Gold Medal Mediator [Quick Transmigration] 8

Chapter 8: Cousin-in-Law, Don’t Be Like This (8, Revised)

The next day, Monday.

Hua Baihe emerged from her life of nightly revelry and returned to the bland trajectory of Chen Keyin’s existence.

She was currently in a weekly company meeting, her head bowed and pen in hand, feigning diligent note-taking while openly slacking off by chatting with the System in her mind.

“Are you telling me that headquarters said it’s fine for Luo Sheng’s affection progress to shoot up to ninety-five percent?”

The System was clearly frustrated by this outcome as well; its usual electronic voice sounded a bit dejected. “Yes.”

The one who was supposed to cause emotional fluctuations in Luo Sheng could only be Chen Wenxian. So why was it that now, with Luo Sheng developing feelings for Hua Baihe, the affection progress was still advancing?

It was a complete mystery.

Hua Baihe paused her doodling of a Bulbasaur and called out with a hint of anticipation, “Sys-sys~”

What kind of ridiculous nickname is that?

The System ignored her.

Hua Baihe continued her affectionate call, “System-boo~”

System: “…Speak.”

Hua Baihe said, a bit shyly, “Look, since the direction of Luo Sheng’s emotional fluctuations is so unpredictable, is it possible for me to—”

The System cut her off mercilessly. “No.”

Hua Baihe: “I wasn’t finished.”

The System sneered. “Aren’t you just trying to get back to Luo Sheng’s side and continue living that shameless life?”

Her little fantasy of continuing their BDSM games had been exposed, but Hua Baihe remained defiant. “The pursuit of beautiful things is a human instinct. I’m this good-looking, and Luo Sheng is clearly into me. We’re practically a match made in heaven, born to be—”

Before she could finish the word ‘together,’ the System threw three words at her: “One hundred million.”

Hua Baihe’s sentence screeched to a halt and took a sharp turn. “—completely incompatible genders!”

For a second, the System could have sworn it heard Hua Baihe’s voice crack.

The ever-flexible Hua Baihe felt very melancholic. She lowered her head and drew a large pig’s trotter next to the Bulbasaur.

With an arrow pointing at the System.

**

Hua Baihe wasn’t the only one distracted at work.

Chen Wenxian spent the entire morning in a daze, consumed by the fact that Luo Sheng wanted to break up with him. He kept replaying her final words, telling him to stay away from Chen Keyin: “Because I hate it when other people touch my things, and my person.”

He pondered the meaning of that sentence.

Does ‘my person’ refer to him?

A straight arrow like Chen Wenxian could never imagine the possibility that his long-time girlfriend might be as bent as a mosquito coil. In the end, he could only attribute it to jealousy.

But Keyin was just his cousin, and she usually got along well with Luo Sheng. What on earth had happened between them?

While he was lost in thought, someone clapped a hand on his shoulder and joked, “Hey, Old Chen, who are you bringing to the dinner tonight? The noble and aloof white rose, or the sexy and cute red one?”

Those who knew him well knew that Chen Wenxian usually brought his girlfriend to company dinners. On the rare occasion she was unavailable, his close cousin would come instead.

But his official girlfriend was very cold towards him, often not saying a word throughout the entire meal. In contrast, when his cousin came, she would help him fend off drinks and manage his social connections.

Sometimes, new colleagues who didn’t know them well would mistake her, calling Chen Keyin ‘sister-in-law,’ or they’d just gossip behind his back about how a simple-looking guy like Chen Wenxian had such good luck with women.

Chen Wenxian was currently troubled by the breakup, and hearing this, he just frowned. “Don’t talk nonsense. She’s my cousin.”

The one joking with him was Xu Wen, a male colleague who had joined the company at the same time. The two were good friends. Seeing his clueless expression, Xu Wen thought for a moment and decided to offer some brotherly advice.

“Old Chen, if I didn’t know your character and know you wouldn’t pull something like that, I wouldn’t believe a word you just said.”

Chen Wenxian’s frown deepened as he looked at his friend. “What do you mean?”

Xu Wen was blunt. “Look at how attentive your cousin is to you, and then look at your actual girlfriend. Anyone who didn’t know would think your cousin was your girlfriend.”

“I can’t say for sure what your cousin feels for you, but if this keeps up, if your girlfriend really likes you, it’d be strange if she wasn’t jealous—let me tell you, women have a very low threshold for jealousy.” Towards the end of his speech, Xu Wen’s expression turned pained, as if recalling a traumatic memory.

Xu Wen’s accidental but accurate advice perfectly answered the question in Chen Wenxian’s mind.

A look of sudden realization dawned in his eyes. He instantly understood the real reason for Luo Sheng’s breakup.

But how could he show Luo Sheng his resolve?

Chen Wenxian thought about it all day and finally came up with an idea.

**

As closing time approached, Hua Baihe started to get restless.

On one hand, Luo Sheng was coming to pick her up from work, and this development of starting with the physical and moving to the emotional was rather appealing to her. But on the other hand, the thought that she could now only look at, but not touch, such a beautiful woman caused her heart to ache.

That was when Chen Wenxian’s call came.

“Keyin, Sheng Sheng has been in a bit of a mood lately. She wants to break up with me.”

His opening line stunned Hua Baihe.

She never thought that after over a decade of hard work, she’d see her cousin sent back to square one overnight.

