Chapter 10

Chapter 45: Defeat

“Ji Xiaoxia! Get back here right now.”

Qi Ruochen definitely didn’t expect that while the mantis stalks the cicada, the oriole is lurking behind. Yan Qingshu had deliberately exposed my father; he had dirt on him and just wanted to bait Qi Ruochen into investigating it.

“Sorry, Mr. Qi, all’s fair in love and war. You fell for my trap again.”

“No wonder you let Ji Xiaoxia stay with the Ji family.”

Qi Ruochen had sobered up, and I finally understood too. I actually thought my silver tongue had successfully fooled Yan Qingshu back then.

“With Ji Xiaoxia at my place, wouldn’t you be forced to figure out a way to deal with me? I’ve been taught a severe lesson by you before, so I know how ruthless your methods can be.”

Standing behind Yan Qingshu, I felt a chill run up from the soles of my feet. This man was way too insidious, wasn’t he?

Qi Ruochen stopped talking to Yan Qingshu and instead called my name.

“Ji Xiaoxia, come home with me.”

He had always been in complete control of every situation, so it looked like he really suffered a setback this time. His tone actually sounded like he was coaxing me.

“I’m not going back with you. You’ll just force me to abort the baby again.”

“Come here!”

Qi Ruochen was incredibly anxious, while Yan Qingshu, on the other hand, looked perfectly calm: “Ji Xiaoxia’s ex-husband, mind your status. Once you sign those papers, they will be my wife and child.”

Yan Qingshu wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I thought of the several times Qi Ruochen had sent me to the operating table, and I slightly raised my chin, looking at him.

“Qingshu is right. I feel the exact same way.”

“Ji Xiaoxia, how can you be so heartless?”

Qi Ruochen was panicking. He knew that as long as I didn’t relent, he couldn’t take me by force. Plus, since he had accepted the betrothal gifts I returned, we had already legally met the conditions for a divorce.

“What a joke. When it comes to being heartless, I’m absolute trash compared to you.”

Yan Qingshu held my hand: “Xia’er, let’s stop wasting our breath on him. I’ve made an appointment with a lawyer to see how to draft the divorce agreement.”

Seeing that the two of us were turning around to leave, Qi Ruochen finally let go of his last shred of pride.

“Ji Xiaoxia, I can accept your child. Come home with me, I will treat him well.”

My footsteps paused. Inexplicably, I felt that Qi Ruochen wasn’t lying to me. For my sake, he was actually willing to wear this green hat and be cuckolded.

“No need. The moment you sent me to the operating table, my heart died.”

There is no need to indulge this kind of scumbag, and deep down, I wasn’t a weak woman. If you throw away a stinky man, he stays thrown away. A good horse doesn’t turn back to eat old grass.

I still walked away. Behind me, Qi Ruochen shouted with a heart-wrenching voice, “Ji Xiaoxia, you can’t treat me like this!”

I felt incredibly satisfied. All our past grievances should vanish into thin air now, right? I’m going to take the little baby in my belly and start a brand new life.

Although Yan Qingshu was full of wicked ideas, he treated me pretty well. I didn’t want to just eat and live at his place for free, so I went to help out at the coffee shop he ran.

The wind chime at the door rang. I habitually went to welcome the customer, only to see the tall figure of Qi Ruochen standing there.

“What are you doing here?”

My tone was unfriendly, but he was uncharacteristically calm: “Here to drink coffee.”

“Alright, since you’re here to patronize the business, order something expensive. Don’t be too stingy.”

After he sat down, I pointed out the most expensive items to him. After all, I got a commission for helping out.

“Okay, two cups. My treat for one of them.”

I didn’t answer him, just quickly placed the order. After taking his money, I sat across from him.

“Have you signed the divorce agreement?”

“No.”

I lightly slammed the table: “What are you stalling for? Hurry up and sign it!”

Although his face looked domineering, his expression carried a hint of grievance: “I don’t want to divorce you.”

Chapter 46: Taming

“Fine. Kneel down and apologize to me in front of all these customers, and I’ll forgive you.”

He frowned and stood up, startling me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have believed Ji Xiaochu, and I shouldn’t have tried to hurt you. I won’t do it again.”

He lowered his head and apologized sincerely, already attracting the attention of several customers. He was actually going to kneel down for me.

“Hey, hey, hey, are you crazy? I was just joking!”

Even if he didn’t find it embarrassing, I did! A CEO of a listed company—this wasn’t just a matter of the old saying ‘a man’s knees have gold under them’, this was a matter of diamonds.

“Ji Xiaoxia, come back with me.”

Seeing him standing in front of me like a schoolboy who had made a mistake, my anger actually dissipated by more than half.

