Pretending To Be Affectionate [Transmigration] - Chapter 37

Ling Yu never expected Gu Qing to be such a coward.

She had waited until Li Juan was escorted away before following her, yet despite being only one step behind, Gu Qing’s office was already empty.

Ling Yu stood outside the door while Gu Qing’s secretary blocked her path.

“I’m sorry, Miss Ling. Attorney Gu had something to handle and went out.”

With an ambiguous smile, Ling Yu looked past the secretary’s shoulder into Gu Qing’s vacant office.

“When will she return?”

The secretary forced out a businesslike smile. As though someone had instructed her beforehand, she answered without thinking:

“She isn’t coming back.”

The answer came too quickly and sounded too absolute. Even the secretary realized something was wrong.

Embarrassment appeared on her face. After a brief pause, she added, “Attorney Gu won’t return to the firm at all today.”

Ling Yu gave a lazy “oh.”

“Is she hiding from me? Please tell her she’d better take back that miserable coat of hers. I’ll be waiting outside her house tonight.”

Ling Yu’s lips curved as she thanked the secretary in the most approachable tone she could manage.

Standing at the door, the secretary’s face alternated between green and white.

Thinking of Gu Qing’s cold blue eyes, she inexplicably felt a chill along her back and instinctively shrank her neck.

Gu Qing did not return to her office until after working hours.

The secretary had waited outside and conveyed every word Ling Yu said that morning without omission.

Gu Qing frowned.

Thinking of all the relentless and persistent things Ling Yu had done in the past, she glanced sharply at her secretary and offered two perfunctory remarks.

“A-Attorney Gu, are you working overtime tonight?” the secretary asked without reading the atmosphere.

Gu Qing’s steps paused.

She gave a displeased hum, then took a cigarette from her pocket and placed it between her lips.

Glancing sideways at the secretary, she suddenly asked, “Would you like to stay and work with me?”

That casual look raised goose bumps across the secretary’s skin.

She shook her head repeatedly, then vanished down the hallway as quickly as she could.

Gu Qing stared at the empty corridor and inhaled deeply.

Milky smoke completely veiled her face.

She remained in place, dazed and motionless, for a long time.

While she had been busy dealing with the Jiang family, she had not noticed anything unusual.

Now, however, the investigation into Jiang Jewelry’s value-added-tax violations was nearly complete.

The information in Gu Qing’s possession was extremely thorough.

Even if she could not prove that Jiang Bochuan was involved in drug trafficking, charging him with financial fraud and tax evasion was entirely possible.

The crucial problem was that someone needed to accept and process her evidence instead of intercepting it halfway.

That was why she had endured humiliation and compromised herself until now.

The exposure of Jiang Bochuan’s and Jiang Wei’s crimes had to occur on a grand scale and create an enormous public response.

Only one occasion could produce such an effect.

The day of Jiang Wei’s second hearing.

Gu Qing closed her office door and took out her work phone.

After making several consecutive calls, she finished arranging everything that needed to happen over the next few days.

Then she became idle again.

Recently, to suppress the inexplicable and useless emotions inside her, Gu Qing had even reviewed every old case file accumulated by the firm over the previous several years.

No matter how she considered it, there was truly very little work left for her to do.

Gu Qing allowed her back to rest against her swivel chair and reached for the cigarette pack on the coffee table.

Unfortunately, it was empty.

The ashtray before her now contained a dense forest of cigarette butts.

Gu Qing discarded the pack and unconsciously smelled the nicotine clinging to her body.

If Ling Yu approached her now, she would probably lower her eyes and display her disgust openly.

Gu Qing clicked her tongue.

That insincere woman had unclear motives, an extensive romantic history, and had inexplicably become Fang Jia’s precious darling.

Yet somehow, Ling Yu had forced Gu Qing into a situation where she could not return home and had smoked enough to become an addict.

Gu Qing found it ridiculous.

