Paranoid Girlfriend [Transmigration into a Book] - Chapter 3

This cold lasted for three days—not too serious, but not exactly light either. Using the chance of being sick, Dai Shiyuan more or less figured out the situation in this villa.

At present, her male lead brother was busy with company matters every day and had no time to come back at all.

As for the male lead’s parents, they were traveling abroad. They would not be back for at least a month.

In this huge villa, there were only her and the female lead.

No… There was also the butler and the servants, but the person she interacted with the most was still the female lead.

During the time she was sick, only the male lead’s father had called back to ask about her condition. Over the phone, he reminded her of many things she needed to pay attention to.

Although he was a little long-winded, it made her feel very warm.

She had lost her father when she was young, and her mother had raised her through hardship all by herself.

After she graduated from university, her mother passed away from illness.

She became a true orphan. Her daily life was just a straight line between the company and home, with the occasional outing with coworkers or friends.

If not for this accident, she probably would have continued living an ordinary, plain life.

There would have been nothing thrilling or earth-shattering—only a steady, simple kind of happiness.

Dai Shiyuan sat at the desk, her left hand propping up her head. Her eyes were unfocused, fixed on who knew where, while her right hand held a pen and kept tapping the same spot on the paper.

The black ink gradually changed from a tiny dot into a large circle, even seeping through the paper onto the next page.

After a long while, Dai Shiyuan suddenly came back to herself. When she saw the dark mess on the paper, she held her head in frustration.

The university preference form she had just finished filling out had actually been ruined by her. Now she had to fill in her school choices all over again.

Dai Shiyuan sighed and rewrote it.

Looking at the new preference form, her mood brightened again. Her sparkling eyes carried beautiful anticipation for the future.

Her first three choices were all outside the province. This way, no matter which school accepted her, she could stay far away from the female lead.

Just as she was feeling delighted over this decision, there came a knock from outside the door.

Dai Shiyuan’s heart tightened. The smile on her face instantly froze, and she instinctively hid the preference form.

These past few days, the female lead had often entered and left her room, saying she wanted to take care of her.

In truth, Dai Shiyuan felt that if not for the female lead’s sudden bursts of concern from time to time, her illness probably would have gotten better much faster.

Every time the female lead came, her poor little heart had to suffer another fright.

Dai Shiyuan stood up just as the door opened, revealing a beautiful, gentle face.

She did not know whether it was her imagination, but she always felt that in the instant the door opened, the female lead’s eyes were cold, carrying a chill.

For some reason, fear rose in Dai Shiyuan’s heart. Her two hands braced against the desk behind her, and several of her fingers nervously tapped the tabletop one after another.

In order not to let the female lead notice, she forced out a faint smile and asked softly, “Sister-in-law, is something the matter?”

“Dad called me just now to ask about your illness and your university preferences. He specifically urged me to come and take a look.” Shan Yaxin closed the door behind her with one hand and spoke with a gentle smile.

The click of the door closing sounded like the lock of a cage falling into place. Dai Shiyuan’s heart jolted, and the smile on her face almost failed to hold.

Whenever she was alone with this female lead, she always had the illusion that she was in danger.

In the early part of the book, the female lead was gentle and kind. She could even be described as saintly. No matter what difficulties others gave her, she endured and tolerated them, never fighting back.

But after interacting with her over the past few days, Dai Shiyuan had not felt any of that supposed gentleness and kindness from the female lead at all.

Shan Yaxin seemed not to notice her change. She walked over, sat down, and asked, “Xiao Yuan, these next two days are the final deadline for submitting your university preferences. Have you decided which schools you want to choose?”

“I…” Dai Shiyuan instinctively blinked and quickly thought about whether she should tell the truth.

Her hesitant appearance was like that of a student in class who could not answer the teacher’s question. Paired with that still-youthful face, it was especially obvious.

Seeing this, Shan Yaxin gave a comforting smile and said gently, “If you don’t know what to choose, then Sister-in-law can help you take a look.”

After saying this, she reached out as if to take the application guide.

“No need!” Dai Shiyuan suddenly shifted her body and raised her voice in a cry. Nervously, she grabbed the application guide and hugged it tightly against her chest as if it were a treasure.

This reaction was very excessive. Dai Shiyuan quickly realized something was wrong and tried hard to squeeze out a smile to smooth things over.

Shan Yaxin lowered her eyes. A trace of coldness flashed through them. When she raised her head again, her beautiful face was full of surprise. After staring blankly for two seconds, she asked, “Does Xiao Yuan think Sister-in-law is meddling too much?”

“No…” Dai Shiyuan answered quickly, and the smile on her face grew more sincere.

Their gazes confronted each other for several seconds. From those gentle eyes, Dai Shiyuan saw a hint of hurt.

The female lead’s weak appearance was indeed somewhat pitiful, but Dai Shiyuan could not soften her heart.

For some reason, she instinctively did not want the female lead to know about her university preferences.

Dai Shiyuan hugged the application guide even tighter, failing to notice something slip out from between the pages.

Shan Yaxin, however, noticed it at once. She bent down and picked up the piece of paper from the floor. When she saw the first three choices written on it, a trace of deep thought and confusion flashed through her eyes. But she quickly concealed it and asked doubtfully, “Xiao Yuan, why did you choose only schools outside the province?”

