After Being Possessed by the Transmigrated Heroine - Chapter 14.1

Bai Niao’s involvement with He Youting was a complete accident.

Duan Xiran was her fiancé’s friend; Cheng Yu was the brother of her love rival; even Gao Zhan was an old acquaintance, though they had later parted on very unpleasant terms. Only He Youting was someone Bai Niao was entirely unfamiliar with. She had heard of his reputation and knew he held immense power. Whenever she followed others to offer him a toast, she acted like a little quail with clipped wings, dutifully calling him “Uncle” and never daring to say another word.

Bai Niao was uneducated, materialistic, and dim-witted; her reputation in the elite circles had always been poor. She only lived a glamorous life because her fiancé protected her. Even at her most prestigious status, Bai Niao never dared to imagine having any intersection with a man like He Youting. His position was simply too high—so high it was frightening.

It was only through Duan Xiran that Bai Niao finally spoke to He Youting. At her most notorious moment, Duan Xiran brought her before He Youting, stating that if anything happened to himself, he hoped Mr. He could protect her.

Bai Niao didn’t understand what that implied. At the time, she was naive and ignorant, believing He Youting would be her guardian. In the beginning, He Youting was indeed very good to her. He was of noble birth, held a supreme position, and possessed power so vast it defied imagination. Yet, while Bai Niao stayed with him, he even remembered what flavor of pudding she liked.

When she threw a tantrum during a phone call with Duan Xiran, He Youting returned from his travels travel-worn and weary. That dignified man leaned down and coaxed her softly: “Xiran is still young and doesn’t understand love; I will apologize to you on his behalf.”

A priceless treasure craved by countless people, a necklace that even the last queen of the Imperial Era couldn’t possess the “Rose of the Empire” was easily draped around her neck as an apology.

Bai Niao worshipped money and was vain, but even she knew such a precious gift shouldn’t be accepted. He Youting stood behind her, a single rose pinned to his chest. Like a gentleman, he smiled gently: “Then do you want it to continue gathering dust?”

Bai Niao didn’t remember how she answered. She only knew that on that night, she sensed the long-lost illusion of being loved.

Fortunately, at that time, she still belonged to Duan Xiran. After resolving the issues, Duan Xiran took her home. If they had successfully married then, none of the subsequent events would have happened. But the world is full of accidents.

From the moment her identity as a “fake daughter” was exposed and the marriage contract was torn up, Bai Niao was no longer that arrogant, willful Eldest Miss. In a short period, she suffered more grievances than in the first half of her life.

So, when Duan Xiran once again stated that he would sign an agreement with the Eldest Miss of the Cheng family and only be a “surface-level” couple with Bai Niao, she could no longer bear it. She grabbed her suitcase and, after a huge fight with Duan Xiran, left in tears.

Standing at the door, Bai Niao cried, “I’m never coming back, and it’s no use if you come to get me!”

Duan Xiran had been dealing with the Cheng family matters for days; returning to find her so willful and unreasonable, he also began to feel weary. He lowered his eyes and said coldly, “Suit yourself.”

At that time, neither Bai Niao nor Duan Xiran expected things would develop the way they did.

It rained heavily that night. Bai Niao walked along the road, constantly rubbing her eyes, not wanting anyone to see her in such a pathetic state. Until a black sedan stopped in front of her. The man in the back seat was noble and revered, yet he looked at her with a hint of anger: “Don’t you know to take cover when it’s raining?”

Bai Niao was soaked to the bone, pathetically wrapped in his overcoat as he held her in his arms. When He Youting carried her into the car, Bai Niao could no longer hold back her tears and wailed loudly.

She was so young then, and truly too naive. She thought Cheng Yu’s attack on Duan Xiran was an accident. She thought He Youting’s appearance was an accident, and that he would be a kind man who loved her and protected her well.

Only when she completely fell into the abyss with no hope of escape did Bai Niao realize how terrifying and horrific this trap was. The thing she wanted to fight against was simply too massive. Even if she worked hard for a lifetime, she could never break free.

Bai Niao didn’t know why, but after He Youting spoke that sentence, many old memories quickly surfaced in her mind. They were so old she thought she had long since forgotten them.

The decoration of the private hospital was magnificent. Oil paintings hung in the corridors; a plump woman holding a child in her arms smiled relaxedly under the spring sun, looking so peaceful and beautiful. Even the wallpaper was in warm tones, shimmering with gold dust, appearing so soft and harmonious.

