Begging the Female Lead to Let Me, a Salted Fish, Go (GL) - Chapter 10
Gong Zhi remained silent for a moment, then turned to Shen Ying and smiled. “So what if I was stalking you?”
System: [Host, that’s going to make you sound like a creep.]
[Shut up! As long as I’m not embarrassed, someone else will be!]
Shen Ying was indeed shocked by Gong Zhi’s shameless statement. She furrowed her beautiful brows. “That… you…”
“What about me?” Gong Zhi raised an eyebrow. She noticed Shen Ying’s hesitation, and her initial sense of shame vanished, replaced by a feeling of entitlement. “Is there anything about you worth me stalking? Do you think I’d follow you to the point of coughing up bl00d? Hmm?”
The more Gong Zhi spoke, the more she believed her own words, and she couldn’t help but nod.
Shen Ying was speechless. She knew she had nothing worth Gong Zhi’s attention right now. But in her previous life, she hadn’t relied on herself alone to get revenge on the Gong family…
She lowered her eyes and chose to remain silent.
Gong Zhi, feeling she had won a round, was very pleased. She released the handbrake, started the car, and drove smoothly. The car quickly merged into traffic. The sky was getting a little dark, but they were driving in the opposite direction, so the horizon was still bright. It was as if they were desperately trying to escape the approaching darkness and heading toward the light.
Gong Zhi was very focused while driving, not giving Shen Ying a single glance.
Shen Ying was a little nervous at first, but she gradually let her guard down and just watched the scenery outside the window. The streets were both familiar and strange. She still felt as if something was hanging over her. She could finally breathe a sigh of relief about her mother’s illness, but she knew that if she wanted to change her destiny, she had a lot of work to do.
She also needed to get in touch with many people in advance.
Slowly, she closed her eyes.
In her dream, she was in quicksand, trying countless times to pull herself up. But each time, there were many strange coincidences that pulled her down, further and further.
Until darkness enveloped her.
Until she couldn’t see a single ray of light.
Shen Ying struggled to breathe and finally opened her eyes with a start.
The surroundings were dim. Through the car window, she could see a small, yellow street lamp ahead.
The light illuminated the road beneath it, as well as the two-story building that was faintly lit up in front.
This was a completely different scene than before she closed her eyes, and Shen Ying instinctively became alert. She shifted a bit and heard a quiet sound. She turned her head and saw Gong Zhi.
She was still in the car, sitting in the passenger seat.
Gong Zhi was still in the driver’s seat. The car was dark, with only the faint glow of the phone in Gong Zhi’s hand. Shen Ying glanced at it and saw the words “Big Brother.”
It was Gong Yi.
The name brought a sense of numbness to Shen Ying. The former attachment, joy, love, and hatred all seemed to have been cleansed with this new beginning.
She ignored the name and just looked at Gong Zhi.
Gong Zhi was wearing in-ear Bluetooth headphones, and the noise-canceling effect was so good that Shen Ying couldn’t hear a thing.
But Gong Zhi noticed Shen Ying’s gaze. She put a finger to her lips, signaling for silence.
It was a simple gesture, but paired with Gong Zhi’s slightly impatient and helpless expression, it looked much more playful. Shen Ying turned her eyes away, staring blankly ahead.
With a click, Gong Zhi turned on the car’s interior lights.
The soft light immediately dispelled the darkness, but the sudden brightness made Shen Ying instinctively want to shield her eyes. A hand then gently blocked the light from above her forehead.
Shen Ying turned and saw Gong Zhi looking at her.
Seeing that Shen Ying was looking, Gong Zhi slightly raised her hand. When she saw that Shen Ying’s eyes had adjusted to the light, she took her hand back.
Shen Ying was a little stunned. She had only known Gong Zhi for two days in this life, but she had already experienced her inexplicable consideration several times. In her memories, that spoiled girl would never have done that…
Why? Is she trying to get something from me?
“Brother… whose words do you believe more, mine or Weng Nan’s?”
