The Real Daughter Needs Saving by This Vicious Female Cannon Fodder? - Chapter 9

Mother Ning sat under the dim light, mending her torn apron. With age, her eyesight had worsened considerably.

Fortunately, her employers were kind-hearted and hadn’t mentioned letting her go.

The door creaked open as Ning Anran stepped inside.

“Mom, why aren’t you resting yet? It’s so late.”

Her greeting was cold, almost reflexive—a habit she didn’t even realize had become second nature. She couldn’t remember how long she had been stuck in this lifeless state.

“Why are you back so late today?”

“I waited up for you. I even saved you some food.”

Mother Ning’s temper flared.

She knew Ning Anran never usually came home this late. The delay could only mean she’d been fooling around outside.

“You haven’t even looked for a job, just wasting time all day. Your father still has debts to pay—can’t you at least spare me some worry?”

The barrage of accusations came, but Ning Anran simply lowered her eyes and listened in silence.

“Mom, the Second Miss Gu asked me to accompany her for dinner. Does that satisfy you?”

The mention of “Second Miss Gu” instantly silenced Mother Ning. The young mistress next door wasn’t someone their family could afford to offend.

“Then… did she hit you?”

Mother Ning knew the Second Miss Gu held a grudge against Ning Anran—all because that boy from the Cheng family, the one raised outside the main household, had taken a liking to her. The jealousy had driven the young mistress to make Ning Anran’s life miserable.

“No.”

“Mom, you can have the food as a midnight snack.”

“I already ate outside.”

Ning Anran glanced at the long-cold meal, her appetite nonexistent, before turning toward the cramped bathroom.

Watching her daughter’s retreating figure, Mother Ning fell silent.

For years, guilt had gnawed at her. She had let her own flesh and bl00d rise to wealth and status, while hiding away the true daughter of another family.

But now, the phoenix had fallen into hardship, living a life of struggle.

As Ning Anran grew older, her delicate features only deepened Mother Ning’s unease.

Back then, she had assumed the beautiful woman was just the wife of a coal tycoon—another “Madam Ning,” which had fueled her malicious scheme.

But years later, when she saw that woman’s face on screen again, she finally understood her true identity—

The young madam of Yuanye Group!

…

After drying her hair, Gu Xia finally felt like herself again.

At last, she could collapse onto her king-sized bed and rest!

But the next second, she froze in place.

Under the dim light, she saw a slender figure sitting on her bed—long hair cascading over slender shoulders.

Ning… Ning Anran?!

Holy sh1t! System, care to explain why the female lead is here right now?!

Gu Xia wanted to clutch her chest. At this moment, Ning Anran felt like Jing Ke ready to assassinate the Qin Emperor—and she was the emperor about to be stabbed.

Well… Host, it’s probably related to your past behavior?

The system’s words dredged up memories Gu Xia had long forgotten.

Back then, she used to make Ning Anran strip and warm her bed before she slept!

Gu Xia was left speechless.

Great. Just her own past idiocy coming back to bite her.

“Done washing?”

Ning Anran merely glanced up before starting to unbutton her clothes.

“There’s fruit on the table—Aunt Li washed them earlier. I brought them in for you.”

A stretch of snow-white skin came into view, startling Gu Xia so much that she quickly covered her eyes, her voice trembling slightly.

“Ning Anran, don’t do this… I’m a little scared.”

Heaven knows she was genuinely terrified!

Hearing this uncharacteristic remark from the second Miss Gu, Ning Anran paused in unbuttoning her clothes. She raised her beautiful eyes, studying Gu Xia with suspicion.

Had Gu Xia been cursed by someone these past few days?

“Fine. Then what do you want me to do?”

“Gu Xia.”

“Do you want me to get the red wine?”

Ning Anran didn’t bother rebuttoning the loosened buttons either. She got up from the bed to fetch the wine.

“Wait, Ning Anran.”

“You take the master bedroom. I’ll sleep in the guest room.”

Hearing her cold tone, Gu Xia hurried forward and grabbed Ning Anran’s arm.

Farewell, my dear bed! For the sake of your owner’s life, please serve the female lead well tonight on this two-meter-wide luxury bed!

Gu Xia wept inwardly—this luxurious bed was her only cure for insomnia. If it weren’t for the fact that the other party was the female lead, she would never have given up this precious bed.

Farewell, beloved bed!

“Is this another task you’re assigning me?”

Ning Anran stood still, her delicate collarbone exposed. Gu Xia caught a glimpse of faint bruises there.

Her steps faltered.

She remembered that before her awakening, she had only slapped the female lead’s face but never kicked her body.

So those large bruises… could they have been inflicted by the female lead’s drunken father?

Truly an evil Mary Sue novel!

“Task… what task?”

Seeing Gu Xia turn the question back on her, Ning Anran finally couldn’t hold back a scornful laugh.

“Of course, the tasks you’ve given me.”

“What trick are you playing this time?”

“Gu Xia.”

Ning Anran obediently raised her hand and extended it toward Gu Xia. Like a marionette stripped of life, the sight of her made Gu Xia’s heart ache.

Those bruises were clearly not from today.

“Ning Anran, sit on the sofa.”

Gu Xia thought that if those bruises weren’t treated soon, they would keep aching.

Hearing Gu Xia’s familiar command, Ning Anran sat on the sofa without hesitation, not bothering to rebutton her undone buttons.

Instead, she waited for the torture and punishment she was about to face.

Following her memory, Gu Xia found the first-aid kit in the coffee table drawer—prepared by Gu Lindong, who worried she might get hurt and stubbornly refuse to go to the hospital.

It was fully stocked.

Opening the kit, Gu Xia took out the bruise ointment. The strong smell instantly filled the bedroom.

Ning Anran looked up to see Gu Xia crouched by the coffee table, holding a brown medicine bottle, dripping a few drops into her palm.

“Let me help you apply this, okay?”

“Did you accidentally bump into something?”

Of course she didn’t bump into anything.

Anyone with eyes could see those bruises were from being kicked, but Gu Xia knew she shouldn’t rashly ask about the female lead’s family background.

Lest she upset her.

She could only turn a blind eye, pretending not to know, and be a passing good Samaritan tending to the female lead’s wounds.

“Are you pitying me?”

Ning Anran had endured oppression for so long that she’d forgotten she even had a temper left.

“Gu Xia, are you applying medicine to me just to see how pitiful I look now?”

“Or do you want to play the knight in shining armor and save me?”

“Only to mock me mercilessly afterward?”

One either erupts in silence or perishes in it. Ning Anran didn’t scream or shout—she was simply exhausted beyond words.

“Ning Anran.”

“I just think… if you don’t take care of yourself properly, how are you going to serve me?”