The Villainess Is Pretending to Be Sweet Again Today (Transmigration) - Chapter 54

When Nuo Yang returned home and pushed open the door, the familiar aroma of home-cooked food immediately greeted her. The rich scent made her stomach growl with hunger.

She hadn’t eaten much at lunch today, having grown tired of the takeout options nearby. Nothing compared to Long Huaichang’s cooking.

Sneaking into the kitchen, Nuo Yang pinched a piece of braised pork with her fingers and popped it into her mouth.

After cooking for over a year, Long Huaichang’s skills had only gotten better—it was absolutely delicious!

Nuo Yang was about to reach for another piece when a familiar voice suddenly came from behind her.

“Sister, you didn’t wash your hands before eating.”

Nuo Yang jolted and turned to see Long Huaichang holding two bowls of rice. “My hands aren’t dirty,” she retorted.

Long Huaichang set the rice down and took Nuo Yang’s hand, leading her to the bathroom to wash up. She stood by, watching until Nuo Yang had thoroughly cleaned her hands before saying, “Sister, you really need to stop this habit of sneaking food.”

Nuo Yang huffed. “It’s not sneaking! You cook for me, don’t you?”

The words sent a warm flutter through Long Huaichang’s chest. Noticing a smear of sauce at the corner of Nuo Yang’s lips from her earlier snack, she felt her throat tighten slightly. Softly, she murmured, “Sister, don’t move.”

Then she leaned in and captured Nuo Yang’s lips with her own.

Nuo Yang stiffened as Long Huaichang’s dark hair brushed against her neck, sending a ticklish shiver down her spine.

The familiar taste flooded her senses, making her back tingle with warmth. The gentle press of Long Huaichang’s tongue felt like a tender caress—soft, teasing…

When Long Huaichang finally pulled back, lightly licking Nuo Yang’s lips, the latter’s face burned crimson. She shoved Long Huaichang away and covered her mouth.

“You—!”

Nuo Yang wanted to be angry, but all she could do was glare at her, cheeks flaming.

Damn it, she’d been kissed again!

Long Huaichang grinned. “Sister, you didn’t wipe your mouth after sneaking food. Now I’ve caught you red-handed.”

Nuo Yang sensed the double meaning in her words and stomped her foot in frustration. “You’re being ridiculous! If you keep this up, I’ll really get mad!”

Long Huaichang only laughed, tugging Nuo Yang toward the dining table.

As the saying goes, the first time is unfamiliar, the second time is natural. By now, Nuo Yang was growing accustomed to these kisses.

Though their relationship was… unusual, Nuo Yang couldn’t figure out how to address it—nor did she particularly want to. For now, filling her stomach took priority.

After dinner, Nuo Yang curled up on the sofa with a can of fruit.

Guazi, the cat, lounged lazily on the TV stand, yawning widely—spring seemed to affect him especially strongly.

Nuo Yang crouched in front of him, munching on fruit while watching him yawn. The sight made her envious. How nice would it be to be a carefree little cat with no worries?

Guazi, apparently disliking Nuo Yang’s stare, fixed his round blue eyes on her for a few seconds before getting up and walking away.

When Long Huaichang stepped out of the kitchen, she found Nuo Yang squatting by the TV stand, trying to stop the cat from escaping. The sight left her baffled.

“Sister,” she called, walking over. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” Nuo Yang said. “I just felt like bullying Guazi because he annoyed me.”

Long Huaichang rescued the plump cat, cradling him in her arms. “Don’t take your frustrations out on the cat. Is something bothering you lately?”

Nuo Yang pouted and said, “What worries could I possibly have? Don’t talk nonsense.”

Apart from matters concerning the girl in front of her, everything else was just fine.

Long Huaichang set down the sunflower seeds and said to Nuo Yang, “Sister, the manager of □□ called me today and said this month’s earnings have been deposited. I plan to go check it out this weekend.”

Nuo Yang looked up. “You’re already making money that fast?”

“Mm.” Long Huaichang smiled. “Do you want to come with me this weekend, sister? We can drive there.”

Nuo Yang frowned. “You got your driver’s license?”

“Nope.”

“So you’d be driving without a license?”

“…No one would catch me. I’m really good at it.”

“That’s still not okay.”

Nuo Yang said sternly and seriously, “Let’s just take the bus.”

Long Huaichang: “…”

Who would’ve thought that even after becoming a billionaire, she’d still have to ride the bus.

————

No matter what, Nuo Yang refused to let Long Huaichang drive. Left with no choice, the two had to take □□’s dedicated bus line, enduring a full hour-long ride before arriving.

When the manager heard Long Huaichang had come by bus, his jaw nearly dropped. What kind of situation was this? At least take a taxi!

Hurriedly ushering them inside, the manager said, “If it’s inconvenient for you to come, just let me know. I can arrange for someone to pick you up.”

Nuo Yang waved her hand. “No need. The bus was nice and cool, and the scenery along the way was beautiful.”

