Saving the Obsessive Villain Boss [Quick Transmigration] (GL) - Chapter 24

The weather in August and September was scorching, the heat wave making people feel burnt out. Even at ten o’clock at night, the classroom of Senior Three Class Seven was brightly lit.

By the window, a girl with medium-length blonde hair propped her head up, looking drowsy. Suddenly, she was startled and jolted upright.

The slightly balding math teacher on the podium, who had always been quite aloof, had a strong disdain for academic underachievers like the blonde girl who had bought her way into the school. Seeing her seemingly spaced out, he directly tossed a piece of chalk, and with good aim, it struck her forehead.

A white patch instantly turned red on her fair forehead. Shi Qingyi suddenly stood up with a swoosh, ignoring the math teacher’s angry gaze, and rushed out of the classroom.

The summer was hot like a steamer. Distant thunder rumbled in the sky. The teacher behind her shouted angrily: “If you leave, don’t come back!”

But Shi Qingyi couldn’t care less. Her forehead ached faintly. She gritted her teeth and asked: “What day is today?”

The System good-naturedly repeated: “Today is September 23rd. You didn’t hear wrong. It is the day Jiang Zhiyi jumps off the building.”

Shi Qingyi: “…”

As the task of the second world, Shi Qingyi remembered the date September 23rd vividly, one might say indelibly.

The villain of this world was named Jiang Zhiyi. Her mother was once a wealthy, beautiful woman. In her youth, for love, she eloped with a poor boy. The poor boy ended up killing someone in a fight and went to prison, sentenced for several decades. Her mother gave birth to the child alone and died of a serious illness when Jiang Zhiyi was young.

Jiang Zhiyi was still small then, kicked around like a ball. No one wanted a child who remembered things, and the daughter of a murderer at that. Finally, out of necessity, she was adopted by her uncle’s family.

Her uncle was an alcoholic who loved to act violently when drunk. Her aunt was naturally timid and dared not say much. She suffered countless bullying since childhood. Fortunately, through her own efforts, she managed to get into a good high school. She thought she had finally seen the light after the clouds, but she didn’t expect to walk onto a true dead end.

There, she met the rich second-generation, delinquent, academic underachiever, Shi Qingyi. The beautiful girl’s vibrant life was like a ball of fire, illuminating her dark and colorless life.

She unconsciously fell in love, secretly adoring her, collecting every bit of tenderness the girl occasionally gave her.

But she didn’t expect it all to be a huge joke. Her diary of secret crushes was taken, photographed, and publicized everywhere. She rushed to find the girl she liked, only to hear the girl mockingly say outside the door that she was disgusting and that she was only playing with her.

Her sincerity was trampled upon, and malice rushed at her.

She had once naively believed that Shi Qingyi was an angel who came to save her. Only later did she finally realize that it was just the last straw that broke her, giving her a little false tenderness before throwing her into the bottomless pit.

From then on, another title was added to her name as the murderer’s daughter: a disgusting lesbian, an existence everyone could step on, scorn, and bully.

She finally lost all hope and chose to leap from the rooftop of the teaching building on a night of torrential rain in her senior year of high school.

As soon as Shi Qingyi ran out of the classroom, she heard the thunder rumbling. Fine raindrops had already begun to hit the windowpane.

To save time for the seniors going back and forth, the school intentionally placed the senior classes on the first floor. Shi Qingyi climbed up to the sixth floor in one breath, her calves trembling slightly. She forcefully pushed the rooftop door. The old, worn iron door shook but remained firmly shut.

“Damn it.” Shi Qingyi couldn’t help but curse. Why didn’t she remember Jiang Zhiyi locking the rooftop door before jumping?

“She didn’t lock it,” the System weakly replied after checking the world’s plot, “Deng Sisi locked her on the rooftop…”

Shi Qingyi’s face turned cold. She couldn’t help but curse the person as an animal and forcefully had the System increase her physical strength value. With a cracking pain, as if her bones were breaking, the iron door was finally smashed open.

There was no shelter on the rooftop. The heavy rain poured down. She could only vaguely see a thin figure standing by the rooftop railing through the torrential rain.

She was completely soaked by the heavy rain, her arms tightly hugging her body. Like a lost soul, she slowly climbed over the rooftop railing.

