The Cold, Aloof Dominatrix After Parasitically Entering a Rich Family - Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Suspicion: “Jie-jie, I’m actually a Cuscuta spirit.”

Although only half-believing Tu Si’s words, Tan Ke meticulously reviewed every meal Gong Shayu had consumed since returning to Z City. Every single step and procedure stood up to scrutiny.

The phone in her palm suddenly vibrated. It was a voice message from Tu Si.

Her assessment of Tu Si went from below sea level to level with it. This incident showed that the “boss’s wife” the boss had suddenly brought back at least had the boss’s interests at heart.

Tan Ke’s finger hovered over the red dot, then quickly dropped. The voice message opened: “It’s not just food; it’s also the air. They can enter the body through the skin and still poison animals.”

Animals…

Ignoring the discomfort caused by those two words, Assistant Tan thought that nothing was more important than President Gong’s health. She stopped hesitating and immediately called Dr. Wang, the attending physician.

“What?” The doctor, who had just finished a surgery, was startled by Tan Ke’s description.

Gong Shayu’s identity was special. The Gong family had their own hospital and private doctors. Tan Ke had brought Gong Shayu here precisely to prevent her “family” from knowing her health status.

“It’s not impossible,” the doctor said. “Our test results are all within a numerical range. It’s just that when all indicators point to one illness, coupled with clinical presentation, we can generally draw a conclusion.”

“If possible, have President Gong come back next week for a follow-up to see if the peak values have changed.”

After hanging up, Gong Shayu returned from her meeting. “Did you drop her off?”

She walked straight to her executive chair, with Fang Yu close behind.

“Yes.” Tan Ke tried to discreetly ask if Gong Shayu had eaten anything when she wasn’t around these past few days.

In short, Tan Ke was conflicted: on one hand, she found Tu Si’s statement ridiculous and worried that if the boss thought she was this unreliable, it wouldn’t be good.

On the other hand, she was concerned that if the canary’s warning was true, it meant a severe lapse in her own work.

Just as Tan Ke was about to speak, Gong Shayu asked: “What do you think of Tu Si?”

“? What aspect are you referring to?” Tan Ke felt guilty. Had Tu Si already mentioned this to Gong Shayu, and the boss wanted her opinion? But she still had no idea what was going on…

Gong Shayu scrutinized Tan Ke, examining the assistant from a woman’s perspective for the first time.

About the same height as me, but a bit sturdier. And her chest… at least two sizes smaller than mine. And what’s with this face?

Her eyes aren’t as big as mine, her nose isn’t as defined. That heroic look between her brows, the features of someone who looks perpetually starved, and her skin is tanned almost the color of soy sauce, making her look sickly yellow. What does Tu Si see in her?

“Every aspect,” Gong Shayu said coldly.

Tan Ke finally realized the murderous look in Gong Shayu’s eyes today. She shot a questioning and pleading look at Fang Yu.

Fang Yu shrugged slightly, indicating he was clueless.

Meeting Gong Shayu’s eyes again, Tan Ke suddenly understood: it must be her previous attitude toward Tu Si that angered President Gong.

She deliberately put on a natural expression: “Miss Tu is pretty, cute, and smart. After getting to know her, she’s actually quite nice.”

Gong Shayu nodded: “Exactly. Too bad she’s already married.”

“Mhm, mhm…” Tan Ke nodded in agreement, then suddenly realized her mistake: “Not too bad, not too bad! Marrying President Gong isn’t bad at all!”

Fang Yu quickly covered his eyes, pretending he saw and heard nothing.

Tan Ke immediately dug her own grave further: “Ah, I mean Miss Tu and you are a perfect match, a perfect match.”

“What did you two talk about on the way?” Gong Shayu asked in a very serious tone.

Tan Ke trembled. Even a person as tough as her couldn’t withstand this pressure, and President Gong really did seem to have misunderstood something.

After careful consideration, Tan Ke decided to confess. She glanced at Fang Yu, who quickly responded by indicating he would report back later.

“It’s fine, stay put.” Gong Shayu thought a witness would prevent others from calling her narrow-minded.

“P-President Gong.” Tan Ke swallowed. “Miss Tu suspects you’ve been poisoned.”

“Hmph,” Gong Shayu sneered. “Then why didn’t she tell me? Why tell you?”

See? Even President Gong thinks this is ridiculous. But why didn’t Tu Si tell the boss directly and instead told her?

Tan Ke had a headache. This is between you two. How am I supposed to know? “M-Maybe she was afraid you’d overthink it?”

Gong Shayu: “I think you’re talking nonsense!”

Tan Ke was on the verge of tears: “It’s true! I asked Dr. Wang. Your test indicators don’t rule out the possibility of chronic poisoning. She suggested you come back for a follow-up next week.”

Hearing this, the documents in Fang Yu’s hand dropped to the floor with a “thud.” “Dr. Wang? Test indicators? President Gong… what’s wrong with you?”

Tan Ke’s face was pale: “President Gong’s last fainting spell, the hospital result… leukemia.”

“Ha? What are you saying? Didn’t you say it was due to fever and overwork?” Fang Yu looked at Gong Shayu in disbelief.

Gong Shayu nodded.

She suddenly recalled how unusually gentle and affectionate Tu Si was last night. When she woke up this morning, she felt much more refreshed. If someone was poisoning her, and Tu Si was this… satisfied?

More importantly, how did Tu Si know? And why was her assessment even more accurate than the doctor’s?

“Repeat every single word Tu Si said to you.”

That familiar, eerie feeling returned. Since they first met, Tu Si had been surrounded by mysteries. Leaving aside the various odd events in Yalugang, how could Tu Si know the long-forgotten detail that her mother was a teacher—a fact neither she nor Aunt Yun knew?

