Pretending To Be Affectionate [Transmigration] - Chapter 5

After the winter solstice, the weather in Yuncheng grew colder by the day.

Over the past month in particular, heavy snow had fallen for several consecutive days, and the sky seemed shrouded in a layer of icy rime.

Ling Yu slept until she awakened naturally. When she pulled open the curtains, she found the view beyond the floor-to-ceiling window gray and gloomy, with leaden clouds crowding the horizon.

[Host, hurry up and get out of bed. You’re going to be late for today’s daily mission…]

The system nagged frantically inside her mind.

Ling Yu’s eyes remained half-closed as she lazily yawned.

Her daily missions were supposedly the optimal methods for winning Gu Qing over, simulated by the system after combining big-data analysis with Gu Qing’s personality.

Her daily routine over the past two months could be summarized very simply: delivering three meals a day, regardless of wind or rain.

At this hour, Ling Yu would ordinarily be waiting eagerly outside Kaihe Law Firm. The moment Gu Qing arrived for work, she would present her with a lovingly prepared lunch box she had “made herself.”

According to 008, Ling Yu needed to appear before Gu Qing whenever she was needed, at any moment during the twenty-four hours of the day.

To complete her mission, make her soul compatible with this body, and achieve her goal of living out her natural lifespan, Ling Yu was naturally willing to endure this small grievance.

However, she had spent two months being a devoted bootlicker. Even outsiders had become completely convinced of her unwavering affection.

Yet Gu Qing, the person directly involved, dismissed it entirely.

After what happened last night, Ling Yu suddenly realized that her only meaningful interaction with Gu Qing in two months had occurred yesterday—when she deviated from the established plan.

The system was so anxious that its mouth would have blistered if it possessed one.

Only then did Ling Yu slowly speak.

[Remind me again. What exactly is my mission?]

[…]

008 was somewhat speechless.

Although it could tell that its host was asking deliberately, Ling Yu had yet to complete today’s daily mission. Thus, it rapidly recited the requirements again.

[The devoted supporting female character’s mission: take care of the female lead’s daily needs, show concern for her, and cherish her. Whenever the female lead encounters difficulties, you must courageously brave any danger on her behalf. Your ultimate objective is to make her understand that true love exists in this world and that genuine affection remains among humanity, thereby eliminating the hidden possibility that she will destroy the world.]

The system rattled everything off like beans spilling from a container.

[Well said.]

Ling Yu interrupted it with applause.

008 was confused.

[Huh?]

Ling Yu replied:

[The important part is the final sentence. As long as Gu Qing abandons the idea of destroying the world, my mission will be considered complete. Correct?]

[That’s technically correct, but…]

008 abruptly paused.

Remembering the outrageous stunt Ling Yu had pulled yesterday, it became vigilant.

[Host, y-you…mustn’t do anything reckless.]

Ling Yu fastened her final button, took out a hair tie, and faced the dark-haired, red-lipped young woman reflected in the mirror. She loosely tied up her long black hair.

[Relax.]

Ling Yu smiled.

[As the female lead of a novel without a romantic pairing, Gu-jiejie has been harsh, indifferent, pitiful, and sexually repressed her entire life. She’s probably never slept with anyone, has she? Tsk. Suppressing herself for too long could easily distort her mind… How about we use a different method to win her over?]

008 wanted to hit her. It repeated in a heart-wrenching cry:

[Whatever you do, don’t act recklessly! Have you considered that after completing the mission, you must remain in this world and live out your natural lifespan? Constantly deceiving people into sleeping with you won’t do you any good!]

Ling Yu clicked her tongue.

[Daddy, I never expected you to be harboring that sort of idea. I suggest giving up immediately. Between Gu Qing and me, do you honestly think she would agree so easily to be the bottom?]

008 rolled its lifeless fish eyes.

That was filthy. Even its ears had been stained yellow by her dirty thoughts.

Ling Yu dawdled upstairs for a while. Once she finished washing up, Xu Miao called her downstairs for breakfast.

By the time they left Canghai Club last night, it had been close to midnight.

