Chapter 6
Fu Nanshuang's face turned red with fury, enraged to the extreme. She charged toward Xie Shiqing like a train, her hand raised high before she even reached her.
Seeing this, Zhong Ning quickly pulled up her pants and chased after her, reaching out to block the incoming slap, gripping Fu Nanshuang's wrist. "What are you doing!"
At the same time, she pulled Xie Shiqing’s wrist, shielding her behind her own body.
"You’re stopping me?"
Fu Nanshuang slowly turned her head inch by inch, her eyes widening. Her bright and charming face was filled with disbelief, and her tone was utterly stunned. "Little Ning, what’s wrong with you! Are you crazy?"
"You’re stopping me for this bitch?"
"Say what you want, but why are you hitting people?" Zhong Ning frowned at the offensive words in her sentence.
Then, recalling her past relationship with the original host, she forced down her discomfort and explained, "I wasn’t kidnapped. Thank you for your concern."
Fu Nanshuang found this even more absurd and burst into mocking laughter. "Did Xie Shiqing feed you some kind of mind-altering drug, or have you completely lost it? Weren’t you the one who looked down on her the most? And now, not only did you sleep with her, you’re actually protecting her?"
"Is it because she’s good in bed? A blind woman, and she pleased you that well?"
"Are you alright!"
Fu Nanshuang had delicate and seductive features, with wine-red wavy hair draped over her shoulders, an alluring beauty. But her sharp expression and mocking tone took away much of her charm.
At least to Zhong Ning, she didn’t seem all that pretty.
The repeated insults in her words finally made Zhong Ning’s expression darken. She said coldly, "Can’t you watch your mouth when you speak? Who I choose to be with—do I need your approval?"
"Miss Xie and I were in an arranged engagement to begin with. Isn’t it natural for me to protect her?"
The young alpha had sharp eyes and cold phoenix pupils carried a powerful aura.
Her exclusive S-class alpha pheromones also pressed down without mercy, causing Fu Nanshuang to blanch and stumble back two steps.
"Didn’t you say you didn’t want to get married and were coming to break off the engagement?"
Zhong Ning glanced back.
The omega’s eyes were half-lowered, lashes casting shadows under the sunlight that highlighted the contours of her face. Her expression was unreadable, her small face almost translucent, her lips bitten—she looked fragile like foam.
Zhong Ning felt as if her heart had been pierced.
If a person already had flaws, who could bear having their scars repeatedly exposed and mocked?
"I changed my mind," Zhong Ning said.
Fu Nanshuang froze, her fury instantly extinguished like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on her. Her voice trembled, "What do you mean? You want to go through with the engagement? You want to be married into the Xie family?"
The wrist in her palm was so thin it felt like it could snap at any moment. Zhong Ning gave it a light squeeze before letting go, her voice firm and resolute. "Yes, exactly what you said."
All color drained from Fu Nanshuang’s face. Panic washed over her as she stared at Zhong Ning’s unfamiliar expression, then at Xie Shiqing, who stood silently, protected behind her.
She couldn’t understand—how could everything change overnight?
Just yesterday, Zhong Ning had been cursing Xie Shiqing with her. And today, she was insisting on marrying her.
"You don’t even care about your alpha pride anymore?" she asked through gritted teeth.
"I’m doing it willingly," Zhong Ning replied righteously.
What was the big deal about marrying into another family? Was it really something worth making such a fuss over?
Besides, when it came to pride, how could it possibly matter more than one’s life?
"Damn it! Are you really out of your mind?" Fu Nanshuang snapped in a panic. "Come on, you’re coming with me right now—we’re going to the hospital!"
"Hey hey hey! Don’t touch me!" Zhong Ning hastily blocked her. "Can you stop making a scene here!"
"I’m the one making a scene?" Fu Nanshuang laughed furiously, pointing at herself. "You’re saying I’m making a scene? Zhong Ning, do you really think I don’t have a temper?"
"You vanished for nearly a whole day without a word just to sleep with this blind woman! I was going crazy looking for you, and now you’re telling me you’ve changed your mind? You’re the one who's lost it!"
Zhong Ning felt a growing headache. She couldn’t exactly explain that she wasn’t the original Zhong Ning anymore. So, she could only maintain a cold demeanor and replied, "Think whatever you want."
"Fine, fine, I won’t bother with you anymore!" Fu Nanshuang shot her a fierce glare. "Do whatever the hell you want!"
She had come with a rage and left with a bigger rage.
The line of bodyguards outside followed her out. They were the ones she’d brought, thinking Zhong Ning had been kidnapped.
Once they were gone, the noisy room finally quieted down.
Zhong Ning’s lips moved slightly before she mumbled, "I didn’t know she would come… let alone bring so many people."
To put it bluntly, wasn’t this basically trespassing?
Even cannon fodder characters in a novel world had some basic respect for the law.
She knew herself that Fu Nanshuang’s actions had nothing to do with her. But in others’ eyes, Fu Nanshuang was her friend, and she had stormed into the Xie residence for her sake, spouting vile insults right to Xie Shiqing’s face.
That was a mess she would have to shoulder half the blame for.
And thinking further about the cannon fodder label on the original host, there was probably a mountain of messes waiting for her to clean up.
Just the thought of it made Zhong Ning feel faint.
"I’m sorry. Don’t be mad, okay? She just has a foul mouth and says whatever comes to mind. Don’t take it to heart."
The alpha’s voice was soft, each word clear and distinct, careful and cautious, as if she were tending to a flower blooming in a frozen land, afraid even a breath might blow the petals away.
The more time they spent together, the more certain Xie Shiqing became—this person was definitely not the original.
The Zhong and Xie families had been close since the previous generation, so the younger ones naturally interacted often. But Zhong Ning—or rather, the original Zhong Ning—had never liked her.
Her dislike was well known by everyone.
The reason behind it was laughable, really.
Xie Shiqing was that classic “child from someone else’s family”—excellent grades, a sharp mind, and had begun helping out in the company early on. Before even graduating from university, she had already taken over the majority of the Xie Corporation’s affairs.