After Transmigrating into a Book, I Had a Flash Marriage with the Beautiful Crazy Villain - Chapter 23

Chu Ling found the situation utterly dramatic. Life wasn’t a novel, so why did she keep stumbling into such theatrical scenes?

At first, everything had been perfectly calm. When she and Song Qingyi entered the banquet hall together, they did attract quite a few glances, but Song Qingyi had to attend to guests, and Chu Ling had no reason to follow.

Initially, Chu Ling had considered saying something to Song Qingyi, but Song Qingyi hadn’t even thought of bringing her along. After settling her at a relatively quiet dining spot, Song Qingyi went off to deal with the guests on her own.

Chu Ling didn’t mind,she was happy for the peace.

That should have been the end of it but, Who was this?

Chu Ling glanced up at the girl standing in front of her.

She was a girl, right? She didn’t look very old, with delicate, pretty features, dressed in a stylishly designed modified cheongsam that suited her perfectly.

Honestly, she looked lovely but, this person was clearly up to no good!

After sparing a moment from the tempting food to observe the girl, Chu Ling came to this preliminary conclusion.

She didn’t say anything, continuing to eat while occasionally glancing at the girl.

The girl tilted her chin slightly, her eyes darting around as if sizing Chu Ling up.

Chu Ling was tempted to ask, Who are you? But she held back. If the girl wasn’t speaking, neither would she. Let’s see who had more patience.

However, the girl was young and couldn’t hold back for long. Seeing Chu Ling’s indifference, she finally lost her composure.

“How can you be so rude? Don’t you know it’s impolite to eat while talking to someone? You’re so ill-mannered, how did you even get in here?”

Straight to the insults rudeness, bad upbringing, and an aggressive tone. Chu Ling was speechless.

So she mimicked the girl, looking her up and down. “Oh? And this is your upbringing? Is this how you always look at people when you talk to them?”

Perhaps no one had ever spoken to the girl like this before. Chu Ling could tell she was fuming, opening and closing her mouth without managing a retort, her face flushing red with suppressed anger.

Chu Ling found it amusing. Now she understood.

Had this girl been sent here by someone else?

From the moment she entered the banquet hall, she’d noticed the many eyes on her likely because she was with Song Qingyi, which made her an object of extra attention.

Chu Ling could practically imagine how people were speculating about her relationship with Song Qingyi behind her back.

Hadn’t someone just mistaken her for a stand-in Song Qingyi had brought along?

Before, she might not have realized, but after discovering the banquet host was Song Qingyi’s mother and hearing that earlier misunderstanding, Chu Ling knew there’d be plenty of such gossip.

This girl in front of her wasn’t skilled enough, one sentence had left her choking on her words.

Chu Ling leisurely took another bite of food. By the time she finished her small plate of fruit salad, the girl had finally regained her composure.

Chu Ling smirked, reaching for a glass of wine from a passing server’s tray. She took a tentative sip and was pleasantly surprised by the taste, so she took another unhurried sip.

“What’s wrong? Has the young lady finally calmed herself down? The person who sent you to gather information couldn’t be an idiot, could they? With a temper like yours, what exactly were you supposed to find out? Or maybe the one who sent you just doesn’t like you and wanted you to be the sacrificial lamb?”

The girl’s eyes widened in shock, her expression utterly unguarded, adorably naive.

It was as if she had the words “How did you know?” written all over her face.

Fortunately, she wasn’t actually foolish, just a bit breathless in her speech, and now seemed to have given up entirely.

“Stop talking nonsense! So you admit it, what’s your purpose in clinging to Qingyi-jie to get into the banquet? Did you sweet-talk her into bringing you here? How could you be so shameless!”

Chu Ling couldn’t help but laugh. After thinking for so long, the best insult the girl could muster was “shameless.” Was she too well-mannered or just too naive?

Swirling her wine glass, Chu Ling flashed a dazzling smile. “Oh? And what if I really did trick Song Qingyi? Are you going to stand up for her?”

