Novel Turned Yuri – Chapter 3

How Did This Happen

Qiao Yu sat in her seat, silently covering her face with both hands.

Someone kicked her chair twice from behind, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “What’s wrong, Qiao Yu? Only now realizing how embarrassing that fall was and can’t show your face anymore?”

            

…Would you just shut up? If you, the male lead, hadn’t been acting like such a jerk, would I have lost my cool and acted on impulse just now? I should have grabbed your pants instead of your bag.

“Th-that’s not the kind of plot a school romance novel should have…”

“…I was just thinking it.”

            

The System’s weak rebuttal calmed Qiao Yu down a little. She sighed, lowered her hands, and slammed her chair back hard against the desk behind her a few times in retaliation. Only when she heard Cong Ye hiss in pain did she stop, knowing when to quit.

The girl sitting in front of her was drawn by the commotion and turned her head to look back. Qiao Yu met those beautiful, questioning eyes and forced a stiff smile, waving at her.

Lin Qing blinked in confusion, then turned back around, the movement as cute as a little rabbit’s.

            

Qiao Yu felt her stomach start to ache.

How did this happen!

Yes, Qiao Yu was sitting in the second-to-last seat in the row by the window. Behind her sat the male lead, Cong Ye. In front of her sat the female lead, Lin Qing.

            

What kind of bullshit arrangement was this!

Fine if the leads weren’t sitting next to each other. Fine if they were a little farther apart. But how was she supposed to be wedged right between them like this! She was so innocent! So innocent!

Burning with rage, she twisted around to glare at the boy sitting next to Cong Ye. The guy leaned back, startled by the murderous look in her eyes, his baby face full of panic and innocence.

            

And why did Cong Ye even have a desk mate in the first place! That made no sense for a romance novel!

“This is one of the ‘friends’ group. He’s an old acquaintance of yours too, Host—”

“I know, I know, you’re so annoying! Can’t I just complain a little?!”

            

Ignoring Cong Ye’s provocative “Qiao Yu, what now, are you picking a fight?” and Lu Yao’s tearful whimpering despite his tall frame and timid nature, Qiao Yu closed her eyes in exhaustion. She turned back to face the window, feeling that the gloomy weather outside matched her mood perfectly.

Her plan to be a quiet background character had shattered in less than a day. When Qiao Yu had seen Cong Ye’s aggressive, one-sided hostility toward Lin Qing, her body had moved faster than her brain. By the time she came to her senses, she and Cong Ye were already on the floor together.

“Host, you acted too suddenly. I didn’t even have time to stop you.”

            

Faced with the System’s righteous scolding, Qiao Yu had no defense. She hung her head and accepted it all.

“…But I don’t think you could have stopped me anyway.”

Her muttered thought didn’t escape the System’s ears. It asked, puzzled, “Why not? Didn’t you say you wanted to be a good background character and not interfere with the plot?”

            

“I was wrong. I was too naive.”

“…”

She admitted her mistake so cleanly that the System was left speechless.

            

“Ah… how do I put it?” Qiao Yu rubbed her hair uncomfortably. “From my perspective as an author, yes, letting things play out naturally would have been the best choice.”

“But this isn’t watching a show through a screen. I was right there, watching it happen with my own eyes.”

“…”

            

The System wanted to ask her what difference that made, but for some reason, the words wouldn’t come out.

“From my perspective as Qiao Yu, what just happened was straight-up school bullying by Cong Ye against Lin Qing.” The anger flared up again as she recalled the scene. “That dog of a man is so immature. He’s this old and still acts like an elementary schooler. And Lin Qing is so pretty—the way he treated her was like he was blind.”

…Well, there it was. Her earlier worry had come true. She was completely biased.

            

The System, seeing clearly now, couldn’t help but worry about the future.

“Anyway, I really can’t just pretend I didn’t see something like that…” Qiao Yu said, troubled, then her eyes lit up. “Or if you could pull me out and let me watch from a god’s perspective—”

“That’s not possible.”

            

“Then there’s no other way.”

Qiao Yu flopped back in her chair like a dead fish and promptly changed her role-playing strategy.

“…At this point, being a background character is out of the question.” She stared listlessly at the white ceiling, feeling that the road ahead was long and the difficulty had just shot up several levels. She resigned herself with a sigh.

            

“The only option left is to be an assist.”

---

Once she decided to act, Qiao Yu was a woman of action. She shook off the gloom, regrouped, turned around, and straddled her chair. With a sneaky look, she leaned onto Cong Ye’s desk and flashed him a warm, friendly smile.

Cong Ye: “…”

            

Even under Cong Ye’s gaze—the kind you’d give to leftover coffee grounds—Qiao Yu had no intention of backing down. She leaned in and whispered, “Cong Ye, I’m offering you a huge benefit.”

…What the hell could you possibly offer me that’s a huge benefit? As long as you don’t cause me huge trouble, that’s already a win.

