I Quit Being This Female Lead (GL) - Chapter 38

“What?”

The night wind howled over the city wall, chilling Mang Ke to the bone.

She thought she had misheard. What had Xun Fangyun just said?

Told her to go back?

As if confirming her confusion, Xun Fangyun stated calmly, “Go back. If possible, don’t ever come here again.”

Mang Ke looked at her in shock, unable to process what Xun Fangyun was saying.

What did she mean by telling her to go back?

What did she mean by never coming back again?

Did she not like her?

Or was she… lying?

“Why?”

The cold wind scattered Mang Ke’s voice, making the question sound extraordinarily ethereal.

“Why?”

Mang Ke asked again. She leaned forward, gripping Xun Fangyun’s clothes, and looked up, baffled. “What do you mean by this? You don’t want to see me anymore?”

“Yes.”

Xun Fangyun nodded. “Jiang Chun’er came to talk to me for a long time today. I think she’s right; you and I are not people from the same world. Continuing like this would only be wasting each other’s time.”

Mang Ke stood there like a character in a play, unable to understand her words.

“So, you should leave,” Xun Fangyun reached out and gently rubbed Mang Ke’s head. After a long silence, she added, “I hope we don’t run into each other again in the future.”

Mang Ke didn’t know when the snow started falling again that night. It drifted down lightly, like a thin rain.

By the time Jiang Chun’er ran up, only Mang Ke was left on the city wall.

“Sister?”

She walked closer, cautiously peeking at Mang Ke, and whispered like a child who had done something wrong, “Did that person… did she leave?”

Mang Ke sat on a chair by the city wall, seemingly oblivious to Jiang Chun’er’s words.

Jiang Chun’er saw that her hands were purple from the cold. She quietly reached out and touched them, feeling that they weren’t hands at all, but two popsicles.

“Sister, I know I was wrong.” Jiang Chun’er lowered her head and half-crouched by Mang Ke’s feet, looking like a pitiful small animal. “Please don’t be angry with me, okay? She’s not an ordinary person; we can’t take her with us.”

“Do I have to leave?”

Mang Ke’s voice was terribly cold. She turned to look at Jiang Chun’er and asked, “Can’t I just stay here forever?”

Jiang Chun’er was startled and quickly replied, “No! If you stay here, your body won’t be able to handle it!”

“What if I don’t care about my body anymore?”

“???”

Jiang Chun’er frowned and said, “Sister, you’re not well! If you stay here permanently, you will die. If you die, it will be even more impossible to stay here forever.”

Ultimately, this was just a laboratory within a mental space. It connected people’s minds to achieve mutual communication and constructed an external environment as a framework, while the physical body rested at home.

This was an experimental game that Jiang Chun’er had recently participated in during her vacation. Although it carried a certain risk, she couldn’t resist the draw of total immersion.

Moreover, several people had done the experiment before, so Jiang Chun’er didn’t think her luck would be that bad.

She held Mang Ke’s icy hand and said, “Sister, please come back with me. Once we’re out, let’s meet up. I’ll accompany you to do whatever you want, okay?”

Jiang Chun’er said sadly, “I don’t want to see you sad. Please stop crying, okay?”

Mang Ke felt the coolness on her face. She only realized she was crying when Jiang Chun’er wiped away her tears.

“I’m not sad…”

Mang Ke covered her eyes, sobbing uncontrollably while leaning against the city wall. “I’m not sad at all…”

Why was she, the one who was supposed to be freed, crying so hard?

Mang Ke couldn’t understand. She only felt intense pain in her heart.

She at least had a choice, but Xun Fangyun could only choose to break up with her.

Tears streamed uncontrollably through the gaps between her fingers, stinging painfully in the cold winter night.

Mang Ke couldn’t understand why she had come here, why she had met Xun Fangyun, and what the purpose of any of it was.

Darkness swept in like smoke. When Mang Ke opened her eyes again, she saw her familiar yet strange ceiling.

Mang Ke stared blankly into the darkness. Tears had soaked the side of her face, leaving a slightly itchy, dry sensation.

She was back.

Mang Ke covered her eyes with her hands, finally losing control and crying out loud…

City A.

It was early autumn today, and the weather was still very warm. The Municipal Hospital was bustling with people, a sea of heads moving to and fro.

Si Nan finished her rounds with her mentor, tidying the documents in her hand as she walked toward the office.

“Dr. Si!”

As she was walking with her head down, she heard someone call out behind her.

Si Nan turned around and saw the familiar nurse from the nursing station. She stopped and looked at her. “What is it?”

The nurse walked over and said to Si Nan, “It’s the Head Nurse’s birthday tonight. Would you like to come celebrate? It’s at the restaurant across from the hospital; we’ve already reserved a private room!”

Si Nan thought for a moment, then smiled and refused. “I’m sorry, but I have a date tonight, so I can’t make it.”

“A date?”

The nurse leaned in curiously. “Dr. Si is having a date? We all thought you had no one in your eyes but the patients.”

Si Nan scratched her cheek and smiled bitterly. “Nonsense! I’m a normal person, too. What would happen if my mind was only full of patients?”

