After Transmigrating Into a Book, I Was Played by the Black Lotus – Chapter 41

Calculation

In the quiet, silent atmosphere, Bai Xiying suddenly furrowed her brow almost imperceptibly.

She lifted her eyes, her gaze sweeping over Lin Xingzhu’s face as she quietly drank her tea, before lowering her eyes again, enduring.

The sudden interruption of her release and pleasure had left her body in a state of suspension, neither up nor down. Just now, she had been so focused on listening to Lin Xingzhu’s explanation, her mind tense and concentrated, that she had subconsciously ignored her body’s condition.

Due to the unique experiences of her previous life, Bai Xiying had developed a habit of using this method to vent whenever her emotions fluctuated dramatically.

No, it couldn’t be called a habit.

It’s a physical addiction, Bai Xiying thought, her eyes downcast.

The many times she had been drugged, and even when she was placed under house arrest by Qiao Zijin and forced to submit, Bai Xiying had gritted her teeth and endured with a willpower that was on the verge of collapse. Sometimes, she would also seek out tools to grant herself release. In short, no matter what kind of tool or what method of release, they were all cleaner than those people who made her sick to her stomach.

After it happened so many times, by the time Bai Xiying realized it, her body’s tolerance and resistance had been lowered to rock bottom by the stimulation of the drugs and her self-soothing. The slightest stimulus could make her unlike herself, like a slave controlled by desire.

Unwittingly, using toys to vent whenever her emotions underwent drastic changes had become a habit Bai Xiying couldn’t discard.

Clean, thoughtless, with the control firmly in her own hands.

Toys were the best tools.

Reborn in this life, Bai Xiying’s body hadn’t suffered much harm, but the addiction rooted deep in her heart before her rebirth clung to her like maggots clinging to the bone¹, impossible to shake off. Her body was still young and pure, but her heart was not.

After a long moment, Lin Xingzhu took a sip of tea to wet her throat and explained, “Don’t overthink it. Ending our public-facing relationship doesn’t mean our actual relationship will be affected. Our feelings for each other will be the same as always.”

“Oh,” Bai Xiying said, suppressing the strange sensation between her lips and teeth. She said calmly, “Isn’t it weird for people to stay friends after breaking up, in the eyes of outsiders?”

Lin Xingzhu: “······”

That was true.

But she suddenly felt a sense of possessiveness from Bai Xiying over the title of “girlfriend.”

Bai Xiying forced a faint smile. “Don’t you overthink it. I just suddenly realized that the status of not being single can help me avoid a lot of trouble.”

While telling Lin Xingzhu not to overthink, a thousand emotions were churning in Bai Xiying’s own heart. Her body was still uncomfortable, and her heart felt crushed by a great stone, making it hard to breathe.

She wasn’t a fool. Before her life was twisted by a ridiculous and bizarre fate, her upbringing was no different from that of thousands of other young girls.

What liking someone was, what love was, what possessiveness was, what jealousy was—Bai Xiying understood it all.

A moment ago, her emotions had gotten the better of her and she hadn’t reacted, but now that she was gradually calming down, everything became almost impossible to hide.

Distant memories came flooding back, and it seemed she had truly become a normal girl again, one who could laugh and cry.

Her voice slowed, and a slightly strange smile appeared on her cheeks. “Breaking up is fine, too.”

Lin Xingzhu said, “That’s good, then.”

She sat on the sofa, not as talkative as usual, her head lowered as if in thought.

No destruction, no construction; one must tear down the old before building the new.

Should she… take this opportunity to test if Bai Xiying had other intentions?

If the result was good, could she just go for it?

As this thought arose, Lin Xingzhu’s breathing couldn’t help but quicken.

The hand at her side gradually clenched into a fist, as if to give herself courage.

Lin Xingzhu looked up. The corner of her eye caught a glimpse of a moving shadow, and her gaze quickly darted back.

It was a door that its owner hadn’t had time to close.

Lin Xingzhu’s gaze was involuntarily drawn to it.

The moment her gaze lingered was caught by Bai Xiying, who had been staring at her the whole time.

“Are you very thirsty? Have some more water.” Bai Xiying stood up, bent over, and refilled Lin Xingzhu’s cup.

The movement perfectly blocked Lin Xingzhu’s line of sight.

“…”

Lin Xingzhu paused, withdrawing her gaze as Bai Xiying wished.

