Transmigrating Into a Book, the Villain Becomes the White Moonlight!

143: Chapter 143 Su Bai: I’ve revealed my hand!Dragon Two snapped her laptop shut with a ’clack,’ and the faint glow of the screen died out.

”Understood.” Her voice was devoid of any inflection, like a mechanical recording.

She began to efficiently pack up the equipment, cables, and encrypted USB drives scattered across the coffee table, her movements meticulous.

Placing the last item into her specialized backpack and zipping it shut, she turned around and looked directly at Brother Bufan.

”Back then, you avenged my parents, and I promised to serve you and handle your affairs. You shouldn’t have forgotten the conditions for my departure.”

She watched Brother Bufan’s expression shift slightly and continued, ”Regardless of success or failure, I will carry out this mission. But once it’s done, I will have no further connection to the Dragon King Hall. Our agreement ends there, and we are even.”

With that, she didn’t wait for Brother Bufan’s response—perhaps knowing it would only be rage or further attempts at control—and picked up her backpack, turning toward the door. Her steps were firm, and she did not look back.

Brother Bufan stood where he was, watching Dragon Two’s silhouette disappear behind the door. The muscles in his cheek twitched violently again, whether from the effects of the medicine, extreme fury, or a premonition of losing control.

He slammed a fist into the nearby wall with a muffled thud.

...

Not far from the Su Family villa, inside a detached villa with a simple, modern, yet high-quality interior.

This was one of the properties already prepared under Su Bai’s name, fully equipped with furniture and appliances, truly ready for immediate move-in.

Su Bai settled in with Mu Xue.

Mu Xue looked around the new but unfamiliar environment, a lingering trace of worry still clouding her brow. She turned to Su Bai. ”The Nangong Family... will they do something desperate and go after my parents? They don’t know anything; they’re just ordinary people.”

”Don’t worry, they won’t,” Su Bai answered firmly, walking over to gently wrap an arm around her shoulder. ”The Nangong Family is at the end of its rope and can barely look after itself. As for your adoptive parents, I’ve already arranged for reliable people to protect them in the shadows to ensure nothing goes wrong.”

His tone was steady. ”In another two or three days, the Nangong Family’s last remaining assets at home and abroad will be completely liquidated. By then, they won’t even have the capital to try anything.”

At that moment, Uncle Fu, who had been waiting quietly nearby, stepped forward and handed a neatly bound, thick document to Su Bai.

Su Bai took it and turned to place it on the coffee table in front of Mu Xue.

”Take a look at this,” Su Bai signaled. ”This is the core of what can still be called ’assets’ of the Nangong Family, including equity in several domestic companies still in operation, some real estate, and interests in overseas industries that we’ve already taken over and cleaned up. As long as you sign your name on the last page, all of this will legally belong to you.”

”For... for me?” Mu Xue was stunned. Her fingertips touched the cold paper cover as she looked up at Su Bai in disbelief.

This ’gift’ was too heavy, far exceeding her expectations.

”Actually, from the moment I decided to deal with the Nangong Family, the ultimate goal was to put all of this into your hands.”

Since things had come to this, Su Bai felt there was no longer any need for concealment. He pulled Mu Xue down to sit on the sofa and began to speak candidly.

”When I went abroad back then, my family gave me two clear tasks. First, to complete some studies and resource integration arranged by my father; and second, to target the Nangong Family.”

Seeing this, Uncle Fu quietly withdrew from the living room, leaving the space to the two of them.

”In other words,” Mu Xue caught the key information, her eyes fixed on Su Bai, ”when you went abroad, you already knew I was the Nangong Family’s long-lost daughter? It wasn’t something you found out later?”

Su Bai nodded and admitted, ”To be precise, I didn’t find it; my father told me. The information network he controls far exceeds that of ordinary people. But at the time, he also warned me that the internal situation of the Nangong Family was complex and the water was very deep. If they could heartlessly abandon you back then, their sudden return to find you after so many years was definitely not out of family affection; they certainly had a hidden agenda.”

”So your real purpose in attacking the Nangong Family from the very beginning... was to seize their family assets and then... give them to me?” Mu Xue’s voice trembled slightly; this realization overturned many of her thoughts.

