Pretending To Be Affectionate [Transmigration] - Chapter 8

The next day, Ling Yu woke up at the old mansion and received a call from her advisor, Professor Wu.

“Have you found a place for your internship yet?”

Ling Yu opened her closet and picked out a simple, solid-colored professional outfit. She replied to the advisor on the phone, “Don’t worry, Professor. I’ll have it settled by today at the latest.”

After getting dressed, Ling Yu didn’t forget to put the blue voice recorder from her vanity into her pocket.

Once she was ready, she went downstairs. The clock on the wall on the first floor pointed to exactly seven o’clock. Xu Miao had stayed up late playing games the night before and was still asleep.

Aunt Hu, the housekeeper, saw Ling Yu come downstairs and, with practiced efficiency, brought out the breakfast she had already prepared.

Ling Yu nodded to her in thanks, pulled out a chair, and put a fried dough stick into her mouth.

She had thought that after that, the advisor would hang up. But Professor Wu clearly had something important to say and was beating around the bush with small talk.

“You haven’t been staying in the dorm recently.”

Ling Yu raised an eyebrow and pulled the half-chewed dough stick from her mouth.

Normally, an advisor wouldn’t ask about a senior’s living situation. At this stage, seniors were either doing their internships or looking for jobs. Very few students stayed in the dorms for an extended period.

As a transfer student, Ling Yu had met Professor Wu only a handful of times, so there was no deep bond between them. More importantly, since she transferred, she hadn’t lived in the literature department’s female dorm but had instead used her connections to move into the law school’s graduate dorm, where Gu Qing lived.

Professor Wu had never asked about it before, so it was strange for him to be checking on her living situation now, so close to graduation.

Ling Yu suppressed her surprise and replied unhurriedly, “My great-grandmother is ill, so I’ve been staying at home for the past two days.”

She paused and politely asked, “Professor, is there something urgent?”

Professor Wu cleared his throat, probably to avoid Ling Yu’s rebellious nature. He tried to get to the point in a gentle tone. “It’s like this, the Academic Affairs Office received a complaint call yesterday, saying that you were working as a courtesan at a club in the red-light district… Is there any truth to that?”

Ling Yu thought she hadn’t heard correctly. She gritted her teeth and repeated, “Red-light district? Working as… a courtesan?”

Her voice was almost a whisper, but Professor Wu on the other end of the line clearly didn’t notice the suppressed anger in her question.

Through the phone, Professor Wu’s voice came again. “You’ve studied so hard, and your parents and the country have spent so much to cultivate you into a talented student. I understand that I can’t interfere with your personal career choices, but working as a courtesan in a red-light district is not a proper profession. Ling Yu…”

Professor Wu pleaded with her emotionally and reasoned with her intellectually. He adopted the tone of a high school dean, breaking down the aspirations and beliefs of a university student. He sounded like he was trying to save a lost young person.

“I’m keeping this from getting out because you’re still young. But to guide you toward a proper career path, I will be strictly monitoring your schedule for the last six months you are in school. So, Ling Yu, move your bed back to the literature department dorm today. I’ll be doing frequent room checks.”

Room checks? Move back to the dorm?

Ling Yu’s expression froze.

Thinking back to Gu Qing’s harsh words from yesterday, Ling Yu understood everything.

Besides being cold and heartless, that woman would resort to any means necessary. Tattling on her was, frankly, a low blow.

Ling Yu ground her teeth in disbelief.

Taking a deep breath, she patiently explained the whole story to Professor Wu. In the end, she had to show him her great-grandmother’s hospital papers to get him to stop trying to monitor her schedule.

Before hanging up, Ling Yu said with a smile, “Professor, if you don’t trust me, you must trust Senior Gu. I live in the same dorm as her. You can ask her to keep an eye on me.”

After hearing this, Professor Wu reluctantly agreed.

After hanging up, Ling Yu rubbed her chin, grinding the last half of the fried dough stick and putting it in her mouth. Her teeth ground with a crunching sound, and 008 was too scared to make a sound.

Kaihe Law Firm was located in the central business district of Yuncheng. At 8 a.m., the area was bustling with people.

