Transmigrated as Cannon Fodder, Unable to Escape the Black Lotus Villain - Chapter 9.1

The Tennis Court

Amidst a burst of rowdy cheering, Long Xiang walked onto the court opposite Ning Qi.

He finally recognized her.

He never expected that this arrogant and domineering girl was the same Ning Qi who used to wear skirts, kept her hair long, and carried the image of a spoiled little princess.

He was suddenly seething with rage.

However, he didn’t dare to speak up; after all, Ning Qi was not the same as the current Mu Xin.

As the little princess of the Ning family, if he dared to provoke her, his father would surely break his legs. These wealthy heirs were experts at “looking at the dish to choose the chopsticks”—treating people based on their status.

“Forget it, I’ll go easy on her in a bit so she doesn’t lose too badly,” Long Xiang thought to himself.

Despite being furious that Ning Qi didn’t take him seriously, he was still planning to throw the game. He was calculating how to make sure Ning Qi didn’t look too pathetic in defeat. It was a complete reversal from the face he had shown Mu Xin just moments ago.

One wonders what Ning Qi would think if she knew his internal monologue.

Across the court, Ning Qi was sizing up Qin Yuyou, her eyes flashing with eagerness.

“Not bad. How about you and I have a go later?”

Ning Qi had observed earlier that whether it was technique, power delivery, or defensive maneuvers, Qin Yuyou was leagues ahead of the “Third Male Lead.” Compared to a petty skirmish with Long Xiang, Ning Qi was much more excited to test herself against this female supporting character—someone who was dragged through the mud in the original novel despite being covered in “protagonist halos.”

“Sure. But if you lose, you aren’t allowed to go find someone to cry to,” Qin Yuyou replied, not rejecting the invitation. She was quite interested in this person who had suddenly changed so drastically.

However, as she spoke, her eyes flickered toward Mu Xin with a half-smile.

Ning Qi gave her an odd look, noticed the direction of her gaze, and understood.

“I still have people to cry to; I’m just afraid some people can only hide in a corner when they lose.”

Ning Qi curled her lips. This supporting actress certainly had a sharp tongue. In that regard, she was quite similar to Huo Liuxue.

Qin Yuyou was speechless. You’re actually quite proud of yourself.

She silently handed the racket in her hand to Ning Qi and said flatly, “Don’t let him lose too easily.”

With that, she walked to the side of the court and stopped, yielding the position to Ning Qi. She believed Ning Qi would win; she was just curious how she would win.

Ning Qi swung the racket a few times to test the feel. She hadn’t played this in a long time and felt a bit out of practice. However, against a “noob” like the Third Male Lead, it should be enough.

“Let’s start,” Ning Qi shouted to Long Xiang, who had been standing there like a pillar for a long time.

Long Xiang was still thinking about how to go easy on her. Hearing her speak, he no longer hesitated.

“Ning Qi, get ready to catch this.”

Long Xiang didn’t respect Ning Qi’s skills at all. He was only worried that if she lost too miserably, she would lose face and retaliate against him later. Therefore, he only used thirty percent of his strength. He performed a standard serve, swung his hand, and the ball flew toward Ning Qi.

Seeing Long Xiang’s almost amateurish movements, Ning Qi frowned.

Who are you looking down on?

With that thought, Ning Qi swung her right arm with force. Following a sharp “pop,” the tennis ball flew back at a much faster speed than it had arrived.

“Agh!” A second later, everyone heard Long Xiang’s scream.

Because he was overly confident, he hadn’t paid any attention when Ning Qi swung. By the time the ball rushed in front of him, it was too late. The tennis ball hit him directly on the arm. The pain made his entire face scrunch up.

“The most important thing in a match is to respect your opponent. This is just a small lesson for your arrogance.”

Ning Qi stretched her arm and looked at Long Xiang, baring her teeth in a grin. She felt good; she hoped Long Xiang wouldn’t admit defeat too quickly.

The sharp pain in his arm made Long Xiang realize that Ning Qi was not a weakling at all. She had come here specifically to find trouble. Long Xiang was somewhat confused; they shouldn’t have had any conflict.

