The Beautiful Idiot Is Forced To Play The Villain [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Hearing his words, Lan Zhen’s brain stalled for a moment.

Shouldn’t Wei Chengyang hate him right now? Why would he proactively offer to help with his homework?

Besides, their handwriting was different; the teacher would surely find out, and then there’d be two people getting scolded.

Lan Zhen put himself in the teacher’s shoes: if he were the teacher, he’d definitely hate a lying student more than one who simply hadn’t finished the work.

Thus, he shook his head and handed over his empty assignment.

Even if he wasn’t very bright, he was an honest child.

Lan Zhen silently gave himself a thumbs-up in his heart.

“Are you sure you don’t need help?” Wei Chengyang arched an eyebrow. Instead of taking the workbook, he asked, “Nie Liang is checking the homework today. He won’t necessarily favor you.”

The homeroom teacher is checking it…

His “idiot student” instincts kicked in, and Lan Zhen’s extended hand retracted slightly.

Seeing that Wei Chengyang wasn’t leaving, the lackeys sitting around Lan Zhen crowded in. One volunteered, “That guy Nie Liang is hard to deal with. Lan-ge, you should just let him write it. He can mimic handwriting anyway.”

“Exactly. It’s rare for the Rank 2 student to offer himself up. Might as well use him.”

Someone said this, and the lackeys burst into raucous laughter.

There they go again. “Rank 2″—this guy is basically the future Rank 1! Stop drawing aggro!

Lan Zhen carefully peeked at Wei Chengyang’s expression. There wasn’t a ripple of emotion; it was still that robotic, poker face.

Even scarier.

He desperately wanted to just throw the blank workbook onto the pile of nearly collected assignments, but then another lackey spoke up.

“Last time I accidentally forgot my homework, Nie Liang targeted me in every single class for a whole semester,” the lackey said, his expression exaggerated.

Lan Zhen wavered again.

With his current level, if the teacher targeted him, he’d be humiliated on the spot, and his “Rank 1” disguise would crumble.

“Then… I’ll leave it to you,” Lan Zhen said slowly, his tone sounding soft and obedient. “I’ll write it properly from now on. Just this once.”

Wei Chengyang took his workbook and walked away. The lackeys were startled by Lan Zhen’s tone.

“Lan-ge, you’re not trying to play the ‘good kid’ to trick people again, are you?”

Before Lan Zhen could speak, they had already come up with their own justification.

Hearing this unexpected answer, Lan Zhen didn’t know how to explain. He couldn’t exactly say that the Lan Zhen they knew was gone and replaced by a total dummy, so he simply nodded along.

The short break ended. When the bell rang, things finally quieted down around him.

The next few classes felt more or less the same: he either barely understood or didn’t understand a single thing.

It was so incredibly boring that Lan Zhen couldn’t help but pick up his pen and doodle a few cute animals in his textbook. Once finished, he admired them happily for a long time.

370 couldn’t resist asking: [Weren’t you a system before? Learning these things should be simple for you. You should have a photographic memory.] At least, that’s how 370 was.

Lan Zhen thought about it and nodded. It used to be that way.

[I felt that function took up too much memory, so I deleted it later.]

Anyway, the hosts he used to manage were all very self-sufficient; he never needed to help them remember anything. He just needed to shout “Keep it up!” at the right moments.

How was he supposed to know that function would be useful later?

370 went silent, speechless.

Forget the persona—at this point, the system seriously doubted whether Lan Zhen could even complete the mission.

When school finally let out, Mo Changfeng approached him again, claiming they should head back to the dorm together for “mutual support” on the road.

Lan Zhen wanted to refuse but didn’t know what to say. He had seen Pei Ran discussing something with the other players earlier; they were likely taking action tonight.

Xing Shixi was too gentle; he didn’t look like the protagonist of an Infinite Flow world. That meant the protagonist had to be Pei Ran.

The original plot dictated that after the protagonist breaks the school rules, the villain receives a “taste of his own medicine” and eventually commits suicide.

To complete the system’s task, he had to follow this plot. This meant Pei Ran’s progress was directly tied to his own mission success. He had to pay extra attention.

If he wanted to secretly follow Pei Ran, he couldn’t go back to the dorm with Mo Changfeng.

While Lan Zhen brainstormed a solution, he slowly packed his bag to stall for time. Mo Changfeng couldn’t stand the pace and reached out to help him speed things up.

“I want milk tea. An extra-large one.” Lan Zhen poked Mo Changfeng’s hand with a single finger. Feeling that wasn’t earnest enough, he pursed his lips and added, “I really want one.”

So cute.

Being stared at by those round, puppy-dog eyes, Mo Changfeng froze for a second.

To prevent students from buying milk tea between classes, the shop was located far from the teaching buildings. A round trip took quite a while. Mo Changfeng looked at the person in front of him, hesitating.

It was such a long walk; Lan Zhen would probably complain about his legs hurting again once he got back.

“I’ll wait right here for you. I won’t go anywhere.” Lan Zhen’s hand reached out a bit further. Seeing no sign of rejection, he grabbed Mo Changfeng’s hand and gave it a little shake. “Please?”

