After Encountering My Deceased Wife, I Became the Male Lead's Love Rival - Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Passerby

If she hadn’t performed a paternity test herself, Ling Qiu would have truly believed Ling Nianyao was the biological daughter of the Ling family.

After all, just like her parents who died early, Ling Nianyao excelled at sucking the blood of others to provide for the person she loved. Ling Qiu’s father and mother had married for love, but her father possessed nothing but a handsome face, so he essentially “sold” himself to obtain funds to support the Ling Corporation. As for her mother, she was a literal “queen of the sea,” but not a pure one; she navigated various wealthy social circles and used the money she extracted to support Ling Qiu’s father.

These two, who each had an entire harbor of “boats” under their feet, shared a deep mutual understanding in this regard, professing a love so devoted and earth-shattering that it made Ling Qiu feel utterly sick.

Her engagement to Qu Haoyu had been set by her father. Back then, Qu Haoyu liked Ling Qiu very much and pestered her father every day to secure the engagement. Thus, Ling Nianyao’s claim that Qu Haoyu was “blameless” sounded exceptionally ironic.

“And why shouldn’t he be?” Since she couldn’t move against them in other ways, Ling Qiu didn’t mind verbally dismantling Ling Nianyao’s worldview.

In the past, when Ling Qiu grew furious and tried to strike Ling Nianyao, various “accidents” would always occur. A perfectly fine teacup would suddenly shatter, burying shards into the hand she intended to use for a blow. Or the wheelchair would suddenly malfunction, rendering her immobile. The warnings from an unknown power taught Ling Qiu to suppress her rage and cultivate a certain level of equanimity; she could now face this idiot without becoming agitated.

“I…” Ling Nianyao bit her lip, unable to voice her thoughts. She told herself it was for Brother Haoyu’s own good that was why she didn’t want him to break the engagement but for some reason, she felt that saying it out loud would invite Ling Qiu’s mockery. Clearly, she was the elder sister; Ling Qiu should listen to her.

“I am your elder sister, A-Ling. There is no need for you to be so aggressive.” The sobbing Ling Nianyao began her habitual crying tactic again.

At the sight of this, Ling Qiu counted down three numbers in her head.

Three, two…

“Eldest Miss, Miss Nianyao is only doing this for your own good. How can you speak to her like that?” Before she could even count down to “one,” Auntie Wang who treated Ling Qiu like a daughter spoke up. She heart-brokenly handed Ling Nianyao a handkerchief, telling her not to cry. “If you ruin your makeup with tears, you won’t be beautiful anymore.”

Ling Qiu stared at that handkerchief, a cold sneer forming in her heart. That handkerchief had been embroidered for her by Auntie Wang a long time ago. Back then, Ling Qiu suffered from neurasthenia due to insomnia and often fainted; every time she woke up, Auntie Wang would use that handkerchief to wipe her face and hands. Later, Auntie Wang gave it to her as a gift, with the character “Ling” personally embroidered on it.

Although Auntie Wang’s embroidery wasn’t particularly good, Ling Qiu had accepted it after seeing her red, swollen, needle-pricked fingers. At the time, Auntie Wang had said: “I saw the girl next door had a handkerchief hand-embroidered by her family today. If others have one, our Eldest Miss must have one too. From now on, this is the Miss’s exclusive handkerchief; no one else is allowed to use it.”

Yet… in the blink of an eye, the handkerchief had changed owners.

“Auntie Wang, when did I give you permission to speak?” The milk glass hit the porcelain saucer with a crisp click.

The plump middle-aged woman jumped in fright. She instinctively clutched the handkerchief, the raised “Ling” character feeling exceptionally prominent against her palm.

Auntie Wang’s eyes widened, and her face turned a deep red as she waved her hands frantically. “Miss, it’s not…” She seemed to realize only now what she had done in a moment of heated impulse.

“The food in the Ling house has been quite good lately. It seems Auntie Wang has become ‘broad-minded and heavy-bodied’ enough to rival Uncle Liu.”

She couldn’t move Ling Nianyao, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t move the people around her.

“I heard Auntie Wang’s son found a great job after studying abroad?” Ling Qiu rested her cheek on her hand, squinting at the pale, shivering woman. She said indifferently, “Why don’t you go take care of your son? After all, the job Qu Haoyu arranged for him is quite exhausting. A job cleaning toilets I imagine your son hasn’t told you yet.”

“What?!” The woman, who had been shrinking back in fear, stopped trembling instantly. Her eyes bulged as she lunged forward, desperate for Ling Qiu to explain. “What do you mean ‘cleaning toilets’? Didn’t Young Master Qu arrange for him to be a branch manager?”

If the bargaining chip Qu Haoyu offered hadn’t been enticing enough, she would never have betrayed the Eldest Miss.

Ling Qiu didn’t respond. Instead, she shifted her gaze toward the restless Ling Nianyao. Since Ling Nianyao had a hand in this, rather than asking Ling Qiu, it was better to ask this “beautiful and kind-hearted” cousin.

Auntie Wang followed Ling Qiu’s gaze and realized the truth instantly. She lunged forward and grabbed Ling Nianyao’s sleeve, wailing, “Miss Nianyao, that’s not what you said back then! You said you’d let my son live the high life abroad! You even said as long as I took the Eldest Miss’s…”

“Enough!” Seeing Auntie Wang about to blurt everything out, Ling Nianyao’s face changed drastically, and she shrieked, “I will handle your affairs, Auntie Wang, but now is not the time to speak of this!”

Auntie Wang was startled by her explosive rage; she had never seen Ling Nianyao get angry before. Tearing her white lace sleeve from Auntie Wang’s grip, Ling Nianyao disgustedly brushed off non-existent dirt. She frowned, suppressed her anger, and tried her best to persuade Auntie Wang gently: “Go down for now. We don’t need your service here.”

