Chapter 25

Jiang Zhaolie gritted her teeth, but outwardly she pretended nothing was amiss and dismissed the notification. After a brief pause, she turned back to the matter at hand. She and Qin Yao both kept their expressions impassive, and the other senior executives, curious as they were, had no choice but to swallow their urge to dig for the truth and get on with the meeting.

Even so, thanks to Xu Chun's interruption, more than a few minds had drifted from the meeting.

Was their President Qin—that ancient iron tree—finally about to bloom? This was truly a rare sight. They'd worked under Qin Yao for years, and they'd scarcely seen even a female mosquito near her, let alone a woman.

They had to admit it: whoever was courting Qin Yao now was bold and clever. Clever enough to start with President Jiang and win President Qin's favor by proxy, without ever earning her dislike.

Xu Chun had no idea what a stir she'd set off in the meeting room. After transferring the money to Jiang Zhaolie, she went right back to huddling with the screenwriter over revisions. The original script was already solid; it was just that expectations ran so high, and everyone knew the source novel so well, that changes and new plotlines were unavoidable.

The screenwriter pointed at a spot on the page. "Here—I think we can add two more plot points."

Xu Chun glanced at it, weighing the surrounding context. "Then let's flip it—make the second male lead the female lead's half-brother. Same father, different mother." She was warming to the idea. "Actually, the female lead's real identity is a rich man's daughter lost to the world outside. Back then, the wealthy madam and the female lead's adoptive mother gave birth in the same hospital, but a nurse's carelessness got the two babies switched—and that changed both their lives completely."

"Not long ago, the wealthy madam ran into the female lead by chance and saw that she looks exactly like her younger self—which instantly roused her suspicion. She quietly sent people to investigate, got hold of the female lead's hair for a paternity test, and finally uncovered the truth and found her biological daughter."

"But the fake heiress can't accept it. She throws a huge scene, escalates her schemes against the female lead, and makes her life a misery. And when the second male lead finds out that the woman he loves is actually his own sister, he's in agony. He spends his days drowning his grief in wine and women, trying to numb himself with drink, until he happens to hear from a friend that his beloved—his own sister—has been set up again and again by the fake heiress. He rushes home on the spot and gives the fake heiress a beating she won't forget."

The screenwriter blinked. "...?" So true lovers really do turn out to be siblings, huh.

No, wait—she squinted at Xu Chun. Why did this feel like settling personal scores? Yu Sui'an's character in this drama was having a worse time by the day, suffering more with every episode. Filming this show might well be the darkest stretch of Yu Sui'an's entire life.

The screenwriter suspected ulterior motives, but right now the other woman was gazing at her with those big, beautiful, innocent eyes—wide and pleading, brimming with sincerity—and the screenwriter's conviction instantly wavered.

In the end, the screenwriter gritted her teeth and threw caution to the wind. Forget it. Whatever old private grudges the leads had between them were none of her business. She just had to keep her head down, do the work, and collect the salary she was owed.

The revisions grew more extensive by the day, and with the original author joining the group chat too—not about to be outdone—the new script now packed so much extra material into the framework of the original novel that it was nearly unrecognizable. Unless you studied it closely, even a fan who'd read the source ten times probably wouldn't know it.

The original-novel fans had no idea their own author was personally stabbing them in the back. At that very moment, they were happily lapping up fresh gossip about Yu Sui'an, one of the female leads.

It began when a marketing account, hiding behind the shell of a diehard Xu Chun fan, posted a nine-panel Weibo post full of screenshots. In them, the blogger laid out a timeline of everything Yu Sui'an and her fans had said and done from the time she and Xu Chun started dating to their breakup. Judging by the Weibo activity and movements of several of Yu Sui'an's top fans, the blogger concluded that the smear campaign against Xu Chun had been premeditated from the start.

Even Yu Sui'an's first approach to Xu Chun had been calculated.

In the timeline, the blogger pointed out in detail the suspicious coincidences behind Yu Sui'an and Xu Chun's encounters, and the dramatic climb in Yu Sui'an's resources once the two confirmed their relationship. Since many of the resources Yu Sui'an later landed had previously been tied to collaborations with Xu Chun, it was hard not to suspect that, out of love, Xu Chun had been carving pieces off her own pie and handing them to her girlfriend.

