When a Straight Girl Enters a Yuri Novel - Chapter 3

Gu Jinghe counted the days in her heart, feeling even more motivated at work. Soon enough, the first plot point arrived.

The original host’s friends had heard that she recently acquired a little beauty and even invested in her family’s company for this little lover. They insisted on meeting this new darling.

It was during this gathering that Ji Xiangyan was bullied by the CEO’s friends, while the CEO merely watched coldly. When Xiangyan resisted, she even threatened her with the Ji family.

The thought of playing the villain made Gu Jinghe sigh inwardly. After all, the female lead was so beautiful—how could anyone bear to mistreat her?

The gathering was set at the club the original host frequented. Gu Jinghe arrived neither early nor late, and she didn’t bring Ji Xiangyan with her, as the stated purpose of the event was simply a casual meetup among friends.

Though the invitation had only mentioned friends getting together for drinks, everyone assumed she would naturally bring her new darling along. So, when she walked in alone, followed only by her assistant, the crowd couldn’t hide their disappointment.

“CEO Gu, why are you alone?”

Gu Jinghe’s expression remained indifferent as she took the seat reserved for her. No one was singing yet, so the room was relatively quiet, allowing her soft voice to be heard clearly by everyone.

“Who else should there be?”

Most of her familiar friends had at least one young man or woman by their side, making Gu Jinghe’s solitary presence stand out.

“CEO Gu, didn’t you just acquire a new treasure recently? Are you hiding her from us?”

Gu Jinghe pictured Ji Xiangyan’s beautiful yet aloof face. As she reached for the Petrus beside her, the friend sitting next to her immediately nudged their own lover.

“How could we trouble CEO Gu to pour her own drink?”

Gu Jinghe straightened up and leaned back, watching coldly as the young girl poured her wine. Her voice grew even frostier. “So, inviting me out was just a pretense.”

Strictly speaking, these people weren’t her true friends—just business associates. In past gatherings, she rarely brought anyone besides her assistant.

“Of course it’s genuine! But the rumors have been swirling lately, and I’m genuinely curious about your new little lover.”

The man beside Gu Jinghe was decently handsome, but his gaze was unpleasant, making her uncomfortable.

This man had once pursued the original host, only to be harshly rejected.

Understandably so—the original host preferred women, so his gender alone was a mismatch. Besides, the men around the original host were all exceptional, and his looks simply didn’t measure up.

Unfortunately, he lacked self-awareness. At every gathering, he deliberately sat close to the original host. If not for fear of her influence, he’d likely have gone beyond just leering.

Gu Jinghe picked up her glass, lowered her eyes, and took a small sip. This man was utterly insufferable. If not for their business ties, the original host would never have tolerated him.

Setting the glass down, she beckoned her assistant. When the assistant leaned in, she whispered, “Call Ji Xiangyan.”

The assistant nodded, seemingly unsurprised, as if she had anticipated this all along.

The man beside Gu Jinghe was named Yang Yuan, the second young master of the Yang family and a notorious prodigal son.

Upon hearing Gu Jinghe’s words, he immediately laughed loudly and said, “Then we’ll wait and see. I wonder what kind of beauty could move President Gu’s heart.”

Before the person was even called over, he made such remarks. If Ji Xiangyan refused later, wouldn’t Gu Jinghe be terribly embarrassed?

Under the scrutinizing gazes of the crowd, Gu Jinghe calmly stared at her wine glass, yet she was certain in her heart—Ji Xiangyan would definitely refuse.

Sure enough, before long, the assistant pushed open the door and entered, giving Gu Jinghe a slight shake of the head.

Before Gu Jinghe could speak, Yang Yuan immediately shook his head and said, “President Gu, it seems your little lover isn’t very obedient.”

Gu Jinghe knew this was all part of the plot. Later, when Ji Xiangyan arrived, Yang Yuan would use the excuse of “disciplining” Ji Xiangyan on Gu Jinghe’s behalf to bully her intentionally.

Yet she still felt disgusted. Every word Yang Yuan spoke managed to hit exactly what she found repulsive.

So, she gave Yang Yuan a cold glance, her words even icier, “My person, I’m willing to spoil. A little indulgence is fine.”

Yang Yuan choked, feeling quite furious inside.

Gu Jinghe truly didn’t know what was good for her. He had tried to curry favor with her, both overtly and covertly, countless times, yet she kept refusing—even openly opposing him in front of so many people.

He was determined to see what kind of woman Gu Jinghe fancied.

Ignoring Yang Yuan’s ugly expression, Gu Jinghe stood up and said to the assistant, “Give me the phone.”

Although Ji Xiangyan had refused the assistant, she didn’t reject the call. After two rings, she picked up.

Gu Jinghe walked some distance away. The words she was about to say were quite outrageous and somewhat humiliating—she didn’t want to run into any acquaintances and have them overhear.

Only when she reached the balcony did Gu Jinghe stop. During this time, Ji Xiangyan hadn’t spoken, likely having heard her footsteps.

It wasn’t until Gu Jinghe halted that Ji Xiangyan finally spoke, “President Gu is in quite the mood, calling me so late at night.”

Gu Jinghe closed her eyes, exhaling silently to prepare for the coming confrontation. “Why did you refuse?”

She believed the assistant had already explained—Ji Xiangyan knew the purpose of this call.

