Chapter 2
Zhong Ning rubbed against the pillow, planning to sleep in a little longer. She habitually turned over and lifted her leg, but instead of straddling the usual fluffy pillow, what she touched was soft, warm skin.
!!
She sat up with a jolt as memories from the previous night flashed through her mind.
The sticky resistance, curling toes, the soft and full sensation, broken breaths and muffled moans... the woman had melted in her fingers like water.
Zhong Ning's hand moved instinctively; her palm still seemed to retain the slippery, moist feeling. Looking around the unfamiliar bedroom, she swallowed dryly.
What on earth was going on?!
With the stiffness of rusted gears, she slowly turned her head. The other person in bed had also opened her eyes, brows faintly furrowed, long black hair spread out like algae. Under the hazy morning light, her face appeared pale to the point of translucence, lips strikingly red like dripping blood, and her dark eyes seemed hollow, unfocused. Below her right eye were two tiny moles aligned side by side, giving her an otherworldly, stunning beauty.
That mole...
A bolt of realization struck Zhong Ning's mind like a thunderclap. Wait a minute—did she actually transmigrate?!
She recalled her friend’s gleeful, gossipy voice from last night, and her brain started throbbing.
Just after finishing a gaming livestream, she had received a string of excited voice messages from a friend, gossiping about a minor cannon fodder character in a novel who had the exact same name as her!
The friend hadn’t said much—only that the character was forced to marry the big villain, but because she despised the villain for being blind, she would constantly cause a ruckus at home, never showing a pleasant face. In the end, the villain broke her legs, poisoned her voice mute, locked her in a room, and she spent the rest of her life needing constant care, eventually dying in a fire at the sanatorium.
Her friend had even sent her the book title, telling her to read it herself and memorize it word for word.
The villain had very distinct features—two small moles under the right eye. The author had even commissioned an illustration, which the friend had shared too: a delicate woman who looked like she’d disappear with a breeze, yet with a gloomy, deranged aura in her expression. Zhong Ning had liked it immediately and remembered it clearly.
But the real issue was that she was now completely in the dark—not only had she never read a single sentence of the novel, she didn’t even have the original host’s memories. She didn’t even know the villain’s full name, only that her surname was Xie, which her friend had casually referred to as “President Xie.”
The other woman’s expression was gradually turning unpleasant, a layer of gloom rising to her face.
Thinking about her own miserable ending, and looking at the fresh red and green marks on her own skin, Zhong Ning instantly felt her knees go weak.
She didn’t want to have her legs broken!
Trembling, Zhong Ning carefully opened her mouth. "I'm sorry!… President Xie? A-Are you alright?"
How different could the same voice sound when spoken with a different tone and pronunciation?
As Xie Shiqing sorted through the memories in her mind, and too, realized that she had been reborn, that familiar yet foreign voice reached her ears.
Zhong Ning.
In her memory, Zhong Ning had always spoken with sarcasm and hysteria. Impatience and arrogance seemed etched into her very bones—her voice was sharp and grating.
Fortunately or not, she had been reborn precisely on the night that she captured this woman. Earlier that day, Zhong Ning would still be resisting, kicking up a huge fuss about leaving. So she had someone inject her with an inducement agent, forcibly pushing her into heat to complete a temporary mark.
Because of how unpleasant the experience had been—and because the next day Zhong Ning had insulted her, calling her a slut—Xie Shiqing remembered it with vivid clarity.
But now, what had she just heard?
This woman called her “President Xie.” And even apologized.
Didn’t she always just call her “blind woman”?
Zhong Ning waited anxiously for a response, but when none came, she grew even more panicked.
Damn it, why hadn’t she asked for more details?!
Why hadn’t she read the novel while she still had the chance?!
What exactly was going on now—someone help her!
Her memories from last night were fragmented too, her mind a mess—she could barely recall anything.
It seemed like… she had been the one forcing things?
I’m done for, I’m going to die, my legs, my throat—is it time to say goodbye already?
"What did you just call me?"
A soft, husky voice with a hint of sweetness rang out. For some reason, Zhong Ning thought of chilled watermelon with a soft, grainy texture.
"President Xie?" she said hesitantly.
The woman let out a sudden soft chuckle.
What was that? Was she not allowed to call her that? Zhong Ning felt tormented, like a prisoner awaiting either pardon or execution.
She didn’t dare ask another question.
She knew her behavior was definitely different from the original host’s, but in order to change the ending, she couldn't worry about that now.
The woman said nothing more, simply pulled back the thin blanket, revealing a body covered in mottled marks.
Zhong Ning’s face flushed scarlet in an instant.
Under the soft light, her cold-white skin looked as though it was veiled in gauze. Yet, grace upon it were countless faint red marks, denser in the more hidden places.
Zhong Ning barely dared a second glance—one look was enough.
She did all that?
So intense… was she really that kind of person?!
She had never even dated a girl before. Always all talk and no action—swooning over ships in anime, but in real life, she hadn’t even held anyone’s hand.
Avoiding her gaze, Zhong Ning fiddled with the bedsheet.
Just then, a low gasp.
She instinctively looked up and saw the woman’s body tilting as if about to fall. Without thinking, she reached out and pulled her back.
The woman’s slender frame fell straight into her arms, and a faint bitter-sweet fragrance burst out like a popped balloon. Her cool black hair, like a cascade of snow, tumbled down all over Zhong Ning.
Unable to control herself, Zhong Ning leaned closer and inhaled deeply at the back of the woman's neck.
The thin skin was tinged red, still bearing the marks of where it had been kissed.
"What are you doing?"
"S-s-sorry!"
Like a rabbit startled awake, Zhong Ning jerked back in a panic, but still kept one arm around the woman, protectively. "I just saw you were about to fall, so…"
So she acted like some kind of pervert and started sniffing her?!
Zhong Ning, what the hell is wrong with you!
The woman in her arms let out an ambiguous hum, then simply said she was going to take a shower, and slowly walked off toward the bathroom.
The weight left her lap, but the room still lingered with that delicate, but bitter scent.