Looking at the string of heart-fluttering digits on her phone screen, Yun Qingqing suddenly found Gu Mingyan extremely pleasing to the eye.
She explained gently, “I was filming a water scene on set earlier and had several NG takes. That’s why I only just saw your messages.”
The explanation was reasonable and subtly played up her hardship.
Gu Mingyan recalled hearing that she had indeed been made to fall into the water repeatedly by Ding Manni today. Most of her earlier displeasure immediately dissipated. She snorted lightly.
“Fine. Next time, remember to reply to me promptly.”
“Definitely, definitely.” Yun Qingqing agreed readily.
Seeing that Gu Mingyan showed no intention of leaving, she hypocritically offered some courtesy.
“Since you came all this way, would you like to come in and sit for a bit?”
In Yun Qingqing’s mind, according to Miss Gu’s usual behavior, she would definitely sneer at this shabby old apartment complex, immediately refuse, and leave.
After all, she had always been disdainful toward the original host.
Unexpectedly, after sizing her up, Gu Mingyan actually condescended to nod.
“Sure. I happen to be a bit tired.”
Yun Qingqing: “???”
Wait—why wasn’t this young lady following the script?
Seeing her stunned, Gu Mingyan raised a brow. “What? Not welcoming?”
Yun Qingqing instantly snapped back to her senses. “How could I not welcome you? Miss Gu gracing my home brings light to this humble place! Please, please come in!”
—For the sake of five hundred thousand, forget just sitting down. Even if Gu Mingyan wanted her bed, Yun Qingqing could roll up her bedding and sleep on the floor immediately.
Yes. A workplace veteran tempered by life was just that flexible.
She took out her keys and opened the somewhat flimsy door.
Gu Mingyan signaled the bodyguards to wait downstairs and followed Yun Qingqing inside.
The apartment was a one-bedroom layout—not large, but the original owner had kept it fairly tidy and cozy. Still, in Gu Mingyan’s eyes, accustomed to thousand-square-meter villas, this space was clearly lacking.
She changed into slippers with visible distaste and clicked around the small living room for half a circle before blurting out:
“Yun Qingqing, is this your bathroom? It’s so small! Where do you actually live?”
Yun Qingqing took a deep breath, silently chanting five hundred thousand, five hundred thousand, five hundred thousand to suppress the urge to throw this out-of-touch young lady out.
With a tight smile that didn’t reach her eyes, she replied, “Miss Gu, this is my entire home. Living room and bedroom combined. Over there is the bathroom and small balcony.”
Shock appeared on Gu Mingyan’s face.
She walked to the tiny sofa, hesitated, and ultimately chose not to sit. Instead, she remained standing, surveying the cramped space like she was studying an alien lifeform.
Ignoring her pickiness, Yun Qingqing very perfunctorily took a bottle of yogurt from the fridge and handed it over.
“Here. Have something to drink.”
This already counted as the highest level of hospitality.
Holding the yogurt, Gu Mingyan urged the main matter, “Hurry and get ready. Come to the fashion show with me tonight. I’m going to ‘run into’ Jinyan gege.”
Yun Qingqing immediately lost interest and gave a perfunctory “Oh.”
According to the plot, as long as this substitute villainess met that scumbag male lead Ye Jinyan, it would probably turn into another chaotic, jealousy-filled melodrama. She couldn’t be bothered to join the fun.
“Not going. I’m hungry. I’ll talk after I eat,” Yun Qingqing said decisively, walking toward the kitchen.
She hadn’t had a drop of water since transmigrating and was already starving.
No matter what, eating came first.
Yun Qingqing rummaged through cabinets and found two packs of braised beef instant noodles, skillfully tearing open the packaging, boiling water, and dropping in the noodle cakes.
When a person was starving, a steaming bowl of instant noodles was the ultimate delicacy.
Seeing that she actually ignored her order, Gu Mingyan felt somewhat displeased—but she also grew curious about what Yun Qingqing was doing.
“Yun Qingqing, what are you doing?” Gu Mingyan leaned in to ask.
“Cooking instant noodles,” Yun Qingqing replied without turning her head.
“Instant noodles?” Gu Mingyan’s pretty brows knitted together. “This pile of yellow stuff is actually food?”
Yun Qingqing ignored her, focused on watching the noodles unfurl in the pot.
