After Transmigrating into a Book, I Had a Flash Marriage with the Beautiful Crazy Villain - Chapter 45.2

What did all their shared memories mean then?

Maybe it was her own fault for misjudging someone.

Chu Ling sighed inwardly and stepped forward to hug her, then awkwardly changed the subject. “Forget about her. If you want to talk it out, I’ll go with you! I’ll back you up!”

Qiu Shuang burst out laughing. “You alone might not be enough, I should show up with a whole entourage to spite her!”

Chu Ling grinned. “Not a bad idea.”

Their banter lightened the mood, and seeing Qiu Shuang seemed better, Chu Ling finally relaxed. They left the bathroom together.

Most classmates had arrived by then. As they returned, they saw their homeroom teacher entering with her wife and child, prompting a boisterous welcome from the crowd.

Chu Ling glanced from a distance, exchanging a look with Qiu Shuang. They decided not to join the commotion, letting others chat first.

It wasn’t until waiters started serving dishes that someone called everyone to their seats, and the group scattered noisily to find places at the tables.

The homeroom teacher had sharp eyes and immediately spotted Chu Ling and Qiu Shuang.

She walked over, still smiling. “Chu Ling? You came too.”

Thanks to Qiu Shuang’s heads-up, Chu Ling didn’t panic. “Hello, Teacher Cai.”

Teacher Cai beamed warmly. “Good, good. And you’re Qiu Shuang? Oh my, you’ve changed so much I almost didn’t recognize you.”

Qiu Shuang: “Teacher Cai, I just grew into my looks!”

Teacher Cai laughed heartily. “You were always a little troublemaker back then. Seems like that hasn’t changed.”

Qiu Shuang lifted her chin with a proud huff. “Well, it has changed. I’m not a troublemaker anymore.”

Teacher Cai gave her a once-over and said solemnly, “I wouldn’t be so sure. You were always the one who loved talking back the most.”

Qiu Shuang: “…”

Teacher Cai really held a grudge!

After a few pleasantries, everyone took their seats as the banquet began.

Chu Ling looked around at the sea of “enemies” and had no desire to speak. She silently focused on eating.

But their classmates weren’t the quiet type. Amid the chatter, they kept dragging Chu Ling into the conversation.

After questions like, “Where are you working these days?” and “Are you planning to get married soon?” the conversation seamlessly shifted to humblebrags.

“Recently made a small fortune in stocks.”
“Opened a law firm with some friends. So many cases, I haven’t had a break in ages.”
“Just closed a big deal. Pretty sure a promotion’s coming.”

Chu Ling let the thinly veiled boasting go in one ear and out the other, occasionally offering vague acknowledgments while mostly eating in silence with Qiu Shuang.

Qiu Shuang was right their classmates had all grown into smooth, polished adults.

If she’d known it’d be like this, she wouldn’t have come.

Chu Ling found herself thinking that again.

She’d have been better off taking photos with Ning Hongmian, scouting more locations for backup options.

Lost in thought, she suddenly felt Qiu Shuang tugging at her sleeve. Snapping back to reality, she turned and saw excitement flashing in Qiu Shuang’s eyes as she whispered, “Listen up, there’s gossip!”

So Chu Ling tuned into the conversation at the table.

“Hey, isn’t someone still missing?”

“Yeah, seems like Du Qing hasn’t shown up?”

“Ah! Du Qing. Well, I think I know why she’s not here.”

“Oh? Why? What do you know?”

“Funny enough, Du Qing and I ended up at the same company. But something happened recently, it’s all over the office. Poor thing, she got scammed!”

“Spill the tea. Now.”

“We joined the company around the same time, but for a while, Du Qing was getting promoted crazy fast.

We all thought it was weird. I mean, how long had she even been there? No matter how talented you are, promotions don’t happen that fast.

People speculated, but no one could figure it out until recently, when the truth came out.

She had some kind of arrangement with one of the company’s higher-ups. Rumor has it they were contractual lovers. If both were single, fine, whatever. But the guy was married. His wife was the one who exposed everything.”

“What? But Du Qing doesn’t seem like the type to get involved with someone taken. Why would she?”

“Exactly, that’s why I said she got scammed. The guy hid it well. None of us knew he was married.

Du Qing didn’t either. She just agreed to the arrangement. Contracts are all about mutual consent, but wrecking a family? That’s a whole other mess.”

“Who could have known the other party was deceiving her? But that’s not all, the executive also framed Du Qing for embezzling company funds. Now all the blame is on her, and it’s even hard to fight the case in court.”

The group sighed in sympathy, never expecting a classmate to encounter such a situation. Usually, these things only happened in the news, who knew it could occur so close to home?

