The Cannon Fodder Crazy Beauty Has Awakened [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 53.1

By the time Jiang Mengyu applied medicine to her wounds, her emotions had already calmed down.

After several hours of turmoil, it was well past midnight when she returned to the hospital room.

Gu Lanqiu looked exhausted. “Do you want some water?”

Jiang Mengyu shook her head.

Earlier, when she had grabbed Xu Zeyan’s head and slammed it into the wall, she had radiated a frenzied, ruthless energy. But now, she had returned to her quiet, subdued self.

Under the dim yellow light, Jiang Mengyu’s silhouette seemed coated in a warm glow, making her appear even more frail and delicate.

Gu Lanqiu let out a sigh of relief. Seeing that the person in front of her still hadn’t looked up, she asked again, “Are you lucid now?”

Only then did Jiang Mengyu raise her eyes to meet Gu Lanqiu’s gaze, her eyes still rimmed with deep red. “Lanqiu, do you blame me?”

[I didn’t mean to.]

[Will Lanqiu think I’m terrifying?]

To be honest, judging by Jiang Mengyu’s earlier behavior, Gu Lanqiu had no doubt that she had genuinely wanted Xu Zeyan dead.

Even the nurse had been frightened, standing by helplessly.

But strangely, Gu Lanqiu didn’t feel much fear. Perhaps it was because the way Jiang Mengyu looked at her was too intense, those eyes brimming with something on the verge of shattering.

It gave Gu Lanqiu an intuition: Jiang Mengyu might lash out at anyone, but she would never harm her.

“I’ll have someone look into this thoroughly.”

Gu Lanqiu rubbed her temples. “Don’t overthink it. Get some rest.”

Jiang Mengyu pressed her lips together. “Are you leaving?”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

The results from Xu Zeyan’s side hadn’t come in yet. His chest injury, which hadn’t fully healed, had suffered another severe blow. He’d probably be bedridden for a while.

Good. At least he wouldn’t be causing trouble every day.

A cold glint flashed in Gu Lanqiu’s eyes.

Jiang Mengyu noticed the indifference in her expression, and a trace of mockery flickered deep in her gaze so fleeting it was almost imperceptible.

In the original story, Xu Zeyan’s greatest backer had been Gu Lanqiu. If not for Gu Lanqiu’s post-accident disillusionment with life, leading her to withdraw from everything, how could Xu Zeyan have pulled off all those domineering CEO antics later?

Jiang Mengyu opened the task panel and glanced at it. She currently had 137 favorability points not even half of the target value but the plot deviation had already risen to 50.

After she saved Gu Lanqiu that night, the plot deviation seemed to have jumped to 40.

Covering her lips, Jiang Mengyu coughed softly twice, as if utterly exhausted. Her eyes were half-lidded, and her voice was faint.

“Lanqiu, I know he hasn’t done anything yet.” She paused. “And he probably won’t get the chance to do anything in the future.”

“But I still hate him.”

Still, after tonight’s incident, Xu Zeyan likely wouldn’t dare harass her again.

Jiang Mengyu’s heart remained unperturbed. She didn’t think she had gone too far after all, Xu Zeyan had brought this upon himself.

But System 031 must be devastated, right?

System 031 was indeed numb.

In just over a week in this world, it had witnessed the male lead’s favorability toward the host plummet from 70 to 20.

A full 50 points of favorability gone!!

System 031’s metaphorical heart ached.

Unfortunately, ever since a host a few years ago couldn’t endure the system’s electric shock punishment and chose to perish together with the system, the Main God revised the system rules, strictly prohibiting any form of corporal punishment against hosts.

So, System 031 could only guide Jiang Mengyu through subtle persuasion but the host simply wouldn’t listen!

Seeing Gu Lanqiu remain silent, Jiang Mengyu pressed on, “Lanqiu, if something really happened to you, would you hand over all your shares to Xu Zeyan?”

“No,” Gu Lanqiu answered without hesitation.

Perhaps in the past, she might have done so. After all, no matter how strained their relationship was, Xu Zeyan was still her nephew.

But now, as she looked at Jiang Mengyu lying weakly in bed, her face drained of color, Gu Lanqiu inexplicably felt a pang of disappointment toward Xu Zeyan.

Zeyan was still too impulsive, he wasn’t a suitable successor.

