Running Away Hand in Hand with the Second Female Lead - Chapter 1

“If you’re going to keep spouting nonsense and fooling around, don’t even think about getting a share in Jing Wang Corporation!”

Melodious violin music played from the background of the phone call, while the grating sound of yelling blended with the sound of chatter and toasts being made. Qin Juran felt that she could see that enraged face in front of her, red with anger.

She stepped on the brake, the traffic light’s red gleam flickering on her face through the car window, contrasting her jet-black hair against her fair skin. Qin Juran sucked in a breath, then spoke pointedly, “Personal attacks aside, the shares in Jing Wang were left to me by my father. I won’t let you take my property.”

“Personal attack? You dare call this a personal attack? What kind of grandchild with any pride would go around flaunting the fact that they’re gay? Even if your father wouldn’t mind, the Qin family doesn’t recognize you as a granddaughter!”

A coughing fit ensued, and as the servants hurriedly scrambled to pass the water and medicine, Juran tapped on the steering wheel, laughing coldly, “All you care about is your precious grandson. But you don’t need to threaten me, you can’t just take away my shares like that. I’ll see you with my lawyer tomorrow morning at 9.”

“You’re bringing a lawyer into this? You think you’re all that because you started that little business of yours, but who would think that you actually like women…”

The cursing from the phone did not cease. As Qin Juran slammed on the gas pedal, a bright streak of light flashed, along with a sharp honk. With a loud BANG there came a powerful slam, and Juran felt herself getting swept by the force for an instant – then suddenly, silence.

The violin melody, the banquet hall’s chatter of superficial flattery, the old beast’s insults, and the freshly hired intern’s cautious calls of “President Qin, President Qin” all ceased…

The world became peaceful.

For a moment, Qin Juran felt a rush of relief, free from her past and future.

Although Juran, as the eldest daughter of the Qin family, was outstanding and talented since her childhood, she was kicked out by her grandfather after coming out. Moreover, right when her own company was beginning to pick up, her father suddenly passed away. Her uncle has been coveting their shares of the family company ever since. Not to mention that annoying cousin of hers.

How did she end up in this situation? It must be a car crash, yes, a car crash.

Well, wasn’t that just great. One less problem for the family to deal with.

Thinking back, Qin Juran grew sullen. She never even got to fall in love after coming out, and now she was dead. At 26 years old, ever since graduating college to establishing her company, she struggled and fought to work her way up, from “Miss Qin” to “President Qin.” But in the end, the one person who cared about her was no longer there. Maybe dying wouldn’t be so bad after all, since she would no longer be alone.

Qin Juran shut her eyes tiredly, feeling like a grandma lying on her death bed, coming to terms with herself during her last moments of life.

“Qin Juran, Qin Juran…”

“What’s wrong with you, Qin Juran?”

“Wake up, Qin Juran…”

Hss…Qin Juran frowned in her deep sleep. This intern isn’t even properly addressing me as “President Qin.”

How noisy.

Qin Juran impatiently turned her body away.

Wait a second, turned her body? Qin Juran awoke with a jolt, shooting her head up. She opened her eyes to blinding sunlight passing through a classroom window, the sound of cicadas echoing in the air, as well as an unfamiliar face staring back at her inquisitively.

A classroom?

Qin Juran quickly assessed her surroundings, feeling as if she were watching a movie. Behind the podium stood a teacher who was tidying her notes, preparing to leave, and surrounding her were desks filled with students who seemed to be preparing for class…

“”

Qin Juran became more and more bewildered, and failing to recognize the face in front of her, she gulped, “Wh – who are you?”

The girl frowned and stretched a hand to touch Qin Juran’s forehead, which she subconsciously avoided, much to the girl’s surprise. She replied, “Did you take the wrong medicine last night, Qin Juran? I’m Feng Jing.”

Feng Jing? “Where am I?”

“Oh, stop joking around. We’re at school.”

“Which school?”

Seeing Qin Juran’s astonished expression, akin to a small, nervous rabbit, Feng Jing couldn’t help snickering, “This is ‘S’ University’s Finance department. You’re Qin Juran, I’m your roommate, Jing Feng. We are about to attend our second period class. Do you remember now? Did your fever damage your brain?”

S University Finance department, Jing Feng, Qin Juran…why did this sound so familiar?

Qin Juran wracked her brain, then suddenly recalled an old campus romance novel she once read, The Haughty Businessman and the Charming Campus Belle. One of her newly hired interns had accidentally dropped it in the hallway.

The clumsy intern hadn’t even notice that she dropped something. Thus, the CEO following behind in her high heels proceeded to pick it up, cackling to herself.

She began to read.

……

So she transmigrated into the book? Qin Juran only skimmed through the novel at best. At first, she was about to suffocate from the old-fashioned heart-wrenching angsty writing and almost gave up, but just then, the “Evil Second Female Lead” came into scene. In the novel, she was the Misses who was of the same social status as the male lead, but unlike those manipulative one-dimensional female supports, she was not afraid to love or to hate. Qin Juran fell in love with her free-spirited and confident character at once, and was only interested in reading the scenes she was in.

