Mu Yanxi was completely unaware of what Yi Wulan had done, heartlessly enjoying her rare vacation.
When she got tired of parties, she even took a private jet to see the aurora borealis.
After all, the atmosphere when they parted that day had been quite awkward. She had casually made up an excuse about having a work engagement and left. The great President Yi was busy with a million things and had a harem of beauties; she had probably long forgotten she even had a wife.
After seeing the aurora, Mu Yanxi had planned to sunbathe on a small island. But her management team had specially arranged a dinner to celebrate the second anniversary of her debut.
For a small-time, unpopular celebrity like her, such an occasion wouldn’t be remembered by fans, so there was no need to celebrate it. But it was, after all, a kind gesture from her management team.
On a normal day, Mu Yanxi’s habit of clapping back at haters on Weibo often forced her management team to work late into the night. Although Mu Yanxi paid them generously, she still felt bad about it occasionally, so she couldn’t possibly refuse the team’s kind intentions.
When she got off the plane, her manager was stuck in traffic, so Mu Yanxi ducked into a coffee shop with private booths.
She ordered a coffee and two small cakes, opened the Weibo app she had forgotten about for a week, and sifted through her photo album, selecting a selfie taken while watching the aurora.
She was wearing a new piece fresh off a high-fashion runway. Behind her, the vast aurora fell upon her like starlight, making her already stunning face shine brilliantly in the night.
Of course, the thirty-million-yuan Kashmir sapphire brooch pinned to her chest was also particularly eye-catching.
Her little scheme was perfectly clear.
She might as well have just written “I’m really rich” in the caption.
But the low-key Second Miss Mu would naturally not be so shallow. She simply wrote with noble aloofness: 【Daily life (Image.jpg)】
A few minutes after she posted it, the haters, who were single-handedly saving Weibo’s KPI for the year, caught the scent and came swarming, completely filling up the top comments:
【Is your caption really that half-assed? Can you unpopular hacks have some professional ethics?】
【Why did you disappear for a week again? Don’t tell me you were secretly crying over a breakup?】
【Here we go again, here we go again. Mu Yanxi is back to showing off her wealth.】
【I’ve seen people show off, but never this ridiculously. If you’re going to wear a fake, at least pick something low-key. Don’t you really think no one saw the final item at last month’s Langbo auction?】
Having lived two lives, Mu Yanxi was long accustomed to these kinds of comments. They didn’t affect her mood in the slightest.
She refreshed the page and, among the top, uncollapsed comments, she suddenly saw one that had just been pushed to the top:
【Are you afraid people don’t know that Chi An lost her movie and endorsement, so you’re deliberately showing off your superiority here?】
Mu Yanxi’s fingertips paused for a subtle two seconds.
Then, the fatigue from the long flight was swept away, and she was instantly wide awake.
Chi An lost her endorsement and movie?
Ah…
That was truly something worth celebrating.
Following standard gossip-hunting procedure, she quickly went to the trending topics list to get the tea. Right at the top of the entertainment chart was the hashtag #ChiAnRongjia.
She clicked on it. A top gossip account’s exposé read: 【Today’s tea: A certain two-character actress whose name starts with C was just dropped by Rongjia. The movie and endorsement deals she had lined up have also fallen through. Rumor has it she offended someone important, and now no company dares to sign her.】
Describing her as a “two-character actress whose name starts with C” was as good as naming her outright. There was no suspense.
Whose Weibo activity had skyrocketed recently, getting trotted out by gossip accounts every other day to stir up hype? Wasn’t it Chi An?
As Chi An’s arch-nemesis, Mu Yanxi could recognize her at a glance, even if the gossip accounts had censored her name eighty-one times over.
The comment section had already exploded, with many people muddying the waters and kicking Chi An while she was down:
【Where are Chi An’s fans? Come on out and show yourselves. Weren’t you so smug before? Bragging about her being a top-tier starlet and the leading actress of the post-95 generation. It’s hilarious.】
【Who would dare to take someone Rongjia doesn’t want? Hehe.】
【Can Chi An’s fans stop jumping around? I didn’t see you guys coming out to clarify things when the media was hyping up Chi An’s relationship with the Rongjia president. Now your attempt to latch on has failed, hahaha.】
【What are Mu Yanxi’s fans jumping around for? No matter how high you jump, Guan Zhou still doesn’t like your idol.】
【Everyone knows Mu Yanxi only has haters, not fans. Chi An’s fans, don’t label me as a Mu Yanxi fan. Let me be a professional hater, thank you.】
【I feel so dirty. I was actually labeled a Mu Yanxi fan. Can we just chat without personal attacks?】
Mu Yanxi recognized her haters at a glance. She had to admit, Chi An’s misfortune was making even these accounts seem endearing.
