I Don't Want To Fall In Love With The Heroine [Quick Wear] - Chapter 18

I understand perfectly. I will continue to act as your translator, focusing on a literary, humanized flow that captures the emotional shifts and the playful, yet tense, dynamic between Bai Qian and Shao Zizhi. I’ll ensure the prose is cohesive and avoids the typical pitfalls of machine translation.

Here is the translation of the latest chapter:

*****

It took Shao Zizhi two full days to recover from that “lesson.”

Bai Qian knew she had been a bit too heavy-handed with the punishment. The girl was delicate, and it was only natural that she couldn’t handle such intensity. Consequently, for the following two days, Bai Qian remained uncharacteristically patient, coaxing and pampering Shao Zizhi no matter how petulant she became.

Soon, the day of Shao Liangrong’s wedding arrived. Shao Zizhi’s previous “offense”—making major decisions without consulting Bai Qian—had been officially pardoned through that night of retribution.

“If you don’t sit with me, what am I supposed to say when my parents ask?” Shao Zizhi asked as she adjusted her gown in front of the mirror, her voice tinged with unease.

“Simple,” Bai Qian replied evenly. “Tell them we broke up.”

“I won’t! I absolutely will not say that!”

“Then I’m afraid you’ll have to come up with a foolproof excuse yourself. If I’m sitting there quietly minding my own business and a group of well-meaning elders suddenly corners me, you know exactly what I’ll do, don’t you?”

The unspoken “Pop Rocks threat” was now even more terrifying to Shao Zizhi than the threat of Bai Qian moving out.

She stomped her foot in frustration. “We’ve done everything there is to do! Why won’t you just officially date me?”

Bai Qian looked at her with a cool, detached gaze. “You should know the answer to that better than I do.”

“How would I know!”

“Ask yourself. Since you finished filming Autumn Chill on the Han River, have you done anything other than cling to me every single day?”

Shao Zizhi’s eyes darted away, unable to meet her gaze. She stammered for a moment, finding no rebuttal.

“You’re like this when we aren’t even official,” Bai Qian continued. “If I actually agreed to be your girlfriend, would the word ‘career’ even remain in your vocabulary?”

No one knew the sheer power of Shao Zizhi’s “love-brain” better than Bai Qian. Right now, Shao Zizhi was like a tethered horse; Bai Qian could still restrain her using the boundary of “no dating.” But once that line was crossed, she could only imagine how wild and reckless that “horse” would become under the guise of love.

The girl pouted piteously. “But every girl wants a sense of ceremony! I’m no different! And I don’t just want to date—I want to marry you! If you like children, we can even have our own, just like Liangrong plans to do.”

“Perfect. You like ceremony, and I like your ambition. You want a sense of ceremony? No problem. The day your professional drive becomes so intense that I can no longer ignore it, I’ll give you any ceremony you desire. Until then, why don’t we discuss how exactly you plan to demonstrate that drive?”

Shao Zizhi clamped her hands over her ears. “Even high schoolers get a winter break! I’ve only slacked off for a few days and you’re already hounding me! Bai Qian, you’re more annoying than my bald homeroom teacher!”

“Say what you like. Starting tomorrow, stop daydreaming about dating and start honing your craft. Do I make myself clear?”

“It’s almost New Year! Can’t I start after the holidays?”

Bai Qian shrugged indifferently. “Fine. Since New Year is just a few days away, let’s leave the remaining kisses for this year for the next one.”

“No!” Shao Zizhi cried out, her tone dripping with despair. “I’ll study! I’ll do it! Bai Qian, I hate you when you force me to work!”

******

Bai Qian didn’t know what excuse Shao Zizhi had eventually given her family, but as she had hoped, not a single elder approached her throughout the entire wedding banquet.

Truthfully, she wasn’t good at handling elders. Her “Guardian” training focused on building rapport with protagonists to save them from tragic ends; the curriculum for “Socializing with Protagonists’ Parents” had been an elective she never took.

When the banquet ended and they returned to the car, Shao Zizhi practically begged for praise. “Bai Qian, wasn’t I good tonight? I was amazing, wasn’t I?”

“What did you tell them?”

“I said we’re getting married in a while, so they’ll meet you properly when the parents sit down together. There’s no rush.”

“Shao Zizhi!”

“Don’t get mad! It’s a stalling tactic!” Shao Zizhi tilted her head back proudly. “I was very clever. I only said ‘in a while,’ but I didn’t say which while. If they ask again, I’ll just keep saying ‘in a while’! Every second until you finally say yes counts as ‘in a while.’ Am I a genius or what?”

Bai Qian: “…”

A genius? Hardly. If you weren’t smiling so goofily, I’d suspect this was another calculated move to force my hand.

“Speaking of which, Bai Qian, you’ve never talked about your family. Which city are they in? I asked my parents, and they said it’s fine if I go back to your hometown with you for the New Year.”

“There’s no need.”

“Are you that embarrassed of me? I’m not—”

“They’re dead.”

As for the original host’s adoptive parents, Bai Qian viewed them merely as business associates. Two months into her arrival, after she had blocked them, the adoptive mother had used someone else’s phone to harass her for money. Bai Qian had eventually used a significant sum to settle the debt once and for all, severing that hollow bond of “kinship.”

The person beside her went silent instantly.

Bai Qian stepped on the gas. “I’m heading straight home, then? You don’t have anywhere else to go?”

“Shao Zizhi?”

She turned her head. The woman in the passenger seat was weeping silently. This was the first time Shao Zizhi had vented her sorrow so quietly, and it was far more heartbreaking than any of her previous outbursts.

