Pretending To Be Affectionate [Transmigration] - Chapter 22

Gu Qing’s demeanor during the trial was different from her usual self. She sat quietly next to the defense attorney, Cai Dong. Her long eyelashes were lowered, and she let Cai Dong take the lead. She, on the other hand, was like a rock, calmly observing every detail and emotion of the witness, the judge, and the jury. She held a pen in her right hand and jotted down various strategies on paper.

Ling Yu noticed that during the first half of the confrontation between the prosecution and the defense, whenever the prosecution asked a tricky question, Gu Qing would hand a document to Cai Dong. They looked like they had worked together countless times, coordinating with each other’s rhythm. Cai Dong controlled his pace, making it neither too fast nor too slow. Even though the defendant, Jiang Wei, was clearly guilty, he was able to twist the truth with his clever words.

The witness on the stand was Yan Shu’s father. He was already sweating from being interrogated by Jiang Dong.

“Do you know the nature of your daughter’s job?”

…

“With a job like that, has she ever talked to you about the male friends she’s encountered?”

…

Yan Shu’s father’s emotions were out of control from Jiang Dong’s increasingly aggressive questioning. He said excitedly, “My daughter is a decent person… Although she works at a club, she has always been self-respecting. Since she was a child, she has never had any close contact with any male… she even gets disgusted by being too close to them.”

Cai Dong took the document from Gu Qing and looked up. He concluded to the judge, “So, Yan Shu has been keeping her distance from the opposite sex since she was a child, and this way of keeping her distance has continued until she was 19. Is that right?”

…

The one-sided questioning almost made Yan Shu’s father say things that were detrimental to the plaintiff. …

After Yan Shu’s father finished his testimony, the new witness for the case, Li Juan, was summoned. Li Juan was wearing a dark red dress. Despite the heavy makeup, there were still signs of a hangover on her face. It seemed she had never been in a situation like this before. She instinctively shrank her neck, and her gaze clearly fell on Gu Qing. Then she looked around and saw Ling Yu. Ling Yu smiled at her, but Li Juan quickly looked away, her head down, like a child who had done something wrong.

The prosecutor asked a series of questions, and it was Cai Dong’s turn again. This time, he didn’t look at Gu Qing. It seemed he was already confident and had practiced countless times. He asked a series of questions. Li Juan answered very cooperatively.

“You and Yan Shu lived together, didn’t you?”

Li Juan nodded.

“You would often hold hands and go shopping, eating, and singing karaoke.”

Li Juan nodded again, but her face was filled with a sense of defeat.

“Did you two ever sleep in the same bed?”

“Did you two ever do things that only lovers do?”

“Objection!” The prosecutor stood up. “Your Honor, I object to the defense attorney’s malicious speculation.”

Cai Dong received a warning from the head lawyer. He looked back at Gu Qing, but she didn’t give him any reaction. Ling Yu was sitting in the first row of the courtroom and clearly saw all of Gu Qing’s changes. From the moment Li Juan came out, Gu Qing’s calm demeanor had completely disappeared. At that moment, her fingers tapped on the table. Her blue eyes were heavy, and she glanced at Cai Dong sideways. Then she leaned back in her chair and pretended to be dozing.

This meant she wasn’t going to help him anymore. For the first time in a trial, Gu Qing was giving up. The other side was clearly angry. Cai Dong knew that the Jiang family had used their influence to find Li Juan and coerced her into testifying. But before that, Gu Qing had agreed to help the Jiang family on the condition that they wouldn’t harm the witnesses. Now that Li Juan had appeared in court, Cai Dong could imagine Gu Qing’s fury. He had also been involved in this matter. Cai Dong thought about his fate after the trial, and the flesh on his face couldn’t help but tremble. He adjusted his expression, forced himself to look away, and continued his questioning.

However, without Gu Qing’s strategic guidance, his questions became more and more pointed, touching on Li Juan’s most fragile moral bottom line. As the questioning went on, Li Juan’s answers became more and more resistant. The prosecutor’s lawyer kept raising objections. Cai Dong started to struggle, so he asked the judge to submit a piece of evidence.

Ling Yu raised her eyebrows and watched the voice recorder being played in front of everyone. The voice was from the bar that night when Li Juan first tried to hit on Gu Qing.

“Do you like me?”

