To say this apartment was Ye Yuhuan’s home felt somewhat inaccurate. It was too mature, not the kind of place a person her age should be living in. Traces of only one person’s life were present. There were only three pairs of slippers in the shoe cabinet, all women’s styles, one of which was brand new, specially prepared for Song Zhiqing’s visit. The number of tableware sets was also small.
Rather than the home of an underage high school girl, it more closely resembled the solitary residence of a working woman.
The childhood Ye Yuhuan described was not unusual—it had its joys, sorrows, and regrets. Yet, it felt starkly disconnected from her current, unusually isolated way of life. Song Zhiqing could sense that Ye Yuhuan must have omitted parts of her past. She was like a hostess entertaining a guest, only bringing out her most presentable memories for display.
Then again, I really am her guest today.
As she had said before, Song Zhiqing had no desire to pressure Ye Yuhuan, nor would she even entertain the thought. The reason she asked was simply to try and peel away the thick wall she had built around herself.
It was interesting—Shangguan Xianxian rarely smiled, but she didn’t give off a sense of extreme aloofness, as if a whole world separated you from her. Ye Yuhuan, on the other hand, would smile when appropriate and could even be humorous at times, yet she always felt just out of reach.
If this was what made her comfortable, that would be one thing. But the pessimism that occasionally slipped out revealed that she hadn’t entered this other world voluntarily. She had only stumbled into it by mistake, and as a result, she harbored a deep aversion to the mortal world.
Song Zhiqing didn’t press the issue. As she had intended, she began to talk about her own past.
“You know, I was the target of a lot of jealousy when I was little. My mom’s a big star, you see, and not from some high-society family. My teachers were her fans, so they always favored me, which made the other students dislike me. They wouldn’t play with me, and they’d call my mom an ‘actress’ behind her back. I got so mad I fought with them every day. Eventually, I didn’t want to stay in A-City for school anymore. I cried and threw tantrums for a long time before my parents finally agreed to take me with them when they were filming on location.”
“My mom’s shoots usually lasted a long time, often enough to cover a whole semester, so I ended up switching schools a lot. To be honest, I didn’t attend much school; I mostly relied on private tutors. I was just registered there for the record. After all, the places my mom filmed weren’t big cities, and my dad was worried I’d pick up bad habits if I went to school in places like that.”
“But the film sets weren’t much different, really. I learned a lot of swear words there. I never knew there were so many creative ways to curse someone out. It’s a bit of a shame, though, since I never got much chance to use them after coming back to the capital.”
“My parents didn’t have much time for me. My mom’s filming schedule was often upside down, day and night, and my dad was always away on business trips, meeting with partners. When I was little, an auntie named Xiao Chen took care of me. She was my mom’s assistant, and I think she’s one of her managers now. She had just graduated from college back then and loved to take me out to play. I really liked her. But we’ve grown distant over the years. I mean, it has been almost a decade.”
…
Song Zhiqing chattered on for quite a while. The smell of hot pot was heavy in the living room, so they opened a window. The autumn wind rustled through the large tree in front of the building and blew into the room, gently lifting Song Zhiqing’s bangs and the hem of her skirt. Sitting beside her, Ye Yuhuan could smell not just the hot pot on Song Zhiqing, but also a faint scent of jasmine.
She listened as Song Zhiqing recounted her joys, sorrows, and regrets, and it was as if she could see a lively, boisterous little girl stumbling through life to become a lively, boisterous young woman. Yet this young woman possessed a uniquely sensitive heart, one that knew how to teach a person to trust another.
At the very least, Ye Yuhuan now regretted having said so little herself.
After Song Zhiqing left, Ye Yuhuan cleaned up the aftermath of their hot pot meal. She scrubbed the pot, washed the dishes, and wrapped the leftovers in plastic wrap before putting them in the fridge. Then, she took a hot shower, changed into a plaid pajama set similar in style to the one she wore that morning, and sat down at her desk to continue writing her business plan.
She had been working on the plan intermittently all month, but because her knowledge of economics was still relatively weak, she kept overturning her own ideas as she learned. So far, she had only managed to cobble together a crude plan that was barely usable.
Ye Yuhuan had thought that if the situation developed to a point where she had no choice but to oppose the female lead, she needed to at least leave an escape route for Song Zhiqing, so she wouldn’t be completely cornered by Shen Wei.
