The Fake Daughter is a Max-Level Green Tea [Transmigrated into a Book] - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Stay Away from Straight Girls

Lu Chaoqing’s breath hitched.

The woman who leaned in, although her body was close, didn’t have the uncomfortable sense of oppression that Jiang Yang had earlier. The soft, cool fragrance permeated the small car cabin, slowly melting away her composure and provoking a vague, burgeoning sense of ambiguity.

Despite the lack of physical contact, the woman’s proximity and breathing sent a tingling electrical current from her tailbone all the way to her brain nerves. Lu Chaoqing sat there, almost numbly staring at her.

The little “green tea” was blushing furiously, but this time it was clearly out of shyness.

Just as Lu Chaoqing seemed about to open her mouth to say something, Lin Chumu seized the moment perfectly and didn’t take the ambiguous and dangerous game to the end—in fact, she never intended to continue it.

“So, if you don’t like someone, stop causing trouble for yourself and playing such boring games.”

She sat back in her seat, straightening up, as if what had just happened had never occurred, everything feeling like Lu Chaoqing’s illusion. She was still so reserved and calm. Her slender fingers turned the steering wheel slightly. The sound of the engine starting broke the awkward silence, and the car slowly drove towards the exit.

Lin Chumu directly navigated to another large shopping center. Although the original plan was to eat here, she didn’t want the mood to be ruined again by an intrusion like Jiang Yang’s last time.

The atmosphere in the car remained silent after the previous incident. Only the AI female voice of the navigation could be heard during the drive. Lu Chaoqing, who usually chirped like a little sparrow, was now completely silent. Although it was much quieter, Lin Chumu felt a little unaccustomed to it.

Although, this was the effect she wanted to achieve.

She was purely homosexual, only attracted to women, and did not want Lu Chaoqing to constantly flirt with her, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Moreover, there was no possibility between her and Lu Chaoqing. Although things were calm now, no one could guarantee that a stormy conflict wouldn’t erupt later due to disagreements over certain matters or beliefs.

Any feelings that shouldn’t arise must be cut off at the root, stifled in the soil before they can sprout. This was Lin Chumu’s usual way of doing things. Furthermore, she had already made one mistake in certain matters; how could she stumble into the same pit a second time?

She tried to force her emotions to calm down. It wasn’t until she reached the parking lot, parked the car steadily, and was preparing to get out that her gaze unintentionally turned towards the person in the passenger seat, catching Lu Chaoqing’s unusual expression off guard.

Lu Chaoqing was crying.

In many instances, the little “green tea’s” subtle actions and expressions couldn’t escape her notice; Lin Chumu wasn’t foolish. For example, her acting in front of Jiang Yang just now was slightly overdone, but the other party was too slow to notice. This wasn’t the first time she had seen Lu Chaoqing cry, but this time, the feeling was completely different from before.

The girl’s shoulders rose and fell gently. Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to spill. The red streaks covering her eyeballs indicated her current distraught mood. She was biting her lip, seemingly wanting the pain of her teeth against her lip to ease her current emotions. Her long eyelashes were laden with glistening tears, heavy and precarious.

Upon realizing Lin Chumu’s gaze was fixed on her, Lu Chaoqing awkwardly grabbed a tissue to wipe her tears, but in the flurry, the tissue box fell to the floor. She quickly bent down to pick it up.

“The movie just now was quite touching,” Lu Chaoqing offered a very flimsy excuse. “I was reminiscing.”

Lin Chumu: “…”

She distinctly remembered Lu Chaoqing laughing happily while leaning on her shoulder during the movie.

However, since Lu Chaoqing didn’t want to admit it, Lin Chumu naturally didn’t expose her, hardening her heart and forcing the sudden wave of guilt out of her mind.

They found a Hong Kong-style tea restaurant for lunch. Lu Chaoqing’s original plan also included visiting an art gallery in the afternoon, but the current atmosphere between them was completely unsuitable for any further intimate activities. Lin Chumu found an excuse to send her back first. As Lu Chaoqing got out of the car, she looked up at Lin Chumu, seeming to want to say something, but held it back.

When the girl smiled, Lin Chumu could still see the small wound she had bitten into her lip, which suddenly struck a chord in her heart, making her deeply regret her impulsive decision to agree to Lu Chaoqing’s suggestion.

Now, the little “green tea” looked exactly like someone who had been seduced and then abandoned by her.

Catching Lin Chumu’s guilty and regretful expression, Lu Chaoqing instead laughed brightly, no longer wearing the pitiful look from before. Her beautiful large eyes blinked. Her voice was still soft and gentle, betraying no shift in emotion: “It’s okay, I was the one who was wrong earlier.” Pausing briefly, Lu Chaoqing’s tone was half-negotiating, half-coaxing, “If Big Sister isn’t angry, could you please smile? I don’t want Big Sister to be unhappy.”

