The Cannon Fodder Roles I Play All Become White Moonlights [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 18.1

Su Qingmoon gently stroked the ruby at her chest, her translucent fingertips dancing over the bewitching red hue, causing Ling Yuanbai’s Adam’s apple to bob. Eventually, he averted his gaze from her and asked once more, “What exactly do you want?”

“Your father wants to meet me, but I’m afraid it might be a trap. So, could you record everything around me for the next couple of days?” Su Qingmoon blinked innocently.

Ling Yuanbai stood up abruptly, barely containing his near loss of control. “Refuse. Don’t go see him.”

Su Qingmoon chuckled softly. “Don’t you know what your father is like? A girl like me, with no power or influence, can’t possibly avoid him.”

Ling Yuanbai looked down at her from his height. The smile on her face didn’t seem forced at all. He rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on, but it was true, as she said, if Ling Qin wanted to meet someone, he would never allow a refusal. His father had always been lofty and unapproachable.

Pressing his lips tightly together, he pondered how to prevent Ling Qin from meeting Su Qingmoon alone. “When and where did he arrange to meet you?”

“The necklace has a tracker. You’ll see when the time comes, won’t you?” Su Qingmoon smiled again as she stood up, meeting his gaze. “No need to be too tense. Maybe we can capture some information that will be useful to you, Senior Ling. All you need to do is keep the surveillance recording on. If it really helps you, consider it my way of repaying you for all the times you’ve helped me.”

“What kind of repayment is this?” Ling Yuanbai had never spoken to anyone about his desire to confront Ling Qin, and he wanted to refute her. Yet, faced with her lively and clear eyes, he found himself at a loss for words. Though they had never been intimate and he had never spoken of it, she always seemed to see right through him.

Ling Yuanbai wasn’t sure whether he felt more embarrassed or more stirred. In the end, he sneered, “What useful information could he possibly tell you? Su Qingmoon, don’t overestimate yourself. Keep your mask on firmly in front of him, and just get through it. As long as you’re useless to him, he won’t bother with you anymore. Don’t try to be clever.”

“Alright, I’ll remember your advice, Senior Ling.” She nodded. “Let’s not talk about this anymore. Let’s eat.”

Ling Yuanbai was slightly taken aback, not expecting Su Qingmoon to actually sit down and eat with him.

The private restaurant, specializing in home-style dishes, was small, and the intimate booth, designed for couples, was just the right size. Ling Yuanbai and Su Qingmoon were sitting quite close, close enough that he could have pulled her into his embrace with a single reach of his hand.

He sat there, watching the girl eat unhurriedly. Her posture was elegant, as if she had received professional etiquette training. Her earlier remark about learning many things to marry into a wealthy family seemed to hold some truth. But then, the memory of her saying that even if she broke up with Fang Mo, she wouldn’t choose him flashed through his mind.

Unconsciously, Ling Yuanbai tapped his fingers on the table twice.

Noticing his tightly pressed lips, Su Qingmoon picked up the serving chopsticks and precisely placed a dish he liked onto his plate. He looked up at her, and she smiled. Silently, he picked up his own chopsticks.

This was perhaps the most peaceful moment they had ever shared, much like the morning sunlight that filled the room, unremarkable yet warm and comforting.

Ling Yuanbai pressed his lips together, ultimately choosing not to disrupt this rare tranquility.

After the meal, Su Qingmeng mentioned she had no classes in the afternoon and didn’t need to return to school. Ling Yuanbai stared at her for a long while before realizing he had no reason to ask her to stay. He pursed his lips and said, “Where do you want to go? I’ll take you.”

“No need,” she replied. She still had to go to the hospital to find Yao Jia.

When Yao Jia encountered Su Qingmeng again at the hospital, her thoughts drifted back to Fang Mo. In truth, the first time she had seen Fang Mo was in a photo on Su Qingmeng’s phone. The silhouette was strikingly similar, but Fang Mo’s face was different, it resembled her own.

Even though Yao Jia could see that Su Qingmeng wanted to speak with her, she made no effort to linger. She tried to walk past, but Su Qingmeng blocked her path.

