Pretending To Be Affectionate [Transmigration] - Chapter 47

Luo Huihui’s exquisitely made-up face flushed with anger. Her long manicured nails dug unconsciously into Gu Qing’s seat as she glared at that frost-covered face and scraped the upholstery viciously.

Perhaps it was because Gu Qing had spoken to her in the same cutting, indifferent tone from beginning to end.

It gave Luo Huihui the illusion that she had been completely crushed from every direction, without the slightest ability to fight back.

She had charged over to provoke Gu Qing tonight, only to deliver herself straight into the enemy’s hands.

The moment the award-winning actress realized this, her temper ignited completely.

Seeing the crew member approaching, she pulled her cap lower and sneered.

“Arguments between lovers can vary in severity. Xiao Yu doesn’t seem interested in speaking to you. I’m afraid you two aren’t far from breaking up.”

Gu Qing did not respond.

She brushed aside the hair falling over her chest and asked teasingly, “You like her?”

Luo Huihui raised one finger and wagged it provocatively.

“To be precise, I intend to pursue her.”

Gu Qing raised an eyebrow. “When did you meet?”

Luo Huihui had not expected a few sentences to suppress Gu Qing’s arrogance so easily.

“Today,” she replied smugly.

Then she added with a smile, “It was love at first sight.”

She remained completely unaware that Gu Qing had redirected the conversation and uncovered the full extent of their relationship with only a few questions.

Luo Huihui smiled happily.

Wei Minjun had been listening closely. Her face twisted as she struggled not to laugh.

Why are you smiling?

That scheming woman, Attorney Gu, is interrogating you! Use your brain!

Gu Qing was using the same subtle verbal techniques she employed in court—and against an ordinary woman, no less.

Was that really necessary?

Having watched the show this far, Wei Minjun would never believe Gu Qing was not being driven irrational by jealousy.

She instinctively glanced at the woman behind Gu Qing, the central figure the two were fighting over.

Ling Yu merely adjusted the glasses on her nose and raised her eyelids. Fragmented light spilled across her porcelain-like face in shifting patches.

Her unreadable black eyes stared directly at the two women confronting each other.

It was a death glare.

Wei Minjun shuddered and consciously lowered her head.

You monsters can fight among yourselves. Leave me out of it.

One woman stood while the other remained seated, their gazes meeting in midair.

A tiny smile appeared on Gu Qing’s thin lips.

“So-called love at first sight is merely harassment dressed up as romance. I suggest reconsidering.”

Reconsider what?

Just because Gu Qing’s own relationship was in crisis, did that mean she could forbid a newcomer from overtaking her?

Luo Huihui scoffed. “I won’t.”

The flight attendant arrived at that moment and bent slightly to address Luo Huihui with courtesy.

“Miss, please cooperate and return to your assigned seat.”

Luo Huihui made an okay gesture toward her, then glanced at Gu Qing and added, “I’ve lived nearly half my life, and this is the first time I’ve met an elegant female menace so perfectly suited to my tastes. Why don’t you consider voluntarily giving—”

Before Luo Huihui could finish, a lazy voice suddenly interrupted from behind them.

“While I was asleep, the two of you kept saying ‘our Xiao Yu’ this and ‘my lover’ that…”

Ling Yu looked at Luo Huihui, then at Gu Qing’s rigid back.

Her foxlike eyes curved, a trace of intrigued amusement entering her gaze.

“My lover?” she repeated slowly. “You two are talking absolute nonsense and dragging an innocent bystander into it. May I ask whether that’s polite?”

The moment Ling Yu finished, both women fell silent at the same time.

The situation became so awkward that everyone wanted to dig their toes through the floor.

The plane was about to enter another bank of clouds, so the flight attendant escorted Luo Huihui back to her seat.

That left Gu Qing alone to face the embarrassment.

She frowned but did not immediately turn around.

Ling Yu’s penetrating, inquisitive gaze bored into her back, leaving Gu Qing nowhere to escape.

She did not remain silent for long.

Closing her eyes briefly, she slowly turned around and met Ling Yu’s assessing gaze.

Almost instantly, Gu Qing noticed the shallow mockery floating within Ling Yu’s curved foxlike eyes.

Her fingers curled.

When she spoke, the words emerged with some difficulty.

She paused, suppressing the emotions in her eyes, and asked distantly, “Did we wake you?”

Ling Yu did not answer. She merely raised her eyelids.

“Explain.”

