Chapter 61

He Qingli, who had hurried back with Xu Chun, was completely dumbfounded. When Zheng Jinchan had called her away to look for Xu Chun and Qin Yao, the situation had clearly not been this absurd. How was it that in the ten minutes or so she'd been gone, she couldn't understand a single word coming out of Jiang Zhaolie's mouth?

She couldn’t help mimicking that meme of the old subway grandpa staring at his phone, brows furrowed, and squeezed her way in. “What the hell? What are you two even talking about?”

Zheng Yanran’s earnest gaze bounced between Jiang Zhaolie and Yu Sui’an. She asked humbly, “I didn’t catch that just now. Could you two kindly give me a recap?”

Zheng Jinchan immediately smacked her on the head. “Go cool off somewhere else.”

Zheng Yanran was burning with curiosity, absolutely dying to know every detail, but under Zheng Jinchan's authority she didn't dare ask another question. She had no choice but to shoot Xu Chun a desperate look.

Xu Chun's eyelid twitched. She shook her head at Zheng Yanran, signaling that she didn't know either.

With no other option, Zheng Yanran fixed her eager eyes on Jiang Zhaolie and Yu Sui'an again, hoping the two of them would start arguing once more. The fiercer the better; ideally they'd stab each other in the back and expose every last one of each other's little secrets.

Unfortunately, the two didn’t grant her wish. The moment Jiang Zhaolie saw Xu Chun, she instinctively fell silent, clamping her mouth shut without making a sound. Yu Sui’an, whether out of anger at Jiang Zhaolie or not, looked ready to retort, but her face only cycled through green and red. She didn’t open her mouth either.

Then again, in a situation like this, most people probably wouldn’t have the patience to deal with someone like Jiang Zhaolie, a neurotic who spent all day letting her imagination run wild, overthinking everything, convinced the whole world was out to get her.

Yu Sui'an took a deep breath and fixed her gaze on Xu Chun. “I came to see President Zhao.”

She suddenly offered this explanation, as if she didn't want Xu Chun to think she'd deliberately chased her all the way to this hotel just to pester her. But Xu Chun couldn't help wondering. “You've been here this whole time?” Otherwise, how could she have heard the news so quickly and rushed over at lightning speed?

“I have two commercial shoots here over the next few days, so I flew in this afternoon,” she explained succinctly.

Yu Sui’an was much calmer now, her expression normal, nothing out of the ordinary except for slightly swollen eyes that betrayed she’d been crying earlier. Otherwise, she was no different from her usual self.

Understanding dawned on Xu Chun’s face. She glanced at Jiang Zhaolie. “So you came to see President Zhao. How did you end up arguing with her?”

She was genuinely curious. Zhao Ciying and Zheng Jinchan surely knew why, but Xu Chun couldn't very well go asking about such a trivial matter for no good reason.

At that, Yu Sui'an got angry again. “Who knows.” She looked coldly at Jiang Zhaolie. “Probably something set her off and her brain short-circuited.”

Jiang Zhaolie flared up at once, ready to start quarreling with Yu Sui'an again—until Qin Yao's placid gaze shifted and landed on her. A chill ran over her scalp. She snapped back to her senses and pressed her lips tightly together, keeping the scene from turning even uglier.

Xu Chun: “...” Now she finally understood how these two had started fighting.

Actually, Jiang Zhaolie didn't understand it herself, either. From the first time she'd met Yu Sui'an, it seemed that whenever they came into contact, her emotions became especially uncontrollable.

It was as if some strange sense of destiny tied her to Yu Sui'an. Whether back when they were strangers, later when they'd each developed feelings for the other, or now when they hated each other, that sense of destiny always pulled them toward each other against their will.

They had shared affection and mutual attraction and even now still harbored mutual loathing. Yet they couldn’t keep from being drawn together, only to curse each other out fiercely.

This feeling was absurd and hard to believe, yet Jiang Zhaolie felt it with utter clarity, impossible to ignore.

After all, her initial fondness for Yu Sui’an had come out of nowhere, and afterward she’d done so many irrational things to defend her, with acts that could almost be called reckless and vulgar. For someone with her usual temperament, that was extremely abnormal.

But no matter how hard Jiang Zhaolie racked her brain, she couldn't figure out what on earth she'd been thinking back then. So she unconsciously blamed Yu Sui'an.

It had to be that this woman had something unclean on her that had bewitched her mind.

Otherwise, a selfish, profit-driven, and ungrateful woman like Yu Sui’an would never have taken a liking to her. Given Qin Yao’s status and position, along with her adoptive parents’ power and influence, if she’d simply followed her family’s arrangements, she would have married a young lady from a family of equal standing.