On the real-time feed for Chi An’s hashtag, her fans had already taken over, posting everywhere about how heartbroken they were for her and demanding an explanation.
Many posts included Weibo’s built-in emojis, and the neat rows of red X’s were enough to make one’s eyes hurt.
Mu Yanxi was like a groundhog in a melon patch, happily browsing Chi An’s feed for a long time, completely forgetting to leave.
It wasn’t until she refreshed the feed again that a post violently caught her attention: 【Oh my god, it’s confirmed that Chi An offended Rongjia and got blacklisted, right? Just a moment ago, you could still search for content related to her and the Rongjia president, but now it’s all been wiped clean! (DumbfoundedDoge.jpg)】
Mu Yanxi froze for two seconds, then quickly pulled up the search bar and typed in the keywords.
The previous hashtags like ‘Chi An Rongjia President,’ ‘Chi An’s Backer,’ ‘The Capital Behind Chi An,’ and a whole series of others had all been cleared, while other hashtags related to Chi An still existed.
No one would believe that these hashtags had vanished into thin air without human intervention.
Mu Yanxi then went to her browser to search for the news about Chi An being kept, which had been pushed by various entertainment outlets a while ago.
The result: it had also vanished into thin air.
A search for the Rongjia president only brought up recent news about Rongjia’s new developments, with no personal news about her whatsoever.
As the president of Rongjia Group and a famous figure in the capital circle, Yi Wulan was extremely low-key online. Her company’s PR team would not easily expose her photos or other information.
In contrast, Mu Yanxi, a C-list celebrity in the entertainment industry, already had scandals flying everywhere.
Who would have thought that Mu Yanxi, the number one “vase” in the domestic entertainment industry, was the precious little princess of Xinyu and the legal partner of the Rongjia president?
After looking through some hashtags online, Mu Yanxi’s mood started to become a little strange.
No way…
Could it really be that Yi Wulan, the workaholic who treated her job like her wife, had given the order?
Was Yi Wulan, who hadn’t called or messaged her in a week, proactively seeking a truce and apologizing to her?
But…
Doesn’t she know that an apology should come with a bit more tangible sincerity?
What if I hadn’t seen the Weibo posts?
Mu Yanxi had just taken out her phone, but she hesitated.
She didn’t know if she should ask Yi Wulan.
What if it was just Rongjia’s PR department doing these things to protect the company’s image? If she eagerly went to ask, wouldn’t Yi Wulan laugh at her?
Besides, Yi Wulan didn’t seem like the type of person who would go out of her way to handle such a trivial matter.
Just as Mu Yanxi was hesitating, her manager, Ling Yi, finally arrived. She took her to a restaurant with good privacy, where the rest of the management team had already gathered.
Although Mu Yanxi could be quite a handful on Weibo at times, the salary she paid her management team far exceeded that of other artists, and she never acted like a diva. Therefore, everyone on the team liked her very much.
Everyone at the table knew about Chi An’s news. They all looked triumphant and were even happier than Mu Yanxi, the person directly involved. The atmosphere was very lively.
Halfway through the meal, the manager suddenly sat up straight. “Hey, isn’t that Guan Zhou?”
Without looking up, Mu Yanxi continued to drink her soup. “His endorsement deals have been pretty good lately. His picture is everywhere.”
“No, no.” The manager leaned closer to the window. “I mean the real Guan Zhou. And the person next to him doesn’t look like Chi An.”
Mu Yanxi finally raised her head and followed her manager’s gaze.
A man and a woman walked past the window, seemingly having just finished a meal. The man was tall and carried the woman’s bag. Even though his face was well-covered, he was still recognizable as Guan Zhou.
The person with him was a woman who looked to be in her forties or fifties, with a curvaceous figure. The two were talking and laughing, their actions very intimate as they walked towards a luxury car.
The manager’s eyes lit up. “Isn’t that a high-level executive from Zhiyi Mobile? No wonder Guan Zhou’s resources have been so good lately. It turns out someone is backing him.”
Mu Yanxi raised an eyebrow but didn’t pay it much mind. After all, she had filmed with Guan Zhou before. Back then, he had sent her flirtatious texts every day while secretly dating their co-star Chi An. It was clear he was no simple character.
