After Being Targeted by the Gloomy and Obsessive Movie Queen - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Contract Termination – Auntie Fang Said You Forced Her to Hyperventilate…

Xu Yinyu watched the tablet for a while longer, her eyes growing sorer, her eyelids increasingly heavy. She probably didn’t realize she was already nodding off.

When Yu Shujin entered from outside, she saw Auntie Fang about to cover Xu Yinyu, who was leaning on the sofa with her eyes closed, with a thin blanket. Seeing Yu Shujin, Auntie Fang stopped, and waited until Yu Shujin approached before whispering a few words to her.

Yu Shujin nodded. “You can start serving dinner.”

Yu Shujin pinched Xu Yinyu’s nose. Her originally pale face flushed even redder, and she finally gasped awake due to lack of oxygen. Opening her eyes, she saw a tall, distinctive figure. She blinked, finally recognizing Yu Shujin’s face, and heard her displeased voice,

“I’m working hard outside, and you’re sleeping at home?”

Xu Yinyu’s brain was slow to process. Before she could understand what Yu Shujin meant, she was scooped up easily, one arm under her knees and the other around her waist.

The solid sense of security was suddenly pulled away. To avoid falling, Xu Yinyu could only wrap her arms tightly around Yu Shujin’s neck, causing her lips to brush against the other woman’s shoulder hollow from time to time.

That momentary touch was like an electric current, causing both of them to momentarily freeze.

Yu Shujin placed her on a chair at the dining table, seemingly in a good mood after her teasing. She served her a bowl of soup.

Xu Yinyu politely said, “Thank you.”

Perhaps due to her mood, Xu Yinyu had a very poor appetite. Looking at the table full of delicacies, she only took two bites of the dish in front of her and drank half a bowl of soup before setting her chopsticks aside.

After Yu Shujin finished eating, she got up to go to the study to deal with company documents.

Xu Yinyu hesitated, stopping and starting her steps before reaching Yu Shujin’s study. Raising her hand to knock, the door opened from the inside just as she was about to rap on it.

Yu Shujin glanced at her. “Very free?”

Xu Yinyu shook her head. “My contract with my former company hasn’t expired. I think I need to go back to my previous company to continue working.”

From Xu Yinyu’s perspective, Yu Shujin’s jawline was tight and smooth. Her lips were thin, making her appear restrained and cold-hearted. Especially when she raised her eyes slightly and stared at you, it was like a gaze into the abyss, leaving you nowhere to hide.

“You don’t need to.” Yu Shujin calmly refused. “I have already terminated your contract with Manyu Publishing for you.”

Xu Yinyu felt like she had been punched through soft cotton, aching dully, yet unable to find the wound.

“When did you mention it?”

“The night I brought you back. I didn’t say anything then because your emotions were unstable.” Yu Shujin’s tone was calm, as if stating a trivial matter unrelated to herself.

“Why didn’t you ask me?” Xu Yinyu’s voice was close to breaking. She spoke rapidly, her tone already disorganized, the last few words even cracking.

Yu Shujin gazed at her intensely, her eyes filled with scrutiny and restraint, like an emotionless, highly intelligent android. She countered strictly, “Why should I ask you?”

This sentence was like a dull knife, slowly cutting into Xu Yinyu’s heart.

Her tears fell uncontrollably, her face became unusually flushed, and her breathing was erratic, short, and shallow. Her remaining consciousness was desperately suppressing her sobs. Her eyes lost focus, turning a gray haze.

Yu Shujin’s expression changed drastically. She immediately used her fingers to hold Xu Yinyu’s lips apart. “Xu Yinyu, breathe deeply. Let your emotions out. Don’t suppress yourself.”

Xu Yinyu struggled violently.

She was in extreme physical and psychological danger, but she instinctively resisted Yu Shujin’s restraints.

It was only when Yu Shujin pressed Xu Yinyu onto the floor that she realized the woman’s whole body was rigidly trembling.

It wasn’t ordinary trembling, but a type of fear and despair that overflowed from the depths of her soul.

