After Transmigrating Into a Book, I Was Played by the Black Lotus – Chapter 43

Puxin¹

After a night of heavy drinking, Lin Xingzhu woke up, her memory of the drunken evening a complete blank. All that remained of her wild and bizarre dreams was a single, delicious crab that was still frantically waving its large pincers even after being cooked.

She sat in the dining room and called out to Jiang Yeye, who had just emerged from her bedroom. “Did I make a fool of myself last night when I was drunk?”

Lin Xingzhu knew her own weakness. Her alcohol tolerance was above average, and she didn’t get drunk easily, but once she did, she was prone to blacking out, unable to remember a thing.

Even though her few past experiences suggested her drunken behavior was fine—that she wouldn’t do anything outrageous like stripping and dancing—the thought of the other person present last night still made Lin Xingzhu feel a little apprehensive.

What if?

Jiang Yeye stared with wide, somewhat dazed eyes. “I don’t know either. Probably not?”

Lin Xingzhu was puzzled. “What do you mean, ‘probably’? You weren’t drunk. Weren’t you the one who dragged me back yesterday?”

Jiang Yeye looked a bit embarrassed.

She ruffled her hair, which resembled a chicken feather duster after a night’s sleep, and mumbled, “Yesterday, Xiying-jie helped you down. I don’t know why, but I was incredibly sleepy. I had just gone to my room to get something for Xiying-jie when I just dozed off.”

As she spoke, Jiang Yeye touched her face, which immediately crumpled into a pained expression. She hadn’t even taken off her makeup!

She darted into the bathroom, shouting before she closed the door, “Don’t worry, you just slept when you were drunk! You’re a great sleeper, you wouldn’t have embarrassed yourself in front of Xiying-jie!”

Lin Xingzhu: “…”

Her thoughts having been hit right on the mark, she calmly retracted her gaze and went about eating her breakfast.

By the time Jiang Yeye finally emerged from the bathroom, all washed up, Lin Xingzhu was already clearing her own dishes.

She had sent a message to Bai Xiying but hadn’t received a reply yet; she was probably still asleep.

The thought that Bai Xiying had also drunk quite a bit last night made Lin Xingzhu rub the dull throb in her temples.

She hadn’t expected Bai Xiying to be such a capable drinker.

A rustling sound came from the side. Lin Xingzhu raised an eyebrow and saw Jiang Yeye coming out with her bag on, looking like she was about to head out.

“Where are you going?”

Jiang Yeye gave an ingratiating smile. “I have plans with a friend. We arranged to hang out today.”

“A friend?” Lin Xingzhu frowned. “What friends do you have here?”

“Well, we were online friends before, but we met up in person² and hung out in S-City, so we’re friends now. I arranged to go out with her this time when I came over,” Jiang Yeye explained.

Lin Xingzhu thought for a moment, then instructed, “Be back before eight tonight. Call me if anything comes up.”

Jiang Yeye nodded furiously. When Lin Xingzhu gave a slight lift of her chin, signaling she could go, she immediately went to change her shoes and left.

Once Jiang Yeye was gone, the apartment became even quieter.

Lin Xingzhu leaned against the bar counter and drank a glass of purified water, suddenly feeling at a loss.

With that thought, she returned to the study to look through Chu Xiaxia’s file again.

Ever since Chu Xiaxia appeared, Lin Xingzhu had been suspicious of her identity.

Based on the affection she showed for Bai Xiying and her order of appearance, she fit the definition of “Fourth Gong.”

But the comments in the original novel had also mentioned that the Lin family was bankrupted by Fourth Gong. Yet, as Lin Xingzhu went through all of her files, she could only conclude that this was just a willful, somewhat domineering little girl who had just started university and had yet to enter society.

And the Chu family was on par with the Lin family; they couldn’t just bankrupt the Lins on a whim.

All signs indicated that neither her hardware nor her software³ met the conditions required of Fourth Gong.

At this thought, she let out a deep breath.

Could it be that Fourth Gong hadn’t appeared, and Chu Xiaxia was just an insignificant passerby? Or had Fourth Gong already appeared, and she just hadn’t noticed?

But no matter what, Lin Xingzhu felt that she needed to talk to Father Lin about joining Tianqi soon.

Currently, being at Xingyuan, she had no channel for in-depth understanding of some of the Lin Corporation’s important decisions and projects.

When Lin Xingzhu had initially chosen Xingyuan, it was mainly because she had just arrived and also to avoid arousing Father Lin’s suspicion, so she chose a company she was interested in to gradually adapt.