Except for just now.

Long Xiang looked at the girl sitting by the court, watching Ning Qi with a beaming smile. He seemed to understand.

Was it because of Mu Xin? Just because I said a few words?

He had seen the posts on the forum, but he had been dismissive. He believed that no matter how good a friendship was, it had to be maintained under the condition of equal social status. Relationships that could ignore status were few and far between. Therefore, he didn’t believe Ning Qi was treating Mu Xin sincerely; he thought she probably had some unknown ulterior motive.

But now, he no longer thought so.

Long Xiang suppressed the hatred in his eyes and stood up. After picking up the ball, he didn’t say a word. He took his stance and served!

This time, he used his full strength.

The surrounding students only had time to let out a gasp of surprise before it quickly turned into a massive cheer.

Mu Xin sat there, her amber eyes fixed unblinkingly on the tall girl. She saw Ning Qi step, jump, and smash. The movement was seamless. If Mu Xin had to describe it, it was “graceful.”

Though using the word “graceful” to describe tennis felt somewhat inappropriate, Mu Xin happened to see exactly that.

Thump. This time, the sound on the court was a dull thud. Long Xiang felt a burst of intense pain and fainted the next second. The ball had hit him squarely in the exact same spot as before.

The consecutive bouts of intense pain were more than he could bear. However, this might have been a blessing for him—one only had to look at Ning Qi’s completely dissatisfied expression to know that.

“A grown man, so fragile. This school team must be a fake,” Ning Qi grumbled unhappily. She had indeed done it on purpose, but she really didn’t expect Long Xiang to be so easy to break. He couldn’t even take one ball.

“No wonder he can only be the Third Male Lead.”

Frustrated, Ning Qi called the school infirmary and added another complaint. If her words had reached Long Xiang’s ears, one wonders if he would have fainted again from anger.

Soon, the school infirmary staff arrived. After checking Long Xiang and finding only superficial injuries, they prepared to take him away. They also warned Ning Qi not to use so much force in the future.

“I didn’t want to either. Who knew he couldn’t catch it?” Ning Qi spread her hands innocently. Looking up, she saw Mu Xin and Huo Liuxue standing not far away.

With a smile on her face, she said to the infirmary staff, “I understand. I’ll definitely be careful next time.”

After saying that, she ran toward Mu Xin’s position.

“I’ll leave Long Xiang to your care! Thanks!”

“So, was I cool?”

Ning Qi ran to Mu Xin, looking like a puppy seeking praise. To her surprise, Mu Xin’s originally beaming expression suddenly went cold.

“You think you were cool?”

“Uh, pro… probably?”

Ning Qi scratched her head, not knowing why Mu Xin had suddenly lost her temper. Everything had been fine just a moment ago.

“You injured him. Aren’t you afraid of getting a demerit?”

Seeing the happy expression vanish instantly from Ning Qi’s face, Mu Xin felt a bit regretful, and her voice softened. Regardless of anything else, Ning Qi had gone to teach Long Xiang a lesson to stand up for her.

“Oh, so that’s it. I didn’t think that far ahead.”

Ning Qi realized that Mu Xin was angry because of this. Once she understood the reason, her dampened mood immediately brightened. As for teaching Long Xiang a lesson, she truly hadn’t overthought it. No one is allowed to bully Mu Xin.

“Then I’ll be more careful in the future. I guarantee no one will find out,” Ning Qi whispered to Mu Xin with a smile.

Mu Xin was speechless, only able to repeatedly tell herself in her heart that Ning Qi did it for her.

“Try not to do that anymore. There are other ways. It’s not worth getting a demerit because of an irrelevant person.”

The rules and discipline at No. 1 Middle School were very strict. If Ning Qi accidentally got a disciplinary record, it could affect her graduation.

“Okay,” Ning Qi agreed, looking at Mu Xin with a grin, which earned her a playful roll of the eyes.

Standing behind Mu Xin, Huo Liuxue rolled her eyes even harder. What was up with these two? Did she, a living person standing right here, not deserve even a glance from these two big shots?