Cong Ye’s expression remained flat as he coldly watched Qiao Yu present her “benefit” like she was showing off a treasure.

            

“Swap seats with me. Trust me, this is a huge benefit!”

She almost added, “One day you’ll be so grateful you’ll thank me with tears,” but it sounded too much like a fortune teller’s pitch, so she dropped it.

Cong Ye listened, rolled his eyes, and a faint, mocking smile appeared on his cold face. “It really is a huge benefit.”

            

Qiao Yu’s heart leaped. It seemed like there was a chance. Then he sneered, “For you.”

Before Qiao Yu could react, Cong Ye continued, “I won this seat fair and square. What’s this, Qiao Yu? Going back on your word now?”

Qiao Yu stared at him blankly, having no idea what he was talking about. The System quickly filled her in. “It seems there was such a thing. When you moved up a grade, the original Qiao Yu and Cong Ye both wanted the last row. They settled it with rock-paper-scissors. Cong Ye won.”

            

“…”

So “fair and square” meant rock-paper-scissors. Wow.

The image of Cong Ye in Qiao Yu’s eyes instantly shifted from cold romance novel male lead to a cringey, immature teenager.

            

Cong Ye was inexplicably annoyed by the way she was looking at him. He irritably pushed her head off his desk and said flatly, “Nice try. No swap.”

…So this seat was actually a hot commodity. Qiao Yu groaned inwardly but refused to give up. She made one last attempt. “Cong Ye, think about it. There really are benefits—”

Crack.

            

Before she could finish, a crisp snapping sound came from beside her. Her desk mate turned toward her slowly, crunching on a lollipop in her mouth.

“What’s the matter, Qiao Yu? Don’t want to be desk mates with me anymore?”

Another member of the “friends” group, a girl named Mi Yi, looked at her with a blank expression. Her languid tone was enough to make Qiao Yu too scared to answer.

            

“Host, this isn’t good. You couldn’t swap seats, and now you’re about to offend someone.”

“…Thanks for the insight. I really couldn’t tell.”

Ignoring the completely useless System, Qiao Yu broke out in a cold sweat, frantically trying to think of an explanation. Lu Yao, who had been watching the drama unfold with wide eyes, suddenly let out an “Ah!” He covered his mouth in realization, his face flushed with excitement.

            

“Qiao Yu, you’re not trying to set up Cong Ye and—”

Oh shit, there was actually a smart person here who saw through her plan!

Qiao Yu’s face twisted in panic. She shot up and lunged to cover Lu Yao’s mouth. There was no way she could let him say it—at least not now!

            

But she was still slower than Lu Yao’s mouth. The boy, half shy and half excited, pointed a trembling finger forward.

“—and Mi Yi!”

---

…Today had really been exhausting.

            

Qiao Yu lay spread-eagled on her soft bed, feeling like a withered little cabbage.

Lu Yao wasn’t a smart person at all. He was an idiot—thank god he was an idiot. His perfectly wrong answer had earned Qiao Yu a full round of cold mockery from both Cong Ye and Mi Yi, which only stopped when the teacher started handing out textbooks. Lu Yao, still clueless about what had just happened, even volunteered to swap seats with Mi Yi out of the goodness of his heart. Qiao Yu, full of unspeakable bitterness, had to stop him.

…What was the point of that swap! The two leads were still one in front and one behind, completely unmoved!

            

Not having her real intentions exposed was a good thing, but when Qiao Yu recalled the expressions on those two faces when they heard Lu Yao’s words, she felt like she’d kept her secret but lost whatever friendship (if any) they might have had.

Thankfully, today was just picking up textbooks. They were dismissed after half a day—she’d completely forgotten about that this morning, so she hadn’t actually been that late—otherwise, who knew what other disasters would have happened.

Putting the worries aside for now, Qiao Yu struggled to sit up in bed and spoke to the System.

            

“Can I start writing today?”

“Yes.” The System pulled up a light screen and opened the update interface. “Today’s important enrollment event can easily be written as a standalone chapter. Would you like to start now, Host?”

With nothing better to do, Qiao Yu sat down at her desk and familiarly touched the keyboard projected on the light screen.

            

“…By the way, what do I do about the parts I don’t know the specifics of?”

Qiao Yu planned to start writing from the moment Lin Qing woke up in the morning, but she hit a wall immediately. She didn’t know if Lin Qing had come to school by private car or public transport, so she had to ask the System.

“Just use your imagination,” the System said reassuringly. “As long as it doesn’t deviate too much from reality, it won’t be judged as OOC.”

            

“For example, you can write that the female lead walked to school or took a car. But you can’t write that she flew there.”

Qiao Yu nodded thoughtfully, then asked, “What about inner thoughts?”

“Since those can only be guessed, as long as they don’t conflict with actual actions, it’s completely fine.”

            

The criteria sounded pretty lenient. Relieved, Qiao Yu began writing with peace of mind.

