The Tragic Heroine Fell in Love with Me - Chapter 9

Shen Lin closed his eyes, unable to bear Zheng Qi’s gaze any longer.

“Stop looking at me like that,” Shen Lin said.

Zheng Qi lowered her head, fiddling with the pendant on her clothes. “Why?”

To be honest, Shen Lin was a little afraid of Zheng Qi. Every time they met, she would look at him with an expression that seemed as if she wanted to devour him. He had thought that two years would have tempered Zheng Qi’s intensity, but the reality seemed to be the opposite.

Shen Lin felt that Zheng Qi’s gaze had grown even more terrifying.

“Zheng Qi, I don’t like you,” Shen Lin bluntly rejected her.

“Pfft,” Zheng Qi laughed. “I never confessed to you. How do you know I like you?”

“Whether you confess or not, I really don’t like you. The person I like is Xiao San, not you.” Shen Lin firmly rejected Zheng Qi, just as he had done many times before.

“You like Xiao San, but Xiao San doesn’t like you.”

“How do you know Xiao San doesn’t like me?” Shen Lin didn’t believe Zheng Qi’s words at all.

“If she liked you, why is it me who came down here and not her?” Zheng Qi’s eyes locked onto Shen Lin’s, not hiding her affection or her possessiveness in the slightest.

Shen Lin remained completely confident. “She just doesn’t like me right now. In the future, she’ll naturally come to like me.”

Zheng Qi tilted her head. “Maybe today you don’t like me, but tomorrow you will.”

“Haha, don’t delude yourself. Are you even worthy of me?”

“Maybe…”

“Zheng Qi, that’s enough. No matter how many times, I will never like you. Do you understand or not?”

Shen Lin was utterly fed up.

He had never shown Zheng Qi any kindness. He didn’t understand what she saw in him, what made her cling to him so desperately, even at the cost of her own dignity.

Zheng Qi didn’t speak. Instead, she stared silently at the tips of her shoes.

“Stop acting like I’m bullying you every time,” Shen Lin snapped in a low voice. “Don’t keep bringing up things from when we were kids. That was back in kindergarten stop hanging onto it. If childhood promises were meant to be taken seriously, I’d have a harem by now.”

After saying this, Shen Lin felt his words might have been too harsh. Zheng Qi’s head was already drooping so low it seemed buried between her shoulders.

“I’m leaving. I really don’t like you. You’ll definitely meet someone better.”

With that, Shen Lin hurried away, his steps swift.

Because of this, he didn’t see the expression on Zheng Qi’s face as she stood not far behind him. There were no tears on her face, only a wide smile.

“Shen Lin, you truly are something,” she murmured, her affection for him growing even stronger. Because of his bluntness. “This is your kindness, after all.”

She was hopelessly in love with Shen Lin, tragically and irrevocably devoted to him.

“Ah Qi?” Xiao San had just come down from the dormitory building. From a distance, she saw Zheng Qi standing alone on the empty path, as still as a statue. What was even more unsettling was that Zheng Qi’s shoulders were trembling, as if she were stifling laughter. It reminded Xiao San of the horror movies and novels she had read, where characters possessed by ghosts behaved exactly like this.

But this was more like a tragic romance novel, surely there were no ghosts involved, right?

Xiao San cautiously glanced at Zheng Qi’s shadow, afraid that she might suddenly turn around, her hands and feet twisted behind her back, scurrying forward like a spider.

“Ah, San’er.” Zheng Qi turned around, her voice seeming to carry a hint of tears.

“You’re not crying, are you?” Xiao San jogged over, carefully checking Zheng Qi for any injuries. “I thought about it and decided to come out to see you off. You must be feeling really down right now, and I just couldn’t rest easy letting you leave alone.”

Zheng Qi nodded. “San’er, you’re so good to me.”

She had grown accustomed to receiving such kindness.

Xiao San chuckled; she was always easily satisfied. “Come on, I’ll walk you to a taxi. I’ll head back after I see you off.”

The two walked side by side toward the school gate.

“You could actually stay in my dorm, you know. Since you’re a girl, even if the dorm supervisor comes by, they wouldn’t say anything.”

“No,” Zheng Qi shook her head. “I don’t want to put you in an awkward position because of me.”

“Ah, you’re always thinking of others. Sometimes I really wish you could be a little more selfish.”

“Selfish?”

“Yeah,” Xiao San said emphatically. “Like, if you like something, go for it. If it doesn’t work out, you could even snatch it. Even if it means hurting others, never let yourself suffer.”

Xiao San was thinking about how, in the original storyline, every time Zheng Qi got close to the male lead, he would hurt her. Yet, even knowing she’d get hurt, she still kept going back to him.

She was like a moth drawn to a flame, battered and bruised every time by the male lead.

Maybe that was the essence of a tragic romance.

The female lead always had some reason she couldn’t let go of the male lead. Even when he openly or secretly rejected her repeatedly, or did all sorts of things to hurt her, she never grew to resent him.

Why couldn’t the male lead just turn around and see her sooner? Why did he have to wait until both of them were scarred and broken, until the very end when the female lead was almost hopeless, before he finally realized it?

In reality, his feelings for others were just obsessions, the one he truly loved had always been the female lead.

Ah, forget it.

