Chapter 21: The Female Lead

After hearing too many of those scraping noises from overhead, Bai Chen Zhu had instead lost that initial fear. Just as he wondered if Jiang Ye had ditched him and run off, a figure appeared on the balcony.

Jiang Ye dragged out a ladder and extended it from the balcony to the platform, then found a rope and had Bai Chen Zhu tie it around his waist.

“Take it slow.” Jiang Ye waited patiently until they were close enough, then gripped Bai Chen Zhu’s hand and yanked him forcefully toward himself.

The pull was so strong that Bai Chen Zhu suddenly felt like a shuttlecock, flying across the short distance and crashing into Jiang Ye.

“You’re much better off than I imagined.” Jiang Ye pulled him up and patted the dust off his clothes.

Now out of danger, Bai Chen Zhu panted heavily and gritted his teeth. “I really regret following you now.”

“Haha.” Jiang Ye laughed gleefully a couple of times, only to get thumped by Bai Chen Zhu, nearly laughing himself breathless.

Once they stepped inside, Bai Chen Zhu realized it was a fully decorated apartment that hadn’t been moved into yet—empty except for paint cans, wooden ladders, scattered tools, and transparent plastic wrapping.

“Want to rest?” Jiang Ye asked considerately.

Thinking back to what had just happened, how could Bai Chen Zhu dare to rest? He chewed the remnants of the candy still in his mouth, forced a smile, and said, “No, it’s getting dark. Let’s head up now.”

They cautiously and meticulously bypassed the earlier stairwell, ascending from the other end.

This time, they smoothly reached the ninth floor.

At Blossoming Flowers Residences, Building A, Room 901, in front of the security door, Bai Chen Zhu pressed the doorbell several times.

There was no response from inside.

He patted the door, mindful of the monsters, and didn’t dare shout too loudly. “Zhou Meng Meng, are you in there? Your sister sent us to pick you up.”

No reply, nor any approaching footsteps.

Several grim speculations flashed through Bai Chen Zhu’s mind before he knocked again. “Zhou Meng Meng, are you there? If you are, make a sound. We’re your sister’s friends…”

The relaxation between Jiang Ye’s brows gradually faded with time, his posture shifting from leaning casually against the wall to standing straight.

Bai Chen Zhu nearly broke the doorbell, but there was still no sound from inside. He looked at Jiang Ye, a bad premonition rising in his heart. “Shall we go in and check?”

“Move aside.” Jiang Ye couldn’t quite articulate the mix of emotions in his heart—both anticipation and dread of the outcome. He brandished the baseball bat at the security door, attempting to force it open.

Bai Chen Zhu stared fixedly at the door and grabbed his wrist. “There’s a glass panel on the door. Don’t force it.”

He looked around. This was a typical commodity housing unit, with the corridor forming a right angle to the Zhou family’s kitchen.

The corridor window was narrow, only wide enough for one person to sidle through. The Zhou family’s kitchen window was open, without security bars, and the two windows were no more than two meters apart.

Since Jiang Ye had just jumped across earlier, maybe this distance was feasible too? Bai Chen Zhu estimated it and thought the odds were good. He gestured for Jiang Ye to look at the windows. “Go through there.”

Jiang Ye narrowed his eyes, dissatisfied with his matter-of-fact attitude. “You sure know how to order people around.”

Bai Chen Zhu coaxed him helplessly. “No choice—this distance is too risky for me. You jumped earlier without hesitation; you’re way better at it.”

Having been stroked the right way, Jiang Ye huffed, tossed the baseball bat into his arms, nimbly leaped onto the windowsill, swung out while hanging, and landed steadily in the kitchen on the ninth floor.

He really made it. Bai Chen Zhu watched his movements with bated breath. Only after the figure safely landed did he exhale.

It was pretty cool, Bai Chen Zhu thought, struggling but failing to suppress a smile. For some reason, Jiang Ye’s movements reminded him inexplicably of a monkey swinging around in the mountains.

The door opened.

Jiang Ye’s sullen face appeared in the doorway, his expression poor. “She’s not here.”

There was a letter on the living room table, neatly addressed to ‘Zhou Zhuo Hua’ in three characters.

Jiang Ye pulled it out directly—two or three thick sheets, densely written. He skimmed it quickly and handed it to Bai Chen Zhu, who had leaned over to peek.