Of course, losing wasn’t a certainty. If Ye Yuhuan could bring herself to ally with Guo Siwan and reveal everything she knew, Shen Wei would surely be defeated before her campaign even began. But she couldn’t do it. Guo Siwan was a vicious and despicable person, and the things she desired were just as vicious and despicable. The reason Ye Yuhuan had so decisively cut ties with her father was precisely because she was disgusted by his vicious and despicable nature. She had no desire to step back into the swamp she had already escaped.
Not even for Song Zhiqing.
So, she chose to carve out a piece of land from Shen Wei’s future business empire. On one hand, this was the safest bet, as she had the foresight of the plot to guide her. On the other hand, Ye Yuhuan figured it was more efficient to uproot a portion of Shen Wei’s influence and make it her own than to painstakingly search for an area beyond Shen Wei’s reach.
The industry Ye Yuhuan chose was new energy. This sector had strong government support, which meant that even if Shen Wei wielded the weapon of capital sanctions, she couldn’t casually target a government-backed company.
At eleven-thirty that night, Ye Yuhuan took off her glasses. It was only when she picked up her phone that she realized Song Zhiqing had sent her quite a few messages.
16:35 【I’m home!】
17:12 【Hey? Why aren’t you replying!】
17:27 【You really haven’t replied yet!】
18:48 【The Shangguan family is holding a kinship recognition banquet!】
19:09 【No way, sis, do you really not look at your phone!】
19:10 【Poke】
19:11 【Poke】
19:11 【Poke】
19:12 “Ugh, whatever, I give up. You better reply as soon as you see this [angry_cat.jpg]”
According to the plot, the Shangguan family was supposed to announce the kinship recognition banquet in mid-October. For it to be moved up this much… was it because of the flap of her own butterfly wings?
Ye Yuhuan pondered for a moment, then her fingers flew across her phone screen.
YYH replied to 【I’m home!】: 【Got it.】
YYH replied to 【Hey? Why aren’t you replying!】: 【I was busy just now.】
YYH replied to 【The Shangguan family is holding a kinship recognition banquet!】: 【When?】
Ye Yuhuan had been acting particularly strange this past month. She would disappear the moment school let out, and she was often unreachable by phone. She had even applied for an exemption from evening self-study, telling the teacher she could concentrate better in her dorm. But Song Zhiqing’s underlings would occasionally spot Ye Yuhuan off-campus when they were skipping class. When they joked in the group chat about whether the top student had decided to stop being a good girl, Ye Yuhuan would just laugh it off. When Song Zhiqing asked her about it, she wouldn’t give a straight answer, always saying it was nothing important.
Today, she had finally seemed a bit more normal, only to revert to her old ways at night. A month’s worth of frustration boiled over in Song Zhiqing. She was determined to get an answer tonight. Fueled by this resolve, she, who usually went to bed at ten-thirty, had fought off sleepiness and waited until now. When her phone screen suddenly lit up, she let out a long sigh of relief.
After carefully reading Ye Yuhuan’s replies, Song Zhiqing’s mood calmed slightly. Hmph, at least Ye Yuhuan wasn’t being evasive.
Song: 【October 10th, apparently.】
Song: 【Forget about that for a second. You have to tell me what you’ve been so busy with lately!】
Song: 【If you’re in some kind of trouble, you can just tell me. As your friend, I’ll definitely help you.】
Song: 【But watching you disappear every day and not saying anything when I ask… it’s really worrying and annoying!】
Ye Yuhuan’s fingers paused. Although the events of the past month hadn’t perfectly matched her expectations, at least Song Zhiqing hadn’t engaged in any of the provocative acts from the plot, nor had she clashed with Shen Wei. Furthermore, despite her previous claims of wanting to steal Shangguan Xianxian, perhaps Ye Yuhuan’s shameless act of dragging her along to spy on the female lead’s romantic progress had had some effect. Song Zhiqing hadn’t taken any substantial action. If it weren’t for the symbolic ‘turn-her-gay’ brainwashing packets she sent every day, Ye Yuhuan would have almost thought she’d given up on Shangguan Xianxian.
But telling Song Zhiqing the truth was a different matter. Ye Yuhuan knew she would inevitably be influenced by Song Zhiqing’s reaction. If Song Zhiqing learned that her future would be so miserable under Shen Wei’s influence, would she, in a fit of anger, strike preemptively to eliminate the root of the problem? Ye Yuhuan couldn’t be sure.
The Song Zhiqing before her was a kind and radiant girl, but the one in the plot was the complete opposite. Of course, some of that was due to the author’s perspective and filters, but Ye Yuhuan had always believed that desperate circumstances could drive a person to a state of viciousness. Her own mother was proof of that. Perhaps the Song Zhiqing in the plot was the same. After all, based on her current understanding of Song Zhiqing, calling her vicious was a complete slander.
