30: Chapter 30 You Are My Moonlight: The Substitute Male Supporting Character 29

Meanwhile, at The Old Mansion of the Su Family.

Su Qingxue accompanied her grandfather to receive Gu Qingyan and Old Master Gu.

"Grandfather, I have some matters to discuss with Qingyan."

After the pleasantries, Su Qingxue took the opportunity to pull Gu Qingyan away.

In the small courtyard outside.

Su Qingxue spoke in an unkind tone.

"Gu Qingyan, you said you were going to tell my grandfather about my contract marriage with Meng Zhu—have you actually said anything?"

"Not yet."

Su Qingxue let out a sigh of relief, then turned to look at Gu Qingyan with icy eyes once more.

"Then you used this matter to threaten me into returning to The Old Mansion; what exactly are you trying to do?"

Gu Qingyan looked somewhat hurt when faced with her gaze.

A grown man with slightly reddened eyes, like a wronged puppy.

Added to the contrast with his elite professional persona, one had to admit, it was worthy of his setting as the male lead.

However, had this been the Su Qingxue from the original novel, she might have softened, but at this moment, she only felt annoyance.

"Qingxue, do you still not understand what I am trying to do?"

"I admit that when I was young, I didn't understand love and failed to live up to your expectations. But we are both adults now, and I have recognized my own feelings—I like you."

"What does that have to do with me? I don't like you!"

Su Qingxue's voice was cold, devoid of any warmth.

But Gu Qingyan didn't care at all; just as Meng Zhu had said, he was now immersed in his own world.

"Qingxue, I can understand you. You are just being deceived by that substitute right now. Once you recognize your own feelings, you will realize that you still like me."

"I know you have always hated arranged marriages, to the point where you would even enter into a contract marriage with that substitute. I can wait. We can also enter into a contract marriage. I will slowly guide you; I don't want you to regret this in the future."

Was he even speaking human language?

Su Qingxue rolled her eyes in frustration.

"Gu Qingyan, I will say this one last time: I don't like you, and I will never regret this."

"Impossible. Could it be that you have truly fallen in love with that substitute?"

"Su Qingxue, how could you debase yourself like this? What exactly is better about him than me?"

The man opposite her was visibly angry, but Su Qingxue was no longer angry herself.

She chuckled lightly.

"Meng Zhu is simply better than you—better than you in every aspect. Besides, even if you, Gu Qingyan, were outstanding, what would that have to do with me?"

"I said I don't like you; can you not understand?"

"Gu Qingyan, please let me go. I hope you can understand that love does not follow reason or logic. I like Meng Zhu, so to me, Meng Zhu is the best."

After a string of sentences, Gu Qingyan was left speechless.

This caused him to fall silent for a long time.

It wasn't until Su Qingxue finished speaking that he suddenly spoke up, revealing a somewhat mocking smile.

As if he had given up on caring about the consequences, he finally flew into a rage from shame and began to mock Su Qingxue.

"No matter how much you say, you are just a contract couple. Have you ever shared a bed? You say you like him, but does he like you?"

Su Qingxue frowned slightly, her fists clenching involuntarily.

"What do you mean?"

Gu Qingyan sneered.

"What do I mean?"

"Su Qingxue, is your love pure? Did you have a good beginning?"

"If Meng Zhu knew that he was actually my substitute, do you think he would still like you?"

With these few sentences, Su Qingxue's face turned paler with every word.

These were precisely the knots in her heart all along.

Her beginning with Meng Zhu was a transaction, and she had even hidden her sordid thoughts of using him as a substitute.

She had always wanted to confess, but she dared not.

She was afraid that Meng Zhu would not be able to accept such a version of Su Qingxue.

But after only a moment, Su Qingxue calmed down, her eyes burning with intensity, and she said firmly:

"I don't care. Even if we truly divorce, I will not marry you, and I will pursue Meng Zhu all over again."

"You..."

Gu Qingyan's expression finally turned ugly. He seemed to have only just realized that everything was completely different from what he had imagined.

He desperately wanted to continue pressing Su Qingxue, wanting to prove that Su Qingxue still had a crush on him just like when they were young.

All of this, he thought, must be Su Qingxue acting contrary to her true feelings.

Unfortunately, her cold voice continued, shattering all his fantasies.

"Gu Qingyan, I think I have made myself very clear this time. I do not want you to come and disturb our life as a couple again. You should know that you can no longer manipulate me."

At this point, Su Qingxue took a deep breath, recalling the pressure from the past few days. But she generously chose to skip over it.

"Let the past be turned over. The Su Group and the Gu Group still have many long-term collaborations, and Old Master Gu shares a deep friendship with my grandfather. I do not want things to get too ugly."

After delivering this final warning, Su Qingxue turned and left, heading straight back to the living room.

When Gu Qingyan had not realized the truth, he could still deceive himself.

But now that he had come to his senses, he felt real pain.

It was not anger, but pain.

He finally realized, belatedly, that his feelings were not entirely about interests, not entirely about arranged marriages, and not entirely about calculations.

They were also not as trivial as he had said.

He had truly fallen in love with Su Qingxue.

Precisely because he had fallen in love, it was even more painful, to the point that he finally lost his reason.

He had not lost yet. Why should he admit defeat just because he had just been defeated by Meng Zhu, and why should he admit defeat when Meng Zhu wasn't even here?

He still had his final trump card.

He wanted to overturn all of this. Was Su Qingxue not confident and certain of victory?

He wanted to set all of this on fire. Only when she was exhausted and in a sorry state would she remember his good points, and only then would she know who was the husband truly suitable for her.

Su Qingxue did not notice Gu Qingyan's resolute gaze at all.

This resulted in Gu Qingyan following her into the living room immediately after she returned.

Then, almost without thinking, Gu Qingyan blurted everything out to Old Master Su.

"Grandfather Su, I have another very important matter to discuss with you today."

"Gu Qingyan!!!"

Su Qingxue's pupils shrank, and she looked at him in disbelief.

But the man's gaze was firm, hiding a sense of vengeful pleasure.

"Grandfather Su, Qingxue and that Meng Zhu have turned their fake marriage into a real one. She has fallen in love with that useless substitute. They are not a contract couple at all."

W-what?

Su Qingxue was stunned.

She thought the truth Gu Qingyan was going to reveal was that she and Meng Zhu were a contract couple.

She thought Gu Qingyan was going to complain to her grandfather.

But what kind of nonsense was he spouting?

Not a contract couple, turning a fake marriage into a real one.

These words swirled in her mind, and Su Qingxue's brain buzzed as she suddenly woke up.

"Grandfather, you... you have known for a long time that Meng Zhu and I are a contract couple?"

Su Qingxue's eyes widened, filled with disbelief.

Old Master Su had seen many things; he stopped talking with Old Master Gu, looked at Gu Qingyan, and then looked at Su Qingxue.

The old man did not respond, as if he had tacitly acknowledged it.

Su Qingxue felt that she was truly a clown.

She had been afraid of her grandfather finding out about the contract marriage, which was why she was threatened by Gu Qingyan and rushed back to The Old Mansion in such a hurry.

And yet, you are telling me that Grandfather knew all along?

But none of this mattered anymore; there was a more troublesome problem at hand.

If her grandfather had known about the contract back then, he would have known she wanted to resist the fate of an arranged marriage and would inevitably be angry.

But now, if she and Meng Zhu were still just in a contract relationship, her grandfather would actually be happy, because that would mean it was easy to sever and very easy to get back on track.

Instead, since she and Meng Zhu had developed real feelings, her grandfather would likely be very angry now.