Bai Xiying’s avoidance and concealment once again beat back Lin Xingzhu’s desire to test the waters.

A complex feeling of frustration grew in her heart.

She watched the trickling water pour out, soon to fill her exclusive cup.

As the water level neared the brim, Bai Xiying, who was holding the pot, didn’t know why, but her hand suddenly trembled twice, and a few drops of tea splashed onto the smooth, clean tabletop.

Bai Xiying put down the teapot, sat back on the sofa, and then looked up with an invitation. “Let’s have hotpot at my place tonight? Call your cousin over, too.”

Lin Xingzhu said, “Okay, do you need me to prepare any ingredients? I can go to the supermarket and buy some.”

Bai Xiying nodded. “You can buy some things you two like to eat. I’m fine with anything. I’ll start preparing at home this evening… But if there’s nothing else, I’m going to go back to my room to paint?”

“Oh, okay.”

Lin Xingzhu put down her half-full cup of water and left, closing the door behind her.

Inside the apartment, Bai Xiying’s eyes darkened. She stood still for two seconds as the suppressed feeling surged back up. She closed her eyes, turned, and went back into the room that was ajar.

Outside, Lin Xingzhu, who hadn’t gone downstairs, stood with her back to the door of apartment 1302 and sighed thoughtfully.

It feels like… succeeding will be very difficult.

When she got home, Jiang Yeye heard the sound and immediately came to greet her, a nervous look on her face.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine now,” Lin Xingzhu said with a reassuring smile. “She even invited us to go upstairs for hotpot tonight.”

Only then did Jiang Yeye let her heart settle back into her chest.

She tapped her toes together and said in a small voice, “I’ll never do something like that again.”

Was what I did really that childish?

A moment later, she looked up again and followed behind Lin Xingzhu, asking curiously, “She lives right above us?”

“Mhm, but let me tell you, from now on when you see her, you’re not allowed to say anything reckless,” Lin Xingzhu turned and instructed her seriously.

“…I know, I know!” Jiang Yeye pulled at the corners of her mouth with her hands and then made a zipping motion across her lips to show they were sealed.

A while later, just as Jiang Yeye was engrossed in her phone game, Lin Xingzhu suddenly asked in a low voice, “Why did you suddenly take a leave of absence from school to come to A City?”

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent.

Jiang Yeye’s fingers, which were tapping away at her game, stiffened slightly. She forced a laugh. “What’s with all the whys? I was just too tired and sick of studying, I couldn’t learn anymore.”

“Don’t lie.”

Her character in the game was killed, but Jiang Yeye didn’t even have time to get revenge. She ruffled her hair and cried out in frustration, “Dead again, dead again! I don’t want to play this stupid game anymore!”

Lin Xingzhu stood tall and slender, leaning against the bar counter, silently watching Jiang Yeye’s sudden outburst. Her gaze was light and faint, but it carried a lot of pressure when it landed on someone.

Jiang Yeye: “…”

Realizing she couldn’t avoid it, Jiang Yeye said stiffly, her face wooden, “Is it okay if I don’t say?”

She was brushing Lin Xingzhu off for saying she was lying, but she really didn’t want to give the reason.

Withdrawing her gaze, Lin Xingzhu let her off the hook. “Fine. Play whatever you want. But you’re in your third year of high school. Don’t forget to study during your leave of absence.”

“Are you a demon, Lin Xingzhu!” Jiang Yeye yelled at Lin Xingzhu’s retreating back as she entered her room. “I just got here and you’re already telling me to study! Even my mom isn’t this ridiculous!”

The door slammed shut with a bang, shutting out the wails of the student who hated studying.

At 5:30 in the afternoon, when Lin Xingzhu took Jiang Yeye upstairs, the younger girl was still a bit shy.

“Is she really not angry anymore?” Jiang Yeye asked again uncertainly in the elevator.

“…She’s really not angry. Why are you so nervous?”

Jiang Yeye shot her a sideways glance. She really didn’t get it. Once that helpful impulse was extinguished, the shame of doing something embarrassing in front of the pretty jiejie came flooding back with double the intensity.

Jiang Yeye followed behind Lin Xingzhu with a red face and watched her knock on the door.

When the door opened, Lin Xingzhu noticed that Bai Xiying wasn’t wearing the same clothes as that morning.

