When the Villain is Bound to the Female Lead System

The results of the class placement exam were out, and as expected, Yu Yi and Xue Mingyuan were assigned to the top elite class, known as the "Qingbei Class" in their school. This class was considered the face of the school, filled with students who were expected to bring glory to the institution.

Xue Chenjing, however, fell short. Although he made it into the experimental class, he was at the very bottom of it. While Yu Yi and Xue Mingyuan were in Class 1, he was in Class 9. Though they were on the same floor, they were at opposite ends of the hallway. When Xue Chenjing received his placement results, he walked through the school building, counting his steps to measure the distance between them.

He found that they were separated by exactly one hundred steps—a distance as vast as the Chu River and Han Border in ancient Chinese chess.

Though Xue Chenjing was inwardly displeased with the outcome, the parents of both the Xue and Yu families were quite satisfied.

Especially for Xue Chenjing, his mother, Wei Tinglan, had initially expected him to end up in a regular class. She was pleasantly surprised when he managed to squeeze into the experimental class. Overjoyed, she insisted on hosting a celebratory dinner to thank Yu Yi for tutoring him.

At the dinner table, everyone was in high spirits. Xue Chenjing, too, hid his disappointment well, putting on a cheerful face.

But when he was alone at night, he sat at his desk, staring at the graded exam papers, fuming.

He was angry at himself. Yu Yi had explained this problem to him before, yet he still got it wrong during the exam. The question was simply a variation of the same concept, but he had failed to recognize it during the test.

Xue Chenjing glared at the papers, silently calculating how many points he had lost due to carelessness, which had ultimately placed him so far behind them.

The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became. He wished he could go back in time, rush into the exam hall, and slap some sense into his "pig brain," reminding himself to read the questions carefully and double-check his answers.

Just as he was about to spiral into self-loathing, a notification sound from his phone pulled him back to reality.

Xue Chenjing sniffled and glanced at the screen. The name of the contact immediately caught his attention, and he quickly grabbed his phone, opening the WeChat app.

Yu Yi's chat window was pinned at the top, and a small red dot indicated a new message. It was a concerned question: "You seemed a bit down today. Is something wrong?"

Xue Chenjing stared at the message, unsure how to respond.

He desperately wanted to be in the same class as them, to be closer to her. But he also knew his limitations. He wasn't as smart as Xue Mingyuan; he had always been the slowest of the three. Even if he managed to get into the elite class, he would likely struggle to keep up and end up crying over the homework every day.

Yu Yi, lying in bed, waited for his reply. When none came after a while, she decided to call him directly.

The call connected almost instantly, accompanied by some clumsy noises on the other end, as if he had almost dropped his phone. Yu Yi chuckled, "You answered so quickly. You were holding your phone all along, so why didn't you reply?"

There was no response, only the sound of heavy breathing. Yu Yi paused, sitting up in the dark, and whispered, "Are you crying? Did I interrupt your crying session?"

"I'm not!" Xue Chenjing finally retorted, his voice filled with frustration. "I'm not some weepy Lin Daiyu. I don't cry that much."

Yu Yi giggled, "Good, because you'd better not be."

Xue Chenjing: "..." The moment he heard her voice, the urge to cry that had been building up inside him dissipated, leaving only a lump in his throat.

Yu Yi's voice came through the phone, soft and soothing, "It's just a class placement exam. It's not that important. Besides, you only reviewed for a week or two during the summer, and you still made such a big improvement. That's already impressive."

Xue Chenjing belatedly realized she was trying to comfort him. He lay down on his bed, clutching his phone, and muttered, "I don't care about the grades."

"Huh?" Yu Yi was confused. "Then what's bothering you?"

"My classroom is too far from you... I mean, from you guys," he corrected himself.

Yu Yi was speechless. "That's it? I thought you hated your brother. Shouldn't you be happy to be far away from him?"

Xue Chenjing stared at her profile picture on the screen, silent for a moment before gritting his teeth and asking, "Yu Yi, did you forget what I told you when I left back then?"

Yu Yi: "..."

How could she forget?