“Auntie, I’d like to talk to you about your son,” Su Qingmeng said bluntly.

Yao Jia looked at her in panic, her face pale as she stammered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ignoring the ringing of her phone, she knew it was Ling Yuanbai calling, Su Qingmeng hung up, silenced the device, and placed it in her bag. Calmly, she said to Yao Jia, “Auntie, avoiding the problem won’t solve anything. And restraints can be broken.”

She reached out and removed the necklace from Yao Jia’s neck, hanging it on the nearby windowsill. “The choice is yours.”

Yao Jia stood frozen. Removing the necklace, a symbol of her bondage, had not been difficult. She stared blankly at the necklace swaying slightly in the breeze on the windowsill, making no move to retrieve it. Instead, she allowed Su Qingmeng to lead her away from the hospital.

Su Qingmeng brought Yao Jia to the private restaurant owned by Ling Yuanbai. The restaurant was closed for the afternoon, but the manager recognized Su Qingmeng from her previous visit with Ling Yuanbai and escorted them to the same private room.

Su Qingmeng took out her phone and showed Yao Jia a photo of Fang Mo. It was taken during the New Year when they were together. The aloof young man, wrapped in a red scarf, seemed to carry a touch of warmth and humanity in his expression.

His features, so strikingly similar to hers, and the shape of his face, almost identical to his biological father’s, made Yao Jia break down in tears. This was her child! She didn’t need a paternity test to know it.

Su Qingmeng sat quietly, allowing Yao Jia to release her emotions fully. After crying for a long time, Yao Jia took a pill from her bag and swallowed it, trying to calm herself. She looked at Su Qingmeng with a complicated expression. “As long as you and that child is happy, don’t involve yourselves in anything else.”

“A Mo is my boyfriend, and Senior Ling…” Su Qingmeng paused with a light laugh before continuing slowly, “is also a very important friend. I want both of them to be well.”

“I want both of them to be well too…” Yao Jia said, her hands trembling as she reached for another pill. But Su Qingmeng gently stopped her.

With a soft sigh, Su Qingmeng said, “Auntie, but right now, neither of them is doing well. Your husband wants A Mo dead, and Senior Ling isn’t faring well in the Ling family either. The injuries on his body never seem to heal.”

Yao Jia froze, lifting her gaze to meet Su Qingmeng’s clear, penetrating eyes. The words she had intended to refute suddenly felt weak and powerless. She covered her face with her hands, tears slowly trickling through her fingers. “What… what does A Mo know?”

“He didn’t say anything, but I suspect he might have doubts about who his mother is, though he doesn’t question that Mr. Ling is his father.”

“No! He’s not!” Yao Jia interrupted Su Qingmeng’s words agitatedly. “He’s not A Mo’s father at all! He isn’t!”

She knew her own child well, the boy was not Ling Qin’s, but hers and that man’s. Especially as A Mo grew older, his silhouette was almost identical to his biological father’s!

Su Qingmeng looked at her, and Yao Jia gave a bitter smile. “I often doubted whether Yuanbai was really my child because Ling Qin had a paternity test done, and it confirmed Yuanbai is his son.”

Back then, when she was with A Mo’s father, she had been assaulted by Ling Qin, leaving her uncertain about the child’s true parentage. Ling Yuanbai bore some resemblance to her, but she always felt he wasn’t the child she had fought so hard to bring into the world. Later, as she watched Ling Yuanbai being beaten black and blue by Ling Qin, day after day, sometimes so severely he hovered on the brink of death, she thought, even if he wasn’t her biological child, he was the same age as her own, and so pitiful. She might as well treat him as her own.

Over the years, she had drifted through life in a daze. It wasn’t until she saw Fang Mo that her heart stirred with excitement. Hearing Su Qingmeng say that Ling Qin was targeting Fang Mo, she almost instantly knew, Fang Mo was her child!

