I'm Not Playing This Vicious Female Supporting Character Anymore! - Chapter 30

The meeting was quintessentially traditional—boring.

The Grade-Level Principal spoke for over half an hour, and judging by his lingering enthusiasm, it was likely a condensed version of what he had prepared. After his speech, each subject’s Group Leader took the podium for twenty-minute presentations.

Qin Yuzhen nearly dozed off.

When the emcee mentioned her name, she froze momentarily. Rong Xi nudged her arm, prompting her to stand.

Qin Yuzhen sauntered onto the stage, took her place at the lectern, and scanned the audience. With her keen eyesight, she could clearly see every face below.

“Hello, everyone. I’m Qin Yuzhen, and I just joined this school at the beginning of October. Many of you probably don’t recognize me, but you will soon.”

“Old Wang asked me to write about my study insights, methods, and share my learning experience.”

“To be honest, I don’t have any real insights or methods. I agonized over it for ages but couldn’t come up with anything substantial. Rong Xi says I’m smart, and I tend to agree.”

The audience erupted in chatter, while Old Wang buried his face in his hands.

Rong Xi: ???

“Shameless.”

Hearing the snarky remark from behind, Rong Xi turned and nodded vigorously at Liang Xuzhou, silently agreeing.

“Before this exam, Rong Xi and I made a bet.”

Rong Xi immediately turned to look at Qin Yuzhen.

Rong Xi: !!!

“If her score is lower than mine, I’ll make her a hundred servings of Xiang Yin Ya. But if my score is higher, she’ll have to talk to me like this for the next month…” Qin Yuzhen trailed off, raising her voice in a high-pitched, affected tone.

The audience erupted in laughter. Rong Xi silently covered her face and lowered her head in embarrassment.

“So, Rong Xi scored significantly higher than third place this time. You guys should try this method: make any boy who’s lost his voice talk like this for a month. It’d be hilarious,” Qin Yuzhen said.

“For example, Liang Xuzhou, who’s perpetually ranked fourth from the bottom in the Honors Class. If he doesn’t outscore me on the next mid-term exam, he’ll have to talk like this for a month—and I mean with everyone.”

Qin Yuzhen flashed a benevolent smile. From her vantage point, she could clearly see what Liang Xuzhou was mouthing. She had a passing knowledge of lip-reading.

System: …

[ Host, you just love stirring up trouble. ] The System was speechless.

Rong Xi nodded in agreement. I’m not the only one who’ll be embarrassed this time. Liang Xuzhou never expected Rong Xi to turn traitor so quickly.

“So, Liang Xuzhou, will you accept my challenge?”

“Accept it!”

“Refuse and you’re no man!”

“Liang Xuzhou, show her who’s boss!”

Liang Xuzhou: …

“Damn you,” Liang Xuzhou gritted his teeth.

“Alright, he agreed. Everyone witnessed it,” Qin Yuzhen announced. “I saw him nod from up there.”

Liang Xuzhou: ???

“It’s the first guy in the third row, to my right. Let’s all witness his progress. I’m sure his next exam scores will improve dramatically. Whether he surpasses me is another matter.” Qin Yuzhen smiled sweetly.

“Alright, my speech is done. Goodbye.”

Qin Yuzhen checked her watch: exactly two minutes.

She stepped down from the podium and returned to her seat. No sooner had she sat down than Rong Xi elbowed her in the leg.

“What was that for?!”

“To help you,” Qin Yuzhen said, grabbing Rong Xi’s hand before she could strike again. “Now, when you talk to me in the hallway like that, no one will find it strange.”

“Oh, thank you.” Rong Xi’s face flushed crimson, but she calmed down after a moment. After all, Liang Xuzhou’s situation was clearly worse than hers. Having someone to compare with made her feel better.

“By the way, you can’t hold back on the next mid-term exam.”

“Don’t worry,” Qin Yuzhen said with a smile. “I’m looking forward to seeing the results too.”

Liang Xuzhou leaned over her chair from behind. “You’re not human.”

“I never claimed to be. Didn’t you know that already?” Qin Yuzhen glanced at him. “Besides, if you didn’t want to, why didn’t you object when I said it?”

“When did I ever agree to that?” Liang Xuzhou asked, taking a deep breath.

“Didn’t you say ‘okay’ downstairs?” Qin Yuzhen replied, her face impassive. “What, are you going to deny it now?”

She shot him a contemptuous glance.

Liang Xuzhou: …

The System could only marvel at Qin Yuzhen’s unparalleled skill in turning the tables.

“Fine, if you don’t want to, then forget it,” Qin Yuzhen said, leaning back against her chair.

Liang Xuzhou’s face remained expressionless. “Now the whole grade knows. If I back out now…”

He opened his mouth, then after a long pause, muttered, “The venom of a woman’s heart is truly the deadliest.”

Qin Yuzhen gave him another look.

After the speeches and awards ceremony concluded, Rong Xi received yet another certificate for her monthly exam performance. Her family now had a thick stack of these accolades.

As Liang Xuzhou exited the meeting, he was immediately surrounded by a group of boys, all talking at once.

“Lao Liang, you should practice a bit first!”

“Do you even think you can outscore Qin Yuzhen? Why did you agree to this?”

“Lao Liang, let’s be honest—weren’t you itching to say that for ages? This is just a convenient excuse.”

“Lao Li, let’s make a bet too! Whoever scores lower next time has to come to school in a dress on Saturday. We don’t have to wear uniforms anyway.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Old Wang trailed behind the group of students, his lips twitching slightly. Not bad, he thought. Healthy competition can drive progress. He was also curious to see what those two burly guys would look like in dresses.

