After Transmigrating Into a Book, I Was Played by the Black Lotus – Chapter 29

When in trouble, you can’t go wrong with calling the police.

Bai Xiying turned her head to the side, looking at the woman focused on driving.

Her gaze was inscrutable, and a wordless silence flowed through the car.

Her menstrual period was only truly torturous for the first three days; both the level of pain and her sensitivity would cause her emotions to spiral out of control easily.

Therefore, during this time, Bai Xiying would do her best to avoid crowds.

She had even specifically taken a day off from the studio to work from home.

But Bai Xiying knew very well that on the first night, when Lin Xingzhu was there, her emotions hadn’t been out of control in the slightest.

On the contrary, it was Lin Xingzhu whose state had suddenly changed during dinner, and who for the past two days had exuded a strange and peculiar feeling that was impossible to figure out.

Bai Xiying didn’t dare to be certain, but after several days of observation and reflection, she vaguely felt that Lin Xingzhu seemed to be distancing herself.

No, it couldn’t really be called distancing.

It was an indescribable feeling, one that no precise language could describe, but that you could feel in your heart—you just knew something was different.

Unable to figure it out, Bai Xiying decided to give up for the time being. She had always been patient with everything; lying in wait seemed to have become an instinct for her.

Her gaze swept past an image that flashed across the large LED screen on a distant plaza, and Bai Xiying asked her, “Do you know Xin Jinglan¹?”

Lin Xingzhu turned her head, her face full of confusion. “…Who’s that?”

Bai Xiying glanced at her, not missing a single detail, and said, “A very popular celebrity. She’s very beautiful.”

Lin Xingzhu was thoroughly bewildered. How could Bai Xiying suddenly bring up a celebrity? She wasn’t the type to follow stars.

“I was bored at home on my day off two days ago and watched a drama, that’s how I learned about her.” Bai Xiying smiled. “I found her very stylish and couldn’t help but ask you about her.”

Lin Xingzhu said, “I don’t know her then. I don’t pay attention to these things.”

Bai Xiying sighed, seeming quite regretful.

“Is that so? I was originally thinking of recommending her to you.” Bai Xiying shrugged and teased, “After all, you two might end up crossing paths someday.”

Lin Xingzhu recalled the Lin family’s business empire and smiled. “You know, that’s actually possible.”

This seemed to be just a small interlude on the way to work, and Lin Xingzhu didn’t take it to heart.

Bai Xiying’s gaze went past her, through the glass to the changing lights ahead, and she let out a small smile.

Xin Jinglan was indeed a very beautiful celebrity, but right now she was neither popular, nor was the drama she was in anything more than an obscure, 18th-tier² flop.

As for why Bai Xiying mentioned her?

Before her rebirth, there was a period when Xin Jinglan became so famous due to a public incident that she was a household name. Basically, no one in the country didn’t know of her.

If Lin Xingzhu had come from the same place as her—in other words, if Lin Xingzhu was a person from the world before her rebirth—then she wouldn’t have had zero reaction upon hearing this name.

No matter how superb a person’s acting skills were, when faced with a sudden question, their eyes and micro-expressions could never be so naturally flawless.

Since she wasn’t from the same place, then Lin Xingzhu naturally had no way of knowing about her past.

Bai Xiying’s eyes glinted, a trace of curiosity suddenly rising in her heart. Just where did Lin Xingzhu come from?

However, when her eyes fell upon Lin Xingzhu, who was concentrating on driving, the corners of her mouth suddenly curled down, and she forcefully suppressed the little bit of curiosity that had just emerged.

What’s there to be so curious about.

She lowered her eyes and closed them to rest.

After specifically parking the car downstairs from Hurricane Studio, Lin Xingzhu finally called out to Bai Xiying.

After Bai Xiying got out and left, Lin Xingzhu watched her walk into the office building without a single look back, then touched the tip of her nose and smiled.

Was Bai Xiying just in a little huff?

She had sensitively detected that Bai Xiying was a bit emotional because she seemed to have noticed a change in her own attitude.

She had to admit, Bai Xiying’s perception of emotions was truly too sharp.

