Pretending To Be Affectionate [Transmigration] - Chapter 52

Ling Yu had only been back in the country for two days before she booked out a nightclub.

The news reached Ling Taiguo’s ears the following evening.

“It’s all because I’m so soft-tempered. I’ve always worried about confronting that child, Yuyu.” Yu Xin raised a slender, well-manicured finger to wipe away a tear.

The cat in her arms opened its large, bewildered eyes and let out a soft meow.

It seemed curious as to why the woman who was just smiling beautifully had suddenly become so melancholic.

Yu Xin stroked the startled cat’s back and half-raised her chin to look at Ling Taiguo.

The forty-something woman had no fine lines on her face, but due to the hyaluronic acid injections, her expression was stiff, making her crying less convincing.

She seemed aware of this and partially hid her face while wiping her tears.

Seeing that Ling Taiguo wasn’t fully paying attention, she spoke with genuine concern: “Husband, Yuyu’s wild behavior isn’t new. It wouldn’t matter normally, but now is a crucial time. You’re about to form an alliance with Hong Kong City, and what if…”

Ling Yu had been known in the social circles as a notorious female Sea King two years ago.

Although the upper-class circles of Jiang City and Hong Kong City didn’t completely overlap, they were both full of businessmen from all over, and there were always some Jiang City bosses with intricate ties to the wealthy merchants in Hong Kong.

The couple exchanged a look. Before Yu Xin could finish speaking.

Ling Taiguo immediately realized the seriousness of the situation.

Ling Yu’s reputation was more important than anything right now. She had been fading from the social scene during her two years abroad. Her return was now drawing attention.

If she did anything inappropriate and became fodder for the gossip of the wealthy wives, and it reached Hong Kong City, all his previous efforts would be for nothing.

Ling Taiguo slapped the coffee table, scattering the fruit plate on the desktop.

He stood up, looking furiously at the second floor: “That beast, she still hasn’t returned tonight?”

“No,” Yu Xin’s long nails idly scraped the cat’s neck. She lowered her head, hiding the fleeting calculation in her eyes.

Just as she had expected, the next second, Ling Taiguo’s gaze suddenly softened: “Wife, you monitor Ling Yu for me. The financial situation at Taikang Private Hospital has run into some problems. I promise you, give me just one week at most.”

Ling Taiguo grabbed Yu Xin’s hand. He didn’t notice the flash of disgust in her eyes. He patted the back of her hand: “You’ll have to put up with it for a bit and monitor that beast. Don’t let her go out fooling around again. I guarantee I’ll take her away in a week.”

Yu Xin lowered her eyes and obediently agreed. Then she gently pounded Ling Taiguo’s chest, asking in a seemingly casual way: “Husband, is the matter with Taikang Hospital very serious? You actually have to handle it yourself. Song Song hasn’t seen you in a long time. He’s been complaining that you don’t play with him anymore.”

Mentioning his biological son finally brought a hint of fatherly affection to Ling Taiguo’s eyes. He sighed to Yu Xin: “It wasn’t a big deal originally, but the police called me a few days ago, asking to look into the hospital’s recent financial inflows. I’m actively cooperating with the investigation…”

Hearing the mention of an interview, Yu Xin said, “Oh.” She must have been distracted. Her slender nails dug slightly into the cat’s back.

The white Persian cat let out a miserable meow.

---

Ling Yu owned several properties in Jiang City, which she had entrusted to her Aunt Xu (her mother’s sister-in-law) to manage.

A few days ago, while discussing career plans with Elder Xu, Ling Yu confessed that she had accepted a job offer as a professor at HKU. She would likely be based in Hong Kong City for the next five years.

The Xu family was also actively expanding their market in Hong Kong City, and the general direction of their future development would shift there.

Elder Xu suggested that if Ling Yu’s career wasn’t in Jiang City, she should sell some of her properties, as holding onto them wouldn’t serve much purpose.

Ling Yu considered it and nodded in agreement.

Selling the houses and transferring the titles took her two days.

Thanks to the Xu family’s connections, the transfer of Ling Yu’s properties was handled discreetly, and almost no one knew about it.

Ling Yu had just completed the property transfer formalities with her assistant, Xiao Yang, when Ling Taiguo called her.

“What did you feed your brother?”

Ling Yu held her phone. The angry male voice coming through the receiver made her eardrum tremble. Ling Yu immediately pulled the phone away from her ear and lifted her eyelids.

