Damn It! I Fell for the Hated Villainess Again! - Chapter 12

Earth is a massive online game.

Around the age of five, each person completes their initialization, receives their identity card, undertakes personalized beginner quests, awakens some skills, and gradually differentiates into various components of society.

Yu Tanning’s identity card assigned her the role of the illegitimate daughter in a traditional Chinese family. Her grandfather favored sons over daughters, while her grandmother and eldest uncle harbored deep resentment toward their illegitimate branch. Unlike her parents, who were content with their circumstances and resigned to their fate, she possessed an almost pathological desire to seize the “crown prince’s” shares, resources, and power.

From the moment Yu Tanning could remember, every day had been filled with hypocrisy, flattery, cutthroat competition, and scheming. In this male-dominated family, these twisted traits had sprouted and grown wildly, like a deformed plant.

But the roots of this “bad seed” had been trapped within a docile shell for too long, and there were bound to be moments of collapse.

At a business year-end banquet, when Yu Tanning’s meticulously crafted three-month project was credited to her cousin, she lost her composure for the first time in her life. Throwing caution to the wind, she hacked into the system and plastered the screens with photos of her cousin passionately kissing a male classmate.

Her grandfather knew it was Yu Tanning who had done it. After all, she was just a sixteen-year-old girl at the time, and the cunning old fox could easily see through the young beast’s deliberately concealed fangs. Long before Yu Tanning had even obtained proof of her cousin’s homosexuality, her grandfather had already warned this ambitious granddaughter, delivering a slap followed by a sweet reward.

The old patriarch promised that if Yu Tanning kept the matter buried, she would receive $10%$ of Yu Corporation’s shares.

Even her most favored cousin only…

She was determined to secure the position of heir to the Yu family, and she wouldn’t relinquish even a fraction of what she already held.

The $10%$ collective shares weren’t enough to force her to surrender the fruits of her months-long labor. So, she bared her fangs at the entire family, “killing” her younger brother in a near-suicidal act of revenge and demonstration.

After the business conference concluded, her cousin was sent to a conversion therapy center, and Yu Tanning had three teeth knocked out by her grandfather.

The sensation of her mouth filling with blood was nauseating, like having a bowl of soapy water forced down her throat. The choking made her retch until her stomach cramped, and for months afterward, she couldn’t stomach meat or greasy food. Even in her dreams, she tasted the bitter tang of swallowed teeth.

Her mother, though sympathetic, weakly urged her to be more obedient and sensible in the future, to stop competing with her uncle’s family for attention and inheritance.

Yu Tanning outwardly agreed, adopting a docile demeanor as if she’d learned her lesson.

She had learned her lesson, but not in the way her mother imagined. Beneath her apparent acceptance of the family’s ostracism, she was secretly plotting to seize control of the succession battle through even more ruthless means.

She had begun to seize every opportunity, exploiting the weaknesses and desires of those around her like a predator. Over the years, she had seamlessly transitioned between feigned sincerity and coercive tactics, extracting value from others while indulging her own malicious whims.

Until she met Jiang Yao, a woman covered in flaws yet devoid of base desires.

Yu Tanning adored Jiang Yao. With Jiang Yao by her side, Yu Tanning’s boundless malice could be effortlessly disguised as righteous indignation, deceiving everyone—even Yu Tanning herself.

Take the recent example: Zhang, the CEO of the streaming platform, had broken his contract and defected to her cousin’s team. Yu Tanning had long harbored a desire for revenge.

So, she used a photo of Zhang in drag as a minor punishment, both intimidating the scoundrel and convincing her mother that she had acted impulsively out of loyalty to a friend. It was truly killing a hundred birds with one stone.

After ending the call with her mother, only twenty minutes remained of her lunch break.

Yu Tanning let the sneer fade from her lips, rubbed her eyes, and returned to the dormitory, feigning exhaustion.

Jiang Yao was still awake.

The sewing machine sat idle to one side, one half of the wardrobe had been ransacked, and the culprit—a small cat—squatted by the bed, straining with all her might to drag a suitcase from under the bed.

Hearing Yu Tanning enter, Jiang Yao turned and immediately put her to work. “Well, look who it is—the busy bee herself! Come over here and help me pull this suitcase out.”

The cat wore a two-piece pajama set, the top a little too short, revealing a stretch of snow-white, taut waist. She looked soft and pliable, yet radiated a dangerous aura that warned, Touch me and you die.