It had been too late for Ling Yu to enter her university dormitory, so she simply followed Xu Miao back to the Xu family’s old residence in Yuncheng.

The original owner’s mother was Xu Miao’s biological aunt. Over the past several years, Ling Yu had grown closer to the Xu family, and the old master’s opinion of this granddaughter had gradually improved.

Xu Miao and Ling Yu were the same age. Their values aligned, and their personalities were compatible.

As they spent more time together, their relationship became even closer than that of biological sisters within the main branch of the Xu family.

“You’re really not going?”

Xu Miao openly looked Ling Yu up and down.

“I’m not.”

Ling Yu gracefully picked up a piece of egg and placed it in the celadon bowl before her.

She casually changed the subject.

“I visited the hospital a few days ago. The family matriarch doesn’t have much time left.”

Xu Miao said nothing.

Ling Yu softened her voice and looked directly into Xu Miao’s eyes.

“Miao-jie, why are you the only one who came to Yuncheng this time?”

During the reform and opening-up period, the entire Xu family had moved to the coastal city of Jiangcheng, gradually establishing the family’s foundation there.

The ancestral residence in Yuncheng had always been occupied by the elderly matriarch. Nostalgic and unwilling to leave her homeland, she had remained in Yuncheng throughout her retirement.

In recent years, the old woman’s health had visibly deteriorated. She had managed to survive past her hundredth birthday last year, but her condition had worsened with each passing day.

Several months ago, an old illness resurfaced, leaving her permanently bedridden. The doctor had warned the family that she probably would not survive beyond March.

Four generations of the Xu family had been taking turns caring for her.

Yet over the past month, only Xu Miao had come.

Ling Yu set down her knife and fork, then calmly met Xu Miao’s gaze.

Xu Miao’s eyes flickered. She looked again at Ling Yu’s clear black-and-white eyes, which seemed capable of seeing through everything.

After a brief standoff, Xu Miao admitted defeat. She rubbed her forehead with a headache, pulled over a napkin, and wiped the corner of her mouth.

“I knew I couldn’t hide it from you.”

Her voice lowered.

“The company encountered some trouble recently. Second Uncle evaded taxes and embezzled company funds. He made Grandpa and Grandma so furious that they were hospitalized.”

Ling Yu frowned and immediately asked, “Are Grandfather and Grandmother all right?”

Xu Miao nodded gravely.

“You don’t need to worry about their health. But Second Uncle has thrown the family into complete chaos. The matriarch still needs someone here with her, so my mother sent me ahead.”

After hearing this much, Ling Yu could discern that there were matters Xu Miao could not reveal.

She tactfully stopped asking questions.

The Xu family was enormous. The larger its businesses grew, the more sordid affairs inevitably accumulated.

Anything serious enough to prevent her grandparents from attending to the family matriarch could not possibly be explained in only a few sentences.

If Xu Miao did not explain, it meant she could not.

Ling Yu tactfully lowered her head and chewed her food, bringing the subject to an end.

After breakfast, Ling Yu accompanied Xu Miao to the hospital.

The elderly matriarch suffered from dementia. Her mind was unclear, and she could no longer recognize anyone.

When she looked at people, her eyes seemed covered by a layer of pale light.

Ling Yu and Xu Miao spent the entire day talking to her.

Only in the late afternoon did the old woman finally call out, “Xiao Yu…Miaomiao.”

Xu Miao wanted to remain with the matriarch a little longer.

Seeing that it was growing late, Ling Yu told Xu Miao she was going out to buy some food. She intended to bring it back so they could eat dinner with the elderly woman.

The matriarch occupied a VIP hospital room, so the corridor outside was not as crowded or noisy as those near the ordinary wards.

Even the patients’ relatives who occasionally passed her were mostly dressed respectably.

When Ling Yu returned carrying the takeaway containers, she discovered that the food had grown somewhat cold.

She turned toward the pantry, planning to reheat it.

As she approached the blind spot around a corner, a basketball unexpectedly rolled beneath her feet.

The heel of her shoe scraped across the ball.

Her body pitched forward, and she stumbled two steps. It took considerable effort and one hand braced against the wall before she finally regained her balance.