As soon as Gu Qing’s voice came on, Li Juan’s face turned pale. She suddenly stood up and kicked the chair behind her. She glared at Jiang Wei. “My best friend, Yan Shu, was strangled to death by him with a rope. I saw it with my own eyes. All the testimony I just gave was forced by Jiang Wei…”

Before she could finish, Cai Dong interrupted her. “The witness is emotional and is talking nonsense. Your Honor, I request that she be temporarily removed from the courtroom.”

This request was very unreasonable. Ling Yu folded her arms and waited for the show. However, a few minutes later, the judge and the jury discussed it and actually granted Cai Dong’s request. Ling Yu frowned and instinctively looked at Gu Qing, who was across the aisle. Half of the woman’s face was hidden in the shadows. She was tapping her pale fingers on the table, as if she were hiding the coldness in her heart with the tapping sound.

Cai Dong saw that Li Juan had been pulled out, and a hint of pride flashed in his eyes. “Your Honor, this voice recorder can prove that the defendant, Li Juan, is a lesbian.” He got carried away and said his concluding statement prematurely. He regretted it as soon as he said it, but luckily, someone had pressed the play button again on the voice recorder.

“Do you like me?”

“No.”

“Are you lesbian?”

“Of course not.”

…

The four lines of dialogue were played back and forth. Cai Dong’s confident smile froze on his face. He instinctively looked at Gu Qing for help, but she only looked down, and her cold eyebrows were filled with a look of amusement as if she were looking at a fool.

The trial had reached this point, like a play. There was a commotion in the courtroom. Luckily, Cai Dong composed himself after the shock. Even though he was being suppressed by the prosecutor’s lawyer, a new piece of evidence had been introduced during the trial, which complicated the case. After discussion, the judge and the jury decided to postpone the case for three weeks.

Ling Yu narrowed her eyes and glanced at Gu Qing. The latter’s back was against the table behind her. Her face was turned sideways, and her expression was cold. The light from above cast an uneven glow on every inch of her oval-shaped face, outlining a look of extreme indifference.

As if she had sensed Ling Yu’s gaze, she suddenly looked back across the aisle. Ling Yu clearly saw the coldness in Gu Qing’s beautiful phoenix eyes as they looked at her, as if she knew everything. She knew it was her doing. Ling Yu was sure of it and provocatively curved her lips at Gu Qing.

She mouthed, “Sister, I won’t let you hurt people ever again.”

Gu Qing stared at her absurdly. Her emotionless eyes were filled with contempt for what she thought was a self-righteous fool. As Ling Yu had expected, the coldness in those clear eyes was gone. Instead, they were like a provoked monster. A malevolent aura spread in her eyes, and the thick scent of seaweed was almost dripping out. Ling Yu thought in her strange way that Gu Qing was very angry at that moment. The undefeated Lawyer Gu had suffered a setback in court for the first time. She had every right to be angry.

Ling Yu curved her lips mischievously. At the last moment when the judge announced the end of the trial, she took a candy out of her pocket and threw it into her large pocket across the crowd. Unfortunately, she missed her target. Gu Qing was standing in the crowd, giving instructions to the criminal team. The candy hit her in the back. She didn’t seem to notice it and continued to give instructions without changing her expression.

After the trial, Sister Wang took Ling Yu to the courthouse office to handle some of the follow-up procedures for the case. It took about half an hour to finish. Ling Yu thought Gu Qing had already left, but when they returned to the lobby on the first floor, she happened to catch a glimpse of the woman’s back. Ling Yu greeted Sister Wang and followed Gu Qing to the restroom. But on the way, Li Jun and Cai Dong blocked Gu Qing’s way.

Not far from the restroom was the emergency exit. The two men standing in front of Gu Qing had red faces. Ling Yu couldn’t get too close, but she could vaguely hear Li Jun’s questioning.

“Was it you, Gu Qing?”

“You’re the only one who could have changed the voice recorder.”

“How could you be so foolish? Do you think the Jiang family will let you go if they find out the truth?”

“I can’t believe you would go back on your word.”

Gu Qing’s pale lips were slightly pursed. She waited for Li Jun and Cai Dong to finish their questioning. Then she slowly raised her head, and her gaze lightly fell on them. After a moment, she said indifferently, “You two are the ones who went back on your word behind my back.” The woman’s gaze was like she was looking at two fools dancing on her bottom line. Her gaze was almost tangible on them. A moment later, she tossed her long, curly hair and turned to leave expressionlessly.

