You're so sweet (GL) - Chapter 3

Qin Ziyuan actually pulled a server into the men’s restroom.

Before Qin Luo had time to feel anything, Xu Shaotian dragged her a few steps forward.

“What are you doing? Where are you going?” Qin Luo asked.

“Let’s go, let’s see!” Xu Shaotian’s eyes were excited; judging by her posture, she wanted to rush straight into the men’s room.

“See what? No. Let’s go.” Qin Luo quickly pulled her back, dragging her away.

“No, Qin Luo, you’re not planning to go follow him?” Xu Shaotian hadn’t expected Qin Luo’s reaction, and she looked back towards the men’s room.

“Why follow him?” Qin Luo didn’t head to the bar but brought Xu Shaotian to stand in a corner.

“Are you stupid? Of course, to catch him cheating! It’d be best to record a video and send it to the Great Beauty. That way, the Great Beauty will be heartbroken, and you can take advantage of the opportunity.” Xu Shaotian had her phone camera ready, just one step away from execution.

“Do you think that would be useful?” Qin Luo raised a slight eyebrow.

“Why wouldn’t it be useful?” Xu Shaotian put herself in that position: if her partner dared to mess around in a bar, forget breaking up, she would definitely find someone to beat him up.

Qin Luo couldn’t help but laugh, “Sweetie, look where we are. If Qin Ziyuan dares to play around here, would he be afraid of others knowing?”

Līntīng (聆聽 – Listen) is a famous bar in J City. According to Xu Shaotian, Qin Ziyuan had come with friends and walked away in front of many of them, following a server.

Everyone present had two eyes and one mouth; how could it be kept a secret? Even if Qin Ziyuan tried to silence people later, this is a mixed-up environment. If they could see it, who could guarantee no one else had?

The fact that Qin Ziyuan dared to do such a thing here suggests he doesn’t care at all and isn’t afraid of it reaching Su Jingwan’s ears.

“Ah, so you mean the Great Beauty knows? And she doesn’t care? She’s enduring a cuckold for love? She doesn’t look like that.” Xu Shaotian couldn’t help but click her tongue.

Are relationships in their J City circle that open? Are they all open relationships?

“Who knows,” Qin Luo dismissed the smile.

There are many couples in the circle who do their own thing. The exact nature of Qin Ziyuan and Su Jingwan’s relationship—how much of the “childhood sweethearts” and “mutually devoted” description is real and how much is fake—didn’t concern Qin Luo.

In many people’s eyes, whether Qin Ziyuan’s character is good or how many lovers he has isn’t very important. Regardless, he has the Qin family backing him, and that alone is attractive enough. Who knows if Su Jingwan values this aspect?

But it now seemed certain that Qin Ziyuan disregarded Su Jingwan’s feelings. It was quite irritating to think about; she was a Great Beauty after all.

“Luo Luo, didn’t you have your eye on that Su Jingwan? Why do you seem suddenly less proactive? Are you really not going to get involved?”

“Forget it, it’s too troublesome,” Qin Luo said flatly.

She had a good impression of Su Jingwan, but she didn’t plan to wade into this muddy water. What good would come of getting entangled with them? Su Jingwan was beautiful, but was there a shortage of beautiful people in this world?

Furthermore, she didn’t intend to stay in J City; she would most likely leave in a few days. After a while, who would remember whom?

Qin Luo yawned and told Xu Shaotian she was leaving.

Qin Luo planned to return to Luocheng, but before she could book her flight, the Qin family called her again.

“Miss Qin Luo, the Old Madam is hosting a private party at the villa and would like to invite you to attend. Please be sure to arrive at the Qin family villa on time.”

The caller was the Qin family’s old butler. Qin Luo internally snickered, thinking the Old Madam was quite the player, but she didn’t refuse.

“Luo Luo, what does the Old Madam mean? Introducing you to the relatives after more than ten years?” Xu Shaotian asked Qin Luo while drinking honey water to sober up.

Xu Shaotian knew the general situation of Qin Luo’s family and found it inexplicable that Old Madam Qin would suddenly organize a party and call Qin Luo over.

“Is she thinking she’s about to die and wants to compensate you to lessen her guilt?”

Qin Luo raised an eyebrow. Old Madam Qin had always ignored her, a bastard daughter, so why would she compensate her now?

“It’s interesting, isn’t it? Maybe she thinks I’ve been living too dull a life in Luocheng,” Qin Luo said with a cryptic smile.

The Qin family used to be a large, complicated side branch, but the population began to decrease in their generation. Qin Luo’s grandfather’s generation originally had seven or eight brothers. After they started their own families, Old Madam Qin, her grandmother, gave birth to three daughters and her father, Qin Hong.

Qin Hong married Qin Ziyuan’s mother and had Qin Ziyuan. He then concealed his married status to date Qin Luo’s mother and had Qin Luo.

However, Qin Luo was never entered into the Qin family’s genealogy book; she was merely a bastard daughter.

But her three aunts each had several children, plus the children of other relatives. Calculating everything, Old Madam Qin’s private party might be quite lively.

Qin Luo genuinely wanted to see what the old woman was up to.

When her car drove into the Qin family’s parking lot, many cars were already parked. The villa was indeed quite lively. When the people inside saw Qin Luo, a stranger, walk in, they discreetly began to scrutinize her.