Lin Chumu’s heart contracted sharply.

Just as she was internally chastising herself, repeatedly confirming whether her actions earlier were truly too much, and contemplating an apology to salvage the situation, the girl, whose eyes were still slightly red, leaned over the car window, stood on her tiptoes, and boldly pinched Lin Chumu’s cheeks, forcing a smile onto Lin Chumu’s face.

So soft and gentle, as if she had lost all will to be angry.

Lu Chaoqing stood obediently in place, watching Lin Chumu drive away. Once the car had completely disappeared from her sight, her warm and considerate expression slowly peeled away like a mask.

The carefully brewed emotions instantly detached from her mind. The girl hummed a song, swinging the chain of her bag as she walked toward the dorm, even shocking the system, which had been silent and just about to comfort her, into speechlessness.

After a while, the system said dumbly: Host, you…

“I’m fine, it’s okay.” To prevent the system from presuming she was being strong, Lu Chaoqing even raised a finger and made a “V” sign. “I really am fine!”

Except for a momentary unpleasant feeling when she saw the look of despondency in Lin Chumu’s eyes.

However, since Lin Chumu had bitten her once, they were now even.

Anyway, she had only been ambiguous with Lin Chumu to follow the plot and raise favorability. If they couldn’t be ambiguous, then so be it. Lu Chaoqing never considered herself a person without principles. She was skilled in the art of “green tea,” but unless absolutely necessary in special circumstances, she would never string people along or steal someone’s relationship. There were many ways to prevent Jiang Yang and Lin Chumu from getting together, and it didn’t necessarily require her to play the dangerous game of ambiguity herself.

After faintly realizing that her sexual orientation wasn’t exactly straight recently, Lu Chaoqing recalled something from her previous world.

She had a very close female classmate in her former world. On the day same-sex marriage was legalized, she excitedly confessed to a girl she had been ambiguously close with for a long time but hadn’t gotten together with. Their relationship was much closer than regular best friends; they had done almost everything except sleep together. Yet, that girl came with an unfamiliar man and told her she was straight.

The classmate was heartbroken for a long time, spending a great deal of effort and time to erase that person from her life. But when she still held a trace of lingering affection, the girl unexpectedly showed up again, trying to string her along ambiguously while still dating the man. Lu Chaoqing had to go to the boyfriend and dramatically exaggerate the story to make the girl completely give up.

Finally, the classmate tearfully told her that if she ever found out she liked girls, she must stay far away from straight girls.

Lu Chaoqing, who vaguely realized her own orientation, wouldn’t generalize all straight girls as villains, but since Lin Chumu had expressed a desire not to be close to her, this relationship should be severed immediately.

As for the slight reluctance and melancholy, it was probably just the natural consequence of spending time with someone and developing some level of feeling.

Lu Chaoqing opened the dorm door with her key.

Today was a rare day off. All her roommates except Ji You had gone out. Chen Li and Jiang Qishuang went shopping together, and Yao Xichen went home. The former had invited Ji You, but Ji You was a moderately socially anxious person who barely spoke, even on stage, so she naturally refused when Lu Chaoqing wasn’t around.

The girl on the sofa sat up when she heard the door open, showing a genuine smile when she saw Lu Chaoqing. But upon getting closer, she noticed Lu Chaoqing’s red eyes and was immediately startled.

“Xiao Qing…”

Lu Chaoqing raised her index finger to her lips, signaling “hush,” so Ji You thoughtfully didn’t ask further. She didn’t say anything even when she saw the small cut on Lu Chaoqing’s lip, merely sitting back down on the sofa somewhat restrained.

After watching Lu Chaoqing for a while, and seeing that she wasn’t speaking, Ji You proactively spoke again: “I heard that they plan to launch subunit activities soon as a trial. I’m paired with the leader, and the three of you are paired together.”

Lu Chaoqing, still lost in thought, didn’t immediately react, only pausing for a moment before saying, “That fast?”

It was indeed quite fast.

A joint girl group was unprecedented in the industry. While MT was the primary promoter, it didn’t mean they had all the power. They also had to engage in activities with EM. Therefore, everyone knew when signing the contract that there would be a subunit model after debut to facilitate more flexible activities. But Lu Chaoqing hadn’t expected the activity to come so soon; she initially thought it would be next year at the earliest.

The original host was eliminated before the subunit stage in the original plot, so Lu Chaoqing didn’t know exactly what the subunit would be like. Everything would likely be arranged by the company.