Auntie Wang, realizing she had almost let the secret slip, had wanted to run for ages. Taking the opportunity, she scrambled up and bolted for the door.

Clap, clap…

Ling Qiu watched this low-class farce with great interest and began to applaud. At this, Ling Nianyao felt she was losing face and whispered, “A-Ling, look at you—why do you employ such people?”

Every mistake was Ling Qiu’s. Every virtue was Ling Nianyao’s.

Ling Qiu remarked, “Ling Nianyao, don’t think for a second that because you have ‘that thing’ protecting you, you can do whatever you want.”

Ling Nianyao and Qu Haoyu dared to act so blatantly before her eyes precisely because they knew Ling Qiu was powerless against them. Yet they still feared her feared this woman who moved like a hidden venomous snake, someone they could never truly see through.

“Since you’ve put it that way, A-Ling, I have nothing to explain.” With no outsiders present, Ling Nianyao was no longer willing to keep up the act. She set her face, her attempt to mimic Ling Qiu’s temperament resulting in a clumsy imitation, yet she looked down on Ling Qiu with a haughty air: “You’d better kick Fang Ziyue out of the Ling house, A-Ling. Otherwise, the consequences… are not something you’ll want to see.”

This was Ling Nianyao’s true objective. Ling Qiu had known long ago that if she kept Fang Ziyue by her side, the other heirs would eventually move when they heard wind of it. She just hadn’t expected Qu Haoyu to be so short-sighted and impatient, sending Ling Nianyao to pressure her so early.

“And what can you do?” Ling Qiu laughed softly, the woman in the wheelchair exuding an intimidating sense of pressure. “For ten years, even with ‘Divine’ help, you’ve had to beg for scraps at my table. What can you possibly do to me?”

Two pieces of “worthless mud” even if the Heavenly Emperor himself came down, he couldn’t prop them up. For ten years, although Ling Qiu couldn’t eliminate them entirely, she had kept them suppressed. However, because they were aided by “Destiny,” she couldn’t excise these two parasites from the Ling family.

Ling Nianyao also knew they couldn’t defeat Ling Qiu, but since Ling Qiu cared so much about that Fang Ziyue, they didn’t mind using her as their target.

“Do as you wish.” Ling Qiu didn’t care at all. If Fang Ziyue were easily taken down by these two fools, she would be disappointed.

Fuming with rage, Ling Nianyao gnashed her teeth and left, leaving behind a long string of hollow threats impotent and cowardly. Knowing she had been exposed, Auntie Wang also fled the Ling house in disgrace alongside her. Ling Qiu wasn’t in a hurry to deal with her; the matter of her son cleaning toilets hadn’t been settled with Ling Nianyao yet. The “dog eats dog” drama hadn’t started, so she wasn’t in a rush to beat the dog.

As for Fang Ziyue…

Ling Qiu checked the time. 5:00 PM. She hadn’t returned yet.

“Boss, don’t run! There are still documents for you to look at!” the little secretary’s desperate shout echoed from afar.

But their unscrupulous boss, a certain Miss Fang, pretended not to hear. Her feet seemed greased as she vanished in a flash.

Keep reading? If I read any more documents, my wife won’t let me in the house! Fang Ziyue swallowed hard, feeling a bit guilty. She had promised Ling Qiu she’d be back by 3:00 PM, but she ended up signing contracts until after 4:00 PM. By the time she got home, it would be just in time for dinner.

However, Fang Ziyue recalled what she had just discovered: Auntie Wang had led a large group of Ling family servants to defect to Ling Nianyao. Now, aside from the bodyguards, there were likely no “outsiders” left in the Ling house. Ling Nianyao thought she was “pulling the rug out” from under Ling Qiu, but she didn’t know Ling Qiu didn’t care.

Over the years, the Ling house had changed servants frequently, with Ling Nianyao meddling every time. Can a cripple survive without servants? Driving her luxury car, a smug Ling Nianyao laughed arrogantly. No matter how capable Ling Qiu is, so what? Without servants to wait on her, a cripple won’t even be able to eat!

She was right; Ling Qiu indeed hadn’t eaten dinner not because she couldn’t, but because she didn’t want to.

The clock passed 6:00 PM. The woman leaning against the headboard stared fixedly at the time, a breath of frustration stuck in her chest.

When Fang Ziyue finally returned, the entire house was pitch black. It was so dark she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face, and there wasn’t a hint of life. Worried, Fang Ziyue dropped her bag and first brought some small pastries up to Ling Qiu.

In the darkness, the sound of the door opening startled the seated Ling Qiu. She shifted her body, only to find that having maintained one posture for so long had left her limbs stiff and aching at the slightest movement.

“Why haven’t you turned on the light?” Fang Ziyue reached out and switched it on.

The sudden light stung Ling Qiu’s eyes, causing her to blink. When she opened them again, her dark eyes were filled with indifference. She didn’t speak, just stared straight at Fang Ziyue.

She was the one who allowed Fang Ziyue to go out and develop her influence, and she was also the one who refused Fang Ziyue’s care. Thus, Ling Qiu couldn’t ask, “You actually remembered to come back?” Their relationship wasn’t that close.

After waiting a long time for a question that never came, the woman suddenly understood something. She tore open the packaging of a small cake and brought the sweet treat to Ling Qiu’s lips.

“At this time, you should be asking me why I came back so late.” What Ling Qiu was unwilling to say, Fang Ziyue said for her. “If you were the one asking, I would be very happy.”

Happy that Ling Qiu was finally willing to accept her care, rather than them living as “familiar strangers” like they were now. Fang Ziyue did as she pleased, and Ling Qiu wouldn’t limit or restrain her. How was that any different from the way one treats a passerby?

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