After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Marked by the Beautiful Mad Villain - Chapter 2

Su Mi blinked, feeling a slight itch in her ear.

Is the transmission function of the optical brain defective? Why does it feel like it’s leaking electricity?

Su Mi reported, “The differentiation period has ended. My result is Beta.”

Shen Han seemed to already know, offering no particular evaluation of this.

She said, “Xu Nanqiao didn’t come to Nanyuan last week. When you have time, bring her over.”

“Oh, okay,” Su Mi habitually agreed with practiced ease, then paused before adding, “Sister.”

Shen Han remained quiet for a moment before saying, “…Mm.”

The call was hung up without a trace of lingering attachment.

Su Mi stared at her optical brain, stunned for a moment.

Su Mi: “She sounds like a boss calling at eleven at night to arrange which documents need to be handed in tomorrow.”

System: “O.O?”

It was still the pink pixel border, looking a bit silly.

Su Mi paused and explained: “I haven’t had time to understand the settings of this ABO world yet, but according to my… father’s words just now, the differentiation period should be accompanied by a drop in immunity. My body is fragile and I’ve just reached adulthood, yet I have to go be a driver for the female lead. This is excessive.”

System: “Host, the differentiation period for a Beta is not fragile. Furthermore, the original owner obtained her driver’s license two years ago when she turned 16.”

Su Mi: “Fine.”

She sighed and folded her blanket.

Then she stood up, went to the elevator, and pressed the button for the upper floors.

According to the memory that had just surfaced, it seemed she also had a very cute younger brother.

As the elevator ascended, Su Mi aimlessly watched her reflection in the bright mirror of the elevator car.

The girl in the mirror had pale gold, slightly curled shoulder-length hair and exquisite features. She wore light makeup, which masked the haggardness of the differentiation period.

Dressed in a beige doll-style short dress that revealed the beautiful, fair lines of her legs, she looked as lovely as a porcelain doll.

At this point, an annotation was needed: The vain, wicked-hearted version.

Although her appearance was identical to when she was a student, the attire and posture were unfamiliar. Su Mi couldn’t help but tug down at the hem of her skirt—to no avail, of course.

System: “Is the Host not going to find the female lead?”

Su Mi: “No rush.”

“20th floor.” The system prompted Su Mi to press the elevator button. The crackle of static sounded curious as it asked: “622 wants to know how the Host plans to complete the task of lowering the Blackening Value.”

Su Mi: “You want to know?”

System: “Mm ^^”

Su Mi answered honestly: “I haven’t thought of it yet.”

The elevator reached the 20th floor. Su Mi stepped out, looked at the ellipsis slowly appearing from the system, and said seriously: “A plan is a very important thing; one must be fully prepared to be ready. So we’ll talk later. First, I’m going to see my brother.”

Su Mi followed the signs to find Wen Zisu’s office. Before she even opened the door, she could hear the clear, tender laughter of a child coming from inside.

She knocked politely, pushed the door open, and as she looked down, her eyes lit up.

A “glutinous rice ball” of a child, barely reaching her thighs, came stumbling over and grabbed her leg in a hug.

“Sister! Why did you only come to see Xiaoyi now?”

The little rice ball called out in a milky voice, looking up at her.

The assistant who had been playing with Su Yi quietly retreated and closed the door.

Su Mi squatted down, looking at him over and over, and took a deep breath.

Unable to resist, she pinched the little rice ball’s cheek.

So soft…

the expression of the girl with the stiff face softened significantly. Without even noticing it herself, her voice became slightly high-pitched and “cutesy” as she asked:

“Xiaoyi, what were you doing just now?”

Su Xiaoyi lay obediently against his sister, letting Su Mi pinch his face, and said: “Xiaoyi… Xiaoyi was building blocks!”

So well-behaved…

Su Mi asked: “Does Xiaoyi want sister to play with him?”

Su Xiaoyi looked up at Su Mi with longing eyes but actually shook his head, saying: “Daddy… Daddy said sister is not feeling well. Xiaoyi can play with blocks by himself.”

