After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Marked by the Beautiful Mad Villain - Chapter 27

The vehicle started smoothly.

Su Mi sat close against the back of the front passenger seat, only gradually feeling the interior of the car warm up.

The driver was a Beta, whose manual driving was exceptionally steady and eyes remained fixed strictly on the road ahead.

Su Mi glanced at him, then turned her head to steal a look at the back seat.

It would have been better if she hadn’t looked; once she did, she fell into a bit of a silent stupor.

Shen Han had her elbow propped on the door’s armrest, gazing idly out the window.

Xu Nanqiao also leaned against the other side with some constraint, staring earnestly at the scenery outside.

Su Mi: “…”

How could they invite Xu Nanqiao into the car, yet fail to strike up a conversation once she was inside?

Su Mi mustered her courage to break the silence in the car.

She picked a topic that should have been easy to chat about.

Turning her head back, she asked, “Sister, you came back so quickly. I heard from Secretary Zhuang before that your vacation was supposed to last another half a month?”

As soon as she spoke, the temperature inside the car seemed to drop a few more degrees.

Su Mi: Did I say something wrong?

Shen Han gave her an indifferent glance: “I have things to attend to.”

Su Mi offered brainless praise: “As expected of Sister. Only with such a strong career drive could you lead the Shen Group to such heights.”

Shen Han lowered her elbow, rested her hands together on her lap, and leaned back.

A head poking out from the front seat was particularly obvious.

Shen Han closed her eyes.

She delivered two words: “Eyesore.”

Su Mi interpreted this as Shen Han getting motion sickness from her presence.

She obediently shrank back into the front seat and began browsing her light computer to read various complaints on the Star Network about the Unified Examinations.

Worthy of being Shen Han’s driver, the ride was both steady and fast, arriving at Nanyuan in no time.

Su Mi hopped out of the car, circled around the front to the left side of the vehicle, and went to find Xu Nanqiao.

Her hand almost habitually grabbed Xu Nanqiao’s arm, but her gaze swept over Shen Han, who had just stepped out of the car. Her hand performed an emergency brake and dropped down.

She stood restrainedly beside Xu Nanqiao and whispered, “Before we got in the car, Ren Yue said she’d go on the graduation hike with us.”

The Loran Public School graduation hike was an annual tradition for every graduate. Shortly after the Unified Examinations each year, Loran Public School would collaborate with the Anhe Mountain Scenic Area in the capital’s suburbs to reserve the entire mountain for a day. They would hike during the day, participate in activities at the mountaintop camping area at night, and return home after watching the sunrise and having some free time the next day.

Su Mi really liked participating in such collective activities and had signed up early.

But Xu Nanqiao was still hesitating about whether to participate.

Their class teacher was sick and wouldn’t be attending the hike. Xu Rou felt it wasn’t safe without a familiar teacher present and had been refusing to give her consent.

Su Mi understood this well; after all, Xu Nanqiao was an Omega, and the hike was just a recreational activity—going or not wouldn’t have much impact. They would have plenty of opportunities to play together in the future.

It was a bit of a pity, but not much; she wasn’t in a hurry to persuade her.

Seeing that Shen Han had already entered the Nanyuan villa, she patted Xu Nanqiao’s arm: “Let’s talk later. Come on, let’s go inside too.”

After entering the villa, Xu Nanqiao followed Shen Han upstairs first.

Su Mi wandered into the kitchen to select vegetables for the hotpot.

During the period of preparing for the exams, the blackening value had remained fairly stable; she checked it every few days.

Perhaps Shen Han’s recuperation during her overseas vacation had gone well, as the blackening value increased very slowly. Over more than a month, it had only risen by 5 points compared to before she left.

Currently, the task sat at a blackening value of 86%.

Thinking of this, Su Mi couldn’t help but feel a bit stifled.

By the time they finished their studies and sat down at the dining table for hotpot, Su Mi checked the blackening value again.

80%.

As expected, Xu Nanqiao’s studying was indeed effective.

