After Dumping the Female Lead, It's My Turn to Cry - Chapter 29.2

Setting aside all these messy thoughts, Qing Ling was truly a rare beauty, a delight just to look at. Watching her hold the pen and effortlessly glide across the page, leaving behind lines of elegant, powerful, and exquisitely crafted handwriting, it was hard to believe such skill belonged to a scion of a highly advanced technological family.

In the deep autumn, the withered leaves had all fallen. Ruan Yubai watched the morning light outside the window softly illuminate Qing Ling’s smooth, lustrous black hair, almost forming a pure, gentle halo.

A faint, serene fragrance of small freesias lingered in the air. Even though the branches outside were bare and skeletal, she could still catch a hint of soft spring.

Qing Ling seemed to sense something, paused her writing, and turned her head: “Is there a problem with any of the questions?”

Ruan Yubai averted her gaze, lowering her head sheepishly: “No, I was just thinking about when the winter jasmine outside will bloom again.”

But, she secretly thought, it wouldn’t really matter if it never bloomed again.

A week later.

“I can’t study anymore,” Ruan Yubai slammed her pen down fiercely, feeling as heroic and indomitable as a legendary champion. “I’m not reading novels anymore you can go play with your jelly by yourself!”

To be honest, she felt the person before her wasn’t even a machine but a demon disguised as the beautiful female lead. Over the past seven days, Ruan Yubai had endured brutal training sessions.

Of course, the study schedule Qing Ling had planned for her was scientifically allocated even memorizing the names of Zerg limbs followed the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve.

It was just that the cumulative amount was a bit excessive.

Thinking about it, Ruan Yubai had missed so many classes catching up from scratch was bound to be difficult. She had expected the workload to be heavy and the material extensive.

But the problem was, it was just too much!

This wasn’t a workload an ordinary, run-of-the-mill minor villain should have to handle.

Not even a major villain should.

“It’s normal to feel weary after studying too much theoretical knowledge.” Qing Ling always maintained that serene and detached demeanor, as if Ruan Yubai’s snarling negative emotions were utterly insignificant.

Her words were spoken with the same calmness, yet for some reason, Ruan Yubai suddenly felt a chill run down her spine far more terrifying than seeing a hundred thousand paddle bugs crawling toward her in unison.

The young lady lifted her gaze and glanced at her placidly. “Come to the simulation field. Let’s spar a bit with mechas.”

At that moment, Ruan Yubai hadn’t yet grasped the severity of the situation. Boldly, she retorted, “Fine, I’ll spar with you tomorrow. Don’t go crying for your mom when you get beaten up.”

Unlike the genuinely kind and virtuous female lead, a villain like her would never show mercy just because the young lady was as delicate as a flower!

With that, she threw back the covers and slipped into bed as nimbly as a live fish. There was no way she was going to finish the remaining half of the assignment. “The teacher said early to bed and early to rise makes one healthy. I’m a bit tired now, Ms. Qing. You should head back and rest early too.”

Even if that teacher was from kindergarten, did that make her any less of a teacher? And just because she had grown up, did that mean she no longer needed to stay healthy?

Naturally, reading novels brought joy to the body, which canceled out the negative effects of staying up late but that was beyond the scope of this discussion.

Then, with a click, she turned off the main light, leaving only a desk lamp glowing softly in the distance, the sole spot dispelling the darkness, carrying a faint, cool scent of freesia.

That fragrance drifted across most of the room, settling silently on the chair by her bed, accompanied now and then by the barely audible rustle of pages turning.

Surely she wasn’t actually going to wait until she fell asleep before leaving?

Amid the tranquil aroma, Ruan Yubai lay with her eyes closed, her mind wandering. If nothing else, she believed her current act was quite convincing.

After an indeterminate amount of time, the soft rustling of pages suddenly ceased. Just as she was secretly rejoicing that the female lead had given up and left, she felt a cold finger pinch her nose.

Followed by a light chuckle: “Miss Ruan, did you not realize your eyelashes have been trembling this whole time while you were pretending to sleep?”

Ruan Yubai’s eyes flew open instantly, her face flushing bright red whether from breathlessness or fury, it was hard to tell. Huffing, she threw off the covers, sat down at the desk, and flipped open the remaining half of the assignment, gritting her teeth. “Fine, I’ll do it! I’ll do it, alright?!”

Ruan Yubai was utterly baffled. This was supposed to be just a cheesy novel, so why did everything keep veering toward the perverse?

That very night, Ruan Yubai swore she would have her revenge.

If she couldn’t compete with the female lead in other areas, surely she could hold her own in combat mechas something even Class A had only recently started learning?

Unlike the everyday lightweight mechas, heavy combat mechas operated on a completely different control system.

After all, when she was young, Ruan’s mother often took her along to practice, calling it a parent-child brain-training game.

As the saying goes, if you want to defeat the female lead, don’t attack her strengths with your weaknesses. Instead, drag her down to your level of incompetence and overwhelm her with your well-honed skills of cutting corners!

