Transmigrated as Cannon Fodder, Unable to Escape the Black Lotus Villain - Chapter 24

During lunch, a piece of news spread from the school forum, once again capturing everyone’s attention.

“Hey, Xinxin, did you know that Li Xiang posted on the forum saying that if he loses the bet with you, he’ll voluntarily give up his spot in the Mathematical Olympiad?”

Huo Liuxue spoke while her eyes remained fixed on Ning Qi. Seeing that Ning Qi was dazed, she quietly extended her chopsticks toward Mu Xin’s bowl.

Sigh, those ribs smell so good. Even a piece of corn would be fine.

“Is that so? I didn’t check the forum at noon.” Mu Xin took Huo Liuxue’s chopsticks and clipped two ribs for her; the latter immediately smiled with delight.

“Can’t tell, but that guy is actually quite principled,” Huo Liuxue remarked. At that moment, Qin Yuyou, who was beside them, chimed in.

“Whether he’s principled or not, I don’t know, but he’s definitely a coward.” As she spoke, she shot a meaningful look at Ning Qi.

However, no one knew what Ning Qi was thinking; she looked completely as if her soul had wandered beyond the heavens.

“Qiqi, what’s wrong? Not hungry today?” Mu Xin looked at Ning Qi’s barely touched bowl, feeling somewhat surprised.

She isn’t even enthusiastic about eating; it seems Qiqi is very troubled.

Mu Xin felt a bit amused deep down. She picked up her bowl and poured half of her soup into Ning Qi’s. “Hurry up and eat. If you don’t eat your fill, you won’t be able to outscore me. Or do you want to just call me ‘Sister’ right now?”

“No way!” Hearing the mention of calling her “Sister,” Ning Qi immediately snapped back to reality and gave Mu Xin a huffy glare, though she honestly picked up her bowl and began to eat.

What is wrong with this person? All day long, she just thinks about making me call her Sister.

If it hadn’t been for the fact that Mu Xin had been acting a bit strange since the morning, Ning Qi wouldn’t have been overthinking things.

Ning Qi suspected that Mu Xin had long ago dug a pit and was just waiting for her to jump in.

Involuntarily, she recalled the image of Mu Xin pressing against her like a submissive little kitten.

Qiqi, don’t leave me, okay—

Ning Qi’s face gradually turned red.

“By the way, what are you guys planning to do after the exams?”

Huo Liuxue didn’t notice anything unusual. She finished the ribs in a few bites and let out a satisfied burp.

“Sleep,” Qin Yuyou was the first to answer, earning a massive eye-roll that left her feeling at a loss.

Huo Liuxue seemed to have changed; she used to blush just talking to her, but now she was actually rolling her eyes at her.

“How about we go see a movie? There are several new films out recently that I haven’t seen yet.”

To cope with the exams during this period, she hadn’t gone out shopping. The last time she went, she was stuffed with “dog food” (public displays of affection) by Ning Qi and Mu Xin.

“That works.” Thinking that there wasn’t much to do during this time, Mu Xin felt they could relax a bit. She said to Ning Qi, “Qiqi, want to go see a movie together?”

Come to think of it, she hadn’t gone out to play with Qiqi yet. Mu Xin looked at Ning Qi with anticipation.

“Sure, it’s up to you,” Ning Qi said casually. Mu Xin could decide on such matters; she was fine with whatever.

However, speaking of going to the movies with Mu Xin, Ning Qi was actually looking forward to it.

Once decided, the group agreed to go the day after the exams ended.

At Li Kan’s small villa, because of the previous incident, he had been staying here for a while. However, he had learned a bit about what was happening outside through Huo Qingqing.

At this moment, he had just hung up a call from Mu Junyi. His face was dark and filled with confusion.

“Dammit, this Ning Qi ruins my plans every single time. What exactly is her goal?”

Li Kan hadn’t expected that a scheme he had painstakingly calculated would be so effortlessly resolved by Ning Qi.

Originally, according to his plan, even if Mu Xin didn’t sign that equity contract, the Mu family would have fallen into Mu Junyi’s hands. At that point, dealing with the Mu family would have been much easier.

One could say he had calculated every move to checkmate Mu Xin.

But he never expected Ning Qi to pull out such a massive share of equity from nowhere. Now, the entire Mu family was under Mu Hongsheng’s command.

Given his current situation, it was nearly impossible to plot against the Mu family again.

Furthermore, his “cheap” father didn’t know about this matter yet; otherwise, Li Xianzhao would have already come looking for him.

It seemed conventional methods wouldn’t work. A flash of ruthlessness crossed Li Kan’s eyes, as if he had made a decision.

Such an expression appearing on a minor felt extremely eerie.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, the first mock exam of Ning Qi’s life came to an end. Standing at the school gate, watching the students with smiles on their faces, laughing and playing, Ning Qi had a sensation as if a lifetime had passed.

“Xinxin, I’m leaving first. See you tomorrow.”

After saying goodbye to Huo Liuxue, Mu Xin turned around to see Ning Qi standing there, her face still carrying a dazed expression.

“Qiqi, what’s wrong with you? You’ve been distracted these past two days.”

“Nothing, I just feel that… this kind of life is quite nice,” Ning Qi snapped out of it and said with a light smile.

“No way, Ning Qi. You’ve only properly taken an exam once in eighteen years, and you have such deep feelings about it?”

Qin Yuyou teased her with a laugh.

“You can’t say it like that. Ultimately, it’s still different.” Ning Qi pursed her lips. Qin Yuyou didn’t know that this wasn’t just eighteen years—it included the twenty-plus years from her previous life as well.

“Xiao Yu, don’t discourage Qiqi’s enthusiasm. Let’s go. Go back today, pack up, and get some rest early so you’ll have energy to play tomorrow.”

