‘Hiss… ouch, ouch, ouch…’
‘But I can’t make a sound—if I cry out, I’ll look even weaker. If my Villainess Points drop into the 80s, I’ll have nowhere to cry.’
Su Wanli gritted her teeth and quietly braced her elbow against the desk behind her, using it for support to get back on her feet.
She glared fiercely at Meng Wange, who was still standing at the doorway without the slightest intention of helping, and sat down on the nearby chair while holding her lower back.
‘That awful Meng Wange! I was just trying to get more Villainess Points, but thanks to her unexpected move, not only did I fail, my score actually went down!’
‘And wasn’t she usually pretty sharp? Last time she even helped me push away that aromatherapy bottle.’
‘So why is it that this time, after seeing me fall, she didn’t even try to help me up?! and with my villainess persona, I can’t exactly ask her for help either…’
‘Ugh, this sucks. Other people get transmigrated into noble ladies to enjoy luxury, but me? I’ve had a power outage, a raging cold, and now I’ve fallen three or four times in one day…’
Only after watching Su Wanli climb back into the chair all by herself did Meng Wange finally step forward with a smile and sit in the seat next to her.
She looked at the slight frown on Su Wanli’s face, then paused in thought, raising her pencil and pointing it lightly toward the back of her own head.
“Miss Su, are you… in pain?”
‘Of course I’m in pain! That fall made a huge noise!’
But Su Wanli only turned her face away with a scowl, refusing to meet Meng Wange’s eyes.
Through clenched teeth, she said, “Hmph! I don’t need your concern. Just do what you’re supposed to.”
She had thought this line might at least make Meng Wange ask a few more questions out of concern.
But instead, Meng Wange simply nodded obediently.
“Alright. Got it. Then shall we begin?”
…
…She actually just brushed it off like that?! She really said, “Alright, got it”?!
‘Sure, it was my own fault for sneezing and losing my balance, but can’t she take even one percent of the blame? Can’t she care just a little more?’
Of course, Meng Wange didn’t show even the slightest trace of concern.
She just smiled and pushed a thin notebook—clearly the result of an entire night’s work—across the table toward Su Wanli, flipping it from the first page to the last.
“Miss Su, these are the questions with the highest frequency of appearing. There are 328 in total. If you can get a rough grasp of each one and score above 80% accuracy, you’ll have a strong chance of making it to the middle of the class.”
“…It better be possible.”
Still brooding over what had just happened, Su Wanli chewed over Meng Wange’s words—then suddenly widened her eyes.
“…Wait, did you just say how many questions?”
“A total of 328. They cover the three main subjects and two secondary subjects from the placement test. If you only focus on the questions that have appeared at least three times, that narrows it down to 202.”
Su Wanli had thought that thin little notebook couldn’t possibly contain much, but now, staring at the neat handwriting and the rainbow of color-coded highlights, she swallowed hard.
“Are you seriously telling me… you expect me to memorize everything in this in just three days?”
“Don’t worry, Miss Su. The questions and their corresponding answers are only the parts written in black. The colored text is my notes and explanations. If you skip those, there really isn’t that much.”
Meng Wange opened the notebook completely and flipped through a few pages at random.
The content written in black ink wasn’t as extensive as Su Wanli had imagined—still within a reasonable range.
However, the annotations and explanations next to each problem were nearly two or three times longer than the problems themselves.
‘Was all of this just to answer her earlier accusation—”Are you unwilling to teach me”?’
As expected of a female lead—so meticulous in everything she does.
But then again, why hadn’t Meng Wange defended herself when she was being questioned just now?
Instead, she had said something strange like, “I’m not a righteous person. As long as I can achieve my goals, I’m willing to try anything.”
***
“What’s wrong, Miss Su? Don’t know where to start? Or are you unwilling to just memorize the answers this easily?”
Seeing Su Wanli staring blankly at the notebook cover, Meng Wange thought for a moment, then moved her chair over to sit beside Su Wanli.
She leaned forward slightly and opened to the first page of the notebook, pointing to a lightly highlighted section next to the problem.
“…For example, this problem here. If you at least understand the theorem noted beside it, solving it shouldn’t be difficult for you.”
Though she sat beside Su Wanli, Meng Wange maintained a proper distance, leaning over the desk to explain.
“For instance, here, we apply this formula…”
As she explained, Meng Wange used a pencil to mark things in the notebook.
Her light brown ponytail swayed gently in the sunlight, catching the eye and making one’s heart itch.
This morning, Su Wanli had tied her own long black hair into a side bun after drying it.
She wasn’t sure if it was because her hair was still a little damp, or if it was just the texture, but it felt like it twisted and tangled every which way—like a big mess of seaweed knots all stuck together.
She couldn’t help wondering what Meng Wange’s hair would feel like to touch.
No matter when she looked, Meng Wange’s hair was always so smooth and neat.
‘Did she really brush it that carefully every day?’
Before she realized it, that light brown ponytail in front of her eyes began to resemble the fluffy tail of a squirrel, bouncing gently in the air.
‘What a smug little thing…’
***
“…So, just like this, we can get the correct answer.”
Meng Wange outlined her thought process with the pencil, then set it down gently and turned to the next page.
“As long as you understand the previous question, this one should be easy too. All we have to do is…”
Realizing Su Wanli hadn’t responded for a while, Meng Wange turned her head and looked into her eyes with those calm, pale pupils.
“Miss Su, is there something you didn’t understand in the last part?”
But Su Wanli didn’t answer.
She was just staring blankly at the back of Meng Wange’s head.
“…Miss Su? Is there something behind me?”
Hesitating for a moment, Meng Wange raised her hand and waved it twice in front of Su Wanli’s face.
At last, Su Wanli’s eyes refocused, and she raised her right hand—
Then, she tugged gently at the end of Meng Wange’s neatly tied ponytail.
“…M-Miss Su?”
Ignoring the confusion in Meng Wange’s voice, Su Wanli tightened her grip and curled her fingers around the hair, gathering it in her palm.
“…So this is what it feels like. Not a squirrel’s tail—it’s more like silk. No, maybe… like a snake…”
She murmured as her gaze turned hazy again, leaning forward and pressing her forehead gently against the cool tips of Meng Wange’s hair.
“Heh… so it’s a snake…”
The next second, her body slumped forward, collapsing completely against Meng Wange’s shoulder.