Chapter 47: The Caged Bird Infected with a Vicious Disease (2) Part 1

Bai Qian: “……”

No longer tempted by anything else, Jian Wanqing finally saw the cold detachment on the woman’s face.

That expression hit like a massive ice block plunged into a pot of boiling water, instantly chilling any spark of passion to the bone.

Jian Wanqing’s face fell in an instant. The eager light in her eyes shattered, replaced by a hint of dejection. “You really don’t want to keep going? Is it because you don’t like me anymore?”

With her head bowed and eyes downcast, she looked every bit the pitiful little dog cruelly abandoned by its owner—heartbreakingly so.

Bai Qian looked away, refusing to meet her gaze. Lacking any better excuse, she doubled down on this subjective yet impossible-to-refute one. “That’s right. I don’t want to continue. The room’s already booked, so let’s just crash here and sleep it off.”

“No way! I came here to hook up with you—not just to share a bed platonically!”

After that crisp rejection, something seemed to click for her. A brilliant spark reignited in Jian Wanqing’s eyes. “It’s fine if you don’t like me. I like you, and that’s enough. Miss Bai Qian, please—I’m begging you, let’s do it. I really, really like you. I promise, just once. Once I’m satisfied, I’ll leave like a good girl. Deal?”

“Miss Jian, we only just met. We’ve known each other for less than half an hour, and you’re already declaring your ‘love’? That makes your feelings sound awfully cheap.”

She figured she’d nailed the flaw in the girl’s logic. A little mockery like this ought to douse any lingering flames.

But she’d underestimated Jian Wanqing’s thick skin. Far from wounded, the girl nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “You’re gorgeous. Falling for you at first sight is totally normal, right? And with all those people in the bar, why’d you pick me? Gotta be because I match your type too. Am I right?”

“……”

The sweet, tantalizing scent hovered so close, yet remained just out of reach. The starved wolf, teased to the brink, finally snapped. “Come on, we both eyed each other up to come here and /get it on/. We haven’t even gotten to the main event—why nitpick the details? It’s not like the world’s ending tomorrow. Want to know more about me? I’ll fill you in later, nice and slow. Worried about my health? Relax—I get full checkups every year, and this is my first hookup ever. I’m spotless!”

Even in the face of such earnest self-promotion, Bai Qian’s refusal came down like a guillotine.

“Sorry, Miss Jian. Clean or not, my mind’s made up.”

When even that failed to crack her resolve, Jian Wanqing’s patience finally snapped. “What the hell is wrong with you? You dragged me here, and now you’re chickening out at the last second! Fine, no sex, no sex. Good women might be rare as hen’s teeth, but two-legged ones? The bar’s crawling with ’em. I don’t believe for a second I can’t find someone hotter than you! You’re a total buzzkill. Hope I never lay eyes on you again!”

Spitting those resentful words, she whirled around without a second thought and stormed out, slamming the door behind her just as decisively as she’d arrived.

Bai Qian knew she’d botched the handling of this. Without that earlier kiss clouding her judgment, she could’ve come up with a smoother way to talk her down.

But her mind was a whirlwind right now, too chaotic for clear thought—and that’s how things had spiraled.

Her face froze. Hold on—hadn’t Jian Wanqing just said she was heading back to the bar for someone else?

Bai Qian couldn’t play it cool anymore. She bolted after her.

All the while cursing inwardly: maybe from the second she’d entered this world, only one path had ever been laid out before her—

To step in for the male lead and see this fated night through to its inevitable end.

Jian Wanqing stormed off with all the conviction she could muster. Deep down, though, only she knew how little she actually wanted to leave.

Even with the woman’s icy rejection, Jian Wanqing still found her stunning—like, breathtakingly so. She ached to see that flawless face flushed at the corners of her eyes, tears streaming down as she whimpered for mercy, begging her to take it slow.

But pride was pride. After so many flat-out nos, no amount of infatuation would let her keep throwing herself at the woman’s feet.

She was just one ridiculously hot babe, after all!

The bar was packed with stunners. No way she couldn’t snag another.

She hadn’t taken two steps before the bravado crumbled from her face.

Jian Wanqing felt utterly wronged. It wasn’t just the looks—she smelled amazing too, so irresistibly lovable. Someone this perfect? She’d never find another.

On the surface, she appeared calm, but inside, her emotions churned with complexity. No matter how reluctant she felt, she still made her way to the elevator.

Reason clamped down on her stirring impulses, terrified that she might do something utterly shameless like turning back.

Jian Wanqing let out a sigh and raised her hand to press the down button.

The elevator, parked at the top floor, began its descent. The woman stood quietly, waiting for it to arrive.

This floor held more than one room, so when footsteps sounded behind her, Jian Wanqing paid them no mind.