Yu Tanning subtly averted her gaze and stepped forward. “Looking for something?”

“Yeah, just some clothes.” Jiang Yao immediately delegated the suitcase-pulling task entirely to Yu Tanning. “Be careful not to scratch the paint off my bed when you pull it out.”

“If I scratch the paint, I’ll just give you my bed as compensation,” Yu Tanning replied, deliberately ignoring Jiang Yao’s fussiness. With a clang, she yanked out the slightly dusty Louis Vuitton suitcase.

Staring at the invisible scratches on the bed frame, Jiang Yao nearly exploded with rage, itching to kick the stinky woman under the bed.

But then she remembered her recent streak of bad luck with money. The renowned designer ultimately decided to show some mercy, letting this “life’s jinx but career’s lucky charm” off the hook.

Truth be told, Yu Tanning did seem to have some influence on Jiang Yao’s career fortune.

Just now, while grumbling and cursing as she altered the stinky woman’s dress, a brilliant idea had struck Jiang Yao like lightning: Who said competition entries couldn’t be made from repurposed old clothes?

Genius!

Jiang Yao was practically a money-saving… 呸! A genius in the field of fashion design!

This wasn’t about money at all—it was about environmental protection, aligning with the nation’s sustainable development strategy.

What noble social ethics!

What cutting-edge design philosophy!

Jiang Yao! You’re touching the heart of China!

Grumble—

An untimely stomach growl shattered the celebratory mood.

Yu Tanning glanced up. “Didn’t you eat lunch?”

Jiang Yao’s face flushed crimson. “I’m not hungry!”

“Wow, the boss is really impressive. Was that some kind of ventriloquism?”

“Your dad, Yu Tanning!”

“Are you crazy? I’m not dead! My stomach’s working perfectly fine, okay? Who says it has to work with its mouth shut?”

Jiang Yao stubbornly refused to back down, maneuvering around Yu Tanning to drag her suitcase to an empty spot. The effort burned a few calories, and her empty stomach let out another loud groan.

She froze, momentarily paralyzed, wanting to pretend nothing had happened and get back to work, but terrified of her rebellious stomach.

I don’t want to forgive this world anymore. If I could, I’d turn into a monkey and slap every passerby across the face.

“Why didn’t you eat lunch?”

A shadow fell over her as Yu Tanning blocked the window. The small leather suitcase was ruthlessly snatched from her grasp, forcing Jiang Yao to face Yu Tanning’s deadly ultimatum: “I’ll skip the first class this afternoon. Do you want instant noodles now, or should I have Qiehe Private Kitchen deliver something to your college later? Choose one.”

For the first time, Jiang Yao felt the full force of Yu Tanning’s oppressive aura. A chill ran down her spine, but her stubborn, soft-hearted nature kicked in. “I said I’m not hungry! What are you doing? Trying to guilt-trip me?”

Yu Tanning’s fake smile now looked downright sinister. She turned to lock the dorm door, her voice dripping with menace. “If you don’t agree, I won’t let you out. Boss, you know I only approached you in the first place to become Student Union president.”

“Just imagine,” she continued, her fox-like eyes narrowing with a predatory glint, “if you fainted from hunger in class, what would the teachers think of me? What rumors would my rivals spread? Boss, friends are supposed to help each other, right? It’s not too much to ask you to do this little thing for my campaign, is it? Besides, if your stomach starts growling in class…”

“Ramen! Ramen! Ramen! Fine!” Jiang Yao slumped, but not completely. She transferred fifty yuan to Yu Tanning, enslaving the instigator to make her ramen.

“Wow, so generous, Boss! Want me to add ten King of Kings sausages?” Yu Tanning reluctantly refreshed the chat interface several times before finally accepting the money.

“Add Xuanwei ham!” Jiang Yao snapped, flopping back onto the bed and pretending to be dead.

Not having money wasn’t the worst part.

The worst part was that her precious palate refused to eat anything under three hundred yuan.

After the final payment incident, Jiang Yao had considered curbing her princess-like tendencies, but she just couldn’t shake the lingering “old person” taste she detected in the cafeteria food.

Now she understood why her grandmother had been so confident she would cave under financial pressure.

Someone who had grown up eating salted duck eggs made from freshly laid eggs flown in daily from Singapore, and who now had to subsist on frozen meat and pre-packaged meals, was bound to crack sooner or later.

Jiang Yao’s skipping lunch wasn’t just about being broke; it was also about her picky palate.