Xiao San thought of Shen Lin from the plot, who seemed so stubborn.

Even if he became aware of his feelings for Zheng Qi, he’d probably refuse to accept her because of his prejudices. He’d even doubt her over every little thing.

“Qi,” Xiao San said very seriously, “if anything happens in the future, you have to tell me. As long as you explain, I’ll definitely believe you. Don’t keep everything bottled up inside and not say a word to me, okay?”

“Why are you saying this?” Zheng Qi asked.

She couldn’t exactly say it was because she was thinking about the slander Zheng Qi faced in the original plot.

“It’s just experience, a little life hack, I guess.”

Zheng Qi nodded solemnly.

“Ah, you don’t have to take it so seriously,” Xiao San laughed. “I just don’t want you to suffer. You’re just too good of a person.”

Zheng Qi paused. Every time Xiao San praised her for being good, she felt deeply uncomfortable.

She had received many evaluations in her life, but only Xiao San consistently said she was “too good.”

Hah.

Probably because Xiao San was too naive.

Only someone that foolish would so easily open their heart for others to see, so readily trust others.

What a pity.

She wasn’t a fool.

Zheng Qi curled her lips into a smile. “You’re very good too.”

“Hehe, right.” Xiao San chuckled cheerfully as she saw Zheng Qi off into the taxi. She watched the car drive away until it was far in the distance before turning and running back toward the school.

“Hurry up, curfew’s about to start! Ugh, it’s all because Xiao Qi is just too good-looking beauty really is a distraction!”

Xiao San ran as fast as she could, finally making it back to the dorm just before the doors closed.

In two more years, she wouldn’t have to live like this anymore.

When Xiao San returned to the dorm, Lü Yu and the others were already back and lying in their beds.

After washing up, Xiao San climbed into bed, took out her phone, and texted, “Qi, are you back at the dorm?”

After a while, Zheng Qi replied with a single: 【Mm.】

Unlike the gentle, warm Zheng Qi in real life, she was always rather aloof over text, often responding with just: 【Mm】 or 【Okay】.

Back when they first met, Zheng Qi would even add smiley faces in her messages.

Xiao San held her phone tenderly.

But it was Zheng Qi after all. As long as it was Zheng Qi, she loved her no matter what.

Zheng Qi was truly the best person she had ever known.

She always thought of others, so smart and gentle it seemed like every beautiful word could be used to describe Zheng Qi.

Being friends with Zheng Qi was just so lucky.

Unable to find a way to tear the world apart again, Xiao San gradually began to thrive in this world, especially after making many new friends.

Especially Zheng Qi.

If the world were torn apart, she wouldn’t have so many good friends anymore.

Summer vacation was just around the corner.

The exchange students were only just beginning to adapt to the academic environment at A University.

It was worth mentioning that these exchange students now had study companions by their sides.

But Xiao San hadn’t been chosen or rather, she had refused.

Mond Hegel furrowed his handsome brow. “Why, San, won’t you be my study companion?”

Xiao San glanced at him. “Afraid I’ll learn bad Chinese from you.”

Every time she heard Mond Hegel speak, it was like listening to a foreign language. She had to wait until he finished his last sentence and then piece it together to understand what he was saying.

“What?”

Xiao San handed Mond Hegel a bottle of water. “Drink more water, talk less.”

With that, she turned and walked away.

Lü Yu immediately ran over. While Mond Hegel was around, they all kept their distance, but as soon as Xiao San left, they crowded around her. “What did Mond say to you?”

“You’re all so nosy.” Though Xiao San loved gossip too, at that moment, she just found it annoying.

Lü Yu nudged her. “Come on, a handsome guy like that is pursuing you, and you’re not even moved? What kind of person do you even like?”

Xiao San looked at Lü Yu and said with a pained expression, “Don’t talk nonsense. What pursuit? It’s not even remotely true.”

“Stop pretending. He’s a prince, you know. Just him talking to you is more than someone like you deserves in this lifetime, and you’re acting all high and mighty,” Huang Meiqi chimed in irritably.

Lü Yu frowned. “What are you talking about? What do you mean by that?”

Huang Meiqi shook her head and said mockingly, “Don’t talk nonsense. What pursuit?”

She deliberately mimicked Xiao San’s mannerisms and put on an affected voice, “Afraid people won’t know you’re being pursued by a prince, huh? Who doesn’t know you’re cozying up to a rich guy? Now that there’s a tall, handsome, and wealthy man in the picture, you’re still acting all high and mighty.”

“Huang Meiqi, you’re just jealous! Jealous that Xiao San has someone chasing after her, while you’d be left unwanted even if thrown out on the street!” Lü Yu wasn’t one to be trifled with, especially since this topic had started because of her. If she didn’t speak up, wouldn’t it seem like she was deliberately setting Xiao San up?

“Me, jealous?” Huang Meiqi pointed at her own nose and burst into laughter. “Jealous of checking into a hotel with some old man?”

“What do you mean, checking into a hotel with an old man? Don’t just spout nonsense.” Xiao San grabbed Lü Yu, who was about to explode, and glared sternly at Huang Meiqi.

Huang Meiqi was startled for a moment but quickly regained her confidence. “The video of you and that old man at the hotel has already been posted on the forum. Why are you still pretending? We’ve all seen the video!”

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