After Becoming Roommates with an Obnoxious Wealthy Heiress - Chapter 34

Until the prey exhausts its last bit of strength and can only bow its head to beg the hunter for mercy.

Zhu Lingyi narrowed her eyes slightly, staring at a segment of video playing on Gao Yin’s phone for a long while.

Struggle, resistance, and evasion.

No matter how much she pretended to be calm and composed, Zhu Lingyi could see through it at a single glance.

Qin Shuyue she was trembling.

She was afraid.

It was an eruption of suppressed anger pushed to the absolute limit.

The lead wire pulling it all together was a thing called cowardice.

At this moment, the sense of fragmentation was displayed vividly.

A mixture of cowardice and arrogance, of collapse and struggle that did not seem to belong to her, was agonizing her to the point of near madness.

But if it was like this.

Zhu Lingyi curled her lips into a slight smile and tossed the phone back into Gao Yin’s arms.

“I’m leaving. I won’t be joining the gathering tonight.”

She had found a much more interesting game.

Zhu Lingyi thrust her hands back into her pockets, lifted her slender legs, and strode forward with long steps.

Qin Shuyue, how are you going to wrap this up?

Gao Yin and Xu Lian looked at each other. As Zhu Lingyi passed each window, her shadow lengthened by another inch; her back was impeccably straight, and every step she took seemed measured, an innate elegance carved into her very bones. Her shadow vanished without a trace the moment it merged into the darkness.

No matter what happened, she was always like this.

Unhurried, as if victory was already within her grasp.

Even if she were at the center of a public scandal where a single misstep could lead to an irreversible downfall, she wouldn’t care in the slightest.

Zhu Lingyi’s silhouette disappeared at the end of the hallway.

Xu Lian pushed up his glasses and did not speak.

Gao Yin looked down at his phone screen for a moment, then looked toward the direction where Zhu Lingyi had left. He frowned and asked Xu Lian beside him, “Does this… count as a scandal? What does Zhu Lingyi mean by this?”

Hidden beneath Xu Lian’s thick eyelashes, a pair of hawk-like eyes caught something agilely; a glint flashed through them and vanished in an instant.

He gave an irrelevant answer, saying only, “Qin Shuyue needs to take medicine. Her illness will only get more serious.”

“Illness?” Gao Yin glanced at his phone again and scratched his head in confusion. “What illness does she have? She looks fine to me, though sometimes she shrinks back like a quail egg.”

Among the three families Zhu, Gao, and Xu Zhu Lingyi’s family status was far above theirs, holding a near monopoly in the market. While the Gao and Xu families had independent boards of directors, in most cases, they relied on cooperation and investment from the Zhu family to operate.

Among the three, the Xu family had the lowest status. When Xu Lian was eight, the Xu family suffered an investment failure. If the Zhu family hadn’t reached out to pull them back then, the Xu family would have gone bankrupt long ago. Though they managed to keep operating afterward, they could never return to their former peak.

Because of this debt of gratitude, Xu Lian’s parents always instilled in Xu Lian and Xu Mo the idea of repaying the Zhu family. The siblings had been Zhu Lingyi’s followers since childhood.

At that time, only the Gao family’s influence could rival the Zhu family. Since Gao Yin was their peer, he naturally joined them.

Although the four grew up together, the parents of the Xu siblings told them from a young age to be cautious in word and deed and never to displease Zhu Lingyi, as it concerned the future and fate of the Xu family.

Xu Lian was the most obedient to his parents, never daring to overstep even by half a step, playing the role of the peacemaker among the four.

Xu Mo was born during the Xu family’s prosperity, so her personality was more pampered and willful than Xu Lian’s. However, because the Xu family had fallen on hard times, she had tempered her temperament over the years and gone abroad to study.

The Gao family had been doctors for generations, investing in hospitals and managing medical equipment, which complemented the Zhu family perfectly. They struck up a partnership immediately, and the two families maintained frequent and close contact.

Gao Yin naturally joined the circle.

Zhu Lingyi never said anything about it.

She was fine on her own, and it didn’t matter if a few more people were added.

She didn’t care about these things.

They had never seen Zhu Lingyi so happy about obtaining something that she danced with joy.

For Zhu Lingyi, whatever she wanted, she could obtain easily.

Just like this forum rumor scandal if Zhu Lingyi wanted to, those rumors would be wiped clean within a day, and no one in the school would dare to whisper about Qin Shuyue ever again.

Zhu Lingyi had that power.

But this time, she did nothing.

She turned a blind eye.

Gao Yin didn’t understand, but Xu Lian understood very well in his heart.

After all, Xu Lian had been Zhu Lingyi’s “bodyguard” since childhood.

But compared to what Zhu Lingyi wanted to obtain, he cared more about Qin Shuyue’s condition.

He didn’t think Qin Shuyue’s current mental state could withstand Zhu Lingyi’s “teasing.”

But he couldn’t stop it.

He only asked Gao Yin a very bizarre question: “Why did you choose this school after the college entrance exam?”

Gao Yin was truly bewildered. What went on in Xu Lian’s brain all day? How could his thinking be so jumpy?

One second he was talking about things on land, and the next second he was flying into outer space.

