After Becoming Roommates with an Obnoxious Wealthy Heiress - Chapter 51.1

Sitting alone in a bar, drinking away her sorrows.

“Get out.”

After the car slowly came to a halt in the underground garage, Zhu Lingyi gave the cold command.

Qin Shuyue fiddled with the door handle twice to no avail. She snapped crossly, “Your door is locked. How am I supposed to open it?”

Zhu Lingyi gave the driver a look, and only then did Qin Shuyue open the door and step out.

As they walked, they kept a wide distance between them, one in front and one behind. It was as if Qin Shuyue were intentionally avoiding her, following slowly and staying far back in the shadows.

Zhu Lingyi’s face remained cold, her brow twitching slightly.

What on earth is this little brat doing…

Zhu Lingyi stopped her pace, and the footsteps behind her ceased instantly. She turned back to look; Qin Shuyue immediately averted her gaze.

“Tch.”

She was deeply annoyed. She was the one who had spent time and effort finding and picking this girl up, yet not only did she get no credit for it, she was being resented instead.

Truly, Zhu Lingyi thought silently to herself, one should never be too kind-hearted.

She cast a cold, sideways glance at Qin Shuyue. “What a heartless little lamb.”

It was unclear if Qin Shuyue heard her. Her face was hidden in the shadows, her expression unreadable. Yet, her heart remained tightly strung. Sometimes, she felt utterly bewildered. She hadn’t felt this helpless, angry, and annoyed even when she saw Song Jiajia and the others.

Originally, Qin Shuyue only needed to follow from a distance so they wouldn’t disturb each other or give Zhu Lingyi a reason to find trouble. But when they reached the elevator, Qin Shuyue realized she was in trouble.

She hovered behind the door, staring anxiously at her toes. Just the thought of standing in the same elevator cabin as Zhu Lingyi made her scalp tingle. She shook her head repeatedly.

No.

Her gaze darted around until it landed on the stairwell. Maybe I’ll take the stairs. It’s only the sixth floor… I can climb it.

Before Qin Shuyue could bolt, Zhu Lingyi seemed to anticipate her thoughts. She glanced back indifferently and made the decision for her.

“Come here.”

Qin Shuyue flinched. She looked up sharply at Zhu Lingyi, but the other woman hadn’t even turned around, leaving only the sight of her slender back and the back of her head.

She was baffled. But before she could voice a refusal, two men in sunglasses looking like bodyguards based on their uniforms appeared behind her. The two hulking men stood with their hands behind their backs, watching her coldly like hawks eyeing a chick.

The lead guard gestured with his head toward Zhu Lingyi’s direction. Qin Shuyue understood. Zhu Lingyi wasn’t giving her a choice; she was forcing her into that elevator.

Hateful. So overbearing.

While she was lost in thought, the elevator opened with a “ding.” Zhu Lingyi stepped in first, followed by a gaze that felt like it was dipped in ice directed toward Qin Shuyue.

Despite her desperate wish to avoid the elevator, the two bodyguards were glaring at her. It was clear that if she refused, they would simply hoist her up and carry her inside.

Qin Shuyue took a deep breath and began to walk forward, step by slow step, toward Zhu Lingyi. She kept her head down, unable to face those frost-covered eyes. Her limbs radiated resistance, and her stomach churned with a nervousness that made her want to vomit.

She stalled, trying to drag it out as long as possible, hoping Zhu Lingyi would lose patience and leave her behind. But Zhu Lingyi didn’t give her the chance. With a flick of her eyes, the two guards grabbed Qin Shuyue by the arms, lifting her up despite how much she kicked her feet.

Where it would have taken Qin Shuyue ten steps, the guards covered the distance in three. They held her carefully by the arms, making sure not to touch anywhere inappropriate. Zhu Lingyi seemed satisfied with their conduct.

Once they deposited her into the elevator and the doors began to slide shut, Zhu Lingyi said to the guards, “Go find Assistant Jiang for a raise.”

The icy expressions of the guards broke into grins as they bowed. “Thank you, Little Boss Zhu!”

The doors closed completely, leaving the two of them cramped in a space of less than ten square meters. Qin Shuyue felt incredibly uncomfortable and inexplicably hot.

She spoke up sarcastically, “Aren’t you rich? Why is the elevator so small?”

Zhu Lingyi glanced at the ceiling. “I like it small. Is that a problem?”

“Heh,” Qin Shuyue gave a hollow laugh.

“When you speak, you should look the other person in the eye. You really are a rude little ingrate.”

Qin Shuyue always looked down when she spoke, and now she was being mocked for having no manners. Her teeth ached with frustration, and she was about to snap back when the elevator “dinged” again. The doors opened.

Zhu Lingyi walked out. Qin Shuyue followed, still trying to think of a rebuttal. Zhu Lingyi reached the front door, but instead of using a fingerprint, she simply leaned her face forward for a facial scan. The door opened automatically.

Hmph. High tech indeed, Qin Shuyue thought with another cold sneer.

