I Was Reborn as the Villain, but the System Bound Itself to the Female Leads - Chapter 56:

Chapter 56: Chu Lingxiu

In the private room of the Golden Splendor Club, a massive crystal chandelier cast a golden light throughout the space. Despite the luxurious setting, the atmosphere wasn’t as lively or noisy as one might expect. The club’s elegant hostesses stood quietly in a row against the wall.

Chu Haojie was kneeling on the floor, head bowed, completely silent.

On the sofa sat a woman dressed in a professional suit. Her shoulder-length hair was neatly styled, and her sharp eyes were like blades, locking onto Lin Yuan the moment he entered the room. With her legs crossed, she gently swirled the red wine in her glass.

“I entered the wrong room. Sorry, sorry!” Lin Yuan immediately said and turned to leave.

Unexpectedly, Chu Haojie lunged forward like a starving dog, hugging Lin Yuan’s leg tightly and yelling loudly, “Sis, look! I told you it was Lin Yuan who brought me here! This has nothing to do with me! I didn’t want to come—it was Lin Yuan who dragged me here!”

Chu Haojie shouted toward the woman on the sofa, his voice shrill like a pig being slaughtered.

“Chu Haojie, you damn traitor… throwing me under the bus!” Lin Yuan wanted to kick him away. You came on your own and even called me to come—now you’re flipping the story? You’re afraid of your sister, and you think I’m not?

“Lin Yuan, save me this time. No matter what you ask later, I’ll agree,” Chu Haojie begged in a whisper, eyes pleading.

“Lin Yuan, since you’re already here, come in and sit for a while,” Chu Lingxiu said calmly.

“Oh… okay!” Lin Yuan nearly dropped to his knees at the sound of her voice.

Of all the people Lin Yuan feared—aside from his parents—Chu Haojie’s older sister, Chu Lingxiu, was the scariest.

Since they were kids, he and Chu Haojie had been inseparable troublemakers. No one could discipline them due to their background, except for one person—Chu Lingxiu.

Her approach to discipline could be summed up in one word: beatings.

And she hit hard.

At first, Lin Yuan didn’t accept it and fought back, but quickly realized he was no match for her. With a three-year age gap, Chu Lingxiu always had the upper hand. Worse, his parents fully supported her in educating him.

Over time, he was beaten into submission. Seeing Chu Lingxiu was even scarier than seeing his own parents.

Later, she joined the army and returned after a few years with even better skills. By then, Lin Yuan had already been hollowed out by drinking and women—he couldn’t fight back at all.

Luckily, once she got busy managing the Chu Family’s business, she appeared less and less, and Lin Yuan enjoyed a rare period of peace.

But he never expected to run into her here.

“Lin Yuan, my brother said you invited him to a place like this. Do you have anything to explain?” Chu Lingxiu’s tone was like a queen’s judgment as her eyes scanned Lin Yuan from head to toe.

“Everything he said was my lines?” Lin Yuan grumbled internally. Beside him, Chu Haojie was still kneeling, tugging at his clothes, signaling him to take the blame.

Lin Yuan was miserable. He usually wouldn’t mind helping out, especially when it came to friends. His reputation was already a mess—what harm would one more lie do? But this time, the person standing in front of him was Chu Lingxiu.

Like Chu Haojie said earlier—better the friend dies than me. Lin Yuan wasn’t ready to die yet.

“Sister Lingxiu, you know I have a child now. I don’t go to places like this anymore. Earlier, Chu Haojie called me, said he was in trouble and needed help. That’s the only reason I came. If you don’t believe me, I can show you my call history. This really has nothing to do with me.”

Lin Yuan laid out the truth. No matter what, he wasn’t taking the fall for this. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help his buddy—it was that helping this time could cost him his life.

“Show me your phone,” Chu Lingxiu said.

“Sure, Sister Lingxiu.” Lin Yuan immediately took out his phone and opened the call log. Chu Haojie tried to stop him but was instantly silenced by a murderous glare from Chu Lingxiu.

She glanced at the call record. The most recent call was at 8:40 p.m., right when she had arrived at the club and intercepted Chu Haojie.

That alone gave some credibility to Lin Yuan’s claim.

“Chu Haojie, you still dare lie to me?” Chu Lingxiu’s voice filled with anger. She stood up and walked to her kneeling brother. Though obedient, he never stopped causing trouble. She had beaten him, scolded him, but his bad habits remained unchanged.

She lifted her leg and kicked him hard in the chest, knocking him flat on his back.

“Sis, let me explain! There’s a reason behind all this!”

“Go ahead. I’d love to hear what kind of reason led you to a place like this. And those girls—dressed so provocatively, practically naked. Explain!” Chu Lingxiu’s eyes swept over the line of women standing against the wall.

She looked down on women like them but didn’t say much. After all, it was their own choice to devalue themselves.

Under her gaze, the row of women lowered their heads, ashamed and speechless.

Chu Lingxiu’s presence was simply overwhelming. If Gu Qingyi was an aloof goddess, then Chu Lingxiu was an absolute queen.

“I… that… uh…” Chu Haojie racked his brain, trying to come up with an excuse, but failed completely.

Watching her clueless brother unable to produce even a single reason only made Chu Lingxiu angrier.

“Enough. No need to explain. Come home with me. I’ll deal with you there.”

Facing her authority, Chu Haojie didn’t dare resist. He couldn’t even muster the thought of resisting. In his heart, he feared, admired, and revered his sister.

“Lin Yuan, you come with me too. I have some questions for you.”

“Huh? Why do I have to go too?” Lin Yuan was confused. Wasn’t the misunderstanding cleared up? Why was he being dragged into this too? You’re not my sister!

“A while ago, when Chu Haojie came home, he had a visible handprint on his face—his whole cheek was swollen. I asked him what happened. He told me he fell. You know about this, right?” Chu Lingxiu asked, staring at Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan looked at Chu Haojie and didn’t even know where to start complaining.

You really are brilliant… a handprint that obvious, and you told her you fell?