“Xiaoyi is so good,” Su Mi sniffled, deeply moved. Looking at her brother’s little face, she held back her emotions and suggested: “Then… then Xiaoyi can give sister a kiss. That way, sister can recover her energy to play with Xiaoyi.”

Su Xiaoyi hummed an affirmation, believing her implicitly as he tilted the cheek that wasn’t being pinched toward Su Mi.

Su Mi: “…!”

She gave her brother a big kiss on the cheek.

Su Mi spent most of the afternoon playing with her brother.

Until suddenly, a new message arrived on her optical brain.

It was from “Secretary Zhuang,” Shen Han’s head secretary.

Secretary Zhuang: Miss Su, the car has been parked for you in Parking Lot A, space A2. Miss Xu finishes school in half an hour; it would be troublesome for you to go pick her up.

Secretary Zhuang: President Shen’s condition is somewhat unstable right now. Please let me know once you have picked up Miss Xu. I will be waiting for you at Nanyuan.

Su Mi recalled the original plot the system had downloaded into her head when she first crossed over.

Shen Han, who existed as a background character, having an “unstable condition” could only mean she was having an episode as described in the story.

The original plot never mentioned what Shen Han’s “heart disease” was.

But her way of “treating” this heart disease was to invite the female lead to her home every week to “read” to her.

And the original owner, a lackey of the antagonist and a classmate of the female lead, had a decent relationship with her before differentiation. Therefore, the female lead, who came from a poor family, was always driven to the antagonist’s residence, “Nanyuan,” by the original owner.

Su Mi looked at the message projected from her optical brain, then at her younger brother who was happily playing with a toy airplane.

The system timely played a projection in the air showing the ending the Su family would face after being abandoned by the antagonist:

Wen Zisu resigning from Shen Han’s company, Su Ciyu’s technology company facing various forms of malicious competition before going through bankruptcy liquidation, and her younger brother crying as he hugged her leg, asking where all of Xiaoyi’s toys went…

Su Mi: “…Stop. I am extremely passionate about doing tasks.”

Entrusting her brother to Wen Zisu’s assistant, she went downstairs and found the car Secretary Zhuang had mentioned.

In this world, driving was essentially fully automated. Su Mi set the destination and then found Xu Nanqiao—who had no notes attached to her name—on her optical brain and sent a message: I’m at the school gate. Secretary Zhuang wants me to take you to Nanyuan.

Xu Nanqiao: [Cat Peeking Emoji]

Xu Nanqiao: Okay, wait ten minutes for me, I’ll be out right away.

Su Mi didn’t have to wait long in the car before she saw Xu Nanqiao walking out of the school gate.

Xu Nanqiao was wearing the navy blue uniform of Loran Public School. Her flowing long hair was tied back with a deep red ribbon, her features were gentle and lovely, and she stood tall and graceful.

She recognized Su Mi’s car at a glance, carried her handbag to the front of the car, and peeked inside. Seeing Su Mi, she smiled happily and greeted her in a very sweet voice:

“Su Mi, your differentiation period ended so quickly. I thought I wouldn’t see you until next week.”

She sat in the passenger seat, placed her schoolbag on her lap, kept her back straight, and brushed her long hair behind her shoulders.

From Su Mi’s angle, she could see a velvet neck collar in the same color as the school uniform wrapped around her neck. The navy blue made her neck appear fair and slender, possessing the fragile beauty exclusive to an Omega.

Su Mi instinctively touched her own neck.

Xu Nanqiao’s gaze followed, and she paused.

To her, that special seamless scent-blocking patch did not exist; Su Mi’s neck was bare.

Being an Omega herself, Xu Nanqiao came to a sudden realization upon seeing no blocking patch and said, “So you differentiated into a Beta…”

Su Mi: “Yes.”

Xu Nanqiao said, “That’s also quite good. I’ve been looking up a lot of information on university majors after the unified exams lately. The Omega gender is restricted in many majors; the range of choices isn’t as wide as for a Beta.”

She whispered a complaint: “It’s already the year 371 of the Federation, and the Omega Equality Act has been passed for so long, so why is it still so unfair?”

