My Gloomy Stepsister Has Her Eyes on Me - Chapter 30

“Alright,” Zhen Zhu nodded in agreement.

If Gu Anhe was dissatisfied, she could have said so directly. Pushing someone?

If Zhen Zhu had done such a thing, she would have frowned. I really misjudged her!

“No need, Elder Sister…” Zhen Min’er shook her head, her voice panicked and urgent. “Really, I just tripped and fell…”

As she spoke, Zhen Min’er took a hasty step forward, but her footing was unsteady, likely due to her earlier fall.

Seeing her about to stumble again, Zhen Zhu quickly moved forward two steps.

Zhen Min’er collapsed into Zhen Zhu’s arms, inhaling the familiar rose scent—her elder sister’s unique fragrance—their breaths mingling faintly.

Zhen Min’er promptly fainted.

Feeling the body in her arms go limp, Zhen Zhu’s heart tightened. She called out twice, careful not to shake her too hard, “Zhen Min’er?”

“Zhen Min’er?!”

No good. “Lin Zh, stop calling. Get Doctor Hu over here first. She’s scheduled to visit today.”

Forced to put her phone away, Lin Zhi shrugged. “Alright, Eldest Miss.”

Her peach-blossom eyes narrowed slightly as she glanced at the pale, fragile girl collapsed in Zhen Zhu’s arms. Lin Zhi had initially been quite fond of Zhen Min’er, but now…

Her possessiveness is excessive.

And her motives are impure.

Just as Lin Zhi reached the door, she turned back to Zhen Zhu and asked, “Eldest Miss, do you think Zhen Min’er might be faking?”

“Huh?” Zhen Zhu, who was half-carrying and half-hugging her limp, cold stepsister onto the sofa, frowned and looked up. “Faking what?”

“…Never mind,” Lin Zhi said with a smile, glancing at the spot where Zhen Zhu had struggled to carry Zhen Min’er. She closed her mouth and left.

The bloodstains by the door were real, meaning Zhen Min’er had genuinely fallen and injured herself, regardless of whether she was exaggerating.

Zhen Zhu touched Zhen Min’er’s forehead and realized it was icy cold.

The mansion complex comprised several villas, and it would take at least ten minutes to reach the medical room in the side building. To be safe, Zhen Zhu called the butler and asked him to notify Doctor Hu to come immediately.

Ideally, he would arrive around the same time as Lin Zhi, who had just left.

As Zhen Zhu looked up, she noticed faint trails of bl00d on the floor. Though sparse, tiny droplets marked the entire path from the door to the sofa.

The bl00d was scattered everywhere, forming two distinct trails.

The sight was utterly horrifying.

Zhen Zhu helped Zhen Min’er lean against the sofa and called for Aunt Wang to bring the medical kit. Frowning, she bent down and refused Aunt Wang’s assistance.

Using tweezers, she carefully removed two small stones from the bloody wound on Zhen Min’er’s knee.

But the knee was too low. As Zhen Zhu bent over, her long, curly hair naturally fell forward, and a few strands of dark brown hair brushed against Zhen Min’er’s wound…

Zhen Zhu quickly pulled back, but the strands dragged across the wound, leaving another bloody streak.

The fresh gash stood out starkly against Zhen Min’er’s pale calf, looking particularly alarming.

“Hiss…” Zhen Min’er seemed to wake up from the pain, her eyes fluttering open in confusion as she looked at Zhen Zhu. “Elder Sister?”

Could that strand of hair have cut her wound?

“Does it hurt a lot?” Zhen Zhu frowned, pausing briefly before she couldn’t help herself. “How could you be so careless?!”

“The grounds are cleaned daily. There shouldn’t have been any stones on the path. How did you manage to scrape your knee like this? It looks like you rolled around in a pile of rocks!”

“N-no, it doesn’t… hurt much…” Zhen Min’er stammered, startled by Zhen Zhu’s sudden outburst. She shook her head frantically, but the catch in her voice and the tears welling in her eyes betrayed her pain.

