Novel Turned Yuri – Chapter 6
by Little PandaLin Qing Is So Nice, I Will Always Love Cute Girls!
Busy high school life went by faster than expected. A week flew by in the blink of an eye, during which Qiao Yu nervously posted the continuation she’d written—Chapter 21.
Since Lin Qing and Cong Ye had zero interaction at school over the next few days, this chapter was still mainly about the first day of school. Once Qiao Yu learned she could fill in characters’ inner thoughts entirely from imagination, she racked her brain spinning Cong Ye’s actions in the most positive light possible. The person in question not only failed to appreciate her behind-the-scenes effort, but also rolled his eyes at her repeatedly whenever she tried to probe for material.
“I go straight to my room when I get home every day. One more person or one less person makes zero difference to me.”
“It’s rare to see you care this much about someone. Why don’t I swap places and live there instead?”
…Why wasn’t he this proactive when it came to swapping seats?
Qiao Yu swallowed her frustration and glossed over their scenes at home.
After the System successfully posted the chapter, Qiao Yu sat trembling, not daring to look at the comments. She pulled the blanket over herself and decided to sleep until tomorrow. As it turned out, she lay awake until three in the morning before finally caving. Gritting her teeth, she had the System bring up the light screen and, with a deep breath, clicked into the comments section.
【Ahhhhhhh the author is alive!】
…Sadly, the author was never coming back to life. But the humble ghostwriter was very much alive.
【Why is the male lead so mean? The female lead is such a poor thing.】
Because he’s an idiot.
【Lin Qing is so nice, I will always love cute girls!】
This reader has excellent taste!
Without even turning on the lights, Qiao Yu pored over every comment by the glow of the screen alone. The novel’s sudden resurrection from the dead had sparked an enthusiastic reader response, making this quite a time-consuming task. The Reader Satisfaction globe had shot up to 80, while the OOC ball beside it remained at zero, not budging an inch. She stared until her eyes ached, and only after confirming it truly wouldn’t change for this chapter did Qiao Yu finally breathe a sigh of relief.
No one noticed the author had switched! No one called her writing bad! Readers were satisfied, and there was no OOC!
Qiao Yu’s perpetually uneasy heart finally settled. She fell asleep in three seconds flat.
Then she slept like the dead through class the next day. When the furious teacher called on her to answer a question, kind-hearted Lin Qing secretly whispered the answer to her—otherwise, Qiao Yu would have found herself quickly saddled with her second self-criticism essay since the semester began.
Using the restroom incident as her opening, Qiao Yu had grown quite close to Lin Qing lately.
Now Lin Qing would chat with her, cover for her when she napped in class, and after being appointed study committee member, even turned a blind eye to her homework-copying habit.
This was genuinely important. Though Qiao Yu had been a decent student in her original high school days, three years of college had returned all that knowledge to her teachers. Picking it all back up now was giving her a massive headache.
Fortunately, the original body’s academic record hadn’t been great either, so she didn’t need to invent excuses for her ignorance.
The Grade 11 coursework wasn’t simple. She had questions she couldn’t answer every single day, and could only scramble with Lu Yao to copy Mi Yi’s homework the next morning. Newly promoted Lin Qing would look disapproving when she caught them, but ultimately would press her lips together and let it slide. She’d even hiss a whispered warning to Qiao Yu to hurry up when the subject representatives came around to collect assignments.
Woo-hoo. Just like that reader said—she would always love cute girls.
Lin Qing was so wonderful, unlike that troublesome creature behind her who did nothing but kick her chair all day.
Thinking of this, Qiao Yu turned to look at Cong Ye with exasperated frustration. He was doodling idly in his notebook, and when he caught her glance, he immediately put on a threatening “what are you looking at” expression.
How childish! Qiao Yu tried to lean over to get a closer look at what he was drawing, but Cong Ye ruthlessly shoved her face back. The two of them glared at each other, both snorting and turning their heads away in unison. Beside them, Mi Yi let out a long, utterly unfiltered sigh.
