Transmigrated as the Cannon Fodder Spouse of the Disabled Beauty - Chapter 5

Three floors up, Song Yunran silently stepped away from the window. In the courtyard below, Xu Luo was still caught in a heated shouting match with a cat.

Ten minutes passed before Xu Luo finally calmed down and declared a ceasefire. The experience of being so enraged by a cat that her eyes were bulging was not a good look, so she decisively and forcibly deleted that unpleasant memory. Acting as if nothing had happened, she sat back down under the yellow orchid tree.

She had serious business to attend to!

Dad, Mom, I miss you!

Can I come home to see you tomorrow?

She composed the messages on her phone and sent them to a group chat named “Raising a Cub is So Joyful.” The small group had only three members: the “parents,” Father and Mother Xu, and the “cub” being raised, Xu Luo.

Armed with the “script” of this world, Xu Luo knew from the novel how much the Xu parents adored their adopted daughter. Therefore, aside from a slight sense of bashfulness, she wasn’t worried that they would ignore her.

However, reality dealt her a heavy blow.

Father Xu: Don’t come back. I’m in Europe.

Mother Xu: Don’t come back. I’m in the Americas.

Xu Luo: Eh?

Xu Luo: Then when are you coming back?

Father & Mother Xu: Depends on our mood.

Xu Luo: “…”

How cold! Wasn’t this identity supposed to be the apple of their eye? Xu Luo was dumbfounded.

What she didn’t know was that when they said it depended on their mood, they meant it. This pair of stressed-out parents had been driven half to death by their daughter’s insistence on the marriage alliance. They had arranged this trip specifically to clear their heads and had decided they wouldn’t return until their spirits were restored!

Unaware of this, Xu Luo’s enthusiasm withered after seeing the messages. Since she wasn’t the real Xu Luo, she didn’t have the nerve to force the couple to come home.

Xu Luo: Then have a good time.

Father & Mother Xu (still huffing): Hmph!

That “Hmph” killed Xu Luo’s original plan of asking for a red envelope (digital cash gift). She sighed. Just as she was about to exit the app, two new messages popped up in succession.

Lackey No. 1: Xu Luo, is tomorrow okay? I’ll come find you to hang out. Are you free?]

Lackey No. 2: Xu Luo, I’m coming to see you tomorrow!

The first thing Xu Luo noticed wasn’t the content, but the contact names what conspicuous remarks! What was a “lackey”? In her ordinary life as a fish, she had never encountered one, but she had a vague concept: they were likely people who centered their lives around her, considered her in everything, and held her up on a pedestal.

Xu Luo’s interest piqued: Come, come! My door is always open, my arms are wide to welcome you~

She had been bored for a week and wanted to taste the joy of being pampered. She didn’t have to worry about Song Yunran; as the heir to the Song family, Song Yunran was busy every day, leaving early and returning late. In fact, that was how Xu Luo had easily avoided her for a week.

The thought of it made her impatient! Expecting the lackeys to spice up her dull life, she woke up early the next day and brought a small stool to the courtyard to wait for “happiness” to arrive at her door.

The result?

The result was that while they were called lackeys, they lacked professional standards. They left Xu Luo waiting all morning and didn’t arrive until lunch!

Infuriating.

Both visitors were girls, and girls from decent backgrounds, as evidenced by their cars. If not for the status their vehicles provided, Xu Luo would have thought they were starving at home and had come specifically to scavenge a meal.

Xu Luo didn’t say it out loud, but she harbored many grievances because the two extra mouths meant she didn’t get enough to eat for lunch. Fortunately, the guests were indeed “simps” for her. The three of them huddled in the room playing games; Xu Luo was terrible, but the other two protected her the whole way, allowing her to win while doing nothing.

They chatted while playing, eventually bringing up Song Yunran.

“Does Song Yunran live in this room too?” Guest No. 1 asked.

At that moment, Xu Luo was busy harvesting the “kills” the other two had left for her. She replied casually, “How could that be? She lives upstairs.”

Guest No. 2 said, “True. You hate her so much, how could you live together?”

Xu Luo thought to herself that it wasn’t hate, but fear—fear for her own life.

Guest No. 1 tutted. “If I hated someone that much, I would have moved out long ago.”

Since the topic was already there, Xu Luo joined in. “Actually, I’ve thought about moving out.”

The two girls looked at her simultaneously, showing mutual confusion. “Then move out! It’s just a marriage alliance; is the Song family really tying you down and forbidding you from living elsewhere?”

Xu Luo sighed sorrowfully. “My parents aren’t home.”

The girls looked at her strangely. “The Xu family’s headquarters might not be in A City, but surely they can afford property here?” The Xu and Song families were century-old prestigious clans. Compared to them, these two girls’ families were far less established barely “new money” which is why the original Xu Luo had labeled them as lackeys.

“Besides, as long as you have money, you can live anywhere,” the two girls said, failing to understand.

Xu Luo: “Eh?”

She dazed for a moment, suddenly realizing something. Although she kept saying she wanted to stay away from Song Yunran, in reality… she hadn’t actually put much effort into it. She had just been going through the motions. As her guests said, if she truly wanted to, there were many ways to escape Song Yunran.

