The Female Lead of the Abusive Novel Can Hear My Heart's Voice - Chapter 22

On the day they rescued Tang Mingming, Xia Mucai and Xia Chi bid farewell to the people at the orphanage and drove away with the girl.

It was already evening when they returned, and Xia’s father and mother would certainly not agree to them bringing a stranger home.

Thinking of her partial adoptive parents, Xia Mucai knew that if she brought Tang Mingming home, they would definitely criticize Xia Chi.

They would say Xia Chi led her astray and was a wicked woman.

She couldn’t bear to have Xia Chi wrongly accused, so to make things easier, she booked a presidential suite in a five-star hotel for Tang Mingming on the way back.

Seeing Xia Mucai finally home, her adoptive mother asked with concern, “Cai Cai, where did you go to play today? Do you have enough money?”

With that, she even helped Xia Mucai with the handbag she was holding.

The adoptive mother took a card out of the bag and handed it to Xia Mucai, explaining, “This is the compensation from the Gao family. I told them to apologize to you. Did they apologize?”

“Mom,” Xia Mucai didn’t want the constantly chattering “loudspeaker” following her around. “Gao Jinghuan apologized, Mom, please stop bothering me. Go get a beauty sleep, don’t ruin your well-preserved face.”

Hearing this, the rich lady felt relieved, then touched her face and smiled kindly, saying, “Then Mom won’t bother you. Cai Cai, you should go to bed early too.”

Watching the rich lady leave, Xia Mucai couldn’t help but sigh.

If they had given some of that love to Xia Chi too, Xia Chi wouldn’t be a lonely little pitiful person with no one to care for.

Towards this adoptive mother who always defended her, her feelings were more of resentment.

Xia Chi, standing nearby, saw this, and her heart felt as warm as if it had been basking in the sun.

Because Xia Mucai cared for her and sighed for her.

[“She is really so different, I like her so much.”]

When they reached the center of the second-floor hallway, with one room to the left and one to the right, at the point of “parting ways,” Xia Mucai forced herself to sound cheerful and said, “Xia Chi, sleep early.”

Xia Chi seemed unaffected by the day’s fatigue and still had the energy to reply, “Mhm, see you tomorrow.”

They both suspected the other was on a high, not feeling tired after a busy day.

“Going now,” Xia Mucai said, dragging her tired body back to her room.

Little did she know that as she left, the person behind her watched her with gentle, lingering eyes.

If she knew, she would definitely point at Xia Chi’s nose and say, “Be careful, you’re the female lead. You shouldn’t be giving that look to me, the supporting female character, but to the male lead. Snap out of it.”

But she knew none of this. She didn’t know someone was watching her gently, and even less that she had stolen the male lead’s thunder.

Day broke, the white wall turned into a floor to ceiling glass window, and Xia Mucai sat in the Vice President’s office, sipping her first cup of hot coffee of the morning.

She put down her coffee cup and asked Mo Qi, who was standing beside her, “When can the lawyer settle Tang Mingming’s matter?”

“Vice President, it’s already being handled, and the data is also being collected.”

The morning view outside the floor-to-ceiling window was exceptionally beautiful, with colorful clouds drifting by. Xia Mucai clasped her hands together, resting her chin on them, and looked at the scenery.

“I want to take Tang Mingming to see the outside world more these days. She’s about to take the college entrance exam, right? If she keeps dwelling on her parents abandoning her, her life will be ruined.”

“So, I’ll leave the company affairs to you for the next few days.”

In Mo Qi’s heart, her Vice President was simply a good person. To do this much for an unrelated stranger was akin to a living Bodhisattva.

“Vice President, don’t worry, things haven’t been very busy here lately.”

Suddenly, Xia Mucai thought of something. She lowered the hand that was supporting her chin, leaned back in the boss chair, and spun around to face Mo Qi, saying seriously, “I will no longer be your Vice President. Xia Chi will take my place.”

The woman opposite her looked surprised because the announcement was sudden.

“You mean, you won’t be the Vice President anymore…”

Seeing Mo Qi’s expression, Xia Mucai thought she must assume she was leaving for good.

That was almost right.

Xia Mucai rubbed her temples. “Don’t act like I’m leaving. I just want to be a lazy person. Xia Chi’s abilities are more suited for this Vice President role.”

The woman sighed in relief and told Xia Mucai what she was thinking, “I thought you were going to leave and go somewhere far away.”

In Xia Mucai’s mind, [Isn’t that right? Your Vice President is about to do something bad, so I have to arrange everything before running away.]

Thinking of the upcoming plot, darn it, it was truly a headache.

She was actually going to foolishly tell the male lead what Xia Chi’s weakness was.

Now she could only silently curse in her mind, [Which idiot author wrote this brainless book, anyway?]

“Mo Qi, go and see why Xia Chi hasn’t returned yet after buying breakfast.”

“Yes, Vice President.”

Near the Xia family’s company were many small eateries, but not many breakfast shops. This was mainly because office workers were afraid of being late and usually ate a combined meal around noon, so that time was the bustling one.

Carrying a large bag of soy milk and fried dough sticks, one could see the statue on the wide ground floor of the Xia family’s company from a distance.

Her gaze was instantly fixed on a well-figured woman wearing a crop top and jeans.

Her waistline was smooth and flowing, and the hips encased in the jeans were firm, but her face was somewhat pale, which clashed with her outfit.

She should have been lying in a hospital bed in a sick gown.

Suddenly, Teng Jingsi, who seemed to come out of nowhere, grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the woman.

The soy milk she was carrying spilled out, but the man didn’t care.