Naturally, she did not believe Gu Qing’s confrontation with Luo Huihui had been motivated by jealousy.

She was only angry and wanted to know why Gu Qing had done it.

They had not met for two years.

Upon encountering her again, Ling Yu had deliberately avoided Gu Qing and maintained the proper distance between strangers.

She had neither provoked nor offended her.

Yet Gu Qing could still casually use Ling Yu as a shield while trading suggestive nonsense with Luo Huihui.

What right did that old woman have?

Ling Yu’s eyes clearly conveyed:

You aren’t worthy.

Yet the expected anger never came.

Gu Qing merely blinked.

Unlike their confrontations two years earlier, she showed none of her former arrogance.

She appeared strangely dejected, her eyes half lowered as though she understood Ling Yu’s meaning.

Her pupils contracted. With the light behind her, the elegant contours of her profile remained concealed in darkness, and the emotions in her eyes faded into the shadows.

A moment later, Ling Yu heard a trace of hoarseness within Gu Qing’s cool, distant voice.

“I’m sorry.”

She rarely apologized and was clearly unpracticed.

Her pale lips parted, moved uncertainly, then closed again.

Ling Yu paused, suddenly losing all desire to question her further.

Whatever reason Gu Qing had for using her as a shield no longer had much to do with her.

Ling Yu did not need to know.

But she did not want any connection with Gu Qing—not even as part of a suggestive joke.

She needed to draw the boundary clearly in advance.

After all, she had promised Xu Miao that whenever she encountered Gu Qing, she would stay as far away as possible.

Ling Yu gave Gu Qing a roguish sideways look.

“What you did just now was rather interesting.”

Gu Qing raised her eyelids.

Before she could speak, Ling Yu smiled again and rubbed her brow as though troubled.

“If you like me, you can tell me privately. Don’t create misunderstandings for other people. How about this? Since we’ve crossed paths a few times before, I’ll give you a clear answer now.”

“You aren’t good enough for me.”

Gu Qing’s expression froze.

Her heart seemed to be seized by an invisible hand and constricted so tightly that she could barely breathe.

“Oh,” she murmured.

Her eyes turned toward the blackness outside.

“Not good enough…”

Ling Yu frowned and looked away.

Good. At least you understand.

She rolled over and closed her eyes again.

As she drifted between sleep and wakefulness, however, she sensed a hand tirelessly pulling the blanket back over her.

She vaguely felt two moist lips draw close to her ear.

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Aside from the unpleasantness with Gu Qing at the beginning, the remainder of the flight proceeded smoothly.

A flight attendant woke Ling Yu.

When she opened her eyes, very few passengers remained aboard.

Even Luo Huihui had already left the cabin.

Ling Yu had congenital hypoglycemia. When she rose from her seat, a sudden wave of dizziness struck her.

Fortunately, the flight attendant caught her, allowing her to remain standing.

“Miss, are you all right?”

“My blood sugar is low. I’ll be fine after resting for a moment.”

The flight attendant studied her with concern. After confirming that Ling Yu was otherwise unharmed, she asked, “Do you have any candy with you? You should eat one immediately.”

Ling Yu was about to nod when she remembered that she had used her only piece of candy to silence Luo Huihui.

This body had suffered from hypoglycemia since birth.

After experiencing several sudden blackouts, Ling Yu had developed the habit of carrying a piece of candy whenever she left home.

But now it was gone.

Pressing her fingers against her forehead, she shook her head helplessly.

The next moment, the flight attendant suddenly smiled politely and pointed toward the exquisitely packaged gift tied to Ling Yu’s handbag.

“Miss, please open that and eat a piece of candy.”

Ling Yu followed her gaze.

An exquisitely wrapped box from the duty-free shop had been tied to her handbag.

A floppy-eared rabbit eating candy was illustrated on the package.

Ling Yu froze.

Memories surged into her mind.

“Stay away from me.”

Gu Qing had just finished defending her thesis and was leaving the postgraduate building.

Ling Yu followed behind her, but after jogging only a few steps, she suddenly collapsed into a thick layer of snow.

The sound of her fall was so loud that the woman ahead stopped abruptly.

Gu Qing turned around and frowned upon seeing Ling Yu’s deathly pale face.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“My blood sugar is low.”

Gu Qing condescended to stare at her.

Several seconds later, she asked, “What kind of candy?”

Ling Yu had blinked in surprise. “Hm?”

Gu Qing glared at her impatiently.

