After Being Possessed by the Transmigrated Heroine - Chapter 12

Zhuang Han had been doing these transmigration missions for a while now. From the first time she executed a mission until now, she didn’t know exactly how many years had passed.

Zhuang Han was very adept at winning people over. When she met with the Zhong family the other day, even the real daughter of the family who had always been at odds with the original heroine had been polite to her, seemingly touched by her magnanimity. There was no reason she couldn’t subdue these nameless NPCs. If they pampered and coaxed a fool like the original host, who was useless except for her beauty, then they should logically worship someone as sophisticated and capable as herself even more.

Bai Niao was fuming. How could this imposter be so wicked? Not only did she steal her body, but she also wanted to erase every trace of her existence. Surely anyone with a brain could see something was wrong with her.

Zhuang Han had blatantly occupied others’ bodies before; in her previous two worlds, had no one ever noticed a problem?

Cheng Yu had been very busy lately. His staff had been rotated, and since Bai Niao wasn’t coming for a long stay this time, he hadn’t transferred many people over. These servants hadn’t seen much of Bai Niao and weren’t very familiar with her; seeing her cold face, they gradually began to waver.

It was an established consensus among those serving Cheng Yu that Bai Niao held a special status. Cheng Yu doted on her with a near-pathological level of indulgence and affection. It didn’t matter if his own affairs went awry, but there must be absolutely no oversight regarding Bai Niao’s matters.

Bai Niao thought they would resist a bit longer, but to her surprise, the group actually listened to Zhuang Han. Seeing someone bring over tools, about to touch the flowers that had been so meticulously cultivated and protected, a powerful surge of impulse suddenly rushed through her.

Before Bai Niao even realized what was happening, she suddenly reclaimed her body.

Wearing her little white leather shoes, she was swept up by a massive force and nearly toppled forward into the flower bed. The surrounding attendants panicked instantly, rushing forward to catch her.

Feeling dizzy, Bai Niao didn’t even have time to worry about the mud staining the tips of her shoes. She said petulantly, “I want to see who dares to remove my flowers!”

Her beautiful brow furrowed, and a hint of a grievance flickered in her eyes. Bai Niao was arrogant and willful; she always acted on a whim and never considered others. Seeing her almost faint, those around her couldn’t care about anything else. They chorused, “We definitely won’t touch your flowers, Eldest Miss.”

Only then did Bai Niao’s anger subside.

She lowered herself, crouching beside her little flowers, and gently stroked a petal. The only reason Bai Niao had been missing Cheng Yu’s place was because of these flowers she had raised. She had never raised anything in her life; she had always been the one being raised by others. This was her first time gardening, and although she hadn’t provided much actual care, she cared about them deeply.

When she left Cheng Yu’s side previously, Bai Niao had even wanted to take her little flowers with her. But as soon as she said it, Cheng Yu’s expression turned terrifying. Bai Niao was a coward, so she could only whisper, “Then you better look after them well for me. I’m going to keep raising them when I come back.”

Such a simple sentence had instantly turned Cheng Yu’s expression back to one as gentle as a spring breeze. He had stroked her hair tenderly, laughing softly. “Don’t worry. Of course I’ll take good care of them for you.”

Protecting her flowers, Bai Niao stood up, still looking quite cross. “I told you to watch my flowers, and yet you did this. If you do it again, I’m moving my flowers away.”

She had grown up quite a bit in years, but her personality was still childish. The followers didn’t understand why she had been so hell-bent on uprooting her beloved flowers just a moment ago, but seeing her expression soften, they immediately agreed.

“In any case, no one is allowed to touch them,” Bai Niao said in a dainty voice. “Not even if I say I want to uproot them.”

Having finally regained her body, she frowned and hurried to add that disclaimer. The gardener said with a smile, “Don’t you worry, Miss. We will definitely help you raise them well.”

Satisfied, Bai Niao finally climbed into the car obediently. The driver was one of Cheng Yu’s men with a high military rank. He was very familiar with Bai Niao and began softly telling her about Cheng Yu’s recent affairs.

Cheng Yu was always busy, but he had been especially so these past few years. Even while far away in the capital, Bai Niao occasionally heard news of him. She sat in the back seat, just about to say something, when she was once again seized by a violent force. Before she could even find time to react, she blacked out completely.

This sensation of switching bodies back and forth was terrible. It felt like being thrown into a washing machine and spun around violently.

Bai Niao didn’t know when she woke up. She only felt a splitting headache, and the pressure in her temples throbbed painfully. The scent of rich flowers and a faint smell of disinfectant wafted into her nose.

Wait, disinfectant?

Bai Niao propped herself up on her arms, rubbed her eyes, and looked around. The light in the room was dim, with only a small nightlight left on by the bed. It seemed to be dark outside, but no moonlight shone in.