“Uh…” The corner of Dai Shiyuan’s mouth twitched. She wanted to go over and snatch the preference form back, but she did not dare make it too obvious. She could only quickly think and pull out an excuse. “Because I… I want to go outside the province and see more of the world…”

“But the schools here in our city are the best, and they’re also the most suitable for you.” Shan Yaxin continued asking. Her brows furrowed lightly, and her eyes clearly showed disapproval.

She was a teacher, so whenever she made this sort of expression, there was always a degree of sternness in it.

Dai Shiyuan immediately felt the awkwardness of being called on by a teacher in university and being unable to answer. She stood there thinking for a long time, but still could not come up with a good rebuttal. Her mouth kept murmuring the two words, “Because…”

Only, the words that should have come after “because” would not come out at all.

A faint smile rested on Shan Yaxin’s lips as she waited patiently. Her long fingers held the thin sheet of paper, occasionally shaking it twice.

This movement made Dai Shiyuan even more nervous. Cold sweat was already running down from her temple.

After getting stuck for several minutes, she finally thought of a reason. Curling the corners of her lips, she smiled and quickly answered, “Because I want to live independently.”

She said this very firmly.

“You want to live independently?” Shan Yaxin’s brows furrowed as she repeated those words carefully. The smile vanished from her gentle face, and a trace of deep thought appeared in her eyes.

From that question, Dai Shiyuan heard doubt and a trace of contempt. It was as if the other party were saying she did not have the ability to be independent at all.

This character was a pampered rich young lady. Perhaps she truly did not have that ability.

But Dai Shiyuan had already worked for two years. She had enough life experience in society, and handling these things would not be a problem at all.

Although the local universities were indeed more suitable for her, she had to stay away from the female lead. Only then could she protect her little life.

“Yes.” Dai Shiyuan nodded affirmatively, and the smile on her face became even more determined.

Hearing this answer, Shan Yaxin narrowed her eyes slightly. Her slender fingers folded a crease into the preference form.

If she used even a little more force, this piece of paper would probably be torn apart by her.

Her younger sister-in-law had always lived in luxury and had never suffered the slightest hardship. For her to actually think of studying outside the province was truly unexpected.

The corner of Shan Yaxin’s lips lifted slightly, and a trace of contempt appeared in her eyes. She advised softly, “If you go outside the province to study, there will be many things you won’t be used to. More importantly, it won’t be as convenient for your family to take care of you. If you get bullied, there won’t be anyone there to help you.”

“It’s fine. For me, this is exactly a good chance to train myself.” Dai Shiyuan’s expression did not change, and her eyes remained determined.

Because she had grown up in a single-parent family, she had suffered quite a bit of bullying since childhood.

But she was not a weak person. If someone bullied her, she would naturally pay them back.

Not to mention, she had already experienced university life before. She still understood the little twists and turns inside it.

The last time around, she had not been bullied badly. Now that she even had social experience, how could she possibly be plotted against by children who had yet to be tempered by society?

Seeing Dai Shiyuan’s mind made up, the doubt in Shan Yaxin’s heart gradually grew. She smiled and continued advising, “University is communal living. A lot of the time, you have to blend into the group. You can’t be as willful and unrestrained as you are at home. Besides, the food habits and all aspects of life in another province are different from here. You’ll be very lonely outside by yourself.”

“If you stay local, you can come back anytime. If you suffer any grievances, Dad and Mom will also be here to support you.”

Hearing this, Dai Shiyuan blinked, and a trace of yearning flashed through her heart.

In the past, when she was bullied, she had never dared go home and tell her mother. She had always silently endured it alone.

In order to support her education, her mother worked several jobs and was already very tired. Naturally, Dai Shiyuan could not add more trouble for her family.

Although she had always hoped that when she was bullied, someone would stand up to help her and protect her.

When she saw others being protected by their fathers, it would be a lie to say she was not envious. It was just that envy was all she could do.

But none of this could compare to her life. She could not lose her life just for that tiny bit of love.

“I still want to go outside the province.” Dai Shiyuan looked straight ahead, unusually firm.

Hearing this, a trace of coldness appeared in Shan Yaxin’s eyes. Her fingers clenched tightly, and the thin preference form was actually torn directly at one corner.

Most of the remaining sheet fell weakly to the floor, front side facing upward.

Dai Shiyuan caught sight of it from the corner of her eye and immediately straightened her body.

This female lead seemed to be angry?

She did not quite understand this anger.

In the original book’s plot at this point, the younger sister-in-law and the female lead were indeed on pretty good terms.

When her mother and brother made things difficult for the female lead, this character had always helped the female lead. However, their relationship was not so good that they were like family.

If Dai Shiyuan wanted to leave, the female lead should only feel regret and reluctance. Why would she be angry?

“Xiao Yuan, think it over carefully. Don’t act on impulse. Sister-in-law is only doing this for your own good.” Shan Yaxin bent down, picked up the paper from the floor, and placed it on the table together with the torn corner in her hand.

Dai Shiyuan looked at that obvious tear and shook her head firmly.

This matter concerned her future and her life. She could not be persuaded by the female lead with just a few words.

She absolutely had to study outside the province. Only by staying far away from the female lead could she preserve her life.