Transmigrated as a White Lotus Heroine, but I’m Pursuing the Cold Villain - Chapter 1

Inside the Chi Family Villa in A City, the luxurious mansion blazed with light at ten o’clock that evening.

Lin Qinglian sat alone, curled up on a small sofa in the first-floor lounge. Through the clinking of glasses and the rustle of elegant attire, she watched as a figure parted the crowd and strode toward her.

The man was tall and slender, dressed in a tailored black suit. At first glance, Lin Qinglian felt a moment of disorientation before remembering: this was her fiancé, the male lead of tonight’s engagement banquet—and she was the other protagonist.

Calling it an engagement banquet wasn’t entirely accurate, given that the male lead already had a well-known fiancée. Moreover, this so-called engagement banquet was merely a whim of his, thrown to amuse himself by inviting friends from his social circle.

Chi Jiheng approached, frowning as he took her hand, clearly puzzled by her huddled posture. “You’re too old to be hiding here. Come, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

Chi Jiheng, the male lead from the original novel, was her boyfriend and her Target.

And she, the abused female lead from the original novel, was the author’s beloved male lead’s tool—a character who, after having her heart and lungs literally ripped out by the male lead, ultimately achieved a happy reconciliation with him.

The moment this ending was revealed, readers erupted in fury, abandoning the book in droves. The System detected the disastrous conclusion.

As a result, Lin Qinglian found herself transmigrated into the novel, burdened with the “Trash Crematorium System.” Her mission: to make the Male Lead chase after love in a crematorium of regret. Upon completion, the System would cure her illness and send her home.

Chi Jiheng yanked Lin Qinglian to her feet. Her eight-centimeter heels wobbled momentarily, but she quickly regained her balance and straightened up.

Chi Jiheng lowered his gaze to Lin Qinglian, who stood stubbornly silent, her eyes never wavering.

Lin Qinglian blinked, her eyes instantly reddening as if she were about to cry. Yet she forced a smile at Chi Jiheng.

The smile was gentle, but tinged with timidity, as if she were deeply embarrassed.

Chi Jiheng felt satisfied with her obedience.

This is how it should be, he thought. Even a pet kept for amusement must obey. Who would want to keep a disobedient toy?

Lin Qinglian was practically dragged behind him, the force of his grip making her arm ache. In her usual circumstances, a slap would have been her immediate response.

However, the original character was a pitiful, innocent White Lotus, utterly devoted to the Male Lead. Until she completely conquered him and severed their bond, she had to maintain her original character persona. Only after achieving her goal could she break free, leaving the Male Lead to regret his actions.

Chi Jiheng led Lin Qinglian away from the crowd, toward the swimming pool. A nine-tiered champagne tower stood beside it, surrounded by the children of A City’s prominent families.

As they walked, Chi Jiheng overheard someone say, “She’s coming.”

He instinctively paused, asking his friend, “Who’s coming?”

His friend glanced at Lin Qinglian behind him, hesitant to speak.

Chi Jiheng waved it off impatiently. “She knows. Just say it.”

His friend looked surprised. “You’re being awfully obedient. She knows about this and isn’t making a fuss? And… does she know?” His voice dropped to a whisper.

Chi Jiheng shrugged. “Of course she doesn’t know. I didn’t invite her. Is she really coming? Who leaked the news? I’ll have to find out later.”

As he spoke, his eyes narrowed, a chilling glint flashing in their depths.

Chi Jiheng hosted the banquet, inviting influential figures from A City with whom he had connections. His purpose was to introduce his girlfriend, Lin Qinglian.

Though he was only toying with her for the moment, she was still quite appealing and needed to be kept happy.

Besides, if people he hadn’t invited showed up because of others, wouldn’t that be a slap in his face?

He was accustomed to arrogance and disliked anyone undermining his dignity.

His friend opened his mouth to speak, but froze mid-sentence, staring dumbfounded behind Chi Jiheng.

Such a loss of composure was rare for his friend. Chi Jiheng already had a suspicion. He followed his friend’s gaze and turned around.

Lin Qinglian had been standing quietly nearby, but when the two men, who had been chatting boisterously, suddenly fell silent like plucked chickens with their necks wrung, she grew curious.

After all, though Chi Jiheng’s character left much to be desired, he always maintained a polished demeanor in public.

She glanced toward the entrance.

A woman in a strapless black mermaid gown entered.