Zhu Lingyi seemed oblivious to the look on her face. She walked inside and raised an eyebrow at the dazed girl. “Aren’t you coming in?”

Qin Shuyue stomped her foot in frustration and entered. Once inside, she kicked off her shoes and bolted for the second floor as if a monster were chasing her. Only after she locked her bedroom door did her heart begin to steady. She pressed her ear to the door to confirm Zhu Lingyi wasn’t coming up, then finally relaxed.

She collapsed onto the bed, burying her head in the blankets, then lifting it to gasp for air before burying it again. It felt like a strange form of security.

After a long while, she sat up.

700 yuan. What was she going to do? Who else could she borrow from?

The bank card hidden under her pillow had somehow been ruffled out and was lying quietly on the sheets. Qin Shuyue picked it up, examining it closely in her palm. There were 500,000 yuan in this card. Wu Xuhua had told her so herself.

For a split second, a certain thought crossed her mind, and her palm clamped shut. But then, the card felt like a piece of burning coal. She jerked her hand back and threw the card onto the bed.

She slapped herself. How could she think like that? Xuhua had given her that card because she trusted her. How could she…

Qin Shuyue closed her eyes and stuffed the card back under the pillow. She sighed deeply. Even the most capable person can’t cook without rice; a single bucket of grain was breaking her back.

Knock, knock.

A knock at the door made her heart jump again. A maid’s voice came from outside. “Miss Qin, you haven’t taken your medicine today.”

Realizing it wasn’t Zhu Lingyi, Qin Shuyue didn’t know whether to feel relieved or sad. She nodded and opened the door. The maid walked in with a tray of healthy food and several pills, placing them on the desk. There was also a glass of water, held so steadily that not a drop was spilled.

“Thank you,” Qin Shuyue said softly.

The maid smiled slightly, declining the credit. “It was Little Boss Zhu’s orders. We are just following instructions.”

Bitterness surged in Qin Shuyue’s heart again. It was always her. She was doing this just to make Qin Shuyue feel grateful, wasn’t she? To make her feel guilty so that everything she had done in the past could be wiped clean? The calculation was so obvious it might as well have hit her in the face.

Qin Shuyue snorted, but she still sat down to eat. One has to bow when under someone else’s roof.

The maid didn’t look away until the last pill was swallowed. Then, she lowered her eyes, took the tray, and left quickly.

Qin Shuyue sat frozen on the stool, feeling like she was going insane. What did Zhu Lingyi want? Did she really think the rumors about them were pleasant? Zhu Lingyi acted as if she didn’t care or didn’t know. But what about her? She wanted to stop caring too…

Those people wouldn’t dare trouble Zhu Lingyi; all of her own troubles were brought upon her by Zhu Lingyi. Yet the woman remained unbothered, without a shred of guilt. Was this the confidence of the powerful?

Qin Shuyue clenched her fists and slammed them onto the table.

But worse was yet to come.

Qin Shuyue called her father multiple times and even went to his current residence when she didn’t have classes. She waited in the stairwell from morning until night, then went to work at the restaurant, returning to Room 601 before 11:30 PM. She shuttled between school, the restaurant, and her father’s place. For the sake of a 700-yuan hospital bill, she felt she had truly lost her dignity.

Her father seemed to be avoiding her; she never ran into him. Yet she kept waiting.

After waiting for who knows how long, she didn’t find her father, but she encountered a woman. Qin Shuyue recognized her. She was her father’s current wife the woman who had caused her family to fall apart.

Qin Shuyue never had a kind look for her. Today was no different; she stared coldly as the woman approached. The woman, however, ignored the hostility. She was nearly fifty and had seen enough of the world not to bicker with a young girl. Besides, this wasn’t her daughter; there was no need to get angry at a stranger.

She ignored the daggers in Qin Shuyue’s eyes and pulled a thick red envelope from her designer bag, holding it out.

Qin Shuyue didn’t take it.

The woman seemed to read her mind. Without saying much, she simply said, “Take it. I know your mother needs money for her treatment.”

Qin Shuyue’s hands balled into fists. Several times she wanted to reach out for the thing she desired most, but her pride and conscience bound her hands. After a painful internal struggle, she shook her head firmly. “No. I don’t need your charity. Please take the money back.”

Despite her words, her eyes lingered on the envelope for a second. Fearing she would look desperate, she quickly looked away, feigning indifference.

A long sigh from the woman filled Qin Shuyue’s ears. “You still can’t let go of the past, can you?”

A flash of disdain appeared in Qin Shuyue’s eyes. “Let go? Auntie? You were the one who gained everything, so of course you can say that. You want me to just forget the past as if it were nothing? Don’t you think that’s too cruel?”

“But what’s the point of holding on?” The woman frowned, looking into the depths of Qin Shuyue’s eyes, only to shake her head. Seeing the girl’s stubborn refusal, she knew it was just youthful pride. If she were a few years older, she would know that in an emergency, pride should be set aside.

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