Jiang You put on a very unhappy expression.
Her three little followers seemed to snap out of it. Seeing Jiang You’s sour expression, they immediately piped up, "So what if that girl’s Healing Level is high? Her soul beast is ugly as sin. A black carp? You can tell with one look that it’s some slum-born hybrid. Our Sister You’s purebred pink cat is the most precious."
"Yeah, yeah, Sister You," Chen Yu quickly chimed in. "Koi are charming because they’re red. A black carp is obviously a bad omen. Besides, black is the mark of a low-grade bloodline. There’s nothing to be envious of."
"That’s right, Sister You. What’s the use of a high level if the bloodline is still inferior?" Lin Xue added hastily.
Jiang You’s expression remained icy, and she said nothing.
She watched her three followers tirelessly trying to console her, then told them to stop.
The three followers thought this meant Jiang You was even more upset, so they turned away sheepishly and fell silent.
In truth, Jiang You wasn’t upset. She was just maintaining her persona.
But explaining would have been a hassle, so she just told her three followers to stop comforting her.
However, this only made her followers misunderstand further, assuming she was in an even worse mood.
Class ended.
The healed white mice were to be collected.
Xu Che came back after collecting Jiang You’s mouse, observing how lively and energetic it was.
There was another class to follow, but Jiang You was already gone from her seat, having left with her three followers.
’She’s skipping class again.’
Xu Che’s brow furrowed. ’An A-level is actually very high,’ he thought, ’but she looked so unhappy earlier.’
He reined in his thoughts. Just as he was about to put the mouse into its cage, his gaze froze.
Xu Che held the mouse up to his eyes for a closer look and saw that its cheeks were pink, its ears were pink, and its bottom was pink, too.
She had used a powder puff on the mouse, dolling it up.
A faint smile touched Xu Che’s pale lips, and his cool, aloof expression softened slightly.
It was as if he felt a sliver of secret delight at having discovered this little thing she did.
But he was so used to keeping a straight face that it was barely noticeable.
Jiang You, for her part, was oblivious. She had successfully used the excuse of being upset to skip class.
If she hadn’t skipped, she wouldn’t have known how to waste her time just sitting there.
After leaving the classroom, her three followers wanted to take her out for some fun, suggesting activities like horseback riding or archery.
Jiang You wasn’t interested; she just wanted to go back and crash.
So she refused and went back to her dorm to lie down.
But this only made her three followers misunderstand even more.
"After school, let’s teach that special-enrollment student a lesson!" Yu Lin and the other two schemed. "Call that simp Yang Qi over!"
"Deal!" the three of them agreed.
Jiang You had no idea. After returning to her dorm that afternoon, she’d already decided to skip the evening self-study session, planning instead to stay in and have a virtual tutoring session with her teacher.
But then, the system issued another mission.
[Mission Sixteen Issued.]
「Evening Self-Study.」
The study monitor, Xu Che, was sitting behind the teacher’s desk, studying.
Although he was officially there to maintain discipline, the classroom was still far from quiet.
Xu Che was just using it as a change of scenery for his own studies; he paid no mind to the discipline.
After all, he was just a special-enrollment student, marked by his gray rose brooch.
Xu Che was very self-aware and knew to be accommodating.
For instance, someone went up to him and called out, "Xu Che, are you done yet? Let us copy it when you are."
Xu Che said nothing, simply handing over his workbook.
The boy snatched the workbook, returned to his seat, and started copying immediately.
The workbook soon found its way into Jiang You’s hands.
Because she was one of the homework-copiers, too.
Jiang You thought, ’I don’t actually want to be doing this.’
Once the copying was done, Jiang You didn’t have to do anything. Her followers would hand it in for her.
Sitting in the classroom, Jiang You knew it was time to start her mission. She raised her terminal and sent a message to Yang Qi: "Buy me a drink and bring it over."
Meanwhile, Yang Qi had just left the hospital, his face bruised and swollen from a beating. He was in a foul mood, cursing under his breath. Annoyed, he went to see which idiot was messaging him, but his eyes fell on the screen and he saw it was from Jiang You.
Yang Qi’s expression softened instantly. He quickly replied, "Sister You, I’ll go buy you a peach soda and bring it right over!"
The reason he was just coming from the hospital was simple: after school, Yu Lin and her friends had told him to take some guys and corner a girl to teach her a lesson.
Yu Lin told him the girl had upset Sister You.
Naturally, Yang Qi didn’t hesitate to take his guys and go find trouble for this girl, intending to teach her that lesson.
Who would have thought they’d run into the girl’s older brother?
The girl’s brother turned out to be Zhou Jin, and he’d brought a gang of his own with him.
The two groups ended up clashing.
Instead of causing trouble, Yang Qi and his crew got beaten up by the girl’s brother.
His expression soured at the thought. Losing the fight was definitely humiliating.
Yang Qi told Yu Lin and the others not to tell Jiang You about this.
So, Jiang You had no idea.
During the evening self-study session, Yang Qi strode brazenly into Jiang You’s classroom. His eyes quickly found her, and he walked straight to her side, placing a bottle of peach soda on her desk. "Sister You!"
A trendy-looking handsome guy walking in naturally attracted some attention.
But when everyone saw him stop at Jiang You’s side, they didn’t say anything.
From the teacher’s desk, Xu Che glanced up, his gaze seeming to sweep casually over the two of them.
He quickly lowered his eyes to his book again, but the pen in his hand remained motionless.
Jiang You turned her head and saw Yang Qi wearing large sunglasses and a face mask, completely obscuring his face.
He was still dressed as trendily as ever: a red jacket, loose black pants with a decorative silver chain, and a tight black shirt underneath that revealed the contours of his pecs. Even the thick gold chain around his neck managed to look stylish.
Mostly, it was because he was tall and slender—he looked good in anything.
"What’s with the sunglasses and mask?" Jiang You asked.
Yang Qi squatted down right next to her seat, his body blocking the aisle.
"*Cough.* Allergies. My face is a bit swollen," Yang Qi lied casually.
Jiang You glanced at the young man, who was squatting obediently beside her and looking up at her.
One of his arms rested on her desk, the other on the back of her chair. His large frame blocked the only way out, completely boxing her into her corner seat.
Jiang You didn’t notice his somewhat possessive posture because she was already starting to feel guilty about what she was about to do to him.
Her mission was to make him kneel in this aisle and make him suffer.
According to the plot, because she had been "put in her place" by the female lead, she was in a bad mood and was supposed to take it out on her simp, Yang Qi, using him as a punching bag.
Make the simp suffer.
Then, the female lead was supposed to see Jiang You’s actions, find them unbearable, and speak up to stop her.
Because of the female lead’s actions, the simp would then develop peculiar feelings for the female lead.
This was all laying the groundwork for the simp to eventually turn on her and side with the female lead.