On top of that, the blogger listed all kinds of evidence that Xu Chun had played the fool, alongside proof that Yu Sui'an had deliberately organized her top fans to smear her—making it look as though Xu Chun, who had known nothing about any of it, had been nothing but a fool.

Some netizens who'd followed the gossip closely remembered the tabloid reports from that period of Xu Chun drinking alone to drown her sorrows, and couldn't help falling silent. 【Xu Chun really got a raw deal. This year's Biggest Sucker award goes to her, no contest.】

【Ugh! And I genuinely shipped them. I never thought it was all an act.】

【Has Yu Sui'an offended someone lately? Why is there suddenly so much dirt on her online? I remember she had a run-in with the second female lead in the cast before...】

【It's just that Suisui's too popular and she's in someone's way. Some people are terrified her explosive rise will threaten them, so all they can do is resort to these dirty tricks to slander her.】

【Aren't Yu Sui'an's fans overthinking this? If someone's worried about the drama getting too big and blocking their path... wouldn't Xu Chun, the lead carrying the ratings, be an easier target? Why don't those people frame Xu Chun or Jiang Banxia? Why fixate on Yu Sui'an?】

【You guys really don't get it. That Weibo post is actually aimed at Xu Chun. It's been a long time since I've seen an actress in this industry played this badly.】

Xu Chun and Yu Sui'an had always been a hot topic, and with the original novel's following behind it, the post quickly trended and set off widespread discussion.

Yu Sui'an had just gotten the new script, revised beyond recognition by Xu Chun and the screenwriter, and hadn't even recovered from the shock of what had happened to her character when her manager called, warning her over and over not to go online—and especially not to look at Weibo. Focus on filming, ignore the outside world.

Yu Sui'an frowned. She didn't listen.

While her assistant wasn't looking, she pulled out her phone and logged onto Weibo. The moment she saw the trending topic, the color drained from her lips and her fingertips trembled uncontrollably.

A panic fiercer than anything she'd felt before wrapped around her like a net cast from above, squeezing the breath out of her lungs.

She had wondered before whether her deeds might one day come to light, but she had never believed Xu Chun's fans could possibly dig up every clue and piece them together to nail her to the wall of shame. So the thought had only flickered through her mind for an instant before she pushed it aside and thought no more about it.

Now the truth had been dragged into the open without warning, all of it crashing down on her at a moment when she was utterly unprepared, and Yu Sui'an felt she could barely breathe.

But what she feared in this moment wasn't her own ruin, wasn't being pointed at and cursed by everyone. Her only fear was this: if Xu Chun saw that Weibo post, what would she think of her?

Would she hate her more? Despise her more?

She already went out of her way to avoid her every day. If she learned the truth and became convinced that Yu Sui'an had approached her with calculation, that she'd dated her for ulterior motives—would she want to vanish from her world completely and never see her again?

At the thought of Xu Chun looking at her with disgust, the last of the color drained from Yu Sui'an's palm-sized face.

When Xu Chun saw the news online, she had only one thought—

Who did this?

Nice work!

But then she reconsidered. Yu Sui'an ruined, disgraced, buried in scandal. None of that was good for her drama. Her expression soured.

If this pile of dirt had broken a little earlier, she wouldn't have had to work with Yu Sui'an at all. If it had broken a little later—after filming wrapped and the drama aired—then whether Yu Sui'an lived or died would have been none of her damn business. Either way she wouldn't be stuck here now, terrified that Yu Sui'an would drag down the whole production and everything that came after it.

Xu Chun reached up and scratched her brow. Her gaze drifted and happened to meet Jiang Banxia's. She paused, then broke into a grin and leaned closer without a shred of shame. "Banxia, about this..."

Jiang Banxia didn't give her the chance to finish. She lifted her eyes, expressionless. "Do I look like I have that much free time?"

She might not like Yu Sui'an, but she wouldn't go out of her way to pay someone to make trouble just to spite her. Besides, they were all grasshoppers on the same rope now. Yu Sui'an's misfortune did her no good either.

So it wasn't Jiang Banxia? Xu Chun sank into thought. Then who else had both the means and enough dislike for Yu Sui'an to pull this off?

Xu Chun searched her mind and couldn't find a suitable candidate, simply because there were far too many people in the original novel that Yu Sui'an had gotten in the way of. In the original, Yu Sui'an had Xu Chun carving off her own resources for love early on, and later Jiang Zhaolie shielding her, so there were more people jealous of Yu Sui'an than you could count on two hands.

