Chapter 31

Jiang Zhaolie felt utterly defeated, as if she'd fallen into an ice cellar. She peeled off her racing suit listlessly, washed up quickly in the lounge, then got into her sedan and drove slowly away.

Too much had happened these past few days. She needed to sort through it all, and she needed to cool her head.

Staring at Yu Sui'an's pinned profile photo on her phone for a long while, Jiang Zhaolie closed her eyes, pressed her lips into a tight line, and slowly added the other woman to her blacklist. Since Yu Sui'an's heart and eyes were now full of Xu Chun, there was no reason to keep her around; otherwise every time she opened WeChat for work, she'd be reminded of the past and find it hard to let go.

After blocking Yu Sui'an, Jiang Zhaolie sent Xu Chun a message: [Our deal is canceled.]

Xu Chun blanked. What deal? She racked her brains, then finally remembered—it was the five million Jiang Zhaolie had transferred her earlier to look after Yu Sui'an. The shoot had been peaceful lately, so she'd long since forgotten all about it. But why was Jiang Zhaolie suddenly bringing it up now, and canceling it?

She couldn't help asking: [Did you two have a fight? What was it about? Was it bad? When are you making up?]

The barrage of questions was like a census interrogation. Jiang Zhaolie's anger flared instantly; her brows knitted so tightly a fly could've been crushed between them. [She and I have nothing to do with each other anymore. Don't mention her in front of me again.]

[Why?] Xu Chun hadn't gotten to enjoy this fresh gossip and was itching with curiosity. She was like a restless hedgehog, darting about and too distracted to focus on filming.

With the relentless questions still coming, Jiang Zhaolie's eyelid twitched violently. Perhaps realizing that if she didn't spell it out clearly today, the other woman would keep digging—or even go prying for information from Qin Yao—Jiang Zhaolie's expression darkened and she typed: [Because of you.]

[She still can't forget you. I can't compete with you, so I'm bowing out.]

Xu Chun: Confused Hong Shixian.jpg

She frowned: [? It's broad daylight; don't tell ghost stories. What does your fight have to do with me? Don't dump the blame on my head.]

Jiang Zhaolie sneered: [If you don't believe me, go ask her yourself. Ask her whether I'm lying.]

Xu Chun ran her tongue over her neat teeth. [I believe you two fought because of me, but if you're going to claim she still can't forget me and dumped you because she wants to get back together with me—then I'll fight you tooth and nail. The whole world knows she likes you; your true love even made the news.]

Yeah—their relationship was known to all, even publicly announced on every major platform. And yet it had come to this. A bitter taste filled Jiang Zhaolie's mouth, and her eyes stung. [Believe it or not, the deal is off.]

Xu Chun: [Fine, cancel it. But I'm not returning the money—I've already spent it all.]

Jiang Zhaolie was generous this time: [No need to return it. Consider it thrown to the dogs.]

Xu Chun's eyes widened. [Are you calling me a dog?]

The reply was a long string of ellipses, so long it made Xu Chun's eyes ache.

She'd already classified Jiang Zhaolie as a 'first-class ATM with more money than sense.' Now that the ATM was in trouble and in a bad mood, she felt obligated to comfort her:

[Don't be sad.]

[Sure, you two fought and you've lost her for now, but think about it—you still have me! You lost a girlfriend, but at the same time you gained a mother to dote on you. You've gained a mother's love!]

[You should be happy right now. There may be plenty of women who'd suit you as a girlfriend, but when it comes to a stepmother as suited to you as I am—there's only one in the whole world! You've lost your future girlfriend and temporarily freed yourself from daily fights, but you've also gained a mother who loves and cherishes you. You're a winner in life!]

[So what do you have to be sad about?]

This time, a big red exclamation mark appeared next to the message box. Xu Chun pouted in boredom. No fun.

Puzzled, she propped her chin on her hand. In the original novel, Jiang Zhaolie and Yu Sui'an had only ever had petty squabbles. How was it that now, before their relationship had even reached the second stage, they were already breaking up?

