The Tragic Heroine Fell in Love with Me - Chapter 59

Xiao San felt deeply unsettled.

She didn’t want to see Shen Lin. She was afraid that once Zheng Qi saw him again, she would soften and rekindle her feelings for him.

This fear now carried an extra layer of something else.

But for the moment, Xiao San wasn’t quite sure what it was.

Mond Helge quietly retreated to a corner, knowing he had no right to speak up anyway.

Shen Lin looked at Xiao San, feeling as though all his sincere affection had been thrown to the dogs.

“Don’t look at me like that, it makes me sick,” Xiao San said, glaring at him. “You’re a busy man. I suggest you leave quickly and not waste your time here.”

“I’m not leaving. I have to see Zheng Qi,” Shen Lin declared confidently, showing no intention of budging.

Xiao San pointed at him. “Fine, if you won’t leave, then I will.”

With that, she rushed into the house. When she came out again, she had changed her clothes and was carrying a backpack.

“Stay if you want. I’m out of here!”

Fuming, she pushed the door open and stormed out.

Mond Helge glanced toward the door, then back at Shen Lin. “Friend, I’m leaving too.”

He hurried outside just as Xiao San stepped into the elevator, squeezing in right before the doors closed.

“What are you doing here? Why not stay and chat with your good friend?” Xiao San said sarcastically.

Mond Helge replied, “We’re not that close. Blood is thicker than water, after all.”

Xiao San rolled her eyes and said nothing.

“Why are you running away? If Qi comes back, he’ll just be happy to see Shen Lin here.”

Xiao San replied with a knowing look, “Hmph, Ah Qi won’t be back.”

“Huh?”

“Ah Qi is on a business trip. Otherwise, why would I leave him alone at home?” Let him wait all he wants, Ah Qi won’t be back today. Xiao San raised her eyebrows triumphantly. She was clever, after all.

Once they left the residential area, Xiao San led Mond Helge straight to the bus stop. They boarded the bus and took seats in the back, suggesting it wasn’t going to be a short trip.

“Where are we going?” Mond Helge asked, wearing slippers and looking like a loiterer. He had assumed Xiao San would just go to a nearby mall, but her demeanor suggested something more elaborate.

“Just follow me,” Xiao San said, patting his shoulder. “You’re my personal bodyguard now. Make sure you protect me well.”

“Bodyguard? What could possibly require a bodyguard?”

Instead of getting a clear answer, Mond Helge found himself being taken to a villa area.

Since they hadn’t driven, they had to take a taxi up the mountainside to reach the villas. Once the taxi drove off, the two of them stood there, bewildered in the wind.

Surrounded by rocks and trees, the mountainside was dotted with small villas, each spaced quite far apart. They had gotten out at the first villa, and Mond Helge had assumed Xiao San knew their destination. But as soon as she stepped out of the taxi, she also looked lost.

“Please don’t tell me you don’t know where we’re going.”

Xiao San sighed. “It’s all your fault for not having a domestic driver’s license. If you did, we wouldn’t have had to take a taxi here.”

“You don’t have a driver’s license either,” Mond Helge said.

Xiao San puffed out her chest. “Of course I have a license.”

“If you have a license, why don’t you drive?”

“I have a license, but I’m afraid to drive. So what? Who says having a license means you have to know how to drive?” It had only been a little over a month since Xiao San got her license. Wasn’t it normal for her not to know how to drive? After all, she wasn’t ready yet.

Mond Helge said helplessly, “You’re unreliable.”

“You’re not exactly reliable either.”

“Where are we going?”

“To Ah Qi’s house.”

If Xiao San’s sources were correct, this was where Zheng Qi’s parents lived. Xiao San wanted to learn more about Zheng Qi not just from Zheng Qi herself, but also from her family.

“Why not just ask her directly?” Mond Helge didn’t understand. Xiao San and Zheng Qi seemed very close. “Wouldn’t she tell you everything?”

“You don’t get it,” Xiao San shook her head. “You’ll understand someday.” She was desperate to understand Zheng Qi. She always felt Zheng Qi was hiding something very important from her.

“You’re brushing me off.”

“Alright, alright, no more brushing off. Let’s hurry to Ah Qi’s house!” Xiao San waved her hand and led the way. The taxi had dropped them off not far from Zheng Qi’s villa. After walking a few hundred meters, Xiao San found the house number.

Poor Mond Helge, wearing slippers and walking uphill, felt like taking them off several times.

“This is it.” Xiao San checked the house number and glanced at Mond Helge, who was catching up. She rang the doorbell just as he approached.

Soon, an elderly-looking woman came out. She was wearing ill-fitting women’s clothing too tight and too brightly colored giving her a comical appearance.

She stepped into the yard, eyeing Xiao San suspiciously. When she noticed the foreign-looking man, she asked warily, “Who are you?”

