Pretending To Be Affectionate [Transmigration] - Chapter 26

When Ling Yu returned to the old house, the housekeeper was still there. Xu Miao had probably told her in advance. The housekeeper had prepared some healthy snacks, and a pot of broth was simmering on the stove. The white and green snacks were placed on the dining table, steaming hot.

Ling Yu usually didn’t eat much after 9 p.m. She had been staying at the Xu family’s old house recently, and the housekeeper was familiar with her habits. The snacks on the table were all light, and the soup simmering on the stove was a healthy one.

Ling Yu glanced at the shabby insulated lunchbox in her hand and then at the light and delicate snacks on the table. Compared to the housekeeper’s cooking, Ling Yu didn’t have much faith in the food that Gu Qing had casually thrown at her. So she casually placed the lunchbox on the dining table. Ling Yu thanked the housekeeper and went to the bathroom.

When she came back after her shower, more delicate dishes had been added to the dining table. Ling Yu took a quick look. Small porcelain plates with frilly edges held sweet and sour pork ribs, chestnut and cabbage, and pocket tofu. The portions were small, just enough for one person, and the colors looked delicious. Just the aroma alone made Ling Yu realize she was actually quite hungry. She picked up her chopsticks, grabbed a rib coated in a sweet sauce, and began to eat slowly. She had only planned to have a small taste, but the taste was unexpectedly to her liking.

After she finished eating, the housekeeper came out of the kitchen and looked at the empty plates. The smile on her face froze. Ling Yu didn’t notice anything. She praised her generously, “Aunt Wang, I didn’t expect you to be so good at not only making snacks but also your home-cooked meals.”

The housekeeper stood there, looking even more embarrassed. She mumbled, “Miss Ling, I didn’t make that.” She took the recently washed lunchbox from behind her back and handed it to Ling Yu. “Here, this is the food you brought back.”

Ling Yu raised her eyelids. “What?”

Aunt Wang was from the north, and when she spoke a little faster, she had a slight local accent. She thought Ling Yu hadn’t understood her, so she took a deep breath and repeated, “I only made the snacks. The rest of the home-cooked food was from the lunchbox you brought back.”

This time, Ling Yu didn’t ask any more questions. She just lowered her eyes and stared at the shabby lunchbox in her hand. The grease inside the lunchbox had been washed off by the housekeeper. It was probably heated up, as a layer of mist had formed on the transparent wall. It wasn’t as old as she had imagined.

The housekeeper saw Ling Yu staring at the insulated lunchbox in a daze. Her face was a little worried. “Miss Ling, if you like this kind of home-cooked food, can you tell me which friend made it? I’ll learn from them next time. Then I can make it for you every night.”

Ling Yu was speechless for a moment. She asked, “How do you know it wasn’t packed from a restaurant?” After all, Ling Yu often got takeout. The dishes in the lunchbox Gu Qing had given her were delicious.

Aunt Wang, acting like a seasoned veteran, patiently explained, “Restaurant food is usually very oily and salty. In order to look good, they usually use a thickener when they finish cooking.” “Miss, the food you brought back was definitely home-cooked.”

Ling Yu was stunned. Her face was a little dazed. Why would a woman like Gu Qing give her a meal she made herself? That person had always avoided her like she was a dirty thing, and whenever she got close, she acted like she was about to start a fight and slap her to the ground. What was she after?

After countless wild guesses, Ling Yu still didn’t completely believe the housekeeper’s confident assurance. She casually hummed, took out her phone, and sent a text message to Kaihe Law Firm Gu.

Yu Yu: [Thank you for the dinner tonight. It didn’t look very appetizing. I’m sorry. I threw it in the trash.]

The other party didn’t reply for a long time. Ling Yu didn’t mind. After she was done washing up, she logged into a foreign website and checked her recent papers. Just before she went to bed, she finally received a reply from Gu Qing.

Kaihe Law Firm Gu: [Oh.]

Ling Yu narrowed her eyes and asked, without sincerity, [You’re not mad?]

This time, the reply came quickly, with two messages in a row.

Kaihe Law Firm Gu: [?]

Kaihe Law Firm Gu: [The food was packed from a restaurant by Assistant Wang. I threw it to you. What you do with it is none of my business.]

