After Teasing the Heroine and Running Away, I Was Forced into Love - Chapter 24

Shi Qing shook her head slightly, her gaze fixed intently on He Roushuang. She couldn’t understand why the other woman always appeared so promptly whenever she was in danger.

It was as if she had a surveillance system installed nearby.

“It doesn’t hurt much,” Shi Qing said, telling the truth. She had done so much manual labor, even washing dishes until her fingers cracked, that this wrist pain was nothing to her.

“Liar,” He Roushuang retorted, convinced it must hurt terribly.

But in that moment, she forgot that she and the Female Lead lived completely different lives.

“Your wrist is so red! How could it not hurt?” He Roushuang lifted Shi Qing’s wrist to her crimson lips and gently blew on it twice, the warm breath enveloping the injured area like soft cotton.

The sensation made Shi Qing’s wrist tingle.

“I’m used to it. This kind of pain is nothing,” Shi Qing said with a smile.

Her gaze then shifted to He Roushuang. Although Qin Wenlu had warned her against prying into the Gold Master’s privacy—a taboo among many wealthy individuals—she couldn’t resist asking. She had been mentally rehearsing the question for a long time.

He Roushuang, having read the novel, knew that the Female Lead’s hardships weren’t true suffering but rather the stepping stones to her future success.

Even though she heard him say it in such a joking tone, her heart still ached with tenderness.

“Don’t say that. You shouldn’t have to endure such senseless suffering.”

“If He Shanjian ever lays a hand on you again, I’ll make him pay dearly!”

He Roushuang’s words were no empty threat; she meant every word.

“Sister, why do you always appear at the exact right moment?”

Whether it was at the bar, the restaurant, or now, at the hospital, He Roushuang seemed to have wings, swooping in whenever Shi Qing was in danger, shielding her from harm with her wings.

Damn it! She’s suspicious!

He Roushuang hadn’t considered this question before. In novels, wasn’t it always the case that the cold-faced, rogue-like CEO male lead always appeared at the perfect moment?

She’d never seen a female lead question it before.

Why was it different here? Was it because the female lead was too clever?

“Because I have people watching over you.”

He Roushuang thought for a moment, realizing that such a clumsy excuse would be exposed by Shi Qing in seconds. She decided to be honest.

“I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“After all, you’re my person.”

After saying this, He Roushuang felt the oily aura of a domineering CEO radiating from her, enough to fry three dishes. Shi Qing, however, was stunned.

“You’ve been having people follow me all this time?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Do you hate it?”

“Do you think I’m awful? Are you so angry you want to slap me, but… because I’m your Gold Master, you don’t dare?”

He Roushuang took a few steps forward, backing Shi Qing against a tiled pillar in the hospital. The icy chill seeped through her skin.

She couldn’t describe the feeling.

“It’s okay. I’ll let you slap me.”

“But remember this: you’re not allowed to like anyone else, and you’re not allowed to have any physical contact with anyone else.”

“I won’t eat cake or drink wine that someone else has touched.”

He Roushuang’s tone turned colder. She wasn’t actually possessed by the possessiveness of a domineering CEO; she simply wanted Shi Qing to remain pure.

She didn’t want her to end up in bed with the male lead before she had grown up, whether due to her environment, pressure, or other factors.

You silly girl… He never loved you.

He Roushuang wanted to tell Shi Qing the truth, but the truth was so absurd that no one would believe her.

“So, I don’t want anything someone else has touched.”

Her thumb slowly traced Shi Qing’s soft cheek as she spoke, her words carrying a sharp edge.

Her fingertips drifted downward, gliding across Shi Qing’s cheek, neck, and collarbone before sliding down her arm to encircle her wrist.

He Roushuang guided Shi Qing’s palm to press against her own cheek.

The meaning was unmistakable.

Darling, slap me. Let off some steam~

He Roushuang was certain that the Female Lead’s proud temperament would ignite at least a spark of anger. She braced herself for a light slap.

In the novel, Shi Qing’s relationship with the Male Lead had plummeted to its lowest point precisely because her last shred of dignity couldn’t endure further humiliation.

What followed was a classic “chasing after his wife” drama, complete with a fiery redemption arc that audiences lapped up.

The author really knows how to milk the trends, He Roushuang thought. But why does everyone say the Male Lead was a scumbag from start to finish?

Because after finally winning back his wife, the Male Lead would come crawling back to his “white moonlight” the moment she stirred up trouble.

It seemed the author was determined to drag this melodramatic, scumbag-protagonist novel to a million words.

Readers were left with br3ast cancer and cerebral congestion from reading this.

“I won’t.”

But an unexpected twist occurred. Shi Qing didn’t possess the personality described in the novel. Instead, she shook her head.

“If my sister doesn’t want me to be touched by others, then I won’t have excessive contact with them.”

“Shi Qing is obedient.”

Shi Qing had always believed this was a matter of professional ethics, yet deep within her heart, a voice whispered: Yield to her, please her, possess her.

“Besides, Sister, you had me followed for my own good. Why would I slap you?”

Shi Qing didn’t withdraw her hand, instead brazenly savoring the ambiguous moment.

He Roushuang was momentarily speechless. Shi Qing was acting far too love-struck, her behavior deviating from her character in the book.

“Don’t be so self-deprecating,” He Roushuang said. “We have a mutually beneficial relationship. You owe me nothing.”

Hearing the words “mutually beneficial,” Shi Qing’s heart clenched with pain. After all her efforts, did He Roushuang still see her as nothing more than an outsider?

“I understand,” Shi Qing nodded, but by the time she realized it, her fingernails had already dug deep into her palm, leaving visible marks. Considering how short her nails were trimmed, it must have taken considerable force to leave such impressions.

After their hushed conversation downstairs, He Roushuang finally agreed to accompany Shi Qing to visit Huo Wenlan. However, as they entered the room, she instinctively kept her distance from Shi Qing.

No mother would want her daughter to become someone else’s mistress, especially when she herself was a woman.

In the original novel, Huo Wenlan only learned about Shi Qing’s role as a stand-in lover in the late stages of her illness. She was furious, angry that Shi Qing had degraded herself.

“Qingqing, if I had known you would do something like this to save me, I would have preferred to be tortured to death by cancer!”

These icy words struck Shi Qing like a fatal blow. Everything she had done until then had been for her mother.

She understood her mother’s despair.

But who could mend the despair in her own heart?

Until Huo Wenlan’s death, the two never fully reconciled. The prophecy came true: she passed away, tormented by cancer.

Though He Roushuang had initially viewed this as mere narrative contrast in the novel, witnessing the Female Lead’s tragic reality firsthand left her breathless with pain.

Regardless of whether her “knight’s disease” was acting up, she desperately wanted to erase all of Shi Qing’s suffering. This girl had endured far too much.