After helping Si Yuan into the car, Ye Mengyun quickly drove away from the scene of the incident, her front end dented.
Once back on the main road, Ye Mengyun made sure no suspicious vehicles were following behind before her tense nerves relaxed slightly. She then secretly glanced at the rearview mirror, checking on her target.
In the heat of the moment, she had placed Si Yuan in the nearest back seat instead of the front passenger seat, allowing Ye Mengyun to check on her through the mirror.
Ye Mengyun assumed a girl who had experienced something like this would be terrified and cried, and she had already prepared words of comfort. However, when she saw Si Yuan in the rearview mirror, the words she was about to say were swallowed back down.
She clearly remembered that Si Yuan’s hair and clothes were disheveled from the struggle with the group before she got into the car, but she had only been slightly distracted by driving. During that time, Si Yuan had quietly tidied herself up as if nothing had happened, showing no signs of crying or distress. Her calm demeanor led Ye Mengyun to believe that Si Yuan was not a victim of the terrible incident but a bystander.
Thinking of the hardships her target had endured, Ye Mengyun felt a surge of sympathy, and at the same time, she found Lu Xue even more detestable.
How much suffering must a girl have endured to become so strong?
If Ye Mengyun hadn’t been driving, she might have been tempted to hug Si Yuan, who shouldn’t have had to suffer like this.
Fortunately, all of this was about to end today, right now. From now on, Si Yuan would be under her protection, and she wouldn’t let anyone bully her.
“Where do you live? I’ll take you home.”
To prevent those people from surrounding Si Yuan at her residence, Ye Mengyun decided to personally escort her to her doorstep. Of course, she secretly wanted to take this person back to her villa and treat her well, since if those thugs knew where she lived, it certainly wouldn’t be a safe place.
“Just pull over on the side of the road ahead.” Si Yuan’s gaze was coldly fixed on the roadside, as if she were simply riding a public bus and the bus stop was right in front of her.
“Ahead?” Ye Mengyun glanced into the distance. There was a straight road ahead, and while there were parking spaces, the roadside was lined with dense greenery and walls; there were no buildings, let alone any residential areas.
Ye Mengyun guessed that Si Yuan didn’t want to trouble her, but she wasn’t annoyed. She feigned complaint, saying, “Shouldn’t you be happy to accept my offer to take you home? Don’t be shy. It’s just a quick drive. It’s not safe for a girl to be out alone at night, especially a pretty girl like you.”
Si Yuan remained unmoved by Ye Mengyun’s gesture, coldly replying, “No need to trouble yourself.” Every word was filled with distance.
Ye Mengyun didn’t understand Si Yuan’s stubbornness, but she didn’t argue. Instead, she used her cheat code.
“System, tell me where Si Yuan lives now.” Ye Mengyun decided to drive to Si Yuan’s neighborhood herself before letting her out of the car; that would be much safer.
In this desolate place, even if Si Yuan had the guts of a bat, Ye Mengyun wouldn’t dare leave her here. She had already decided to protect Si Yuan and couldn’t let her face any more danger.
“She has nowhere to go,” 0348 checked and said, “Because of Lu Xue’s persecution, she can only earn money through this part-time job at the bar. That little money is far from enough in the big city. She’s already a month behind on rent, and the landlord just changed her locks. Now she has nowhere to go.”
“Nowhere to go?” Ye Mengyun heard the key words and her eyes lit up instantly. “Isn’t that perfect for taking her to my place?” Ye Mengyun was more than happy for her to have nowhere to go.
Si Yuan could feel the car, which was about to stop, suddenly accelerate again.
At this moment, Ye Mengyun pretended to be serious and said, “Since I destroyed a car to save you, I have to be responsible for your safety to the end. Either let me take you back to your place, or don’t even think about getting out of the car.” After saying that, she shamelessly pressed the lock button on the back door, preventing Si Yuan from opening it.
Si Yuan hadn’t expected to encounter such a strange person so persistent in helping others. She finally turned her gaze away from the window and glanced at the petite woman in the driver’s seat. She didn’t think this woman could do anything to her, so she remained silent. She wanted to see where this woman would drive, or how long, without letting her out of the car.
Although Ye Mengyun had firmly locked the car door, she was still a little afraid of Si Yuan, occasionally peeking at her in the rearview mirror to make sure she wasn’t angry.
Fortunately, Si Yuan seemed genuinely uninterested in anything, and after being forcibly locked in the car, she simply leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.
Ye Mengyun pouted and complained to the system, “Do I look that safe? Wasn’t she threatened by me just a second ago? How dare she rest?”
“Your appearance is indeed harmless,” 0348 bluntly stated.
Ye Mengyun was instantly defeated by the system. From her observation, Lu Xue, this imposter female lead, was the kind of ultimate boss who hides until the very end in TV dramas—how could she look so innocent and cute? Then she regained her composure and said, “Perhaps I can show off a few wicked smiles?” She remembered seeing herself reflected in the glass when she first arrived; that smile was chilling.
“Come on, you don’t have that kind of innate wickedness,” 0348 continued bluntly.
Although she said that, Ye Mengyun didn’t actually intend to scare her target. What she needed to do now was increase the target female lead’s favorability. The chances of girls developing a strange friendship were quite high, and then she could have Zhou Zixuan come over and cultivate a romance—the mission would be perfectly accomplished! Just thinking about it made her happy.