Surely Yu Sui'an—that scheming little white lotus—wasn't starting to miss what she'd lost and, just as He Qingli said, preparing to go back for another bite of grass?

Not on her watch. Xu Chun shot upright. These two had to be locked together—firmly locked.

Speak of the devil—Yu Sui'an's soft, gentle voice came from behind. "Sister." She smiled. "Sister, your stomach's been bothering you, and you haven't looked well lately, so I had someone buy you some pigeon soup to nourish your qi and blood."

Xu Chun's heart quailed at the sight of her. No way was she drinking anything from her. "No need. I'm allergic."

Yu Sui'an looked puzzled. "Allergic to what?" She perked up, ready to write it down, only for Xu Chun to answer, with utter resistance, "Allergic to eating."

A strange silence fell. After a long moment, Yu Sui'an lowered her lashes sadly. "Sister, do you really have to push me away like this and never speak to me again for the rest of your life?"

"I know I did a lot of things wrong in the past. I know I was willful and that I let you down. But now I've realized my mistakes, so I want to make it up to you properly." She gently set the pigeon soup aside. "I know you're still wary of me, sister, but I believe time will prove everything—including my feelings for you."

She smiled faintly, looking utterly harmless, her eyes clear and bright. "I know nothing I say now will convince you, sister, but I'll work hard to prove it to you—that I can be just as outstanding as you and make it impossible to look away."

Xu Chun continued to watch her warily. Yu Sui'an's face fell slightly, but she didn't cling. She only reminded her: "Your blood sugar's already low, sister, and with such a heavy shooting schedule, you'll easily faint if you don't get enough nutrition." She knew Xu Chun well. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to hold everyone up because of yourself, right?"

With that, Yu Sui'an left. After serious consideration, Xu Chun quickly called her assistant over. "Hurry and buy me a box of chocolates to keep on hand."

The pigeon soup did look tempting, but Xu Chun was a woman of principle; she'd said she wouldn't eat Yu Sui'an's food, and she absolutely would not.

Fifteen minutes later, Xu Chun called her assistant again. "Go find out which shop Yu Sui'an bought that stuff from."

The assistant hesitated. "She already sent me the shop name." Yu Sui'an had probably known Xu Chun wouldn't easily accept her kindness, so she'd taken the initiative to disclose everything. Xu Chun changed course mid-sentence. "Forget it. I think chocolate's pretty good too."

It replenishes energy and it's sweet. She could send a box to Sister Qin too.

There was no time like the present, so Xu Chun immediately ordered several boxes online and had them delivered straight to Qin Yao's company, with a special note on the order: [Jiang Zhaolie isn't supposed to eat these, but considering she got her heart broken today, she may have one small piece. No more than that.]

Qin Yao found Xu Chun's note both amusing and exasperating. She picked up the phone and called her secretary in, then gestured for her to open the cardboard box and take out a single piece of chocolate. "Send this to President Jiang."

The assistant glanced at the several large boxes of chocolate in the corner of Qin Yao's office, then down at the pitiful little piece in her palm, her head full of question marks. "???" Since when was President Qin so stingy?

But as a competent worker, she knew it wasn't her place to ask, puzzled or not. She stood and nodded. "I'll take it right away."

She'd taken two steps when Qin Yao's voice came from behind: "Those were sent by Miss Xu." The assistant instinctively turned back as Qin Yao continued unhurriedly: "Miss Xu specifically instructed that President Jiang may have only one piece."

The assistant: "..." For a moment, she couldn't decide whether to criticize Xu Chun for being petty or Jiang Zhaolie for deserving it.

She had just reached Jiang Zhaolie's office with the tiny chocolate when she ran into her. Looking at the unimpressive piece, the assistant closed her eyes and set it on the desk. "President Qin instructed that this be given to you, President Jiang."

Jiang Zhaolie looked up in confusion. "?" This? Chocolate? Her mother didn't even like sweets, and she'd never once seen Qin Yao buy sweets of her own accord. Why would she suddenly think to send her this?

