The Female Lead's Live On-Air Disaster

"Teacher Xu, I think my boyfriend is cheating on me." Yu Sui'an's voice trembled, and her eyes reddened. "When he's with me, he's always on his phone, often ignores what I say, and has this happy smile on his face."

"In all these months, I've never seen him smile at me like that."

"A few days ago, on Qixi, he refused to go out with me, using the same old excuse about being busy with work and overtime. He has no idea how much effort I put into preparing for that day. I even spent two months' salary on a luxury bag for him, one I'd never have bought for myself!"

"But him? He didn't even get me a gift, and he didn't come home that night, as if he'd forgotten he had a girlfriend at all. I'm starting to wonder if he even likes me anymore. If he did, how could he care so little?"

"So last night, after he came home, I waited until he was asleep and went through his phone. That's when I saw the other woman, the one who's been haunting his dreams. Slim waist, long legs, fair skin, a beautiful face, and a rich family. I really don't understand why a woman like that would compete with me for my boyfriend. Is my boyfriend the only man left in the world?" Yu Sui'an abruptly stopped her heated rant. "Teacher Xu, what do you think?"

She quietly studied the woman across the table: long black hair neatly pinned up, delicate features accentuated by vivid makeup, yet with a gentle, soft aura. Xu Chun lived up to her name. Her skin was pale, pure as first snow, and flawless. Her privileged upbringing and refined manners made her stand out in any crowd, ethereal and striking.

Facing a rival who seemed almost perfect in every way, Yu Sui'an felt both inferior and despairing.

Xu Chun cradled her coffee cup, listening quietly. At that, her thick lashes trembled slightly, and she slowly looked up. "Men don't need a reason to cheat. You know my advice is always to break up."

"But if I just break up with him, isn't that letting them off easy?" Yu Sui'an pressed, unwilling to let it go. "Why should I have to bear the deception and the pain while they get off with no punishment at all? They might even be happy once I break up with him, and then conveniently end up together without facing any consequences."

"Why?" Yu Sui'an's grip tightened unconsciously around something inside her bag, her voice low.

Yu Sui'an was one of Xu Chun's students, not particularly close but not distant either. Seeing the struggle in the young woman's eyes, Xu Chun was about to offer some gentle comfort when Yu Sui'an cut her off. "Teacher Xu, I think they both deserve to pay for what they've done."

"Both my boyfriend and that third party who knows he has a girlfriend and still carries on with him." Yu Sui'an paused, then repeated, "Teacher Xu, what do you think?"

A strange feeling rose in Xu Chun's heart, but it came and went so quickly she couldn't catch hold of it before it vanished. Her jade-white fingers released the coffee cup, and she could only nod in temporary agreement with the emotionally fragile girl. "While I don't approve of such behavior, if it would make you feel better..."

Before Xu Chun could finish, Yu Sui'an's lips curved into a strained smile. "I understand, Teacher Xu."

A brief silence fell. Beneath the table, Yu Sui'an slowly pulled open the zipper of her bag, her tone tinged with excitement. "Teacher Xu, aren't you curious about the third party who came between me and my boyfriend?"

This was someone else's private matter. Xu Chun had little interest. But since Yu Sui'an had asked, she played along. "So... who is it?"

Yu Sui'an's smile widened. "It's you, Teacher Xu."

Xu Chun stared at Yu Sui'an in shock. What the hell?! She was busy spinning like a top every day. Where would she find the time or energy to come between a couple? Besides, she had no interest or inclination for that sort of thing.

She was a law-abiding citizen with morals and principles.

Xu Chun was still frozen in astonishment when a sharp pain shot through her chest. She looked down at Yu Sui'an's face, so close to hers, and at the bright red knife protruding from her own chest, and felt as though something inside her was rapidly draining away.

Amid screams, the café descended into chaos.

Before she lost consciousness, Xu Chun saw a glowing book floating before her eyes. Her fingers were drawn toward it uncontrollably, and the moment her fingertips touched the book, a flood of information rushed into her mind.

After digesting the book's contents, Xu Chun was utterly shaken.

So she was the female lead of an old-school melodramatic romance novel, the kind where the heroine suffers both physically and emotionally. After the male lead appeared, her family was ruined, plunged into massive debt, and lost everything overnight. Facing relentless creditors, her parents finally broke down and committed suicide together late one night, leaving Xu Chun alone.

Having lost her parents, Xu Chun not only had to work every day to support herself but also faced harassment from the many female supporting characters infatuated with the male lead, especially his unhinged childhood sweetheart, Yu Sui'an. In the book, thirty-five percent of Xu Chun's suffering came from Yu Sui'an and the other female supporting characters. The remaining sixty-five percent came entirely from the male lead.

The male lead treated Xu Chun with the utmost malice. After Yu Sui'an faked an illness and was hospitalized, he even had Xu Chun's kidney forcibly harvested for her, just because Yu Sui'an casually said, "Why not use Xu Chun's?"

After the surgery, Yu Sui'an was radiant, while Xu Chun died on the spot from massive bleeding due to her weakened condition. Only after her death did the male lead realize his love for Xu Chun had long been bone-deep. But the departed could not return; it was all too late.

