Returning to the Villain Omega's High School Days - Chapter 6

The original book did not describe how Xie Ning was killed by a truck—not the time of day, nor the street. But what was known for certain was that it would happen, and it would be the catalyst for Su Wan’s confrontation with Su Xingheng.

From that perspective, she still held some importance in Su Wan’s heart. It felt like she was licking honey off a knife’s edge, but even in this moment, she felt… a little happy.

Her life was already beyond saving, but Su Wan was different. She had endured so much unspoken hardship to get to where she was. If she could survive and take care of Su Xingheng, her life should finally be happy.

According to the book’s description, Su Wan was very satisfied with her current husband, Xiang Yihai, a 66-year-old history professor at Rongcheng University. When he married Su Wan, Professor Xiang was 59, and his son, Xiang Tao, was only 8, with a stepdaughter, Cheng Fen, who was 16.

When Su Wan studied medicine at Rongcheng University, she attended one of his public lectures and heard about him then. Usually, when students talked about a professor, it was because of their personal life or how they treated their students. But Professor Xiang was a topic of conversation because of a widely criticized marriage.

“Did you hear? Professor Xiang married a Beta woman with only a primary school education who came from the countryside and was a divorcee with a child. How could she marry someone like him?!”

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it. How pretty must she be to be a divorcee from the countryside with a kid and still marry someone so well?!”

“She looks pretty average, and her clothes are old-fashioned. I really don’t get why Professor Xiang would marry her!”

“Professor Xiang is so kind. That woman must have tricked him!”

“If he were that easy to trick, why didn’t he get married before? He was almost 50! With his reputation and status, he could have had any woman he wanted! You don’t know this, but a few of his female students were after him, but he was always smart and never fell for their tricks!”

“A divorcee with a child is something I just can’t accept. I really don’t understand it. He completely shattered my view of men!”

Xiang Yihai never cared about the gossip or the strange looks. He dedicated his life to academia, while his wife always kept his life in perfect order. When he turned 50, his wife gave birth to a son, whom he cherished and raised with all his heart.

But the malice from the outside world never stopped.

“It’s so unfair! Her son is getting such a good education. He could write with a brush at three and read oracle bone script at five! I heard Professor Xiang taught him everything himself. Not only that, but he’s also so good to his stepdaughter, teaching her English personally and planning to send her to a noble school in England?! She’s completely gone from rags to riches!”

“All she knows how to do is drive and cook. What’s the difference between her and a nanny? Which nanny has a life as good as hers?”

“I heard her ex-husband came looking for her, and Professor Xiang paid him to leave. It’s one thing for a person to be rotten, but she shouldn’t drag Professor Xiang down with her!”

Sometimes, rumors could truly kill. Xiang’s wife suffered from lupus erythematosus and was also diagnosed with severe clinical depression, so she had to be hospitalized.

At the time, Su Wan was also suffering in her marriage. Once, she happened to be in the same hospital room as Xiang’s wife. She recognized her, and Xiang’s wife, for the first time, heard a belated blessing from a stranger.

“I saw you both when I was in school. It was raining one evening when I came out of class, and the area outside the academic building was full of people with umbrellas. As I walked out with the professor, he immediately spotted you in the crowd and waved to you. The look on his face made me feel that he must have been so happy with you.”

“In my mind, you two are a perfect match.”

Su Wan’s words made Xiang’s wife cry. She confessed that all these years, all she ever heard was malicious gossip from the outside world, and she desperately needed to hear that kind of encouragement.

Su Wan sighed, “Actually, marriage is just between the two of you. Other people will gradually fade from your lives.”

As Su Wan said these words, she was also thinking of Xie Ning. During the happiest time of her marriage, she thought this relationship could heal all of her life’s wounds. If she and Xie Ning could have been happy, she would have gradually forgotten the past hatred, the ugly faces of those people, and focused on her new life. But that didn’t happen. She and Xie Ning couldn’t be happy together, and now, her heart would never find peace. She would get her revenge on the Su family, and on everyone who had ever hurt her and Liu Ya.

After she divorced Xie Ning, the Su family introduced her to a long list of potential partners. As an Omega who had a miscarriage and lost her fertility, Su Wan’s options were limited. If she kept refusing the Su family’s arrangements, she wouldn’t be able to earn their trust.

