Maintaining the Dignity of the Female Supporting Character

Li Maozhen squeezed in at the front counter to order milk tea, while Su Qiyan and the others stood behind.

With his expressionless face and unapproachable aura, he somewhat matched the image of those words Lu Jing had just mentioned.

Lu Jing thought the guy looked familiar, like someone he'd played sports with in PE class before. He asked Lin Sen, "First year?"

Lin Sen nodded, "Yeah, same class as me."

Lu Jing had been inquiring about second and third years before, so this was unexpected: "Didn't the first years just start school? They've already chosen a campus heartthrob?"

Lin Sen shrugged, "The spring semester started half a year ago. The upperclassmen girls voted."

Lu Jing nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly blurted out while looking towards the entrance: "Why is the sunlight slanted at noon?"

"Huh? What?"

Everyone's attention was drawn by Lu Jing's abrupt change of subject.

"Damn, it really is."

"This has got to be one of the world's top ten mysteries."

The academically inclined students eagerly rushed to the entrance to study the principles of light and shadow, while slackers like Liu Yiheng took out their phones to snap photos of the long, slanted shadows on the ground for posterity.

Sunlight poured in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing Su Qiyan in a golden glow. Even his hair seemed to have gilded edges, with a halo of light shimmering around him.

Lu Jing stared at the luminous Su Qiyan, as if trying to process the ridiculous scene before him, then looked away with a short laugh.

This had to be a joke.

Talk about a protagonist's aura.

Su Qiyan and his group finished ordering milk tea and sat down at a table not far from Lu Jing.

Lin Sen and Wang Chengshuo returned from the entrance first. When Li Maozhen saw Lin Sen, he raised his hand in greeting.

Lin Sen had been joking around with others a second ago, but now sitting next to Lu Jing, he whispered conspiratorially: "Is the guy sitting across from Li Maozhen the precious campus heartthrob you're looking for?"

Lu Jing took an unhurried sip of his iced coffee and nodded, "Mm-hmm."

Wang Chengshuo asked curiously, "Why are you looking for him?"

Lu Jing trotted out the same excuse he'd given the senior yesterday: "I want to play ball with the campus heartthrob."

Lin Sen and Wang Chengshuo: "???"

Lu Jing completely ignored their stunned expressions and asked, "What was the heartthrob's name again?"

He seemed to have heard people call him a few times before, but couldn't recall the specifics at the moment.

Lin Sen said, "Su Qiyan."

"Oh? Is he the genius who already self-studied all the high school material over break?"

"That's right."

"He doesn't seem as impressive as my deskmate who knows Lagrange whatever."

Lin Sen: "...Even if you've developed a sense of class pride in your new class, you don't need to praise one person by putting down another."

Lu Jing: "No, I'm just shocked that my deskmate's halo is even more impressive than Su Qiyan's."

"Ah, speak of the devil, your deskmate is here."

Lin Sen pointed to a spot outside.

He had a vivid impression because he'd passed by the person earlier when he went to Class 2 to deliver books to Lu Jing.

They saw Wen Shuangmu and Ji Jiahui bump into Liu Yiheng, who was taking photos at the entrance. The three exchanged a few words before walking in together.

Liu Yiheng waved at Wen Shuangmu first, then parted ways to head to his own table.

Ji Jiahui wasn't familiar with Liu Yiheng, but seeing her classmates Wang Chengshuo and Lu Jing, she said softly to Wen Shuangmu, "Some of the boys from our class are here too."

Wen Shuangmu gave a light "Mm," but didn't pay much attention to that. Her gaze swept around searching until she spotted Su Qiyan. Her expression brightened, and she went to sit beside him.

Li Maozhen said, "Why are you so late? We ordered you Zhizhi Green Beauty and Matcha Grape. See if there are any other desserts you want, I'll go buy more."

"Thanks, we don't need anything else," Ji Jiahui was the first to take the Matcha Grape.

However, Wen Shuangmu pushed the other cup towards Ji Jiahui, saying, "Let's swap."

"?" Ji Jiahui said, "Don't you like Zhizhi Green Beauty flavor the most?"

Wen Shuangmu replied, "Not anymore."

Ji Jiahui: "But I..."

Wu Xiaoqi reassured her: "Host, is this really necessary? You liking Zhizhi Green Beauty doesn't conflict with it being the novel's name. If you want to drink it, just drink it."

