After Marrying the Villain with Seven Personalities [Transmigration into a Book]) - Chapter 11

The beautiful hickeys gradually faded with the passage of time, leaving that night feeling like nothing more than a lingering, sensuous dream.

Yet, whenever Xu Linqiu thought back to it, she couldn’t help but let a smile curve her lips.

Shi Ji seemed rather preoccupied with her own troubles these past two days, so Linqiu spent her time secluded in the study, sitting before her easel. She was motionless and lost in thought—much like she had been during that year of depression in Country F, yet also fundamentally different.

Beside the bookshelf, the white curtains danced in the gentle breeze from the window. Golden sunlight leaped through the room, dancing atop the open oil paints and mingling with the intoxicating, high-purity scent of turpentine.

Wearing an old T-shirt stained with pigment, she had her slightly curly brown hair tied in its usual low ponytail. Basking in the fragrance and the warmth of the sun on her profile, she squinted as her wandering gaze finally sharpened. Her hand, clutching a hard-core pencil, moved upward and finally met the pristine white canvas.

Faint black strokes left decisive marks across the fabric. As the lines connected, a human figure began to emerge.

She drew a pair of narrow, elegant “willow-leaf” eyes; eyebrows as graceful as distant mountains; a perfect bridge of the nose; and beautifully full lips. She didn’t forget the widow’s peak partially hidden by curls, nor the delicate beauty mark beneath the eye.

A long-lost sense of creative frenzy flickered in Linqiu’s eyes. She set the pencil down and picked up a hog-bristle brush with her slender fingers. She dipped into several pigments, blending and thinning them before applying the brush with absolute conviction.

The morning light spilled into her eyes; half of her face was bathed in sunshine, while the other half remained hidden in shadow.

After an unknown amount of time, her neck and waist—held in one position for too long—began to protest with an aching pain.

Linqiu habitually tilted her head back to relieve the tension. Looking at the portrait that now had its base tone established, she set down her brush with satisfaction and stood up. She walked to the window, squinting at the skyscrapers outside. After a moment of hesitation, she pulled out her phone and the small slip of paper.

Her gaze softened as her fingertips tapped out the numbers one by one, finally pressing the small phone icon.

The Yi Corporation Headquarters.

Yi Chenqing had been working non-stop since the morning meeting she had missed the day before yesterday, and only now did she finally have a moment to breathe.

Every time an episode of her so-called “Narcolepsy” occurred, she would find herself buried in work and feeling profoundly frustrated—as if a new chunk of her memory had been replaced by a blank sheet of paper.

She opened her phone. On the WeChat icon, which usually had few contacts, a glaring red “①” notification appeared.

Upon clicking it, she discovered a new friend named “JL” in her list. This person had sent a video.

Was this a hacker who had broken into her WeChat? A suspicious individual? Or perhaps an assassin sent to track her movements?

In an instant, Yi Chenqing’s mind raced through a dozen dark possibilities. She frowned deeply, radiating a sharp, defensive aura, and tapped the video with her index finger.

The video was shot from a high angle, showing a dense crowd of couples below. However, the soothing ballroom music playing in the background caught her interest. This was likely the surveillance footage from that night.

But despite watching it several times with intense focus, she couldn’t find anyone whose style matched her own. There was someone with a similar build, but that person was wearing a maid’s uniform.

That was definitely not her.

Yi Chenqing exited the chat with a mocking sneer. Did they think they could blackmail her with a video that didn’t even feature her?

Is this the woman I slept with that night? Does she want money?

She decisively deleted “JL,” flipped her phone face-down on the desk, and took a small sip of tea. There was no need to seek out a woman like that.

A knock sounded at the door. “Come in,” she said, and her secretary walked in gracefully.

The secretary placed a stack of documents on the desk and began her report: “This is your itinerary for the next three days. Since you have to fly to Country C and rush back two days later for the gala, the schedule will be quite tight.”

Yi Chenqing glanced at the documents briefly. “I understand. Get everything ready for departure. You may go.”

“Understood.”

Shortly after the door clicked shut, her phone rang abruptly. Yi Chenqing checked the screen; it was an unknown number from a specific region in Country F.

Since only family and important business partners usually had her number, she swiped to answer.

