The Beautiful, Strong, and Tragic Female Lead is Mine [Transmigration Into a Novel] - Chapter 28
Luo Yang froze. After she processed what Xia Fufeng meant, a subtle feeling arose in her heart, and her ears couldn’t help but feel a little hot.
She had gradually forgotten the content she read in Xie Zhitian’s book over the past few days, but with Xia Fufeng’s mention, it all came flooding back.
Could Xie Zhitian’s kindness towards her be a form of pursuit?
But the book might just be a coincidence, and Xie Zhitian’s kindness might be nothing more than friendship. She didn’t think she had any special qualities that would make Xie Zhitian pursue her.
Seeing Luo Yang not speak, Xia Fufeng thought she had hit the mark. Her eyes gleamed with gossip, and she leaned in a little. “How is Xie Zhitian pursuing you? Tell me, I won’t tell anyone.”
“What won’t you tell anyone?”
In the blink of an eye, Xie Zhitian was right in front of them. She handed the water in her hand to Luo Yang. “What are you two chatting about?”
Luo Yang and Xia Fufeng exchanged glances and said in unison, “Nothing.”
Luo Yang seemed a little flustered. She opened the water bottle and drank several mouthfuls in an attempt to hide her nervousness.
Xie Zhitian was a little confused and was about to ask again when another voice interrupted.
“Miss Xia, you’re here!”
A young man hurried towards the three of them, holding something in his hand. He handed it to Xia Fufeng. “It’s autumn now, and you’re not wearing enough. You might catch a cold.”
Xie Zhitian looked closely and saw that the man was handing Xia Fufeng a dark blue down vest. It was a simple, unadorned style, and it seemed to be losing some feathers.
The corner of her mouth twitched. She really wanted to grab the man and ask, “Do you honestly think this vest matches Miss Xia’s dress?” However, this person seemed to be very familiar with Xia Fufeng; he was probably a servant.
Xia Fufeng didn’t take it. She sighed and said, “Why didn’t you bring my cloak? Where did you get this vest?”
“Okay, Miss Xia, this is my own clothing. It’s very clean, and while it’s a bit ugly, it’s very warm…”
The man, who didn’t seem very bright, explained seriously, “I saw Captain Tang lend you a coat last time, and you were very happy, so I followed suit. I’m sorry.”
Xia Fufeng pursed her lips and said helplessly, “She lent me a trench coat. This vest of yours… Ugh, what can I say about you?”
She sighed and said to Xie Zhitian and Luo Yang, “This is my servant, Wang Er.”
Xie Zhitian: … This servant really lives up to his name; he’s quite “er” (two/simple-minded).
She and Luo Yang politely greeted Wang Er, and they both couldn’t help but sigh in their hearts about how casual his name was.
But she was even more curious about who the “Captain Tang” Wang Er mentioned was.
Xia Fufeng waved her hand at Wang Er. “Okay, if you have nothing else to do, go and get a few more people to settle these pigs.”
Wang Er nodded honestly, and just as he was about to leave, Xia Fufeng stopped him again.
“By the way, has Tang Zhuoran looked for me today?”
Xie Zhitian keenly noticed that when Xia Fufeng mentioned the name Tang Zhuoran, her ears quietly turned red, even though she was trying hard to look indifferent.
Wang Er said, “No, Captain Tang hasn’t looked for you in three days. She seems very busy recently. Should I ask her to come and see you?”
“No, no, no, don’t bother her.”
Xia Fufeng immediately stopped him and emphasized, “And don’t tell anyone that I asked if she looked for me. Got it?”
Xie Zhitian had been watching the whole scene with interest. After Wang Er left, she asked, “Who is Tang Zhuoran?”
Xia Fufeng said, “Uh… She’s a good friend of mine.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a hoarse male voice suddenly came from behind them. “Miss? Miss, are you there? Can you let me out now?”
Only then did Xie Zhitian remember that Xiao Wen was still in the truck with the pigs. She hadn’t done it on purpose; she had just been sidetracked by Xia Fufeng as soon as she got out of the car and had completely forgotten.
