The Supporting Female Lead Chooses to Mark the Villain [Rebirth] - Chapter 10

“Pfft.” Shen Que suddenly burst into laughter.

The reaction was so bizarre that both Shen Zui and Shen Nian looked at her in confusion.

Shen Que doubled over, covering her mouth as suppressed laughter escaped through the gaps of her fingers—a grating sound, like the frantic quacking of a duck. She couldn’t control herself; her entire body shook with the effort, and the coat draped over her arm slipped unnoticed to the floor.

Shen Nian clicked her tongue in surprise and called out softly, “Mother?”

“Mm, haha… it’s nothing. I’m fine.” Shen Que waved her hand, finally calming her emotions. She braced herself against the foot of the bed and stood straight again.

There were traces of tears in the corners of her eyes from laughing so hard. She looked at Shen Zui with a sparkling gaze. “You’re right. It’s just… cough… it’s just for the sake of treatment.”

Shen Zui narrowed her eyes. “Is there a problem?”

“None at all.” Shen Que bent down gracefully, picked up her coat, and gave it a casual pat to dust it off. Her lips curled into a smile as she murmured under her breath, “If only Mother had understood this logic sooner… what use is a ‘noble character’ if it’s not as important as one’s life?”

Shen Nian frowned. She had a nagging feeling that whatever Shen Que was saying, it wasn’t anything good.

“Ahem.” Shen Que cleared her throat.

She forced herself back into her usual composed self, though the corners of her eyes and brows still carried an indelible hint of joy. “Shen Nian.”

“Yes?”

“I have some business to attend to, so I must leave.” Shen Que walked over and patted Shen Nian’s shoulder. “Take good care of your Aunt.”

Shen Nian suppressed the urge to recoil and lowered her head with a soft “Mm.”

Shen Que gave Shen Zui one last smiling glance, waved, and walked straight out of the room. The doctor, seeing this, tactfully followed behind her and thoughtfully closed the door for the two of them.

“Why was Mother laughing so strangely?” Once they were alone, Shen Nian couldn’t help but ask the question burning in her mind.

She understood Qi Yun’s desire to watch the drama unfold, and Shen Zhuan’s reaction was expected—the girl was inherently a social climber who admired power. Having witnessed Shen Zui’s ruthless methods as a child, Shen Zhuan viewed her Aunt through a thick filter of reverence. To her, Shen Nian marking Shen Zui was like a rat from the gutter defiling the Pearl of the Shen family; it would be weirder if she hadn’t gone insane with rage.

But Shen Que…

It was normal to be happy about a younger sister’s recovery, but anyone with eyes could see that her joy wasn’t directed at Shen Zui’s health.

“Perhaps the pressure is too much,” Shen Zui replied flatly, clearly lacking interest in the topic. She pushed the bowl of pineapple forward and let out a soft burp. “I’m full.”

Shen Nian smiled helplessly and stepped forward to clean up. She had bought a whole pineapple, and the bowl was still more than half full; Shen Zui had barely eaten any. Not wanting it to go to waste, Shen Nian picked up the fork and popped a piece into her own mouth.

The fresh pineapple was crisp and tender, bursting with juice that instantly hijacked her taste buds.

“So sweet,” Shen Nian remarked.

Shen Zui leaned her elbows on the small over-bed table, her dark eyes watching Shen Nian intently.

Feeling self-conscious under that gaze, Shen Nian tentatively pushed the bowl toward her. “Do you want more?”

Shen Zui shook her head. “Eat it yourself.”

“Mm.” Shen Nian was so distracted by the way Shen Zui was looking at her that she didn’t notice she had stuffed a piece that was slightly too large into her mouth.

Unable to contain it all, a drop of juice escaped the corner of her lips and began to slide down. Her eyes widened; she set the bowl down and reached urgently for the tissue box on the other side of the table.

Before she could pull a tissue, Shen Zui’s finger swept across her chin first.