She could feel Ling Taiguo’s rage even through the phone line.

Ling Yu could guess who had fueled Ling Taiguo’s anger.

“Dad,” Ling Yu called out, lowering her voice, making herself sound flustered: “I’ve only been back in Jiang City for a few days. Besides the first night I stayed home, I’ve been out. I wanted to get close to my brother, but the nanny always blocked me… What could I have possibly fed him?”

Ling Taiguo was standing outside the emergency room, glancing at Yu Xin, who was sobbing over her son’s distress.

He knew that Ling Yu was speaking the truth, but at the moment, he was unwilling to retract the impulsive accusation he had made.

He maintained a stern face, his tone still harsh: “You’ve been out fooling around all day, and now you have the right to argue?”

Ling Yu was amused by Ling Taiguo’s mindless fury on the other end of the line.

She curved her lips, playing along with Ling Taiguo’s words, her eyes lowered: “Fine, fine. You can scold me all you want. It’s something I didn’t do, but you insist on blaming me. Sometimes, I wonder, Song Song is your son, but am I even your daughter?”

This statement completely detonated Ling Taiguo. He raised his voice and cursed: “Shut up!”

“See, you get angry as soon as I say anything.” Ling Yu casually handed the last sales contract to Assistant Xiao Yang. Under the latter’s astonished gaze, she seamlessly switched to a pitiful, tearful voice: “You dislike me so much… If I come back, I’m just causing you trouble. Your daughter isn’t so unfilial as to constantly make you angry.”

Ling Yu’s original intention was to use this incident to find a legitimate excuse not to go home, but she didn’t hear Ling Taiguo’s roar. Instead, she heard the sound of a trash can falling over on the other end of the line.

She had prepared in advance and held the phone far away.

However, the expected outburst didn’t come. Ling Taiguo’s voice was tinged with suppressed frustration, but ultimately, he didn’t vent it on Ling Yu. He sounded like he was taking a deep breath, steadying his voice: “You come home…”

Ling Yu raised her eyebrows slightly.

Ling Taiguo continued: “No matter what, you’re my biological daughter. What feud could there be between father and daughter?”

Ling Yu thought, What new trick is this?

Ling Taiguo played the emotional card, but he was inherently coarse and lacked Yu Xin’s subtle manipulation.

Ling Yu casually probed him with a few questions and spent a minute analyzing his intentions.

“Your brother has a stomachache tonight and is in the emergency room at our private hospital.” To show his stance as a loving father, Ling Taiguo asked Ling Yu for the first time: “Where are you? I’ll have the driver come pick you up. You are his biological sister. You haven’t seen each other in years. You should nurture your relationship. When your aunt and I are gone in the future, our family will rely on you and your brother to support it together.”

Those words sounded like something a father should say, but unfortunately, Ling Yu was not an innocent girl starved for fatherly love.

Ling Yu propped her chin on her hand. She imagined Ling Taiguo’s expression when he discovered Ling Song wasn’t his biological son and remembered this phone call today. It would surely be spectacular.

Ling Yu curved her lips. Under Xiao Yang’s astonished gaze, she acted spoiled toward Ling Taiguo and then gave him an address, all without a change in expression.

Her immediate shift in demeanor stunned everyone at the real estate office.

---

Wei Minjun had just walked out of the police station with Gu Qing when she was shoved into the car by her.

Wei Minjun’s idiot ex had texted her three hours ago. Not only had she failed to reply immediately, but she had let so much time elapse.

There was no one in the world whose pursuit of love and reconciliation was as half-hearted as hers.

Wei Minjun gave a resentful glance at the car keys Gu Qing handed her. Determined, she dared to protest to the workaholic in front of her: “Lawyer Gu, the next court session is still at least a month away. We really don’t need to…” rush around in the wind and rain.

Wei Minjun’s sentence was cut short.

“Wait a moment.” A clear voice suddenly cut in from not far away.

Wei Minjun twisted her neck at an awkward angle, looking behind her.

Fifty meters away, a girl in a floral dress, holding a parasol, was being pushed by her friends toward Gu Qing.

Gu Qing, that dog, wasn’t curious about the voice behind her at all. She slammed the driver’s door shut and walked to the back seat.

The young woman looked embarrassed. She hesitated, stopping in place. Seeing Gu Qing about to close the car door.

Her cheeks flushed crimson. She tossed two large cups of fruit tea into Gu Qing’s arms.

