After Marrying the Villain with Seven Personalities [Transmigration into a Book]) - Chapter 52

A sudden phone ring shattered the suffocating silence.

Yi Chenqing checked her phone; it was a call from Mother Xu. Wait, shouldn’t they be at the art exhibition right now? With a growing sense of unease, she answered. Immediately, the sound of pained, muffled sobbing came through the receiver.

“Qingqing, we’ve been in a car accident. Linqiu just went into the operating room. Hurry to the First People’s Hospital!”

“How…?” In an instant, Yi Chenqing broke into a cold sweat. Panic and fear flooded her heart. “Mom, don’t worry, I’m coming right now.”

She sprinted downstairs, her mind entirely focused on seeing her safely. The memories of Linqiu’s deaths across countless lifetimes—her cold body, the despair of holding her—raced through her mind like an unshakeable nightmare.

She felt as if she had been dropped into an ice cellar. She knew this was the “Plot” asserting its will, but she kept chanting a silent prayer: She will be okay. She must be okay!

“What happened?” Shi Ji followed her, alarmed by her expression. She froze when she heard Yi Chenqing’s trembling voice: “Linqiu was in a car accident.”

Shi Ji snapped out of it, grabbed Yi Yanbai, and followed close behind.

“Everything was fine for twenty-odd years, why now?” Sitting in the car, countless worst-case scenarios flooded Shi Ji’s mind. Her eyes reddened with anxiety as she stared at the traffic ahead.

Fortunately, Yi Chenqing drove fast, and they reached the hospital without delay. Fang Fengyu and Xu Xinping were sitting outside the operating room. Their faces and bodies were covered in scratches that had been roughly treated, but their spirits were low. A stranger stood nearby.

The heavy, somber doors of the operating room felt like a barrier between two different worlds.

“How is Linqiu?” Yi Chenqing’s steps were heavy. She looked at Fang Fengyu with desperate eyes.

Fang Fengyu stood up and held her shoulders. “Qingqing, don’t be scared. I was just so overwhelmed by the blood that I didn’t explain clearly on the phone. The window glass shattered, and a lot of shards pierced Linqiu’s skin. The largest piece was in her arm; she lost a lot of blood and fainted.”

“Judong and the others arrived before you. They felt the atmosphere here was too heavy, so they went to donate blood.”

Xu Xinping sighed as Fang Fengyu recalled the crash and began to cry again. “Xinping always drives steadily. It was him—he suddenly charged through the intersection. If Xinping hadn’t reacted so quickly… but his front end happened to slam right into the passenger side where Linqiu was sitting.”

Fang Fengyu pointed angrily at the stranger. The man, dressed well but looking troubled, hurried to explain: “I didn’t do it on purpose, I just don’t know what happened…” He fell silent under Xu Xinping’s cold, sharp glare. “We’ll go through legal channels. I won’t run from my responsibility.”

No one answered him. A heavy silence filled the hall.

Until she saw Linqiu come out, Yi Chenqing couldn’t catch her breath. She stared at the doors, her heart aching as she thought about those glass shards. How much pain must she be in…

Shi Ji pulled her aside to talk in private. In a quiet corner, Shi Ji’s expression was grim. “I looked at the details in the book this morning. Don’t forget, in the original plot, Linqiu had a massive fight with her parents at eighteen because she wanted to study abroad. In that version, they cut ties, and then Fang Fengyu and her husband were the ones in the accident—rib fractures and massive hemorrhaging.”

“In the book, Judong went to donate blood, and that’s how it was discovered she wasn’t their biological daughter. Her identity and Yu Shu’s identity were swapped, the truth came out, and all those troublesome people came crawling out of the woodwork. It caused total chaos… and in the end, didn’t you fail to find the person who harmed Linqiu?”

“I killed them all,” Yi Chenqing said coldly, glancing toward the operating room as if she’d miss something if she looked away for a second. “I didn’t let a single one go, except for Xu Judong and Yu Shu, whom I couldn’t touch.”

Shi Ji paused, stunned by the casual tone. Could you please not say such things with such an indifferent voice? She sighed. This was the first time she truly realized that the person in front of her was the blackened villain described in the original book—the one who would do anything to achieve her goals and colluded with the underworld.

Shi Ji continued: “Think about it. This time, the person in the accident is Linqiu, and Judong went to donate blood… This means the plot is forcing itself back on track. Then Linqiu…”

“I understand. I won’t leave her side for a single step.”

“I think,” Shi Ji mused, “Linqiu was supposed to die at eighteen. Since she’s still alive now, she shouldn’t be under the ‘control’ of the script herself. The plot control seems to work by manipulating you characters to complete tasks, or by making small ‘accidents’ happen that don’t disrupt the overall social order. So, the situation isn’t as bad as it could be yet.”

“Mm.”

Yi Chenqing gazed at the operating room doors. Shi Ji felt a pang of sadness. What was the point of avoiding the plot and the protagonists? What must come will come. It was better to fight back with everything they had.

Maybe the ending wouldn’t be so bad.

