Pretending To Be Affectionate [Transmigration] - Chapter 29

Ling Yu wore a long gown of fine, snow-dusted gauze. Because she had come in such a hurry, she had only managed to put on a delicate pink diamond necklace provided by the fitting room.

Her attire was nowhere near as luxurious and dignified as Fang Jia’s, yet she possessed a captivating charm and proud allure that made her impossible to overlook.

She entered the venue alongside Fang Jia. With both women’s striking appearances, they immediately attracted considerable attention.

The Jiang family’s investment banquet was being held in an expansive penthouse ballroom on the top floor of a five-star scenic hotel in downtown Yuncheng.

The guest list was exceptionally prestigious.

Besides Yuncheng’s most prominent local tycoons, several wealthy businessmen had come all the way from Beicheng.

The banquet hall was lavishly decorated.

Brilliant lights shone over fragrant floral arrangements and a gathering of distinguished guests. Wineglasses clinked amid elegant gowns and perfectly styled hair.

Ling Yu was an unfamiliar face to most of the attendees tonight. Back in Jiangcheng, she had maintained a broad social circle, and plenty of people knew her.

But since arriving in Yuncheng, she had not socialized much.

More importantly, most of tonight’s guests were business magnates from all across the country. Hardly anyone recognized her as the eldest daughter of Jiangcheng’s Ling family.

She had expected to enjoy some peace and quiet, but Fang Jia was standing beside her. Over the years, Aunt Fang had expanded Fang Jewelry’s business across the country, so many people in these circles knew her.

They had barely taken a few steps before Fang Jia was surrounded by guests coming over to greet her.

Ling Yu had something important to do tonight and had never intended to attend the banquet in the first place.

However, after hearing Li Juan’s state over the phone earlier, she had grown concerned and decided to find an opportunity to check on her.

Only after arriving did she discover that Jiang Wei was keeping Li Juan at his side the entire time for the sake of his appeal. At that moment, the two of them were performing the opening rumba on the dance floor.

Ling Yu watched briefly and confirmed that Li Juan was safe.

She then excused herself to Fang Jia, found a quiet corner, and closed her eyes to rest.

Her peace lasted only a few seconds.

A group of familiar faces soon gathered behind her.

“Xiao Ling? What are you doing here?”

“Didn’t you say this afternoon that you weren’t coming?”

The speaker was Sister Wang.

Ling Yu turned toward the voice and saw a group of colleagues from Kaihe Law Firm drinking in a corner about thirty meters away.

Since the Jiang and Li families were about to begin working together, Kaihe Law Firm would serve as legal counsel for their partnership. Moreover, the firm itself belonged to the Li family.

Jiang Wei’s case had only reached its current turning point because the firm’s lawyers had been working around the clock.

For that reason, Jiang Bochuan had shown Li Jun respect by inviting everyone from Kaihe Law Firm to the banquet.

That was the official explanation, anyway. In truth, the person he really wanted to invite was Gu Qing.

Unfortunately, Gu Qing had declined on the spot without giving him the slightest consideration.

It was said that Jiang Bochuan had immediately given Li Jun a dark look in his office because of it.

Meng Xi stood beside Sister Wang. Ling Yu carefully searched the area behind them and confirmed that Gu Qing was nowhere to be seen.

Recalling the message Gu Ting had sent her earlier, Ling Yu narrowed her eyes.

“I just saw you walking in with a wealthy Sister. Ling Yu, is she one of your relatives?”

Before Ling Yu could withdraw her gaze, Meng Xi tilted her head and asked curiously.

Of all the new interns at the firm, Meng Xi loved gossip the most. The instant the question left her mouth, Wang Cheng turned and glared fiercely at her.

Meng Xi stuck out her tongue. “Sister, I wasn’t asking about work. I’m just curious.”

The cousins stared at each other for two seconds before turning their gazes toward Ling Yu in unison.

Ling Yu wore her customary understanding smile. “She isn’t a relative. She’s a friend of mine.”

Meng Xi exclaimed in surprise and casually patted Ling Yu’s shoulder.

