When The Scheming Female Supporting Character Is Forced To Seduce The Female Lead - Chapter 17

The provocation came too suddenly. Gu Cheng froze for a moment before realizing Zhao Qingdai’s challenge was directed squarely at him.

He pressed his lips together, his competitive instincts flaring. Just as he was about to offer to escort Du Jingmo home, Zhao Qingdai spoke first:

“Sister’s wound needs immediate attention. Brother, please take us home.”

Her tone was natural, leaving no room for negotiation. Du Zhong, who would never let his sister be escorted home by another man in the middle of the night, nodded in agreement.

The dried blood on the ground where Du Jingmo had stood earlier revealed that her injuries were far more severe than they appeared. After some hesitation, Du Zhong decided to carry his sister horizontally to the car.

Zhao Qingdai’s eyes widened slightly. “Brother, what are you doing?”

“Taking her to the car,” Du Zhong replied, genuinely puzzled.

Du Jingmo was wearing a long skirt today, unsuitable for carrying on his back, so carrying her horizontally was the only option.

“Right… then carry her,” Zhao Qingdai stepped back half a pace. Fortunately, her swollen, tear-streaked eyes concealed the embarrassment in her gaze.

It’s all Gu Cheng’s fault, she thought. He’s made me so paranoid I was even on guard against my own brother.

The only slightly comforting thing was that Gu Cheng had completely lost any opportunity to make a move. His only chance to interact with Du Jingmo was when he returned her shoes.

Du Jingmo nodded and said a terse “Thank you,” maintaining only the barest courtesy.

The small villa was thrown into a flurry of activity because of her injury. Auntie climbed out of bed to fetch the first-aid kit and prepared hot water to clean her wounds.

After being injured, Du Jingmo had still walked a considerable distance across the floor, and dust and tiny pebbles had lodged in her wounds. She hadn’t noticed it at first, but when Auntie used medical tweezers to lift the edges of the wounds for cleaning, Du Jingmo tried to endure it, but still gasped sharply from the pain.

Du Zhong wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gently patted her, soothing her. “Bear with it a little longer. It’ll be over soon.”

In front of her family, Du Jingmo’s eyes reddened, even her soft “Mm” carrying a sobbing tone. She buried her face in her brother’s shoulder, refusing to look at her injured feet, as if avoiding the sight would make it better.

Du Zhong had always been afraid of his little sister’s tears. As he patiently comforted her, he suddenly realized that the one crying the hardest wasn’t Du Jingmo at all, but Zhao Qingdai.

Unlike her puffy, red-eyed crying in the hotel, she now shed silent tears, wiping them away the moment they spilled over. Her gaze remained fixed on Du Jingmo’s injured feet, her expression more anxious than even the injured girl’s.

After Auntie carefully wrapped the bandages and secured them, Du Jingmo regained her composure and sat up, urging her to get some rest.

She checked the time and saw that the charity gala had long ended. Turning to her brother, she said, “I’m alright now. You should go home. Dad must be waiting for you. Don’t mention today’s incident to him.”

As if to confirm the wisdom of her words, Father Du’s call arrived promptly.

Du Jingmo nudged her brother’s arm. “Quick, go answer the phone. Make sure you keep this under wraps. I won’t be going home this week.”

Du Zhong knew that if their father learned of the day’s events, he would insist on rushing over in the middle of the night to check on her, regardless of the consequences.

Father Du had worked tirelessly for his family and company in his youth, and his health had steadily declined with age. Forcing him to make the trip now would be far more serious than her minor foot injury. It would mean a sleepless night of frantic activity, leaving everyone exhausted.

Du Zhong was adept at soothing their elderly father. Within minutes, he hung up the phone and returned. He patted his sister’s head. “I’ve managed to keep him calm for now. Focus on recovering. When Dad eventually finds out, you’ll have to come back and help me reassure him.”

“Got it,” Du Jingmo said, her face a picture of dejection as she leaned back against the headboard. “It’s so late now. You can go ahead and leave. I’m exhausted—I barely have enough energy to soothe just one of them.”

Du Zhong followed her gaze and caught Zhao Qingdai secretly wiping away tears.

Zhao Qingdai looked up, bewildered, instinctively tucking her hand behind her back and straightening her posture.

In that moment, he managed to amuse both his sister and Zhao Qingdai.

Now Du Zhong understood why his sister had suddenly started treating Zhao Qingdai with newfound respect.

Since Du Jingmo couldn’t go downstairs, Du Zhong left with Zhao Qingdai seeing him off. As she walked back, she tilted her face toward the sky, fanning the air with her hand, trying to fan her tears back in.

The System’s emotional journey today had gone from worry to surprise to numbness, and now settled into deep confusion.

“They say women are made of water, but why do I feel like you’re… made of a faucet?”

It was like a burst pipe—a faucet gushing water. Who could witness such a torrential flow and not marvel at it?

Zhao Qingdai could tell the System was trying to cheer her up, but she was in no mood to laugh.

She took a deep breath, steadied her emotions, and finally entered Du Jingmo’s bedroom.

Her first words were an apology: “Sister, I’m sorry.”

Before Du Jingmo could even comfort her, Zhao Qingdai had already preempted her. She countered, “Why are you apologizing?”

Zhao Qingdai sat on the edge of the bed, her fingers twisted tightly together so hard her knuckles turned pale.

