Transmigrated as a White Lotus Heroine, but I’m Pursuing the Cold Villain - Chapter 2

On the surface, she gently placed her other hand over Chi Jiheng’s.

Then she gave a gentle tug.

It didn’t budge.

It wasn’t that she lacked strength, but she was afraid of breaking his wrist if she used too much force.

Chi Jiheng only felt a warm hand covering his own, slightly cool and comforting in the summer heat. The hand kept stroking his.

His heart softened. He hadn’t realized Lin Qinglian loved him so deeply. She was usually so shy in public, blushing even when standing too close to him, let alone holding hands.

Yet here she was, declaring her affection in front of his fiancée. His ex-girlfriends had always loved flaunting their possession of him in public, but Lin Qinglian’s touch felt completely different.

He only sensed her genuine care.

Chi Jiheng released his grip, and in that instant, he captured both her slender wrists in his palm.

The moment Lin Qinglian felt his hand loosen, a weight lifted from her heart.

She should have been happy, but all she felt was a sense of something shifting away. That was enough. The System hadn’t lied to her after all.

In the next moment, her hands were gripped tightly, and darkness flooded her vision.

A phrase suddenly came to mind:

A body brimming with inexhaustible strength.

Chi Jiheng abruptly tugged her forward and whispered, “Say something.”

What should I say?

Lin Qinglian looked up blankly and met the gaze of the old man seated at the table.

The woman and man had been blocking her view earlier, but now they stepped aside, creating an opening for her to approach.

Lin Qinglian: “……”

She took a small step forward, then another under Chi Jiheng’s increasingly angry glare.

Forced into the spotlight like a duck being pushed onto a perch, she found herself thrust to the front.

What should I say? What were they discussing just now?

Her eyes darted around discreetly, catching Chi Jiheng’s anxious expression. Suddenly, inspiration struck.

Lin Qinglian lowered her head and murmured shyly, “Grandfather, I agree.”

The smile slowly faded from Chi Jiheng’s face.

His fists clenched tightly, and he took a step forward. But before he could move, a slender figure darted ahead of him, positioning herself behind Lin Qinglian to block his path.

It was his fiancée, Rao Jinqing.

Lin Qinglian noticed something was amiss from the strange looks the others were giving her. Weren’t they supposed to be discussing the cancellation of the wedding banquet?

Just as she was feeling confused, she sensed a gust of wind behind her, carrying a faint fragrance that filled her nostrils.

The heat from the woman’s presence radiated across the narrow space.

The scent was deep and complex, with a cool, somber top note reminiscent of cedar forests, yet with a hint of sourness in the base.

It was that woman.

She was completely different from Lin Qinglian. Regardless of the season, Lin Qinglian always carried a chill about her. Chi Jiheng used to call her “a walking ice cube in summer” and loved to hold her hand.

Lin Qinglian couldn’t quite articulate her feelings, but she didn’t want Chi Jiheng to hold her hand. She always felt an instinctive urge to pull away.

Because every time he touched her, she felt like throwing up.

Yet to complete her mission, Lin Qinglian had to force a sweet smile and let Chi Jiheng hold her hand.

The balding, gray-haired old man chuckled softly at her words and nodded. “Since Miss Lin has spoken, we’ll proceed as she suggests. What do you say, Miss Lin?”

Subtle glances flickered in her direction from around the room.

Lin Qinglian instinctively took a step back, feeling something beneath her high heel.

It was her foot!

She immediately shifted her weight forward, placing her foot down.

She nodded obediently, though she didn’t understand why. Chi Jiheng’s expression darkened.

Who cares? Lin Qinglian thought. The System has already told him to switch targets. What does his opinion matter to me?

She moved slightly to the side, clearing the way. Chi Jiheng eagerly stepped forward.

At that moment, she noticed another figure standing nearby. The person stared blankly ahead, seemingly detached from the scene, showing no interest in or awareness of what was happening.

Lin Qinglian recalled that Chi Jiheng had initially acted the same way toward her.

Someone like that is bound to be easy to capture, she concluded instantly.

He’s my new target.

The System popped up, its virtual face beaming with excitement. Host, do you want to bind him? You can bind a character once their Capture Value reaches ten. I can even let you borrow the points first!

Lin Qinglian opened her mouth to say yes, but then she closed it again.

The System had never been this proactive before.

Lin Qinglian: “Let’s wait a bit longer.”

The System spun around anxiously, its round rear rotating like an apple turning in place. Host, you need to hurry! We’ve been here for thirteen years already, and the System’s energy is running low. We can only stay for another two years at most—and even that’s thanks to my penny-pinching and occasional shutdowns.

A (>_<) expression appeared on its face.

Lin Qinglian: “Mm.”

She had transmigrated into the original owner’s body when the girl was ten years old, a pivotal moment in the original owner’s life.

Her parents had died in a drunk driving accident, and her greedy relatives had seized their assets, abandoning the still-young girl to an orphanage. Initially, Lin Qinglian had believed she was here to punish the wicked.

Instead, she found herself tasked with seducing men. But for the sake of curing her illness, she wouldn’t stoop to such methods.

According to the original plot, she was supposed to stage an encounter with Chi Jiheng, who was donating to the orphanage, securing his personal sponsorship. In high school, they would coincidentally attend the same school, their fates intertwined by chance. Eventually, they would develop a pure and innocent romance in university, and after graduation, she would join Chi Jiheng’s family company.

Everything unfolded as in the original story.

However, the turning point came after their encounter. After that, Chi Jiheng’s temper grew increasingly volatile, and he began to see Lin Qinglian as his personal possession, believing he had sacrificed too much for her.