Wei Minjun stared at the fruit tea in Gu Qing’s arms, drooling with envy. She thought, This young woman is smart. She even thought of me when giving a gift.

Just because of that thoughtfulness, I’m absolutely going to create a chance for her to confess today.

“Senior Gu, it’s me. From the campus bullying case… Tang Tang. Do you remember?”

Gu Qing lifted her eyes. Her expression was cool and beautiful. Her brow bone was high. A slight raising of her eyebrow caused her phoenix eyes to look down on people with a casual sharpness, yet also an air of asceticism.

In a crowd, Gu Qing was the most eye-catching person, even if she was expressionless.

Wei Minjun sighed. She had seen too many girls try to flirt with Gu Qing, and without exception, they all retreated defeated.

Wei Minjun thought, No chance.

As expected, Gu Qing only gave an “mm.” She picked up the fruit tea in her arms and handed it back through the car window: “I don’t drink sweet things.”

Even after all these years, Gu Qing still remembered her. Tang Tang’s strained smile eased a little. The dimples at the corners of her mouth deepened as she smiled at Gu Qing and said, “Senior, one of them is Oolong tea, with no sugar.”

She paused. As if knowing Gu Qing would refuse, she didn’t wait for Gu Qing to speak the refusal. She suddenly stepped back and ran away.

The girl’s voice was clear, carrying a cheerful youthful innocence in the sunlight: “I didn’t give these just to thank you for helping me three years ago. I wanted to trouble you to give the other cup to your girlfriend, Senior Ling. My brother likes her. It’s just a simple crush, he won’t try to steal her from you…”

The girl deliberately emphasized the last sentence. She ran toward her companions in her white sneakers.

Ten seconds later, she was gone in a flash.

Wei Minjun looked at Gu Qing with an indescribable expression. The latter was cool-faced, staring blankly at the fruit tea in her hands.

“I remember you don’t drink that, huh?” Wei Minjun smiled in a very ingratiating way: “Lawyer Gu, how about I drink it for you?”

She had been eyeing the honey grapefruit tea for a long time. Just as she reached out to take it, Gu Qing’s slender fingers suddenly tightened around the cups. She looked up, her clear eyes reflecting the sunlight, rippling like a broken jade blade.

“Everyone thinks she likes me.”

Wei Minjun was stunned: “She? Wait, who is she? Oh my god, Gu Qing, you actually have a girlfriend?”

“Is she in Jiang City?”

“That’s not fair of you. I was wondering why you were working so hard recently to move bricks, I mean… collect evidence. It turns out you were planning a date. By the way, is it a man or a woman? Was the glasses lady just a boring distraction for you?”

Wei Minjun had been enveloped by Gu Qing’s low pressure for days and dared not speak. Now, released, her mouth was like a machine gun, firing away.

Gu Qing suddenly let out a laugh.

“A laugh is a laugh, but you still need to give me an explanation. Girlfriend, what’s going on?”

Wei Minjun adopted a determined stance to get to the bottom of the matter. Her own pursuit of love was slow, so she needed some of someone else’s love validation.

“I don’t have a girlfriend.” Gu Qing leaned back, resting against the back seat. She suddenly closed her eyes. Her skin was the cold white of snow, and her lips were pale. Shrouded in shadow, she looked pale, as if she were ill.

Large, dark circles hung under her eyelids.

Wei Minjun took a serious look and suddenly stopped talking.

She was also a lonely person. She understood that expression.

She suddenly realized that all of Gu Qing’s recent fatigue and strangeness were because she had been heartbroken.

To conceal her vulnerability and numb herself with work—that was very much Gu Qing’s style. She always hid her emotions. Her way of coping with heartbreak was bound to be different from others.

Such a cold, brilliant person. Wei Minjun wondered who had the power to pull Gu Qing down from her pedestal and stain her face with earthly dejection.

Frankly, everyone experienced heartbreak, but the sight of a Gu Qing who couldn’t cry made Wei Minjun feel sorry for her.

Wei Minjun was silent for a moment. She sighed, pulled the window shade down, and without a word, typed “Taikang Hospital” into the car’s navigation. She stepped on the accelerator and drove toward their next destination.

---

The dedicated car sent by Ling Taiguo was a stretched Rolls-Royce.

This car was usually Ling Taiguo’s business car for meetings. When the car arrived at the hospital entrance.

The security guard at the door bowed and opened the car door for Ling Yu.

“Good day, Young Miss.”

The group stood in two rows, as if they had practiced.

