I Just Want to Spoil and Run Away with the Abused Female Lead [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 20

Lin Shuangran’s eyes flickered with a hint of unease, her long, raven-feather-like lashes trembling slightly as she lifted her gaze to meet Shi Xingrao’s. Restraining herself, she let her peripheral vision drift with controlled restraint over Shi Xingrao’s glistening lips.

The scene from the movie, where a woman gazed at Shi Xingrao with deep affection, felt as if it were playing out right before her eyes. That woman, staring at Shi Xingrao, had likely wanted to kiss her.

At the thought of this image, a thread of Lin Shuangran’s rationality and restraint snapped in her mind. Countless thoughts of claiming Shi Xingrao as her own surged uncontrollably.

She disliked others looking at Shi Xingrao with such intensity. She wanted that woman to know that Shi Xingrao belonged to her, to make her stop coveting Shi Xingrao.

Lin Shuangran reached out and cupped Shi Xingrao’s face, as radiant as peach blossoms, and gently bit down, as if trying to leave a mark on that exquisitely delicate face a mark of possession.

But Lin Shuangran’s bite was light, more like a series of soft kisses along the side of Shi Xingrao’s face.

It seemed Lin Shuangran had never done anything like this before, had never taken the initiative to kiss anyone. Even the act of holding Shi Xingrao’s face felt awkward and unpracticed. Yet this very clumsiness led to more physical contact, stirring restless and wandering thoughts.

Shi Xingrao wanted to lean in and kiss Lin Shuangran back but was stopped by Lin Shuangran’s hand covering her mouth. The beauty’s eyes were filled with shyness, like a lotus bud on the verge of blooming most captivating in that moment of anticipation.

Shi Xingrao had no choice but to settle for wrapping her arms around Lin Shuangran’s waist, tilting her head back and allowing Lin Shuangran to kiss the corners of her eyes and her cheeks.

At the same time, Shi Xingrao’s heart raced even more uncontrollably.

Someone must have accidentally bumped the tablet, for the paused movie started playing again. Amid the sound of their intertwined breaths, Shi Xingrao suddenly heard a line: “It seems Raorao is quite popular.”

The familiar tone, the sound of splashing water, the gentle motion of drying hair in the movie, and Lin Shuangran’s light, fleeting kisses overlapped and separated repeatedly.

Breathing softly, Shi Xingrao looked up at Lin Shuangran, who was leaning over her, and stated with certainty, “Sister, you’re jealous.”

Lin Shuangran didn’t deny it. Instead, her gaze deepened as she studied Shi Xingrao’s face, tracing her features with her eyes before finally speaking. “Shall we continue watching the movie?”

Shi Xingrao: “?”

What had just happened seemed like a moment of impulse. Once Lin Shuangran regained her composure, she returned to her usual rationality and withdrew the privilege of kissing Shi Xingrao.

Already dizzy from Lin Shuangran’s initiative, Shi Xingrao now found herself agreeing to whatever Lin Shuangran suggested.

In the movie, Shi Xingrao was preserved as a specimen by Yu Chen. The police came to investigate Shi Xingrao’s disappearance, but Yu Chen’s high intelligence allowed her to handle their inquiries effortlessly. Except for one young officer, no one else remained suspicious of Yu Chen.

That young officer kept a close watch on Yu Chen every day. Because of this, Yu Chen’s series of crimes, which began with Shi Xingrao, also ended with her.

In truth, Yu Chen didn’t necessarily have to kill. She only wanted to recreate the scene of those two people dying before her eyes, to understand how a normal person should react when witnessing death.

Yet, it seemed she simply couldn’t grasp that kind of emotion.

In the end, the young officer never found evidence of Yu Chen killing Shi Xingrao. But on a rainy day, Yu Chen entered the basement, looked at Shi Xingrao’s preserved form, and slit her own wrist.

Blood flowed outward, life ebbing away with it. She was experiencing the sensation of life fading, the fear humans face when confronting death, and seeking a reverence for life in her own way.

Perhaps it was the flashback before death, a memory that flowed backward to the moment when those two children fell from the rooftop. Just as the child stepped into empty air, a hand grabbed the girl’s wrist, and a flash of red followed the two children as they fell. They drifted downward slowly, eventually transforming into red maple leaves landing on the water’s surface.

