Chapter 202 – My Lady Heroine in the Holographic Online Game – Strategy (16)
“Host, the female lead is at your three o’clock,” Xiao A’s voice reminded Bai Tang of the female lead’s new position after moving.
A squirrel that never shows its claws will always be mistaken for a sick cat.
Bai Tang grew angry. Grandpa Bai and Grandma Bai had loved her dearly, the Bai family had accepted her, and she had lived a wealthy life. What more could she possibly want? And now, she actually wanted to kill him.
Bai Tang manipulated the plants underground. Soon, vines began to break through the cracks in the pavement, all aiming directly at Jiang Yiran.
Startled, Jiang Yiran drew her dagger and slashed wildly, cutting down the vines attacking her one by one.
But it was useless—vines were already piling up on the ground. For every vine she cut, new ones surged forward.
Qi Hongyi had just finished buying some candied hawthorn when chaos erupted in the streets.
He moved against the crowd, weaving his way back in search of Bai Tang.
“Tang Tang—!”
Qi Hongyi flipped over and pulled Bai Tang into his arms, dodging a falling beam just in time.
Still shaken, he asked, “Who was it?”
Following Bai Tang’s gaze, Qi Hongyi’s eyes flared with killing intent.
Jiang. Yi. Ran!
Since Qi Hongyi had been on guard against Jiang Yiran, he had thoroughly investigated her background.
Her in-game identity wasn’t a mystery, and Qi Hongyi quickly obtained her full profile.
Because Bai Tang had been rolled away in Qi Hongyi’s arms, his control over the vines momentarily weakened. Jiang Yiran finally managed to struggle out from the entangling vines. She turned to flee—but suddenly found herself unable to move.
Looking down at her feet, she noticed several nearly invisible threads wrapped around them.
Panicking, Jiang Yiran bent down to sever the threads. Just then, a thunder bead rolled to her feet. Before she had time to react—
Boom!
The thunder bead exploded, and flames shot up into the sky.
A burning humanoid figure let out a shrill, agonized wail. Wherever it walked, flames followed.
Bystanders scrambled to get out of the way, wishing they had an extra pair of legs to run faster.
Jiang Yiran was engulfed in flames. With the game simulating 80% of real pain, she wished she could just die then and there.
She staggered toward Bai Tang’s direction—if she was going to die, she’d at least drag someone down with her.
Unfortunately for her, after only a few agonizing steps, Qi Hongyi lightly tapped his toes to the ground and leapt onto the rooftop with Bai Tang in his arms.
From above, they watched the burning figure collapse to the ground, rolling and screaming in pain. Qi Hongyi covered Bai Tang’s eyes.
A scene this horrifying—Tang Tang shouldn’t have to see it. He was timid and would have nightmares.
The fire figure’s screams gradually weakened, until there was only silence.
Chaos broke out on the street. Someone reported the incident to the authorities, and by the time the constables arrived, Jiang Yiran had already been burned to death.
The area was frequented by wandering martial artists. Based on initial judgment, it seemed she had been killed by an explosion from a Tang Sect thunder bead—but no one could confirm who had done it.
Jiang Yiran shot upright, screaming, from inside her gaming pod.
She looked down at her unharmed body. The searing pain of being burned alive still lingered in her mind, and her body ached as if it had truly happened.
She jumped up and, not even bothering to undress, ran straight into the bathroom. She turned on the cold water and let it pour over her from head to toe. It took a long time before she finally calmed down.
Bai. Tang.
Jiang Yiran ground out the name through clenched teeth.
There was no turning back—she and Bai Tang were sworn enemies.
In this game, death was equivalent to deletion. If she wanted to play again, she’d have to start from scratch—create a new character and begin from the beginner’s village.
Jiang Yiran had suffered a major loss. Not only had she failed to ambush Bai Tang, but she had also lost the character she had painstakingly trained, and even got a vivid taste of death. It was far from a pleasant experience.
