After Transmigrating Into a Book, I Was Played by the Black Lotus – Chapter 71

The gift is to righteously sacrifice one’s own kinship¹

Following Chu Tiantian to a remote and quiet place, Lin Xingzhu looked at Chu Tiantian, who said she wanted to chat with them, and frowned as she said: “What do you want to talk about?”

Chu Tiantian didn’t look left and talk about other things², directly opening her mouth to ask: “When Yeye came to A City, did she encounter a kidnapping?”

Lin Xingzhu’s eyelids twitched. Looking at the expressionless Chu Tiantian, in a flash of lightning and flint³, she suddenly thought of the scene at the Jiang family home that day when she and Bai Xiying were leaving, and Chu Tiantian ran out with red, crying eyes.

“Yeye told you?”

Chu Tiantian’s eyes dimmed slightly. Thinking of the argument that day, a shadow fell over her face: “Yes, but I want to understand more.”

That day, she and Jiang Yeye were upstairs. Because of the school transfer and their previous conflicts, they were talking and talking and then started arguing. And when Jiang Yeye became emotional, she blurted out and exposed what had happened to her in A City.

Jiang Yeye even, in order to show her determination to break off their friendship, said indignantly that if it weren’t for her, she wouldn’t have run to A City to avoid her and encounter such a thing!

Whenever Chu Tiantian thought of Jiang Yeye’s red eyes when she said this, and the annoyance and disgust revealed within them, she felt her entire heart was being stabbed, so painful she felt like she was dying.

And after Chu Tiantian ran home from the Jiang family, she specifically had someone inquire about this matter.

The information that came back afterwards, everything described in black and white on the paper, made Chu Tiantian feel extreme pain when she read it!

She actually encountered such a thing in A City…

She was right. S City and A City were so far apart. If it wasn’t because of her, she absolutely would not have run to A City and subsequently encountered such a thing…

Whenever Chu Tiantian thought about the fate of those people who were abducted into the Pink Building⁴, which she had found in her investigation, happening to Jiang Yeye, she felt a wave of lingering fear and self-loathing!

As if torturing herself, Chu Tiantian looked at this exterior older sister⁵ Lin Xingzhu, who had rescued Yeye back then. Her voice was a little hoarse: “I just want to understand more. Can you tell me everything you know?”

Lin Xingzhu didn’t expect that this was what she wanted to talk about. She and Bai Xiying exchanged a glance, saw the clear understanding in her heart, and also came to a decision in her own heart.

“Since Yeye has already told you, I indeed have nothing to hide.” Lin Xingzhu said.

Hearing this, Chu Tiantian’s eyes held a bit of hopeful expectation.

Seeing this, Bai Xiying’s eyes moved slightly, and she lowered her head slightly to listen to Lin Xingzhu’s narration.

From the beginning of Jiang Yeye’s disappearance, all the way to them finding Jiang Yeye, and even how they successfully rescued her under the interception of the people in the Pink Building, Lin Xingzhu recounted it all, no matter how big or small the detail, especially the last point, which was not ignored in any way.

And Chu Tiantian, the more she listened, the paler her face became. Her already pale face was now as white as a piece of crisp, hard white paper that would shatter with a touch.

Seeing Chu Tiantian’s shaky appearance when she heard that Jiang Yeye was being held down and about to be forcibly taken away, Bai Xiying withdrew her gaze and squeezed Lin Xingzhu’s hand beside her.

She could sense that the more Lin Xingzhu spoke, the heavier the suppressed anger in her heart became.

At that time, regarding the police’s handling of the Pink Building and the bar after the report, Lin Xingzhu and Bai Xiying already had some speculations. But behind them was clearly a behemoth; no matter how angry or disgusted they were, there was no way to immediately crash into it and destroy them.

And according to what Bai Xiying knew, since then, Lin Xingzhu had been having people carefully keep an eye on the bar. Even if nothing could be done now, if there was really something within their power, they could still lend a hand.

This was done, but that anger swirling in her heart had always been deeply suppressed in the bottom of Lin Xingzhu’s heart.

And all of this, Bai Xiying, who spent her days and nights with Lin Xingzhu and knew her extremely well, perfectly knows in her heart and understood within her stomach⁶.

Sensing Bai Xiying’s comfort, Lin Xingzhu squeezed her hand back, took a breath, her expression somewhat cold, but the displaced anger in her eyes was not intense.

“……That’s all of it in total.”

After saying everything in one breath, Lin Xingzhu looked at the deeply affected Chu Tiantian with a somewhat complicated expression: “……Don’t you think your view on love is a bit wrong?”

Chu Tiantian: “……”

Chu Tiantian was not surprised that Lin Xingzhu saw through her thoughts. Hearing this, she blinked her dry eyes, almost wanting to cry, “……I, I don’t know……”

But did Chu Tiantian really not know?

She was in a slight daze, her vision a bit blurry.

But actually, she had already become aware of it, otherwise she wouldn’t have invited Lin Xingzhu and Bai Xiying to her eighteenth birthday coming-of-age ceremony.

Everything she had insisted on for many years was completely overturned because the person she liked had come to harm. Chu Tiantian was both lost and regretful. Recently, self-blame had been torturing her day and night!

Especially when she discovered that when she approached Jiang Yeye, the other party’s subconscious stiffness and resistance were all indicating that she had been left with an indelible shadow because of that incident.

The old Yeye loved to go out and play, but now she would rather stay at home every day and not want to step out the door.

At the thought of this, Chu Tiantian felt even more regretful and pained!

But her father had pursued her mother this way, and her older sister had also gotten what she wanted this way since she was little.

Lin Xingzhu gave her a deep look and said with an unclear meaning: “No, you already know.”

Chu Tiantian subconsciously took a step back, the terror on her face flashing past. After a long moment, she managed to calm down again.