Now that Chi An was in trouble, it was only normal for him to find another way out.
The manager said thoughtfully, “No wonder your show, You Are Like the Boundless Stars, is still airing as usual. I guess we have Guan Zhou to thank for that?”
Mu Yanxi opened her mouth but was suddenly speechless.
The little doubt in her heart was dispelled by the manager’s casual remark.
So, it wasn’t Yi Wulan who dealt with Chi An.
Thank goodness she hadn’t gone to find Yi Wulan right away, or she would have been utterly humiliated.
A sense of vexation rose in Mu Yanxi’s heart, and she proactively poured herself a glass of wine.
Having been reborn, Mu Yanxi had only wanted to stop Yi Jingming’s protagonist halo and let everything develop normally.
But now, she felt a little melancholic.
It was all because of Yi Wulan.
A strange feeling.
It was hard to understand, and she didn’t know what to do.
Mu Yanxi poured herself a glass of red wine. It was much milder than white liquor, but it still felt a bit harsh going down.
After downing the glass in one go, she set it down and exhaled a soft, wine-scented breath.
The others hadn’t been pushing her to drink, but seeing Mu Yanxi pour her own wine, they assumed she was in a good mood and also came forward to toast.
After several rounds of drinks, as the stars appeared in the night sky, she gradually became drunk.
Returning home after many days, Mu Yanxi had just pushed open the main door when the cleaning lady came to greet her. “Miss Mu, you’re finally back.”
Since she was with her management team, she didn’t have to worry about being photographed by paparazzi, so she had indulged herself for once and drunk a little too much. The car ride home had activated most of the alcohol in her system, and she was completely tipsy. “What is it?”
The lady pointed upstairs and smiled. “After Miss Yi came back these past few days, she’s been asking every day if you’ve returned. Would you like to go see her?”
Normally, Mu Yanxi would have agreed.
But right now, her mind was a mess, and the wine she had drunk had completely scrambled her thoughts. Mu Yanxi pressed her lips together and began to act petulantly. “No, I don’t want to bother with her.”
“But…”
Mu Yanxi continued to be stubborn. “Don’t follow me. I’m not going to see her.”
After saying that, she hurried upstairs. Although she looked much the same as usual, the drunkenness was taking effect, and her steps were already unsteady.
The bathroom was filled with steam. The drunken woman lacked her usual alertness. The warm water accelerated the blood flow in her body, completely bringing out the last dregs of intoxication.
The water in the bathtub was cooler than usual. As Mu Yanxi bathed, she grew drowsy and dozed off a few times against the edge, only to be woken up by the heat from the alcohol in her system.
The corners of her charming, fox-like eyes were tinged with crimson, more beautiful and alluring than any eyeliner she had ever drawn. But her gaze lacked its usual liveliness; it was a little dazed.
For a moment, she couldn’t remember what she was supposed to be doing.
She grabbed a nightgown at random, threw it on, and hurried out of the bathroom. Her skin was flushed pink all over, and undried water droplets trickled down her smooth, delicate skin, disappearing into the carpet.
The nights in Yuncheng in July were very hot and humid. Mu Yanxi hadn’t been home in a long time, and the central air conditioning in her room wasn’t on. She wandered out aimlessly and pushed open a door from which cool air was flowing.
The sudden change from hot to cold made her already dizzy head even more confused. She fell directly onto the floor. The soft carpet prevented her from feeling any pain, and it took her several seconds to get back up.
She murmured in a low voice, “So, it’s a dream.”
With unsteady steps, Mu Yanxi yawned and continued to feel her way towards the bed.
It wasn’t until she saw the person on the bed by the faint moonlight that she froze.
Why was Yi Wulan in her room?
Oh, it’s a dream.
It was quite normal to dream of Yi Wulan.
They say what you think about by day, you dream of by night. Mu Yanxi was grossed out by her own thoughts.
Then again, she felt that nothing that happened in a dream should be surprising.
Since it was a dream anyway, Mu Yanxi’s actions were very bold. She moved closer and hooked a finger around Yi Wulan’s hand, which was lying outside the covers. “Yi Wulan, you can’t run away this time.”
By the faint light, Mu Yanxi’s gaze slowly moved up to Yi Wulan’s face. The moment she saw her complexion, Mu Yanxi suddenly stopped.
