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Join the ServerSu Yutao curled up there, hugging herself, a tight ball.
Her white hair spread on the floor, eyelids red and swollen, clearly she had been crying.
On her arm was a round scar, red, the skin turned up, a cigarette burn.
Her knee was scraped, blood smeared down her leg.
Among the white hair, a small red mark was swollen, looking like a bite mark.
Lin Qingxue’s heart clenched.
She pushed the covers aside, got out of bed, crouched next to Su Yutao, and gently lifted her into her arms.
“Xiao Tao? Xiao Tao!”
Su Yutao shuddered in her arms and woke up.
She felt someone holding her, warm, soft, smelling of laundry detergent.
It was the daytime her.
Her body began to tremble, not from cold, but from fear.
She remembered what happened last night, the rope around her neck.
Stepping on…
Ears…
And… mouth.
She shrank in Lin Qingxue’s arms, struggling backward, trying to avoid that hand, to escape that embrace.
Lin Qingxue felt her resistance, froze for a moment, but didn’t let go.
She looked down at the wounds on Su Yutao’s body, the cigarette scar on her arm, the bite mark on her ear, the scraped knee, and the bruise on her calf from being kicked.
Her eyes reddened, her voice hoarse: “How did you get hurt like this… that bastard Zhou Ye…”
Su Yutao trembled in her arms, her hands flailing in the air.
She was looking for Qiansui. Qiansui wasn’t in her arms, thrown somewhere she didn’t know.
She opened her mouth, making “uh uh” sounds, so anxious tears were about to come, though they couldn’t fall.
Lin Qingxue watched her, saw her hands searching for something.
She thought of the little penguin Su Yutao always held.
The little penguin was gone.
So she set Su Yutao on the bed and laid her down.
“Don’t move. I’ll find it.”
She stood up and looked around the room.
Not on the floor, not on the bed, not on the bedside table.
She turned and spotted the little penguin alone in the corner.
She walked to the corner, bent down, and picked up the furry penguin from the corner.
Qiansui had been thrown there, its plush fur dusty, sitting askew.
Lin Qingxue picked it up, patted off the dust, and tucked it into Su Yutao’s arms.
The moment Su Yutao’s hand touched Qiansui, the soft voice exploded in her ear, filled with tears:
“Host! I was so worried about you!”
“Last night I watched that person bully you, they’re so wicked!”
“As long as you’re okay, I’ll help treat you later.”
Su Yutao hugged Qiansui tighter, feeling that familiar furry touch, curling into a ball, trembling less.
Qiansui continued:
“Oh, by the way, the pain relief you asked me to apply for yesterday was approved!”
“Hehe, Host, I’m amazing, right? It can only be used once a day, lasting one hour each time, but it should be enough.”
Su Yutao was stunned.
Pain relief was approved?
Does that mean from now on, when she gets beaten, she won’t feel pain?
No, no, she can’t get beaten. She has to avoid being beaten.
She asked in her heart: ‘Really?’
Qiansui said proudly:
“Of course it’s true!”
“I went to great lengths to beg it from Lady Qianxia.”
“She scolded me for a long time, but still gave it.”
Su Yutao hugged Qiansui tighter. No tears could fall, but something inside her was melting.
Qiansui added: “Also, about the main quest, you just need to stay at Lin Qingxue’s for a few more days.”
“Because in the original story, she stayed at Lin Qingxue’s for a few days.”
“Then you can unlock the next story line.”
Su Yutao listened to these words, and the tight string in her heart seemed to loosen a little.
A few days.
Just stay a few more days.
She could endure.
She could hold on.
What if the next story line didn’t require her to stay here?
What if she could be free?
Lin Qingxue saw that Su Yutao stopped trembling after getting the penguin, curled under the quilt, hugging that furry thing like a kitten finally finding its nest.
She breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the edge of the bed.
She began to recall last night’s events. Seeing Su Yutao like that earlier, she hadn’t had time to think.
It seemed Zhou Ye had come, drinking, going on a drunken rampage.
Then what?
She couldn’t remember.
Her head ached badly, as if something had been dug out.
She only remembered seeing Su Yutao’s wounds this morning, those cigarette burns, those bite marks, those bruises.
Her nails dug into her palms.
“That bastard Zhou Ye, treating a poor innocent little girl like this, worse than an animal.”
She stood up, picked up her phone, scrolled to Zhou Ye’s number, and dialed.
The phone rang twice, then connected.
Zhou Ye’s voice was rough from just waking up, with a hint of confusion:
“Xiao, Xiao Xue? What’s up?”
Lin Qingxue’s voice was cold:
“Zhou Ye, you are so wicked.”
“Bullying Xiao Tao like this.”
Zhou Ye was silent for a second, then his voice exploded:
“Huh? What? Bullying her? I was home all night last night! I…”
“Home?”
Lin Qingxue cut him off.
“You’re the only one I know who smokes.”
“And last night you came to my place, drank, went on a rampage, and hurt Xiao Tao like this.”
“Those cigarette burns are all from you. You went too far.”
“We shouldn’t see each other again.”
“If I see you again, I’ll call the police.”
Zhou Ye panicked: “No, Xiao Xue, listen to me, I really didn’t go to your place last night! I…”
Lin Qingxue hung up before he finished.
On the other end, Zhou Ye held his phone, utterly baffled.
He opened his mouth to call back, his finger hovering over the screen, then pulled back.
He leaned against the headboard, staring at the ceiling, his mind a mess.
Damn, taking such a huge fall?
No, fall?
He sat up abruptly.
Shit, probably Sister Lin did something late last night and pinned it on me again.
He remembered what happened last night, Sister Lin had him check the surveillance in the middle of the night, then clean up.
Those thugs in the alley, died a miserable death.
He sighed, tossed the phone aside, and lay back down.
Well, I’ll take the fall.
It’s not the first time.
Lin Qingxue hung up and threw her phone aside.
She turned and walked back to the bed, sitting down next to Su Yutao.
Su Yutao curled under the quilt, hugging Qiansui, felt the mattress sink, and her whole body went stiff again.
She was scared.
She was afraid the daytime her would touch her. Though the daytime her was a good person, she was still afraid.
Those hands were the same as the nighttime person’s.
That voice was the same as the nighttime person’s.
And that familiar touch was the same as the nighttime person’s.
She couldn’t tell them apart.
But she knew she was afraid and should keep her distance.
Lin Qingxue watched her like that, her heart felt like something had pierced it.
She said softly: “Hungry? I’ll make breakfast.”
Su Yutao didn’t move.
Lin Qingxue stood up and went to the kitchen.
The sound of running water, the clatter of pots and pans, the hum of the gas stove.
You think this chapter was thrilling? Wait until you read How a Reincarnated Villain Wins the Audition! Click here to discover the next big twist!
Read : How a Reincarnated Villain Wins the Audition
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