Pretending To Be Affectionate [Transmigration] - Chapter 19

Room 309 was the last room on the right side of the corridor.

The hallway was completely deserted.

Gu Ting and his mother probably caused a disturbance every so often.

After it happened repeatedly, the neighboring rooms were either left vacant or their occupants went to sit near the nurses’ station, like the middle-aged man with the injured leg, waiting for the commotion to end.

When Ling Yu was still three meters from the entrance, the doctor on duty happened to emerge from the room.

Seeing her approach, the older doctor frowned.

“Young lady, did you come here to watch the excitement?”

Noticing that he clearly intended to drive her away, Ling Yu discreetly glanced at the name on his identification badge. Then she put on an embarrassed smile and stepped forward to greet him.

“Good evening, Uncle Qin. I’m the grandniece of Li Xuemei in Room 201. It was so noisy over here that I…came to see what was happening.”

Ling Yu’s immediate attempt at familiarity did not seem greasy or insincere.

She was naturally beautiful. A pair of rimless, gold-framed glasses now rested on the bridge of her nose, concealing the seductive contours of her foxlike eyes.

Her long hair was half tied, with loose strands framing her face. As she spoke, she raised her lashes and met the doctor’s gaze with bright eyes containing a touch of bashful charm.

She appeared obedient, quiet, and refined.

The suspicion in Doctor Qin’s eyes visibly disappeared, and his tone softened.

“The argument is almost over. You may watch from outside, but don’t go inside.”

Ling Yu hurriedly nodded.

At that moment, the emergency bell at the nurses’ station sounded. Doctor Qin looked up at the room number, placed his stethoscope around his neck, and hurried away.

The insults inside the room had quieted considerably.

The door remained tightly closed.

Ling Yu stood outside and waited for five full minutes, but the intense argument did not erupt again.

Continuing to wait there would clearly be inappropriate.

It was raining outside.

Ling Yu glanced at the pitch-black curtain of rain, took out her phone, and sent Gu Qing several messages.

[Sister, are you free? It’s raining heavily outside, and I’m stranded at the hospital. I can’t get home. Could you bring me an umbrella?]

[Sorry for disturbing you so late.]

[The address is the rehabilitation department at Central Hospital.]

Ling Yu composed three messages in succession.

008 clicked its tongue at precisely the right moment.

[Host, sometimes I think you’re remarkably skilled at ordering people around. It’s raining so heavily—couldn’t you solve the problem by booking a ride? Does the female lead truly need to make a trip here?]

Ling Yu pointed toward Room 309.

[Gu Qing is inside.]

[What?]

008 had only just been released from confinement and did not understand what had happened.

It swiftly reviewed the information Ling Yu shared with it.

A moment later, it sighed.

[The original novel barely described Gu Qing’s adoptive mother and younger brother. I never imagined the female lead’s circumstances would be this suffocating…]

Ling Yu stared at the tightly closed door and murmured:

[Daddy, did I do something wrong?]

008 sounded confused.

[What do you mean?]

[Nothing.]

Ling Yu smiled to herself.

[I’ve simply realized that Gu Qing became so cold and impervious because no one has ever genuinely loved her. If I want to pull her out of the darkness, I need to give her unconditional affection and care.]

[But Daddy, I don’t like Gu Qing. Even while completing this mission, I’m still a normal, flesh-and-blood human being with my own likes and dislikes. Frankly, if you expect me to keep deceiving her by acting as her bootlicker, I can’t do it…]

The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy, and panic entered 008’s voice.

[Host, how could you think that way?]

008 counted on its fingers as it tried to persuade her.

[Do you genuinely believe your acting is exceptional and unrivaled? Please stop embarrassing yourself. Aside from the first two months, when you earnestly completed your mission and behaved like a devoted bootlicker, your persona has recently collapsed so thoroughly that not even its mother remains.]

[Not only have you neglected your work, but you’ve also displayed all your arrogance in front of the female lead. She’s incredibly intelligent. She saw through your true nature long ago.]

When Ling Yu remained silent, 008 administered an even harsher dose.

[Furthermore, don’t forget that the female lead’s affection level toward you has always remained at zero. What does that prove? With such clumsy bootlicker acting, you could never deceive her even if you tried for an entire lifetime. In the future, please don’t insult the very concept of deception.]

008 launched into a barrage of criticism, practically spraying saliva everywhere.

Ling Yu rubbed her chin and carefully considered its words.

The hesitation in her eyes slowly disappeared, and she lazily responded:

[I never realized you thought so poorly of me.]

[So, Host, shouldn’t you charge inside and become the beauty who rescues another beauty?]

008 cleverly changed the subject.

[No.]

Ling Yu slipped her phone into her pocket.

[I’ll wait for her near the entrance.]

008 sounded disappointed.

[Why? This is such a perfect opportunity to take advantage of her vulnerability.]

As she walked, Ling Yu looked toward the dark sky beyond the window.

[Because…not everyone is willing to spread their scars open for others to see. Someone as proud as Gu Qing would be even less willing.]

008 was ultimately a system and could not fully share human emotions. It nodded with only partial understanding.

[All right. Did the female lead agree to come and collect you?]

[No.]

Ling Yu answered with remarkable shamelessness.

[In truth, Gu Qing’s personality means she’ll completely ignore me. But that won’t prevent me from coincidentally encountering her at the hospital.]