Ever since Qiao Yu had grown close to Lin Qing, Cong Ye couldn’t stand the sight of her. Every time he saw her, he puffed up like a red-eyed fighting cock, feathers bristling around his neck. She used to be able to copy his homework—Cong Ye’s grades were surprisingly decent, perhaps God’s way of leaving a window open after slamming the door on his emotional intelligence—but with him acting like this, even Lu Yao didn’t dare cross him. This left the two poor students in their four-person group relying entirely on Mi Yi for survival.
“…How long are you two going to keep this up? I’m exhausted just watching from the middle.”
Mi Yi had clearly reached her limit. She spun around, snatched the notebook right out from under Cong Ye’s hand, and shoved it into Qiao Yu’s arms. “Here, look at it, look at it. Once you’ve seen it, stop being mad at him.”
Cong Ye: ?
By the time he tried to grab it back, it was no longer so easy. Qiao Yu, quick as a flash, clutched the notebook and leaned back so far she was practically lying on her desk, keeping it out of Cong Ye’s reach. Lin Qing in front of her, bumped by the movement, turned around blankly—and together with Qiao Yu saw what was on the page: a crude stick figure with a pig’s head, with “Qiao Yu” written meticulously across its body. The strokes were pressed so hard the paper was nearly torn through.
Qiao Yu: …
Lin Qing: …pfft.
Lin Qing’s failed attempt to stifle her laugh completely detonated Cong Ye. He lunged forward and snatched his notebook back, his face so red Qiao Yu worried he might have a stroke and pass out. He crumpled the notebook in his fist, clutching it for two seconds in a half-crushed grip, then with a reckless “to hell with it” thrust it right in Qiao Yu’s face. He jabbed a finger at the stick figure and bellowed, “Look, Qiao Yu! You’re the one with the pig brain!”
The former college student, the adult, Qiao Yu, flew into a rage. She snatched the notebook and in a few rapid strokes drew a spectacularly ugly dog-headed stick figure, emblazoning Cong Ye’s name across it in wild, flowing characters. She held it up defiantly. “Look, Cong Ye! You’re the one with the dog head!”
System: …Are they elementary school students!
Poor System, its words carrying no weight, was completely unable to stop its host’s meltdown. It was an ordinary break between classes, with most of the class present. Their commotion had attracted attention, and the classroom atmosphere was distinctly bizarre. Everyone wore strange expressions, not daring to breathe too loudly, fighting hard to keep from laughing.
In that atmosphere, Lin Qing’s laughter was especially conspicuous.
She wasn’t holding back at all. She laughed openly and heartily, and both Qiao Yu and Cong Ye—all bristling and at each other’s throats—found they couldn’t keep up the fight in the face of such utterly tension-free laughter. Qiao Yu turned to look at her, defeated. “…You’re way too happy about this.”
“Sorry.” Lin Qing wiped away tears of laughter and composed herself to apologize. She took the notebook from Qiao Yu’s hand, but couldn’t help the corners of her mouth curling up again. “Qiao Yu, your drawing is so ugly.”
The corners of her eyes, rubbed pink from her wiping, gave her a naturally delicate, pitiable charm that made Qiao Yu’s heart skip a beat.
Qiao Yu didn’t care about the critique of her artistic skills. She folded her arms across her chest, indignant. “It’s Cong Ye I drew, so of course he only deserves to be this ugly.”
A loud “tch” came from behind her. Qiao Yu lifted her chin without even turning around, the defiance in it unmistakable.
Lin Qing, as if she hadn’t heard a thing, tugged Qiao Yu’s sleeve and looked up at her. “Then what if you drew me?”
System: …Why does the female lead seem a bit off-track too?
But its host didn’t think so at all. The moment Lin Qing said it, Qiao Yu instantly forgot all about the glaring Cong Ye behind her. She picked up her pen, thought hard for a good while, then carefully and clumsily drew a little flower on the notebook, writing Lin Qing’s name beside it.