After Uncle Xue and Aunt Wei divorced, Xue Chenjing had chosen to live with his mother. When he learned that he would be moving to another city with her, he had thrown a tantrum, crying so loudly that the entire floor could hear him. No one could console him.

Wei Tinglan, at her wit's end, had finally asked Yu Yi to talk to him.

When Yu Yi saw him, Xue Chenjing was a mess—his eyes swollen, his eyelashes damp, looking as if the sky had fallen.

When his parents had first announced their divorce, he hadn't cried nearly as much. In fact, he had even discussed with Yu Yi whether he should live with his father or mother. Their parents had respected their children's decisions, leaving the choice to the brothers.

So, Yu Yi had been surprised by his reaction. "Didn't you choose to go with Aunt Wei yourself? If you keep resisting like this, you'll only hurt her feelings."

Xue Chenjing had glared at her through his tears. "Are you here to convince me to leave too? So that I won't be in the way of you and my brother anymore?"

Yu Yi had sighed at his misinterpretation. She sat down beside him. "What do you want to do? Let your mom go alone?"

Xue Chenjing had started crying again. It was precisely because he couldn't let his mother go alone that he was so upset. He was being greedy—he wanted to stay with his mother but also didn't want to leave the people he cared about.

In the end, Xue Chenjing had accepted the reality. With his tear-streaked face, he had looked at Yu Yi and pleaded, "Yu Yi, I'll come back for you. Until then, can you promise not to fall for anyone else? Not even my brother."

It had to be said that Xue Chenjing, despite his carefree demeanor, was far from shallow.

In matters of the heart, he had been the first to awaken, even before his studious older brother. And with his earnestness, he had stirred something in Yu Yi as well.

Yu Yi still remembered the look in his eyes that day—clear and bright, washed clean by his tears, burning with a fervor as intense as the sunlight outside. It had been a blatant declaration of his feelings.

It was from that moment that Yu Yi had begun to see him in a different light, no longer just as the clingy boy next door.

His antics, his persistence—they had taken on a new meaning.

Over the years, those feelings had quietly grown, and now, whenever she saw him, there was always a ripple in her heart that was unique to him.

Xue Chenjing's voice brought her back to the present. He said softly, "I just want to be closer to you. I've always wanted that."

After a pause, he added, "Even if it's just a little bit closer."

Yu Yi rolled over in bed, facing the wall that separated their rooms, and whispered, "You're already close enough."

Xue Chenjing immediately protested, "It takes 101 steps to get from my classroom to yours. How is that close? During the ten-minute break, after accounting for bathroom trips and other distractions, and if the teacher decides to drag on the lecture, there's no time left for me to see you."

Yu Yi was taken aback. "You counted the steps?"

Xue Chenjing grumbled, "I walked the distance today to check."

Yu Yi couldn't help but laugh, picturing him striding down the sunlit hallway, counting each step. "It is a bit far. Maybe you shouldn't come over during breaks. Everyone's either resting or studying in the classroom. No one's running around in the hallways."

Xue Chenjing muttered, "That's why I hate these elite schools. At my old school, everyone would be out and about during breaks, not stuck in the classroom doing homework."

"If you don't do your homework during the break, you might not finish it during the evening self-study session, and then you'll have to take it home. That's such a hassle." Yu Yi yawned, comforting him, "The distance of a hundred and one steps isn't for you to walk alone. There's a staircase in between, and I'll be waiting for you there after school."

Xue Chenjing's eyelashes fluttered, and a hint of joy appeared on his face. But then he heard Yu Yi add, "And your brother will be waiting to go home with you too."

Xue Chenjing fell silent for a moment before saying, "...Then you two better not wait for me!"

Yu Yi, sensing his displeasure, deliberately asked, "Are you serious?"

Xue Chenjing huffed in frustration, "No, I'm not! If you dare not wait for me, then..." He snorted and changed his tone, "Xue Mingyuan is dead meat."

Next door, Xue Mingyuan, who was packing up to go to bed, suddenly sneezed several times in a row.

The conversation that day indeed set the tone for their future interactions.

As the second year of high school grew more intense, few people wandered around during breaks except to use the restroom or occasionally relax. Only after the second class ended, during the morning exercises, would everyone flood out of the classroom building, only to return like a tide afterward.

