Lu Ling’s face was so cold it seemed to drip with frost.
Bai Xiaotong instinctively recalled last night’s precognitive dream—three years later, after he was released from prison, he came to her home, stared at her portrait, and wore the exact same expression.
“Bai Xiaotong, oh Bai Xiaotong, do you think death can settle everything? Believe it or not, I’ll dig up your grave!”
How vicious! Even after she died, he still wanted to dig up her grave!
Fortunately, he didn’t actually commit such a deranged act—he only smashed her portrait to vent his anger.
Now, in the same situation, Bai Xiaotong trembled inwardly. She silently touched his arm, which was as tense as iron, and softly explained, “I never meant to harm you! Whether we actually did anything last night, you know the truth. I’m a woman. In a situation like this, if my chastity is lost and my reputation is ruined, and if people find out, I won’t be able to escape either!”
This era was not like the future. Premarital intimacy, if discovered, would not only ruin one’s reputation but also carry the risk of imprisonment—both men and women were equally vulnerable.
No matter how foolish Bai Xiaotong was, she would never use such a method to harm someone.
Last night, she had only wanted to cling to Chen Xiangjun and force him to marry her.
But why was Lu Ling lying here instead?
Wasn’t Chen Xiangjun supposed to be on night watch in the warehouse last night?
Bai Xiaotong couldn’t understand it. Her intuition told her she had been schemed against by the female lead, Hu Xiulan.
Hu Xiulan must have learned of her plan, manipulated the situation, sent her to Lu Ling’s bed, and then staged a “cheating” scene to ruin her future.
Hu Xiulan was the female lead, and she was the extreme female supporting character. It was only natural for Hu Xiulan to harm her, but why was Lu Ling dragged into this?
In the dream, because of this incident, Lu Ling was sentenced to six years in prison. Although he was later exonerated and released, he had already served time, and the impact on him was still significant.
In Bai Xiaotong’s memory, Lu Ling had no real connection with the current male and female leads.
He would become the major antagonist after his release from prison, not now.
Yes, Lu Ling was a troublemaker, disliked both in the compound and at the factory, but that didn’t justify harming him and sending him to prison!
Or perhaps Lu Ling was just an unlucky victim—Hu Xiulan needed someone like him to carry out her scheme against her, and he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Bai Xiaotong shook her head, deciding not to dwell on it for now.
Perhaps this was just a plot necessity, after all, he was the future major antagonist.
In any case, the two of them were now like grasshoppers tied to the same rope, bound together.
Lu Ling narrowed his eyes, watching the woman who had been lost in thought and then shook her head. He asked, “If it wasn’t you, then someone else set this up?”
The major antagonist was quite clever, immediately grasping the key point of the matter.
Bai Xiaotong really wanted to tell him that this was related to Hu Xiulan, but when she thought of her own chastity and the child in her womb, she temporarily held back those words.
With Lu Ling’s vengeful nature, if he knew Hu Xiulan was the one who schemed against him, he would undoubtedly confront the male and female leads. If the major antagonist appeared ahead of schedule, who knew what chaos would ensue?
Bai Xiaotong didn’t want that.
They were the protagonists, after all, with the protagonist halo. They wouldn’t be easy to deal with, and in the end, it would be the supporting characters and antagonists like them who would suffer.
In the dream, although Bai Xiaotong didn’t see Lu Ling’s ultimate fate, under normal circumstances, antagonists would inevitably fail in the end—only the protagonists could achieve victory.
After foreseeing the future, Bai Xiaotong had absolutely no desire to get close to the male and female protagonists again. All she wanted was to preserve her own life and live her days in peace.
Similarly, she also wanted Lu Ling to stay away from those two.
After all, the two of them had already shared a bed and even had a child on the way.
With last night’s precognitive dream, Bai Xiaotong dared not take any medicine or attempt to induce an abortion. The best solution was to find someone to marry and give birth to the child.
If she had to marry, the man before her was undoubtedly the best choice, since he was the child’s biological father.
Although his background was poor and everyone looked down on him,
Bai Xiaotong knew this was only temporary. In less than two years, things like background and class would become relics of the past, and everything would take a turn for the better.
So, enduring a little hardship was no big deal.
As for feelings or anything like that, Bai Xiaotong didn’t dwell on it too much. The most important thing now was to secure a legitimate identity for herself and the child. If the two of them couldn’t make it work in the future, they could always divorce.
Bai Xiaotong pouted and whispered, “Whether someone is trying to harm you, I really don’t know. Yesterday, I drank a bit too much at the dance, and I don’t remember how I ended up here. But you…”
She eyed the man before her suspiciously, “You didn’t take advantage of me being drunk and bring me here, did you? And now that you’re awake, you don’t want to take responsibility, so you’re trying to shift the blame onto me?”
Of course, that wasn’t what had happened.
Last night, she had personally slipped the drug into Lu Ling’s tea mug. At the time, she had no idea the mug on the small table belonged to Lu Ling—she thought it was Chen Xiangjun’s, assuming he was on night duty.
Who knew that one wrong step would lead to another? After the dance, she stumbled over, drunk and disoriented. In the pitch darkness, she couldn’t see a thing, and things ended up this way.
Sigh, if anyone was to blame, it was her. She had harmed him, dragged him into this mess.
But how could she dare say any of this?
If he found out, not only would marriage and raising the child be impossible, but her own life might be in danger.
The urgent task now was to gloss over the incident and get the marriage certificate.
Bai Xiaotong looked at him, wearing an expression of grievance and resentment.
Lu Ling gritted his teeth in anger, “You’re getting bolder, daring to slander me now?”
Bai Xiaotong quickly backed down, “Fine, if it’s not true, then it’s not. I was just saying. Probably, we were both drunk last night, and things just happened in a daze. It was a coincidence, nothing more.
Anyway, I never intended to harm you, and I certainly don’t have any ill intentions. What happened last night was the responsibility of both of us. Since things have come to this, why don’t we just make do and get married?”
If she hadn’t been so drunk, she would have realized the person wasn’t who she thought and run away, and none of this would have happened.
But now…
Sigh!
Bai Xiaotong sighed inwardly, hoping only that Lu Ling wouldn’t dwell on the details and, given her stunning beauty, would agree to marry her.
Lu Ling looked at Bai Xiaotong before him—her hair disheveled, clothes in disarray, yet as beautiful as a fairy—and snorted with a laugh, “So, your goal is to marry me?”
Bai Xiaotong was taken aback for a moment, then nodded gently, “I already told you before—I like you.”
Bai Xiaotong really wanted to say, “My innocence is gone, and I’m carrying your child. You have to take responsibility for me!”
But Lu Ling was the type who responded better to softness than to force. If she said that, he might misunderstand it as a threat, and that wouldn’t be good.
But just as her words fell, Lu Ling growled, “Nonsense!”
Bai Xiaotong was startled and instinctively hit his shoulder, “What’s wrong with you, suddenly being so fierce, you scared me!”
Lu Ling grabbed her hand, “My patience is limited, tell me the truth!”
Someone who usually wouldn’t even look at him properly suddenly crawled into his bed and said it was because she liked him—who would believe that?
Tsk, this guy is really hard to fool.
Facing Lu Ling’s gloomy gaze, Bai Xiaotong didn’t know what to say either. Just as she was about to ask for his thoughts, voices and footsteps suddenly came from outside.
Bai Xiaotong’s heart skipped a beat, and she grabbed Lu Ling tightly, “Oh no, someone’s coming, what do we do?”