After Dumping the Female Lead, It's My Turn to Cry - Chapter 28.2

Such thoughts couldn’t withstand scrutiny, for as soon as she clicked into the post, Ruan Yubai’s pupils contracted sharply, she had a bad feeling about this.

The earlier replies in the post were relatively normal:

“Where’s the OP? What’s the follow-up?”

“Yawning while sitting on the bench, waiting.”

“OP, if you keep ghosting like this, you’ll end up stewed and eaten.”

But there were only a few such comments, and they were quickly overshadowed by the newly released “Special Protection Regulations for Transgender Omegas,” causing the post to sink into obscurity.

This aligned with Ruan Yubai’s expectations. Usually, in such cases, the moderator would delete the post once the hype died down, completely erasing any trace of her blunder from the forum.

The problem lay in the 66 interstellar coins she had offered as a reward.

The user to whom she had gifted a considerable number of interstellar coins perhaps out of a sense of guilt had continued to post follow-up reports even though the original poster had disappeared.

“OP, is this you?”

Attached was a blurry, candid photo.

A half-crouching girl was being pulled up by a slender, elegant hand. With her snow-white fluffy crossbody bag, she looked like a soft rabbit tail being tugged, both comical and adorable.

Since the photo was taken from behind, only the back and half of the side profile were visible, making it impossible to identify the person.

“Wow, is the crouching one the OP? So soft, I want to give her a squeeze!”

“OP is so silly did she get caught by a green tea guy?”

“Based on my judgment, this isn’t the homewrecker guy but the green tea’s daughter.”

“Let me say something politically incorrect that daughter’s hand is so beautiful! Well-defined knuckles and so long. OP, if you succeed, you’ll at least be very happy.”

“Are you talking about that kind of happiness? Help, you’re such a pervert!”

“OP, don’t worry, let me admire this hand for a bit before I help you curse them out! Prprpr.”

“Have you all thrown your morals and sense of shame to the huskies? Leave this green tea mother-daughter pair to me to educate you’re all just a bunch of shallow people who only care about appearances.”

“Hey, stop messing around, am I the only one who noticed how cute the OP is? Her head is so round, I just want to poke it. Even from the side, her face looks so chubby and soft. If I were that daughter, I’d probably be tempted to pinch her cheeks.”

“Ugh, you’re not alone! And the OP is so fair-skinned even with this pixelated quality, you can tell her complexion is amazing. How does she take care of her skin? I want to sneak her home and raise her myself.”

“But it seems like the OP might be a bit of a bottom. Can she really pull off being a top? The path to revenge is long, and I’m a little worried about her.”

Ruan Yubai’s face was practically turning dark from reading these comments.

She frantically clicked the “Request Deletion” button, only to find that her previous request hadn’t even been processed yet. When she backed out to check, it was no surprise, the spam post that had been there just moments ago had already been swiftly deleted.

Not only that, but the spammer, ever the opportunist, had even come to her thread to advertise, promoting a dog-blood novel titled What Should I Do If I Got Pinned Down by My Enemy’s Daughter?

Oh, how clever adapting the title to fit the situation, huh? Wasn’t it just called Those Years When My Husband and I Switched Roles a moment ago?

Unscrupulous moderators, unscrupulous merchants, unscrupulous ad placements, unscrupulous netizens! Utterly shameless!

The disappearance of pandas is linked to every single one of you!

Ruan Yubai thought for a moment, preparing to draft a clarification in the thread before manually locking it. But before she could hit send, she heard a knock on the door. Startled, she quickly shut off her terminal and nervously glanced toward the entrance.

Oh, scared the fish out of me. It wasn’t the female lead, it was just Madam Ruan.

Mrs. Ruan was holding a plate of chilled fruit, and from the cool mist rising from it, it was clear the orange slices were refreshingly delicious.

But of course, she wouldn’t give in so easily.

Ruan Yubai stared with lifeless, dead-fish eyes, expressionlessly spearing a piece of fruit as she shot a disdainful look.

Mrs. Ruan sat down beside her, somewhat awkwardly patting her hair. After hesitating for a while, she finally asked in a low voice, “Daughter, tell me the truth, do you really like the young lady from the Qing family?”

Ruan Yubai stopped chewing her orange.

If she weren’t afraid of staining her bedsheets, she would’ve performed the classic “dead fish blowing bubbles” scene right then and there for Mrs. Ruan.

That was clearly something I said out of anger! How could Mrs. Ruan, my own mother, not see something so obvious?

Besides, the one she liked was clearly Lin Yi. Even though they hadn’t seen each other in a while, their childhood bond was etched in her bones, it wouldn’t fade so easily.