The dress was slit just above the ankles, transitioning into a ring of dark crimson waves at the hem. The waves were darkest at the bottom, their black and red hues shifting like the ocean as she walked, as if the sea itself were swaying around her.

She was tall, appearing to be around 1.75 meters, and with her high heels, she seemed even taller, perhaps 1.85 meters. Her black hair cascaded down her back to her waist, and her expression remained coldly aloof. As she entered the room, everyone instinctively turned to look at her.

But as she stepped inside, her icy demeanor melted away. A dazzling, breathtaking beauty radiated from her as she curved her red lips into a smile, leaving Lin Qinglian momentarily stunned.

Chi Jiheng frowned and strode forward. “What are you doing here? We’re practically over. Stop coming to see me.”

Lin Qinglian’s gaze involuntarily followed her as she stopped.

The woman leaned casually against the dessert-laden table, arms crossed. She let out a cold laugh. “Stop flattering yourself. Who’s here for you? Move aside.”

Chi Jiheng instinctively took a step forward, his voice rising in anger. “You—!”

At 1.8 meters tall, Chi Jiheng was still shorter than the woman, even without her heels. Her condescending gaze as she looked down at him only made his anger seem less intimidating and even a little comical.

A smirk played on her lips as she watched him like a spectacle, clearly enjoying his frustration as if he were a monkey performing tricks.

Chi Jihong clearly saw through her act. Her face darkened as she stepped forward, ready to lash out.

Just then, a hand reached out from behind the woman, separating the two. Lin Qinglian finally noticed the man standing behind her.

The man was about the same height as the woman, his expression cold and impassive. As he leaned in, he whispered something in her ear.

After that, the woman completely ignored Chi Jiheng, who was still stomping her feet behind them, and turned to enter the second floor.

This must be the male lead’s fiancée, the vicious female antagonist of the novel, and the ultimate villain. Throughout the male and female leads’ romance, the female lead had her leg broken once, her arm broken once, and narrowly escaped death several times, all thanks to this woman.

Most people, after suffering such torment at someone’s hands, would lower their heads and avoid them. But Lin Qinglian was different.

She found herself involuntarily staring at the woman. Her beauty was dazzling, almost blinding. Yet beneath that beauty lay thorns. After all, in the original story, this woman had coldly twisted the White Lotus’s arm without even blinking.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through Lin Qinglian’s wrist. She lowered her gaze and saw a bruise forming on her wrist.

Chi Jiheng gritted her teeth. “What were you looking at just now?”

The moment he saw his own things looking at someone else with the same gaze they used to give him, an inexplicable anger surged within him, making it impossible to control his temper.

Lin Qinglian, too lazy to even lift her head, stared down at the pale pink manicure on her other hand, the color so faint it almost blended into her natural skin tone.

Target’s Affection Points -1, Current Affection Points: 48.

Lin Qinglian looked up again, her brow furrowed, tears swirling in her eyes.

Chi Jiheng lowered his gaze to watch the tears welling in her eyes, his tone impatient as he offered a perfunctory comfort, “I was just asking you a question. What’s wrong?”

Target’s Affection Points -1, Current Affection Points: 47.

Lin Qinglian bit her lip, the pink flesh reddening from the pressure. She lowered her head, her voice thick with guilt and self-reproach, “I’m sorry, Brother Chi. I made things difficult for you. I just wanted to see what kind of person you’re engaged to, to understand how extraordinary someone would have to be to deserve you. I’m sorry I upset you.”

Chi Jiheng’s expression instantly softened. He reached out and patted her head. “You know I have a bit of a temper. Just be obedient, and you’ll be rewarded.”

Just as his hand was about to touch her, Lin Qinglian subtly shifted her body, causing his hand to fall short.

She gazed up at him with an adoring expression.

Yes, you’re the perfect match. You’re a match made in heaven, Lin Qinglian thought inwardly, her heart utterly unmoved.

Character Affection Points +1, Current Affection Points: 48.

Lin Qinglian’s eyes instantly reddened. “I’m not doing this for Brother Chi’s benefit,” she declared. “No matter what you do, I’ll always love you. I care about you as a person, not for any other reason.”

Character Affection Points +2, Current Affection Points: 50.

Lin Qinglian let out a sigh of relief. She couldn’t quite articulate the feeling, but the stone that had weighed on her heart for nearly a decade finally lifted, like a bag of trash that had been festering in her home for ten years, finally ready to be discarded.

She glanced at her hand, still held in his, and was about to pull away when the System suddenly popped into her mind, manifesting as a virtual orb.

