TNSFC – Chapter 3

From a conventional ethical standpoint, Que Yining seemed like she should like men.

Que Yining initially thought so too, but later she discovered that wasn’t the case.

She dealt with all sorts of people, put on acts, constantly schemed and plotted, all in pursuit of successful revenge in the end.

She was beautiful, charming and radiant, the focus of gatherings, a captivating beauty of myriad charms. Many people had designs on her, and the more she encountered, the more annoyed Que Yining became.

She wouldn’t generalize about people; she had met many intelligent gentlemen. However, amidst her deep-seated vendetta, she increasingly yearned for people with a pure heart.

Not the kind of purity that was naive and ignorant of the world, but more accurately, the kind of woman who was cool, abstinent, yet intelligent.

But such women were rare, and even harder to find in Que Yining’s social circle. However, Que Yining hadn’t expected to encounter one on her very first day after transmigrating into the book.

Que Yining, her interest piqued, sat up straight.

Her gaze was too direct and intense. The person she was looking at noticed and met her eyes.

Que Yining smiled at her, but Gu Shanxue coldly averted her gaze.

Evidently, she had no favorable impression of this gathering and maintained an indifferent attitude towards everyone present.

It made sense. This party was hosted by the daughter of the mistress who had been living in her house, usurping her mother’s place, for years. Que Yining was quite surprised that Gu Shanxue had even come.

Que Yining wasn’t annoyed by Gu Shanxue’s attitude. After all, from Gu Shanxue’s perspective, they were people from two different worlds. There would be plenty of time later.

As for the fact that Gu Shanxue seemed to be the female lead, Que Yining intentionally or unintentionally ignored it.

Gu Qianqian waved at Gu Shanxue, her attitude quite affectionate: “Jiejie, come sit here. Let me introduce you to my friends.”

Gu Qianqian deliberately flaunted to Gu Shanxue that she was accepted by the circle of wealthy young masters and misses from high society, that she was the true daughter of the Gu family, acting entirely like the host of the party.

Que Yining slouched back onto the sofa again, thinking Gu Shanxue probably wouldn’t fall for this.

Que Yining thought, if Gu Shanxue were a smart person, she would know this party was just a waste of time and shouldn’t have come.

As Que Yining expected, Gu Shanxue indeed did not walk over.

She merely nodded at Gu Qianqian, distant yet polite, “Sorry, wrong room.”

She completely ignored Gu Qianqian’s enthusiastic words, treating her like a stranger. Combined with her appearance and demeanor, it seemed as if Gu Qianqian, standing there, couldn’t even enter her sight, merely an insignificant character whose presence didn’t even cause her expression to change.

A huge, invisible slap landed right on Gu Qianqian’s face.

Que Yining couldn’t help but laugh. She thought Gu Shanxue was probably telling the truth—she had pushed open the wrong door.

The music in the room had stopped at some point. After Gu Shanxue spoke, everyone around fell into a dead silence, making Que Yining’s laughter particularly prominent.

Everyone’s gaze shifted from Gu Shanxue to Que Yining, including Gu Shanxue herself.

She recognized the laughing woman as the one who had been staring at her just now. But the lighting was dim, and the person was leaning back in the sofa, the upper half of her face hidden in darkness, with light illuminating her jaw.

Although she couldn’t see the full face, based on the delicate nose and beautiful red lips, Gu Shanxue could guess she must be a beauty.

But she didn’t feel any curiosity. Composing her expression, she turned and pulled open the private room’s door.

The bright light from the hallway shone in. As the door slowly closed, Gu Shanxue once again felt that scrutinizing gaze. Looking back through the narrowing gap, she saw a beautiful face full of interest.

The diagonal shaft of light made those eyes appear even brighter.

When the door closed, their lines of sight were also cut off.

Gu Shanxue walked to another private room on this floor, pushed open the door, and went in. The person inside stood up and shook her hand.