But before Ruan Yubai could defend her pure-hearted intentions, Mrs. Ruan continued, “But since you’ve expressed your feelings for Xiao Qing, that’s fine. Otherwise, I’d have thought you still had feelings for that girl Lin Yi. I knew my daughter wouldn’t be the kind of two-timing scumbag.”

How does that make me a scumbag? Ruan Yubai had only ever liked Lin Yi. The ridiculous engagement with the female lead was nothing but a forced arrangement, bound to be annulled sooner or later.

Even if she didn’t take the initiative to break it off, the male lead would probably dismantle her limb by limb to force the annulment.

But meeting Mrs. Ruan’s gaze, Ruan Yubai found herself inexplicably asking, “What if I still want to be with Sister Lin Yi?”

“A womanizer like that could never be the daughter I gave birth to.” Ms. Ruan’s voice was gentle, but her hands mercilessly crushed the empty fruit plate into two halves. “Don’t you agree, dear daughter?”

Alas, woe is me.

Ruan Yubai swallowed hard and let out a dry laugh: “Hahahahaha, Ms. Ruan, you’re so funny.”

However, with these two interruptions, Ruan Yubai could no longer focus on reading her novel.

She widened her round eyes and looked up at the sky in despair: Damn author, what did I ever do to deserve such suffering? Come out, let’s settle this one-on-one!

At that time, Ruan Yubai had no idea that this painful story was only just beginning.

The next day, on the way to school, Qing Ling was still on a phone call in the car. Ruan Yubai couldn’t stand being in the same car with the female lead for even a second longer, so she dashed out first to take a few breaths of fresh air.

Before she could even stretch comfortably, she felt a heavy arm slung over her shoulder. “Old Bai, you’re really something, huh.”

What had she done this time?

Ruan Yubai slapped her friend’s hand away in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Stop pretending,” Bibiba snorted, pulling up the Star Forum on her device to show her. “As a seasoned internet surfer, how could I miss such a legendary hot post? The photo this user snapped is of you, right? Others might not recognize you, but I spotted your big head right away. And that beautiful hand in the background Old Bai, I never expected that the Student Council President alone couldn’t satisfy you. Who knew you were a hidden player?”

Ruan Yunbai’s heart sank the moment she saw the post. Just as she was about to snatch the device away, a cold voice sounded from behind. “What photo?”

Startled by the voice, Bibiba nearly lost her balance. Realizing that the very Student Council President they had just mentioned was now looking at her, she abandoned all pretense of friendship and, ignoring her friend’s frantic desperation, eagerly handed the post to Qing Ling. “This one.”

This is bad.

Ruan Yubai slumped in despair, feeling as flat as a pancake.

As long-time friends, Ruan Yubai was well aware of Bibiba’s forum-browsing habits. She might not take class notes seriously, but when it came to forum posts, she employed the Cornell note-taking system. Not only would she outline the thread’s development from the chaotic replies, but she would also highlight every detail with glaring fluorescent markers. For hot topics, she would not only emphasize key points but also write a full summary below.

So, there was no way Bibiba would miss the core content.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Ruan Yubai heard Qing Ling let out a light, amused chuckle. “‘Ten Thousand Clever Tricks to Conquer the Mistress’s Daughter’? I never knew Miss Ruan had such interests.”

Bibiba, still unaware that the other person in the photo was standing right in front of her, showed no loyalty as a friend and defected without a second thought. “President, don’t worry. I’ll definitely persuade Old Bai to steer clear of such crooked paths.”

Damn it! After more than a decade of living, Ruan Yubai had finally been betrayed by her own eyes, how could she have ever considered such a traitor her friend?

If uncles could tolerate this, aunts certainly could not.

And if aunts could tolerate it, Ruan Yubai absolutely could not.

The anger she had long suppressed finally erupted when her father said, “Why is Xiao Qing always wearing the same set of clothes? Yu Bai, how are you taking care of her? You didn’t even pack her a few more everyday outfits?”

That remark acted like a fuse, instantly reminding Ruan Yubai of the day she first met the female lead Qing Ling had been just as infuriatingly nonchalant back then.

What “beautiful, pitiful soul living in poverty”? If this favoritism continued, her own parents would soon be replacing their biological daughter!

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Unable to hold back any longer, Ruan Yubai stomped up the stairs, grabbed a stack of clothes from her wardrobe, rushed down to the female lead’s room, and flung them inside the moment the door opened.

So, he wanted to give her clothes?

Fine, she could wear her hand-me-downs then!

She, Ruan Yubai, was someone destined to be a villain, how could she keep getting bullied by the female lead? Where was the villain’s halo?

Facing Qing Ling’s slightly raised eyebrows in surprise, Ruan Yubai lifted her chin with a haughty smile, feeling the joy of a small-time landlord finally turning the tables like Huang Shiren: “Are you angry? Hehehe, good! I did it on purpose!”

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