Shi Qingyi’s eyelids suddenly twitched. She couldn’t care about anything else and rushed into the rain, shouting: “Jiang Zhiyi—”

Jiang Zhiyi stood in the pouring rain. Her hair was wet with water and clung to her eyes, blocking her sight. All she could hear was the torrential rain and the booming thunder. However, in the midst of it, she seemed to have heard someone calling her name.

But how was that possible? No one would come to save her.

She had been locked up for four hours, from six o’clock dismissal until almost ten o’clock when the evening self-study class ended. No one noticed she was missing.

No one cared about her, worried about her, or noticed her absence and came to look for her. She waited alone from sunset until the heavy rain poured down. No one came to save her.

It must have just been a mistake.

She only paused for a moment, then continued to walk blankly toward the railing again.

No one would notice she was missing, and even if they did, it probably wouldn’t matter. No one would come at all. Should she wait for Deng Sisi to have a change of heart and come to release her? She probably forgot about her existence long ago, right?

Or should she wait until tomorrow to be released, having been drenched in the rain all night, and getting sick? With no money to buy medicine, she would endure it countless times, struggling to survive, worse than a dog, and still be pointed at, called a faker, useless, dirty, and sloppy, because she didn’t even have the money to buy extra toilet paper.

It was truly too tiring, too exhausting. It would be more satisfying to jump down and end it all—

She slowly released her arms that were hugging herself, and climbed onto the old, cold railing. As long as she jumped, everything would be over, right?

“Jiang Zhiyi, what are you doing?”

A voice of surprise and anger suddenly rang in her ears. The panting girl ran over and grabbed her arm, stopping her momentum of falling forward.

She was just that close to falling down.

The force of the pull was too strong. Half of her body was already suspended outside the railing, and she instantly lost her balance and fell backward. Just as her head was about to hit the ground, a hand stretched out from the side, catching her at an unbelievably twisted angle.

Her head slammed into the shoulder, and the pain almost killed Shi Qingyi on the spot.

The expected head injury didn’t arrive. Her head hit the girl’s thin shoulder. Perhaps it was a delusion, but when she fell, the person seemed to have tucked in her arm to prevent her from falling again.

“…” She opened her mouth, but couldn’t say anything.

The girl had medium-length golden hair draped over her ears. There was a platinum stud on her fair earlobe. She let out a small hiss of pain. She didn’t need to look up to know who it was.

“Disgusting…”

“A lesbian…”

“How can she like girls?”

“No wonder she always clung to you like a poodle, truly disgusting…”

“Did she take advantage of you? Just touching you must make you feel sick enough to vomit, right?”

“…”

It seemed that endless curses rushed into her ears. Speechless fear covered her whole body again. Her hands and feet were trembling uncontrollably. She wanted to climb up. Shi Qingyi said she was disgusting. Now that she was so close to her, would it make her feel even more disgusted?

“You, you…”

No, it’s not that. I didn’t mean to disgust you.

How did you get here? Why did you come to the rooftop? Did you come looking for me? Why, even though you think I’m disgusting, did you come to save me?

She wanted to ask, but she couldn’t say anything. Only tears streamed down, and her throat felt like it was filled with burning coals.

“Why did you run here? I couldn’t find you anywhere. Do you want to die? Don’t you know it’s pouring rain—” Shi Qingyi’s tone was fierce, carrying a hint of impatience, but before she could finish being fierce, a wet heat suddenly came from her shoulder. It was as if she had accidentally flipped a switch. Burning hot tears endlessly soaked the collar of her school uniform.

Shi Qingyi completely froze, afraid to move.

The heavy rain poured down. Lightning flashed between the dark clouds, crackling as it hit people. The thunder and lightning were so intense that she couldn’t even open her eyes, only hearing the extremely suppressed sobs next to her.

She didn’t even dare to cry loudly. The only reason she was crying was simply because someone had noticed she was missing.

Although the person who noticed her absence and came looking for her was Shi Qingyi, who had just said she was disgusting.

Shi Qingyi braced herself on the ground, just about to say something, when the rooftop door was slammed open with a clang. She turned her head with difficulty and saw the old principal’s cloudy eyes flash with brilliance. He let out a gasp and quickly ran over: “Qingyi, why are you here?”

