After Teasing the Villain and Running Away - Chapter 22

Explosive news churned in Jiang Ruosheng’s mind. She was bursting with questions for Ruan Xin, but the woman had already vanished.

Jiang Ruosheng asked Yang Lin, “Where’s Ruan Xin?”

Yang Lin replied, “She left.”

Jiang Ruosheng pressed, “So soon? Did her family’s driver pick her up?”

Yang Lin wiped a glass, occasionally blowing on it before polishing it unhurriedly. “No, it seemed like a friend—someone with big, pretty eyes. Let me warn you, attractive omegas are in high demand. If you don’t want her, plenty of others are waiting.”

Jiang Ruosheng couldn’t care less about that now. “Do you know where they went?”

Yang Lin glanced at her before lowering her gaze back to the glass, now gleaming under the bar lights as she placed it neatly into the cabinet. “You’re that concerned?”

Jiang Ruosheng: “Yes, extremely.”

Yang Lin: “Didn’t you just break up? What’s the point?”

Jiang Ruosheng’s earth-shattering declaration—”She’s toxic”—had already topped her personal list of scumbag quotes.

Jiang Ruosheng rubbed her temples. “First, we broke up seven years ago, not ‘just now.’ Second, I have something urgent to ask her.”

Yang Lin paused, then pointed across the street. “Well, then, you might not need to rush. They went to the KTV on the fourth floor opposite us—some kind of party, I think. If you—”

Before she could finish, Jiang Ruosheng bolted out the door.

“Lemon End” was tucked into a backstreet of a bustling commercial district, a lively night market area that never slept. Bars, barbecue stalls, KTVs, and arcades thrived well past midnight.

The building across the street had originally been an office complex before being converted into a mall. The entire fourth floor was now a KTV, with an elevator running straight to the top at night.

As Jiang Ruosheng approached the front desk, the thin walls of the private rooms leaked a cacophony of off-key wailing. Covering one ear, she asked the attendant if two women had recently arrived.

The clerk shrugged. “Lots of people come in. No idea who you mean.”

Frustrated, Jiang Ruosheng scanned the reservation list. None of the names belonged to Ruan Xin—unsurprising, since she had likely been dragged along by someone else.

Then, a painfully familiar name jumped out at her: “Su Qi.”

Her pale fingers traced the edge of the ledger, rubbing it repeatedly, while her other hand hovered over the delicate handwriting beneath the name before sliding to the room number—609.

Jiang Ruosheng’s brow furrowed. This… couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?

Recalling Yang Lin’s description of the woman who had taken Ruan Xin away, Jiang Ruosheng pressed her lips into a thin line and strode inside.

Room 609 was a massive VIP suite—spacious, with plush leather sofas and a small stage equipped with five standing microphones. Snacks and drinks littered the tables as a dozen people chatted or sang.

At the center of it all sat a radiant, striking woman, her half-up bun lending her a youthful, adorable charm. Her large, lively eyes sparkled as she smiled brightly.

Ruan Xin sat beside her, turned toward Su Qi as she spoke. From where Jiang Ruosheng stood, all she could see was the back of Ruan Xin’s head.

This scene wasn’t unfamiliar at all. Even before graduating high school, Su Qi would often walk over to Ruan Xin’s seat to chat with her, radiating maximum healing energy.

Jiang Ruosheng peered through the glass window of the private room, her footsteps halting as she seemed momentarily stunned.

Detected antagonist’s interaction with female lead. Antagonist’s corruption index decreased to 65%.

Jiang Ruosheng: !!

So in the end, the antagonist still needs the female lead to be healed, is that it?? Then why give this cannon fodder a system like this? Wouldn’t it be better to bind it to Su Qi instead!!

She was so angry she felt like hitting someone.

Watching the two getting closer, Jiang Ruosheng’s hand fiddled restlessly with the door handle.

“Excuse me… who are you?” A puzzled voice came from behind.

Turning around, Jiang Ruosheng saw a thin young man wearing black-framed glasses who looked somewhat scholarly.

“I’m here to see someone.”

The guy: “Then why don’t you go in?”

Not wanting to run into Su Qi right now, Jiang Ruosheng replied: “…Too many people. I’m a bit socially anxious. Could you help call her out? Just tell her I’m here to take her home.”

She pointed out the person to him. The guy gave her a meaningful look, probably assuming Jiang Ruosheng was Ruan Xin’s girlfriend.

Jiang Ruosheng watched as the guy approached Ruan Xin, exchanged a few words, and soon returned.

“She says she doesn’t know you and won’t go home with strangers.”

Jiang Ruosheng’s expression darkened, her brows furrowing tightly. “Tell her I have something extremely important to ask her. Please have her come out as soon as possible.”

The guy nodded and went in again, returning after a while. “She told you to… get lost.”

Jiang Ruosheng: …

Sensing the suppressed rage beneath Jiang Ruosheng’s icy expression, the guy comforted: “Arguments happen all the time. You alphas shouldn’t be so impatient—you need more patience.”

Through gritted teeth, Jiang Ruosheng said, “I really have something extremely important to ask her.”

