I Struggle to Survive in a Girl Group [Transmigration] - Chapter 33

Dinner was once again settled at Shirley’s inn, costing 5 gold coins. Renewing the two guest rooms for another night required an additional 4 gold coins.

Fortunately, today both teams completed a few simple tasks for Christine and Rosa, earning a total of 20 gold coins. Combined with the 10 gold coins left from the previous night, their remaining assets totaled 21 gold coins showing a positive growth trend.

The dining table was laden with an abundance of food, steaming with an enticing aroma. Today’s menu included crispy pork knuckle, lotus leaf-steamed chicken, lemon shrimp balls, sauerkraut fish, and stir-fried rapeseed greens, along with two cold dishes.

Having worked hard all day and only snacking on bread and fruit to stave off hunger, everyone was ravenous. They picked up their chopsticks and began devouring the meal heartily.

The master of the house, Cole, was still absent. Nancy gave a cold greeting before retreating to her room upstairs and did not reappear.

Shirley stood to the side, a pleased smile on her face, her sharp fangs faintly visible. At first, everyone had found her teeth unsettling, but after encountering the other two families, Shirley no longer seemed as frightening. She merely had sharp fangs her behavior was entirely normal, unlike Christine and Arthur, who appeared polished on the surface but harbored eerie, hidden sides.

As the meal was winding down, Cole, the master of the house, drunkenly knocked on the door again. He seemed even more intoxicated than the day before, his body limp as a rag, half his weight leaning on Shirley.

“Where’s Nancy? Does she even remember she has a father?” Cole slurred his complaints, then suddenly stumbled and crashed into the shoe cabinet in the entryway.

Shoes clattered and scattered everywhere as Cole sat amidst the mess, flailing his arms wildly.

“I know, I know you all look down on me, think I’m a useless man.” he growled, his eyes red. “But so what? I’m the master of this house, me!”

“Darling, you’re drunk,” Shirley said, casting an awkward glance at the guests while patiently trying to coax him. “Let me help you back to your room to rest, alright?”

Cole roughly shoved away her outstretched arm, breathing heavily.

Thinking of Cole’s volatile temper, An Qing grew worried. Would Shirley end up getting hit? Though she knew it was part of the plot, she couldn’t help but want to intervene.

She stood up, about to approach, when someone beside her tugged her back. An Qing turned to see Yu Tingbai looking at her, shaking her head gently, then pointing toward Shirley and Cole, signaling her to keep observing and stay calm.

At that moment, Shirley’s expression suddenly shifted. She withdrew her smile, stood quietly for a few seconds, then abruptly opened her mouth wide.

Two rows of sharp, neatly aligned fangs gleamed eerily under the light. Cole stared blankly for a moment, his eyes gradually filling with fear.

As if unaware of his emotional shift, Shirley leaned down and mercilessly bit the back of her husband’s neck.

The moment her teeth pierced his skin, Cole’s body convulsed violently. Thick, crimson blood dripped onto the floor, slowly forming a small pool.

In the dead of night, when all was silent, the scene before them felt even more terrifying.

An Qing steeled herself and shamelessly threw herself into Yu Tingbai’s embrace.

After being held by Yu Tingbai all night yesterday, she was growing bolder by the day.

Yu Tingbai was momentarily stunned, but still reached out and patted her back soothingly.

Seriously, she’s not even scared, yet she’s putting on an act just to hype up their CP.

Shen Siqi trembled while looking at An Qing with admiration.

She also wanted to hug someone, but she couldn’t interrupt An Qing and Yu Tingbai’s CP-building. As for the other two… although they weren’t far away, it felt as if there was an invisible wall separating her from them.

So, Shen Siqi hugged herself in self-pity.

Wen Ling kindly reminded her, “It’s fine. I saw the blood packet hidden in his collar earlier. Usually, that kind of blood is made from specially formulated corn syrup.”

This calmed the youngest member down again.

After about two minutes, Shirley finally straightened up. With one hand dragging her incapacitated husband and the other casually wiping the crimson residue from her lips, she left a large, uneven red smear on her cheek.

Then she turned her head and gave the guests an apologetic smile.

“Sorry for disturbing you.”

An Qing lay on the soft bed, wrapping herself in the blanket like a silkworm cocoon.

She rolled back and forth a couple of times, then let out a long sigh, as if lamenting.

They had gathered a lot of information today, but everyone’s thoughts had only grown more tangled. All the clues were knotted together like a mess of threads, leaving her unsure how to unravel them.

At first, she had naively assumed that the deceased must be someone obviously different from the others that all they had to do was find the strangest person in the town. But now it seemed like there were no normal people here at all.

An Qing thought again about that tragic accident.

She wondered what the altitude was on that mountain road where the accident happened, how steep it was, and whether there were any buffers.

The moment she saw the black-and-white photo, she even thought all seven of them had died in the accident. But the rules stated there was only one deceased, which quickly dispelled that idea.

Suddenly, she realized something: the accident happened on April 12th, but they had no idea what the current date was.

An Qing leaned toward the idea that it was some time after April 12th that one of the townsfolk had died in the accident, while the others survived and returned to the town to live their lives. But one day, the deceased quietly returned.

But where did the other townspeople go?

And Shirley’s behavior earlier was so strange too.

Forget it, that’s enough for today. After a busy day, it’s time to relax in the evening.

An Qing picked up her phone, scrolled through a few funny videos, and suddenly remembered something.