Ling Yu was a little speechless, but considering Ling Taiguo’s posturing, it wasn’t surprising.

Taikang Hospital was a private hospital under the Ling Group. The security guards definitely knew Ling Taiguo’s car.

There were still many people registering at the hospital. It was almost noon, and the line was still packed.

An ambulance was parked outside the emergency room. Its lights were flashing.

Ling Yu glanced around, ignored the attention, and walked toward the inpatient room attached to the emergency room.

Ling Song had just come out of the emergency room. The general checkup showed nothing serious.

When Ling Yu arrived, Yu Xin and Ling Taiguo were looking concerned. The hospital president, who was accompanying them with a smile, said that to be safe, the child would be discharged in the afternoon. He had asked the head of pediatrics to prescribe some traditional Chinese medicine for him to take slowly at home.

Ling Yu felt quite superfluous in the room. Her eyes darted around. After greeting Ling Taiguo and his wife, she took the opportunity to prevent the president from personally delivering the medicine. In front of Ling Taiguo, she played the part of the loving sister, deciding to personally go get the medicine for her brother.

Yu Xin’s face was strained on the side. She was afraid that Ling Yu would poison her son.

But Ling Taiguo was happy to see Ling Yu being friendly to her brother, so Yu Xin could only hold back her anger and shut up.

---

The pharmacy at Taikang Hospital was on the second floor. Western medicine on the right, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) on the left.

Ling Yu followed the signs toward the TCM pharmacy. After a few steps, she paused and looked several times at the figure at the end of the right corridor.

Ling Yu felt the figure was familiar, but since the person was talking to the pharmacist, Ling Yu glanced twice and couldn’t identify them.

She walked toward the TCM pharmacy.

Ling Yu handed the prescription over. The pharmacy window was suddenly opened.

“You are… that person?” The middle-aged doctor in the white coat occupied the window space and then looked at Ling Yu again: “It really is you, Miss Ling. I didn’t expect you to be in Jiang City too.”

Ling Yu was stunned. It took her thirty seconds to remember who the doctor was. The kind director who had given her the umbrella with sequins two years ago.

Ling Yu showed a perfectly timed look of surprise.

“Director Qin?”

She remembered that this middle-aged doctor was the director of the Rehabilitation Department at Yuncheng Central Hospital. Logically, although Yuncheng’s economy was not as strong as Jiang City’s, the status of the director of the Rehabilitation Department at a Central Hospital was certainly much higher than a pharmacist.

Moreover, rehabilitation was Western medicine. Why had he suddenly switched to being a TCM pharmacist?

Ling Yu was internally surprised, but after a brief moment of shock, she returned to a polite and warm smile: “What a coincidence, I didn’t expect you to still remember me.”

Dr. Qin took the prescription from Ling Yu. He was hunched over, walking to the last row of shelves to prepare Ling Yu’s medicine.

His voice drifted out from the pharmacy: “Of course I remember you. If I remember Gu Qing, I naturally remember you.”

The distance was far. Ling Yu didn’t hear clearly and asked again: “What?”

Dr. Qin turned around. The wrinkles on his forehead seemed deeper. He said, “Nothing.”

Ling Yu watched Dr. Qin pick up a small, palm-sized weight. He looked at the prescription and weighed the Chinese herbs.

Ling Yu casually complimented him: “Director, I didn’t expect you to be proficient in both Chinese and Western medicine. That’s incredible.”

“Don’t call me Director. I won’t be one anymore. I took the TCM pharmacist certification after I was fired from the Central Hospital to find new employment.”

As soon as Dr. Qin said this, Ling Yu automatically closed her mouth. She said awkwardly, “I’m sorry.”

Dr. Qin seemed to have already moved on. He placed one packet of medicine in front of Ling Yu, turned around to get the other, and his voice carried over from inside the pharmacy: “It’s alright. It’s just a shame that the malicious shooting case at Yuncheng Central Hospital two years ago happened in my department. It’s my fault, too. If I had evacuated the patients in time, Gu Qing’s brother and mother wouldn’t have died… I bear some responsibility after all.”

Ling Yu lifted her eyelids. Her dark pupils contracted. She recalled Gu Qing’s expression when facing her deranged, sickly brother.

She gasped internally, feeling a sense of relief. At least the two people who were suffocating Gu Qing and weighing heavily on her life were gone. It was a release for Gu Qing.

She thought this and involuntarily spoke it out loud.

“How could something like that be a release…” Dr. Qin walked over with the second dose of medicine at some point.