Back with Que Yining, after Gu Shanxue pushed the door open and left, the scene became quite interesting.

The music wasn’t playing anymore. Gu Qianqian’s face was flushed red, and she looked like she was about to cry from sadness.

Wang Ruiyuan and a few others quickly comforted her, cursing Gu Shanxue for not knowing what’s good for her.

Wang Ruiyuan: “Qianqian, don’t be sad. Next time, I’ll help you vent your anger. She definitely came here deliberately to humiliate you. What airs is she putting on? Does she really think she’s someone important? Her mom’s dead, she’s nothing.”

Cheng Yijia, who was on good terms with Gu Qianqian, also chimed in to comfort her: “That’s right, Qianqian. Anyway, you’re the legitimate Miss Gu. It’s a shame you were so kind as to throw a welcome party for that pitiful wretch.”

In the eyes of this group of rich second-generation kids, Gu Shanxue was indeed a pitiful wretch.

Her mother was gone, her father didn’t dote on her, and her father’s mistress lived in their home brazenly, acting like the rightful wife. She was practically isolated and helpless. If Gu Qianqian’s mother managed to get a marriage certificate with her father, the mistress would transform into the legitimate wife, and Gu Shanxue, the former legitimate daughter, would be in an even more awkward position. Unless she married someone powerful and influential, it would be nearly impossible for her to turn things around.

Gu Qianqian’s voice was tinged with tears: “I know Jiejie doesn’t like me, but I didn’t expect her to be so disrespectful. I clearly had good intentions, wanting to help her integrate into our circle.”

Que Yining had originally come to watch the drama. How Gu Qianqian stepped on Gu Shanxue was none of her business. But now things were different. She was interested in Gu Shanxue, so naturally, she couldn’t let Gu Qianqian continue her act in front of her.

Que Yining sneered lightly, “So sad, huh? Good thing I’ve been sitting here, otherwise, I might have thought your mother passed away too.”

With Que Yining’s interruption, the atmosphere in the room became even more rigid.

Cheng Yijia was the first to speak up indignantly: “Que Yining, what’s wrong with you today? Why are you being so confrontational about everything?”

Que Yining spoke slowly, “Confrontational? Not really. I just find this world rather strange. The daughter of a mistress actually gets to call the child of the legitimate wife ‘Jiejie.’ Hearing it over and over makes my ears uncomfortable.”

Although wealthy families often had scandalous affairs, with plenty of mistresses and illegitimate children, few were so openly acknowledged. Moreover, most noblewomen, including their legitimate children, held a sense of disdainful superiority towards illegitimate offspring. Just like Qiao Yuchu would curse Gu Qianqian behind her back as a bastard born of a mistress, but wouldn’t say such harsh things when interacting with her directly.

The others were silent for a moment, but Wang Ruiyuan stood up, ready to fly into a rage for the beauty.

Wang Ruiyuan’s tone was very aggressive: “Are you crazy? You’ve been picking on Qianqian all night. If you don’t like it, then don’t come! Who asked you to? Is it fun to bring up her background? We’ve been friends for years, and you’re siding with an outsider? Qianqian couldn’t choose her birth. As long as Uncle Gu acknowledges her, that’s enough. Isn’t it just a matter of a certificate?”

Bian Ji’an quickly stood up and pulled him, “Ruiyuan, alright, alright, what are you getting so angry about?”

Just when everyone thought Que Yining would also stand up and curse, she merely tutted.

Que Yining: “Then, Young Master Wang, when are you going to bring your younger brother to meet us, to integrate him?”

As everyone knew, Wang Ruiyuan was an only child.

Wang Ruiyuan flared up. Coupled with the alcohol he had just drunk, he cursed angrily, “Are you fucking crazy? Who do you think you are? You’re not even worthy of carrying my shoes…”

All sorts of foul language, laced with words referring to genitalia, stunned everyone nearby.

Even Gu Qianqian was frightened. Forgetting to act pitiful, she tugged at Wang Ruiyuan’s hand.