She had always thought Su Bai’s actions against the Nangong Family were for business competition or other motives, and that she was perhaps just caught in the middle or even a pawn to be used.

”The initial idea... indeed included the intention of compensating you.” Su Bai’s tone lowered, carrying a trace of complex, hard-to-decipher emotion. ”I felt that was perhaps one small thing I could do for you.”

”Compensating?” Mu Xue suddenly gave a light laugh, one that was a bit bitter yet also a bit relieved.

She reached into a hidden pocket on the side of her dress and fished out a bank card that was slightly worn at the edges but well-preserved. She placed it gently on the coffee table between them and pushed it toward Su Bai. ”Remember this? The card you gave me before you went abroad. I haven’t touched a single cent of the money inside. You said back then it was an ’end’ and also ’compensation.’ Wasn’t that already given?”

”You still have it...” Su Bai looked at the familiar card, a flash of imperceptible embarrassment and emotion crossing his face.

He hadn’t expected Mu Xue to keep it all this time, let alone bring it out at this moment.

”So later, I adjusted the entire plan regarding the Nangong Family,” Su Bai steadied his breathing and continued to explain. ”During those two-plus years abroad, one of my primary focuses was to step-by-step penetrate, dismantle, and acquire the Nangong Family’s major overseas industries according to the new deployment. The plan went smoothly, and as expected, when they couldn’t hold on overseas, they came back looking for you, wanting to use you as the opportunity and... tool to return to the family.”

”Did you really do all of this... just because you wanted to compensate me?” Mu Xue didn’t look at the thick contract again. Her gaze was like a searchlight, looking straight into the depths of Su Bai’s eyes, trying to distinguish every bit of truth from pretense.

After everything that happened today, she needed to hear the core answer.

Su Bai met her gaze, no longer dodging or being evasive. He fell silent for a moment, as if organizing his final words, then slowly spoke, his voice calm yet clear:

”Actually... there were some other thoughts.”

He paused, seemingly deliberating how to express it. ”Even if I wanted to marry you in my heart, the reality was that the Su Family and the former you were not of equal social standing. My parents might not have strongly opposed it, but there would have been countless criticisms and resistance from the outside world. Those things are very annoying.”

He frowned, showing his impatience for worldly rules, but then his gaze became serious.

”But if you become the legitimate head of the Nangong Family, with a matching status and assets... then everything will be different. I can pursue you openly, and the Su Family can accept you naturally. Those troubles would no longer exist.”

Mu Xue’s eyes widened slightly, her breath seemingly freezing for a moment. ”This is... what you planned from the very beginning? Plotting for two and a half years to swallow the Nangong Family, just to... smooth the path between us?”

This idea was so shocking, even somewhat incredible, that she found it hard to digest for a moment.

She never thought that someone like Su Bai, who seemed so nonchalant about everything, would engage in such a long and complex scheme for the sake of a potential relationship.

”It wasn’t entirely my idea alone.” Su Bai shook his head honestly, his tone carrying a rare hint of respect for his father.

”This idea, or rather this long-term strategic thinking, was originally proposed by my father. He felt that since your background was discovered and the Nangong Family delivered themselves to our doorstep, it was perhaps... an opportunity to achieve multiple goals at once. It could help you take back what rightfully belongs to you and solve potential future troubles. I just... followed that direction and executed it.”

The night outside had completely settled in, and the streetlights of the villa area glowed in warm yellow circles in the distance.

The massive amount of information and emotional impact echoed in Mu Xue’s heart. There was shock, realization, a complex feeling of being ’calculated’ but not with malice, and something deep and indescribable growing in her soul.

She looked at this familiar yet strange man before her, realizing for the first time just how deeply he had plotted beneath that lazy, playboy exterior, and what a circuitous yet solid path he had paved for her—and for himself.

Su Bai didn’t say anything more, just quietly waiting for her reaction. He had thrown down all his cards; the rest was for her to digest and decide.

”Then why didn’t you tell me when you came back?” Mu Xue’s voice was very soft, carrying a hint of belated grievance and confusion. She added, ”Or... you should have told me when you left. Instead of just leaving a card and an ambiguous sentence.”

”I couldn’t,” Su Bai answered quickly, but his tone wasn’t forceful; it carried a kind of necessary, calm analysis.