Wen Shuangmu: "My favorite milk tea is named after a love story between the boy I like and another girl. You want me to drink it? Don't you think that's as cruel as Pan Jinlian feeding poison to Wu Dalang?"

Wu Xiaoqi was impressed by this analogy: "Alright, whatever you say."

Li Maozhen clearly saw that Ji Jiahui didn't want to swap with Wen Shuangmu and was about to intervene, but Su Qiyan had already switched his untouched drink with Wen Shuangmu's: "Here, drink this."

Wen Shuangmu instinctively turned to look at Su Qiyan.

Su Qiyan was staring at a post-impressionist illustration on the wall, as if he had simply done something trivial to avoid listening to the two girls' awkward back-and-forth.

Su Qiyan's fingertips were still on the cup rim. Wen Shuangmu watched as he lifted the cup and took a sip of the milk foam, furrowing his brow slightly as if it was too salty and creamy for his taste.

In the past, Wen Shuangmu would have desperately wished for Su Qiyan to like all the flavors she liked. Now, she hoped he would never come to enjoy this particular milk tea flavor.

Meanwhile, Liu Yiheng sat back down at his seat, still complaining: "That's so messed up. It turns out the construction company next door just moved some full-length mirrors there. If Wen Shuangmu hadn't told me, I wouldn't have noticed at all."

Lin Sen patted his shoulder: "You're hopeless. Chengshuo and I figured it out as soon as we went outside."

Lu Jing didn't join their conversation, his gaze still lingering on Su Qiyan's table.

The boy thoughtfully swapped drinks with the girl, who looked back at him with admiring eyes.

Such a romantic scene, and yet the system verified the male lead as successful and the female lead as failed.

It was absurd.

Lu Jing felt utterly bewildered and asked his companions, "Which girl in our class do you think is the prett..."

The word "prettiest" hovered on Lu Jing's lips, but he swallowed it back, not using the phrasing from the synopsis. He changed his question: "Which girl in our class do you think is relatively attractive?"

Wang Chengshuo seemed surprised to hear Lu Jing discussing girls' appearances, but considering his strange behavior these past few days, the question didn't seem so odd after all. He thought for a moment and answered, "Wen Shuangmu, I guess."

Lu Jing waved his hand dismissively without a second thought: "Besides her."

Lin Sen said, "Why exclude her? Isn't she quite pretty?"

Liu Yiheng, however, was full of enthusiasm for this topic: "I think Xia Zhili in your class is super good-looking."

Lu Jing paused for two seconds, then nodded in sudden realization, patting Liu Yiheng's shoulder: "I think so too."

Lin Sen asked curiously: "Xia Zhili? The one who got first place in the placement test? What does she look like? Do you have a photo? I don't think I've ever seen her."

Liu Yiheng's mouth opened like a loudspeaker, excitedly chattering away.

Lu Jing no longer commented, leaning back against the sofa with an air of accomplishment, shaking off the fatigue from being punished to stand earlier that morning.

The boys were so engrossed in their conversation that they completely failed to notice a girl lingering a bit longer behind them at the bookshelf, looking for magazines.

The girl said nothing when she overheard their discussion.

However, this is how rumors typically start. By the time a similar conversation reached Wen Shuangmu's ears after being passed along, it had completely changed shape—

"Lu Jing was comparing your looks with Xia Zhili's to some other guys. He said Xia Zhili is pretty, but you're not."

Ji Jiahui had barely finished speaking when Lu Jing and Wang Chengshuo walked in through the classroom's back door, laughing and joking.

There's nothing more awkward than running into the subject of your gossip.

Ji Jiahui rubbed her nose and said "I'm heading out" to Wen Shuangmu before returning to her seat at the front.

Wen Shuangmu leaned back in her chair, watching as Lu Jing and Wang Chengshuo sat down in front of and behind her neighbor.

The two acted as if nothing was amiss, still chatting happily.

Wen Shuangmu's face betrayed no emotion, but she made a bit more noise taking things out, flexing her finger joints before finally pulling out her math homework from the drawer and starting to work on it.

Wang Chengshuo casually fanned himself with a notebook, and once Wen Shuangmu's gaze was averted, he nudged Lu Jing's arm and whispered, "Did your deskmate just give you a cold smirk?"

"Nonsense, I didn't do anything."

As Lu Jing said this, he glanced at Wen Shuangmu and told Wang Chengshuo, "She clearly found you more amusing."

Wang Chengshuo: "...What does this have to do with me?"

