Villain Boss Chapter 185
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 185: A Final Struggle
As long as I'm here.
Si Xu’s answer was confident, tinged with a cold indifference and disdain for nobodies.
Jiang Ran smiled, hugged him tightly, and gently rubbed her cheek against his back.
"Si Xu, if it weren't for me, you would’ve twisted those people into pretzels by now, right?"
Exactly.
If it weren't for considering her fragile heart, those who kept provoking him would be buried with grass three meters high by now.
Fearing that Jiang Ran might overthink things, Si Xu focused on washing the vegetables and replied gently, "It's not about punishing someone; I only care about my mood."
He'd been in a good mood lately, so he found those idiots much more agreeable and couldn’t be bothered to teach them a lesson one by one.
"Si Xu, if one day you feel that there’s no need to tolerate anymore, you can do whatever you want without worrying about me."
"Hmm." He’d let her play, but it had only been a few days, and she seemed to have lost interest.
As expected, he thought she was playing. She chuckled quietly, continuing to rub against his back.
"I've had enough fun." Jiang Ran suddenly realized that she wasn't as powerful as she thought. "Si Xu, if you hadn't intimidated those people this time, I'd definitely be in the dungeon now."
It turned out that she was blaming herself for this. Si Xu washed the peeled potatoes and put them on a plate. He washed his hands and dried them with a towel. Then he turned around, put his hands on her waist, and hugged her a little tighter.
The physical intimacy gradually calmed her somewhat frustrated mind.
"Jiang Ran, you're wrong." With the important person in his arms, Si Xu's eyes were filled with a gentle smile, unlike the sarcasm he used when facing Shen Youyou. "They schemed against you because you’re with me."
If Jiang Ran weren't Si Xu's woman, she wouldn't have to face these conspiracies and schemes.
"Jiang Ran." He lowered his head, his lips brushing against her cheek, and chuckled softly. "Will you regret it?"
How could she possibly regret it?
Warm breath fell on her cheek, and Jiang Ran's face began to heat up uncontrollably. Her voice subconsciously dropped two notches. "I don’t regret it."
The girl murmured, blushing with self-reproach before she could even speak. She was much softer and gentler than usual, showing none of the predatory intent she displayed at the beginning of their relationship.
A low laugh escaped, and Si Xu stopped what he was doing, squinting at her.
Dazed from his presence, Jiang Ran subconsciously looked up. "Si Xu."
Everything went black.
Si Xu covered her eyes with one hand, his thin lips brushed against her nose, and gently bit her lip.
The living room was quiet. Shen Youyou looked around and, making sure Si Xu wouldn't be back for the time being, quietly climbed to the window.
Just as she was about to push open the window and jump out, a strong aroma of food wafted from the kitchen.
Shen Youyou paused. She glanced back at the kitchen, silently withdrew her hand, and squatted back down on the ground.
Jiang Ran worked quickly, cooking two dishes and having Si Xu bring them out first. After cleaning up the kitchen, she scooped three bowls of rice and left the kitchen.
She didn’t call Shen Youyou to eat as she usually did.
She sat down at the table and called to Si Xu, "Let's eat. I haven't eaten anything since noon. I'm starving."
Having had dinner, Si Xu served food to her, saying, "Eat more, you're too thin."
"I’ve gained almost ten pounds since I got back to the base," Jiang Ran gestured. "I secretly weighed myself when I first arrived at the base. I was eighty-six pounds then, and now I’m ninety-five."
"Really?" Si Xu was still not satisfied. "You can gain a little more weight."
Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to use too much force.
Not knowing what he was thinking, Jiang Ran went along with him, "Oh, but at my current rate of weight gain, I'll soon break 100."
"That might not be the case. You were too thin before, so it's normal to gain some weight now."
Comforted, Jiang Ran put down her chopsticks and picked up a small spoon instead.
After eating half a bowl of rice, she was already seven-tenths full.
She then turned her gaze to the little girl squatting in the corner of the living room.
The little girl stared wide-eyed in their direction, her mouth slightly open, with a glistening drool at the corner of her lips.
She looked just like stray dogs lingering outside an orphanage, waiting to be fed.
Those dogs, though clearly emaciated from hunger, would only wag their tails around anyone who came to feed them, and would never try to snatch food from the feeder's hand.
Despite their wildness, they remained well-behaved.
"Youyou." Jiang Ran pulled out a tissue to wipe her mouth and held out her hand. "Come here."
They hadn't figured out exactly what happened yet, but one thing was certain: Shen Youyou cooperated with Shen Lang and schemed against her.
It would be a lie to say that she wasn’t angry.
How could she not be angry? She had taken good care of the little girl, tried her best to please her, and worked hard to help her adapt to the life of an ordinary person. She presumptuously thought that Shen Youyou treated her the same way she treated Shen Bai, that she was different.
Given the current situation, Jiang Ran couldn't help but doubt her own thoughts.
For Shen Youyou, was there really anyone who was different?
Having received permission, the little girl immediately got up, ran to her, and looked up at her.
"Youyou." Jiang Ran gently patted the little girl's head and asked softly, "Why did you take me to the north gate?"
The little girl blinked but didn't answer.
"Was it Shen Lang who gave the order?"
The little girl nodded without hesitation.
"Everything you said was a lie."
She nodded again.
"He also ordered you to knock me unconscious and testify against me."
She nodded again.
Jiang Ran smiled helplessly. "Youyou, if Shen Lang still wants you to testify against me later, will you still listen to him?"
Without hesitation, she nodded.
Shen Youyou showed no remorse or guilt, and gave her answer without hesitation.
Having received the answer, Jiang Ran finally understood what Si Xu meant by "having no heart," and also understood the source of Si Xu's hostility toward Shen Youyou.
Without making things difficult for the little girl, Jiang Ran smiled slightly and pulled over a chair. "You haven't eaten yet, have you? Eat first."
She pushed the extra bowl of rice in front of the girl.
The little girl picked up her chopsticks and began to eat her rice.
Leaving her to eat alone, Jiang Ran pulled Si Xu into the study.
"Si Xu, it seems that it's not going to work with Youyou." She wanted to persuade Youyou to turn against Shen Lang, but unfortunately, the physical conditions didn't allow it.
"Si Xu, I'm sorry." Speaking of Shen Youyou, Jiang Ran apologized to Si Xu in a soft voice, "I shouldn't have compared you to Youyou."
"Humph." An apology was tantamount to acceptance, and Si Xu was a little smug. "I told you long ago that I'm not like that puppet."
What he said about Shen Youyou having no heart wasn’t an exaggeration or a hostile personal attack, but simply a statement of fact.
As a puppet of the Shen family, she had no human emotions. She couldn’t get angry or happy. Her actions resembled those of a newborn baby learning and growing, but in reality, it was merely her ability to imitate external objects.
She had no sense of right and wrong, and couldn’t make choices or judgments. For her, all she needed to do was absolutely obey her creator's commands.
Just like a robot.
"Thinking about it this way, Second Brother is really amazing." Having understood Shen Youyou's core, Jiang Ran gave Shen Bai's choice a sincere compliment.
Knowing her true identity, Shen Bai still wanted to give her human emotions and life.
Si Xu disagreed with her point of view, "He's just making a fruitless struggle because of his own little bit of guilt."