“But your omega is angry. Isn’t there anything more important than this matter?” The guy crossed his arms, faint displeasure in his expression. “Are all alphas always this aggressive? My boyfriend is the same—every time he wants to make up after a fight, he uses this domineering tone. It’s really unpleasant to hear.”

Jiang Ruosheng: “You’re overthinking it. Our relationship isn’t what you imagine.”

The guy widened his eyes. “Then what is it?”

Jiang Ruosheng: “A purely professional, completely platonic working relationship. And now, perhaps… a debtor-creditor relationship.”

The guy: “She owes you money?”

Jiang Ruosheng: “Worse than that.”

She owes me a child.

Skeptical, the guy went in again, then returned looking utterly bewildered.

With a resigned sigh, Jiang Ruosheng asked, “What did she say this time?”

The guy: “She said she never sleeps with business partners.”

Jiang Ruosheng felt a pang in her chest. Watching Su Qi and Ruan Xin chatting happily, she stomped her foot and left.

Fine, it’s just a child! She could figure this out herself!

Although determined to investigate, Jiang Ruosheng actually had no leads at all. Ever since Ruan Xin left for overseas, her once-passionate and joyful heart had been repeatedly chilled into silence.

After the breakup, she drifted through life in a daze for a while, but family matters forced her to pull herself together.

The Jiang family went bankrupt, leaving only some overseas assets intact. Her parents and several siblings flew across the ocean, leaving Jiang Ruosheng—still in university—behind in the country.

She had considered transferring abroad, but the academic environment wouldn’t compare to Jingda University. Moreover, she couldn’t simply abandon the mess the Jiang family had left in the city.

Revitalizing the restructured company became Jiang Ruosheng’s sole life goal after her system mission failed and her lover betrayed her, walking away.

Many times, she couldn’t resist the urge to seek news about Ruan Xin. Even in the dead of night, she repeatedly opened flight booking pages, tempted to fly straight to that person’s side.

She wanted to demand an explanation for the betrayal—yet deep down, she already knew the reason.

An illegitimate child, invisible for the first eighteen years of her life, needed an opportunity—a “merit”—to return to the wealthy family and gain recognition.

The Jiang family was the most convenient and significant stepping stone at the time.

Ruan Xin had no excuses. As a perfectly qualified, blackened villainess, everything she did was for maximum gain—for herself alone.

They were destined to be enemies.

Torn by these emotions, Jiang Ruosheng suffered in silence, eventually giving up on searching for news about Ruan Xin.

Even if she found out, what good would it do?

If Ruan Xin was doing well, she’d seethe with resentment. If she wasn’t, what then? March up to her and call it karma?

A proper ex should stay dead in the contacts list—never to be reached out to again.

So, gradually, that vivid silhouette began to fade, turning into a hazy illusion. The weight on her heart lightened—until it was branded anew, carving an even deeper, unbreakable connection.

Lost in thought, Jiang Ruosheng opened her email and sent a message.

The recipient was a senior from university who had moved abroad after graduation and now worked at a financial firm in Country D. She had once mentioned running into Ruan Xin overseas and being enthusiastically invited to serve as the Xin family’s financial advisor.

It was daytime abroad, so the reply came swiftly. Jiang Ruosheng skimmed through it in seconds.

According to her senior, Ruan Xin had practically zero romantic history overseas. She was buried in work, acting as Xin Chengbi’s proxy to manage the family’s foreign affairs, wielding considerable influence in the overseas branch.

No marriage, no children—certainly not a seven-year-old.

However, a child occasionally appeared by her side—not Ruan Xin’s, but Xin Chengbi’s adopted daughter from an orphanage.

Jiang Ruosheng’s heart trembled violently. If it really were Ruan Xin’s child, she would never make it public. An unwed omega with a child would face scorn anywhere, let alone in the Xin family.

So, passing the child off as adopted wasn’t impossible.

Yet a cold gloom lingered between Jiang Ruosheng’s brows. That was Ruan Xin’s child—her child—now labeled a parentless orphan. Though she had never met the child, her heart ached sharply.

She pressed for more details about the child, only to learn—the age didn’t match.

The child was only five.

Jiang Ruosheng was thrown into chaos again. If this were truly her and Ruan Xin’s child, it should be seven and a half by now.

Five?

This confirmed that the child was indeed adopted by Xin Chengbi from the welfare institution. Or perhaps, the child was actually born to Ruan Xin and someone else, having nothing to do with her at all.

The doctor’s words echoed repeatedly in her mind, plunging Jiang Ruosheng into a vortex of thoughts.

Why had she been so certain back then that the child must be hers?

Seven years had passed—it would be perfectly normal if Ruan Xin had moved on with someone else… How could she have taken it for granted that Ruan Xin would remain as hung up on the past as she was?

But then, how could she explain the child’s dependence on her pheromones? They hadn’t seen each other in all these years, let alone completed a mating mark.

Torn by conflicting thoughts, Jiang Ruosheng noticed a new message from her senior.

“A few days ago, CEO Xin returned to the country, and the child was with her. They should still be here now. If you’re so curious, why not go see for yourself?”

Jiang Ruosheng muttered to herself: Mine, not mine, mine, not mine…