After a Contractual Romance with the Scumbag Movie Queen - Chapter 55

Qi Puzhi had a long dream.

In the dream, she was still living in the Qi family, the much-envied young lady of a wealthy household.

Only she knew it was a hell where every next second could leave her suffocating.

She dreamed of her grandmother summoning her to the study, bringing down the ruler harshly because she had privately participated in a school extracurricular activity instead of focusing all her energy on her studies.

She dreamed of her mother, whose health deteriorated from frequent miscarriages, being mocked by Qi family relatives for failing to bear a son.

She dreamed of the day she came home early from school, hearing her mother’s screams from her parents’ bedroom, and pushing the door open to see her uncle and second uncle about to take off their pants.

Her mother had been drugged. When she turned her head and saw Qi Puzhi, her dazed eyes cleared slightly before she broke down in humiliated, wretched sobs. Sitting in the corner like a child, she began pounding the floor and kicking her legs violently, each thud striking deep into Qi Puzhi’s heart.

Every member of the Qi family had collectively created an inescapable nightmare for her and her mother.

This time, there was one more person in the dream, someone who looked very much like her father.

His sinister gaze observed the various distortions within the Qi family, even adding to them, and later, he meticulously presented her with a scene that would haunt her for life.

In the dream, Qi Puzhi saw herself gripping his neck.

His face turned red, then purple, until he stopped breathing…

“Sister!”

Suddenly shaken awake, Qi Puzhi opened her eyes, breathing heavily.

Her back was drenched in cold sweat.

It was only when Jiang Tian wiped her tears that Qi Puzhi belatedly realized she was already crying uncontrollably.

She lowered her head, her gaze falling on her right hand.

Jiang Tian took that hand into her own, feeling Qi Puzhi’s body tremble slightly in response, as if the hand were tainted with filth and no longer deserved to be cradled in warmth.

Jiang Tian’s nose tingled with emotion, and tears fell as well. Her heart aching unbearably, she pulled Qi Puzhi into her embrace.

In that burning warmth, Qi Puzhi trembled and found her voice:

“Jiang Tian, I dreamed… I really killed him.Her voice was slightly hoarse, tinged with the sobbing of recent tears.

She was clearly the victim, yet because of that momentary loss of control, her heart was so unsettled.

Had those evil people ever felt a moment of remorse?

Jiang Tian held her tightly, stroking her long hair, and said softly, “Do you know? When I pulled your hand away from his neck”

“It was just a gentle tug.”

Her grip had only been enough to make Zhang Yi slightly uncomfortable, far from lethal.

She had only wanted him to shut up, not to kill him herself.

It was he, under the misunderstanding that he had been given a lethal dose of drugs, who panicked and gasped as if he were about to die any second.

And Qi Puzhi, who had never acted so recklessly before in her life, was already tormented by a sense of morality and haunted by nightmare-like memories. Suddenly faced with such a reaction, she vaguely felt as though she intended to kill, that she was killing.

She had always despised those who committed evil deeds. In that moment, under the self-awareness of killing, her self-perception was overturned, it seemed she was one of them too.

Would she, again and again, fall into the abyss of evil? This self-interrogation churned deep within her soul.

It made her feel unworthy of Jiang Tian, so at that moment, she desperately wanted to push her away.

“So it wasn’t that you harbored murderous intent; it was an illusion created by Zhang Yi’s reaction,” Jiang Tian told her earnestly, word by word.

“Moreover, perhaps my moral compass isn’t strong enough… I believe even if my sister truly wanted to kill him at that time, it would only be an instinctive reaction anyone could understand.”

Just imagine, someone who grew up relying solely on her mother, who witnessed her tormented mother’s tragic state after days of lying undiscovered after suicide.

Then being told that this suffering that haunted her for half her life was an elaborate prank designed by someone to satisfy some twisted voyeuristic pleasure.

Anyone would find it unbearable.

