Chapter 91

“Hahaha…” Ye Qingying laughed until her body shook nonstop, her hair covering her face. It took a good while before she stopped, her tone filled with the mad glee of someone who had lost it. “Uncle Zhang speaks so amusingly.”

The butler remained warm and gentle, considerately pouring her wine.

The maid who had gone out returned with an ice bucket and dry towel. She also brought sobering soup and placed it on the table, then wrapped a few ice cubes in the towel and handed it to Ye Qingying.

The smile vanished from her face in an instant. Ye Qingying took the towel expressionlessly and pressed it against her face, one press after another, over the spot that was still faintly scented from the ice.

Gu Liuguang was full of doubts but couldn’t find an opening to ask. After watching Ye Qingying for a while, she suspected that Ye Qingying had gone mad.

【This mental state is too beautiful. Doesn’t look like a normal person at all.】

【I’ve checked. She is a normal person.】

After watching a bit longer, Gu Liuguang said: 【Still, better file a report first. What if she has gone mad?】

The system obediently and swiftly filed the report.

Gu Liuguang felt a bit bored: 【No reply on the last report yet?】

System: 【They replied. They said they already know about this matter. Specifics will require arranging other systems to come check.】

【Other systems? Also binding to hosts?】

System: 【Main System didn’t say.】

Gu Liuguang grew unhappy. She sat on the sofa without a word for a long time. When she turned her head, she met Ye Qingying’s gaze. Ye Qingying held the towel packed with ice against her face, staring straight at her. When she looked over, a frivolous smile bloomed on Ye Qingying’s face.

Gu Liuguang: “When are you heading back?”

Ye Qingying’s smile stiffened for a moment. In disbelief, her voice rose a few pitches: “You’re telling me to leave?”

Gu Liuguang eyed her up and down with a weird look: “Not telling you to walk back. Has your driver gone home?”

Ye Qingying’s smile faded a little, her gaze turning deep. Moments later, she chuckled softly again, her tone light and innocent: “I told him to head back first. You can’t seriously expect me to walk, right?”

“Night Moon is so huge. Didn’t you say yesterday that my room was still reserved? I’ll sleep in my room tonight. I’m not going anywhere.”

Gu Liuguang showed no reaction. Ye Qingying tilted her head toward the butler, who said nothing, standing still like a statue.

Gu Liuguang tsked lightly, pulled out her phone, and opened WeChat. A few seconds later, she looked at Ye Qingying. “Perfect timing. Night Moon’s driver is still up. I’ll have her take you back.”

Ye Qingying’s smile gradually melted away. She sat up straight, incredulous: “It’s so late, and you’re still making me leave?” She took a deep breath. “There are so many rooms here. Can’t I just crash in one? Even a guest room would do.”

Gu Liuguang said nothing. Ye Qingying talked until her mouth went dry, took a sip of sobering soup, and felt a bit more clear-headed. She softened her voice.

“Give me a reason. If you’re not letting me stay, at least give me a reason.”

This time, Gu Liuguang finally reacted. She stood up with her phone, ignoring the dessert on the table. Frowning at Ye Qingying, she said: “I’m afraid you’ll climb into my bed in the middle of the night.” Her gaze swept over the bottle of treasured wine that was still more than half full. “I’ll have your beloved treasured wine sent back with you too, so it doesn’t go bad.”

Ye Qingying finally snapped out of her shock and laughed nonstop, as if someone had hit her funny bone.

Gu Liuguang waited two minutes for her laughter to subside. “You have Driver Auntie’s WeChat too. Head back early and don’t keep her waiting.”

As she turned to leave, Ye Qingying called out to her, her voice soft and husky: “Is that all you’re worried about? I wouldn’t do anything to you.”

Gu Liuguang turned back and saw Ye Qingying gazing at her with utter innocence.

Gu Liuguang frowned, equally innocent. She looked up at the ceiling, then around the room, saying nothing—yet somehow saying everything.

Moments later, she said: “You just pinned me to the sofa.”

Ye Qingying: “That was…”

Gu Liuguang wore an “I get it, no need to explain” expression and softened her voice: “That was just your kissing compulsion acting up again. Everyone knows.”

Not calling it sexual harassment was already the greatest courtesy to Ye Qingying. She hoped the other woman would get the hint and just leave.

As Gu Liuguang’s figure was about to vanish down the corridor, Ye Qingying finally compromised. She raised her voice to call after Gu Liuguang, asking her to walk her out, and she’d go.

Gu Liuguang considered for two seconds and agreed.

She grumbled to the system: 【Sigh. I’m the owner of this mountain villa, telling Ye Qingying to leave, and I still have to meet her demands.】

It was completely upside down.

The system found it inconceivable too and comforted her: 【Maybe that’s exactly why the Main System has no choice but to send hosts to push the tasks forward.】

Gu Liuguang walked ahead. Ye Qingying followed behind. The driver had already pulled the car up to the mountain villa’s gate—not far away. From inside the villa to the outer gate took only about ten minutes. No need to worry about Ye Qingying having another “episode.”

The mountain villa interior was deathly quiet, with only a few areas lit up.

If Ye Qingying weren’t there, Gu Liuguang’s mind might have wandered to ghostly tales. For a moment, only their footsteps echoed.

Halfway there, Ye Qingying suddenly remembered why she was even carrying the wine out. A cold breeze blew from somewhere inside the villa, sharpening her alcohol-fogged brain. As the gate drew nearer, her steps slowed until she stopped completely.

Gu Liuguang was lost in thought, debating whether to tell Lin Shixia about today’s events—or maybe Gu Shuang.

And who was the Lin that Ye Qingying mentioned? Night Moon had nothing to do with Lin Shixia. She didn’t even have that surname. Or maybe Ye Qingying had slipped her tongue.