Shi Ji felt her past life of avoidance was laughable. Deep down, she had treated this as just a “paper world,” so she had spent her time drinking and playing, trying to enjoy this borrowed time like a dream. But their emotions were so rich, they were so undeniably real. Perhaps everyone here was subconsciously fighting to the death against the shackles binding them.

Compared to them, she had been ungrateful for her blessings. Fortunately, it wasn’t too late to try.

As she thought this, Yu Shu appeared, supporting a pale Xu Judong. They walked toward the Xus. Shi Ji and Yi Chenqing stepped out from the corner.

Yu Shu helped Xu Judong sit on a bench. The latter asked weakly, “Is Sister out yet?”

“Not yet,” Fang Fengyu answered.

Judong muttered, “I’ve rarely been sick growing up, but I didn’t expect to have Type B blood when I donated. I thought Sister was Type A… Luckily the hospital had stock.”

“What did you say?” Fang Fengyu’s voice rose sharply. Xu Judong flinched.

Shi Ji was also stunned. The dialogue was exactly the same as the book. It was melodramatic, but the truth was being forcibly revealed.

Yi Chenqing remained focused on the operating room. Xu Xinping looked at Xu Judong with a complex expression. Both he and Fengyu were Type A. Two Type A parents can only have Type A or Type O children. Any other type meant the child was not biological.

One misfortune followed another. Xu Judong looked at them innocently. “Mom, what’s wrong?”

That word, “Mom,” made Fang Fengyu’s eyes sting. She wanted to hide it—after so many years, biological or not didn’t seem that important. But her head began to spin. As she collapsed, her mind remained clear; she could feel Xu Xinping catching her and hear his instructions, but she couldn’t open her eyes.

“Stay here and watch,” Xu Xinping told the others. “Don’t worry, I’m taking your mother to the ER. It’s likely nothing major.”

“Okay.”

Fang Fengyu didn’t know what was happening to her. When she finally opened her eyes in the ER, she heard the doctor saying her vitals were fine and she just needed to rest.

Xu Xinping looked at her. “Don’t get agitated. Since things have come to this, we can only investigate how the children were swapped back then. We’ll see if we can find our biological daughter and see if she’s lived a good life.”

“Mm.” Fang Fengyu nodded, thinking back. When she gave birth to Judong, it was an emergency. They went to the Sixth People’s Hospital because it was closest. She remembered the hallways were packed with extra beds; there were too many people giving birth. Even though she was in a VIP suite, the infants… it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

“Auntie.” A knock came from the door. They looked up to see Yu Shu.

Their impression of Yu Shu was only that she was their daughter’s rival in the entertainment industry—the one whose fans always fought with Judong’s. But now, looking closely at her face, Fang Fengyu felt a strange, inexplicable sense of connection. As if they were destined to be linked.

“Auntie, can I do a DNA test with you?”

Both Xus were shocked. “How did you know?”

“I… I Googled your blood types.” Yu Shu lowered her head, looking ashamed, but she eventually looked up with determination. “I want to take a chance. I want to escape my ‘vampire’ family. I’ve truly had enough. And… I don’t know why, but I just have a gut feeling.”

The room fell deathly silent. Yu Shu bit her lip until the taste of blood filled her mouth. She couldn’t stop herself. Why can’t I control myself? Why am I saying these things? She had just been by Judong’s side, yet in the next second, she had walked to the ER involuntarily.

She didn’t care about a “vampire” family or those disgusting people. She only cared that if she said these things, Judong would hate her forever. They had finally grown close, and she hadn’t even had the chance to confess her feelings yet…

She was terrified, desperate to take the words back, but she was frozen, unable to even open her mouth to retract them.

Finally, Fang Fengyu spoke. “Child, don’t be nervous. We can do it. It’s okay. Let us consult the doctor first.”

“Okay… then Uncle, Auntie, I’ll go back upstairs first.”

The moment Yu Shu stepped out of the room, someone grabbed her and pulled her into the emergency exit, pinning her against the wall.

Xu Judong’s eyes were red. She asked hoarsely, “Why are you doing this?”

Judong felt a piercing pain in her heart—not just from the truth about her parents, but from Yu Shu’s betrayal. “You were a ‘black-hearted lotus’ all along, weren’t you? What ‘fresh start’? What ‘friends’? What ‘kissing scenes’? It was all an act! You played your cards perfectly!”

“I…” Yu Shu couldn’t speak her own thoughts. Instead, her mouth moved, and she heard herself say: “Did you ever think that if the DNA test proves I’m the Xu daughter, then all the suffering I endured in the Yu family was never mine to bear? I want to escape that place. Am I wrong?”

Yu Shu watched Xu Judong’s pale face and falling tears. As she watched Judong’s retreating, devastated back, Yu Shu’s heart broke into a million pieces.

The operating room doors finally opened. Xu Linqiu was wheeled out. As she breathed in the fresh air, the first thing she saw was a pair of worried eyes.

“How do you feel? Does it still hurt?”