After Dumping the Female Lead, It's My Turn to Cry - Chapter 19.3

The person who had deftly set the tone for this shocking scandal with just a few words casually wrapped an arm around Ruan Yubai’s shoulder. After smiling and greeting everyone, she gracefully descended the stairs, followed by a chorus of admiring whispers.

“Who’s that girl walking with the president? Could it be that the young lady has a partner? How lucky!”

“Don’t jump to conclusions. Although that person didn’t lift her head, when she passed by me earlier, I noticed she didn’t have a scent she must just be an ordinary Beta. The Beta accompanying the president on patrol today is probably her.”

“Ahhh, to receive personal guidance from the president, what a dream come true! I’m so jealous, I’m the only one left under the lemon tree!”

“Enough already, let’s just follow the president’s instructions and wrap this up. This idiot Alpha is so heavy, how many pigs does he eat in one meal?”

As the group dragged the unconscious Nan Zhuge away like a corpse, the actual Beta partner of Qing Ling scratched her head in confusion.

Innocent Beta classmate: That all sounds perfectly logical, but I have just one question.

Innocent Beta classmate: If the person walking with the president is her Beta partner, then who am I?

Innocent Beta classmate: Who has replaced me, and whom have I replaced?

In contrast to her partner, who stood stiffly in place like a dried-out statue, the substitute Ruan Yubai was much more animated. Once they stepped out of the teaching building, the girl who had been as timid as a quail finally relaxed, stretching her arms and legs so vigorously that the sleeves of her uniform began to swirl in the air.

After loosening up her stiff joints, Ruan Yubai looked up at Qing Ling and somewhat sheepishly returned the pen to her. “How did you figure out that it wasn’t an outsider who tampered with the surveillance equipment?”

In the heat of the moment, it was hard to think clearly, but once the tension subsided and Ruan Yubai reflected on it, he realized that Qing Ling had likely detected the scent of blood in the air from the very beginning. With her sharp eyesight, she had probably taken in the sight of the barely dragged-in fat pig in the room.

At the time, when their Beta companion raised a hypothetical assumption, Qing Ling did not refute it, effectively casting a thin veil of discretion over the most prestigious institution on the planet.

The greater likelihood was that the culprit was someone within the school, but she had no concrete evidence at the time and didn’t intend to voice her suspicions and sow discord among her classmates.

Qing Ling remarked, “I rarely make assumptions about people.”

Compared to her peers, who were more inclined to trust the bonds of friendship, Qing Ling was, after all, a newly transferred student and didn’t hold any particularly strong biases toward the students of Laureus. In other words, she had no qualms about thinking the worst of others. If one could set aside preconceived notions, many things would appear far simpler.

However, completely eliminating prejudice is an exceedingly difficult feat. For those who can maintain such clarity and analyze situations objectively, the general public likely wouldn’t feel admiration first. More often than not, they’d be unnerved.

But such reactions certainly didn’t apply to Ruan Yubai, who had little interest in delving into the female lead’s inner world. Even if the female lead decided to destroy the planet, Ruan Yubai might just applaud the effort. After all, you couldn’t expect too much from a cannon-fodder supporting character.

For someone aware they were living inside a novel, the fact that Ruan Yubai hadn’t developed antisocial tendencies was already a commendable performance. Thus, with her inherently laid-back nature, Ruan Yubai remained more concerned with her own well-being. As her thoughts drifted, she stumbled upon a startling realization.

If the female lead had discovered the unconscious Nan Zhuge early on, that meant she had also been aware of Ruan Yubai hiding in the corner all along. How had she figured it out?

“The scent.”

But Betas don’t have pheromones, do they?

Seemingly sensing Ruan Yubai’s confusion, the young lady in the thin knit sweater took her pen and explained patiently, “Not pheromones, it’s the smell of matcha milk tea. You’ve been drinking too much of it.”

After removing the pen she’d used to secure her hair as a disguise, Ruan Yubai’s soft locks cascaded down, carrying an air of innocent delicacy, much like her overall demeanor. They fluttered in the night breeze, resembling strands of seaweed.

Strangely enough, Qing Ling found it odd. Ruan Yubai had only consumed some milk tea, none of it had spilled on her clothes yet even from half a meter away, Qing Ling could catch the faint, sweet fragrance emanating from her. It was a curious blend of sugary fruit and fresh leaves, not cloying but reminiscent of a freshly served dessert.

Was it just the scent of milk tea, or was it Ruan Yubai’s own fragrance?

Such thoughts veered into peculiar, ambiguous territory. Qing Ling pinched the bridge of her nose and averted her gaze from Ruan Yubai’s almond-shaped eyes, which flowed like mountain streams. “I’ll walk you out of the school. Get some rest, and let’s pretend today never happened.”

The student council president’s tall, slender figure stood under a beam of light, the faint scent of freesia mingling with the night’s chill, evoking a sense of solitude.

Ruan Yubai had already taken several steps away but, upon seeing that solitary shadow, couldn’t resist hesitantly asking, “Your room is still there, untouched. Why don’t you come home with me to sleep tonight?”

Qing Ling tucked a strand of wind-tousled hair behind her ear, her expression unreadable as she studied her.

She was a girl entirely different from herself.

Her hair was slightly disheveled, strands drifting backward with the wind. Her skin was delicate, and even after just a short while in the evening breeze, the tips of her ears had reddened, taking on the hue of pomegranate seeds.

If placed in the Qing family, as her strictest grandfather would say, a child like this probably wouldn’t even make it halfway through the first round of training. At a single glance, one could tell she was the kind of waste destined to be left behind by the times, only able to rely on the family’s protection and fated to achieve nothing significant.

Qing Ling had always believed this. When she was young, aside from her, the family had also brought in other talented children, ostensibly as her companions for training. But even as a child, Qing Ling had clearly understood that these peers, their eyes filled with ambition, were not just playmates. They were more like venomous insects raised in the same box. If she could defeat them, well and good. If not, the Qing family wouldn’t hesitate to support a stronger child to rise, leaving this Omega daughter as nothing more than a puppet wearing a luxurious crown.

Born as an Omega, one must exert a hundred times more effort than others to earn the recognition an Alpha receives at birth. Those who couldn’t measure up deserved to be eliminated.

Qing Ling had always thought this way. But at this moment, as she looked at the girl’s innocent and naive appearance, the only thought that arose in her mind was to help her put on her hat and cover her soft, delicate ears.

So clumsy. Whether it was the disgust written on her face during their first meeting or this awkward concern now, it was all something that could be seen through at a glance without any effort.

Yet Qing Ling was actually troubled by a child like this.

The howling wind swept past recklessly. Qing Ling walked over nonchalantly and, in the end, helped her put on the hat and fastened it securely.

During the change of seasons, the emerald green lawn would turn withered and yellow, looking particularly strange at night.

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