People quickly came forward and helped her up from the ground in a flurry. The Shi family was not a prestigious family; they had only made a few hundred billion in the last few years by speculating in real estate and catching the East Wind. Shi Qingyi was a delinquent, an academic underachiever, but the nouveau riche were rich. At least, donating a few buildings to the school every year was not a problem.

It was rare to find such a wealthy, easily-coaxed nouveau riche who didn’t even care about their reputation. Of course, they had to keep a close eye on this precious ancestor.

So, when the dean of students was checking on the classes and found that Shi Qingyi had talked back to the math teacher and run off, he immediately searched the entire school for her until the evening self-study class ended and she hadn’t been seen.

Shi Qingyi originally didn’t feel anything, but when her class teacher and others helped her up, her vision instantly went dark, and she almost fell down again.

Seeing her half-dead appearance, the old principal was distressed and immediately wanted to rush her to the hospital. Shi Qingyi finally managed to steady herself by holding the door frame. She looked around, didn’t see anyone, and her mind went blank: “Where is she?!”

“Who?” The teachers were confused. No one answered her.

Shi Qingyi’s face instantly turned pale. Before she could speak, she heard a loud clang, the sound of some heavy object falling. She struggled out of their grip and leaned over the railing to look down in horror.

A crowd had gathered on the ground. The security guard shone a flashlight and shouted: “Leaders, there are old wooden planks from the renovation up there. Be careful!”

Fortunately, fortunately, it’s not Jiang Zhiyi—

Shi Qingyi leaned back, exhausted, covered in a cold sweat, filled with lingering fear. For a moment just now, she felt like jumping down with her.

Jiang Zhiyi thought jumping off the building would be a release, but it was actually just the beginning of a nightmare.

In the original plot, it was unclear whether it was good or bad luck for her. When she jumped, she was caught by a branch of a tree below the teaching building, which slowed the impact. She didn’t die instantly, suffering multiple fractures all over her body. The terrifying thing was that she didn’t pass out instantly but remained conscious.

The place where she fell was on the back side of the teaching building, a remote area. No one noticed she was missing and came to look for her. She stayed in the heavy rain for two hours, in excruciating pain, unable to move, shedding all her bl00d and tears. Finally, she was discovered by the night security guard and sent to the hospital, but due to the delayed treatment, she became paralyzed from the waist down, forever unable to stand up again.

That’s why her mind later became twisted. She forced everyone who had harmed her to suffer the ruin of their families. Shi Qingyi, who had once played with and mocked her feelings, had her family go bankrupt. She knelt beside Jiang Zhiyi, begging for mercy in vain. During one instance of dealing with her deliberate harassment, Shi Qingyi got into a car accident. The car and she were directly knocked off a bridge. The car was destroyed, and the person died, drowning alive.

Shi Qingyi restrained her trembling legs and asked: “Where is she? Where did she go?”

The System searched for a moment and said speechlessly: “She’s in the corridor just around the corner from you. Please lift your head and look.”

Shi Qingyi abruptly looked up. The rain was gradually easing. In the corridor, a girl in a white dress was looking at her defensively. Beside her was the completely soaked Jiang Zhiyi.

The girl, wearing a clean and neat school uniform skirt, tugged at Jiang Zhiyi’s sleeve: “Sister, let’s go quickly. Mom is still waiting for us to go home for dinner.”

This was the female protagonist of this world, the pitiful, universally-loved, charming white lotus, Jiang Zhiqin.

“Wait—”

Seemingly sensing her gaze, Jiang Zhiyi lowered her eyes in avoidance, almost frantically avoiding her.

Shi Qingyi sneezed lightly. She walked over and threw the school uniform jacket that the class teacher had just draped over her onto the skinny girl: “Put it on.”

The girl, drenched all over, didn’t even have a spare change of clothes in the classroom. She bit her lip until it turned white, but didn’t say anything, only trembling, silently clutching the thin school uniform tightly in her palm.

Jiang Zhiqin couldn’t stand this rich second-generation girl who didn’t look like a good person and felt no goodwill toward her because of the gossip. She urged Jiang Zhiyi to hurry up and leave.