As the call connected, Xu Linqiu rested her hand on the windowsill and spoke with a natural, tentative smile: “Hello. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

Her voice carried a gentle warmth, her light laughter sounding as if it were wrapped in sunshine.

Yi Chenqing froze for a second. Then, her brow furrowed, and she responded with unconscious formality: “Hello. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Oh.” The woman’s voice seemed much colder than before. Linqiu hesitated for a second or two before continuing: “I just wanted to say… you were already gone when I woke up that morning. I actually wanted to talk to you.”

“Do you have time?”

Linqiu gazed at the bright light outside, her tone softening further: “If you’re busy, it’s no problem. We can just let that night—”

“I have time.”

The steady voice on the other end interrupted her. Linqiu’s eyes crinkled into a smile as she nodded gently. “Okay.”

Yi Chenqing moved the phone slightly away from her ear. For some reason, hearing that gentle voice made her feel strangely out of sorts—even though the woman was a stranger.

No, she was a stranger with whom she had shared a night.

Her eyes swept over the itinerary at the top of her desk. She spoke slowly: “But it will have to be the night after next…”

“That’s fine. I’ll wait for your call.”

“I won’t keep you then. Goodbye.”

Xu Linqiu hung up the phone, her mood brightening instantly. This woman clearly wasn’t that ‘JL’ person from before.

With just one phone call, Yi Chenqing had easily changed her perspective. She clicked on the recent number and, with great seriousness, set the contact name to: “The woman I need to take responsibility for.”

Since they had been intimate—even if she didn’t remember it—as long as the woman wasn’t a threat, she had to take responsibility. After all, she was the one who had “overpowered” her.

In sharp contrast to Xu Linqiu’s happiness was Shi Ji’s frustration.

Although she had blacked out, for the past two days, she kept dreaming about sitting on Yi Yanbai’s lap, her hands around the model-esque waist of the other woman, leaning in closer and closer. Just as their lips were about to touch, she would wake up in a cold sweat.

She knew that if she didn’t clear up what happened that night, these dreams would never end. But if she brought it up, she feared she would gain too much “presence” in front of the protagonist.

Besides, what if nothing had actually happened? She would die of embarrassment.

After much deliberation, she decided to wait until she saw Yi Yanbai at the gala to gauge her reaction before making a move.

Mrs. Shi’s afternoon tea.

This time, it was just the three of them. Fang Fengyu arrived late with a smile and quickly took her seat. Before she could even get settled, she heard Lin Congwan’s amused voice.

“I was thinking that since your Linqiu is back, I should take this time to discuss the wedding with you,” Lin Congwan said. “The news is all over the trending searches, and the children are old enough. It’s time to put it on the agenda.”

Fang Fengyu calmly took a sip of hot tea before setting her porcelain cup down. “Don’t be in such a hurry. We have to see what the girls think.”

“In fact,” Fang Fengyu continued, “Ji-ji told me just the other day that she would help find a partner for my Linqiu. She said if she can’t get her married off this year, she’ll marry Linqiu herself.”

“Really?”

“Oh my~” Lin Congwan laughed. “I can wait a year. Since the two of them are so close, it’s better to keep things ‘within the family’ anyway.”

At this, both women turned their gaze toward the silent Xu Yushan, who was fiddling with the tea leaves in her cup.

The three had debuted together and had been incredibly famous. Even after two of them married and returned to family life, leaving only Fang Fengyu to continue in the industry, their friendship remained as strong as ever.

Feeling their gaze, Xu Yushan looked up and laughed. “Why are you looking at me? My two daughters are very independent; they don’t need me to interfere. I don’t have to worry like you two do about ‘keeping things in the family.'”

The other two gave her a mock-resentful look at her humblebrag.

“Your Yi Yanbai is only two years younger than my Ji-ji, yet she still doesn’t have a girlfriend. My Ji-ji’s ex-girlfriends could fill an entire motorcade!”

“I want to see what kind of girls your Chenqing and Yanbai eventually bring home. They better not be less beautiful than my Linqiu~”

“Oh, my dear sisters~” Xu Yushan quickly moved between them, taking their arms and smiling coaxingly. “Let’s not talk about that. Let’s have a toast—to you two becoming in-laws a year from now, and to a prosperous, happy future for the family.”

“Fine.”

“That’s more like it.”