But it was also strange; she had been here for several months, and Shen Han’s blackening value had never dropped below 80%.

Every time the blackening value dropped near 80%, the first digit seemed to be firmly stuck.

It made her task progress look very slow.

However, Su Mi had a good mindset. She knew that during this period, both Xu Nanqiao and herself were busy with the exams, and it was impossible to let Xu Nanqiao skip exams to fall in love.

Moreover, from another perspective, the task progress was actually quite good.

The male and female leads hadn’t even added each other’s contact information.

So, no matter how you looked at it, the plot points that would cause Shen Han’s blackening value to spike sharply showed no sign of appearing.

The slow decrease in blackening value was the superficial task progress.

The fact that the emotional line from the original plot had not appeared was the underlying task progress.

Su Mi was very satisfied.

She used her chopsticks to put a piece of meat into Xu Nanqiao’s bowl, praising her “good daughter.”

When they ate together in the cafeteria, sharing dishes had become a habit; Xu Nanqiao didn’t find it strange at all and ate it without even saying thank you.

But only after Su Mi served the meat did she realize—the villain was also here.

She wouldn’t be jealous of this too, would she?

Su Mi glanced over cautiously.

Fortunately, the villain was looking down at her vegetables, not looking this way.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

Speaking of which, Shen Han’s rate of “enlightenment” was also decent.

These few times, she had taken the initiative to find Xu Nanqiao, no longer like before, making Xu Nanqiao come to her every single time.

Although Shen Han said she returned early for business, the fact that she came to find Xu Nanqiao immediately upon returning suggested that missing Xu Nanqiao was one of the reasons for her return.

A pity her emotional intelligence was still a bit low, Su Mi thought regretfully. Why did she never take the initiative to exchange pleasantries with Xu Nanqiao whenever they were together?

Her repeated peeks at Shen Han were quickly discovered.

She earned a cold look in return.

Su Mi, with a mouthful of food, almost choked.

She swallowed with difficulty and suddenly thought of an ingenious idea.

Family members could be brought along for the graduation trip. If that was the case—

Leaning over, Su Mi asked Xu Nanqiao, “Your mother is worried that it’s unsafe without a teacher. What if we bring an adult along?”

Xu Nanqiao: “An adult? Who?”

Su Mi pouted her lips: “My sister.”

Her eyes were sparkling; she sincerely felt she had proposed a brilliant idea.

Shen Han was reliable, powerful, and it was the first hike after finishing middle school. Climbing mountains, camping, and watching the sunset and sunrise together would be so meaningful.

Xu Nanqiao was silent for a moment, seemingly reluctant to answer.

They were sitting at a small round table specially set up for the hotpot. Shen Han sat opposite the two, while Xu Nanqiao and Su Mi were very close to each other.

Xu Nanqiao lowered her head and whispered to hide her words, “It’s probably not great. My mother doesn’t know President Shen either; explaining it then would be even more troublesome.”

Su Mi thought about it and agreed, finding it reasonable.

Xu Rou’s personality was just like that.

She sighed and said, “Then if you change your mind and can go on the hike, you must be the first to tell me.”

Since Shen Han didn’t join their conversation anyway, the two shifted their chat to other topics and leisurely finished the hotpot.

Shen Han had gone upstairs midway to handle official business and had the Nanyuan driver take them home.

When she got home, Su Ciyu and the others were in the living room.

Seeing Su Mi return, Wen Zisu turned and brought out prepared fruit from the kitchen.

They didn’t ask how she did on the exams, focusing primarily on a hands-off approach.

Instead, he asked, “Is your good friend going on the graduation hike in a few days?”

After these two months, they were very familiar with Xu Nanqiao’s existence, referred to in the Su household as the “good friend.”

Su Mi sat down on the sofa, took the fruit, and said, “Her mother is still hesitating. She says that since she’s an Omega and has to stay overnight outside, it might not be very safe.”

Wen Zisu leaned against the armrest of Su Mi’s sofa and reached out to take a cherry tomato.

