I Deduce the Female Lead Likes Me [Transmigration into a book] - Chapter 9

Kou Shuang’s internship at Chunshen Gallery went smoothly. In less than a week, the touring exhibition ended ahead of schedule. According to Old Chun, this was because all the paintings displayed at this stop had been sold.

Kou Shuang was a bit confused and said, “Was it really that popular? I didn’t feel like there were that many customers.”

Old Chun laughed.

It was just a small touring exhibition, and the inventory prepared for each city was only about forty pieces, and the prices weren’t high. Even if they sold ten paintings a day, it would only take ten days. Old Chun asked Kou Shuang, “Do you think you could only sell ten paintings a day?”

Kou Shuang was surprised, “If they were so in demand, why didn’t they prepare more?”

“It’s all thanks to you. If it weren’t for you, we might not have sold them all,” Old Chun said. “You’re good-looking, customers find you pleasing to the eye, and their purchasing inclination naturally increases.”

Kou Shuang: “…”

Well, since he praised her so directly, she had no choice but to accept it silently.

On the afternoon the exhibition ended early, the decorations were torn down and thrown on the ground, and posters and brochures were scattered everywhere. Old Chun and Lux were working hard to pack up materials and move boxes, sweating profusely. Kou Shuang asked, “Is it just the two of you in this gallery?”

Old Chun pointed to himself and said, “Major shareholder,” and then pointed to Lux, “Second shareholder.”

“And HR,” Lux added, shamelessly.

Kou Shuang found it amusing and said, “Let me help you.” She then squatted down and stacked all the brochures at the entrance.

“Don’t throw them away—” Old Chun quickly shouted, “Put them in the back, we can sell them later!”

Kou Shuang turned and walked towards the back.

The gallery looked quite large, but there were only two of them, no wonder they were so desperate to hire someone. After spending three or four days with them, she thought they were decent people, so she didn’t mind helping with these small tasks.

She carried a small box to the back, which was very messy, with things scattered haphazardly, leaving almost no room to step.

“Old Chun, where do I put these things?” Kou Shuang shouted.

“Just put them wherever there’s space—” came the reply.

Kou Shuang felt a bit overwhelmed. She looked around with the box and found a small empty space. She moved over with difficulty and finally managed to squat down.

After putting down the box, Kou Shuang stood up and accidentally knocked off the top of a stack of wobbly boxes.

“Bang—” the object fell to the ground.

Kou Shuang scrambled to put the things back, and in the process, she saw a corner of a painting. She hadn’t paid attention at first, but the color scheme was too familiar…

Blue and white mixed, with red accents.

Wasn’t this the painting that the man with sunglasses had bought?

Kou Shuang’s heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively held her breath, then carefully lifted the canvas.

It was indeed “Miscellaneous Autumn”!

Kou Shuang paused, remembering their conversation from that day.

—What did you say?

—Let him check, National University’s reputation is very useful.

“Kou Shuang, what’s wrong?”

“N-nothing!” Kou Shuang replied loudly, carefully covering the canvas back and stacking the boxes again, saying, “It’s so messy in the back, it took me a long time to find a place to put it.”

Lux was standing at the entrance to the back, leaning against the doorframe and smiling. “That’s good. It’s very messy here, don’t look around too much, Old Chun might be hiding secrets.”

“What secrets?” Kou Shuang asked instinctively.

“I don’t know, you’ll have to find out what you’ve discovered. Women’s nudes or something? Hahahaha…”

Lux’s smile was gentle, no different from when Kou Shuang first met him. At that time, she had trusted him because of his smile, but now she shuddered for no reason.

Lux took a few steps into the room, and Kou Shuang’s heart started pounding. She thought he had discovered something, so she quietly grabbed a small pair of scissors on the table.

But Lux only walked to the desk and covered a notebook with his hand, saying, “Let’s go, Old Chun said he’s treating us to dinner.”

Lux acted naturally, but Kou Shuang noticed that what he had covered was a set of accounting records.

Kou Shuang stared at Lux, trying not to look at his hand, and asked with a smile, “What are we eating? I’m not eating barbecue, it’s too greasy.”

“No barbecue, you can order anything you want today,” Lux still smiled.

The smile, hidden in the shadows, looked particularly creepy. Kou Shuang didn’t know if he had seen her stack the boxes, so she could only try to smile.

Mommy, save me, I know this is a mystery novel! But Song Muxue isn’t involved, why is it so dangerous? It’s just an internship!

Kou Shuang’s heart was pounding, and her adrenaline was surging.

“Can’t I skip dinner?”

“Of course not,” Lux took a step closer to Kou Shuang, “We finally have a young lady here, what would the two of us old men eat if you didn’t join us?”

A sense of danger washed over her, and Kou Shuang felt her hair stand on end.

What was Lux going to do? Kill her to silence her?

Kou Shuang subconsciously took a step back, and her phone suddenly rang, startling her.

“Your phone is ringing, aren’t you going to answer it?” Lux smiled.

Kou Shuang looked down to find her phone and saw that it was Lu Renjia.

“Hello.”

“Kou Shuang, someone gave me two movie tickets, would you like to go to the movies with me?”

“When?”

“After you finish work, and we can have dinner afterwards?”

