After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Bent by the Villainess (GL) - Chapter 25

“Haha, that is true.” Su Wenchang pretended to be casual and asked: “Miss Xia doesn’t seem like a local. Where is your hometown, and what do your parents do?”

“I was an orphan since childhood. My hometown is in a remote, poor mountainous area. You may not even know where it is if I told you the place name.” Xia Chuci was unwilling to say more, so she vaguely glossed over the topic.

In fact, if he made an effort to check, finding out her background would be easy. Xia Chuci didn’t deliberately intend to hide it; she simply didn’t want to bring up the dark past that she hadn’t personally experienced.

Fearing that she would bring up sad memories, Su Yiming interrupted before Su Wenchang could continue, and said to Chu Xi: “Mom, Chuci performed well this time. Can we arrange for her to be transferred to my side early? With her assistance, I will certainly be more confident in my work.”

Chu Xi naturally didn’t object, saying: “This child has good aptitude and is a good talent. Given time, she will surely achieve great things and become your right-hand woman. Since you have so much confidence in her, then let Assistant Zhang arrange the transfer.”

Su Wenchang smiled brightly and said: “It’s good that young people are motivated and work together. Your niece Qirong often talks about coming to be your assistant after graduation. Just recently, she was still insisting on coming to the company for an internship. Yiming, what do you think…”

“Uncle, Qirong is still a student and should focus on her studies. Let’s discuss it after she graduates,” Su Yiming interrupted him coldly.

Xia Chuci mused inwardly: What a manipulative old fox, trying to install his daughter next to the future successor. You have a beautiful thought. Is the Major Villainess someone a cannon fodder character like you can manipulate? You overestimate yourself!

Su Wenhu frowned. In recent years, Su Wenchang’s ambition had grown. He was forming cliques in the company and repeatedly interfering in crucial company affairs. Now he was setting his sights on the future successor. His intentions were obvious to all. If it weren’t for the late Mr. Su’s dying wish to treat his half-brother kindly, he would have long since expelled this potential threat from the company.

He said in a deep voice: “The children have grown up and have their own ideas. We older generations shouldn’t interfere blindly. Let them make their own decisions.”

Chu Xi also had reservations about Su Wenchang’s behavior and said sarcastically: “Qirong still has a childish mentality and can freely play for a few more years. There’s no need to force her to suffer. The Su family hasn’t fallen so low that it needs to rely on a delicate child to earn money and support the family.”

Su Wenchang was rebuffed so mercilessly by his brother and sister-in-law. He accompanied them with an awkward, forced smile, nodded, and dared not say anything more.

The atmosphere suddenly became strangely awkward. After a moment of silence, Xia Chuci carefully chose her words and smiled: “Thank you for the General Manager’s kind regards. I will certainly work hard and strive to become Yiming’s right-hand woman as soon as possible, to help her share the burden.”

Hearing this, Chu Xi’s face finally brightened and became a few degrees more affectionate toward Xia Chuci.

Su Yiming was intelligent since childhood and had an independent personality. She hadn’t behaved affectionately towards her parents since she could remember. Coupled with being trained as the family successor since youth, the coldness she radiated when interacting with people grew stronger and stronger. As her mother, Chu Xi rarely felt her daughter’s closeness.

In contrast, Xia Chuci, with her unfortunate background, was obedient and pathetic. The faint, subtle innocence in her eyes could further stimulate Chu Xi’s maternal protective instincts. Moreover, this was her daughter’s only close friend. Loving the house and its crow, she poured the love she didn’t have the opportunity to show her daughter onto this girl she had just met.

Chu Xi held her hand and said kindly: “Good child, didn’t we agree before? Just call me Aunt Xi in private.”

Xia Chuci’s ear tips turned slightly red, and she whispered shyly: “Yes, Aunt Xi.”

Su Yiming reached out and gently rubbed her ear tips, giving her a shallow nod and a smile. She hoped her mother could give Xia Chuci more maternal love. She wanted this girl with an unfortunate childhood to feel the kindness of an elder.

This harmonious scene left Su Wenchang somewhat bewildered. He didn’t expect a poor student to win the favor of both mother and daughter. This is truly not simple. He stared thoughtfully at the birthmark behind Xia Chuci’s ear, and a crazy idea suddenly popped into his mind.

Su Wenhu glanced sideways and caught sight of Su Wenchang sinisterly staring at Xia Chuci, with a strange, ferocious grin on his lips.

He couldn’t fathom what wicked idea Su Wenchang was hatching. Could he be trying to win over his daughter’s good friend to help him with something? Su Wenhu frowned slightly, feeling saddened. It seems I need to pay more attention to my brother’s movements from now on.

Xia Chuci sensed a strong gaze directed at her. She turned her head toward the source and saw Su Wenchang looking at her playfully.

Su Wenchang was caught in the act, but instead of guiltily looking away, he became more brazen, raising an eyebrow and staring into her eyes.

Xia Chuci pursed her lips, ignored his provocative gaze, with a hint of disdain in her indifference, and then casually redirected her attention back to Su Yiming.

Su Wenchang was so angry his teeth itched, but he couldn’t do anything to her.

Su Wenhu observed the silent contest between the two and grew to appreciate Xia Chuci more.

Ding-dong! The System brought good news:

【Congratulations to you for successfully attracting the attention of the key mission initiator “Su Wenchang,” completing the advanced mission. Reader Satisfaction +2000. Current Reader Satisfaction is 48,500.】

Xia Chuci: “Oh yeah, mission complete. Time to get off work~”

System: 【Critical Mission released: The True and False Heiress and the Villain’s Blackening. Failure to complete will result in Reader Satisfaction -100,000.】

Xia Chuci: “Why are these missions endless? This is too much! Others do 996, and you’re doing 007. Did you pay for overtime? Why didn’t I see you calculate Reader Satisfaction based on overtime multiples? I want to file for labor arbitration!”

