowed hard and, as if under a spell, nodded her head.

It was truly a department worthy of such a beautiful girl. As soon as she walked in, the atmosphere felt completely different from anywhere else. Not to mention the leather sofas that looked incredibly comfortable, the physical attractiveness of the members was on an entirely different level.

She followed Lan Xi inside. Music was playing, and a girl was busy filming a dance video. The girl called out “Captain” to Lan Xi, then looked down and gave Wen Yue a curious glance. Lan Xi had Wen Yue sit on the sofa, then turned her head toward the girl and spoke with concise brevity: “Interview, I need the space.”

“Interview?” The girl raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t it already…”

“Hmm?”

“…Haha, nothing. The interview is great, the interview is great.” After saying this, she quickly grabbed her equipment. However, before leaving, she couldn’t help but steal one last glance at Wen Yue, who was sitting obediently on the sofa.

The girl, who had no idea what was going on, swung her legs back and forth, her gaze following the girl’s receding back. Now, there were only the two of them left in the classroom. Lan Xi’s heels clicked sharply against the floor. She handed Wen Yue a piece of paper and sat down across from her. “Fill this out first.”

There was a small table next to the sofa. Wen Yue took the pen from it, gave the information on the paper a quick scan, and began to fill it out seriously. It was just basic information, so Wen Yue finished it quickly. The moment she looked up, she crashed straight into Lan Xi’s gaze.

Caught off guard by the eye contact, the girl clearly panicked for two seconds. Lan Xi instinctively looked away, but quickly shifted her gaze back. She asked, “Are you finished?”

Wen Yue nodded and handed over the form. There were only a few lines of text, but Lan Xi looked at it for a long time. This made the person sitting next to her waiting for the result feel somewhat nervous. She couldn’t describe what this feeling was. Clearly, she had only been wandering around, yet here she was, sitting here filling out a form; clearly, she knew nothing about this department, yet she was afraid of failing to answer a question.

“Wen Yue.” Called by her name, Wen Yue tucked away her wandering thoughts, came back to herself, and responded, “That’s me.”

Lan Xi pinched the thin piece of paper, her beautiful knuckles rubbing against the surface, before placing it on the table. She looked at Wen Yue, her expression pleasant, and said, “Congratulations, you have been accepted into our department.”

“Huh?” This unexpected surprise was too sudden, and Wen Yue was completely unprepared. She tugged nervously at the hem of her pants. “But I haven’t answered any questions, nor have I gone through a secondary interview.”

Lan Xi turned the plain ring on her ring finger carelessly and said with a light, joking tone, “Then let’s just pretend… this is a ‘Boss Direct Hire’.”

“But I know nothing about this department, and I don’t know what I would do after joining.”

“There is nothing to be nervous about,” Lan Xi stood up, changed seats to sit beside her, and said gently, “I will teach you anything you don’t understand.”

“But…” Wen Yue knew she had already said “but” many times. There weren’t actually so many concerns; at the end of the day, it was simply because she couldn’t bear to refuse the person in front of her the way she would refuse someone else. She knew nothing about these things and had no intention of breaking out of her comfort zone. This whole situation exceeded her expectations. Wen Yue didn’t like having things appear that were outside of her plans, as it made her feel terrified and uneasy.

Lan Xi watched her quietly. The two were very close, so close that when the other girl’s fingers hooked through her collar, Wen Yue could smell the rich scent permeating the air. It was like ylang-ylang, or perhaps the scent of cedarwood.

Wen Yue suddenly found herself unable to speak. Like a tightly sealed jar, she stared fixedly at the other girl’s chin. Lan Xi noticed her hesitation. She gave a light laugh, leaned back lazily against the edge of the sofa, held her forehead, and muttered to herself, “I was too impatient.”

“What?” Wen Yue snapped her head up. The other girl had spoken too softly, and Wen Yue had been distracted, so she hadn’t heard clearly.

“I said, there is no rush,” Lan Xi gave Wen Yue a considerate opportunity to think it over. “You don’t need to give me an answer right now. It doesn’t matter if you come to find me after you’ve made up your mind.”

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