Shaking her head with a smile, Lin Xingzhu turned the steering wheel towards Xingyuan’s underground parking garage, then took her keys and went upstairs.

Lin Xingzhu stayed cooped up in Xingyuan for the entire day, eating both lunch and dinner in the company cafeteria. Her chat log with Bai Xiying was still stuck on last night; the two who had briefly been meal buddies had no interaction at all today.

Lin Xingzhu scrolled through her phone, then flipped the cover closed and continued to work.

In addition to her own duties, she was proactively gathering some information as a precaution. Part of it was on the Lin family’s business empire, and another part was information on some of the wealthy and powerful families in A City.

So, when she received a call from Shang Cengrou, she was quite surprised.

It seemed like it had been a while since she’d seen Shang Cengrou. Lin Xingzhu had thought the other woman had already tactfully moved on to latch onto someone else.

The voice on the other end of the line was somewhat hesitant, but thankfully it didn’t affect her ability to hear clearly.

Lin Xingzhu raised an eyebrow, surprised. “You’re asking me to come over?”

Shang Cengrou’s voice was a bit distorted over the phone, but she still managed to get her meaning across with difficulty.

Lin Xingzhu was silent for a few seconds. Just as Shang Cengrou was despairing, thinking she was about to refuse, she suddenly agreed, “Fine.”

Hanging up the phone, a thoughtful look slid across Lin Xingzhu’s eyes.

What kind of trouble had Shang Cengrou gotten into? To the point that she needed her to go over.

But since she had already agreed, Lin Xingzhu still got up and went down to drive her car, following the navigation to the place Shang Cengrou had mentioned.

The location was, yet again, a bar.

As soon as Lin Xingzhu arrived at the entrance, the bar’s doorman, with extreme perceptiveness, jogged over to take her keys and park the car.

Lin Xingzhu tilted her head up slightly, silently sizing up the large sign above. She gave a silent smile, then lifted her feet and walked inside.

The further she went in, the more the intense music drilled into her ears without restraint, carrying a deafening clamor and frenzy. It was a completely different style from Lush.

On the central dance floor, frantic men and women were jumping, surging and impassioned.

Lin Xingzhu tilted her head slightly, searching for Shang Cengrou.

Suddenly, a woman in a silver sequined miniskirt ran over, sized Lin Xingzhu up, and said, “You’re Lin Xingzhu? Follow me.”

“…”

She’s really playing the part.

Lin Xingzhu followed the woman, who led her to a slightly more secluded corner.

The layout of this bar was also quite strange. Even though the entire first floor was chaotic and noisy, this particular corner was somehow quieter than other areas.

In the corner were leather sofas arranged in an arc, making the entire space here feel much more private.

At this moment, several women were sitting on these sofas. The table was littered with numerous wine bottles, glasses, playing cards, and cigarette butts.

Lin Xingzhu glanced over and noticed that every seated woman was impressively buxom; only Shang Cengrou was like a quail, hunching her chest as she sat on the very edge. When she saw her arrive, her eyes lit up with a brightness that was impossible to ignore.

Lin Xingzhu ignored her and looked at the long-haired woman sitting in the middle. “Miss Zhao?”

Only then did the woman addressed as Miss Zhao look up, her gaze cold as she glanced at her. “You’re finally here.”

Lin Xingzhu smiled faintly. It seemed it really was Zhao Manxiang³.

From the moment Shang Cengrou had called her, saying she was at a bar and needed her to come over for something, Lin Xingzhu had her suspicions.

A few days ago, Qiao Zijin had been sent to prison. The Qiao family, under pressure from the Zhao family, had produced a forged psychiatric evaluation. Afterwards, it was debunked by the professional doctor she brought. After a series of struggles and persistence, Qiao Zijin was finally brought to justice.

Throughout this entire process, besides catching a glimpse of the Zhao family’s shadow when they were faking Qiao Zijin’s mental illness, there was no other indication of the Zhao family’s attitude.

But thinking about the relationship between the Qiao and Zhao families, this was also very normal. Lin Xingzhu thought that if not for the consideration that Qiao Zijin was, by blood, technically a descendant of the Zhao family, and the fear of giving people something to gossip about, the cold-blooded Zhao family wouldn’t have shown any reaction at all.