“Are you deaf? I asked what kind of candy you like.”

“Oh. White Rabbit.”

Later, Gu Qing had bought her White Rabbit milk candies.

Yet she had driven Ling Yu for an hour to purchase them from a duty-free shop.

Attorney Gu’s explanation was that products made for export underwent stricter quality inspections.

Ling Yu was such a troublesome creature that if candy from an ordinary convenience store made her sick, she would probably blame Gu Qing for it.

When Ling Yu remained motionless, the flight attendant asked her something.

Ling Yu did not hear clearly.

Still dazed, she watched the attendant remove the gift, unwrap it, and hand her a milk candy.

“Miss, please eat one.”

The long, milky-white candy touched her lips.

As though possessed, Ling Yu opened her mouth.

Only after the sweetness faded did she regain her senses.

She stared at the open box beside her, unable to decide whether to keep it or throw it away.

After some thought, she poured the candies into her handbag and discarded the packaging in the rubbish bin.

In a few days, she would ask Xu Miao to transfer the money to Gu Qing.

Ling Yu was not so indiscriminate that she would eat just anyone’s candy.

Gu Qing emerged from the secure passage at the rear of the aircraft.

Only after watching Ling Yu disappear did she withdraw her gaze.

“As you instructed, the young lady accepted the milk candies you gave her,” the flight attendant reported respectfully.

She felt deeply uneasy.

She knew nothing about the identity of the strikingly beautiful woman before her.

But she knew Gu Qing possessed an extraordinary status.

Five hours before the flight departed, every crew member assigned to it had been summoned to an emergency meeting.

Their superiors had ordered them to do everything possible to ensure this woman’s comfort.

Gu Qing responded with a cold hum.

Her long, straight legs carried her through the cabin door, but her gaze caught sight of the exquisite packaging in the rubbish bin.

Her eyes stung.

She clicked her tongue.

How heartless.

A mocking curve appeared on Gu Qing’s lips. Her gaze lingered on the carefully packaged box for three seconds before she pretended to withdraw it with dignity.

A wave of heat struck her face outside the aircraft.

Gu Qing brushed away the hair clinging to her cheek.

For a moment, irritation filled her.

She did not even know why she had used the Gu family’s influence to manufacture an accidental encounter with Ling Yu.

She clearly understood that remaining distant was the best way to protect and respect her.

Yet after unexpectedly seeing her again tonight, Gu Qing lost control.

The unfamiliarity in Ling Yu’s eyes had utterly disrupted her reason.

Gu Qing admitted that she had lost control.

Perhaps she could not accept Ling Yu’s distance.

Or perhaps when the woman she had coveted morning and night—the woman she had missed her chance with—stood directly before her, Gu Qing discovered that she was far less restrained than she had believed.

She had even risked exposing Ling Yu as her weakness.

Gu Qing narrowed her eyes.

Helplessness, resentment, and a trace of regret swirled within them.

Wei Minjun dragged Gu Qing’s suitcase over, panting heavily.

After catching her breath, she gestured toward the crowd blocking the airport entrance and clamoring for autographs.

“Well? Didn’t I handle your request beautifully?” Wei Minjun asked smugly, seeking praise. “I genuinely didn’t expect her to be the award-winning actress Luo Huihui!”

Gu Qing gave a cold hum.

She did not care whether the woman was an award-winning actress or a ghost.

Wei Minjun felt differently.

Tonight, she had occupied a front-row seat to the spectacle of award-winning actress Luo Huihui fighting over a woman.

Who would believe her if she told them?

Unfortunately, Luo Huihui’s romantic rival was the scheming Attorney Gu.

Gu Qing had not only trapped her aboard the plane; she had even devised a way to drive Luo Huihui away after landing…

Heh.

As an accomplice to the instigator, Wei Minjun furtively closed the chat window where she had just sold the headline to an entertainment gossip account.

Seeing Gu Qing walk ahead without changing expression, she raised a thumb toward her.

With heartfelt admiration, Wei Minjun gave her an unhinged grin and silently praised:

When it comes to jealousy, no one beats you. Incredible.

The next moment, the cold and noble woman suddenly turned around.

Her clear gaze swept over Wei Minjun. It was unclear who had offended her this time, but she urged irritably:

“Walk faster.”

Wei Minjun hurried after her at a jog.

Inside, she complained wildly.

A wage slave lives to work.

And after working long enough, the only thing she wants is to hit someone.