”It wasn’t a lack of trust in you; it was precisely to protect this plan and to protect you. Only if you were completely unaware that you were the Nangong Family’s daughter would your reactions, your distance, and your instinctive resistance to returning to the family be most authentic. Only then would the Nangong Family believe you were someone they could control, yet someone who kept them at arm’s length due to past experiences. They needed that sense of reality to lower their guard.”

He paused, looking into Mu Xue’s eyes, and continued to explain: ”Furthermore, they would definitely use their means to investigate our previous relationship. If you had known then, or even stayed in contact with me, given the Nangong Family’s suspicious nature, they likely would have re-evaluated your value. They might have even taken more extreme measures to control you or simply abandoned you as a pawn. They waited for over half a year and chose to hold a high-profile auction to recognize you only after I returned to the country. Wasn’t that just to exploit our past relationship and pull me and the Su Family into it? If you were in the dark, you were the most useful ’bridge’ and ’bait’ for them.”

”What’s more,” Su Bai’s tone lowered, revealing a rare hint of uncertainty.

”Whether this plan would actually succeed... I didn’t actually know back then.”

”Although this was the direction my father proposed, he didn’t give me any substantial help. Or rather, he intentionally left everything for me to handle myself. From investigation, planning, and capital movement to specific execution, it all relied on me. The overseas markets are volatile, and the Nangong Family isn’t easy to deal with. If any link in the chain failed, all previous efforts could have been wasted. What would telling you have changed, other than adding to your worry and risk? If it had failed in the end, telling you would have just given you false hope or made you feel worse.”

Listening to Su Bai slowly reveal the meticulous thoughts behind his cold calculations—and even the anxiety he once felt—the confusion in Mu Xue’s eyes was gradually replaced by a soft, moving emotion.

She hadn’t expected that during those seemingly casual two-plus years, he had carried so much alone and considered things so far ahead.

She reached out, her fingertips slightly cool as she gently brushed Su Bai’s cheek, her movement cautious.

”Su Bai,” she called his name, her voice soft but clear, ”do you know? I want to have you, I want to be with you. But what I want to have is you as a person, your heart. It wasn’t necessary to... enter that high and mighty door of the Su Family.”

Su Bai’s body jolted slightly. Then he raised his hand, his warm palm covering her hand against his face, gripping it tightly.

He looked up, meeting Mu Xue’s eyes. In the dim light, the usual laziness and mockery were gone from his gaze, replaced only by a nearly clumsy sincerity.

”It’s just... after I left you, it took a not-so-short amount of time for me to slowly see clearly what my feelings for you actually were.”

He spoke somewhat slowly, as if sorting through the most genuine threads of his heart.

Loving someone doesn’t require a reason.

The original Su Bai had thought he would never fall in love with any female protagonist in this life.

”It’s not just a habit from a relationship, or a sense of possessiveness because you are my woman. I would think about many small things about you, worry if you were doing well back home, and... feel like a piece of my heart was missing. My father later told me that if you truly care about someone, you should pursue them honorably and give them the right to choose, rather than relying on past entanglements or being bound by interests. I originally thought that once this Nangong Family matter was completely settled and you had everything you deserved, we would both stand in a brand new, clean position, and then I would tell you all this... I just didn’t expect the Nangong Family to get desperate and turn things into what they are today.”

A full-disclosure strike.

At this moment, Su Bai no longer had any secrets from Mu Xue, except for the matter regarding the protagonist.

Those deep-seated schemes, hesitant emotions, hopes for the future, and even the uncertainties he once felt were all laid bare.

The blurred barrier of money, transactions, and calculations that had stood between them for over two years was completely shattered and dissipated at this moment.

For the first time, in a true sense, they stood on equal ground.

No charity, no dependence, no transaction that had to be made.

What remained was the lightness after honesty, the closeness after understanding, and an emotional connection that, while complex in origin and winding in process, felt exceptionally pure at this moment.

Mu Xue didn’t speak immediately. She just looked at him, her eyes slightly stinging, but the corners of her mouth slowly curled into a relaxed arc.

”Mhm,” she responded softly, ”I know now.”

She knew his schemes, knew his concerns, knew his belated feelings, and knew... that they could finally start over in a simpler and more precious way.

(I decided not to let the protagonist be a mute!)