Luo Yang said, “Tian Tian, I’ll go.”
With that, she walked to the truck and quickly released Xiao Wen.
A dirty, unidentified object jumped out of the truck, stumbled upon landing, and barely managed to stand, looking utterly disheveled.
“How is there another person?” Xia Fufeng quickly pinched her nose. “He smells so bad. Why is this man so smelly?”
Seeing Xiao Wen walking towards her, seemingly wanting to greet her, she immediately retreated three steps as if facing a great enemy. “Don’t come near me! Go to the river in the east and wash yourself up quickly.”
Xiao Wen was speechless with rage. He had finally endured the journey to the destination, only to find that no one cared about him after the car stopped. He couldn’t hear what Xie Zhitian and the others were talking about through the noisy pigs, and he was filled with anxiety.
He couldn’t stand it anymore and finally called for help. But Xie Zhitian had not only forgotten about him but also showed no remorse. Xia Fufeng, who was in the dark, looked at him with disgust. Even Luo Yang didn’t spare him a second glance, only focusing on listening to Xie Zhitian.
But despite his anger, Xiao Wen knew his only choice now was to listen to Xia Fufeng and go clean himself up. Otherwise, approaching her in such a scruffy state would only make her dislike him more.
Xiao Wen gritted his teeth and said respectfully, “I’m sorry, Miss Xia, I’ll go and clean up and then come to see you.”
Xia Fufeng didn’t even look at him, and Xiao Wen had no choice but to leave dejectedly.
But despite all the setbacks, Xiao Wen had no regrets about his choice.
On the contrary, he was glad he came along this time.
Because the “Capture System” had just prompted him that Xia Fufeng was also one of his targets. So as long as he increased her favorability, he could get points.
He didn’t believe that with three targets, he couldn’t even earn a single point.
Xie Zhitian watched Xiao Wen leave with a confident and calculating expression, knowing that he must have discovered that Xia Fufeng was also one of the system’s targets.
According to the original plot, she would still be in confinement for mistreating Luo Yang, and Xiao Wen would have gained Ren Meng’s trust. Only Luo Yang and Xiao Wen would have come to District 14.
When traveling with Luo Yang, Xiao Wen was dressed impeccably and spoke with grace, which gave him a good first impression on Xia Fufeng. Later, Xia Fufeng became very depressed because her friend had left without saying goodbye. It was then that Xiao Wen took advantage of her vulnerability, catered to her interests, and gradually broke down her psychological defenses.
While flirting with Xia Fufeng, Xiao Wen also made sure to flirt with Luo Yang from time to time. Sometimes, he would even deliberately stir up trouble between the two girls, creating the love triangle drama that a scoundrel would enjoy.
Xie Zhitian made small talk with Xia Fufeng, slowly sorting out the plot in her mind.
In the original story, Xia Fufeng was heartbroken by her friend’s departure, which gave the scoundrel an opportunity. So if her friend didn’t leave, Xia Fufeng wouldn’t be sad. And Xiao Wen had already left such a bad first impression on Xia Fufeng that she probably wouldn’t even want to talk to him now.
The question now became, who was Xia Fufeng’s friend?
The book didn’t mention any specific information about this friend, just casually glossing over it before moving on to describe how Xiao Wen used sweet words to deceive Xia Fufeng.
But Xie Zhitian’s first thought was Tang Zhuoran.
Even though she hadn’t even met Tang Zhuoran, Xia Fufeng’s feelings were written all over her face. Her face turned red when she mentioned Tang Zhuoran’s name, and she missed the other person but didn’t want to bother them. From the snippets of conversation, it was clear that their relationship was unusual.
Although she didn’t know the exact nature of their relationship, Tang Zhuoran was at least a special person to Xia Fufeng.
Xie Zhitian felt that she was probably right.
She wanted to meet Tang Zhuoran, but the other person seemed to be very busy, so it wasn’t a good time. But that was okay. According to the timeline in the book, there were still nearly ten days until Tang Zhuoran left without saying goodbye, so she had enough time.
