The Villainess Fell For The Male Lead's Frail White Moonlight - Chapter 4

The birthday banquet hosted by Xu Mingwang was grand and extravagant. Laughter and cheerful chatter filled the entire venue as guests mingled, clinking their glasses together in high spirits.

Song Zhi had zero interest in any of this. The moment she entered the hall, her eyes swept across the room in a continuous scan, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of Xu You.

Unfortunately, even after searching for a long time, she couldn’t spot that slender silhouette anywhere.

Song Zhi felt a wave of disappointment.

Meanwhile, the people around her were looking at her with peculiar expressions, whispering among themselves.

“See that? She’s looking for CEO Fu again.”

“I bet the moment she sees CEO Fu later, she’ll want nothing more than to stick to him like glue.”

“Hahaha, isn’t she always like that? Just like a piece of dog-skin plaster.”

Speak of the devil. A sudden chorus of gasps erupted near the entrance. Thinking Xu You had arrived, Song Zhi quickly spun around, only to realize it was just that “strong bro” who had threatened her yesterday. Dejected, she turned back and resumed her search for Xu You.

The onlookers watching the drama.

Fu Nian, noticing the flash of disappointment and utter disdain in her eyes.

What kind of game was this woman playing now?

Standing beside him, Young Master Jiang lightly nudged his shoulder. “Hey, look at her pretending not to see you. This woman is really exhausting every trick in the book just to get your attention.”

Fu Nian replied coldly, “Ignore her and she’ll behave.”

Young Master Jiang nodded in agreement. “She’s acting all cold and distant to you now, but she’s probably going to be spamming your WeChat later, calling you ‘Brother Fu Nian, Brother Fu Nian.'”

Fu Nian, who had already been unfriended and blocked on WeChat by her.

It took a long moment before he managed to force a stiff reply from his throat. “Mm.”

Being in the same vicinity as Fu Nian attracted far too much unwanted attention. Song Zhi actively distanced herself from that drama heavy area, picking up a small plate of cake and nibbling on it while her eyes continued to scan the room for her target.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her wrist. Startled, she forcefully shook off the hand and glared at the stranger with a heavily guarded expression. “What do you want?”

“I’m your brother, what else would I want?”

The handsome man before her instantly grew irritable.

Song Zhi noticed that this man shared about seventy to eighty percent of his facial features with her, leading her to guess that this must be her older brother, Song Xian.

Testing the waters, she spoke up cautiously, “…Brother?”

Song Xian snapped back, annoyed, “Are you blind?”

Song Zhi: ?

In the original novel, Song Xian had been so infuriated by the original owner that he ran away from home and hadn’t returned for a long time. Why had he suddenly shown up at Xu Mingwang’s birthday banquet?

Song Zhi asked, “What are you doing here?”

Song Xian let out a cold snort. “Taking a stroll.”

Song Zhi: ?

What kind of stroll brings someone all the way out here?

Noticing Song Zhi’s expression that practically screamed ‘Do you take me for a fool?’, Song Xian finally admitted in a lazy drawl, “I was afraid you’d get beaten to death by the Xu family, so I came over to collect your corpse.”

Song Zhi: “…Oh.”

“Oh?” Song Xian was so infuriated by her nonchalant attitude that he nearly fainted.

He practically wanted to rap her over the knuckles. “I’m going to be worked into an early grave by you sooner or later.”

Recalling the plot after the original owner’s death in the book, Song Zhi had to admit that Song Xian’s guess was scarily accurate.

However, even though Song Xian had a sharp tongue, he truly loved his younger sister deep down. Deciding she didn’t want to upset him further, she offered softly, “Brother, stop being mad at me.”

Song Xian gave a fake, joyless smile. “Am I mad? Ha ha.”

Song Zhi: Could you make it any more obvious?

She continued, “Brother, I didn’t come here for Fu Nian today. I don’t like him anymore.”

Song Xian rolled his eyes so hard they nearly reached the sky. “Right, and I totally believe you.”

…He clearly didn’t believe a single word!

Song Zhi didn’t expect to convince him right away either. After all, the original owner had done so many unhinged things for Fu Nian in the past. If she suddenly claimed she had dropped it and no longer loved him, she wouldn’t believe it either if she were in Song Xian’s shoes.