However, just because other members of the Zhao family were indifferent to Qiao Zijin, it didn’t mean that everyone was unmoved by her fate.

Zhao Manxiang, as the second daughter of Chairman Zhao, seemed to have always had a good relationship with Qiao Zijin.

One could even say they were two peas in a pod⁴.

Now that the wolf of their pack that often acted in cahoots⁵ was thrown in jail by her, this stranded bei just had to come looking for trouble with her, the main culprit.

Lin Xingzhu said politely, “Since Miss Zhao went to such great lengths to invite someone, how could I not come.”

She had specifically detained Shang Cengrou. Lin Xingzhu really had to make this trip.

Zhao Manxiang sneered, “I heard that the great Miss Lin has turned over a new leaf⁶ and mended her ways. If I hadn’t asked Miss Shang to wait for a moment, how would I have had the chance to invite the great Miss Lin to meet me.”

Lin Xingzhu stared at her and smiled faintly. “Is that so? Now that I’m here, what does Miss Zhao want to do?”

“Do?” Zhao Manxiang gave a strange smile and glanced at her. “To see the great Miss Lin’s abilities, of course.”

She lifted her chin, and a person beside her who had been silent immediately bent down and placed several large bottles of alcohol on the table.

After the person beside her filled all the glasses, Zhao Manxiang looked at Lin Xingzhu with ill intent. “Shang Cengrou offended me. Since you’re here specifically to take her away, I won’t make things difficult for the great Miss Lin. You just need to finish all this alcohol, and I’ll let you two walk out of here without another word.”

Lin Xingzhu glanced at the table. Tsk, that’s a lot. A whole table full of alcohol.

Finishing that would leave one either dead or disabled.

Shang Cengrou’s expression also changed slightly.

She was clearer than anyone about Lin Xingzhu’s current attitude towards her. To have Lin Xingzhu drink all this for her sake was simply impossible!

Thinking of this, she somewhat regretted her curiosity that made her come to this bar today. Who would have known she’d run into a psycho like Zhao Manxiang specifically looking for trouble.

Sh#t, the person by Lin Xingzhu’s side now wasn’t her, it was that Bai Xiying who Lin Xingzhu treasured so much!

Shang Cengrou gritted her teeth, glaring resentfully at Zhao Manxiang.

Then she turned her face again, staring at Lin Xingzhu with a tense expression.

“I’m afraid I can’t.” Lin Xingzhu shook her head slightly. “I’m not a good drinker. Miss Zhao should enjoy it by herself.”

With a look from Zhao Manxiang, someone next to them immediately grabbed Shang Cengrou’s collar and forced her head up, with the clear implication that if Lin Xingzhu didn’t drink, they would slam Shang Cengrou’s head down.

Lin Xingzhu: “…”

What was this, threatening her with Shang Cengrou?

Was she that easily threatened?

Glancing at the tense-faced Shang Cengrou, Lin Xingzhu said to Zhao Manxiang without a change in expression, “Apologies, I’m not familiar with Shang Cengrou. You should find her parents to drink in her stead.”

Looking at the table full of alcohol, Lin Xingzhu kindly reminded her, “I hear Chairman Shang can drink like a fish⁷.”

Shang Cengrou: “…”

Zhao Manxiang: “…”

Shang Cengrou couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Then what did you come for!”

Lin Xingzhu gave her a strange look. “Weren’t you the one who asked me to come? I didn’t know I’d have to drink when I got here.”

Zhao Manxiang said coldly, “You don’t have to play word games with me. There are a lot of us here, you know.”

Her eyes narrowed, and the people around them immediately looked over, their presence full of pressure.

This really has that kind of vibe⁸, Lin Xingzhu thought as she watched the scene. Looks like the police I called before I came was the right call after all.

By her calculation, when the righteous and majestic voice of a police officer rang out two minutes later saying “Don’t move!” and they were swiftly surrounded, Lin Xingzhu couldn’t help but turn her head and smile.

Sure enough, no matter which world it was, as long as it was one country, when in trouble, you can’t go wrong with calling the police⁹.

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