Xia Zhili walked into the classroom carrying self-compiled Chinese language practice sheets. She was the Chinese teacher's hand-picked class representative, skipping the self-nomination process entirely.

Xia Zhili counted out the practice sheets in stacks of six and placed them on the first desk of each row, then went to the podium to erase the blackboard as part of her class duties.

Wang Chengshuo and Lu Jing, along with the few students in front of them, hadn't returned, leaving the practice sheets untouched on the first desk.

Wang Chengshuo picked up Lu Jing's water bottle and his own, saying, "I'll go refill our water. You go to the front and pass back the homework."

Lu Jing was reluctant to move, but after a pat on the back from Wang Chengshuo, he sluggishly got up and shuffled forward.

Xia Zhili was petite, and the dense writing from the last morning class covered the entire blackboard. Even on tiptoes, she struggled to reach the top portion.

Lu Jing had initially grabbed the stack of practice sheets intending to head back, but after watching her hop up and down for a couple of seconds, he couldn't resist. He stepped forward, took the eraser from Xia Zhili, and said, "Let me do it."

At her desk, Wen Shuangmu had finished two problems but was still feeling irritated.

She slammed her black pen on the desk and called out, "Alright, Wu Xiaoqi, bind me to Lu Jing."

Wu Xiaoqi: "?"

Wu Xiaoqi: "That's rather hasty, isn't it?"

Wen Shuangmu: "What else? Did you expect me to purify myself with incense first?"

Wu Xiaoqi: "...No, I just thought you'd want to observe carefully for at least a week or two."

Wen Shuangmu: "He thinks Xia Zhili is pretty, right? I'll help him pursue her."

As the task progressed, Wu Xiaoqi was naturally pleased but still had to confirm according to protocol.

An 8x scope scanning system appeared before Wen Shuangmu's eyes. The lens focused and zoomed in on Lu Jing, and as the program ran, Lu Jing's identity information floated in an info box. Then, a blue selection box popped up.

[After binding Lu Jing as the nurturing target, it cannot be changed. Are you sure Lu Jing is your final choice? A. Yes B. No]

When the 8x scope scanned Lu Jing, Wen Shuangmu noticed he had gone to the podium.

Xia Zhili stood beside him, her face red as she thanked him. Lu Jing, seemingly unconcerned, continued erasing the blackboard, exuding a youthful energy.

Wen Shuangmu stared at Xia Zhili's reddened ear, then slowly shifted her gaze to Lu Jing.

"What could better indicate her fondness for this boy than Xia Zhili's blushing face?"

Wen Shuangmu clicked A.

A half-gray, half-bright golden cartoon bird appeared before Wen Shuangmu's eyes.

Wen Shuangmu asked, "What's this?"

Wu Xiaoqi: "It's an egret, the system's automatically generated villain value illumination badge for Lu Jing. Cute, isn't it?"

Wen Shuangmu: "...Are there golden egrets?"

"Doesn't the host know that white egrets look like they're wearing golden cloaks in sunlight?"

Wen Shuangmu reluctantly connected the golden egret to Lu Jing's name: "You're quite generous with him."

"Handsome guys are a rare species, of course we have to treat them with care."

Wu Xiaoqi chuckled, then suddenly fell silent after seeing something: "Damn."

Wen Shuangmu was surprised to hear the system swear: "What's wrong?"

Wu Xiaoqi: "Lu Jing's villain value is at 40%."

Wen Shuangmu looked closely and noticed a very small progress bar under the icon.

As Wu Xiaoqi said, the value was nearly half.

Wu Xiaoqi was still in disbelief: "Although I've encountered situations where binding targets had initial values before, the highest was only 20%. For Lu Jing to start at 40% and light up half the icon right away, I think we can call him a quasi-male lead."

Wen Shuangmu: "Hm? But didn't you say earlier that Lu Jing's role in the book was about the same as Teacher Zhou Quan's?"

Wu Xiaoqi sighed: "That's why I say the host's luck is extraordinary, to pick out such a gem among the background characters."

Wen Shuangmu suppressed her joy and asked modestly, "Is 40% very high?"

"Of course it is. This means that from the start, Lu Jing either harbors strong competitive hostility towards Su Qiyan, or he has overwhelming love for Xia Zhili. Either way, it brings great convenience to the host in nurturing him." Wu Xiaoqi praised, "The host is indeed the most outstanding I've ever guided."