Xiao San tried to appear friendly. “Hello, I’m Ah Qi’s friend. I came to pick up some of her things.”

“Ah Qi? You mean that jinx?”

Xiao San’s smile froze.

“What could that jinx possibly have here? Are you trying to scam me?”

The woman’s tone was flat, as if “jinx” was just a casual nickname. To Xiao San, this made her feel even more heartache for Zheng Qi.

“We’ll just take a few things and leave.” Having come this far, Xiao San wasn’t about to leave empty-handed.

Perhaps because Xiao San sounded sincere, or maybe because she didn’t seem like a bad person, the woman eventually opened the gate and let Xiao San and Mond Helge in.

As she led them inside, the woman chattered incessantly.

From her words, Xiao San finally realized this woman was Zheng Qi’s mother, Xie Xinyue.

If Xie Xinyue hadn’t cursed so fluently, Xiao San would never have recognized her as Zheng Qi’s mother.

It had been less than three years since she last saw Xie Xinyue, but now Xie Xinyue looked at least ten years older.

“Here, all her things are in there. If you want to look, go ahead.” Xie Xinyue pointed at the small, pitch-black room under the staircase. It was less than three square meters, seemingly crammed full, but in reality, it only contained tools like brooms and mops.

Xiao San took out her phone, turned on the flashlight, and carefully searched. Only then did she find a few textbooks and some clothes from who knows when tucked away in the corner.

“Is this all of Ah Qi’s things?”

Xie Xinyue said impatiently, “It’s already good enough that we kept anything for her. Why are you being so picky? Whatever she wants to take, just take it quickly.”

Xiao San looked up at the detached villa. There were at least seven or eight habitable rooms inside. “Where is Ah Qi’s room?”

“What room? It’s long been turned into a storage room,” Xie Xinyue said coldly. “If I’d known we were giving it to that ungrateful wretch, we might as well have kept it for the jinx.” Her tone was filled with anger, clearly not directed at Xiao San but rather at the room itself.

Xiao San simply couldn’t find any traces of Zheng Qi in that cramped storage space under the stairs.

She had hoped to search for some of Zheng Qi’s childhood belongings, thinking it might help her understand Zheng Qi a little better.

But now, it seemed like nothing more than a pipe dream.

Disappointed, Xiao San walked out of the Zheng family’s house. This trip seemed to have yielded no results.

“How are we getting back?” Mont Helge, however, didn’t share Xiao San’s heavy mood. He looked at the road they had come from, feeling as if the sky was gradually darkening and some wild beasts might leap out to devour him. They were halfway up the mountain, with no cars coming or going.

Xiao San took out her phone. “Hey, Assistant Li, yes, come pick me up.”

She waved her phone at Mont Helge. “Someone’s coming to get us.”

“Ah, someone’s coming?” Mont Helge finally realized he had been tricked by Xiao San. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“If I had, how would I have seen you hopping mad?” Xiao San snorted and started walking downhill.

Mont Helge hurried to catch up, feeling strangely amused. He never thought Xiao San would be capable of tricking someone.

By the time Li Ailun arrived, Xiao San and Mont Helge had already walked nearly three kilometers.

As soon as the car stopped, Mont Helge rushed in and sat down. “Do you have any water? I’m dying of thirst.”

Li Ailun handed a bottle of mineral water to Mont Helge. Only then did Xiao San open the car door and sit in the passenger seat. “Assistant Li, thank you so much for giving me Ah Qi’s home address and for coming to pick us up.”

Li Ailun smiled. “Miss Xiao, your driver’s license has already been issued. You could totally ask the boss to buy you a car. The more you don’t drive, the rustier you’ll get.”

Xiao San quickly waved her hand. “No way, a car is so expensive. How could I let Ah Qi buy one for me?”

Li Ailun didn’t say anything more and shifted his gaze to Mont Helge, who was gulping down water in the back seat. “Mr. Mont, you must be exhausted too. I heard you received an elite education in France. I never expected you to be so carefree in private. Quite surprising.”

Mond Helge finally came to a halt. Like a robot, he slowly and dully turned his head. When he saw Li Ailun, a look of terror spread across his face.

“Al… Ailun?”

Li Ailun slapped the steering wheel, laughing heartily. “Hahaha, I never expected Mr. Mond’s reaction upon seeing me to be like this. It’s far more entertaining than I imagined.”

Mond Helge swallowed hard. “You…”

“Hey, do you two know each other?” Xiao San asked Li Ailun curiously.

Li Ailun replied, “As you know, our boss has some business dealings in F Country. While I was there, I had the pleasure of crossing paths with Mr. Mond.”

Mond Helge, who had narrowly escaped Li Ailun’s clutches on several occasions, trembled as he screwed the cap back onto the water bottle and set it down.

He had just taken the water from Li Ailun’s hands. Could it have been poisoned? If it was, how long would it take for the toxin to take effect? Was his life about to come to an end?

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