Gong Zhi’s voice brought Shen Ying back to reality. Gong Zhi’s furrowed brows were now slightly raised, giving her cute face a sharp edge. “This person, I said I want her, so I have her. Why are you asking so many questions? Are you trying to steal her from me?”
The system cheered happily in Gong Zhi’s mind: [The host is so domineering! The female lead will definitely fall in love with you.]
[What nonsense, I don’t like women.] Gong Zhi couldn’t help but interrupt the system in her mind, which caused her to pause in her speech.
[Then what kind of man do you like, host?]
Gong Zhi replied coldly: [None. I’m asexual.]
The system was about to say more, but Gong Zhi frowned and blocked it.
Her pause seemed to have made her brother misunderstand something. She heard Gong Yi chuckle. “I’m not trying to steal her from you, but little sister, if this gets out, it won’t be good for your reputation. Having a woman to support, it’s just not right.”
“I’m not supporting her, I signed a formal employment contract,” with the system’s noise gone, Gong Zhi’s response was much smoother. “She will work for me and create value and profit.”
“Okay, okay, little sister, do you really believe she’s worth that much? Five million? Even if I were to spend that much, Dad would scold me. So what about you?”
Gong Zhi’s face darkened. She had a stubborn personality at heart, otherwise, she wouldn’t have worked herself to death in her past life. She gripped her phone tightly and said, word for word, “She can do it. I believe she can. Give me five years, and I’ll double her value.”
Gong Yi seemed to be taken aback by Gong Zhi’s words. He was silent for a moment before saying, “Making big claims won’t work. I’m sure Mom and Dad will be talking to you in a few days. If you keep this up, you’ll really become a joke. Listen to me, let me help you pay for this. I won’t compete with you, but don’t get too close to her. It’s only been two days, and you and Weng Nan have both come to me. This woman is not simple.”
“I don’t need it!” Gong Zhi replied firmly. “I’ll talk to Mom and Dad myself.”
With that, she hung up the phone.
Gong Zhi could hear her own breathing in the quiet car, which seemed a little loud. She took a deep breath and turned to look at Shen Ying. Shen Ying seemed surprised that Gong Zhi was looking at her, and a hint of panic flashed in her eyes. She quickly calmed down and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Gong Zhi thought for a moment before deciding to give Shen Ying a heads-up. “I’m giving you five years. Can you double your value?”
Shen Ying was stunned, then she understood. If she had heard this before her rebirth, she would have been scared and anxious. But now, she just smiled faintly and said, “As long as the platform is big enough.”
Gong Zhi’s tense expression immediately relaxed. She beamed, and in the light, her smile looked bright. “You can leave that to me.”
Can I trust her? Shen Ying looked at Gong Zhi. This girl was completely different from the one in her memories. She didn’t know the other person’s motives, and she wasn’t sure if she should trust her.
But at this moment, she felt a sense of relief. The other person was like a solid support, giving her a feeling of stability. She wasn’t a canary in a cage, admired from afar, and she didn’t have to sell her voice or body to please others.
On a whim, Shen Ying nodded.
[Darkness meter: 93.9]
Gong Zhi’s smile grew even wider. Of course, without that 0.9, she would have been even happier.
She started the car. “Then it’s settled. Tomorrow, I’ll take you to the company to look around first…”
Just as she was getting excited, Gong Zhi’s phone rang again. Gong Zhi answered it nonchalantly. The loud, boisterous voice on the other end almost pierced Gong Zhi’s eardrums and was clearly audible to Shen Ying.
“My sister! You’ve been absent from class for two days! Do you know that Teacher Miejue is about to turn into a mass murderer, the kind who kills on sight when she sees you?!”
Gong Zhi was stunned. She finally remembered that she was a twenty-year-old student who had been neglecting her studies for two days. She turned to face Shen Ying’s half-smiling eyes.
All the tough talk she had just said instantly felt like a student’s boast.
In that moment, Gong Zhi felt like the sky was falling and her face was burning with shame. Even the drop in the darkness meter couldn’t save her now.