I Heard That I am a HeartBreaker - Chapter 42

Song Ya wore a refined, practiced smile as she looked at the woman before her. She was bored to death, yet she had no choice but to keep up the act.

The mere thought of becoming family with her so-called love rival made Song Ya’s skin crawl. Now, things were even more complicated—how was she supposed to repay the favor she owed Qiu Shuang? It was infuriating; she figured she should just throw money at the problem and be done with it.

Gu Lingxi looked at her, finding her somewhat familiar. She couldn’t be blamed for not recognizing her at first glance; after all, Song Ya in “lady mode” was a completely different person from her usual self. Even if Qiu Shuang were here, she would have to double-check to make sure Song Ya hadn’t been possessed.

Song Ya introduced herself with polite formality. Gu Lingxi watched her, feeling surprised. It wasn’t that she hadn’t investigated Song Ya, but the person standing before her was practically unrecognizable compared to the photos and videos from her research.

Gu Lingxi scanned the evening gown Song Ya was wearing. To be honest, she rarely wore such clothes. She had kept her hair short since she was old enough to have a say, despite the many storms that choice had caused. She mostly wore suits; given her hairstyle, her family couldn’t exactly put her in a dress with a clear conscience.

Does this so-called “instrument of torture” called beauty actually change a person’s personality once they put it on? Gu Lingxi wondered.

To be honest, Gu Lingxi didn’t have much to say about Song Ya’s past. She had never truly taken her seriously. In Gu Lingxi’s eyes, Song Ya was just a nouveau riche brat—immature and mentally unstable. Many things were buried deep, so Gu Lingxi could only reconstruct fragments of the truth based on her observations of Qiu Shuang.

Song Ya and Qiu Shuang’s relationship wasn’t actually that good. Qiu Shuang didn’t particularly like Song Ya, but Song Ya was in love with Qiu Shuang. Gu Lingxi didn’t care about Song Ya’s feelings; as far as Qiu Shuang was concerned, Song Ya was already a “dead card” in the deck. There was no need to even maintain a defense against her.

However, the idea of two cousins falling for the same woman was ultimately unseemly. Gu Lingxi felt she should find a way to persuade Song Ya to give up, especially since the girl’s chances of success were zero, whereas Gu Lingxi at least had a fighting chance.

After all, the end goal was to bring Qiu Shuang into the family. If Gu Lingxi ended up with Qiu Shuang, and Song Ya officially joined the Gu family, then by the transitive property, they would all be one big family. The logic checked out.

Song Ya looked at her with confusion, seemingly uncomfortable with the way the woman was staring at her. Is this psycho just going to keep staring?

Wait… could it be that this woman has fallen for her because of her beauty?

Song Ya had always been confident in her looks. Sometimes she even wondered if she were just a little uglier, would Qiu Shuang even bother playing with her despite all her schemes? It seemed that only when she dressed up did Qiu Shuang’s gaze linger on her a bit longer.

The thought disgusted her. She dressed up beautifully entirely for Qiu Shuang’s sake—who was this woman to even look at her? Putting aside whether they were related by blood, Song Ya was straight. She didn’t accept any “disgusting” lesbians; she only accepted Qiu Shuang.

If this dead woman dared to set her sights on her, Song Ya would make her pay. How could such a fickle woman dare to like Qiu Shuang? A flirt who falls for every person she sees has no sense of “womanly virtue” at all!

Suddenly, Song Ya realized something terrifying. It was a known fact that Gu Lingxi had recommended Qiu Shuang for the internship, and they were supposedly living in the same house! This immoral, bottomless bad woman would surely try to do something filthy while Qiu Shuang was asleep!

At that moment, Song Ya decided: she would hate Gu Lingxi forever.

Gu Lingxi, meanwhile, was contemplating how to convince Song Ya to give up on Qiu Shuang as she watched her approach. She mused silently: Nouveau riche she may be, but her upbringing isn’t bad. At least for now, she’s wearing this “refined” skin tightly; you can’t see a trace of the arrogant, overbearing heiress.

Gu Lingxi was at a loss for what to do. Song Ya waited for a reaction. After a brief eye contact, both fell into silence. Gu Lingxi was wondering: How can I persuade her to let go? Should I offer her money? But Song Ya doesn’t seem to lack money. Should I find someone new for her?

Gu Lingxi felt this was a more reliable method. But first, she had to figure out Song Ya’s taste so she could provide exactly what she liked.

Song Ya glared at her warily, trying to figure out her move. Then, she heard Gu Lingxi speak.

“What kind of person do you like?”

“???”

Song Ya’s brain instantly short-circuited. She had originally thought the woman was just a player who liked sleeping around, but now she was asking about her preferences?

What? Was she trying to date her? Then what about Qiu Shuang? Were the two of them just part of some “play”?

Song Ya’s fury erupted. She wouldn’t even dare to insult Qiu Shuang like that, yet this woman had the nerve! Song Ya desperately wanted to slap her, but considering the venue and the importance of the day, she forced herself to swallow her rage. She flipped Gu Lingxi the middle finger and turned to leave.