As though she had been poisoned, Ling Yu’s foxlike eyes—caught between youthful innocence and mature seduction—appeared in her mind again.

Gu Qing abruptly sprang from her swivel chair.

She straightened the ash-dusted ends of her long curls and paced restlessly around the office twice.

At that moment, a phone suddenly rang.

Two phones rested on the rosewood desk.

The one on the left was for work. The ivory-white phone on the right was Gu Qing’s private number, which she never disclosed publicly.

That phone rarely rang.

Recently, however, its activity had multiplied several times over.

Gu Qing remained where she was, lacking even the desire to move a finger.

The ringing continued for dozens of seconds before persistently playing its melody again.

Night had completely fallen.

Yuncheng was famous as a city of snow, and snowflakes had begun drifting through the sky once more.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, pedestrians drew their hands into their sleeves, their ears red from the cold.

The weather was freezing.

If Ling Yu was waiting outside Gu Qing’s home, she could only be at the Xishan villa.

The villa district was remote, without even a place where she could shelter from the snow.

Gu Qing remained silent for one second.

Then she frowned and returned to the desk in irritation.

She picked up the phone without looking at its screen and answered immediately.

Her actions contradicted her words as she snapped before the caller could speak:

“Are you ever going to stop? Go back to your own home and quit provoking me.”

Fang Jia was drinking at a bar surrounded by noise.

After Gu Qing shouted at her so rudely, a crack seemed to appear across Aunt Fang’s carefully maintained face.

“Did you swallow gunpowder?” Fang Jia smiled faintly. “Who made you this angry?”

Gu Qing moved the phone away and stiffened.

She remained silent for a long time.

An absurd realization washed over her.

She was the clown.

Maintaining a taut expression, Gu Qing relied upon her excellent composure to change the subject.

“Did you need something?”

“Come out for a drink.” Fang Jia’s warm voice carried a probing note. “Honestly, I want to discuss my darling with you.”

Gu Qing’s lips curved incredulously.

She said nothing, giving Fang Jia ample room to continue.

Fang Jia was an old fox who had long since cultivated into a spirit. Everything she said next was a declaration of ownership.

How could Gu Qing fail to understand?

She had no interest in discussing Fang Jia’s precious little darling.

Gu Qing scoffed lightly.

“Doesn’t she have a name? Calling her your ‘darling’ over and over makes me think there’s something wrong with you.”

Fang Jia did not become angry after being criticized.

She continued extending her invitation.

“Are you coming? You don’t seem busy today. Besides, I haven’t been in a particularly good mood recently.”

Gu Qing had not intended to go.

But she had run out of cigarettes at the office and had nothing else to do.

If she went home, she would encounter Ling Yu.

For the first time in her life, Gu Qing had been reduced to this pathetic state—going out to drown her sorrows merely to avoid another woman.

She found the situation absurd.

Her rational mind did not want to go, but her mouth had already decided for her.

“Address.”

Fang Jia arranged matters with her customary flair and invited Gu Qing to the most exclusive nightclub in Yuncheng.

The nightclub had a surprisingly refined name: Clear Skies.

Wearing a lake-blue, open-collared wool coat, Gu Qing entered from the freezing night, her breath emerging in white clouds.

The nightclub’s heating was powerful.

Under dim lighting, a DJ performed while bartenders chatted and laughed with their customers, layering colorful liquors inside transparent glasses.

Men and women danced freely.

It seemed that the urban crowd released an entire day’s exhaustion inside this place.

Fang Jia sat curled in a booth in the corner and waved at Gu Qing.

Gu Qing coldly rejected a short-haired woman attempting to flirt with her, then walked toward Fang Jia.

Fang Jia seemed to be in an equally poor mood tonight.

Despite her age, she had filled the entire table before her with alcohol.

Gu Qing raised an eyebrow and casually removed her coat.

“Trying to drink yourself unconscious?”

Fang Jia nodded.

