Pretending To Be Affectionate [Transmigration] - Chapter 43

Xu Miao held her breath, not daring to let out a sound.

Even across the phone line, Ling Yu could hear her nervous breathing.

Ling Yu was amused. Is it really that serious?

Although Gu Qing was the female lead of this world—beautiful, fair-skinned, long-legged, rich, talented, and capable.

She seemed to have everything, but she had no heart.

The female lead with no male romantic partner was destined to be alone. What good could come from falling in love with her?

Ling Yu crossed her legs and asked in a low voice: “When did this start?”

Xu Miao grasped the phone, wiped a bead of sweat, and pondered for a full ten seconds.

She recounted an utterly melodramatic story to Ling Yu: “The night of the 2022 Spring Festival Gala…”

“Get to the point.”

“Ahem. Before you left, remember the bet we made? I call her at the beginning of every month. As we talked, feelings started to develop.”

Ling Yu said, “Oh.” “You two have a lot to talk about.”

Xu Miao thought, Of course we do. The first time I called, Gu Qing threatened to educate me on the dire consequences of leaking personal information, including imprisonment. How could we not have a lot to talk about?

But Xu Miao definitely couldn’t say that now. She cleared her throat and added in a sugary voice: “All in all, Yuyu, I genuinely like people like her. So cold and heartless… bah, so dominant…”

Xu Miao stopped, afraid that the more she said, the more likely she was to reveal something.

Her eyes darted around, and she changed her tone, asking cautiously: “Yuyu, you would allow us to be together, right?”

Ling Yu didn’t answer immediately. Thinking of their years of friendship, she countered, “Are you sure? This path is very difficult.”

“Yes.” Xu Miao answered decisively, stating: “I love her…”

She loved many people, such as the female game streamer who had recently topped the charts with two million views, the film empress Luo Huihui, and the author of the popular serialized novel Treasure Appraisal, “Finding a Fish in the Ocean.”

Xu Miao held the phone, took a sip of coffee, and gave herself an encouraging gesture.

She brought the topic back: “Yuyu, don’t try to fool me. I’ve asked you many times. Give me an answer. You keep beating around the bush. To be honest, if you still like Gu Qing, even though this is the first time I’ve fallen for someone and I can’t help myself…” But if you still like her, I’ll give her up.

Before Xu Miao could finish, Ling Yu let out a snicker, interrupting her: “Don’t worry. People change. My preferences have also changed as I’ve gotten older…”

Ling Yu’s answer was crisp and without hesitation.

Xu Miao’s face fell. She gave an “oh.” A few seconds later, she asked reluctantly, “Are you truly done with her?”

Ling Yu: “Truly.”

“Do you have a partner now?” Xu Miao paused: “If not, what type do you like? I can introduce you to some of my friends.”

She still doesn’t trust me?

Ling Yu smiled: “I’m homophobic now.”

Xu Miao: …

Ling Yu chatted briefly with Xu Miao.

Just before hanging up, Ling Yu patiently threw out a final sentence to Xu Miao: “If you like her, go for it. When I return home, I’ll try to avoid Gu Qing.”

Xu Miao: “No… that’s not right, Yuyu, listen to me… oh, damn! Hello? Shit!”

Xu Miao clutched the phone, jumping up from the sofa in fear.

Her mother walked out of the kitchen and saw her clumsy reaction.

She hit Xu Miao on the head with a wooden spatula.

“Ow, Mom! Mom! Mom, you’re going to kill me!”

Xu Miao looked utterly desperate. Damn it, I was trying to help, but how did… my probing failed, and it backfired. Ling Yu is going to stay away from Gu Qing!!!

“Mom, why did you raise me to be so clueless, sigh?”

Xu Miao’s mother put her hands on her hips, panting with anger: “You have to ask your Xu family genes why they mutated in you…”

The summer in M Country was much hotter than back home. Ling Yu went to the academic affairs office this morning and received an invitation to stay on as staff from her mentor.

In the past two years, Ling Yu had published several academic papers in renowned journals, causing quite a stir in the industry.

Not long ago, Ling Yu personally authored a book of her own interpretations of human history. As soon as the book was published, within six months, parts of her commentary were directly cited in M Country’s secondary school textbooks by the Ministry of Education.

Ling Yu was pursuing advanced studies in Human History and Modern and Contemporary Literature at TJ University.

Individuals pursuing advanced studies like her would typically return home after completing their coursework.

But Ling Yu’s research papers were highly valued, and her personal ability was outstanding. The university wanted her to stay.

To continue her studies for three more years, obtain a Ph.D., and then directly join the faculty at TJ University.

The mentor conveyed the university’s intentions, but Ling Yu politely declined.

She had less than a month left before graduation, and Ling Taiguo was already pressing her to return.

