Chapter 3: Be Honest

After class, Lin Cheng got up and went to the restroom.

Su Wanqing followed without hesitation, floating behind him and waiting outside the door.

When other boys tried to go in with him, she glared at them fiercely—an inexplicable chill made them hesitate and change their minds.

Watching Lin Cheng from behind as he washed his hands with his head down, Su Wanqing suddenly had a bold idea.

Since I can remain in this world, does that mean I can… do something?
Scare Li Xiaoran into staying away? Give Lin Cheng some “hints”?
Make him help me expose Zhou Mingyuan’s true nature?

…

But… so what if he’s exposed?

Do my parents even care?
Isn’t Zhou Mingyuan exactly who they want taking over the family business?
Now their wish has come true. And I, the obstacle, am gone.

She shook her head.

First things first. Revenge can wait.

But if Lin Cheng gets snatched away by another girl, I’ll have no one left to help me get that revenge.

After washing his hands, Lin Cheng looked up at the mirror and frowned.

Something flickered in the glass—a shadow?

He rubbed his eyes. Nothing there.

“Seeing ghosts…” he muttered, then turned and left.

Su Wanqing floated behind him.

She didn’t know the limits of her abilities yet, but from this moment on, she would stick to Lin Cheng.

And no other girl would be allowed near him.

Absolutely not.

If anyone dared—she would bite them!
Ha!

As for that bastard Zhou Mingyuan, she would deal with him sooner or later.

But first: guard this fool Lin Cheng. Don’t let him get snatched up.

Back in the classroom, Su Wanqing floated beside him, hands on her hips, staring at the open math book on his desk.

She couldn’t quite read Lin Cheng’s expression, but something about his face screamed “annoyed.”

Su Wanqing felt a little peeved… and a little guilty.

She had caused him no small amount of trouble when she was alive.

She hadn’t listened to him.

She hadn’t even cared about him.

Now that she was dead, she wanted to make it up to him somehow.

Unfortunately, she didn’t even have hands that could touch anything.

Su Wanqing muttered to herself and tried poking his cheek—her finger passed right through.

Lin Cheng frowned and scratched his face, as if he’d been bitten by a mosquito.

Su Wanqing lit up, delighted.

She floated in front of him and poked his cheek twice more, grinning.

“Look at you, you silly thing. So obedient, makes one want to pet you.”

She knew, of course, that he couldn’t hear her—but it didn’t stop her from entertaining herself.

Floating beside Lin Cheng like this felt… familiar.

Almost like when she was alive.

Although she’d never paid this nameless mop in the back row any mind before, she now found that she actually quite liked the feeling of sticking to him.

Especially his stubborn yet dazed look—it stirred a strange warmth in her chest.

Next period was P.E.

Everyone went to the sports field.

Lin Cheng stayed behind in the classroom, his arm still in recovery.

He leaned against the window, lazily watching the students run laps outside.

Su Wanqing floated beside him, following his gaze.

Out on the field, Li Xiaoran jogged with a few other girls, her bright smile catching the sun.

From time to time, she glanced toward the classroom, clearly checking if Lin Cheng was watching.

Su Wanqing narrowed her eyes and snorted.

She floated to the field’s edge, trying to get closer to Li Xiaoran.

Maybe she could pull a small prank.

She remembered all those ghost stories—how spirits could summon cold winds or create eerie shadows to spook people.

Su Wanqing focused, glaring fiercely at Li Xiaoran’s back and muttering:
“You just run your laps and stop thinking about Lin Cheng!”

Maybe it was her resentment.

Maybe it was coincidence.

But Li Xiaoran suddenly stumbled and almost fell.

She quickly steadied herself, glancing around with a puzzled expression.

Su Wanqing nearly clapped in delight.

“Haha! Serves you right! Let’s see if you still dare to get close to Lin Cheng!”

But the joy didn’t last.

The shadow chain around her ankle suddenly tightened—just a little, like a silent warning.

She looked down and saw the black chain twitching, no longer pulling her down, but clearly displeased.

Her heart skipped. She stuck out her tongue guiltily and floated back to Lin Cheng’s side.

Behave. For now.

Su Wanqing stared at the chain.

It had given her some freedom—but not without limits.

I don’t even know what state I’m in right now…

If I wasn’t doing something bad like just now, but instead tried to communicate with Lin Cheng, would this chain still react?

What even is this thing? Some shackle from the underworld?

Her thoughts were a jumbled mess.

Just then, the back door of the classroom creaked open.

It was Zhou Mingyuan.

His handsome face was unreadable. The corners of his lips curled faintly—was that grief? Or mockery?

He carried a premium gift bag and walked straight toward Lin Cheng.

Su Wanqing exploded.

“Zhou Mingyuan! You murderer! What are you doing here?!”

Her transparent body lunged at him in fury, trying to claw his face apart.

Her hands passed uselessly through the air.

Zhou Mingyuan stopped by Lin Cheng’s desk, looking down at the boy in the washed-out uniform.

“Lin Cheng, I heard you were injured. I’ve been busy with Wanqing’s family matters and haven’t had time to return to school—or visit you.”

His tone was flat, as if commenting on the weather.

“Busy with my ass!”

Su Wanqing was livid, red with rage.

She could barely think through the fury.

She wanted to shred him apart.

Lin Cheng looked up, meeting Zhou Mingyuan’s gaze calmly.

Zhou Mingyuan. The male lead of this female-oriented novel.

On the surface, sunny and cheerful. In truth, the biggest villain in the entire first act.

He killed Su Wanqing.

And afterward, he would eliminate the rest of the Su family—parents, uncle, grandfather.
Anyone who stood between him and the inheritance would disappear, cleanly and without trace.

But that wasn’t even the worst part.

According to the system’s plot summary, Zhou Mingyuan didn’t stop there. After entering university, every girl who tried to get close to him mysteriously vanished—taken to his private villa.

What happened after that… Lin Cheng could only describe as horrifyingly perverse.
The kind of thing you only saw on the darkest corners of the internet.

He sometimes wondered if the so-called “female lead” of this novel even existed at all.

Because more and more… it seemed like Zhou Mingyuan was the female lead—

A female who had transmigrated into a male body.