“Yuyu, I never knew you were so impressive. You normally keep such a low profile, but you’re actually friends with a first-rate wealthy woman like that.”

Her words clearly carried an element of probing.

Meng Xi did not have any ill intentions. She simply had a loud mouth, insatiable curiosity, and a love of gossip. Whenever she learned something, everyone at the firm would usually hear about it by the following day, even if no one openly acknowledged it.

Ling Yu neither nodded nor shook her head. She deliberately touched the spare necklace around her neck and smiled bashfully.

“How could that be?”

The Jiang family had provided fitting rooms for tonight’s banquet. Young ladies from distinguished families generally brought their own gowns. Only ordinary guests who had been invited at the last minute, such as the employees from their law firm, would choose an outfit from the fitting room.

The necklace around Ling Yu’s neck was one of the spare accessories provided there.

Meng Xi had originally wanted to probe deeper into Ling Yu’s family background. But after seeing the necklace around her neck, what else was there to misunderstand?

Realizing that she had been overly suspicious, she awkwardly closed her mouth.

Wang Cheng took in both women’s expressions and sternly rebuked Meng Xi.

“Everyone has a friend or two. Listen to the nonsense coming out of your mouth.”

Then she apologized to Ling Yu.

Ling Yu smiled and deliberately changed the subject. “Sister Wang, why haven’t I seen Attorney Gu?”

“Ah, didn’t you know? Attorney Gu gives herself one day off at the beginning of every month.”

Ling Yu lowered her eyes, roughly understanding the situation now.

About half of what Gu Ting had said was probably true. Gu Qing lost control for one day every month.

Countless thoughts turned through Ling Yu’s mind, but none showed on her face. She threaded her pale fingers through her hair, twirled a strand, and casually agreed.

“That’s a shame. So many important people came to tonight’s banquet.”

“Exactly.” Wang Cheng sighed. “Attorney Gu is extremely principled and has an exceptionally strong sense of time. Working overtime is one thing, but on the first of every month, she rests no matter how important the situation is.”

“Successful people are all masters of time management. I heard President Jiang invited our firm tonight entirely because he wanted Attorney Gu to come. He never expected her to refuse, so we ended up benefiting instead.”

Meng Xi winked at Ling Yu and chimed in.

After a few exchanges, the earlier awkwardness faded away.

Ling Yu was beautiful, and every word she spoke was pleasant to hear.

She was clever and adaptable. No matter who she was with, she could always keep a conversation going without ever allowing an uncomfortable silence to fall.

Just like now. Ling Yu sat down among her colleagues with Sister Wang. Although she did not say much, everyone liked drawing her into their conversations, regardless of how wildly the subject changed.

That was because she could always follow their jokes.

Several of the younger employees had already drunk themselves red in the face. Ling Yu had not planned to drink much at first.

But after a few rounds, her colleagues remained enthusiastic. She understood her limits and did not refuse them outright.

“Yuyu, you’re always with Wang Cheng at work and never say more than a few words to me. Since we’re celebrating tonight, you have to drink at least one glass with me.”

Wang Cheng stopped him. “Absolutely not. Ling Yu is a young woman, and she still has to go home later. If you get her drunk, who’s going to take her back?”

Everyone jeered.

“There are so many young people at our firm. How could we be short of someone to take her home?”

Wang Cheng put down her glass and scoffed. “You people? You’re all drunk yourselves, yet you still want to take our Yuyu home?”

“Don’t worry, Yuyu. Drink as much as you like. If none of us can manage it, we’ll ask Attorney Gu to take you home.”

The speaker was the deputy director of the business department. His eyes were red and unfocused from drinking.

“Wait here. I’ll call Attorney Gu.”

Most of the firm’s employees in the corner had drunk too much tonight. They began egging one another on to call the great demon Gu Qing and tell her to come collect them.

Under ordinary circumstances, no one would have dared to do such a thing. But tonight, perhaps because they felt out of place amid the enormous wealth surrounding them, they had turned their corner of the banquet into an office party.

Nearly everyone had been drinking.

