Chapter 39: She Was Actually Grieving Over Another Man
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Sure enough, the news gradually died down over the next two days. However, the after-effects remained. Lin Che’s Weibo page was still being flooded with visitors. Contrary to expectations, her fan count had been steadily increasing so at least she had not been scolded for nothing. She also had some fame as an actress for the first time, which counted as her having some presence for the first time.
Right at this moment, Lin Che’s stepmother suddenly gave her a call and said to her, “Your elder sister’s engagement party with Qin Qing is this weekend. You can set aside some time to come, right?”
Lin Che’s heart stopped.
Were they going to be formally engaged?
Lin Che’s hand, which held her phone, trembled slightly. Still, she forced herself to put up a pretense of calmness. She said to Han Caiying through the phone, “Why do I need to go? Stepmother, are you inviting me right now?”
Of course, she did not want to go. She did not want to return home to see the distasteful faces of her family members, nor did she want to… see Qin Qing ultimately marrying someone else.
Han Caiying snorted and said, “Why? You dare not to come? Could it be that you still harbor some feelings for Qin Qing? If that’s the case, all the more you should come. Come and take a look so that it’s easier for you to give up completely.”
“Stepmother, I can’t do anything about it either if you insist on putting it that way.”
“Aiyo, is it just my words or is it actually what you’re thinking inside? I see that you’ve really been working hard these few days to compete with Lin Li. You even went to cotton up to Gu Jingyu so that you could be in the headlines. What a pity that Gu Jingyu could not be bothered with you at all. It took him barely two days to push down the news. Lin Li’s wedding this time will definitely be in the headlines. It’ll easily give you some opportunity to show your face. Won’t you come and freeload for the front page?”
As Lin Che listened to Han Caiying’s words, she thought to herself that she had a really rich imagination.
Although she did not know if it was Gu Jingyu who had pushed down the news, she could confirm that Gu Jingyu was definitely not as Han Caiying had described.
Finally, Han Caiying said, “Anyway, it’s up to you whether or not you want to come. If you really feel that you don’t want to see Qin Qing marry Lin Li, then don’t come.”
Lin Che listened as she hung up the phone. She sat there and unknowingly fell into a trance for a long time.
She sat there until Gu Jingze came in and saw Lin Che staring blankly ahead. He walked over to her and said, “What happened? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Lin Che looked at Gu Jingze. “To be honest, I kind of sympathize with Miss Mo.”
Gu Jingze’s gaze was turbulent as he looked at Lin Che. He did not know why she had suddenly brought up Mo Huiling.
“What happened to her? ”
Lin Che sat there hugging a pillow. “She will definitely be very sad to see me together with you. Watching someone she loves getting together with someone else, but not being able to do anything while still having to pretend to be magnanimous and indifferent is very heartbreaking. In actuality, maybe it saddens and haunts her at night, so much so that she cries alone under the blankets. But still, you’re by another woman’s side.”
As Lin Che said this, she lowered her eyes to hide them. Her long lashes were like half-open sandalwood fans that gently covered her clear eyes. Her porcelain-white face was overcast with bitterness and her distress was like a murmuring stream that gently flooded that pair of usually clear and bright eyes.
She smiled but although her brow curved, it made one feel tender and protective towards her.
She seemed to be talking about Mo Huiling, but she herself began to get weighed down with sorrow.
As Gu Jingze looked at her eyes, he felt slightly bitter for some reason. He kept feeling like she was not talking about Mo Huiling but about herself.
Gu Jingze could not help but frown and say, “You don’t need to be concerned about matters between me and Huiling.”
Lin Che snorted and looked at Gu Jingze. “Indeed, all men are bad, hmph.”
“… ”
Gu Jingze glared at her before standing up and walking out.
She really was a heartless woman.
However, his brow still wrinkled up. He knew that something was off with her and he wanted to know what exactly had happened to her.
In the study room, he looked at Qin Hao. “How’s your search coming along?”
Qin Hao said, “Sir, although I don’t know if this is what you’re looking for, it seems that the Lin family’s eldest daughter Lin Li and the Qin family’s Young Master Qin Qing are getting engaged this weekend.”
Qin Qing?
Was it the man who she had always liked?
Gu Jingze’s brow furrowed deeply. The gloomy expression on his face was intensely secretive.
Sure enough, she was not talking about Mo Huiling and him earlier, but about that man…
Could it be that she was still upset over that man?
Gu Jingze did not know why he felt even more uncomfortable.
Every day, she was on the bed and always slept earlier than him. Yet she still had the nerve to say that she tossed and turned at night while crying under the blanket?
He did not know why he started to feel more and more agitated. He gestured at Qin Hao to leave.
Qin Hao said, “Sir, then… ”
“Get out.”
Shocked, Qin Hao floundered and left frantically.
Although Lin Che did not want to go, her anger did not dissipate from thinking about it. It became more p.r.o.nounced when she thought about how Han Caiying had intentionally provoked her. While she understood that she had done so on purpose, Lin Che still could not help but fall for it.
Thus, Lin Che decided to attend the ceremony to have a look.
She attempted to borrow a formal dress through the company and when Yu Minmin heard that she needed it to go to Lin Li’s wedding, she immediately and generously offered to help get her a good piece.
Because Lin Li was, after all, a celebrity, her wedding with Qin Qing was a hot topic for a sizable number of people. It was likely that quite a few media outlets would be there on that day. They could take advantage of the situation and seize the opportunity for exposure. Of course, Yu Minmin was very happy.
On the day of the engagement, the skies were boundlessly clear.
However, Lin Che’s mood was instead so downcrest that it seemed to have hit rock bottom.
She went to the engagement venue in a car and when she alighted, she saw a few large words dazzling brightly at the resplendent and luxurious entrance of the hotel. The words were: May Lin Li and Qin Qing live a long and happy life together.
A long and happy life together…
Swallowing her bitterness, she told herself not to look at him again and not to think about him again. After today, he was no longer going to be the youth she dreamed of in her younger years, but someone else’s fiancé.
After getting out of the car, she sat on her wheelchair. Even though walking did not hurt so much now, she did not want to hobble around either since she had come to attend the engagement. In comparison, it was better to sit on a wheelchair like this.
She wheeled herself into the hotel in a blue formal dress, but before she even entered, her silhouette was discovered by a reporter at the hotel entrance.
“Look! That’s Lin Che, right?”
Lin Che was still zoning out when she saw several cameras starting to direct themselves at her. The reporters swarmed towards her, but were blocked by hotel security. However, they still asked Lin Che excitedly, “Did you come to attend your elder sister’s engagement? You and Lin Li are biological sisters, right?”
Lin Che could only smile good-naturedly.
The reporters vigorously took photos of her smiling face before continuing to ask again, “This time, you have scenes with Lin Li in the new television series. How does it feel for you two sisters to act together?”
“Did Lin Li invite anyone from the production team here?”
“Did Gu Jingyu receive an invitation. Will he come as well?”
“Lin Che, do you contact Gu Jingyu in private?”
It was Lin Che’s first time being surrounded like this. She did not think that because of the scandal this time, she would actually be recognized by the reporters in an instant.
Han Caiying was inside but with one look, she saw Lin Che outside presently being blocked by reporters so that she could not come in.
Looking at the fervent excitement, Han Caiying’s countenance darkened immediately.
What was this Lin Che anyway? How could she even have reporters going up to surround her and make her look so majestic?
Did she come to purposely steal the show?