After Dumping the Female Lead, It's My Turn to Cry - Chapter 22

Amid the clamor and chaos, Ruan Yubai untied her twin ponytails and casually pulled on a baseball cap, hoping to blend in as an anonymous bystander in the crowd. She intended to slip away unnoticed as a hidden descendant of the Lei family, doing a good deed without leaving a name, why stick around and become a live target?

Forget the gang of the male lead’s lackeys; if they found out that the one who had tricked them was just a Beta without glands, who knew how they’d react with their ape-like, impotent rage. And then there were her parents, if the Ruan family discovered their child had been lured into volunteering as bait with just a cup of cocoa-flavored pudding, they’d probably yank her by the ears like a lazy fish and confiscate all the snacks in her room.

But the most important thing.

Before she could finish the thought, Ruan Yubai felt a faint vibration from the terminal she had just turned on on her wrist. She casually swiped it open and glanced at the screen.

That one glance made her eyes widen larger than glass marbles, and the leg she had stealthily lifted froze mid-air, causing her to miss the perfect opportunity to slip away through the crowd.

It was none other than her Omega father.

Dad: “Your old man is going to an all-night rave at the zoo with friends today. There’s a once-in-a-decade nighttime glowing giraffe parade. Figure out your own dinner, and I’ll grab a couple of bottles of O-Pop fruit milk from your uncle who sells O-Society drinks.”

Dad: “Beep.”

Dad: “Beep beep beep beep.”

Dad: “Why are you just like your mom, always going off the grid? Off reading those cheesy novels again without internet, huh? Anyway, you have the house key. Lock up properly when you come home after your wild night. I’m logging off now, bye.”

Ruan Yubai: Let me see which little darling has a brain full of plain rice porridge.

Ruan Yubai: Oh, it’s me!

To maintain the integrity of the fishing act and prevent anyone monitoring the pinhole cameras from discovering her true identity, Ruan Yubai had temporarily disabled the notification function on her terminal while in the restroom stall. That’s why she hadn’t noticed her dad’s messages.

The most critical issue was that she never carried the house key not just out of laziness, but more importantly, the key’s spot was reserved for storing an extra pack of Little Raccoon crispy noodles.

Who would have thought a moment of gluttony would lead to such consequences?

Furious, Ruan Yubai crushed the crispy noodle packet in her crossbody bag with one hand, wondering if she should message Sister Lin Yi to ask if she could crash at her place for the night. Just then, someone patted her arm.

Before Ruan Yubai could react, the person beside her lifted her arm high into the air. An Omega with the scent of osmanthus flowers excitedly shouted, “She’s the one who disguised as an O to lure those dumb Alphas into the trap! She’s the hero!”

The petite Omega muttered under her breath, “Where did you go earlier? I’ve been looking for you forever.”

In an instant, the previously noisy crowd fell silent. Like searchlights, all eyes turned toward the girl whose arm was now raised high against her will.

This Alpha’s covert filming incident was utterly despicable and caused a massive uproar. Students living in the dorms or nearby tapped into their inner Marathletes, sprinting to the scene with record-breaking speed. In an era where information spreads at near-light speed, the incident spawned thousands of forum posts within minutes, instantly skyrocketing to the top of the trending list.

“Holy shit, our school has such a disgusting Alpha? Ugh, ugh, ugh expulsion is the only acceptable outcome.”

“No need to be so extreme, fellow Omega. They can keep their student status just let them enjoy a thirty-year ‘vacation’ in prison under the Laores Act.”

“Fully support this.”

“Hard to say no to that request.”

“+1”

“But I’m curious, what kind of beauty could lure these Alphas into such a trap? I know Zhang San he usually acts all high and mighty, with a reputation as Laores’ legendary player echoing across the stars. How did this seasoned veteran fall into a pit?”

“Rumor has it she had twin tails definitely a stunning Omega. I’m practically drooling; no more talk, I wanna see! Panting noises.”

“This Beta isn’t being greedy just want to give such a gorgeous girl a home.”

“Sis can, so can I.”

“Please, little O, give us a chance.”

As the discussion veered off track, someone finally couldn’t hold back and replied when the post count hit 8,888.

“Stop joking around, everyone. This ‘sister’ is actually a Beta, just dressed up as an Omega.”

In a forum where replies poured in by the second, a brief, miraculous silence fell.

It mirrored the sudden hush in the Laores hallway at that moment.

Surrounded by student council members, the group of underlings looked utterly stunned. Fluorescent dye, impossibly vibrant, glittered across their hair and scalps, forming a brilliant green canopy in place of hats. Paired with their flushed, embarrassed faces turning purplish-red, it created a strikingly vivid red-and-green spectacle.

Only a few had known earlier that the bait was actually a plain “salted fish” (unremarkable person). Now, many student council members couldn’t hide their shock. Though they tried to maintain composure, the surrounding crowd couldn’t stay calm, erupting into a buzz of discussion.

