My Villain Is Super Sweet (GL) - CHAPTER 34

Even though there was a “carrot” dangling in front of her—getting to spend the night alone together—Lin Lang was quite satisfied, she still pushed her luck and asked for a little treat upfront, calling it “interest compensation.”

In the end, it was Gu Qingci herself who applied lipstick on her. Only then did Lin Lang generously forgive her.

The young lady leaned in close, their breaths mingling, carefully and thoroughly applying the lip gloss to every part of Lin Lang’s lips, bit by bit.

The process was a little too intense—after all, they were still in the office. Even though it was unlikely anyone would barge in, her heart was still racing the whole time.

By the time the lip gloss was finally done, Lin Lang was satisfied—and the young lady’s face had turned pink.

After coaxing Lin Lang into a good mood, the young lady shot her a playful, slightly embarrassed glare. She covered her flushed face with the back of her hand and quickly left the office.

If she didn’t leave now, something entirely predictable might really happen.

After walking out of Lin Lang’s office, Gu Qingci headed to the lab. She passed through several security doors and went inside to find Yuan Ying.

The accidental discovery they made was really just a byproduct of their research project. It wasn’t something they could use themselves—it would most likely be sold.

As for the price? That would depend on the final test results—what its upper and lower limits turned out to be.

But before the results came in, all the work still had to be done properly. For example, the data had to be sealed and stored confidentially.

The two of them sorted through the documents while chatting.

Yuan Ying admired the fact that Gu Qingci had finished her PhD in just two and a half years, but she was also a little curious. “Why were you in such a rush to graduate early? That must’ve been exhausting. Our project still has a long way to go before it’s ready for production—you totally had time.”

Well… about that.

Gu Qingci wasn’t about to admit she’d rushed back home to date someone and live happily ever after.

So she just said vaguely, “It actually wasn’t too bad. I decided early on during my first summer break that I wouldn’t come home, so I used that time to finish some of the courses ahead of schedule.”

Her sister Gu Minglan hadn’t let her come home that first year because she didn’t want her caught between their parents.

The second year, she stayed put just so she could come back for good even earlier.

“Later, I wanted to come back sooner. I evaluated the situation—since I’d finished most of my coursework, and if I could get into a lab early and skip summer breaks, I figured I could graduate ahead of schedule. So I applied.”

They talked for a bit about how miserable and exhausting the PhD experience had been. Somehow, it felt like they’d gone back to the way things were when they studied at Huada together.

Maybe now that they finally had results, Yuan Ying felt like she could finally relax. That tension she’d been holding onto, forcing herself to keep going, had started to fade. Her whole demeanor looked lighter and more at ease.

She looked at Gu Qingci sincerely and said, “Thank you, Qingci. You gave me two chances.”

If it hadn’t been for Gu Qingci agreeing to work with her in the end and pulling her out of the trap set by President Luo, she couldn’t even imagine what her future would’ve looked like.

Gu Qingci smiled and gently corrected her. “I only gave you one chance. The second time—we gave each other a chance.”

After all, the only thing she’d done back then was invest eight million yuan because Yuan Ying was part of the project. She hadn’t added a single cent more after that.

The money to fund EF8’s independent lab for the past year had come entirely from the returns on that original investment.

Her shares in President Luo’s company were now worth over 100 million yuan. Sure, EF8’s lab had required a lot of funding, but before they had results, it wasn’t worth much.

So not only did she manage to pull out an entire lab and team, but President Luo also had to pay her nearly twenty million on top of that.

And now, she’d also earned Yuan Ying’s heartfelt thanks.

Honestly, she’d hit the jackpot.

Of course, the reason she’d invested that eight million in the first place was because Yuan Ying had been the core of the project. But Yuan Ying had gone all in for love and ended up handing everything over to President Luo.

Yuan Ying understood what she meant. Her smile carried a hint of bitterness as she let out a long sigh. “I’m not trying to make excuses for myself, but at the time, I really had no choice.”

“I really did care about him back then, but not to the point where I lost my head. I always knew who deserved credit. I could tell the difference.”

“That eight million I got from you—that was the easiest funding I ever received. Before that, and even after, whenever we went to look for investors, the moment they saw the project lead was a woman, most of them didn’t even bother talking. They just rejected us outright.”

That was when she truly realized—no matter how much people talk about gender equality, or claim that women have more opportunities now—it was all just nonsense. Carefully crafted lies.

Discrimination is everywhere in society and daily life. It’s just become more subtle.

And it’s always disguised as “kind advice” to brainwash you.

During her startup journey, she’d heard these kinds of comments countless times—from investors, family, and friends alike.

“Starting a business is tough. It’s stressful. If I invest in you, and you can’t handle it, I’ll lose my money.”

“Why work so hard as a woman? Just live a comfortable life.”