She was now consumed by hatred for Bai Tang. If Bai Tang were standing in front of her right now, she would not hesitate to strangle her with her bare hands.
But alas, Bai Tang wasn’t there. And she couldn’t see her.
…
Jiang Yiran pulled out a card. It contained money from Grandpa Bai and Grandma Bai, originally meant to help her family pay off their external debts.
The debts were paid, and there was still a lot of money left.
With malice rising in her heart, Jiang Yiran realized that Bai Tang must surely hold a grudge against her now. She couldn’t just sit around and wait for death.
She went crying to Grandpa and Grandma Bai, claiming that an old enemy of her family had come back seeking revenge.
Grandma Bai was heartbroken when she heard this. “Yiran, we’re not afraid of him. Let’s see who dares to mess with our Bai family. If it comes to that, we’ll have him arrested and sent straight to the police.”
But this wasn’t the outcome Jiang Yiran wanted. What she was after were the secret resources and under-the-table connections held by powerful families.
In the end, Grandma Bai’s heart softened under Jiang Yiran’s persistent coaxing. She even helped her get in touch with a certain organization that specialized in “solving problems” for others.
Jiang Yiran was overjoyed. She quickly found an excuse to send Grandma Bai away—she wasn’t stupid enough to talk about hiring a hitman to kill her benefactors’ biological grandson right in front of them.
Once Grandma Bai had returned to her room, Jiang Yiran contacted Organization X online and spoke coldly, “I want someone taken care of. Money is not a problem.”
Money truly wasn’t an issue. With the life-saving favor she had done for Grandma Bai, she could get as much as she needed.
Organization X was a group that handled jobs for money. As long as you could afford the price, they didn’t care who the target was—they would get it done, flawlessly. Their success rate was nearly 100%, and they rarely left behind any evidence.
A cold, cruel smile crept across Jiang Yiran’s face.
Bai Tang, go to hell.
Meanwhile, after logging off from the game, Bai Tang was coaxed to sleep by Qi Hongyi. He then began to take action to deal with the Jiang Yiran situation.
She had already tried to kill Bai Tang in the game—who knew what she might do in the real world?
Qi’s father hadn’t managed the company in a long time. Though still capable, he’d grown complacent over the years and had no interest in working hard anymore.
Seeing that his son Qi Hongyi was more than capable, he began to act shamelessly, trying to force Qi Hongyi to take over the business.
Qi’s mother could only watch helplessly as her husband acted like a child. But for the sake of her future daughter-in-law, so she could marry her son without trouble, she had no choice but to let Qi’s father suffer a bit and take on the burden.
As people age, their energy naturally declines. When Qi’s mother saw the dark circles under Qi’s father’s eyes, her heart ached. She joined in trying to persuade their son.
“Since Tang Tang is about to start his internship, why don’t you bring him into the company to help him get familiar with the business?” Qi’s mother suggested.
Even without her saying it, Qi Hongyi had already been considering the idea.
It wasn’t that he wanted to assign Bai Tang actual work—he simply wanted to keep Tang Tang close. Only by having him within sight could he feel at ease.
Qi Hongyi nodded in agreement, and Qi’s father was overjoyed. He immediately hugged his wife and began browsing flight tickets—now they could finally take that long-overdue honeymoon trip.
Bai Tang had no objections. He couldn’t sit still at home all day anyway.
And so, Qi Hongyi brought Bai Tang into the company and straightforwardly appointed him as his personal assistant. No one but Qi Hongyi had the right to assign Bai Tang any tasks, but if Bai Tang had any requests, everyone else was expected to fulfill them.
Another parachuted newcomer—most of the staff weren’t happy. Why should an intern be placed above them?
However, Bai Tang never ordered anyone around. He simply stayed by Qi Hongyi’s side, always in the CEO’s office.
Over time, the staff realized that even though someone had technically come in as a superior, their workload remained the same—no more, no less.
