The Cold Heroine Turned Into a Yandere After Being - Chapter 6

Forceful and Ambiguous

Mo Zhu’s words were like a heavy bomb dropped into a calm lake.

The moment the words left her mouth, the air within a half-meter radius of the two women seemed to freeze solid.

The background noise of clinking glasses and low chatter vanished by half. The melodious music playing in the distance suddenly felt jarring and out of place in the abrupt silence.

Ji Shubai’s entire body had stiffened the second Mo Zhu grabbed her wrist. After processing what Mo Zhu had said, she was first stunned, then her eyes filled with utter disbelief.

Mo Zhu met her gaze, the smile in her peach-blossom eyes deepening. “Why are you looking at me like that? We’ve only been apart for a little while; have you forgotten me already?”

A flash of shame and indignation flickered across Ji Shubai’s shocked expression. However, Mo Zhu suspected it was more likely that the woman was simply infuriated by her sheer thick-skinned audacity.

After a brief, deathly silence, the surrounding guests began to erupt into a low, uncontrollable stir. Whispers spread like a rising tide.

“My god, did I hear that right?”

“Mo Zhu? Ji Shubai? I thought they hated each other in high school?”

“What does she mean, ‘I belong to her’? Is it what I think it means?”

Ji Shubai could clearly feel the gazes projecting from all directions a mixture of shock, scrutiny, and the hunger for a good show.

She instinctively tried to shake off Mo Zhu’s hand to escape this absurd situation, but Mo Zhu’s strength was unexpectedly formidable. Her fingers were like iron pincers, firmly locked around Ji Shubai’s slender wrist, unmoving. Ji Shubai could only hiss a sharp, low command: “Let go!”

Mo Zhu, however, turned a deaf ear, appearing determined to stay the course.

Xia Yitian finally found her voice amidst the shock. She stepped forward, looking at the two of them, and stammered incoherently, “Mo… Mo Zhu! You… you… her what is going on with you two?!”

She felt she desperately needed an explanation.

Mo Zhu shifted her gaze from Ji Shubai to Xia Yitian, her face still wearing that same nonchalant smile, as if she weren’t the one who had just detonated a social grenade.

“It’s exactly what it looks like,” she said airily. Her gaze swept over the crowd who were all ears, an invisible pressure spreading with her look. Finally, she locked eyes with the person who had been talking to Ji Shubai earlier.

This person was the organizer of the gathering and a high school classmate of Mo Zhu’s. Ji Shubai had only just started her conversation and hadn’t revealed much, so the host hadn’t guessed anything specific yet.

“I’m an assistant. I’m President Mo’s assistant,” Ji Shubai interjected, trying to pivot the crowd’s perception. However, her words lacked conviction—she knew exactly what that agreement represented, and her explanation sounded like a weak attempt to cover up the truth.

Nevertheless, Mo Zhu followed her lead. “Yes, an assistant.”

The people surrounding them were all clever. Seeing a way out of the awkwardness, they collectively chose to play dumb, nodding and making polite, superficial remarks.

“You all go ahead and chat. We have something to attend to and need to step away for a bit.”

The crowd took the hint immediately, turning away and pretending to resume their conversations. Yet, their wandering eyes and hushed discussions proved that this storm was only just beginning. It was destined to be the most explosive piece of gossip in their circle for some time to come.

Mo Zhu pulled Ji Shubai straight toward the relatively secluded terrace. Ji Shubai tried to struggle, but failed. Not wanting to cause a bigger scene, she had no choice but to follow.

The late autumn temperature was quite low. As they pushed through the glass doors, a chilly breeze swept over them, stripping away the warmth. Once the door closed, it blocked out the muffled, noisy environment behind them, leaving only the faint sound of the wind.

Mo Zhu lightly pushed the woman toward the railing, blocking her path.

“You can let go now!” Ji Shubai looked up at her, her voice laced with urgency.

Mo Zhu could even feel the slight protrusion of the veins in Ji Shubai’s wrist, pulsing forcefully under her fingertips as if vibrating with anger.

Looking at Ji Shubai’s humiliated expression—the look of someone who wished they could vanish on the spot combined with the previous reactions of the crowd, the frustration Mo Zhu had felt from her point deductions evaporated. In its place was a nearly morbid sense of satisfaction and control.

“Don’t be in such a rush. People are still watching.”

The terrace doors were made of transparent glass. Since they had just been the center of attention, many people were still observing them, openly or covertly.

Mo Zhu ignored Ji Shubai’s struggles and low protests. Instead, she leaned in slightly, bringing her lips close to Ji Shubai’s ear. In a voice meant only for the two of them, she whispered with a hint of a smile, “You came here today wanting to ‘get to know’ some useful contacts, didn’t you? See? The effect is great. Now everyone knows who you are. I might not be a great person, but my status comes with plenty of perks.”

“Or would you rather have recklessly revealed your identity as the Cheng family’s illegitimate daughter in front of everyone?” She paused, her voice dropping lower, carrying a non-negotiable dominance. “Play along. Don’t let my performance go to waste.”

As she finished, she didn’t loosen her grip. On the contrary, she tightened her hold on Ji Shubai’s wrist and pulled her slightly closer. The posture was forceful and ambiguous, as if she were intent on solidifying their “relationship” in the eyes of the onlookers.

Ji Shubai trembled with rage at Mo Zhu’s rogue behavior and the whispered words, but her pupils shrank sharply at the mention of the “Cheng family’s illegitimate daughter.”

She bit her lower lip hard, tasting the faint tang of iron before she managed to suppress the urge to lash out then and there.

Mo Zhu was right. Being labeled as “Mo Zhu’s person” in front of everyone, no matter how absurd or humiliating, acted as an invisible shield. It instantly blocked the malice and contempt that would have otherwise flooded her once her “illegitimate” status was known.

She turned to look at the group through the glass doors. In those scrutinizing gazes, there was now more wariness toward Mo Zhu and curiosity about this “relationship” than anything else.

“Actually, you’re not the one losing out here. I did say ‘I belong to you,’ after all.” Mo Zhu’s tone carried a hint of feigned grievance, as if she were the one being wronged.

Because she was so close, her warm breath brushed against Ji Shubai’s reddened ear.

Ji Shubai was clearly unaccustomed to such intimacy, but she was trapped between the railing and Mo Zhu, with no room to move.

Finally, as if resigning herself to fate, she stopped resisting. “You know my goal. Why help me?”

There was no such requirement in their agreement, and she didn’t believe Mo Zhu was truly a “good person.”

“Between the two of us, isn’t it only natural that I help you?” Mo Zhu was born with affectionate peach-blossom eyes, the corners naturally tilted upward as if imbued with a hazy sense of warmth and tenderness. “However, if Miss Ji is truly moved, I wouldn’t mind accepting a little compensation.”

The flicker of strange emotion that had risen in Ji Shubai vanished instantly. She lowered her eyes, a knowing, momentary smile playing on her lips. When she looked up again, her gaze had returned to its usual icy stillness.

“As for the compensation, let me think—”

Before Mo Zhu could finish, while her words still hung in the cool air, she saw those cold, still eyes suddenly flash with a hint of recklessness as Ji Shubai abruptly leaned in toward her.