After Transmigrating, I Married the Male Lead’s Sister (GL) - Chapter 51
“Why are your clothes wet?” Qin Qing asked. The window at the end of the corridor was left open, and the wind was rattling against the windowsill. Li Suimei shivered, and Qin Qing pushed her back into the room.
When she entered the room, she realized that Qin Qing was holding another candle.
Qin Qing helped her light the candle, “The power will be back on soon.”
“Is it because of the heavy rain?” Li Suimei asked.
Qin Qing nodded, “We’ll switch to the backup power soon. Go change your clothes first.”
Li Suimei replied, “Okay,” thinking that Qin Qing had really good eyesight, noticing even that.
The candlelight was dim, limiting her vision. Li Suimei searched for clothes in the dark room but couldn’t find them. She called out, “It’s too dark, I can’t see.”
Qin Qing took another lit candle to Li Suimei and pushed open the door. The girl was reaching up to pull down her skirt, revealing her beautiful, fair legs. Qin Qing took a step back and closed the door softly.
There was a knock on the door, and Li Suimei jumped. She loosened her grip, and the heavy skirt fell down to cover her legs. “What is it?”
Qin Qing replied, “…Come get the candle yourself.”
“Okay,” Li Suimei said.
She opened the door and looked around the room in the dim candlelight. Qin Qing was no longer there, and the door was securely closed. After she changed her clothes, the backup power came on, and Qin Bay was once again lit up.
The wetland park was the only residence in the area. In the heavy rain, Qin Bay was like a lone boat in the sea.
Li Suimei checked her phone. It was two in the morning, a time when most people were fast asleep. A message popped up from Ji Wenjing, “[Meimei, I’ve been thinking about it for days, maybe you shouldn’t get married.]”
Before Li Suimei could even open the chat box, the message was quickly retracted.
Ji Wenjing: [Baby, your mom and aunts just finished playing cards. Are you asleep?]
Li Suimei turned off her phone and pressed the remote control on her bedside table. The air conditioner turned on, instantly dispelling the stuffy feeling in the room.
Drowsiness washed over her, and before she closed her eyes, Li Suimei vaguely thought, Qin Qing seems to be quite nice to me recently…
The next day, Li Suimei went downstairs for breakfast. Liu Ruoxi and Qin Qing were sitting at the dining table. As soon as Liu Ruoxi saw her, she quickly asked Li Suimei to sit next to her.
Liu Ruoxi had been feeling very guilty since she hadn’t been there the day Gu Linxi came. She had been especially kind to Li Suimei in the past few days.
Liu Ruoxi peeled an egg for her and placed it in her bowl. The shiny egg was small and sat neatly in the bowl. Li Suimei smiled and gave the egg to Qin Qing, “Sister, thank you for bringing me the candle last night.”
Qin Qing nodded, ate the egg in a few bites, and then got up from the table. Li Suimei quickly scooped up some porridge and followed her.
“Qin—”
“Is there something you want?” Qin Qing stopped and turned around, her gaze cold.
Li Suimei said, “…I want to hitch a ride.”
“Wipe your mouth,” Qin Qing handed her a napkin and pointed to the corner of Li Suimei’s mouth.
“……”
So moody! So sarcastic! So…
Forget it!
The car sped along, and Li Suimei held up an exquisitely embroidered hand mirror and looked at herself for a long time, checking if there was any rice stuck to the corner of her mouth. Her ears turned red. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Qin Qing rested her chin on her hand and looked out the window indifferently, “Mm.”
This person was so unpredictable. One moment she was so gentle, bringing her a candle in the middle of the night, and the next morning she was cold as ice.
Li Suimei: “……”
Could a person change so much from day to night?
Li Suimei clutched the skirt on her lap. As far as she remembered, the book hadn’t mentioned that Qin Qing had a split personality.
*
*
Arriving at the company, Li Suimei and Qin Qing went upstairs together. There was going to be a meeting in the design department soon, and everyone was required to attend.
Li Suimei, no exception, felt strange. This was the first work-related meeting she had attended since joining the company.
With a flushed face, Li Suimei took a pen and paper from her desk drawer and followed her colleagues to the conference room.
Upon taking her seat, she realized how large the conference room was. Almost a hundred people from the entire design department were present!
Qin Qing sat in a side seat at the front. David was hosting the meeting. “Shall we begin?”
Qin Qing nodded, and David turned on the screen.
Li Suimei saw herself on it.
“Oh!”
“It’s…”
Her head was buzzing. In an instant, she realized that today’s project was her own engagement party.