One drunken night, Chi Jiheng impulsively struck Lin Qinglian, marking the official beginning of her nightmare.

Whenever Chi Jiheng was in a bad mood, he would beat and verbally abuse her. Afterward, he would offer no apology, merely coldly ask Lin Qinglian who else would want her if she left him. All the while, he continued to cheat on her, searching for his so-called “true love.”

Over time, Lin Qinglian’s heart grew heavy with resentment. Eventually, she jumped from a building to her death at just twenty-five years old.

System: (o&gt;*

Lin Qinglian ignored the System, thinking it could save some power by shutting down. She forcibly deactivated it again.

She and another man stood nearby, their gazes fixed downward in detached indifference.

The three others were talking, but Lin Qinglian paid no attention to the details.

After all, it had nothing to do with her.

She understood her place clearly: merely a possession Chi Jiheng kept to defy his family’s arrangements and fuel his power struggles.

It wasn’t anything important, just the most convenient thing he had at hand at the time.

Quite some time passed before they finished talking.

Lin Qinglian saw Chi Jiheng stride forward with a dark expression, his tailored suit creasing from the force of his movements.

He reached out and grabbed her wrist, his grip tight on her slender wrist.

Judging by his face, Lin Qinglian guessed it must be turning blue.

She lowered her gaze to her hand, and at that moment, he yanked her forward.

Suddenly, she remembered the stunning woman who had been walking leisurely behind them.

Chi Jiheng pulled her so abruptly that she didn’t even have time to glance back.

Her wrist was indeed turning blue.

Then, another hand gripped Chi Jiheng’s, the one holding Lin Qinglian.

Lin Qinglian followed the snow-white arm upward to see the woman’s cold face.

There was no smile on her face now.

Lin Qinglian blinked, belatedly realizing how much the woman resembled the man.

At least, they looked strikingly similar when their faces were cold.

The same narrow, deep-set eyes, the same straight nose, the same icy demeanor that seemed to lower the surrounding air pressure.

Rao Jinqing, her face icy, restrained Chi Jiheng with surprising strength. For a moment, he couldn’t even yank Lin Qinglian’s hand free.

This was a humiliating setback, and Chi Jiheng’s face darkened instantly.

He sneered at Rao Jinqing, “Satisfied now? What else do you want?”

Rao Jinqing lowered her long, delicate lashes and gently withdrew Lin Qinglian’s hand. “I just wanted to say,” she said calmly, “you were hurting her.”

The fingers covering her own were long and strong, bony yet not overly prominent, with a hint of softness.

Lin Qinglian stared at that hand for a long moment before noticing her own wrist, now bruised.

A sharp, prickling pain surged through her, radiating from the bone in a fine, dense ache. After being gripped three times in a single day, she was almost getting used to it.

Rao Jinqing patted Lin Qinglian’s perfectly styled bun, causing two strands of hair to spring loose.

Rao Jinqing paused, pretending not to notice, and moved her hand to Lin Qinglian’s shoulder.

“Let me take you downstairs,” Rao Jinqing offered.

Lin Qinglian shook her head.

Rao Jinqing didn’t get angry. “Then I’ll go down with you. Is that okay?”

Lin Qinglian nodded.

Chi Jiheng’s momentary relief vanished.

He stepped forward, intending to take Lin Qinglian’s hand in his.

Rao Jinqing glanced back, pulling Lin Qinglian’s hand away.

He grasped at empty air.

He glared at Rao Jinqing, his voice tight with anger. “What do you want?”

Rao Jinqing shrugged casually. “The kid already agreed.”

Lin Qinglian looked up, her pale pupils fixed on Rao Jinqing with a curious gaze.

Rao Jinqing wasn’t wrong to call her a kid. As far as she knew, Lin Qinglian was only twenty-three, fresh out of university.

Rao Jinqing leaned closer. “I’m four years older than you. Is it wrong to call you a kid? When I was in university, you were still in middle school.”

At this close range, Lin Qinglian could clearly see her own reflection in Rao Jinqing’s dark pupils.

Lin Qinglian’s eyes flickered, and she finally retreated slightly, breaking the intense eye contact.

Rao Jinqing pinched her ear, laughing boldly. “Why are you ignoring me?”

The girl’s stunned expression was rather endearing.

The tips of her ears and her cheeks flushed crimson, making her even more adorable. But wearing a generic dress and no perfume, she’d likely be the laughingstock of the party.

It seemed no one had ever told her these things, so she probably didn’t realize that at such events, one should wear haute couture from top designers and the latest designer fragrances.

But what did that have to do with Rao Jinqing? She wasn’t exactly a saint.

Chi Jiheng glared coldly at Rao Jinqing. “You’ve received what was promised. Don’t push your luck.”

Rao Jinqing ignored her. By now, the three of them had descended the stairs. Rao Jinqing smiled at Lin Qinglian. “Let’s go for a walk.”

Her skirt swirled in an arc as she turned, like ripples in shallow water.

Her skin was so pale that it seemed to glow against the black dress.

Lin Qinglian felt like she was that shallow pool, disturbed by someone’s touch.

As Rao Jinqing turned away, Lin Qinglian gently waved goodbye.

The other woman didn’t look back, leaving Lin Qinglian with an empty feeling, as if someone had punctured a hole in her heart and let all the air escape.

She couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.

She didn’t see it.

Her smile was so beautiful, and her hand was so warm, making Lin Qinglian’s face flush.

Suddenly, Rao Jinqing turned back. Lin Qinglian immediately lowered her hand.

She didn’t know why, but it felt like the right thing to do.

Rao Jinqing smiled. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Rao Jinqing.”