That complicated things.

Because the lead actress had suddenly run into such a huge problem, the production team and the producers held an emergency meeting. The upshot was the director coming to find Xu Chun with a heavy sigh. "Little Xu, about this business—we may need you to come forward and clear things up."

Xu Chun's brow arched. She was just about to refuse when the director added, "Out of a sense of humanitarianism, the production will compensate you with a blue-blood brand endorsement. If you're willing, you can sign the contract with them this afternoon."

The refusal on the tip of Xu Chun's tongue took a sharp turn. "I'm willing. And honestly, I don't believe Suisui is that kind of person either—she's so pure and kind, how could she possibly do something like that?" she said righteously. "Someone must be framing her!"

The director regarded her with complicated feelings. "..." Call her a fool, and she'll prove you right.

The director acted as middleman and passed the word along, and sure enough, someone soon came over with the contract. When the manager got wind of it, she rushed over with the company lawyer, and once the contract checked out, she stood by while Xu Chun signed her name.

Even after the contract was signed, the manager still hadn't recovered. A blue-blood endorsement that people out there fought tooth and nail for... had just dropped into Xu Chun's lap, easy as anything, all because of Yu Sui'an?

If there was a catch, well, the contract was written clearly and plainly, and the lawyer had gone over it for ages without finding anything amiss. And if there wasn't... Xu Chun really didn't seem like the type with that kind of luck.

The manager mulled it over and couldn't work it out—until the brand representative asked, with a gossipy air, "Miss Xu, are you on very good terms with President Qin?"

"Huh?" Xu Chun didn't catch on at first, until the representative added, "I mean President Qin Yao."

The manager was sharp, and it clicked at once. This might be Qin Yao's arrangement. Perhaps even today's dirt on Yu Sui'an had been engineered by Qin Yao behind the scenes, to vent Xu Chun's anger.

First, expose Yu Sui'an and teach her a lesson; then compensate Xu Chun with the blue-blood endorsement; finally, pull the heat down as if none of it had ever happened. But in the back-and-forth, netizens had already etched Yu Sui'an's deeds deep into their memory, so even with the heat pulled, her reputation had fallen, and she was the one who'd lost, utterly.

In the whole affair, only Xu Chun came out a true winner.

After seeing the brand representative off, the manager sighed and instructed Xu Chun earnestly, "If you get the chance, thank President Qin properly."

Xu Chun turned back, eyes curving into a smile. "Of course. Sister's kindness is too great to repay—all I can do is offer my body in return."

The manager: "?" You've got love on the brain again, haven't you? Haven't you suffered enough from love?

Take someone's money and you clear their trouble for them. Xu Chun had taken the production's benefits, and she'd taken Jiang Zhaolie's hard-earned money too. She'd have felt guilty not posting a Weibo to explain things for Yu Sui'an. So just as the matter was escalating, the gossipers suddenly noticed that Xu Chun had updated her long-silent account: 【Utter nonsense. Suisui is not that kind of person!】

【If anyone spreads rumors again, I'm calling the police!】

Fans: "..." This one's beyond saving.

【Sis, what does Yu Sui'an even have that keeps you so completely bewitched? You've broken up and you're still out here speaking up for her and clearing her name. Sis, snap out of it! She's not a good woman!】

【Sis, how much did Yu Sui'an pay you? I'll double it!】

【Sis, if you're being held hostage by Yu Sui'an, just blink twice.】

With Xu Chun stepping forward and Yu Sui'an's team working damage control, the matter gradually died down. But the sudden uproar had still cost Yu Sui'an. Her reputation had taken a hit, and several endorsements she'd thought were in the bag went to rivals instead.

Her manager cursed up a storm and rolled up her sleeves to go settle accounts. Yu Sui'an sat alone in the nanny van, pale fingers wrapped around her phone, utterly still—until her lashes trembled and a glimmer of moisture caught in her clear eyes. She came back to herself and bit her lip softly.

So sister... was still the same as ever.

She stood up for her when she was wronged, had her back when she was at a loss, and stepped in to resolve everything herself when there was no way for her to defend herself.

Yu Sui'an sniffled. Sister was as good as ever, and she herself was so low, so despicable, having done so many unconscionable things to the one person who had always cared for her and protected her.

