After Marrying the Villain with Seven Personalities [Transmigration into a Book]) - Chapter 63

Many days passed in a flash. The wounds on Xu Linqiu’s body had gradually scabbed over. Out of sheer boredom, she had even taken to drawing with her left hand. Her sketches of Yi Chenqing—with giant heads and tiny bodies—were quite comical, and they actually managed to make Chenqing laugh.

“What are you laughing at? Mocking a great artist?”

Linqiu sat on the sofa, leaning in with a slight smirk to tease her, her breath brushing against Chenqing’s cheek.

Yi Chenqing closed her laptop and turned her head to meet Linqiu’s eyes, her expression turning serious. “No. I just think it’s very cute.”

“Is that so~” Linqiu laughed. She lowered her head to rest her chin on Chenqing’s shoulder, wrapping one arm gently around her waist. “I think you’re very cute too~”

Lately, Linqiu had been dedicated to training Chenqing’s “tolerance levels.” It was proving effective, and she had discovered a crucial pattern: as long as Chenqing’s heart rate did not exceed 120 beats per minute, the other personalities would not emerge.

In other words, as long as they refrained from “going all the way” and kept her heart rate under control, the other personas stayed at bay.

Xu Linqiu sighed inwardly, suddenly feeling a strange, inexplicable sense of regret.

No. She shook her head, dismissing the thought. That was a very bad line of thinking. It was probably the psychological prelude to many people’s “affairs.” Bad, bad thoughts.

“Shi Ji and the others went to her house today…”

Chenqing’s crisp voice interrupted her thoughts. Linqiu looked up at her from a close distance and smiled softly. “And so…?”

Yi Chenqing raised her wrist to show her the monitor: 85 bpm. Her face was expressionless, and surprisingly, even the tips of her ears weren’t red.

Linqiu laughed even harder. She cupped Chenqing’s face with both hands, squishing her soft cheeks. “Oh my~ Our Qingqing has really grown up, hasn’t she?”

“I haven’t.” Yi Chenqing’s expression remained gentle. Because she had gone out for a company meeting earlier, Linqiu had insisted on applying a layer of honey-orange lipstick on her. Her lips still shimmered with a moist orange tint, which softened her slightly cold facial features.

Linqiu’s eyes flickered. With a smile, she pressed her thumb against Chenqing’s lip. The soft skin yielded under the pressure, plump and elastic.

“Are you tired?” she asked. “You’ve been working all day; your eyes must be exhausted.”

“A little.”

Under the influence of the magical atmosphere, Yi Chenqing could feel her own heartbeat with startling clarity. She looked down to check her wristband, but in the next second, her eyes were covered.

Nearly all light was blocked by Linqiu’s palm. Where the side of the hand touched her skin, it felt warm. Breath brushed against her cheek, and the arm around her waist tightened.

“Close your eyes.”

That familiar, soft voice rose at the end of the sentence. Instinctively, Chenqing obeyed. She felt the palm leave her face, and a slightly piercing white light shone through her eyelids. Finger tips slid across her cheek to the bridge of her nose, finally lingering and rubbing gently against her lips.

Her heart rate accelerated; the area behind her ears began to burn.

Then, that familiar fragrance enveloped her. Warm lips lightly touched hers. Their warm breaths intertwined, yet they remained perfectly still.

Chenqing’s eyelashes trembled. Linqiu watched her with a smile until Chenqing slowly reached up to rest her hands on Linqiu’s shoulders, hooking around her neck to pull her closer. As Chenqing’s lips began to move in a gentle, lingering grind, Linqiu’s gaze deepened. She slid her fingers into Chenqing’s dark hair, steadying the back of her head.

Linqiu sucked gently, her tongue occasionally flicking out to taste her, before prying open her teeth to deepen the kiss. The sweet taste of honey-orange spread through their mouths, dancing across their taste buds.

The occasional soft moan escaped Chenqing’s throat. Beneath the shadows, the skin of her neck moved as she swallowed audibly.