Yao Jia smiled faintly, then suddenly burst into tears. “After A Mo’s father died, I didn’t want to marry Ling Qin. All these years, I’ve thought about following him in death, but Ling Qin told me Yuanbai was my child. He said if I died, he would make Yuanbai die with me. No, the truth is, I’m just afraid of death. I’m just weak.”

Su Qingmeng gently patted her back, comforting her softly. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to live.”

Once Yao Jia’s emotions had settled somewhat, Su Qingmeng asked, “Auntie, if I may ask, how did A Mo’s father pass away?”

Yao Jia seemed reluctant to revisit the memory and remained silent for a long time before finally speaking. “He died in a car accident.”

Fang Mo’s father had built his business from scratch and was no match for Ling Qin. Ling Qin had schemed to bury him in debt, and debt collectors came daily, beating him until he was covered in injuries. Ling Qin approached her, promising to clear Fang Mo’s father’s debts if she married him. But the day after their wedding, she was informed that Fang Mo’s father had died in a car accident while driving under the influence.

“Didn’t you ever suspect anything?” Su Qingmeng pressed. “A Mo is meticulous in everything he does. What about his father?”

Yao Jia’s eyes widened. It was something she hadn’t considered in years, but Fang Mo’s father had indeed been a cautious man, and Ling Qin was capable of anything.

Su Qingmeng continued to ask about the events of that year, her voice gentle yet firm, each question guiding Yao Jia like a psychological counselor. Details from the past that Yao Jia had overlooked flashed through her mind one after another, and her trembling grew increasingly violent.

“Bang!” But before Yao Jia could reveal more useful information, Ling Yuanbai rushed over. His gaze was complex as he looked at Su Qingmeng. “Su Qingmeng, don’t act on your own cleverness, and don’t meddle in other people’s business. Otherwise, you won’t even know how you die.”

Su Qingmeng blinked her eyes, but right now, she was determined to figure out exactly who had caused “her” death.

Ling Yuanbai couldn’t let Ling Qin trace this place just yet. He needed to take Yao Jia back first. Before leaving, he warned Su Qingmeng once again not to act on her own cleverness.

After they left, Su Qingmeng also stood up and went out. At the door, she spotted Fang Tinglan hiding nearby.

Fang Tinglan’s face was pale, likely because she had seen Ling Yuanbai leaving with Yao Jia. She made several calls, but no one answered, probably trying to reach Ling Yuanbai. In the end, she could only leave in frustration.

[Fang Tinglan left in tears. Su Qingmeng recognized her as Fang Mo’s mother and found it strange that she would appear here. Out of curiosity, she followed Fang Tinglan.] The system mechanically recited a passage. [Host, this is the next plot point that must be completed.]

What was bound to happen had finally arrived.

Su Qingmeng sighed softly and asked the system, “When I read novels, the systems always had a function to block pain. Do you have that?”

The system remained silent for a long time, as if a customer service agent had gone to consult the boss. After a while, it replied: [Pain sensation can be blocked for the host.]

Su Qingmeng followed Fang Tinglan at a distance, neither too close nor too far.

Fang Tinglan hadn’t walked far when she received a phone call and was then picked up by a van.

Su Qingmeng hailed a taxi and followed them. She also sent a message to Ling Yuanbai, who quickly called back: “Su Qingmeng, can’t you just stay put? This has nothing to do with you.”

“If you can’t handle it, I’ll ask my Ah Mo for help,” Su Qingmeng said with utter indifference. Instantly, the sound of Ling Yuanbai grinding his teeth came through the phone as he snarled, “No need for Fang Mo. I’ll drop my mom off at home first and then come get you.”

Then he hung up.

Su Qingmeng didn’t mind. To be safe, she turned on her phone’s recording function.

Fang Tinglan was taken to an abandoned construction site. The location was remote, a perfect place for murder and disposing of a body.

Su Qingmeng quietly followed behind and sighed again. Although the reality of this world was questionable, facing death still made her somewhat afraid of the pain. She asked the system once more, “Can you make my corpse look a bit more aesthetically pleasing? At least preserve the beauty of my face.”

An actor’s professionalism meant even death had to be graceful.

The system quickly replied: [Yes.]