No one was being mismanaged, their salaries were still paid, and benefits were unchanged. Whether Bai Tang was present or not, nothing really changed.
Even tasks from the CEO continued to be relayed through the original assistant. Bai Tang never gave them orders directly, and during afternoon tea breaks, he’d even occasionally order snacks for everyone.
Gradually, the complaints faded—especially after they found out Bai Tang was the CEO’s fiancé. After that, no one dared say a word.
This was the future CEO’s spouse, after all.
Some people even started trying to curry favor with Bai Tang. Whenever they saw him alone, they’d warmly greet him.
Many of the female employees who used to admire Qi Hongyi initially disliked Bai Tang—but it didn’t take long for them to be won over by his soft, sweet voice calling them “big sister.”
“Oh wow, where did this little cutie come from? He’s not only good-looking but also sweet-talking.”
Whenever someone was in a bad mood and heard Bai Tang softly call them “big sister” in that sweet, gentle voice, their mood instantly lifted. Even their work seemed to go more smoothly—it was like he was a little treasure.
In just a few short days at the company, Bai Tang had quickly won over most of the staff. Even those who still held some resentment kept it buried and didn’t dare show it.
“There’s a meeting coming up soon. Tang Tang, do you want to stay in the office and watch TV, or come with me to the meeting?”
As soon as he asked, Qi Hongyi noticed the hint of tears at the corners of Bai Tang’s eyes—a natural reaction from sleepiness—and made the decision for him.
He picked him up and gently placed him on the large bed in the break room. “Tang Tang, take a nap if you’re sleepy.”
“But the meeting…” Bai Tang tugged lightly at Qi Hongyi’s sleeve and yawned delicately.
“It’s just a small meeting. You’ve already helped me organize the documents—everything’s ready.”
Hearing that, Bai Tang felt reassured.
“Then make sure to wake me up when you’re done. I still need to finish the quarterly review form…”
After joining the company, Bai Tang hadn’t just lounged around—he genuinely contributed. That was one of the reasons why the staff’s opinion of him had started to change. He even did a pretty good job.
“Alright.” Qi Hongyi kissed Bai Tang gently on the forehead. He watched him fall asleep on his side, then quietly closed the door and headed to the meeting room.
It was already five in the afternoon. In the hallway, a janitor was pushing a large cart, collecting trash from each office one by one.
When he reached the CEO’s office and was about to open the door, someone stopped him.
“Hold on a second. You look unfamiliar—where’s the regular janitor?”
“Oh, Old Li’s sick. I’m just filling in for him for a couple of days,” the man replied.
“The CEO’s office is off-limits.” The man continued.
No one was allowed to enter the CEO’s office without Qi Hongyi’s permission—that was the rule. Since Qi Hongyi was in the meeting room, if someone went in and important documents got lost, no one could take responsibility.
The janitor held a large black trash bag, about the size of a woven sack, and looked helpless. “I’m just here to collect the trash—I won’t touch anything on the desk.”
Another person tugged at the sleeve of the man who had spoken earlier. “It should be fine. Assistant Bai is still inside.”
Since Qi Hongyi had gone to the meeting room without Bai Tang, that meant Bai Tang was still in the CEO’s office. With Bai Tang there, nothing major could happen.
“Alright then, but be quick.”
“Okay, okay.” The janitor agreed repeatedly and turned the door handle to enter the CEO’s office.
Little did they know, this janitor was actually a member of Organization X.
After entering the CEO’s office, he silently opened the door to the break room.
He took out a specially made handkerchief and covered Bai Tang’s mouth and nose. A few seconds later, he removed it, and Bai Tang fell into a deep coma.
He then put Bai Tang into the black bag and carried him out of the office.
No one knew that right under their noses, the future CEO’s fiancée had been abducted.
Author’s note:
D*mn, Jiang Yiran is finished!