The System ignored her: 【Please accept the mission!】

Xia Chuci: “Hmph. You don’t cater to user needs at all, and you call yourself user-friendly? I think a sweeping robot is more user-friendly than you!”

She involuntarily glared at the “Accept” option on the display box. The System “dinged”: 【Mission accepted successfully. Wishing you immediate success.】

Xia Chuci: “Eh? Wait a minute. It was 50,000 a few days ago, so why is it 100,000 today? Even inflation isn’t as bad as this!!!”

System: 【The reward and penalty value for Reader Satisfaction will change according to the difficulty of the mission. Therefore, please refer to the number released for the mission.】

Xia Chuci: “Be honest. Did you increase the price because you saw I was close to accumulating 50,000?”

She suddenly had a flash of inspiration, seemingly discovering something shockingly true. She questioned in disbelief: “System, no matter how much Satisfaction I earn, can you always find an excuse to deduct it into a negative number if I fail the mission?”

System said righteously: 【Absolutely not!】

Just destroy everything! Hurry up! I’m too mentally exhausted.

Xia Chuci’s weariness fell into Su Yiming’s eyes, breaking her heart.

Su Yiming’s concerned gaze deeply stung Xia Chuci’s conscience. All of Su Yiming’s kindness over the past two years—from resolving the serious threat of her adoptive parents’ family to small things like doing laundry, cooking, and showing concern—all rushed to her mind. The complexity of her feelings was immense.

Alas, seeing you like this, how can I bear to kick you out when the time comes! This is truly stressing me out.

Now stuck in a dilemma, Xia Chuci even began to doubt whether the strategy of clinging to the Major Villainess and building goodwill, which she had so firmly believed in, was a good idea after all.

Since their relationship was so good now, once the “True and False Heiress” plot concluded and they became enemies, would Su Yiming’s hatred for her lessen or deepen?

The answer was self-evident, wasn’t it?

The hatred of being betrayed by one’s closest friend looked much more severe…

Was all the preparation she had worked so hard on actually a form of self-sabotage?

Xia Chuci rubbed her forehead: The ancients were truly trustworthy. You reap what you sow.

Su Yiming couldn’t drive after drinking, so the driver took them home after the banquet. Xia Chuci, lost in her internal deadlock, remained silent the entire way.

After arriving at their residence, Su Yiming came out after showering and saw Xia Chuci sitting motionlessly on the bed, her eyes blank and her expression dull.

“What are you thinking about? Why have you been so spaced out tonight? If something is bothering you, talk to me. It’s tough keeping it bottled up.”

Xia Chuci naturally couldn’t tell her what was really on her mind. She waved her hand and said: “It’s nothing. I’m just tired and haven’t fully recovered. I’ll be fine after a nap.” With that, she lay down and pulled her head under the covers.

Su Yiming reached out and pulled the blanket down, saying: “Keep your head out. Don’t suffocate yourself.”

After some effort, she finally managed to pull Xia Chuci’s ostrich head out. Su Yiming lay down close to her, hugging her from behind, and said softly: “If you’re tired, sleep now. Don’t think about anything. No matter what happens, you have me. Don’t worry.”

Xia Chuci mused inwardly: Alas, you are the one I worry about!

She had thought tonight would be a sleepless night, but she still underestimated the power of the absolute security Su Yiming provided. She fell asleep within minutes and slept soundly through the night.

The next day at work, Assistant Zhang called both her and Miaomiao to the office.

“Chuci, this year’s anniversary celebration was well done. The General Manager praised you for being smart, reliable, and having potential.”

Xia Chuci said modestly: “It’s all thanks to Assistant Zhang’s excellent leadership. My small achievement today is inseparable from your careful guidance. Moreover, the smooth execution of this banquet relied on every staff member, both front and back-of-house. I was just one part of it.”

Assistant Zhang looked at her with satisfaction and said: “Good. The success of any project is inseparable from teamwork.”

Xia Chuci listened obediently. Miaomiao also kept her head down, listening silently.

Assistant Zhang leaned back and said: “Congratulations on passing your assessment.”

The two young women across from her looked up simultaneously, confused.

She said “you,” plural. Xia Chuci’s good performance meant passing the assessment was logical, but what about Miaomiao’s assessment?

Seeing their confusion, Assistant Zhang explained: “Although the banquet was generally successful, some minor details were missed. Guests needed to take photos at three commemorative walls before entering, but there were only ushers at two. One spot was unattended. Miaomiao noticed this issue, proactively filled in, and showed good on-site reaction ability.”

Miaomiao was also surprised that Assistant Zhang noticed this small detail. At the time, when she noticed the problem, she went up to help without thinking twice.

Assistant Zhang continued: “I gave the banquet project to Chuci to manage. Miaomiao, I know perfectly well how unhappy you were. It’s already good that you didn’t have wicked thoughts and intentionally cause trouble. Finding a flaw and still being able to put aside your prejudice to help—to be honest, I was very surprised and pleased. It shows my effort in cultivating you as my confidant over the years was not in vain.”

So that was it. Xia Chuci gave Miaomiao a look of gratitude.

Miaomiao’s eyes were already red, tears streamed down her face, and she sobbed: “I made such a serious mistake before, letting down your expectations. I thought…”