She carried the plastic bag in her hand inside. Bai Xiying said, “It’s almost ready. We just need to rinse a few more things and we’ll be set.”

Turning her head, Bai Xiying looked at the eye-avoiding Jiang Yeye with a gentle expression. “Why don’t you go sit on the sofa and relax for a bit? We’ll be ready soon.”

“…Oh, oh, okay.” Jiang Yeye’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, and she walked stiffly to the living room sofa.

So gentle.

Selectively ignoring Bai Xiying’s coldness from the morning, Jiang Yeye watched Bai Xiying standing side-by-side with Lin Xingzhu preparing the ingredients, the blush on her face gradually fading.

Looking at them like this, she and my cousin are such a good match.

Jiang Yeye prayed inwardly for her cousin to hurry up and win her over. Just the thought of such a beautiful jiejie becoming part of her family from now on made her unbearably excited.

When they sat down at the dining table, faced with a large spread of food, Lin Xingzhu was mixing dipping sauces when she suddenly saw Bai Xiying produce alcohol and a soft drink from somewhere.

“We’re drinking alcohol?” she asked, a little surprised.

Bai Xiying nodded, handed the only bottle of soft drink to Jiang Yeye, and then sat down next to Lin Xingzhu. “I finally finished a piece of work I’m quite satisfied with today, so I’m a little happy. Would you mind having a drink with me?”

“…I don’t mind.”

Bai Xiying’s lips curved into a smile as she poured a drink for Lin Xingzhu.

The scalding hotpot bubbled away, its numbing and fragrant aroma quickly filling the air. Just smelling it was enough to imagine how delicious it was.

Lin Xingzhu could handle her spice well, Bai Xiying could also eat a little, and as for Jiang Yeye, it went without saying—from the moment she picked up her chopsticks, she never left the bright red spicy pot.

For a time, the spicy pot was packed full of ingredients, making the clear broth pot next to it seem lonely and shabby in comparison.

Lin Xingzhu swallowed a mouthful of scalding, spicy tripe², feeling her mouth go a little numb from the heat.

She turned her head and found that Bai Xiying was in much the same state.

Her lips were already fiery red from the spice, as if painted with a layer of bright crimson lipstick.

“Is it good?” Lin Xingzhu asked with a smile, her voice carrying through the steam.

“It’s good. Very spicy.” As she spoke, Bai Xiying raised her glass, gesturing to Lin Xingzhu.

So you use alcohol to counter the spiciness?

Lin Xingzhu paused for a moment, then raised her glass and clinked it against hers.

Having tasted a sip earlier, Lin Xingzhu had already discovered the alcohol content wasn’t low. Now, seeing Bai Xiying drink it as if it were a soft drink, downing a large mouthful without hesitation, she subconsciously spoke up, “Don’t drink so fast, you’ll get drunk.”

“I’m happy.” Bai Xiying’s eyes curved, the steam from the hotpot blurring the emotion in their depths. “Drink with me.”

A tone that sounded suspiciously like pouting.

Lin Xingzhu silently raised her own glass and, following her lead, drained it in one go.

Bai Xiying raised her hand to pour another. The sight of her slender, fair wrist and the red liquid sloshing before her eyes inexplicably stirred Lin Xingzhu’s appetite again.

Jiang Yeye, whose mouth and stomach were both on fire from the spice, stole a glance up from her meal, only to see her cousin being pulled into drinking one glass after another by Xiying-jie.

That intense?

She took a big gulp of mango juice and sighed in admiration. They’re both hiding their true skills.

By the time the hotpot dinner was over, the bottle of alcohol Bai Xiying had brought out had been finished by the two of them.

Lin Xingzhu felt the scene before her eyes begin to drift. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and asked in a hoarse voice, “What’s moving?”

“Nothing is moving. You’re drunk, cousin,” Jiang Yeye said, waving a hand in front of her eyes and finding her gaze still hazy.

“Xiying-jie, you’re amazing! You can really hold your liquor.”

Over the course of the meal, Jiang Yeye had slowly let go of her awkwardness. Now, seeing that Bai Xiying had drunk her cousin under the table, her eyes were sparkling.

A rosy blush spread across the sides of her face. Although Bai Xiying wasn’t drunk, the alcohol went to her head easily.

She helped Lin Xingzhu to her feet, her own breathing a little ragged. An unfathomable calculation was buried deep in her eyes as she said, “Thank you for the compliment.”

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