After running over to see Yu Yi a few times, Xue Chenjing obediently stopped bothering her.

At 9:30 PM, after the evening self-study session, they would meet in the middle staircase, the three of them walking home together. They would sit in either Yu's or Xue's living room, discussing the day's studies, and then give Xue Chenjing some extra tutoring on the problems he couldn't solve.

Perhaps because of that initial phone call, every night before bed, Xue Chenjing would time it just right to call Yu Yi, and they would chat until they fell asleep.

This nightly phone call gradually filled the gap of the six years they had missed.

Yu Yi learned when Xue Chenjing had gotten his ear pierced, only to find it so painful that he didn't dare get the other side done, leaving him with just the one earring.

She also found out that he had tried smoking because he thought it looked cool, only to cough violently and lose his voice, earning himself a beating from his mom when he got home.

Xue Chenjing had a habit of oversharing, and before he knew it, Yu Yi had gathered quite a few of his secrets. When he finally realized it, he regretted it so much that he pounded the wall in frustration, the noise loud enough for Yu Yi to hear from her room.

This nightly phone call became an unbreakable routine, continuing without fail, even without Xue Mingyuan's knowledge.

Their relationship, through these late-night chats, began to bubble with subtle hints of romance, like a pond softly gurgling with rising bubbles.

On occasional holiday nights, their calls would stretch longer, sometimes because they forgot to hang up, and other times simply because they wanted to fall asleep listening to each other's breathing.

The first time Xue Chenjing woke up from a dream that left him flushed and embarrassed, he sneaked off to wash his pants, only to return and find the phone still connected. His mind nearly exploded with the embarrassment of being caught red-handed.

Just as he panicked and was about to hang up, he paused and whispered cautiously, "Yu Yi, are you awake?"

There was no response from the other end, and Xue Chenjing finally breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly ending the WeChat call.

In the room next door, Yu Yi let out a soft exhale. In the dim light before dawn, she covered her burning face with her hand.

She had woken up when Xue Chenjing murmured her name in his sleep.

After that incident, Xue Chenjing avoided meeting her eyes for three days, skittish as a startled cat. But the nightly calls didn't stop. Even if he called and stumbled over his words, too nervous to speak, he still insisted on keeping the line connected.

It was as if he feared that if the calls ever stopped, Yu Yi would never answer his phone again.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

When they entered their final year of high school, Xue Chenjing finally stopped stubbornly chasing after their pace. He set a clear goal for himself: a law school near the university Yu Yi wanted to attend, one that didn't require advanced mathematics.

On the day the college entrance exams ended, everyone went wild with celebration. When Xue Chenjing returned that night, he followed his usual routine, timing it just right to call Yu Yi.

But before he could dial, his phone vibrated in his hand.

This was a special moment, different from any other call. Xue Chenjing answered in surprise, "Yu Yi, you actually called me first?"

Yu Yi chuckled on the other end, "Why are you so surprised? Wasn't the first call from me?"

Xue Chenjing blinked and smiled, "Oh, right, the first call was from you." After that, it had always been him calling her.

"Are you back?" Yu Yi asked.

Xue Chenjing walked slowly toward the apartment building, "Yeah, I'm downstairs."

Yu Yi leaned out the window, spotting his tall figure under the streetlamp. She spoke into the phone, "I've been meaning to ask you. Now that you're back, can I like someone else?"

The figure under the streetlamp stumbled in shock, "No, you can't!"

Yu Yi, feigning difficulty, asked, "Oh, why not?"

Xue Chenjing reached the building and looked up at her window, his gaze meeting hers. He put down his phone and shouted, "Because I want you to like me!"

Yu Yi immediately ducked back inside, clutching her phone in exasperation, "You idiot, what are you shouting for in the middle of the night?"

Xue Chenjing ran upstairs, his voice full of grievance, "Yu Yi, how could you like someone else? Wuwuwu..."

Yu Yi's voice echoed through the quiet stairwell, "There's no one else. Just you."

Next door, Xue Mingyuan: Huh?? When did this happen? I had no idea! [spits blood]

【The End】