Forced to Become the Female Villain's Doting Wife (GL) - Chapter 19.3

Su Lian tried to ignore Su Xianxian’s oppressive gaze. She squeezed her throat and spoke in a fake, high-pitched voice. “Why is Sister here? Class has started, and Sister hasn’t shown up. The teacher was worried, so she sent me to look. Since Sister is fine, let’s go back to class together.”

Over the years, Su Lian had learned to hide her emotions after being marginalized by others’ looks. She had resisted as a child, but Su Jianxiu only told her to ignore it. So she slowly learned to restrain herself and use pity as a disguise. She found that the more pitiful she appeared, the more others would sympathize with her and help her.

“Why isn’t Sister talking? Could it be that you’re angry with your sister? I didn’t know Sister was skipping class… But Sister is already a senior; your grades are poor to begin with. If the teacher finds out you’re skipping, she’ll have to call our parents. Daddy is busy with work right now because Sister won’t help with the finances. Sister is a grown-up; you should be more sensible.”

Su Xianxian had been sitting on the cardboard where Jiang Cuo had lain. She stood up silently. The scent of alcohol on the cardboard had faded considerably.

Su Xianxian tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She didn’t say a word in response to Su Lian’s long, insincere explanation; she just walked toward her silently. The equipment room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The sound of Su Xianxian’s leather shoes hitting the floor was a steady thump-thump, like a heartbeat, making one feel inexplicably nervous.

Su Xianxian had already suspected Su Lian, but seeing her open the door so righteously, looking around as if nothing were wrong—and even appearing a bit disappointed that things hadn’t escalated—Su Xianxian’s rage flared up. For a moment, a cold aura filled the small room, and the pressure was so low it was suffocating.

Su Lian wanted to say something else, but she found her mouth could open yet no sound would come out. She released her hands and let them hang at her sides, nervously clutching her clothes as her palms broke into a sweat.

Su Xianxian seems angry.

Su Lian tried to keep her gaze level with Su Xianxian’s so her own presence wouldn’t diminish. It was strange—how could Su Xianxian have such a big temper? She had everything, and everyone yielded to her, yet she was still so unhappy.

Driven by Su Xianxian’s aura, Su Lian kept backing up until her body hit the door. There was nowhere else to go.

Su Xianxian took a large step forward. With both hands, she seized Su Lian’s collar. She pressed her fist against Su Lian’s collarbone, pinning her hard against the door. Her eyes flared with rising anger.

“Why? Why did you target Jiang Cuo?”

Su Lian: “What?”

Su Lian’s brain stalled for a second.

“I thought you were just young and liked to play petty tricks—that it was harmless. I didn’t expect you to have such a mind. Jiang Cuo has no grudge against you. If you can’t stand me, target me. Why harm an innocent bystander? Su Jianxiu spoils you, but I won’t.”

Su Xianxian’s strength was terrifying right now; her grip made Su Lian’s collarbone ache. Stared down by Su Xianxian’s angry eyes, Su Lian began to shake all over. Her mouth, which was usually so good at twisting the truth, couldn’t move properly; she couldn’t say a word.

Furthermore, Su Lian noticed the wound on the corner of Su Xianxian’s mouth.

“Sister… why are you so angry?”

Beyond her fear, Su Lian was shocked. She had never seen Su Xianxian care so much about someone. In the past, Su Xianxian only bullied her; she didn’t care about anyone else. She didn’t expect such an arrogant, self-centered person to have a weakness—to have someone she wanted to protect this much.

So Su Xianxian… has this protective side.

Su Xianxian released Su Lian’s collar. “We’re just high schoolers. You have Su Jianxiu to back you up, so you act without a brain. You can mess with me however you want. But don’t you dare target others. Jiang Cuo still has to get into college. Her life is completely different from yours. She has ambitions, and she will have a great future. Don’t ruin a person because of your petty, rotten mind.”

Su Lian’s strength felt as if it had been drained. She clutched her neck with both hands, gasping for air and coughing violently. She stared at her toes, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Then Su Xianxian used her thumb and index finger to seize her chin, forcing her to look up. “Know what to tell the teacher when you go back? My good sister is so clever, surely you won’t disappoint me.”

Whether it was because Su Xianxian’s actions today were so beyond Su Lian’s expectations, or because Su Xianxian’s aura completely overwhelmed her, Su Lian nodded numbly and timidly agreed.

Su Xianxian flung her hand away and, ignoring Su Lian’s reaction, turned and left.

Downstairs, the butler had already parked the car, waiting for Su Xianxian. He drove straight to the hospital.

[Trash System: Don’t worry, Host. Jiang Cuo just had excessive alcohol intake and got drunk. It wasn’t alcohol poisoning, and there won’t be any other adverse reactions.]

Su Xianxian rested her elbow on the window frame and rolled down the glass, letting the cool wind blow against her face. After hearing the system’s notification, she let out a long sigh, and her tense emotions finally relaxed.