Shi Qingyi stared at Jiang Zhiyi’s retreating figure until it disappeared from sight. She looked for a few more moments, ensuring that she didn’t seem to have any further suicidal thoughts, before shivering and following the class teacher downstairs.

“System, I have a question I’m not sure if I should ask.”

“Just speak your mind. As your exclusive System, I will definitely tell you everything.”

She’s actually asking me before speaking. This politeness is very unlike Shi Qingyi’s usual style.

“I’ve wanted to ask this for a long time. Isn’t Jiang Zhiqin famously kind-hearted? She’d rather go hungry herself than turn away the male lead’s lost dog. She fed the dog and was bitten, but she felt no resentment. She warmed the male lead, who was silent and burdened by childhood trauma. So why didn’t she extend that kindness to her cousin whom she grew up with?”

The System was silent for a moment: “Jiang Zhiqin and Jiang Zhiyi are like two sides of a mirror. They grew up together in the same intolerable environment. One became twisted and extreme, the other gentle, beautiful, and kind-hearted. You shouldn’t expect her to help herself. Too much comparison is not salvation; it only twists the knife in the wound.”

So later, Jiang Zhiqin achieved success in both love and career, reuniting with her first love, the male god, and gaining international acclaim for her artistic achievements. Jiang Zhiyi was betrayed and hurt by the person she loved, became paralyzed from the waist down, and could never stand up again. The comparison ultimately broke her mentally.

The sad thing is that she was originally supposed to be protected by the male lead and utterly ruined by the female lead, dying on the run. Yet, her darkening was so severe that she single-handedly froze the male lead’s assets, and the female lead cried profusely, unable to escape her clutches.

—This is truly heartbreaking.

Shi Qingyi thought for a moment and asked: “When Jiang Zhiyi was locked on the rooftop, where was Jiang Zhiqin?”

The System didn’t expect her thoughts to jump so quickly and sputtered: “She was… delivering medicine to the male lead who had a stomachache?”

“Serves him right.”

“…Host?”

“Hmm?” Shi Qingyi raised an eyebrow.

The System said with certainty: “I think your favoritism is a bit obvious.”

“Is it?” Shi Qingyi was noncommittal.

The System insisted: “Very much so.”

Shi Qingyi paused, then suddenly looked in the direction Jiang Zhiyi had left and said: “I don’t know why, but I actually feel like she somewhat resembles Xu Zhaosu. Is that just my illusion?”

The System’s heart skipped a beat. It replied righteously: “That is definitely your illusion!”

“Oh?” Shi Qingyi lifted her eyes. It was just a strange feeling originally, but with the System’s strong reaction, she suddenly felt it might be more than just simple.

The System didn’t know if she believed it or not and quickly, nervously changed the subject: “You don’t have a cold, why are you buying so much cold medicine?”

Shi Qingyi picked up a few more types of medicine and put them in her pocket. The school’s pharmacy was open all night. She replied faintly: “It’s useful.”

On the other side of the city, an old security door was pushed open. With a squeak, the sound of broken wine bottles hitting the floor followed, like a prelude to a terrifying nightmare beginning.

Jiang Zhiyi opened her eyes with difficulty, shrinking and trembling in the corner. Her back was drenched in cold sweat. Her throat felt like it was on fire. The person outside was still having a drunken fit. The tired voice of a middle-aged woman came in: “The children are still sleeping. They have school tomorrow, you…”

Another sound of a wine bottle hitting the floor. The deep, hoarse man’s voice roared: “Sleeping what? I’m not even back yet. I think you’re just asking for a beating!”

The noise outside grew louder and louder. The sound of things smashing mixed with the thunder and rain. She buried her burning forehead in the quilt, desperately suppressing her coughs. Don’t make a sound, can’t make a sound…

The thin, damp quilt offered little warmth. She tightly hugged the school uniform jacket in her arms. A faint smell of lemon water emanated from it.

—It was very similar to the scent on Shi Qingyi when she held her.

She desperately absorbed the meager warmth. It felt like a nightmare, and yet like a beautiful dream. That person, while disgustedly calling her nauseating, had also pulled her back from the edge of the cliff…