Li Suimei pursed her lips and forced a smile that was more like a grimace.
The people around her looked at her, their congratulations becoming quieter, and their gazes gradually revealed pity.
—Having been cheated on by her fiancee, and replaced by a woman who was inferior in both appearance and family background, she didn’t know whether to be relieved or sad.
The engagement ceremony was particularly complex, overseen by the designer director, David. The designers offered various brilliant ideas. There were several designs for the invitation alone, and Li Suimei was to choose one she liked.
“Don’t underestimate this invitation. The first wave of excitement for a happy marriage depends on this invitation! Although electronic invitations are more popular now, but…”
“Mine has Chinese elements! For an engagement, it’s better to follow the old traditions.”
“Western style should be more trendy!”
“Dragons and phoenixes are good!”
“Old-fashioned!”
“Westernized!”
“…….”
Li Suimei’s head was spinning. Amidst the chaos, the designers were almost arguing about the appearance and font of the invitation alone.
She took out her phone, found Qin Qing’s WeChat, and gritted her teeth as she typed a message.
[Sister Qin Qing, do I have to plan this entire wedding myself?]
Qin Qing replied: [Your mother instructed me. Just pick whatever you like, you don’t have to worry about the rest.]
Li Suimei flipped through the sample engravings in front of her. The sound of several designers arguing filled her ears. She randomly picked one and slammed it on the table.
Everyone was instantly quiet.
“Oh!” David waved his hand exaggeratedly, “Sweetheart, you have great taste!”
Li Suimei looked sideways. David picked up the sample and showed it to everyone, “Let’s go with this one.”
The design was held up for all the designers to see. On the drawing, a phoenix was soaring upwards on the right side, while on the left side, a pair of intertwined dragons and snakes outlined a vague floral pattern.
The invitation was not the traditional bright red. The base color was a mix of white and gold, with the words in bright red.
At least among a pile of red invitations, this design stood out.
“Whose design is this?” David asked.
There was no response from the crowd.
Everyone looked at each other, and only Qin Qing, who was sitting at the top, moved her lips. “This won’t do.”
David asked, “Why? Isn’t the designer here?”
Qin Qing pushed her chair back and stood up, “No, they’re not.”
David held the invitation, shrugged at Li Suimei with both hands spread out, “Sweetheart, let’s choose another one!”
Li Suimei glanced at Qin Qing. Why was Qin Qing angry again?
“Okay.”
*
*
The engagement date was rescheduled, and suddenly it felt like there wasn’t enough time. In late August, Li Suimei had to go back to school to attend the school anniversary.
To make it easier to travel, she moved back to Jingyuan. Two days before returning to school, everyone in the group was still arguing about the mysterious keynote speaker invited to the anniversary.
Li Suimei asked, “Are you sure your information is correct? Is it Qin Qing?”
Fu Yanxiao yawned into the phone, “How could my information be wrong?”
Li Suimei hesitated, “Who invited her?”
Fu Yanxiao, “I don’t know. I guess it was you. Do you believe me?”
Li Suimei held her pen and tapped it twice on the phone screen, saying indifferently, “I don’t believe it.”
“You forwarded the school anniversary poster on your WeChat a few days ago. Go check the messages again.”
Li Suimei quickly dropped her pen, picked up her phone, and scrolled through it. A few days ago, she received a message from the class monitor asking all classmates to forward the school anniversary poster, which invited people from all walks of life to visit.
Li Suimei casually forwarded it and someone in the comments asked who she had invited.
Li Suimei casually replied, “One person.”
—Qin Qing liked the comment.
“That’s too far-fetched,” Li Suimei muttered.
Fu Yanxiao, “What?”
Li Suimei focused on her work, “Nothing, I still have designs to work on. I’ll hang up.”
“Wait!”
Li Suimei, “Hmm?”
“Meimei, you have to check the hot search!”
On the hot search, there are videos and photos of Hou Kai, the eldest son of the famous wealthy businessman Hou, frequently appearing in court.
“Didn’t they manage to suppress the news about Hou Kai doing drugs?” Fu Yanxiao asked.
“Nope,” Li Suimei replied.
She scrolled through her phone, and soon, a new trending topic caught her eye, “Hou’s stock prices are falling.”
Fu Yanxiao sighed, “The Hou family used to be so prosperous, but now…”
Li Suimei said, “It’s no pity. The Hou family has done a lot of bad things, taking advantage of their power. This time, it was only because of Qin Qing’s pressure that it was dealt with so quickly. The Hou family even wanted to offer half of their group’s business to Qin Qing in exchange for leniency, but she refused.”
