After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Marked by the Beautiful Mad Villain - Chapter 25

During those few seconds of standing frozen in place, the same question kept churning through Su Mi’s mind:

When had she ever offended Li Zhao?

She hadn’t, right?

Could someone really have such a simple-minded, wicked sense of humor?

After a moment of panic, Su Mi chose to give up on thinking.

She pursed her lips and looked toward Shen Han.

It seemed she had already offended the villain today, from the inside out, through and through.

Su Mi could hardly hide her guilt. She couldn’t even manage the usual pleading expression she was so accustomed to using—even though she didn’t quite know why she felt guilty—as she stared dryly at Shen Han.

On the other side.

Shen Han had both hands tucked into the side pockets of her suit jacket. She stepped sideways to clear a path to the elevator for Li Zhao, her tone calm: “Are you bored?”

Li Zhao smiled, “Your sister is actually quite fun.”

Shen Han didn’t speak, her gaze shifting to Su Mi standing ahead.

It was quite rare; the girl’s expression looked somewhat afraid.

It wasn’t the performative, half-coquettish, half-pleading fear, but an expression that seemed as if she truly believed Shen Han might actually do something to her.

What could she do to her? At most, it was just a few deliberate jokes from Li Zhao.

Shen Han pressed the corners of her mouth down, realizing that she was, indeed, somewhat annoyed.

Li Zhao, who had been observing her the whole time, was stunned for a moment. Then, her peach-blossom eyes widened with great interest, and her footsteps toward the elevator even came to a halt.

“I suddenly remembered there’s something I forgot to tell you. Shen Han, shall we go grab a meal together?” she extended an invitation.

The elevator doors slowly closed behind them. Li Zhao didn’t care, looking at Shen Han with keen interest before asking Su Mi: “Little sister, coming along?”

Shen Han: “Is there anything that absolutely must be said during a meal?”

Li Zhao beamed: “It’s been a long time since we’ve met. I feel like you’ve changed so much, let’s catch up!”

She eagerly tried to grab Shen Han’s arm, but for some reason, she never dared to actually make contact.

Shen Han knitted her brows, shot her a sidelong glance, and said, “Be normal, Dr. Li. Have you handled the hospitalization procedures for Xu Nanqiao’s mother? Does the family need to stay overnight by the bed?”

Li Zhao: “That’s a matter of minutes…”

Her sentence paused mid-way. Li Zhao suddenly changed her tone and said, “But I really should go ask. When little sister and I left the ward just now, the patient seemed unwilling to stay. I brought her here, so I’ll go get her settled.”

With her hands in her pockets, she moved past Shen Han. As she passed Su Mi, she pulled a hand out, gave a wave, and threw a wink.

“See you later, little sister.”

Su Mi ignored her.

She had finally managed to regulate her mood. After Li Zhao’s footsteps faded away, she looked apprehensively at Shen Han, who had walked up to stand in front of her.

Stammering: “Sister…”

Although she didn’t have much of a leg to stand on, she finally managed to adjust her tone to sound particularly aggrieved.

Shen Han lowered her gaze, looking at the puppy-dog eyes with drooping corners before her. She let out a breath that was barely perceptible.

She said: “Are you an idiot?”

At this moment, if Shen Han said ‘one,’ Su Mi would absolutely never say ‘two.’

Though she didn’t know why the description had circled back to “idiot.”

Perhaps Shen Han thought she looked stupid for being toyed with by Li Zhao?

Su Mi nodded rapidly: “Yes, exactly.”

She calculated for a moment; Shen Han’s tone seemed alright.

It didn’t seem like she was holding a grudge.

After nodding, she looked expectantly at Shen Han and continued to make amends for herself.

“Those things Dr. Li said just now, she was just talking nonsense. My admiration for you is like the surging waters of a great river, never-ending. How could I possibly say such things? Sister, you believe me, right!”

It was impossible to tell from Shen Han’s expression whether she believed her or not. She spoke coolly: “You’ll definitely regret it?”

Su Mi’s expression froze.

That was clearly the phrase she had angrily said to Shen Han earlier.

She bottled it up for a while, then admitted her mistake dejectedly: “Sister, you know… I’m an idiot…”

She blinked her eyes at Shen Han, giving a fawning smile and appearing perfectly well-behaved.

She was clearly signaling: I’ve already admitted I’m an idiot, so you’re not allowed to say anything else.

Shen Han narrowed her eyes slightly, appearing as if she wanted to say something, yet she didn’t.

Instead, she asked: “Finished with your visit?”

Su Mi: “…Mm!”

At the same time, she cheered in her heart.

It seemed this matter had been moved past in the villain’s book.