The smile on Ling Yu’s lips deepened, but it didn’t reach her eyes. [Really? But it tasted like home-cooked food (⊙o⊙) Wow! Gu Qing, have lies gotten this complicated?]

The other side was silent again for about ten seconds. Just when Ling Yu thought the other party wouldn’t reply, her phone rang.

Gu Qing was smoking. She was holding a lady’s cigarette in her mouth, and her words were a little muffled. Her voice was a little hoarse. “Ling Yu.”

Ling Yu: “Hmm.”

“Was it good?” Gu Qing said. “The food.”

Late at night, across the phone line, Gu Qing’s voice was very low. It sounded like she was being electrocuted. Her words were pronounced one by one, coming from her throat, sounding very sexy. Ling Yu raised her eyebrows. “You want to know?”

On the other end of the phone, there was a faint sound. The noisy punk music came through the phone. Gu Qing’s breathing seemed to have a layer of fleeting color. A few seconds later, she spoke. Her pace was much slower than usual. She was less confrontational, but not gentle either.

“Since you picked up the lunchbox you threw away and tasted it, there’s no need to apologize. I’ll thank Assistant Wang for you tomorrow at work.” Gu Qing’s tone was wrapped in a layer of mockery. She let out a low, cold laugh.

The hint of curiosity that Ling Yu had finally managed to stir up was completely destroyed by Gu Qing. She lowered her head, glanced at her phone screen, and couldn’t help but scoff. “What the hell are you laughing at?”

But the next second, the other party hung up the phone without any reason. What was the point of her calling in the middle of the night? Was she crazy?

Ling Yu felt a lump in her chest. The light from her phone screen reflected in her eyes, giving them an eerie glow. Just as she was about to call back to figure it out, another text message popped up on her phone.

“Yu Yu, I’m in Yuncheng. Are you doing well?” Sender: Fang Jia.

Ling Yu’s eyes froze. Her gaze lingered on the sender’s name for three seconds. She reopened the reply page and typed a few words into the dialogue box. “What are you doing in Yuncheng?”

The other party replied quickly. “Baby, I miss you. A lot.”

Ling Yu closed her eyes. “Aunt Fang, can you not be like this? I remember I very clearly rejected you. We’re not a good fit.”

“Yu Yu, talk to me properly.” “You rejected me because you didn’t like women.” “If I lost because of my gender, I have nothing to say. But I heard from Yu Xin a while ago that you do.”

“If that person isn’t me, then who is she?”

Ling Yu looked at the series of text messages, rubbed her forehead, and quickly replied, “Crazy.”

After sending the text message, she looked at the phone number in her phone with some hesitation. Thinking of Fang Jia’s relentless persistence, she didn’t hesitate and immediately blocked her number.

008: [Host… don’t tell me this one is also your…]

Ling Yu seemed to know what 008 was going to say and interrupted it decisively: [No.]

008 breathed a sigh of relief. [Hahaha, I don’t think so either. I know you. No matter how much you mess around, you wouldn’t harm a gentle older sister. Who was that person? Your friend? Best friend? Auntie?]

“How should I put it? I used to think so.”

008 said, “Ah.”

Ling Yu turned off her phone expressionlessly. Her foxy eyes were half-closed. Her tone was calm. “Fang Jia is the head of the Fang family, a jewelry family in Jiangcheng. She gained control of the family at the age of 35. I met her three years ago. I was being forced by Ling Taiguo to go on a blind date with her nephew, Fang Shu. But less than a month later, she personally ruined our relationship.”

008’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Why?”

Ling Yu pulled her lips. “Two months ago, I thought she had probably figured out that I had no interest in an arranged marriage and was just helping me out. But then, oh, by the way, before I came to Yuncheng, Fang Jia confessed to me…”

008 was speechless. This was just too ridiculous. The aunt had stolen her nephew’s arranged marriage. It felt so incredibly absurd. Besides all the previous offenses, Ling Yu was also being entangled by a powerful and influential woman…

008 was both shocked and angry. It was so emotional it almost fainted.

Ling Yu’s insincere voice came from the side. “Don’t worry. It’s not a big deal. Don’t take this to heart.”

