After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Bent by the Villainess (GL) - Chapter 10

After returning to school, Xia Chuci never saw Jiao Shini again.

The official news released by the school was that Jiao Shini was taking a leave of absence for health reasons, but reliable gossip revealed that she had developed a severe mental illness and had been secretly sent to a sanitarium.

So, the “place Jiao Shini should go” mentioned by Su Yiming was a mental sanitarium?

However, this was indeed the most suitable place for her at the moment. After all, Jiao Shini had gone insane. If she wasn’t locked up, something major would happen sooner or later.

Moreover, the Jiao family probably didn’t dare to offend the Su family. For the sake of the family’s interests and to prevent their daughter from making more mistakes, sending her to a sanitarium was indeed the most sensible and stable approach.

Going back to the relationship with Su Yiming, sharing hardships is truly an emotional accelerator. After the last ordeal, their relationship had visibly become closer.

Ahem, Xia Chuci certainly wouldn’t admit that this was the result of her thick-skinned, persistent pestering.

Daily WeChat bombings, checking in on her, sharing interesting stories, completely ignoring whether the other party responded or got annoyed, she relentlessly clung to the thigh and boosted her favorability. If an award were given for the most dedicated person of the year, it would be her.

Zhao Wenyang noticed that Xia Chuci had been acting very strangely lately. For example, she’d space out in class, stare blankly at books, and often giggle foolishly at her phone—all typical symptoms of a girl in love.

On the Nth time she giggled foolishly at her phone, Zhao Wenyang couldn’t stand it anymore and reminded her, “Chuci, your studying status hasn’t been good lately. Be honest, are you dating?”

Xia Chuci shifted her gaze from the phone screen to his face, asking doubtfully, “No, why would you say that?”

Zhao Wenyang clearly didn’t believe her and asked, “Then what are you giggling at your phone all day for?”

Hearing this, she choked, feeling guilty, and said, “Uh, I recently made a new friend, and we get along really well. See~ Don’t get the wrong idea. She’s a girl. Oh well, it’s Su Yiming.”

Zhao Wenyang asked in surprise, “How did you end up hanging out with her? Have you completely forgotten that she made you fall down the stairs before?”

Xia Chuci quickly explained, “The past incident was a misunderstanding. You know I don’t have many friends. Now that I’ve finally met someone so compatible, how can I miss out on such a good friend because of a small misunderstanding before?”

Zhao Wenyang knew that she had barely had any close friends since childhood, and he couldn’t always be by her side. It wasn’t easy for her to find a genuine friend.

He said with relief, “You’ve grown up. Having a good friend is a good thing. However, even with good friends, you must be careful and protect yourself. That’s the most important thing. Also, don’t neglect your studies, okay?”

Xia Chuci nodded obediently and promised never to neglect her studies.

That afternoon, she received a call from Mrs. Gu, who said she needed to discuss something important and arranged to meet at a coffee shop near the school.

According to the original work, before the male and female leads confirmed their relationship, the heroine and Mrs. Gu only had one confrontation: the incredibly melodramatic “throwing a check” scene.

But she hadn’t even hooked up with Gu Xin yet. This scene should happen at least ten chapters later.

As soon as Xia Chuci sat down, Mrs. Gu took a check from her bag, placed it on the table, pushed it towards her, and went straight to the point: “Here’s five million. As long as you agree to leave my son, this money is yours.”

Since the OOC function was deactivated, Xia Chuci had wholeheartedly devoted herself to the great cause of clinging to the major villain’s thigh, doing her best to avoid close contact with the male lead.

So, even though the male and female leads hadn’t even started dating yet, why was the hammer of separation already coming down? The plot logic made no sense.

Xia Chuci calmly pushed the check back and questioned, “Auntie, you’re not sincere enough, are you? Or do you think I’m a country bumpkin who has never seen the world and is easy to fool?”

Mrs. Gu’s face showed displeasure. She scornfully countered, “What do you mean?”

Xia Chuci was steady as a rock—no, confident—and said haughtily, “If you were sincerely giving me this five million, you should have brought a lawyer and a gift contract. Otherwise, you could turn around and report the check lost, or it could be a blank check altogether. Tell me, where would I go to reason with that!”

Mrs. Gu cursed internally: I didn’t expect a poor student to know all this. This wild girl is not easy to deal with.

But she quickly regained her composure and sneered, “Five million is nothing to the Gu family. I wouldn’t go so far as to trick you over such a small amount of money.”

Indeed. Using five million to get rid of a woman who might harm the Gu family heir was a worthwhile investment. For the rich, any problem that money can solve is not a problem.

Xia Chuci nodded and said, “That’s well said. Your family is wealthy and influential, so naturally, you wouldn’t risk your reputation for this small amount of money. After all, if this matter got out, your family’s reputation wouldn’t sound very good.”

Seeing that she was reasonably intelligent, Mrs. Gu pushed the check over again, feeling both relieved and disdainful, saying, “It’s good that you think that way. Take it, and stop pestering my son from now on.”

Xia Chuci picked up the check and said carelessly, “However, I have a question I’d like to ask you, Auntie.”

Mrs. Gu lifted her coffee cup, slowly took a sip, and said composedly, “Oh? What question? Feel free to ask.”

She chuckled, “Compared to the family wealth managed by the Gu family matriarch, which is more tempting—five million?”

