Achieving A Happy Ending With The Tragic Female Lead [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 42

The lecture hall was still buzzing with students, and the environment was far from quiet. Since Lin Nanyue’s voice was low, Su Mi couldn’t hear her clearly at first.

Separated by the diagonal corner of a desk, Su Mi leaned in slightly toward her. She first glanced at the bridge of the girl’s nose, her beautiful brows furrowing slightly. “What did you say?”

Already nervous, Lin Nanyue panicked at Su Mi’s sudden proximity. Her grip tightened unconsciously on the soy milk in her hand, and in that moment, disaster struck.

The cooled soy milk squeezed out through the flat straw, splattering onto Su Mi’s white shirt and leaving several yellow stains.

“I’m so sorry!” Lin Nanyue gasped, startled. For a moment, she didn’t know where to put the soy milk. Remembering the tissues in her pocket, she frantically pulled them out, reaching over to wipe Su Mi down.

Before she could make contact, Su Mi reached out and caught her wrist. The girl’s wrist was incredibly thin, so delicate it felt as though it might snap with the slightest pressure. “I’ll do it myself.”

Su Mi took the tissue and wiped the spots herself. Although it wasn’t much, it still left a noticeable mark on the fabric.

Seeing her help rejected, a flicker of disappointment crossed Lin Nanyue’s downcast eyes; she didn’t even notice that her own hand was sticky with soy milk.

Su Mi handed a clean tissue back to her, gesturing for her to clean her hand.

Lin Nanyue took it as if receiving a grand favor, though she wiped her hand absentmindedly. “Professor, let me take it to the dry cleaners for you.”

“It’s fine.” Su Mi noted her guilt and tension. Looking down at the stain, she thought to herself that she should have followed Song Lingyin’s lead and kept spare clothes in the car.

A faculty member from the host university noticed the commotion and walked over. “Professor Su, is everything alright?”

Before Lin Nanyue could speak, Su Mi gave a brief explanation, omitting the girl’s blunder.

The teacher then mentioned the post-lecture luncheon, but Su Mi declined politely once again. Seeing her firm stance, the teacher could only express regret and depart.

Once the teacher was gone, Su Mi turned back to Lin Nanyue. “What were you trying to say earlier?”

After the accident, Lin Nanyue felt overwhelmed by guilt. The words she had prepared felt impossible to say, and her form of address shifted to the more formal “Professor Su.”

“I’m sorry, Professor Su. I didn’t mean it. Now I’ve ruined your chance to go to the luncheon.”

She assumed Su Mi was skipping the meal because of the stained shirt.

A thought suddenly struck her. “Professor Su, if you need to change, I have clothes in my dorm.”

Su Mi realized the misunderstanding. “I’m not skipping the lunch because of you. I had already declined before this happened.”

Lin Nanyue remained skeptical, preferring to believe that Su Mi was simply being kind, especially after covering for her in front of the other teacher.

By now, the classroom had finally emptied out.

Lin Nanyue finally gathered her courage. “Professor Su, I wanted to ask… last Friday night… was it you who helped me?”

Su Mi felt a sense of relief that the girl had finally asked. Her patient guidance hadn’t been in vain.

“Yes. My phone accidentally hit the bridge of your nose. Have you felt any discomfort since then?”

Hearing the admission, Lin Nanyue’s face flushed slightly, a sign of her agitation. She shook her head and bit her lower lip. “Thank you so much for that night.”

In truth, her memory of that night was hazy. Waking up in a strange environment with a splitting headache had initially filled her with terror, until she saw her clothes were intact and noticed the items left on the nightstand.

Later, in the bathroom, she had seen clothes tossed on a stool and remembered a blurry fragment: she had vomited on the person helping her.

Just recalling those faint memories made her skin crawl with embarrassment. She couldn’t meet Su Mi’s eyes, feeling she had made a total fool of herself.

Watching the girl remind her of a certain someone who gets drunk easily, Su Mi’s expression softened. “Don’t drink so much in the future. Be more careful at night.”

Lin Nanyue nodded repeatedly. “Professor Su, I’ve washed those two sets of clothes. I took them to a professional dry cleaner.”

A soft ringtone erupted from Su Mi’s pocket, cutting Lin Nanyue off. Su Mi took out her phone, the screen reflecting off her glasses.

Lin Nanyue found herself staring at the professor’s hand, perfectly proportioned and slender, like a flawless work of art.

“Sorry, I have something to attend to.” Su Mi looked up at her. “If you need anything else, you can add my contact info and we can chat later. Do you still have the note I gave you?”

“I have it,” Lin Nanyue replied.

“My ID is on there. You can add that account.”

Su Mi had expected a friend request within a day of leaving that note, but she had waited a week with no response. She had even double-checked the ID to ensure she hadn’t written it wrong.

She had originally intended to decline this lecture at C University, but knowing Lin Nanyue was here, she had hoped to run into her. She hadn’t expected her luck to be so good that Lin Nanyue would actually attend the lecture.

Reminding her in person this time, Su Mi figured nothing could go wrong now.

Lin Nanyue’s attention was again caught by Professor Su’s beautiful hands. She nodded instinctively. “Okay.”

Satisfied, Su Mi put her phone away. “I have to go. Talk to you later.”

“Goodbye, Professor Su,” Lin Nanyue said obediently.

It wasn’t until Su Mi had left the room that Lin Nanyue snapped out of it. She ran out after her, but Su Mi was already gone.

Dejected, she pulled the sticky note from her backpack. Looking at the string of characters, she felt a sudden wave of discouragement. She wondered if they would ever meet again.