“Yes…… you’re right.” She lowered her eyes and said hoarsely, “I already know……”

But it seemed to be a little too late.

She recalled Jiang Yeye’s resistance and disgust, and couldn’t help but feel a bitterness in her heart.

Lin Xingzhu and Bai Xiying silently watched her pained appearance without saying a word.

After a long while, Chu Tiantian managed to pull herself together and said: “Thank you for telling me this. I have already prepared the gift I said I would give you.”

Since yesterday, Chu Tiantian had mentioned the matter of a gift no less than three times, each time confidently vowing that it would be something they were interested in.

Now, seeing that Chu Tiantian did not forget to mention the gift after hearing about Jiang Yeye’s matter, even if Lin Xingzhu was not very interested, she couldn’t help but raise a bit of interest at this moment.

“What exactly is the gift you’re talking about?”

Chu Tiantian pulled at the corner of her lips. Her hand, which had been tightly clenched, opened up. What it held was, impressively, a USB drive.

Lin Xingzhu raised an eyebrow: “This is?”

“This USB drive records some of my older sister’s affairs.” Chu Tiantian lowered her eyes, quietly looking at this thing that hid many matters Chu Xiaxia had painstakingly concealed, and spoke calmly, “Inside are some of the not-so-good things my older sister has done from childhood to adulthood. I have organized and recorded them all inside.”

Lin Xingzhu was somewhat astonished. What was Chu Tiantian doing, with nothing better to do than to organize the bad deeds of her own older sister?

“You don’t know, my older sister has had a bad temper since she was little. I am almost two years younger than her. When we were little, in order to compete with her for favor, I paid no less attention to her.”

Her mother’s health was not good. Every day, besides some daily work and trivial matters, most of her attention was taken by her father. The remaining attention, when divided between two children, was inevitably limited.

And since childhood, her older sister, relying on being pretty and sweet-tongued, and speaking and understanding things earlier than her, fiercely captured a lot of attention.

And although Chu Tiantian would sometimes compete with her older sister for favor, the two of them were biological sisters after all. The things they did were not excessive, just small squabbles between children.

And after slowly growing up, with Chu Xiaxia as the older sister in front, she, as the younger sister, sometimes couldn’t help but slowly learn from her older sister.

But more often, Chu Tiantian was not interested in those things.

As Chu Xiaxia’s biological younger sister, Chu Tiantian had seen some of the things her older sister did that did not meet their mother’s expectations. Not to mention, her older sister never thought of hiding them from her, so she knew many things.

After explaining these reasons in a few words, Chu Tiantian said calmly: “Recently, my older sister has made my parents quite angry because of the school bullying incident that was exposed. If you then give this thing to my mom……”

Speaking to this point, Chu Tiantian stopped, paused, and then changed her words: “Or it’s also fine if I give it to my mom. This way, after my mom sees the contents, she will naturally know what my older sister has been doing all these years. And my dad has always listened to my mom. With my mom’s temper, once she knows my older sister’s hidden nature, she will definitely discipline her properly.”

“Moreover, my parents will very likely send her abroad, to let her properly temper her disposition in a foreign country.”

Chu Tiantian looked at the two of them, “In that case, my older sister will naturally not be able to affect you.”

This time, Lin Xingzhu could not hide her astonishment.

Even Bai Xiying, who had some understanding of Chu Tiantian’s style of doing things, felt it was a bit subtle. She didn’t expect that in this life, although she was not locked up by Chu Xiaxia, Chu Tiantian had still, almost by a different road leading to the same result, made the same choice.

Lin Xingzhu said complicatedly: “This is the gift you were talking about?” The kind where you righteously sacrifice your own family.

Lin Xingzhu thought the last sentence in her heart, but did not say it out loud.

Chu Tiantian smiled, but this smile did not show the slightest hint of happiness: “Yes, isn’t it very beneficial for you?”

It was indeed very beneficial. If, as Chu Tiantian said, she personally handed it to Madam Chu, with Chu Tiantian as the biological daughter handing over such a piece of evidence, compared to the plan they had previously devised, it was simply too guaranteed.

Lin Xingzhu looked at her: “But why would you do this?”

To her and Bai Xiying, this was simply like a pie falling from the sky.

Chu Tiantian herself had said that she and her older sister did not have much of a grudge, and as for those methods of competing for favor, they were just childish squabbles from childhood.

“Why?” Chu Tiantian repeated, her eyes obscure, “My older sister’s situation is much more serious than mine, and she is the most like my dad, but her personality, compared to my dad’s, is much more spoiled and malicious.”

“Do you believe that if not stopped, after my older sister learns that you two are in a relationship, she will definitely do something to obstruct and break you up.”

Chu Tiantian looked at Bai Xiying, who had not said a word from beginning to end, and curved her lips: “You also can’t be with Xiying-jie all day. What Xiying-jie might encounter then, that would be uncertain.”

Hearing this, Bai Xiying’s eyes dimmed slightly. Chu Tiantian was actually right.

Lin Xingzhu was thoughtful. Looking at the calm-faced Chu Tiantian, she smiled slightly: “It seems Yeye has changed you a lot.”

Chu Tiantian’s body stiffened. She lowered her head and pulled at the corner of her lips, not refuting.

Actually, after saying so much, the most important reason was ultimately that Chu Tiantian realized just how wrong her thinking, and her older sister’s thinking, was.

She could no longer reverse her dad’s ways, and plus, with her mom’s presence, her dad didn’t act muddled-headed much.

But Chu Xiaxia, as her older sister, was different. Chu Tiantian did not want her older sister to make one mistake after another in the future, to walk down a dark path to the end, and ultimately lose everything.

So in doing this, Chu Tiantian also had her own purpose.

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