My Paranoid Girlfriend Asks Me to Be Her Kept Woman (Rebirth) - Chapter 2

“Are you okay?”

Lin Yi felt her heart being viciously squeezed and then released. She slowly woke up from endless darkness.

In front of her was a cold, indifferent face. The woman had sharp eyebrows, a high nose bridge, and an unapproachable aura. She was currently frowning as she stared at her.

“I…” Lin Yi opened her mouth, searching for her voice. “Zhao Qi…”

She never expected it to be real. That lotus called Wuming had actually sent her back!

A burning sensation spread across her chest, as if something was parasitizing her heart. Right now, it seemed to be pounding wildly in place of her own heart.

“You know me?” Zhao Qi raised an eyebrow, looking at the person who had just stumbled into her arms.

The woman’s face was flushed with a peach-blossom tint, her hair dyed in a striking pink shade. She had fair skin and delicate features, but she looked to be in poor condition.

“I…” Lin Yi began.

“Xiao Yi, what are you doing here? President Li has been waiting for you. He said he must have another drink with you. No one leaves until there’s a clear winner today!” A man reeking of alcohol walked out from around the corner.

Lin Yi tightly gripped Zhao Qi’s wrist. Zhao Qi could feel the person in her arms trembling.

“Who are you?” Only when the man got closer did he notice that Lin Yi was being held by someone.

He grabbed Lin Yi’s arm and yanked her outward roughly. Lin Yi staggered and nearly fell to the ground.

Zhao Qi frowned and stepped out from the shadows. “Do you need help?”

When the man saw it was a cold, imposing beauty who clearly wasn’t someone to mess with, and considering this was a place where rich heirs gathered to drink and party, he immediately put on a smile. A single brick dropped here could kill several important figures. This woman’s presence screamed that she was no ordinary person.

“Misunderstanding, misunderstanding! I’m her manager. Today is a company gathering. I brought her here to gain some experience.”

Zhao Qi understood the hidden meaning behind the man’s words. Her face instantly turned ice-cold. Although she didn’t speak, Lin Yi could sense the disdain in her eyes.

Lin Yi knew Zhao Qi had misunderstood and thought she was the type to climb up by clinging to the rich and powerful.

She gritted her teeth. In her previous life, she had stubbornly held on when she saw this woman’s expression, refusing her help, only to be dragged away by her manager and fall into the abyss afterward.

Gathering her strength, she violently shook off her manager’s grip and threw herself toward the woman.

A familiar scent enveloped her — thick pinewood mixed with cool mint, strangely giving her a sense of support.

“Help me,” she murmured.

Hearing the voice in her arms, Zhao Qi’s brows unconsciously relaxed. She turned to the manager with a sharp, aggressive gaze.

“I’m taking this lady with me.”

“Huh?!”

“She’s my person, you…” The manager finally reacted and grabbed Zhao Qi. Zhao Qi let out a cold laugh and showed no mercy. She stepped hard on the manager’s foot, twisting the ten-centimeter stiletto heel viciously into the top of his foot.

The manager sucked in a sharp breath and doubled over in pain.

Zhao Qi steadied Lin Yi and said coldly, “Next time you want to threaten someone, don’t pick the wrong target. I am Zhao Qi, the seventh daughter of the Zhao family.”

“You—you—” The manager’s fierce threat never made it out. His twisted, ferocious face froze when he heard the name. She was from the Zhao family, one of the top elite families in Huai City!!! His face turned into a messy palette as he stammered, “Y-y-yes, Zhao… Zhao… Zhao…”

“Hmph.”

Dropping a single syllable, Zhao Qi wrapped an arm around the slender waist of the person in her arms and walked out of the manager’s sight.

“Thank you,” Lin Yi said, breathing heavily between words.

Zhao Qi’s mind gradually calmed down. She looked at the person who could only walk by leaning completely on her and asked, “Do you want to go to the hospital?”

Lin Yi shook her head. Leaning against the woman, she took a deep breath and felt as if she had drawn in some mysterious strength.

“Take me to the hotel next door.”

Zhao Qi supported her as they crossed a narrow road and entered the nearby hotel.

Lin Yi clutched Zhao Qi’s clothes tightly as they hurriedly got into the elevator.

“You’re staying here?” Zhao Qi finally realized.

“Mhm.” Lin Yi’s fingers trembled as she tried several times but failed to align her fingerprint correctly.

Zhao Qi held Lin Yi’s beautiful, slender fingers and pressed them against the fingerprint lock. With two beeps, the door opened.

Lin Yi leaned against the doorframe. Zhao Qi stood at the entrance, hesitating slightly. She had a strange feeling that stepping inside would lead her into an unknown world.

“Cough… urgh.” Lin Yi couldn’t hold it back and started dry heaving.

Her body had been forced to drink too much alcohol, along with some spiked substances. Everything was now churning violently in her stomach.

Zhao Qi no longer hesitated. Perhaps a vomiting drunkard was less terrifying than the unknown. She helped Lin Yi inside, closed the door, and brought her into the bathroom.

Lin Yi hugged the toilet and dry-heaved several times before shoving her index finger down her throat. Finally, she vomited everything out in a messy rush.

After throwing up, she collapsed onto the floor, feeling as if all strength had left her body. Her mind went blank, and she stared off into space. A flush rose on her face as she began giggling foolishly, looking completely drunk.

Zhao Qi had stepped out while she was vomiting. After a long time with no sound, she opened the door and saw Lin Yi kneeling on the floor, laughing stupidly.

Zhao Qi’s brows furrowed again. She squatted down, catching a strong whiff of alcohol, and patted the person on the floor.

“Wake up.”

The person on the floor didn’t respond at all and even slid sideways. Zhao Qi finally sensed something was wrong. She placed her index finger on Lin Yi’s neck to check her pulse — it was racing wildly.

