TNSFC – Chapter 4

Gu Shanxue had good hearing, and besides, the two ladies in the restroom hadn’t bothered to lower their voices, allowing her to hear the words “quite something” quite clearly.

The woman’s features reflected in the mirror were familiar; it was undoubtedly the one who had been watching her in the private room just moments ago.

Although she found the other person frivolous, Gu Shanxue had to admit that her face was exceptionally beautiful. The allure she carried wasn’t a cheap, deliberately flaunted seductiveness, but a graceful and captivating charm that emerged naturally with every raised eyebrow and blink.

She brushed past the woman and entered a stall, acting as if she hadn’t heard her words at all.

Que Yining, despite being ignored, continued to smile. She turned off the faucet, dried her hands with a paper towel, and tossed it into the nearby trash can.

Qiao Yuchu followed her out, her face still full of regret. “If only I had been there just now, I definitely would have backed you up. Those people who love a spectacle and don’t mind stirring up trouble probably wished you two would argue just for more entertainment.”

Que Yining glanced at her red fingernails and said nonchalantly, “It’s a minor issue.”

As they passed the private room, Qiao Yuchu pushed the door open and peeked inside, wanting to see if anyone was still there. She saw two men who hadn’t left, entertaining three hostesses, and, finding it dull, closed the door.

The seemingly clean and grand clubhouse was full of sordid secrets. Que Yining didn’t even glance inside, afraid of dirtying her eyes.

Qiao Yuchu said, “It’s so early and it’s already over? How boring. Shall we go for a drink? Tina said a new bar opened, and the ‘quality’ inside is very good, you know.”

Qiao Yuchu was being euphemistic; it was called a bar but was actually a male escort club, a place where many wealthy young ladies and madams went to relax and amuse themselves.

Que Yining wasn’t interested. “Not going.”

Qiao Yuchu teased, “Oh, come on, what’s wrong with going just once? It’s only for drinks, we won’t do anything else. Are you afraid your Wenjing Gege will get annoyed if he finds out?”

An unfamiliar name suddenly popped into her mind, triggering a large segment of memories.

If memories triggered by seeing other people were mere fragments, like a few lines of introduction on a game interface, then upon encountering this name, memories surged forth in large, dense chunks, like a screen crammed with text, making Que Yining momentarily nauseous.

Que Yining covered her mouth, as if suppressing a dry heave. “Don’t mention that name.”

Qiao Yuchu froze on the spot. Seeing Que Yining’s discomfort, she helped her into the elevator and let her lean against the wall.

She asked rather cautiously, “What’s wrong?”

Que Yining shook her head, slowly digesting those fragments of memory.

The person Qiao Yuchu mentioned, Fu Wenjing, was likely the male protagonist of this book, the object of affection for the original owner of this body, the supporting female character.

Though they might become love rivals in the future.

Accompanying this name was the naive infatuation and wishful thinking that had permeated the original owner’s entire youth, along with the disappointment and anger from being repeatedly rejected and even verbally abused.

It wasn’t until she walked out of the Chun Chao clubhouse that Que Yining recovered from the headache and nausea, gradually pushing aside the original owner’s emotions.

To her, Fu Wenjing was merely a stranger, and Que Yining felt no particular sympathy or pity for the original owner’s memories.

Unrequited devotion, in the eyes of the wrong person, was merely persistent pestering. Fu Wenjing hadn’t intended to lead the original owner on; his rejections had been very clear. It was just that the original owner hadn’t wanted to give up.

Neither of them had made any fundamental mistakes, and Que Yining had no particular opinion on the matter.

However, what concerned Que Yining was the final scene that had just flashed in her mind.

Lake water, appearing black under the moonlight, buoyed the body of a woman, swollen from being submerged.

Her features were vaguely discernible; that face was slightly different from Que Yining’s current face but bore some resemblance.

Que Yining suddenly realized something she had overlooked and asked Qiao Yuchu to look at her face.

“Have I always looked like this?”

When Que Yining had looked in the mirror, although her hair was dyed a different color, she was sure it was her own familiar face.

But hadn’t she transmigrated into a book? If only their names were the same, that would be understandable, but it was impossible for their appearances to be identical too.

Qiao Yuchu was a bit confused. “Yes…”

Qiao Yuchu continued, “What’s wrong? You seem a bit strange tonight. You still haven’t told me what happened with you and you-know-who. Weren’t you head over heels for him? Have you finally changed your mind?”

Que Yining gave a perfunctory reply, “Yes, I’ve changed my mind. I’m not feeling well, I’m going home now.”