“What about Ruan Nan?” Qin Juran blurted out. If she really transmigrated, then couldn’t she finally meet this character?

Feng Jing didn’t know why she suddenly brought up Ruan Nan, and her face darkened. She said evasively, “How am I supposed to know? She must be here soon, class is about to start.”

Noticing the change in Feng Jing’s expression, Qin Juran raised her eyebrow. “What month is it?” She wanted to quickly ascertain which point of the story they were currently in.

“September.”

September…classes must’ve just started, what happened since then… Before Qin Juran had the chance to ask more questions, the school bells had sounded, prompting the students who were sleeping or looking at their phones to return to their seats. Feng Jing also jumped up and warned Qin Juran not to fall asleep again before returning to her spot.

Qin Juran’s seat was in the third row on the left by the window. She peaked down at her attire: a stylish white cotton dress along with clean canvas shoes, her dark hair brushed neatly over her shoulder. She was just about to fumble through her bag for a mirror to inspect her face when she heard a thump.

The door was pushed open by a group of elaborately dressed rich second-generation students. As they walked into the classroom chattily, Qin Juran instinctively looked towards the door. The throng appeared to surround a single female student – an elegant black minidress accentuated her fair skin, long curls were effortlessly tousled against her face, heavy makeup that still managed to look classy adorned her eyes. The light appeared to shine on her, outlining the silhouette of her profile. Her charming red lips were perked up ever so slightly, and her eyes gleamed with a natural-born elegance.

Qin Juran’s own looks were already quite outstanding, and after so many years in the corporate world, she’s met shameless flirts, as well as those unattainable alluring beauties, but no one quite like this one.

She was like a black flower growing out of the darkness, unlike any other, yet no one dared to touch…

Unbelievable.

She must be Ruan Nan.

Qin Juran relaxed her shoulders, lazily easing back in her seat. As soon as she blinked, she felt a cold gaze sweeping through the classroom, pausing straight on her own.

A cool provocation.

The two pairs of eyes faced each other. Qin Juran stared blankly for a moment, then her lips formed an unreadable smile.

National Economy Management was a small class, so everyone knew about the dynamic between Qin Juran, Ruan Nan, and Fan Chuan. Until today, just knowing that the haughty Ruan Nan was coming to bother the “white lotus” Qin Juran would cause the girl to break into a cold sweat.

But didn’t Qin Juran usually do everything to avoid Ruan Nan? Why was she being so bold today? If Ruan Nan saw correctly, she was even, smiling??

Qin Juran rested against her chair, breaking eye contact to assess Ruan Nan, from her pretty face to her attractive body to the white envelope she held in her hand.

Ah, I know where we are in the plot in now.

Sure enough, Ruan Nan walked up to the podium in front of the class, ignoring the chime of the bells. She faced Qin Juran and raised the envelope in her hand: “Qin Juran, your mail.”

In the novel, Ruan Nan pulls out the love letter that Qin Juran secretly wrote to Fan Chuan and reads the entirety word by word in front of the class. Afterwards, she tosses it by Qin Juran’s feet, exclaiming, “You said that you didn’t like Fan Chuan, but looks like your body says differently!” At that moment, Fan Chuan walks through the door, his bag swung lazily over his shoulder, and glances at what seemed to be the aftermath of a disturbance. Upon seeing Qin Juran scrambling to wipe her tears and pick up the letter, he frowns and only walks towards the back of the classroom.

Remembering this overly contrived scene from the original novel, Qin Juran let out a small hiss.

Seeing Qin Juran get distracted even at a time like this, Ruan Nan pointedly raised her voice: “If you don’t quickly come and get it, I’m going to read it aloud word by word!” She made a motion to tear open the envelope.

As the approaching sound of high heels suggested that the professor was arriving, the students eagerly peered towards Qin Juran, waiting for her response. Finally, Qin Juran couldn’t sit still anymore; she reached out to tidy the stack of books on her desk and still the pen rolling around, stood up, and slowly walked towards the podium.

After walking the few paces from the third row to the podium, Qin Juran stepped onto the platform and pointed her chin towards the envelope in Ruan Nan’s hand, prompting her to continue.

Although Qin Juran was not wearing heels, her height of 170cm provided a stifling advantage over Ruan Nan. Ruan Nan didn’t understand what Qin Juran was trying to say, or why she was so unrestrained today, but as she heard the professor about to enter the classroom, she blurted, “Qin Juran, you said that you don’t like Fan Chuan, but your love letter sure says differently!”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Qin Juran deftly grabbed the letter with one hand, then propped her other hand against the blackboard behind Ran Nuan. She flexed her long white fingers, her body stooping over Ruan Nan, and smiled teasingly. Above the murmurs traveling throughout the room, Qin Juran’s voice rang out: “What — are you jealous, babe?”

T/N: Hello! This is my first translation so please feel free to leave a comment if there are any issues! Hope you all enjoy and let’s have fun on this journey together~