My Villain Is Super Sweet (GL) - CHAPTER 31

Gu Qingci felt that, given the amount of flirty lines she’d heard this past year, she could probably write a whole thesis titled: “What It Feels Like to Have a Smooth-Talking Partner.”

She strongly suspected that if it weren’t for the 8,000 kilometers of physical distance between them, acting as a buffer, she would’ve long been swept away by Lin Lang’s constant teasing—dizzy, bewitched, and ready to throw herself into her arms.

Yes—throw herself, not lose herself.

Whenever they flirted, Lin Lang always left her wanting to test things out for real.

She really wanted to see if Lin Lang was as good as she claimed.

After all, practice is the only way to verify the truth, right?

And what if Lin Lang was all talk and no action? Then she’d at least get to laugh at her!

Of course, ideally, Lin Lang would actually live up to her words and follow through. Gu Qingci was even willing to give up her right to mock her, just for the sake of seeing her prove it.

As her thesis was finalized and the date of her early graduation defense drew near, Gu Qingci started feeling more and more nervous—uneasy and full of conflicting thoughts.

Part of her anxiety came from the upcoming defense, which would determine whether she could graduate smoothly. But a bigger part was because the closer she got to the defense date, the closer she was to returning home.

And that also meant—she was getting closer to finally seeing Lin Lang in person.

It was that feeling of nervous excitement when you’re almost home. No matter how much mental preparation she’d done, no matter how many times she imagined their reunion, when it came down to it, her heart still raced uncontrollably.

She had countless worries in her heart.

After all, romance was totally unfamiliar territory for her.

It was fresh, thrilling, and full of temptation—undeniably attractive. But at the same time, it came with uncertainty. Her emotions were now tied to someone else, making her afraid of losing control or failing to get what she truly wanted.

And for them, jumping straight from a long-distance relationship to living together—that was completely uncharted territory.

Whenever she had free time, she couldn’t help but overthink.

Do they know each other well enough?

Can they get along, be patient and understanding?

Will their daily life be compatible?

…

She knew this kind of thinking wasn’t quite right. She never used to be like this.

At least a year ago, when she first started feeling something for Lin Lang, her attitude was: “Whatever, it’s worth a try.”

Not: “What happens next? What if it goes wrong?”

Despite her anxiety, she still managed to analyze her feelings rationally.

It was probably because she’d invested more and more into this relationship over the past year. The emotional sunk cost was high, which made the potential risk feel even greater.

That’s why she was getting anxious—starting to worry about all sorts of what-ifs. Like, what if the return on investment wasn’t as expected? What if it all ended in failure and she lost everything?

…

She sighed in frustration, tugged at her hair, and thought dramatically, Whatever, let the future flood come if it wants. I’m just gonna sleep now!

After that little meltdown, Miss Gu actually felt a lot better. She let go of all her worries and felt completely relaxed.

Then she compared this to all her “investment projects” since college—and felt even more reassured.

Numbers don’t lie. She’d had more wins than losses, with her assets multiplying several times over.

That meant she had a good eye—her investment success rate was high!

So this new “project”—this unquantifiable, instinct-driven relationship with Lin Lang—should also continue to rise, right? No downturns in sight!

While she was waiting for her defense, Gu Qingci stayed busy. On the side, she quietly looked into He Jikai’s recent situation through mutual friends on social media.

After sorting through a bunch of complicated and possibly misleading info, she discovered something interesting.

He Jikai had been spending a lot of time with Li Pei over the past two years in the US. The Li family’s main business was retail chains, which connected well with the He family’s real estate development. So at first, everyone thought this meant an arranged marriage was on the table. But then, right after summer break, they suddenly cooled off.

Before that, he’d occasionally visit her, invite her out—his methods weren’t exactly the same as when he pursued Gu Qingci, but they were close.

Gu Qingci clicked her tongue, unimpressed.

He Jikai’s behavior was just… unappealing.

Maybe it was because he’d failed so badly with her two years ago that his reputation in the social circle took a hit. Families that cared about their daughters wouldn’t even consider him anymore.

People used to praise him, saying, “Like father, like son.” But after his social stock dropped, he probably started panicking and getting sloppy.

His methods of wooing someone were so lacking in creativity. She really didn’t get where his confidence came from.

Compared to Lin Lang, he was nothing.

And the timing of He Jikai’s sudden disinterest was suspicious.

It made her even more certain that he’d been ordered by He Weimin to pursue Lin Lang.

She rested her chin in her hand and thought it over for a while, finally deciding that once she was back home, she’d find a chance to persuade Lin Lang to get a paternity test. Because unless Lin Lang had some unknown family secret, He Weimin’s obsession with her just didn’t make sense.

He looked like a complete lunatic!

As for Li Pei, Gu Qingci subtly got some info from Tao Xia, and what she learned made things even more interesting.

She had a great memory. Lin Lang had mentioned a nightmare to her twice, and combining the details, Li Pei seemed to be the “engaged fiancée” from that dream—a girl from a declining wealthy family.