“Xia Chi, come with me, and make it clear. I have nothing to do with you.”

Xia Chi forcefully pulled her wrist out of the man’s grip and said without any politeness, “Teng Jingsi, what are you doing!”

The man turned around and sneered, his eyes revealing disdain. He looked down on people with his chin raised high.

“I’m telling you, we are only connected by a business marriage. I don’t love you at all. Now come with me and make things clear to the woman I love.”

“You’re crazy!” Xia Chi slapped Teng Jingsi across the face.

“No one will like you, I’m telling you. I have someone I like, and that person isn’t you. You should also be clear, this is just a business marriage. You’d better not disrupt my life, or you’ll regret it!”

The man’s face stung from the slap, but for some reason, his heart hurt more than the pain on his face.

It seemed that when he heard Xia Chi, his subordinate, his possession, say that she had someone she liked, and that person wasn’t him, his heart felt soaked in water, sour and swollen.

The veins on Teng Jingsi’s neck bulged. He was so angry that his face turned red, and he said, “Say that again.”

His hand grabbed Xia Chi’s neck and pushed her towards the red wall by the roadside.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he growled ominously, sounding like a warning, “Xia Chi, you are already mine. I won’t allow your heart to be filled with anyone else. I don’t care about any business marriage. Your name is going to be on the Teng family’s household register. You are my person!”

“Even if you don’t like me, you must remember my name. I am your destiny!”

Xia Chi cried out in pain as her back hit the wall, though she only gasped.

Her neck was squeezed, and breathing was difficult, but she refused to remain silent, forcing words out from between her teeth.

“In your dreams! I will not marry you!”

The man was so furious that he was breathing heavily, his face red and veins throbbing.

Xia Chi: “If you have the guts, kill me. It’s already good enough that I haven’t dragged you in front of the person I like to explain everything. Why should I explain myself in front of the person you like?”

Teng Jingsi: “Who is the person you like? Is it the man from the engagement party last time? You are indeed a slut who seduces men!”

“Dressing so revealingly, you’ve been ready to seduce people for a long time, haven’t you?”

“I should have taken you that night. You would have been mine.”

Xia Chi was now breathing more out than in. A thin layer of cold sweat covered her forehead, her beautiful eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and her half-closed eyes showed stubborn, unyielding light.

Teng Jingsi asked her, “Beg me, and I’ll let you go.”

She squeezed out from between her teeth, “Dream on!”

Because her neck was choked, she couldn’t breathe, and her body went limp. She lost the strength to hold the soy milk and fried dough sticks in her hand, and they dropped to the ground, scattering everywhere.

Those were the breakfast items she had prepared for Xia Mucai.

She wanted to sit beside her, watch her cheeks puff out as she ate, and stroke her head, telling her to eat slowly.

All of this was ruined by the man in front of her. Xia Chi’s eyes were filled with only unwillingness. If she had enough strength, she wouldn’t be choked by the man, on the verge of death.

Just as she was filled with regret and reluctance, in an instant, the hand gripping her neck released.

Her legs went soft, and she squatted on the ground, coughing and holding her reddened neck. Her eyes were fixed on the man who had let her go.

“What do you want?”

Teng Jingsi hid the unease and heartache in his eyes. Standing against the light, his face was unclear.

“Xia Chi, you are my person. Your eyes and heart must be for me. We are getting married.”

Even while coughing and struggling to breathe, Xia Chi remained firm and corrected the man’s words.

“I won’t marry you, never.”

Hearing this, a soft snort came from above her head, and the figure blocking her left.

Xia Chi’s eyes flashed with fierce resolve. She glanced around. People were coming and going quickly, but quite a few had gathered to watch the commotion.

She stood in place, her body swaying. She held onto the wall, cleaned up the mess on the ground, and went to buy a new batch of breakfast.

When Mo Qi got off the elevator, a crowd was gathered outside. She saw Gu Baian in the center of the crowd at a glance.

After one night, the other woman’s face was much paler.

She wondered what Gu Baian was doing here downstairs at the company today. She thought, could she be here to look for her?

Mo Qi stood in place for a long time, missing the drama between Xia Chi and Teng Jingsi.

After a moment, she saw Gu Baian look over at her. The bloodless face of the other woman smiled, delicate and fragile like glass flowers.

“Mo Qi.”

Hearing the person call her name, she regained her focus and walked towards her.

“What are you doing here?”

Gu Baian tentatively asked, “Did you see the moment I posted yesterday?”

“No,” came the cold reply.

The woman almost burst into tears. She took out a piece of paper from the bag on her shoulder with a trembling hand.

Written clearly in black and white on the paper:

Gu Baian, End Stage Uremia.

“I came to see you one last time. From now on, we will be separated by life and death.”

Mo Qi raised an eyebrow, clearly disbelieving. She took the paper from Gu Baian’s hand and saw the glaring words.

“Where did you get this test result?”

She asked casually, her eyes like a primary school teacher, with the look of seeing through a lie but still insisting on hearing the nonsense.

Gu Baian looked guilty, hooking her two thumbs together.

“Just yesterday.”

Mo Qi’s eyes were exactly like those of a lynx, as if they were knives dipped in poison.

That imposing demeanor quickly subsided, but not a hint of worry could be seen on her face.

It was true, just as Gu Baian said, she was a hard-hearted person.

“Alright, what do you want?”

With a crumpling sound, the “End-Stage Uremia” test result was casually tossed by Mo Qi into the trash can in front of the company.

“I have a terminal illness, and I want you to stay with me.”

Silently, Mo Qi said in her heart [Childish.]