The Tragic Heroine Fell in Love with Me - Chapter 40

Zheng Qi lay quietly on the bed, looking as though she were asleep.

The moment Zheng Qi stepped out of the car, Xiao San noticed the sharp, aggressive edge in her eyes and brows. How had she not noticed it before?

Ah, that’s right because she had always believed Zheng Qi was the tragic heroine of a heartbreaking story.

A tragic heroine should be sorrowful, constantly wallowing in self-pity and suffering.

But that wasn’t Zheng Qi at all.

Though gentle, Zheng Qi always had her own ideas. She might seem unassertive, yet she never easily compromised.

Xiao San sat beside Zheng Qi, reaching out her hand, daring only to hover it a centimeter above Zheng Qi’s face. The wounds seemed to strike Xiao San’s own heart, the pain unbearable.

“Ah Qi.”

“Mm.”

Xiao San’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit. She quickly withdrew her hand, surprised that Zheng Qi had responded.

“You, you’re awake?”

Zheng Qi opened her right eye; her left was covered with a bandage.

With difficulty, Zheng Qi nodded and struggled to sit up.

Xiao San hurried to the foot of the bed, cranking the mechanism to raise the head of the bed so Zheng Qi could look straight ahead.

“San’er, come here.” Zheng Qi lifted her hand, hissing softly in pain, but she held it out firmly toward Xiao San. Once Xiao San took her hand, Zheng Qi looked her over carefully. “Are you okay? Were you hurt?”

Xiao San shook her head. “I’m fine, completely fine. He didn’t hurt me at all.”

“Your hair…” Zheng Qi tried to reach for Xiao San’s hair with her IV-drip hand, but Xiao San quickly pressed it down.

“I’ve had long hair for so long, it’s time to try short hair,” Xiao San said, trying to shift the reason for cutting her hair onto herself.

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for?”

Zheng Qi said guiltily, “If I had gone earlier, you wouldn’t have been hurt.”

Xiao San found it almost laughable. “I wasn’t hurt. Look at me, I’m perfectly fine. What are you talking about?”

“You may not be hurt physically, but you’re hurt inside. And that’s my fault.”

The forced smile on Xiao San’s face instantly crumbled.

She couldn’t bring herself to smile not because of Zheng Qi, and yet because of her. She knew that any pretense in front of Zheng Qi was meaningless and would only make Zheng Qi worry.

“Ah Qi, I’m fine. Maybe I’m not right now, but I will be in a few days,” she said, trying to sound cheerful. Though she wasn’t smiling, her eyes were resolute. “You know me, I never hold grudges.”

Zheng Qi lowered her gaze. “But you held a grudge against me.”

“Who said that? Who said that?” Xiao San protested loudly. “I never held a grudge against my dear Ah Qi. You’re my best friend.”

“Ever since I came back, you didn’t want to talk to me.”

“Well, I had to sulk a little just a tiny bit,” Xiao San coaxed. “But now I’m completely over it!”

“San’er, I’m really glad you’re okay,” Zheng Qi said suddenly, her tone serious.

“It’s really good that we’re okay. From now on, both of us will live peacefully and steadily, with nothing going wrong, and our bodies will stay healthy. When we become old ladies, we’ll still be healthy old ladies.” Xiao San patted Zheng Qi’s hand, afraid that Zheng Qi would say something self-blaming again.

After a while, Xiao San hesitantly asked, “Ah Qi, aren’t you going to ask why I went there?”

She had already prepared a set of excuses, but Zheng Qi hadn’t asked at all, which made her feel restless and uneasy.

“Wherever San’er goes must be for her own reasons. I just want San’er to always be safe and well.”

Xiao San blushed at Zheng Qi’s words. All the excuses she had prepared now made her seem petty and narrow-minded.

At the time, Xiao San had considered whether to tell Zheng Qi about the two worlds, but when it came down to it, she didn’t know how to bring it up.

She had a constant fear that the two worlds might separate again.

If she told Zheng Qi, it would only make one more person worry.

“Even though you’re not asking, I still have to tell you,” Xiao San said seriously. “Whether you believe it or not, I thought Lin Nuanyan would get into trouble, which would affect your relationship with Shen Lin and even lead to you being falsely accused and imprisoned. That’s why I followed Lin Nuanyan. But I told the police I was worried something might happen to her.”

“Mhm.”

“Hey, don’t be like this, okay?” Xiao San found Zheng Qi’s attitude a bit unsettling not asking anything, not refuting anything, just saying “mhm” as if she could accept everything without question, just like how Zheng Qi acted toward that scumbag Shen Lin in the novels. “Aren’t you even a little curious?”

“San’er will tell me, won’t you?”

“Hey, hey, hey, give me some emotional feedback, will you? With you like this, I don’t even feel like talking anymore.”

Zheng Qi pursed her lips, clearly holding back a laugh. “Wow, so what exactly happened?”