She instinctively wanted to stand up and check the balcony. But as soon as she lifted her arm, she felt a sharp sting on the back of her hand. She gasped, and her eyes instantly welled up with tears from the pain.

At that moment, the door was pushed open from the outside. A piercing white light spilled in, and a familiar figure walked through.

Gao Zhan’s brow was furrowed as he strode to her bedside, pressing down on her wrist. “Don’t move. You’re still on an IV drip.”

A doctor followed behind him, hurrying to treat the area where blood had backed up into the tube. She was in a daze, completely failing to understand what was happening. As a crowd of doctors and nurses filed in, Bai Niao finally realized she was in a VIP ward with top-tier medical facilities.

She was delicate, but she wasn’t particularly afraid of pain. Bai Niao tilted her face up and asked blankly, “What happened to me?”

Her memory stopped at getting into the car to head back to He Youting’s place. How had she ended up in a hospital in the blink of an eye?

Seeing Bai Niao’s amnesiac expression, Gao Zhan’s face shifted slightly, as did the expressions of the medical staff. The lead doctor bit the bullet and said, “President Gao, we are certain that Miss Bai has no other issues.”

“You suddenly fainted on the way back,” Gao Zhan leaned over to touch Bai Niao’s forehead. “Xiran said you had a similar episode not long ago.”

Bai Niao breathed a sigh of relief. She thought Zhuang Han had done something again. But it was truly strange—every time she took her body back, she felt this miserable. Why did Zhuang Han suffer no consequences at all when stealing someone else’s body?

Then she realized: Zhuang Han had a System and “golden fingers” helping her. That was a hundred times more comfortable than being all alone like herself. Even though she was the rightful owner of the body, she was currently living like a wandering ghost.

“I’m fine,” Bai Niao talked nonsense. “Maybe I just haven’t been sleeping well lately.”

She didn’t care if Gao Zhan or the doctors believed her; she just bluntly made her own diagnosis. “You’re making a mountain out of a molehill,” Bai Niao said confidently. “I was just feeling a little unwell. I don’t need an IV at all.”

As she spoke, she tried to beg the doctor to pull the needle out. Gao Zhan simply gripped her wrist and pressed her back onto the bed. She lay against the soft pillow, her nose filled with the lingering scent of flowers.

“Stop acting up,” he said in a low voice. “It’ll be finished in twenty minutes.”

Gao Zhan was frowning, but he felt a secret sense of relief. Since she can still cause such a fuss, there shouldn’t be any major problems.

Bai Niao’s health was generally good. Her last major illness was two years ago—a mysterious ailment that couldn’t be diagnosed despite many tests. She had been hospitalized for a long time until an old doctor from Cheng Yu’s side finally cured her. She was usually reliable in that regard, though her regular checkups were never skipped.

Bai Niao could endure twenty minutes. She settled down and lay obediently in the hospital bed, undergoing more tests after the IV was finished. Only after confirming there were zero issues did Gao Zhan finally feel at ease.

It was almost nine o’clock. Bai Niao had just been given glucose, so she wasn’t hungry at all. Fearing her stomach might be upset, Gao Zhan had some light snacks prepared.

Bai Niao sat on his lap, opening her mouth to let him feed her. “The body is your own, and you hate being sick and taking medicine,” Gao Zhan scolded her softly. “If you’re not feeling well, you have to say so immediately, understand?”

He was unusually stern when saying this, looking a bit like his solemn father. Of the group, Bai Niao liked being around Gao Zhan the most. Even though he was sometimes very annoying and spoke more like an elder than even He Youting did.

“It wasn’t my fault,” Bai Niao swung her legs. “Did they tell you? I’ve run into a ghost lately. An imposter steals my body during the day.”

There wasn’t a huge age gap between them, but even the brotherly Duan Xiran disciplined her strictly. Only Gao Zhan was like a playmate who truly pampered her. Bai Niao adjusted her behavior based on who she was with; she often showed Gao Zhan less respect, but she was also most relaxed around him. Things she had to spend ages preparing to say to Cheng Yu could be blurted out directly to Gao Zhan.

Gao Zhan reached out to touch her forehead again, muttering to himself, “You don’t have a fever. Why are you talking nonsense again?”

Bai Niao was furious. She grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away. “I am not talking nonsense!” she said crossly. “Have you been off the grid? Surely Cheng Yu told you?”

Gao Zhan’s expression remained calm. He nonchalantly gripped her wrist, taking her hand into his palm. “Yeah,” he said softly. “I went to the military district and just got back this afternoon.”

Bai Niao instantly felt guilty. She remembered now—Gao Zhan had specifically told her before he left.

“Oh,” Bai Niao tilted her face up and proactively stroked the back of his hand. “Then you must have been working very hard lately.”