Yi Wulan’s complexion was terrible. Her brows were slightly furrowed, and her forehead seemed to be covered in a fine sheen of sweat.
In reality, she hadn’t transferred any of her ability to Yi Wulan in a long time. Why was it the same even in her dream?
“And you call me delicate.” Mu Yanxi suddenly felt a little smug. She smilingly brushed her fingertips against Yi Wulan’s face. “Clearly, you’re the one who can’t live without me, right?”
“Alright, alright, I’ll help you then.”
The life-giving ability slowly flowed from Mu Yanxi’s fingertips, pouring into Yi Wulan’s mind, gently enveloping her meridians and washing over them again and again.
The drunk Mu Yanxi clearly lacked her usual patience. Her head was spinning, and after discovering that she still couldn’t budge that invisible barrier one bit, she started slacking off after only a few minutes.
“Why can’t you just absorb it, Yi Wulan?” Mu Yanxi sat on the carpet, deflated, muttering at the still-pale Yi Wulan. “Wait a minute, let me ask how to transfer it faster.”
Mu Yanxi fumbled for her phone, switched to a certain green river forum, and posted: 【Urgent! How can I transfer my ability more efficiently?】
At this hour, the forum’s traffic was unprecedentedly high. After she posted, many people bumped the thread, and wave after wave of gossip-loving bunnies flooded in:
【Ability? You mean like the kind Ultraman uses to fight monsters?】
【This requires a case-by-case analysis. Which era did the OP transmigrate from? The apocalypse or a cultivation world?】
OP replied: 【The healing kind. I didn’t transmigrate.】
The thread became even livelier. In a few minutes, it was bumped into a “hot” thread, displayed ostentatiously on the front page: 【I have a friend who, after battling her evil stepmother, was awakened by a kiss from the prince next door.】
【I also have a friend. Her cultivation was always lagging behind others until one day she obtained a secret dual cultivation manual. She betrayed her sect and established the world’s number one Hehuan Sect!】
【Transferring abilities is naturally better the more intimate you are. OP, listen to me, you’re right. Just kiss them.】
…
【Why hasn’t the OP replied? Did she drink too much and finally pass out?】
【Speaking of which, she posted in the wrong section. Why haven’t the mods in red coats come to delete the thread yet?】
【How dare you! The OP is a high-end new human with an ability, destined to save the world in the future. How would the mods in red coats dare to delete it?】
Mu Yanxi had no idea how distorted the thread later became. After reading the first few suggestions from netizens, her hazy, drunken mind found them increasingly reasonable.
When she transferred her ability, the effect was worlds apart when she touched Yi Wulan’s hand versus her head.
Isn’t that how it’s always written in novels? Dual cultivation is much more useful than other cultivation methods. Her ability was also more effective the closer it was to the injured area.
What if kissing really worked?
Anyway, this was her dream. Even if it didn’t work, it wouldn’t matter, right?
Why not give it a try?
How about just a press of the lips?
It’s a dream, so it doesn’t count as… sacrificing her first kiss, right?
She’d dreamed of being bitten by a dog before.
Mu Yanxi was a woman of action. She propped herself up and slowly leaned in, so close she could feel the other’s warm breath.
The air gradually became intoxicating from the lingering scent of alcohol on her body.
Little by little, just as their lips were about to touch, Yi Wulan, whose eyes had been tightly shut, seemed to sense something and slowly opened them.
Mu Yanxi froze completely.
“What are you doing?” Yi Wulan’s voice was so shocked it was almost a whisper.
“Shh… don’t talk.” Mu Yanxi placed a fingertip on Yi Wulan’s lips and said with a grin, “This is my dream. You have to listen to me.”
Yi Wulan was stunned. Then she smelled the familiar post-bath fragrance on Mu Yanxi, as well as the faint but unignorable scent of alcohol, which seemed to bewitch the senses. The air gradually grew thick.
The alcohol went to Mu Yanxi’s head. A moment ago, she might have wanted to transfer her ability, but now a competitive desire to contend with the Yi Wulan in her dream ignited within her.
The real Yi Wulan wouldn’t let her touch her, fine. But in her dream, she was determined to touch her.
And a frivolous kind of touch at that.
She hooked her arm directly around Yi Wulan’s neck, not allowing her to dodge in the slightest. Then she quickly leaned in and planted a peck on the other’s lips.
After the kiss, before Yi Wulan could react, she spoke triumphantly, “See? There’s nothing I can’t do in my dream.”