Seeing that she couldn’t convince Ling Yu, the professor could only shake his head. Perhaps out of appreciation for her talent, he wrote a letter of recommendation for Ling Yu.

He also mentioned that if she was willing, she could take the letter and directly apply for a position at the University of Hong Kong.

Ling Yu was surprised that she was getting exactly what she needed. After a moment of surprise, she thanked the professor repeatedly.

Gu Xiu was in the dorm room when Ling Yu returned in the afternoon.

She looked like she had just taken a shower. Her hair was wet and clinging to her cheeks.

“Aren’t you going to the bar today?”

Ling Yu wiped the light sweat from her forehead. The direct sunlight had caused her cheeks to flush a light pink.

Her beautiful fingers brushed across her forehead, tracing a line down her pale cheek, and then pushed a few sweaty strands of hair away from her slender neck.

Miss Gu Xiu watched her, her eyes glazed over.

Her ear felt a little itchy. Her long eyelashes lowered.

She steadied her voice: “I’m going now.”

Ling Yu gave an “oh,” opened her computer. Since she was going back home, she planned to let Q know in advance.

They had known each other online for a while. By all accounts, they were excellent friends.

A few minutes later, Ling Yu logged into the social software. Q happened to be online. Due to the time difference, it should be close to midnight in Z Country.

Ling Yu moved her mouse to the chat box. Suddenly, a shadow fell next to her.

Gu Xiu stood in front of her desk, glanced at the computer screen, and grumbled, “Talking to your ‘Sister’ again?”

Ling Yu didn’t look up: “Go away. If you don’t leave now, you’ll be late.”

Gu Xiu scoffed: “I don’t rely on singing to make money, so why don’t you believe me? My family is the richest in Asia, after all.”

Ling Yu wasn’t interested in bickering with her and gave a perfunctory “oh.”

She thought Gu Xiu would leave, but the latter remained still, her words evasive:

“Yuyu, can you turn around and help me hook my bra? I can’t reach it.”

Ling Yu looked up in response. She saw Gu Xiu’s bare, chocolate-colored back. Gu Xiu had deliberately tanned her skin. In her words, it was body art, and bronze was a healthy skin tone for a woman.

Every time Ling Yu saw her exposed skin, she felt it was too dark. She preferred cold white, pale white, snow white.

She almost wanted to grab a steel wool pad and scrub off Gu Xiu’s artificial tan. Ling Yu’s hand instinctively trembled and moved away from the mouse.

She completely failed to notice that she had accidentally clicked the voice chat button.

She picked up the mug beside her and took a sip of coffee.

She refused with a smile: “No.”

Gu Xiu shamelessly leaned closer: “Don’t be so heartless, Yuyu. It’s just helping a classmate hook a bra. Are you serious?”

Ling Yu gave her a look that confirmed she was very serious.

Gu Xiu sadly lowered her head. Her short hair looked fuzzy in the soft light. She looked utterly dejected.

“Then I want to sleep with you tonight?”

Ling Yu couldn’t be bothered to deal with her. Gu Xiu had a romantic sensibility akin to a French performance artist. A cheek kiss and a hug were polite ways to promote communication for her.

Ling Yu respected her habits, but that didn’t mean she indulged her closeness.

She stretched out her long leg and kicked Gu Xiu.

The latter yelped dramatically, stumbled backward, and then gave a meaningful glance at the chat box on Ling Yu’s computer.

“Yuyu, why are you still on a voice call with someone?”

Ling Yu’s fingers stiffened.

Thinking about her conversation with Gu Xiu just now, she turned her head and stared at the chat box for a full three seconds. It was too late to back out now, so she awkwardly greeted Q: “Hello, beautiful Sister.”

Ling Yu waited for a long time, but the person on the other side didn’t say anything.

It seemed like she had fallen asleep.

She breathed a sigh of relief and moved her mouse to the close button.

As long as she didn’t ask, the awkwardness wasn’t hers.

Ling Yu nonchalantly typed “Goodnight.” Before she could send the two words.

Q transferred 250 yuan to you.

Ling Yu was confused: [Accidentally transferred?]

Q: [What?]

Seeing that the other party was unaware, Ling Yu sent her a screenshot of the transfer.

Five minutes passed.

Q: [I apologize. Occupational hazard. I minored in psychology in university, so I’m half a doctor.]

A psychologist is classified as a regular doctor?

Ling Yu raised an eyebrow: [???]

Q: [I apologize, I accidentally overheard your roommate talking. She might have an underdeveloped cerebellum. I suggest she go to the hospital for an emergency brain scan. It’s hard for exchange students like you. This is my personal funding for her emergency room visit. Please pass it on to her.]

Ling Yu: […]

Ling Yu was momentarily speechless. Q’s tone was completely different from her usual one.

This way of speaking tonight felt strangely familiar.