She simply hoped in silence that the elevator would hurry up. The longer she waited, the more likely she was to act against her better judgment.

At last, it arrived.

The instant the doors slid open, a hand reached out from behind her. Just as she was about to step inside, it seized her.

Her innate cool, crisp scent collided with the chill air wafting from the elevator.

It was like an ice cube dropped into a white porcelain bowl on a summer day, clinking against a plum wrapped in cold mist—a delightful reaction that stirred the heart.

“Can’t you do without it?”

Jian Wanqing steeled herself inwardly. That woman rejected you so heartlessly just now! You absolutely cannot turn back! Do not turn back! Reject her just as firmly!

Yet in reality, she couldn’t control her own thrilled body. She spun around at once, pulling the other woman into her arms and blurting out with stubborn urgency, “No, I want to be with you.”

~~~

The room lay shrouded in darkness.

Fleeting streaks of starlight, now long, now short, traced lines through the air.

Low moans accompanied slender jade fingers, taut with tension, leaving patches of rosy flush on pale, tender skin.

A delicate flower bloomed proudly in the dead of night, its petals exuding an enticing fragrance. The glistening dew it released was mesmerizing, soul-snaring.

Bai Qian’s eyes, filled with cold resistance and struggle, hid within the shadows. In the end, she could not escape her fate. When a hand reached out in plea, she let out a soft sigh. “Miss Jian, this is the last time.”

~~~

The next day.

Jian Wanqing woke first.

She was cradled in Bai Qian’s arms, her senses overwhelmed by the woman’s intoxicating scent.

Jian Wanqing tilted her head up slightly and gazed quietly at her for a moment. Unable to resist, she leaned in carefully and brushed a feather-light kiss against the corner of her lips.

She slipped out of bed with deliberate quietness. Even after she closed the door behind her and left, the woman on the bed remained fast asleep, eyes closed.

The bliss of the previous night was intoxicating, like marrow-deep satisfaction. She was a greedy wolf now—how could she possibly stop without truly savoring the taste of flesh?

But before that, she had a more pressing matter to resolve first.

~~~

Jian Wanqing pushed open the door.

This was the “home” where she had lived for over twenty years.

She looked at the man sitting rigidly on the sofa, his face dark with gloom, and sneered inwardly. Home? A cage was a far more fitting description.

“Where were you last night?!”

A faint scent of dust hung in the air. Jian Wanqing could tell at a glance that the living room had changed since she’d left the day before.

The porcelain figurine that had stood beside the television was gone.

The potted plant in the corner had vanished.

Items that had adorned the space for years had disappeared overnight. It wasn’t hard to guess what had transpired here last night.

She watched coldly as Jian Zhaozhang strode toward her. That stern, rigid face of his had twisted into the terrifying expression that had always filled her with dread.

“Jian Wanqing, I’m asking you a question. Answer me!”

The man towered before her like an imposing mountain, yet he had never given her the security he should have. Instead, he had always weighed heavily on her heart, leaving her scarcely a moment to breathe.

“Yesterday, I went and made love with someone else.”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than a fierce gust of wind from his palm swept toward her. His large hand struck her cheek with brutal force, snapping her head to the side.

“Say that again—what did you do last night?!”

Jian Wanqing wiped her face and turned her head, meeting the blaze of fury in his eyes. Slowly, she curled her lips.

Half provocation, half liberation, she carved a bloody gash across his heart. “I said, last night I slept with a woman.”

~~~

Jian Wanqing hadn’t miscalculated. Having crossed the man’s final bottom line, she was unceremoniously thrown out of the house for good.

Standing at the roadside with her slightly swollen, reddened cheek, she felt the breeze sting like fire. Curious passersby glanced her way, but she didn’t care. All she felt was boundless relief.

She had finally broken free from that cage of a “home.”

Jian Wanqing had nothing left but the clothes on her back. When an empty taxi approached, she calmly raised her hand to flag it down.

The woman pulled open the car door and slid into the back seat. She lifted her gaze, catching the driver’s questioning look in the rearview mirror. “XX Hotel, please.”

~~~

Bai Qian had no idea that while she slept soundly, the Female Protagonist had experienced the most pivotal turning point of her life.

It wasn’t until two hours after Jian Wanqing had left that she truly woke up.

The woman went downstairs to check out of the hotel. Spotting the Sha County shop open right next door, she turned and stepped inside.

In the Original Plot, the Female Protagonist woke up the next day and rushed straight home to tell Jian Zhaozhang everything.

The deeply traditional man could not tolerate such a thing.

In a towering rage, Jian Zhaozhang threw her out of the house.

Penniless from head to toe, Jian Wanqing wandered aimlessly along the streets. By sheer chance, she ran into the male protagonist, who was out on another predatory hunt.