Kou Shuang glanced at Lux and agreed almost without hesitation, “Okay, then come pick me up at the gallery.”

“Really? Great, I’ll leave right away! Wait for me for half an hour!”

“Okay.” Kou Shuang hung up the phone.

Lux asked, “What’s wrong?”

Kou Shuang said calmly, “Sorry, I have plans this afternoon.”

“Oh, but Old Chun and I were the ones who invited you first! Who is it? If it’s not your boyfriend, I’m going to be upset,” Lux joked. “I’m going to be jealous!”

In this situation, Kou Shuang had no choice but to reluctantly agree, “It’s my boyfriend, we just started dating, so he’s a bit clingy.”

“Oh, okay. If you’re busy with your romance, you can leave early, Old Chun and I can finish up. Next time you intern, remember to save time for dinner,” Lux smiled.

“Then I’ll leave when he gets here. He said he’s already on his way.”

Kou Shuang left the back, finally having a chance to compose her stiff smile.

The painting… it was already sold! Why was it still in the back? Was the one the man with sunglasses bought a fake?

Why did Lux cover the accounting records?

Kou Shuang couldn’t explain why, but she had a feeling that the gallery had some hidden secrets, and she might have just glimpsed a part of them.

When Old Chun saw Kou Shuang come out, he said, “What were you two doing in the back for so long? I’m curious, I’ll have to watch the surveillance later.”

“There are cameras?” Kou Shuang asked instinctively.

“Oh, you’re really scared! Then I really have to see if you two did something unspeakable behind my back!” Old Chun laughed.

Kou Shuang’s heart sank. If the stacked boxes didn’t look suspicious, there was no way to hide the fact that she had lifted the canvas.

“Nothing happened,” Lux said, coming out of the back, “Kou Shuang has a boyfriend, I have to consider my morals if I want to make a move, right?”

Lux stood very close to Kou Shuang, and the goosebumps on her neck stood on end.

Kou Shuang forced a smile.

Kou Shuang continued to do chores in the gallery distractedly, but she refused to go back.

Fake paintings? Forgeries? A black market?

If there were cameras and they found out she had touched the painting, what would Old Chun and Lux do? Kill her to silence her? They didn’t look strong, would they hire a hitman?

While Kou Shuang was lost in her thoughts, Lux teased her, “Kou Shuang looks like a goddess, she’s so girly when she’s waiting for her boyfriend. Ah, it seems I have no chance at all.”

Soon, Lu Renjia arrived at the gallery on his motorbike. He took off his helmet and ran his hand through his hair as he walked over, looking quite handsome. Kou Shuang, surrounded by wolves, felt like she had seen a savior and rushed over, saying, “You’re here!”

Lu Renjia was a bit confused by Kou Shuang’s sudden enthusiasm and asked, “Are you very tired today?”

Kou Shuang grabbed his sleeve and said, “Let’s go see the movie, we’re going to be late.”

Lu Renjia smiled and said, “We’re not late yet, there’s still time. I didn’t expect you to really intern at Chunshen Gallery.”

Kou Shuang just wanted to pull Lu Renjia away, but he took a few steps into the gallery.

At that moment, Kou Shuang’s heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly remembered something.

She hadn’t told Lu Renjia where the gallery was, but he seemed to know it already, even knowing the “half-hour” travel time!

“Ah Jia, long time no see!” Old Chun greeted.

“Hey, Ah Jia, you’re Kou Shuang’s boyfriend? You’re so lucky! Share some of that luck with your brother!” Lux said.

“Boyfriend?” Lu Renjia was a bit confused and said, “We’re not boyfriends yet.”

“That’s what Kou Shuang said,” Lux said. “Ask her.”

Lu Renjia turned to look at Kou Shuang, his face not happy, but rather a bit… “awkward”?

Kou Shuang didn’t want to stay there for a confrontation, so she forced herself forward and took Lu Renjia’s arm, saying, “I want ice cream, McDonald’s has a two-for-one deal. Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

After a moment of silence, Lu Renjia finally matched Kou Shuang’s pace and walked out.

“Kou Shuang doesn’t have to come to intern tomorrow, take a few days off. Ah Jia, come and visit often!” Lux’s polite words echoed behind them.

Only after they left the gallery did Kou Shuang finally relax. She let go of Lu Renjia’s arm, feeling a bit sore.

Lu Renjia got on his motorbike but looked at her with an ambiguous expression and asked, “You told Lux I’m your boyfriend?”

Kou Shuang just wanted to leave quickly, so she got on Lu Renjia’s back and said, “He asked, so I just went along with it.”

Kou Shuang felt a bit guilty saying that, afraid that Lu Renjia would misunderstand.

But… Lu Renjia didn’t seem happy. He kept one foot on the ground, not starting the motorbike or saying anything.

“Let’s go,” Kou Shuang urged.

“…Okay, let’s go,” Lu Renjia sighed and put on his helmet.

The atmosphere during the movie was not very harmonious. Lu Renjia, who was usually so talkative, was silent several times. Kou Shuang was thinking about what happened in the gallery and didn’t think much of it.

After the movie, Kou Shuang held the unfinished popcorn and asked Lu Renjia, “Where are we going for dinner?”

Unexpectedly, Lu Renjia looked at her, his face hesitant. “Kou Shuang, we need to talk.”