Xu Yinyu lay flat on the floor, tears gushing and blurring her vision. The last line of psychological defense was utterly trampled. A self-destructive pain spread from her heart to her limbs. Her whole body couldn’t stop convulsing and shaking…

Yu Shujin’s face was ashen. She covered Xu Yinyu’s mouth and nose with one hand to control her breathing rhythm and prevent the hyperventilation from worsening. With the other hand, she firmly held down Xu Yinyu’s flailing legs, her voice filled with unprecedented panic. “Look at me, Ah-Yu, look at me!”

After what felt like minutes, Xu Yinyu’s body finally stopped convulsing, as if she had finally recovered from the sensation of drowning. Yu Shujin picked her up and carefully placed her on the master bedroom bed.

Auntie Fang arrived at the living room with Dr. Xu. Yu Shujin waved them off, and the two entered the study.

Dr. Xu Ruoying took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Auntie Fang told me you forced her to the point of hyperventilation?”

Yu Shujin’s face was deathly pale, still reeling from Xu Yinyu’s near-death state moments earlier.

This was the second time she had seen Xu Yinyu like this, and each time felt like a bloody gash across her heart—this time even more so.

“What kind of deep hatred is this? You aren’t a petty person, either.” Xu Ruoying looked at her, perplexed.

Yu Shujin wiped the cold sweat from her face, her voice hoarse. “Xu Ruoying, she isn’t just anyone.”

Xu Ruoying waved her hand, unhurriedly saying, “Chi Xia told me she’s your first love, your ex, and now your wife. Since your relationship with her is so complicated, why don’t you properly consider how exactly you should treat her?”

Yu Shujin leaned back, collapsing into the soft chair, closing her eyes. “I understand.”

“Don’t make choices you’ll regret, Boss Yu,” Xu Ruoying said directly.

“One more thing: isn’t it time you took responsibility for that mess you threw at me earlier?” Xu Ruoying looked at her with a hint of resentment.

“That little girl is absolutely crazy. She throws everything at me when she flares up. She’s nothing like her sister,” she glanced meaningfully towards the door.

“Xu Lianyue grew up with her gambler father. Many bad habits were formed from childhood—lazy, greedy, and fundamentally unchangeable,” Yu Shujin sighed. “Xu Yinyu can’t handle her at all. Ruoying, I can only entrust this person to you.”

She paused, a look of determination flashing in her eyes. “As long as she is alive and intact, I will be able to account for it to Ah-Yu. I will not question or interfere with the methods and procedures.”

“As compensation, the latest set of medical equipment invested by the Yu family will be sent to your hospital first next month.”

A sincere smile finally appeared on Xu Ruoying’s youthful, baby-like face. “Boss Yu is generous.”

Xu Ruoying didn’t stay long and drove back to the detached villa Yu Shujin had provided her. This was the location for some of her “special” medical research. The only people who knew about it were her and Yu Shujin.

After parking her car, she adjusted her silver-rimmed glasses, a flash of interest in her eyes.

After spending half a day in the detention center, Xu Lianyue was escorted out by a young female student in a white coat. Before she could throw a tantrum, she was injected with a sedative. When she woke up, she found a silver chain around her ankle, firmly secured to the headboard of the bed.

Rage at being manipulated filled her chest.

She was always reckless and aggressive; anger was her only fuel. She kicked the bedside lamp, shattering it along with the perfectly placed bowl of porridge and glass of water.

The sound of shattering glass was deafeningly loud in the silent basement.

When Xu Ruoying arrived, her eyelids twitched twice, but she stood silently at the door of the basement bedroom, calmly observing the mess inside.

When Xu Lianyue saw her, she was furious, like a starved wolf that realized it had been tricked.

But Xu Ruoying maintained her innocent image, like a naive, benevolent rabbit unaware of the world’s malice. She stepped over the threshold, moving into Xu Lianyue’s attack range. “Don’t you like drinking porridge?”

Xu Lianyue completely ignored the pointless question.

She had been roaming the streets for over a decade, never attending a single day of school, and had relied on her hands and feet to make a living since she could remember, following that animal Li Lian. She firmly believed that with her speed and strength, she could easily knock down the seemingly frail rabbit in front of her, and even get some money from her.

The room lights weren’t very bright, and Xu Lianyue’s vision began to double.

She shook her head, walking unsteadily toward Xu Ruoying, her voice very low. “Did you rescue me?”