Her fingers slowly curled into a fist. Yu Sui'an watched in silence as the phone screen dimmed. Never again.

She would never hurt sister again, not once, and she would never allow anyone else to harm sister, not once. From now on, anyone who dared bully sister—she'd make them wish they'd never been born.

Jiang Zhaolie was thoroughly satisfied with Xu Chun's service. Taking advantage of a break in the meeting, she sent Xu Chun a WeChat message: 【Thank you. You did well today.】

She felt a measure of relief—thank goodness she'd steeled herself and spent good money to hire Xu Chun for a week. Otherwise, with Suisui suddenly slandered today, if Xu Chun hadn't been willing to step forward and speak for her, who knew how much worse things could have gotten. Suisui's reputation damaged, Suisui wronged and slandered—neither was something she could accept.

Jiang Zhaolie let out a soft breath. Xu Chun was annoying, but at least she had some professional ethics. Maybe she'd misjudged her before; perhaps Xu Chun wasn't... a bad person after all.

The meeting was over, and the other executives had trickled out one by one. Qin Yao stayed in her seat, unmoving, the glow of her laptop screen lighting her fair skin and deep-set features, betraying not a trace of her age.

Jiang Zhaolie zoned out for a moment, and that inescapable illusion surfaced again—as if Qin Yao had never given birth at all. Back in biology class, the teacher had taught them that childbirth could do no small amount of harm to a woman, and leave no small aftereffects. She'd been young then, and Qin Yao had been young too, so she hadn't thought much of it.

But now she'd been out of school for two or three years, and Qin Yao was thirty-seven—still as beautiful as ever, her skin firm and luminous, her looks fair and youthful. The years had left no mark on her; only her aura had grown colder and more imposing with experience, commanding respect without any show of temper.

Jiang Zhaolie couldn't help thinking: true, some women came out of childbirth with virtually no lasting effects, but the impression Qin Yao gave was identical to that of the older women around her who had never married or had children.

Unfettered. Free.

Having mulled over these stray thoughts, Jiang Zhaolie rose and stood beside her. "President Qin, I'll be heading back now."

As she spoke, her gaze happened to sweep across Qin Yao's laptop screen. The page was stopped on Xu Chun's Weibo post clearing things up for Yu Sui'an, and in the tab bar, two or three other tabs were open, holding the very dirt that had been exposed about Yu Sui'an.

Jiang Zhaolie's instinct was to defend her. "Suisui was framed. Those people just can't stand how popular she is, so they made up all this nonsense to set her up."

Qin Yao's eyelids flickered, the corner of her lips curving. "How do you know she was framed?" She lifted her eyes unhurriedly. "Did you hide under her bed and hear it yourself?"

Jiang Zhaolie: "?" Has Mom been spending too much time among those toxic netizens? Why is she so sarcastic all of a sudden?

A faint chill crept into Qin Yao's eyes. She regarded Jiang Zhaolie quietly, as if deciding whether to call it stubbornness or plain lovesick foolishness. "She's popular? How popular—has she reached the top, made it to the A-list?" A trace of coldness threaded her tone, barely there. She spoke word by word, her voice very soft. "Or has she gotten to the point where the streets empty out and the whole country, old and young alike, are her fans?"

Jiang Zhaolie had nothing to say to that.

"What were the numbers on her last drama?" Qin Yao pulled up the data Yu Sui'an's fans had compiled. "Two hundred million views, at most. You call that popular?"

"And her last film's box office? Five hundred million? A billion?"

How would Jiang Zhaolie know any of that? She'd never seriously looked into it. In her heart, Yu Sui'an was simply pure and kind, soft and timid—the type who was easy to bully and didn't even know how to fight back.

"I—" Jiang Zhaolie started, but Qin Yao switched to another page. "Take a good look at Xu Chun's numbers from the past few years, and then ask yourself how absurd that statement was—from a director who's supposed to think carefully and weigh her words at all times."

Jiang Zhaolie hadn't wanted to look, but the table screenshot sat there generously on the screen. Even a cursory glance made one thing clear: Yu Sui'an's current numbers couldn't touch Xu Chun's results from her debut year.

Her mouth suddenly felt dry. Jiang Zhaolie licked her lips and lowered her head. "Sorry. That's on me. I'll reflect on it."

