Transmigrated as Cannon Fodder, Unable to Escape the Black Lotus Villain - Chapter 2

The atmosphere at the banquet was somewhat strange. Ning Qi remained in a reaching posture, while Mu Xin looked at her with an indiscernible expression.

After a moment of thought, Mu Xin ultimately did not reject Ning Qi.

As she placed her hand into Ning Qi’s palm, the warmth radiating from it made the complex emotions in her heart even more pronounced.

She didn’t understand how Ning Qi could act as if nothing had happened.

It was exactly as they used to be.

Was she truly forgetting the past incidents because she wanted to get along?

Or was Ning Qi brewing some new, wicked scheme?

For example, gaining her trust first, only to push her away ruthlessly just like before?

A trace of coldness flashed through Mu Xin’s heart. Looking at their joined hands, her lips pressed thin.

She would just have to see what Ning Qi was really up to.

Ning Qi had no idea that her actions had caused Mu Xin to think so much in such a short span of time.

Or rather, even if she had known, she wouldn’t have cared.

Right now, she only felt that the villain’s hand was very soft and cool to the touch; it felt very comfortable to hold.

While Ning Qi was planning how to convince the villain to act as her human air conditioner during the summer, she called out to Huo Liuxue.

Now that she had seen the person she came for, it was time to head back.

“Hey, where are you taking Xinxin?”

Seeing the two of them about to leave, Huo Liuxue spoke up hastily.

“Back home, of course. My aunt called me and asked me to bring Mu Xin back,” Ning Qi explained, noticing Mu Xin’s confusion at the same time.

Sure enough, Mu Xin showed a look of realization after hearing Ning Qi’s words.

“Mom still likes you as much as ever.”

In fact, because the two families were long-time friends, the interactions between the elders were very frequent.

Mu Xin and Ning Qi could be considered childhood friends in the truest sense.

However, for some reason, this “childhood friendship” of Ning Qi’s had turned sour.

“Wait a minute, Ning Qi, shouldn’t you give us an explanation?”

Only now did Li Kan—who had just realized he had been treated like a sack of grain—react. Seeing Mu Xin about to leave, he became anxious.

At the same time, he was somewhat infuriated.

What was wrong with this Ning Qi? Hadn’t she fallen out with Mu Xin?

Why did she come out to meddle at a time like this, completely disrupting all of his plans?

Thinking of this, the look he directed at Ning Qi became extremely unfriendly as he stepped sideways to block the three of them.

His meaning was clear: if Ning Qi didn’t give an explanation, this matter wouldn’t end today.

The people around them, seeing that there was more drama to watch, suddenly became interested again.

But unlike before, more eyes were now focused on Li Kan and Huo Qingqing.

After all, the two had just suffered a loss at Ning Qi’s hands; trying to reclaim their pride now was clearly irrational.

They just wondered what Ning Qi would do.

“Explanation? What explanation?”

Being blocked time and time again made Ning Qi very impatient.

Furthermore, regarding Li Kan and Huo Qingqing, Ning Qi had no desire to show them a friendly face.

She looked at Li Kan indifferently, turning a blind eye to his angry expression, a trace of ridicule playing at the corners of her mouth.

Mu Xin sat in her wheelchair watching the confrontation, her eyes narrowing slightly, her thoughts unknown.

Ning Qi’s attitude was undoubtedly adding fuel to the fire, causing Li Kan’s anger to surge upward.

“What did you mean by those words just now? We just came to check on Mu Xin. What right do you have to treat us like this?”

As he spoke, he looked at Mu Xin, his gaze turning gentle once more, showing none of the ferocity he had displayed toward Ning Qi.

Li Kan knew that his goal of getting close to Mu Xin today had gone down the drain.

But he couldn’t let the label of having “ulterior motives” stick to him.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to get close to Mu Xin in the future.

Mu Xin, however, felt a sense of absurdity in her heart.

She found it somewhat funny; she hadn’t realized Li Kan was so skilled at changing faces.

Mu Xin didn’t speak. Although she suspected Ning Qi of having bad intentions, Li Kan wasn’t a good person either.

Ning Qi was very satisfied with Mu Xin’s silence.

As expected of the villain—though young, she handled things quite maturely.

She looked up at Li Kan, whose complexion was shifting between cloudy and clear, the ridicule in her eyes deepening.

“You know exactly why you are here, and you know very well whether I am looking for trouble or if I’ve ruined your ‘good deed.'”

As Ning Qi spoke, she moved her wrist. Noticing Li Kan’s ugly expression, she smiled.

“Mu Xin is my sister. Naturally, I will take good care of her. I won’t trouble you. Excuse us.”

Having finished, Ning Qi ignored Li Kan, pushed the wheelchair, and led the amazed Huo Liuxue out of the banquet.

After they left, the crowd gradually dispersed, but one could guess from their excited expressions that what happened at the banquet would soon spread.

“Brother Li Kan, what do we do now?”

Seeing that almost everyone had left, Huo Qingqing looked at the dark-faced Li Kan and spoke cautiously.

She was a little scared; she had never seen such a terrifying expression on Li Kan’s face.

Li Kan seemed to only just remember that Huo Qingqing was still beside him. He quickly reined in his expression, returning to his “boy next door” persona.

“Sorry, Qingqing, did I scare you?”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. That Ning Qi is really too much.”

Speaking of Ning Qi, both of their expressions turned a bit ugly.

“Let’s go. I’ll send you home first.”

Li Kan forced a smile. Since Mu Xin was inaccessible for now, he might need to spend more effort on Huo Qingqing and the Huo family.

On the other side, the trio arrived at the school gate, where the drivers for the Ning and Mu families were already waiting.

No one spoke much along the way, each harboring their own thoughts.

