I’m a Villain! Why Are You Trying to Date Me?

Chapter 33: How Does Riding in a Car End Up Feeling Like Being Alone in a Room with a Woman?

After getting dressed, Lin Tian didn’t even get the chance to grab a bite of breakfast before Shang Chan dragged him down the mountain.

As the car wound its way down the spiraling mountain road, Lin Tian couldn’t help but ask curiously, “What exactly happened that’s got you in such a rush to head back?”

It wasn’t strange for Lin Tian to feel puzzled. After all, though he had only been in this world for a day or two since transmigrating, the logic of this reality had already begun piecing itself together in his mind—memories included.

Looking back now, his recollections had grown much clearer, especially those involving the Xinghai Group.

All in all, the group’s rise hadn’t been easy, but it had always been steady.

Including that real estate investment plan used by Ice Eye group to set them up—thinking back on it now, Lin Tian felt it might not have been enough to fully restrain Xinghai. The foundation of Xinghai Group was far beyond what most people imagined.

Shang Chan’s business acumen truly lived up to its reputation. From the very beginning, she had established an incredibly sound system within the company. These systems ensured that even if she wasn’t present, the company could still run smoothly for a good while without issues.

And right now, they had only been away from Xinghai for less than a day—what kind of problem could possibly arise in that short time?

Faced with Lin Tian’s doubt, Shang Chan leisurely applied a touch of soft lipstick, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she said with a playful smile, “We’re going back to adjust your position.”

“That’s it???”

Lin Tian’s eyes widened immediately!

How the hell does this count as something urgent?!

Lin Tian was momentarily speechless, even starting to wonder if Shang Chan had somehow found out about what happened between him and Zhao Mengmeng the night before…

Feeling a twinge of guilt, he couldn’t help but start muttering to himself in his mind.

[What the hell is this woman up to now? Is adjusting my position really such an emergency? Tsk… could she have found out about last night with Zhao Mengmeng? No way—she was already asleep, and she twisted her ankle too. How could she know anything…]

Sitting right beside him, Shang Chan’s hand suddenly trembled, and her lipstick went crooked.

Her eyes were wide with shock, disbelief flooding her expression.

Lin Tian… last night… with Zhao Mengmeng…

When did those two get involved?

For a moment, Shang Chan didn’t even know what she was supposed to feel.

Was it heartbreak?

Disappointment?

Anger?

Maybe a little bit of everything… but not enough of any one thing to be clear.

Because in the end, Lin Tian wasn’t really hers, was he? She was the one who had taken the initiative to keep him from resigning, the one who’d practically dragged him to the Zhao family estate.

The reason they had left so early this morning… was because Shang Chan suddenly recalled the thoughts she’d heard from Lin Tian.

If Lin Tian were to meet her father, would he really insist on leaving Xinghai, leaving the Zhao family altogether?

If that happened, it felt like she would lose the last excuse she had to stay close to him.

Driven by this unease, she’d even faked a sense of urgency, dragging Lin Tian away from the Zhao estate as quickly as possible.

But now—now she discovered something completely unexpected.

Her own younger sister… and Lin Tian…?

For a moment, Shang Chan sat in a daze, forgetting she was still holding her lipstick.

She turned her head slowly, blankly staring at Lin Tian, her eyes filled with confusion and hurt.

And then, just seconds later, a rush of tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over.

She didn’t know why.

She didn’t know what was wrong with her.

She just didn’t want to stop it.

She just wanted to cry—quietly, uncontrollably—because it felt like only those tears could wash away the sorrow crushing her heart.

“Why… Am I not good enough?” Shang Chan murmured, her voice trembling with sorrow, the heartbreak almost spilling from every word.

Lin Tian was completely dumbfounded! What the hell was this woman talking about??

【Wait, what? All I did was have a meal with Zhao Mengmeng! Even if she found out, isn’t this a bit… Damn, no—hold on! Shang Chan and I aren’t even a thing…】

【Huh… but if this really upsets her and makes her back off, maybe that’s not such a bad outcome.】

【Still, she did stand up for me yesterday—right in front of Jiang Yifeng too. She even scolded him to his face just to give me a gift. Wouldn’t it be a little heartless of me to just walk away after that…?】

【Sigh… I guess I’ll just take it one step at a time. Shang Chan is, after all, Jiang Yifeng’s primary target. If I can stay away from that mess, I definitely should. Even if she really cut ties with Jiang Yifeng, a woman like her… isn’t someone I could ever really get close to anyway.】

Lin Tian had always been very clear about his limits.

Whether it was in terms of looks, ability, power, or status—Lin Tian had nothing particularly impressive to offer.

It wasn’t that he was some bottom-of-the-barrel loser. In fact, being the General Manager of the Investment Department at Xinghai Group was already a position many would kill for—it was the peak of success in the eyes of countless people.

But within the original plot, he was just a background character. A powerless, insignificant villain.

A few million a year? Not bad, right?

But in the face of giants like the Zhao family, Bai family, Fengchen Group, and the Xuan Yuan clan, what did a general manager of Xinghai Group’s investment department amount to? Nothing.

These top-tier forces played games with amounts of money that Lin Tian wouldn’t earn in ten lifetimes.

So—did he not understand Shang Chan’s growing affection for him? Of course he did.

But understanding didn’t mean he could accept it. At least, not until the system rewarded him again and he’d fully dealt with the villain’s halo.

This was his life they were talking about—he couldn’t afford to make even a single careless move.

If it were possible, Lin Tian would, of course, love to be surrounded by beautiful women, enjoying the best of both worlds—but was that the kind of treatment a villain should expect?