Warning! Warning! Host! If you let go of his hand now, his Affection Points will decrease!

Lin Qinglian glared at the System, her face icy. Didn’t you say that once I max out his Affection Points, I can make him chase after me in a Crematorium scenario?

The System’s virtual avatar covered its face bashfully, swaying its “waist” and adopting a deliberately affected tone. Oh, Host, have you even seen a Crematorium before? Our Crematorium should be like this: when the Male Lead’s love reaches its peak, he remains oblivious, expressing his affection through methods that only cause the Female Lead pain and sorrow. Watching her being loved by others, he feels regret, bitterly lamenting his past ways of loving her and finally understanding how to truly cherish someone. Once his regret value reaches its peak, our mission will be complete! Then you can cure your illness and go home! Oh, and remember, you need to switch to the next Target for the Male Lead’s affection points to stabilize.

Lin Qinglian: “………………”

Without hesitation, she coldly declared, “You’re insane.”

Two wide, blue wave-like bars appeared on the System’s spherical interface. How can a mouth with a temperature of 37 degrees utter such icy words?

Lin Qinglian ignored it, forcibly severing her connection to the System to prevent it from offering any more terrible ideas.

She lowered her head and followed behind the Male Lead, Chi Jiheng.

So, she needed to find someone to love him, making him regret how he had treated her. But who would be suitable?

A flash of a black skirt flickered through her mind, but it vanished as quickly as a dandelion seed carried away by the wind.

She suddenly remembered that there seemed to be someone behind the black skirt—a man.

But what did he look like?

Chi Jiheng nervously tugged her upstairs to the second floor.

Lin Qinglian actually disliked Chi Jiheng. He wore his brain like a mere decoration, good for nothing but unleashing his volatile temper.

Earlier, Chi Jiheng had simply told Lin Qinglian to sit on the small sofa downstairs, not inviting her upstairs.

Yet now he was leading her up the stairs.

Who’s up there? Lin Qinglian couldn’t help but wonder.

The woman from earlier had also headed straight upstairs upon arrival.

The villa where the banquet was being held belonged to Chi Jiheng himself. Whenever he was in A City, he lived here alone, refusing to stay with the rest of the Chi family at their ancestral home.

The second-floor corridor stretched long and wide, lined with at least twenty rooms. Chi Jiheng abruptly turned and entered the first room. Because he strode in first with long strides and then stopped suddenly, Lin Qinglian lost her balance.

She should have collided with Chi Jiheng’s back, but he took a large step forward, his face cold as he glared at the person seated behind the desk.

This caused Lin Qinglian to twist her ankle and stumble forward into empty space.

Just as she was about to hit the floor, Lin Qinglian instinctively closed her eyes.

A pair of steady hands caught her.

The force of the catch cushioned her fall, and she immediately lifted her feet and regained her balance.

She noticed the person who had caught her was wearing nine-centimeter stiletto heels.

Lin Qinglian looked up and blinked.

The woman smiled, her red lips curving into a smile.

At first, Lin Qinglian was drawn to the woman’s vivid crimson lipstick, a bold red that perfectly complemented her black silk dress.

Then, Lin Qinglian’s attention shifted to the woman’s eyes. Surprisingly, she wore no makeup except for the lipstick.

The woman’s eyes were long and narrow, with slightly upturned corners. Such eyes would typically convey aloofness, but her constant smile made her irresistibly captivating.

Lin Qinglian’s gaze instinctively drifted to the woman’s face. Her eyes were long and narrow, framed by thick lashes, and her nose was straight and sharp. Though her features might have seemed cold at first glance, her full lips, meticulously painted a vibrant red, curved into a smile that held Lin Qinglian’s gaze for a moment longer than she expected.

Lin Qinglian didn’t know why, but in that brief moment, the woman winked playfully at her. Lin Qinglian quickly released her hand and straightened up.

Her ears flushed slightly. “Thank you,” she murmured.

Wow, the original novel’s beauty icon! The rumors are true.

Oblivious to her own blushing, Lin Qinglian had no idea how suggestive this scene looked to others. After all, that young lady was known for her indiscriminate tastes, and several infatuated men and resentful women still pined for her, ready to die for her affection.

The woman nodded. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you’re okay.”

Chi Jiheng, her face like iron, strode forward and yanked Lin Qinglian’s wrist, pulling them apart.

Lin Qinglian: “……”

Another wrist-grab? Might as well play tug-of-war. This woman’s got the strength of an ox.