“Mm…” After a long time, she made a faint sound. “My heart… it’s beating so fast…”

“Not yet, we’re still a little ways off…” Linqiu released her lips and moved down, suckling at the skin of her neck and leaving a trail of fragrant kisses.

The bright light enhanced every sensation. Yi Chenqing tilted her head back, exposing the smooth curve of her jawline. She clung to Linqiu’s neck, her mind a blurred, intoxicated mess and her eyes growing warm.

“Do you like it?”

“Mm~”

The romantic atmosphere was eventually shattered by the electronic beep-beep-beep. Linqiu pulled away and held Chenqing tightly in her arms. Chenqing panted against her collarbone, her face a deep crimson.

Linqiu smiled and ran her fingers through Chenqing’s dark hair, her eyes filled with tenderness. After a while, a voice tinged with worry came from her arms: “What would you do if my illness never gets better?”

Linqiu hadn’t expected such a question, but she threw it back without hesitation: “What would you do?”

“I would…” She looked up, her gaze resolute. “I would tie you to my side. Even if you grew tired of me, you would never be allowed to leave.”

For a moment, the flash of obsessive, manic possessiveness in Chenqing’s eyes startled Linqiu, but she quickly adjusted. This is her true feeling. There’s no need to deny it.

A warm touch brushed against Linqiu’s lips—a fleeting kiss. Linqiu laughed and ruffled her hair. “I won’t get tired of you. I promise.”

As evening approached, Shi Ji pulled Xu Linqiu into the study with a mysterious air and locked the door. She shook the notebook in her hand before speaking. “I thought before that you were too ill to handle a shock, but now that you’ve recovered, I want to tell you the truth.”

“Oh?” Linqiu raised an eyebrow.

“Everything that happened in this novel… is real.”

Linqiu’s expression relaxed, her eyes crinkling slightly. “You’re joking, right?”

“I am telling the truth.” Shi Ji had never looked so serious. Her gravity eventually infected Linqiu, who found herself unable to speak.

“No—rather, I should say it existed…” Shi Ji added. Finding it difficult to find the right words, she simply dumped everything she knew.

Her tone was flat but incredibly earnest. As Linqiu listened, her heart felt as though it were falling into a frozen lake. It turned out that the heartbreaking stories she had read were all true—happening again and again in cycles.

“Are you sure?” Linqiu frowned, waiting for the heavy “Yes” from the other woman.

In that moment, she realized her feelings for Chenqing had transformed. She never imagined that the love Chenqing gave her was so profound—spanning across time and worlds. Chenqing had shouldered all the pain herself, leaving only the beauty for Linqiu.

Her heart ached with a sharp, tugging pain. Shi Ji placed a hand on her shoulder. “Stay calm. Things aren’t as bad as you think. Everything is good now, as long as the two of you live well together…”

Shi Ji didn’t know that Linqiu was only thinking about how to reciprocate that love. She felt a deep ache for Chenqing and wanted nothing more than to hold her and say: “It’s okay. I’m here. I will always be here.”

“I told you because I wanted you to know the truth—and to accept this world sooner,” Shi Ji said, clearly feeling a bit of regret now.

But Linqiu quickly composed herself and smiled. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about me. You must be quite troubled yourself…” She stepped forward to comfort Shi Ji, patting her shoulder. Shi Ji was far more resilient than she appeared; she had already survived the worst of it.

After a while, the two returned to the living room. Suddenly, Linqiu’s phone chimed with a text. She looked down. It was from Chenqing.

[Come to ‘Hong Xun’ (Red Scent Bar). I’m waiting for you.]

Why would she go there? Was it Xiao Hong (the “Red” personality)? But her heart rate hadn’t been anywhere near the threshold for a personality switch.

With a heart full of complex emotions, Linqiu hurried to the door. “I’m heading out for a bit,” she told Shi Ji. “I’m going to Hong Xun to find Chenqing.”

“Alright. Be careful.”