Pretending To Be Affectionate [Transmigration] - Chapter 17

Gu Qing’s office was just like her—clean and organized, with nothing extra except what was needed for work. The floor was spotless, without a speck of dust. Everything was neatly arranged. Even the documents on her desk were stacked in a way that gave a sense of order.

Ling Yu looked down at her muddy high heels, then at Gu Qing’s cold jawline. She suddenly stopped and stood still at the door.

“What is it now?” Gu Qing’s deep eyes held back her emotions. She turned around, stared at Ling Yu for three seconds, and then squeezed out a few words from her throat: “Ling Yu, are you serious?”

Even from three meters away, Ling Yu could feel a trace of uncontainable anger from Gu Qing. For a moment, she was at a loss, remembering what Xiao Tao had told her about Gu Qing being in a bad mood today. Ling Yu said, “Huh?” in a calm voice. “What?”

“I told you to come in. Are you blind, or are you deaf?” Gu Qing was so angry she couldn’t even manage a proper question. She asked again, “Don’t you usually flirt with people so boldly? You’d meet someone like Li Juan late at night and stay in a hotel room with her. What’s wrong? Are you scared to come into my office?”

Stay in a hotel room? Ling Yu was stunned. She remembered the photo Li Juan had taken last night and wondered what story she had made up for Gu Qing. Seeing Gu Qing’s accusatory look, Ling Yu said suspiciously, [Why do I feel like she’s jealous?]

[You’re right,] 008 said without surprise. [She’s jealous.]

Ling Yu rubbed her chin, puzzled. [That doesn’t make sense. Why would Gu Qing be jealous?]

008: [What are you confused about? I can see she’s jealous. Look at her eyes. It’s so obvious. Her anger is overflowing. The air around her is thick with jealousy…]

It finished and held its chin, its eyes sparkling. [So sweet. It’s so sweet.]

[?] Ling Yu was disgusted. [I don’t see any sweetness. If Gu Qing likes Li Juan, let’s be clear, I’m not going to be the third party.]

[…] 008 was silent for a full three seconds. [Where is the third party? The protagonist is clearly jealous of you… Host, what are you so insecure about? Come on, tell me.]

[I believe in data.] Ling Yu scoffed. [Please open the mission panel, go to the stats page, and check the ‘protagonist Gu Qing’s affection for ‘mission participant Ling Yu’ status. Babe, please read the number out loud to me.]

008 looked at the big, bold “0” on the affection meter and painfully covered its face.

On the other side, Gu Qing’s gaze was pressing. Ling Yu slowly looked up, a wry smile on her small face. “Don’t be so mean to me. I’m a little scared.”

Gu Qing looked at her sideways. “Are you?”

Ling Yu nodded and stayed close to the door, looking nervous. “I’m not disobeying you,” Ling Yu said, a hint of hesitation on her face. She carefully glanced at Gu Qing, who was unmoved. She pouted and helplessly bent down to take off her high heels. “I was in a hurry to get to work this morning, and my shoes are dirty. I was worried about getting your floor dirty.”

Gu Qing was stunned. The coldness in her eyes, like an invisible ice pick, seemed to crack, and the ice and snow instantly melted. Gu Qing had seen Ling Yu’s flamboyant and reckless side and the fighting spirit in her eyes when they looked at each other. She had always thought that Ling Yu’s love for her was direct and uninhibited, bold and fearless.

This was the first time Gu Qing realized that wasn’t the case. It turned out that besides pursuing her, Ling Yu was also afraid of her. With this conclusion, Gu Qing narrowed her eyes and subconsciously reached into her pocket for a cigarette. But the moment she touched the pack, she met Ling Yu’s slightly furrowed brow. Gu Qing pulled her hand back and discreetly put the pack away. She raised her hand and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, still feeling annoyed. She took off her coat and unbuttoned the top button of her shirt.

The large movement revealed a silver clavicle chain hanging from her fair neck. They weren’t too far apart, and Ling Yu’s gaze fell on the transparent crystal bottle pendant on the woman’s collarbone. The bottle was about the size of a fingernail, and inside was black and gray fur, possibly animal hair, that looked old. If you looked closely, you could also see some dry bloodstains. Ling Yu was surprised. She instinctively leaned in to get a better look. The next second, Gu Qing suddenly turned sideways and, with a cold face, grabbed the crystal bottle and tucked it into her shirt collar.

