Villain – Peeking at the Diary, the Female Leads’ Personas Collapse

Chapter 86

What does that mean? Dad, are you adding drama for me too?

“I’ll donate some money to the school later, maybe a library or something. You can get into the school that way, go through the motions, and get that certification yourself.”

Is this really necessary? I’ll have to work overtime.

“Remember, if you can’t handle him outside, deal with him inside the school. It’s hard to enforce outside rules in there. You understand the distinction; the school is its own world.”

“I understand, Father. You want me to prevent him from obtaining his medical license.”

“Yes. If we’re targeting him, we’ll go all the way. Take this opportunity to network with some important figures at the academy. I’ll send you a list later. See if you can bring them into the company. I remember your grades aren’t bad, right?”

“Uh, decent.”

“That’ll be fine. I recall your test scores are quite high; that should suffice. Go on, prepare for action.”

Chen Fan hung up the phone reluctantly, looking at Tao Xiaoyao and then at his phone. He knew the plot was forcing itself forward. When things couldn’t connect, he had to take action.

Like when he accidentally killed a minor antagonist while with Jin Lan, he’d had to continue the storyline himself.

Damn it, it’s happened again. I hate overtime the most.

***

Chen Fan found himself drifting into unpleasant memories of the past, specifically about a time when he had to work overtime. But that time, it had been entirely his own fault due to his boredom.

In a relatively small city, running into some villains was quite normal. Shortly after the storyline began, Chen Fan had gone singing with Jin Lan and encountered a villain who took an interest in Jin Lan. Without much thought, Chen Fan dealt with him, killing him on the spot. And that’s when things went haywire. The world line forcibly corrected itself, and Chen Fan had to continue the plot under duress, taking over the role of that villain.

He was forced to give the protagonist challenges, creating opportunities for him to show off and level up. Working overtime by force was extremely painful for Chen Fan, and now, it seemed like he had to do it again.

[Damn, why? What’s wrong with you? Don’t you know that with Lang Qingfeng dead, I’ll have to take over his role?]

[Now I have to go through Lang Qingfeng’s plotline. Headache, headache. Didn’t I mention that Tao Xiaoyao’s daughter is supposed to be a female lead?]

Wait, what? Her daughter had that kind of trait?

[She’s dubbed the campus belle and has to keep up the cheerful facade every day, but at night, she’s a vigilante fighting criminals. Damn, how does a villain like me interact with a woman who’s bursting with a sense of justice?]

Tao Xiaoyao nearly died laughing. No wonder her daughter always snuck out at night; it turns out she was going to play hero.

The female leads were increasingly finding the plot of this novel outrageous.

Does this author write anything else besides women? Look at how many female leads have appeared already. It’s exhausting. Forget it.

Chen Fan sighed and said, “Zhu Yeqing, get ready. Change into something a bit younger. We’re going to school.”

Tao Xiaoyao interjected, “Actually, I could look pretty young if I dressed up.”

“Forget it, Auntie. You might be able to fool others, but not me. Besides, aren’t you the dorm aunt? Everyone knows you.”

“But I always say I’m eighteen. Who would know otherwise?”

Yuck.

Chen Fan felt a wave of nausea.

Fine, you’re amazing. I won’t argue with you.

With someone like her, you couldn’t use common sense to deal with things.
Admittedly, the novel’s author was talented at character design, particularly with female characters, each of them wildly unique. Only one seemed remotely normal.

As far as Chen Fan could see, Lin Qingyue was the most normal character.
Jin Lan, his female boss, was also relatively normal, aside from her tendency to manipulate people.

After preparing everything, Chen Fan reluctantly entered the school.

Lang Qingfeng’s death had caused quite a stir. The demise of such an outstanding student forced the school to start an investigation, though they soon concluded he had simply died by jumping out of a car.

However, the school did welcome two new students today: Chen Fan and Ye Aotian. This storyline was more of a transitional arc, commonly used in urban novels to help the protagonist’s development seem less abrupt and to meet certain reader expectations.

In urban novels, this type of campus arc often focused less on martial arts and more on clubs and sports as ways for characters to show off. Ye Aotian’s presence here was practically a form of dimensional suppression.

With Ye Aotian’s talent, no matter the discipline, he could handle it with ease. Why? Because the protagonist was gifted.

Chen Fan thought through the plot. The first day wasn’t too eventful, just routine freshman registration.

Ye Aotian had a special dorm, where he’d greet his roommates, discuss the school beauties, “accidentally” run into the campus belle, and make a bet with the guys to ask for her number.

An old, overused trope. However, Chen Fan needed to follow Lang Qingfeng’s storyline, meaning he had to be present for a face-off.

Damn it. This is a headache. I don’t even know that woman.

“Young master, where should I wait for you?”

“Wait in the dorm. If you’re bored, you can read some books. I’ll report to the school first.”

When Chen Fan reached the administration office, he unexpectedly ran into familiar faces — Ye Aotian and Jin Lan.

Chen Fan smirked. Just as he’d suspected, Jin Lan was with Ye Aotian. Those two must be in cahoots.

In the original story, their relationship wasn’t exactly hidden, though it was subtle enough in public due to their statuses.

Jin Lan noticed Chen Fan too. In fact, she had come here specifically after reading the recent entry, using her position as his superior to check in. She had been the one to facilitate Chen Fan’s enrollment. Meeting Ye Aotian at the entrance was merely a coincidence.

“Heh, just as I thought, you’re in this together. Jin Lan, you’ve really planned this well, haven’t you?”

Jin Lan looked at him and sighed, too tired to explain. For goodness’ sake, I’ve been sleeping at the office for days. Do you think I have time to meddle in Ye Aotian’s business? Knowing the plot, why would I get involved with a man who confided his loneliness to me upon our first meeting? How shameless and bored would I have to be?

“I’ll explain all this later. For now, you both go in. I didn’t expect there’d be two transfer students.”

Chen Fan and Ye Aotian entered the office together, where the principal was drinking tea, looking as though he already had a headache. One was the Chen family’s golden boy, enrolled through connections. The other was from the Ling family, a medical genius here to get a certificate in traditional Chinese medicine.

The principal knew the school would have little peace with these two on campus.

Chen Fan recalled the principal’s profile: Li Zhong, a humble, straightforward man. His traditional Chinese medicine skills weren’t exceptional, but under his leadership, the medical academy had progressed greatly. Much of the school’s achievements were credited to him.

“I understand your reasons for being here, so let’s be clear: this is a school. No external methods allowed.”

Both Chen Fan and Ye Aotian nodded.

“And if you want what you came here for, you’ll have to work hard. Ye Aotian, you have talent in traditional medicine, but systemized learning is essential.”

“Chen Fan, your father tells me you have good academic performance?”

Chen Fan nodded. After all, his character setting included academic excellence. Even though it wasn’t highlighted in the novel, it was part of the backstory.