The School Prince is a Girl - Chapter 2

In order to avoid arousing suspicion from Steward Ye, Bai Xi only said she wanted to go shopping in the city center and randomly picked a central mall to be dropped off at.

Holding 002 in one arm, Bai Xi watched Steward Ye drive away, then turned and hailed a taxi, heading toward a different commercial pedestrian street.

The opening of the novel Black Lotus begins three days before the female lead, Ye Ying, enters Nan Luo International High School.

Nan Luo International High School is an aristocratic school with exorbitant tuition fees and top-tier faculty. Its students are all either wealthy or powerful, but there are exceptions.

To ensure the school’s average performance and maintain diversity in the school environment, every year the school selects a group of outstanding students from other schools in their senior year. Under the conditions of completely free high school tuition and covering all university expenses, they recruit students roughly equal to the number of senior students in their school, incorporating them to act as a public front.

After all, if they only touted that all their students ended up in world-class universities around the globe but lacked any high school examination scores, they would be embarrassed when competing with other schools.

Moreover, this is a mutually beneficial arrangement, which is why the enrollment quota for Nan Luo High School’s senior class is always overflowing, yet only a select few are chosen.

The female lead, Ye Ying, is one of them. She was selected by Nan Luo High School for her excellent grades and was granted a spot. However, this matter was discovered by another rich, beautiful, cannon-fodder girl from her school. This rich girl was a devoted fan of the male lead, Yu Mo, but her social standing was not high enough to enter Nan Luo High School.

Therefore, this rich girl set her sights on Ye Ying’s spot. It is today that she specifically calls up her girlfriends and runs to the place where the female lead works part-time to stir up trouble, attempting to buy the female lead’s quota.

This is just a small interlude at the beginning, primarily meant to highlight the female lead’s pitifulness, contrasting sharply with the later events where she turns the tables. At this moment, Bai Xi suddenly understood why the male lead was referred to as a “tool man”—isn’t he exactly that? A dedicated tool used to create calamities for the female lead and act as an all-purpose excuse to attract various cannon fodder.

After getting out of the taxi, 002, who had been fruitlessly trying to dissuade her along the way, had given up the struggle. It lifted its eyelids, deciding that what the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over. After all, it was just a fragile, pitiful, and helpless little system that couldn’t do anything.

Time was tight, and Bai Xi couldn’t be bothered to wander around. After symbolically browsing two stores, she went straight to the milk tea shop where the female lead worked part-time, found a corner spot, and waited with a cup of juice to watch the show.

【002: I’m telling you, what you’re doing is really boring. Is watching someone bully a young girl very interesting? Are you sick in the head?】 Given that they were in a public place, 002 was not comfortable speaking directly in its cat form, so it communicated with Bai Xi telepathically.

Lightly tapping the table with her fingers, Bai Xi’s smile carried a clear sense of amusement. She did not answer 002’s question. Actually, she wasn’t particularly keen on seeing the female lead bullied; she was simply curious about the female lead who, despite her humble background, managed to manipulate all the major figures in the entire book.

After all, according to the book, once the female lead entered the campus, she chose to continuously disguise herself as a pure, harmless white lotus to better protect herself. Bai Xi had little interest in that version of the female lead; she wanted to see what the real Ye Ying was like.

“Ye Ying, please make this dessert and deliver it to Table 2.” Hearing the voice from behind the counter, Bai Xi regained her focus and looked over. She wondered why she hadn’t seen the female lead’s real appearance after sitting here for so long. So, the female lead also knew how to make desserts and had been in the back kitchen?

Thinking this, Bai Xi’s smile deepened. Should she also order a dessert to try the female lead’s craftsmanship?

Wait, Table 2? Her finger, which was tapping the juice cup, paused. Bai Xi looked down at the corner of her table. Table 2? Isn’t this her spot?

【Bai Xi: No, 002, listen to me. I really didn’t order dessert. I was trying my best to avoid the female lead, but this is a variable I can’t control!】

Stroking the now trembling 002 in her hand, Bai Xi urgently tried to explain in her mind. Although she was curious about the female lead, she truly hadn’t intended to disrupt the plot. Even though she didn’t have a strong will to survive, she wouldn’t deliberately seek her own doom!

“Hello, here is your dessert.” A voice as gentle as a spring breeze echoed next to her ear. Bai Xi’s action of stroking 002 paused, and she unconsciously looked up, meeting the owner of the voice.

A black short-sleeved shirt and slightly loose casual pants, an apron and a small square hat printed with the milk tea shop’s logo—it was an ordinary work uniform, but the person wearing it was undeniably good-looking.

Her shiny, smooth, shoulder-length hair was tied into a low ponytail. Her skin was fair and rosy, radiating youthful vitality. Her gentle and fresh eyes were clean and pure, making anyone who looked at her feel comfortable. Her brown eyes carried a natural affinity, and her soft smile made her the very template of a first-love crush.

Finally, 002 couldn’t stand its host’s foolish look anymore and “fiercely” slapped the table, jolting Bai Xi back to her senses.

Masking the panic in her heart, Bai Xi lowered her gaze and looked at 002, but she failed to notice that the hand stroking 002 was pulling the cat’s fur so hard that 002 looked like it was rolling its eyes.

“Thank you, but I didn’t order a dessert.” Barely suppressing the stir in her heart, Bai Xi maintained a calm exterior, but inside, she was frantically chattering to 002.

