The Female Lead of the Abusive Novel Can Hear My Heart's Voice - Chapter 4

As soon as the serious discussion began, Xia Mucai’s expression became stern. She sat upright on the sofa, and although she didn’t understand, she had the posture of someone conducting business.

The male protagonist, Teng Jingsi, curled his lips into a disdainful, mocking smile, laughing at Xia Mucai’s seriousness.

Only the weak would be so tense during a business negotiation. A strong person like him would be at ease, even on someone else’s turf, wearing a black suit and crossing his legs.

What should have been an intense scene of back-and-forth battling in a business war became a one-sided confrontation.

Xia Mucai was listening seriously to every contract because she knew nothing.

As they were talking, the man pulled out a cigarette from his bag, found a lighter, and lit the cigarette. Xia Mucai was momentarily speechless, her mouth slightly agape.

Soon, the acrid smell of the cigarette made Xia Mucai, who had never smelled smoke before, cough a few times. The corners of her eyes turned red, and tiny tears welled up.

She bent over, hunched her back, and covered her chest as she coughed. An ordinary person would have immediately put out the cigarette upon seeing this, but Teng Jingsi was no ordinary person.

Xia Mucai cursed in her heart, [This shameless male protagonist, how can he be so lacking in manners? Smoking in an enclosed space, I hope he chokes on it.]

She received a worried glance from Xia Chi, who was sitting opposite her. Xia Chi stopped writing and tightened her grip on the pen.

The notice was only momentary, as the discomfort in her lungs soon made her unable to pay attention to Xia Chi’s gaze across the table.

Mo Qi gently patted her back with one hand, asking anxiously, “Vice President, are you alright?”

She wanted to say she was fine, but she couldn’t even speak because of the coughing.

Mo Qi had seen this sort of thing often, usually when doing business with middle-aged, vulgar bosses. She never expected the twenty-something-year-old Young Master Teng to have the same bad habit as a middle aged man.

Xia Mucai’s condition angered even the usually good-tempered Mo Qi, who said with a hint of indignation, “Vice President Teng, do you absolutely have to smoke that cigarette?”

“Fine, fine, I won’t smoke it.” The man showed no remorse, and a clear look of mockery was on his face. He extended the hand holding the cigarette towards the person next to him, his intention self-evident. He was using Xia Chi as his ashtray.

“Secretary Xia, make sure you catch the ash with your hand. If even a speck of ash drops onto the floor of Vice President Xia’s company, I’ll make sure you never find a job again, you’ll be permanently unemployed.”

If Xia Mucai hadn’t been in pain right now, she would have immediately slapped Teng Jingsi twice upon hearing those words. He was just so insulting; he really thought he was a crown prince just because he had some stinking money.

Xia Chi was a member of the Xia family. Teng Jingsi doing this was undoubtedly a slap in the face to the Xia family.

“Vice President Teng, do you have to be so absolute?” Mo Qi frowned and said coldly.

“Mind your own business. I’m telling someone from my company what to do. Is it bothering you, a mere assistant?” Teng Jingsi was utterly arrogant, genuinely treating this place as his own home.

“Secretary Xia, hold your hand out properly. If the ash falls to the floor, you’ll be a manual laborer for the rest of your life. Understand?”

“Understand your mother!” Xia Mucai stood up and slapped Teng Jingsi across the face. Instantly, a deep red handprint appeared on Teng Jingsi’s chiseled face.

Xia Mucai was so enraged she couldn’t contain herself. “Smoking is one thing, but making someone catch your ash with their hand. Can’t you see the ashtray on the table?”

[Blind male protagonist! If you don’t need your eyes, you can donate them to someone who does!!!]

“You…”

Xia Mucai’s slap left Teng Jingsi speechless, making him look somewhat aggrieved.

“You what? Mo Qi, show him out!”

Mo Qi next to her blinked, utterly stunned.

Was this still the Vice President Xia she knew? A Vice President like this would surely lead the company to glory.

“Yes, Vice President!” Mo Qi gestured for him to leave. “Vice President Teng, please.”

“Hmph.” Teng Jingsi stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray, stood up angrily, and said, “You will regret this!”

Xia Mucai regretted it right now; she should have known the male protagonist’s brain wasn’t normal when she learned she would be negotiating with him.

Xia Chi, who had been silently following Teng Jingsi, stood up, preparing to continue following him with her head lowered. Unexpectedly, Xia Mucai took her hand.

“Xia Chi, don’t go back. You are the Xia family’s true daughter now.”

As she spoke, Xia Mucai felt a searing pain, as if her heart was being clutched by a hand. The pain made her let go of Xia Chi’s hand.

This was a warning from the divine: she was violating the plot. If the plot reached a point of no return, her mission would be considered a failure, and she would face death.

She heard a clatter. It turned out that Xia Chi, worried about her, had dropped the important pen and notebook in her hands and rushed to support her.

This person was a million times better than that idiotic male protagonist, and Xia Mucai was instantly moved.

“Are you alright…” Xia Chi didn’t know whether to call her ‘younger sister’ or ‘Vice President Xia.’

Xia Mucai looked up at the person supporting her and shook her head, indicating she was fine.

[How can the female protagonist be so much better than that bastard male protagonist, even though they are both main characters?] Xia Mucai complained internally.

“I’m fine.”

However, Teng Jingsi had heard her words. He paused, turned around, and took the opportunity to mock her again.

