Transmigrated into the cannon fodder younger sister of the uke in a BL novel

Su Yilan linked arms with Wen Qing and introduced them.

"She's a good friend of mine, Wenqing. She's not in the entertainment industry, but I insisted on dragging her here with me today."

Gu Ling nodded slightly and gave Wen Qing a polite and gentle smile: "So you are Miss Su's friend. Welcome to the Gu family."

His gaze lingered on Wen Qing's face for a moment, then turned to Lin Zhiyan beside him, speaking in a natural tone as if they were having a casual chat.

"Zhiyan, do you know this Miss Wen? I noticed you kept looking this way."

Lin Zhiyan met Gu Ling's gaze, the curve of her lips remaining unchanged as she readily admitted it.

"Yes, I do know her. I met her once before at the Su family's house, and I also have some dealings with her brother."

As he spoke, he subtly changed the subject, steer the conversation away from the main topic.

"By the way, aren't you going to see your sister? Her eyes were still red when she left."

Mentioning Gu Shuang, Gu Ling's smile faded slightly, and a hint of helplessness and weariness surfaced in her eyes.

"Her personality is just spoiled by her family. What happened today was definitely her fault... She was yelling and shouting at her father's birthday banquet and speaking rudely to the guests. She'll never grow up if she doesn't learn a lesson. It's good to let her calm down for a while."

Just then, someone called out "Gu Ling" from not far away. He glanced in the direction of the voice, nodded slightly to Su Yilan and Wen Qing, said "Excuse me," and then walked towards the middle-aged men who were waving at him with his wine glass in hand.

Lin Zhiyan, however, did not leave.

He stood there and looked at the two girls: "Aren't you going to play with the others? I just saw Yi'an chatting happily with his friends over there."

Su Yilan curled her lip, making no attempt to hide the disdain in her tone.

"I don't want to hang out with those people. They're so boring. Every time they talk about who bought what yacht or what project they invested in. It's like they can't talk without showing off their wealth."

She paused for a moment and then began to complain.

"Besides, I didn't want to come in the first place. I didn't want to see Gu Shuang's eyesore face, but my mother insisted that I come, saying that it would be unseemly for a daughter of the Su family not to attend such an occasion... Sigh, I just couldn't escape it."

Lin Zhiyan chuckled and shook her head: "You and Gu Shuang still don't get along. If Gu Ling and I hadn't come over just now, you two probably would have actually started fighting, right?"

"How could that be!"

Su Yilan's eyes widened, her face showing an expression of being wronged.

"I'm not like that crazy woman who resorts to violence when she can't win an argument. Did you see her slap Xu Ling? I just felt sorry for Xu Ling, being friends with someone like that. I kindly tried to break up the fight, and ended up getting slapped in public. If I were in her shoes, I would have retaliated on the spot."

She grew angrier as she spoke, and then, as if remembering something, added an indignant remark.

"Besides, she was the one who provoked me first today. How am I bothering her by standing here eating?"

As the two were talking, Lin Zhiyan's gaze fell on Wen Qing again.

He suddenly asked, "Wenqing, does your brother know you're here?"

Wen Qing was slightly taken aback, not expecting him to suddenly bring up her brother.

She thought for a moment and said, "They probably don't know yet, but I told my brother on the phone..."

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhiyan's lips curved into a meaningful smile: "So that's how it is."

The smile was faint, and it looked no different from before, but Wenqing always felt that there was something hidden beneath that smile.

Seeing that Lin Zhiyan's question was strange, Su Yilan took the initiative to explain.

"Wenwen messaged her brother before, and he always replies quickly. I don't know what he's busy with today, he hasn't replied yet. Why are you asking this, Brother Lin?"

Lin Zhiyan didn't answer, but just smiled and casually changed the subject.

At this moment, a middle-aged man holding a champagne glass came over, greeted Lin Zhiyan with a big smile, and asked him what he had been busy with lately.

Lin Zhiyan turned to face her, and Su Yilan pulled Wen Qing a few steps to the side.

Wen Qing glanced back at Lin Zhiyan's back as he was surrounded by several guests, and felt that something was off about his attitude just now.