At this moment, a metallic clanging sound suddenly came from a distance, followed by a series of grunting noises.
Xie Zhitian’s thoughts were pulled back, and she looked in the direction of the sound.
She saw a round pig fall from the truck, roll a few times on the ground, and then frantically get up and scurry around like a headless chicken.
Xie Zhitian was stunned. She ran over to check, with Luo Yang following closely behind.
When they got closer, they found that the latch on one of the cages was already a bit rusty and old. The bumpy ride had caused it to break, and a pig had gotten out.
Luo Yang reacted quickly. She immediately took the cage off the truck and grabbed a sturdy rope. She said, “Tian Tian, wait for me here. I’ll go and get it back.”
The pig was clearly terrified. It had already run seven or eight meters away, covered in mud, leaving a trail of messy hoof prints on the ground.
Xie Zhitian frowned at the mud-covered pig and reached out for the rope in Luo Yang’s hand. “I’ll go get it. You remember to close the cage door properly later.”
Putting aside her identity as a modified human, Luo Yang was just a soft girl. She didn’t want Luo Yang to end up like Xiao Wen, covered in dirt and looking miserable.
“Why don’t you let me try?”
A sweet, soft voice sounded from the side, and a small figure stepped forward.
Xia Fufeng smoothed her skirt and walked towards the pig that was rooting around in the corner.
Xie Zhitian was startled and reached out to pull her back. “No, it’s dangerous.”
Although farmed pigs are not very aggressive, it was still a live animal weighing several hundred pounds. If it injured the delicate Xia Fufeng, Xie Zhitian would have a hard time explaining it.
“I can do it. Don’t worry.”
Xia Fufeng patted her hand, signaling that she didn’t need to worry, and then stopped a few steps away from the pig.
She commanded, “Come here.”
Xie Zhitian was amused. She wondered what Xia Fufeng was going to do. She never expected her to try talking to a pig. It would be a miracle if it listened… Wait!
Xie Zhitian’s eyes widened in disbelief. She saw that as soon as Xia Fufeng spoke, the pig stopped rooting in the corner. It stood still for two seconds and then obediently walked to Xia Fufeng.
Xia Fufeng pointed at the cage and continued to command, “Go back and stay.”
A miracle happened again. The pig twisted its chubby body and obediently crawled back into the cage.
Luo Yang was very surprised. She nimbly wrapped the cage door with the rope, a look of confusion on her face.
Xie Zhitian was dumbfounded. The pig had been so agitated just now, so why was it so obedient to Xia Fufeng? What was the principle behind this?
She asked Xia Fufeng, “How did you do that?”
Xia Fufeng smiled at her. “Since I was a child, animals have always been very obedient around me.”
She seemed to remember something fun, and her smile deepened. “Don’t you remember? When we were little and went on a picnic, you chased a little girl from the village all over the streets and ended up getting your pants bitten by her big white goose. It was me who saved you.”
Xie Zhitian: …?
She said incredulously, “Why would I chase a little girl?”
“Hmm, why was it?”
Xia Fufeng recalled, “I don’t remember either… Oh right, it was because you saw that she was pretty and wanted to…”
At that time, Xie Zhitian was a mischievous devil. She saw that someone else’s butterfly hair clip was pretty and wanted to pull it off and keep it for herself, and she got what she deserved.
Xia Fufeng was about to tell the truth, but after she glanced at the curious Luo Yang next to her, the words she was about to say suddenly stopped. That kind of thing would be too damaging to Xie Zhitian’s image, and it wouldn’t be good if it affected Luo Yang’s impression of her.
Xie Zhitian saw that Xia Fufeng had stopped speaking halfway through, and her curiosity was piqued. She urged, “Go on, I saw she was pretty, and then I wanted to do what?”
Xia Fufeng was at a loss for words for a moment. She braced herself and just made up a reason. “You saw she was pretty and wanted to pursue her, of course.”