Although the Que family wasn’t a colossal entity, they were roughly on par with the Wang family. It was just that their two companies were of different natures and couldn’t be directly compared. Wang Ruiyuan saying she wasn’t even worthy of carrying his shoes was undoubtedly a result of his anger clouding his judgment.

The Que family was primarily involved in the catering industry, with its roots in Lu Su City, but its industrial chain spanned almost the entire country, owning many brands. Someone once joked that if the Que family closed all their establishments, sixty percent of the people in Lu Su would have nowhere to eat.

Bian Ji’an wanted to mediate but didn’t know how. The others were just sitting and watching the drama.

Que Yining found him noisy. It had been many years since anyone dared to spew such filth in her face.

While Que Yining had been looking at her phone earlier, she had already gone through the market value analysis of her family’s and the Wang family’s businesses. Combining this with the memories in her head, she mentally weighed the risks of what she was about to do. After comparing, she found the problem wasn’t significant, so she stood up.

The sound of her high heels on the floor was quite distinct. Wang Ruiyuan looked at Que Yining provocatively.

“What do you want to do? So what if I cursed a woman today? I’ve disliked you for a long time, you fucking idiot…”

—Bang!

The sound of the red wine bottle shattering on someone’s head was cringe-inducing. Half a second later, Wang Ruiyuan’s pained howl echoed in the private room.

The escort girls, who had never seen such a scene, screamed in fright.

The scene suddenly became somewhat chaotic. Que Yining admired her handiwork and even whistled.

“Next time, before you curse your mother, consider whether you’re worthy. No, wait, I don’t have a dog son like you.”

Que Yining unhurriedly rubbed her wrist and picked up her bag from the sofa.

Gu Qianqian exclaimed, “Yining Jiejie, how could you hit someone!”

Que Yining: “Was I hitting a person? Wasn’t it a simp who likes foul things?”

Que Yining pushed open the private room door, no longer interested in staying, and went to the restroom to wash her hands.

Qiao Yuchu, finally relieved from her stomachache, greeted Que Yining as she came out of the restroom.

Seeing Que Yining’s face, Qiao Yuchu didn’t hide her shock: “Damn, sis, did you see Tony today? You look so good! Introduce me to your stylist next time.”

Qiao Yuchu was wearing heavy makeup, her eyes with false eyelashes blinking.

Que Yining nodded. Qiao Yuchu beamed with delight, but her expression quickly fell.

“I fucking don’t know what I ate, my stomach is killing me!” Qiao Yuchu complained, then her tone turned eager, “When I was gone just now, did Little White Lotus’s older sister come? Was there any good drama?”

Que Yining meticulously washed the wine from her hands—it had spilled on them when she smashed the bottle. Hearing Qiao Yuchu, she said, “I hit Wang Ruiyuan.”

Qiao Yuchu was greatly surprised: “Why?”

Que Yining shrugged, “Gu Shanxue came and left. After she left, Gu Qianqian started crying. I said she was mourning, as if her mother had died too.”

Qiao Yuchu was stunned for a moment before realizing who Gu Shanxue was. She clapped her hands, “Good hit! Wang Ruiyuan is such a simp. I suspect he’s been having an affair with Little White Lotus for a while now, otherwise why would he be so protective? And Little White Lotus calls him her ‘godbrother’—I bet it’s ‘godbrother’ by day, and at night, brother ‘does’ her, oh.”

Qiao Yuchu: “But what’s Little White Lotus’s older sister like? I’m so pissed I missed seeing Little White Lotus get humiliated! I came tonight just waiting for this moment!”

A smile spread across Que Yining’s face, and she drawled, “Her older sister, ah, is an exquisite beauty.”

Que Yining looked at Gu Shanxue’s face reflected in the mirror as she walked in, and winked at the mirror.

Qiao Yuchu shivered, “Why are you smiling like a succubus about to suck someone’s life essence?”