But the subunits would definitely be active with both MT and EM. Lin Chumu was in charge of EM. If she was assigned there, it would probably be quite troublesome…

Lu Chaoqing felt a headache coming on.

She could only hope the company wouldn’t be foolish enough to reduce traffic by having too long a period of separation so soon after debut. Otherwise, if she went to EM, she would have to spend a long period with Lin Chumu. Given the atmosphere just now, the thought alone made her dizzy.

Her phone vibrated continuously. Lu Chaoqing opened it and saw an overwhelming stream of apology messages from Jiang Yang.

Incredibly annoying.

Lu Chaoqing couldn’t directly confront him, but she could certainly ignore him. Ignoring Jiang Yang was not a one-time thing. Instead, the messages reminded her of her progress, so she opened the APP and quickly saw the completion reward.

Lin Chumu’s favorability mostly likely stemmed from guilt, increasing to 40. This was an unprecedented leap, much higher than before, equivalent to earning almost all her previous progress in this one go. But Lu Chaoqing, who had expected to be very happy, didn’t feel particularly excited. Her emotions had somehow calmed down.

Jiang Yang’s favorability towards her only increased slightly, but it still stayed above the danger line, likely due to emotional fluctuations canceling each other out.

Lu Chaoqing muted notifications for Jiang Yang, grabbed her phone, and prepared to take a shower, but she received a video call from him. After she hung up several times, he persisted, suggesting he would keep calling until Lu Chaoqing answered.

“Hello?”

Lu Chaoqing hesitated for a moment but answered the call, switching the video to audio. She was always very mindful of her privacy and didn’t want Jiang Yang to see any part of her dorm.

“Xiao Qing.” The voice that came across was deep, even carrying a tearful, painful tone that disgusted Lu Chaoqing and gave her goosebumps. But the man seemed completely unaware of how nauseating his overly sweet voice was, perhaps believing it would soften her heart: “I was wrong about what happened before. Please don’t take it to heart. I was too emotional then. Are you okay now?”

Lu Chaoqing didn’t speak. Jiang Yang paused, seemingly composing his lines: “Today, my emotions really weren’t good. I wasn’t doubting you, I was just worried that such a lovely girl like you might run into trouble alone outside… Next time, can you tell me first what you’re doing? Even, even if you just treat me as a brother, I want to protect you.”

Lu Chaoqing: “…”

Such idiotic lines were truly nauseating. She didn’t know which non-mainstream website this guy had dug them up from. She hadn’t bothered with such language since she was fifteen. But the person on the other end seemed to be smugly pleased with his “deeply affectionate” words: “Xiao Qing?”

“It’s okay, Brother Jiang Yang, I’m not mad at you.”

The girl’s sweet voice transmitted through the phone, still calm and composed, showing none of the sharpness from before. However, even when Lu Chaoqing was angry, it was a “milk-fierce” kind of anger, completely lacking a strong aura, and she wouldn’t give people that sharp, uncomfortable feeling like a prickly cactus when most people get angry.

Without the video call, he couldn’t see the mocking expression on the girl’s face. Jiang Yang was very receptive to Lu Chaoqing’s tone and voice, mistakenly believing his apology was sincere enough to subdue this small, mindless heiress. So, he cleared his throat and got to the point: “Then, can I invite you to my place in a few days? I want to apologize to you in person. Don’t worry, my parents will be there, and I’ll inform your aunt and uncle. If you don’t have time, we can wait until you do, but please try to make it soon…”

This time, Lu Chaoqing didn’t play along: “I’m busy lately. Today was my only free time. Brother Jiang Yang, what did you want to say?”

The air on the other side of the phone froze for half a minute before Jiang Yang spoke with “difficulty,” briefly stating the recent lack of funds and operational problems at his newly established real estate company. He babbled a lot, half-coaxing and half-promising, essentially wanting Lu Chaoqing to lend him money.

If it were the original host, she would probably fall for his soft-spoken, wheedling approach, but Lu Chaoqing only felt disgusted.

Although she was a debuting girl group member and had held a concert, she didn’t actually have that much money on hand; everything was still in the initial stage. However, if she included the allowance from her parents, lending him the money would be more than enough. In the past, a large portion of the money Jiang Yang borrowed from the original host was never returned, fobbed off with the excuse of buying the original host things, but actually spent on extravagant partying.

Lu Chaoqing wasn’t the original host and wouldn’t fall for his tricks, but for the sake of temporary plot progress, she couldn’t openly sever ties with him yet.

“Why didn’t you say so earlier,” the sweet voice sounded a bit indignant, “telling me only now? Do you not see me as your sister?”

