Becoming the Runaway Little Wife of the Domineering CEO - Chapter 24

Yin Shuang held back her irritation with everything she had to keep from rolling up her sleeves and picking a fight with the woman then and there.

She lectured herself internally a hundred times: Don’t stoop to a drunkard’s level. Finally, she squeezed out a tight smile through gritted teeth. “Fine, I understand. You just keep sitting here and drinking, President Fu. I’m going to bed.”

Yin Shuang stood up to leave, and though Fu Mang was fuming, she didn’t reach out to stop her. Suddenly, a ripple shimmered through the air. Yin Shuang froze, looking toward the disturbance. Within seconds, Zhu Peier’s figure materialized.

Peier looked around the room. Although she hadn’t been to this mansion before, it wasn’t hard to guess where she was. She looked at the scowling Fu Mang with interest. “So, this is Fu Mang? She looks quite young and steady.”

Before the words had even left her mouth, the “young and steady” Fu Mang’s hand tilted, her wine glass slipped, and as the alcohol finally won, her head lolled back onto the sofa. With a soft thud, she was out cold.

Zhu Peier: “…”

She turned silently to Yin Shuang. “Is she… asleep, or did she faint?”

Yin Shuang shot Fu Mang a disgruntled look and huffed, “Asleep. Serves her right for drinking so much.”

Despite her grumbling, Yin Shuang walked over with a huff, pulled the thin blanket from the back of the sofa, and draped it over Fu Mang. Watching Yin Shuang tuck the woman in, Peier found the scene far more entertaining than the one before.

“If the immortals in the Heavenly Realm saw this,” Peier teased, “they’d demand the Empress keep sending you on missions forever.”

Yin Shuang curled her lip, smoothing out the blanket. “No way. I’m never doing another mission as long as I live. I’ve realized something lately: humans are not friendly to us sword spirits.”

Peier raised an eyebrow. “Is it ‘humans’ who aren’t friendly, or is it her?”

“Is there a difference? She is a human. You have no idea how awful she was just now. She threatened to dock a whole month of my salary! A whole month! How am I supposed to survive next month without pay?”

…As if she’d actually been living off her salary this month anyway.

Yin Shuang’s perception of humans was based entirely on storybooks and legends; this was her first real-world interaction, so the concept of “office politics” was foreign to her. Peier, though not from this world, had been trained and knew the rules of modern society. She knew that Fu Mang had actually been incredibly indulgent with Yin Shuang. Any normal employee would consider such a boss a one-in-a-million find.

Peier didn’t argue the point. Seeing how aggrieved Yin Shuang looked, she offered some comfort. “She was clearly talking out of spite because of the alcohol. No one docks a month’s pay just like that. Don’t take it to heart.”

Then, Peier blinked as a realization hit her. “Wait a second. Why did she want to dock your pay? What did you do to upset her?”

“I don’t go around ‘upsetting’ her!”

Yin Shuang recounted the entire conversation. She led Peier to a small round table in the corner of the living room and sat down, perched on the edge of her chair like a fluffy Bichon Frise. “What did she mean by all that? That ‘reaction’ stuff? Do you understand it?”

Yin Shuang’s memory was near-perfect. Her retelling was detailed and complete. Halfway through, Peier already understood. When the story finished, Peier didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she looked Yin Shuang up and down with a newfound intensity.

Yin Shuang was confused.

Peier pursed her lips for a long time before letting out a sigh. “To think she’s already this affected by the ‘pinched’ face… if she ever saw your real face… wow.”

“Why are you sighing?” Yin Shuang asked, frowning.

Peier glanced back at the sleeping Fu Mang, then turned back to Yin Shuang with a grin. “Good job.”

Yin Shuang was still lost.

Seeing her clueless expression, Peier wanted to laugh even more. “What she meant by all that is… she’s fallen for you. She probably doesn’t dare say it normally, so she used the wine as an excuse to confess.”

Yin Shuang stared at her blankly. It took a long time for the realization to dawn. “Oh.” Her “seduction plan” hadn’t even reached the ten-percent mark—she had actually been ready to give up on it—and it had already succeeded?

A spark of joy rose in Yin Shuang’s heart, but it didn’t last three seconds before her face fell again. “But she said she’d dock my pay. Are you sure your analysis is right?”

“If I were her, I’d dock your pay too,” Peier said, exasperated. “She was being so obvious, but you didn’t respond. Not only did you not respond, you didn’t even understand. Anyone would be frustrated to death by you.”

The mystery was officially solved.

Yin Shuang broke into a grin. “So that’s it. That means she won’t actually dock my pay, right?”

Zhu Peier: “…” Hard to say. If Yin Shuang kept valuing money over Fu Mang’s heart, those spiteful words might just become reality.

Peier propped her chin in her hand. “Forget the salary for a moment. Do you actually plan to be with her?”

“Of course,” Yin Shuang answered naturally. “She likes me now, so I have to use the opportunity. I’ll get her to tell me the safe code, or just give me the sword directly.”

…

It was a painful thing to hear. Peier didn’t know where Yin Shuang got the nerve to speak of “manipulating feelings” so righteously.

Peier clutched at the last of her conscience, trying to wake Yin Shuang’s deeply buried sense of morality. “Don’t you think that’s unfair to Fu Mang? She’s giving you her sincere heart. If you just use her like that, she’ll be devastated.”

Yin Shuang blinked. She looked at Peier. “Do ‘normal’ couples always stay together until the end?”

“No.”