She was wearing a pink dress today. This is usually a very pure and cute color, but her slender waist, voluptuous hips, shoulder-length curly hair, and stunning face made the pink conjure associations of sexiness and glamour.

Qin Luo often attended banquets in Luocheng with Xu Shaotian and was never intimidated by being watched. When she saw someone she liked, she would return a smile, her almond eyes glistening as if emitting electricity, causing the person looking at her to blush first.

She scanned the room, confirming she recognized no one. She didn’t mind being ignored; she was comfortable by herself. Although she didn’t understand the Old Madam’s intentions, Qin Luo wasn’t holding onto any expectations.

She would be thankful if they just didn’t try to harm her.

Qin Luo looked at the neatly arranged dining table; the food was decent. Just as she reached for a glass of orange juice, a butler appeared, “Miss Qin, the Old Madam is waiting for you in the conservatory.”

“Oh, alright,” Qin Luo smiled. Internally, she grumbled that the Old Madam was as fond of pretense as ever. Why did she wait so long after her arrival to send someone? She probably wanted to see her reaction in this setting.

Qin Luo was right. Old Madam Qin, watching the surveillance video in the conservatory, was quite satisfied. “At least she hasn’t been completely ruined being raised outside.”

“The Third Brother’s child wouldn’t be too bad,” said the Old Madam’s eldest daughter, Qin Luo’s nominal eldest aunt.

“You can’t say that. After all, she’s been outside for so many years; how can she compare to those raised at home? At most, she inherited the daring of our Qin family,” argued another aunt, the Old Madam’s second daughter.

“Enough, why are you talking so much? You should go check on those little brats instead,” the Old Madam said.

The eldest aunt and the second aunt froze, both looking at the surveillance screen, where their two daughters were clearly engaged in a brawl in a corner of the villa.

They exchanged glances. Daring not to delay any longer, they hurried out.

By the time Qin Luo followed the butler to the conservatory, the pastries and floral fruit tea on the table had all been replaced with fresh ones. When she entered the room, the Old Madam waved her hand, “Come sit.”

“Old Madam, are you looking for me for something?” Qin Luo got straight to the point. The Old Madam had never given her a proper look before, and this sudden change in attitude made her think she couldn’t have anything that would impress the Old Madam now.

“You are too independent, child. If Grandma doesn’t call you, don’t you know to come back?” The Old Madam seemed to be joking, but her words carried another meaning.

It sounded more like she was questioning Qin Luo.

“When Father was alive, he mentioned that the Old Madam had her daily schedule set. I was afraid of disturbing you by returning to the Qin family rashly. If you want to see me, you can always ask the butler to contact me,” Qin Luo replied with a smile.

This was, of course, just courtesy talk. It wasn’t what her father had said, but what her mother had mumbled to herself, which Qin Luo had overheard and remembered until now.

After Qin Ziyuan’s mother passed away, her father Qin Hong wanted to marry her mother, but was blocked by Old Madam Qin. Several times, her father tried to bring her and her mother to meet the Old Madam, but the Old Madam always used the excuse that her daily itinerary was set, telling them to schedule another time later.

Old Madam Qin didn’t know Qin Luo was aware of this incident. She just thought this granddaughter understood her quite well, perhaps waiting for an opportunity to curry favor with her.

“You are thoughtful. Later, take note of the internal phone number for the old house. Feel free to call and chat with me when you have time.”

“Alright.” Qin Luo was slightly surprised. The Old Madam was actually offering her the internal number. This was tantamount to indirectly acknowledging her status and intending to incorporate her into the Qin family.

But Qin Luo wasn’t overly happy. In this day and age, there are no benefits to be had for free. Was this going to require her to trade something in return?

Unfortunately, she hadn’t figured out why when the Old Madam’s attitude suddenly became distant again. Qin Luo thought that this was probably similar to her previous polite words: the so-called ‘take the number later’ meant ‘I’ll treat you to a meal another day.’

“These rose pastries are quite good. Try one; girls your age all like them,” the Old Madam said.

“Okay.” Qin Luo had been sitting for a while and was indeed a bit hungry. She had just been wondering what was wrong with the Old Madam, hosting a party but making her sit in the conservatory to drink tea and talk.

She had initially thought the rose pastries were merely for decoration. It was the first time Qin Luo had seen rose pastries shaped like roses, and they were small and delicate, small enough to be eaten in one bite if she opened her mouth wide.

She picked one up, paused for two seconds, and decided to eat it in two bites. The crust was soft, and the filling was fragrant—it was indeed very good, probably difficult to make and hard to buy.

Qin Luo stared at the remaining half in her hand. Then she wondered, who did “girls your age” refer to? Her nominal cousins?

“Oh, speak of the devil, and here she comes,” the Old Madam suddenly laughed.

Footsteps sounded behind her. Qin Luo quickly shoved the other half of the rose pastry into her mouth, clapped her hands, and turned around, directly meeting the gaze of Su Jingwan, who was wearing a white dress.

Su Jingwan showed no surprise upon seeing her; her expression hadn’t changed much. She greeted them, “Old Madam Qin, Miss Qin.”

Qin Luo was different; the rhythm of her heart seemed to be disturbed by Su Jingwan’s invisible gaze, completely falling into disarray.