Rubbing her brow, Zhao Qi stood up and watched for a while. In the end, she decided to see it through. She moved the person onto the bed, then called the family doctor to come over.

The doctor was startled when he arrived, thinking something had happened to the young miss of the Zhao family. After much confusion, it turned out to be her friend who was in trouble.

After a careful examination, the doctor gave his diagnosis. He administered a sedative to Lin Yi and put an oxygen mask on her. Only then did the person on the bed finally calm down.

Zhao Qi’s brows knitted tightly when she saw the sedative being administered. “What’s going on?” She hadn’t expected it to be serious enough to require sedation.

The doctor explained, “This young lady appears to have taken hallucinogens. Her blood pressure is elevated, her heart rate is too fast, and she’s experiencing hysteria-like symptoms.”

Zhao Qi understood. The sedative was to prevent Lin Yi from harming herself.

“The hallucinogen will have to be metabolized by her body naturally. However, I heard you say she vomited out the contents of her stomach earlier, so the remaining amount should be small. Still, once she wakes up, she should go to the hospital for a proper check-up. She also needs to drink plenty of water to help flush it out.”

“I understand. Thank you, Uncle Zhang.”

The doctor smiled. “It’s nothing. I’m just glad it wasn’t the young miss who was hurt.” He picked up his medical bag, waved goodbye, and left.

After seeing the doctor off, Zhao Qi sat by the bedside, feeling that she had picked up a huge problem right after returning.

She stared at the face still flushed with pink on the bed. The soft, rosy cheeks nestled in the fluffy pink hair, as if resting in a gentle dream.

Lin Yi’s nostrils flared slightly as she breathed steadily.

Zhao Qi let out a scoff. “I must be possessed.”

From the very first moment she saw this person, her heart had started beating uncontrollably, as if she had encountered something worth celebrating.

But how could Zhao Qi be someone who submits so easily? When she heard that fat manager’s words, she had truly wanted to walk away. Yet when her wrist was gently held and the person fell into her arms, her heart roared and shook violently. It felt as though if she didn’t grab onto her, something she would deeply regret would happen later. And her instincts had always been accurate.

She couldn’t help reaching out and pinching the sleeping person. The girl on the bed let out a soft whimper. Zhao Qi released her hand, and the pinched skin instantly turned red.

Zhao Qi stared at the red mark and clicked her tongue softly. “Your skin is quite tender.”

The night passed in the blink of an eye.

The next day, bright sunlight poured onto the bed. The person on the bed stirred, her eyelids fluttering. Her lashes struggled against the sunlight for a long while before her vision finally cleared from the white haze into reality.

Lin Yi had slept well, though her dreams had been a bit noisy.

Wuming was grumbling in her mind: “You call me ‘sweetie’ when you need me, but now you think I’m noisy. Scumbag!”

Lin Yi instantly woke up upon hearing the voice. “Why are you in my head?”

“Did you forget? Weren’t you the one who called for me?”

Lin Yi recalled yesterday’s emergency. She hadn’t just been given hallucinogens — there were also drugs…

Under the double stimulation of hallucinogens and drugs, she would have gone into a frenzy last night and nearly lost her life. If she hadn’t summoned Wuming in time to help dilute the toxins and expel them through vomiting, it wouldn’t have been just a small residue of hallucinogens. And if she had been taken back by the manager, today in this hotel she would have been ruined and left at the mercy of others!

Thinking of this, Lin Yi shuddered and abruptly sat up.

“Mmm…” A long sigh came from the side. Zhao Qi looked at her sleepily, eyes half-open. “It’s me. There’s no one else. No need to panic.”

Lin Yi’s body froze. She turned to the side.

The person beside her had fluffy chestnut-colored curly hair, a lazy expression, and an astonishing aura even while half-asleep. Her face was indifferent, with slightly raised eyebrows, as if asking: What are you doing?

Wuming was nearly exploding with noise in Lin Yi’s head, but her actual movements remained calm.

She removed the oxygen mask and said composedly, “Someone will come soon. Let’s get up first.”

“Someone?” Zhao Qi asked in confusion. She watched Lin Yi get up and enter the bathroom. After a while, several thumping sounds came from inside, then it fell silent again.

She raised her eyebrows in amusement, lifted the quilt, and got out of bed as well.

After Lin Yi washed her face and calmed down, Wuming prompted her: “Look at your chest.”

Lin Yi pulled open her clothes. In the mirror, a tender pink lotus bud was blooming at the center of the woman’s chest.

“When all seven lotus petals fully bloom, that will be the moment you truly return to the human world.”

Lin Yi placed her hand over her heart. Her heartbeat was steady: thump—thump—

“What happened last night?”

Lin Yi asked, “Did you sense my call?”

Wuming: “I sensed the power of love and anger, so I saved you along the way.”

Lin Yi straightened her clothes. “Wasn’t I a complete energy being? Why was I still affected?”

Wuming: “……”

“You have now returned to the Sea of Fate. Although I rewound your time, I cannot violate the rules of the Sea of Fate. Everyone here must follow the rules of destiny.”

“Rules of destiny?” Lin Yi laughed mockingly. “Didn’t saving me already violate my destiny?”

Wuming: “Your ending is not here. My changes will not alter your final destination.”

Lin Yi looked at herself in the mirror. The entire bathroom was reflected clearly, showing a woman with pink hair and fair skin. Only she knew there was still a mysterious being in her mind, whose intentions were unknown.

“Is my ending death?” she finally asked.

Wuming patiently explained, “You have already died once. As long as you collect all seven substances, you will truly return to the human world.”

“And if I fail?”

“The Sea of Purity will devour your soul, and you will sink to the bottom of the sea, forever asleep.”