She took out a small bowl and skillfully beat an egg, preparing to add a poached egg. Then she squeezed in the seasoning packets one by one, finally sprinkling a small handful of chopped scallions and cilantro.
In an instant, the apartment filled with a rich, intense spicy aroma.
Gu Mingyan couldn’t help moving closer, eyes fixed on the pot of red-oil noodles bubbling away.
“This thing you made… looks pretty delicious.”
Yun Qingqing gave an “Mm,” then used chopsticks to scoop the noodles into a large bowl. Red broth and green scallions—it looked especially appetizing.
Gu Mingyan watched eagerly and repeated,
“This thing you made… looks pretty delicious.”
This time, Yun Qingqing understood.
She turned her head and looked at the food-craving Miss Gu. In her mind, the little abacus was already clicking furiously.
“Want some?” Yun Qingqing asked.
Gu Mingyan lifted her chin and gave a reserved snort.
Yun Qingqing immediately began spouting serious nonsense:
“Miss, don’t be fooled by how simple instant noodles look. The process is actually very complicated. It requires precise heat control, soup base blending, and side preparation… extremely labor-intensive.”
She picked up a few strands of noodles with her chopsticks and counted solemnly.
“Since we know each other, I’ll give you half a portion. One noodle is ten yuan. This half portion has about thirty strands—three hundred yuan, please. Fair price for all.”
The moment she finished speaking, Yun Qingqing’s phone chimed with a payment notification.
Completely unaware she’d been fleeced, Gu Mingyan instead looked eager.
“Hurry and scoop it up for me to try.”
“Coming right up.” Yun Qingqing instantly switched from her earlier indifference, enthusiastically lifting the now sky-high-priced noodles and placing them before Gu Mingyan.
Gu Mingyan carefully picked up a few strands with her chopsticks, blew on them, and tentatively put them into her mouth.
The next second, her eyes widened slightly.
Having eaten delicately balanced, nutritionally calculated meals for over twenty years, this was the first time Gu Mingyan had ever encountered such purely technological, thoroughly unnatural food. She was instantly astonished.
“Slurp—slurp—”
She immediately forgot all about proper young-lady etiquette and hugged the bowl, devouring it with gusto.
Watching this wealthy young miss look blissfully happy over a single bowl of instant noodles, Yun Qingqing’s gaze unconsciously softened again, like she was looking at a walking ATM machine.
What a simple, unpretentious child. Generous with money, low in demands—just a bowl of noodles could make her happy. So much easier to deal with than the difficult clients from her previous life.
Gu Mingyan happened to glance up and caught the look Yun Qingqing hadn’t withdrawn in time.
She blinked, a strange feeling stirring in her heart.
Today’s Yun Qingqing really had changed a lot.
In the past, when Yun Qingqing looked at her, her gaze had always been complicated—mixed with jealousy, flattery, scheming… all things Gu Mingyan was long accustomed to.
When had she ever looked at her with such clean, bright friendliness?
This almost benevolent gaze made Gu Mingyan, who was used to being either feared or envied, feel inexplicably uncomfortable.
After finishing the sky-high-priced instant noodles, Yun Qingqing unhurriedly began cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks.
Gu Mingyan sat on the small folding stool, quietly waiting for her to finish washing the dishes. For once, she didn’t urge her.
Only after Yun Qingqing was finally done did the two of them head to the fashion show.
By the time their car arrived outside the venue, the city lights were already glowing.
As they searched for a parking spot, a black Rolls-Royce with tightly shut windows brushed past them and drove straight away from the venue.
As soon as the car stopped, Gu Mingyan impatiently pushed the door open, ready to look for her Jinyan gege.
At that moment, the system’s electronic voice suddenly sounded in Yun Qingqing’s mind:
【Ding—Notice: Male lead Ye Jinyan has already left the venue. You have missed the important plot point where Gu Mingyan pesters the male lead and is coldly ignored.】
Yun Qingqing responded with a calm, “Mm.”
The system emphasized again:
【Host, you have just missed the original storyline.】
While watching Gu Mingyan look around like a headless fly, Yun Qingqing lazily asked in her mind, “If I miss the plot, is there any punishment?”
The system fell silent for a moment before replying dryly:
【…This system is only responsible for reminders and assistance. There is no punishment function.】
Yun Qingqing immediately grew righteous. “Then why should I care whether it’s missed or not?”
