Pretending To Be Affectionate [Transmigration] - Chapter 54

As Ling Yu emerged from the private gym in the house, she heard faint sounds of angry shouting downstairs.

In the living room on the first floor.

Ling Taiguo picked up the freshly poured hot tea and flung it at the man standing with his head bowed. The hot tea splashed entirely onto the man’s suit, and the teacup rolled off his trouser leg.

“Ah!” The man didn’t scream, but Yu Xin, standing nearby, covered her mouth.

She looked frantic, rushing forward a few steps to grab the suited man’s arm.

“A Song…” Yu Xin called out, losing her composure, but the man shot her a quick glance and firmly pulled his arm away.

He suddenly coughed, and with that meaningful reminder.

Yu Xin paused, then lowered her eyelashes. Since both of them had their backs to Ling Taiguo, this momentary tug-of-war was unseen by him.

Yu Xin breathed a sigh of relief. It took her three seconds to completely hide the panic in her eyes.

She steadied her voice: “Assistant Song, are you hurt?”

The man politely glanced at his thick suit: “Thank you for your concern, Madam. I’m wearing a thick suit. It’s nothing serious.”

He said it was nothing, but the skin on the back of his hands was scalded red.

The distress in Yu Xin’s eyes flickered and vanished. She didn’t ask further. Instead, she turned to the furious Ling Taiguo.

She walked over casually, carrying a basket of freshly picked flowers on her arm.

“Husband, sit down and talk properly. Why get so angry? You’ll only hurt your health.”

She placed the flower basket on the coffee table and walked behind Ling Taiguo.

She raised her hands to soothingly rub Ling Taiguo’s back, but the pressure in her hands was heavy, and a careful look would reveal a hint of nonchalance in her eyes.

Fortunately, the enraged Ling Taiguo didn’t notice. His hands were veined with muscle. He grabbed a stack of documents from the coffee table and violently flung them at Assistant Song’s face.

“Did you or did you not know about the 300 million yuan Taikang Hospital laundered for the Zong family’s trading company?”

Ling Yu raised an eyebrow. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with a dry towel and leaned against the velvet railing, looking down.

The Assistant Song being questioned lowered his head. He appeared to be a man of great patience. Despite Ling Taiguo’s verbal abuse, he remained respectful, showing no signs of dissatisfaction or resistance.

“Mr. Ling.” Song Heng looked up: “I had no knowledge of the ridiculous actions committed by the Head of Procurement. However, I personally promoted Wang Kang two years ago. Now that he has made a mistake, I am personally responsible.”

Song Heng paused. He took out a resignation letter, dampened by the hot tea, from his suit pocket and handed it to Ling Taiguo.

Yu Xin’s gaze shifted from Song Heng to Ling Taiguo. Seeing that the latter was still unwilling to let the matter go.

She decided to hook Ling Taiguo’s arm and interjected: “Husband, you were away in Hong Kong City a few months ago. Assistant Song was helping manage everything inside and outside the company. He deserves credit for his hard work, even if he didn’t achieve anything. Besides, this Taikang Hospital issue truly has nothing to do with him.”

Ling Taiguo’s brows were tightly furrowed. He was genuinely furious and said with ill temper: “Don’t you realize that because of his poor judgment, he brought that disaster, Wang Kang, into Taikang? Now I’m forced to use funds from the head office to cover the hospital’s deficit and the huge fines that are coming. The company’s market value will drop several points because of this. Who is responsible for this loss?”

Yu Xin choked. She thought for a moment.

Her peripheral vision caught sight of Ling Yu upstairs. An idea suddenly sparked. She gently touched Ling Taiguo’s back again. While softly comforting him, she apologized in a quiet voice: “I apologize, Husband. I don’t understand these things. I’m just thinking, since the company has such a big deficit, shouldn’t we quickly bring in investment from Hong Kong City?”

Yu Xin saw that Ling Taiguo didn’t say anything but also didn’t continue to rage.

She clung to Ling Taiguo’s arm and probed: “Husband, don’t rush. Didn’t you say you were interested in cooperating with the Gu family last time? Why don’t we speed up the marriage alliance for Yuyu…”

Ling Taiguo glared at her: “You think a marriage alliance is that easy? They are a century-old family!”

“Why don’t I go with you, Husband?”

Ling Taiguo’s eyes lit up. He hadn’t expected Yu Xin to suggest it. It would certainly be much better if she went. After all, as a man, it was inappropriate for Ling Taiguo to take Ling Yu to banquets hosted by wealthy wives and socialites. But with Yu Xin, it was different. Since they were both women, it would be much more convenient.