Lightning flashed and thunder roared outside as violent rain battered the building.

Just as Ling Yu reached the elevator, a bolt of lightning struck and severed the hospital’s power supply.

The nurses’ station activated the backup generator to maintain the patients’ medical equipment. However, the entire hospital consumed an enormous amount of electricity, so the elevators were shut down to conserve power.

Helpless, Ling Yu turned toward the emergency stairwell.

However, the moment she entered, she heard someone sobbing.

Ling Yu had no habit of eavesdropping. She stopped and prepared to retreat.

In the next second, Gu Ting’s slurred, indistinct voice entered her ears.

“When my father named you Qing, he used the same character from the idiom qing zhu nan shu—crimes too numerous to record even if every bamboo slip were exhausted. He probably never imagined his words would become prophetic. The sins you committed against our family are just like your name. They can never be erased.”

Gu Ting lay beside the railing at the stairwell, his limp arms hanging against the floor.

He clearly looked miserable and helpless, yet unhealthy excitement covered his face.

“Sister, do you still not understand? Both my father and my mother hate you. Only I am the relative who loves you most in this world.”

“I can tolerate every flaw you possess…and provide you with the cleanest skin for your scheduled monthly episodes.”

After speaking, Gu Ting stared at the syringe clasped between Gu Qing’s fair fingers and licked his dry lips.

Then he tilted his head and exposed his limp neck to the needle.

By this point, intense horror had filled Ling Yu’s heart.

Shocked, she shifted her gaze toward Gu Qing, who was leaning in the corner.

The woman said nothing.

Her eyes remained lowered, and a syringe rested between her slender fingers in the same manner she ordinarily held a cigarette.

The transparent liquid inside swayed back and forth.

Only after Gu Ting finished speaking did Gu Qing finally tear her gaze from the syringe’s markings and look at him.

A horrifying smile covered the boy’s face.

He encouraged her:

“Come on, Sister. Don’t suppress yourself.”

“You think you’re worthy of being my brother?”

Gu Qing repeated, “A brother who encourages his adopted sister to inject him with sedatives?”

She looked down at Gu Ting as though staring at a madman.

“Do you genuinely believe I won’t strangle you to death?”

Gu Qing braced one hand against the wall and abruptly bent down.

The white light above the stairwell surrounded her exquisite profile. Within its halo, her lips appeared pale, their straightened curve both cruel and bloody.

Gu Ting had undergone rehabilitation for several years. Although his limbs remained weak and powerless, he could still move them independently.

He tried to rise, but even after tremendous effort, he failed.

Within the dim light, the woman’s distant, glasslike blue eyes remained half-lowered.

Her fair fingers tightly grasped the syringe.

Saliva ran from the corner of Gu Ting’s mouth and dripped onto the floor.

Gu Qing did not seem disgusted.

Her high heels scraped across the floor as she stepped forward twice. Her fingertips stroked the syringe repeatedly.

Suddenly, her fingers tightened, and she pressed it against Gu Ting’s neck.

The syringe’s icy surface touched the soft flesh of his throat.

With danger looming above him, Gu Ting screamed in a mixture of fear and excitement.

However, a silk handkerchief firmly muffled the sound.

Gu Qing raised her eyelids.

Murderous intent climbed through her eyes.

“Useless trash.”

The woman spoke extremely slowly, her eyes half-closed.

She scrutinized Gu Ting’s neck as though examining prey.

A moment later, her fingers suddenly moved. Just as she was about to inject the sedative into his throat, thunder exploded outside.

Within that deafening crash, Gu Qing’s murderous intent disappeared completely.

Disgust filled her azure eyes.

She threw away the syringe and crushed its needle beneath her high heel.

Gu Ting’s tightly closed eyes slowly opened.

When he saw that Gu Qing had regained her composure, he appeared humiliated. His eyes turned red.

“Why?”

Gu Qing ground her heel against the syringe and answered harshly:

“Because you’re filthy.”

In the dim flashes of lightning, Ling Yu stared into the stairwell.

A sticky dampness covered the woman’s eyes, while her entire presence became another degree colder.

[What the fuck? What the fuck?]

[Host, I’m terrified.]

[She—she…the female lead…the female lead is terrifying…]

008 stammered incoherently, its lips trembling as it rambled.

Ling Yu’s gaze, however, remained on the syringe beneath Gu Qing’s foot.

A bead of Gu Ting’s blood clung to the needle, which Gu Qing crushed ruthlessly.

It resembled a pigeon egg shattering beneath her fingers, overflowing with a desire for destruction.

Ling Yu was about to look more closely when a crisp ringtone suddenly echoed through the silent stairwell.

“Doo-doo-doo, you have an incoming call.”

“Doo-doo-doo, you have an incoming call.”

“Doo-doo-doo, you have an incoming call.”

Ling Yu lowered her head and instinctively looked toward her handbag.

The phone inside was ringing before she could silence it.

When she raised her head again, her gaze collided with Gu Qing’s deep eyes.

Separated by the upper and lower staircases, their gazes met in midair.

The atmosphere fell deathly silent.

The woman leaning against the railing below stiffly raised her chin.

The mocking curve of her lips froze.

She seemed to need a long time to recognize Ling Yu.

Then, for the first time, the face that ordinarily remained unchanged even if Mount Tai collapsed before her revealed unprecedented panic and fury.