Ye Yuhuan didn’t know if she could take the gamble—whether to trust Song Zhiqing, or to trust herself.
The ‘typing…’ indicator in the chat box remained active for a full five minutes before Ye Yuhuan finally sent a complete message: 【I’ll tell you everything after the Shangguan family’s recognition banquet.】
Song Zhiqing flopped onto her bed with its pale pink sheets and replied with reluctant satisfaction: 【You promised. If you dare go back on your word, I’m taking you out for devil-level spicy hot pot!】
YYH: 【But wouldn’t that be mutually assured destruction?】
Song: 【Hehe, I can handle it a little better than you. Seriously, you drank one more carton of soy milk than I did today.】
Song: 【By the way, what do you think about the Shangguan family’s recognition banquet?】
Song: 【I thought the Shangguan family wouldn’t have the nerve to admit to something so embarrassing.】
Of course, the Shangguan family wouldn’t. That’s why Shen Wei would be transformed from an openly illegitimate daughter into the product of Shangguan Chong’s wild, pre-marital flings. Shangguan Chong hadn’t annexed the Jin family’s company through a brutal business war, but through the transfer of marital assets. Coupled with the fact that he was already managing the Jin family’s company on their behalf at the time, it was as easy as taking something from his own pocket.
However, this created a lingering problem: there were too many Jin family elders in the company, many of whom were Jin Yuan’s uncles and relatives. They had been displeased from the start that Jin Yuan’s father had passed the company to an outsider instead of a family member, only holding their tongues due to his authority.
Back then, the story Jin Yuan’s father and Shangguan Chong had concocted to silence them was this: Shangguan Chong and Jin Yuan would have at least two children, one with the surname Shangguan and one with the surname Jin, and they would manage the Shangguan and Jin family companies respectively. But Jin Yuan’s father, an old fox who had navigated the business world for years, was not so easily fooled by Shangguan Chong’s silver tongue. To guard against him, Jin Yuan’s father had specially transferred all the Jin family assets into Jin Yuan’s name and secretly set aside some funds for emergencies.
Unfortunately, he was terminally ill at the time and couldn’t make more arrangements. Jin Yuan, blinded by love shortly after her marriage and hearing that her husband was being constrained by her relatives at every turn in the company, slowly handed over the shares she held. By the time she discovered Shangguan Chong’s true colors, all she had left were some fixed assets and funds.
The Jin family elders, of course, didn’t care whether Jin Yuan was living well or not. In fact, they would be happiest if she and Shangguan Chong had a falling out. Jin Yuan knew this well and had never counted on them. However, these people had been developing within Shangguan Chong’s company for many years and had long since established deep roots, forming the so-called Jin family faction, constantly waiting for a moment of weakness to take a bite out of him. To reveal the full truth of Shen Wei’s parentage at this juncture would undoubtedly be handing them a weapon.
After all, the original promise had now transferred to Shangguan Xianxian following Jin Yuan’s death. If Shangguan Chong were to suddenly declare that Shangguan Xianxian was not his and Jin Yuan’s real child and that Shen Wei was their true bloodline, few of the Jin family elders would believe him.
What you say is what goes?
You produce one daughter today, who knows if you’ll swap her for another tomorrow?
If Shangguan Xianxian isn’t yours, how could you not have discovered it after all these years? Everyone knows your Shangguan family gets physical check-ups as often as you eat meals.
While these accusations were absurd, they were highly inflammatory. After all, Shangguan Chong’s reason for suppressing them all these years had been: Xianxian is my and Jin Yuan’s child. As long as she is here, the Jin family is here.
To protect his own position, Shangguan Chong would naturally not be foolish enough to reveal everything.
Besides, to him, Shangguan Xianxian was merely a shield to disguise himself. The value of the shield lay in whether it could cover up his fallout with the Jin family, not whether she was his biological child.
But this was all information Ye Yuhuan had gleaned from the plot, and now was not the time to reveal it. So, she simply replied: 【I’m not too sure. I’m just wondering how things will develop between Shen Wei and Shangguan Xianxian after their parentage is made public.】
Thinking of all the pulling, tugging, and embracing she had witnessed over the past month, Song Zhiqing’s expression stiffened. She hadn’t even considered that angle; her interest in the news had been purely out of a desire for some Shangguan family gossip.
What’s wrong with me? Am I even a qualified suitor?
How could I not be constantly thinking about how to steal her away!