Xu Ruoying seemed not to hear and took another step forward. In that instant, Xu Lianyue’s blurry eyes instantly cleared, and a fierce, sharp light flashed through them.

She lunged forward with both fists, fast and powerful like a leopard, aiming straight for Xu Ruoying’s face.

However, the anticipated impact didn’t happen. Her fists were easily caught by a pair of seemingly slender and weak hands, as if she had walked into an invisible trap.

Unconcealed shock was evident in Xu Lianyue’s eyes. “How? How is this possible?” Her punches were too much for even an average adult male, let alone this woman who wasn’t particularly tall or strong.

“Click.”

Two faint yet distinct sounds of cracking bone echoed in the air.

“Ah!” Xu Lianyue cried out in pain, cold sweat instantly breaking out on her forehead.

Xu Ruoying’s tone remained gentle. “I prefer tidy rooms. I hope that next time you’re angry, you won’t make such a mess.”

Xu Lianyue gnashed her teeth in hatred. “How dare you lock me up!”

“Simply doing a favor for someone,” Xu Ruoying’s voice still carried a girlish innocence, but her actions sent chills down one’s spine.

“Who! Who is it?” Xu Lianyue wanted to tear the one who commissioned this apart.

“Confidential,” Xu Ruoying slightly curved her lips, observing Xu Lianyue’s tall, slender, yet disheveled body. “But don’t worry, I won’t easily hurt people.”

“I want out!” Xu Lianyue struggled to stand up. Her arms hung limp at her sides. She could only vent her anger by writhing her body. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll call the police and have you arrested once I get out?”

“Oh, that? I’m not afraid.” Xu Ruoying leaned down and whispered a few words into Xu Lianyue’s ear. The voice was as light as the wind, but it made Xu Lianyue’s body instantly freeze.

Unable to bear the mental torment, Xu Lianyue suddenly bit down hard on Xu Ruoying’s neck. The taste of rust-like blood instantly filled her mouth.

“Snap.”

With another light sound, Xu Lianyue’s jaw was dislocated.

Xu Ruoying carried the woman to the bed, restrained her ankles with a bed sheet, and then began tidying the room methodically. During this time, Xu Lianyue, with her dislocated jaw, could only emit angry, muffled “woo-woo” sounds.

Xu Ruoying didn’t expect to have a harmonious relationship with Xu Lianyue, nor did she expect to reform her by herself.

She knew well that the struggles life inflicted on each person were different. Some were born lucky, living their entire lives at the top of the pyramid, untouched by storms. Most people struggled through the storms, experiencing moments of ease, but more often, adversity.

And then there were those who were born into misfortune. In life’s tribulations, they were always abandoned and cast aside. They were inherently part of the darkness, perhaps destined to hide in damp, shady corners forever.

What Xu Ruoying intended to do was to socialize this beast that had emerged from the darkness.

She brought a fresh bowl of porridge and placed it by the bed. “If you want to eat, be good. Nodding means you agree, and I will reset your jaw.”

Xu Lianyue glared at her, her eyes practically overflowing with fury. But eventually, she weakly nodded, like a wolf whose fangs had been pulled, silently licking its wounds in its heart.

Upstairs, Xu Yinyu awoke from a nightmare. She dreamed that her mother had woken up and was calling her name in the hospital bed, but she was forcibly kept in the villa by Yu Shujin and couldn’t run to her no matter how hard she tried.

She sat up. Moonlight filtered through the sheer curtains, casting a faint silver frost over her.

The bedroom door was gently pushed open, and Yu Shujin walked in. She still carried the chill of the outside. Seeing Xu Yinyu awake, she paused.

“How are you feeling?” She walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out to feel Xu Yinyu’s forehead. Confirming the fever had broken, she let out a slight sigh of relief.

Xu Yinyu looked at her, opening her mouth, but not knowing what to say. The daytime episode felt like a thorn stuck in both their hearts.

Yu Shujin seemed to realize this too. She was silent for a moment before breaking the deadlock. “About the contract termination… I was inconsiderate.”

Xu Yinyu was incredulous, her expression frozen.

“There’s no need,” Xu Yinyu gently interrupted her. “Being your personal assistant is quite alright.”

Yu Shujin froze in place.

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