Yu Huan had spent almost the entire day running around and was already exhausted. Not long after getting into the car, she began to doze off.
Before long, she had fallen completely asleep.
The car interior became quiet.
Xu Yunshu suddenly spoke, keeping her voice low out of consideration for Yu Huan.
“Brother, send me to Shen Garden.”
“Are you moving out from home?” he asked.
“Mm.” Xu Yunshu pretended to sound relaxed. “I’m already this old. It’s not really appropriate to keep living in the Zhu Family home.”
Zhu Heqing said, “No matter how old you are, you’re still part of the Zhu Family. What’s inappropriate about living at your own home?”
Xu Yunshu bit her lip and did not answer.
Of course, she could return to the Zhu Family. Back then, she had been formally recognized in front of everyone as the goddaughter of Father Zhu and Mother Zhu.
People in their circle often whispered that her relationship with Zhu Heqing was unusual, but because of the Zhu and Xu families, no one ever dared to say it to their faces.
As long as one had a clear conscience, they could naturally treat everything as if nothing had happened.
After all, the innocent would remain innocent; rumors would not become truth and would eventually collapse on their own.
But Xu Yunshu did not have a clear conscience.
She really was, just as those gossiping tongues said—shamelessly in love with her older brother.
Even though she and Zhu Heqing shared no blood relation, Father Zhu and Mother Zhu truly treated her as their daughter. Her behavior was undoubtedly a slap in the face to the Zhu Family.
When the rumors spread, Xu Yunshu chose to avoid it.
She was afraid of seeing the disappointment in Father Zhu and Mother Zhu’s eyes, and even more afraid of seeing disgust in Zhu Heqing’s gaze.
That would hurt her more than death.
Zhu Heqing did not ask further.
Xu Yunshu was already grown. He respected her choices.
“If you don’t get used to living outside, you can always come back home,” he said.
Xu Yunshu softly responded, “Mm.”
After sending her to Shen Garden, Zhu Heqing watched as Xu Yunshu went upstairs. Then he opened the passenger door, adjusted the seat for Yu Huan, and took a blanket from the storage compartment, covering her with it.
Yu Huan had never been an obedient sleeper. Being disturbed by the seat adjustment and blanket, and already uncomfortable, her brows unconsciously furrowed and she let out a small dissatisfied sound.
“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
Zhu Heqing reached out lovingly, intending to smooth her brows. Just as his fingertips touched her forehead, a scorching heat surged against his skin.
The large hand clearly felt the burning temperature.
Instantly, Zhu Heqing’s expression changed drastically.
Yu Huan felt terrible.
Her body alternated between freezing and burning hot. Her head throbbed violently, as if a drill was boring into her skull.
After some time, she felt like a small boat drifting on the sea, tossed up and down by violent waves.
She whimpered a few times and forced herself to open her eyes.
Her vision was unfocused; she could only see pale light moving rapidly, and hear a heavy pounding sound beside her ears.
What was that sound?
Something in her mind kept urging her to sink into darkness. In her fading consciousness, she saw a tense jawline and heard the words, “Doctor, my wife has a high fever.”
Oh.
Yu Huan thought.
So that was Zhu Heqing’s heartbeat.
She felt relieved, and allowed that unknown force to pull her back into unconsciousness.
Whether it was a dream or not, she could not tell.
A wave of memories that did not belong to Yu Huan suddenly forced its way into her mind, violently occupying it.
Those memories told her that the world she lived in was actually a novel.
She was not the protagonist. She was merely a cannon fodder supporting female character. The real protagonist was Xu Yunshu, whom she had just met.
Her boyfriend, Zhu Heqing, was the “deeply devoted second male lead” in the story—someone who never understood his own feelings, lost the one he loved, and failed in his desperate attempt to win her back.
At the beginning of the plot, Zhu Heqing had a girlfriend. Then Xu Yunshu returned from abroad, creating distance between them and giving the male lead an opportunity to step in.
As for “Yu Huan,” she was portrayed as overly domineering. She treated Zhu Heqing like her possession and did not allow any other woman around him, causing repeated embarrassment.
This also made Zhu Heqing gradually lose patience with her.
“Yu Huan” was unwilling to accept it. She was foolish and easily manipulated; with just a bit of provocation, she became convinced that her relationship problems with Zhu Heqing were all because of Xu Yunshu.
So she used every possible method to target Xu Yunshu—drugging her, framing her, and countless other schemes.
None of those methods harmed Xu Yunshu. Instead, they accelerated the relationship between her and the male lead, and also made Zhu Heqing realize his true feelings—
He had always loved his so-called younger sister.
After realizing his feelings, Zhu Heqing decisively broke up with “Yu Huan” and retaliated against her with even harsher methods than she had used on Xu Yunshu.
In the end, “Yu Huan,” ruined by Zhu Heqing and Xu Yunshu’s revenge, lost her family and fortune and ended up homeless.
And while begging on the streets, she died miserably after being hit by an out-of-control truck.
The piercing pain felt too real. Yu Huan suddenly woke up.
Her face was deathly pale, her eyes wide and dark with fear.
She clutched her chest, gasping for air. Tears uncontrollably fell down her face, dropping onto the white bedsheet and forming damp circles.
After a long while, she finally managed to calm herself.
She looked around and realized she was in a single hospital room. An IV drip hung beside the bed.
On the coffee table not far away were some documents. Zhu Heqing’s coat was placed on the sofa, but he was not there.
When Zhu Heqing came in carrying a thermal container, he saw her red-rimmed eyes, tear-streaked face, and messy hair stuck to her cheeks—like a small cat that had been bullied.
“Why are you crying? Are you feeling unwell?”
He set the things down and reached out to check her temperature.
Smack—
Yu Huan struck his hand hard. A red mark immediately appeared on the back of his hand.
The moment she saw him, she remembered the cold and ruthless “Zhu Heqing” from her dream. She did not want him to touch her at all.
“Be good, baby. Let me feel your forehead,” Zhu Heqing said softly. “You can hit me as much as you want if you’re unhappy, but let me make sure your fever has gone down, okay?”
He reached out again, but still failed to touch her.
An angry Yu Huan was harder to soothe than an emperor.
She slapped his hand away again and then curled herself under the blanket, closing her eyes and pretending not to see him.
If earlier she had been afraid, now what remained was disbelief and unwillingness to accept it.
She couldn’t believe she was a cannon fodder supporting character.
And she couldn’t accept it either.
She was so beautiful, so understanding—everyone she met said she was born to be the main character.
Why was she just cannon fodder?!
The name alone sounded like someone with very few scenes. At worst, she should at least be a villainess!
And also!
Yu Huan secretly lifted the blanket and kicked Zhu Heqing in the lower abdomen.
One kick was not enough to relieve her anger, so she kicked him several more times.
Back then, it was clearly Zhu Heqing who had pursued her. She only agreed because he had been so sincere.
So why was he the one who broke up in the end?
She was young, beautiful, and so good.
If anyone was going to break up, it should have been her!