Mu Xin interrupted with a smile, but in her heart, she was thinking about the words of Ning Qi and Qin Yuyou.

This current life?

Does she mean after Qiqi returned to the country, or something else?

Mu Xin placed a question mark in her mind.

Ring-ring-ring. A phone rang.

“Who is it?” Ning Qi glanced at her phone, and her expression immediately became a bit unnatural.

She hesitated for two seconds, and seeing that Mu Xin and Qin Yuyou were both watching her, she picked it up.

“Hey, Qi-baby! I’m home! When are you coming back? Should I come pick you up?”

As soon as the call connected, Ning Zhizhe’s loud voice boomed through. Ning Qi hurriedly pulled the phone away.

“Brother, you’re a big star after all. Can you mind your image a bit?”

Ning Qi spoke with a tone of disgust, but her face didn’t show a hint of it.

Mu Xin could feel it—she seemed very happy.

She still remembered that in the past, whenever Ning Qi received a call from her three brothers, she always looked annoyed and impatient.

Mu Xin lowered her eyes, hiding the thoughts within them. Only her subconsciously interlaced hands betrayed her emotions.

Qiqi is indeed different.

While Mu Xin’s thoughts were unclear, Ning Qi was chatting excitedly with Ning Zhizhe. The difficulty in communication she had anticipated didn’t happen.

“Go home? Okay then, I’ll tell Xinxin.”

Hearing Ning Zhizhe ask her to return home, Ning Qi went silent for a moment before agreeing.

After hanging up, she turned around to find Mu Xin looking at her. Those eyes, carrying a gentle smile, made Ning Qi’s heart skip a beat.

“Xinxin, my brother called. He wants me to go back and stay there today, so…”

Ning Qi didn’t know why, but even though going home to stay was a very normal thing, she felt quite reluctant.

“Pfft, we’ll see each other tomorrow. Be good, see you tomorrow.” Mu Xin comforted her with a smile, yet she didn’t want to let go of the hand she was holding.

“What do you mean ‘be good’? I’m not a child anymore. I just… I’m just afraid you won’t be able to sleep at night.” Ning Qi felt a bit awkward being coaxed like a child. After some hesitation, she added, “Alright, I’m going. If you can’t sleep, give me a call.”

After saying that, she gave Mu Xin a self-conscious look, nodded to Qin Yuyou, and left.

Mu Xin maintained her smile as she watched Ning Qi’s back. She didn’t look away until Ning Qi disappeared around the corner.

“Alright, you’re the one comforting her, but look at yourself.” Qin Yuyou was truly speechless. Being the only one in the know made her the most exasperated.

“Do you plan to keep going like this? Why don’t you just tell her?”

Regardless, you two are almost adults. Besides, the Ning and Mu families have such a good relationship; I imagine there shouldn’t be any problems with the parents on both sides.

However, even up until now, she found the fact that Mu Xin liked Ning Qi a bit hard to believe.

It felt somewhat absurd.

“Mu Xin, to put it bluntly, regarding what Ning Qi did before… do you really not care at all?”

This was Qin Yuyou’s biggest doubt. Although Ning Qi had been very good to Mu Xin lately, asking Mu Xin to act as if the past hadn’t happened—or even fall in love with her—was still hard to swallow.

Qin Yuyou still didn’t believe it; she knew too well what kind of person Mu Xin was.

“You’re right. I might forgive Ning Qi, but I certainly wouldn’t like her.” After Qin Yuyou finished, Mu Xin nodded in agreement.

“Uh… then why are you still…” This completely confused Qin Yuyou.

“Xiao Yu, Qiqi has changed a lot, hasn’t she?”

Changed a lot?

Qin Yuyou recalled Ning Qi’s changes during this period. It was indeed true.

“I admit that. But that argument back then was also real.” Qin Yuyou was puzzled.

“Yes, it was all real. Then what do you think could make a person change into a completely different individual in such a short amount of time?”

Mu Xin curled her lips, her gaze deep.

Not long after Ning Qi returned to the country, a thought had formed in her heart.

The difference between the old and new Ning Qi is so vast; what exactly is the reason?

She had secretly asked many people and looked up a lot of information. Among the final results:

She felt only one was the most plausible.

Dissociative Identity Disorder.

“Um, so you mean to say that something happened to Ning Qi abroad, causing the previous personality to fall dormant or disappear, and the current Ning Qi is another personality?”

Hearing Mu Xin’s theory, Qin Yuyou’s first reaction was to wonder if Mu Xin had gone mad.

Even if you like her, you can’t use such a wild idea to explain it.

“Yes, this is the only explanation left.” Mu Xin nodded. Though she also felt it was far-fetched, compared to other possibilities, it was the most likely.

It’s not like Ning Qi just switched souls and became someone else.

Qin Yuyou wanted to argue, but she didn’t know what to say.

After all, the facts were right in front of them. If it wasn’t what Mu Xin suggested, then it could only mean that all of this was an act by Ning Qi.

Thinking of this, Qin Yuyou’s heart tightened. If that were the case, then Ning Qi was far too terrifying.

“Since you know it’s like this, yet you still want to like her, aren’t you worried that Ning Qi might change back into that person?”

Qin Yuyou’s words caused a pang in Mu Xin’s heart.

She had naturally thought about this question; it had even been circling in her mind constantly.

But every time she thought of Ning Qi’s concerned gaze, her subconscious kindness, and how she would still cling to her these past few days despite being shy and blushing, she couldn’t bear to let go.

After a long silence.

Mu Xin raised her head and broke into a radiant smile—a smile that caused the people passing by to lose themselves for a moment.

“It doesn’t matter. Since I like her, I won’t give up because of unknown future events.”

At least for now, Qiqi is still that Qiqi.