The moment Gu Lanqiu finished speaking, Jiang Mengyu watched as the plot deviation value surged forward again, climbing to 60.

The male lead’s greatest backer was about to abandon him.

Jiang Mengyu suddenly wondered: If the male lead in a domineering CEO novel lost all the power, wealth, and status bestowed upon him by the author, becoming as ordinary as any other person, would he still be the male lead?

She didn’t press further, and the conversation between them ended there.

Gu Lanqiu kept her promise and didn’t leave, but Jiang Mengyu eventually succumbed to exhaustion, closing her eyes and falling into a deep sleep.

Lanqiu…

Don’t go.

The person before her was clearly fast asleep, breathing steadily, yet Gu Lanqiu could still hear her fragmented thoughts.

Dreaming again?

Gu Lanqiu quietly observed Jiang Mengyu on the hospital bed. Truthfully, she hadn’t fully believed Jiang Mengyu’s words. After all, she had no memory of the events Jiang Mengyu described. For Gu Lanqiu to believe she would one day fall in love with a woman, Jiang Mengyu’s words alone weren’t enough.

Gu Lanqiu had never been interested in women.

But over the years, she hadn’t met any man who could stir her heart either.

Perhaps, in the future, she really would develop an interest in Jiang Mengyu because of her madness, who could say for sure?

Gu Lanqiu lowered her gaze to her hands, recalling the warmth and fullness she had felt when holding Jiang Mengyu earlier. She realized she didn’t resist it.

Should she really allow this person to gradually invade her life?

Gu Lanqiu didn’t know.

All she knew was that she was still somewhat intrigued by Jiang Mengyu and wasn’t quite ready to end this game yet.

No matter how much truth lay in Jiang Mengyu’s words, one thing Gu Lanqiu could confirm: Jiang Mengyu truly had no lingering attachment to Xu Zeyan anymore.

That was enough.

She didn’t like things that belonged to her still carrying someone else’s mark.

Her phone buzzed twice in her pocket. Gu Lanqiu pulled it out and saw a message from Secretary Zhao, informing her that Xu Zeyan’s surgery had concluded.

Gu Lanqiu stood up and murmured to the caregiver, “Keep an eye on her.”

She left without a sound.

The caregiver, seeing Jiang Mengyu still asleep, adjusted the blankets around her before sitting back down.

Outside the door, faint footsteps echoed softly. Jiang Mengyu’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, her eyelids parting just a sliver.

The chair in front of her was empty, Gu Lanqiu had truly left.

When Zhou Xinying arrived at the hospital, she came openly.

She was far cleverer than Xu Zeyan, knowing to have Zhou’s father call Jiang Mengyu in advance and only coming after obtaining Jiang Mengyu’s consent.

Naturally, this couldn’t escape Gu Lanqiu’s notice, but she said nothing, clearly acquiescing.

When Zhou Xinying arrived, Jiang Mengyu had just taken her medicine. She leaned wearily against the headboard and barely glanced up at Zhou Xinying when she heard the movement.

Zhou Xinying paused mid-step. Jiang Mengyu really was different now. In the past, no matter how unwell she felt, she would still put on the act of a gentle, considerate elder sister in front of others.

But now, she might as well have written “can’t be bothered with you” across her face.

“Elder sister,” Zhou Xinying casually set down the fruit basket. “How could you not tell me about something as big as your hospitalization?”

“If Dad hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have known.”

Jiang Mengyu replied coldly, “Was it really Uncle Zhou who told you?”

Zhou Xinying stiffened slightly. She turned to meet Jiang Mengyu’s gaze, and the momentary sense of danger made her instinctively tense.

Jiang Mengyu’s eyes were dark. For a split second, Zhou Xinying felt as if she had been completely seen through exposed, with nowhere to hide.

A chill crept up her spine. The feigned innocence and timidity on Zhou Xinying’s lips faded slightly.

“Elder sister, what do you mean by that?” Zhou Xinying quickly masked her lapse, biting her lip. “Are you still blaming me?”

“Senior and I aren’t what you think?”

“Chen Moqi resigned from the hospital. Did you know?” Jiang Mengyu interrupted. “Gu Lanqiu is suing him for ‘unauthorized disclosure of patient privacy.'”

Zhou Xinying’s expression faltered. “Elder sister, I don’t understand what you’re saying. What does this have to do with Brother Moqi?”

Jiang Mengyu said nothing, silently watching her.