Although in the future, Shen Han might find small ways to make her uncomfortable—like with the parent-teacher meeting—at least she wasn’t truly angry.

Su Mi’s smile widened significantly as she happily followed Shen Han into the elevator.

As the elevator floor numbers decreased, Su Mi felt a slight bit of regret, thinking it was a shame Shen Han hadn’t managed to complete her visit today, though she wasn’t sure if that was for better or worse.

Seeing Xu Rou’s demeanor and temper, even if Shen Han had gone in, she probably wouldn’t have been met with a pleasant face.

She muttered to herself: “I wonder what illness Xu-Nanqiao’s mother has, to the point of needing hospitalization.”

Shen Han said: “Why don’t you just ask Xu Nanqiao.”

Su Mi sighed: “It’s not easy to ask. If Dr. Li is in the Second Gender Department and she’s in charge, then it’s a problem with the glands or mental power?”

Shen Han said faintly: “Then you can also go ask Dr. Li.”

“Is that so?”

Su Mi took her seriously and gave it some genuine thought, though she felt it was a bit contradictory.

On one hand, she felt Li Zhao was somewhat baffling. Even though she hadn’t offended her, Li Zhao had suddenly slandered her in front of Shen Han and done some very excessive things.

On the other hand, Li Zhao’s identity was mysterious; she seemed to know a lot of the inside story regarding Shen Han’s mental health issues. If she could build a good relationship with her, it should be helpful for the mission to lower Shen Han’s blackening value.

While she was biting her lip thinking about this, Shen Han suddenly turned around in front of her.

Cool fingers pinched both sides of her cheeks. The force wasn’t heavy, yet it wasn’t to be ignored.

Her tightly bitten lip was forced to release, pouting into a circle.

Su Mi looked up blankly.

Shen Han held her face, lifting it slightly. She lowered her eyelids and scanned the girl, seemingly saying with dissatisfaction: “You smell of alcohol…”

Su Mi: “Huh?”

Shen Han said coldly: “Li Zhao is not a good person. Don’t get too close to her. If you have excess passion, you can go rescue some stray animals.”

“Got… got it…”

With her mouth half-open, Su Mi answered unclearly.

The elevator reached the underground garage with a “ding.” Shen Han released Su Mi and took the lead in walking out.

A flash of inspiration hit Su Mi’s mind.

If she wasn’t allowed to ask Li Zhao, couldn’t she ask the villain herself?

She hurried to catch up, rubbing the slightly sore side of her face while boldly asking: “Sister, you say Dr. Li isn’t a good person, but you listen to her very well. You didn’t even enter the ward.”

Shen Han: “I said, I’m following doctor’s orders.”

Su Mi feigned concern: “Are you being treated by her? Are you sick!”

Shen Han found her vehicle and opened the car door, her tone casual: “That was in the past.”

Su Mi didn’t get in the car. She huddled into the gap between Shen Han and the car door, leaning against the rear door and looking up at Shen Han.

“Sister never told me,” she grumbled.

Her intuition told her that Shen Han was quite easy to talk to right now, so she could ask a few more questions. She leaned closer to press her advantage.

Shen Han had one hand resting on the car door. She raised her other hand and, under Su Mi’s gaze which masked a hint of nervousness, placed it on Su Mi’s shoulder.

Fine eyelashes trembled slightly. Beneath them, her ice-blue eyes remained fixed without turning, carrying a sense of scrutiny.

Shen Han’s voice was as cold as frost, carrying a light, hollow smile as she said: “Because I was afraid my sister would worry.”

She was clearly refusing to continue answering.

As her voice landed, Shen Han added: “You don’t need to worry about so much. Just prepare well for the unified exams.”

Su Mi gave a disappointed ‘oh,’ moving her shoulder as she prepared to leave gloomily.

Shen Han watched her, paused for a moment, and said: “Once the unified exams are over, should I take you to the Shen family banquet to have some fun?”

She said this suddenly, as if she hadn’t quite thought it through herself. After speaking, she slightly knitted her brows.

Su Mi: …Eh?

She didn’t particularly want to attend.

Had the villain misunderstood something again?

Her eyelashes blinked rapidly. Su Mi followed her gut: “Okay!”

“Alright, get in.”

Shen Han stepped back a bit, no longer appearing to have Su Mi pinned between herself and the car.

Before she lowered her hand, she lightly patted the side of Su Mi’s face.

Like coaxing a puppy.

The Q&A was over.

Su Mi sat in the passenger seat and was driven all the way home by Shen Han.

The Nanyuan estate had sent a driver, who was waiting in a car in front of the Su residence.

Naturally, Su Mi wouldn’t make Shen Han park the car for her. She had Shen Han stop at the roadside and followed her out, escorting her all the way to the side of the Shen family vehicle.

