After Becoming Roommates with an Obnoxious Wealthy Heiress - Chapter 21

Zhu Lingyi’s anger has nowhere to go, and a “sacrificial lamb” has just stepped into her line of fire.

Facing Qin Shuyue’s questioning, Zhu Lingyi knit her brows in dissatisfaction.

“Qin Shuyue, are you questioning me?” Zhu Lingyi deeply disliked Qin Shuyue’s lack of respect toward her.

Qin Shuyue’s fists tightened slightly before relaxing again. Her voice was clear and ethereal, betraying no emotion.

She shook her head and explained, “No. I only wanted to say, if she didn’t actually do anything wrong, why won’t you give her another chance, Miss Zhu?”

“A chance?” A spark of faint rage flashed in Zhu Lingyi’s eyes, though it was quickly suppressed.

Was she expected to speak of such scandalous matters aloud? Was she mad?

She only stared coldly at Qin Shuyue, momentarily irritated by the fact that she was defending someone else.

“Qin Shuyue,” Zhu Lingyi called out her full name unpleasantly, staring straight at her. “It was her own ambition that destroyed her only job. She did something wrong; no one will sympathize with or pity her just because she’s a freshman or because her family is poor. I will not give her a second chance. Do you understand?”

Seeing the shifting expressions on Qin Shuyue’s face finally settle into silence, Zhu Lingyi picked up her chopsticks. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she deigned to taste a mouthful of Qin Shuyue’s cooking.

Her face showed no sign of evaluation. She simply reached for her limited-edition handbag—designed by a certain Italian designer—and counted out a stack of cash, throwing it onto the table with a loud thwack.

“This is the reward for your work these past few days.” Zhu Lingyi’s face remained emotionless, as if the stack of money meant nothing to her. But when she looked at Qin Shuyue, a mocking smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Isn’t this the purpose of your efforts these past few days?”

Qin Shuyue looked at the stack of money on the table. It was indeed what she urgently needed now, but…

She hadn’t done this for money.

More precisely, not for her money.

She simply didn’t want to annoy Zhu Lingyi and get kicked out, otherwise, she wouldn’t get her 1,800-yuan dormitory refund back. So, she had been avoiding Zhu Lingyi these days, minimizing their interaction and lowering her presence, hoping Zhu Lingyi would find her useless and non-threatening enough to let her stay.

But Zhu Lingyi had clearly misunderstood her intentions.

Did she actually think Qin Shuyue had done all this to squeeze that other girl out, just to “move up” and get her money?

By throwing a stack of money at her so “generously,” wasn’t she essentially branding her as a vain, sinister, and shameless person?

Qin Shuyue’s fists clenched tightly.

“Miss Zhu, I didn’t do these things for your money.”

After saying this, Qin Shuyue turned around and walked straight out the door.

The draft from her departure caught a hundred-yuan bill, which fluttered like a thin piece of paper, swaying and falling to the floor.

Zhu Lingyi raised her eyes, staring haughtily at Qin Shuyue’s departing back. Thinking of those final words, a trace of disdain surfaced on her face. She let out a light sneer before withdrawing her gaze and looking at the spread of food before her.

“I’ve seen plenty of people like you. Did you think you were the special one?”

With that, she flipped open a square indentation on the desk, revealing a red button.

She pressed it lightly, and after a moment, three servants entered one after another.

The servants didn’t step directly into the study. Instead, they knocked twice and only entered after receiving Zhu Lingyi’s permission.

Zhu Lingyi commanded flatly, “Take this food and throw it away. And from now on, without my permission, if I find anyone entering my study again, all of you can get lost and go back to the ancestral residence.”

The thunderous threat instantly terrified the three servants. They looked at each other with racing hearts, knowing the answer.

The servant standing in the middle spoke first: “Yes, Miss Zhu. We guarantee that such a situation will never happen again.”

Zhu Lingyi said nothing, her gaze sweeping over the middle servant.

The servant looked at the food on the table and immediately understood. She knit her brows and shouted, “Bastards! Who gave Miss Zhu this pig swill? Take it away and dump it immediately!”

The other two servants hurried forward to carry away the two dishes and the soup.

Zhu Lingyi snorted coldly. She rotated her chair, took a black pen from the holder, and lowered her head to work on some problems.

Her eyes didn’t leave the pages as she informed the servants indifferently, “The money on the table is yours.”

Seeing the thick stack of cash on the desk, the servants suppressed their jumping eyelids. They grabbed the money, tucking it into their bosoms like a treasure, and then knelt down to pick up the bill that had fallen to the floor.

She reached out to pat it; though there was no dust, she patted it several times anyway. It seemed a pity for such a good thing to be lying on the ground.

The servants then retreated quietly, closing the door softly behind them.

After the door closed, Zhu Lingyi slowly raised her head, taking in the sight of the servant’s footsteps, which seemed ready to fly with joy.

A flash of contempt crossed her eyes.

Qin Shuyue, what kind of “purity” are you pretending to have?

Back in her room, Qin Shuyue walked to the bed and suddenly lost all her strength, burying her face in the pillow.

Ring ring~ Ring ring~

A pleasant ringtone sounded from the clothes she was lying on.

Qin Shuyue sat up, wiped her face tiredly, and pulled the phone from her pocket to check the caller.

Seeing it was Wu Xuhua, she answered immediately.

“Hello? Sister Xuhua, it’s so late…”

“Shuyue!” A scream came from Wu Xuhua on the other end.

Then came Wu Xuhua’s rapid, panicked voice: “Save me! Save me! Where is your school? No, not at the school gate… Dexing Factory! Yes, there! Shuyue, hurry! Come quickly! I have something very important to give you! Hurry, there’s no time! Shuyue, only you can help me now!”

