Chapter 196 - Ye Xinya (26)

Time was like a handful of sand, as they said. The tighter you tried to grasp it, the faster it runs through your fingers. This quotation from a wise dude Ye Xinya didn't know was interpreted by her in several ways.

Don't rush things. Enjoy every single moment in life. If possible, if there were two or more things that needed to be at the same time, pay more attention to what truly matter and learn what to prioritize and not.

After all, time was also like a river. Nobody could touch the same water twice since the flow had passed would never pass again. It was another quotation from a dude that the villainess didn't know. But it was a wise saying telling people to be mindful of their actions and spent time more wisely.

However, maybe due to always having these in mind that Ye Xinya managed to adapt fast in the new country and lifestyle and excel in the new school where she transferred. At the same time, she was finally learning real expertise from Jiang Li. And she was fastly getting the key points and skills easily, leaving the young man helpless yet also proud.

One time when they were already living two months in the new mansion that Jiang Li bought, the two received some intriguing news from Huaxia.

Ye Xinya just came back from school and dressed from head to toe like a sister of a convent due to a roleplay. While in such attire, she sought out Jiang Li. She would have looked the prettiest and hottest nun ever if not for her bunny flip flops ruining the image as she ran towards him in the study room.

"Hey, the bloke who always skip class!" Before she could even step inside, her voice already rang all over the place and distracted Jiang Li from what he was doing.

"Jiang Li, look! It's the current greatest scandal in Huaxia."

Her tablet in hand, she immediately tapped on it then showed an article and its accompanying pictures to him.

"This department secretary has been receiving many attacks for the past week and now it's been revealed that he is actually the mastermind behind the disciplinary school. Somebody anonymously sent various pieces of evidence to all major police stations and even the army so the whole Huaxia is shaken!"

Jiang Li curiously read on. He studied the picture in the article for a while before letting out a few chuckles. "Quite interesting. I heard the police stations near the school which helped the other students got an order from above not to release everything found about the school to the media. The news stations are even manipulated to broadcast as if the students attacked the teachers and staff. Are the materials displaying what kind of place it really was has been shared with the whole world too?"

"... Yes." Her expression was a bit complicated. With one glance, it was quite obvious something was weighing on her mind. "Hey. This has really become big and I'm worried about my family. Are we going to get involved? I remember that my fourth uncle has a lot of dealings with this Secretary Bu. To be honest, I'm even suspecting my fourth uncle is one of its sponsors."

"Sponsor? Oh, you mean that school?"

"Yes." She nodded heavily, biting on her lower lip.

When Ye Xinya was still cross-dressing as Ye Xin, she discovered that this particular uncle was scheming to send her to that place. One of the odd points about her enrollment was that the uncle appeared, though disguised, in her first orientation there. The person was not close to her hence he was not one of those who came with her when she first stepped into this institute. Therefore, why was he there a day after?

Before and after she got back from that disciplinary institution, there was plenty of time when she chanced upon that Secretary Bu speaking with her fourth uncle inside and outside the Ye mansion.

"You don't have faith in your grandfather?" Amusedly, Jiang Li asked seeing how anxious she appeared.

He knew she was just worried that the mainline would be impacted since the last name of one of the persons sponsoring the devil high politicians was Ye. But her anxiety was clouding her reasoning. That Grandfather Ye had lived up to this age. What had he not seen and experienced while leading a whole clan for decades?

'If he didn't heed my advice, then he had gotten old for nothing.'

Ye Xinya saw that his lips curled up, seemingly telling that there was a catch somewhere. Her eyes lightened up as a thought crossed her mind. Jiang Li must have done something behind the scene again. Wasn't that what he usually does?

Even though she had this guess, since he was not saying anything, it meant he wanted his contribution or deed to stay in the dark again.

The girl could only say gingerly, "You're right. Sorry, I panicked a bit and forgot as long as grandpa is around, nobody will be able to topple the Yes."

He shook his head. "You're like a kid who doesn't want to grow up if you keep thinking he will be around forever."

With a glare, she replied at him, "Hey, aren't I doing my best to become a super powerful lady in the future and help you and Grandpa? You told me I'm already an excellent student!"

As he returned his gaze to the computer screen, he chuckled, amused by the indignance lacing time and the furious glint on her eyes. 'On account that she also mentioned me, fine, I won't argue with her anymore.'

...

It was probably human nature to cling on somebody powerful and try to dump the majority of works on them if possible. This was most prevalent among young people, especially those in the schooling age.

An example of this was in a school group project, most of the works go to the leader. Using the members' words, he was the capable one and the person who knew what to do so he should lead by example. And by example meant the leader should be the one to tell and demonstrate everything.

He could only count himself unlucky if he ran into somebody who always reasons that he was better at doing the tasks so he should just continue doing it. Yet the worst part was if, while the leader busied himself with the laborious stuff and mental planning, the members chill at one corner, chat and kill time with each other, in the pretext that they were waiting for what their leaders would designate them to do.

If the project failed, blame the leader.

If it succeeded, the credits had to be share to all members, no matter how unfair it was.

Not that accurate but this could be used as a basis to the leads' intention when that day.

When Han Su and the female lead went to the Ye mansion to look for Jiang Li, their thinking back then had been very simple. 'Jing Mo led us out once. He should lead us in punishing the evildoers.' In other words though, this could be interpreted as them wanting to have somebody who would do most of the work for them and at the same time, be their beacon of light, cough, babysitter.

But Jiang Li saw far more than it. Even if he disregarded the truth that whoever got involved with the leads would forever be haunted by troubles, he would also have to consider what would happen if he did go with them and then steal the spot meant for the male lead.

He mainly had two misgivings about the matter. 

The first was that he had no reason to carry more burdens with him or create self-mission for him. The villainess and the Original's wishes were all enough to make his hands full. And even if they were not, who cares. No matter what, he doesn't want to concern himself on anything not mission-related.

The second was that trying to steal the spotlight of the male lead would be a useless attempt. A mysterious force would definitely interfere and correct the plot. Or at least correct, or purge, everything that would take away the leads' spotlight and force them apart. So why just not let the male lead hog that central position all for himself and make the matter simpler?

Anyway, without him, the leads would still accomplish what they were supposed to accomplish.

Also even though it was no longer apparent, from the very beginning, he was just a small villain, was he even needed in the leads' plan? What for? To add unnecessary drama or become their babysitter?

No thanks. The world, fate, or whatever it was called, was daydreaming if it was thinking it could force him into something like that.

In any case, the plot still managed to proceed smoothly even without his and the villainess' interference. He suspected the fate or will of his world was different from the previous ones and had a stronger auto-correct function because it still managed to steadily make the leads go closer to each other.

The mysteries too were one by one unraveled. The plot was gradually approaching the leads' 'happy ever after'.

The hidden villain of the story who had faithfully done his best to create troubles for Han Su and Ren Lian in Ye Xinya's absence had finally been cornered, even dragged to the police and the court for his sentence.