Even if Shi Xingrao didn’t like Yu Chen, she couldn’t deny that Yu Chen had portrayed the role exceptionally well.

The screen went black, and the slow, lingering notes of a piano played during the credits as the end titles scrolled leisurely.

Lin Shuangran stared blankly at the screen where the screenwriter’s name appeared.

Nestled in Lin Shuangran’s embrace, Shi Xingrao remained silent for a while before finally speaking, “Sister, do you think she truly understood those emotions? You must think her killing was excessive.”

Lin Shuangran gently patted Shi Xingrao’s back. “There’s no absolute good or bad in this world, and no absolute outsiders. She isn’t some kind of anomaly. She doesn’t necessarily have to force herself to understand those emotions.”

“It’s okay if she doesn’t understand.”

“But she really shouldn’t have hurt others.”

Shi Xingrao stayed quiet for a long time. After an indeterminate period, she used a Sleep Card and a Memory Erasure Card on Lin Shuangran. Once Lin Shuangran fell asleep, Shi Xingrao carefully laid her on the bed and quietly closed the door.

Cat Ears: “Host, if you erase Miss Lin’s memories, won’t all your efforts go to waste?”

Tonight’s emotional progress would be for nothing.

Shi Xingrao lifted her gaze and pinched Cat Ears. “Do you want Lin Shuangran to know I’m not from this world?”

“No, of course not. Erasing memories is a good idea.” Cat Ears felt a pang of guilt, too caught up in shipping its favorite couple and nearly forgetting that they couldn’t be exposed as outsiders.

“Host, do you really like Miss Lin that much? To be honest, I really…” Cat Ears paused here, leaving the rest unsaid.

Shi Xingrao curved her lips into a lazy, playful smile. “What? You don’t believe I could genuinely like Lin Shuangran? Want to ask why I like her?”

If she and Lin Shuangran were both watching children playing on a rooftop, seeing them step closer and closer to the edge, she wouldn’t warn them. She would just watch coldly, and even if they fell, she wouldn’t spare a glance.

But Lin Shuangran would warn the children, even willing to take their place if they fell.

If she were the one falling from the rooftop, before meeting Lin Shuangran, she believed no one would save her. But she didn’t blame anyone for that.

Until she met Lin Shuangran, she trusted that Lin Shuangran would reach out to help her.

Not because Lin Shuangran particularly liked her, but because Lin Shuangran was willing to extend a hand to everyone.

She wasn’t sure why such universal tenderness made her want to stay by Lin Shuangran’s side. Perhaps it was because, even if she did something to betray Lin Shuangran, Lin Shuangran wouldn’t seek revenge or despise her.

With Lin Shuangran, whether she was loved or not, she wouldn’t be harmed.

Lin Shuangran was like the winter sun bright but not glaring, warm yet not scorching, gentle yet strong.

She had never seen such a sun before, so she grew attached to it. From the very first time Lin Shuangran helped her, she began to crave that warmth, wishing to stay by Lin Shuangran’s side forever.

Shi Xingrao lifted her eyelids lazily. “What reason could there be? Does liking someone even need a reason? Duoduo, don’t you think Sister is worthy of being liked by others?”

Cat Ears fell silent for a second. No reason? As if it would believe that. If there were no reason, this deceitful dog wouldn’t have thought about it for so long. It was just that this liar didn’t want to tell it.

Cat Ears felt it still didn’t understand its host well enough. It seemed it needed to look into Shi Xingrao’s records again.

Shi Xingrao asked, “By the way, how is Lu Ze doing?”

While pulling up Shi Xingrao’s files, Cat Ears took a moment to reply, “He spent the whole day at Gu Yi’s place, completely drunk. It seems last night’s incident really got to him.”

Shi Xingrao blinked, lightly tapping the blanket with her fingertip. “Did he fix the loophole and restore the website?”

Cat Ears: “Yes, his company’s technical team handled it. Their game should be able to launch as scheduled in five days.”

Cat Ears: “Host, are you planning to use public opinion and the new game to cause trouble for Lu Ze’s company? To be honest, even if public opinion and the new game cause issues, it might only put Lu Corporation in a temporary predicament.”

“Once Lu Ze’s company gets back on track, he’ll likely continue to cause trouble for Miss Lin.”