Since Si Yuan wasn’t afraid of anything, Ye Mengyun stopped pretending. After swerving around the driveway a few times, she drove towards her villa.
Si Yuan wasn’t actually asleep; she had just closed her eyes to rest, waiting to see what tricks the woman in front of her would play. She only slowly opened her eyes when she felt the car finally stop.
The car was already parked in the garage.
Ye Mengyun was quite satisfied with her parking skills, clapped her hands, picked up her backpack, and unlocked the back seat, saying, “We’re at my house, get out!” She turned to look at Si Yuan.
However, Ye Mengyun had only just turned her head when she heard the back door open, and Si Yuan was already standing outside the car.
Hehe, my trick of forcibly taking her home still works.
Just as Ye Mengyun was feeling smug, she noticed that Si Yuan, after getting out of the car, didn’t walk towards the villa’s main gate but went straight out into the yard.
“She’s not planning to walk home, is she!” Ye Mengyun gritted her teeth in anger, quickly opened the car door, and without even putting on her shoes, got out and chased after Si Yuan.
“Hey! What are you doing? I offered to take you home, but you wouldn’t let me. Now that we’re at my house, you’re going to walk back yourself?” Ye Mengyun shouted as she chased after her. Because she wasn’t wearing shoes, the gravel path was painfully rough on her feet, slowing her down considerably. With Si Yuan’s long legs, the other woman was already out of the yard in no time.
She couldn’t just let her go like that!
Ye Mengyun gritted her teeth and ran after her, enduring the pain.
“Ah!” Just as she was about to grab Si Yuan’s hand, Ye Mengyun felt a sharp pain in the sole of her foot and then lost her balance, falling to the ground.
Hearing Ye Mengyun’s cry so close by, and remembering that she had essentially saved her, Si Yuan turned to look. She saw Ye Mengyun sitting on the ground clutching her right foot, a cut on the sole of her right foot bleeding profusely, and a piece of glass standing right next to her in the mud.
“Why is there glass here?” Ye Mengyun complained, clutching her heel in pain.
“Why aren’t you wearing shoes?” Si Yuan frowned, looking at Ye Mengyun’s bare feet.
Hearing Si Yuan’s voice, Ye Mengyun remembered her business and quickly looked up. Seeing Si Yuan walking towards her, all her complaints vanished, replaced by a hint of smugness. Her little schemes started popping into her head again. Ye Mengyun praised the glass in front of her.
This glass came at just the right time! I don’t believe Si Yuan would just leave after seeing me like this.
People with the potential to be female leads are definitely not bad people.
Seizing the opportunity, Ye Mengyun looked at Si Yuan with a wronged expression and said, “You walked so fast, what if I put on my shoes and chased after you? What if you disappeared without a trace?”
Si Yuan had already reached her, looking down at Ye Mengyun with her usual aloof tone, “I’m just a stranger, you don’t need to care so much about me. I have nothing to repay you with.”
Ye Mengyun blinked, shamelessly saying, “I helped you only because I’m kind.” She pretended to struggle to her feet, letting blood drip from her leg, and still looked at the person in front of her with concern, saying, “It’s so late, let me call you a taxi, that way I’ll feel at ease.” She limped around, silently gathering her courage before hopping into the pebbles in the yard on one foot.
“System, do you think Si Yuan will be moved by me and stay?”
“I don’t know.” 0348 wasn’t clear about the target heroine’s current mental state either, after all, her experiences were too different from the original setting, and it was unknown whether she could maintain her personality.
Si Yuan’s gaze swept over Ye Mengyun’s bleeding foot, then pursed as she looked at her other bare foot. She stepped forward and pressed herself against Ye Mengyun.
Just as Ye Mengyun was about to launch her self-inflicted injury, suddenly someone grabbed her shoulder, followed by an arm across her leg.
Without warning, she was swept up in a horizontal embrace.
The sudden movement made Ye Mengyun instinctively hug the person’s neck, staring in shock at Si Yuan’s still expressionless face.
“System, Si Yuan’s boyfriend power is amazing! She just carried me like that?”
Ye Mengyun exclaimed to the system, then grinned happily at Si Yuan, saying, “My things are still in the car.”
Si Yuan, who had been heading towards the front door, paused, then turned and went to the garage, her steps steady and seemingly effortless.
After getting her things, Ye Mengyun couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t you tired? Should I get down and walk?”
“You’re not heavy,” Si Yuan said unmoved, carrying her into the house.
Inside, the motion-sensor lights automatically turned on, instantly illuminating the previously dark villa.
Si Yuan carefully placed Ye Mengyun on the sofa, glancing around as she asked, “Is there no one else at your house?”
Ye Mengyun nodded, looking pitiful, “Yes.”
Lu Xue probably didn’t want her true personality to be discovered, so after her parents’ death, she dismissed all outsiders and lived here alone.
Si Yuan frowned slightly, hesitating whether to treat the person’s wounds.
Ye Mengyun saw Si Yuan’s expression and quickly looked up at the person in front of her with the most pitiful expression possible, saying, “I’m in such a state now, it’s pitiful if no one takes care of me, you’ll stay, right?” Not afraid to push her luck, she pointed to a cabinet not far away, saying, “The first-aid kit is over there.”