Pretending To Be Affectionate [Transmigration] - Chapter 6

Ling Yu leaned against the wall, squinting her eyes. Gu Qing had already walked quite a distance, but Ling Yu suddenly called out to her.

“Wait.”

The hallway wasn’t very long. Ahead, a right turn led to the patient rooms, and a left turn led to a spacious pantry. Because the hallway was in shadow, at about 5:30 p.m., the natural light from outside couldn’t get in, making the hallway dim. The only light came from the faint wall sconces that flickered on and off.

Gu Qing stood under a light. Her face, which was so different from the boy in the wheelchair next to her, was covered in a dark shadow, making it hard to read her emotions. Her lips were simply pressed into a thin line.

She had probably never met someone as brazen as Ling Yu before. When she heard Ling Yu’s persistent voice again, her reaction was a little slow, and she instinctively paused.

Seeing her stop, Ling Yu took a few quick steps forward.

The “click-clack” of her heels echoed rhythmically in the empty hallway.

“Sister?” Gu Ting, who was in the wheelchair, used his arms to prop up his drooping head. He tilted his head back. The young boy’s speech was unclear, but his intelligence was close to that of an adult. He stared intently at Gu Qing’s expressionless profile, deep in thought.

A moment later, he forced out a childish smile. “Is this… your friend, Sister?”

The emotion in Gu Qing’s eyes faded, little by little. She looked down at the boy’s seemingly innocent gaze. A cold, hostile glint appeared in her deep blue eyes.

This coldness, without warning, fell on the boy. Her sharp gaze scraped across his face, inch by inch.

Ling Yu had always thought that Gu Qing was only cold and heartless toward her. But at this moment, Gu Qing’s chilling indifference was more intense than ever. It was hard to imagine that she could show such a cold demeanor toward a fifteen-year-old boy. Just a few seconds ago, she had been relatively patient with him.

Ling Yu narrowed her eyes in surprise.

At the same time, Gu Qing’s desolate voice rang out. “Gu Ting.”

She bent down, and her slender fingers grabbed the boy’s jaw. Her eyes were level with his, and her voice was faint. “Don’t ever try to test me…”

The boy’s pupils flickered. His gaze darted away. He shrank his neck, and a line of drool trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Most people with cerebral palsy don’t live very long. Even with physical therapy, their physical abilities are different from others. But their cognitive abilities vary. Gu Ting’s intelligence was clearly not very affected.

He reacted slowly. Tears quickly welled up in his eyes, and he still looked afraid, but he morbidly propped up his limp eyelids. He tilted his head to look at Ling Yu and then spoke to Gu Qing. “Sister, I’m so happy you have a new friend… You must be so happy. You were this happy a few years ago when you became friends with Wangcai.”

As he said this, Gu Qing’s long fingers dug deep into the soft flesh of his neck. The fury on her face was almost palpable. But when her fingers pressed on his throat and she saw his teary eyes, she suddenly pulled her hand away.

For a moment, Ling Yu had a strange feeling that Gu Qing was really going to kill the boy in front of her. Even more absurdly, the boy, who was being treated this way, didn’t resist at all. It was as if he was intentionally provoking her. He was in danger but didn’t even try to avoid it. His eyes were like a snake’s, his pupils vertical and filled with a sticky, unhealthy excitement.

Ling Yu saw the boy’s expression. Three seconds later, she nonchalantly clicked her tongue. [Gu Qing’s brother is crazy.]

She said it with certainty. 008, bewildered, replied, [That can’t be, right?]

Ling Yu didn’t have time to respond to it. At the same time, Gu Qing glared at the boy, and her voice sounded again. “If this happens again, you’ll die.” Her tone was light, as if she were talking about the weather. After she spoke, she released her fingers and brushed off some imaginary dust from her hands. She then looked at Ling Yu, who was a meter away.

She gave a meaningful smile. “People like me don’t need friends…”

Gu Qing had probably just gotten off work. She wore a white shirt tucked into a form-fitting black skirt, with an ankle-length ice-blue trench coat draped over her elbow. As she straightened up, the light caught her slender waist, giving it a soft glow. The tight skirt showed off the curves of her waist and hips.

Her professional attire, combined with her elegant, cold face, gave her a powerful presence even when she was just standing there.

The boy in the wheelchair was now trembling.

But this pressure was no threat to Ling Yu. Hearing that the last sentence was meant for her, Ling Yu found it amusing.

Gu Qing was always cold and cruel, but she had warned her so many times with the same few phrases that Ling Yu couldn’t help but notice the weakness in her bluster.

She took a moment to admire the soft curves of the woman’s waist and hips, which were wrapped in thin fabric. She chuckled softly and then slowly walked over to Gu Qing.