Although she escaped injury, the takeaway containers in her hand were not so fortunate.

With a clatter, the containers flew through the air. White and green food mixed together, some of it spilling across the floor.

The rest landed on a teenage boy in a hospital gown who had been sitting around the corner.

The boy was slumped in a wheelchair. He appeared to be fifteen or sixteen years old. One corner of his mouth drooped, and his head hung limply against his shoulder. Every breath emerged as a rough, heavy sound.

His sideways gaze remained fixed on Ling Yu.

A moment later, he suddenly burst into tears.

A trace of anger had initially entered Ling Yu’s dark eyes. However, after carefully observing the boy’s uneven eyes and mouth, her anger subsided.

The teenager was not an unruly child. He appeared to be a patient with cerebral palsy.

He wailed loudly, his sobs accompanied by heavy, labored breaths.

From where Ling Yu stood around the corner, she could not see the family member responsible for looking after him. She hurried forward, retrieved some tissues from her handbag, and prepared to clean up the mess.

“I’m sorry. Are you all…right?”

Ling Yu raised her head.

In the dim corridor, an elegant woman stood three meters behind the boy.

The moment Ling Yu saw her face, the end of her sentence abruptly changed pitch.

Gu Qing was frowning while speaking on the phone, her voice thick with impatience.

“I don’t need to explain the importance of that recording pen again. I don’t care if you have to dig three feet into the ground—it must be in my office tomorrow morning… You only need to answer one question: can you do it or not?”

The disturbance on Ling Yu’s side was far too loud for Gu Qing to ignore.

As she approached the scene, she lowered her gaze. When she saw the food scattered across the floor, the coldness in her eyes reached its peak.

The instant Ling Yu raised her head, her gaze collided with Gu Qing’s eyes, which were overflowing with hostility.

A moment later, Gu Qing recognized her.

After a brief flash of surprise, she looked at Ling Yu again, and the deadly air in her eyes slowly receded.

“Something has come up here. We’ll discuss it when I return to the office.”

Gu Qing withdrew her gaze and ended the call.

She crouched before Ling Yu could, took out a wet wipe, and began cleaning the stains from the boy’s clothes.

The boy seemed afraid of Gu Qing. His eyes brimmed with tears, but he did not dare cry aloud again.

“What a coincidence, Gu Qing. Is he your younger brother…?”

“Were you following me?”

They spoke almost simultaneously.

Ling Yu lowered her eyes and looked at her.

Gu Qing frowned in disgust.

She had always been arrogant. At that moment, she did not even feel the slightest inclination to answer Ling Yu with a nod or shake of her head.

She expressed her disregard plainly through every word and action.

From beginning to end, she did not look at Ling Yu again. It was as though Ling Yu did not exist at all as she continued wiping the stains from the wheelchair-bound boy.

At that moment, Ling Yu could clearly feel the intense coldness and alienation radiating from Gu Qing.

In Gu Qing’s heart, Ling Yu seemed no different from a speck of filth she could not avoid quickly enough.

Something that disgusted her beyond measure.

One had to admit that Gu Qing was frighteningly intelligent. She always understood that hurting someone did not require words.

She could casually reduce a person to dust with the most understated actions.

Ling Yu lowered her eyes.

“Peeping at and following someone are both illegal—especially when you’re a lawyer.”

Ling Yu smiled.

“Gu Qing, what sort of person do you take me for?”

Gu Qing kept her head lowered as she forcefully scrubbed away the final stain on the boy’s clothes.

Perhaps she used too much strength, because the boy sobbed, “Jiejie, it hurts.”

Gu Qing patted his shoulder to comfort him. Then she straightened, took hold of his wheelchair, and silently pushed him away.

Ling Yu was so angry that she laughed.

008 cautiously tried to comfort her:

[Host…are you…all right? Ah…don’t be too heartbroken. The female lead of a novel without a romantic pairing is cold and heartless. That is indeed how she is…]

[Who told you I was heartbroken?]

Ling Yu smiled.

[I’m excited. This is the first time in my life I’ve encountered someone I find so detestable. I’m simply wondering how I should make her cry…]

008: […]