Paranoid Girlfriend [Transmigration into a Book] - Chapter 9

The female lead crouched down again and continued pulling weeds.

This confrontation was clearly the female lead’s win.

Dai Shiyuan frowned suspiciously. This female lead did not seem as easy to bully as the book had described.

At the very least, she knew how to fire back sarcastically and was not blindly enduring everything.

In the book, the female lead in the early stages was very weak and was made things difficult for in all sorts of ways by the male lead’s mother.

The male lead’s mother placed great importance on family background and social status. She wholeheartedly wanted the male lead to marry a wife whose family was of equal standing.

The female lead’s family circumstances were not good, so the male lead’s mother disliked her very much and often maliciously made trouble for her.

As for why the female lead was able to marry the male lead, Dai Shiyuan remembered that this marriage had been strongly pushed forward by the male lead’s father.

The male lead’s father, on the other hand, liked the female lead very much.

Dai Shiyuan seriously pondered the original plot, and an hour quickly passed. The female lead had also finished pulling the weeds.

“Xiao Yuan, rest early. Don’t tire yourself out too much.” Shan Yaxin reached up to wipe the sweat from her face, then smiled gently toward the window.

Dai Shiyuan was startled by the voice that suddenly rang out and hurriedly nodded.

Only after the female lead left with a basket full of grass on her back did Dai Shiyuan’s tense body finally relax.

Dai Shiyuan inhaled, touched her violently pounding heart, and quickly shut the window.

This female lead always frightened her. She absolutely had to stay away.

After a night’s sleep, Dai Shiyuan got up feeling refreshed and clear-headed.

Facing the mirror, she revealed a brilliant smile, her eyes full of anticipation for the future.

She had just finished washing up when a series of urgent knocks came from outside the door.

From this rhythm, she could deduce that the person who had come was not the female lead.

After gaining repeated experience over the past few days, she could already determine whether the person outside her door was the female lead from the sound and frequency of the knocking.

Her judgment had never been wrong.

This time, the person who came was not the female lead.

Dai Shiyuan’s expression remained unchanged as she walked over and opened the door. Seeing that it was a maid, she asked in confusion, “What happened?”

“Miss, Madam wants you to go downstairs.” The maid spoke in a panic, her face carrying a hint of fear.

Dai Shiyuan’s heart gave a thud, and her body tensed slightly.

The male lead’s parents had actually come back…

If she went downstairs, would she give herself away?

In that instant, Dai Shiyuan thought of many things. The more she thought, the more worried she became, and she hesitated without moving.

Seeing Dai Shiyuan lower her eyes and stand still, the maid continued, “Madam is very angry right now. She called early this morning. You’d better go down quickly.”

“Called?” Dai Shiyuan keenly caught this information. After thinking quickly for a moment, she looked up and asked, “They haven’t come back?”

“Master and Madam haven’t come back yet. If they had, Ping Xue would definitely be even worse off.” As the maid spoke, her body shivered, looking as though fear still lingered in her heart.

Dai Shiyuan frowned, guessing that something must have happened.

But knowing that the male lead’s parents would not be coming back, she felt much more at ease and followed the maid out.

When she went downstairs, she saw that the butler and servants had all gathered in the living room. Even the female lead was among them.

Everyone had solemn expressions and stood properly in line.

Only one person was facing the tea table, kneeling on the floor with her head lowered, her body trembling nonstop.

Even without seeing this person’s face, Dai Shiyuan knew it was Ping Xue.

Beside Ping Xue, a purple qipao lay scattered on the floor.

Dai Shiyuan’s expression showed some confusion. Seeing everyone’s solemn faces, she did not feel it was appropriate to ask too many questions.

When the butler saw Dai Shiyuan come down, he immediately held up the phone and said, “Miss, tell Madam what happened in the ironing room yesterday.”

On the phone’s video call was the face of an elegant wealthy woman. Although she was somewhat plump, it was clear that she had been a beauty when she was young.

Dai Shiyuan felt a little nervous inside. She blinked, lowered her lashes, and quietly recounted what had happened.

When she heard that Dai Shiyuan had taken the initiative to give the dress away, Mother Dai’s face immediately turned livid with anger. She scolded furiously, “Do you know how precious this dress is? I specially invited the best qipao master to make it. There are only these two pieces in the entire world.”

“I…” Dai Shiyuan’s heart tightened. She lowered her head to hide the surprise in her eyes.

This male lead’s mother was a little too fierce. Although the original novel had said she had a bad temper, facing her for real was truly hard to bear.

“All my friends have seen me wearing this qipao. Now you’ve given yours to a maid. Are you trying to make everyone else laugh at me for wearing the same clothes as a maid?” The more Mother Dai spoke, the angrier she became. By the end, her volume had soared to the extreme, and her voice could be heard throughout the entire hall.

Half of her face occupied the phone screen, looking somewhat frightening.

Dai Shiyuan glanced up once, then quickly lowered her head and put on an attitude of admitting her mistake.

This Mother Dai really was strict. Just because of one piece of clothing, she was angrily scolding her “daughter.” Dai Shiyuan found that a little difficult to understand.

“All right, don’t be so loud. What if you scare Xiao Yuan?” A deep male voice came through the phone, and very quickly, the image on the screen changed into a mature and handsome face.

The moment Dai Shiyuan heard the voice, she knew it was Father Dai and could not help looking up.

The male lead’s father was very good-looking. His brows and eyes were handsome, his gaze kind, and he had the mature bearing of someone his age. He looked extremely reliable.

