Chapter 130
Xu Shuangrong still maintained her smile, but only Xie Mi, who was closest to her, could see the cold sweat forming on her forehead.
Xu Shuangrong, who had thought she had perfectly exploited Lai Bingxuan’s weak points, probably never imagined that Lai Bingxuan would one day come to her senses.
In the original story, Lai Bingxuan was set up as a brainless, malicious supporting female character.
Because of her lack of brains, she had been completely manipulated by Xu Shuangrong.
But what if she had finally grown a brain?
[System: This is unreasonable.]
[Xu Shuangrong: Don’t say snide things. What should I do now?]
[Xu Shuangrong: Xie Mi is an outsider; she knows the story, so she must also know about my past with Lai Bingxuan.]
[Xu Shuangrong: She’s determined to expose it now—think of a way.]
[System: If you think I’m smart just because I’m a system, you’re wrong.]
[Xu Shuangrong: ?]
[System: I have no idea.]
[Xu Shuangrong: ?]
Xie Mi looked at Xu Shuangrong with a hint of pity.
Aside from showing off, this system seemed to serve no practical purpose.
Better to rely on oneself than beg the system. Xu Shuangrong silently cursed it hundreds of times in her heart and, smiling, spoke to Lai Bingxuan:
“Miss Lai, we had some small disagreements back then, but it’s been a long time. I no longer care, and since I don’t care, I naturally don’t remember everything clearly.”
“Oh.”
Lai Bingxuan looked at her expressionlessly. “Then I’ll speak. I remember clearly.”
Xu Shuangrong: “……”
“At that time, you transferred to our school and were inexplicably bullied. I didn’t know the reason, nor did I care. But one day, someone suddenly accused me of being the one who bullied you.”
“It caused quite a stir. The anti-bullying association even brought reporters, and we confronted each other in the principal’s office.”
“Do you remember now?”
Lai Bingxuan controlled her anger with great effort, expressionless, and dropped a bombshell.
The entire room erupted; the live comments on screen exploded.
[What?! There really was bullying?]
[So Shuangshuang really was bullied, sob sob my baby!]
[As expected, still tied to bullying. Those online leaks weren’t fake.]
[Did you understand? Lai Bingxuan said she didn’t bully her; she was framed!]
[Who knows if she really was framed?]
[666, just forget what Xie Mi said? If you make claims, have evidence, or prepare to get Lai’s lawyer letters.]
[Stop arguing, what really happened? Who bullied whom? Hurry up and clarify!]
“I…”
Xu Shuangrong’s smile slowly faded, her eyes visibly pained and struggling. She slowly raised her arms and hugged herself.
“I don’t want to remember those things. Please, stop talking about it, okay?”
Like someone forced to relive traumatic memories, the pain Xu Shuangrong displayed was heart-wrenching.
Many viewers began to feel compassion, thinking Lai Bingxuan’s insistence on forcing someone to recall old wounds was excessive.
But Xie Mi showed no mercy. She asked, puzzled:
“I understand that being bullied is painful, but can’t you even remember who bullied you? Is it so hard to give a clear answer whether it was Lai Bingxuan? Really?”
At this, Lai Bingxuan suddenly realized.
“Oh—”
“Could this be moral coercion?”
Xu Shuangrong’s lips twitched; she nearly broke her composure.
Xie Mi always had a way of shattering her carefully constructed atmosphere with a single sentence—enough to make her want to hit someone.
Lai Bingxuan, awakened once again by Xie Mi’s words, snapped:
“Yes! Is it really so hard to say whether I bullied you? I was inexplicably dragged into this. Am I not innocent? Your vague and ambiguous words—aren’t they putting the blame on me?”
[System: She’s getting too clever.]
[Xu Shuangrong: ……]
[System: What now? If this continues, your character will collapse. You’re the heroine; your persona cannot fall.]
[Xu Shuangrong: All you do is talk snide, what else can you do?]
[Xu Shuangrong: At this point, I can only pretend to faint to avoid the topic. It’s reasonable—trauma from being bullied triggers a protective mechanism, so fainting when recalling painful memories makes sense.]
In full view of everyone, tears streamed down Xu Shuangrong’s face. Her body swayed.
Just as her eyes were about to close, a crisp voice rang in her ear:
“Attention everyone, Xu Shuangrong seems about to faint!”
“Trauma from bullying triggers a protective mechanism. If she faints, it’s perfectly reasonable!”
Xie Mi spoke rapidly, like rapping, finishing the explanation just before Xu Shuangrong would have collapsed.
Faint or not faint—Xu Shuangrong: “?”
[System: ?]
[System: Wait, does this girl have mind-reading powers?]
“Xu Shuangrong, don’t pretend! If you dare faint, I’ll have ten acupuncture masters poke you with needles!”
Realizing, Lai Bingxuan lunged and grabbed Xu Shuangrong’s arm, shouting angrily:
“Is it so hard to give an explanation? Even back in the principal’s office, I only wanted you to say one sentence that it wasn’t me who bullied you. But you kept stammering, leaving me misunderstood for so long.”
“Were you deliberately trying to frame me?!”
With every path blocked, Xu Shuangrong had no choice.
Rather than letting Lai Bingxuan expose more explosive details, she chose to retreat strategically and seize the initiative.
“Miss Lai, I never said you bullied me. I simply didn’t want to bring up that dark period, and I never knew you were misunderstood because of it.”
“If my actions caused you to fall into public scrutiny, then I apologize.”
At this, Xu Shuangrong deliberately faced the camera and bowed deeply.
“Miss Lai never bullied me. The person who did is someone else. But it’s been so long that I don’t wish to dwell on it.”
“I don’t know who suddenly brought this up, or why they targeted Miss Lai, but I hope they stop.”
“Don’t use me as a dagger to attack Miss Lai. I refuse to be anyone’s pawn!”
She bowed for a full thirty seconds. When she rose, her gaze was determined and indignant.
Her words immediately cleared her from suspicion, placing herself firmly in the victim’s position. One had to admit—she was clever.
But there’s always someone who likes to undermine things.
“No, actually—”
Xie Mi blinked at Xu Shuangrong, smiling innocently:
“I was thinking, if you had explained clearly from the start, who would’ve treated you like a pawn?”