But the girl across from her didn’t respond immediately, as if she had suddenly frozen.

Chu Ling observed her discreetly, realizing she had genuinely spaced out. Only now was she snapping back to reality, and her expression afterward was strange her gaze flickering about, avoiding Chu Ling entirely.

Chu Ling was puzzled. What was this about? Had she been too harsh? Surely not, she didn’t think she was being harsh at all. Weren’t they just having a normal conversation?

The girl’s odd reaction left Chu Ling at a loss. And whenever Chu Ling seemed about to speak, the girl’s expression would grow even more nervous.

Now even Chu Ling didn’t know how to react.

If that were all, it wouldn’t be so bad. What really made Chu Ling’s scalp tingle was,

Song Qingyi, for some inexplicable reason, had abandoned her guests and was now heading straight for them!

The problem was… since Aunt Song hadn’t made an appearance yet, nearly everyone’s attention was fixed on Song Qingyi. The moment she approached, Chu Ling was dragged into the spotlight as well.

For the first time, Chu Ling realized she might have scopophobia. How had things escalated to this point?

What on earth was Song Qingyi thinking? Why was she suddenly coming over here?!

Though the odds were slim, Chu Ling had hoped to keep a low profile at this banquet. But now, with Song Qingyi standing beside her, all eyes were on them.

Low profile? That ship had sailed.

Chu Ling felt numb, especially when she heard Song Qingyi’s concerned question, which sent a shiver down her spine.

This felt like some cliché scene from an idol drama…

Because Song Qingyi seemed to genuinely believe she had been bullied. Her first words were, “Are you alright?”

Chu Ling stared at her before slowly replying, “I’m fine.”

Song Qingyi gave a slight nod, then turned her gaze to the girl, her tone unusually stern. “Ning Hongmian, how did you get in here? What are you doing?”

So the girl’s name was Hongmian. The thought flickered through Chu Ling’s mind.

Then it suddenly struck her this girl, Ning Hongmian, had called Song Qingyi “auntie”.

Chu Ling was stunned. “Auntie? Didn’t you call her ‘jie’ earlier?”

Song Qingyi’s gaze toward the girl turned even colder.

Ning Hongmian broke into a cold sweat, stammering, “That was just casual. Auntie, please don’t tell my mom, okay?”

Her face was deathly pale clearly terrified of Song Qingyi.

And Song Qingyi was merciless. She refused outright.

“Absolutely not. Sneaking out, disturbing my important friend, Ning Hongmian, you’ve got quite the nerve. You need to be disciplined. Leave. Now.”

Hearing this, Ning Hongmian’s little face turned even paler.

Chu Ling couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for her. Although the child had likely been taken advantage of by someone with ulterior motives, she hadn’t actually caused much trouble she was just too naive.

Besides, there were quite a few people at the banquet, and a child’s pride was still fragile.

So, Chu Ling leaned closer to Song Qingyi, gently poked her arm to get her attention, and whispered, “Let it go. She’s just a kid who doesn’t know better she can be taught later. Since she’s already here, what’s the point of sending her back now? Let her have some fun.”

Song Qingyi paused, glancing at her sideways. “Are you pleading for her?”

Chu Ling blinked, then quickly backed off, retreating in surrender. “I spoke out of turn.”

Then she pretended as if nothing had happened.

Song Qingyi felt as if her heart had been lightly scratched by a kitten an odd, ticklish sensation. Her fingers twitched slightly, as if she wanted to reach out and touch Chu Ling, but in the end, she restrained herself.

Then she turned back to Ning Hongmian and said, “Just this once. You’ll face punishment when we return after the banquet.”

The little girl immediately brightened, looking gratefully at Chu Ling. “Thank you, sister!”

Chu Ling waved her off, content to remain anonymous in her good deed.

No one noticed that Song Qingyi’s expression darkened again.

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