C4 Chapter 4
“Stop her!” The CEO really did have that larger-than-life presence—he barked the order without hesitation.
Four burly bodyguards, built like brick walls, closed in from both sides. Ling Xiao had no choice but to stop.
Li Yifeng’s sharp brows knit together. Earlier, in front of the reporters, he’d said things he never should’ve said—completely inappropriate, with zero regard for his own reputation or his family’s name...
What the hell was wrong with him? Had he lost his mind? Or had someone slipped him something?
No. This weekend, he had to make a trip out to that temple in the suburbs—have the head monk do a cleansing or something.
The girl in front of him still looked vaguely familiar. Delicate features, strikingly pretty, a figure that drew the eye without even trying.
The kind of girl a CEO could fall for at first sight? Of course she wouldn’t be anything less than gorgeous.
But... looks can lie.
“You’re... Ling Xiao?” Li Yifeng couldn’t hide the doubt in his voice.
Her brows and lashes looked dusted with snow, yet her calm, deep-set eyes held a stolen glint of sunlight.
Beautiful as a rose, poised and elegant—like every good thing in the world had been piled onto her, and still it couldn’t cover the sheer brilliance she carried.
The CEO would never admit it, but standing in front of her, he faltered for a split second—almost taking a step back...
Ling Xiao looked composed, but inside, her mind was screaming.
Busted! What do I do now? Are they going to treat me like some kind of monster and burn me alive?
Small, helpless, and pathetic—someone save me!
System: Cut it out. You’re not panicking. Don’t forget—I’m synced with your soul.
Ling Xiao: Roach?
System: Can you not call me that? I’ve heard roaches don’t end well in certain comedies...
Ling Xiao: Roach, I just want to go home.
System: Finish the mission first. Tell you what—I’ll comp you an item. How about Seiya’s Diamond Dust?
Lingxiao: You’re a fake fan, aren’t you? That’s Zilong’s signature move.
System: That’s not the point. Deal with the crisis in front of you first.
Lingxiao gave the CEO a cool, indifferent nod. “Hi.”
Hi? Back in the day, she would’ve already thrown herself at him—pouting, clinging, acting lovesick.
Truth was, by now Li Yifeng was already tired of the “sweet-but-scheming” act. He wasn’t doting on her the way he did at first. And with Zhu Ling’er being so impressive right beside her, it only made Lingxiao look even more performative and painfully average.
“What exactly was that with my mom just now?”
“I think your mom might’ve gotten a little shaken up.”
“Bullshit! My mom’s a tough woman—how could you possibly rattle her?” The CEO clearly didn’t buy it.
Lingxiao swept him with a cold glance. “Then go home and ask her.”
The CEO took a deep breath. “Lingxiao, I’ll admit I haven’t been attentive these past few months. But you’re still the girlfriend I publicly acknowledged. I need you to behave and stop causing trouble, okay?”
Lingxiao turned to leave, but four expressionless bodyguards closed in around her.
“Move.” Her face stayed icy, her voice quiet and chilling.
The CEO sneered. “Don’t push your luck. Until we get to the bottom of what’s going on with my mom, you’re not going anywhere.”
“I’m really your girlfriend?” Lingxiao tilted her head slightly, looking at him.
“Yeah, but… if you don’t listen, I’ve got plenty of ways to deal with you.” The CEO sounded every bit as arrogant as ever.
“Trash. We’re done.”
The CEO thought he’d misheard. How did the little pushover from before suddenly have the nerve?
“What the hell did you say? Lingxiao! Are you looking to die?”
Lingxiao snapped her fingers without hesitation.
“Ding! Diamond Stardust Fist activated! Duration: three minutes.”
Lingxiao never wasted time. She clenched her small fists and launched forward.
Bam, bam, bam! Every punch landed solid—fast, brutal, and relentless!
Four highly trained bodyguards had just been beaten senseless by Ling Xiao. They lay sprawled not far away, too battered to even crawl.
The CEO stood there, jaw hanging open. *Did I get myself a fake girlfriend or what?*
Ling Xiao turned and walked off like it was nothing.
She flagged down a cab at the curb and, after a maze of turns, finally made it back to the original owner’s home.
It was an old, run-down apartment building in a low-income neighborhood. People said it would be torn down someday, but the residents had been waiting more than ten years, and nobody from the city had ever shown up with relocation checks to help them start over.
The original owner lived on the top floor. Her parents had lost their jobs years ago during a corporate shake-up and had been crammed into a roughly 750-square-foot place ever since. On market days, they’d set up a small stall, or they’d pick up work nearby—helping out in a factory kitchen, anything to get by.
In short: they were broke. Dirt poor.
No wonder, back in college, when the original owner met Li Yifeng, she’d gotten greedy and clung to him so desperately.
“Ling Xiao!” Her father, Wang Cheng, came out of the kitchen holding a bowl of noodles. “Eat something. Aren’t you hungry?”
Ling Xiao shook her head coldly and went straight to her room.
She wandered around the bedroom for a moment. Her parents had actually spoiled the original owner—like any ordinary family, they’d pinned their hopes on their daughter. No matter how poor they were, they still treated her like a little princess, always trying to give her the best.
The furniture was old, but everything was neat and organized, clean and tidy.
Too bad… she’d still let them down in the end.
“Ling Xiao, your brother called earlier,” Wang Cheng said. “He’s not coming home for dinner tonight. If you want, I can drive you back to campus.”
The dorms at college were decent enough, and with her rich, powerful boyfriend bankrolling her, the original owner’s life these past two years had been far better than her family’s.
But to keep up her sweet, innocent act in front of him, that two-faced snake had forced herself to be ruthless—never giving her family a dime or any real help at all.
Was it really only by doing this that she could prove she had backbone and character?
Lingxiao wasn’t interested in the original owner’s family drama. She was about to wash up and crash when she heard Little Roach announce another task.
“Side quest: Stop the original owner’s brother from using drugs and get him back on the right track!”
Lingxiao squeezed the pillow in her hands. Why had her life gotten this miserable?
She couldn’t even go home, and all day long she was being pushed around by some random roach that came out of nowhere!
System: You’re just lazy.
“Hey, when you finish the trial mission, I’ll explain everything to you myself.”
Lingxiao rubbed her cheeks, slung on her bag, and headed for the door.
“Dinner’s almost ready! Lingxiao, are you going back to campus?” Her dad stood in the kitchen doorway—middle-aged, a little soft around the middle, with that faintly greasy, painfully ordinary vibe.
Still, Lingxiao could see real concern in his eyes...
Her steps slowed. Maybe saving her older brother wasn’t a bad idea.
A family should be whole.
Outside the Black Horse Club.
Sure enough, Lingxiao ran into the same manager and server who looked down their noses at her.
What now? If talking sense didn’t work, then fine... go direct. Handle it the hard way.
“Kid, this isn’t a place for you. Leave. Now!”
“If you don’t go, we’ll call people over. You’ll be the one embarrassed!”
Lingxiao stared at them coolly, then snapped her fingers.
“Ding! Time limit expired! Please repurchase from the shop.”
Lingxiao: ...What happened to the Diamond Stardust Punch? Are you messing with me?
System: “Didn’t you hear me earlier? Every skill has a time limit.”
What was she supposed to do? She was screwed.
“Or, hey, maybe we can think of another way?”
“No need.”
This time, Lingxiao unleashed a flurry of kicks, sweeping through them like a storm. In under three minutes, she’d dropped every one of the club’s security guards.
“Holy crap! You’ve been hiding that this whole time!”
Lingxiao couldn’t be bothered with Xiaoqiang and quickly took the elevator up to the private room on the club’s top floor.