Alcohol gave people courage, and someone really did call Gu Qing while slurring his words.

Ling Yu crossed her arms, preparing to hear Gu Qing coldly curse them out.

But from the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed something happening at the center of the banquet. A crowd had gathered among the guests holding their wineglasses.

A fierce conflict seemed to have broken out.

She could not see what was happening through the dense wall of bodies. But after sweeping her gaze around the hall, Ling Yu realized that Jiang Bochuan, Fang Jia, and the other influential business figures had all disappeared.

Jiang Wei stood in the middle of the crowd. Because he was tall, his distinctive buzz cut remained visible above everyone else.

His face was full of fury.

Ling Yu searched the area around him and abruptly realized that Li Juan was nowhere to be seen.

Her eyes narrowed. After quickly excusing herself to Wang Cheng, she headed toward the center of the banquet.

Only when she drew close could she see what was happening.

Li Juan had fallen to the floor. Several bright-red handprints marked her exquisitely made-up face. Standing in front of her was a middle-aged woman in a qipao.

“Nana.”

The woman grabbed Li Juan’s hair, dragging her carefully maintained fingernails across Li Juan’s cheek.

Behind the woman stood a portly, middle-aged businessman with gelled hair. He apparently thought the situation had grown too serious, because he shrank his neck and tugged at the qipao-clad woman’s arm.

That very gesture infuriated the woman. She raked her nails across Li Juan’s face, leaving behind a bloody scratch.

Then she looked up and mocked Jiang Wei coldly.

“Young Master Jiang, I never imagined your taste in mistresses would be exactly the same as your uncle’s. Nana changes her name to Li Juan, and suddenly she can become your dance partner. Who exactly did you bring her here to humiliate tonight?”

Ling Yu was still some distance away, yet she could feel the viciousness radiating from Jiang Wei.

This was the Jiang family’s banquet. With Jiang Bochuan absent, Jiang Wei had to maintain control of the situation. He could not openly confront the woman in the qipao, so he vented his anger on Li Juan instead.

While smiling placatingly at the woman, he viciously kicked Li Juan in front of everyone.

“Bitch.”

Jiang Wei seized Li Juan’s long hair and hauled her upright by her scalp. Without even asking what had happened, he cursed, “Apologize to Madam Yun.”

Li Juan wept in humiliation. Blood and tears streamed down her face together.

“I didn’t do anything.”

The air was saturated with despair. Yet even then, not a single person stepped forward to intervene, despite the whispers spreading around them.

Many people were saying that the Taiwanese businessman’s wife was vicious, bullied the weak while fearing the strong, and always made a mountain out of a molehill.

Jiang Wei turned a deaf ear to all of it. To preserve the Jiang family’s relationship with the Taiwanese businessman, he slapped Li Juan across the face again.

Ling Yu’s eyes turned cold as she pushed through the crowd.

She arrived just as Jiang Wei raised his hand to slap Li Juan for the second time.

“Stop.”

Ling Yu grabbed Li Juan’s arm, pulled her up, and placed her behind herself.

Then she raised her eyes and confronted Jiang Wei.

His half-raised hand froze in the air. His pupils contracted when they met Ling Yu’s pitch-black eyes.

Some of the brutality faded from his face. His jaw tightened.

“Ling Yu, move aside.”

Ling Yu’s foxlike eyes curved slightly, but she ignored him. Turning around, she looked Li Juan up and down.

Li Juan kept her head lowered. Her disheveled black hair was plastered to her cheeks with blood, leaving her in a terrible state.

“Are you all right?”

Li Juan shook her head and nodded at the same time. She seemed dazed from the beating, unable to utter a single word.

Her half-lidded eyes, steeped in humiliation, looked through the crowd of lofty, predatory faces surrounding her.

Ling Yu’s heart sank. She patted Li Juan’s shoulder reassuringly.

“Don’t be afraid.”

Then she slowly turned around.

Ling Yu looked at Jiang Wei from beneath lowered lids and asked with an ambiguous smile, “What did she do wrong that requires an apology?”