008 closed its eyes and laughed to itself, then shut up. The host said not to take it to heart every single time, yet every single time it had to go through a messy situation. Its mind was numb.

••••

Zanghai Club.

Fang Jia threw her phone down and nudged Gu Qing, who was sitting still like a statue. The woman with the cold and stunning aura was looking down at her WeChat conversation. She had been in that position for a while. She had probably had a little to drink, as her cheeks were no longer icy. She held a lady’s cigarette in her mouth, and the smoke curled around her cold and beautiful face, making her look like a fallen fairy.

Seeing that Gu Qing wasn’t moving, Fang Jia clicked her tongue and leaned closer. “Who are you chatting with?”

A shadow suddenly appeared beside her. Gu Qing seemed to have eyes in the back of her head. She pulled her fair wrist back and moved away. She extended her long, straight leg and kicked Fang Jia’s heel. Her phoenix eyes slanted a warning look at her.

The punk music in front was noisy, and since it was late at night, most of the guests at Zanghai Club were already quite drunk. The lights flickered on the dance floor, and a blush from the alcohol appeared on Fang Jia’s face. She brushed her bobbed hair back and was about to complain to Gu Qing.

Another graceful figure walked toward the booth. She had no idea how many women had tried to talk to them that night. She had excellent posture, a slender neck and waist, and she gracefully walked over with a glass of red wine. Fang Jia glanced at Gu Qing. “That’s enough. What’s the point of staring at a WeChat conversation? Get to work. Look, the one behind you is obviously here for you.”

Gu Qing pulled out a tissue and gave Fang Jia a nonchalant look. Then she turned around and mouthed to the beautiful woman, “I’m straight.”

The woman, who was moving gracefully, was about three meters away from them. When her eyes met Gu Qing’s cold gaze, she was defeated. Her steps halted, and her eager expression suddenly fell. She had come with high hopes and left disappointed.

Fang Jia clicked her tongue and laughed without giving her any face. The fine lines at the corner of her eyes didn’t make her look old; they gave her the mature charm of a woman who had been through life.

“What’s wrong with you, kid? So many beautiful women are trying to talk to you, and you just stare at your phone without moving.”

Gu Qing said, “Oh,”

“I don’t like women.”

Fang Jia’s smile stiffened. Those words reminded her of the little thing who had just blocked her. She had been protecting her for two years, and it had ended just like that. She had been scared away by her confession.

Fang Jia stared at the dark liquid in the glass in front of her, filled with a sense of loss.

She unhappily advised her, “Don’t be so absolute. There are usually only two possibilities when a woman doesn’t like men.”

Gu Qing put out her cigarette and took a sip of her drink. Fang Jia saw that she wasn’t interested and was about to drop the topic.

But then Gu Qing put down her glass and suddenly asked, “Oh?”

Fang Jia was stunned. She looked at Gu Qing suspiciously and said casually, “One is asexual, and the other… their sexual orientation has long been twisted like a mosquito coil.”

Fang Jia’s tone changed, and she leaned closer with an ambiguous smile. “Honestly, Gu Qing, you look very gay. If you don’t believe me, I can help you try…”

Fang Jia and Gu Qing had known each other for three years, and their relationship was pretty good. Back then, there was a problem with the legal team of the Fang family. Gu Qing, who was in her first year of graduate school, helped Fang Jia a lot.

One was in Jiangcheng, and the other was in Yuncheng. But their personalities were similar. They were both at the pinnacle of their respective fields, so they admired each other.

Fang Jia’s love for women was innate. When they first met, she had even thought about having a sugar baby relationship with Gu Qing, but after getting to know her, she realized that people of the same kind would also repel each other.

To be honest, Fang Jia thought Gu Qing was a “forever alone” and an outstanding representative of the celibacy movement.

So she didn’t make a move on her. Instead, they became good friends because they appreciated each other’s abilities.

Gu Qing was not a woman of many words. Normally, she would never have responded to Fang Jia’s teasing.

Fang Jia lowered her eyes, and her beautiful brows rested on Gu Qing’s phone.

She remembered the complex and soft expression on her face. A woman always understood another woman’s changes best.