“That sword is mine. No, that sword is me. It’s been lost for thousands of years. It has protected Fu Mang’s ancestors for generations. Without that sword, Fu Mang might not even have been born. Is it wrong for me to reclaim myself and end a blessing I never intended to give?”

Peier opened her mouth. “…No, I suppose not.”

Yin Shuang leaned back in her chair, her voice flat and detached. “Humans take heaven’s gifts for granted. They enjoy the mountains and eat the grain as if it’s their birthright. That’s fine; it’s what they do. But my sword wasn’t a gift from heaven. It was an accident. Now, I’m taking back that accidental fortune. There’s nothing ‘unfair’ about it for Fu Mang. If anything, the sword made things unfair for other humans by favoring her.”

Peier frowned. “The unfairness I’m talking about isn’t the sword. It’s the way you’re using her emotions. You’re a natural sword spirit; you’ve never practiced cultivation or sought the Heavenly Way. The Way is built on Karma. If you wrong Fu Mang, you’ll be bound to her by a karmic knot. Eventually, you’ll have to pay her back—and it won’t be as simple as a fleeting romance.”

You might end up losing your whole self to her, Peier thought, but she didn’t say it. She didn’t want to scare her.

Yin Shuang looked down and muttered, “She’s covered in so much of my luck that we’re already tangled up. Who owes who is still up for debate.”

Zhu Peier: “…” She was nearing a mental breakdown.

It was like talking to a wall! Did Yin Shuang not see the difference?! One was a debt of “luck” that washed off with time; the other was a “predestined fate” engraved into the soul!

Peier massaged her head, dropping the subject. If she kept going, she’d end up lecturing Yin Shuang like a sect leader. “Whatever. Do what you want. But do it fast. Get the sword and get out. You can’t stay here much longer.”

Yin Shuang looked up. “Why? You said before there was no rush.”

“I hadn’t seen this world’s ‘marker’ before,” Peier explained. “When I went back, I did a deeper check. This isn’t a normal world. In two years, everything here is going to change drastically. You have to finish your mission before then, or things will get very messy.”

Yin Shuang’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

“You know how different worlds have different ‘themes’?”

Yin Shuang nodded.

Peier held up her finger and drew a small circle in the air. “The theme of this world is about to shift. In two years, someone will invent a miraculous vaccine meant to strengthen the human body. But…”

Yin Shuang’s eyes lit up. She interrupted excitedly, “But the vaccine is bad, and it turns everyone into zombies!”

Peier, her mouth still half-open, said, “…No.”

“The vaccine is good. Too good, actually. It strengthens people, but it also amplifies their natural talents. Not just a little, but infinitely. In the language of this world, they become ‘superpowered.’ Most people won’t be affected, but the small percentage who are will turn the world upside down.”

Before, everyone was equal—everyone died from a knife wound. Now, with amplified talents, these people will become “supermen.” They won’t be satisfied with their status quo; they’ll want more. They’ll defy laws, cause chaos, and try to become warlords.

Normal people will suffer, and since there will be a large number of these “supers,” the world will descend into a decade of internal strife and betrayal before things stabilize.

Yin Shuang was stunned. This world is going to be that intense?

“Then… is the person who stabilizes the world the Child of the World?”

“Yes,” Peier nodded. “The one who eventually unites the world is He Yuxuan—the target of the Rakshasa’s mission.”

Wow…

Yin Shuang had never imagined He Yuxuan was destined to be a conqueror. She had assumed the girl was a romance novel lead; turns out she was an Empress in the making.

“Incredible,” Yin Shuang mused. “Unifying an entire world is no small feat. But I didn’t see the ‘Imperial Purple’ aura on her. Does she go into hiding after she wins?”

Peier thought back. “I’m not sure. But a Child of the World with that kind of script usually carries it across other worlds too. After a few more lives of accumulating merit, she’ll ascend. Maybe in a few thousand years, you’ll see her in the Heavenly Realm.”

“She’s going to become an immortal?”

Peier nodded, then frowned. “Actually, I’m not certain. I glanced at her files; logically, she should, but her data was… a bit strange.”

Before she could explain the “strangeness,” a groggy voice drifted from the sofa. “Jin Xiaoyu… what are you doing sitting over there talking to yourself?”

Both Peier and Yin Shuang whipped around. Fu Mang had sat up, her eyes barely open. She looked at Yin Shuang with exhausted confusion.

Yin Shuang reacted quickly. “I was just calculating how much of my salary is left for the month. You’re awake, President Fu? Why don’t you head upstairs to bed?”

Fu Mang pulled the blanket off lazily and stood up. As she trudged toward the stairs, she muttered without looking back, “Yeah. You should get some sleep too.”

The two watched Fu Mang disappear up the stairs. Only after the sound of her bedroom door closing reached them did they look at each other.

Peier: “It seems she’s forgotten everything she said.”

Yin Shuang: “Yeah…”

Peier: “What now?”

Yin Shuang: “That’s easy. I’ll remind her tomorrow.”

Peier: “…” Fine.

As Fu Mang went up, Yin Shuang instinctively stood up as well; she now felt a subconscious urge to stay near her. With the projection time nearly up, Peier didn’t move. She sat in her chair, waiting for the image to fade.

The living room was empty now, save for the faint scent of red wine. Peier’s gaze drifted to the rumpled sofa. She tilted her head.

Fu Mang…

Something about her was off. Her aura was a chaotic blend: the mortal “fire and silk” of a human, the “auspiciousness” of the sword spirit, and something else…

The thought slipped away. Peier shook her head and stopped trying to find the missing piece.

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