But saying it to herself and saying it in front of others were two entirely different things. She hadn’t dared to practice with anyone else. Now, awkwardness flooded her system, making it a struggle to even speak.
At that moment, as if sensing something, Xu Yinian dropped all her hesitation and looked under the table.
It was autumn, and Xu Yinian hadn’t bought many new clothes suitable for university life. Her autumn wardrobe consisted of her high school uniforms.
She was wearing a white shirt and a pleated skirt, chosen to look more formal, though she had added knee-high socks and leather shoes for the early autumn chill.
When she sat down, the knee-length skirt naturally rode up. Her knees were exposed, looking inexplicably cute with their pinkish hue, while the socks on her calves were pulled up neatly, making her legs look slim and straight as they pressed together obediently under the table.
And there… was what she had seen just a moment ago…
Except this time, the pointed pump had been kicked aside carelessly.
Xu Yinian might have been stunned by the stark, beautiful contrast between the deep crimson and the nearly translucent white skin, if it weren’t for the fact that—
That vivid color was now right against her.
Her mind went blank. She forgot all caution about appearing strange to the observers. She was physically unable to pull her gaze away from what was happening below.
In the shadows, only that piercing red was moving, slow and deliberate.
Everywhere it touched felt like a trail of wildfire.
No matter how much she trusted her Senior Sister, every assumption Xu Yinian held collapsed in that instant.
She felt as if she had been split in two. Half of her had to remain proper, eyes downcast as if still pondering the script to ensure no one saw anything wrong. But the other half, the secret hidden under the table, was being swallowed by the darkness.
The moment Xu Yinian’s eyes filled with dread, the countdown from Ji Yan’s fingertips stopped abruptly.
She knew that look all too well. It was the same expression the girl had whenever Ji Yan gripped her wrists or ankles. But what had Qin Jiashu done to elicit that same reaction?
Aside from Xu Yinian’s head being lowered and her face looking strained, both their hands were on the table in a perfectly normal, separate posture.
Clearly, under the table, Qin Jiashu was testing Xu Yinian’s limits, terrifying her completely.
Even without seeing it, Ji Yan could imagine exactly what kind of frivolous things Qin Jiashu was doing. Qin Jiashu was a seasoned player; Xu Yinian, as pure as a blank sheet of paper, was no match for her.
The girl probably didn’t even know how to dodge, only how to sit there in helpless, trembling suspicion.
This wasn’t the first time Xu Yinian had been touched by someone other than her, but it was the first time it had reached such an intolerable level.
In reality, when it came to Xu Yinian, Ji Yan’s own germaphobic tendencies had lowered their standards time and time again. Now, there were no excuses left. This was a blatant case of “being touched by someone else.”
At the end of the day, Xu Yinian was just a piece of entertainment that suited her tastes. And wasn’t there plenty of entertainment to be found?
But… was she?
Irritation and suppressed rage flickered in the depths of Ji Yan’s normally impassive eyes, hovering on the edge of a loss of control. It was a terrifying darkness.
Ji Yan was avoiding the real question regarding Xu Yinian. The only thing she was certain of was that she needed to let Qin Jiashu know the consequences of trying to steal what belonged to her.
Even in her fury, Ji Yan’s upbringing forced her every move to remain restrained. No matter how wicked her nature, her actions were never crude.
Even when she bullied Xu Yinian, she did it with the poise of a refined predator.
She stood up and walked toward the door.
Inside the booth, it took a long time for Xu Yinian to realize she could actually move away. Her instinct finally kicked in, and she tried to shift her legs.
Sensing that Xu Yinian was finally reacting and trying to escape, Qin Jiashu, whose upper body had remained perfectly still, finally sat up straight.
Leisurely, she slid a piece of paper in front of Xu Yinian, her fingertip tapping the final line of the script.
“Try reading it?”
Xu Yinian’s attempt to move froze at the sudden command. Her eyes, filled with a mix of grievance and fear, were forced to meet Qin Jiashu’s.
But the older girl didn’t look the least bit uncomfortable. She was relaxed and composed.
Her encouraging gaze was exactly the same as the “Senior Sister” Xu Yinian remembered.
It… it didn’t look like she was trying to bully her…
Xu Yinian’s mind blanked for a second. Her gaze dropped to the difficult line, and her heart skipped a beat.
Could Senior Sister… be helping me get into character?
The raw emotion she hadn’t been able to conjure for ages had been forced out of her effortlessly by the other woman’s touch.
As if guessing her thoughts, Qin Jiashu curled her lips into a smirk and gave her a mischievous wink.
Xu Yinian was finally certain: her Senior Sister was indeed helping her.
In an instant, the terror and fear vanished.
She took one last look at Qin Jiashu, then stared at the line she had read so many times she had it memorized. Finally, she let it out:
“I-If my pheromones aren’t enough to entrance Your Highness… then let me…”
Her voice was sweet, greasy, and soft, crumbling into a mess of syllables. It was a stuttering, blurred delivery that made it seem as though one could actually smell the scent of an Omega through the sound.
In her daze, her lips parted and closed, the heat of her very breath felt through the microphone.
In that momentary pause, Xu Yinian never expected Qin Jiashu to push her into character so effectively at such a critical emotional juncture.
The elastic band of her stockings, stretched tight against her skin, finally gave way. It slid down her slender leg, the sudden friction sending a jolt through her.
At that exact moment, the second half of the line finally tumbled out of her mouth.
The words were barely out before Xu Yinian could no longer restrain herself. she curled into a ball, trembling. Her hand surreptitiously dropped from the table to her hem, tugging the fabric down until it finally, barely, covered her knees.
Outside the recording booth, Ji Yan’s footsteps faltered.
From the first moment she had met Xu Yinian, she had been captivated by that voice. Back then, she had dismissed it as the mere preference of an audiophile. But hearing the raw, unpolished brilliance of this performance, she realized she had drastically underestimated the natural talent buried in Xu Yinian’s bones.
It had long since ceased to be a preference.
It was a fetish.
An addiction she couldn’t shake.
Ji Yan finally understood why she had been trying so hard to avoid anything related to the girl. This obsession wouldn’t fade until she finally had Xu Yinian for herself.
A clean freak, was she?
Well, no one had ever truly “possessed” Xu Yinian before. What did it matter if she was stained by some repulsive smudge? She would simply wipe it away and paint over the white paper with her own colors. It was no different from a painting.
And painting was what she did best.
Ji Yan thought about what was happening behind that single door.
She had once wanted to make the girl cry—but that was nothing compared to this. Qin Jiashu knew exactly how to make her speak, and yet Xu Yinian seemed to love it.
Lin San hadn’t seen a thing, and she certainly had no idea how much Qin Jiashu had “helped” from under the table.
From her perspective, Xu Yinian had been struggling until a bit of internal preparation—and Qin Jiashu’s timely intervention—finally allowed her to sink into the role. The delivery of that final line had been perfect.
The emotional aftershock of the performance was so intense that seeing Xu Yinian’s current disheveled state moved Lin San to pity.
![Malicious Female Lead’s Guide to Causing Trouble [Quick Transmigration]](https://i2.wp.com/dobytranslations.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/quick-t.jpg?resize=151,215 "Malicious Female Lead’s Guide to Causing Trouble [Quick Transmigration]")