The assistant thought for a moment. Worried Jiang Zhaolie might misunderstand Qin Yao, she repeated what Qin Yao had told her. Jiang Zhaolie stared at the chocolate on the desk, not thinking much of it—until she went to Qin Yao's office and saw that the only opened box was missing a tiny corner. Her expression twisted instantly.

Utterly outrageous!

Xu Chun had bought her mother several large boxes, yet she was only willing to spare her this tiny piece!

Wasn't she the one who wanted to be her stepmother? Was this how she treated her?! Already so stingy and petty before even joining the family—if she really did marry in, who knew whether she'd turn around and fleece her allowance?

Jiang Zhaolie was so furious she felt her soul twist—until Qin Yao lifted her head and gave her a flat glance. Jiang Zhaolie immediately suppressed her thoughts. "President Qin, what did you want to see me about?"

"This is the company's variety show planning proposal. Take it and read it carefully." Qin Yao studied Jiang Zhaolie's slightly dazed, weary, dispirited expression and paused. "You'll be fully in charge of this program." She fixed Jiang Zhaolie with a deep look, her voice unnaturally flat. "Don't disappoint me again."

Jiang Zhaolie's gaze flickered, then she slowly lowered her head, took the thick white proposal book Qin Yao was still holding out, and said, "I understand."

She left quietly with the proposal. Qin Yao watched her retreating figure. Jiang Zhaolie was capable and talented; it was just that perhaps Qin Yao had protected her too well since childhood. She'd never suffered much, so she acted a bit childishly—not only lovesick, but often unable to tell right from wrong, easily swayed by others, and trusting everything people said.

Qin Yao's fair fingertips tapped the desk absently. If Jiang Zhaolie was to support both the Jiang and Qin families in the future, she'd have to endure some hardship while she was still young.

Hardship tempers one's will, and Jiang Zhaolie clearly had a long, long road ahead.

Lowering her eyes, Qin Yao looked at what was on her computer screen. She'd use this variety show to give her some practice first. If she did anything wrong, the netizens would surely point it out, and with Xu Chun there, she wouldn't let Jiang Zhaolie save face. No doubt she'd point at Jiang Zhaolie's nose and curse her out whenever she was unhappy.

That girl Xu Chun was quite good, actually. A few scoldings to knock some sense into Jiang Zhaolie wouldn't hurt.

Jiang Zhaolie had no idea Qin Yao had just sold her out. She was furiously confronting a certain hopelessly biased person over the phone: [I treated you so well before, and you won't even spare me one extra piece of chocolate. I've sent you red packets these past few months—if not twenty million, then at least ten million, right? Would it kill you to give me one more piece?]

[Yes, it would.] Xu Chun raised an eyebrow at the screen. [Besides, every cent of those red packets you sent me, I earned with my own two hands and my own sweat. What you're doing now is like paying an employee her salary, then after she quits, still forcing her to be grateful to her boss.]

[But in reality, every employee's wages are the rightful reward for their physical and mental labor.]

[I think you've been thoroughly brainwashed by capitalism.]

Jiang Zhaolie's breathing grew uneven. She wanted to fire back, but after thinking for a long time she couldn't come up with a proper retort, and her face turned to iron. This woman really had a silver tongue. Jiang Zhaolie ground her back teeth. Say one thing to her, and she'd talk back eight times.

At this rate, how would she survive joining Qin Group in three months? Would the whole company, from top to bottom, be turned upside down by her?

Jiang Zhaolie bent her head over the white proposal book. After reading a couple of pages, she expressionlessly picked up her pen and began making additions and revisions to Xu Chun's portion of the work. As long as Xu Chun was busy enough, she wouldn't have time to cause trouble on the twenty-four-hour live broadcast and ruin Qin Group's reputation, nor would she have time to sneak around and seduce her mother.

After Jiang Zhaolie had been silent for a long while, Xu Chun smacked her lips and muttered, "So thin-skinned. I only said a couple of things and she's already ignoring me?"

The more she thought about it, the more restless she became. Finally she sent: [Very well, woman. Your little tricks of playing hard to get have successfully caught my attention.]

