“Ah, sorry, Miss Su, my bike usually doesn’t carry passengers, so I only have this one helmet. And now there are traffic regulations—even the backseat of an e-bike, if you don’t wear a helmet, you’re not allowed on the road, so…”
Zhang Ma nervously wiped the sweat from her forehead, glancing carefully at Su Wanli.
Su Wanli stared speechlessly at the old-fashioned e-bike in front of her, and the embarrassingly gaudy orange-yellow helmet.
“Zhang Ma, is it because the Sujia doesn’t pay you enough?”
“There’s nothing like that! It’s just that my house isn’t far from here, and I’ve used this old thing for several years now, so I never thought about changing it…”
Su Wanli let out a silent sigh, then stepped forward, gripping the bike’s handle and experimentally twisting the throttle.
Just as Zhang Ma said, though the bike looked worn out and was covered in scratches, its power was still decent. It should be able to get her all the way to that Noble Academy.
But still…
How did it come to this? She’d transmigrated into a noble young lady, and yet on her first day of school, she actually had to ride an auntie’s e-bike all by herself to a prestigious Noble Academy…
Is this really the kind of scenario a villainess-system is supposed to run? Isn’t this plot more suitable for some humble Cinderella-system?
[Actually, you could have gone to school alone in a luxury car, but since things are already like this, Host, please act quickly, all right?]
Though the System’s voice was always flat and emotionless, the timing made it hard not to feel it was picking a fight.
…If you just kept quiet, I could pretend you didn’t exist.
Su Wanli gritted her teeth viciously in her heart.
Sure, she’d insisted on letting Meng Huange take the car and gotten out herself, so maybe she bore 20% of the blame, but wasn’t the System at least 80% responsible for things turning out like this!?
Didn’t you say you could predict the future, so I’d know the next Mission ahead of time? If I’d known the next Mission required me to join that Self-Introduction too, then I’d definitely…
Hiss, if I really had known, what would I have done?
Without knowing Zhang Ma had an e-bike, in order to avoid riding together but still make it to school on time, would Meng Huange and I have to split—one on the seat, one on the roof…?
She imagined that scene for a second, and suddenly riding an e-bike alone to school didn’t seem so bad.
But really, the one who should be riding Zhang Ma’s rickety e-bike to school was Meng Wange, right?
Su Wanli sighed again, then waved at Zhang Ma standing by the side.
“All right, Zhang Ma, hand me the e-bike keys. Go back and get on with your work.”
It was obvious Zhang Ma wanted to run straight back to the residence, but she still forced herself to scratch her nose and said,
“But, Miss Su, do you know the way to Baiying Academy? Should I walk you to the gate, point out the general direction, maybe draw a little map…”
“It’s my school, not yours! Of course I know how to get there!”
Su Wanli glared at her fiercely, then pointed at the main gate of the Su Residence.
“Hurry up and get back to work!”
“O-okay! Here’s your schoolbag. I wish you academic success, a thriving career, and all the best!”
Hearing Su Wanli’s words, Zhang Ma let out a huge sigh of relief, then fished out a schoolbag from who-knows-where and put it in the bike basket before striding quickly back toward the Su Residence.
Only after Zhang Ma’s figure disappeared at the Su Residence gate did Su Wanli shake her head and put the tacky orange-yellow helmet on.
Seriously, it was one thing for random people to see, but how could she let people like Meng Wange or Zhang Ma see her going to school dressed like this on an e-bike? Her villainess score was going to hit rock bottom!
When has there ever been a villainess young lady carrying her own schoolbag, riding an e-bike to school!
“…Wait, this Mission isn’t going to become a daily routine, is it? Am I never going to be able to ride to school with Meng Huange again?”
[That won’t happen. Originally, Meng Wange was going to propose a plan to help you study on your first day of school. After that, in order to make further use of Meng Wange’s abilities, Su Wanli naturally wouldn’t mind riding together anymore.]
“So if she brought up the plan a day earlier, couldn’t you have updated the Mission for me too?”
Su Wanli rolled her eyes quietly, kicked down the e-bike’s stand, and started riding out of the Su Residence.
[So, does the Host really know the way to Baiying Academy?]
“…What do you think? Hurry up and give me Navigation, or if I’m late, it’s your fault, not mine.”
[Although the System is not an AI, I will still do my best to assist you. Go straight for forty meters, then turn right, then keep going straight, and turn left at the third traffic light…]
Passing out of the unrealistically luxurious Su Residence courtyard, and around several large repair trucks parked outside, Su Wanli looked at the wide road ahead and the rows of street trees, her mind feeling as if it had been washed clean.
This… this feeling really was a long time coming…
With the schoolbag on her back, feeling the wind whoosh past her ears as she headed for the next intersection—though her destination was a semi-open prison that would restrict her freedom all day…
Well, at least it’s a Noble Academy. The “prison” environment should be better than I imagine, right?
With this hope, Su Wanli set off for Baiying Academy.
“Hey, is that…”
“No way, that can’t be Su Wanli, must be a transfer student who looks like her…”
The closer she got to school, the more the voices around Su Wanli became shrill and excited.
Calm, stay calm… As long as I don’t feel embarrassed, it’s everyone else who’s embarrassed. As long as I don’t feel awkward, it’s everyone else who’s awkward…
“From the back, it really does look like her…”
“She’s so tiny, kind of cute actually…”
Finally unable to bear it, Su Wanli flipped up the visor of her helmet and glared fiercely in the direction of the voices.
That direction did quiet down for a moment, but another group started whispering and gossiping again.
“See, I told you! It really is Su Wanli!”
“How can she be riding such a lame e-bike… Wait, is this the latest trend?”
“Doesn’t look like it, it’s all beat up… Wait, is this the newest, most fashionable scratched-up texture?”
…Come on, isn’t it just a pretty girl riding an e-bike to school? Are these people really so sheltered?
Su Wanli silently pulled the visor back down, deciding to ignore them and keep riding forward.
Now that she thought about it, Meng Wange should have arrived much faster than her. If she got to the classroom first, would the teacher make her do the Self-Introduction before class?
…The time, is there anywhere I can check the time?
[Current time is 7:50. Distance to your destination: Baiying Academy Parking Lot, 1.4 km. Estimated arrival time: 7:57. Have a pleasant journey.]
…In some ways, this trash System is unexpectedly useful.
Before she knew it, she was almost at the gate of Baiying Academy. The two huge white stone pillars at the entrance gleamed in the sunlight.
But why put two pillars at the school gate? …Are they for fortification during earthquakes?
Sigh, I wonder if I can park the e-bike somewhere else. The parking lot inside Baiying Academy seems a little too risky—if Meng Huange saw it, that’d be bad.
Ah, wait, the person at the school gate… Could it be…?
Inside her helmet, Su Wanli narrowed her eyes, trying to get a better look at the tall, slender figure ahead.
Long light brown hair tied up high, a white canvas schoolbag, that signature gentle and polite smile, and those pale eyes looking straight at her…
It’s over. Completely over.
Su Wanli watched in despair as her villainess score slid from ninety-five all the way down to the eighties, finally sticking at a rather subtle number.
…I knew it! Since when does a villainess young lady ride an e-bike to school!