After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Marked by the Beautiful Mad Villain - Chapter 31.1

Su Mi’s words were laced with a guilt she couldn’t hide, her voice trembling slightly at the end as she stole a cautious glance at Shen Han.

Shen Han’s expression remained as calm as ever. Upon hearing Su Mi claim her legs had gone weak, she merely knit her brows slightly.

Su Mi’s heart skipped a beat following that frown, instinctively assuming Shen Han found her troublesome.

However, she heard Shen Han speak in a tone of mild disapproval: “Don’t act coquettish.”

Su Mi: …?

Don’t. Act. Coquettish?

These words struck her heart like a massive bolt of thunder.

Who? Who was acting coquettish?

She looked left and right; there were only the two of them in the vicinity.

She stared at Shen Han, utterly dumbfounded.

Shen Han reasoned with her calmly: “This mountain path is steep and sharp; it will be quite dangerous.”

Su Mi: …

Following Shen Han’s lead, she looked down at the small path. Indeed, the incline of the steps was quite high.

If Shen Han carried her down, her center of gravity might…

No.

Why was she following along with the visualization?

Su Mi sucked in a breath of cold air, feeling as though she’d been struck by five bolts of lightning.

Just what kind of brain circuitry did Shen Han have?

Su Mi couldn’t help but recall the sigh Shen Han let out before picking her up back by the stream.

Before that, she had said something similar about her legs being weak.

Could Shen Han have thought she was being coquettish back then too?!

In Shen Han’s eyes, what kind of image had she cultivated? And this didn’t count as being Out Of Character (OOC)?

Su Mi felt her heart tremble. She cast an incredulous look at Shen Han, then shiveringly withdrew her gaze.

She still had to insist on vindicating herself.

Struggling to hold her ground, she said: “When I said my legs were weak… I didn’t mean it like that…”

It was merely a simple, objective description of a fact, devoid of any emotion.

Even if she were given ten thousand times the courage, it would be impossible for her to act coquettish toward Shen Han and ask to be carried!

Just thinking about it felt like a great sacrilege.

Shen Han gave an “oh,” her expression suggesting she didn’t believe a word of it, her tone extremely serious:

“No need to force yourself. It’s not impossible to carry you down, but this time, you have to hold on a bit tighter.”

Su Mi’s breath hitched. She proactively jumped down two steps, fully demonstrating the agility and flexibility of her limbs.

“My legs really aren’t weak! This little bit of mountain road is easy to walk! I am a strong and sturdy Beta!”

To prevent Shen Han from further misunderstanding, Su Mi clattered down several more steps and even turned back to urge her: “Let’s go, Sister. The sun is about to set. Where is the scenic viewpoint the staff mentioned?”

Behind her, Shen Han followed with her hands in her pockets, a faint, ambiguous smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

Su Mi intended to keep moving forward, but she suddenly paused.

She stared intently at Shen Han’s familiar expression for a few moments.

This look felt like déjà vu…

It seemed to have appeared in certain scenes before. For example, when Shen Han said not to worry because her “Sister” would take care of her… or the time she said she’d come for the parent-teacher meeting… and that time amidst the dense mist of the hot springs, when she leaned in with a hooked, smiling gaze to ask about her sexual orientation…

No, her thoughts were drifting too far.

Su Mi’s thoughts flew wilder and wilder, nearly recalling memories that made her face burn every time they crossed her mind late at night over the past few months.

But all these memories combined made her suspicion more certain.

Su Mi patted her face, unable to believe it.

“Sister, you were teasing me just now, weren’t you?”

She gave a sniff and stared fixedly at Shen Han.

The latter passed by her, frowning unhurriedly as if confused, and asked: “How could that be? Isn’t this a sister’s sincere concern for her younger sister?”

Su Mi chased after her, blocking Shen Han at a platform area on the mountain path.

In a rare moment of being flustered and exasperated, she muttered a few words, but felt too embarrassed to voice the thing she had misunderstood.

It would make her look so self-important.

After hesitating for a long time, Su Mi pursed her lips and said indignantly: “If others heard that, what would they think of me…”

Shen Han looked up, gave a “humph,” and asked: “What kind of person?”

After a pause, Shen Han continued: “Does it not match your image of someone who likes to play the hero saving the beauty?”

Su Mi felt a surge of awkwardness.

She thought Shen Han had already forgotten about that incident; it seemed she was still holding a grudge.

The question was too difficult to answer. Su Mi bit the bullet, her voice light and airy as if floating to the heavens.

“It was just a coincidence…”

The guilt in those words was glaringly obvious. Shen Han listened to half of it before interrupting: “No need to explain to me. You don’t listen anyway.”

Su Mi was indignant: “Am I not obedient enough?”

She counted on her fingers to try and give an example, just extending one finger as she said “one.”

The extended finger was pressed down by Shen Han with an undeniable force.

At the same time, Shen Han’s other hand—two fingers pinching a flashing, vibrating terminal—waved it in front of Su Mi.

Su Mi blinked.

Shen Han pulled the terminal back in front of herself, lowered her eyes, and read coldly, one word at a time: “Susu, where did you go? Are you okay? I’m so worried about you… Ren Yue.”

Su Mi: …

Shen Han said: “If I recall correctly, didn’t someone who claimed to be ‘obedient’ delete this Ren Yue’s contact info right in front of me?”

Su Mi: …

In an instant, her sense of shame reached its peak.

Shen Han lifted her eyelids: “No wariness toward people, and your terminal isn’t even set to high-privacy mode.”

Su Mi’s face turned bright red.