Jiang Zhaolie still didn't reply. Xu Chun didn't mind; she put down her phone and got up and walked over to Jiang Banxia. Jiang Banxia had been secretive lately, rarely appearing on set except for filming. Today she'd made a rare appearance, so of course Xu Chun had to see if she could pick up a bit of gossip. "Morning, Miss Jiang," she said with a smile.

Jiang Banxia was briefly thrown. She couldn't help glancing up at the sky. It was almost evening, wasn't it? Had Xu Chun just woken up?

She fixed Xu Chun's slightly eager face with an expressionless stare. "If you have something to say, say it."

She'd been too busy lately. After rushing to finish the overseas project, she'd hurried back home—partly to see how Xu Chun was doing, and partly to see if there was anything she could help with. But clearly she'd underestimated Xu Chun. Even without her, Xu Chun could turn misfortune into fortune and live just fine.

Her project was finished, but there was still plenty of follow-up work, so when she saw that Xu Chun was not only doing fine but lively enough to have time to flirt around, Jiang Banxia shifted her focus back to the project's aftermath.

On top of that, her parents had always hoped she'd inherit the family fortune, so the moment she returned home, they'd latched onto her, refusing to let go until she agreed.

Annoyed beyond measure, Jiang Banxia finally gave in to her parents.

Because of all this, Jiang Banxia had been so busy the past four or five months that her heels never touched the ground. Only today did she finally have a moment to breathe. Suddenly recalling a certain rumor, her eyes flickered. "What are your plans after the drama wraps?"

The topic jumped so fast that Xu Chun took a moment to react. Not sure what she meant, she answered, "Keep doing variety shows."

Variety shows were easy, fun, and paid well. If she weren't an actress, she'd happily cling to variety shows forever. Jiang Banxia turned slightly to look at her. "You know that's not what I mean."

Then what else could she mean? Xu Chun blinked blankly.

After a moment of eye contact with Jiang Banxia, Xu Chun didn't know how, but it was as if someone had opened her ren and du meridians; in a flash, enlightenment struck. "Oh! You mean me and Jiang Zhaolie breaking off the engagement? We'll do it when the drama wraps. What about it?"

Jiang Banxia fixed her with a deep gaze. "You don't understand?"

Xu Chun's eyelid twitched. "Should I?"

Jiang Banxia's pale lips curved in an almost imperceptible, unreadable arc. "You'll understand eventually," she said. "I'll be developing my career domestically from now on. I'm sure we'll have many chances to collaborate."

Xu Chun: "?!" Why did that give her such a bad feeling?

The Jiang family's conglomerate was massive, covering nearly every aspect of daily life—catering, clothing, home appliances, hotels, and countless more. Xu Chun didn't doubt for a second that there'd be many collaboration opportunities with Jiang Banxia, because no one would turn down money—especially not her.

Thinking of endorsement fees, Xu Chun leaned toward Jiang Banxia excitedly. "Then take a look—does your family have any products that don't have a spokesperson yet?" She enthusiastically promoted herself. "Do you think I'm suitable?"

Jiang Banxia was momentarily speechless. "...No."

"Then which celebrities endorse your family's products? I'll go see if any of them have messy personal lives. I'll expose them and then you can put me in their spot—how about that?"

Jiang Banxia's eyelid twitched violently. "Our products all have my grandmother's portrait printed on them. Because it's so iconic, our family has never used celebrity endorsements. Did you forget?" Her eyes narrowed, a dangerous aura rising from her. "Or have you never paid attention to anything related to me?"

Xu Chun felt like she'd just shot herself in the foot. She hurried to defend herself. "Of course not!"

"How could I forget?" Desperation drove Xu Chun to counterattack. "I just wanted to see how much our friendship weighs in your heart."

After explaining, Xu Chun secretly let out a long breath of relief. Good thing she was quick on her feet.

Jiang Banxia watched her quietly exhale, expressionless. She didn't call her out. "You'd better be."

Xu Chun gave a dry laugh. She kept a stiff smile until she finally heard the director call for her, and immediately bolted. "I'm going to film now."

Secret Crush had gone smoothly from the very start—right time, right place, right people—so the drama wrapped nearly half a month earlier than expected. Holding the finale script, Xu Chun was thrilled. Once this week ended, she'd never have to see Yu Sui'an again!