“Is this for real? She doesn’t look like a Beta at all! The student council must have splurged on an external hire she looks like a campus queen from some Omega school.”

“Exactly, I caught a whiff of her pheromones chocolatey, and honestly, pretty sweet.”

“Wait, that’s not her pheromones. She probably just ate some cocoa-flavored dessert. She’s a genuine Beta.”

“Beta or Omega, I want all her contact info in three minutes.”

“Stop arguing, I feel like she looks familiar, almost like.”

Someone who had been silently observing finally spoke up: “Actually, I think I’ve seen her too, but I’m not entirely sure.”

The two exchanged a complicated glance and simultaneously uttered the person’s name.

“Ruan Yubai.”

Ruan Yubai, shaking a bag of Little Raccoon Crispy Noodles weakly in the air with one hand: Ha, that’s right, it’s me. Didn’t expect that, did you?

More than just unexpected, the classmates were utterly stunned.

A fellow F-class student clicked their tongue and said helplessly, “This is our class’s treasure fish she’s always been adorable. To be honest, I’ve always liked her.”

A less familiar friend nearby was shocked: “But you’re an Omega.”

“What’s wrong with being an Omega?” The F-class student who spoke first rolled their eyes disdainfully. “Xiao Bai is super popular among us Omegas, okay? Not just Omegas even Betas love to pat her head. It’s those arrogant Alphas who look down on everyone and never even glance at Betas. Serves them right for crashing and burning.”

“That’s true. If they hadn’t been so prideful before, it wouldn’t have been so easy to catch them off guard.”

“But she’s really so cute, I don’t know this little beauty at all. It’s just unbelievable.”

Ruan Yubai suddenly leaped from the edge of the conversation to the center of attention, and this time, she really felt like crying.

The Little Raccoon Crispy Noodles in her hand could attest, she truly did not want to be famous!

As the saying goes, “People fear fame as fish fear fat.” Ruan Yubai not only loathed causing trouble that would earn her the hatred of the male lead’s lackeys but also dreaded her parents discovering that their daughter’s brain might have been kissed by the Pig Deity. And the most crucial reason of all.

She wanted to build herself a villain persona! The kind that lurks in the shadows, doing shady deeds unseen. With this halo of righteousness and heroism draped over her, wouldn’t she just become part of the female lead’s team?

It wasn’t just Ruan Yubai who had this gloomy thought; classmates who had witnessed her passionate confession in class before were even more convinced of this speculation.

“Why would Xiao Bai go through all this trouble, risking being flattened like a fish pancake, to do such a thankless task?”

“Don’t you get it? The only one guarding the booth at the time was the Student Council President.”

“Oh my god, it can’t be.”

“Please explain.”

“Calling you dumb really isn’t an insult, don’t tell anyone you’re from F-class when you go out. Xiao Bai did this just to get closer to her crush. How pitifully devoted. Why did she have to fall for the Young Miss, of all people?”

“She’d like anyone but you, so you might as well give up now.”

If there was one thing in this chaotic, restless environment that could bring Ruan Yubai’s goal of becoming a detestable villain closer to reality, it was probably the fact that the Young Miss didn’t show much joy or gratitude at this moment.

On the contrary, those familiar with Qing Ling’s temperament would know that her gentle smile right now was actually a sign of anger.

The late autumn night poured frost through the open corridor in great swathes, the swirling transparent mist scorching the glow of the suspended fluorescent lights. Sliced moonfrost drifted like feathers, lightly floating over the girl’s pink-white cheeks.

Her hat was the most useless cover the fine, soft strands of hair beneath it, as bewildered as their owner, cascaded over her shoulders like a handful of springtime teasing a babbling brook.

The hand raised in the air, chilled by the cold, seemed brushed with vivid pigments. As the light softly refocused, the back of her hand appeared even more delicate and soft, while her fingertips were tinged with a faint, pale red camellia hue.

The once moist air now felt parched, how else could Qing Ling hear the disgusting Alpha unconsciously swallowing at this moment? All the soft mist seemed to have gathered in the girl’s eyes, condensing into a few hazy, innocent apricot blossoms.

Apricot blossoms are naive to the ways of the world, but that doesn’t stop insects lurking in the corners from secretly coveting them. Some are dragonflies intending to gently brush past the soft petals with goodwill, while others are tiny aphids stealthily trying to steal a sip of the sweet floral nectar.

Yet there are even more jumping spiders, scorpions, and snakes that can weave webs or slither under the guise of camouflage to entangle the blossoms. Their patterns are nearly sinister and murky, ultimately capable of smearing all colors into a dismal, shapeless pulp of petals.

They are the lurking sow bugs in the darkness, the viscous parasites hidden deep in the mud.

Is this child really so careless?

In an instant, Qing Ling smiled silently.

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