Letting out a sigh, Lin Tian could only curse inwardly, Jiang Yifeng, you damn lucky bastard!

…

Hearing Lin Tian’s inner thoughts, the dazed look in Shang Chan’s eyes suddenly brightened with a flicker of hope.

So, Lin Tian hadn’t actually done anything with her sister…

They had just had a meal together?

And also—wasn’t Lin Tian’s initial instinct in his thoughts to explain himself to her?

Didn’t that mean that, in his heart, she already held a very important place?

Shang Chan’s mind was sharp. From the nuances in Lin Tian’s internal monologue, she managed to piece together quite a bit of information!

And once she worked it all out, the sadness in her heart vanished.

So what if Lin Tian and her little sister had randomly eaten a meal together?

Did she really need to stoop to competing with that little girl?

If she and Lin Tian ended up together in the future, Zhao Mengmeng would have to call him brother-in-law!

In her flustered state, Shang Chan even forgot to wonder why her little sister had gone to eat with Lin Tian in the first place…

And the moment she thought of the word “brother-in-law,” a flush of pink crept up her cheeks. The tears in her eyes turned hazy—not from sorrow, but from the stirrings of affection and infatuation…

The rapid shifts in Shang Chan’s expression over such a short span of time left Lin Tian completely dumbfounded!

He even started to wonder if Zhao Mengmeng had somehow possessed this woman’s body.

Only that little enchantress could pull off so many expressive changes in such a short period of time…

From sorrow and confusion, to slowly regaining her glow, and then to a bashful, love-struck look at the end—Lin Tian could only marvel and say in his heart, That old saying is too true—nothing changes faster than a woman’s face, except maybe the speed of light!

……..

“Ahem, um, are you okay?” Lin Tian finally asked helplessly.

After all, no matter how you looked at it, he and Shang Chan were still relatively close. Even putting aside what had happened the past two nights, he was still an employee at Xinghai! If the boss was crying her eyes out and he just ignored it, that would be too weird.

Hearing Lin Tian’s voice snapped Shang Chan out of her thoughts.

Her cheeks flushed even more, and she quickly pulled out some wet wipes from her bag to clean herself up—wiping away her tears, the smudged lipstick, and the messy makeup.

Shang Chan had always been a woman with incredibly refined features, and her light makeup usually only enhanced her beauty.

But now, with all her makeup completely removed, her breathtaking natural beauty was fully unveiled—like a snow lotus blooming on a mountaintop, pure and radiant.

Staring at her, Lin Tian couldn’t help but recall a line of poetry…

Like a lotus rising from clear water, untouched by any embellishment.

Shang Chan was already beautiful—so beautiful, in fact, that she didn’t need makeup to enhance her looks.

Any cosmetic, even something as subtle as a light lipstick, felt excessive on her face—like gilding the lily.

Caught up in the moment, Lin Tian blurted out without thinking, “Maybe… maybe you shouldn’t wear makeup anymore?”

“Hm?”

Shang Chan had just taken out her lipstick, intending to touch up her lips, when she froze.

She blinked, her long lashes fluttering like butterfly wings.

“You… what did you say?”

Lin Tian winced, baring his teeth in frustration. Why the hell couldn’t he keep his mouth shut?

He sighed, then muttered helplessly, “I said… maybe you shouldn’t wear makeup anymore. You look really good without it. Why waste all those cosmetics, right?”

[Mainly, it’s just that… those cosmetics really didn’t do much for this woman’s face—they actually covered up her natural, crystal-clear beauty… Tsk, I’m talking too much. Damn it, what the hell does this have to do with me anyway?]

Lin Tian shut up after that one sentence, not wanting Shang Chan to misunderstand.

But what he didn’t know was that every word of his inner thoughts had already been heard loud and clear by Shang Chan.

She stared at the side of his face—not particularly handsome, but carrying a quiet kind of determination—and found herself momentarily lost in thought.

He… he said I look better without makeup?

He likes how I look barefaced?

Shang Chan had always known that her natural look was attractive, but she never quite knew how attractive. After all, even though she didn’t wear heavy makeup, she still did the basics—lipstick, a bit of whitening foundation, and so on.

But now, hearing Lin Tian say that, a sudden thought blossomed in her heart:

From now on, I won’t use makeup again!

But then a sliver of uncertainty crept in. Could the bare-faced me really hold this man’s interest for long? Am I… really that captivating?

If anyone—any of her countless suitors or anyone who knew her well—could hear what Shang Chan was thinking right now, they’d probably be shocked speechless.

Since when had Shang Chan—who had always been so confident in her looks—started worrying that her bare face might not be beautiful enough?

A hazy, ambiguous tension filled the car. Shang Chan’s cheeks were flushed, her eyes dreamy and dazed.

The scene was so charged that Xiaoyun, the secretary driving up front, didn’t even dare to sneak a glance!

She quietly raised the privacy screen between the front and back seats—just in case she accidentally overheard something she shouldn’t, and got silenced for it…

Only once the divider fully closed did she finally breathe again, eyes sparkling with excitement and a goofy auntie-smile spreading across her face.

They’re totally into each other!

There’s no way two people who didn’t like each other would be making those kinds of expressions!

And Manager Lin’s got some serious game! Telling the CEO she looks better without makeup… Tsk, and come to think of it, she does look even more stunning barefaced!

While Xiaoyun’s thoughts ran wild, the car remained smooth and steady.

But for Lin Tian, the second that divider clicked into place, he suddenly felt trapped.

What the hell… How did a simple car ride turn into this whole ‘man and woman alone in a room’ vibe?!