Unable to tell him the truth, she found a quiet corner to answer. Playing dumb, she said, “Cousin, how did you make Sheng Sheng angry again? Hurry up and go buy her things! Coax her!”

Chen Wenxian sighed and repeated what Luo Sheng had said the night before, not forgetting to add, “She even told me to stay away from you. Is it because she’s jealous? But you’re my cousin!”

Hua Baihe played along perfectly, her voice filled with guilt. “I’m sorry, cousin, it’s all because of me… I’ll definitely keep my distance from you from now on. After you and Sheng Sheng get married, I’ll transfer to another city with my job.”

As she spoke, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of grief.

—Where else would she find a partner so beautiful and so skilled in bed?

Hearing her voice, Chen Wenxian thought he had hurt her by asking her to stay away, but his wife was more important. So, he could only offer some small comfort. “It’s okay. Sheng Sheng’s anger is probably temporary. Maybe she’s just being too sensitive.”

Before Hua Baihe could reply, Chen Wenxian seized the opportunity to propose the idea he had been mulling over all morning.

“I have a plan to win Sheng Sheng back. Keyin, are you willing to help me?”

Curious about what he had up his sleeve, Hua Baihe immediately replied, “Of course. As long as it can get you and Sheng Sheng back together, I’ll do anything.”

“Great. Come to my office building this afternoon. After this is over, I’ll owe you one. I’ll make it up to you later when Sheng Sheng is no longer concerned about our relationship,” Chen Wenxian said.

Hua Baihe found his newfound secrecy a little strange, but also somewhat gratifying—

After years of being taught by example, the pig at home had finally learned how to root for its own cabbage!

She couldn’t help but sing in her heart: “Ah! Great love!”

System: …Fucking moron.

Hua Baihe, oblivious to the System’s silent judgment, now had an excuse to leave work early and avoid Luo Sheng. She walked out of the company with a confident, almost arrogant stride.

However, she had no idea—

Luo Sheng had already anticipated her attempt to escape. Expecting her to sneak out early, she was already waiting in the parking lot of the plaza below Hua Baihe’s office building.

When she saw that bright, beautiful figure emerge from the main entrance, she didn’t rush to intercept her. Instead, she started her car and followed her, wanting to see where Hua Baihe was trying to run.

As she followed, she started to feel that something wasn’t right.

The road was so familiar, from the greenery on the sides to the silver financial building in the distance that she recognized—it was where she worked.

But!

A dark emotion began to churn in Luo Sheng’s eyes.

Because this road also led to where Chen Wenxian worked.

When the figure she was following stopped exactly where she had expected, right in front of Chen Wenxian’s company building, Luo Sheng’s face turned green.

She stared intently at Hua Baihe’s back, her hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles turned white.

She kept telling herself, “You’ve already scared her once. You promised to let her be free. You can’t go back on your word…”

Luo Sheng had to try very, very hard to suppress the urge to rush out and drag her away.

She sat in the car, quietly watching Hua Baihe’s back.

As she waited, the sky slowly darkened. Dusk enveloped the city from all directions, but the figure that she found so jarring still hadn’t appeared at the company entrance.

Luo Sheng watched the person standing in the cold wind, saw her lower her head to blow warm air into her hands, and the ache in her heart returned.

—Is Chen Wenxian really that great?

She wanted to ask that question again.

But the person waiting in the distance couldn’t hear her thoughts. She kept looking up, as if waiting for someone behind one of the countless windows of the office building to look down and see her.

In reality, Chen Wenxian had gotten off work long ago.

He had already scripted the scene in his mind: because his office was close to Luo Sheng’s, all he had to do was have his cousin come over, and then he would act cold and dismissive towards her. If he did this for several days, Luo Sheng was bound to see it eventually, and then she would understand his change of heart.

Chen Wenxian couldn’t bear to let Chen Keyin freeze for real, so when he felt enough time had passed, he was about to go out and tell her to leave in a cold tone.

He had even rehearsed his heartless voice:

“You can go home. I have to work overtime today.”

The rehearsal was complete.

He had just taken a step outside, before he could even get close—

Someone walked up quickly from the side and grabbed the arm of the other lead in his script.

It was Luo Sheng.

Chen Wenxian was surprised by her appearance, but he had no chance to speak before he saw Luo Sheng lift her chin at him coldly and say to Hua Baihe beside her:

“Can’t you see how he treats you?”

Chen Wenxian: “…” Wait, something doesn’t seem right.

But Luo Sheng didn’t wait for him to react. She spoke to Hua Baihe aggressively, “You’d rather stand in the cold wind for such a mediocre man than consider me, is that it?”

Chen Wenxian: “…!!!” Isn’t ‘mediocre’ a bit much?

Hua Baihe: “…!!!” Isn’t coming out to my cousin a bit much?

Her mouth fell open in surprise. She subconsciously looked at Chen Wenxian, feigning confusion. “Sheng Sheng, I… I don’t know what you mean…”

Luo Sheng was angered by her act, but considering they were in public, she suppressed the urge to kiss her right there to declare her ownership. Ignoring the background character, she stared intently at the person before her and asked, word by word:

“What I mean is, I—”

…

Author’s Note:

One second ago, Chen Wenxian: I am the Male Lead.

The next second, Chen Wenxian: Holy crap! Director! Why the hell is this a Yuri set!