Chapter Thirteen: In Truth, You Are Merely Extras (700 Bonus Words)

Boom!

The once quiet night was suddenly shattered by a deafening clap of thunder.

Rain began to pour down from the heavens in scattered sheets.

Zhang Qingqing stood outside the door, watching the torrential downpour. The unwillingness and fury swelling within her seemed to fill her hollow heart just like the rain soaking the earth.

“You actually dared… you actually dared… Liu Mengchao!” Her long, crimson nails dug into her palm, leaving crescent-shaped marks of blood. “You’ll pay for this. I swear I’ll make you pay with your life!”

Her high-heeled steps halted one last time before Liu Mengchao’s door. Zhang Qingqing gazed at it for a long while, as if she could see through to the man inside—a man unmoved and unconquered by her allure.

“Heh…”

She scoffed coldly, buttoning up her open collar. Her full chest, squeezed by the tight white shirt, revealed an intoxicating curve. She knew there would be other men, lurking in the shadows, drawn to her beauty.

“Miss! It’s pouring outside, what are you doing here?”

The door to the room sandwiched between Liu Mengchao and Zhang Qingqing suddenly swung open.

Liu Li appeared, bare-chested in nothing but his boxers, tousling his dyed blond hair with one hand, and leering at the woman before him.

If this woman gets drenched in the rain—damn, that would really be something!

“Brother Liu…” Zhang Qingqing parted her lips, greeting him with a breathy gasp.

That greeting nearly set Liu Li ablaze with desire. Her delicate tongue, her willow waist moving like a serpent, those long, straight legs, her pert hips, and finally, her ample, rounded bosom—

He wanted her.

Liu Li decided then and there to put his plan into action tonight. He would not let this woman slip away. Now that they were in the Lord God’s Space, laws and morals were nothing but garbage.

As long as he enjoyed himself, nothing was off limits!

Zhang Qingqing noticed Liu Li’s eager expression and was secretly delighted.

Men conquer the world, and women conquer men.

Liu Mengchao, if you won’t fall for my charms, there will always be someone who will—and who’ll help me get rid of you. Even if those men are unreliable themselves.

“I just felt a little hot and wanted to take a walk…” Zhang Qingqing frowned slightly, leaning against the corridor railing. The drizzle fell from the eaves onto her back at once.

The rain, like a brazen libertine, slid from her slender neck down her smooth back, all the way to her hips. Her black trousers were instantly soaked, clinging tightly to her body and revealing the contours of her skin.

“Brother Liu…”

“Mm-hmm!”

Liu Li stared, entranced, as she showed off her body unabashedly. A woman who flaunts herself before me—just my type!

“Tonight…” Zhang Qingqing turned, displaying her rain-soaked back, and sashayed toward her room. At the door, she glanced back at the drooling Liu Li. “You must come, all right? I’ll be waiting.”

Click—

She twisted the handle, leaned against the door to throw him a coquettish wink, then slipped inside.

From where she had pressed against the door, a shapely water stain was left behind. Liu Li stared at it, swallowing hard, a suggestive grin spreading across his face.

Ah, women.

Casting a sinister glance at Liu Mengchao’s tightly shut door, Liu Li returned to his own room.

Meanwhile, in the room next door, two women began to whisper conspiratorially. Perhaps the Chinese are not a people who excel at infighting, but when it comes to women, nine out of ten possess the wisdom of a palace intrigue master.

“Sis… I told you that wouldn’t work,” Hua Weiwei said, glancing at Zhang Qingqing, whose face was clouded with disappointment.

“Wouldn’t work? How could it not?” Zhang Qingqing sat down, picked up her cup, poured herself some water, and drank it in one go. “Little one, you still don’t understand men.” She raised a finger and wagged it at Hua Weiwei, who was sprawled on the bed.

“How am I clueless?” Hua Weiwei giggled. “I told you long ago, a man like Liu Mengchao can never be conquered by seduction. He’s the type with a strong protective instinct.”

After a day of observation, Hua Weiwei had come to her conclusion about Liu Mengchao. Whether it was his assertive choice of seat or his considerate pauses to wait for her, he struck her as an overzealous, intelligent, sunny boy with a strong sense of justice.

Though he always tried to keep a stern face, she could still sense the gentleness beneath his exterior.

“Silly girl, you wear a mask of innocence to disguise yourself—how do you know others aren’t wearing masks too?” Zhang Qingqing caressed the rim of her cup and kissed it, her expression lost in reverie, as though kissing a lover. “When you look at Liu Li with his dyed blond hair, I bet you secretly despise him, don’t you?”

“Why should I think highly of a man who only thinks with what’s below his waist?”

“But that’s not the whole story. When I went to Liu Mengchao’s door just now, he stood there watching us the whole time.”

“He didn’t rush out?!”

“To calmly watch me with another man, without impulsively barging in… a simple thug? Is he really just a brainless punk?” Zhang Qingqing laughed, brimming with pride.

Her body was her greatest weapon. Whether a man acted upright or hid his desires behind a mask, she could see right through them. For that, she had only her school to thank.

A renowned film academy.

To learn how to act, you must first learn how to watch others act. Liu Li wasn’t a poor actor, but when she had deliberately cozied up to him during the day, his eyes had betrayed more than just desire.

There was the cunning and ferocity of a wolf.

“Thank goodness you’re here, Sis! Otherwise, things would go wrong!”

Hua Weiwei sprang up, standing barefoot in her hot pants before Zhang Qingqing, her best friend who looked both exasperated and amused.

“Three-time winner of the Intercollegiate Microfilm Festival’s Best Actress Award!”

“And you’re not bad yourself—three-time Best Supporting Actress,” Zhang Qingqing replied, gazing at her slender fingers. “I was worried when you didn’t wake up earlier.”

“Worried I wouldn’t know how to cooperate with your plan?” Hua Weiwei pouted playfully. “When I heard your voice in my ear, I knew something was off. ‘They’re not bad people’—I can’t believe you could say something so childish!”

“Men are just children, aren’t they? Big kids without brains.” Zhang Qingqing winked and went on, “They probably haven’t even thought about it—the Lord God’s mission. Everyone starts with a hundred points.”

“But the mission rewards are a thousand points each!”

“Exactly… So, if I easily drive Makoto Ito to despair over here…”

“And if I just happen to sabotage Big Brother Liu Mengchao’s mission over there—oh no!” Hua Weiwei suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth, feigning alarm. “Wouldn’t the three boys be wiped out by the Lord God?!”

“What a pity that would be. Unless I decide to share those thousand points with them. But then again… if, in the next mission, only the two of us are the experienced ones, maybe we won’t be bullied by bad men anymore?” Zhang Qingqing’s eyes glinted with a woman’s ruthless resolve.

“Probably not, since we could just kill them too.” Hua Weiwei flopped onto the floor, kicking her feet up like an innocent child. “Right, Dorm Leader?”

Knock, knock!

A rap sounded at the door.

Time had slipped by during their idle chatter, and the appointed hour had arrived.

The two women were about to deceive two men—and perhaps also the Lord God’s proxy, the psychology expert Liu Mengchao?

Let's hope your Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress titles were earned through real talent…

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Sorry, sorry! I stayed up a bit late last night… slept in today… my head’s still a bit fuzzy…