Jiang Yang was suddenly delighted, completely failing to realize that Lu Chaoqing was still so easily fooled. His voice became relaxed and somewhat ingratiating: “I originally wanted to tell you, but I was afraid you were busy…”

“How much do you need, Brother Jiang Yang?”

After hearing the large sum he requested, Lu Chaoqing agreed without batting an eye. But just as Jiang Yang was becoming smug, she suddenly added: “Then, Brother, send me the IOU with your company’s official seal and a lawyer’s guarantee. I’ll have my assistant transfer the money to you tomorrow.”

Silence fell on the other side. Lu Chaoqing feigned confusion: “Does Brother think it’s not…”

Jiang Yang quickly hung up, claiming he was busy, and didn’t call her again for several days.

A few days later, the preliminary plan for the Lilium girl group subunit was finalized. The leader, Chen Li, and rapper Ji You would form the subunit focusing on MT, while Lu Chaoqing, Yao Xichen, and Jiang Qishuang would go to EM, starting a two-week period of separate activities.

Two weeks was neither long nor short, settling at a relatively subtle duration that wouldn’t significantly impact their traffic. This was likely planned beforehand. However, one variable arose: Yao Xichen repeatedly objected, stating that she did not want to be in the same group as Lu Chaoqing.

The few previous conflicts within the group weren’t too major, so the manager hadn’t bothered upper management. The higher-ups only had a rough idea of the grudges. Seeing Yao Xichen’s firm attitude, they had to re-divide the team. It became Yao Xichen and Ji You staying at MT, while Lu Chaoqing, Chen Li, and Jiang Qishuang went to EM.

This grouping required one rapper in each team. The only two who could handle the rap level of the entire group were Ji You and Lu Chaoqing, so they couldn’t be in the same place.

Lu Chaoqing was instinctively worried about Ji You, but the girl smiled gently and told her not to worry too much.

The team assignments were confirmed and officially announced quickly. After the final decision, the three-person subunit headed to the EM company and would be active there for this period.

The situation was exactly what Lu Chaoqing had least hoped for.

Pu Shushu was a famous socialite at EM. She was originally an editor in the post-production department but was recently transferred to be Lin Chumu’s secretary.

Post-production wasn’t like the PR department or the front desk, where people frequently interacted; most people quietly handled their tasks. But Pu Shushu was different. She was more of a gossip than anyone else, and her mouth rarely rested during work hours.

Entertainment companies weren’t only composed of artists, and not everyone was extremely striking in appearance. But anyone who had been around for a while knew that General Manager Lin, who had recently taken over new projects, was not only young and successful but also the kind of stunning beauty who stood out even among the industry’s great beauties. More importantly, there were some rumors about her private life. People who were visually outstanding and flawless at work always made others want to dig up more information.

For instance, Lin Chumu allegedly had a sugar-baby relationship with a woman previously, treating her little darling quite well during the period, but later they broke up for unknown reasons. Not many people knew that GM Lin liked women, and the socialite was one of them.

Pu Shushu ran into Lu Chaoqing in the pantry while getting coffee.

The petite woman, wearing high heels to match Lu Chaoqing’s height, was humming a cheerful tune in her mouth. She poured a cup of coffee and turned around. She had noticed these new girls, seemingly from a girl group. Pu Shushu, who was slightly face-blind, hadn’t paid much attention to the girl group; she was merely Lin Chumu’s newly appointed life assistant.

It wasn’t until she saw them take the same elevator and walk to Lin Chumu’s office together that a subtle sense of displeasure arose in Pu Shushu.

She didn’t like having people around when she had meticulously planned things, but GM Lin was about to leave for a meeting and likely wouldn’t have time afterward. Finding another opportunity might take forever. Pu Shushu grit her teeth, a sweet and gentle smile on her face, and quietly pushed Lu Chaoqing, who was standing in front. Seeing the other person didn’t intend to move, she pushed harder and “accidentally” stumbled forward.

Pu Shushu and Jiang Qishuang, who was behind, both instinctively cried out “Oh dear.”

Although it was autumn, the woman was wearing a low-cut top under her suit jacket. Lin Chumu, sitting behind the desk, could easily catch a full view if she looked up. The woman’s snow-white fingertips accidentally touched Lin Chumu’s arm as they reached forward. Then, Pu Shushu’s hand trembled, and some of the cappuccino splashed onto the sleeve of the custom-made suit.

“GM, GM Lin, I’m sorry!” Pu Shushu’s eyes widened, and her face flushed. “Please don’t blame her. I’ll wipe it for you—no, I’ll pay for it later!”

Lu Chaoqing’s gaze narrowed.

It seemed she was really having bad luck recently.

Why did people always like to come in front of her, the “Tea King,” and perform such a clichéd, rotten drama? Had they watched too many eight o’clock soap operas?