Ling Yu was a little stunned. Gu Qing clearly knew that she was the one who tampered with the voice recorder. Yet, the usually cruel and self-serving Gu Qing didn’t expose her in front of Li Jun and Cai Dong.

Why? Ling Yu was still thinking about this question on the bus back to the law firm. The bus wasn’t as lively as it was on the way here. Besides the occasional sound of the driver turning the steering wheel, it was very quiet. Because the case didn’t go well, the criminal team, led by Cai Dong, was in a bad mood. Even Sister Wang had stopped chatting with the young woman behind her at some point. Ling Yu rested her chin in her hands and stared blankly at the scenery outside the window.

The bus driver suddenly hit the brakes and stopped the bus at the last traffic light before the law firm. “Ah, Lawyer Gu is also just getting back.” Sister Wang suddenly glanced out the window and sighed. “She must not be in a good mood. The trial today…” She glanced at Jiang Dong in the front row, and her voice suddenly trailed off.

Seeing this, Ling Yu had to change the subject. “Sister Wang is amazing. How do you know Lawyer Gu is just getting back to the firm? Wasn’t she not with us?” Sister Wang was amused by Ling Yu’s question. She raised her finger and pointed at the silver-gray Porsche parked in the right lane next to the bus. “See, that’s the car the law firm prepared for Lawyer Gu.”

Ling Yu followed Sister Wang’s finger. When she saw the symbolic, limited-edition silver-gray Porsche with three zeros on the license plate, the laziness on her face froze. After a moment, she suppressed her emotions and looked at Sister Wang. “Sister Wang, does Lawyer Gu usually drive herself?”

“Of course,” Sister Wang said, babbling about the company’s policies. As a core member of the company for the past two years, Gu Qing’s basic living arrangements, such as a car and a house, were given to her as a bonus from a portion of her shares. Ling Yu was in a daze, thinking that the person standing outside the villa last night could have been Gu Qing. This made it difficult for her to focus. So, she played along with Sister Wang’s words. “I guess so. I’ve never seen a company give an employee a limited-edition silver-gray Porsche as a bonus. Director Li is so good to Lawyer Gu.”

“He really is.” Sister Wang’s interest didn’t wane after getting a response. She always loved to gossip about luxury cars and watches. When she talked about Gu Qing’s Porsche, her eyes sparkled. “This Porsche is a global limited edition! Director Li originally prepared a red Maserati as her year-end bonus, but then he found out that Lawyer Gu likes everything white. Besides her clothes, almost all of her belongings are white, like her keychain, her lunch box, her white transparent umbrella with sequins…”

“Wait a second.”

Sister Wang said, “Hmm?” and looked at Ling Yu in surprise. The latter’s dark eyes suddenly met hers. Her gaze was surprisingly serious. “What kind of umbrella does Gu Qing like?”

Sister Wang repeated hesitantly, “A white transparent one with sequins. Is there a problem?”

“Like this?” Ling Yu was wearing a backpack today. She put it on her lap, unzipped it, and took out the foldable umbrella from last night.

Sister Wang said, “Oh.” “Xiao Ling, how did Lawyer Gu’s umbrella get here? She hates it when people touch her things…”

Ling Yu lifted her eyelids and suddenly felt a dryness in her throat. All the events from last night were connected and vivid in her mind. She was silent for a while, then suddenly took out her phone and sent a message to “Kaihe Law Firm Gu.”

[Let’s talk.]

Five minutes later, the person replied as expected: [No need.]

Ling Yu smiled faintly. [Isn’t it better to be honest with yourself? I’m just returning an umbrella and thanking you in person.] [Oh, right, the umbrella! It’s the white transparent one with sequins from yesterday!] [If it’s not convenient for you, I’ll be going to the hospital in a few days. Should I leave it with your brother?]

This time, the woman’s reply was very fast: [Ling Yu, don’t try to provoke me.]

Ling Yu stared at her phone for a long time without moving.

Ten minutes later, Kaihe Law Firm Gu: [Address.]

Ling Yu, sitting on the bus, suddenly curved her lips, and her foxy eyes were filled with a hint of a smile.