“Half a group?” Fu Yanxiao exclaimed, “Even a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Half a group in exchange for Hou Kai…”
“What about Gu Linxi?” Fu Yanxiao asked again.
Gu Linxi?
Li Suimei chuckled, “She’s probably working at a bar now.”
Fu Yanxiao said, “People like her are just too afraid of being poor. Once she gets involved with Qin Zhan, she can’t let go.”
Li Suimei didn’t comment.
In the book, Gu Linxi completely lost her job. She went to work at a bar to earn money, and soon she would reunite with Qin Zhan. In the bar, Gu Linxi being harassed would become a crucial turning point in their relationship.
Approximately, this would happen in October, and by then, Li Suimei and Qin Zhan’s engagement would almost be ready.
The school anniversary arrived in the blink of an eye. Li Suimei got up early in the morning to put on makeup and dress up. When she was putting on her clothes, she realized she seemed to have lost a little weight.
It was probably because she had been too busy recently and had experienced too many emotional ups and downs. It was normal to lose a little weight. Li Suimei pinched her waist. Her abdomen was flat and not a pinch of fat. Her face seemed to have slimmed down a bit too, her chin was pointed, and her baby fat had faded.
She looked thinner overall.
While waiting for the elevator downstairs, Li Suimei ordered a dessert for Qin Qing as usual and had it packaged and sent over. Sending food to Qin Qing had become something she did every few days.
Her phone rang. Li Suimei glanced at it and saw that it was David calling her to check on the engagement venue.
Li Suimei hung up, and a message from Liu Ruoxi came in, asking if she had any special requests for the wedding favors.
Li Suimei: “……”
She replied to the messages one by one, and then rushed to the car to meet up with Fu Yanxiao before heading to City A together.
*
*
University A’s renowned art department was different from a comprehensive university. The art college was like an independent campus, with a very unique decoration. The rich kids would often donate buildings, and the original character had donated an exhibition hall in her freshman year, so she was quite famous in the school.
When Li Suimei arrived at the school, she was almost overwhelmed by the balloons at the entrance.
Fu Yanxiao exclaimed, “Wow, is your school so romantic? There must be tens of thousands of balloons!”
Li Suimei smiled, “A second-rate university, just nurturing a bunch of idle rich kids.”
Fu Yanxiao laughed loudly and slapped Li Suimei on the shoulder, “It’s not good to talk about your own school like that!”
Li Suimei almost lost her footing. Fu Yanxiao helped her steady herself and asked, “Why do you look so weak?”
Li Suimei licked her lips and didn’t speak. She pointed to the side, and a familiar car was parked at the school gate.
At the entrance, all the school’s big leaders came out to greet someone.
It was Qin Qing. No one could mistake that figure.
Li Suimei said, “She really came.”
Unlike Li Suimei’s expression, Fu Yanxiao was very excited, “Great! I haven’t seen Sister Qin Qing for more than half a month! Finally, I can see her again!”
Li Suimei said, “…Let’s go inside.”
The school anniversary started at 9 o’clock. Li Suimei and Fu Yanxiao arrived at the right time after getting off the plane.
The two of them found their seats and sat down, causing a small commotion.
“Hi,” Li Suimei greeted everyone with a sweet smile before sitting down.
“Hi!” Someone immediately extended an invitation.
Fu Yanxiao covered her mouth, “You’re so popular.”
“Who wouldn’t be when I’m a rich girl?” Li Suimei joked, referring to the three-story exhibition hall she had donated.
Fu Yanxiao said, “You’re so stingy but you still donated a building. No one can beat you in terms of seeking fame and fortune.”
Li Suimei helplessly flicked Fu Yanxiao’s forehead, “Say less, your idol is coming out.”
On the stage, Qin Qing walked up to the podium holding her speech. Her gaze swept across the crowd, which was filled with heads.
“Sister Qin Qing is so beautiful,” Fu Yanxiao said, cupping her face.
Li Suimei took out paper and a pen and started sketching. Her design inspiration came from Qin Qing, but she hadn’t had many opportunities to see Qin Qing recently.
On stage, Qin Qing was wearing a casual shirt with the buttons unbuttoned down to her neck. She had long legs and a slender waist, and she held her speech without looking at it. Her words and actions were relaxed and casual, very different from her strict demeanor at work. She used simple language and even occasionally made a few jokes.
The audience burst into laughter.
She gave her best wishes to the students, and every time she smiled, it was more beautiful than a blooming flower.
Li Suimei was so captivated by her that she forgot about her drawing.