“Does seducing a married man count as wrong?”

Before Jiang Wei could answer, the businessman’s wife shoved him aside aggressively and stood before Ling Yu.

At some point, she had acquired two glasses of alcohol—one filled with distilled Scotch whisky, the other with red wine.

With an overbearing air, she offered the glass of Scotch to Ling Yu.

“If you want to settle this matter, that’s fine. Have the bitch behind you drink this glass of hard liquor, and I’ll let everything go.”

Whispers rippled through the crowd.

“Madam Yun is going too far. A full glass of whisky that strong could kill someone.”

“Damn. Her husband fools around constantly, but I’ve never seen her make this much trouble before.”

“She probably thinks Jiang Wei’s mistress is an easy target because of her low status. Besides, if he weren’t trying to clear his name, why would Young Master Jiang ever be interested in a woman like her? There’s no way he’d stand up for her.”

The surroundings were noisy. Aside from Jiang Wei, most of the people present were ordinary second-generation heirs. Influential business figures like Jiang Bochuan and Fang Jia had already gone to a quiet tearoom to discuss business.

None of the lower-ranking heirs had enough authority to suppress the scene.

As one of tonight’s hosts, Jiang Wei had never taken Li Juan seriously. Naturally, he would not offend a Taiwanese businessman for her sake.

Seeing Ling Yu obstruct him, he barked irritably, “Ling Yu, this is my family’s banquet. Remember that. Stop causing trouble for me.”

Ling Yu gave a soft “oh.”

Then, as she turned, she slapped Jiang Wei across the face.

The instant his head snapped sideways, she backhanded him across the other cheek.

Ling Yu ordinarily felt uncomfortable touching a man’s skin, but she could no longer concern herself with her body’s reaction.

Compared to that physical revulsion, the disgust Jiang Wei inspired in her was far more unbearable.

After striking him, Ling Yu took a wet wipe directly from a passing server’s tray and repeatedly wiped her fingers.

Her actions stunned everyone.

Just as the second-generation heirs thought Ling Yu would never escape the banquet unharmed, she looked at Jiang Wei without expression.

“Shut up.”

Then she glanced at the woman in the qipao, signaling for her to continue.

Everyone was once again rendered speechless by Ling Yu’s outrageous behavior.

The qipao-clad woman was no exception. After all, only a handful of people in their circles would dare strike Jiang Wei.

She was the first to recover. She carefully assessed Ling Yu’s attire, calculation appearing in her eyes.

When she noticed the necklace around Ling Yu’s neck, her briefly weakened arrogance returned in full force.

She extended the whisky toward Ling Yu again and smiled without showing her teeth.

“All I want is an apology. If you’re willing to drink this glass in your friend’s place, I’ll consider the matter settled.”

Brazen provocation filled her narrow eyes.

After being slapped by Ling Yu, Jiang Wei’s face was filled with incomparable excitement. He had yet to recover from the sight of Ling Yu’s arrogant, abyss-black eyes.

By the time he reacted and tried to stop them, Ling Yu’s gaze had already met the woman’s in midair.

She glanced casually at the wineglass in the woman’s hand.

“You want an apology?”

The woman nodded.

Ling Yu gave another soft “oh,” discarded the wet wipe, and accepted the glass brimming with strong liquor.

“Xiao-mei!”

Li Juan finally raised her head and grabbed Ling Yu’s arm. Tears and blood covered her face, while murky fog filled her desolate eyes.

She forced her split lips into a bleak smile as she stared at the liquor in Ling Yu’s hand.

“I’ll drink it myself.”

With that, she reached for Ling Yu’s glass.

But she failed to take it.

Ling Yu signaled with her eyes for Li Juan to stand still.

Then she turned back and took two steps forward, stopping directly before the qipao-clad woman.

Ling Yu was slightly taller. Looking down at the woman through lowered eyes gave her an unmistakably commanding air.

The woman was unfamiliar with how Ling Yu behaved when angry. She waited leisurely for Ling Yu to humiliate herself.

“All right.”

Ling Yu’s foxlike eyes suddenly curved.