Then, two years after Xiang’s wife had passed away, which was also the second year after Su Wan’s divorce, she suddenly visited the old professor. It wasn’t long before she and the professor decided to get married. The Su family was surprised by her decision, but Su Xingheng’s wives enthusiastically helped her prepare. The gifts they sent were quite telling: one gave her a painting of the Bodhisattva of Child Giving, another a walking stick and reading glasses, and the third a pile of wicked stepmother novels. It was all very sarcastic.

From the day Su Wan moved in, she and the professor slept in separate rooms. This was the professor’s idea. He felt he was old enough and that Su Wan had lost her ability to have children, so they should just live like regular relatives. The Xiang family had a live-in housekeeper who meticulously took care of the professor’s daily life, while Su Wan’s role was more like a tutor. She appeared during the most lonely and painful period of Xiang Tao’s childhood and the most rebellious and confused period of his stepdaughter Cheng Fen’s teenage years. Her presence saved both children and gave her a sense of redemption.

Su Wan was just that kind of person. She was great at making a good life for herself. Even when her life was a complete mess, she could rearrange her bad cards and play them to unexpected success. After leaving Xie Ning, hadn’t she been doing just fine? If she hadn’t gotten tangled up with a person like Su Xingheng, the rest of her life should have been happy and fulfilling, not one that ended in jail.

After reading Rongcheng, Xie Ning had made her decision. She wanted to change the book’s ending. She wanted Su Wan to have the happiness she deserved, and she would do anything to make that happen! She was just a minor character. It didn’t matter how she died.

She bought a life insurance policy and called her boss, asking for a revolver. Over the years, she had gained a reputation in the community, and her boss had wanted to train her to be an assassin for a long time, as the pay was much higher than being a thug. But Xie Ning had her own ridiculous principles. She had never killed anyone before and had no intention of doing so. This time, when Xie Ning asked for a gun, her boss gave it to her without hesitation and didn’t ask her what she planned to do.

According to the book’s plot, Su Xingheng was taking his mother to the Xiaoxiang Mountain Villa in the suburbs of Rongcheng for the night, which was the opportunity she had been waiting for.

At 4 p.m., the weather was scorching hot. Xie Ning filled her car with gas and drove for more than forty kilometers to the entrance of the Xiaoxiang Mountain Villa. The temperature on the mountain was much cooler. The road was lined with tall trees, with signs pointing the way up and ads for hotels that took in tourists. Xie Ning saw a sign on an LED light that read:

Xiaoxiang Mountain Villa Special Offer for Tonight: ¥6000/night.

The inflation at this time was only slightly higher than it had been ten years ago. Xie Ning worked her tail off just to earn a little over a hundred thousand yuan a month, which was nothing compared to how fast this villa made money. What was even more ironic was that this villa used to be Xie Ning’s home. She should have known this dump was so profitable and not sold it in the first place.

She parked her car at the entrance and began to wait. At 7 p.m., several luxury cars appeared, and Su Xingheng and his wives got out. A group of excited children followed them out. Su Xingheng helped an old woman out of the car. From behind, Xie Ning could tell it was Su Xingheng’s mother.

After them, Su Wan got out of another car with Xiang Tao. Xie Ning’s heart rate sped up. She couldn’t wait to rush over and call out to Su Wan, but her rational side told her not to alarm them. If she showed herself now, the Su family would become more vigilant, and she wouldn’t have a chance to act.

Xie Ning didn’t follow them into the villa. Instead, she climbed over the wall in the back and blended into the yard. The place had been renovated, but the general layout was still the same. Xie Ning knew the area well and easily found a private dining room where the Su family was having dinner.

At 7:30 p.m., Xiang Tao left the room to go to the bathroom. After ten minutes, Su Wan realized he hadn’t returned and went out to look for him. Outside the dining room was a courtyard with osmanthus trees planted in the open. Su Wan saw Xiang Tao sitting alone on the steps by the courtyard. She walked over and said, “Xiang Tao?”

He grunted and looked down at the pebbles on the ground.

“Are you bored?” Su Wan asked.

“I don’t like listening to them talk,” Xiang Tao complained, still looking down. “It’s so boring.”

Su Wan smiled lightly. “Adults have adult topics. It’s normal for you to be bored.”

“No,” Xiang Tao insisted. “I just don’t like listening to them talk.”

