Chapter 28
【Congratulations, Host. You’ve completed Hidden Task 21. Points increased by 20.】
Zhu Lexing had just gone downstairs when she heard the system’s sudden announcement. She was utterly baffled. 【Hidden task? What?】
The system replied, 【The female protagonist has dismissed one method of killing you. Congratulations—you’re one step closer to safety!】
The words were perfectly ordinary on their own, and Zhu Lexing recognized every single one. Put together, though, they sent a chill straight down her spine. 【What do you mean, “killing me”? Yan Mian would never—】
At that, Zhu Lexing suddenly remembered that Yan Mian might actually kill her someday.
…But not right now!
Sure, they didn’t get along perfectly, but it wasn’t terrible either. How had things escalated to the point of life-or-death struggles?
After the system gave a brief rundown of the situation, Zhu Lexing finally understood. These so-called hidden tasks were all the colorful ways Yan Mian might kill her—like poisoning her, or straight-up stabbing her. As long as Zhu Lexing could make Yan Mian abandon one of those ideas, the task would be complete.
Zhu Lexing asked, 【So how exactly do I make her give up on it?】
The system explained, 【Make her sincerely abandon the idea from the bottom of her heart, or have her say it out loud: “I won’t kill you with that thing.”】
The first option was way too difficult. It would require some perfect opportunity.
The second… Zhu Lexing shuddered just imagining Yan Mian uttering those words.
She touched the back of her neck. 【Omega pheromones—Alphas hit with them suffer aftereffects… Did I catch some kind of illness?】
The system replied, 【The system can only monitor your HP. It’s currently at 90/100. Those ten points were deducted because you didn’t want to study.】
Zhu Lexing: “…”
It was smarter than she’d given it credit for.
Beside her, Song Yingying asked blankly, “Lexing, do you want to buy this one?”
Zhu Lexing hadn’t quite caught that. With a cold expression, she replied on instinct, “Mm.”
Song Yingying’s face took on a subtle, knowing look. “Ah. Is it for Yan Mian?”
Zhu Lexing: ???
Why was Yan Mian involved again?
Snapping back to reality, Zhu Lexing focused and realized they had somehow ended up in front of a display shelf stocked with Omega Pheromone Inhibitor Spray.
Zhu Lexing clearly wasn’t going to differentiate into an Omega, so she must be buying it for someone else.
Song Yingying, feeling quite insightful, pressed on. “Why aren’t you grabbing it? Class is about to start.”
Gritting her teeth, Zhu Lexing snatched two cans off the shelf anyway, even though she had no clue what they were for.
Maybe she could give them to Shi Ruofeng later? That was her plan—until Song Yingying chimed in again. “So, you and Yan Mian—”
Zhu Lexing squeezed her eyes shut, silently praying the aftereffects would kick in right then and there so she could fake an illness and bail!
~~~
The next day.
Xu He’s competition results were no surprise.
She didn’t place.
The reason wasn’t that she’d dropped the ball—it was that her relay teammate wiped out midway through the sprint. It was such a bizarre way to lose that no one could really blame anyone. Xu He stayed depressed for days until Qiao Qiao’s antics finally distracted her, pulling her back into their routine of eating, sleeping, and trading barbs.
Most people chalked it up to that classmate’s bad luck, but Zhu Lexing figured it was just the author pulling strings from behind the scenes with a technique she dubbed “Characters Don’t Fall, Story Can’t Proceed.”
No. 1 High School’s sports meet might have had all the pomp of a noble academy during the announcements, but it was still just a top-tier high school at heart. For a long stretch after that, there were no other events. The only noteworthy update was that the new Sports Room had finally been completed—though the facilities for Flying Class had received upgrades too.
In comparison, the regular one came off as pretty shabby. At least it was indoors, though. Zhu Lexing decided she’d lodge a complaint about the school leaders’ corruption after graduation.
Her relationship with Yan Mian seemed to have officially “stabilized” after that conversation.
They no longer avoided running into each other, and Yan Mian stopped acting scared of her like before. They could share meals and chat normally now. Beyond that, though, they kept a strict distance—no further contact. Even that faint lily of the valley fragrance from the Zhu Family had vanished.
Zhu Lexing occasionally thought she caught a whiff of it, only for it to turn out to be her imagination the next second.
Still, it wasn’t a bad setup. At least in Zhu Lexing’s eyes, peaceful coexistence counted as progress.
Mid-May. Summer break was still over a month away, but in their four-person group chat, Xu He was already buzzing with plans to bolt. She’d spent days researching travel itineraries.
In the car, Zhu Lexing cranked the window all the way down. Wind roared in. It was early morning, the streets weren’t crowded yet, and the trees lining them were already thick with green leaves.
Her phone buzzed. Rubbing her numb cheek, she glanced down.
