Running Away While Pregnant with the Villain’s Child - Chapter 12

From the scattered bits and pieces in the novel, readers could only gather that Li Dan’s “true love” was a woman of unwavering devotion.

Whether it was serving Li Dan’s other women during their postpartum recovery or undergoing multiple abortions for his sake, these actions were shocking enough to any ordinary person.

If Luo Xingran weren’t a “black anti-fan” of this book, she might have felt the same way.

However, she had read it all, and she knew very clearly that the woman did not love Li Dan at all. She had even written a post titled “Ten Reasons Why Tan Nuannuan Does Not Love Li Dan.” In fact, many fans of the book agreed that her arguments were well-founded and logical.

In Luo Xingran’s view, Tan Nuannuan wasn’t with Li Dan because she liked him; she was using him to escape her dire straits at the time.

The book briefly mentioned that Tan Nuannuan went to Li Dan to talk about an abortion. Later, she used that very incident to tell her stepfather that she was “no longer valuable.” This effectively crushed her stepfather’s dream of selling her off to a wealthy businessman to achieve a leap in social class.

Looking closely at her subsequent “stupid” maneuvers, a clever person would realize she was gaining absolute benefits.

Of course, after Luo Xingran finished writing her critique, the author personally stepped in to officially declare that Tan Nuannuan was deeply in love with Li Dan.

At the time, Luo Xingran only left one comment:

“Love involves possessiveness; utility has no need for such ethereal things.”

The reason this book was riddled with massive logical loopholes was ultimately because the author had “borrowed” too many character archetypes from the classics. He took the external shells of these classic figures but ignored the internal logic and motivations that made their behaviors consistent.

To put it bluntly, the guy couldn’t even plagiarize correctly.

Now that Luo Xingran was in this world and living a real life within it, she felt more certain than ever that she was right. Every character in this book was a living, breathing human being in this world—not just a role or a code name.

Knowing that Tan Nuannuan had come to find Li Dan to talk about the abortion, Luo Xingran hesitated.

On one hand, this person was special—she was the “culprit” who would eventually cause Luo Xingran’s death. On the other hand, she knew Li Dan’s character all too well. At this stage, Li Dan would absolutely not give Tan Nuannuan money for an abortion. Li Dan only started giving money to his harem later in the story, when he had more wealth than he knew how to spend.

Because of this, Luo Xingran had directly labeled him “The Stingy Man” in her writings.

“Shen Yao, can you help me give her some money?” Luo Xingran pondered for a long while before finally speaking.

“Are you crazy? Can anyone associated with Li Dan be a good person? I bet a girl like Tan Nuannuan is either a fake ‘pure and innocent little white flower’ or a ‘poisonous man-eater,'” Shen Yao said, shaking her head vigorously to show her refusal.

“But she’s also a girl. At her age, she should be in school, not facing an abortion feeling helpless. I want to help her.” Luo Xingran sighed. She also wondered if she was being too much of a “Holy Mother” (overly idealistic).

But before the girl had actually done anything to hurt her, Tan Nuannuan was just a young woman in her early twenties. Even if she really was as Luo Xingran had described in her critique, she was simply someone forced by her environment into a mire until she couldn’t pull herself out.

If someone could give her a hand, perhaps her story could take a slightly better turn.

“You have a point…” After thinking it over, Shen Yao nodded and agreed. “I might not be able to find her, though. If she’s gone, there’s nothing I can do.”

After saying that, Shen Yao immediately ran back in the direction they had come from.

“Why didn’t you let me go?” Pei Junzhuo asked Luo Xingran after the other had left. She had wanted to wrap her arms around Luo Xingran, but in the end, she settled for just holding her hand.

“You don’t even know that girl,” Luo Xingran answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“I don’t like that answer,” Pei Junzhuo shook her head.

“I’d prefer an answer like: ‘You don’t trust me and you’re afraid I’ll fall for someone else.'” Pei Junzhuo pulled Luo Xingran into her arms, her tone carrying a hint of mischief.

“Pfft,” Luo Xingran’s face flushed. She pushed Pei Junzhuo away and started walking in another direction.

“You… if you keep this up, you’re going to turn into peanut oil! You’re so greasy!”

Luo Xingran shouted as she hurried forward, desperate to prevent Pei Junzhuo from seeing how red her face had become.

This familiar way of being scolded made Pei Junzhuo want to burst out laughing.

“Is that so? Well, you’re in trouble then, because this ‘peanut oil’ is coming to catch you!” With that, Pei Junzhuo charged toward Luo Xingran.

While the two of them were playing around happily, the atmosphere over where Shen Yao was had become much more tense.

“Who are you?” Tan Nuannuan looked at the person in front of her with a look of high alert. The version of her standing there now was a world away from the delicate “little white flower” Shen Yao had seen just moments ago.

“I was just passing by…” Shen Yao started to say, only then realizing that eavesdropping on someone probably wasn’t the best look.

“I’m Shen Yao. My name is Shen Yao. Someone asked me to come over and help you out,” Shen Yao added, unsure of how exactly to phrase it.

“Oh? And how do you plan on helping me?” Tan Nuannuan was completely impenetrable, refusing to give her even an inch of politeness.

“Why are you asking me? You’re the one who needs help, not me. Tell me what you need, and I’ll see what I can do,” Shen Yao replied, knitting her brows. She crouched down so she could look Tan Nuannuan directly in the eye.

“What kind of help do you actually need? I think I’m a lot more useful than Li Dan. How about this—shall we make a trade of interests?”

As she spoke, Shen Yao’s expression was serious and sincere.

However, in Tan Nuannuan’s eyes, this person represented something else entirely. A person radiating this much confidence must come from a very good family—the complete opposite of her own. They were worlds apart.

“A trade of interests? My stepfather wants to sell me off. I think you’re a much better option. Have some mercy, Miss Shen—save me. Why don’t you just buy me?”

Tan Nuannuan’s voice was low, her tone naturally laced with a hint of seduction.

“What are you doing? I’m not Li Dan! Don’t talk to me like that, it’s ridiculous!” In truth, Shen Yao did find the current Tan Nuannuan quite captivating, but she also felt that she didn’t like how strange this person was being.

“Is that really all you’re asking for?”

“That’s easy. Leave it to me!” Shen Yao patted herself on the chest, looking incredibly confident. she reached out and pulled the other girl up with a natural ease.

Something that Tan Nuannuan had spent all her energy and schemes trying to achieve was, for people like Shen Yao, just a minor matter.

Tan Nuannuan couldn’t help but feel a bit ridiculous.

“If you can truly rescue me from this cage, I will do everything in my power to help you, no matter the cost,” Tan Nuannuan said, though she felt the irony of her words.

What did the “everything” of someone like her even matter?

“Don’t be like that! You’re making me feel a lot of pressure!” Shen Yao waved her hands dismissively.

“Besides, the person you should really be thanking is someone else.”

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