She then took out her phone and glanced at it again—the chat window with Wen Fan still only contained the few messages she had sent, with no reply.

She sighed silently, put her phone in her pocket, and couldn't help but wonder what her brother was doing at this moment, and why he hadn't replied to her messages yet.

The moment she put her phone away, a slight chill ran down her spine.

It seemed as if someone was watching her silently.

She turned her head sharply and looked in the direction of that gaze.

Behind the floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor, the off-white curtains swayed gently, as if someone had just let go of their hand.

She stared at the curtain that was still swaying slightly for a long time, a strange feeling rising in her heart that she couldn't quite explain.

Was anyone there just now?

"What's wrong?" Su Yilan noticed that she was looking at the second floor, so she looked up as well.

"It's nothing." Wen Qing looked away and shook her head.

A dozen minutes later, the banquet officially began.

In the garden of the Gu family villa, the lights were a bit brighter than before, and the string orchestra had changed to more formal classical music.

The birthday celebrant, Gu Bo'an, emerged from the main building. He was a well-to-do middle-aged man, dressed in a custom-made dark suit, and his face was radiant.

He stood in the center with his wife, surrounded by his two sons and a daughter, looking like a typical model family in high society.

He stood in front of the microphone, speaking in a warm but official tone, thanking everyone for taking time out of their busy schedules to attend his birthday banquet, and then said a lot of platitudes about the future development of the Gu family and working hand in hand with all the partners.

The guests applauded at appropriate times.

Wen Qing stood below and saw Gu Qin through the crowd.

He stood next to Gu Ling, also wearing a dark suit, a stark contrast to his previous outfit of a black leather jacket and motorcycle boots.

The suit toned down his unruly and wild nature, instead highlighting his already tall frame and broad shoulders and narrow waist, giving him the appearance of a noble young master at first glance.

But his expression was indifferent; standing next to his father, he seemed to be separated by an invisible wall, neither participating in his siblings' banter nor looking at any of the guests below the stage.

He tilted his head slightly, his gaze lingering on a point in the void, as if this grand event held in his father's name had nothing to do with him.

But the next second, as if sensing someone watching him, his sharp gaze instantly caught someone in the crowd.

Wen Qing tried to dodge, but it was too late; their eyes met in mid-air.

She thought she would be glared at—after all, the last time she asked him at the hospital, "Why haven't you left yet?", she had really angered him.

But Gu Qin didn't glare at her.

The moment he saw her, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, as if his lips curved into a smile, yet it didn't.

……

After the lively cake-cutting and distribution ceremony, the banquet transitioned into free social time.

Su Yilan glanced at her mother, Su Jilan, who was surrounded by a group of business people, talking about serious matters that were making her sleepy.

She yawned and said, "I want to go inside the villa and rest for a bit. My legs are sore from standing for so long. Wenwen, will you come with me?"

Wenqing nodded, and the two walked through the garden toward the main building of the villa.

The first floor of the villa was set up as an open-plan small cocktail party venue, with the lighting dimmer than in the garden and a more casual atmosphere.

There was a bar counter in the corner, and a bartender was standing inside.

Su Yilan suddenly needed to use the restroom, so she walked straight towards the restroom and told her to wait for her at the bar.

Wen Qing nodded, her gaze casually sweeping over the bar.

But when she saw the bartender's profile, she froze on the spot as if struck by lightning.

The bartender was wearing a white shirt with a black vest, the sleeves rolled up above his wrists, and he was holding a cocktail shaker, mixing a cocktail.

His movements were fluid and skillful, and the light fell on him, outlining the lines of his profile in a soft and focused manner.

She knew that face so well that she recognized it at a glance.

"elder brother?"

Wenqing shouted it out directly.

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was enough to penetrate the clinking of glasses around the bar.

Upon hearing her voice, Wen Fan paused for a moment.

He put down the cocktail shaker, looked up, and peered at her through the gaps in the lights and the crowd.

The two of them stared at each other in shock, separated by half a bar counter.

Suddenly, the live chat appeared.