Que Yining called Wang Lu to pick her up, continuously recalling the image of the floating corpse she had seen.

How could it appear so abruptly in the original owner’s memories? If it wasn’t a scene the original owner had witnessed, then could it possibly be the original owner herself?

Triggered in connection with the male lead’s name, Que Yining was more inclined to believe that it might indeed be the original owner.

Que Yining only regretted not having read that book, nor having asked her younger sister for more details. Otherwise, she would know the final fate of this so-called villainous supporting female character, the original owner.

Que Yining already had doubts about her sudden arrival in this different world. Unfortunately, apart from the last thing she saw before transmigrating, she had no other clues.

Seeing that Que Yining indeed seemed unwell, Qiao Yuchu didn’t insist on dragging her out to have fun.

After seeing Que Yining’s car arrive, she waved at her. “Then I’ll go find some fun on my own. Call me if you need anything.”

Que Yining nodded, opened the car door, and sat in the back seat.

Wang Lu found it a bit strange that today’s gathering had ended so early. However, seeing Que Yining in the back seat through the rearview mirror, her face slightly pale and seemingly unwell, he didn’t ask any questions. After putting on some instrumental music, he started the car.

Wang Lu asked, “Miss, are we going home?”

Que Yining: “Mhm.”

The car fell silent. After a while, Que Yining suddenly spoke, “Do you remember when I went to dye my hair?”

Wang Lu answered without hesitation, “A month ago. I was the one who drove you to the salon.”

Que Yining had only asked casually, not expecting Wang Lu to remember so clearly.

Que Yining suppressed the growing sense of unease in her heart. It was actually quite reasonable; perhaps the driver just had an exceptionally good memory, or maybe something special had happened that day that made him remember it so clearly.

But Que Yining knew she wasn’t an overly suspicious person. For such a sixth sense to arise, perhaps there was indeed something more to it.

But Que Yining had no way to investigate it now, so she could only suppress her suspicions for the time being.

The car stopped at the villa entrance. When Que Yining got out, Butler Chen came up to greet her and took the shoulder bag from her hand.

Butler Chen opened the door for Que Yining. “Third Miss is inside.”

Que Yining smoothly took off her high heels and changed into slippers without much reaction.

Butler Chen noticed Que Yining’s slightly pale complexion and asked hesitantly, “Miss, are you not feeling well?”

Que Yining took her bag. “I’m fine.”

She knew what Butler Chen found strange: her attitude.

In the past, whenever the original owner heard that ‘Third Miss’ was back, she would throw a tantrum.

The Que family had four children, and the original owner was the fourth. In fact, only the original owner was their biological child; the others were all adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Que.

Father Que had a low sperm survival rate. After hoping for a long time, he had given up on having his own offspring, so they adopted children.

The third child was an abandoned baby, only a little over a month old when they brought her home. Not long after that, Madam Que showed signs of pregnancy.

Mr. and Mrs. Que naturally doted on their precious biological daughter, treating her like a treasure. They also considered the third child, whom they named Que Zixi, to be their lucky star. After their own daughter was born, they let the two girls play together.

Que Zixi was insidiously malicious. When they were young, she often did things and let the original owner take the blame. The original owner disliked her for this, and when she found out in elementary school that Que Zixi was merely an adopted daughter, her attitude towards her worsened.

Que Yining couldn’t be bothered to digest the other entangled memories for the time being. After changing her shoes, she went upstairs, heading straight for her room.

However, Que Yining couldn’t find any photographs in the room, and the original owner’s phone album was completely empty. For a moment, Que Yining couldn’t find any image of what the original owner used to look like.

Que Yining went to the study, wanting to see if there were any photo albums in the house.

A figure leaned against the doorway of the study. A clear, childlike voice suddenly rang out in the room, “Onee-san, what are you looking for?”

Que Yining didn’t even look up. “Que Zixi, speak properly. Do you know where the family photo albums are kept?”

The woman at the door reverted to her normal voice. “Why are you suddenly looking for photo albums?”

Que Yining: “Where are they?”

Que Zixi: “They should be in the drawer, right?”

Que Yining pulled open the drawer and, indeed, saw two photo albums. She took them out.

She didn’t look at the photos at the beginning, flipping straight towards the end.

Seeing the original owner’s childhood appearance in them, Que Yining pressed her lips together.

The fire at her family home twenty years ago hadn’t reached the attic where old belongings were stored. She had looked at those preserved photos repeatedly, so she had a very clear memory of what she looked like as a child.

Compared to the face of the original owner in the photos before her, there was only a partial resemblance.