The text was lengthy, but the meaning concise.

Zhou Zhuo Hua had called Zhou Meng Meng earlier, telling her to stay put at home. From that call, she had sensed something was wrong and feared being alone, so she quickly called her father out of town. He had then asked a friend passing by to pick her up.

Zhou Zhuo Hua, who should have died, was still alive. Zhou Meng Meng, who should have been with Jiang Ye, was nowhere to be found.

They had come all this way for nothing. Bai Chen Zhu frowned, wondering if it was the butterfly effect caused by him.

Beside him, Jiang Ye stared at the letter, then suddenly burst out laughing.

“What are you laughing at?” Bai Chen Zhu asked, baffled.

Was missing her something to be happy about? They had promised Zhou Zhuo Hua they would bring her back.

Yet this man, who usually laughed insincerely and superficially, now laughed heartily from the depths of his heart, unrestrained.

Excitedly, Jiang Ye grabbed Bai Chen Zhu’s shoulders and shook them. “Don’t you see? Everything’s changed—everything’s changed!”

“What?” Bai Chen Zhu didn’t understand what he was so thrilled about.

Jiang Ye’s eyes shone like they were filled with stars. “Everything has changed. Everything can be changed!”

If Bai Chen Zhu’s appearance was mere coincidence, and Zhou Zhuo Hua’s infection chalked up to ‘fate,’ then with Zhou Meng Meng, Jiang Ye finally glimpsed hope of escaping ‘fate.’

Maybe Zhou Zhuo Hua really could survive the ordeal. And he could change everything!

Bai Chen Zhu listened in confusion, only to be suddenly enveloped in a tight hug by the exhilarated Jiang Ye. He held on fiercely, his arms like iron shackles trapping him—Bai Chen Zhu nearly suffocated.

This guy was such a freak; how was his strength so immense? Bai Chen Zhu struggled a couple of times but couldn’t break free. Anger surged, his face flushing red. “Bastard, let go!”

In his rage, he slammed his forehead into Jiang Ye’s with a thud, bruising both their foreheads.

Bai Chen Zhu felt dizzy from the impact, golden stars flashing before his eyes amid the darkness.

He had initiated the headbutt, yet he blacked out first. As Jiang Ye released him, he lost his footing and slipped. Grabbing the tablecloth on his way down, he pulled a bunch of things crashing over.

“Hey!” Though dizzy too, Jiang Ye reacted much faster than Bai Chen Zhu. He quickly grabbed his arm but got yanked down instead.

A muffled thud echoed on the wooden floor—the combined weight of two men was no light matter. Bai Chen Zhu lay flat on his back, a large head crashing onto his chest and causing sharp pain.

“Hiss.”

He should have checked the almanac before heading out today, Bai Chen Zhu thought somewhat despairingly.

At that moment, the doorbell rang, accompanied by knocking.

The two exchanged a glance and scrambled up from the floor.

Bai Chen Zhu made a shushing gesture, walked over, and peered through the peephole. He saw a girl in long-sleeved school uniform standing nervously at the door, knocking.

She seemed to be alone.

Bai Chen Zhu warily cracked the door open and sized her up. “Zhou Meng Meng?”

The girl had her hair in a high ponytail, wore a school uniform, and looked youthful and vibrant. Her round eyes widened slightly as she looked at the man before her.

Dressed in a shirt and black pants that gave him a cool, noble air, his handsome features were just as striking as when he’d been clinging to the AC unit platform earlier.

A man this good-looking couldn’t be a bad guy. The girl nodded quickly. “Yes, that’s me! You’re the ones my sister sent to pick me up, right?”

“Uh, I’m your sister’s…” Bai Chen Zhu started to say something when a firm hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him.

Bai Chen Zhu paused and released his grip on the door.

Jiang Ye pulled it fully open, exposing them completely to the girl.

The girl’s expression shifted slightly upon seeing Jiang Ye, her fingers twisting behind her back, fidgeting uncomfortably with her knuckles.

He might be good-looking, but this guy definitely wasn’t a good person.

Compared to Bai Chen Zhu, Jiang Ye’s face, though handsome, was aggressively sharp and menacing, paired with his thug-like mismatched clothes—the type of guy a girl would avoid even glancing at on the street, let alone approach.

