Undercurrents Between Women

Gu Yijin put on a gentle fake smile. "That's good. When my younger brother comes home, I'll cherish him like my own brother and make up double for all the love you never gave him over the years. No matter what it is, I'll give it to him."

Having listened silently for a long time, Lin Qingdai smiled softly. "What do you mean, give? Wasn't it his to begin with? Brother Jin, you really are funny."

Lin Qingdai was the daughter of Gu Chenwang's good friend. After the Lin Family ran into trouble, she was the only daughter left.

Before Father Lin died, he entrusted Lin Qingdai to Gu Chenwang. That was how Lin Qingdai grew up in the Gu Family.

Gu Yijin glanced at Lin Qingdai, then showed a hurt expression. With a bitter smile, he said, "Qing Dai, do you dislike me because you know I'm not a child of the Gu Family?"

"But I never wanted something like this to happen either. If I could choose, I'd rather be the one suffering outside than my younger brother."

As he said this, Gu Yijin's eyes reddened, and he looked tormented by guilt.

Gu Yutang patted his head. "Ajin is still the sensible one. Where else could we find such a wonderful little brother? Don't worry, your sister will always stand by your side. As for that newcomer..."

A cold smile curved her lips. "How good could a child raised in an orphanage possibly be? He's probably no different from some wild country brat. He definitely won't be better than our Ajin. It'll be good enough if bringing him back doesn't embarrass the Gu Family."

Lin Qingdai frowned and coughed. "Sister, I'm going to school first. Once my real brother comes home, I'll come back and meet him."

Real brother. Those words were practically stabbing into Gu Yijin's heart.

He did not understand why Lin Qingdai had been targeting him lately. She had clearly once been nothing but a quiet, unremarkable little nobody.

Why exactly...?

Gu Chenwang had no desire to discuss any of this. If the child was his, he would bring him back. If not, he would leave it alone. There was no point in saying so much.

Only Wen Sulan kept worrying about it. When she learned that Shen Qingling studied at Jiang University, she rushed there before she had even finished her meal.

Shen Qingling was eating in the cafeteria with Ruan Mingyi and the others.

Yes, the cafeteria.

Although Ruan Mingyi had said she wanted to treat him to a meal off campus, Shen Qingling stubbornly refused to go to such an expensive restaurant.

Ruan Mingyi could only indulge him and go to the cafeteria with him.

It was Ruan Mingyi's first time in her life eating such plain, ordinary cafeteria food.

Looking at the two dishes and one soup before her, which gave her no appetite at all, Ruan Mingyi frowned. "This is what you usually eat?"

All she got from the young man was a faint, "Mm."

Ruan Mingyi had invited Shen Qingling to dinner because she wanted to flirt with him in an upscale restaurant, not eat vegetarian food in an overcrowded cafeteria.

There was absolutely no romance to it.

Song Zhining secretly laughed when she saw this. Let's see how you flirt with Shen Qingling in the cafeteria now.

Although she was also the daughter of a wealthy family, the Song Family had always encouraged her to be strong and independent. She ate the same food as her classmates and lived in the same dormitories, so she had not developed any of those spoiled bad habits.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing. I just think the food at Jiang University is delicious. Shen Qingling and I have always eaten like this. Maybe someone from outside campus just isn't used to student food."

Song Zhining's words were quite interesting. First, she emphasized "our Jiang University" to draw herself closer to Shen Qingling, then she pointed out that Ruan Mingyi was from outside campus. Saying she was not a student was tantamount to highlighting that she was older than all of them. It was blatant mockery.

Most men could not understand the undercurrents between women, but Shen Qingling caught it.

Shen Qingling said, "If Miss Ruan isn't used to what us common folk eat, then there's no need to force yourself."

077: Song Zhining's Heart-Throb Score increased by 5.

"Host, your little scheme is really working out nicely. You used Song Zhining to provoke Ruan Mingyi, then used Ruan Mingyi to provoke Song Zhining. You got two birds with one stone."

Shen Qingling said, "In the eyes of the world, anything people fight over must be good. Women are even more competitive than men in this regard. Men usually can't see their hidden undercurrents, but if you savor them carefully, every word contains an edge."

Afraid that Shen Qingling would be unhappy and unwilling to fall into the trap hidden in Song Zhining's words, Ruan Mingyi smiled. "No, it's fine. Trying an unusual delicacy once in a while isn't bad. If all of you can eat it, why can't I?"

"Right, Qiao Qiao? I used to eat in the cafeteria too."

Ye Qiao was not as delicate as Ruan Mingyi. Eating in the cafeteria could count as dieting.

She nodded. "That's right. Mingyi used to eat in the cafeteria with us too. She even said the cafeteria food was very healthy. Hehehe, after eating it for three days, she lost several pounds."

Ruan Mingyi: "..."

Song Zhining nearly failed to hold back her laughter. "It seems Miss Ruan and we aren't from the same world."

Ruan Mingyi frowned. "Isn't it just cafeteria food? Today, I'm going to finish every last bit of this."

Ruan Mingyi immediately began shoveling food into her mouth.

Two exquisitely dressed young heiresses, extravagantly wealthy from head to toe, with even their hair seeming to smell fragrant, sat at shabby tables and chairs, eating cabbage and tofu from metal trays. At first glance, the scene was rather comical.

"Didn't they say Shen Qingling threw away his dignity for money? Why is it the young lady who threw away her dignity, dressing like that just to eat in the cafeteria?"

"Damn, she just casually set a bag worth over a million on that greasy dining table. As expected of a young lady."

"Shen Qingling barely even looked at her and hardly said a word to her. This is called abandoning her dignity for love? The one abandoning her dignity is the young lady, isn't it?"

"Song Zhining is sitting right beside him too. Didn't someone dig up on the trending searches that she's the Song Corporation heiress? If Shen Qingling were really being kept, would Song Zhining still be sitting there chatting and laughing with him? That post is obviously nothing but a rumor."

"Come on, there are plenty of people jealous of the male god. Anyone who believes it is an idiot."

"But Shen Qingling is really impressive. Ruan Mingyi's family isn't just ordinarily wealthy. For him to make a young lady like her go this far, he must have something special."

Ruan Mingyi had encountered aloof men before, but Shen Qingling was the first one this unusual.

If she said he was impervious to everything, he had still agreed to dinner for the sake of some colleague who was barely related to him.

If she said he was easy to pursue, he had taken dinner in its most literal sense: just eating, nothing else.

"Shen Qingling, I don't think this meal should count as the one you agreed to."

"Didn't we eat together? Is Miss Ruan going back on her word?"

"No, you clearly know that the dinner I meant wasn't just dinner."

"Sorry, I didn't know. I thought you simply wanted to experience our Jiang University cafeteria."

"Fine, even if I did want to experience the cafeteria, could you have another meal with me somewhere outside? Eating one meal won't do anything to you."

Song Zhining blinked. "That may not be true. Today, just walking through the academic building together got him rumored about. If someone took photos of Shen Qingling eating at an upscale restaurant, he really wouldn't be able to clear things up anymore."

Ye Qiao asked unhappily, "Miss, may I ask what your relationship with Shen Qingling is...?"

The implication was that Song Zhining was meddling in someone else's business.

Song Zhining blinked. "We're classmates. Is that not allowed?"

Ruan Mingyi curled her lips into a smile. "Since you're neither his girlfriend nor someone pursuing Shen Qingling, you don't seem qualified to refuse on his behalf."

Song Zhining's breathing caught, and she looked toward Shen Qingling.

The young man simply looked at her, as though he too was curious why she kept acting this way.

Song Zhining twisted her fingers together, her heart growing tense.