The Tragic Heroine Fell in Love with Me - Chapter 35

Zheng Qi gazed tenderly at Xiao San.

“With you here, I can go anywhere.”

If Li Ailun were present, he would surely say that Zheng Qi’s feelings for Xiao San weren’t pure.

Zheng Qi never admitted it, of course, and Xiao San never noticed anything unusual. Isn’t this how good friends are supposed to be?

Zheng Qi took Xiao San to a hotel for a meal and then escorted her home.

Xiao San didn’t dare bring up the idea of no longer being friends, and Zheng Qi acted as if they had never been apart. The two years of separation were silently ignored by mutual agreement.

However, having not seen each other for two years, it felt as though there was a distance between them.

That distance.

Was two years of life experience, two years of change, two years during which Zheng Qi had suddenly become Mi Sirui.

It was Xiao San suddenly feeling a sense of aversion toward the Shen family and Zheng Qi.

Zheng Qi wanted to understand.

Xiao San wanted to escape.

Zheng Qi mentioned opening an IT department for Xiao San, which she took as a joke. But within a few days, Zheng Qi notified Xiao San to start work.

The IT department was only a ten-minute electric scooter ride from where Xiao San lived. Xiao’s father happily mentioned that the shop downstairs, which had long been unwilling to rent out, had suddenly become available.

So, from then on, Xiao’s father could start his small business right downstairs.

Aside from being happy for her father, Xiao San had a suspicion.

Maybe all of this was arranged by Zheng Qi.

The more Zheng Qi did things like this, the harder it became for Xiao San to distance herself.

Xiao San felt a little happy about Zheng Qi’s actions, yet also troubled by them.

“San’er, do you like this job? It’s just regular development work. I know you might not be ready to lead projects yet, so I specifically found a very skilled mentor for you. And, last time, I was too high-profile. This time, absolutely no one will know you got in through connections,” Zheng Qi said cheerfully to Xiao San.

When mentioning “connections,” Zheng Qi playfully winked.

It felt as though their personalities from two years ago and now had somehow reversed.

Xiao San couldn’t refuse Zheng Qi’s kindness.

She always found it impossible to refuse Zheng Qi.

Besides, this job was truly suitable for her, just as Zheng Qi had said.

During lunch breaks, Xiao San could even eat with Zheng Qi at nearby restaurants.

No one would find out, because the IT department was full of introverted programmers, completely different from Zhang Peng’s personality.

“When are you and Shen Lin planning to get engaged?” Perhaps a bit carried away, Xiao San suddenly asked Zheng Qi this question.

Zheng Qi didn’t answer, and Xiao San didn’t look up. She could feel Zheng Qi’s gaze sweeping over her.

“I absolutely have no feelings for Shen Lin, don’t worry,” Xiao San said with a laugh, clarifying her relationship with Shen Lin. She knew Zheng Qi loved Shen Lin, and despite knowing they weren’t a good match, Zheng Qi still stood by his side without hesitation.

Xiao San wanted to laugh at herself.

Even though she kept saying she wanted to stay away from the plot, she couldn’t help but worry for Zheng Qi.

If she wasn’t mistaken, in at most two months, Zheng Qi would be wrongly accused and sent to prison.

Xiao San didn’t want to see that happen.

Zheng Qi lowered her head, her expression unreadably somber. “In two more months.”

Sure enough, the female lead was taken away by the police on the very day of her engagement.

“Are you still in contact with Lin Nuanyan?” If she remembered correctly, Lin Nuanyan had proudly boasted last time that she was going to get engaged to Shen Lin, but in the end, it was Zheng Qi who ended up engaged to him.

Xiao San couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy as she recalled the hardships Lin Nuanyan had endured in the plot.

She couldn’t help but think: since there was no way to escape the plot, and no way to cut ties with Zheng Qi, why not intervene in Lin Nuanyan’s storyline?

“San’er?” Zheng Qi waved a hand in front of Xiao San’s eyes, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“Ah, what did you say?”

“Nothing, just asking if you’d be willing to be my bridesmaid.”

Xiao San thought for a moment and shook her head. “No, thanks. Where I’m from, there’s a saying that if you serve as a bridesmaid three times, you’ll never get married. I’ve already done it twice, so I’m sorry.”

Zheng Qi pursed her lips again, her expression twisting into something similar to the look she had when she was speeding last time. But it was fleeting, so quick that Xiao San thought it might have been an illusion.

“Oh, I see. Then you’ll still come, right?”

Xiao San nodded. “Of course. You’re my best friend.”

Zheng Qi smiled again, a triumphant grin like a child who had just been given a piece of candy.

An unexpected break. With the engagement approaching and Zheng Qi away on a business trip for company matters, Xiao San suddenly found herself with a lot of free time.

Xiao San had always adopted an attitude of not asking or listening about what had happened to Zheng Qi during those two years. Even though she couldn’t sever ties with her, she couldn’t bring herself to truly understand Zheng Qi again.

Besides, she had her own thoughts.

If Zheng Qi married Shen Lin, perhaps she would drift away from Xiao San.

That way, she could achieve the outcome of distancing herself from the plot.

Still, it was a bit sad.

After all, Ah Qi was her best friend.