The general manager glanced at his boss and, seeing no objection, sighed helplessly. “If Miss Nuo enjoys the view, there’s actually an MV being filmed at the hotel today. I can arrange for someone to take you to watch?”

Nuo Yang nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes, yes!”

The chance to see a big celebrity naturally thrilled her.

The manager assigned a supervisor to show her around before heading upstairs with Long Huaichang.

Long Huaichang glanced at Nuo Yang and then asked the manager, “Has Lawyer An contacted you recently?”

“Of course,” the manager replied. “He was here just the other day, sitting for hours and going through a lot of documents.”

Then, he hesitated before asking, “If I may ask something that’s been on my mind… was Boss Long really… murdered?”

“It’s still unclear,” Long Huaichang said coolly. “We’ll need Lawyer An to find evidence before the case can be reopened.”

The rest of the questions were beyond what an ordinary manager should ask, so he wisely kept quiet and pressed the elevator button for the office floor.

“By the way,” Long Huaichang said to the manager, “Has anyone from the Long family come here recently?”

“A few, but only for business discussions.”

“Did they ask who the owner is?”

“Chairwoman Mu inquired, but no one dared to tell her.”

Long Huaichang smiled. “Is that so… Well, it’s not a big deal anyway. If Aunt Mu asks again next time, you can tell her—appropriately.”

After all, that would make things much more interesting.

Meanwhile, under the hotel’s arrangements, Nuo Yang entered the estate.

The celebrity was a big name—they had booked the hotel garden for an entire week, barring anyone else from entering. Naturally, the cost wasn’t cheap.

Nuo Yang sneaked in quietly and saw the pavilion surrounded by the film crew, so she watched from a distance.

The supervisor accompanying her was sharp-eyed and asked with a smile, “Miss Nuo, would you like to go closer for a photo or an autograph?”

“Is this appropriate?” Nuo Yang asked curiously. “Won’t it interfere with their work?”

“It’s fine. I’ll let them know—they’ll be taking a break soon anyway.”

Whether or not the celebrity was someone Nuo Yang liked, she still wanted to try for a photo opportunity. After all, she was the kind of person who lacked foresight.

If it were someone else, they might have just invited the celebrity to dinner outright.

The manager quickly pulled Nuo Yang over. The celebrity was a strikingly beautiful young woman who naturally greeted Nuo Yang, a VIP fan, with a warm smile, signing autographs and taking photos.

Not wanting to disturb their work, Nuo Yang smiled shyly and prepared to wander off elsewhere.

“Miss, you look really familiar,” the young woman said, studying Nuo Yang’s face with a grin. “Have we met before?”

Silence fell over the group.

If Nuo Yang had said this, everyone would have laughed it off as small talk and paid it no mind. But coming from the celebrity first, the tone felt different.

Nuo Yang looked back at her. They were about the same age, likely only a few years apart.

Probably just polite conversation.

Nuo Yang smiled. “Maybe I just have one of those faces.”

With other matters to attend to, the girl didn’t say much more before being whisked away by her makeup artist. Nuo Yang didn’t dwell on it.

After strolling around for a while, Nuo Yang started feeling tired.

The place really was huge—she’d been here twice now and still hadn’t seen everything. There were plenty of areas she hadn’t even visited yet.

Seeing her fatigue, the manager suggested, “Miss Nuo, why don’t you take a break? There’s a café up ahead—let me get you a coffee.”

“Sure,” Nuo Yang agreed, exhausted. “Thank you for accompanying me for so long. Let me treat you instead.”

After some polite back-and-forth, Nuo Yang ended up paying.

“Miss Nuo, you’re welcome to visit often if you have the time,” the manager said between sips of coffee. “Everyone at the company knows we have new leadership now, and they’re all very curious.”

Nuo Yang frowned. “But I’m not the boss. It wouldn’t be right for me to keep coming here.”

She already felt guilty about freeloading every time.

The woman smiled faintly. “Actually, the manager would love for you to visit more often. If you don’t come, Miss Long probably won’t bother showing up either.”

Nuo Yang paused. “Xiao Huai is busy with school, and this place is just too far from our home.”

“Is that so? I thought Miss Long only wanted to come with you.”

“Huh?”

“Before, when we called her, she said just transferring the money was enough—she didn’t want to deal with anything else.”

“…”

That did sound exactly like something Long Huaichang would say.

Nuo Yang sighed. “She’s just lazy, but she’s reliable when it counts.”

“We can all see that,” the manager chuckled. “Miss Nuo, please come by with the boss whenever you can. It’s been years since we’ve had proper leadership.”

“Ah, we’ll try to visit more often when we have time.”

“That’d be wonderful.”

The manager grinned. “And if you ever get the chance, our hotel has couple suites—you’d definitely enjoy them~”

Nuo Yang choked on her coffee, coughing until her face turned red.

“What???”

Who—who wants to share a couples’ suite with her!!!