Outside the Kaihe Law Firm reception hall, Old Wang, the security guard, stopped Ling Yu. He looked distraught. “Miss Ling, you’re making this difficult for me.”

They were old acquaintances. Old Wang was usually kind-hearted. Even though he had been penalized half a month’s salary for letting Ling Yu in too many times, he couldn’t help but feel weak when he saw Ling Yu’s sweet, girl-next-door smile. The arm he held up to block her didn’t have much strength.

Ling Yu was all smiles as she handed him a bag of breakfast she had packed. He quickly backed up. “What are you doing? I can’t take this… It’s not right.”

“Don’t worry, just take it. It doesn’t cost much, so it doesn’t count as a bribe.”

Uncle Wang’s face turned red. “You’re a clever one. I know you’re trying to bribe me, an old man, to go see Lawyer Gu… I’m telling you…”

“I’m not,” Ling Yu said with a laugh. “Uncle Wang, I’m here for a job interview. I was called by the HR department. I’m entering for a legitimate reason.”

As she spoke, she pulled out her interview confirmation and showed it to Old Wang. Then, to his surprise, she walked into the Kaihe Law Firm building with her long, slender legs.

Ling Yu was a graduating literature student. She was applying for a paralegal position in the archives department, which involved organizing case files and documents.

Kaihe Law Firm had been on the rise for the past year, and there was an overwhelming number of graduates who wanted to intern there. There were already many interviewees in the hall. The number of interns each department could hire was limited, so the competition was fierce.

Ling Yu went to the front desk, registered, and was told to wait in the main hall for the initial screening. She was at the very end of the line. It was 8:15 a.m., and the law firm started work at 8:30 a.m., so they still had to wait for fifteen minutes.

“I didn’t expect there to be so many people.”

A young man in front lowered his voice and whispered to the woman next to him.

“Why are you surprised? Kaihe Law Firm has been doing great in recent years, with rapid development. Especially with Gu Qing leading the team…”

“Gu Qing?” the man said in surprise. “Is she the one I’m thinking of?”

“She’s the one who single-handedly reversed the outcome of the campus bullying case and exposed the local powers behind it. That’s Lawyer Gu.” the woman added.

“Oh, it’s her. Well, then… I’m not surprised.” The man looked enlightened and agreed. “Gu Qing is around our age, but she’s completely famous in the legal world. A few months ago, a well-known industry magazine named her the ‘light of the law school master’s program.’ I heard that a law firm overseas offered her an astronomical amount to hire her, but she turned them down!”

The two were whispering.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the line. Everyone’s eyes turned to the woman in a form-fitting skirt suit who was walking toward them.

“Look, it’s Gu Qing.”

“Oh my God, she’s even more beautiful in person than on TV.”

“H University produces so many beautiful women. Look at the girl standing at the end of the line, the one with the lollipop. When she registered, I think she also wrote down H University.”

“Damn, you have sharp eyes.”

“Hehe… Actually, the first thing I saw was her long legs. I’m telling you, if a single guy isn’t proactive, he’ll never get a girlfriend.”

The two men at the front of the line shared a look, their eyes filled with lewd thoughts. They spoke a little too loudly. Gu Qing, who had been walking straight to her private elevator, suddenly stopped. She turned and glanced at the line of interviewees from the corner of her eye. Then, her gaze fell on the woman at the very end of the line, who had a fishbone braid and a lollipop in her mouth, listening to their gossip.

“Lawyer Gu, the legal consultant from Sleda Company is already waiting in your office.” The assistant behind her opened the elevator door and respectfully gave her a status report.

Gu Qing gave a cold grunt. She looked away, pointed to the two men at the front of the line with lewd smiles on their faces, and said concisely, “The law firm doesn’t hire employees who gossip behind people’s backs.”

The assistant’s expression was frozen for a moment before he understood what Gu Qing meant. “Yes, yes. I’ll go talk to HR right away.”

The next second, Gu Qing’s voice rang out again. This time, her finger pointed to Ling Yu, who was not far away. She said briefly, “Her, remove her from the interview list.”