As soon as she finished, Wu Xuhua hung up immediately. On this end, Qin Shuyue didn’t even understand what was happening.

Wu Xuhua’s voice on the phone had been extremely hurried, as if she were running hard. It seemed… like she was being chased?

Qin Shuyue propped up her head, her gaze drifting to the side. She saw the leftover grilled skewers on the desk—plump, tender mutton tightly packed together. The scene of Wu Xuhua sending her 30,000 yuan without a word and her gentle words of comfort flashed through her mind.

The phone screen hadn’t turned off yet. She looked down at the time.

12:25 AM.

She gripped the frame of the phone tightly, and then, as if making a final decision, she bolted out of the room.

If someone treats her well, she should naturally treat them well in return. That was what her mother had taught her.

“It’s so late. Where are you going?”

Suddenly, Zhu Lingyi’s cold voice drifted down from upstairs like a snowflake landing on Qin Shuyue’s head—icy and devoid of emotion.

Qin Shuyue stopped and looked up hurriedly toward the second floor.

“I have an emergency.”

She was brief, then grabbed the door handle and shoved the door open.

Just as she was about to run out, she heard Zhu Lingyi say emotionlessly behind her, “Don’t you know my dormitory has a curfew?”

In the blink of an eye, Zhu Lingyi had come down from the second floor and walked to the sofa in the living room, seating herself elegantly.

The sofa cushion dipped slightly. Zhu Lingyi leaned back with her arms spread, her eyes squinted lazily, but her gaze was fixed directly on Qin Shuyue, hiding a sharp edge.

Under the pressure of that gaze, Qin Shuyue gripped the sides of her jeans and whispered, “I am very sorry, Miss Zhu. My friend just called me, and I really have an urgent matter right now. I must go out.”

She paused before forcing out the final sentence.

“What matter?”

Qin Shuyue didn’t know either; she shook her head.

“Are you hiding something from me?” Zhu Lingyi’s eyes narrowed further. She lowered her head slightly, as if trying to meet Qin Shuyue’s eyes to see if she was lying.

But she failed.

Qin Shuyue never looked her in the eye. When facing her, she was always like a mouse facing a cat—head down and shoulders slumped.

“Where are you going?”

Zhu Lingyi asked again, her eyes never leaving Qin Shuyue.

12:30 AM.

Qin Shuyue glanced at her phone screen; five minutes had already passed. Recalling Wu Xuhua’s panic on the phone, Qin Shuyue felt that every second of delay made Wu Xuhua’s situation more dire.

Furthermore, Sister Wu had helped her so much over the years. Knowing she was young, Wu Xuhua had taken on most of the dirty and tiring work herself, only letting Qin Shuyue do the lighter tasks… She had shown her kindness time and again, and Qin Shuyue felt she couldn’t live without a conscience.

Thinking of this, she decided to set aside Zhu Lingyi’s questions. If she delayed any longer, she feared she might never see Wu Xuhua again.

Besides, what did her friend’s trouble have to do with Zhu Lingyi?

She opened the door, looking outside, her mind made up.

Qin Shuyue opened her lips slightly. “This is my private business. Miss Zhu, you have no right to ask.”

As soon as she finished, there was a loud slam. Qin Shuyue closed the door and vanished.

The servants seemed to have been stirred by the commotion. They crept out of their rooms, looking around cautiously. When they saw Qin Shuyue ignore Zhu Lingyi and run out, their faces turned deathly pale, and their hearts nearly jumped out of their chests.

They exchanged looks of shock and panic.

The last person who dared to be so defiant didn’t just end up bankrupt and divorced; they were gifted 15 years in a “luxury” single room (prison). This slip of a girl was truly… too insolent!

Zhu Lingyi held a wine glass, reclining on the sofa with her back to them. The liquid in the glass swirled against the walls as her slender, white fingers agitated it.

The servants dared not stay, fearing that if Zhu Lingyi turned around and caught them watching, she would take her anger out on them. They retreated into the servant’s quarters one by one with light steps.

And the servants were right.

Having grown up in an illustrious family with a status far above others, the always-arrogant Zhu Lingyi had never met anyone who dared to ignore her words or be so publicly rude to her.

Qin Shuyue was long gone from the doorway, leaving a smoldering rage behind.

Zhu Lingyi was so angry she was practically grinding her teeth.

She tilted her head back, draining the red wine in one gulp, and then tossed the glass onto the wooden floor.

Thump. The glass hit the wood with a dull thud.

‘Lingyi, she isn’t someone sent from the ancestral residence. Xu Lian already checked her high school records. The teachers’ evaluation of her is that she’s a quiet, hardworking, top-tier student. Her classmates don’t have a strong impression of her; she was almost invisible in school, never looking for trouble. She only changed dorms because of a disagreement with a roommate in freshman year. Her background is clean; there are no issues.’

‘If I had to summarize her in eight words: Gentle as a cat, timid as a quail? That’s a good description.’

If Zhu Lingyi remembered correctly, those words were told to her personally by Gao Yin after investigating Qin Shuyue.

Gentle as a cat, timid as a quail?

Hmm?

At that very moment, the person who had described Qin Shuyue as “gentle as a cat, timid as a quail” was outside ringing the doorbell.

“Zhu Lingyi? Hey, are you home? What’s going on? I just saw someone run out of your apartment. Who was it?”

It was clearly Gao Yin’s voice.

Perfect. Zhu Lingyi’s anger had nowhere to go, and here was a “sacrificial lamb” stepping right into the line of fire.

A low, angry voice drifted through the door into Gao Yin’s ears: “Come in.”

Gao Yin turned the handle and stepped inside.

As soon as she entered, Gao Yin couldn’t help but shiver. “Zhu Lingyi, what temperature do you keep the AC at? Why is it so cold? Hiss, I’m freezing…”

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