Given her current savings and income, until she received the prize money from the design competition, a single brioche slathered with imported Alba white truffle butter—costing five hundred yuan—would be her sole daily source of sustenance.

She also tried to talk less, figuring that swallowing her words might at least provide a semblance of fullness.

What a pathetic yet deserving woman.

“Boss, your Yu Clan’s exclusive instant noodles are ready!”

Yu Tanning entered with a bowl, her cheerful call pulling Jiang Yao back to the cheap yet undeniably fragrant aroma of instant noodles.

Resigned, Jiang Yao dragged herself up and shuffled to the table to eat, her expression like someone facing certain death. Yu Tanning pressed chopsticks into her hand, barely suppressing a laugh. “Dig in! If you don’t like it, you can hit me.”

As Jiang Yao scooped up a mouthful of noodles, her chopsticks bumped against something round and smooth.

Jiang Yao fished the round object out of her noodles and looked at Yu Tanning in surprise. “They’re giving away eggs with instant noodles now?”

This isn’t like what they show on TV, she thought. This is the real deal.

A true ancestor, Yu Tanning thought to herself, explaining, “The dorm auntie gave it to me. She raises chickens by the lake near the cafeteria. These are fresh eggs laid today, a little tribute for the big boss.”

Jiang Yao, who had never known anyone at school raised chickens, took a small bite of the egg, still astonished.

As the yolk and white melted thickly between her teeth, she tasted not the expected barnyard bitterness, but a clean, grassy fragrance—the simplest, warmest flavor.

The taste of home, Jiang Yao thought, the word surfacing unexpectedly in her mind. She didn’t know whether to feel happy or break down.

A billionaire heiress starving like a stray dog, finally saved by a humble country egg. Who gets it?

“Is the boss satisfied?” Yu Tanning asked, tucking a stray strand of hair behind Jiang Yao’s ear, her fingertip brushing lightly against Jiang Yao’s reddening earlobe. Yu Tanning recalled the “deleted luxury orders” and “saved discount coupons for meal kits” she had secretly discovered online.

A disheveled little cat, Yu Tanning thought. Living with holes in her life, yet still licking her fur until it gleams.

Yu Tanning had long been aware of Jiang Yao’s awkward situation, but she couldn’t quite grasp the young woman’s towering, precarious sense of pride.

For Yu Tanning, cutthroat business dealings were second nature. Profits mattered far more than saving face; she was willing to sacrifice her dignity without hesitation. After all, there would always be opportunities to grind others’ reputations into the mud later on. By then, everyone would be equally shameless, and her opponents might even end up more humiliated than she had been. So what did it matter?

She didn’t understand Jiang Yao, nor did she have any interest in interfering. Life’s harsh realities would eventually force the pampered young lady to confront the world’s cruelty. There was no need to provoke an unpleasant confrontation between them.

Today was no different. From the moment Yu Tanning entered their dorm room, she could tell Jiang Yao hadn’t eaten lunch. After all, the Fine Arts College was a long way from any of the cafeterias, and Jiang Yao couldn’t fly. How could she have returned for a midday nap before Yu Tanning?

She waited patiently for the young lady to surrender to life’s demands, to learn to survive without shame, just as she had.

But when she actually heard the little stubborn cat’s stomach growl, Yu Tanning’s heart inexplicably fluttered.

She blurted out several remarks that were completely out of character for her carefully crafted image as a gentle, considerate woman. When she realized what she’d said, she found herself feeling anxious and irritated—an odd, unsettling mix of emotions.

“Satisfied? What a joke. All you ate was a tiny bit of egg.”

Jiang Yao’s sharp, yet timid voice interrupted Yu Tanning’s thoughts. Yu Tanning glanced at Jiang Yao’s cat food bowl and saw she had only eaten the egg and a tiny bit of instant noodles. She chuckled in exasperation, “Wasting food will give you pimples.”

“What are you jinxing me for?” Jiang Yao retorted.

Yu Tanning shrugged innocently. “That’s what old people say.”

Jiang Yao refused to believe such nonsense and immediately searched it up on Baidu. After a moment of silent contemplation, she muttered back at her bowl of noodles, “Yu Tanning, you just wait. I’ll fix that ugly dress of yours right away.”

Yu Tanning burst into laughter.

Even with no strength in her paws, she still tries to act like a tiger.

Maybe I should ask Auntie for two eggs tomorrow.

A little kitten is much more impressive when she has the energy to throw her weight around.

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