Girl, There's Something Wrong With You - Chapter 44

“Isn’t the male lead a bit of a pretty boy?” Cui Jinqi asked curiously.

“He’s okay,” Xing Yuanzhi said, “just a bit delicate.”

“I like male leads with more chiseled features.” Cui Jinqi pinched Cheng Jinyang’s face, only for him to swat her hand away. In the dark cinema, a sudden hand on his face was pretty startling. Though, Cui Jinqi’s hand was soft and nice to touch.

“The female lead is always so touchy-feely, it’s really annoying,” Xing Yuanzhi said coolly. “No wonder the male lead calls her ‘Little Pepper’.”

“Hey, ‘Little Pepper’ is a cute nickname, alright?” Cui Jinqi protested. “The second female lead’s nickname ‘White Lotus’ is the real insult.”

“‘Pure and unstained by the mud, graceful and elegant’—what’s so insulting about that? Enlighten me,” Xing Yuanzhi scoffed. “Pepper is spicy and irritating, that’s definitely derogatory.”

“That’s a far-fetched argument and completely unreasonable,” Cui Jinqi said with a smug, disdainful look. “Anyway, the male lead will definitely end up with the female lead.”

“Hold on,” Cheng Jinyang couldn’t help but interrupt them. “I don’t see any problem with the female lead or the second female lead. The real issue is why the male lead likes to label and nickname girls so much. Isn’t that the main problem here?”

“If the male lead ends up with the female lead, it’s like a scumbag pairing with a dog, destined for eternity,” Xing Yuanzhi said coldly.

“If the male lead ends up with the second female lead, it’s like a prostitute reforming and a john taking her in,” Cui Jinqi retorted.

“So no matter who the male lead ends up with, it’s a bad outcome,” Cheng Jinyang mused. “Why can’t it be ‘they’re all my wings’?”

“What does ‘wings’ mean?” Xing Yuanzhi asked again, intrigued by Cheng Jinyang’s unusual vocabulary.

“Ahem, it’s simple,” Cheng Jinyang began to explain to the two girls but then felt the lingering pain from where they’d pinched his waist, so he had to answer seriously, “Wings, meaning support. I think the male lead shouldn’t rush into romance. He should first work with both the female leads to defeat the villain, then think about relationships.”

“Dragging it out!” Cui Jinqi, perhaps seeing parallels with reality, immediately said indignantly. “The female lead is such a nice girl, and you want the male lead to treat her like a tool? I knew you men are all heartless!”

“Hey, don’t start a feminist rant!” Cheng Jinyang exclaimed in shock. “This is just a movie. Besides, the male lead has a deep-seated vendetta. Who doesn’t want to see him clear his name? It’s fine to have romantic moments with the girls, but can’t he wait until after revenge?”

“Romance and revenge aren’t mutually exclusive,” Xing Yuanzhi said calmly. “The male lead can support each other with the second female lead, master some extraordinary martial arts, and then take revenge on the mastermind behind the Martial Alliance Leader. They can retire into the sunset together… So why did the writer include the female lead? Was the scriptwriter brain-dead?”

“The female lead is the soul of the movie!” Cui Jinqi snapped angrily. “Without her, I wouldn’t even watch it!”

“Hey!” A viewer in the front row turned around, annoyed. “Keep it down, this is a public place!”

The three of them quickly apologized.

“Jinyang?” Cui Jinqi tugged on his sleeve and whispered, “Don’t you think the second female lead is kind of a bitch?”

“I think the female lead is too dumb and doesn’t match the style of the show at all. What do you think?” Xing Yuanzhi also asked in a low voice.

Cheng Jinyang sighed inwardly, realizing he had to choose a response that would upset neither, but would cause him pain:

He simultaneously pulled the two girls into his arms, forcing a smile and said, “Whether it’s the female lead or the second female lead, I think the male lead doesn’t need to worry about who to end up with. Why should people of the martial world be bound by formalities? Wouldn’t it be better to travel the world with both beauties… Ow, ow, ow!”

Xing Yuanzhi and Cui Jinqi both pinched the soft flesh of his waist, twisting hard as if they were opening a bottle cap.

…

Just as the trio in the cinema were shamelessly flirting and bickering, Miss Qingqing back at the Cheng family estate encountered an unexpected visitor—Lu Qingyun.

Though Chu Jiye and Wang Maohong were good friends, the Yangdi Chu family had closer aristocratic ties with the Cui and Lu families. As a result, Chu Qingqing couldn’t afford to offend Miss Lu. Since Lu Qingyun had taken the initiative to visit, Miss Qingqing could only accompany her, displaying the utmost friendliness.

“Qingqing,” Lu Qingyun asked warmly, “I heard you have a good relationship with the Cheng family head?”

Miss Qingqing smiled and replied, “Yes, is there something you wanted to ask about him?”

“What kind of person is he?” Lu Qingyun asked earnestly.

Miss Qingqing: ?

What could it mean for one aristocratic lady to inquire about an aristocratic gentleman from another, if not that she had some interest in him?

So, Miss Qingqing put on her most tactful and subtle smile and said, “He’s a scumbag.”

“A scumbag?” Lu Qingyun looked surprised.

“Yes,” Miss Qingqing said seriously. “He’ll stop at nothing to achieve his goals, treating everyone around him as tools. He feels no guilt exploiting their emotions. He often flirts, but he never takes responsibility. If you take him seriously, he’ll change the subject. If he can’t change the subject, he’ll stall. If he can’t stall, he’ll just disappear. In any romance novel, he’d be the villain who readers want to see punished.”

Lu Qingyun: …

She had almost believed Miss Qingqing at first but realized from the latter part that she was being teased. She laughed and said, “Then why don’t you stay away from such a bad man?”

“Because I’m already in too deep,” Miss Qingqing sighed, pretending to be helpless.

“What drew you in?” Lu Qingyun asked playfully.

“Well, he’s pretty good-looking,” Miss Qingqing admitted.

“No way,” Lu Qingyun laughed. “Oh, you like that type? I prefer the refined and elegant style.”

“You like men younger than you?” Miss Qingqing teased.

“Yes,” Lu Qingyun smiled, “but who we like doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is who our families choose.”

Miss Qingqing fell silent again.

She understood what Lu Qingyun meant. It seemed this girl was about to become her rival.

No, not a rival in love, because Lu Qingyun didn’t actually like Cheng Jinyang. More accurately, she was a competitor—for the position of his legitimate wife.

“Women of the Five Great Families,” Miss Qingqing mused, puzzled, “shouldn’t they marry within the Five Great Families?”

“It’s like this,” Lu Qingyun sighed. “If one’s talent is very high, marriage strictly stays within the Five Great Families to ensure the offspring inherit the parents’ abilities to the greatest extent.”

“If the talent is very low, the family gives up on you and doesn’t intervene in your marriage.”

“But if your talent is decent, yet not high enough to be highly valued by the family, you face the worst situation: the family still intervenes in your marriage, but not with much care… You understand?”

“I understand.” Miss Qingqing’s gaze at Lu Qingyun immediately turned sympathetic.