‘…Heh, looks like she chickened out first.’
Su Wanli put on a cold, indifferent front, but deep down, she let out a sigh of relief.
Cough, if the system had actually threatened her final reward—the full twelve billion—Su Wanli might have really backed down.
Still, the system had agreed.
But now came the real question: ‘how should she go about this?’
As she pondered, Su Wanli began climbing the Su family’s stairs, following the direction Meng Wange had gone.
First of all, she absolutely couldn’t break character.
The easiest thing to do would be to find a servant to deliver some medicine on her behalf.
Unfortunately, today was a special case.
Su Heng had given the day off to all the servants except for Aunt Zhang and the cook—and Su Wanli had just kicked Aunt Zhang out herself.
In other words, she had no one to rely on but herself.
‘What now…’ Su Wanli thought helplessly.
She quietly rummaged through the second-floor storage room and managed to find a few adhesive bandages and a bottle of iodine.
Thanks to the map, finding medical supplies was no issue.
‘But what was she supposed to do now? Creep over and secretly shove the bandages under Meng Wange’s door? Knock once and then immediately run away?
…This wasn’t just an “evil villainess” move anymore.
This was clearly the kind of thing a bashful anime girl in love would do when she couldn’t handle her feelings.
Then what about knocking, keeping a cold face, and tossing the medicine inside without saying a word?
…That also reeked of an old-school tsundere move.
‘In that case…’
As she mulled over the options, Su Wanli continued walking and, before she knew it, had reached the third floor of the Su residence.
Right ahead was the door labeled “Meng Wange.”
From inside, she could hear the sound of fabric rustling.
She hesitated for a moment, then called out silently in her heart—
“System.”
[Yes, Host?]
“Are you sure I’ve already completed all the required tasks for today?”
[Confirmed. According to the original plot progression, today’s bullying scene has already been fulfilled.]
“Good…”
‘Relax, Su Wanli. Breathe in… breathe out…’
‘Okay. The plan is already fully formed.’
She’d walk in confidently, question Meng Wange about why changing clothes was taking so long, then pretend to notice the injury on her wrist.
She’d immediately put on a look of disgust and say—
“Ugh, pathetic. Take this. When I eventually throw you out of the estate, don’t go around claiming the Su family lacks manners.”
Then she’d toss the bandages and iodine onto the bed, turn around without looking back, and slam the door behind her—while leaving a cold final remark like:
“Don’t touch me again. It’s disgusting.”
Perfect! The plan was flawless.
And most importantly—nothing in it would cause a loss of Evil Villainess Points!
[Although that may be true, Host, technically speaking, this still fits the characteristics of a tsundere-type character, doesn’t it? I also get the feeling the era doesn’t quite match.]
“…Are you fucking serious? If the Villainess Value isn’t increasing, just let it be! Do you really have to monitor even my free time?!”
Su Wanli swung her fist fiercely at the empty air in front of her.
This idiotic system was utterly useless most of the time—only popping up to drop a sarcastic line after things had already happened.
The rest of the time, all it did was piss her off.
Honestly, it might be better to just shut it down.
Wait, come to think of it, didn’t the system just mention some kind of “Silent Mode”?
The day’s mission was already complete, and the rest of the time belonged to her.
Now that it was her free time, did she still have to listen to the system’s annoying commentary?
She snapped her fingers and pointed at the top of her head.
“System, activate Silent Mode.”
[Are you sure you want to activate Silent Mode? Once activated, you will no longer receive proactive reminders from the system. Your storyline progression may be affected.]
‘Hah, now it’s talking about changes to the storyline? As if anything major could change just because the eldest miss of the Su family handed out a band-aid. This stupid system really wasn’t afraid to make things up.’
Su Wanli snorted coldly and repeated her command.
“I said, activate Silent Mode.”
[Looking for a quiet and relaxing life during your free time? We recommend switching to Do Not Disturb Mode. In this mode, the system will only speak up when absolutely necessary.]
‘…Okay, that’s also fine, but why does this feel so much like one of those annoying rogue apps that just won’t close no matter what you do?’
Already irritated to begin with, Su Wanli shouted again, gritting her teeth.
“Activate Silent Mode!”
[…]
Finally, the system shut up after that command.
Not a single peep.
“Heh, what a joke. You really thought I couldn’t deal with you…”
Su Wanli smirked and struck a triumphant pose.
Now then, the next step was to take the band-aid to Meng Wange, say the line she had prepared, and then walk away coolly.
Her first day living as a villainess was about to end in perfect success!
Meng Wange, you’d better be grateful.
Anyone else wouldn’t even bother to bring you medicine.
Only someone like me—beautiful and kind-hearted—would even think of doing such a thing!
Su Wanli tossed her hair dramatically and strode forward, heading straight for Meng Wange’s room.
But just as she was about to knock, the door opened on its own—almost like it had sensed her presence.
***
“Oh? I thought I heard footsteps. Turns out it really is you, Miss Su.”
Meng Wange leaned casually against the doorway, looking at Su Wanli with a half-smile.
Unlike earlier, when she had been wearing a crisp school uniform shirt, Meng Wange was now dressed in a fitted short-sleeved T-shirt.
She must have opened the door in a bit of a hurry, because the top button was still undone—leaving most of her fair shoulder and collarbone completely exposed to Su Wanli’s gaze.
She let out a soft yawn and straightened her loose shirt.
“Sorry, it’s been a while since I wore this. It was a bit wrinkled, so I just finished ironing it. I was just about to come find you.”
“…Uh, Meng Wange, you were changing clothes for that long…?”
Damn it! She didn’t even take that long! That kind of lame excuse is impossible to say out loud!
But I’m not the same as I was before.
Just because things didn’t go as planned doesn’t mean I’ll panic.
All I need to do now is act like I’ve just noticed the injury on her wrist!
Su Wanli’s gaze naturally drifted toward Meng Wange’s wrist, and she was just about to speak—
“Hmm? You mean this?”
Meng Wange noticed her staring, then calmly raised her injured wrist for Su Wanli to see.
“I accidentally got cut by some broken glass earlier. I’ve already bandaged it.”
‘What? That means, in the short time it took me to come upstairs, she already treated the wound herself—and even ironed her clothes?’
Looking closely, not only was the bandage neatly wrapped, but it also had a perfectly tied bow.
There was even a faint scent of alcohol wafting from it.
Paired with her cropped shirt, she actually looked kind of effortlessly cool.
“So, Miss Su,” Noticing Su Wanli staring blankly at her bandaged wrist, Meng Wange chuckled and slipped her hand back into her pocket.
“Did you come over… because you were worried about me?”