【Bai Xi: Holy moly, holy moly! You didn’t tell me the female lead looked like this before we came! This face value is hitting all my sweet spots, I’m telling you! One minute, I need all the information on this Miss!】

【002: …While I really want to say I don’t know you, I still have to remind you: You are forbidden to reveal your identity, otherwise…】

【Bai Xi: Shut up! Miss is about to speak!】

【002: …Go die! Let’s just perish together!】

Unilaterally blocking out 002’s insults, Bai Xi showed no change in expression. She looked at Ye Ying in front of her, polite and reserved.

“It’s like this, sir,” Ye Ying looked back helplessly at the person peeking from behind the curtain. “This is a new product our milk tea shop is launching today, and we are giving it to our one-hundredth customer for a free tasting. You happen to be the one-hundredth customer.”

Noticing the movement behind the curtain, Bai Xi understood. Because she did not want to wear the troublesome chest binders and fake Adam’s apple, she had simply let 002 modify some of her physical features. So, she currently looked like a delicate, distinguished young man of seventeen or eighteen, which naturally attracted the attention of some girls.

“Is that so? Then I’m truly lucky. Thank you.” Having no interest in the little girl behind the curtain, Bai Xi pretended to be oblivious and accepted the dessert with a smile.

【002: Ha, an excuse that’s been old for hundreds of years. That little girl behind the curtain has a poor judgment of character and fell for your appearance, using some ‘event’ as an excuse to send you a gift!】

【Bai Xi: Shut up! In this book, the female lead is supreme. If she says it is, then it is!】

【002: I think you’re just lusting after the female lead!】

Ignoring 002, who was biting her finger in protest, Bai Xi looked at Ye Ying, who was about to turn and leave, and an idea flashed through her mind. “Please wait a moment. I apologize for my rudeness just now, but you really resemble an old acquaintance of mine.”

【002: Bah! You’re talking absolute garbage, Bai Xi! How can you even say such an outdated line? I despise you, you trash!】

【Bai Xi: Mind your own business!】

Raising her hand to press 002’s protesting cat head onto the table, Bai Xi looked completely natural, her eyes sincere, without a hint of falsehood.

Ye Ying paused, understanding that the person was apologizing for having stared at her so intently just now. Although it was a rather old excuse, looking into his eyes, she saw no pretense, only sincerity.

“Is that so? What a coincidence,” whether it was sincerity or a pretense didn’t matter to Ye Ying. She smiled gently at Bai Xi and didn’t take it to heart.

“I believe we will meet again.” With her peripheral vision catching a glimpse of a group of people who had just entered the doorway, Bai Xi did not want to detain Ye Ying any longer. After all, the female lead was very busy and needed to follow the plot.

【002: Do you even remember that you are a vicious supporting female character, not the male lead! Why are you saying such a dramatic male lead line?!】

To the 24/7 exasperated 002, Bai Xi distractedly hummed in acknowledgment, then focused her attention on the female lead, who, under the arrangement of fate, was already walking towards the cannon fodder characters.

002: I feel like something bad is about to happen. My heart is so tired.

“Yo, isn’t this our top student, Miss Ye? What a coincidence, huh?”

Hearing the cannon fodder’s exclusive opening line from that side, Bai Xi eased her rigidly upright posture. Tsk, her nerves were stretched for more than ten years in her previous life; it truly felt a bit unfamiliar to relax like this.

It was obvious that Ye Ying also recognized the group opposite her, but she was completely unmoved by their provocation, adopting a professional, ‘I don’t know you’ attitude. “Welcome. What would you all like to drink?”

【Bai Xi: This female lead is really good at pissing people off. She knows exactly how to anger the other party. Is there anything more frustrating than being ignored when you’re specifically here to cause trouble?】

【002 sneered: Don’t think everyone is like you, provoking a punch the moment they open their mouth. Maybe the female lead is just mindful that she’s currently at work and doesn’t want to drag her private matters into her job.】

Bai Xi was noncommittal, quietly watching while chewing on her juice straw.

The girl standing in the middle, whose branded logos were glaringly large, was clearly angry. She let out a cold laugh, glanced at the empty milk tea shop, sat down directly, and slapped a card onto the table. “Stop pretending! Do you really think I don’t know what you are? Here’s one hundred thousand yuan. Aren’t you crazy about money? Take the money, and the spot is mine.”

“Wow,” straight to the point. Bai Xi hadn’t expected this cannon fodder to be so direct. Pinching 002’s ear, she whispered, “Make my hearing more sensitive. It’s a bit too far here; I can’t quite hear.”

To initially avoid the female lead, Bai Xi had deliberately chosen an inconspicuous corner spot. Now that it was time for the show, she discovered the drawback: it was too far, and the female lead’s voice was too soft to hear.

Although it utterly despised its host, 002 was also a little curious. After all, the text didn’t detail this short segment; it only mentioned that it was one of the preparations for the female lead to later reveal the black heart beneath her white lotus facade.

After enhancing Bai Xi’s auditory sensitivity, Bai Xi and 002 pricked up their ears and successfully heard Ye Ying’s voice.

Ye Ying, who appeared harmless, lightly picked up the card on the table. “One hundred thousand yuan? That’s probably just your pocket money for a year, right? If you enter Nan Luo High School, you’ll frequently see student Yu Mo and a host of well-known noble children from City Y. Surely, you can afford to offer more than just this amount? Don’t stare at me like a fighting chicken. Let’s make a deal: eight hundred thousand yuan, and the spot is yours.”

Bai Xi: ??!

002: ???

No way. Was the female lead actually planning to sell her spot? The cannon fodder girl might not have that much pocket money herself, but her parents could certainly produce it easily. If the female lead really sold the spot, the male and female leads wouldn’t even meet, and the entire story would be ruined! That shouldn’t happen!