Yu Xin continued to flatter Ling Taiguo for a while, then finally acted as if she noticed Song Heng was still in the living room.

She brought the topic back, sighing mournfully: “With you and I both away from home, and the only trusted person, Assistant Song, being dismissed, there truly won’t be anyone trustworthy to manage the company’s affairs.”

Ling Taiguo’s tense face softened. He finally gave Song Heng a glance and said stiffly, “Don’t let this happen again.”

The money laundering issue that erupted at Taikang Hospital was just the tip of the iceberg.

Ling Yu knew this. Knowing it was one thing; producing evidence was another.

Assistant Song was a very cautious man. Elder Xu’s people had investigated. He belonged to an organization.

Middle-management personnel like Assistant Song went through layers of selection and professional training. Every piece of evidence related to the illicit funds he handled had long been thoroughly destroyed.

If it weren’t for the scandal at the Zong family’s trading company in Hong Kong City, which led to the discovery of Taikang Hospital.

Ling Taiguo would never have discovered the problem with his own private hospital.

Ling Yu saw that the conversation downstairs was no longer tense. Ling Song was nestled beside Song Heng, playing with building blocks.

Yu Xin was arranging flowers, watching the man and boy with a smile, while Ling Taiguo, sitting on the armchair on the other side, was utterly unaware of his cuckold status. He maintained a stern face, seemingly scolding Song Heng, looking rather ridiculous in his attempt to command the situation.

Ling Yu smiled with interest and lazily withdrew her gaze.

“Miss.”

Ling Yu was about to go back to her room to take a shower when a shadow suddenly appeared behind her.

“The madam asked me to come up and see if you wanted to come down and greet the guest?”

Ling Yu lowered her eyelids and glanced at Aunt Wu. This woman was an old servant who followed Yu Xin. Aunt Wu had followed Ling Yu for five days since she arrived at Jinxiu Garden.

She chuckled playfully. She tossed the towel she used to wipe sweat into Aunt Wu’s arms.

She looked sideways at Aunt Wu, her slender finger pointing down at Song Heng: “Guest? Him?”

Aunt Wu, thinking Ling Yu didn’t recognize him, dutifully introduced him: “That’s the head office assistant. He’s very capable and highly regarded by the master…”

Ling Yu, maintaining her spoiled heir persona, interrupted Aunt Wu dismissively: “You said it yourself, just an assistant? What makes him worthy of me personally greeting him? Go downstairs and relay a message for me: I mingle with the second-generation socialites. My guests are people like Fang Jia… If any random Tom, Dick, or Harry can be my distinguished guest, I would be lowering my status in the social circles.”

Ling Yu gave Aunt Wu a meaningful look, then slowly turned her back. Her fair cheeks were flushed pink from her workout. Her workout clothes accentuated her long legs and slim waist. Although she looked lazy, she walked with an impeccable, swaying grace.

This was the arrogant, composed demeanor cultivated in wealthy young women since childhood.

Aunt Wu was speechless for a moment.

Ling Yu had annoyed Yu Xin in the morning. As expected, Yu Xin poisoned Ling Taiguo’s ear in the afternoon.

At the dinner table that evening, Ling Taiguo glared at Ling Yu, speaking harshly and cursing her out.

Ling Yu turned on her voice recorder, lowering her head and pretending to be wronged as part of her act. But her hand, tucked into her pocket, recorded her father’s curses and saved them to her evidence folder.

When Ling Taiguo was mostly done yelling, Ling Yu finally spoke: “Dad, I bought an apartment near HKU.”

At this, Ling Taiguo’s recently extinguished anger flared up again: “I can’t even scold you? Are you constantly trying to run away from me?”

Ling Yu’s lips twitched. She lowered her eyes, feigning loneliness: “Your small villa in Hong Kong City can’t fit that many people.”

Ling Yu was speaking the truth.

Yu Xin would follow Ling Taiguo to Hong Kong City. Ling Song, who was only three, would naturally have to go too.

For convenience, they would need at least two nannies. With such a large group, the small villa Ling Taiguo bought in Hong Kong City wasn’t big enough.

Ling Yu lifted her eyelids, glancing over Ling Taiguo’s shoulder, aiming her look at Yu Xin: “Right, Auntie? My social circle and yours don’t overlap, after all. It wouldn’t be appropriate for us to live together.”

The reprimand that was about to leave Ling Taiguo’s throat was blocked. He turned to look at Yu Xin.

Yu Xin was uncharacteristically silent. She was usually meticulous, acting differently in public and private, and preferred to keep Ling Yu close for monitoring.