Shen Nian stared blankly as Shen Zui nonchalantly brought that finger to her own lips and extended her tongue to give it a light lick.

Shen Zui likely didn’t realize how alluring the gesture was; she did it with absolute naturalness. As the soft, fragrant tip of her tongue curled around the droplet and vanished between her lips, Shen Nian couldn’t help but swallow hard in sympathy.

Seeing Shen Nian’s gaze fixed on her face, Shen Zui wrinkled her nose. “Are you really that stingy?”

Shen Nian snapped back to reality. She shook her head with glazed eyes and hurriedly wiped her mouth with a tissue, only to realize her cheeks had become embarrassingly hot.

“Pfft,” Shen Zui let out a light laugh.

Waiting patiently until Shen Nian had swallowed the fruit, she began to settle an old score. “You were nowhere to be found all afternoon. Where did you run off to?”

Shen Nian patted her chest to help the food go down. She looked up and said, “I got a gym membership.”

“A gym membership?” Shen Zui tilted her head.

“Yes.” Shen Nian looked at Shen Zui’s slender arms. Remembering the medical report, she suddenly asked, “Was I fat when I was a child?”

“No,” Shen Zui denied. The information she provided matched Shen Nian’s memories perfectly. “You were always very thin and frail. No matter how we fed you, you wouldn’t put on weight.”

Shen Nian nodded thoughtfully. “I see.”

Shen Zui reached out and circled Shen Nian’s wrist with her fingers. “Does Shen Zhuan still bully you like she used to?”

At the mention of this “sister,” Shen Nian let out a cold laugh. “No.” Her expression turned serious. “I’m not that easy to bully anymore.”

Shen Zui partially lowered her eyes. “I know her character. She is arrogant and haughty, unable to tolerate even a grain of sand in her eye. Moreover, she was spoiled by her mother and doesn’t know the first thing about restraint.”

Shen Nian agreed wholeheartedly. “That’s true.”

“There are ways to deal with her,” Shen Zui said, her lips curving into a faint smile, her words an almost explicit hint. “If she is ever aggressive toward you again, come and find me.”

“There’s no need.” Shen Nian waved her off. Afraid that Shen Zui would look down on her, she puffed out her chest and said emphatically, “I’ve been taller than her for a long time. She’s just a Beta—what can she do to me in a fight?”

“…” Shen Zui gave a skin-deep smile and reached out to poke Shen Nian’s forehead. “Oh? So you’re quite the tough one, then?”

Shen Nian blinked her large eyes, clutching her forehead in confusion. She explained lamely, “She rarely provokes me now that we’re older.” Even if she did, it was usually in the form of “hidden arrows” shot from the shadows.

“Oh.” The smile vanished completely from Shen Zui’s face as she leaned back gloomily against the headboard.

Shen Nian didn’t know why she had suddenly turned sour. She quickly finished the remaining pineapple and took the bowl and fork out to wash them thoroughly.

That evening, after accompanying Shen Zui for dinner, she walked back to the main residence alone.

In front of the house, she ran into Qi Yun, who was just about to head out. “Where is your mother?” Qi Yun asked sharply.

Shen Nian shook her head. “She said she had business and left. Has she not returned?”

“Business?” Qi Yun clenched her fists, her face full of disdain. Suddenly, she turned to Shen Nian and let out a spiteful, cold laugh before brushing past her and walking away.

Shen Nian brushed off her shoulder with a blank expression, feeling that there was something hidden in that final look.

When she entered the main house and looked up to see her bedroom door wide open, she realized something was wrong. She sprinted up the stairs.

“Shen! Zhuan!”

Her originally neat and clean room had been ransacked and left in a shambles. In the center of the room, Shen Zhuan sat cross-legged on the wooden chair Shen Nian usually used, flipping through a notebook with an unreadable expression.

Seeing her enter, Shen Zhuan mockingly raised the journal in her hand.