Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

“Greetings student Zhao, I am the president of University News society, Cao Chuanguang. On behalf of the university, it is my honor to interview you. What do you think about military training?” Cao Chuanguang rolled the ball deftly.

He may have decided to court Zhao Youyue, but he took things slow. The game has to start off with a proper introduction and casual conversation. He had to do it right. No matter what happens, it was the utmost priority to get close with Zhao Youyue. That would almost guarantee her contact number in return.

Zhao Youyue had been through countless interviews. This president of University New society was a fool to ask such a stiff question. Military training was completely pointless, but Zhao Youyue had to take the popular answer, ” I think military training is good. It instills discipline. It is necessary, and I enjoyed my training. I will do my best.”

“What a wonderful speech from student Zhao. According to our research, you have been crowned as ‘Goddess of the Military Training.’ What do you think about this?” Cao Chuanguang praised Zhao Youyue, hoped to leave a good impression.

Zhao Youyue knew what flattery was at first glance. Only Su Li was good enough to please Zhao Youyue with words. It was not just soft words for the ears, only smart people like Zhao Youyue would understand the praises and be happy about it.

This president was not even trying hard. Why would such a lame question be asked by school officials?

It was an expected chain of events. She was so popular on the internet, the seniors have now discovered her. Was it all juniors who never surfed the internet in their lives?

Yes, she WAS popular in the past. Her livestream and weibo both went dark for a period of time, and people soon forgot her. She never made any appearances on the internet, people only remembered her as a beautiful, talented girl.

Another factor affected Ah Yu. The Douyu number one male broadcaster had been eliminated from broadcasting industry for some reason. As its reputation took a fall, Douyu lost a great deal of viewers. Most of them switched to another platform that was known for “broadcasting live hacks”…

As Douyu went into obscurity, so did Ah Yu. That mattered little to Ah Yu. It was just a past time, it was not even a part-time job.

Zhao Youyue was used to nicknames. Everybody could be crowned as “goddess” these days. Why should she feel proud just because of a title like, “Goddess of the Military Training”?

She did not speak out her mind, “My fellow students are just being generous. I am just an ordinary girl who followed the instruction of instructors in training. Please stop calling me by that name. There are better soldiers out there.”

Members of University News society were impressed by her humility. Most beautiful ladies often bragged about how pretty and different they were, compared to other female beings. They thought that the world was theirs, and people would fight on their behalves like slaves and servants.

Cao Chuanguang had not expected this junior to act in such a manner. He thought that he could get into her head that way. Once she took the bait, it would not be hard to have her act as his girlfriend.

Cao Chuanguang resumed the interview with meaningless questions. If he had not announced that it was an interview, onlookers might have suspected this to be nothing more than idle chatter. There was no sense of professionalism in those questions.

Zhao Youyue did not mind it. In fact, she was bored with the military training after the first few days. She was not afraid of getting tired, nor was she afraid of getting dark under the sun. Every day, she had to repeat the same thing over and over again. Now, this interview served as an opportunity to slack from her repetitive routine. Of course, she would make use of it.

Zhao Youyue replied those trash questions with equally pointless answers. Those questions were merely a probe to test her character. She cluelessly played along, just like Ma Huateng.[1]

Ma Huateng’s gag was made after his answer in an interview regarding his involvement in King of Glory. He could have just said yes or no. Instead, he went for more than ten minutes.

Finally, Cao Chuanguang could not hold it back and asked Zhao Youyue if she had ever thought of a romantic relationship in university. He made it sounded like a joke, emphasizing that it was a curious question among other students.

Zhao Youyue could have refused by saying that she did not want to talk about it. However, she chose to brag about it. “That’s a very good question, I would like to know about it as well. In my high school, there were always rumors about who and who were together, or who stayed single. Once there are fresh news and rumors, I would be the first to know about it… it’s more like a habit of mine.”

It took Zhao Youyue three minutes to brag about how much of a busybody she was. Of course, this wasn’t true. She barely remembered the names of her classmates. Yet there she was, somehow reminiscing about something. The news team was left speechless.

“They always say that if we do not experience a drama-filled romance in our university life, it is considered as wasting our time in university. There must be a reason behind this, since most people agree with it. However, how many of us could actually do that? I mean, everybody knows that academic results are the most important thing that we should be concerned about in university. If we indulge in relationships and romances, it would affect our academic performance. Therefore…”

The more she bragged, the more holes opened up. Zhao Youyue enjoyed herself at that moment. Han Leng appeared out of nowhere with a smile. Nobody knew when he had started to watch this interview with the crowd. He knew that Lady Zhao was aware of this senior intention and would play along with it. The scariest part was the president did not know that he had turned into her plaything at that moment.

Translation Note:

[1] Ma Huateng (Chinese: 马化腾; pinyin: Mǎ Huàténg, born on October 29, 1971), also known as Pony Ma,[2] is a Chinese business magnate, investor, philanthropist, engineer, internet and technology entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Tencent, Asia’s most valuable company, one of the largest Internet and technology companies, and the biggest investment, gaming and entertainment conglomerate in the world.