I Just Want to be a Throwaway Character - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Best in the World

A Mission and a Ruse

After eating, the group arrived at the final destination of their trip: Qingtai Mountain.

Qingtai Mountain is a 5A-rated national park in Z City, known for its vast area, beautiful scenery, and pleasant climate. However, in addition to having fun, Ji Wan’s beloved teacher, Teacher Yan, had assigned them a mission. The group members had to collect designated mission items within the scenic area. The winner would be exempt from a week of homework, a reward meant to motivate these rich kids.

Ji Wan enthusiastically held the map, pulling Bai Weiwei and the others toward Qingtai Mountain. A week without homework sounded fantastic. Only she knew how many brain cells she had killed trying to finish those assignments that had no answers online. The very thought brought tears to her eyes.

They arrived at a fork in the path, and Ji Wan looked back and forth at the map but couldn’t make any sense of it.

Suddenly, Lin Luo clutched her stomach and groaned, “Ouch, ouch, my stomach hurts so bad.”

Gu Nianqing looked at her coldly without a word, but a faint smile was clearly playing on her lips. Lin Luo’s terrible acting could only fool other people.

“What’s wrong?” Bai Weiwei, who was closest to Lin Luo, went over and asked kindly.

Ji Wan also ran over to “show her concern.” “Hey, Lin Luo, did you get a stomachache from eating too much? Haha…”

Lin Luo gave Ji Wan a frustrated look. She was doing this for her, for goodness sake. But she continued her painful performance.

“Hey, are you really okay? If you are, then we won’t look for the items. We’ll go straight back to the hospital.” Seeing that Lin Luo didn’t seem to be acting, Ji Wan began to panic.

“Ouch, no need! Just let Bai Weiwei help me back to the meeting point to rest for a bit,” Lin Luo said quickly.

“Why Bai Weiwei?” Ji Wan suddenly looked at Lin Luo with a warning glare, a look that said, “Don’t you dare try to steal my cabbage.”

“Ouch, everyone knows you’re the smartest one. We need you to find the mission items,” Lin Luo whined, going against her conscience as she explained.

“Then why don’t you let Gu Nianqing help you?” Ji Wan retorted, putting her hands on her hips.

“You know how bad her germaphobia is. There’s no way she’d help me,” Lin Luo said in a voice only the two of them could hear. Her reasoning was so logical there were no holes in it.

“Alright, Wanwan. I’ll help her go back. I’ll meet up with you later, okay?” Bai Weiwei said to Ji Wan, looking at Lin Luo, who seemed so pitiful.

“Okay, but you have to hurry!” Ji Wan finally relented.

As she left, Lin Luo gave Gu Nianqing a knowing look. “I can only help you this much, sister.”

Then, clutching her stomach, she let Bai Weiwei help her back toward the original meeting point. Of course, Gu Nianqing didn’t even spare Lin Luo a glance. Lin Luo felt a pang of despair.

Getting Lost

After watching Lin Luo and Bai Weiwei leave, Ji Wan continued to study the map she had bought for a bargain at a convenience store. As for why it was so cheap? Well, Ji Wan said it was the joy of a girl haggling.

Gu Nianqing watched Ji Wan for a long time, unable to make sense of the map. With her long, slender fingers, she took the map from Ji Wan’s hand and glanced at it. “This map is thirty years old. It’s useless,” Gu Nianqing said simply.

“What? I spent thirty bucks on it!” Ji Wan said, recalling how the convenience store owner had acted as if she was getting a huge deal. It all suddenly made sense to her. “Damn it! That old coot is so evil.”

“What do we do now? Where do we go?” Ji Wan ruffled her hair in frustration and instinctively looked at Gu Nianqing, who was the epitome of good luck.

Seeing the hopeful, eager look in the girl’s eyes, filled only with her image, Gu Nianqing was uncharacteristically mischievous. “I don’t know,” she replied. She knew exactly where to go, as the map was perfectly clear in her mind.

Seeing the girl’s disappointed face, Gu Nianqing thought it was incredibly cute.

“Let’s just take this path,” Ji Wan said to herself. Since there was no right way, they would just rely on luck. Ji Wan confidently walked toward one of the small paths.

She chose a path that wasn’t even on the map. Gu Nianqing didn’t stop her. Seeing the girl’s confident and optimistic demeanor, she couldn’t bear to interrupt. She resigned herself to following the happy little legs in front of her, her eyes filled with a doting affection that Ji Wan couldn’t see.

Ji Wan noticed they were getting to a more secluded path. The scenery changed from an open green landscape to the eerie shade of dense plants. Because the relationship with Gu Nianqing was still a bit awkward, Ji Wan maintained a distance of about one step, walking in front of her. After all, her past role as a “licking dog” was just too embarrassing to think about.

After walking for a long time, Ji Wan realized she was probably lost. Still, she kept moving forward, even though she knew this path was wrong. She had already led Gu Nianqing for over half an hour. How could she turn back now without losing face?

As she walked up a small slope, the ground suddenly became soft and gave way. Ji Wan’s body tilted and she fell backward. Her eyes closed in a panic. “This is bad, this is bad! My old back!”

But the pain of falling she had expected never came. An arm wrapped around her waist, and her back was pressed into a warm embrace. Without a second thought, she knew who it was. Ji Wan froze for a moment, then, realizing what had happened, quickly stood up.

“I’m sorry, you’ve gone to a lot of trouble,” she said, turning to thank Gu Nianqing. The girl’s polite and distant tone made Gu Nianqing’s heart ache. She couldn’t help but clench her fists, her nails digging hard into the soft flesh of her palms, but she couldn’t do anything to change the situation. “It’s nothing,” she finally said, all her emotions condensing into a single, simple phrase.