Gu Lingxi was left utterly confused, wondering if she had said something wrong. As Song Ya walked away, she left one final remark:

“Scumbag!”

What does that mean? Gu Lingxi’s mind began to race. Does she mean she likes “scumbag” types? Well, that’s going to be difficult. Isn’t being too much of a scumbag bad for her?

She was already trying to get the girl to give up on the person she loved—that was painful enough. If she sent a scumbag her way, wouldn’t that be even more heartless?

“Forget it,” she sighed. “This is tough. I’ll just find a bit of everything and see what sticks.”

The strange tension between the two younger women failed to attract the attention of the adults. This banquet was, at its core, a vanity fair for the older generation. As for the “new nobility” who had just entered the scene—even if they were newly reclaimed family members—the crowd maintained a cautious, wait-and-see attitude.

In great families, interest is the ultimate core. Everyone was wondering just how much profit these returning family members could bring to the table. If they were merely there to grab a slice of the existing pie, the others would unite to attack and drive them back where they came from.

Song Tianci felt a mounting headache from the seemingly polite but utterly useless socializing. What was the point of clinging to these wealthy people? To think that a good relationship would lead to them giving you money was a delusion; they merely viewed others as jumping clowns—entertainment to alleviate their boredom. The so-called social circle was nothing more than the ultra-rich splashing a bit of water to earn praise and dependence, soaking up emotional value in return.

Song Tianci felt she had exhausted a lifetime’s worth of patience talking to these people. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to fly back to her laboratory. Even if she had to face her “idiot” students, she would prefer that over this.

Standing not far away, Gu Su raised her wine glass and looked at the group. To her, bringing these relatives back was a winning deal. At this point, anyone with a shred of logic and a normal moral compass was ten times better than her foolish “fake aunt.”

It was a cause for celebration: the camp of “normal people” in her lineage had finally expanded. She could finally kick the brain-dead ones out.

Thinking about Song Tianci’s resume, Gu Su was thrilled. It seemed fate was on her side; despite the chaos of the past, her “support team” had arrived quickly. Heaven had been kind, sending her the ultimate assists: for technical prowess, she now had a PhD supervisor; for connections, she had an uncle-in-law.

Thinking of this, Gu Su looked toward the dazing Song Ya with a hint of pity. Why did this child have to study dance of all things? It’s useless to the family business. Still, she reflected that the girl was beautiful enough to be a celebrity spokesperson. No one was to be left behind—everyone was going to work for her!

Whether it was the second branch or the third branch of the family, it didn’t matter. The company was in Gu Su’s hands now. she would decide who managed what, and no one would sway her.

Song Tianci noticed that Song Ya was clearly unhappy. The girl looked normal on the surface, just wandering about, but Song Tianci knew that whenever Song Ya was in a bad mood, she paced incessantly.

With a sigh, Song Tianci looked at the calm Gu Su and signaled that she couldn’t stay a moment longer and wanted to leave. Gu Su saw the signal immediately; while she remained composed on the outside, she was secretly overjoyed. The goal had been met—the faces were now familiar to the crowd.

Gu Su and Song Tianci had met privately beforehand and had reached a rare consensus. In the entire banquet, only Song Ya was seeing these people for the first time.

Song Ya was dying of boredom. She couldn’t just sit down or ignore people, so she had to exchange hollow pleasantries while looking for a place to hide. As the banquet drew to a close following Song Tianci’s desire to leave, the guests offered their polite farewells. Only then did Song Ya feel happy. She was finally liberated and vowed to find a way to never come back.

Just as she was about to step into the car, she heard Gu Su’s voice. Had it been anyone else, she would have ignored them and closed the door. But Song Ya wasn’t stupid; Gu Su held the real power, so it was best to stay close.

Before Song Ya could speak, Gu Su spoke first:

“Be careful of Gu Xue.”

Hearing that name from Gu Su made Song Ya feel a wave of emotion. That woman? Song Ya hadn’t truly taken her to heart, but if Gu Su was mentioning her, caution was indeed necessary.

If for no other reason, it was because Gu Xue had registered for the same competition as Song Ya. According to Song Ya’s knowledge, the only contestant on her level was Tang Yulin; Gu Xue was a notch below them both.

It wasn’t that Song Ya liked putting people down, but some things truly required talent. Some people spend their entire lives just to reach the starting line of others. Gu Xue wasn’t particularly gifted; her only selling point was effort that was a thousand times greater than anyone else’s.

Song Ya didn’t really understand people like that. If you have no talent and it takes ten attempts to equal one of someone else’s, why be so obsessed? Why not switch to a track where you actually have a gift?

Gu Su saw that Song Ya wasn’t surprised and simply nodded. She realized that Song Ya understood her “former cousin” quite well.

“Thanks, cousin. I’ll be careful,” Song Ya replied.

Careful… not to let that bitch drag me down.

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