She slowly raised her glass, seemingly about to clink it against the one in the woman’s hand.

Then her wrist abruptly tilted.

With a loud splash, the liquor poured through the air and cascaded over the woman’s exquisitely made-up face.

The transparent liquid streamed down her cheeks, while her expression twisted with fury.

Ling Yu met her eyes, which were filled with shock and rage, and said mockingly, “That’s how you pour out an apology.”

The woman’s lips darkened with anger. Trembling in humiliation, she threatened, “Which family do you belong to? I’d like to see who raised such a sharp-tongued, ill-mannered girl.”

Ling Yu covered a yawn and brushed past her shoulder with sleepy eyes.

She slowed down and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear.

“It’s only been a few years, but you’ve certainly become forgetful. I remember that three years ago, at the banquet celebrating your partnership with my father, Ling Taiguo, you praised me for being gentle and well-mannered. Why are you suddenly asking me to introduce myself?”

Ling Yu paused and added carelessly, “Since Aunt Yun is so angry, why don’t I make the decision for you? Terminate the partnership.”

The woman was rendered speechless. Her liver practically trembled with rage.

She had never encountered a spoiled second-generation heir like Ling Yu, someone who caused trouble and then fearlessly created new enemies afterward.

Clutching her chest, the woman narrowed her eyes viciously.

“Tell your father that all future business dealings between us are canceled.”

Ling Yu applauded. “It’ll be his honor.”

[Hahahaha! Host, you’re incredible. If I were your father, I’d be checking into the hospital with a heart attack right now.]

[Then go ahead, Daddy.]

008 fell silent.

When Ling Yu quietly withdrew from the crowd, she had intended to speak with Li Juan.

But Li Juan merely stood numbly to one side with her head lowered, apparently unwilling to talk.

Using the excuse that she needed to repair her makeup, she said goodbye to Ling Yu.

After what had just happened, Ling Yu had no intention of remaining at the banquet. She returned to the corner where the employees from Kaihe Law Firm had gathered.

Her colleagues were already sprawled about in drunken disarray, completely unaware of the earlier conflict in Jiang Wei’s circle.

Ling Yu found Wang Cheng, the only person who still seemed somewhat conscious.

“Sister, something came up. I have to leave first.”

Wang Cheng’s cheeks were flushed. She raised her glass and tapped it against Ling Yu’s fingers as if they were clinking glasses.

“Ling Yu, don’t leave. Attorney Gu is coming to pick me up… No, to pick you up.”

Ling Yu froze. “What?”

Sister Wang tipped her head back and took another mouthful of alcohol.

“Drink! Drink! Drunk, I’ll sleep upon a beauty’s couch. If I get drunk tonight, my Brother Xingxing will come pick me up.”

Luo Xing was currently a top celebrity in the entertainment industry. Wang Cheng was deeply immersed in fandom culture and adored her idol, affectionately calling him “Xingxing.”

Ling Yu watched as Wang Cheng completely lost the dignity of her usual workplace mentor and hugged a pillow while calling it “Xingxing.”

She could not help laughing. Out of kindness, she arranged designated drivers for them in advance.

Afterward, Ling Yu sent one final message to Fang Jia and prepared to leave.

She had a more important task tonight. She intended to find out whether Gu Qing truly would kill someone when she lost control.

However, when the elevator reached the first floor, Li Juan suddenly sent her a message.

[Xiao-mei, I’m scared.]

[Jiang Wei is going to do something to me…]

The expression on Ling Yu’s face abruptly darkened. She immediately called Li Juan, but the other woman’s phone was already switched off.

Her brows knitted sharply. She removed Jiang Wei’s number from her blocklist and called him.

“Where are you?”

“Twelfth floor, room 1209. Come alone.” Jiang Wei laughed smugly. “Ling Yu, you know what I’m like. Don’t call anyone else. Otherwise…”

Li Juan’s scream came through the phone.

Ling Yu’s long lashes lowered, casting deep shadows across her eyelids. Her lips curved, but the smile never reached her eyes.

“All right. Wait for me.”