He looked at Ling Yu meaningfully, seemed about to say something, and then sighed heavily: “Gu Qing is suffering more than all of us! “

Ling Yu chatted with Dr. Qin for a while.

As she was leaving, Director Qin asked Ling Yu a favor.

He said: “You and Gu Qing are still good friends, aren’t you? I can see that she considers you a friend, otherwise she wouldn’t have begged me to give you her umbrella that night.”

Ling Yu froze. Her pinky finger curled as she remembered the scene two years ago when Gu Qing had said to her with an indifferent expression: “Ling Yu, is there something wrong with you mentally?”

She suddenly curved her lips and gave an ambiguous “mm.”

“If you have time, talk to her. Counsel her. Miss Gu has had a hard life. You might be the only friend she has…”

---

Ling Yu had a suppressed expression as she returned.

It was noon. When Ling Yu reached the hospital room, the earlier scene of maternal love and fatherly affection had faded.

Yu Xin was out buying food. Ling Taiguo was guarding the chubby boy. The chubby boy had his eyelids lowered. Perhaps because he was with Ling Taiguo, he seemed constrained and dispirited.

When he saw Ling Yu, his face finally brightened with happiness.

“Sister!”

Ling Yu gave a lazy response.

At the same time, Ling Taiguo turned his head. His nicotine cravings hit him. He instructed Ling Yu to watch her brother and went out to the smoking area for a cigarette.

---

“Sister, I’m so bored.” The chubby boy didn’t have a serious illness, just a stomachache. He was a bit low on energy, but he was a healthy boy and recovering quickly.

It was just Ling Taiguo and his wife, out of overprotective love, making a fuss and ordering the entire hospital to check on the young master.

The president couldn’t exactly say the child was fine, so he could only tactfully suggest keeping him for observation for half a day.

“Absolutely not.” Ling Yu flatly refused.

Yu Xin guarded her like a thief. If anything happened to Ling Song.

Ling Yu could imagine Yu Xin’s furious, hateful rage.

She crossed her arms, but unexpectedly, the chubby boy was as manipulative as his mother. Tears instantly welled up. His eyes were red and puffy from crying.

The door to their room was open, and it quickly drew the attention of others in the emergency room.

Ling Yu was annoyed. She clenched her fist. She glanced at Ling Song, who cried even harder.

She bent down, leveling her gaze with Ling Song. The child was hiccuping and sniffling. Ling Yu gave in. She smiled and said, “If you can put on your shoes by yourself…”

Ling Song’s eyes lit up, but putting on shoes was usually done by the nanny at home. It took him a while, but he managed to put them on.

Ling Yu watched him with her hands in her pockets. She was actually just trying to stall, thinking that Ling Taiguo would return after his cigarette, or at least Yu Xin would be back with the food.

She hadn’t expected Ling Song to be so self-reliant. He actually managed to put on his shoes. He hugged his small football and pulled Ling Yu’s sleeve.

“Sister, let’s go.”

---

The emergency room corridor was crowded. Suddenly, a drunken man carrying a beer bottle rushed into the crowd.

At the same time, Ling Song happened to be pulling Ling Yu’s sleeve, charging forward.

The man’s beer bottle was half-shattered. As he stabbed the sharp glass toward the crowd, Ling Song pulled Ling Yu forward. The sharp glass shard was aimed right at Ling Song’s face.

Fortunately, Ling Yu reacted in time. She raised her arm to block the attack.

The crowd gasped. The rampaging man was quickly subdued by security guards who rushed over.

The chubby boy looked at the blood flowing freely from her arm and burst into loud tears.

Ling Yu wanted to tell him: “Stop crying. It’s so annoying.”

The next second, a sharper female voice approached from a distance. Yu Xin ran over with a look of rage, picked up the chubby boy, and checked him all over. After confirming he was alright, her chest heaved.

She hid Ling Song behind her, turned to Ling Yu, and asked with a strained, fake smile: “He’s a child who just had a stomachache and is exhausted from diarrhea. Are you seriously taking him out to run around?”

Blood was dripping from Ling Yu’s finger. She glanced at Ling Taiguo, who was pushing through the crowd.

Then she looked back at Yu Xin’s face.

“He’s just a child. He doesn’t know any better. You’re twenty-four. Don’t you know any better?”