Su Mi asked: “So, is it because of the university entrance exam that you’re arguing with Shen Han?”

Xu Nanqiao: “Who would dare argue with her…”

Su Mi tilted her head to look at her.

Her round black eyes blinked, and her pale gold curls swayed slightly with her movements, bringing an innocent and curious expression to her face.

Xu Nanqiao’s speech faltered. She stared at Su Mi for a moment and suddenly remarked: “Is it really because of the differentiation? I feel like you’ve become a bit different.”

Su Mi: ? Don’t talk nonsense, my character deviation is 0%.

Getting back to the point, Xu Nanqiao sighed and said, “She wants me to go to Holy Cross Academy like she did. I know the student atmosphere at Holy Cross and Loran is similar, but I want to go somewhere with a better academic environment.”

Su Mi asked: “Do you have a target?”

Xu Nanqiao nodded. “Don’t tell President Shen… I want to go to Capital University.”

Consistent with the plot progression, Su Mi understood.

Su Mi advised with sincere intentions: “It doesn’t matter if you tell her. Shen Han actually cares a lot about your feelings and respects you very much.”

Xu Nanqiao asked suspiciously: “What do you know now?”

Su Mi said: “I only know that President Shen is very particular about you and cares a lot… After all, I’ve been picking you up and dropping you off for a year. I don’t even know what Shen Han wants you for every week.”

Xu Nanqiao: “I thought you weren’t curious about these things.”

Su Mi said earnestly: “I am curious.”

Xu Nanqiao let out a snort of laughter. Unable to help herself, she leaned back and said, “Su Mi, how did you become so cute after your differentiation ended?”

“That works out perfectly. Since you’ve already differentiated into a Beta, you shouldn’t have to worry about being stimulated by President Shen’s pheromones. I don’t want to go see her alone anyway; come inside with me in a bit.”

Every week in the past, the original owner had waited outside for Xu Nanqiao to come out.

Su Mi thought Xu Nanqiao was just joking, but when she turned to look, she saw Xu Nanqiao nodding at her.

Actually, she was also curious about what the “heart disease” not specified in the original work was, and what the purpose of “reading” was.

So she agreed.

By the time the car drove into Shen Han’s Nanyuan residence in the city center, it was nearly sunset.

The light of the setting sun enveloped the entire courtyard. After parking the car in front of the villa and getting out, Su Mi faintly heard what sounded like the sound of a piano coming from the distance.

Standing at the door were Secretary Zhuang and the housekeeper of Nanyuan.

Both Secretary Zhuang and the housekeeper were male Betas. Seeing Xu Nanqiao appear now, both revealed expressions of relief that were inconsistent with their steady and reliable appearances.

Secretary Zhuang came forward to greet them, saying, “Thank you, Miss Su. Miss Xu, you’ve finally arrived.”

Su Mi narrowed her eyes into a smile and replied politely, “You’re welcome.”

The European-style relief pillars in front of the villa entrance cast a long shadow. As Su Mi stepped into this shadow, she felt the surroundings grow much colder.

Entering the villa, the sense of coldness became even more apparent. The huge living room only had two floor lamps turned on. The secretary stopped at the porch, but Su Mi didn’t stay in the living room to wait with the secretary as in the past; instead, her arm was pulled by Xu Nanqiao as they walked deeper into the villa together.

Secretary Zhuang spoke up: “Miss Su?”

Xu Nanqiao tightened her grip on Su Mi’s arm. She turned her head, appearing even more nervous than Su Mi, and said, “Secretary Zhuang, Su Mi is accompanying me inside today.”

The housekeeper and the secretary looked hesitant.

Xu Nanqiao said, “Su Mi has already passed her differentiation period. She’s a Beta; there won’t be any problem.”

The secretary said nothing more, as if giving tacit consent.

Unlike the pervasive coldness in the villa, the interior decoration was unexpectedly warm. Beautiful vases and layers of white roses were everywhere, and the floors were covered with thick carpets.