Su Ciyu: “Different families have different circumstances. You said her family is a single-parent household with two Omegas, so naturally, their safety concerns are higher.”

Wen Zisu ate the cherry tomato. “Our Yaya is also an Omega. Should we worry a bit too?”

Su Ciyu looked at Su Mi with a smile. “Her? I think she’s forgotten she’s an Omega herself.”

Su Mi gave a “hehe” laugh and also stuffed a cherry tomato into her mouth.

That was actually true.

Ever since she transmigrated, she had basically lived with the identity of a Beta, so she indeed had no real sense of her Omega identity.

Wen Zisu rubbed Su Mi’s head: “You should be careful too, okay? Call Mom and Dad if anything happens. However, your graduation hike is held every year and is very safe; there’s no need to worry too much.”

Su Mi nodded.

Then she asked obediently, “Will you go with me? Bring Xiao Yi along, and we can go as a family.”

Su Ciyu laughed: “You’re a bunch of students; we won’t go and join the bustle.”

Su Mi sighed. “I was thinking, if an adult went along, Nanqiao’s mother might agree.”

Su Ciyu: “Then you can ask Shen Han. As for her…”

Pausing for a moment, Su Ciyu said, “It seems she graduated from Loran Public School a few years ago but didn’t attend the hike for that year?”

Su Mi was curious: “Why?”

Su Ciyu shrugged. “I don’t know, but when I went to a banquet a few days later, someone even asked me about it, so I have some impression of it.”

She just mentioned it casually and couldn’t recall the details, so she didn’t pursue it further.

By the time Su Mi returned to her room, she really started to feel conflicted.

Because Xu Nanqiao had sent a message: My mother agreed!

Su Mi: Great! OWO!

She couldn’t help but start considering—since Xu Nanqiao was going—and since Shen Han had never been on a graduation hike—

Wouldn’t this be a perfect opportunity to create a beautiful memory?

Su Mi paced around the balcony of her room for a while; the more she thought about it, the more suitable it seemed.

She opened her light computer and clicked on the pinned Mohe avatar.

Su Mi: Sister, are you busy? [/knock knock]

After a short while, Shen Han replied: Suddenly being polite?

Su Mi: “…”

Well, that wasn’t wrong.

She scratched her cheek, remembering the time Shen Han was abroad; she had used Shen Han as a message board, taking advantage of the time difference.

She didn’t bother to check the time on Shen Han’s side, just editing and sending messages whenever she felt like it, thinking Shen Han would see them when she woke up.

Now that Shen Han was back…

After a moment of awkwardness, Su Mi sent a smiley face emoji.

Su Mi: I saw you were still busy when I left Nanyuan.

Shen Han: It’s okay. Something up?

She sounded quite amiable.

Su Mi guessed her mood might be better.

Bolding her heart, she sent the information about the graduation hike over.

Su Mi: Sister, do you want to go together? Xu’s mother has already agreed! I heard from my mother that you didn’t go when you graduated, so we can go together now.

Shen Han’s side was silent for a while.

She replied somewhat inexplicably with three words: Why?

How could there be a “why”?

Su Mi thought about it: A graduation memento! Life’s regrets shouldn’t be left behind! This is the perfect time to make up for it~

Su Mi: I heard the scenery on the mountain is beautiful! You can camp and watch the sunset and sunrise—it must be gorgeous. We can also sit by the campfire at the campsite and tell ghost stories, hehe.

She picked out relevant posts and pictures and sent them over.

She was aggressively painting a bright picture for Shen Han.

But Shen Han didn’t reply.

Su Mi waited for a while at her light computer, feeling slightly disappointed.

She rationalized for herself; after all, the villain had returned to focus on work, so it was normal not to have time for a hike.

Standing on the balcony, she looked at the starry sky for a bit. It wasn’t midsummer yet, and the night air was somewhat chilly.

Su Mi rubbed her arms, gave up waiting, slipped back into her room, and prepared to sleep.

Late into the night, the light computer lit up silently.

Shen Han had replied with one word: Fine.