It was still a bit worried about Shi Xingrao’s plan. After all, Shi Xingrao would eventually have to leave this world. If Lu Ze used his power to pressure Lin Shuangran after Shi Xingrao was gone, things wouldn’t end well.

Or perhaps Shi Xingrao planned to stay in this world until Lin Shuangran passed away. But if that were the case, Shi Xingrao would have spent so much time on her first task, it didn’t even want to think about how to handle future tasks.

Moreover, was watching her beloved pass away the outcome Shi Xingrao wanted to see?

“Duoduo, leave professional matters to professionals. For example, let Lin Yi handle it.”

Cat Ears: “???”

In truth, she had been thinking for a while about who to entrust with these matters. Lin Shuangran only loved dancing and had no intention of taking over anything. But since this opportunity was something she had schemed to obtain, she didn’t want to let such a valuable resource fall into the hands of outsiders.

Until today, she hadn’t found a suitable candidate. But after witnessing how Lin Yi dealt with their father and stepmother, she realized Lin Yi was different from Lin Shuangran. Lin Yi could be ruthless when necessary, and from what she knew, Lin Yi had managed the Lin family’s business exceptionally well.

In just two years, Lin Yi had significantly expanded the company’s operations.

More importantly, Lin Yi genuinely cared for Lin Shuangran and would never harm her.

Cat Ears: “I thought you disliked Lin Yi?”

“Ah, I don’t dislike her. How could I dislike Sister’s sister?”

Cat Ears: “…”

If it hadn’t seen someone clinging to Lin Shuangran, begging her not to pay attention to Lin Yi, it might have actually believed that.

After Shi Xingrao fell asleep, Cat Ears secretly started playing the video records about Shi Xingrao, arranged in chronological order.

As a child, Shi Xingrao looked like a delicate porcelain doll, but her little face was always cold and devoid of much emotion, even toward her parents.

It was as if she were born missing a certain sensitivity completely clueless about emotions, entirely unlike other children who would giggle happily at their parents.

Her parents went through a period of distress but soon came to accept Shi Xingrao’s indifference. With other children to care for, their focus quickly shifted elsewhere.

Suddenly, it seemed to understand why Shi Xingrao’s acting was so poor, it was likely because she simply couldn’t comprehend such emotions. Unable to grasp them, she couldn’t portray them either.

The earlier movie wasn’t without reason. Shi Xingrao was the screenwriter, and she was the girl who watched her younger siblings fall.

Moreover, Shi Xingrao’s home really did have a basement, though it wasn’t used for murder.

In an instant, Cat Ears realized why Shi Xingrao wanted to act, to experience different emotions and to develop the same feelings as ordinary people.

But the more she acted, the more Shi Xingrao probably understood how different she truly was from others. The harder she tried, the more it felt like an inescapable vicious cycle.

Cat Ears suddenly felt a mix of complex emotions, especially after rewatching the movie. It couldn’t help but feel that Shi Xingrao wasn’t entirely devoid of emotion at the very least, the final scene of the movie showed that she regretted her actions.

For the first time, Cat Ears thought that not caring about anything seemed rather terrifying it could make one be seen as a monster.

But Shi Xingrao wasn’t the monster her parents made her out to be. She just needed someone to be patient with her, to teach her how to understand pain, how to understand loss, how to understand love, how to understand death.

Only by understanding love can one fear loss; it is because of love that fear arises.

It wasn’t until Yu Chen appeared that Shi Xingrao began to show a hint of human warmth, moving away from her initial coldness. She would feel rivalry toward her competitors and develop a dislike for Yu Chen. Yu Chen was like the missing piece Shi Xingrao needed, her presence gradually allowed Shi Xingrao to develop emotions strong enough to confront her rivals.

Now, with Lin Shuangran’s appearance, it seemed to be further intensifying Shi Xingrao’s emotions.

For some reason, Cat Ears suddenly felt that the past confrontations and the current dependence and care all seemed like a long-premeditated plan.

To be honest, it didn’t know which pairing to support anymore Lin Shuangran and Shi Xingrao, or Gu Chen and Shi Xingrao.

The gentle older sister versus the cunning little pup was a compelling dynamic, and the rivals who fought their way into bed weren’t a bad pairing either.

Hmm… maybe all for Shi Xingrao.