“You! You! Fine, the fox’s tail is finally showing! If Gu Xin knew about your greedy face, I wonder if he would still be interested in you, hmph!”

Mrs. Gu was so enraged that she even abandoned her usual noblewoman’s composure and outright swore at her.

Xia Chuci shrugged, indifferent, saying, “Feel free to tell him. I also want to know how much your precious son has been fooled by me.”

Thinking that her son was mesmerized by this vulgar and low-class woman, she felt a sharp pain in her heart. She said viciously, “Young girl, I advise you: A heart not content is a snake swallowing an elephant.”

Xia Chuci was impervious to persuasion, clearly adopting a ‘dead pig is not afraid of boiling water’ attitude.

Her son, a perfectly good vegetable, was getting eaten by a pig (a Chinese idiom for getting a good person involved with a bad one). Mrs. Gu was furious and snapped, “People must have shame! Don’t forget, Gu Xin has a fiancée! You intruding is just being a shameless mistress!”

Holy crap, she hit her Achilles’ heel right away! Su Yiming is Gu Xin’s fiancée! Destroying someone else’s family will bring retribution!

The scenes of being brutally tormented by the major villain flashed before her eyes again. Xia Chuci couldn’t help but shiver, her back feeling cold, and goosebumps all over her skin.

Mrs. Gu took in her look of panic, her confidence soaring: Hmph, in the end, she’s just a young girl. Trying to fight with me? You’re too green!

She alternated between tough and gentle tactics, saying, “I’ve checked your background. You’re a poor student from a remote mountain village. You won’t be able to earn this much money in your lifetime. Besides, offending both the Gu and Su families will make your future miserable. You’re a smart person. Take the money and live your life comfortably. Isn’t that better than interfering with someone else’s marriage? Don’t you agree?”

Tsk tsk, since she had laid it out like this, what else could she do but take the money and leave?

A great man knows when to yield and when to stand firm. Besides, who would be an idiot to refuse free money?

Furthermore, the male and female leads ending up together was destined by fate (the plot) and the ending that no one could change. What was this small obstacle now?

Xia Chuci was about to happily take the money and quickly leave, but the system poured a basin of cold water on her, being incredibly annoying:

[Friendly Reminder: If the heroine is bought off with a check, destroying the beautiful ‘White Moonlight’ image in the male lead’s heart, the Reader Enjoyment Level will be deducted by 2000.]

Xia Chuci spat out a mouthful of old bl00d: “I’ve been working diligently, overtime, and hard for so long, only to save up a little over a thousand enjoyment points, and you want to deduct 2000 all at once! Is there any justice left! System, you black-hearted boss, is it really okay to give minimal rewards and maximum penalties! I’m going to sue! Call my lawyer over quickly.”

The system was apparently already adept at dealing with her tantrum and automatically entered ‘playing dead’ mode.

Secretly taking a deep breath and summoning her maximum fighting spirit, Xia Chuci righteously declared, “Auntie, you are being too insulting! Is having money everything? Do you think you can casually trample on others’ feelings with a few stinking dollars!”

Mrs. Gu: “???”

What just happened? Didn’t she just agree to compromise? What’s with this sudden look of being wronged and bullied?

She quickly looked left, right, front, and back, suspecting that her son had arrived, which was why this scheming woman suddenly changed her expression.

Xia Chuci continued to trot out the classic lines of a romance drama heroine: “We genuinely love each other. You are Gu Xin’s mother, the person who most hopes for his happiness. How can you bear to force him to marry and have children with a woman he doesn’t love?”

Mrs. Gu retorted, “Of course, I want my son to be happy, but I know even better that his happiness is not something you can give him. Do you think he really loves you and must marry you?”

Regarding this question, Xia Chuci, who had read the original work, was full of confidence and affirmed, “Of course, otherwise, why would you be so desperate to force me to leave him with money?”

“Then you are greatly mistaken. No one understands my son’s temperament better than me. Don’t let his current enthusiasm for you fool you. Once the novelty wears off, you’ll be nothing to him.”

Mrs. Gu saw that the other party didn’t object and continued, “I just don’t want him to waste time on such boring matters, which is why I came to talk to you today. Besides, I’m doing this for your own good. You are still young, and your vision is too shallow. Don’t chase the sesame seed and lose the watermelon, which would be a net loss. Don’t you think so?”

Xia Chuci didn’t want to engage in a pointless war of words with her. The romance between the male and female leads was an inevitable outcome. Instead of wasting time here with irrelevant people, it was better to go back and honestly boost the major villain’s favorability to earn herself a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card for the future retribution when the villain turns evil.

She said coldly, “Auntie, I understand your love for your son. I am just an ordinary, poor student with no strong family background. I know I am not worthy of the Gu family’s eldest son. However, whether our feelings are genuine or not is none of your concern.”

Xia Chuci picked up the check she was prepared to pocket earlier, tore it into pieces in front of Mrs. Gu, and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, “Please manage your precious son and tell him to stop pestering me.”

She dropped the wounded yet defiant expression and left without looking back.

Gazing at that show-off back fading from sight, Mrs. Gu muttered under her breath, “Crazy person!”

Meanwhile, Xia Chuci, walking out of the coffee shop, was heartbroken: Five million! How many years would it take for her to earn that much money!

The duck that was cooked just flew away! System, look at the mess you’ve made!

The system, unjustly taking the blame: [……]