“Let the men do the heavy lifting. Women should be treated better—just take care of yourself.”

And those were the nice ones.

There were worse.

Some people would ask with a smirk, “Who’s backing you? Must be someone generous, sending a pretty girl out to the front like this.”

Or: “I don’t invest in women. They get married and have kids within two years. How could they possibly focus on running a company?”

Later, when President Luo suggested replacing her as project lead, she did hesitate. Things had gotten so tough. Without new investment, the project would fail, and Gu Qingci’s money would go down the drain. President Luo used that to pressure her—and accused her of not trusting him.

After a while, she was exhausted and gave in.

She almost buried herself in that pit.

By the end of her story, Yuan Ying’s eyes were red. “Anyway… thank you.”

Gu Qingci brushed a strand of hair from her face, looking a bit embarrassed for once. She spoke honestly, “When I first found out what had happened, I didn’t plan to do anything about it.”

To be blunt, whether Yuan Ying stayed or not didn’t affect her own interests. And frankly, she had been disappointed—by Yuan Ying’s blind trust in people, her carelessness, her lack of caution.

“But then… you gave me so much,” Gu Qingci said with genuine feeling.

This research that had only existed in Yuan Ying’s head—once it started taking shape, it really did look promising. If it succeeded, it would be a goldmine.

Like a goose laying golden eggs!

Yuan Ying was amused by her exaggerated expression and laughed.

She had hesitated before deciding to reach out—unsure who she could trust to help her turn things around. After all, this was her final card. If the person she turned to turned out to be just as bad, she wasn’t sure she could survive it.

That time had been unbearable. She’d taken a leap of faith in approaching Gu Qingci.

There’s a saying: if you need help, ask the person who’s helped you before—not someone you once helped.

Luckily, they’d both made the right bet.

Just then, Gu Qingci’s phone buzzed with a message. She glanced at it and saw that the paperwork was almost finished. “Yao Quan says he wants to talk to me. I’ll go see what it’s about.”

Yuan Ying hesitated for a moment before finally speaking up. “He’s probably going to talk to you about Lin Lang.”

Someone actually wanted to talk to her about Lin Lang? Now that was rare. Gu Qingci raised an eyebrow. “What about her?”

Yuan Ying sighed. “Lin Lang didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just that Yao Quan’s team wanted to recruit men. He didn’t want any women. So the two of them got into a fight.”

That got Gu Qingci’s attention. Someone actually argued with Lin Lang?

Wow. That guy was brave.

Her eyes lit up with gossip-loving curiosity. “So what happened? How did they fight?”

If it were anyone else, she might’ve acted a little more reserved. But Yuan Ying was her senior—no need to be polite.

Yuan Ying gave her a helpless look but told her anyway.

It was simple, really. In October, after the project made a breakthrough, they needed to start prep work for production. Naturally, the lab needed to hire more people.

It happened to be peak campus recruitment season. But as a small, newly formed lab, they couldn’t compete with established companies or institutions.

Most of the candidates came through internal referrals.

In the end, Lin Lang picked the four applicants with the highest combined scores—based on written exams, interviews, and hands-on tests.

Three women, one man.

Yao Quan wasn’t happy. “Women don’t have as much strength. Some of the tasks are physically demanding. I need at least two men. Even if their scores are lower.”

Lin Lang’s expression was priceless when she heard this nonsense. “Aren’t we supposed to be using our brains in this lab? If something heavy needs moving, just spend a couple hundred yuan and hire a security guard. Way more efficient.”

Yao Quan insisted it wasn’t the same—if outsiders like security guards entered the lab, what about confidentiality?

He threw out a ton of arguments, claiming Lin Lang didn’t understand anything. That she was only brought in by Gu Qingci to handle admin stuff and play support. That she had no right to make decisions and should’ve just followed his instructions.

Something in that speech must’ve hit a nerve, because Lin Lang went off.

“We all worked our butts off to get into good schools and graduate with top scores, and now we’re supposed to compete based on strength? Then what’s the point of education? Might as well go lay bricks after middle school.”

“Let’s be real, Yao Gong—how much heavy lifting actually happens in this lab? One percent? Less? And for that one percent, we’re supposed to hire based on physical strength instead of skills and performance? Where’s the logic in that?”

She practically pointed at his face and asked, “Where’s your brain?”

Yao Quan was so mad, he stormed out.

And Lin Lang, not one to let things go, muttered behind him, “If you want strong guys, why not go recruit bricklayers from a construction site?”

She didn’t say it loud, but just loud enough for him to hear.

His face turned all kinds of ugly.

Gu Qingci was thoroughly entertained.

She genuinely didn’t understand why Yao Quan would pick a fight with Lin Lang—of all people!

Lin Lang was already so well-behaved around her, and even then, she still got teased regularly.