“Uncle Hua.” Ning Qi pushed Mu Xin over and greeted Mu Hua, who was standing by the car.

“Xiao Qi, sorry to trouble you,” Mu Hua said with a smile, then assisted Mu Xin into the car.

Just as the car door was about to close, Mu Xin, who had been silent the whole way, called out to Ning Qi.

“Ning Qi, thank you for earlier.”

Ning Qi was startled; she hadn’t expected Mu Xin to actually say thank you.

She leaned her arm against the car door, her lips curving into a beautiful arc, her tone relaxed.

“Aren’t we besties?”

Without waiting for Mu Xin’s reply, she closed the car door directly.

“Bye-bye.”

Ning Qi waved to the people inside the car.

Then, she watched as the car disappeared around the corner.

“Bye…”

Inside the car, Mu Xin’s subconscious reply died in her throat. She watched the figure standing by the roadside grow smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror.

Besties?

Is it really like that?

Mu Xin’s mood was complicated.

“Miss, have you reconciled with Miss Ning?”

Mu Hua, who was driving, noticed Mu Xin’s conflicted expression.

He was the driver and butler for the Mu family and had been there for decades.

It could be said he watched Mu Xin grow up; he was practically an elder to her.

Mu Xin hadn’t hidden the events of the recent past from him.

“No,” Mu Xin snapped back to reality, denying it instinctively.

Reconciling with Ning Qi?

Mu Xin didn’t feel that way; she was currently more confused than anything.

What exactly was the purpose behind Ning Qi’s performance today?

Could it be that she wanted to repair their relationship?

The light in Mu Xin’s eyes turned dark and deep.

“Uncle Hua, help me check what Ning Qi has been doing lately.”

After thinking it over, Mu Xin decided to observe first.

After all, the relationship between her and Ning Qi was very delicate right now.

To say there was a grudge wasn’t quite right; it was more that they had lost their mutual trust.

Although she didn’t know what kind of scheme Ning Qi was hatching, it was a fact that Ning Qi had helped her today.

And…

Mu Xin thought of Ning Qi’s words at the banquet and her attitude toward Li Kan, which made her curious.

“Uncle Hua, also help me check on Li Kan from the Li family. Be thorough.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Watching the streetscape fly past the window, Mu Xin’s expression was somewhat cold.

It seemed many people were keeping an eye on her.

However, if they planned to plot against her, they had better be prepared for retaliation.

Meanwhile, Ning Qi—completely unaware that Mu Xin had begun investigating her—was sitting in her car, chugging a large bottle of cola.

Glug, glug, glug… Burp~

After finishing half a bottle of ice-cold cola in one breath, Ning Qi couldn’t help but let out a burp.

The butler sitting in the front frowned at the sight.

“Miss, please mind your image.”

The butler’s expression was hard to describe. How had the little princess of the family become so… rugged after one trip abroad?

“Ahem, Uncle Quan, I know. I’ll be careful in the future.”

Ning Qi nodded, reluctantly put the remaining cola aside, and slumped carelessly into her seat.

She felt helpless too; things like cola were far too rare in the apocalypse.

Actually, that’s not quite right—it’s that many things here were too rare in the apocalypse.

Now that Ning Qi finally had the chance to experience them all, she naturally didn’t want to miss out.

In fact, Ning Qi was not originally from this world.

Ning Qi only remembered that after hacking through a bunch of zombies, she had found a book with a gaudy, colorful cover in a place where zombies congregated.

Out of curiosity, she had kept the book on her. When she fell asleep that night and woke up again, she appeared here.

She had become “Ning Qi.”

And now, the plot of that book was stuck in her head.

This was why she knew she had transmigrated.

Although she had arrived for no apparent reason and didn’t know what the future held, Ning Qi knew what she wanted to do.

And that was to live a good life here.

Her original world was an apocalypse; there were only endless zombies and ceaseless conflict for survival.

The people there worried every day about how to stay alive.

Compared to life in the apocalypse, this place was like heaven to Ning Qi.

Even if the future was unknown to her—and even if she might wake up one day back in that man-eating world—at the very least, she was going to live the life she wanted in this world.

“This novel is just ridiculous.”

Ning Qi closed her eyes to rest, but she was actually flipping through the plot in her mind.

The story wasn’t long, and she had read it several times, but she couldn’t help but complain every time she saw the plot points.

How could people like this be the male and female leads? She doubted how the author could write something that so thoroughly shattered common values.

From start to finish, the entire novel described how charming the male lead was, where he showed off, how he dealt with his opponents one day, which female supporting character he flirted with the next, and then how he had to return to the female lead to swear, “I truly love you.”

As for Ning Qi, she was a cannon fodder who only received a few brief mentions.

In the original text, she only appeared in the background when the villain—Mu Xin—first debuted, and again in the latter half of the story.

She had exactly two scenes: conspiring with the male lead to plot against the villain, and then being disposed of by the villain.

Ning Qi: I have to say, the male lead really has something about him—whoever he touches meets with misfortune.

In the original plot, Ning Qi should have been abroad at this time.

And at today’s banquet, the villain should have established a connection with the male lead.

This would have laid the groundwork for everything that followed.

But would Ning Qi let him have his way?

Of course not.

Her thinking was simple: the Mu and Ning families were among the four great families of City G.

There was no way the ambitious male lead would remain indifferent to such a big piece of meat as the Ning family.

He would eventually plot against the Ning family sooner or later.

In that case, it was better to smash his plans early so she could peacefully enjoy her life in this world.

Ning Qi: No one is allowed to disturb my beautiful life!

And there was one more thing…

For some reason, the image of Mu Xin’s incredibly beautiful face popped into Ning Qi’s mind.

The corners of her mouth curled up.

Protecting such a beautiful bestie… that shouldn’t be a problem, right?