…

Tu Si didn’t know that the “secret” she and Tan Ke agreed not to tell Gong Shayu was already known to both Gong Shayu and Fang Yu.

At lunchtime, Bai Dandan stood outside Tu Si’s dorm room.

“Little Flower, want to eat together?”

Tu Si rarely refused an invitation to eat. After a few days of classes, Tu Si found that school wasn’t as terrifying as Ma Yi had described, and her mood had brightened considerably.

Perhaps because winter was approaching, Tu Si now slept during the day and also at night, making her still a bit lethargic.

“Okay.” Tu Si stepped onto her skateboard and left the dorm.

Bai Dandan looked at the skateboard and smiled at Tu Si: “I invited a friend along. She’s a Peacock spirit.”

Hearing this, Tu Si finally perked up. She was about to gain another spirit friend.

Tu Si didn’t realize the level of impact she and Bai Dandan created walking side-by-side on campus. The Peony spirit was already the campus beauty, drawing attention wherever she went.

Tu Si was usually a sight-harvester herself, but she was often “unusual.” Due to the unique texture of human hair, coupled with Tu Si’s dislike for using a hairdryer, her hair was left to fate after every wash. If she was lucky, it was loose and casual. In its regular state, it was a mess.

Today, Tu Si was in her regular state, but the addition of the skateboard dragged her forcefully to the other end of the human aesthetic scale.

This caused the attention previously focused on Bai Dandan to shift entirely to her.

“Your appearance is very attractive,” Bai Dandan commented.

To walk side-by-side with Bai Dandan, Tu Si rode with one foot on the skateboard and slowly pushed off with the other. Just then, she pushed off too hard, and the skateboard slid several meters away.

When the Cuscuta spirit finally caught up to Bai Dandan, she lazily said: “Perhaps, by animal aesthetics, I am prettier.”

Bai Dandan: “…”

The parasitic race really is thick-skinned.

The two spirits chatted and laughed their way to the cafeteria. The White Peony and the Peacock spirit were picky about human food. They wouldn’t eat spicy, salty, or sour food, eventually choosing a stall that specialized in snacks.

After selecting a table, Tu Si moved back and forth, carrying food about five or six times before finally stopping.

“Are you always this big of an eater?” The Peacock spirit couldn’t help but ask.

Tu Si finally shifted her attention from the food to the Peacock spirit.

The Peacock spirit was dressed differently from them.

Hu Die and Bai Dandan had both stressed the importance of not letting anyone know they were spirits.

But the Peacock spirit seemed desperate for people to know she was one. Not only did she wear a peacock hairpin on her head and a peacock necklace around her neck, but she also had a green peacock tattooed on the back of her hand.

During their conversation, Tu Si learned that she actually made a living by performing the Peacock Dance.

Tu Si’s admiration immediately overshadowed all her appetite.

“By the way, do you really not gain weight eating so much?” Bai Dandan frowned, watching Tu Si peel a shrimp. “Kong Meng (the Peacock spirit) and I can’t do it. We gain weight the moment we eat. We even gain weight drinking water…”

Tu Si dipped the peeled shrimp into some mustard soy sauce, put it in her mouth as if making a resolution, then grimaced at the spiciness, and asked mercilessly: “Isn’t being a little plump good?”

She then cruelly added: “I want to get plump, but I can’t.”

Kong Meng almost spat out her orange juice. Bai Dandan gently touched her hand, and time reversed to the instant Tu Si spoke. The Peony and the Peacock both said in unison: “Shut up.”

“Didn’t you say we shouldn’t use spiritual power?” Tu Si exclaimed: “You can actually reverse time!!!”

“Yes! I can finally rewind five seconds!” The White Peony was equally excited, standing up to hug the Peacock spirit. “Ah, five seconds!”

Seeing this, Tu Si also stood up in misplaced excitement, preparing for Bai Dandan’s embrace. But when the other girl turned to her, her eyes and intention were clear, but her body dared not touch her.

Tu Si: “…”

The Peacock spirit saw this and laughed, gesturing for Tu Si to sit down: “Don’t worry, it’s not that exaggerated. The Demon Management Bureau usually only handles spiritual power of Grade B and above. Only when they’re extremely busy do they lower the standard to Grade C. Our little antics don’t even count as Grade E.”

“The underlying logic for why the seniors tell us not to reveal our identity is this: once humans discover the existence of non-humans, they become fearful and curious. They’ll either drag you to a mental hospital or a biological research institute.”

“So, sometimes, you can do the opposite. Like me. I put all the peacock elements right out in the open. I even tell everyone I meet that I’m a Peacock spirit. When the truth appears in the guise of a lie, it becomes the best disguise.”

“When I accidentally expose my true form, they’ll just say, ‘Wow, that’s incredible!!! More like a peacock than a real peacock.’ ” The Peacock spirit laughed heartily: “Between you and me, I’ve released my true form twice on a crowded stage. The thrill was… chef’s kiss, amazing.”

Kong Meng spoke very fast and laughed too loudly. Tu Si heard everything, but she only understood one sentence.

…

In the evening, Gong Shayu drove to pick her up.

During the half-hour drive, Miss Gong repeatedly ran through every suspicious detail about Tu Si in her mind.

From the sense of disharmony at their first meeting to the inexplicable small details, she had even prepared a corresponding line of questioning for every point of doubt.

However, as soon as the car door opened, Tu Si, wrapped in a scent of grass and wood, said to Gong Shayu: “Jie-jie, I’m actually a Cuscuta spirit.”

After saying this, she didn’t forget to kiss her on the cheek.

Gong Shayu: “…”

Fine, I shouldn’t have doubted you!