Chapter 40: The Submissive, Obsessive Top Student Part 1

She had another nightmare.

It was New Year’s, filled with laughter and joy. Red lanterns hung throughout the streets, creating a festive atmosphere everywhere. She leaned down to kiss the girl’s cheek, and she could even hear the fireworks blooming in her ears.

Suddenly, a piercing car screech cut through the air, followed by utter chaos. Glass pierced into flesh and bone, tearing through skin and muscle. Blood poured endlessly from wounds all over her body. Her vision was nothing but crimson. She tried to pull that person away, but the steel beast crushed over them once more…

“No…”

Her phone rang, jolting the woman awake from the nightmare. She struggled for a long time before finally opening her eyes. The System softly reminded her, “Pick up. It’s a call from back home.”

She draped one arm over her forehead to shield her eyes and answered with the other hand. The voice from the phone came through as if separated by a thin membrane from another world, muffled and indistinct.

It took two repetitions for her to understand. The woman let out a slightly cold laugh from her throat. “What, has the old man finally decided to let me come back?”

The secretary on the other end didn’t speak, only urging awkwardly, “Come back soon.”

There was one sentence left unsaid: If you don’t come back soon, we won’t be able to hold on much longer.

Shi Qingyi hung up and closed her eyes. It took a good while before she slowly opened them again. This was autumn in a foreign land, exactly three years since that car accident. Aside from occasional nightmares, she had cut off all contact with her homeland.

She still remembered the scene she woke to after the crash. It was New Year’s, a new year. Her father had finally made time to visit her, but his eyes were bloodshot. When she insisted on going to see Jiang Zhiyi, he slapped her, numbing half her face.

“Your mom is a lesbian, and so are you. Do you know how humiliating that is for me?”

He flung the dashcam footage at her. It recorded her actively kissing another girl. It hit her so hard she could barely stand, her legs going weak.

From the other ward came urgent cries. Jiang Zhiyi’s aunt was sobbing uncontrollably, while her uncle demanded compensation from Song Zhiming’s parents…

“Fifty thousand! No fifty thousand, and we’ll drag the body to your doorstep. Let your son rot in prison for life…”

“Forty-eight thousand, not a penny less. I’ve paid off my gambling debts, and there’s my daughter’s tuition. I’m telling you, without hundreds of thousands, your son can forget ever getting out. Damn it, haggling like that…”

Jiang Zhiqing was still sobbing softly, whimpering. The hospital was a chaotic mess. Gu Chuanjing held her, comforting her quietly. Everyone was looking out for themselves. No one—no one—thought about the girl still in that ward, how she was doing…

Was she badly hurt? Was she in pain…?

She suddenly opened her eyes, feeling as if something clogged her chest, making it hard to breathe. Then came the forced arrangement to go abroad—a departure that lasted three years.

Now they finally let her return. The woman, no longer a girl, sat on the windowsill. This was the apartment she rented in Cape Town. Paintbrushes and canvases lay in disarray everywhere, pigments scattered across the floor.

She painted sunflowers alongside chaotic, incomprehensible color blocks.

She rested her hand on her knee. Cape Town’s late autumn breeze brushed her hand. Outside the window stretched candy-colored rooftops, extending to the horizon.

She buried her head in her knees, vaguely wondering if this was just another unrealistic dream.

The System comforted her softly, with pity and compassion. “It’s not a dream. You really are going back.”

Shi Qingyi had come to save the villainess. As the System, it could only guarantee her safety and keep the world’s original structure intact—the protagonists couldn’t die. In that accident three years ago, it had exhausted itself just to ensure Shi Qingyi survived without major incident.

The return trip was arranged swiftly. The man who once wished she’d never come back was now urgently setting everything up for her return.

After three years abroad, she truly had nothing worth taking back except herself—utterly destitute.

She returned in autumn, amid continuous drizzling rain. Her father’s secretary personally came to pick her up, holding an umbrella for her.

She stepped into the rain. The dense chill seeped into her bones, carried by the autumn wind. The secretary was a capable-looking middle-aged woman in her thirties or forties. She had expected this young miss to still be as dazzling with golden hair as she had been years ago.

Instead, a gaunt woman arrived. Her features were still delicate and beautiful, stripped of youthful innocence, now carrying a cold aloofness that kept others at bay. Upon closer look, she seemed haggard. The massive therapy expenses over the past three years apparently hadn’t pulled this heiress out of the car accident’s shadow.

She exuded a baseless fragility. The secretary sighed inwardly, thinking that even if she had moved on, returning now would drag her back in.

The call had said the old man was ill and would hand power to her. The Shi Family company was in the city center’s prime commercial district—prime real estate. When Shi Qingyi entered the building under her umbrella, the office was quiet, though occasional strange gazes fell on her.

Curious, probing, and those eager for drama.

Shi Qingyi ignored them, knowing the old man awaited her on the top floor. She took the elevator straight up. As they ascended, she spoke to the person beside her. “No matter what the old man says when I get back, I want to push for accessible pathways and facilities next—”

The secretary hesitated, but ultimately said nothing.

