Although Tang Lingyi had firmly resolved to keep playing the role of Tian Suzheng, she was now so furious that she completely forgot her plan and just spoke her mind.
And after blurting it out, Tang Lingyi felt an incredible sense of relief—as if a stone lodged in her throat had finally dropped into her stomach, clearing the way for smooth breathing.
It really felt good to tell the truth.
"Hahaha—"
Unfortunately, just a few seconds after she finished speaking, Qin Xiu burst into unrestrained laughter from across the room.
"Qing'er, is this the excuse you spent over ten days concocting? It's embarrassingly flimsy."
Tang Lingyi shot back, "I'm not Tian Suzheng at all! I'm just a phantom thief who disguised myself as her to steal your data. If you don't believe me, go ahead and check my fingerprints and iris scans—they're completely different from Tian Suzheng's!"
Qin Xiu scrutinized Tang Lingyi carefully. Seeing how relaxed her demeanor was and how confidently she spoke, his thick eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"So you anticipated I might catch you and altered your biometrics in advance, didn't you?" Qin Xiu immediately jumped to a more elaborate conclusion.
Tang Lingyi rolled her eyes instantly. This guy's IQ couldn't possibly exceed that of a preschooler.
At that moment, the mercenaries downstairs had already climbed up and started carrying out the room's collection of figurines, toys, and furniture.
"Why so quiet now? Did I hit the nail on the head?" Qin Xiu pressed.
"You—"
Tang Lingyi began to retort, but by then, she was gradually regaining her composure.
Upon reflection, she realized there was absolutely no benefit in revealing her true identity.
After all, she was here to steal information. If Qin Xiu actually believed her and resorted to extreme methods to extract details about her organization, she'd end up betraying her entire team.
After weighing her options, Tang Lingyi calmed down and decided it was wiser to continue impersonating Tian Suzheng while searching for an opportunity to escape.
So she said flatly, "Fine, you're just too clever. I've got nothing more to say."
"If you've nothing more to say, then there's no need to say anything at all. I hope the rest of your days are just as pleasant," Qin Xiu replied, clearly detecting the sarcasm in her tone—but he merely smiled and turned to leave.
He didn't believe a word of "Tian Suzheng's" story. Even if her fingerprints and iris scans didn't match, he'd assume Tian Suzheng had prepared for this scenario in advance.
After all, that woman had deceived him far too many times. He wouldn't trust even a single punctuation mark coming from her lips.
In fact, he was starting to suspect that the discovery of the Tianye Group's confidential documents and those strange gadgets on her person was yet another one of Tian Suzheng's schemes.
"Oh, by the way," Qin Xiu added, glancing at the piles of snack wrappers scattered on the floor, "she's been eating too much lately. Tell the kitchen staff to put her on a stricter diet." With those final words, he vanished from Tang Lingyi's sight.
After Qin Xiu left, the remaining men finished clearing the room and gradually departed as well. In no time, the vast villa was once again left empty—only Tang Lingyi remained.
The room, once filled with figurines and gaming consoles, now stood barren, mirroring the emptiness in Tang Lingyi's heart after losing her game save data.
She silently wiped the corner of her mouth, removing the blood, then sat down right where she was and stared blankly into space.
She'd just been forcibly kissed by a man—and he'd even bitten her lip hard enough to draw blood. For Tang Lingyi, who was biologically male, this was an immense humiliation. Worse still…
That had been her first kiss! The kiss she'd saved for her future wife—stolen away by some deranged man.
Fine. Qin Xiu, just you wait. If I ever get out of here…
You're going to regret it big time!
With her gaming console confiscated, Tang Lingyi's mindset began to shift. After two encounters with Qin Xiu, she'd realized he was clearly unstable—and he'd never willingly release "Tian Suzheng."
Moreover, her organization hadn't come to rescue her despite days passing. They were probably struggling with the infiltration themselves.
If that was the case, she'd have to find a way to escape on her own.