“Requite injury with kindness, and how will you requite kindness?” When dealing with such people, there’s no need for any moral considerations.

“I’m not being soft on him, I still hope he meets a miserable end.” Qi Puzhi fell silent for a moment before whispering, “It’s just that”

“It’s just that”

Her voice grew fainter as she clutched Jiang Tian’s clothes, unable to voice what followed.

“You’re just afraid that once you cross that first boundary, you’ll develop a habit of wrongdoing.”

Jiang Tian paused, “And you’re afraid I’ll despise you for it, that I’ll leave you”

As she spoke, Qi Puzhi’s breathing grew increasingly labored, until the hand clutching her clothes trembled with force, as if unable to bear the weight.

“Sister, I never assumed you were perfect in the conventional sense.” Jiang Tian took the hand clutching her clothes and gently massaged it to help her relax. “I’m quite blind.”

Her deep eyes fixed on Qi Puzhi: “Even if you’re headed for hell, please take me with you.”

Qi Puzhi’s heart trembled as she looked up, wordlessly meeting her gaze. Jiang Tian’s eyes seemed to swirl with shifting emotions, everything there surged for Qi Puzhi alone.

As if they could contain all her imperfections and disgrace.

She felt nearly drowned in them, yet still couldn’t help asking: “Jiang Tian, what do you love about me?”

She only had a decent appearance. Why would this person cherish her so deeply, watching over her since childhood all these years?

Jiang Tian didn’t answer immediately. She thought seriously for a moment before saying: “Perhaps like Ye Su said to Pei Ying. I too have an instinct to chase after you.”

“Love is inherently mysterious, I can’t concretely explain why every second looking at you makes my heart flutter.”

Might as well call it instinct. As long as it’s Qi Puzhi, she’s where my heart belongs.

Qi Puzhi gazed at her for a long moment before finally uttering, “Mmm.”

She lowered her eyelashes and added, “Jiang Tian, are you really sure?”

Jiang Tian knew what she meant.

The corners of her eyes still red from earlier tears, she said with unprecedented seriousness: “I’ll always be here.”

Qi Puzhi’s lashes fluttered slightly, making suspended teardrops tremble.

She bit her lip, turned over in Jiang Tian’s embrace, facing away from her.

Then she said softly: “I believe you.”

Just as Pei Ying always told Ye Su.

Jiang Tian watched the back of her head, unable to suppress a smile.

“Then why are you turning away?” After waiting a moment, she persisted, propping herself up to look. “Hiding your happiness from me.”

Caught off guard by Jiang Tian’s inspection, Qi Puzhi’s slight delight hadn’t yet receded from her features, leaving her fully exposed.

“…”

She felt mildly annoyed, this person always played unexpected moves.

Seeing the gloom in her heart seemed to be slowly easing, replaced by familiar awkwardness and tsundere pride, Jiang Tian felt relieved inwardly.

Leaning down to kiss her, she murmured against her lips: “Sister should share your happiness with me.”

Qi Puzhi didn’t speak, only wrapped her arms around Jiang Tian’s neck, actively tangling with her.

Just hours earlier, she thought she was going to lose Jiang Tian, yet now she could still hold her and kiss her.

There was a profound sense of melancholy and lingering fear about having almost lost and then regained her.

Jiang Tian kissed her gently, but it didn’t feel like enough.

She wanted to be fiercely possessed, to confirm the other’s existence more clearly in the heat of passion.

She wanted to feel Jiang Tian’s longing, to sense that she couldn’t live without her.

She wanted to sink into the calm before the storm.

After all, everything beyond tomorrow remained unknown.

As their breaths intertwined, she held Jiang Tian tighter, her moistened lips parting slightly: “Take me.”

Under the moonlight streaming through the window, Jiang Tian’s slender hands looked like flawless white jade.

Guided by another piece of jade, they were led to the buttons of Qi Puzhi’s pajamas.