Help! Please Take the Heroine Away [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 13

Xie Mingyao froze for a moment, then turned her head to look at Ye Qingyu. She could clearly see the insecurity and unease in Ye Qingyu’s eyes, and her heart ached slightly.

But her character setting prevented her from offering any words of comfort. Instead, she chose to close her eyes and pretend she hadn’t noticed, avoiding the discomfort.

For a while, the car was utterly silent.

Unlike Xie Mingyao, the owner of the car, who reclined casually against the seat, Ye Qingyu sat rigidly upright, her back straight, her gaze fixed ahead.

Yet, the air inside the car was stagnant, and Ye Qingyu couldn’t help but catch the faint scent of roses lingering around Xie Mingyao just like the girl herself.

It was rush hour, and traffic was heavy. Ye Qingyu lived in a relatively remote area, so the drive took a long time. As they neared her neighborhood, the streetlights grew dimmer.

Unable to resist, Ye Qingyu stole a glance at the girl beside her, who seemed to be asleep with her eyes closed. The dim red light cast a soft glow on Xie Mingyao’s strikingly beautiful, snow-white face, making her look even more enchanting.

Ye Qingyu’s thoughts wandered. How could Zhou Yanfeng not like such a stunning girl?

Sure, she was a bit arrogant, but she had been raised in luxury, pampered and adored since childhood. What was wrong with being a little proud?

If those who disliked Xie Mingyao heard Ye Qingyu’s thoughts, they’d probably tell her to donate her eyes if she didn’t want them.

Soon, they arrived near the place Ye Qingyu rented. To save money, she lived in a chaotic urban village. Before, she hadn’t thought much of it, but now, for some reason, she didn’t want Xie Mingyao to know.

Her lips moved slightly as she spoke softly, “You can just drop me off here. I can walk the rest of the way.”

The driver slowed the car but didn’t stop immediately, instead glancing at Xie Mingyao, who still had her eyes closed. Xie Mingyao wasn’t actually asleep and had heard Ye Qingyu’s words. She opened her eyes and looked outside.

Shops lined both sides of the street, their doors still open, with plenty of pedestrians coming and going. The area looked lively, but there were no residential buildings nearby.

Xie Mingyao eyed her suspiciously. “You really live here?”

Ye Qingyu nodded. “Yes.”

Seeing her firm stance, Xie Mingyao didn’t press further and instructed the driver to pull over.

As Ye Qingyu stepped out of the car, a wave of heat hit her. After the cool air-conditioning inside, she broke into a light sweat. Standing still, she turned to Xie Mingyao and said gratefully, “Thank you for today.”

Xie Mingyao gave her a sidelong glance and replied lazily, “No need for pleasantries. Just remember what I said, stay away from the person I like.”

At the mention of Xie Mingyao’s affection, Ye Qingyu pressed her lips together lightly before nodding. She closed the car door and walked away without looking back.

Firm.

Resolute.

Xie Mingyao didn’t tell the driver to leave right away. Instead, she waited until Ye Qingyu had walked a fair distance before instructing him to follow her.

This area was rough, and Ye Qingyu was too pretty, she couldn’t help but worry.

But to maintain her character, Xie Mingyao deliberately opened her camera and recorded a video of Ye Qingyu’s surroundings, then posted it to her social media, setting it to “visible to family only.”

The caption read: So this is the kind of dump our school’s laughingstock lives in.

The system couldn’t help but remind her: [Your “visible to relatives” setting is teetering on the edge of a character collapse.]

Xie Mingyao put away her phone, opened the car door, and stepped out, replying to the system: [Isn’t this exactly in character? I’m afraid the male lead will feel even more heartbroken for the female lead if he sees it.]

The system choked for a moment before it could only warn: [Just be careful not to get caught by the main system and punished again.]

Xie Mingyao raised an eyebrow and casually asked: [So it was the main system that made the judgment last time?]

The system replied: [Not exactly. My settings include a character OOC detection program set by the main system. Once it reaches a certain threshold, the main system will flag it.]

A shadow flickered through Xie Mingyao’s eyes.

After following Ye Qingyu to the entrance of the urban village, Xie Mingyao got out of the car and trailed her from a distance.

Though the urban village was chaotic, it wasn’t particularly dirty. The ground was paved with cement and kept clean. The streets were numerous, crowded, and the layout complex losing sight of someone for even a moment could mean getting lost in the maze.

Xie Mingyao, radiant and beautiful, drew many gazes as she walked. If not for the tall, imposing chauffeur by her side, she would have surely been approached by now.

Even so, several men with a delinquent air whistled at her. Xie Mingyao naturally reacted with the disgust befitting her character.

Ye Qingyu lived in an old factory dormitory-style building, with corridors lining the exterior and rows of rooms behind iron doors.

When they reached the stairs, Xie Mingyao told the chauffeur to wait below while she went up alone.

As Ye Qingyu reached the innermost room and bent to unlock the door, Xie Mingyao deliberately stepped forward, smirking as she taunted, “Well, well. Who would’ve thought the campus belle Ye Qingyu lives in such a dump? Tsk tsk. A place this sketchy you must’ve already…”

Xie Mingyao gave her a once-over, the implication clear. The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them, they were too harsh. Pausing, she scrambled for a way to soften the blow when Ye Qingyu’s hand stilled on the lock.