“…”

Suppressing her urge to continue scolding, Zhen Zhu lowered her head, displeased, and swept her right-side curls over to the left. Noticing an old pink hair tie on Zhen Min’er’s wrist, she abruptly grabbed her hand, slipped the tie off, and used it to secure her left-side curls, tucking them behind her ear.

Sensing Zhen Min’er’s gaze shift from her face to her hair, Zhen Zhu realized she was looking at the hair tie. “I’ll give you back your hair tie later,” she said.

“Okay,” Zhen Min’er nodded obediently.

Zhen Zhu lowered her head again, ready to resume picking up the gravel, when she suddenly felt something was off…

When she had taken the hair tie from Zhen Min’er’s hand just now, it seemed…

Frowning, Zhen Zhu flipped Zhen Min’er’s hand over. Sure enough, the white bandage on her palm was now stained with a large patch of bl00d, some of it even seeping through to her fingertips.

So the two streaks of bl00d scattered across the floor—one from her leg, and the other from her hand?

“Your hand wound has reopened too! Why didn’t you say anything?!” Zhen Zhu snapped, her anger rising. “Were you planning to bleed to death and make the Zhen Family bear the blame for your death?!”

Furious, Zhen Zhu stood up abruptly. What was her stepsister even thinking?!

“Ah, the kind-hearted White Lotus Main Lead, as expected~” a childish voice suddenly praised in her mind.

“???”

“What are you praising?!”

“The kind who sacrifices herself for others?”

“You think that kind of female lead is good?”

The coldness in her voice was palpable. The System, caught off guard by Zhen Zhu’s anger, its childish voice weakened considerably. “Is… is it not?”

“Of course not! That kind of female lead is just waiting to be devoured, her flesh eaten and bl00d drunk!” Zhen Zhu mentally snapped at the System, her anger surging.

“But there’s a Male Lead, Host!” the System protested repeatedly. “Actually, you could contact him right now and ask him to take care of the Main Lead!”

“Maybe the Happiness Value would suddenly skyrocket!”

The System’s childish excitement only fueled Zhen Zhu’s irritation. She was about to retort when the door swung open.

Lin Zh returned with Doctor Hu.

Lin Zh stayed in the living room while the doctor and the nanny helped Zhen Min’er back to her room. Zhen Zhu followed.

“Eldest Miss, Miss Min’er’s condition will likely require several days of rest,” Doctor Hu said disapprovingly after examining her. “She still has a low-grade fever and took such a hard fall.”

“There’s a possibility of a bone injury.”

“Miss Min’er should stay in bed and rest for a few days to recover.”

“If she still can’t walk normally after a month, it’s best to get an X-ray at the hospital. I’ll prepare some medication for her and start an ant-inflammatory drip right away.”

“Oh, and one more thing,” Doctor Hu reminded before leaving. “Be extremely careful not to reopen the wound. It’s prone to infection.”

“Alright,” Zhen Zhu replied.

“Okay… thank you… Doctor…” Min’er murmured weakly, her pale face lifting into a faint smile.

“Then rest well, Miss Min’er,” Doctor Hu said before departing.

Zhen Zhu glanced at Min’er’s leg, now wrapped in an extra layer of bandages, and pursed her lips. “You really manage to get into trouble everywhere you go!”

“I’m sorry… Elder Sister…” Min’er lowered her gaze, her expression hidden, her voice as soft and frail as ever.

“You—”

“Forget it!” Zhen Zhu couldn’t bear to watch anymore. No matter how many times she tried to reason with her stepsister, Min’er remained utterly incapable of standing up for herself.

The established plot… Perhaps, as the System claimed, it truly required a weak and kind-hearted White Lotus Main Lead. That was why Zhen Min’er couldn’t change.

Whenever faced with trouble, she only knew how to cry and weep.

Just like Zhen Zhu before her awakening…

If that’s the case, what’s the point in arguing? Moreover, Zhen Min’er was injured because she had gone to see Gu Anhe off!