Shen Han crossed her arms leisurely: “Now you can explain.”

…There seemed to be no room for explanation.

Su Mi felt like jumping off the cliff.

Biting her lip, she leaned in, silently wanting to take her terminal back first.

Shen Han perhaps didn’t expect her to step forward and instinctively raised her hand.

Their hands collided.

— Clatter.

Following the arc of Shen Han’s raised hand, the terminal was flung out.

Flashing with light, it rolled down the mountain path beside them.

The atmosphere on the platform froze.

Walking to the exit of the platform that led to the downward path and looking down, the terminal was seen far off in the woods beside the trail, its light flickering in the distance.

This path was steep to begin with; while the stone steps were built relatively flat, the wooded terrain on either side of the railings was much more rugged and uneven.

As they had been talking, the sky had grown late. The sunset was already pressing toward the horizon, and the light in the forest was gradually dimming, making it uncertain if one might misstep.

However, because of this, the tense atmosphere where Su Mi had been cornered by Shen Han dissipated in an instant.

Shen Han stood by the fence, seemingly calculating the distance to climb over.

Su Mi shook her head, feeling a sense of relief despite this seemingly unlucky situation.

Better to accept things as they come.

Su Mi sat down on the steps and gave Shen Han’s pant leg a tug. Under the other’s gaze, she patted the empty space on the steps beside her.

“It’s a bit steep, too dangerous. Sit down.”

Shen Han let out a soft sigh and sat down beside her.

Without shirking responsibility, she said: “I didn’t hold it firmly. Shen Tech recently developed a new batch of terminals; when we get back, you can go into the lab and pick one yourself.”

Su Mi’s eyes lit up.

Since coming to this world, the thing she was most interested in was the terminal that could connect to mental power.

Although she had never felt her own mental power, she would occasionally swipe onto related news and click in to study it.

In the current field of terminal research, the Shen Tech terminal lab was considered one of the leaders.

She heard that Shen’s year-end launch would introduce new works from the lab.

She didn’t expect them to be developed already, and that she would be the first to use one!

Su Mi nodded like a woodpecker. “Okay!”

Shen Han chuckled: “That’s all it takes?”

Su Mi: “Then, how about calling the scenic area staff? Have them bring professional equipment to pick it up. I didn’t turn on high-privacy mode; it would be troublesome if someone else picked it up.”

Shen Han lowered her head to operate her device and communicated with the staff over the phone.

Su Mi sat beside her, legs curled up, hands circling her ankles as she looked into the distance.

This side of the mountain path faced the sunset directly, with a panoramic view of the city below.

The pale orange glow of the sunset gradually dyed the blue of the sky. Below a distinct horizon line sat the city’s clusters of buildings, with lights occasionally flickering on.

Anhe Mountain was on the outskirts of the capital, offering a view that took in most of the city; the vision was so open it felt like one could see through the sky.

Su Mi suddenly felt an urge to shout “Ah—!”

As if she could directly exhale all the stray thoughts and gloom in her heart.

But…

She tilted her head and glanced at Shen Han beside her.

Shen Han was putting away her terminal and met her gaze. “What is it?”

Su Mi flashed a refreshing smile, feeling an indescribable joy from the bottom of her heart.

She said: “The sun is setting!”

Shen Han let out a light laugh and also looked forward, asking: “Compared to the sunset at Nanyuan, how is it?”

Su Mi compared them seriously and then said: “It’s higher here; it looks better.”

Shen Han said: “The staff are short-handed; they said they’ll be here in about half an hour.”

Su Mi hummed in agreement.

She crossed her hands over her knees, rested her chin on them, and looked into the distance, suddenly remembering what she had said when she asked Shen Han out.

Su Mi asked: “Sister, does this count as being meaningful?”

Shen Han didn’t speak. Like that time at Nanyuan, the two of them watched the sunset in silence for a while.

Night gradually fell, and small streetlights lit up along the mountain path.

The city also transformed into a scene of thousands of lights amidst the pitch-black night.

Su Mi held her legs, changed her posture, rested her face on her knees, and turned her head to look at Shen Han.

Her gaze rolled from the stray hairs on Shen Han’s forehead to her eyebrows, eyelashes, the tip of her nose, and the corners of her lips.

Under Su Mi’s gaze, her expression remained calm as ever, and she didn’t turn back to look at Su Mi.

Only the detachment in her eyes suggested she was thinking of something else.

After a while, she suddenly answered the previous question.

The corners of her mouth hooked into a smile as she said: “Very.”

Su Mi was dazed: “Very what?”

Shen Han lowered her eyes and toyed with the terminal in her hand. “Very meaningful, I suppose.”

Her knees were a bit bony, so Su Mi padded her face with the inside of her arm, still tilting her head. After thinking for a bit, she asked softly: “Sister, why didn’t you participate in the graduation excursion back then?”

Shen Han: “…Because of some private matters.”

Perhaps a breeze blew past; Shen Han’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and the corners of her lips pulled down.

Su Mi asked: “What private matters?”

Shen Han paused, revealing a helpless smile: “Student Su Mi, when someone answers a question by saying it’s a ‘private matter,’ it means they don’t want to answer.”

Su Mi gave a dazed “oh.”

Eagerly, she still watched Shen Han.

Shen Han looked at the distant city nightscape, the deep emotions in her ice-blue eyes reflecting the bizarre and colorful lights.

Her lip line tightened slightly as she said: “I found out about some unpleasant things, so I didn’t go.”

Su Mi scratched her face, intuitively feeling that Shen Han was unhappy speaking about this.

She asked cautiously: “This thing was…?”