She braced for a scolding, but Qin Yao simply shut her laptop, gave her a look that said she had no interest in talking further, then gathered her things and left, carrying the computer one-handed.

Jiang Zhaolie stood there blankly. She'd never imagined that the former Xu Chun had been that outstanding, while Suisui... couldn't even reach the hem of her clothes no matter how she tried.

Only... Jiang Zhaolie frowned. Something was nagging at her, something she was missing.

After she packed up too and made her way to the parking garage, about to start the car and head home, it finally hit her. Why was Mom, busy as she was, squeezing time out of even her meals, going out of her way to look at Xu Chun's numbers?!

Don't tell her Mom had already fallen for Xu Chun's tricks?!

A nameless panic surged in her chest. She forced herself to calm down, and a moment later, Jiang Zhaolie took the steering wheel in one hand and drew a deep breath. No.

Besides Xu Chun's numbers, Mom had also looked at Yu Sui'an's. Maybe she was just comparing her ex-fiancée and her future girlfriend, seeing which one was more suited to marry into the family.

Mom had, after all, been in a position of power for years, holding the reins; she inevitably had the habit of weighing pros and cons. Maybe she was simply comparing which of them would bring her greater benefit by marrying in.

Jiang Zhaolie gripped the wheel tightly and forced herself not to think about certain messy things. Because once a thought took root and sprouted, it seemed she could never ignore it again.

Just like now—knowing perfectly well she shouldn't be thinking about Xu Chun, and yet her mind flickered to her all the same.

In a daze, Jiang Zhaolie couldn't help wondering: would any normal person, still hung up on an ex and unable to fully let go, really be willing to give up that ex and take up with her ex's former fiancée?

When the time came and Yu Sui'an was with her—when they went on dates and she looked at her face—would she really not see Xu Chun in it?

Jiang Zhaolie suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.

Xu Chun sneezed several times in a row. Her assistant hurried to move the flowers away from her and asked cautiously, "Sister Xu, feeling better?"

Xu Chun glanced at the bouquet her assistant was carrying off and nodded. "Much better."

She didn't think it was the flowers' fault; it was probably Jiang Zhaolie cursing her behind her back for making her money too easily. But looking after Yu Sui'an really was a technical job—one slip and you'd get dragged down into the ditch with her. If it weren't for the memory of ending up broke once those two ganged up on her, Xu Chun would never have taken this unlucky money at all.

Xu Chun propped her cheek on her hand without thinking. Speaking of how to break the current deadlock—it had to be marrying Qin Yao, becoming their stepmother, then leaning on her seniority to bully them, making those two suffer plenty, and finally kicking them out of the house without mercy to wander the streets.

Just thinking about it made Xu Chun's lips curl up; she'd be too excited to sleep at night.

She was so deep in her fantasy that she didn't notice Jiang Banxia arrive at all—until the other woman stopped in front of her and a cold voice came from above: "You're still thinking about her?"

"Huh?" Thinking about who?

Xu Chun looked up instinctively and met a pair of light-brown eyes tinged with faint anger. She zoned out for a moment, clicking her tongue inwardly: as expected of the original owner's first love, her teenage white moonlight—at such a deadly angle, anyone else would have looked hideous a thousand different ways, but Jiang Banxia was nothing but beautiful. You couldn't find an ugly spot anywhere on her.

Having taken in the other woman's beauty without a shred of restraint, Xu Chun abruptly came back to herself under Jiang Banxia's glare, which had doubled in fury. "?"

Don't tell her Jiang Banxia thought she'd been thinking about Yu Sui'an just now?

Xu Chun's expression turned serious at once. "How could I?!" She was so desperate to distance herself from Yu Sui'an that her voice nearly cracked. "Why would I be thinking about her?"

Jiang Banxia watched the smile that hadn't quite faded from the corner of her lips and let out a cold laugh. "Before you say that, why don't you wipe that smile off your face first."

"Xu Chun." She leaned in, close to Xu Chun the way she had when they first met. "I just can't figure it out..."

Her tone was drawn out and unhurried, puzzled and somehow tempting all at once. "What's so great about Yu Sui'an? What is it about her that you can't forget?"

"Aren't I better than her?"

Xu Chun had been nodding along silently, thinking Jiang Banxia had a point—until that last sentence landed. She jolted, eyes flying wide. "?!" What?