The door creaked open, followed by a piercing thunderclap. From inside came a bone-chilling mocking laugh. “What? Is Young Miss Shi atoning for her conscience?”

Shi Qingyi’s body stiffened instantly, her spine trembling faintly. Only after a long moment did she lift her head from the reports, inching her neck upward to gaze toward the back of the office.

Chestnut-brown hair cascaded over her shoulders. Her refined brows and eyes held a piercing chill. The gaze she fixed on Shi Qingyi was no longer the tender affection from years ago—it was ice-cold, reflecting the relentless rain outside. Chill laced her every feature.

Shi Qingyi’s heart clenched abruptly.

This was Jiang Zhiyi.

She stood frozen, unable to move for a moment, until the familiar yet estranged woman lowered her eyes coldly. “Aren’t we here to discuss cooperation today? If your precious heiress keeps standing there, we won’t get anywhere.”

Only then did Father Shi, seated nearby, cough awkwardly. “Qingyi, come sit down already?”

It was at this point that she noticed the office was full of people, with only one seat empty—beside Jiang Zhiyi.

Specially reserved for her.

Shi Qingyi barely paid attention to the so-called meeting. Her ears rang only with the thunder and rain outside.

She only realized the extent of her father’s company losses when she flipped through the reports: at least five hundred million in deficits. Funds were frozen by the bank; they teetered on bankruptcy’s edge.

Throughout the meeting, Jiang Zhiyi was aggressive, far from the gentle, timid little pitiful in her memories. By the end, her father couldn’t even lift his head. It concluded with Jiang Zhiyi slamming the documents on the table.

“I don’t think your company is showing enough sincerity.”

Her voice held no warmth.

Father Shi tried to say something, but the aggressive woman across from him was already preparing to leave. She didn’t stand, however—her secretary pushed her out of the office.

Only then did Shi Qingyi see her lower body, hidden behind the desk.

She wore an exquisite, expensive suit that accentuated her slender waist. But one pant leg hung empty—missing a leg.

…

That nightmare assaulted her again, indescribable agony filling her vision with gore and shattered flesh. Shi Qingyi jolted awake, realizing she had fallen asleep in the office.

Outside, autumn rain pattered against the thirty-second floor’s windows. Since her return, it had been chaos—cleaning up the mess. Her father hadn’t lied; nearing fifty, his health had deteriorated. After a lifetime of glory, facing bankruptcy had broken him, forcing him to call her back.

Funding chains severed, bank freezes—they couldn’t extricate themselves. Bankruptcy would saddle them with countless employees’ life savings.

She had pulled all-nighters for days and finally succumbed to sleep.

Her phone rang. The man on the other end hesitated before speaking. “Qingyi, if Huiteng agrees to partner with us, we can rise from the ashes. I…”

Huiteng was Jiang Zhiyi’s grandfather’s company—or more precisely, now under Jiang Zhiyi’s management. Shi Qingyi cut straight to it. “What do you want?”

Father Shi gave a bitter laugh. It wasn’t about what he wanted anymore—it was what she wanted.

“I think… if you went to negotiate personally, there might still be a chance…”

After all, that person had once shared such an intimate relationship with his daughter.

Shi Qingyi: “…”

She saw it now—her father had called her back with the intent to sell her off.

After a long silence, with the call still connected, the exhausted girl finally sighed softly. “Dad, do you remember what you said back then?”

That furious man had slapped her in the hospital ward, even after she had barely survived death, all because she liked a girl. It was intolerable. Who could have imagined that just three years later, he would willingly send his own daughter into someone else’s arms?

Or more bluntly, into their bed.

Long silence on the other end. Shi Qingyi hung up without an answer.

The System poked its head out quietly. “Host, the previous blackening value cleared to zero. Now it’s… broken a hundred—”

Shi Qingyi: “…”

These days were truly unbearable. In the car, she wearily rubbed her forehead, unable to fathom why she drew such hatred.

Her first stop was the company. The front desk politely made her wait half an hour before regretfully informing her that the general manager was unwell and had gone home to rest.

Shi Qingyi: “…”

After inquiring about the home address, she drove to the suburban villa. Heavy rain poured by the time she arrived; the sky was misty and dim. As she stepped out, the System immediately reminded her, “Don’t forget the umbrella!”

Shi Qingyi closed her eyes and sighed softly. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Frankly, she didn’t fully grasp it herself. If she had returned directly to the time after Jiang Zhiyi’s disability, she could accept any torment.

But she hadn’t. She had clearly pulled Jiang Zhiyi from that horrific fate. Jiang Zhiyi had been willing to trust her, willing to live on. Yet destiny had mocked her again, leaving Jiang Zhiyi disabled anyway.

She closed her eyes. The System fell silent with her. Only the downpour soaked her, bringing a damp chill.

The autumn rain carried biting wind, drenching her relentlessly. The old butler opened the door, looking troubled. “Miss Jiang accidentally fell asleep. Without her permission, we can’t let anyone in.”