“Because… I could have stayed away.”

But she had deliberately gone out to disrupt Gu Cheng and Du Jingmo’s time together, even downing two glasses of wine.

When those two sleazy men came to pick up the drunk woman, Zhao Qingdai was fully sober. She could have immediately called security for help, but she didn’t.

She watched those men approach, heard Du Jingmo’s panicked cries for help over the phone, and realized this was the perfect opportunity to sabotage the main characters’ storyline. So she chose silence.

Du Jingmo had initially thought Zhao Qingdai was crying out of concern for her. She never expected the girl to remain silent the whole way home, silently shouldering all the blame onto herself.

“Unless you deliberately hired those two men, you bear no responsibility for what happened today.” Her expression was serious, her tone solemn. “You simply wanted to bring me home. How can that be considered wrong?”

When Zhao Qingdai took out the pair of soft-soled cloth shoes, she was stunned.

Someone in this world could actually be so considerate.

The more Du Jingmo comforted her with understanding, the worse Zhao Qingdai felt inside.

Her heart was filled with dark, selfish thoughts she couldn’t voice, didn’t dare to speak.

“I just… regret it a little.”

The regret had struck the moment she saw Du Jingmo’s injury.

Seeing Zhao Qingdai about to start crying again, Du Jingmo quickly stopped her. “Don’t cry. Go wash your face right now, or it’ll be a mess tomorrow.”

“Do I look that bad?” Zhao Qingdai froze, then hurriedly touched her face.

Du Jingmo nodded affirmatively.

Zhao Qingdai immediately jumped up from the bed and rushed to the bathroom. Seeing her tear-streaked, swollen face in the mirror, she covered her mouth to stifle a scream and hurriedly washed her face.

As she washed, she repeated silently to herself: “Don’t cry, don’t cry! My face is my green tea blade, and this blade is about to lose its edge!”

System: “… Why did you suddenly change like that?”

When Du Jingmo had comforted her earlier, Zhao Qingdai hadn’t immediately stopped crying. So why did a single comment about her swollen face from crying instantly shift the situation?

“What do you know? I have to look perfect in front of outsiders, especially when facing my sister!”

Back when she was in the car accident, every tear she shed had been carefully calculated. She hadn’t even let her face fall apart in the hospital, so how could she let it happen now?

System: “… I truly don’t understand, but I’m deeply shaken.”

Zhao Qingdai calmed down in the time it took to wash her face, not only tidying herself up but also bringing out the toiletries.

“Sister, you can’t move easily. Let me help you wash off your makeup.”

Du Jingmo slowly raised her hand, clenched it into a fist, and then unfurled it. She repeated this three times before saying firmly, “My feet are injured, but my hands are perfectly fine. Washing my face and removing my makeup is no problem.”

“… I was too hasty,” Zhao Qingdai admitted.

But Du Jingmo’s “no problem” only applied to removing the makeup. She couldn’t get out of bed or see the mirror. After wiping her face with makeup remover, she tilted her head back and leaned closer to Zhao Qingdai, asking, “Did you get all the eye makeup off?”

The room was bathed in a warm, yellowish light. As Du Jingmo moved, their shadows overlapped, her eyelashes nearly brushing Zhao Qingdai’s chin.

Zhao Qingdai unconsciously held her breath, her gaze lingering from Du Jingmo’s eyebrows and eyes to her slightly parted lips, unable to look away.

After receiving no response for a long moment, Du Jingmo looked up and raised an eyebrow, asking with a questioning “Hmm?”

The moment their eyes met, Zhao Qingdai felt her nerves surge. Flustered, she licked her lips and averted her gaze. “It’s clean, but you still need to wash your face and change your clothes before you can sleep.”

Du Jingmo hummed in acknowledgment, splashed some warm water on her face, and tossed the towel back into the basin.

Zhao Qingdai hurried to refresh the water. She stayed in the bathroom for a while, taking deep breaths to calm herself. Now I’ve been through the test too, she thought, mentally raising a flag for herself. I won’t be so easily flustered by a little flirting.

Most importantly, her sister wasn’t trying to flirt at all. She was simply indulging in her own fantasies.

Gripping her fists tightly, Zhao Qingdai strode out with her head held high.

But after just one step, she came to an abrupt stop.

Her gaze fell only on Du Jingmo’s back, exposed to the air, its contours flowing like graceful mountain ridges. The expanse of pale skin dazzled her eyes, too glaring under the dim yellow light. A single glance made her blush and feel her blood boil.

Hearing a sound, Du Jingmo turned around. Zhao Qingdai brushed her hair aside, tugging at the neckline of her evening gown. “I can’t get the zipper. Could you help me? And hand me the topmost set of pajamas.”

Hearing her voice, Zhao Qingdai snapped out of her daze, realizing the mental flag she had raised moments earlier had been trampled underfoot. She didn’t dare even fan herself to cool down, fearing Du Jingmo might notice something amiss.

The thought of helping Du Jingmo change made her fingertips tremble. Whether from excitement, nervousness, shyness, or something else entirely, she couldn’t tell.

The moment her hand was about to touch Du Jingmo’s back, she suddenly jerked her head up, glaring at the comical face floating in mid-air.

She made a slicing motion across her throat, her eyes brimming with murderous intent.

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