With the same cold, hostile stares from both siblings on her, Ling Yu calmly picked up the basketball that had caused her to fall. She spun it on her fingertips a few times, then tossed it forward. The ball flew in an arc, landing precisely in Gu Ting’s arms.

Ling Yu didn’t even look at him. She simply smiled and held out her hand to Gu Qing. “My food… was spilled by him.”

Ling Yu pointed to the mess on the floor, opened her palm to Gu Qing, and smiled. “Three hundred yuan, please…”

Gu Qing: …

008: [What are you doing, Host? Are you trying to complete the mission or not? If you have this much energy, why don’t you just destroy her? BEEP BEEP BEEP…]

008’s frantic scolding was cut off. The cunning Ling Yu had already turned on the mute function. The system’s resentment could only be expressed in a series of beeps.

A slender, fair hand was held out in front of her. The light made it glow with a white sheen. Ling Yu’s hand was as exquisite and fair as she was. The lines on her palm were as smooth as if they had been erased from porcelain. Gu Qing’s gaze lingered for a moment. She instinctively reached for her briefcase.

But her hands were empty. She had been wearing her work uniform and had left her briefcase in the patient room.

Gu Qing’s face was stiff. “I’ll go back to the room and get it for you. Do you mind?”

“I do mind.” Ling Yu said without batting an eye. She held her hand out in front of Gu Qing and said lazily, “Sister… I think you might have misunderstood something. I’m not always free to chase after you. My family member is in the hospital. I came here to deliver food, and now I need money to replace it… I don’t have time to wait for you.”

The smile in Ling Yu’s eyes didn’t fade. She met Gu Qing’s sharp gaze without flinching. She was a girl who was naturally arrogant. Even when acting, she couldn’t tolerate being humble to her core.

Gu Qing couldn’t figure out Ling Yu. In her experience, girls her age were as delicate as a hibiscus flower. They were naturally shy and reserved.

Ling Yu, however, was different. Her affection was neither too close nor too far. She always maintained a rhythm that didn’t provoke Gu Qing to explode. Her very bones were filled with a lazy, blunt honesty. It was hard to hate her, and it was hard not to give her a little extra patience.

The air fell into a brief silence.

A moment later, Gu Qing pulled out her phone and displayed her WeChat payment QR code to Ling Yu.

Ling Yu’s eyes lit up with a mischievous sparkle. “Oh, that’s too bad. I don’t have my phone with me. If it’s convenient, let’s add each other on WeChat, and you can send me a transfer.”

Gu Qing stared at her cunning eyes, dumbfounded.

Ling Yu took advantage of her distraction. She took Gu Qing’s phone and, without a word, typed in her phone number. Then she turned and walked away before Gu Qing could.

She stopped at the corner and calmly called out, “My phone number is my WeChat ID. Oh, and remember to add a note with my name. I have a lot of people adding me…”

008 was flabbergasted. Once it processed what had happened, it wanted to give her a thumbs-up and scream, but its mechanical voice could only produce a cheerful “BEEP BEEP BEEP…”

Gu Qing watched as Ling Yu’s back disappeared, and then she pushed Gu Ting away.

In the empty hallway, only the boy’s hoarse voice could be heard. “Sister, do you remember Wangcai?”

“Your first friend.” Gu Ting’s chin was on his chest. He laughed indistinctly. “The day it died, it was gutted. It was so pitiful… It died the same way as my dad.”

Gu Qing’s eyes were silent. She didn’t even spare him a glance. Her expression was indifferent, as if she had just heard a meaningless joke.

Gu Ting was so angered by her continuous indifference that his voice became sharp. “Mom was right. You’re a jinx. Everyone who gets close to you ends up miserable. Look at me… and Mom… Is there going to be one more person now… She…”

“Gu Ting.” Gu Qing cut him off. She smiled politely and gestured to a nurse. She handed the wheelchair over to her and walked away. The boy sat in the wheelchair, his eyes bloodshot. “No matter how much you push me away, we’ll always be family…”

“Oh,” Gu Qing said. As the boy called out to her frantically, she walked away with an expressionless face.

When she reached the corner, her icy blue eyes narrowed. Her gaze, as sharp as a blade, fell on Ling Yu, who was listening in from behind the wall.

Caught in the act, Ling Yu’s expression froze. She gave a sheepish wave. “Hi!”

Gu Qing stared at her feigned innocent eyes. The calm facade that had always held up against all pressure completely shattered. Her eyes filled with a storm of emotions. She clenched her fist and, without a word, swung it toward Ling Yu’s face.

T/N: Damn, don’t bully your wife! You’ll regret it later.