Giving up the struggle, Song Zhi asked casually, “Brother, have you seen Xu You?”

The moment Xu You’s name was mentioned, Song Xian’s expression instantly turned highly alert. “What are you planning now? Pushing her down the stairs wasn’t enough, so now you’ve come to crash her younger brother’s birthday banquet?”

“I’m warning you to behave yourself today. Don’t humiliate our family any further.”

Knowing full well that her atrocious reputation couldn’t be redeemed overnight, Song Zhi vigorously shook her head. “No, I came here to apologize to her.”

Hearing those words, Song Xian’s expression sobered up slightly. “Apologize?”

He let out a mocking chuckle. “To think those words could actually come out of your mouth. How rare.”

Song Zhi completely filtered out his sarcasm, maintaining an incredibly well-behaved and repentant attitude. “Yes. I was too immature before. I came to this banquet specifically to find her and apologize.”

Song Xian fell silent. After a long pause, he asked, “Seriously?”

Song Zhi’s expression was utterly sincere. “Yes.”

“So… do you know where she is?”

Song Xian replied cleanly and swiftly, “No idea.”

Song Zhi: ?

She turned right around and walked away.

Without finding Xu You, Song Zhi felt the whole event was completely pointless. Xu Mingwang’s birthday banquet held absolutely no interest for her anymore.

She decided to use the restroom and then head straight home.

Just as she stepped out of the restroom, a man’s deep voice echoed from the corridor not far away. “Xu You, regarding what we discussed before, have you given it any thought?”

It was Fu Nian!

Song Zhi slowed her footsteps, quietly standing behind the corner to eavesdrop.

Xu You’s voice was as cold and detached as ever. “Give it up.”

Fu Nian wasn’t rushed. He spoke in a slow, unhurried pace, “Why refuse to agree to my proposal? If you marry me, you’ll gain your freedom and won’t have to be trapped by the Xu family anymore.”

He arched an eyebrow, his tone brimming with absolute confidence. “Or are you just playing hard to get?”

Xu You’s expression remained unchanged, and she didn’t offer a single word in response.

Fu Nian laughed. “Xu You, I don’t want to be rejected by you a second time. Using the same tactic once is more than enough.”

With that, he turned on his heel and walked away.

Song Zhi quickly shrunk back into the shadows. Once she watched Fu Nian leave, she carefully peeked her head out to look at Xu You.

Xu You’s state of mind seemed terribly poor. Her face was incredibly pale, looking as if she might collapse at any given second.

Sure enough, the moment she took a step to leave, her entire body swayed imperceptibly.

Song Zhi didn’t have time to worry about whether Xu You hated her or not. She rushed forward to support her, her voice laced with undisguised concern: “Are you alright?”

Xu You fought through the wave of dizziness. Once her vision cleared up, she glanced at Song Zhi and coldly pulled her hand away. “I’m fine.”

Her indifferent attitude didn’t surprise Song Zhi at all.

Even though she had anticipated this reaction, a small pang of sadness still struck her heart. Song Zhi obediently placed her hands properly by her sides and said, “Xu You, I have something to say to you.”

Only then did Xu You turn her head to meet her gaze. Those clear, cold phoenix eyes were filled with nothing but icy detachment, it was obvious she had zero interest in whatever Song Zhi was about to say.

An unprompted wave of guilt washed over Song Zhi, making her look away, unable to maintain eye contact. Even though she wasn’t the one who had actually committed the deed, for the sake of their long-term relationship, she gritted her teeth and spoke with utmost sincerity, “About what happened before… I’m sorry.”

Without a single change in her expression, Xu You simply gave a faint “Mm” before politely asking, “Is there anything else?”

Her voice was cold and distant, making Song Zhi feel a little dejected.

Song Zhi knew that Xu You didn’t believe a word she said. Even though she had expected this outcome, she still couldn’t stop the sinking feeling of disappointment. “N-No, nothing else.”

Song Zhi looked visibly heartbroken, but in Xu You’s eyes, this display of sorrow took on a different meaning.

A flash of aversion crossed Xu You’s eyes. The physical discomfort she was experiencing caused her to let out a soft cough, and she slowly turned to walk away.

Neither of them noticed that someone had been sneakily pressing their ear against the wall nearby to listen to their conversation, slipping away quietly as soon as it ended.