“Ning Qi, when shall we have a match?”

Qin Yuyou walked over with her racket. She glanced at Mu Xin and then spoke to Ning Qi.

“He… Hello!”

Before Ning Qi could speak, Huo Liuxue had already rushed over. She rubbed her hands and circled around Qin Yuyou several times, her eyes sparkling.

“Uh, he… hello?”

Being stared at with such a fiery gaze, Qin Yuyou felt a bit at a loss.

“Hello, my name is Huo Liuxue. You’re so cool when you play!”

As she spoke, Huo Liuxue even mimicked a swinging motion, though compared to Ning Qi and Qin Yuyou, her movement felt a bit soft. However, Qin Yuyou didn’t notice that at all; she only smelled a faint fragrance coming from the person beside her. She sniffed, realizing she didn’t know what scent it was. Or perhaps it was a natural body fragrance?

“Um, do you know Ning Qi?” Huo Liuxue asked excitedly, unaware of her idol’s internal distraction.

“I… I suppose so.”

Qin Yuyou felt that Huo Liuxue was a bit overly enthusiastic and didn’t know how to respond, so she could only nod along.

“I see.” Huo Liuxue felt a bit conflicted. Finally, she took another look at Qin Yuyou, gritted her teeth, and ran over to Ning Qi.

“Hey, Ning Qi, do me a favor.” As Huo Liuxue spoke, her expression was very awkward.

??

A question mark appeared over Ning Qi’s head. Huo Liuxue was acting very strangely. She looked toward Mu Xin inquisitively, sending a silent question with her eyes: Was she always like this?

Mu Xin understood her meaning and shook her head.

“Go ahead. If I can help, I definitely will,” Ning Qi said after a moment of thought. Regardless, Huo Liuxue was Mu Xin’s good friend, and their current relationship was decent as well.

“Fine! From now on, we are friends—as long as you don’t bully Xinxin!”

Huo Liuxue looked as though she had made a monumental decision, making Mu Xin and Ning Qi nearly burst into laughter.

“Mm-hm, so tell me, what is it?” Ning Qi asked, suppressing her laughter.

“It’s just, um… can you introduce me to Qin Yuyou?”

As she spoke, Huo Liuxue stole a glance toward Qin Yuyou, only to find that Qin Yuyou was looking back. She was so startled she quickly retracted her gaze.

“?” Ning Qi gave her a bizarre look. “Why don’t you just go ask her yourself?”

“Oh, I… I’m embarrassed.”

Huo Liuxue’s face turned red. Her earlier move of running up to talk to Qin Yuyou was purely due to the excitement of seeing her idol. Heaven knows how she felt while watching Qin Yuyou play from the sidelines. In short, she felt every one of Qin Yuyou’s moves was just too cool. At that moment, Huo Liuxue decided that Qin Yuyou was her idol from now on!

Seeing her shy appearance, Ning Qi’s mouth twitched. You didn’t look shy at all when you were staring at her just now.

She looked at Mu Xin and found her wearing a similarly indescribable expression. Seeing Ning Qi look over, Mu Xin mouthed: Help her.

Ning Qi nodded, then grabbed Huo Liuxue and waved at Qin Yuyou.

“Qin Yuyou, you have a little fan here. Would you like to get to know her?”

“Ah! Ning Qi, I’m going to kill you!”

Huo Liuxue was stunned by Ning Qi’s maneuver. It was too late to stop her, so she could only cover her face, not daring to look at Qin Yuyou. Simultaneously, she reached out to pull Ning Qi, her scream making Ning Qi’s eardrums ache.

Ning Qi let go, pushed Mu Xin, and ran. Honestly, she helped her, yet she was met with such “ingratitude.” She decided to let Huo Liuxue face Qin Yuyou alone.

“Hey, wait for me!” Seeing Ning Qi and Mu Xin walking away, Huo Liuxue wanted to follow, but she was stopped by a voice behind her.

“Do you want to know me?”

Qin Yuyou tilted her head, looking at the nervous Huo Liuxue who was looking around frantically.