“No,” Gao Yin scratched the back of his head, frowning in total confusion. “We’re juniors, graduating next year. Why are you suddenly bringing up something from so long ago?”

“You and I both came to this school for Zhu Lingyi, didn’t we?”

Gao Yin was stunned, his eyes instantly flashing with a wary and horrified expression. He immediately slapped Xu Lian. “Hey! I’m telling you, don’t you lose your mind! Zhu Lingyi is our boss. If you dare to have any inappropriate thoughts about the boss, I’ll…”

“What are you thinking!” Xu Lian was rendered speechless.

He touched his cheek, which had been slapped red by Gao Yin, and sighed. “Back then, Zhu Lingyi clearly had better choices. Why did she come to this school?”

“And because of Zhu Lingyi’s arrival, how many young socialites and masters followed her here? This place was originally just an ordinary college on the verge of closing. Why didn’t she go to a place that matched her resources, abilities, and money? Why come here to attend classes with students who are completely out of her social circle?”

Gao Yin hated listening to his roundabout way of speaking that never seemed to get to the point.

He didn’t understand it at all.

Gao Yin lost his patience and asked directly, “What exactly are you trying to say?”

“Qin Shuyue would normally never encounter a blue-blood like Zhu Lingyi in her entire life, let alone get involved with her. But because of some coincidence, they collided. Do you think it’s more about chance, or more about a long-premeditated plan?”

With this question, Gao Yin understood much better.

A choice between a grape or a banana he could understand that.

He tilted his head, thought about it, and replied, “Nonsense, there’s no need to even think about it. Everyone knows there aren’t that many coincidences in this world!”

“Indeed.” Xu Lian’s eyes flickered. “It naturally wouldn’t be a coincidence… but given Zhu Lingyi’s personality, would she allow such a ‘coincidence’ to keep growing?”

Both Gao Yin and Xu Lian were very familiar with Zhu Lingyi’s nature.

If someone wore a mask in front of her, Zhu Lingyi would surely tear that person’s disguised face to shreds.

“Then you mean to say Zhu Lingyi wants to watch Qin Shuyue dig her own grave?”

Xu Lian shook his head.

“No.” His gaze gradually cleared. “Zhu Lingyi doesn’t want to see her dig her own grave. But…”

Gao Yin was getting anxious.

Stopping halfway through a sentence is like not giving toilet paper after a bowel movement!

“But what?”

Xu Lian shook his head again. “I don’t know how to put it.”

“It’s more like… a cat catching its prey, letting it escape again and again, only to catch it back effortlessly every time, over and over, until the prey exhausts its last bit of strength and can only bow its head to beg the hunter for mercy.”

“Escape and then get caught back? And squeezing out Qin Shuyue’s last bit of strength?” Gao Yin really didn’t understand.

He opened his phone again and stared at those two videos several times, frowning so hard he almost burned a hole through the screen. He couldn’t understand what Xu Lian meant at all.

Where did Qin Shuyue escape to? And when was she caught back by Zhu Lingyi?

Huh?

Xu Lian’s brow was also tightly furrowed.

He sighed. “I don’t know. I just have this intuition. Zhu Lingyi seems very interested in Qin Shuyue.”

“But…” A look of worry rose in Xu Lian’s eyes. “Qin Shuyue is very ill. I can see she is suffering and in agony right now. But I can’t see what exactly is behind her, pulling her into despair.”

Xu Lian’s expression was entirely that of a doctor worried about a patient.

Gao Yin, however, didn’t have much “empathy.”

But seeing his good friend say this, he could only suggest, “Isn’t your sister abroad studying psychiatry-related topics, clinical trials, and sample controls? Wait until she comes back to China and ask her.”

Xu Lian gave a soft “mm.” “My sister said she’ll be back for New Year’s this year.”

“It’s about time.” Gao Yin counted on his fingers. “I remember your sister hasn’t been back for five or six years, right?”

Xu Lian nodded, his furrowed brow still not relaxing. “Six years. Since my sister went abroad, she’s been very busy and doesn’t reply to messages often. It’s dangerous abroad… I’m afraid something might happen to her.”

Gao Yin patted Xu Lian’s shoulder and comforted him. “Relax, relax. Honestly, if it were you going abroad, I’d definitely burn incense and pray to Buddha every day for you to come back alive. But if it’s your sister… I think I need to change who I’m praying for.”

“Let’s just hope your sister can show some restraint abroad and stop using people’s heads as target practice.”

“Qin Shuyue.”

The moment the bell rang to end class, a boy sitting in the back row suddenly shouted her name.

Qin Shuyue intended to ignore him, but unexpectedly, just as she picked up her bag to leave, two boys nearly a head taller than her walked over from nowhere. They looked down at her and slapped her shoulder bag onto the desk.

She tugged at the bag; it didn’t move.

She tugged again; it still didn’t move.

Qin Shuyue clenched her fists tightly. “Let go.”

The two boys standing in front of her didn’t say a word. They just gave a strange smile and gestured with their eyes toward the space behind her.

Qin Shuyue didn’t want to turn around at all to see those ugly faces. Instead, she repeated sternly, “Let. Go.”

The two boys seemed to have no fear. They just looked at her, indifferent.

“You two students.”

A gentle and kind voice came from behind the two boys. “Please do not interfere with the normal life of others.”

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