But Bai Niao only felt cold. Even though she wasn’t the one currently controlling her body, her fear continued to climb. A sense of oppression descended in an instant; Bai Niao even had an urge to hide. She was truly afraid of He Youting, especially of being alone with him in such a setting. It felt as if the air had been sucked out, making her unable to catch her breath.

Even Zhuang Han was momentarily at a loss. She was stunned and asked blankly, “What did you say?”

Not just Zhuang Han, even the System didn’t understand. It hurriedly began loading, looking for clues to judge the development of the plot. The difficulty of transmigration missions lay exactly here: they didn’t have the complete plot, only a broad premise and setting. Many details were deduced bit by bit during the mission.

Zhuang Han was truly confused. She knew there must be a problem with the original heroine not having a communication device, but she didn’t expect He Youting’s reaction to be so extreme. She grit her teeth, unable to stop herself from cursing the original host in her heart. She made such a mess, and now I have to clean it up.

It was a good thing she was capable and experienced; otherwise, with the original host’s personality, she’d have been kicked out to the streets long ago.

He Youting’s expression was cold, and his eyes were void of emotion. “Mr. He, I know I was wrong about what happened before,” Zhuang Han said, biting the bullet. “But I want to turn over a new leaf now. I won’t do those things again.” She said cautiously, “Could you please give me another chance?”

Bai Niao covered her ears, hiding inside the body and playing dead. She hated this sort of thing the most and just wanted to find a place to hide.

He Youting’s gaze was icy, his voice indifferent: “No chance, Bai Niao.”

After saying that, he ignored Zhuang Han and left. An attendant leaned in and said softly, “Eldest Miss, the Master has things to do. Let’s head back first.”

Zhuang Han grit her teeth, her resentment toward the original host reaching its peak. She had finally gained some affection points and wanted to use the momentum to win the male lead’s heart, but another problem had cropped up. Just how absurd was the original host to make He Youting treat her like this?

He Youting held a high position and was very busy. When Bai Niao was by his side, he often had no time to look after her. She had grown accustomed to this dull and tedious wealthy lifestyle.

When He Youting wasn’t around, Bai Niao would play games and eat at home, occasionally going out for shopping, attending banquets, or sometimes going to classes. Of course, most of her other time was spent sleeping. Although He Youting was busy during the day, he had plenty of time to deal with her at night.

Bai Niao was lazy and loved to eat. She needed at least ten hours of sleep a day, yet she was often sleep-deprived. Now that she didn’t have her body, no one was watching her or controlling her.

Bai Niao wasn’t in high spirits. While Zhuang Han read books all day, she spent the day spacing out inside the body. Those thick classical books were terrifyingly boring. She slept fitfully and in a daze, even regaining the feeling of being in a middle-school math class.

Zhuang Han wasn’t reading very seriously either. She only turned a page every ten minutes or so, constantly talking to the System in her mind. The human and the AI were racking their brains, trying to dig out what Bai Niao had done in the past from every detail.

Every ten minutes, Zhuang Han would check the affection level bar. If He Youting’s affection hadn’t moved today, Zhuang Han wouldn’t be like this. Once people see hope, they become greedier. The two recent shifts in affection were so sudden; Zhuang Han didn’t even know what she had done to trigger the data change. Not knowing where the points came from made it hard to replicate the situation.

By the end of the day, Bai Niao had slept comfortably, but Zhuang Han was exhausted. He Youting returned late and didn’t require anyone to wait up, so just after ten, Zhuang Han went to bed.

Bai Niao had slept all day but was still quite drowsy. She lay in the covers and, in her sleepy state, broke free from the constraints and hugged her beloved teddy bear. Zhuang Han is so annoying; she doesn’t even hug the bear when she sleeps.

Bai Niao curled on her side, tightly clutching her precious teddy bear in her grogginess. She wasn’t a strong-willed person, but she was arrogant and cared about her public image and dignity. Even though she hated wearing high heels, she would dare to wear “sky-high” ones just to look pretty. Thus, Bai Niao often appeared to be a person with a lot of attitude; only at night did she reveal a bit of quietness and innocence.

Cradling the bear, her face was flushed by the faint wall lamp in the bedroom. Dreaming of who-knows-what, her hair was slightly damp with sweat, clinging to her pink cheeks. Her furrowed brow carried a hint of childishness, making her look like a big kid.