They walked through the corridor, ascended the stairs, and rounded a corner to find an oil painting.

The brushstrokes of the oil painting were heavy and somewhat chaotic. It depicted a vase of flowers placed on a wooden table in front of a bronze mirror. The roses on the wooden table were white, just like the ones seen everywhere in the villa, but the color of the roses in the mirror had turned into ink-black. In the large white space behind the mirror, a door was faintly visible, and there seemed to be an indistinct figure walking toward the back of the door.

Su Mi stopped in her tracks, unable to help but stare at the painting for several moments.

“Su Mi.”

Xu Nanqiao tugged at her arm.

Su Mi snapped back to reality. While going upstairs, she asked Xu Nanqiao in a low voice, “Who painted this?”

Xu Nanqiao shook her head. “I don’t know.”

The housekeeper brought them to a door deep on the third floor. He did not enter but bowed politely and said, “Miss Su, when Miss Xu is reading to President Shen later, please do not make a sound.”

It was already much colder here than it had been at the entrance. Su Mi gave a vague response, a sense of inexplicable danger and curiosity erupting simultaneously.

Xu Nanqiao let go of her hand and took a “button” from the housekeeper’s hand, pinning it onto her own neckband.

Su Mi was curious: “What is that?”

Xu Nanqiao tilted her neck to show her; the button-like device was emitting a faint blue light.

“It suppresses pheromones. It has a pheromone detection device and an injection inside.” Xu Nanqiao then picked up a cylindrical bottle from the table and sprayed herself a few times. A misty vapor appeared around her and soon adhered to her body. “This is a pheromone neutralizing spray.”

Su Mi: “…”

She suddenly felt the presence of the special pheromone-blocking patch on the back of her neck become very prominent. She felt as though things had become complicated.

System: “Host, you can have some too.”

Su Mi blinked and stepped forward naturally: “Does the neutralizing spray have a scent?”

Xu Nanqiao didn’t suspect anything, thinking Su Mi was just curious, and also gave her a “trial” of the neutralizing spray she had never seen before.

Pushing open the door, they entered a suite. The first room was a sitting room. A few empty wine bottles were scattered casually on the coffee table. A floor lamp in the corner emitted a dim light. The curtains were tightly closed, with only a narrow gap visible through which a tiny amount of light filtered, making two doors—one on the left and one on the right—barely visible.

Su Mi followed Xu Nanqiao toward the right with some difficulty. In this near-dark environment, what hindered her even more was the increasing coldness in the air.

Su Mi knew that the antagonist’s “illness” was likely related to the pheromone disorder that eventually led to total destruction. Adding to that the pheromone suppression measures Xu Nanqiao had taken before entering, she prepared herself to smell the “scent” of a Double-S class Alpha’s pheromones upon entering.

However, in the air, there was nothing but a coldness like mid-winter.

They entered the study behind the door on the right and sat in the armchairs in front of a wide desk against the wall.

The light in the study was much brighter. An entire wall of floor-to-ceiling windows had no curtains obscuring them, revealing a stretch of rolling mountains and trees directly in front of the window. This side was in the shadows, making the rising and falling ridges of the mountains appear gloomy.

They didn’t seem to wait long before the study door was pushed open.

Before the person was even seen, a wave of icy and damp moisture swirled in. This humid chill felt as though it would instantly turn into ice shards or dissipate upon contact with the skin.

Su Mi took a light breath, as if her throat and lungs were forced wide awake by this icy aura. Yet she still couldn’t resist her curiosity and turned to look.

A tall woman stopped at the doorway of the study, leaning half against the door frame. Her silk-like long hair hung down with a hazy dampness. Her ice-blue pupils landed their gaze on the extra person, Su Mi. A black tear-shaped mole adorned the end of her right eye. The cloak over her long dress slipped down one side with her movement, revealing a shoulder as sharp as a right angle.

Her lip color was very pale. She opened her mouth slightly, her raspy and lazy voice trailing upward. She seemed to be in a reasonably good mood as she said with a half-smile:

“Hmm? How did you find the interest to come up today?”