After leaving the classroom, Su Mi headed straight for the parking lot and answered the recurring call.

“Hello, Mom.”

“Mi Mi, did you see the message I sent you?”

Walking along the campus street, Su Mi drew several lingering glances. “I just finished a lecture and only just saw it. I won’t be coming to the gathering the day after tomorrow. Also, please keep my return to work a secret for now. Don’t tell those aunties and uncles too much.”

One reason she didn’t want her mother broadcasting her return was that she didn’t want the male lead to find out too soon. At the very least, she wanted to establish a solid relationship with Lin Nanyue first so he wouldn’t ruin things.

Hearing the expected refusal, Mother Su sighed. “Mi Mi, you’ve returned like a secret agent. You kept us in the dark until you’d already accepted the job.”

Though her words held a hint of a pout, her tone wasn’t truly reproachful. She didn’t press further, giving a few final instructions before hanging up.

At the parking lot, Su Mi got into her car. Before putting her phone down, she opened her messaging app, but there was no red notification dot.

She frowned slightly. Was she tied up with something?

Su Mi tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, then set the phone aside and drove away.

Two days later.

Inside the restaurant, soft music flowed under dim lights. The night view outside the window was dazzling, with traffic lights cutting the city into glowing geometric blocks.

Song Lingyin, dressed in a beige gown, tapped the table in front of the person staring at their phone.

“Miss Su, I finally finished my project and invited you out for a meal, yet you’ve checked your phone five times in ten minutes. Is that really okay?”

Su Mi set the phone down and looked at Song Lingyin. “I checked it three times total.”

“Tsk, something is wrong with you.” Song Lingyin propped her chin on her hand, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips. “I thought you were acting strange last time. You’ve suddenly become so… ‘human.’ Usually, that means a person or an event has changed you. And now you’re obsessing over your phone. Come on, spill it. What’s the deal?”

Su Mi didn’t deny it. Instead, she asked, “If someone gives their contact information to another person, but that person never adds them… what would be the reason?”

Song Lingyin’s eyebrows shot up as if she’d just heard the scoop of the century. She exposed her friend ruthlessly: “Wow! That ‘someone’ wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?”

Looking slightly embarrassed, Su Mi took a sip of warm water.

If they weren’t in a restaurant, Song Lingyin would have burst out laughing. She never thought she’d see the day Su Mi was left on read.

“Maybe they’re just busy and forgot?” Song Lingyin offered a shred of comfort.

Su Mi dismissed it immediately. “Impossible.”

Seeing her certainty, Song Lingyin weighed her words. “Life is a vast wilderness. Maybe you’re just a stone tablet they passed by on their journey. It’s fine; everyone gets rejected at some point.”

“…Why a stone tablet?” Su Mi fixated on the least important part of the sentence.

This got Song Lingyin excited. It seemed the eldest Miss Su truly didn’t realize how she appeared to her classmates back in the day: cold and hard.

She then proceeded to give Su Mi a “friendly” lecture on her reputation.

By the time they finished their meal, a light rain had begun to fall, and the streets were mostly empty.

Song Lingyin draped a shawl over her shoulders, her tone aggrieved. “It’s that time of year again where it rains whenever it feels like it.”

Su Mi checked her phone; the rain looked like it would only get heavier. “It’s going to pour. Are you going home tonight?”

“Why? Does Miss Su want to take me in for the night?” Song Lingyin teased.

Su Mi rejected her coldly. “I can help you find a hotel nearby.”

Song Lingyin huffed, knowing better than to argue with a clean freak. “I have someone picking me up today.” She spotted someone approaching with an umbrella. She started walking away, waving back at Su Mi. “My ride’s here. Get home safe, Mi Mi! Bye~”

Before Su Mi could ask who it was, Song Lingyin ran toward the figure and threw herself into their arms.

The person’s face was briefly visible beneath the umbrella, a woman in formal wear, looking as though she had just come from a serious event. When her eyes met Su Mi’s, Su Mi felt a flicker of inexplicable hostility.

It seemed Song Lingyin had been stood up and had used Su Mi as a temporary dinner companion.

Su Mi wasn’t angry. She hurried through the rain to her car. Once inside, she checked her phone again. Seeing the empty notification screen, a hint of irritability rose in her chest.

She took a deep breath and exhaled, deciding she needed to find another way.

As she drove home, the drizzle turned into a torrential downpour. For safety, Su Mi slowed down. The wipers struggled to keep the windshield clear, providing only brief moments of clarity.

Because of the sudden storm, there were almost no pedestrians. Consequently, a lone figure running through the rain stood out sharply.

Su Mi slammed on the brakes. She peered out the window at the person being drenched, then immediately unlocked the doors and got out.

Blinded by the rushing water, Lin Nanyue suddenly felt herself run into a “soft wall.” She looked up, unable to see clearly, but her wrist was caught. Then, she heard that familiar, hauntingly beautiful voice.

“Get in the car.”

Su Mi didn’t waste time talking in the rain. She bundled the girl into the backseat and handed her a dry towel before getting back into the driver’s seat.

“…Professor Su?” Lin Nanyue sat in the back clutching the towel, looking at Su Mi in shock.

“Why are you out at this hour?” Su Mi looked at her through the rearview mirror.

Lin Nanyue wiped her face, looking embarrassed. “The construction site I visited today was quite far from the school.”

Su Mi gave a small hum of acknowledgment. Noting the slight purple tint to the girl’s lips, she turned up the car’s heater.

The car began to move, and a heavy silence filled the cabin.

Su Mi gripped the steering wheel. Stopping at a red light, she thought for a moment and then spoke:

“Why… didn’t you add me?”