The informant rushed into Xu Mingwang’s room, acting incredibly secretive. “Young Master, I just overheard something! CEO Fu was proposing to the Eldest Miss again!”

Xu Mingwang beamed with joy. “Really?”

“Absolutely certain, I heard it with my own ears!” The informant then sighed. “But the Eldest Miss rejected him.”

Xu Mingwang snorted coldly. “What’s the use of her rejecting him? Her marriage isn’t hers to decide.”

“Also…”

The informant added, “Song Zhi went to find the Eldest Miss too, and it looked like she was apologizing to her.”

The moment Xu Mingwang heard Song Zhi’s name, an expression of sheer disgust washed over his face. “What kind of tricks is she trying to pull now?”

“Well, she won’t be jumping around for much longer anyway.”

As Xu Mingwang spoke, his eyes rolled stealthily, flashing a deeply meaningful, sinister smile.

Song Zhi returned to the main hall looking completely drained. Song Xian walked up to her side. “Where did you go? What took you so long?”

Song Zhi didn’t answer him. Song Xian poked at her again, “Did you finally get beaten up?”

Despite his words, his eyes carefully scanned Song Zhi’s face. Only after confirming there were no visible bruises did he let out a silent sigh of relief.

After all, since the Xu family had invited his cheap younger sister today, they definitely had some sort of scheme up their sleeves. It wouldn’t be surprising if they had arranged for someone to give Song Zhi a beating in the dark. With Song Zhi’s personality, only capable of being a tyrant at home while helpless outside, she would definitely just swallow the bitter pill in silence.

“You look perfectly fine, so why are you drooping your head again?” Song Xian expressed his utter lack of understanding.

Song Zhi’s spirits were low. She felt as if her heart was nothing but dead ashes, unable to see any breakthrough for her love life even if she closed her eyes. She replied with profound weariness, “It’s nothing.”

Song Xian: ?

Why did he detect a bizarre sense of desolation from her?

Then again, Song Zhi had always been prone to unpredictable mood swings, so he wasn’t particularly shocked.

A sudden commotion arose not far away, and the crowd began to whisper once more.

“Look at them, Xu You and CEO Fu look so well-matched. A truly handsome man and a beautiful woman.”

“Yeah, if these two families form a marriage alliance, won’t the future of City A belong entirely to them?”

“Exactly! The Xu family’s finances have taken a massive hit over the past few years. If they can climb up using the Fu family’s grand branches, their life ahead will be incredibly smooth sailing.”

“But I heard that the Xu family’s Eldest Miss isn’t very keen on marrying CEO Fu?”

“Ah, you just don’t get it. It’s just a little tactic of playing hard to get, keeping him hooked. You don’t understand the game.”

Their conversation caused Song Zhi to frown in discomfort.

However, following their gazes, not too far away, Xu You stood there quietly. Beside her, Fu Nian lowered his gaze, looking down at her tenderly as he murmured something.

Xu You’s expression remained utterly frigid.

But it had to be said, judging purely by physical appearance…

Recalling how those people had just described them as a perfectly matched couple, Song Zhi felt a bitter twinge of jealousy in her heart.

But thinking about it, it made sense. They were the official leads of the novel, while she was absolutely nothing.

If Song Zhi were a little puppy, her ears and tail would probably be drooping all the way down to the floor right now.

She felt incredibly indignant. Why did a guy like Fu Nian get to be the male lead anyway?

But there was nothing she could do about it. Who else could be the male lead but him?

Dejected, she found a chair and slumped down. Observing his sister’s expressions from the side, Song Xian sighed inwardly. He knew his cheap younger sister just couldn’t let go of Fu Nian.

Song Zhi remained thoroughly gloomy for the rest of the evening, watching the birthday performances with a blank face. To her, this entire event was mind-numbingly boring.

Finally, the star of the night, Xu Mingwang, stepped up to the stage and started babbling a massive pile of useless nonsense.

By this point, Song Zhi could no longer stand listening to it. She stood up, preparing to make her exit.

Right at that moment, Xu Mingwang cleared his throat over the microphone, an irrepressible look of smug triumph plastered across his face.

“Furthermore, I have a major announcement to make! That is… my older sister will soon be getting engaged to Brother Fu Nian!”