He Youting never overindulged Bai Niao. She was very good at “giving an inch and taking a mile.” Once she realized someone would yield to her, she would constantly demand more. But thinking of Bai Niao’s abnormalities lately, He Youting didn’t say much at the hospital. He still hoped she could be healthy, both physically and mentally.

Compared to her past innocence and ignorance, the current Bai Niao had grown up a lot, but she was still essentially an arrogant and willful young girl. Like a delicate rose that couldn’t withstand any wind or rain, yet loved to show off its beauty.

But lately, Bai Niao truly wasn’t right at times—as if she had become a different person. When she occasionally acted normal, she carried a sense of dejection and sadness. She liked staying with Gao Zhan, so he had specifically sent Gao Zhan over. The two had been quite intimate, yet he didn’t see her getting much happier; she had gone to sleep early.

He Youting stood by Bai Niao’s bed. He moved very gently to touch her face. Her eyelashes were curled, long and dense; when they trembled slightly, they swept across his palm like small fans. She seemed to sense someone by her side and turned over slightly.

Long-term cohabitation makes certain things instinctive. Bai Niao’s legs clamped around the teddy bear, her arms moved slightly upward, and her soft bottom unconsciously wiggled up a bit. Her lips, as beautiful as flowers, parted, letting out a low moan. It sounded like discomfort, yet also like a plea for affection.

What is wrong with her?

Could all this tossing and turning for so long be just because she wanted a communication device? Or did she have other ideas again?

When he first noticed the private affair between Bai Niao and Gao Zhan, He Youting didn’t intervene much. She always had many desires, but after asking for a watch worth twenty million, it wasn’t good to immediately ask for a forty-million-dollar yacht. Thus, at those times, finding someone else became a good method for Bai Niao.

She was materialistic and vain, always wanting to outdo others in luxury, living a life that was as “gold-rimmed and jade-encrusted” as could be. Material desire is a bottomless pit, and Bai Niao was always craving more. But that was actually fine; having some desires is better than being completely emotionless.

However, after many occurrences, it became somewhat obvious. Gao Zhan and Bai Niao had known each other very early; they once had a decent relationship, but then it turned very sour and they parted unpleasantly. The two of them were a bit different from the start. So, He Youting only later realized the subtlety between them.

Bai Niao had been raised by them for a long time. Even raising a little bird for a long time would create feelings, but Bai Niao wouldn’t; she had never had much emotion for them from start to finish. Gao Zhan spoiled her excessively, so perhaps that made things different.

But it wasn’t important. He Youting stroked Bai Niao’s face. After all, all they wanted was to keep her by their side. If she and Gao Zhan had something going on and she forgot about that man because of it, it would only be a better thing. The doctor had mentioned similar things before they truly needed to be more tolerant of Niao Niao.

At this point in his thoughts, He Youting’s expression was very calm, only his eyes showed a hint of darkness, as if pathological desires were intertwining, disguised as the peace of “still waters running deep.”

Bai Niao’s face was pressed against his palm. She seemed to be having a bad dream, or was trapped in bad memories; her brows were knit, and her eyelashes trembled constantly. He Youting’s movements were gentle as he used his fingertip to wipe away the moisture at the corner of her eye. He still hoped she could be happier.

But before that, he had to figure out what exactly had happened to her. Over these years, He Youting had grown used to controlling everything about Bai Niao: her body, her mood, what desserts she liked lately, and what luxury items she desperately wanted whether she was by his side or not.

Bai Niao’s dreams were jumbled and chaotic. She had gone to bed very early today, but she had been sleeping fitfully. When she was startled awake by a nightmare again, she couldn’t help but gasp for air. Bai Niao suddenly sat up, pressing her hand to her chest, her head lowered, panting softly.

Since her body was stolen by Zhuang Han, Bai Niao was frequently woken by nightmares. She had previously thought about asking someone to wake her in the middle of the night; now it seemed completely unnecessary. For several nights in a row, she almost never had a night of comfortable sleep.

When a person’s thoughts are messy, their reactions are always much slower. By the time Bai Niao’s breathing nearly leveled out, she noticed He Youting standing by the bed. He was very tall; even just standing there, he exerted a sense of pressure. She didn’t react in time, was startled, and nearly fell back.

Fortunately, He Youting reached out in time and gripped her waist. Bai Niao’s thoughts were very confused; for a moment, she couldn’t even remember what time it was. Her voice trembled: “Mr… Mr. He…”