Little did she know, this sudden break and Zheng Qi’s business trip were all deliberately arranged by Zheng Qi herself.

Was she distancing herself from Xiao San?

No.

“Boss, do you really think this hot-and-cold approach will make Miss Xiao miss you?” Li Ailun couldn’t help but speak his mind. “If you like Miss Xiao, why not just pursue her? This ‘best friends’ act is getting a bit boring.”

“We are best friends.”

“Hey, Boss, you might be able to fool others with that, but you can’t fool yourself.”

Zheng Qi shot Li Ailun a light glance, and he had no choice but to shut his mouth, pretending to look apologetic for speaking out of turn.

But there wasn’t a hint of remorse in him. Just a few minutes later, he asked again, “Boss, are you really going to marry that Shen Lin?”

Li Ailun gestured around them. “I’m the one here with you trying on wedding dresses! If we’re talking about suitability, I’m more suitable than Shen Lin!”

It turned out they were in a custom wedding dress shop. In the hundreds of square meters of space, only Zheng Qi was seated on a sofa, with Li Ailun sitting farther away. In front of them was a small circular platform, where models with figures similar to Zheng Qi’s were parading in wedding dresses one after another.

Zheng Qi would glance, wave a hand, glance again, and wave again.

“If you don’t speak, no one will think you’re mute.”

“Hey, boss, I’m just worried you’ll regret it.” Li Ailun wore an uncharacteristically serious expression. “You have no idea every time you see Shen Lin, you roll your eyes even more than you do at me. If you really have to get married, seriously, won’t you even consider me? If that’s absolutely out of the question, Corey Hellge isn’t bad either. After all, he fell for you at first sight and even brought you into the Helge family, making you one of them.”

Zheng Qi didn’t respond, which only made Li Ailun more delighted. “Besides, the Helge family doesn’t necessarily insist on just one husband. If you, boss, use a little strategy, I’m sure even if you have a few husbands, they’d get along harmoniously.”

Wham!

Zheng Qi lifted her leg and slammed it hard into Li Ailun’s shoulder. He raised his hands to block, but he couldn’t defend against the fist she swung next.

It all happened too fast. By the time Li Ailun realized what was going on, he was already lying on the floor, surrounded by cheerfully dancing stars.

“Ugh.” Li Ailun closed his eyes and played dead.

The staff let out waves of screams. Zheng Qi had completely lost any desire to try on wedding dresses. She stood up and walked out, her high heels clicking sharply against the floor.

“Take him to the hospital,” she said coldly.

At her command, the staff hurried over and nervously shook Li Ailun’s shoulder.

Li Ailun didn’t say a word, just kept his eyes closed. It was really.

“Don’t worry, I’m not dead,” Li Ailun said with a bitter laugh, his voice lazy. In truth, Zheng Qi hadn’t put her full strength into that punch. After all, this was a young woman who had risen to the top ranks of the Hellge family in just a year, how could she only have that much strength?

After a while, when the stars around Li Ailun faded, he crawled up and sat on his own. The doctor arrived just then.

Li Ailun obediently followed the doctor.

Doctor: “What happened to you?”

Li Ailun: “Ah, it’s all my dad’s fault.”

Doctor: “Huh?”

Li Ailun: “When I was a kid, my dad had a fortune-teller read my fate. He said I have a tendency for troublesome speech, and it would only cost a hundred bucks to change my luck. But my dad was too stingy and didn’t want to spend the money.”

Doctor: “…”

Zheng Qi walked out of the wedding dress shop.

Li Ailun’s words always challenged Zheng Qi’s worldview and her feelings for Xiao San.

She asked herself: Were her feelings for Zheng Qi unique? Did this kind of emotion have to be love?

But…

Were her feelings for Shen Lin really love?

Zheng Qi reached into her pocket, wanting to touch the whistle, but found nothing there.

It had been over two years, and she still hadn’t gotten used to life without the whistle.

Zheng Qi sighed. Hadn’t she already decided long ago? She was definitely going to marry Shen Lin.

“Why? Why is Zheng Qi the one engaged to you and not me, Shen Lin? How could you do this to me?” Lin Nuanyan sat amidst a mess of shattered objects, her surroundings littered with broken items.

She cried, looking at Shen Lin, at the man standing before her with his long legs coldly and rigidly planted. His hands were tucked into his pants pockets, his suit impeccably pressed and straight just like the expression on his face, filled with a detached indifference, as cold as the floor supporting the shattered debris.

Lin Nuanyan continued to cry bitterly, hoping Shen Lin would comfort her, even if it was a lie.

But Shen Lin only said coldly, “Stop making a scene. I told you long ago that there’s no possibility for us.”

Shen Lin thought back to his parents’ rejection they would never allow him to be with Lin Nuanyan. They would rather accept the daughter of an upstart than her.

Even without Zheng Qi, he wouldn’t have been with Lin Nuanyan.

He had made it clear long ago.

Yet Lin Nuanyan kept forcing the issue.

“Wake up and face reality.”

“Why? Why? Is it just because my mother wasn’t the legal wife that I can’t compare to Zheng Qi, that upstart?”

Shen Lin looked at Lin Nuanyan, his gaze seeming to say, you already know the answer, don’t you? So why are you still making unreasonable demands?

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