She snapped back and realized the footsteps behind her had stopped. Puzzled, she turned and saw Ye Qingying standing three or four meters away, her expression shifting unpredictably as she stared.

Gu Liuguang felt a chill, especially in the dim, empty corridor around them.

“What’s wrong?”

Seeing that Gu Liuguang had finally noticed her, Ye Qingying’s lips slowly curved up. She walked toward Gu Liuguang, her voice echoing in the vast corridor: “Liuguang, have you forgiven me?”

Gu Liuguang looked puzzled. “So accepting compensation counts as forgiveness?”

Ye Qingying froze. “That’s not what I…”

Gu Liuguang cut her off: “Then just assume I have.”

“Come on, let’s go. You’ve stirred up so much trouble that no one’s getting any sleep.” Gu Liuguang meant this sincerely—annoyed by Ye Qingying’s madness, but also worried about Lin Shixia finding out.

Ye Qingying approached. Gu Liuguang kept walking toward the gate. It was so close now she could see the open doors. Another seven or eight meters, and she’d spot the car outside. Time to send this plague god on her way.

Ye Qingying’s voice sounded right behind her.

“Can we talk?”

Gu Liuguang hummed absentmindedly, not turning back.

“I know you’re dating Shixia. I don’t want much. Date me too. I won’t let Shixia find out.”

Gu Liuguang whipped around in shock, almost certain she’d misheard. She’d always thought Ye Qingying’s WeChat messages were just nonsense and jokes.

Ye Qingying’s expression was dead serious, no hint of joking. “Sticking to just one person—how do you know she’s the right one? If you don’t try a few, you’ll never know who your soulmate is, who you truly love.”

Gu Liuguang stared blankly at Ye Qingying, taking a good while to find her voice. “I must have hallucinated that. Aren’t you supposed to be going home? The car’s right outside.”

“No hallucination. Take your time to think it over seriously.”

“Whether it’s looks, figure, or family background—what do I lack compared to her? You like stars— isn’t my status big enough? We could even star in a drama together. Can Lin Shixia give you that?”

Gu Liuguang: ……

Had she gone mad, or had Ye Qingying? Or was this some ultimate spiral explosion strategy from a romantic rival—confessing to throw her off?

Gu Liuguang tried a tactful refusal: “I love Shixia a lot. No plans to find a mistress anytime soon.”

Ye Qingying poured out her heart, perhaps from agitation or lingering buzz. Her cheeks still held a flush and a palm print: “You don’t have to break up with her. I never asked for that. I just want you to give yourself more chances to try things out. Don’t tie your future to one person so soon.”

Gu Liuguang hesitated: “So you mean I should tie myself to a few more?”

Ye Qingying: “Not too many. Two is enough. Once you realize being with me is the most right, the most comfortable, you can break up with Lin Shixia.”

Gu Liuguang still balked: “I’ve always seen you as an elder.”

Too surreal. How was Ye Qingying confessing to her? Had she crossed into the wrong world?

Ye Qingying hummed: “Doesn’t that make it more thrilling?”

Gu Liuguang: ……

“Done talking?”

Ye Qingying: “No one even knows you and Lin Shixia are dating. To everyone else, you’re single. So I can pursue you openly, right?”

Gu Liuguang fell silent.

Ye Qingying asked: “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Only then did she realize the “Done talking?” hadn’t come from Gu Liuguang. The voice was equally young, but far more familiar—like Lin Shixia’s.

She looked past Gu Liuguang. Lin Shixia stood at the gate, backlit, her expression unreadable. Ye Qingying’s face changed. Seeing Lin Shixia walk toward Gu Liuguang, she hurriedly spoke: “Blaming her is pointless. I said all that.”

Lin Shixia tugged at her lips but couldn’t smile. She settled for a blank look at Ye Qingying: “You’re the one who wants to be the mistress. Why blame Liuguang? If Auntie Ye wants to play green tea bitch and steal her away, she should check if anyone’s interested first.”

“No need to keep in touch anymore. Auntie Ye, head back. Don’t keep the driver waiting.”

Ye Qingying’s expression shifted. She sneered repeatedly: “If Liuguang loves you, why fear others seducing her? If you love her, give her freedom, not restrictions on her friends. Lin Shixia, aren’t you just trying to monopolize her while she’s young and naive? You’re so selfish!”

Lin Shixia was about to lose it: “Selfish? Liuguang and I are truly in love! We’re the same age—you have a whole generation gap with her. How can you have the nerve to show up and offer yourself as a mistress!”

“Auntie Ye, you’re supposed to be a respectable person. We won’t pursue what you did to Liuguang before, but don’t be so shameless.”

“You think you’re that charming? You’re just banking on Liuguang being young and inexperienced. Let her date a few more, and she’ll see right through a shriveled kid like you—no one would even approach you sitting in a bar all night.”

Lin Shixia boiled with rage. She’d never met anyone so shameless. People always wanted to be her lover—this was the first time an elder tried digging at her corner.

Reason wasn’t working. Lin Shixia reached out to grab Ye Qingying: “Leave now! You’re not welcome here!”

“You think telling me to leave makes it happen? Night Moon is Gu family, not Lin!” Ye Qingying sneered, rooting herself in place. She glanced at Gu Liuguang from the corner of her eye and quickly backpedaled. “For Liuguang’s sake, I won’t argue with you today.”

Lin Shixia took a deep breath, as if finally regaining her senses: “You won’t leave? Fine, Liuguang and I will. Don’t you love staying here? No wonder you so generously gave Night Moon to Liuguang—such filthy intentions!”

She panted lightly. “Does Little Aunt know about this?”

“If you say things like that, I’ll have to call Little Aunt over and let her see what kind of person her friend and classmate of over a decade really is.”