“Put your shoes back on,” Gu Qing’s voice softened slightly. Her voice was like a flowing spring, gentle and soothing. Seeing that Ling Yu was still frozen in place, she added, “There aren’t so many rules here.” The implication was that she wasn’t that hard to get along with.

Ling Yu was amused by Gu Qing’s kind and reassuring tone. This was the first time the woman had been so friendly to her. If Gu Qing’s affection level on the mission panel wasn’t still a bright red “0,” Ling Yu would have given her a big smile and played along.

“I won’t.”

A look of disbelief appeared in Gu Qing’s eyes. The softened gaze was once again tinged with a hint of scrutiny. “Who do you think I am? How can I tolerate you acting so willfully again and again?”

Ling Yu ignored the woman’s warning. She curled her toes and looked away. “I’m nothing to you.”

“You’ve always treated my affection like filth, so I won’t come in and contaminate your space.”

Gu Qing frowned, hearing the self-mockery in Ling Yu’s words. For a moment, she didn’t know what to say. She wanted to explain that she didn’t mean it that way, but it seemed she never needed to explain her intentions to anyone. And why should she? Gu Qing’s eyes flashed with a fleeting sense of confusion. Ling Yu’s presence had disrupted her perfectly ordered life. But she couldn’t bring herself to be heartless. Gu Qing stared at the woman’s delicate neck, feeling helpless. Just as she was about to speak, Ling Yu laughed. “Sister, Li Juan likes you. Does she know you have other intentions with her?”

Gu Qing suddenly turned around, her gaze filled with a sharp, needle-like coldness. When Ling Yu said that, she was testing her. The corner of her eye was on Gu Qing’s face, trying to find any sign of emotion. However, the woman in front of her didn’t show any human empathy. She just lowered her eyes and stared at Ling Yu’s bare feet. After a moment, she walked past her heels to her desk, picked up the air conditioner remote, and turned up the temperature.

This was her way of ignoring her. Gu Qing was always like this. She could show indifference in her eyes without a change in expression. She could ignore you even if you were standing right in front of her. Ling Yu scoffed. A hint of rebellious playfulness flashed in her foxy eyes.

In her mind, 008 felt the change in Ling Yu and started nagging. [Host, are you not happy if you don’t provoke her for a day? Don’t you know that you can get a happy ending with the protagonist by just acting like a sweet little flower? Going your own way will only push the protagonist further away.]

Ling Yu sneered. [I don’t think so.]

008: [Why not? Before, Gu Qing didn’t show much emotion towards you. But now, as soon as you meet, it’s like fire and ice… Hey?]

[Well said,] Ling Yu said with a smile. [Go on…]

[…] 008 was speechless by Ling Yu’s relaxed attitude. But then it thought about it. Since the host started acting up, the emotions in Gu Qing’s eyes had visibly increased. More importantly, the system’s mood fluctuation meter showed that Gu Qing’s emotions were much more volatile when she was with Ling Yu. 008 was silent for a moment, then changed the subject. [Host, you’re brilliant. You were so well-behaved for the first two months. Were you trying to create a contrast to make the protagonist feel the change?]

Ling Yu gave a strange smile and cut it off unceremoniously. [No.] To be honest, Ling Yu was just tired of pretending. The system had also said that Gu Qing was slowly heading towards a path of destruction. In her interactions with Gu Qing, it was either indifference or a head-on confrontation. Ling Yu could clearly feel a sense of heavy, profound gloom on her. She sometimes felt that Gu Qing didn’t care about anything and might just decide to destroy herself and others at any moment. Just like with the Jiang Wei case, Gu Qing knew that Jiang Wei was in the wrong, yet she could nonchalantly talk to Li Juan and help Jiang Wei get acquitted.