【…

From the time she woke up until she left the house, Lin Qing hadn’t seen Cong Ye. She had assumed they would go to school together, and a faint trace of disappointment stirred within her.】

            

…Writing about people she knew in real life felt really strange. Qiao Yu tried hard to guess Lin Qing’s thoughts and continued typing, though not very smoothly.

【…

The teacher finished speaking and gestured for her to come forward and introduce herself. Lin Qing had just taken a step forward when she heard a commotion from outside the door. The others in the classroom heard it too. Frowning, the teacher walked to the door and pulled it open to look outside.

            

Lin Qing’s gaze drifted to the empty seat in the last row. Cong Ye still hadn’t arrived. Could it be him?】

Qiao Yu stopped typing, her expression serious as she carefully considered the next part of the plot.

【…

            

The disturbance at the door affected Cong Ye, who was glaring at her. Interrupted, he seemed to lose interest in continuing to pick a fight with her. He shot her a look of disgust and went straight back to his seat.

Lin Qing lowered her eyelashes and sighed inwardly.

How could she make him understand that she meant no harm? This was truly a difficult problem.】

            

Yes!

Qiao Yu cautiously erased all traces of her own existence from the entire incident and let out a long breath.

What she’d done this morning was way too conspicuous. If she wrote it out, it would definitely steal the spotlight. She could only gloss over it with a brief mention of a “disturbance.”

            

She also skimmed over the teacher assigning Lin Qing a seat, only writing that Lin Qing was both relieved and regretful that there was one person between her and Cong Ye. She never mentioned who that unlucky person was. As for the seat-swap commotion she’d started with Cong Ye, she didn’t write a single word.

Her story wasn’t important! What mattered was the male and female leads’ story!

Qiao Yu felt this method of omission had great potential. She continued writing cheerfully, but her hands on the keyboard suddenly froze after a short while.

            

…Wait.

Sweat beaded on her forehead.

There was a very serious problem she hadn’t solved yet.

            

“Um,” Qiao Yu began, her voice trembling, “this novel is mainly about cohabitation plus school, right?”

“Yes.”

“…Then how am I supposed to write the cohabitation half?”

            

…She couldn’t just make it all up, could she? If that were the case, she’d probably die from OOC the day after she posted.

The System’s tone was flat. “Ask the male and female leads.”

Qiao Yu: “…”

            

Even if you say it as casually as turning on a faucet when you need water, you’re still talking nonsense.

Qiao Yu boldly imagined herself asking Cong Ye about how he and Lin Qing got along at home. No matter how she pictured it, the ending was always the same: an enraged Cong Ye kicking her away.

As for asking Lin Qing—that was way too weird! At least she was sort of Cong Ye’s friend and could ask him, but she hadn’t even exchanged a single word with Lin Qing yet!

            

Well, maybe Lin Qing’s specially directed self-introduction counted as one sentence—but that wasn’t the point!

Qiao Yu shook her head vigorously and protested to the System in panic. “Impossible! I can’t get it out of them!”

“Really?” The System was confused by her strong reaction. “But this morning, you asked the male lead and found out he didn’t want to see the female lead at home, so he left late.”

            

Qiao Yu froze, thought back, and found she couldn’t argue with that.

“But that’s because Cong Ye and I are relatively close—”

She stopped mid-sentence as a flash of insight struck her. The System was still awkwardly saying, “If that doesn’t work, I can prepare a voice recorder and a hidden camera for you, Host—” That was way too much. It made her sound like a pervert.

            

Qiao Yu quickly stopped the eager System. A bleak understanding had already settled in her heart. She knew the best way to break through this deadlock, and she felt like she’d been ambushed.

If she wanted to pry any information out of the male and female leads, she had to get close to them first, no matter what.

And here she’d been racking her brains to erase her own role. From the looks of it, she had no choice but to add herself into the story.

            

Sighing, Qiao Yu flopped onto the bed. In less than half a day, her “assist” plan had already been upgraded to “best friend assist.” She couldn’t help but lament the unpredictability of life and how it was full of surprises.

Contrary to most people’s first impressions, the arrogant, hormonal teenage boy Cong Ye was actually easier to deal with. It was the seemingly gentle and approachable Lin Qing who was harder to get close to.

Qiao Yu recalled her experiences from the first twenty chapters. She knew Lin Qing’s life hadn’t been smooth sailing. Her mind had matured early, and she had her own safe distance when it came to interacting with others.

            

For someone like that, being her friend was easy. Being her close friend was very hard.

Qiao Yu remembered that delicate, fair-skinned girl. When she turned to look, she had a very beautiful, refined profile, and her eyes held just the right amount of curiosity and distance.

She felt tired. She closed her eyes and made a decision in the hazy space between waking and dreaming.

            

Even if she set aside the whole “writing a novel” thing, she still wanted to get close to Lin Qing.

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