Her hands were soft, and since the two often engaged in private flirtation, the ordinary atmosphere suddenly shifted. Using such methods to make amends for herself was the skill Bai Niao was most proficient in. She had forgotten she was in a hospital room and did it subconsciously.

Luckily, Gao Zhan pressed her hand down in time. His eyes darkened, and his voice grew husky. “Don’t start. They’re coming over soon.”

Bai Niao liked being with Gao Zhan because he always took care of her and her cat and wouldn’t exhaust her too much.

Appetite and lust are human nature.

In this regard, Bai Niao was indeed a bit of a lowly person. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gone home with Duan Xiran so soon after her fiancé broke off their engagement. While she remained obsessed with that man, she also never refused what they gave her. Bai Niao was materialistic, vain, and short-sighted; she had no resistance to temptation.

That was why she had been so easily deceived and fell into their trap in the beginning. But it was also lucky that she was like this.

As soon as she heard the others were coming, she snatched her hand back. Her soft bottom wiggled as she tried to get off Gao Zhan’s lap. Gao Zhan pinched her slender waist to keep her in place, his eyes unreadable. “You have to provoke me now? Didn’t they feed you enough?”

Even though they had that kind of relationship, having him point it out so bluntly gave Bai Niao an incredibly strange feeling. She struggled harder, her face flushing red. “I wasn’t provoking you!”

Gao Zhan smiled. He seemed to be teasing her, or perhaps just stating a fact: “It seems they really haven’t fed you enough.”

Bai Niao’s pink cheeks turned bright red, but her waist grew softer and softer. She cursed him in a low voice: “Beast in a suit.”

By the time He Youting and the others arrived, the bandage on the back of Bai Niao’s hand was ready to be removed. She was wearing a nightgown and yawning, her eyes watery and her face as radiant as a fresh flower showing no sign of weakness.

Gao Zhan had spent a lot of time with Bai Niao recently and had pushed back many matters. He had become busy again and didn’t stay at the hospital for long; he left shortly after she woke up.

The other three had been doing something together; it was a rare occasion for them to arrive at the same time, and they seemed to have discussed a lot. When they entered, none of their expressions were particularly pleasant.

Bai Niao felt a bit guilty and tried to get out of bed obediently, but Cheng Yu pressed her shoulder down. “Stay put.” He frowned slightly, making her lie back down.

Since her major illness two years ago, Bai Niao had rarely been sick. Consequently, quite a few people had come this time—representatives from all three parties, plus Gao Zhan’s doctors. This private hospital belonged to the Gao family. They prioritized medical care, and Bai Niao always came here for recovery whenever she was unwell.

Bai Niao had just had a checkup recently, and after the tests she just took, the reports came back quickly. However, that had nothing to do with her; she couldn’t understand those complex reports and was entirely ignorant of her own physical condition.

He Youting had studied medicine in his early years, so he understood them well enough. After confirming she was out of danger, his brow gradually relaxed. Cheng Yu’s knuckles tapped rhythmically against the table, but his expression didn’t brighten quite as fast.

He frowned and said, “You’re saying someone with schizophrenia can’t realize they have schizophrenia?”

The German doctor Cheng Yu had called for yesterday had come along with He Youting. He said respectfully, “Yes, sir.”

He Youting’s brow furrowed once more.

Bai Niao knew nothing of their conversation, nor did she realize their worries had moved in a completely different direction. She was playing with a bracelet Duan Xiran had brought, her eyes sparkling. “This is so pretty! Brother, I’ve wanted this for ages. How did you know I liked it?”

Bai Niao was very easy to coax, and her mood always brightened easily. She had been nearly fuming at Zhuang Han and the System this morning, but now she was perfectly happy.

Duan Xiran peeled an apple for her, personally sliced it into small pieces, and fed her with a toothpick. “As long as you like it.” His tone was calm and nonchalant, as if this wasn’t a multi-million dollar treasure but just a casual gift.

Bai Niao hadn’t expected being sick this time would be so profitable. She happily wrapped her arms around Duan Xiran’s neck and whispered in his ear, “Brother, I like you best.”

She glanced toward the door and immediately pulled her hand back after speaking. Her face was tinged with a faint blush, like an adolescent girl secretly kissing her crush behind everyone’s back.

Everyone knew what kind of person Bai Niao truly was. But when those lively eyes looked at you like that, very few people could say no.

Duan Xiran gave a faint smile and said softly, “To me, your health is the best thing.” In that moment, he looked like a brother truly concerned for his sister.

However, in the next instant, Duan Xiran’s expression changed.

Before Bai Niao could recover, her collar was pulled aside. Next to the delicate mole on her collarbone was a very faint hickey. Though it was a pale red, the timing of it was far too recent.

Duan Xiran leaned in slightly, pinching Bai Niao’s chin. His eyes were dark, carrying the oppressive weight of a gathering storm. “Who did this?”