Now, Lin Xingzhu had a clear understanding of her feelings for Bai Xiying. This destined a battle between her and the future Fourth Gong. Although her approach to Bai Xiying was completely different from the book’s, there was no guarantee that Fourth Gong wouldn’t use the same methods to force her to give up.

Lin Xingzhu believed in mending the roof before it rains⁴; she couldn’t possibly let Father Lin’s life’s work be destroyed because of her, nor would she ever allow herself to give up Bai Xiying.

Once engrossed in work, time passed especially quickly.

Bai Xiying’s message came back in half an hour. Lin Xingzhu looked at her profile picture, pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked:

【Are you home at noon?】

【Bai Xiying: Want to ask me out for lunch?】

Lin Xingzhu chuckled. 【I wouldn’t dare. I’m afraid you’ll get me drunk again.】

After yesterday’s battle, she now knew just how oceanic⁵ Bai Xiying’s alcohol tolerance was.

【Bai Xiying: …】

On the other end, Bai Xiying stared silently at her phone. From their brief chat, it seemed Lin Xingzhu hadn’t realized what happened last night.

She pursed her lips, her fingers tapping on the keyboard.

【Bai Xiying: I’m home at noon. I’ll be here all day.】

【Lin Xingzhu: OK.】

Lin Xingzhu didn’t explain, and Bai Xiying didn’t ask.

Coming out of the study, Lin Xingzhu took out the butter, cream cheese, and green grapes she had specifically bought when she went grocery shopping yesterday.

Over this long period, she had long since learned of Bai Xiying’s partiality to all things sweet. The sweeter, the better. She especially recalled one time when she had caught her buying small cakes made with low-quality cream frosting. Under Bai Xiying’s watchful gaze, she had tried a bite; the cream was cloyingly sweet.

This kind of food wasn’t healthy in large amounts, but at the time, Lin Xingzhu had only frowned and mentioned it once. When she saw Bai Xiying paid it no mind, she didn’t say anything more.

But thinking back on it now, her state of mind had completely changed.

Bai Xiying would still buy these things from time to time, but the current Lin Xingzhu hoped to make her diet a bit healthier without depriving her of her hobby.

After a round of mixing and heating, Lin Xingzhu, with her brows furrowed in concentration, focused on the propped-up phone in front of her, strictly following the recipe’s steps.

Filtering, steaming, mixing.

Finally, Lin Xingzhu took out the already-kneaded dough, sprinkled it with cooked glutinous rice flour to prevent sticking, stretched it into her desired long strip, wrapped the filling inside and pinched it tight, then placed it in the freezer to set.

The steps to make a dessert were far more troublesome than making soup.

Lin Xingzhu looked at the closed refrigerator door, her expression gradually relaxing.

While it was freezing, Lin Xingzhu made herself a simple bowl of noodles for lunch. After she finished, the green grape and cream cheese ice cream she had made was also done freezing.

Picking up a knife, she cut it into neat little squares, arranged them on an exquisite plate, and turned to go upstairs.

Knock, knock, knock—

“Here to freeload for lunch?”

Before the door was fully open, Bai Xiying’s teasing voice had already reached her ears.

Her gaze fell on the tray and paused. Bai Xiying’s voice softened. “…Where did you buy this?”

Lin Xingzhu took a step forward, her faintly invasive aura forcing Bai Xiying to subconsciously take a step back, leaving her enough space.

With a hook of her foot, the heavy door closed behind Lin Xingzhu.

Lin Xingzhu’s eyes crinkled with a smile. “Can’t you tell? I made this myself. One of a kind, you won’t find it anywhere else.”

Bai Xiying pursed her lips, her gaze softening.

Of course, she could tell. She only asked because she wanted Lin Xingzhu to say it out loud—that she had made it for her.

That Lin Xingzhu had made it for Bai Xiying.

After yesterday, Bai Xiying had figured some things out.

She was wearing a thin slip dress as she followed behind Lin Xingzhu, watching her place the dessert on the dining table.

“Have you had lunch?”

Bai Xiying had deliberately made more than she could eat herself.

Lin Xingzhu answered honestly, “I’ve already eaten.”

“…”

Bai Xiying’s lips curved into a smile, but she said nothing.

She stood at Lin Xingzhu’s side, in a position that guaranteed Lin Xingzhu would see her entire body the moment she turned her head.

When she did turn, Lin Xingzhu suddenly noticed that Bai Xiying was wearing a strikingly vibrant, red, thin-strapped slip dress.

Lin Xingzhu suddenly discovered that red suited Bai Xiying so well.