System: 【……】
The electronic voice rare glitched.
Well… that actually made sense.
Gu Mingyan circled the glamorous venue several times but didn’t even catch a glimpse of Ye Jinyan.
She pouted in disappointment, her mood instantly turning irritable.
Just as she was about to turn and complain to Yun Qingqing, she noticed Yun Qingqing staring intently at the runway, eyes sparkling, completely absorbed.
It was her first time being this close to a fashion show. Looking at the models’ impossibly long legs, she couldn’t help clicking her tongue in amazement.
Yun Qingqing’s cheeks still had a hint of baby fat, soft and plump, looking like they’d feel good to pinch.
Gu Mingyan stared at her profile and suddenly felt her fingers itch, wanting very much to reach out and squeeze.
But her young-lady restraint suppressed the impulse.
Following Yun Qingqing’s gaze to the runway, she assumed she had taken a liking to some outfit and casually said, “If you like any set, tell me. I can have it ordered directly.”
Yun Qingqing snapped back to her senses and immediately offered a hypocritical refusal. “No, no, that would be too embarrassing…”
“What’s embarrassing about it?” Gu Mingyan cut her off, glancing disdainfully at her plain T-shirt and jeans. “If my lackey dresses this shabbily, it’s my face that’s being embarrassed.”
Yun Qingqing swallowed the polite refusal that had reached her lips. “Miss Gu is absolutely right!”
In order not to let Miss Gu lose face, she would reluctantly accept this gift.
Gu Mingyan pulled her backstage, greeted the person in charge, and strode in like she was inspecting her territory.
The place was bustling. Models who had just come off the runway were changing outfits and removing accessories with the help of staff.
Gu Mingyan scanned the area and casually pointed at two models with figures similar to Yun Qingqing’s. “You, and you—come here.”
Then she lifted her chin at Yun Qingqing. “Pick whichever you like. Have them try it on so you can see the effect.”
Yun Qingqing: !!!
Was this the world of the rich?!
When buying clothes, you didn’t even have to try them yourself—dedicated models would wear them for you to see.
Just as Yun Qingqing was once again refreshing her understanding of “inhumanly wealthy,” Gu Mingyan’s phone rang.
She glanced at the caller ID. Zhang Ying.
Recently, Gu Mingyan had heard that Ye Jinyan invested in a variety show called Best Partners. To create more opportunities to interact with him, she signed up without hesitation.
The show required guests to find their own partners. To save trouble, Gu Mingyan casually picked one of her lackeys—Zhang Ying—to accompany her.
Zhang Ying’s message now was reminding Gu Mingyan to interact on Weibo and officially announce their participation together.
Gu Mingyan had no interest in this kind of hype promotion and only found it troublesome.
She looked at the interaction template Zhang Ying had sent, closed the chat impatiently, and set her phone to silent.
When she looked up again, she saw Yun Qingqing tapping her chin, her bun-like face scrunched up in indecision.
It amused her. She walked over and asked, “Have you chosen? Is it that hard to decide?”
Yun Qingqing turned at the sound of her voice and honestly pointed at several outfits in front of her. “These are all pretty nice. The styles are different, so I’m a bit torn.”
One was a sharply tailored blazer dress. Another was a soft, gentle shirt dress. The last was a playful short cocktail dress.
Without a second thought, Gu Mingyan waved her hand at the show manager standing nearby.
“Pack all these dresses in her size. I’ll swipe my card.”
The manager beamed as he took the card and quoted a number that nearly made Yun Qingqing’s heart stop.
Stunned, Yun Qingqing grabbed Gu Mingyan’s arm. “Wait! That’s too many! One is enough!”
She might want to cling to this golden thigh and fleece a little, but everything required sustainable development and gradual progress!
Today alone there had been five hundred thousand in transfers, sky-high-priced instant noodles, and now several couture dresses for free… The little conscience she had left was faintly aching.
But Gu Mingyan didn’t care in the slightest. “What’s this bit of money? If I’m giving it to you, just take it.”
Looking at Yun Qingqing’s slightly open mouth and round, wide eyes, she finally couldn’t resist and quickly pinched that bun-like cheek.
Mm. The texture really was good.
Yun Qingqing: ?