Zhou Xinying’s smile gradually faded until it disappeared entirely, her face now expressionless as she stared back at Jiang Mengyu.

If Zhou’s father had seen this, he might not have believed it, his usually timid and introverted daughter could be this sharp and assertive.

“Done pretending?” Jiang Mengyu’s voice was soft.

“And you?” Zhou Xinying shot back.

There was no need to keep up the act. Jiang Mengyu already knew everything.

Chen Moqi hadn’t told her about the lawsuit, but Zhou Xinying believed Jiang Mengyu wouldn’t lie about something so obvious.

“Jiang Mengyu,” Zhou Xinying no longer called her “elder sister.”

“Does Xu Zeyan know what kind of person you are?”

She asked, but she already knew the answer. Xu Zeyan likely had no idea otherwise, he wouldn’t have remained so stubbornly oblivious even after being beaten half to death by Jiang Mengyu.

Jiang Mengyu studied the female lead before her in silence. The original novel described her as sensitive and starved for love, clinging desperately to Xu Zeyan’s slightest kindness with unwavering devotion.

But the woman before her now wore a face full of mockery, her tone when mentioning Xu Zeyan colder than it would be for a stranger.

Just as she had suspected.

When System 031 had transmitted the original novel to her, Jiang Mengyu had already been skeptical. By the end of the story, the villainess was punished, all obstacles were cleared yet the male lead never married the female lead.

It defied the usual tropes of romance novels.

Did the author feel they should stop at this point?

Or was there some accident that prevented the male and female leads from truly ending up together?

Thinking back to the discrepancies between Chu Muyao’s true personality in the last world and the original novel’s portrayal of her, Jiang Mengyu guessed that it was most likely the female lead who had a problem.

Zhou Xinying’s current behavior just confirmed her suspicions.

Seeing that Jiang Mengyu remained silent, Zhou Xinying pressed on, “You really don’t want to marry Xu Zeyan anymore?”

Jiang Mengyu lowered her eyes slightly. “That gold locket is in the drawer of the bedroom on the second floor. If you want it, you can go get it yourself.”

Zhou Xinying clenched her fingers. “You knew…”

Did she know that Zhou Xinying had long been aware of who the true owner of that gold locket was?

Zhou Xinying had always thought of herself as the oriole stalking the mantis, never realizing that she was actually the prey being targeted, Jiang Mengyu was the hunter holding the gun.

All of Jiang Mengyu’s past foolish actions now took on a deeper meaning in Zhou Xinying’s eyes. Had she been putting on an act all along?

“Why?” Zhou Xinying couldn’t help but feel indignant.

Why stop pretending now?

“It’s boring.” Jiang Mengyu turned to look out the window, where a dusty sparrow hopped from branch to branch. “Compared to this, I’ve found something I care about more now.”

“What is it?” Zhou Xinying pressed.

“Is it related to Gu Lanqiu?”

At the mention of Gu Lanqiu, Jiang Mengyu’s expression finally shifted subtly.

“Don’t even think about targeting her.”

Zhou Xinying was stunned for a moment before surprise flickered across her face. “How could I possibly target Gu Lanqiu?”

So she even knew that Zhou Xinying had been deliberately competing with her for Xu Zeyan before.

Jiang Mengyu didn’t explain. Instead, she repeated in a cold, firm tone, “I can give you anything else.”

“But Gu Lanqiu, no.”

[Ding! Target Gu Lanqiu’s favorability +2. Current total favorability: 139.]

Out of the corner of her eye, Jiang Mengyu noticed a shadow moving by the door, but she remained silent.

Zhou Xinying, however, found Jiang Mengyu’s words strange.

What did she mean by that?

The person before her no longer looked at her, her gaze distant. From Zhou Xinying’s perspective, Jiang Mengyu’s long lashes cast delicate shadows, her profile flawless, the small mole at the corner of her eye adding the perfect touch.

Her beauty was indeed beyond reproach.

But Zhou Xinying couldn’t quite remember had Jiang Mengyu always had that mole?

The sense of unfamiliarity this person exuded was too strong. Zhou Xinying studied her suspiciously for a long moment before suddenly blurting out, “You’re not Jiang Mengyu.”

“Who are you?”

System 031 in Jiang Mengyu’s mind was practically terrified.

Not only was the female lead completely different from the original novel’s description, but why was she also so sharp?

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