“Aren’t you supposed to be full of tactics? Why aren’t you using force this time, and instead ran over here to negotiate with me?”

When I met his eyes, Qi Ruochen’s naturally intimidating aura made me afraid to push my luck any further.

“Alright, I’m working now. We’ll talk later.”

He looked at me in confusion. This man, who didn’t understand a woman’s heart, didn’t seem to realize that I had already softened my stance.

While I was busy working, he just sat there watching. Soon, he had his assistant deliver a laptop and actually started working right there in my shop.

Yan Qingshu’s place was a high-end cafe. Even though the prices were absurdly expensive, the coffee ingredients were genuinely good, attracting many loyal customers. I was busy until past eleven before we finally closed.

Qi Ruochen left once in the middle but came back. I closed the door and was cleaning up. He put on his innate aristocratic airs, staring at me but making no move to come over and help.

“Hey, come here and help me mop the floor.”

I just wanted to test him. I wanted to see exactly how far he would go for me.

“I don’t know how.”

“When you were studying abroad and learning culinary arts, didn’t you do chores yourself?”

“I hired a housekeeper for chores.”

I actually laughed out loud. Someone who grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth really was different. I thought he was suffering hardships abroad, but it turns out he was just experiencing life.

“What’s the point of being alive if you can’t even mop a floor? You’ve been watching for ages, you should know how by now.”

He hesitated for a moment, making a huge resolution before walking up to me, pulling out a handkerchief, and wiping the handle of the mop.

“You go rest first.”

I couldn’t believe it. He had changed so much. I still remember when we first met, Qi Ruochen wasn’t this easy to manipulate.

Of course, I didn’t hold back. I sat down in his seat and even started eating the dessert he hadn’t touched.

As he mopped the floor, his face showed an extremely disgusted expression, which put me in a fantastic mood.

Smart people are capable of anything. He was good at business and cooking, and he was also exceptionally good at mopping. The floor was as clean as new.

I ordered him around to do a bunch of things, especially those that required height, like putting the coffee cups in the upper cupboards, which he was perfectly suited for.

“Ji Xiaoxia, can we go home now?”

Qi Ruochen really was persistent, tossing out the same few phrases over and over. “Master, please stop chanting, your disciple’s ears are getting calluses.”

“Yan Qingshu is using you like a manual laborer. You might as well come back and be my lady boss.”

The aloof CEO had even learned how to sow discord. I realized I didn’t understand him at all before. Stripped of that cold disguise, he was just an ordinary guy.

“What’s wrong with being a laborer? Earning money through my own hard work gives me peace of mind.”

“Just now, you were relying on my hard work.”

Seeing that I was about to argue with Qi Ruochen again, I suddenly thought of a killer move to make him back off.

Chapter 47: Fireworks

“I’ll tell you the truth. Aren’t I a prophet? If we stay together, you will go bankrupt.”

He was a businessman with so many domestic and international businesses at stake; his face instantly stiffened.

He considered it for a few seconds, genuinely believing I was some fortune-telling deity, and probed: “Is it just becoming poor, or going into massive debt?”

“Going into debt, being chased everywhere by debt collectors. I’ll despise you for being too poor and flee with the child to get away from you.”

Given my impressive track record of predictions, Qi Ruochen had no choice but to believe it. He fell silent, deep in thought.

“The chores are done. You should hurry up and leave.”

Qi Ruochen left. Although I felt a bit disappointed, I could understand. No one would willingly jump into a fire pit knowing exactly what it was.

I prepared to tidy up the tables and chairs one last time before clocking out. But just as I was about to lock the door, I looked through the glass and saw Qi Ruochen standing there like an idiot.

I couldn’t help but run over, panting slightly: “Didn’t you leave?”

“You’re a pregnant woman, don’t do such strenuous exercise.”

“Alright, got it. What are you standing here like a big dummy for?”

I was genuinely moved. In this society, people have become so incredibly snobbish. People in love can break up over bride prices. I threatened him with bankruptcy, and yet he was still standing right here.

“I wanted to ask… Even though I’ll be in debt, I’ll leave some living expenses for you and the baby. Could you… please not leave me?”

I burst out laughing, while he looked completely at a loss.

“Alright then.”

Even when he thought it wasn’t his child, he accepted it. Facing debt and going on the run, all he thought about was whether I would live comfortably. With Qi Ruochen feeling this way about me, if I still didn’t accept him, I really would have a heart of stone.

“Really?”

Seeing me holding back laughter, Qi Ruochen finally realized I had forgiven him. He suddenly picked me up and lifted me high into the air.

“Ah! Don’t let anyone see! It’s so embarrassing, put me down quickly.”

He obediently put me down and kissed me by my ear. The wound there had scabbed over and was growing new flesh, so it tickled a bit.