Suddenly, Ji Wan heard the faint sound of rushing water. She was instantly delighted. With water, they could follow the stream down the mountain. Excited, she walked toward the sound. Ji Wan pushed aside a thicket of bushes taller than she was. A lake appeared before her eyes. Floating in the middle of the lake was a small red flag. It was the mission item!

Ji Wan was so happy she wanted to jump for joy. She knew she was a lucky queen!

“Gu Nianqing, come quickly, I found it!” Ji Wan turned and excitedly called out to Gu Nianqing behind her.

Seeing the girl’s happy, triumphant expression, Gu Nianqing remembered what Lin Luo had once told her: you should smile more at the person you like. Gu Nianqing gave Ji Wan a rare smile. “Yeah, you found it.”

Ji Wan’s heart instantly skipped a beat. She quickly turned away from Gu Nianqing, her ears turning red. “Damn, she’s so beautiful,” she thought, ashamed of her own fluttering heart.

A Shocking Confession

Returning to her senses, Ji Wan looked at the mission item in the center of the lake. Just as she was wondering how to get to it, her eyes caught sight of a small bamboo raft not far from the lake. “Wow, I really am favored by the goddess of luck!” Ji Wan excitedly ran over and waved for Gu Nianqing to come.

When Ji Wan and Gu Nianqing stood on the bamboo raft, Ji Wan looked at the paddle in her hand with a frown. In all her twenty-plus years, she had never dealt with one of these things.

Noticing Ji Wan’s cluelessness, Gu Nianqing asked, “Do you know how to use it?”

Ji Wan’s expression changed, and she looked at Gu Nianqing with pleading eyes. “Sorry, I don’t know how to either,” Gu Nianqing said. She had lived a life of luxury since she was a child, and her education had never included how to operate a bamboo raft.

“Whatever, let’s just make it up as we go,” Ji Wan said, steeling her heart. She pushed the paddle against the ground, mimicking what she had seen on TV. The raft moved.

Gu Nianqing looked at Ji Wan’s newfound confidence with a strange sense of worry. Finally, after Ji Wan had paddled in a full circle around the lake without getting to the center, they were close to the little flag. The distance was so small that Ji Wan was thrilled. It had been an ordeal, paddling for over half an hour under the watchful eye of the “big ice block” next to her.

Estimating that she could reach it, Ji Wan went to the edge of the raft, ready to grab the flag. The moment she moved, the raft became unbalanced and began to sway. Ji Wan lost her footing, her leg slipped, and she accidentally fell into the lake.

“Ah!” Ji Wan screamed as she fell.

“Ji Wan!” Gu Nianqing, who was in the center of the raft, quickly reached out to grab Ji Wan, but it was too late. She couldn’t hold onto her. With a splash, Ji Wan fell into the water. “Oh no, I can’t swim!” Ji Wan thought as she sank.

Water filled Ji Wan’s nose and mouth. Just as she was about to lose consciousness, she saw a figure swimming toward her. Ji Wan knew who it was. She felt Gu Nianqing grab her hand, then slowly pull her into her arms and swim up.

“Mmph,” the moment she surfaced, Ji Wan weakly leaned on Gu Nianqing, gasping for air. Her hands tightly wrapped around Gu Nianqing’s neck. The girl’s thin summer clothes were soaked through. Her heavy breaths and the rapid beating of her heart after the scare were clearly transmitted through their skin to Gu Nianqing. They floated in the water, embracing each other, in a quiet moment with no sound except for Ji Wan’s ragged breathing.

Suddenly, Gu Nianqing used one hand to cup the back of Ji Wan’s head, and a warm, soft touch pressed against her lips. Gu Nianqing’s beautiful face was magnified right in front of her. Ji Wan’s pupils instantly widened. She was stunned, unable to react. She couldn’t fathom why Gu Nianqing would kiss her.

Sensing the girl’s bewilderment and confusion, Gu Nianqing lightly bit Ji Wan’s lip, deepening the kiss. She had seen the girl sink into the water, and her heart had been filled with panic and fear. She had jumped in without thinking to find her. She was terrified of losing the girl.

In this moment, Gu Nianqing only wanted to feel the girl’s lips, to feel her warmth, her heartbeat. She didn’t want to think about rejection. Ji Wan was hers.

Just after they had surfaced and before Ji Wan had a chance to catch her breath, she was forced into an incredibly unskillful kiss. Gu Nianqing didn’t even give her a moment to breathe. Ji Wan felt unbelievably suffocated. And why was the person she was kissing the female lead?!

When she finally reacted, Ji Wan tried to push her away, to escape. But Gu Nianqing sensed her intention, held her tighter, and kissed her even more deeply. This time, she even slid something soft inside!

“What a beast! We’re still in the water!” Ji Wan couldn’t help but complain internally. Ji Wan’s breathing became rapid, her body went weak, and her strength slowly drained away. Finally, her consciousness faded. She passed out…

When she woke up, Ji Wan would think: “This is so goddamn embarrassing.”

Gu Nianqing noticed Ji Wan’s breathing had become faint. She pulled back from the kiss, breathing heavily herself, her face flushed. She had kissed Ji Wan. Realizing that she had kissed Ji Wan into unconsciousness, Gu Nianqing quickly carried her back to shore.

Watching the unconscious girl lying on the ground, still holding the flag in her hand, Gu Nianqing pushed the wet strands of hair from her forehead and gently caressed her face.

“You are mine,” Gu Nianqing whispered softly.