Fang Jia curved her lips knowingly and refilled Gu Qing’s empty glass.

“What? Do you like someone?”

Gu Qing laughed absurdly. “You’re overthinking it.”

After she said that, she picked up the glass in front of her and shook it toward Fang Jia without changing her expression.

“Sister Fang, come on, let’s have a drink.”

Gu Qing had organized the gathering that night. She didn’t talk much. Most of the time, it was Fang Jia who was encouraging everyone to drink and chattering endlessly.

This time, seeing her take the initiative to toast, Fang Jia naturally wouldn’t be rude.

She took a big gulp of the drink. Maybe she had had a little too much. The bitterness in her eyes was hard to hide.

“If you do, go after her quickly. Don’t be like me. I protected a little thing for three years, and when it was time to reap the rewards, she ran away…”

Gu Qing squinted and silently handed Fang Jia a cigarette. “The little darling you met two years ago?”

Fang Jia nodded. She shook her bobbed hair. Holding a cigarette didn’t make her look like a thug. She elegantly blew out some smoke and pulled her lips into a bitter smile.

“I always thought she was too young back then. I wanted to wait for her to grow up, and I waited and waited…”

Fang Jia threw her wine glass away.

“And then, she ran away!”

Gu Qing leaned back on the sofa. Her pale and slender fingers slowly shook the glass in her hand. She raised her eyelashes and glanced at Fang Jia, whose mood had clearly mellowed out.

After drinking two or three glasses with her, she put down her glass.

Gu Qing didn’t have a big addiction to alcohol or cigarettes. She had just been very annoyed lately, so she would occasionally drink, but not to the point of getting drunk to numb herself.

At that moment, Fang Jia looked like she was going to drink all night.

Gu Qing naturally wouldn’t stick around.

When the drinks on the table were almost gone, Gu Qing stood up and grabbed Fang Jia’s arm.

“Stop drinking. It’s just a woman…”

A woman who had frustrated Fang Jia so much? Gu Qing’s eyes showed a hint of contemplation.

She changed the subject.

“What’s her name? We can meet up sometime. I can help you talk to her.”

Fang Jia laughed in anger and patted Gu Qing’s shoulder. “Forget it. You should deal with your own mess first…”

When it came to business, Gu Qing saw that Fang Jia had put down her glass and asked casually, “Sister Fang, how many people can you lend me?”

Fang Jia: “How many do you want?”

Gu Qing held up two fingers.

Fang Jia patted her chest and promised, “Okay, two people are more than enough. I’ll get them for you tomorrow.”

Gu Qing interrupted her. “No, I want twenty.”

Fang Jia looked up. “What? What do you need so many bodyguards for?”

Gu Qing’s fingers tapped on the table. She lifted her chin toward Li Juan, who was swaying on the dance floor.

“To protect her!”

Fang Jia looked hesitant. “Who is she?”

The scattered lights above fell into Gu Qing’s profound eyes, like a layer of fleeting light. Her voice was calm.

“The witness who reversed the Jiang Wei case…”

The booth fell into silence.

Fang Jia looked at Gu Qing uneasily.

“You… offending Jiang Bochuan… have you thought about what will happen after the case?”

Gu Qing laughed. “Someone needs Jiang Wei to go to jail. I think this method is too gentle. Jiang Wei should die, but the Jiang family shouldn’t continue to exist either…”

Fang Jia’s eyes widened in shock. She didn’t know who Gu Qing was referring to as “someone,” but she was surprised that Gu Qing, who had always been apathetic, would say something that went against money. And her words implied that she was going to take down the Jiang family? She was so shocked that she missed the best time to ask more questions.

“Jiang Bochuan has decided to hold this mainland investment conference in Yuncheng. All of us came to show him some respect. But you probably don’t know that the partner they have chosen on the mainland is the Li family. As the chief legal adviser of the Li family, you’re going, right?”

Gu Qing brushed her long, curly hair away and said coldly, “No.”

“That’s a shame.” Fang Jia didn’t seem surprised. She threw away the cigarette butt in her mouth.

“I originally wanted to introduce you to my little thing… You two are not that far apart in age. You call me sister, but she calls me auntie?”