Ling Yu lightly tapped her forehead with her finger. She narrowed her eyes and subtly counter-questioned: [Is this the real you?]

The reply was quick and succinct: [Why else?]

[I found a rare, single edition manuscript on modern jewelry appraisal in the library a few days ago. Do you want to take a look?]

Ling Yu’s eyes lit up. Her current novel, Treasure Appraisal, was entering its climax, but she had stopped updating again recently.

Because the information she had previously researched wasn’t deep enough, many of Ling Yu’s ideas came from her past life. This resulted in the protagonist having an advanced way of thinking about appraisal methods in that era when she was appraising jade, causing a plot hole in the text.

Many readers immediately noticed this inconsistency. Ling Yu had no choice but to pause the updates for now.

She currently needed to absorb a large amount of theoretical knowledge from rare appraisal manuscripts to support her writing.

But she had encountered difficulties in finding the materials.

Many appraisal techniques in this world were family secrets and were not shared publicly.

Ling Yu had no way of accessing in-depth appraisal methods. A few days ago, when chatting with Q, she casually mentioned her interest in jewelry appraisal.

She hadn’t expected the other party to actually find such a rare manuscript that was almost never shared publicly.

A smile spread across Ling Yu’s eyes: [Sister, do you know that you resemble someone?]

Gu Qing, in front of the computer screen, stared at the address “Sister.” She was silent for a long time. Her throat felt dry. Gu Qing instinctively reached out to touch her mug, but her elbow hit it, ungracefully knocking the tea over.

She grabbed a napkin and absentmindedly wiped the desk.

When she looked up, she saw her own reflection in the glowing screen. The woman with the long, curly hair looked quite distressed, and her blue eyes were filled with an unreadable complexity.

Gu Qing curled her lips and flattened her fingers, covering her eyes.

All she saw was a patch of dense blackness, completely opaque.

It seemed this was the only way she could temporarily avoid the message from Ling Yu.

She said she resembled… who?

Gu Qing could probably guess. Her angry reaction to Ling Yu’s roommate had a very high degree of recognition.

Is Ling Yu finally going to recognize me?

Q’s identity was a mistake from the beginning, but Gu Qing couldn’t bring herself to stop.

She had worn down all her edges in front of Ling Yu over the past two years, pretending to be gentle and humorous, only to face the inevitable today. Deep down, she was afraid of being recognized by Ling Yu.

Gu Qing was very clear about the high recognition of her aura when she was fully unleashed, just like at this moment.

She had snapped at her roommate, and Ling Yu almost instantly noticed something was off.

Gu Qing rubbed her forehead with a slight headache. She couldn’t describe what she was feeling. She had thought she wouldn’t regret it, but later, she found herself constantly on the verge of regret.

The rain was pouring the day Ling Yu left. Gu Qing stood behind the auditorium. The junior student next to her asked, “Senior, do you want to cry?”

Gu Qing thought, She will come back. I don’t need to cry.

One month.

Two months.

Three months.

Ling Yu, as she had wished, left and never looked back.

The sky above Gu Qing’s head became permanently black, dense and suffocating.

Gu Qing walked the streets and heard a man’s voice on a CD player: People come and go…

She suddenly understood. Oh, Ling Yu was gone. She had disappeared from her world.

She couldn’t remember which night, she had been drinking with Fang Jia.

Fang Jia was crying drunk about the girl she liked.

Foxy eyes, a face like a lotus flower, long dress fluttering…

Gu Qing’s mind was instantly filled with a tape reel, all about her.

Love is thinking about her all the time.

Thinking about her rebelliousness.

Thinking about how to get close to her.

Thinking and thinking.

She unconsciously succumbed to panic.

This is love!

After returning that night, Gu Qing did the most ridiculous thing in her life.

Like a thief, she secretly checked Ling Yu’s IP address.

…

She warned herself to watch from afar and not to disturb her.

Because she had already lost the chance to be worthy of her.

When she realized she was in love, looking back, all her erratic behavior was directed only at Ling Yu, and it was all traceable.

When she felt such a burning anger toward another person… she was already cooked.

Gu Qing had a body full of reverse thorns. She had never expected an unpredictable person to appear in her life.

Ling Yu’s solitary courage broke through all her defenses, forcing Gu Qing to frantically raise all her sharp thorns to ward off the unfamiliar and overwhelming love in her heart.

She had lost her without even realizing it. Since then, her eyes in every bizarre nightmare were always the ones from when she was falling from the building.

Gu Qing self-mockingly curled her lips. What right did she have to wish for her love?

Being recognized was a deserved punishment.

Ling Yu waited for a long time but didn’t receive a message from Q.

She urged: [Quick, quick, show me the rare manuscript?]

Q: [Hmm?]

[You just said… I resemble who?]

Ling Yu sent a cute emoji: [Doraemon, an angel who is constantly pulling out treasures.]