“Let’s go home.”

All my memories concerning Qi Ruochen were overly thrilling and perilous. But at this moment, those three words made me feel exceptionally at peace.

I had one condition for going back: we had to secretly redo the paternity test so no one could tamper with it.

Before the results came out, Qi Ruochen treated me incredibly well. It seemed he really feared going bankrupt too miserably; he spent his days sorting out all the high-risk projects in his company and spent the rest of his time keeping us company.

The day we got the results, he found out that the child I was carrying was indeed his. As an apology gift, Qi Ruochen drove me to the riverside.

I had never seen such a grand fireworks display, let alone one set off just for me. The fireworks flew into the sky and then cascaded down into the river.

Qi Ruochen’s romance hit me right in the heart. I tried desperately to hold it in, but I still cried a river.

I leaned against him, sitting by the river. He had arranged thick blankets for me to sit on and wrapped a cloak around my shoulders.

“Qi Ruochen, I fell in love with a fictional paper character. Transmigrating into a book is just too unrealistic. What if this is all my dream? What do I do when I wake up?”

“A paper character?”

“You’re just a character in a novel! It’s a dream the author wrote for me. The reason I can predict things is because I’ve read the novel.”

He definitely thought I had a fever, looking at me in complete disbelief.

“Alright, then tell me, what kind of novel is this?”

To love someone means having no reservations. I told Qi Ruochen the general plot of the original novel and everything about how I woke up and became Ji Xiaoxia.

Chapter 48: Waking Up

“No wonder. I was wondering why your personality changed so drastically.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck, snuggling against his chest acting coy: “Even if it’s a dream, please don’t let me wake up so fast, okay?”

To think that Qi Ruochen actually believed my absurd story. He even commented: “This novel is illogical. If the female lead died, her heart would be taken out. Wouldn’t her sister be exposed if she didn’t get the transplant?”

I was swayed by him, feeling that Qi Ruochen had a point: “In a novel like this, the female lead was completely wrongfully killed. It’s so full of negative energy, would people actually read it?”

“If the author really wrote me like that, then I’m way too stupid. Actually, I suspected she was faking her illness early on. I just pitied her and didn’t want to expose her.”

My heart trembled. If the novel and reality had so many overlapping parts, could it be possible that the original Qi Ruochen had also suspected Ji Xiaochu of faking her illness?

Suddenly I felt like the original story might not have been finished. Maybe the novel had side stories, but I just hadn’t read them!

“Ji Xiaoxia, I suddenly realized you were lying to me. I didn’t go bankrupt in the end!”

“My mistake.”

Qi Ruochen was too smart. I could only get up and run along the riverside. Qi Ruochen chased after me, shouting for me to stop running.

A wave struck over, and I suddenly choked on some water. Then, I woke up.

I realized it really was a dream. I was lying in my own bed, and the novel I had read to the last page was right beside me.

“Qi Ruochen!”

I called his name with an aching heart, realizing I really might have just been dreaming. But I was unwilling to accept it. The baby in my belly, the man I deeply loved—they had all disappeared.

Remembering that there might be side stories, I immediately ran to the computer to check. Sure enough, the author had updated with extra chapters.

It turned out Ji Xiaoxia didn’t die on the operating table. Qi Ruochen had discovered the clues long ago; it was just a test for Ji Xiaochu.

After Ji Xiaoxia faked her death, Ji Xiaochu couldn’t possibly get the heart transplant, so she was exposed. It turned out Qi Ruochen and Ji Xiaoxia had secretly developed feelings for each other all along, but I hadn’t noticed the details.

I thought I had defied the heavens and changed my fate, but in the original work, they loved each other all along! I skimmed through the rest of the text, seeing that in the original story, Ji Xiaoxia also got pregnant.

The Ji family went bankrupt because of Ji Huaqiang’s embezzlement, and Ji Xiaochu was reduced to selling liquor, using old photos of the two of them to blackmail Qi Ruochen.

The side story had a massive amount of information. I heard Qi Ruochen’s voice calling my name in my ear, and the text on the computer grew increasingly blurry.

I jolted awake. I was lying in mine and Qi Ruochen’s bridal chamber at home. Qi Ruochen was sitting by my bed, looking at me with deep concern.

“You’re awake? You scared me to death. You slipped at the riverside and fell in.”

I couldn’t hear what Qi Ruochen was saying at all. I merely stared at him with greed and longing. For Qi Ruochen, I had only slept for a bit, but for me, it was a reunion across time and space.

I hugged his neck and kissed him on the lips. After kissing his lips, I couldn’t stop showering his whole face with kisses.

“Qi Ruochen, I love you so much.”