“Haha, I’m just teasing you, Dr. Si, don’t be angry. Well, I’ll tell the Head Nurse. You go ahead and get busy.”

“Okay, please wish the Head Nurse a happy birthday for me.”

“Will do~”

Watching her colleague walk away, Si Nan finally tucked the file under her arm and pushed the door to the office.

Because there were very few female doctors in the hospital, Si Nan was sometimes closer to the nurses. Although they called her Dr. Si, she hadn’t even finished her internship yet.

She took off her white lab coat and walked out of the changing room wearing a brown, long trench coat.

She ran into her mentor face-to-face and quickly braced herself.

The middle-aged doctor also noticed Si Nan’s attire. He approached her and asked, “Off duty?”

“Yes,” Si Nan nodded. “I had an appointment with a friend, so I’m leaving right at the scheduled time…”

Her voice trailed off, as if leaving promptly after work was some unforgivable error.

The middle-aged doctor looked at her expressionlessly and said, “Since you have an appointment, hurry up and go. What are you lingering around the hospital for?”

With that, he pushed the door and walked in. Si Nan looked back at him, shrinking her neck, and quickly scurried away.

Slouching out of the hospital, Si Nan smiled and took out her phone to call Mang Ke, but she called again and again, and the other party didn’t answer.

Strange girl.

Si Nan thought for a moment. She tucked her long hair into her scarf, hailed a taxi, and got in.

When she arrived at Mang Ke’s house, Si Nan found the door ajar and the room completely dark.

“Xiao Ke’er~”

Si Nan peered inside, looking at the dark environment in the room. “What’s going on with you? Why haven’t you been contacting me lately?”

But no one replied to her.

Si Nan had a feeling that something was wrong. She walked inside and switched on the light. The harsh white incandescent light illuminated the small room brightly. She saw a lump on the bed, seemingly a person lying under the covers.

“Hello?”

Si Nan walked over cautiously, crouched by the bed to tentatively peek, and finally sat on the edge of the bed and lifted the corner of the blanket.

Mang Ke’s chestnut-brown hair was scattered listlessly on the bed. She was currently hugging a brown teddy bear with her eyes closed, seemingly asleep, but Si Nan knew she was awake.

“What’s wrong?”

Si Nan reached out and felt Mang Ke’s forehead. “No fever, but why do you look so weak? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

Mang Ke opened her eyes and shook her head.

She was indeed unwell—unwell all over, inside and out.

So uncomfortable that she felt like she was about to die.

Si Nan didn’t press further. She simply used her fingers to brush aside the messy long hair. Her eyes inadvertently glanced at the neckline of Mang Ke’s pajamas, catching sight of smooth, pale skin, which made her blush. She quickly averted her gaze and said, “Are you going to get up? Let’s go out and get something good to eat. How about I take you to eat crab?”

Mang Ke shook her head.

Si Nan couldn’t help but wonder, “Didn’t you used to love eating things like crab and lobster? What’s been up with you lately?”

Mang Ke closed her eyes, unwilling to speak.

Seeing her friend’s listless appearance, Si Nan had no choice. She took out her phone and ordered two take-out meals. She also took off her coat and hung it on the chair. Looking at the messy room, she said, “I’ll help you clean up first. Look at this room—what’s the difference between this and a dog kennel?”

With that, Si Nan started clearing all the trash. She threw some unnecessary clutter into the cabinet, pulled open the curtains for ventilation, and finally mopped the floor of the room.

Just as she finished these tasks, the delivery person knocked on the door. Si Nan grinned and asked him to kindly take the trash downstairs when he left.

The delivery person: “…”

After all the tidying, Mang Ke seemed to have somewhat come back to her senses. She sat up in bed and watched Si Nan busy herself. Only then did she ask, “Why did you come to my house today?”

“My mom is always complaining that you don’t visit our house often anymore, so she told me to come and check on you more.” Si Nan poked Mang Ke’s forehead with her finger, her eyes smiling brightly. “What’s been going on with you this past while?”

Mang Ke was silent for a moment before saying, “Nothing. I just…”

Just what? She didn’t know how to explain her experience to her acquaintance, as it was unbelievable from any perspective.

“Alright, let’s not talk about it.”

Si Nan opened the take-out containers, looked at the tempting food inside, and smiled. “I’ll turn on the TV. What do you want to watch?”

Mang Ke got out of bed and got dressed, saying, “Nothing in particular. Just put on whatever.”

“Okay.”

Si Nan picked up the remote control and flipped through the channels, finally stopping on an entertainment interview program.

It seemed to be interviewing a female celebrity. The female artist on the screen had a beautiful face and a gentle smile as she was being interviewed.

“What are your thoughts on your upcoming movie? Are you feeling a lot of pressure?”

“Not too much. The production team are all very talented people. I believe many people will enjoy the movie.”

“We also believe it will be a wonderful production. On a different note, we heard you were recently on vacation. You just got back a few days ago. Could you tell us about what you gained from this trip, Miss Yue Yin?”

The female artist named Yue Yin chuckled and tilted her head, saying to the host, “I wouldn’t say I gained anything, but I did meet a very adorable little rabbit.”