Su Wan said nothing, sensing someone nearby. She glanced toward the wall. Xie Ning quickly shrank back, her palms sweating from the tension.

Xiang Tao continued to complain, “They’re so annoying. They either talk about the stock market and finance, or they act like old ladies, asking if I’ve differentiated and if I’m engaged. I’m only fifteen! What business is it of theirs who I choose to be with in the future?!”

“You’re right,” Su Wan said. “It’s none of their business.”

“I could even choose not to get married, and it still wouldn’t be their business,” Xiang Tao said in a huff. “They’re all so arrogant. They controlled your life and ruined your life, and now they want to control mine!” He suddenly paused, realizing something. But seeing Su Wan’s calm expression, he hesitated and said, “I’m sorry. I… didn’t mean it that way.”

“It’s fine,” Su Wan said softly. “It’s normal for you to feel this way.”

Xiang Tao explained, “I was talking about what happened to you before. I heard from others that your ex-wife treated you badly. You’re good now. You have us. We’re your family.”

“I know,” Su Wan said with a smile. “You don’t have to explain.”

After a few more words, Xiang Tao felt better and was about to go back to the private room with Su Wan when a huge noise rang out, stunning them both.

Bang, bang, bang! Three consecutive deafening shots.

“Gunfire!” Xiang Tao reacted, his face turning pale. He looked at Su Wan and decided, “You need to get out of here. I’m going to see what happened!” With that, he got up and ran toward the dining room. He was so quick that Su Wan didn’t even have time to stop him.

“Xiang Tao!” Su Wan yelled, her voice lost in the screams.

Two more shots rang out. Su Wan’s legs felt weak with fear, but she stumbled after him. The dining room door was violently thrown open, and a person covered in blood rushed out. Xiang Tao yelled and lunged forward, using all his might to pin the person down. He succeeded! With a teenager’s fearlessness and courage, he appeared in this unexpected way and stopped the fleeing gunman!

But he didn’t notice that the person still had a gun in their hand, and with one pull of the trigger, they could kill Xiang Tao. Su Wan was horrified. When she saw Xiang Tao lunge at the gunman, she was terrified. But as she looked closer, a flash of confusion crossed her eyes—

Xie Ning? She couldn’t be mistaken! The person pinned to the ground, though covered in blood, had the face and presence that Su Wan knew so well. Was that Xie Ning?!

How could this be?! Why was Xie Ning here? What was with her injuries and the gun in her hand? Was she here to kill someone?

Xie Ning felt completely screwed. She had disguised herself as a server to get into the private room, but the moment she pulled out her gun, Su Xingheng suddenly picked up his three-year-old son and began to laugh. The child completely blocked Su Xingheng’s face and body, causing her to hesitate for a few seconds. In that moment, others in the room began shooting. She couldn’t dodge in time and was shot in the shoulder, the bullet going straight through her shoulder blade.

Xie Ning had failed completely. She couldn’t bring herself to harm a three-year-old, and even if she had fired, the probability of hitting Su Xingheng was low. How could his luck be so good? The exact moment she pulled out her gun, he picked up the child to use as a shield.

Xie Ning burst through the dining room door, and just then, Xiang Tao lunged at her, blocking her escape. It was all so fucking ridiculous! Not only did she fail to kill Su Xingheng, but she might also die here.

She heard Su Wan’s voice, and her mind went completely blank. She might die tomorrow, but what was more humiliating than death was being in such a miserable state in front of Su Wan.

She lowered her eyelids and took a quiet breath, almost giving up the fight. At that moment, Su Wan suddenly rushed over, grabbed Xiang Tao, and desperately pulled him away, shouting, “Get away from her!”

Su Wan couldn’t understand what was happening. She didn’t know why Xie Ning was there, but she saw that Xie Ning had an opportunity to shoot Xiang Tao, yet she didn’t. Xie Ning was pinned to the ground, turned to the side. Her defeated expression seemed to have struck a chord with Su Wan.

Xiang Tao was startled by Su Wan’s shout. Su Wan had never spoken so loudly before. His attention was distracted, and in that split second, the person on the ground broke free.

The courtyard was in chaos. People swarmed out, but the woman suddenly vanished into the crowd like a ghost. Xiang Tao could still hear her ragged breathing, like a dying hunting dog.