The already bizarre classroom atmosphere grew even more charged and unpredictable now that she was actually ignoring Cong Ye to draw for Lin Qing. Cong Ye, sidelined and ignored for far too long, finally couldn’t take it. He shoved past Lu Yao, marched over to their desk, and roughly snatched the notebook back.
“What are you scribbling in my notebook now—” He caught a glimpse of the neat, proper little flower. Compared to the hideous dog-headed figure next to it, the difference was night and day. His anger flared even hotter. He slammed the notebook on the desk. “It’s ugly as sin!”
“I think it looks pretty nice…” Lin Qing’s voice grew quieter and quieter as Cong Ye’s expression darkened. Being very good at reading the room, she drew an X across her mouth, signaling Cong Ye she wouldn’t say another word.
“Qiao Yu, what exactly are you trying to do?”
Cong Ye rallied his spirits and raised his voice. Qiao Yu stared back at him, utterly baffled.
“What do you mean what am I trying to do? You’re the one who drew the pig-headed figure first!”
“You’re the one who started getting all cozy with her!”
…What kind of awful phrasing was that!
Qiao Yu looked at Cong Ye, who was pointing indignantly at Lin Qing, and suddenly, like a bolt of inspiration, her expression twisted into a grin.
“Cong Ye, are you… eating vinegar1?”
Like, “I care about you so much, but instead of getting along with me, you go and befriend my friend first!”—that kind of thing?
“If something’s wrong with your head, I can pay for your treatment, seriously.”
…Qiao Yu had never seen Cong Ye look so sincere. She fell silent. Sure enough, a romance novel male lead wouldn’t have his mind opened2 to romance this early. She’d overestimated him.
“But what’s your deal then? Lin Qing is just—” She stopped mid-sentence, finally remembering she was standing in front of the entire class. Qiao Yu stiffly looked around. Every classmate who met her gaze very deliberately turned away.
“…Let’s go outside and talk.”
Cong Ye caught her meaning too. He snorted and walked out. Qiao Yu sighed and was about to follow when she felt a gentle tug on her sleeve. She turned to meet Lin Qing’s worried eyes. Lin Qing bit her lower lip and said seriously, “I also—”
Before she could finish, Qiao Yu gave her hand a gentle squeeze, offered her a reassuring smile, and let go and left.
Though she hadn’t said a single word, Lin Qing somehow understood what Qiao Yu meant: It’s fine.
Beside them, Mi Yi gave Lin Qing a thoughtful glance and said flatly, “You’d better wait here for those two to finish their duel and come back.” She shrugged and headed out, dragging the trembling Lu Yao along.
What was all this about a duel?
The moment those words left her mouth, the way their classmates looked at Lin Qing changed, leaving Lin Qing feeling inexplicably like some imprisoned princess.
In the end, Lin Qing didn’t follow them out. Half the break had already passed, and by the looks of it, that group wouldn’t be back in five minutes. Someone had to stay and make up an excuse to cover for them with the teacher.
She reached over and picked up that ill-fated notebook again, gazing at the little flower. In truth, it really wasn’t much to look at. Qiao Yu’s drawing skills, to be perfectly honest, were worse than an elementary schooler’s. Even though she’d drawn that flower with the utmost gravity and care, it was still mediocre at best.
But for some reason, the more Lin Qing looked at it, the more it pleased her.
The author has something to say:
Time to bring Cong Ye around! Gotta fix the relationship first so I can set up even better assists! (clenches fist)
Footnotes
- Literally 'eating vinegar' — a Chinese expression for romantic jealousy, especially when someone feels upset that a person they care about is getting close to someone else.
- Literally 'to have one's mind opened' — a Chinese expression for finally becoming enlightened about or awakening to romantic feelings.
Qiao Yu and Lin Qing are so adorable.
hohoho, the seeds have been sown
hohoho, the seeds have been sown