Qi Ruochen blushed, looking at me flattered, entirely unable to hide the smile on his face.

I hugged his arm, rubbing my head against him. I was never going to part with him again.

After being completely clingy for a good while, I suddenly remembered, and the content of the side story became clear in my mind.

“Ruochen, did Ji Xiaochu avoid going to jail? Can you check what she’s doing right now?”

“Alright.”

It seemed Qi Ruochen really didn’t care about Ji Xiaochu anymore and genuinely didn’t know her current situation.

He ordered someone to look into it, and the results came back quickly. Sure enough, Ji Xiaochu was selling liquor at a nightclub.

I was right in the middle of discussing the side story plot with Qi Ruochen when he received an email. He seemed to want to avoid me, and his expression instantly changed.

Chapter 49: Badass and Sassy

“Oh, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s just old photos from when you two were dating.”

It completely matched the plot of the original work. In the book, Qi Ruochen secretly gave Ji Xiaochu money. Naturally, I wouldn’t allow that to happen.

“Qi Ruochen, tonight I’m going to get revenge for you.”

“Xiaoxia, our child is important. Please don’t go causing trouble.”

Even though I was pregnant, I wasn’t really showing yet. That evening, wearing a black tracksuit, a mask, and a baseball cap, I went to the nightclub where Ji Xiaochu worked.

“Ji Xiaochu!”

The massive disco dancing hadn’t started yet, but a fair number of customers were gradually pouring in. I saw Ji Xiaochu dressed scantily, setting up drinks over there.

Seeing me, Ji Xiaochu panicked and tried to run toward the backstage area.

“Don’t run! Don’t you love threatening people with photos? I think good things should be shared with everyone. My husband looks quite handsome in them!”

The photos began scrolling on the big screen, but I had already instructed someone to pixelate Qi Ruochen beforehand.

Ji Xiaochu tried to stop it but failed. Flustered and exasperated, she charged at me.

“Ji Xiaoxia, you insist on going against me, don’t you? I’ll fight you to the death.”

Before she could even make a move, I grabbed her hair and slapped her hard across the face.

“This slap is for you trying to take my life.”

Just as Ji Xiaochu was about to speak, I backhanded her with another slap: “And this one is for trying to pester my husband and be a homewrecker.”

“You… don’t push me too far.”

I slapped her again: “Since we used to be sisters, consider this one a freebie. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other.”

The people in the nightclub all assumed I was the legal wife here to take care of a mistress. They were all watching the drama unfold, and some were even recording Ji Xiaochu on their phones.

“Stop filming!”

Ji Xiaochu went completely crazy. After I let her go, she lunged to snatch a phone from someone who was recording.

She grabbed it and hurled it straight at me. Before I could react, it was about to hit my body.

In the next second, my whole body was lifted up. Qi Ruochen pulled me into his embrace, and the phone smashed heavily against his shoulder. Then, he put me down.

“Are you hurt?”

He only cared about asking me. The phone hit him, but he didn’t even let out a grunt.

“No.”

His large hand caressed my face. Then he walked over and, with overwhelming Alpha boyfriend-energy, grabbed Ji Xiaochu’s wrist.

“I’m warning you, don’t try to threaten me with that boring garbage. If you don’t disappear from my sight, you know what I’m capable of doing.”

I was standing quite close, feeling Qi Ruochen’s absolute domineering aura. I felt that if Ji Xiaochu dared to show up again, Qi Ruochen really might commit murder.

Qi Ruochen didn’t spare Ji Xiaochu another glance. He walked over, picked me up, and left the nightclub.

Before I left, I saw Ji Xiaochu being dragged away by Qi Ruochen’s men, but I didn’t ask too many questions.

My belly grew bigger day by day, and my memories of the side stories became increasingly blurry. Qi Ruochen and I lived a very happy life, and he remained totally devoted to me.

I initially planned for a natural birth. A few days before my due date, I tried hard to recall whether I gave birth to a boy or a girl in the side story, but I couldn’t remember a single thing.

That morning, I woke up in his arms and suddenly remembered the ending of the side story: I would suffer a difficult labor.

“Hubby, let’s just do a C-section. Let’s have the surgery today.”

Qi Ruochen was completely obedient to me: “Okay.”

Before going on the operating table, while playing on my phone, I saw news of Yan Qingshu’s bankruptcy. I didn’t curse him; it had nothing to do with me.

Having successfully avoided the risks, a pair of beautiful twin girls were born. Right from birth, they had big eyes and high nose bridges. Thank goodness they looked like their father.

Qi Ruochen adored them to pieces. If the nurses hadn’t stopped him, he probably would have kissed a layer of skin off those two babies.

The author’s side stories had also ended. It seemed the rest of the story was truly left for me to write myself.