Perhaps due to mental exhaustion, Ruan Yubai slept soundly through the night, waking up refreshed and determined to crush the female lead in the training arena that evening.

Ruan Yu’s movements were uncharacteristically agile as she leaped into the cockpit. Even the heavy armor couldn’t conceal her spirited energy: “Come on, I’ll give you three moves first!”

Her fingers lightly resting on the controls, Qing Ling couldn’t hold back a burst of laughter.

This was just too adorable.

And then?

Well, there was no “and then.”

Heartless, ungrateful, utterly despicable!

By the time Ruan Yubai struggled her way out of the Lumos, she looked as if she’d been fished out of water. If Qing Ling hadn’t swiftly changed course, she might have ended up slumping like a boneless soft-bodied creature right outside the classroom.

It wasn’t until she emerged from the basement into the daylight that Ruan Yubai hazily realized they were at the female lead’s dorm. But by then, she was too exhausted to care. She took the saline water Qing Ling handed her and gulped it down in large swallows, only feeling somewhat revived after finishing two full cups.

“Would you like to rinse off here?”

Sweat had soaked through the girl’s thin uniform, tracing translucent lines against her skin. Even the straps resting on her delicate shoulders were clearly visible, rising and falling faintly with her exhausted breaths, teetering on the brink of slipping past a suggestive boundary.

Unaware, Ruan Yubai continued to lick her dry lips after finishing the water. Whether due to autumn-induced chapping or not, her lips hovered between a tender pink and a vivid crimson, shimmering with a captivating gloss as she moistened them.

Like a red fruit that would burst at the slightest touch.

Qing Ling’s fingers twitched slightly as she retrieved a freshly washed towel from the nearby cabinet. For now, she just wanted to avert her gaze from the scene before her. She handed it over, saying, “But I’ve used this one before. If you mind, you might have to bear with it for a bit.”

Feeling sticky all over, Ruan Yubai took it without a second thought, blinking. “If you don’t mind, why would I?”

After all, Qing Ling was the story’s central female lead, an Omega while she was just an ordinary Beta. Why would she care about something like that?

Besides, they were practically potential rivals in love.

Even if it was only one-sided.

At that thought, Ruan Yubai pursed her lips, picked up her small white shower caddy, and ambled slowly into the bathroom.

Just then, a message popped up from a classmate in Class A. She swiped it open casually.

“President… um, sorry to bother you, but do you know who that girl with the twin tails was the other day?”

Another message followed shortly after.

“Just her name is fine. You don’t need to worry about the upcoming vote, my friends and I can’t promise much, but we can guarantee over half the support.”

It should have been an easy decision.

A Beta she’d only known for a few months versus the most urgent vote at hand.

And this Alpha didn’t seem to have ill intentions, he just wanted to pursue her. For someone who enjoyed playing the field, this infatuation might fade soon enough, right?

So why was she hesitating?

Qing Ling’s eyes darkened, their already deep hue turning ink-black. Her striking beauty took on an unsettling stillness.

Just then, the bathroom door clicked open.

“Ms. Qing, your shampoo’s almost out. Time to restock next time.”

Instinctively locking her terminal, Qing Ling turned toward the voice.

Letting Ruan Yubai bathe in her own dorm room was undoubtedly the worst decision.

Qing Ling was slightly taller than Ruan Yubai, so the clothes hung a bit long on the latter, forcing her to roll up the sleeves.

If the sleeves weren’t enough of a problem, thinking the towel would be larger, the belt Ruan Yubai tied in front seemed precarious. Translucent droplets slid down her milk-like, lustrous skin, passing by her lips as if tinted with the rich hue of vibrant flowers, then trailed over her collarbone and soaked into the fabric Qing Ling had worn, blurring the not-too-thick material before preparing to stain a landing point further below.

It was the hue of the first delicate bloom in the pale, early spring dawn.

Seeming to notice Qing Ling’s silence, Ruan Yubai fiddled with the loosely tied slender ribbon at her waist as if playing with a toy. The collar of her garment faintly caught a sliver of light, and as she approached, a fine mist seemed to drift along with her. Even the scent she carried was strikingly similar to Qing Ling’s.

“What are you looking at? Why aren’t you saying anything?” Out of curiosity, Ruan Yubai lifted her head to gaze at her, puzzled.

Her eyes were innocently round, exuding a purity untouched by worldly concerns. When veiled with a hint of moisture, they seemed to shimmer with translucent droplets, as if holding back tears even when she wasn’t crying.

Qing Ling wanted to turn away coldly and respond to the waiting Alpha, yet for some reason, it felt as if she were under a spell, unable to move even an inch.

Finally sensing something amiss in Qing Ling’s gaze, Ruan Yubai lowered her head to glance at herself, then broke into a sudden, understanding smile. Her eyelashes fluttered lightly, and faint, sweet dimples appeared on her cheeks. “Ms. Qing, you’re so naughty.”

Her damp, softly curled hair brushed against Qing Ling’s cool hand, leaving a tingling sensation. A drop of water fell silently, sinking into the tranquil flow of blood beneath Qing Ling’s skin.

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