Yu Xin’s peripheral vision noticed Ling Taiguo approaching. She paused in her anger. Suppressing her fury, she trembled and asked through tears: “Yuyu, Auntie knows I’m a stepmother and have no right to scold you, but have I ever abused you over the years? To warrant such great hatred that you would retaliate against my child?”

Ling Yu scoffed internally, Quite an act.

She didn’t answer immediately, planning to wait until Ling Taiguo got closer before switching her expression.

After all, her hand was still bleeding. Was Yu Xin blind or heartless to deliberately misrepresent the facts?

It was wrong of her to take the chubby boy out today. She could apologize for that, but…

Elevating it to persecution? Ling Yu thought, You’re not worthy.

She thought this and was prepared to say it, a smile about to form in her eyes, waiting for Ling Taiguo’s “bullet” to fly a little longer.

However, the expected confrontation didn’t arrive.

Ling Song, who had shrunk his neck, snuck past Yu Xin and slipped into the crowd to retrieve the football that had rolled away. The onlookers automatically made a path for him.

Unexpectedly, a woman was already standing by the football. As the crowd parted.

Her face appeared in the shadow, looking as if she had stepped out of a traditional ink painting. Her chestnut-colored long, curly hair cascaded down her smooth, straight back, revealing her well-proportioned waist.

The fragmented light from above spilled onto her cold, fair skin, making her look incredibly cold and stunning—a blend of two different qualities.

The noisy crowd fell into a moment of silence.

Gu Qing squatted down and picked up the football at her feet first. Perhaps it was the intensely cold aura emanating from her that kept the chubby boy from approaching.

The adult and the child exchanged a look. Gu Qing spoke first: “Is this yours?”

Ling Song nodded.

She suddenly looked up and raised her chin toward Ling Yu’s direction: “Is that your sister?”

Ling Song nodded again.

Gu Qing’s gaze traveled down Ling Yu’s profile and settled on the small pool of blood on the floor. Her pupils contracted. She suppressed her emotion and said: “She was the one who took you out to play, right? And she even blocked the bad man’s attack for you… Because of all this, your sister is about to be scolded until she cries by your mother.”

Gu Qing pulled back her gaze. Her blue eyes were level with Ling Song’s. Her voice was extremely slow. She asked, word for word: “Little brother, do you want to lose her because of this?”

Ling Yu didn’t hear what Gu Qing whispered in the chubby boy’s ear. When the woman looked up, her blue eyes met Ling Yu’s gaze in mid-air. A moment later, she walked away on her long, straight legs.

And Ling Song, like a energetic calf, positioned himself between Ling Taiguo’s couple and Ling Yu.

The child spoke in a childish tone, confronting his mother and father: “Why are you hitting Sister? Mom and Dad made Sister bleed. Song Song is the one who made the mistake…”

The crowd unconsciously looked over. Only then did they see the shocking pool of blood dripping from Ling Yu’s finger. The crowd instantly erupted.

“I personally saw this girl block the beer bottle for her brother.”

“This is outrageous!”

“As the old saying goes, ‘with a stepmother comes a stepfather’…”

“They have no idea! The young girl is so beautiful and kind to her brother. I saw her enduring the scolding for so long. What kind of heartless parents treat her like this…”

Ling Taiguo cared most about his reputation in this life. He hated nothing more than people saying he abused his daughter. He glanced at Ling Yu’s bleeding finger, then at the furious Yu Xin.

He swung his hand and slapped Yu Xin hard across the face.

“This is your guarantee to me.” Ling Taiguo suppressed his distress, heartlessly watched Yu Xin fall to the ground from the slap, and scolded her sternly: “Who gave you the audacity to abuse my biological daughter?”

A trace of blood spilled from Yu Xin’s lips. Hatred and resentment churned in her eyes, but then she covered her swollen face, enduring the humiliation, and apologized to Ling Taiguo: “I’m sorry, Husband, I misunderstood.”

Ling Yu watched the couple’s performance with a faint smile. She covered the chubby boy’s eyes with her uninjured hand and pulled him into the room.

At the door of the room, Gu Qing was leaning against the frame, holding a bag of disinfectant and alcohol swabs.

Ling Yu glanced at her. Their eyes met in mid-air. After a three-second confrontation, Ling Yu moved aside, signaling for Gu Qing to enter.

For a moment, she saw a trace of a triumphant, weather-clearing smile crack on the woman’s cold, beautiful face.

Before Ling Yu could analyze it, she turned and closed the room door. The moment she turned back, she brushed past Gu Qing, their chests softly touching.

Ling Yu: “…”