At the story's end, the male lead had Xu Chun's ashes made into a ring. He gazed at it day and night, living the rest of his life in regret.

Xu Chun: "..."

What a vicious plot. What grudge did the author have against her? She was innocent and had done nothing. Why should she end up with her family ruined and die a tragic death just because she was the female lead?

Xu Chun was so furious her head ached. Just as she was about to abandon her good manners and curse aloud, the glowing book disappeared, replaced by an ancient-looking black book. Xu Chun hesitantly touched it and immediately received a prompt in her mind. "Enter this world?" The synopsis read, "This book is a yuri novel where the order has collapsed..."

"Yes, yes, yes! I want to enter that world!" Xu Chun nodded eagerly. Whoever wanted to be the female lead of that awful romance could have it. She was done.

The moment she spoke, the sensation of weightlessness deepened dramatically, and then her consciousness was suddenly wrenched away, bringing an indescribable sense of relief and lightness.

In the last moment before losing all sensation, Xu Chun seemed to hear Yu Sui'an's anxious voice calling the male lead's name. Xu Chun realized with a start. So she'd already been entangled with that damn male lead this early on. How unlucky.

*

Xu Chun felt like she'd had a very, very long dream.

Outside the dream, someone kept talking beside her ear, and Xu Chun found it rather annoying. Then someone touched her gently. At the contact, Xu Chun opened her eyes and woke up.

A face appeared close to hers. The other woman was about twenty-two or twenty-three, with delicate features, soft, plump, snow-white skin, and a smooth oval face. Her dark, watery almond eyes were pitiful and innocent, like a fragile white flower swaying in the wind, and even Xu Chun couldn't help but feel a surge of protectiveness.

At that moment, the white flower's lips were moving, her voice soft. "Sister, I've been really miserable inside lately. To get out of that difficult place, I tried reaching out to new people. But I've found that the sister I like seems to be secretly meeting another woman..."

Hearing those familiar words, Xu Chun's scalp tightened and she nearly stopped breathing.

She froze for a long while, then under the white flower's intense gaze, forced herself to speak. "Don't tell me... I'm the one secretly meeting the sister you like, trying to steal your love interest?"

The white flower's expression froze at her words, her face unreadable.

So that was it. Xu Chun thought bitterly: Next, would this white flower, just like Yu Sui'an, pull out a knife with lightning speed and stab her right back into that old melodramatic romance?

No. She refused to go back.

The white flower suddenly moved, as if quietly reaching for something in her bag. Xu Chun's back went cold. A powerful survival instinct made her grab both of the white flower's slender wrists, pulling her hands onto the table with almost brute force and holding them there. She spoke with real feeling. "Don't you know?"

Yu Sui'an blinked. Know what?

"Actually, the person in my heart has always been you. Only you. Even my approaching the sister you like was just so I could get closer to you more naturally, without you noticing."

...Wait. The sister the white flower liked? Xu Chun belatedly noticed this crucial point. She wanted to think it through, but the situation clearly didn't allow it. She could only rack her brains and use all her eloquence to calm the white flower down first, to keep her from doing anything rash. "Actually, the first time I saw you, I fell for you completely. You're beautiful, your personality is gentle, you shine when you're among people. I couldn't look away."

"But you already had someone you liked. I couldn't bring myself to break up someone else's relationship, so I could only hide in the shadows and watch you from afar. Even if I couldn't have you, as long as you were happy, that was enough. I could bear the pain of unrequited love alone. I didn't want you to be troubled by my presumptuous feelings. I just wanted you to be happy."

"Even though every night I toss and turn in my dreams, unable to sleep because I miss you so much, I'm still overjoyed. Because I'm so lucky—the heavens actually brought a girl as wonderful as you to my side, letting me know that angels really do exist in this world." After saying all that in one breath, Xu Chun quietly caught her breath and continued, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to approach the sister you like."

"I just... really couldn't control my feelings for you, or this heart that wants to see you."

"I'm sorry." She apologized sincerely.

For a moment, the air itself seemed to still, and even the barrage of comments fell silent.

After the brief quiet, an overwhelming flood of comments poured in: 【Is Xu Chun insane?! Does she know what she's saying? Did she forget this is still being livestreamed?!】

【I'm begging Xu Chun to let our Suisui go. Suisui finally met someone who truly loves her and walked out of the shadow of her heartbreak. Why is she clinging on again? It's not like Suisui is the only woman in the world.】

【Not a single word out of that scumbag's mouth can be trusted. Suisui, don't forgive Xu Chun, and don't look back! Everything that happened today is Xu Chun's own doing! She doesn't even like Suisui. She's just trying to save her reputation because her cheating was exposed and it affected her work and income, so she schemed to apologize on a livestream to salvage her image.】

【Suisui, don't soften your heart!】

While the comment army screamed frantically, Yu Sui'an finally reacted. She tilted her head slightly in confusion, her voice so soft that only the two of them could hear. "Sister, reel in the acting. The drama's a bit much."

Xu Chun opened her mouth to speak, but Yu Sui'an cut her off. "Sister, don't tell me you've already forgotten that I'm your ex-girlfriend?"

Xu Chun: "...???"

Ex-girlfriend? Her? With her?