Wearing such a color, she was like a passionate fire, carrying a heat that could burn everything.

And those thin straps hooked over her slender shoulders, making one wonder if they would fall off as she moved.

Not to mention the sexy design of the high-slit slip dress; Lin Xingzhu had no doubt that if Bai Xiying wore this out, the head-turn rate would be one hundred percent.

Inadvertently glancing at that delicate expanse of skin, Lin Xingzhu quickly averted her gaze.

Seeing this, an enigmatic smile pressed at the corners of Bai Xiying’s lips.

She had guessed Lin Xingzhu would come over as soon as she asked if she was home at noon.

Bai Xiying leaned against the table, pretending not to notice Lin Xingzhu’s evasiveness. She looked at the plate of pale green dessert, her eyes full of adoration. “You brought this at the perfect time. The hot pot last night made me feel all inflamed. Look, my lips are swollen.”

Since she had put it that way, it wouldn’t be appropriate for Lin Xingzhu to keep avoiding her gaze.

She looked closely. Bai Xiying’s lips did indeed look very red, and the swelling hadn’t subsided.

“Does it hurt?” Lin Xingzhu asked with a frown.

Bai Xiying met her gaze, saying innocently, “It was really numb at the time.”

Last night, Lin Xingzhu had kissed her too forcefully. It had indeed been very numb.

Lin Xingzhu subconsciously leaned closer to look.

Bai Xiying’s eyelashes fluttered twice. Noticing that Lin Xingzhu’s gaze kept lingering on the lips she had licked and toyed with last night, the shells of her ears couldn’t help but flush pink.

When Lin Xingzhu looked up after a few seconds of careful inspection, what she saw was Bai Xiying, her face flushed as if with the bloom of spring⁶.

She froze, suddenly realizing something.

Hurriedly, she shifted her gaze away and asked, “Did you put any medicine on it?”

What medicine do you put on something that’s been kissed swollen?

Bai Xiying smiled gently. “I did. I put some on this morning when I woke up and noticed.”

Lin Xingzhu nodded, then pulled out a chair and sat down. “Try it and see how my handiwork is. It should taste best right now.”

Bai Xiying replied with a warm hum. Her overly cloying gaze moved from Lin Xingzhu’s back. She picked up a piece with her clean hand and placed it in her mouth, savoring it slowly.

She ate very slowly, her serious expression giving her an air of reverence.

The fresh fragrance of green grape and matcha, accompanied by a sweet, milky flavor, bloomed in her mouth. It was refreshingly sweet without being cloying. It was delicious.

Even though Bai Xiying was used to eating desserts that were many times sweeter than this, at this very moment, she felt that nothing could be sweeter.

The thought that Lin Xingzhu had made this for her with her own hands—that every piece of dough, every layer of filling, had been prepared by the same hands that had kissed her last night—caused a blush the color of rouge to gradually creep to the corners of her eyes.

“Delicious,” she praised, her voice coated in a honey-like sweetness.

Her furrowed brows gradually relaxed. Seeing how much she liked it, Lin Xingzhu couldn’t help but feel happy as well.

Bai Xiying glanced at her, then reached out, picked up another piece, and slowly brought it to Lin Xingzhu’s lips. “Have a taste?”

Lin Xingzhu moved to take it from her.

Bai Xiying dodged, avoiding her hand, and said with a beaming smile, “You made it yourself. It’s not too much for me to feed you, the great chef, a bite, is it?”

…It wasn’t too much.

Under Bai Xiying’s gaze, Lin Xingzhu felt an inexplicable heat rise within her.

But urged on by Bai Xiying’s eyes, she hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.

The entire, not-too-big, not-too-small piece was stuffed into her mouth.

Along with the soft, chewy ice cream came a soft, warm fingertip.

Lin Xingzhu’s whole body jolted. She looked up. Bai Xiying had already unhurriedly withdrawn her hand, as if she hadn’t felt a thing.

She chewed mechanically on the thing in her mouth, watching as Bai Xiying used the same hand that had fed her to pick up another piece of ice cream and eat it herself.

“…”

Her whole body was hot, her head was dizzy, and her ears were ringing.

Lin Xingzhu’s eyes swept almost unconsciously over Bai Xiying enjoying the dessert.

Her brows drew together. A missed detail suddenly clicked into place, and a certain “puxin” line she’d seen online flashed through her mind—

She… is she trying to seduce me? [LP: The original line references “普信” (pǔ xìn), the chapter’s title, which is internet slang for “average yet confident.” The full phrase is often used sarcastically in memes, like “She must be into me,” implying an overconfident assumption.]

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