Lin Lang’s description was vague to the point of frustration—just a surname. And “Li” was such a common surname. In their social circle alone, there were three or four Li families. Add to that just two traits: someone who studied art and was good at painting.

But seriously, wasn’t that the go-to major for rich kids who couldn’t inherit the family business?

And while Li Pei did study painting, her main career was actually jewelry design.

And she was already quite successful at it.

As for the “declining family” bit—well, that was sort of true. In recent years, the Li family had been on a downward slope financially, their earnings looking pretty rough—hovering near losses.

But it’s not like they were struggling.

They had shopping malls and stores they bought years ago that had skyrocketed in value. Property they bought for 7–8k per square meter now sold for 200–300k.

Their prime properties alone were worth at least 10 billion. They were low-key rich, for sure.

Most importantly, Li Pei was known for being emotionally distant. She wasn’t close to her family, and didn’t seem to need romantic connections either. Casual flings were fine—for fun or artistic inspiration—but emotional attachment? Nope.

It seemed like all her love and passion went into jewelry design.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have achieved so much at such a young age.

Maybe that’s why: With no man in her heart, her designs are divine.

Meanwhile, Lin Lang had no idea how much Gu Qingci had been stressing.

When she noticed that Gu Qingci seemed nervous and anxious, she assumed it was about the thesis defense and tried to comfort her, full of confidence: “You’re amazing! You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

She even said, “It’s not like you need the degree to land a job or anything. Once the project gets into production, your net worth is going to skyrocket!”

Her off-topic comfort made Gu Qingci want to laugh and cry. She was the one getting all emotional and overthinking things—while Lin Lang seemed carefree, just waiting for her to come home so they could finally be together.

It was enough to make her grit her teeth in frustration.

As December approached, Lin Lang got more and more excited. Besides joyfully fixing up their new home and sending Gu Qingci photos of every finished part, she was also looking for a small factory in the suburbs of Beijing and buying the necessary equipment.

The scientific breakthrough was one thing, but turning it into a real product still had a long way to go. The small factory and equipment were for test runs and debugging.

She was in such high spirits that even the fact her company had just shut down three branches couldn’t ruin her mood.

Thanks to a new high-value car loan project, profits had tripled. Even though only one branch remained and they had some bad debts, this year’s earnings were still expected to hit 70–80% of last year’s.

That was definitely something to celebrate!

But as the saying goes, “Extreme joy begets sorrow.” The ancients really knew what they were talking about.

In early December—less than half a month before Gu Qingci’s return—while Lin Lang was happily picturing their wonderful life together, she got a video call from her girlfriend.

On the screen, the always calm and elegant Gu Qingci looked totally panicked, like the sky was falling: “Lin Lang, something terrible happened—my mom said she’s coming to pick me up!”

All Gu Qingci had been thinking about was reuniting with Lin Lang. After all, her biggest investment project was in Beijing, her girlfriend was in Beijing, and their new home was in Beijing. So obviously, she thought she’d fly directly there.

It never occurred to her that her first stop back in China would be her hometown, Rong City!

But then her mom called and sweetly asked about her flight plans, happily saying, “Let me know when you book your flight—I’ll come pick you up!”

Gu Qingci froze, looking at her mom in confusion: “Huh?”

Her mom was in Rong City. Was she planning to fly to Beijing to pick her up?

That… wasn’t really necessary. Lin Lang would definitely be there.

Thankfully, she didn’t blurt out her confusion right away.

Her mom laughed at her dazed expression and said cheerfully, “You’ve been away for a year—it’s only natural for Mom to miss you and want to see you as soon as possible. Plus, your grandparents and uncle are all eager to see you. Let’s have a family meal and celebrate your graduation.”

Gu Qingci: …

Under her mom’s warm gaze, she lowered her head, both guilty and embarrassed.

Sorry, Mom. I’ve been so caught up in thoughts of flying off with Lin Lang that I kind of forgot about everyone else…

When her mom heard she planned to go to Beijing, she frowned for a moment, then quickly smiled and said, “Then I’ll come stay with you for a while. I still have unused vacation days!”

She sounded excited: “And since your place is ready, I’ll help you ‘warm the house.’ Isn’t it bad luck to move into an empty home? Let’s invite Lin Lang, too.”

Now Gu Qingci was panicking even more. What if her mom saw how romantically they’d set up the bedroom? Especially the bathtub—total embarrassment!

But how could she say no? That would make it super obvious something was up!

On one hand, she was sad she wouldn’t get to jump Lin Lang right away—she’d been yearning for her for so long.

But on the other hand, she was also secretly relieved. Even though she’d mentally prepared and done her homework, the idea of getting off the plane and straight into bed was still a bit scary.

Now, at least she’d have a few days to adjust and ease into it.

So as soon as she hung up with her mom, she rushed to tell Lin Lang.

Danger ahead! Hide everything you can—quick!

After hearing the whole story—and realizing that Gu Qingci’s mom was coming to stay for at least ten days or so—

Lin Lang felt like her sky had just collapsed too.