The male lead’s appearance probably would not be bad either.

“Xiao Yuan, don’t be upset. Your mom just has this impatient temper. She isn’t really blaming you, so don’t take it to heart.” Father Dai comforted her gently, his softened tone as if he were coaxing a child, completely unlike a mature and steady man.

Dai Shiyuan hurriedly shook her head, pursed her lips, and revealed an obedient smile.

Seeing this, Father Dai’s expression became even gentler and more kindly. He said to Mother Dai at the side, “The one at fault in this matter is Ping Xue. If you want to blame someone, blame Ping Xue. Don’t take your anger out on Xiao Yuan.”

“When did I do that?” Mother Dai retorted unhappily, though her manner and attitude were not as forceful as before.

Hearing their conversation, Dai Shiyuan more or less understood who held the most authority in this family.

Without a doubt, it was Father Dai. Even the arrogant and domineering Mother Dai showed a few traces of a little woman’s manner in front of Father Dai.

“Butler, point the phone at Ping Xue. I have something to say to her,” Mother Dai ordered, suppressing her anger.

The butler immediately did as instructed.

Seeing that there was nothing more for her to do, Dai Shiyuan obediently stood to the side.

She did not pay attention to where she was standing. Only after standing properly did she realize that the person beside her was the female lead.

Dai Shiyuan was instantly startled and stood upright, eyes fixed straight ahead.

Shan Yaxin glanced blandly at Dai Shiyuan, then shifted her gaze onto Ping Xue.

Ping Xue knelt on the floor, trembling like a sieve. She did not even dare raise her head to look at Mother Dai in the video call.

“Ping Xue, your nerve is growing bigger and bigger. You actually dared to secretly wear Miss’s clothes without permission.” Mother Dai questioned her coldly, her expression full of contempt and arrogance. Her tone was much harsher than before.

Ping Xue was so frightened that she immediately began crying, kowtowing as she begged for mercy. “Madam, I was just possessed for a moment. Please spare me this once…”

“You lowly wretch still dare to beg for mercy? Butler, slap her mouth hard. Make her unable to speak,” Mother Dai said through gritted teeth, her voice vicious.

The butler immediately obeyed.

“No… no…” Ping Xue struggled desperately, swaying left and right. Tears streamed down her face, and her neatly combed hair was shaken completely loose.

Her originally clean and neat appearance now made her look like a madwoman.

The butler ignored Ping Xue’s pleas. He directly had people hold her arms and began slapping her across the mouth viciously.

The strength of a man was not small, especially when the butler showed no mercy.

Very soon, Ping Xue’s mouth began bleeding. Her pleas could no longer be heard clearly, and only muffled “wu wu” sounds remained.

Inside the spacious living room, a woman’s hoarse, desperate cries and miserable sobs rang out from time to time.

Dai Shiyuan could almost imagine the bloody scene appearing. Fortunately, she had lowered her head in advance.

This villa had its own set of rules. From her perspective, those rules did not align with her moral values, but in this old-school melodramatic novel, they were very common.

Over the past few days, she had already grown used to them.

Beside her, Shan Yaxin quietly curved her lips, a smug smile flashing through her eyes.

All the servants present quietly watched this punishment. No one spoke up to stop it.

Only after the butler had beaten Ping Xue until her face was covered in blood and her expression was scattered did Mother Dai finally feel satisfied.

“Throw this dress and this woman out together,” Mother Dai said coldly, her face full of disgust.

The butler immediately carried out the order.

When Ping Xue was dragged out, she no longer struggled. Her eyes were hollow, and blood flowed from the corners of her mouth from time to time.

Dai Shiyuan raised her head and saw Ping Xue’s head hanging low, her limbs powerless as she was dragged away in a miserable state.

Compared with her arrogant and overbearing appearance yesterday, she now looked utterly lifeless, as if she were about to die.

Dai Shiyuan was somewhat shocked.

If the law did not forbid it, Mother Dai probably would have beaten Ping Xue to death.

The male lead’s mother really was too terrifying, even a little perverse. For the sake of one piece of clothing, she had tortured someone nearly to the point of collapse.

Then the female lead had probably suffered quite a bit of difficulty from her too.

Dai Shiyuan quietly swept a glance at the female lead beside her and did not see any unusual expression.

She had thought the female lead would show a happy expression. After all, the female lead had been bullied by Ping Xue several times.

After Ping Xue was punished, the villa returned to calm.

Dai Shiyuan returned to her room and quietly thought through the beginning and end of the matter.

Ping Xue being suddenly punished by Mother Dai today definitely was not a coincidence.

Everyone in the villa knew about the qipao matter. Anyone could have secretly reported it to Mother Dai.

Ping Xue usually bullied quite a few people, and many servants held resentment toward her.

But Dai Shiyuan’s intuition told her that this matter had been done by the female lead, although she had no evidence.

Right now, she truly had some doubts in her heart. The female lead’s character setting was supposed to be gentle and kind to the point of weakness, someone who would not resist any unfair treatment.

But with Ping Xue’s matter now, there was something about it that made Dai Shiyuan feel strange.

Dai Shiyuan rubbed her forehead and stopped herself from continuing to guess.

In any case, she was going to stay away from the female lead. No matter what the female lead became, it had nothing to do with her.

She only needed to protect her little life. There was no need to think too much about anything else.

Once the admission notice arrived, she would immediately leave this place, go find a place to live near the school, and completely stay far away from this family.