With elegant composure, she exhaled smoke toward Gu Qing. Her features carried the seductive maturity accumulated through years of experience.

Gu Qing raised one foot and lightly kicked Fang Jia’s calf.

“Don’t waste your time. Liking me won’t lead anywhere.”

Having her flirtatious probing exposed did not embarrass Fang Jia.

She laughed and cursed.

“Didn’t I tell you last time, Xiao Qing? With a face like yours, you were born to be every lesbian’s dream woman.”

“So what?”

Gu Qing sat leisurely across from her, showing little interest in the subject.

“You’re in a bad mood today.”

Fang Jia failed to notice that Gu Qing had redirected the conversation.

She unfastened one decorative button on her qipao and met Gu Qing’s gaze steadily.

“A little,” she admitted.

Still smiling, Fang Jia rose, took an empty glass, and poured half a glass of liquor for Gu Qing.

The pale-golden alcohol emitted a rich fragrance.

Just as Gu Qing reached for it, Fang Jia suddenly drew it back.

Smiling pleasantly, she met Gu Qing’s eyes without evasion.

“Drinking it like this isn’t exciting enough. Let’s add something else tonight.”

An inexplicable tension seemed to solidify in the air.

Gu Qing withdrew her hand and tapped the tabletop instead.

“I can drink, but give me a reason.”

Fang Jia became annoyed by Gu Qing’s affected composure.

She poured three different liquors into Gu Qing’s glass.

Gu Qing glanced at the forest of bottles standing across the table and immediately understood.

Fang Jia intended to drink her to death.

In truth, Fang Jia had conceived the idea several days ago.

Anyone who discovered that the darling they desired had fallen for Gu Qing—despite being rejected by her again and again—would naturally be in a terrible mood.

Fang Jia understood Ling Yu’s personality better than anyone.

She experienced a physical aversion whenever men approached her, but did not react that way toward women.

She was a natural lesbian.

Fang Jia understood that clearly.

That was why, even when Ling Yu mingled with groups of players and serial flirts over the years, Fang Jia had never been worried.

In her heart, she believed Ling Yu could not escape and would eventually belong to her.

But who could have known that after only two months in Yuncheng, her fresh and tender little cabbage would be claimed by Gu Qing?

Worse still, Gu Qing had not actively pursued her.

Ling Yu was the one who liked Gu Qing.

The suffocating reality weighed upon Fang Jia’s heart like a stone.

Every social circle had its rules.

You did not touch a friend’s woman.

Did Gu Qing possess no self-awareness at all?

At the very least, this world followed the principle of first come, first served.

Despite roaring internally, Fang Jia revealed nothing on her face.

She merely looked at Gu Qing and laughed mockingly.

“We’re Sisters. There doesn’t need to be a reason. I simply feel that we should drink together tonight.”

“Surely Xiao Qing won’t refuse to give her Sister this much consideration?”

Gu Qing neither agreed nor refused.

Her ambiguous smile suggested she saw no need to give Fang Jia any consideration at all.

Fang Jia held the glass in midair for a moment before withdrawing it.

As questionable friends who had known each other for years, they naturally understood each other’s temperaments.

Gu Qing’s attitude clearly meant she had no intention of drinking.

Fang Jia looked at her and provoked her with a strained smile.

“I heard you recently threw your dirty coat at Yuyu and ordered her to wash it…”

As she spoke, Fang Jia rose and supported herself with one hand on the table before Gu Qing.

With intense possessiveness, she declared, “Sister told you before, didn’t she? Ling Yu is mine.”

Mine?

Half of Gu Qing’s face was concealed in shadow.

The fragmented lights overhead divided her face into two halves—one displaying exquisitely beautiful features, the other a bewitching, demonic smile.

She raised her eyelids halfway and examined Fang Jia.

“Have you slept with her?”

Fang Jia froze.

Her reply carried considerable frustration.

