Pretending to Be a Scumbag A, But Being Targeted by a Paranoid O - Chapter 16

After she spoke, there was no response for a long time.

Xie Tang finally turned her head and realized Yun Shu had fallen asleep without her noticing.

Yun Shu looked utterly peaceful in her sleep, lying flat on the bed with her hands at her sides. Her dark hair spread out behind her head, making her skin appear even paler.

Xie Tang gazed at her quietly for a long time before slowly turning her head away.

She stared out at the dark night beyond the window, pondering what path she should take next.

Xie Tang had never been ashamed of her family’s circumstances.

If it hadn’t been for her grandmother, she might have starved to death in a chaotic garbage dump long ago, becoming nothing more than a pool of corpse water.

Yet, for some reason, when Yun Shu, dressed in expensive clothes and radiating an almost unbearable air of delicacy, offered to take her home, Xie Tang felt an inexplicable… resistance.

Subconsciously, she didn’t believe Yun Shu belonged in a place like that.

She didn’t want Yun Shu to see her own poverty.

Though Yun Shu showed no sign of noticing anything amiss, Xie Tang still felt uneasy.

But with her grandmother still unconscious and future medical bills looming, Xie Tang had no way to improve her living situation.

She had to work part-time all week just to afford a decent dinner for Yun Shu.

Xie Tang’s claim to Yun Shu about starting a business was merely a facade fueled by her pride. She didn’t want Yun Shu to know she was still handing out flyers and doing menial labor every day.

Initially, Xie Tang had a decent source of income. She taught private tutoring during the day and worked at a bar at night. With her excellent grades and ability to quickly improve students’ performance, she was highly sought after by parents, earning over a thousand yuan a day from tutoring alone.

But after being imprisoned, she lost this income stream. She hadn’t even had time to resign from her two tutoring jobs before being forcibly taken to the villa.

When she tried to resume her tutoring work recently, she discovered that no families were willing to hire her. Xie Tang knew all too well that her credibility had plummeted to zero. It was only natural that people no longer trusted her—she deserved it.

Perhaps it was the late hour, but the dark thoughts she had suppressed all day began to surface.

Her grandmother’s medical expenses couldn’t be sustained for much longer. She also realized that relying solely on odd jobs would never lift her out of her predicament. Yet her current liquid assets were pitifully meager.

What was she supposed to do?

Just as Xie Tang was about to drown in her despair, Yun Shu stirred.

Seeming a little warm, Yun Shu kicked off the blanket.

But after a few seconds, she seemed to feel cold, her hands began groping around wildly until they landed on Xie Tang’s waist.

Xie Tang’s breath hitched instantly.

Her body still reacted instinctively to Yun Shu.

Xie Tang hadn’t forgotten the feeling of Yun Shu’s fists pounding into her stomach, blow after blow.

Yun Shu, still lost in her dream, smacked her lips softly twice.

“Xie Tang… this is delicious… you… try some too…”

Those words pulled Xie Tang back from the terror of the past.

She had almost forgotten that the idiot before her was no longer that person.

After hugging Xie Tang, Yun Shu became much calmer.

She nuzzled against Xie Tang’s neck like a puppy, but only nuzzled, not even opening her mouth.

Xie Tang pulled the blanket back up and tucked it around Yun Shu again.

Just then, she heard Yun Shu begin to sob softly, sounding deeply distressed.

Xie Tang didn’t know if something she had done had upset her, or if she had accidentally hurt her.

She quickly lowered her voice and asked, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Still lost in her dream, Yun Shu didn’t respond, continuing to cry to herself.

After a long while, Xie Tang finally heard her whisper, “Why…”

“I only got 59 on the math test.”

Xie Tang: “…”

But Xie Tang realized this was a perfect opportunity to understand Yun Shu better.

She asked gently, “What’s this about 59 points?”

Yun Shu mumbled groggily, “The college entrance exam…”

So it was her math score on the college entrance exam that was only 59. Xie Tang had thought Yun Shu was dreaming about failing a class.

A question popped into Xie Tang’s mind: If that’s the case, how did Yun Shu solve those problems before?

Although university math initially has little connection to high school material, a weak foundation from high school would make it incredibly difficult.

I wonder how long it took her to figure them out.

She was increasingly baffled by Yun Shu’s relentless efforts to be kind to her.

If she doesn’t want anything in return, why does she keep trying to get closer?

After crying, Yun Shu buried her head in Xie Tang’s arms and fell back asleep.

She smelled of the same shower gel Xie Tang used, wore Xie Tang’s clothes, and lay cradled in Xie Tang’s arms.

A sudden, irrational sense of possession surged through Xie Tang’s heart: Yun Shu belongs to me now.

An absurd thought crept into her mind: If I locked Yun Shu up, no one would even notice, would they?

I could take perfect care of her, making every part of her bear my mark.

In the dim moonlight punctuated by flashes of lightning, the two girls huddled together. The slightly more slender one raised her hand and slowly, deliberately, smoothed the hair of the sleeping girl in her arms.