Hearing this, Ji Xiangyan laughed, though her voice held little warmth. “President Gu must have forgotten—I’m still a student. I live in the dorm, and it’s past curfew now.”

Gu Jinghe thought this was a good excuse, but it didn’t suit Ji Xiangyan.

“Move out. I’ll have the assistant arrange a place for you.”

Ji Xiangyan tightened her grip on the phone. Though she had already decided to use Gu Jinghe, the other’s attitude still disgusted her.

“The earliest would be tomorrow. Tonight is impossible.”

It was already past nine, and the place Gu Jinghe wanted her to go was questionable. From any angle, she shouldn’t agree.

Gu Jinghe rested one hand on the railing, staring blankly at the colorful lights outside. “You can ask for leave.”

“What if I refuse?”

Finally, they reached the crux. Gu Jinghe steeled herself—now, she would threaten the female lead.

“Miss Ji, if you’re smart enough, you should know better than to provoke me right now.”

Ji Xiangyan remained silent, but Gu Jinghe didn’t mind. Her voice was slightly hoarse from the cold wind. “I know you don’t care about the Ji family, but do you also not care about the things your mother left behind?”

Ji Ming had used this to threaten her, and now Gu Jinghe was doing the same.

Standing by the window, Ji Xiangyan’s face was expressionless, her eyes as cold as ice. “President Gu, must it come to this?”

From her tone, Gu Jinghe knew she was likely about to compromise. For some reason, Gu Jinghe suddenly felt a pang of discomfort in her chest. Having grown up without parents herself, she had always envied those who received parental love.

Ji Xiangyan once had a mother who adored her, but now that loving mother was gone, and her father treated her as a tradable commodity. She was even forced to do things against her will because of what her mother had left behind.

Because of this, the words Gu Jinghe should have said immediately stuck in her throat.

Ji Xiangyan didn’t speak either, or the call fell into silence. Gu Jinghe’s hesitation made the System frantic.

“Host, don’t forget the mission! Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Gu Jinghe tightened her grip on the railing, the cold metal digging painfully into her palm, finally bringing her back to her senses.

“Miss Ji,” Gu Jinghe’s voice was even hoarser than before, “if you still want what your mother left you, you’d better obey me.”

“Don’t even think about resisting.”

After a long silence, Ji Xiangyan replied, “I’ll come over now.”

Gu Jinghe hung up and relaxed her body, releasing the railing to stare blankly at her palm.

The once delicate and fair skin were now marked with red lines from the railing, the centers slightly pale and stinging.

She lowered her head to hide her reddened eyes.

The System in her mind continued chattering, “Phew, you managed to deliver the lines in the end. You scared me! Why did you suddenly stop talking?”

Gu Jinghe closed her eyes. “Sorry, I’m still new at this.”

“Oh, that’s alright. You’ll get used to it after a few more tries,” the System reassured her. “I believe in you.”

Gu Jinghe took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes, her composure restored. She even managed to smile as she replied to the System, “My acting wasn’t bad, was it?”

On the other end, Ji Xiangyan listened to the dial tone, expressionlessly lowering her phone before turning to leave.

Suddenly, a voice echoed in her mind, “I thought you weren’t going? Why did you agree?”

Ji Xiangyan didn’t pause her steps. “Didn’t you hear her threatening me?”

“Ah, I thought you were going to change the plot.”

A faint, cold smirk tugged at Ji Xiangyan’s lips, but she didn’t respond.

From the start, she had never intended to refuse. The reason for making such a fuss was simply to put on a show for Gu Jinghe. She needed to feign weakness; to make Gu Jinghe believe she was completely under her control.

This way, when she eventually used and manipulated Gu Jinghe, the latter wouldn’t suspect a thing.

On the night of her eighteenth birthday, a mysterious voice had suddenly appeared in Ji Xiangyan’s mind—its origin and purpose unknown.

Ji Xiangyan only knew that the voice had said a domineering CEO would appear in her life. This CEO would torment her both physically and emotionally, inflicting a series of harms upon her, but in the end, they would be happily together.

After saying this, the voice never appeared again.

Ji Xiangyan scoffed at it, dismissing it as a hallucination.

But then, Gu Jinghe really did appear.

On the very night she met Gu Jinghe, the voice returned to her mind—this time for good—and could even converse with her.

This self-proclaimed Destiny Defying System claimed it would provide her with the plot trajectory before events were about to unfold.

However, it could only predict near-future events and had no knowledge of what lay further ahead.

Moreover, it merely supplied the plot direction; how to alter it was entirely up to Ji Xiangyan.

Before Gu Jinghe’s call came through, the System had already informed Ji Xiangyan about what would happen that night. It had genuinely believed she wouldn’t go, but alas—typical pitiful female lead, folding at the slightest threat.

Seems like defying destiny is still a long road ahead.

Even though it knew this plotline was likely unchangeable, the System refused to give up. As Ji Xiangyan stepped out of the school gates, it lamented in frustration, “Friend, do you know what it means to say, ‘my fate is mine to command, not heaven’s’?”

The car Gu Jinghe had sent to pick her up was parked right at the entrance, the driver already holding the door open. Ji Xiangyan got in and answered the System with a loud slam of the car door.

Ah, this System was going to die of worry.