“Hmph.” Xiao San was so annoyed that her eyes rolled, showing more white than black, and she glared at Zheng Qi. “I think you’re just taking advantage of being injured to deliberately annoy me. If you were better, I’d definitely give you a beating.”

“Wow, then I’d better train hard.”

“What, you plan to fight back?”

“How would I dare? I’ll train hard so that when you hit me, I can last longer and let you vent to your heart’s content.”

Xiao San quickly rubbed the goosebumps off her arms. “Where did you learn such cheesy lines? Did Shen Lin say them to you? He must have just copied them from the internet, right? So gross.”

Zheng Qi shook her head, just staring at Xiao San.

Xiao San noticed her eyes growing heavy, and her injuries were becoming more pronounced now bruises here and there. “Close your eyes and rest for a while. Don’t skip resting because of me.”

“Mhm, San’er, you won’t leave, will you?”

Xiao San nodded. “Where would I go? Of course, I won’t leave. Don’t worry, rest well.”

Zheng Qi held tightly onto Xiao San’s hand. She was utterly exhausted; even though it was just a fight with someone, it felt as if she had lived a whole lifetime in that moment. But with Xiao San by her side, she slept very soundly. All around was darkness, nothing at all, an emptiness as if she were floating in the deep ocean.

However, when Zheng Qi opened her eyes, Xiao San was not by her side.

She stretched her hand out from under the covers; it seemed to still carry a faint trace of Xiao San’s warmth, and the air still held her scent.

Creak!

The door opened.

Zheng Qi glanced up, and her gaze instantly turned cold.

The person who entered was not Xiao San, but Li Ailun.

“I’ve never seen you look at me so tenderly in my life,” Li Ailun remarked as he placed a bowl of congee on the table. He sat down heavily, pulled out a tablet, and began working his movements fluid and seamless, without the slightest pause.

Clearly, he had done this many times before.

“Then your life must be very short,” Zheng Qi retorted bluntly.

Li Ailun shrugged while continuing to work. “Boss, I’m still working for you, and yet I’ve never heard a kind word from you. How heartless.”

Zheng Qi had no desire to engage with Li Ailun’s theatrics. “Where is she?”

“Who?”

“Her.”

Li Ailun knew exactly who she meant, but under Zheng Qi’s unwavering stare, he feigned ignorance. “Ah, are you talking about your fiancé? He hasn’t come at all. After all, you ran out of the shareholders’ meeting, and now several shareholders are making a fuss, demanding that he not marry you. He’s probably overwhelmed right now and doesn’t have time to visit.”

“I’m talking about Xiao San.”

“Oh, oh, oh, you mean Miss Xiao,” Li Ailun said with a troubled expression. “I thought you’d be more concerned about your fiancé after all, he’s your true love.”

“Li Ailun.” Zheng Qi spoke his name directly, a clear warning.

Finally, Li Ailun set his tablet aside and raised his hands in surrender. “Just a joke, boss. You really have no sense of humor, can’t even take a little teasing.”

“Fine.” Zheng Qi’s gaze grew even colder, prompting Li Ailun to relent.

“Miss Xiao has been taking care of you all day. You don’t even know how long you’ve been asleep, it’s been three days since you last woke up. Even if Miss Xiao were made of iron, she’d need to rest, wouldn’t she?”

“Three days?”

“Yes, three days. For you, it was just a nap, but for me, ” Li Ailun pointed to the dark circles under his eyes, “Boss, I’m about to collapse. Messages keep pouring in from F country, asking about your condition. Even with all my skills, I can’t keep covering it up. If you hadn’t woken up soon, Duke Corey would’ve flown over on his private jet.”

Zheng Qi closed her eyes. Upon hearing that Xiao San had gone to rest, the warmth drained from her face.

Her brows, her eyes, the corners of her lips even the aura around her instantly turned cold.

“Tell Corey I’m awake. He doesn’t need to come.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Li Ailun replied while typing out a message and snapping a photo of Zheng Qi to send along for added credibility.

Otherwise, that madman Duke Corey would definitely show up.

“And what about the Shen Corporation? The board members are practically driving Shen Lin insane, insisting on canceling your engagement banquet.”

“Oh? Just cancel it, then.”

“Okay, Huh?” Li Ailun’s eyes widened in shock as he stared at Zheng Qi.

Although he had been constantly urging Zheng Qi to give up on Shen Lin, all he ever received in return were disdainful glances. This was the first time Zheng Qi had actually agreed with him.

“Are you really my boss? Or has someone else taken over your body?” Li Ailun had been staying up late recently, binge-reading Chinese cultivation novels. The worlds depicted in them were bizarre and fantastical, including descriptions of body possession.

Body possession meant that a foreign soul had taken over the flesh, possibly retaining the original memories but no longer being the same person.

It must be possession otherwise, how could Zheng Qi possibly say something so pleasant?

“Those dark circles under your eyes are from reading novels, not from work,” Zheng Qi glanced at Li Ailun. “I was considering giving you a raise, but now it seems I’ve been too soft-hearted.”

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