Mo Changfeng raised his well-defined hand and swatted away the fidgeting hand. His movements looked cold and ruthless, but his heart was wavering.

Lan Zhen thought he was going to refuse and lowered his head in disappointment, preparing to follow him back to the dorm.

“Just one extra-large milk tea?” Mo Changfeng asked.

One second, two seconds.

Three seconds later, Lan Zhen reacted. His eyes lit up, and he said cloyingly, “And I want pearls added.”

He probably couldn’t finish an extra-large cup by himself. He had only suggested the size so Mo Changfeng would be gone longer.

Thinking this, he added another sentence: “Get two straws. We can drink it together.”

Mo Changfeng was a big guy, so he must have a big appetite. That way, nothing would go to waste! He really was a genius!

Drink it together?

The image of a young couple he had seen before flashed through Mo Changfeng’s mind.

At first, they conservatively used two straws. Then, somehow, their heads drifted together until their foreheads touched. After a shared smile, the two straws became one.

As a high school boy with no love interest, he usually found such scenes unlucky and went out of his way to avoid them.

Thinking about it now… it seemed… it seemed really sweet? No matter how you looked at it, they looked like a very loving couple.

With almost zero hesitation, Mo Changfeng dashed toward the milk tea shop at top speed.

“Sir, room temperature with pearls and normal sugar, correct?” The clerk confirmed the order and handed him two straws. “Here are your straws. Please take them.”

Mo Changfeng was about to ask for two straws when he saw them. He asked, “How did you know he offered to share a cup with me?”

“?” Although confused, the clerk maintained professional poise and smiled. “Our extra-large cups are usually meant for two people.”

“Oh.” So ordering the extra-large was just a reasonable excuse to share a cup with me. Mo Changfeng gave a confident smile and walked to the waiting area.

On the other side, Lan Zhen—having successfully gotten rid of him—naturally began to tail Pei Ran as planned.

Yes, the whole “I’ll wait right here for you obediently” thing was a lie, but it was a necessary evil.

I’ll really be good next time. This is just an exception.

Lan Zhen silently apologized to Mo Changfeng in his heart.

Pei Ran and his group walked very fast. Lan Zhen had no choice but to follow at a light jog. Whenever he saw them turning around, he had to frantically find a corner to hide in.

His clumsy stalking skills were, of course, noticed by the players.

Once, he hid behind a utility pole, but the hem of his jacket was still sticking out. Upon realizing it, he slowly and manually tucked the hem back in.

Even though Pei Ran was deliberately pretending not to see him, he couldn’t help but sigh.

Just how stupid is he? Is there something wrong with the intel we gathered about this ‘school bully’?

A moment later, the dummy seemed to have thought of a new idea and quickened his pace to circle around in front of them.

Pei Ran arched an eyebrow, curious to see what kind of nonsense he would pull next.

Of course, on the surface, he maintained the facade of not knowing he was being followed.

Meanwhile, Lan Zhen gave himself a mental pat on the back for his wit and agility.

See? Even the battle-hardened protagonist of an Infinite Flow world hasn’t noticed me! This proves I’m amazing!

Then, using the blind spot of a street corner, he appeared in front of Pei Ran and pretended to accidentally drop a notebook.

Pei Ran was amused by his forced acting. Ignoring the subtle glances from the other players, he stepped forward to look at the notebook.

Written boldly across the cover—as if afraid people wouldn’t know its purpose—were the words: DIARY.

Pei Ran’s eyelid twitched.

The other players, who were originally quite calm, now desperately wanted to pick up that diary in his place.

Even though it looked like a trap, this was the diary of a key character in the dungeon! What if they got lucky and found a clue?

Under their watchful eyes, Pei Ran picked up the notebook. On it was a small, hand-written name. The handwriting was round and a bit ugly, like that of an elementary schooler.

[He picked it up.]

Hearing the message from 370, Lan Zhen spun around abruptly, as if he had sensed through sheer willpower that his diary was missing.

He glared at Pei Ran with wide, round eyes, then skillfully shifted the blame: “What are you doing flipping through my diary!”

A rare look of confusion appeared on Pei Ran’s face.

Lan Zhen felt he was incredibly clever. Now he could cling to the protagonist and leave a bad impression, ensuring he reached his villainous end.

“Can’t you speak?” he began to shout loudly. “How can you peek at a diary someone dropped on the ground?”

“Don’t try to use these cheap tricks to hit on me.” Pei Ran threw the notebook back. “I’m not interested in you.”

After saying that, he actually felt a hint of regret. There was no need to use such harsh words on a dummy who couldn’t even manage a proper scheme. He won’t go home and hide under his covers to cry, will he?

Out of this slight guilt, he didn’t turn to leave immediately. Thus, he saw the notebook fly into the dummy’s arms. The other boy reacted as if he’d touched something scalding; after a long moment of fumbling, he let the notebook fall to the ground anyway.

Lan Zhen looked at the notebook on the ground, then at Pei Ran. He sniffled, and his eyes suddenly turned red.

Pei Ran: “…”

Now I’m really in for it.