She didn’t expect that when the great Female Villain drank, she would truly be as the book described.

Soft, adorable, and incredibly clingy.

[Trash System: Friendly reminder! Congratulations, Host! You have successfully triggered the reward from the system for additional intimate contact with Jiang Cuo. Since Jiang Cuo is still drunk and unconscious, the system cannot detect her current Disgust Value. However, the system is issuing an additional setting not mentioned in the original book. It will be revealed when the Host’s fusion degree with the system world reaches 60%. Keep it up, Host! Fighting!]

Su Xianxian curled her lip. She wanted to complain about the trash system, but the pain in her lip sobered her up, and the bite marks on her neck were beginning to throb.

“Stop the car. Buy me two adhesive bandages.”

“Understood.”

…

Before getting out of the car, Su Xianxian had already applied the bandages. Upon reaching the hospital lobby, she spotted Jiang Cuo’s grandfather pacing around, searching for something anxiously.

Su Xianxian immediately stepped forward. “Grandpa, why are you here?”

The grandfather looked as if he’d found a life-saving straw. “Little Su! The school called me and said Jiang Cuo wasn’t feeling well and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. I came right away. I even brought money. Which ward is she in? Have the medical fees been paid?”

Su Xianxian looked at the stack of cash in his hand—probably just withdrawn from the bank. Her heart softened. So this was what it felt like to have a relative care for and worry about you.

“Grandpa, don’t worry. Jiang Cuo just ate something bad. The fees have already been paid; someone will take responsibility. I’ve already taken a leave of absence from school to stay with Classmate Jiang. Don’t worry, Grandpa.”

Inside Jiang Cuo’s ward, the window was open for ventilation, so there was no scent of alcohol. Jiang Cuo’s grandfather didn’t notice anything unusual.

Seeing that Jiang Cuo was sleeping peacefully in her hospital bed and out of harm’s way, her grandfather eventually agreed to let Su Xianxian’s butler drive him home.

Su Xianxian let out a long sigh, careful to purse her lips into an “O” shape so she wouldn’t stretch the wound on her lower lip. Only then did she collapse onto the recliner beside Jiang Cuo’s bed.

She stared at the ceiling in a “Ge You Slump” (a famous Chinese meme of a lazy slouch).

What a chaotic day.

Lying, deceiving, compromising someone’s “innocence,” losing her temper—she hadn’t missed a single beat.

Furthermore, the wound on her lip was giving her an incredibly high “turn-around rate.” People couldn’t stop staring. After all, she couldn’t exactly cover her mouth with an adhesive bandage; that would look way too strange.

She just wanted to live a quiet life. Why was it so hard?

After sitting for a while, Su Xianxian stood up, picked up her stool, and moved it inch by inch toward Jiang Cuo’s bed. She sat by the head of the bed, propping her head up with her hand, tilting it to gaze at Jiang Cuo’s face.

Jiang Cuo was on an IV drip, and her arm was tucked under the quilt. Su Xianxian stood up to adjust the IV tube for her. Unexpectedly, just as she stood up and reached out, her wrist was suddenly seized as if by a corpse coming back to life.

The hand gripping her was well-defined, with long fingers and a faint, pale pink tint at the tips.

Su Xianxian flinched violently; that sensation of her hair standing on end and her skin crawling returned instantly. She instinctively looked down and saw Jiang Cuo, lying on the bed, suddenly snap her eyes open.

Her phoenix eyes were bloodshot, staring fixedly at Su Xianxian.

Jiang Cuo looked as if she had caught Su Xianxian in the middle of a crime. For no reason at all, Su Xianxian felt a wave of guilt wash over her.

The wound on Jiang Cuo’s lip also fell into her line of sight, making it almost impossible for Su Xianxian to look her in the eye.

Su Xianxian tried to comfort herself.

It must be the IV drip that caused Jiang Cuo to wake up so quickly. Since she was awake, well, 99% of drunk people don’t remember anything anyway. Besides, this was a book world; since so many illogical settings already existed, the Trash System would surely ensure Jiang Cuo didn’t remember anything for the sake of “plot consistency.”

Why was she feeling guilty like a furball?

She held the moral high ground! She had sacrificed so much—she had even given up her first kiss—and she wasn’t even complaining yet. The system better be sensible and have her back.

Su Xianxian was just about to speak to soothe Jiang Cuo and give a proper explanation of the sequence of events (while omitting the parts that needed deleting), but she didn’t get the chance.

Jiang Cuo, with her red-rimmed phoenix eyes, seemed to gradually regain her senses. She scrutinized Su Xianxian’s face up, down, left, and right. Finally, her consciousness locked onto the wound on Su Xianxian’s lower lip, as if the data had finished loading.

She pouted her lips slightly, her voice faint but deliberate, powerful, and certain—yet tinged with a trace of feeling wronged.

“Su Xianxian, you took liberties with me.”

Su Xianxian: “HUH???”

Nani?