Qiu Shuang also wore a regretful expression. Chu Ling, observing everyone’s reactions, asked quietly, “This Du Qing seems like a good person?”

Qiu Shuang nodded. “Yeah, she was the class’s arts committee member back then. She really was a good person, gentle and harmless, the kind who wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

If even Qiu Shuang said so, Du Qing must have been genuinely decent. What a shame she got scammed like this.

Logically, Chu Ling didn’t even know her, but she still felt oddly unsettled.

Perhaps it was because she was overly sensitive hearing about contracts always made her wary.

“Sigh, life isn’t a novel. How could anyone sign such an agreement recklessly? And most of these contracts aren’t legally binding anyway.”

The speaker was the classmate who had co-founded a law firm with a friend.

If even a lawyer said so, it must be true.

Then was the contract she signed with Song Qingyi legally enforceable?

If the contract wasn’t legally protected, how could Song Qingyi ensure she’d fulfill it? Wasn’t she afraid Chu Ling would back out?

The thought suddenly struck her.

But Song Qingyi managed an entire company surely she knew better, right? Was the contract just, a trick to deceive her?

Chu Ling felt strangely conflicted. On one hand, she believed Song Qingyi should know. On the other, given how busy she was, it wasn’t impossible for her to overlook such details.

Besides, Chu Ling had meant to dig out the contract and review it but kept forgetting. She hadn’t even read it carefully when signing, she had no idea what was written in it.

If the contract wasn’t legally binding.

Chu Ling fell into thought, realizing that even if the contract might be fake, she and Song Qingyi had already legally registered their marriage. A marriage certificate couldn’t be faked.

Her fingers curled slightly, her mind in disarray.

Mostly, she couldn’t understand what Song Qingyi stood to gain by tricking her into marriage with a fake contract.

If it was just to appease her family, why choose someone she’d only just met?

Looking back now, Chu Ling felt like nothing quite added up.

There were so many loopholes, why hadn’t she noticed before?

Probably because every time she saw Song Qingyi’s face, her brain short-circuited.

Chu Ling sighed in frustration. Being an extreme sucker for pretty faces was truly incurable.

So, should she find a chance to ask Song Qingyi about it?

And what then?

Chu Ling hadn’t figured that out yet. Her mind was spinning even more.

The meal left her stuffed both with food and gossip.

After the reunion ended, Chu Ling and Qiu Shuang prepared to leave, uninterested in the group’s next activity.

Just as they were about to go, Bai Ying approached them. Compared to earlier, she seemed oddly energized.

“Qiu Shuang, can I add you as a friend?”

Hearing this, Qiu Shuang immediately frowned, instinctively wanting to refuse.

Bai Ying noticed and instantly put on a pitiful expression. “It’s just adding a friend. Is that not okay either?”

Qiu Shuang’s eyes widened. She glanced at Chu Ling, her gaze practically screaming.

What’s up with Bai Ying? Why is she suddenly acting all pitiful?

Chu Ling was also curious about why she suddenly wanted to add Qiu Shuang as a friend, but she didn’t know the details either, so she shook her head slightly to indicate she had no idea.

Qiu Shuang thought it was absolutely ridiculous, but after a moment’s consideration, she still accepted the request.

Fine, let her add me. After all, the copycat would be the one to feel awkward.

After adding each other as friends, Bai Ying’s smile turned joyful, her eyes brimming with excitement.

“Thank you. I won’t disturb you two any longer.”

With that, Bai Ying gave a reserved smile and walked away.

Qiu Shuang found the whole thing baffling and turned to Chu Ling to vent, “What on earth is wrong with her?”

Chu Ling thought for a moment before deciding to speak up. “Actually, I think she likes you. Just now, when you two were talking, I noticed the way she looked at you was different.”

Qiu Shuang blinked, then suddenly laughed. “What nonsense are you spouting, silly? She likes me? Seems like your memory loss is really severe, there’s no way she’d like me.”

Knowing she might not believe it, Chu Ling shook her head.

“You might not believe me, but I really think she does. Eyes don’t lie.”

Qiu Shuang snorted. “Oh, come on. Worry about yourself first.”

Chu Ling: “…”

This conversation was going nowhere.

After an unremarkable and not particularly pleasant class reunion, Chu Ling returned home early. The house was quiet, devoid of any sound.

Song Qingyi wasn’t home either.

Curled up in the hanging chair, Chu Ling’s mind replayed the words of that lawyer classmate from earlier.

“That kind of agreement holds no legal weight and likely isn’t protected by law.”

Staring at the dimming sky, Chu Ling sank into her own thoughts.

She suddenly found herself fixated on one question, why had Song Qingyi sought her out in the first place?

Was it because she was easy to fool? But she had nothing worth deceiving her for.

Chu Ling felt lost.

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