Her expression calm, Ye Qingyu met Xie Mingyao’s provocative gaze with dark, unreadable eyes. After a brief silence, she replied evenly, “Thanks for your concern. And if you really want to know whether I’m ‘pure’ or not, you’re welcome to find out for yourself.”

Xie Mingyao froze.

What kind of outrageous talk was this?!

Ye Qingyu pushed the door open, stepped inside, and glanced back at Xie Mingyao still lingering by the entrance. “Come in.”

“Ye Qingyu, how can you be so shameless? Saying something like that!” Xie Mingyao’s face flushed crimson, her almond-shaped eyes widening in disbelief like a startled kitten, though the beauty mark at the corner of her eye still carried a seductive charm.

Ye Qingyu’s lips curled slightly, her smirk faint. “Didn’t you imply I wasn’t pure? So for the sake of my reputation, I’m willing to let you see for yourself.”

Xie Mingyao struggled for a retort before finally spitting out, “Shameless.”

Just then, footsteps echoed from behind. Ye Qingyu frowned at the approaching figure and abruptly yanked Xie Mingyao inside.

“What are you?” Xie Mingyao began angrily.

Before she could finish, she collided with Ye Qingyu, her face buried in something soft. Her body stiffened, and as she tried to lift her head, a lazy, mocking voice sounded from behind.

“Oh, there was one beauty before, and now there’s another. Pretty girls really do stick together, huh.”

The man in the sweat-stained shirt, roughly in his early forties, eyed Xie Mingyao’s back with a lecherous gleam.

Slender waist, long legs, her skirt riding up to the tops of her thighs damn near indecent. And from the side, that face of hers utterly stunning, even more striking than those celebrities on TV.

Of course, stars like that were out of their league, but someone living here? That was a different story.

“Tsk tsk, Miss Ye, I’ve always wanted to be friends with you, but you never agreed. Today, you’ve got no choice.”

Xie Mingyao pulled away from Ye Qingyu’s embrace and turned to face the man his yellowed vest, his rotten teeth, his sleazy grin. Disgust twisted her delicate features as she snapped, “What the hell are you staring at? Who wants to be friends with you? Keep running your mouth, and I’ll cut your tongue out!”

“Little girl, you’re too young to be talking like that.” The man scowled, stepping forward with a patronizing tone. “Come here, let Uncle teach you some manners. Otherwise, you’ll get hurt out in the real world.”

As he spoke, his grubby hand reached for Xie Mingyao.

Ye Qingyu’s eyes turned icy. She caught his wrist mid-air and twisted it sharply backward.

“Ah! Shit, that hurts!”

The man struggled, shocked by the girl’s strength. He couldn’t break free, so he shouted toward the apartment behind him, “Hey, quit hiding! We had a deal today’s the day! And now there’s an extra beauty, perfect timing!”

The moment he finished, several men emerged from the neighboring rooms. Their gazes locked onto Ye Qingyu and Xie Mingyao, their lust undisguised as they cracked their knuckles.

Ye Qingyu kicked the sweat-stained man square between the legs. He crumpled to the ground, writhing in agony, clutching himself and howling.

The other men exchanged glances, their expressions darkening.

“Brothers, let’s get ‘em!”

There was no way a bunch of grown men couldn’t handle one little girl.

In an instant, Ye Qingyu and Xie Mingyao were forced back into the apartment. Xie Mingyao frantically tried to pull out her phone to call the police or their driver, but one of the men lunged at her, snarling.

“Think you can call for help? I’ll make sure you regret that later!”

The others grinned wickedly, closing in on Ye Qingyu. Her fingers moved like lightning, she seized one man by the throat, gripped his shoulder, and with a sharp twist of her wrist, flipped him clean over her shoulder. He slammed face-first into the floor.

Another man charged. Ye Qingyu grabbed a nearby chair and smashed it over his head. Staggering, he reached up his fingers came away wet with blood.

The first man was already scrambling back up, lunging again. Ye Qingyu fought them off, but her attention kept flicking to Xie Mingyao.

The pampered young miss had no chance in a fight. Her phone was shattered, and now she was pinned down. A surge of fury burned through Ye Qingyu her strikes grew ruthless.

Unlike the helplessness of the alley, the apartment was full of makeshift weapons. Ye Qingyu used whatever she could grab, driving the men back long enough to rush to Xie Mingyao’s side.

She snatched the electric kettle from the table and brought it down hard on the man’s skull, freeing Xie Mingyao.

Xie Mingyao had never experienced anything like this before. Her face was deathly pale, her eyes rimmed with red. In her fear, she didn’t even care about her usual animosity with Ye Qingyu and instinctively threw herself toward the other girl’s arms.

But halfway through her lunge, her expression twisted into sheer terror as she screamed, “Watch out!”

It turned out the man in the sleeveless shirt had also grabbed a rolling pin and was swinging it straight at Ye Qingyu. By the time Ye Qingyu turned her head, the rolling pin was already inches from her face. Her pupils contracted violently.

There was no time. If she dodged, it would hit Xie Mingyao instead!

“Everyone, stop right now!” At the critical moment, hurried footsteps and a sharp shout came from the doorway.

It turned out that the commotion had drawn the attention of others in the building. Though they hadn’t dared to intervene, they had informed the landlord, who had called the police.

But the rolling pin had already struck Ye Qingyu’s head with a sickening thud. Blood streamed down, staining half of her face crimson.

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