Teng Jingsi: “That’s right, my Secretary Xia is the Xia family’s true daughter. If I hadn’t promoted her, your Xia family’s true daughter would still be an intern at the bottom.”

Xia Chi realized the awkwardness her identity as the true daughter brought. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have worked there.”

The life she had planned out long ago was now bringing shame to her family.

“Vice President Teng, I want to resign.” Xia Chi said, her eyes welling up with tears, feigning strength.

!!!

Xia Mucai’s eyes widened. The pain in her heart stopped because the plot had advanced.

By accident, she had made the female protagonist voluntarily propose to leave the male protagonist, which then sparked a trace of loss in the male protagonist, as if his possession was leaving him. This was a sign of the male protagonist’s interest in the female protagonist!

[Good, good, good! I’m a genius! I actually completed the mission ahead of time.]

However, as her inner thought was voiced, she received a complicated look from Xia Chi.

She didn’t dare meet that gaze, only endlessly speculating in her mind, [Oh no… was I too happy with my performance just now?]

[Xia Mucai, Xia Mucai, you celebrated too soon.]

She pretended not to notice that gaze, hypnotizing herself that it must have been an illusion, it absolutely must have been.

As expected, Teng Jingsi felt that his possession was out of his control. He was furious. “Resign? Fine! I’ll wait for you to regret it!”

“Xia Chi, you will try every means to get close to me. I’ll play along with you anytime.”

After saying that, Teng Jingsi left with long strides without looking back. In Xia Mucai’s eyes, everything Teng Jingsi had just said sounded like a primary school student. He clearly cared about the female protagonist a little but pretended not to.

Xia Mucai’s lips curled into a tiny, almost imperceptible smile.

She merely sighed: [If the male protagonist had a brain, then even his childish behavior would be considered normal.]

The news of the company incident soon reached the ears of Father and Mother Xia. Although they weren’t at the company, its every move was under their surveillance.

In the evening, Xia Mucai drove her Porsche, picking up Xia Chi on the way home. Upon entering the villa and pushing open the door, the two seated figures at the long table simultaneously turned their gaze toward them.

There was a tense feeling, like fighting a boss in a castle in a game. It was clear that Father and Mother Xia had something to say to her and Xia Chi.

“Cai Cai, Xia Chi, you’re back.” The rich madam said with a fake smile, her tone clearly indicating she wasn’t too happy.

“Both of you sit down,” Father Xia said, relatively more serious.

Who are they trying to intimidate? Xia Mucai thought to herself. [I’m a demigod, at least. Do mere mortals think they can lecture me?]

She led Xia Chi to sit down steadily on the other side of the long table, facing her adoptive parents.

As soon as her butt touched the seat, the attack came from the opposite side. “Xia Chi, you’ve been home for half a month. It’s our oversight that we haven’t made arrangements for you.” The rich madam knew that one should not hit a smiling person, and even though her smile was fake and her appearance as a loving mother was also very false, she still had to maintain the act.

Xia Mucai glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw Xia Chi’s hands underneath the table tightly clenched into fists, digging her fingernails into her thighs.

“There are some things the orphanage won’t teach you. People live for a certain pride. You went to work at another company today and were recognized by others. Are you telling everyone that we mistreated you?”

She watched Xia Chi lower her head, take a deep breath, and say with a slight tremor in her voice, “No.”

The targeting was so obvious that even her not so clever brain could sense it, let alone the intelligent and sensitive Xia Chi.

This was different from the way the director taught them in the orphanage. The director was gentle guidance, whereas the biological mother’s tone carried oppression.

Xia Chi was remorseful, feeling she had done wrong and shamed the Xia family.

At the same time, she felt helpless. But… but she had promised the director that once she was successful, she would definitely repay the orphanage for their nurturing grace.

Father Xia’s deep baritone voice spoke, “Fortunately, the company you went to was the Teng family’s. The Teng family and our Xia family have had a relationship for over ten years. Your mother and I originally planned to arrange a marriage for Cai Cai with that boy, Teng Jingsi, but since you are here, your sister’s fiancé will be changed to you.”

[Hey, hey, hey, old man, you just know how to sow discord, turning a perfectly good sisterly relationship into a fight over a man.] This made Xia Mucai want to roll her eyes up to the heavens.

“Xia Chi, are you satisfied now? Tell us whatever you want. Remember, people live for that pride. Don’t live a struggling life like a beggar in an orphanage.”

[Madam, you talk as if you are so noble.]

This idiotic original plot had a lot for Xia Mucai to say. She snorted disdainfully at her adoptive parents, turned her head away, and rolled her eyes to her heart’s content.

Before long, she faintly heard Xia Chi’s choked sobs, and a bad feeling surged within her. [Xia Chi is crying…]

Anyone would cry. Their family, who had raised them for over ten years, was being described as struggling to survive. The orphanage, which was rescued by various members of society, was being called a beggar receiving handouts.

Hearing the soft sobs broke Xia Mucai’s heart. She couldn’t stand to see a delicate girl cry in front of her.

She couldn’t do anything, so she anxiously tried to comfort her internally. [Don’t cry, don’t cry. Those two are pure simpletons. They think they are superior because they have a little money. The more they act like this, the more self-conscious they are inside. They’re just jealous of how innocently and freely you live.]

Xia Mucai quickly saw Xia Chi blink, forcibly holding back her tears.

She sighed, As expected of the strong and resilient female protagonist of a tragic romance novel, not everyone has the courage to do that.