But Ling Yu had enraged her with the Song Heng incident that afternoon, leaving Yu Xin furious.

Now, receiving Ling Yu’s challenging gaze, she sneered.

Keeping this little beast around would only cause her trouble. If they didn’t live together, she might live a few years longer.

Thinking this, Yu Xin’s slender nails gently scraped the Persian cat’s chin in her arms. She placated Ling Taiguo in a good-natured voice: “Husband, you’re overthinking it. Yuyu is living near HKU. It’s not like she’s disowning you. She’ll be working at HKU, so living nearby is convenient. Besides, the housing around the university is said to be populated by high-knowledge individuals. The atmosphere is excellent. It might even be a good influence on her.”

The implication was that a wastrel like Ling Yu could only get a gold plating by going to a university neighborhood.

Ling Yu lowered her head, a hint of a smile in her eyes. She didn’t mind the sarcasm in Yu Xin’s words and calmly finished the rice in her bowl.

Ling Yu’s flight was on the seventh, but she still hadn’t reported to HKU on the eighth. The reason was the house Fang Jia found for her.

“Why are you at my place?”

Ling Yu pushed open the bedroom door. Fang Jia was standing there in a towel, looking like she had just showered. Water droplets were dripping from her shoulder-length short hair, trailing down her fair neck.

Fang Jia apologized insincerely: “I’m sorry, Yuyu. I forgot to tell you. This is actually my place. Your apartment in Taicheng Xiujing won’t be ready for another year.”

Ling Yu stared with sleepy eyes. The next second, Fang Jia walked up to her without hesitation.

She exposed the scandalous butterfly tattoo beneath her collarbone to Ling Yu’s gaze.

The emotion on Ling Yu’s face faded. Just before Fang Jia was about to touch her, she turned her head.

She asked calmly: “Getting a tattoo like that, aren’t you worried about getting sick?”

Fang Jia paused: “What?”

“Aunt Fang, you’re thirty-eight this year, aren’t you?” Ling Yu checked the fine lines around Fang Jia’s eyes. Her foxy eyes curved like petals, and she smiled: “They say tattoos contain carcinogens. At your age, aren’t you worried about getting breast cancer?”

Fang Jia choked.

She could sense the casual anger in Ling Yu’s tone. After all, she was the one who tricked her into coming here. The little thing had a temper, and Fang Jia knew it well. She cheekily loosened the tie on her waist.

Her shirt eased open slightly. Avoiding the previous topic, she asked casually, “Did you sleep well last night?”

Ling Yu glanced at Aunt Fang: “Very poorly.”

Fang Jia was confused and prepared to step closer to check. The next second, Ling Yu heavily slammed the door shut.

Fang Jia stared at the closed door, rubbing her hair in frustration.

Ten seconds later, she called Gu Qing.

“For someone your age, or slightly younger, if they can’t sleep well at night, what’s usually the reason?”

Gu Qing: “I don’t have that problem.”

“Change the question. If I were living with you, besides daily necessities, what else would I need to prepare for you? Like milk? Face masks?”

“I wouldn’t live with you.”

Fang Jia was speechless.

She thought Gu Qing would hang up on her nonsensical call. The next second, Gu Qing abruptly asked: “Tell me, who are you living with?”

“That little thing of mine, who else?”

On the other end of the line, Gu Qing’s hand holding the fountain pen suddenly paused. The pen tip scored a long scratch across the signature field.

The client sitting opposite her looked up in astonishment and asked: “Lawyer Gu?”

The sunlight streamed down. Gu Qing’s cold, oval face was instantly overlaid with a layer of snow-like particles.

After Ling Yu locked the door, her first reaction was to open the rental app. She was moving.

Ling Yu thought for a moment. She didn’t have many trustworthy friends in Hong Kong City besides Fang Jia, Gu Xiu, and one other—Q!

But Q hadn’t actively appeared since their last chat.

Ling Yu hesitated for a few seconds. She felt bad about constantly bothering Q. She hesitated for a second and sent a message to Gu Xiu.

[Are you back in the country?]

Xiu Xiu: [Yuyu?]

[It’s me. I’m in Hong Kong City. Are you free to grab a meal?]

Just as Ling Yu sent this message, three messages from Q popped up in the chat box.

Q: [Are you there?]

[Could you help me look at some rental information?]

[I’m planning to rent a place recently. Please help me out.]

Ling Yu opened the chat box and received a string of rental links.

After clearly seeing the rental addresses and environments, Ling Yu curved her lips and replied: [Okay.]

Sister Q is an angel.