Last night, she had written a few hundred words of CP fanfiction, and during the day, she had found time to finish it, made some simple edits, and posted it to the “Rain After Sunshine” CP super topic.

Of course, she used the account “Has Yu Tingbai Caught An Qing Today?”

Hah, at least in her own writing, she could let Yu Tingbai experience what it’s like to chase after someone.

An Qing thought self-deprecatingly as she opened Weibo and switched to her alternate account.

Holy crap? What’s with the 99+ new replies?

She clicked in, astonished, and found that the Weibo post she had made earlier that morning now had over 100 reposts, over 100 replies, and over 800 likes.

Was she about to go viral? Could it be that she was a writer held back by singing and dancing!

An Qing gleefully started reading the replies, but the smile on her face gradually faded.

“HAHAHAHAHA what kind of ridiculous crackfic is this?!”

“No way, ‘She runs, she chases, neither can escape’ is this for real?”

“And this line: ‘An Qing, without you, my life loses all its color’ I’m laughing so hard I’m gonna cough up blood HAHAHAHA.”

“Yu Tingbai, log into your main account and speak.”

“Some people look all glamorous on the surface, but secretly they’re writing crackfics behind the scenes.”

“I’m dying, so this is the real you, Baibai!”

An Qing had a headache.

What was going on? Why were all the comments “HAHAHAHA”? She thought what she wrote was quite touching!

But it seemed that because she wrote it from Yu Tingbai’s perspective, many people were clamoring that she was Yu Tingbai’s alt account. Even though she knew they were joking, it still gave her a secret thrill.

There were also one or two dissenting voices.

“The writing style is so outdated! I can’t even look at it!”

“What do you know? The author is obviously doing it on purpose for laughs, can’t you tell?”

An Qing: …

Heaven knows, she wasn’t trying to be funny, she was genuinely pouring her heart out!

There were also some sincerely grateful comments.

“Thank you, author! I was in a bad mood today, but after reading your fic, I couldn’t stop laughing.”

“Wuwu, finally someone is producing content for Yu Guo Tian Qing! Author, please keep creating and don’t stop!”

Well, it was a good thing that people were reading her work and it could bring everyone joy.

An Qing closed Weibo and opened WeChat.

She wanted to update her partners-in-crime who had helped her scheme.

Qingqing: Anyone here?

Qingqing: I have big news to announce!

Her partners-in-crime were, as always, free and immediately showed up.

Takoyaki: 1111

Little Fox: Here!

Miemie Sheep: What’s up?

Qingqing: Well, ahem

Qingqing: Yu Tingbai held me while we slept the entire night yesterday. That counts as major progress, right?

Before, even though she had fallen asleep clinging to Yu Tingbai because she was drunk, it was clearly her being clingy. This time was different Yu Tingbai initiated it.

Even if it was out of fear, Yu Tingbai had other options, like a pillow or something. But she didn’t choose those, which at least meant An Qing held some position in her heart!

Of course, to avoid having cold water poured on her, An Qing omitted this unimportant detail.

What she didn’t expect was that as soon as she sent the message, the previously lively group chat suddenly went silent.

What was going on? Bad connection?

Unwilling to give up, An Qing refreshed twice and finally got replies from her friends.

Little Fox: Was it just regular human sleeping?

Takoyaki: Two people, one bed, chatting under the covers?

Miemie Sheep: An Qing, are you just not capable?

An Qing:

She had zero experience of course she wasn’t capable!

But she didn’t want to show weakness in front of her girlfriends. If she got exposed, it wouldn’t be fun.

An Qing typed with feigned calm.

Qingqing: Don’t talk nonsense, how could I not be capable?

Qingqing: I’m just afraid that moving too fast might scare Baibai, and that wouldn’t be good.

The other three:

Calling her that intimately, huh?

Little Fox: Got it, neither of you are capable.

Miemie Sheep: She held you all night and didn’t want to do anything with you?

Takoyaki: So just a human-shaped body pillow then?

An Qing glared at the screen and typed rapidly, “Who are you saying isn’t capable? Little duck, I admit your little tricks have successfully caught my attention! Don’t think I won’t make a move on Baibai tonight.”

Suddenly, a cool, silky voice came from behind.

“What are you doing?”

An Qing was so startled her soul nearly flew away. Her hand slipped, and her phone smacked right into her face.

Ouch! How could this person walk without making a sound?

Rubbing her nose, An Qing turned around with a pitiful expression.

There stood Yu Tingbai, fresh out of the shower, wearing sleepwear by the bedside. Her half-dried long hair cascaded over her shoulders, with a few strands resting on her delicate collarbones. The corners of her lips were slightly upturned, as if she had witnessed something amusing.

An Qing’s heart leaped into her throat.

Could it be… she saw the conversation just now?

After a moment’s hesitation, An Qing cautiously replied, “I was chatting with a friend.”

“Is that so?” Yu Tingbai nodded indifferently, seemingly uninterested in pressing further.

Just as An Qing was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she saw Yu Tingbai suddenly lift her hand and pull up her silk nightgown.

An Qing: !!!

What is she doing?

The soft hem of the gown glided lightly over her skin, stopping just above the knee.

On her pale thigh, a startling purplish bruise stood out starkly.

Staring at her own handiwork, An Qing was dumbstruck and stammered, “D-does it still hurt?”

“Hurt? Of course it hurts.” Yu Tingbai released the hem, letting the gown fall smoothly back into place. Then she sat on the edge of the bed, leaning forward slightly, and looked over with a faint, teasing smile.

“Have you thought about how you’re going to make it up to me?”