So even though her character was going to end up in prison, it didn't stop her from being gleeful and smug every day. She looked so happy that anyone would've believed her if she said she'd won a hundred million in the lottery.

One person's joy is another's sorrow, and Yu Sui'an was the sorrowful one. The rich lady had, with thunderous efficiency, secured her a pile of commercial endorsements and new scripts; her packed schedule now stretched two years out. After this parting, who knew when she'd see Xu Chun again.

The entertainment circle wasn't exactly small, but it wasn't that big either. Though everyone knew each other, busy schedules meant few people had time to meet friends and catch up. Especially since Xu Chun had been avoiding her from start to finish—once filming wrapped, she'd surely avoid her even more.

Yu Sui'an grew anxious and flustered. She tried time and again to find a chance to be alone with Xu Chun, but each attempt was either interrupted by Jiang Banxia or blocked by others. Not once did she succeed. After enough tries, even a fool would realize someone was deliberately keeping her away. And that someone... She scanned the crew and finally settled on Jiang Banxia.

There was no one else. In the crew, Jiang Banxia was the only one who disliked her and had the power to keep her away.

But the Jiang family was vast and powerful, their influence pivotal. Though Yu Sui'an burned with resentment, she was helpless. She couldn't go to the rich lady with such matters; she knew very well that the rich lady had chosen her only because she was obedient enough.

Yu Sui'an gave Xu Chun a deep look. Since she couldn't get close today because of the obstacles, she'd wait for another day—when she'd climbed high enough—to appear before Xu Chun openly and without restraint.

She believed in her own strength and in her own fate. Ever since she was little, anything she set her sights on had never escaped her.

Xu Chun would be the same.

Yu Sui'an watched Xu Chun for a long time. Xu Chun pretended not to notice and went on toasting the director and screenwriter, gradually pushing Yu Sui'an to the back of her mind and forgetting her entirely.

After wrapping, everyone was happy. A harmonious and efficient crew was a rare find; they'd spent over half a year together and grown deeply attached. Even the director, who'd been especially strict during filming, was drunk and going around promising the actors, "Next time I shoot something, I'll definitely cast you as my male or female lead."

The actors were speechless. You're already retired, old man!

But the atmosphere was good tonight, so everyone joined in. "Yes, yes, Director, don't worry, I'll act my heart out. No matter what, with the whole crew behind you, we'll win you a Best Director award."

The director was overjoyed, hugging people and refusing to let go.

Xu Chun watched with mixed feelings. Her first drama had wrapped. Who'd have thought that the old her—who only knew how to shop—would diligently and honestly stick it out in a film studio for over half a year? If her real parents knew, they'd surely be moved to tears, crying out in gratitude to their ancestors.

A sudden wave of melancholy washed over her. Xu Chun sighed softly and sent He Qingli a message: [Everyone's drinking freely. Watching them so happy, I feel oddly lost for no reason.]

[Such a beautiful moment, and yet I'm all alone, lonely and miserable, with no one to share a heart-to-heart with.] Xu Chun stared gloomily at her phone. [My heart is dead.]

He Qingli replied quickly: [Your heart may be dead, but your brain isn't. You're still coveting President Qin's body and lusting after her beauty—truly terrifying!]

[Go on, when are you planning to sit down with Jiang Zhaolie and settle the broken engagement, then throw yourself into President Qin's embrace?]

Xu Chun: "..." Can't a person have a moment to be emo?

But the next second, she perked up and replied gleefully: [In three days.]

TL Note:

Confused Hong Shixian.jpg (洪世贤的疑惑.jpg) = a reaction meme featuring Hong Shixian, a famously oblivious character from the drama The Temptation of Home, used to express confusion.

little white lotus (小白花) = slang for someone who appears innocent and fragile but is actually scheming.

go back for another bite of grass (吃回头草) = idiom meaning to return to a former lover.

opened her ren and du meridians (打通任督二脉) = a martial arts term for a sudden breakthrough; here it means a moment of sudden enlightenment.