“That speech of yours is probably going to make the Principal furious,” Old Qian remarked, following behind Qin Yuzhen. “His face turned green when you were speaking.”

The physics teacher chimed in gleefully, “Old Wang is probably going to get called into the Principal’s office for this.”

Qin Yuzhen glanced at the physics teacher’s smug expression and could only sigh inwardly: Plastic office camaraderie.

As expected, Old Wang was summoned to the Principal’s office. However, upon his return, he didn’t confront Qin Yuzhen about it.

When Rong Xi returned to class, several girls clustered around her, hoping to hear her speak in her falsetto voice. Rong Xi firmly refused every request.

“You girls could always bet against Rong Xi,” Qin Yuzhen suggested with a raised eyebrow. “Just beat her in height. But I can’t just give you the reward—I saved it exclusively for myself.”

The girls exchanged glances and declined unanimously, unwilling to set themselves up for trouble.

Rong Xi glanced at Qin Yuzhen, surprised. She had expected Qin Yuzhen to deliberately provoke her into speaking, but instead, the usually mischievous girl was unexpectedly siding with her.

“Why are you looking at me?” Qin Yuzhen asked.

“Oh, I just thought you’d try to make me speak like that,” Rong Xi replied.

Qin Yuzhen replied nonchalantly, “I just wish you’d talk to me like this more often. Is that too much to ask?”

Rong Xi paused, blinked, and after a long moment, simply said, “Oh.”

She touched her face, feeling something was off.

“Sister,” Rong Xi cleared her throat, “since you’re not attending the training tonight, are you heading home first?”

“Mm-hmm. What else? Did you want me to wait for you?” Qin Yuzhen chuckled.

“As if I need you to wait,” Rong Xi retorted with a huff.

“That’s being sullen. It doesn’t fit the terms of our bet.”

“You only said I had to talk like this. You never said I couldn’t be sullen,” Rong Xi countered.

“Tsk.”

At 5:30, Qin Yuzhen finished packing her things and glanced at Rong Xi beside her. “I’m leaving.”

“Oh, Sister can just leave without telling me,” Rong Xi replied in a saccharine voice, her tone dripping with mock hurt. It made Qin Yuzhen seem even more like an irredeemable villain.

Qin Yuzhen fell silent for two seconds.

“Host, I sense that after your speech, Rong Xi has completely let loose,” the System remarked.

“Normal. After all, the whole grade knows about it now.” Qin Yuzhen stood up and headed for the door, leaving Rong Xi staring after her with pleading eyes.

“Sister, control your gaze,” Qin Yuzhen said, exasperated.

“But I just can’t bear to part with you,” Rong Xi pouted.

Qin Yuzhen fell silent for another two seconds before swiftly leaving the room, oblivious to Rong Xi’s thoughtful expression as he stroked his chin.

In truth, Qin Yuzhen hadn’t asked the driver to pick her up. She had her own business to attend to.

The System had arranged an untraceable bank account for her, though it was currently empty. Convinced that her falling out with the Rong Family was highly likely—around ninety percent probable—she decided to secure some funds while she still could. Money, she believed, was the key to happiness.

A few days earlier, Qin Yuzhen had signed up for a knowledge competition with a grand prize of one million yuan. This prize money would be transferred to her account balance. When she realized the System was forcing her to compete with others for her own money, she seriously considered switching Systems. Having to compete for her own funds was utterly frustrating.

Today was the preliminary round. If she passed, she’d need to participate in a televised recording later. The preliminary round began at six o’clock at a location near her school.

It took her only three minutes to reach the building hosting the preliminary round. This round would be an interview.

By the time she arrived, many people were already present.

Qin Yuzhen, with her backpack slung over her shoulder, looked unmistakably like a high school student. Several people glanced her way, while others clustered in groups, chatting. Their conversations revolved around gauging each other’s knowledge and skills. No one bothered to probe Qin Yuzhen’s abilities, assuming she was just a pretty face.

She found a spot to sit and lowered her head to play on her phone.

At 5:50, someone came around and handed out numbered tags.

Today’s open auditions were for only one batch, but she wasn’t sure how many people that meant. She pinned her tag to her clothes—number 27—and estimated she’d have to wait about an hour.

The wait was starting to annoy her.

“Host, what if you don’t pass the open auditions?”

Qin Yuzhen: ???

“You can’t guarantee I’ll pass?”

“Nope. This damn world is full of restrictions. It’s already impressive that I managed to create a show out of thin air,” the System grumbled.

Qin Yuzhen gritted her teeth. “Then why can’t you just arrange for me to help a rich person across the street? That way, the tycoon could thank me by giving me a million yuan!”

The System was silent for two seconds.

“Ah, I hadn’t thought of that,” it mused. “I’ll try that next time.”

“Hundreds of years, and you’ve made no progress at all,” Qin Yuzhen scoffed.

“You never mentioned it earlier! Don’t blame me. Creating this show was exhausting, you know!” the System muttered.

Her System was indeed the oldest model, and she’d never upgraded it. Qin Yuzhen claimed she was too lazy, but the System suspected she simply couldn’t bear to part with it. Of course, the System usually kept such thoughts to itself, knowing Qin Yuzhen would never admit to such sentiment.

She yawned as someone sat down beside her.

“Hello.”

Qin Yuzhen glanced at the person beside her, momentarily startled.

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