After Transmigrating Into a Book, I Was Played by the Black Lotus – Chapter 4

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Content Warning: This chapter contains scenes with strong implications of an attempted sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised.

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Night Visit

“You mutt¹, you think you’re worthy of saying my name?”

Friday was the day Bai Xiying was scheduled to be discharged from the hospital.

However, before she left, a few more visitors arrived at her hospital room.

They were Bai Xiying’s roommates, coming in shifts to visit her.

The moment Lin Xingzhu met their eyes, she received several glares.

She shrugged and thoughtfully left to give them some space.

Inside the hospital room.

After Lin Xingzhu left, one of Bai Xiying’s roommates, Fang Xiaotong², couldn’t help but ask worriedly, “Xiying, are you okay?”

The others also looked at her with concern.

Bai Xiying withdrew her gaze from this group of familiar yet unfamiliar faces, a familiar curve forming on her lips. “I’m fine, you don’t need to worry.”

Fang Xiaotong was a little anxious. “How can we not worry? You have no idea what kind of rumors are spreading outside!”

She stomped her foot, somewhat dissatisfied with Bai Xiying’s indifferent attitude.

Everyone knew what kind of person Lin Xingzhu was. Now, with rumors flying everywhere outside, while others might not know, Fang Xiaotong and the others had a vague idea of what had happened that day.

A flicker of interest flashed across Bai Xiying’s eyes.

In her previous life, nothing like this had ever happened, so she didn’t know what kind of rumors were circulating. However, having experienced much, she could imagine.

“Many people know about it?” Bai Xiying asked, seemingly out of simple curiosity.

Fang Xiaotong nodded, her expression unsightly. “But don’t worry, not that many people know.”

After all, they had already graduated and gone their separate ways, so the scope of the rumors was limited to a certain circle.

Bai Xiying seemed lost in thought.

Looking at her roommates, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time, all wearing concerned expressions, she smiled and reassured them with a few words, putting their minds completely at ease.

After they left, the smile plastered on Bai Xiying’s face immediately vanished. Her eyes turned cold and indifferent, nothing like someone who had just received genuinely caring friends.

Lin Xingzhu suspected she had seen wrong.

When she blinked again, that fleeting image was completely gone.

Lin Xingzhu leaned a hand against the doorframe, watching Bai Xiying get up to pack her things, and kindly asked, “Do you want to have lunch before you go?”

Bai Xiying: “No need.”

Lin Xingzhu didn’t say any more. She stood by the door with her arms crossed, quietly waiting for Bai Xiying to pack her last few items.

There weren’t many things, and the items taking up the most space were the few sets of clothes Lin Xingzhu had bought for her.

It couldn’t be helped. She had been hospitalized for a week, and the white dress Bai Xiying was wearing when she was brought in that day had been torn beyond recognition. Lin Xingzhu had no choice but to buy her some one-size-fits-all dresses.

Today, for her discharge, Bai Xiying wore a white, waist-cinching long dress adorned with bright red cherries. From Lin Xingzhu’s angle, she could clearly see Bai Xiying’s slender waist, which appeared even more ‘graspable with one hand’³ as she bent over.

Lin Xingzhu rarely had such thoughts, but she found herself thinking about the ‘gong 1, gong 2, gong 3’… and others from the original novel. An inappropriate thought couldn’t help but pop into her mind: This waist, can it really take it?

By the time Bai Xiying turned around, Lin Xingzhu had already subtly averted her gaze.

“All set?”

Bai Xiying nodded. “Mm.”

Lin Xingzhu then drove her back to her residence. After getting out of the car, Bai Xiying, with her bag on her back, went upstairs without a backward glance.

Lin Xingzhu looked at the other’s undisguised unwelcoming posture, shrugged, and also turned and left crisply.

That evening, Lin Xingzhu found time to return to the Lin family home.

When she arrived, Father Lin had already been sitting in the living room, waiting for a long time.

Seeing her arrive, the butler shot her a meaningful look.

“You still know how to come back!” Father Lin’s deep voice, filled with anger, boomed.

Lin Xingzhu saw him slam the table in fury, creating a gust of wind.

Doesn’t he know that hurts his hand the most? Lin Xingzhu’s thoughts wandered.

“You, look at you!” Father Lin stood up, unable to contain his anger. “Careless and sloppy, ignorant and unskilled! I told you to go to work, but you don’t do it properly. It’s a good month if your attendance record exceeds five fingers! If it weren’t for them giving me face⁴, you would’ve been told to pack your things and get lost long ago!”

Lin Xingzhu knew Father Lin was speaking the truth.

She felt a bit helpless. This was all a mess left behind by the original owner of the body, and now she was the one bearing all the consequences.

Lin Xingzhu tried to calm him down. “So, isn’t that why I took the initiative to resign?”

It would have been better if she hadn’t mentioned it. The moment she did, Father Lin’s anger flared up again.

“Who told you to resign? What are you going to do after resigning?” Father Lin fired off a series of critical questions. “Did those good-for-nothing friends of yours instigate you to do something again? If you don’t work, what will you do? Are you planning to live a life of constant revelry⁵ or live in a drunken stupor⁶?”

Lin Xingzhu: “…”

It was hard to imagine that these were words spoken by a powerful man who was usually solemn and serious in public.

It was clear how badly the original owner of the body had pushed her father.

Father Lin and Mother Lin had only this one daughter. When Lin Xingzhu was young, Mother Lin passed away due to illness. For so many years, Father Lin raised her alone, being both a father and a mother, doting on her in every possible way. Unexpectedly, as she grew up, the child unknowingly went astray. By the time he wanted to set her straight, it was already too late.