Su Mi stood under the streetlamp and waved to Shen Han.

Shen Han also gave her a nod before getting into the car, and the vehicle drove away.

…This strange day was finally over.

Su Mi let out a long sigh.

She took a look at the blackening value; there were no other changes in the numbers.

It was acceptable.

Except that her performance in front of the villain seemed to have solidified her identity as an “idiot.”

Thinking of this, Su Mi felt a bit depressed. And then there was that banquet the villain mentioned before driving off…

She didn’t know what kind of wolves and tigers were in the Shen family. An idiot like her… wait no, she wasn’t an idiot.

Su Mi shook her head, almost having been brainwashed by her interaction with Shen Han.

As a mere ordinary citizen, if she went to join the chaos of a great family’s banquet, she would probably be swallowed whole by a noble lady here or an illegitimate son there.

Su Mi shivered slightly, parked her car in the garage, and scurried back home.

After the parent-teacher meeting passed, school life returned to its familiar busy and disciplined routine.

Xu Rou was discharged the next day, and Xu Nanqiao also returned to school normally to continue her studies and revision.

Word was that Xu Rou had insisted on being discharged. Speaking of this, Xu Nanqiao appeared somewhat worried, but she couldn’t sway her mother’s demands.

As the date of the unified exams drew closer, all other matters seemed to move aside for this most important test by unspoken agreement.

Even the frequency of her visits to Nanyuan decreased.

Two months before the unified exams, it changed to visiting Nanyuan only once every two weeks.

At first, Su Mi was very worried whether the blackening value would approach the critical threshold, but she discovered that since the parent-teacher meeting, the rate at which Shen Han’s blackening value rose had slowed significantly.

And one month before the exams, Shen Han flew directly abroad.

She had Secretary Zhuang inform them to focus on their exams and that there was no need to come over.

Su Mi asked her parents and learned it was a relaxation holiday that Shen Han frequently took.

Thinking about it, it made sense. The villain surely had her own ways of venting.

It was impossible for her to simply collapse just because Xu Nanqiao wasn’t there.

However, Su Mi felt that even if Shen Han was abroad, she would definitely still be thinking about Xu Nanqiao.

She sent messages to Shen Han at irregular intervals, implicitly reporting on Xu Nanqiao’s recent situation.

Such as:

[Su Mi]: Look! The medal from the last dessert competition. Xu-Nanqiao went to collect it, she’s very happy (ps. Xu-Nanqiao’s mom has already been discharged).

[Su Mi]: Today I had ‘Di Guo Ji’ (Pot Chicken) at the school gate with Xu-Nanqiao. It was delicious!

[Su Mi]: The results for the second mock exam are out. Xu-Nanqiao treated me to milk tea ^^ [Attached photo: Clinking two cups of milk tea with Xu Nanqiao].

[Su Mi]: At the sports meet organized by the grade, Xu-Nanqiao and I both signed up for tug-of-war TAT. I was especially bad, but I didn’t expect Xu-Nanqiao, being an Omega, to have such great strength. She saved the day for our class! Amazing [Thumbs Up].

[Su Mi]: Pre-exam pep talk! [Attached photo: Xu Nanqiao giving a speech on stage] [Attached photo: A selfie with Xu Nanqiao both wearing “Struggle” headbands].

[Su Mi]: Xu-Nanqiao and I are both in Exam Hall AA. I’ll pick her up to go to the exam together tomorrow [Fist].

Shen Han would generally reply with a word or two.

Su Mi became even more confident because of this, feeling that her actions were simply those of a genius among geniuses; she must have hit Shen Han’s needs right on the mark.

She had secretly asked Secretary Zhuang beforehand, and Shen Han’s holiday had half a month remaining.

Su Mi specifically urged Secretary Zhuang to tell her immediately once Shen Han returned.

Secretary Zhuang, who still believed Su Mi liked Shen Han: “…”

She… she’s quite direct.

With mixed emotions, he agreed. He then turned around and reported this to Shen Han as well.

And he added suggestively: “Miss Su seems to miss you quite a bit.”

He had always been a dedicated and responsible secretary. After saying this, without waiting for Shen Han to speak, he shared a screen.

On it were the return flight tickets for the days around the unified exams.

Shen Han: “…”

She looked up at Secretary Zhuang in surprise.

Secretary Zhuang said at the right moment: “Coincidentally, the project in the east of the city is in the final stage of bidding. You could head back to take a look.”

Shen Han wanted to say it wasn’t necessary, but the optical computer on her wrist suddenly vibrated.

It was likely Su Mi’s routine report that came every few days.

Shen Han paused.

Never mind.

She curled her finger and tapped a corner of the screen.

“Book this one.”