【Hehe】: Talk talk talk! @You Stomp and You’re Numb Too
【Even Dogs Won’t Eat Chocolate】: @Zhu Lexing
【Even Dogs Won’t Eat Chocolate】: ?? Who changed my display name?
【Across the Rippling Waters】: [covering mouth laughing.jpg]
-Very fitting for you!
Zhu Lexing scrolled up. Nearly half an hour earlier, Xu He had forwarded some messages about a film crew coming to No. 1 High School today to shoot. They were recruiting actors—did anyone want in?
Xu He herself wasn’t interested, but if the others joined, she’d probably tag along for fun.
Qiao Qiao had passed, and Song Yingying figured she wouldn’t get picked anyway, so why bother?
Zhu Lexing typed idly: Three no-votes already. Do you really need mine?
Xu He paused her bickering with Qiao Qiao to reply: You could always ask Yan Mian.
Zhu Lexing froze.
-Why her?
After their last conversation, Zhu Lexing now took a hands-off approach toward Yan Mian. Whatever Yan Mian wanted to do, let her do it—she was the female protagonist, after all! Happiness was all that mattered.
No matter how much Yan Mian had endured in the original work, that was the original. The Yan Mian of today was just an ordinary high school student. With her stellar grades and bright future ahead, why dive into the entertainment industry?
Simply because she had in the original work, she had to now too? Who had the authority to make that call? Zhu Lexing knew she certainly didn’t.
To keep Xu He from bringing it up again, Zhu Lexing simply shared the sophomore math tutorial video she’d watched the night before in the group chat, launching her daily dose of motivational chicken soup.
—Friends, knowledge changes destiny. Forget all that irrelevant nonsense—let’s buckle down and strive!
The group chat, buzzing with energy just moments ago, fell abruptly silent. Only after wrapping up her tasks did Song Yingying send a 【Thumbs Up】.
Several minutes passed before Qiao Qiao posted six dots.
A string of ellipses that inexplicably tickled Zhu Lexing’s funny bone.
She stifled her laughter and, to shift her focus, pondered for a moment before tapping open the comment section she hadn’t checked in days.
In real life, Zhu Lexing hadn’t advanced the plot with Yan Mian at all. Her updates were pure daily slices of life. But a day only held so many noteworthy moments; she needed to stockpile material over several days for a single post.
She opened it again to find the comments flooded with pleas for updates and check-ins. Zhu Lexing scrolled through and spotted a few thread owners posting CP fanfics about her and Yan Mian.
Zhu Lexing mulled it over for several seconds before deciding ignorance was bliss. She backed out.
As for fanfiction, that 《Soft and Boneless…》 post still hadn’t been taken down. It crawled along at a weekly update pace. Qiao Qiao said the story had reached the point where the frail Zhu Lexing tried to force her love on Yan Mian, failed spectacularly, spat up blood right there, and drenched the vast earth in crimson—turning the entire school red.
Zhu Lexing was utterly floored.
Was the “Zhu Lexing” in that fic a walking blood bank hooked up to the whole hospital? Spitting that much blood—wouldn’t she just keel over from exhaustion?
But the sheer absurdity of the plot killed any urge she had to track down the author.
It was written so brain-dead anyway; the author clearly wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. Best not to dwell on it.
School that day unfolded no differently from any other.
…Or so it seemed.
The forum brimmed mostly with posts about the TV drama crew, and Song Yingying had been off all morning too. She kept zoning out, her mood visibly sour. When Zhu Lexing asked what was wrong, she got nothing but silence—
Song Yingying hadn’t even registered the question.
The oddity was glaring, yet Song Yingying carried on oblivious, even striking up chats with Zhu Lexing now and then.
Zhu Lexing tabled her concerns.
The morning slipped away amid morning self-study, classes, and breaks.
The bell for the final period had barely rung when Li Nian dragged Yan Mian off.
Shi Ruofeng waited outside. The three headed out together, but Zhu Lexing lingered, waiting for Song Yingying to collect everyone’s homework.
This routine had played out plenty of times before. While she waited, Zhu Lexing knocked out a few practice problems. Footsteps clattered in the corridor outside. A student from Flying Class poked their head through the window, scanned the room, spotted the familiar face of Zhu Lexing, and called out, “How come you didn’t go film that TV drama?”
Zhu Lexing blinked. “?”
“If you wanna go, go yourself.” She’d just inserted one earbud and had to pop it out. “Why ask me?”
The student pressed on stubbornly. “Fine, if not you, then Yan Mian could. She’s gorgeous— one good shot and she might blow up.”
Zhu Lexing: “Same answer.”
The student paused, piecing it together, then blurted, “I don’t know Yan Mian, but you’re tight with her, right? All those fanfics about you two, and she cheered you on in front of everyone. She likes you for sure. If you vouch for it, that’ll carry weight!”