Lin Xingzhu: “Listen to me, I have my reasons.”

Father Lin snorted coldly, his expression clearly saying, I’ll just quietly watch you make things up.

Lin Xingzhu found a seat opposite Father Lin and, under his furious gaze, explained, “You know, I don’t like this job.”

Father Lin: “I don’t know!”

Lin Xingzhu: “…”

Lin Xingzhu: “Well, now you know. I don’t like this job at all, which is why I work by fits and starts⁷. I think if I switch to a job I’m interested in, I’ll definitely have the motivation to stick with it.”

Fortunately, the original Lin Xingzhu’s attitude towards her father was relatively normal; otherwise, she really would have gone OOC⁸.

For Lin Xingzhu, letting a father who deeply loved his child discover that his child was no longer there was too cruel a thing.

By a twist of fate, she had become Lin Xingzhu. When facing others, she didn’t care about going OOC because she wasn’t bothered. But when facing Father Lin, Lin Xingzhu was still willing to play the part.

Father Lin looked at her with an expression that said, Let’s see what excuses you can come up with. It seemed the original owner’s credibility with him was practically in the negatives.

Lin Xingzhu facepalmed and stated her long-decided plan: “I want to look around some more, see if there’s anything suitable for me to do.”

In her previous life, Lin Xingzhu had become a corporate slave⁹ very early on. She really didn’t want to jump back into work right after arriving here, before even starting to enjoy life.

Father Lin’s expression changed, his gaze turning even uglier.

“You, you, you…” Father Lin’s hands trembled with anger.

In his eyes, Lin Xingzhu was becoming more and more unreliable!

Before, she would at least occasionally go to the company to sign in and put on an act. Now, she didn’t even want to pretend anymore.

She’s planning to openly be a freeloader¹⁰!

Father Lin’s eyes shot fire, like an angry quail about to explode.

Lin Xingzhu received Father Lin’s hostile gaze: “…”

She calmed herself and thought for a moment. Just as she was about to explain seriously to Father Lin, her phone suddenly rang, the sound echoing in the spacious living room.

The caller ID displayed a few large characters—Bai Xiying.

If nothing unexpected had happened, the other party shouldn’t be calling her at this time.

Thinking of Bai Xiying’s special constitution, Lin Xingzhu seemed to realize something. She couldn’t be bothered to explain anymore and immediately answered her phone.

Out of caution, Lin Xingzhu didn’t speak after answering the call; she waited for the other person to speak first.

And Father Lin, seeing the expression on his daughter’s face, also subconsciously fell silent.

Just then, heavy thudding sounds came from the phone, clearly transmitted through the receiver into Lin Xingzhu’s ears.

Besides the thudding, there were also sounds of pushing and shaking, as well as a heavy breathing sound that was almost inaudible if one didn’t listen carefully.

Lin Xingzhu’s expression changed slightly, and she immediately turned and headed out.

“…”

Father Lin listened to the sound of the car driving away quickly and resentfully lowered his raised left hand.

Along the way, Lin Xingzhu maximized her speed while adhering to traffic rules, racing against time, and finally reached Bai Xiying’s home as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, she had just dropped someone off there at noon, so she was still somewhat familiar with the route.

Very clear sounds of struggling came from inside the house.

Lin Xingzhu’s expression was frosty, like a sharp blade in the dead of winter. Her entire being exuded an unignorable, chilling aura.

She pushed the door, but it wouldn’t open. Then, she stepped back two paces and unceremoniously kicked open the dilapidated door.

Bang—

The woman inside, who had already lost her sanity, subconsciously turned her head. Before she could see clearly what had happened, she felt a gust of wind sweep past, and then her collar was fiercely gripped in someone’s hand.

“Beast,” Lin Xingzhu sneered.

She said no more and threw a punch at Qiao Zijin’s¹¹ face.

The punch landed, and Qiao Zijin gasped in pain. Lin Xingzhu hadn’t held back at all. Qiao Zijin’s head was spinning from the blow, and her face throbbed with a burning pain.

Lin Xingzhu released her grip on Qiao Zijin, glanced with disgust at Qiao Zijin who had collapsed to the ground, and strode over her to help up the disheveled Bai Xiying.

Bai Xiying, who had almost been violated, was drained of all color. Her usually bright eyes were now dull and terrified. Her hair, which had been neat and smooth before she left, was now a mess, and even her clothes were torn, revealing a large expanse of white skin. When Lin Xingzhu squatted down, a full, lustrous area¹² unabashedly met her eyes.

She didn’t dare to look further, but the stinging red marks on the jade-like delicate skin were seared into her mind. Lin Xingzhu looked at Qiao Zijin, who was gradually regaining her senses, and felt she had been too lenient.

Qiao Zijin now knew who had arrived. Her heart burned with jealousy, and she glared viciously at Lin Xingzhu. “Lin! Xing! Zhu!”

Good, very good. Even this good-for-nothing Lin Xingzhu dares to hit me now.

Normally, shouting like this would have seemed imposing. But now, Qiao Zijin was like a drowning dog¹³ that had been soundly beaten; speaking like this only made her seem ridiculous and mock-worthy.

But no one present laughed.

Lin Xingzhu carefully helped Bai Xiying to the sofa and settled her down before slowly walking over.

She half-knelt, her long, slender hands unleashing immense strength. Blue veins bulged slightly against her flawless white skin, creating an extreme sense of power that made it almost impossible to look away.

Lin Xingzhu grabbed Qiao Zijin, a smirk playing on her lips, but there wasn’t a trace of a smile in her eyes. “You mutt, you think you’re worthy of saying my name?”

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