Xu Luo put down her controller and adopted a thinking pose. She suddenly thought of her kin. Back in her homeland, she had seen a type of “illness.” Merfolk who caught it would become extremely pessimistic. In severe cases, they would lie on the beach in the sun, and even as they were being baked into dried fish, they were too lazy to flip over. Even when soaking in the sea, they were too lazy to climb ashore once they started “marinating.”

The elders called such merfolk “Salted Fish.”

“What’s the difference between catching this and being a salted fish hanging under a fisherman’s eaves?” That was the elder’s exact phrasing.

Could it be… that she was in the early stages of “Salted Fish Disease”? That her “don’t force it, just cherish life within my limited capacity” half-hearted mindset was actually a symptom of the virus?

Xu Luo was horrified.

The two guests, sitting beside her like left and right guardians, obviously couldn’t fathom what she was worrying about. One said she was going out to get a drink of water, while the other restarted the game, calling for Xu Luo to come and take the kills she offered. Neither cared about the previous topic, leaving only Xu Luo filled with anxiety.

Worse still, even though she realized it, her mindset remained the same.

Xu Luo could no longer feel the joy of the game. Distraught, she saw the two guests off.

When Song Yunran returned from the company and took the elevator from the garage to the living room, she saw her partner who had been hiding for a week sitting on the sofa. She was holding a watermelon the size of a bucket in one hand and a giant spoon in the other, feasting in a state of melancholy.

Song Yunran paused; her feigned smile nearly faltered.

“Luo Luo—” she called softly.

Xu Luo looked up at her and let out a long, heavy sigh.

Song Yunran: “…”

“Eating that much watermelon at night will make you uncomfortable,” she reminded her.

Xu Luo shook her head with an air of self-abandonment. “I’m already sick.” A terrifying disease called Salted Fish Disease had eroded her thoughts.

Out of habit, Song Yunran possessed personal information on many people, including the one in front of her. She had just reviewed Xu Luo’s file last night her friends, her family, her education, and her medical reports. The report from just half a month ago told her that her partner was very healthy, or at least wouldn’t die of a disease anytime soon.

Song Yunran didn’t understand why this person was acting so low while claiming to be ill.

“…Is there somewhere you feel unwell?” Song Yunran asked. There was a hint of sincerity in this concern. From the moment Xu Luo first insulted her, she had become Song Yunran’s prey. It would be best if she died by Song Yunran’s hand; she shouldn’t go dying of some unknown disease.

“Luo Luo, don’t be afraid. Tell me, what kind of illness is it?” She softened her voice, sounding as though she truly cared.

Xu Luo sorrowfully shoved a giant scoop of watermelon into her mouth. “I suddenly realized that I’m becoming unlike myself.”

The real her should be a brave warrior of the sea! Even in the face of great obstacles, she should be carving through the waves to win a chance at life! She was being far too “easy-going” now.

Song Yunran: “…” Oh, it’s just a case of being melodramatic.

“…That might be because you ate too much watermelon, Luo Luo. You’re bloated,” Song Yunran said. “Wait for me, I’ll go upstairs to change, then I’ll come back to exercise with you.”

Song Yunran left in a bit of a hurry. She had to move quickly, or she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from snatching that watermelon and smashing it over the girl’s head.

Xu Luo didn’t care about Song Yunran’s departure, focusing only on the instant gratification of her watermelon. Suddenly, her phone on the sofa “dinged,” indicating a message.

She used her toe to tap the message open.

Lackey No. 1: By the way, Xu Luo, I left a ‘surprise’ for you in Song Yunran’s room. Remember to go collect it.

“Surprise”?

Xu Luo sat up as if startled from a deathbed. Lackey No. 1 had disappeared from her sight for a while, claiming to get water. Could that have been an excuse? Had she actually done something unnecessary?!

Lackey No. 1 confirmed: Since you hate Song Yunran so much, I helped you prank her.

Xu Luo: “…”

Perhaps her Salted Fish Disease wasn’t terminal yet; she hissed, feeling a sudden panic of “My life is over!” She performed a “carp leap” off the sofa, ditched the watermelon, and sprinted upstairs.

As she reached the top floor, she saw Song Yunran just about to open her door.

“Song Yunran!”

She let out a shout and charged like a cannonball. “Don’t move! I dropped something in your room, let me go in first!”

Worried that Song Yunran wouldn’t listen, she charged ahead, regardless of the consequences, and pushed the door open herself.

SPLASH—

A basin of cold water fell from the ceiling. Xu Luo became a drowned rat in a split second, and the water basin landed with a clatter, perfectly capping her head like a ridiculous hat.

Damn that lackey! To set up such a childish and infuriating trap!

While Xu Luo was mentally slaughtering the lackey, she felt a gentle tug on her hand. Through the gap in the water basin, she looked down at her hand and saw Song Yunran hooking her finger around hers, smiling at her.

“Luo Luo—”

The beauty in the wheelchair had also been splashed. Her thin top clung to her body, revealing her graceful curves. A drop of water slid from her jaw, dripping into the hollow of her beautiful collarbone.

Xu Luo was mesmerized. Seeing the beauty pulling her, she instinctively leaned in.

The beauty reached out her slender fingers, removed the basin from Xu Luo’s head, and wiped the water from her cheek. She leaned into her ear and whispered, her breath like orchids:

“My Luo Luo…”

“You really are naughty.”

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