“The little lady’s quick on the uptake.” Jiang Ye smirked as he eyed the naive girl up and down, his piercing dark eyes seeming to see right through her.

Truth be told, their first meeting should have been years from now, not today.

Back then, the girl would be the daughter of some base’s city lord—a white-hearted black sesame dumpling, a brave and cunning powerful ability user.

Jiang Ye exposed her clumsy lie. “I’ve met Zhou Meng Meng. You’re not her.”

With that, he moved to close the door.

The girl reacted faster, quickly pressing her hand against it and facing his icy gaze in panic. “I didn’t mean to trick you! I saw you climbing the wall just now! You’re both really capable people. I’m Bai Tao, Zhou Meng Meng’s good friend—we live next door. She got picked up by her dad’s friend. You came too late.”

She repeated her flattery. “I saw it! You’re both amazing, so can you take me with you? In exchange, I can give you money, food—anything!”

The girl’s eyes sparkled with hope as she looked at them.

What she offered wouldn’t move them in this world; taking care of themselves was challenge enough. But… Bai Chen Zhu’s eyelid twitched. “What did you say your name was?”

Thinking he’d softened, the girl seized the chance. “My surname is Bai—like the peach in honey peach. Has Meng Meng mentioned me? We’re really close. She’s in junior high, I’m in high school. I often give her rides on my bike to school…”

Bai Tao—the girl before him was Bai Tao?! The ‘female lead’ with the highest popularity calls in the novel’s later stages? Jiang Ye’s deepest emotional bond, the ‘main wife’?

Bai Chen Zhu was caught completely off guard by the sudden encounter. His first instinct was to turn and look at Jiang Ye, who was glancing indifferently at him, not at Bai Tao.

They locked eyes, and Jiang Ye suddenly grinned. “Oh~ So she’s Bai Tao. Didn’t you say last time she liked some novel about a battle god or whatever? What, you don’t recognize her?”

The world had turned upside down!

Just the night before, he’d pried out Jiang Ye’s little secret, and now Bai Chen Zhu desperately wanted to retort: “Isn’t this your wife?”

But with the oblivious girl present, the question would be rude and offensive. Bai Chen Zhu could only deflect by turning away. “Just a coincidence—same name.”

This was the ‘female lead’!

Bai Chen Zhu’s gaze darted between Bai Tao and Jiang Ye. Come to think of it, the male lead was only twenty now; his future girlfriend being a few years younger in high school seemed normal enough?

But the male lead wasn’t some youthful stud anymore—was this old cow munching on young grass? Bai Chen Zhu paused, giving Jiang Ye a subtle, meaningful look: Wait, what if the female lead wasn’t of age yet…

Bai Chen Zhu scrutinizingly stared at Jiang Ye’s profile, trying to spot any hint of ‘attraction.’

“Wipe that ‘beast’ off your face.” But Jiang Ye remained cold, far from love at first sight—he didn’t even seem to like the girl much.

Of course not—Bai Tao had screwed him over plenty in the past. Jiang Ye soured just thinking about it. He wasn’t a saint; he couldn’t help holding a grudge.

Jiang Ye flashed an insincere smile, leaned against the doorframe, and lifted his chin. “You’re so quick to say you’ll come with us. Aren’t you afraid we’re bad guys?”

He tried to scare her off with this ambiguous malice.

“I trust my judgment.” Bai Tao mustered her courage, her eyes holding the pure innocence of the inexperienced. “Even if you’re bad guys, I’ll accept my fate.”

“Heh.” Jiang Ye didn’t buy a word of it, pressing relentlessly. “You’re easy to fool; we’re not. Why insist on leaving with us instead of staying home like a good girl?”

“Well…” Bai Tao clutched the hem of her baggy school uniform.

As Jiang Ye mercilessly moved to shut the door again, she blocked it once more. “Because my mom’s working at a hotel—she hasn’t come home in days, her phone’s off. I’m too worried; I have to find her.”

“What about your dad?” Jiang Ye raised a brow.

“I-I don’t have a dad.” Bai Tao bit her lip, thinking of something. “My dad died long ago. Mom and I depend on each other, so I have to go find her. I won’t cling to you—just get me out of this complex, and I’ll go on my own!”

Lying again. Jiang Ye ground his teeth.