Sighing, Bai Qian pulled over and unbuckled her seatbelt. She leaned over and pulled the girl—who looked like a fragile, broken doll—into her arms.

“I’m not sad anymore. Now that I’ve found you, I only have happiness left.”

Shao Zizhi sobbed into her chest. “Then you’re coming home with me this year. My parents are your parents. You haven’t received red envelopes in years, so I’ll make sure they give you every single one you missed!”

Those childish words made the moonlight of that winter night feel exceptionally tender.

******

Bai Qian wondered why she had wasted so much energy resisting. In the end, she still ended up going back to the Shao family for New Year as “Shao Zizhi’s girlfriend.”

“Anyone who hasn’t won a Golden Orange Award is unworthy of a girlfriend”—Bai Qian had meant those words quite seriously. She even added a clause: if someone stopped working hard after winning because they had a girlfriend, they would lose that girlfriend immediately.

Before going home with her, Bai Qian set the ground rules. “I’ll repeat this one more time: our relationship only exists in front of your parents. In reality, we are still nothing to each other. Got it?”

Shao Zizhi clenched her fists with determination. “When we get back, I’m going to study my heart out. Next year, I am definitely getting a real girlfriend!”

Bai Qian patted her head approvingly. “I’m glad you have that resolve. Keep that fire burning, okay?”

“Yes!”

To have raised a child as pampered yet endearing as Shao Zizhi, the parents naturally had wonderful personalities. When it came time for red envelopes, Shao Zizhi’s mother produced a giant gift bag filled with an envelope for every single year Bai Qian had missed.

Shao Zizhi looked even more thrilled than Bai Qian. She hugged her mother, acting like the ultimate “mommy’s girl.” “Mom~ I love you the most!” It was quite sweet to see a woman in her twenties still so unashamedly affectionate.

Bai Qian stayed at the Shao house for only three days, but when she stepped on the scale back home, she had gained exactly five pounds.

As the new year began, Shao Zizhi threw herself into her work with the goal of finally earning herself a “girlfriend.” By early February, Shao Liangrong returned from her honeymoon. She brought Bai Qian a New Year’s gift—a bottle of “treasure liquid” from a country famous for essential oils.

“It’s a new product, totally edible,” Liangrong whispered. “I tried it with my wife last night. Just a tiny drop, and oh my god… the passion was insane. My back is still covered in her nail marks.”

Bai Qian knew Liangrong was prone to hyperbole. If it were truly that miraculous, people would be fighting over it.

Zhao Tong’s grim voice rang out behind them. “Shao Liangrong. Go home and pack. Take everything you need.”

“What’s wrong, honey? We just got back. Are we going on another trip? I just picked a new script for you, I haven’t even told you yet…”

“Heh. I’m taking you to get a divorce.”

Bai Qian quietly left the living room to the “newlyweds” and went into the kitchen to check on Shao Zizhi’s cooking. Seeing Bai Qian, Zizhi beamed. “Last dish! Are you hungry? The beef is already cooked; you can have a few slices first.”

“Not hungry. It’s too loud out there, I’m hiding.”

“Should we just kick those two freeloaders out?” Zizhi didn’t look like she was joking. Bai Qian laughed.

As the cozy dinner began, Shao Zizhi spoke up with a rather grim expression. “Shao Liangrong, I have something to say to you.”

Bai Qian nudged her under the table, signaling her not to actually say what she’d just whispered in the kitchen.

Shao Zizhi ignored her, grabbed Bai Qian’s hand, and glared at the two oblivious guests. “From now on, when you come over for dinner, it’s either you or Zhao Tong. At least one of you has to know how to cook.”

Liangrong protested. “Why, Sis! Neither of us can cook, and we even bought the groceries!”

Shao Zizhi sneered. “How much do groceries even cost? It’s settled. If you want to come over and eat next time, bring a pair of hands that can actually cook, or you aren’t welcome.”

Liangrong grumbled, “Fine, fine, I get it!”

The next time they visited, Liangrong and Zhao Tong walked in with a middle-aged woman in tow. Facing their confusion, the Shao heiress—who had known since childhood that money could solve most problems—introduced her with a straight face. “This is the ‘pair of cooking hands’ you asked for. This auntie worked in a five-star hotel; I had to go through a lot to hire her. Now, can we come over for dinner?”

Bai Qian: “…”

The ease and joy of the wealthy are truly beyond imagination.

A week later, Bai Qian remembered the gift Liangrong had given her. Zhao Tong had been so furious when she came to grab Liangrong that Bai Qian had just tossed the bottle onto the coffee table and forgotten it.

Now, she decided to find that “ticking time bomb” and throw it away. She searched the table, the sofa, and every corner of the living room, but the thumb-sized bottle was nowhere to be found. She asked Liangrong, who claimed she hadn’t taken it back.

Bai Qian let it go for the moment, planning to ask Shao Zizhi when she returned.

When the girl walked in, Bai Qian was curled up on the sofa playing on her phone. She gave a casual greeting without looking up. Shao Zizhi rushed over, stole a quick kiss, and headed toward the kitchen. “I’m so thirsty. Is there anything to drink in the fridge?”

“I drank the last Sprite. There are two oranges left; you can juice them.”

A few seconds later, Shao Zizhi peeked out. “No need! I found a little bottle of something. It’s small, but it’ll do. Bai Qian, did you buy this online?”

Bai Qian’s heart skipped a beat. She turned around. In Shao Zizhi’s hand was the empty little bottle—exactly the one Liangrong had brought.

A familiar voice rang out, proving that Liangrong’s earlier boast might not have been an exaggeration at all.

“Sister… I’m so hot.”

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