Zhen Zhu considered herself above scolding a sick person.

“Get some rest,” Zhen Zhu said, closing the door behind her.

As she descended the stairs, she spotted Lin Zhi sitting on the sofa. Her anger still simmering, Zhen Zhu seized the opportunity to vent: “Why are you still here?!”

“Don’t you know Gu Anhe? What happened to her—”

“Wait, don’t speak,” Lin Zhi interrupted, handing Zhen Zhu her phone.

Gu Anhe: Sister Min’er fell and got hurt?! She was fine when I left! Is she okay? Can I come see her?!

Zhen Zhu stared at the message. The tone was anxious and genuinely concerned, seemingly harmless.

Yet something felt off. “What if Gu Anhe is just pretending?!”

“Here’s the surveillance footage. I had to use your name to get it,” Lin Zhi said, quickly pulling up another video. Under Zhen Zhu’s angry glare, she added defensively, “Desperate times call for desperate measures!”

“Hmph! Never again!” Zhen Zhu emphasized.

Even with a close friend, she didn’t appreciate anyone invading her family’s privacy. She’d have to remind the housekeeper about this later.

Zhen Zhu took the phone.

The video showed the doorway footage. Indeed, when Gu Anhe left, Zhen Min’er appeared perfectly fine, her knees unharmed.

In fact…

The two had waved goodbye amicably.

Gu Anhe had even skipped cheerfully to her car and driven off.

There was no indication whatsoever that Gu Anhe had pushed Zhen Min’er.

“See?” Lin Zhi leaned closer, her peach-blossom eyes narrowing as she whispered tentatively, “Don’t you think… Zhen Min’er might be a bit of a ‘green tea’?”

“Huh?” Zhen Zhu paused, frowning. “She’s just timid. She doesn’t have that kind of scheming.”

“…Emmm…” Lin Zhi remained unconvinced.

“I guess I was a bit prejudiced,” Zhen Zhu admitted, rubbing her forehead in frustration. “I’ll send some gifts to Gu Anhe’s house later.”

Zhen Min’er hadn’t actually said Gu Anhe pushed her.

Zhen Min’er… a Green Tea? Where did Lin Zhi get that impression?

Before Lin Zhi could speak, Zhen Zhu remembered Zhen Min’er’s earlier claim that Lin Zhi had frightened her. Her heart tightened as she recalled Lin Zhi’s recent car accident. She spoke with sudden seriousness, “I know you don’t like Zhen Min’er.”

“I don’t like her either,” Zhen Zhu emphasized, “but she’s not that bad.”

“Don’t target her.”

I’ve finally finished my mission as the villainess. I can’t have Lin Zhi turning into another one!

That would be… truly!

“…Fine,” Lin Zhi sighed. A woman blinded by her own self-awareness will never listen to advice. Miss Zhen will have to realize it herself.

“I’m not saying anything more.”

“I’m leaving.”

Lin Zh shrugged and turned to go, but a lingering unease made her glance back to emphasize, “Just remember, Zhen Min’er isn’t as weak or naive as you think…”

“Still not done?” Zhen Zhu scoffed, retorting, “Don’t worry, I’m not that stupid either.”

“Stop targeting Zhen Min’er.”

Watching Lin Zhi depart, Zhen Zhu remained silent for a moment before retrieving the gift box from the coffee table. She removed the pink hair tie from her hair and placed it on top of the box.

Soon, once I’ve completely fulfilled the Happiness Index, Zhen Min’er will be irrelevant to me. I’ll be completely free from the plot.

She can be with whoever she wants—it won’t matter to me.

It won’t matter!

Zhen Zhu went upstairs.

I hope this increases my Happiness Value, she thought, her lips pressed into a thin line, her fox-like eyes gleaming with cold calculation.

Pushing open the door, Zhen Zhu approached the bed and extended the Diamond Paintbrush gift box. “Take this.”

“You can use it for painting from now on.”