TFRLTOP Chapter 15 Part 1

Chapter 15 – The CEO’s Little Push-Over

◎ Eight Hundred Meters, A Double Tragedy ◎

“Drop out! I’m dropping out right now!”

Ming Ming was so angry that she was spouting nonsense, while the system fanned the flames at her side.

“Are you mad? Don’t you just want to find someone to take it out on?”

“Good news, good news! The female lead is right around the corner!”

“Hurry up and vent your anger on the poor, innocent heroine!”

The system rubbed its hands together like a scheming little fly, practically giddy with anticipation.

Still fuming, Ming Ming actually let its words worm their way into her head. She gnashed her teeth. “The female lead, huh? Just don’t let me get my hands on her.”

The female lead… wait, who was the female lead again?

She rounded the corner and almost collided head-on with someone. Both stopped short. Ming Ming looked closely—and wasn’t this Ye Weiran?

So she really had run into the female lead.

Now, what was she supposed to do again? Drop out? No—trip her up! That’s right, sabotage!

Ming Ming scowled fiercely, while Ye Weiran’s face lit up in delight.

“It’s you!”

Before Ming Ming could even speak, Ye Weiran grabbed her hand. “If I’m not mistaken, your name’s Chu Yun, right? I’m Ye Weiran.”

“I kno—”

“Thank you for saving me twice. At the banquet that day, if it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have known what to do. And on the cruise too—if not for your help, I don’t even know how to repay you…”

“Then run the 800 meters for me!” Ming Ming blurted out.

“Huh?”

Ye Weiran froze, her unfinished words cut short.

Ming Ming had no idea what “on the cruise, thanks to your help” even meant, but she seized Ye Weiran’s hand tighter and repeated solemnly: “Three o’clock this afternoon, at the north field—run the 800 for me.”

Ye Weiran looked apologetic, her expression troubled. “It’s not that I don’t want to, but our math department is also scheduled at three. We’re running the 800 as a group too.”

Ming Ming forced her hand. “I don’t care!”

“But when I used to run for pay, I got to know a few students from other departments. I can ask if their schedule is different,” Ye Weiran offered.

Ming Ming blinked. Wait, people can make money like that?

Ye Weiran must’ve seen the question in her eyes, because she winked. “You can earn thirty to fifty a run. Lots of girls are shy about running themselves, so they’ll even buy you drinks or bubble tea as thanks.”

She tugged Ming Ming over to the swing under the wisteria trellis. The breeze was cool, the shade refreshing.

“Wait here, I’ll ask for you.”

“I don’t—” Ming Ming, fully committed to playing the vicious supporting role, was just about to insist I only want you to run for me when her phone pinged. A new message popped up in the class group chat:

Class rep: “Notice from the department: This afternoon, ID card, campus card, and face verification will be checked. No substitutes, no substitutes, no substitutes!!! @Everyone”

Ming Ming: “…”

Ye Weiran sighed in regret. “Well, nothing we can do then.”

Damn it, is this the fate of a supporting villainess?

Ming Ming nearly burst into tears of rage.

With summer’s scorching tail still clinging to the air, Ming Ming wheedled (strike that—wailed, rolled, and begged) until the system finally agreed to give her a tiny cheat. Just enough to guarantee she’d scrape by with a passing grade. But she still had to run, and run with every ounce of energy.

So she charged down the track like a feral dog, teeth bared. By the time she finished, the proud little peacock had turned into a drowned mutt—or honestly, a dead one.

The only silver lining: after lugging luggage around the past two days, Ming Ming had had the foresight to wear sneakers today. And for coolness’ sake, she’d put on a silk short-sleeved shirt and shorts that were perfect for movement.

If not, she might’ve actually died in the north field.

She plopped down on the ground, legs spread, hands on knees, eyes blank.

Ye Weiran jogged over, fresh as a daisy. “Are you okay?”

Her breathing wasn’t even fast, not a bead of sweat on her forehead despite the blazing sun. Anyone would’ve believed she’d just taken a stroll around the track instead of running 800 meters.

Ming Ming tilted her head back. Against the light, Ye Weiran’s hair glowed like it had a halo.

So this is the heroine’s aura, huh?

“Why was it so easy for you?”

Ye Weiran grinned, teeth flashing. “I used to be in the long-distance running club!”

She held out her hand, pulling Ming Ming up, and even brushed the dust from her clothes.

“Well, well, look who it is. Haven’t seen you in a few days and the barnyard chicken’s turned into a phoenix. What happened, land yourself a sugar daddy? Whose eyesight is that bad?”

A mocking voice cut across the field.

Both girls turned their heads. A cocky rich kid stood there with his gang of lackeys, swaggering in every step.

The leader flexed his wrists and ankles, sneering down at them.

The boys’ 1000-meter race hadn’t started yet.

Ming Ming assumed they were targeting Ye Weiran, so she shamelessly edged a step away, ready to enjoy the show from the sidelines.

But then the boys pivoted and headed straight for her.

Ming Ming: ?

Wait, why are they coming at me?

Ye Weiran, touched and worried at the same time, thought: Chu Yun is such a good person. She’s stepping aside to keep me out of trouble.

Ming Ming: ??

Absolutely not.

“Come on, Young Master He, you call that a phoenix? Even draped in gold, she still reeks like a barnyard hen!”

The boys howled with laughter. Other students nearby watched coldly, not daring to intervene.

Mood’s already rotten, and now this crap?

Ming Ming shot him an irritated look. “Who the hell are you?”

Young Master He froze, then his face twisted in anger. “Who am I? Chu Yun, you think you’re hot stuff now? Got yourself a rich backer and suddenly you’re too good for the rest of us? You really think you’re something, huh?”

“System, who the hell is this clown?”

System: “He Chengtian. Young master of He Group. His dad’s a school shareholder. The library on campus—the one named ‘Chengtian Hall’? Yeah, it was donated in his honor.”

Ming Ming: “…My bad for asking.”

“Then why’s he after me? Shouldn’t we be on the same side in the standard script—teaming up to bully the female lead?”

“Believe it or not,” the system replied dryly, “once the heroine reclaims her identity as the wealthy family’s true daughter, he secretly falls for her. Plus, his sister’s her bestie. In short, he’s a good guy in the story—so naturally, you two don’t get along.”

He Chengtian was still grumbling, “Don’t think that just because you’re wearing some designer clothes, you’ve turned into a swan.”

“Poor second male lead…” Ming Ming’s gaze carried an unexpected tinge of sympathy.

I get it. Right now, you’re just trying to show off in front of the girl you like, hoping to catch her attention.

Too bad, I haven’t even done anything yet.

You came too early.

“What kind of look is that?” He Chengtian demanded angrily.