She briefly considered knocking out the servant who delivered her meals and using their clothes to sneak out—but Qin Xiu had already anticipated that. Now, her meals were brought by heavily armed mercenaries, and they periodically checked on her inside the villa, making escape even more impossible.
As a phantom thief, escaping was supposed to be second nature—but Tang Lingyi's usual methods relied heavily on advanced gadgets and the element of surprise created by her cross-dressing disguises.
Now, all her tools had been confiscated, and she was already dressed as a woman from the start. She truly couldn't think of a viable escape plan.
Without her games, Tang Lingyi passed the time in the fourth-floor study, where she found quite a few interesting books. But reading dense text gave her a headache after just a few pages, so she gave up, flopped onto Tian Suzheng's soft bed, and dozed off.
Unbeknownst to the sleeping Tang Lingyi, the real ordeal of her captivity was only just beginning.
Beyond the boredom of losing her games, her meals had also changed drastically. What used to be delicious feasts of chicken, duck, fish, and meat had been replaced by bland boiled greens and plain tofu ever since Qin Xiu's visit. Combined with her frustration over being imprisoned, the food tasted utterly flavorless.
She'd actually gained a bit of weight during the early days of her confinement—but now she'd lost it all again.
But the biggest issue was the growing sense of suffocation. Humans naturally crave freedom, and the longer she was locked up, the stronger her desire to break free became.
Sometimes, the crushing loneliness left her no choice but to scream just to release the pressure.
Notably, on the very afternoon Qin Xiu left, the mercenaries brought in a small television. At first, Tang Lingyi thought maybe Qin Xiu had unexpectedly shown a shred of humanity, worried she'd go insane from boredom.
But when she turned it on, she was utterly stunned.
The TV played only one thing: a secretly recorded video of Tian Suzheng and her lover in bed together.
So this was his plan—to force Tian Suzheng to watch herself in compromising acts day after day until she broke down mentally?
She really had underestimated just how twisted Qin Xiu was.
The lighting in the video was dim, but Tian Suzheng's alluring figure was still clearly visible. Honestly, though, Tang Lingyi thought her own current body looked even better.
Still, Tian Suzheng's beauty and seductive aura were undeniably captivating—especially the way she straddled the man, tossing her hair and gazing at him with hazy, lustful eyes. It left Tang Lingyi momentarily spellbound.
Yet despite Tian Suzheng's stunning looks and sensual charm, Tang Lingyi felt no stirrings of male desire.
The reason was simple: Tian Suzheng looked exactly like her. It was as if someone had used some AI face-swap tool to paste her own features onto another woman. Watching it felt deeply unsettling.
After all, who in their right mind could feel aroused looking at their own face? If that were possible, Tang Lingyi would get turned on every time she glanced in a mirror.
So she switched off the TV and resolved never to turn it on again.
Three days passed in this imprisoned state after Qin Xiu's departure.
Unable to devise an escape plan, Tang Lingyi began searching Tian Suzheng's room for any useful information from her past.
Inside, she discovered a diary filled with Tian Suzheng's overflowing love for Qin Xiu. Reading it only fueled Tang Lingyi's anger—if a girl who adored him this much still chose to cheat, Qin Xiu must have done something truly monstrous behind the scenes.
Additionally, she learned that Tian Suzheng was actually a senior at Qianlan University in City S. The diary detailed her friendships and campus anecdotes.
Tang Lingyi knew of Qianlan University—it was City S's most prestigious private institution. Admission required not only top-tier academic performance but also exceptional family background.
One of her high school classmates, a wealthy heir to a dozen demolished properties, still couldn't buy his way into Qianlan. That alone spoke volumes about how selective the university was.
Upon learning Tian Suzheng was a college student, Tang Lingyi fell into deep thought—then suddenly turned the television back on.
Staring at the entwined couple on screen, a faint smile curled at the corners of her lips.
Maybe… just maybe… she'd finally found a way out.