To be honest, Ling Yu couldn’t understand this behavior. She wanted to know where Gu Qing’s moral line was. She wanted to hit rock bottom and then figure out the right solution. Also, after the Xu family split, Ling Yu didn’t have much free time. She couldn’t afford to waste time in Yuncheng with zero progress.

The air fell into a deadly silence.

“Give me the voice recorder,” Gu Qing said first, suppressing the inexplicable gentleness and patience she felt for Ling Yu. She instinctively took a step back to maintain the proper social distance. A hand was held out in front of her. Ling Yu, with a half-smile, took the blue voice recorder out of her pocket and twirled it between her fingers. She held it out to Gu Qing, but just as the other woman reached for it, Ling Yu’s fingers quickly pulled back.

Meeting Gu Qing’s ice-cold, glass-like gaze, her eyes curved. She whispered, “Why don’t you admit you like me? Did you see the text message I sent you after dinner that day?”

At the mention of the text message, Gu Qing’s face turned completely dark. The temperature in her eyes dropped to a freezing point. It was clear that this question had touched the deepest level of her anger. Ling Yu could feel the pressure above her, as if from a falling knife blade. Gu Qing advanced on her, her deep eyes fixed on her. The look was chilling.

“It looks like you didn’t get it. That’s okay… I’ll tell you in person.” Ling Yu didn’t back down. She hooked her arm around Gu Qing’s close arm, and her toes moved to her calf. “Do you like me this way?”

Gu Qing’s brows were tightly furrowed. Her pale skin was a light, flushed pink in the light. She took the voice recorder from Ling Yu’s hand with a stern face. Then, with two fingers, she grabbed the high heel next to Ling Yu’s foot and threw it into the hallway.

The solid wooden door slammed shut in front of Ling Yu with a loud bang, creating a gust of wind that messed up the bangs on her forehead. Ling Yu glanced at the heel lying on the ground. She let out a soft “tsk.” She walked expressionlessly to the door and knocked on it three times with her knuckles. She said in a voice loud enough for the woman inside to hear, “This just makes me think you’re scared. Your face is all red again. Is it fun to tease me?”

“You know very well that I like…”

Ling Yu didn’t finish her sentence. The elevator suddenly opened with a ding-dong. She instinctively looked back. When she saw the faces of the two men walking out of the elevator, Ling Yu’s defiant expression froze. She was barefoot, and her clothes were wrinkled from being grabbed by Gu Qing. The moment she turned around, her hair brushed against her fair face. Her foxy eyes, because of her anger, were filled with a hint of morning mist. Her eyes were as clear as water, and she looked like a delicate willow in the wind.

The two men ten meters away both stared at her, unable to look away. The air was silent for a moment. Then two shouts erupted.

“Yu Yu!”

“Ling! Yu!”

Two deep male voices rang out at the same time. One was gentle and affectionate, the other was gnashing with anger. Ling Yu stiffly turned her head. The next second, a shadow fell over her.

Jiang Wei was very different from how he was years ago. He had a buzz cut and was wearing a hoodie. His chin was covered in a green stubble, and his face was menacing. If it weren’t for the scar on his jaw, Ling Yu wouldn’t have recognized him.

“Ling! Yu!”

Jiang Wei looked at her with a mix of anger and hatred, remembering the chronic illness he had because of this woman. He raised his hand and aimed for Ling Yu’s face, a quick and sharp slap. His broad palm stopped three inches from Ling Yu’s cheek. He met Ling Yu’s dark, abyss-like eyes, and his hand uncontrollably trembled.

The door behind her opened just then. Gu Qing took two steps forward and stood beside Ling Yu, her frost-covered blue eyes calmly looking at Jiang Wei. The man’s emotions towards Ling Yu were full—a mixture of anger and complexity that was about to overflow from his eyes. Gu Qing’s gaze fell on his bulging muscles. She grabbed Ling Yu’s elbow and pulled her into the office. At the same time, Li Jun reacted and stepped forward, blocking Jiang Wei’s arm.

“Young Master Jiang, what are you doing?”

Jiang Wei shook off Li Jun’s arm and looked at Gu Qing fiercely. “Who are you?”

Gu Qing glanced at Ling Yu and said with a fake smile, “Tell them what you just said to me. Who am I?”