Bang bang bang!!!
Seeing that the woodshed door was about to be smashed, Chu Ling panicked, instantly jumped up from the chamber pot, and braced herself hard against the door.
But she was, after all, a girl—and a stomach-cancer patient, weak and exhausted.
She was no match for an adult man in strength and faced the danger of the door being broken down at any moment......
At the critical moment!
Chu Ling remembered that at the hospital Lin Xuan's heart-voice had revealed he would send people to secretly protect her......
"Whatever, desperate times call for desperate measures!"
"Even if I can't call them out, at least I can alarm the neighbors......"
"I don't believe that bastard Chu Xiong would dare do anything to me in front of other villagers?!"
"......."
Thinking of this.
Chu Ling took a deep breath, clenched her fists, her face flushed red, and let out the sharpest, highest-decibel scream of her life:
Aaaaaaaaaaaah——!!!!!!!!
In the silent Chu Family Village, the sound was extremely conspicuous; in an instant quite a few drowsy villagers were startled awake.
Even Chu Xiong sobered up more than half at once; he froze on the spot, at a loss, and when he came back to his senses, he immediately tried to stop Chu Ling.
The village was that small, with plenty of women who loved gossip; the tiniest matter could spread throughout the village in a flash.
Chu Ling was, after all, his daughter in name!
If tonight's incident got out, rumors would fly immediately, and who knew what it would turn into....
No one knew those aunties' "combat power" better than Chu Xiong.
His lust evaporated; feeling guilty, he wanted to turn and leave, still cursing under his breath.
"Wretched girl, you—you... what are you howling like a ghost for? Shut up, you'll scare people to death!"
"If the others in the village hear this, what will they think I'm doing?"
"If you won't open, then don't open! You damned girl, just wait till tomorrow and see how I'll... huh? Who are you? What are you doing, let go of me, hey—help...."
"......"
Inside the woodshed.
Chu Ling had just been congratulating herself on escaping disaster when a commotion sounded outside; mixed into it was Chu Xiong's frightened, uneasy cry, which vanished in a flash.
She blanked for a moment, tiptoed to the window, peered out through the crack, and was surprised to find several burly men in black had appeared at the house.
As for the couple Chu Xiong and his wife, both had already been knocked out on the ground.....
Sensing Chu Ling's peeking, the burly leader turned and came toward the woodshed, explaining their purpose from outside the door.
"Miss Chu, don't be afraid! We were sent by Young Master Lin to protect you."
"Young Master Lin instructed us..... if you're willing, you can come with us. Would you....."
"Hurry, hurry, I'll go with you!"
Without even thinking, Chu Ling opened the door and urged the man to set off quickly.
She had seen this man at the hospital before and immediately recognized him as Lin Xuan's bodyguard.
Ah... what?!
The group of bodyguards looked at each other; they'd thought they would have to persuade her for a long time?!
They hadn't expected Chu Ling not only to show no resistance at all, but even to look eager and impatient.....
All the better; it saved them a lot of talking.
Thus, the group traveled through the night, hurrying back to Magic City......
........
The next morning, at dawn.
Lin Xuan woke early and pushed Su Qingge in her wheelchair for a stroll in the manor, enjoying tranquil times.
At this moment.
Smiles couldn't be held back on both their faces; they were in high spirits.
Especially Su Qingge—her smile hadn't left the corner of her lips, all because when she woke this morning, she discovered her throat had fully recovered.
Her speech was no longer broken and slurred.
(^▽^) This made her overjoyed!!!
Ring ring——
Just then!
A burst of ringtone sounded; Lin Xuan answered, and Ma Yingzhe's voice came from the other end.
"BOSS, about Chu Ling, whom you told me to send people to protect last time......"
Two and a half minutes later.
Chu Ling's experiences after returning to the village, and her current situation being relocated to the hospital, were all known to Lin Xuan.
........
'My foolish little cousin! It seems she finally avoided the most unfortunate ordeal in the plot.'
'She shouldn't end up with a tragic fate anymore, right.....'
'Now that she has seen the true faces of the couple Chu Xiong and his wife, she presumably won't harbor unrealistic fantasies.'
'That's good too—having no relatives to rely on, only I, her cousin, remain, which makes it easier for me to control and make use of her.'
'But I must first think of a way to let her know she is the Tang family's true heiress....'
.......
After hanging up, Lin Xuan said nothing, lost in thought.
This pensive look immediately caught Su Qingge's attention.
She lifted her head, looked at the side of the man's face beside her, and asked curiously, "Whose call was that? Did something happen?"
"Oh, it's about my cousin......"
Lin Xuan chose not to hide it; he told Su Qingge everything about the Tang family's "real and fake heiress" life-swapping situation.
The girl's eyes widened as she listened, her face full of amazement.
Such a trope as a rich family's real and fake heiress being swapped almost only appears in TV dramas and movies; it's all but impossible in reality.
Yet it had happened in the Tang family.....
But when Tang Rou came to mind, an image of a delicate girl subconsciously surfaced in Su Qingge's mind.
After all, the Tang family was a great wealthy clan!
So, she had also attended business banquets they held and had met Tang Rou a few times....
How to put it?
The feeling the other girl gave her was... very "affected"—she spoke in a coquettish lilt, liked to put on a pinched voice, and pouted to act cute.
(○｀ 3′○).
Of course..... this look might indeed seem charming and adorable to men.
But in the eyes of Su Qingge, a fellow woman—hmm... a bit fake, and the moment she opened her mouth, it made Su Qingge's skin crawl.
.......
"I want to repair our relationship with the Tang family; it will be very helpful for our future business development...."
"But because of some accumulated conflicts in the past, to truly ease relations between the two families we need a suitable opportunity."
"Now the appearance of my cousin Chu Ling is the best point of entry...."
"......"
Unhurriedly, Lin Xuan outlined his business blueprint.
He had full trust in Su Qingge, so naturally there was no need to hide anything.
And the girl in the wheelchair was the same!
She listened with a smile and silently gave one hundred percent support to Lin Xuan's decision....
Even though she was quite curious about how Lin Xuan knew so much information.
If he didn't tell her, she wouldn't ask.
After all, everyone has their own secrets—she did too—so she wouldn't dig.
What she had to do... was give full trust and then support Lin Xuan with all her strength......
Because this man would absolutely never hurt her!!!!!
Su Qingge was one hundred percent certain, and believed it unwaveringly......