“Whether we’ve done it is none of your business. That doesn’t change the fact that I discovered you’ve been bullying her recently.”

Gu Qing gave a quiet “oh.”

She picked up a bottle of vodka and poured it into an unused glass.

Her words carried a pointed implication.

“So I bullied the young one, and now the older one has come seeking revenge?”

Fang Jia narrowed her eyes.

The next moment, Gu Qing spoke in her customary cold voice.

“Ling Yu certainly attracts plenty of people. So… if I don’t bully her, who should I bully?”

Both of Fang Jia’s hands trembled with anger.

Internally, she declared that their friendship was over.

“I don’t mean anything else. You don’t like her—I understand that.”

“But if my girl has been bullied, someone has to recover her dignity.”

Fang Jia stared unkindly at Gu Qing, who remained seated with perfect composure.

“Use the alcohol on this table as your apology. If you drink it tonight, we’ll remain Sisters. If you refuse…”

Fang Jia could not finish.

After all, Ling Yu’s feelings for Gu Qing had never been something Gu Qing forced upon her.

Fang Jia had investigated the matter thoroughly.

Gu Qing had rejected Ling Yu from beginning to end.

Trying to force Gu Qing into drinking as an apology now was merely an outlet for Fang Jia’s own fury.

Why had Ling Yu fallen for Gu Qing?

In what way was Fang Jia inferior to her?

Amid that subtle rage, Fang Jia revealed her emotions in an undignified and complete manner.

Yet she could not actually bring herself to say that they would cease being friends.

Gu Qing had helped Fang Corporation survive its crisis years ago.

Through her exceptional ability, Gu Qing had already become a legal consultant pursued by countless major corporations.

Many cases she previously handled involved networks closely connected with Fang Jia’s own circle.

For that reason alone, Fang Jia could never truly sever ties with Gu Qing over Ling Yu.

But after issuing such a threat, withdrawing it would leave her humiliated.

Fang Jia’s expression became ugly.

“Drink this.”

Gu Qing spoke faintly and pushed the glass of eighty-percent vodka toward Fang Jia without expression.

“If you want to get drunk, it isn’t difficult. This will work faster.”

The fine lines on Fang Jia’s face nearly cracked apart.

Gu Qing was openly provoking her.

Ten glasses of such potent vodka would send both women to the hospital.

Fang Jia cursed Gu Qing thoroughly inside her heart.

At that moment, neither woman could stand the sight of the other.

This was no longer merely about drinking.

It was the serious matter of fighting over a wife.

With reckless courage, Fang Jia accepted the glass and clinked it against the stemmed glass in Gu Qing’s hand.

Yet after drinking only one glass of high-proof vodka, all her earlier aggression completely vanished.

Fang Jia flirtatiously undid another decorative fastening on her qipao.

Then, utterly useless, she collapsed over the table and began drunkenly raving.

“Gu Qing, listen carefully. Ling Yu is mine.”

Gu Qing glanced at her and offered two words:

“Wake up.”

“You think Yuyu genuinely likes you? Let me tell you—back in Jiangcheng, she ran with a whole circle of players.”

“Li Jun, Jiang Song, Jiang Wei…”

Fang Jia counted off a long string of names on her fingers.

Her cheeks were flushed as she smoked and continued:

“Those men were all Yuyu’s exes.”

“She’s young and likes to play around. She only pursued you because she wanted something fresh for a while.”

“We’re all just fish in Yuyu’s pond… Fish… Bah! Fuck that, I’m not one of them.”

Gu Qing lit herself a cigarette.

With it between her lips, she recalled everything that had happened and spoke indistinctly:

“So that’s how it is.”

Under the glass lights, Gu Qing’s gaze turned dark, fragmented reflections flickering through her eyes.

After remaining silent for a long time, she looked at the thoroughly intoxicated Fang Jia and said coldly:

“That’s good.”

“At least the next time I order her to get lost, I won’t have to feel guilty.”