She herself was no slouch, either. She'd inherited excellent genes from her birth mother, had a particular gift for academics, and had started managing companies in college. After graduation, she'd built her own career and standing through a tech company and had been named by a financial magazine as ‘the youngest business prodigy of the decade.’

Jiang Zhaolie was far from lacking. If she hadn't inexplicably insisted on tangling herself up with Yu Sui'an, her marriage prospects would have been immeasurably better.

Even Xu Chun, the person Qin Yao had arranged for her to be engaged to, was no slouch.

Though Xu Chun's parents only ran a mid-sized company and their family assets were somewhat lacking compared to other wealthy clans, Xu Jixian had retired from a high-level post, and his connections and network were beyond what ordinary wealthy families could compare to. That couple simply didn't want to rely on Old Master Xu—otherwise, if they'd seriously made use of his connections, they'd have joined the ranks of the super-wealthy in no time.

So strictly speaking, she and Xu Chun were well matched, too.

For that very reason, Jiang Zhaolie grew even more puzzled about how she'd ever taken a fancy to Yu Sui'an.

She couldn’t help sizing Yu Sui’an up. Her looks were nothing special. Aside from fairer skin and slightly delicate, pure features, there really was nothing that appealed to Jiang Zhaolie’s tastes.

Standing next to Xu Chun, Yu Sui’an was a living example of the saying that cute and pure couldn’t hold a candle to gorgeous and sexy. She instantly became bland and tasteless.

Now that the two of them were standing together, the difference was even more obvious, especially because Xu Chun had undergone a complete transformation in her aura after filming this drama without even realizing it. She was now like a blooming rose, resolute and stubborn, even more mesmerizing and impossible to resist.

Jiang Zhaolie was practically green with regret.

The more she thought about everything that had happened, the more Yu Sui'an grated on her. If she didn't argue with Yu Sui'an for three days and nights straight, she felt she wouldn't be able to vent her hatred.

As it happened, Yu Sui'an felt exactly the same way.

If Jiang Zhaolie hadn't suddenly appeared out of nowhere and planted herself in front of her, why would she ever have thought to ditch her sister and go hook up with Jiang Zhaolie instead?

If Jiang Zhaolie had never shown up at all, she and her sister would have been fine all along. Where would all this trouble have come from?

Seeing the two of them, who had just calmed down, once again at each other's throats, Xu Chun felt utterly exhausted. But these two weren't hers to manage anymore, so she plopped herself down to the side, ready to sit back and enjoy the show. Yet the moment she sat down, the tension between Jiang Zhaolie and Yu Sui'an evaporated, and both of them turned their heads in unison, four eyes fixed unblinkingly on her, as if puzzled.

Xu Chun didn't think much of it. She asked them sincerely, “Why'd you stop arguing?”

“Come on, I just got here.” She casually accepted a handful of sunflower seeds Zheng Yanran handed her. Zheng Jinchan’s eyebrow twitched violently at the sight. When had Zheng Yanran pocketed the hotel lobby’s complimentary snacks?

Xu Chun cracked seeds as she looked directly at the two of them, her attention split evenly between Jiang Zhaolie and Yu Sui'an. “Let me tell you something.”

She said it with a straight face. “Arguing like this won't kill anyone.”

Zhao Ciying's interested gaze immediately turned to Xu Chun. She nodded thoughtfully, as if finding it quite reasonable. “Miss Xu has profound insight. That philosophy deeply resonates with me.”

In an instant, Xu Chun felt someone's gaze turn scorching on her.

Xu Chun forced herself to stay composed, ignored Zhao Ciying, and continued, “Go on, keep going. Something came up earlier, and I missed the good part. I really regret it.”

With Xu Chun being that sarcastic, how would Jiang Zhaolie dare stir up any more trouble? Being called out like that, she suddenly realized she’d been somewhat out of line and rash earlier. There had been no need to clash with Yu Sui’an at all. Jiang could drink her own drink, and Yu Sui’an could go find Zhao Ciying. Their interests didn’t conflict in the slightest.

As she gradually calmed down, Jiang Zhaolie grew more and more regretful, and in that moment couldn’t help feeling a sense of humiliation.

Yu Sui'an had always known how to take an out when offered. She gave Jiang Zhaolie a light, fleeting glance, suppressed the extra emotions in her heart, and walked in small steps over to Zhao Ciying. “President Zhao, I'd like to talk with you.”

Her attitude was sincere, but Zhao Ciying had absolutely no interest. “There's nothing for us to talk about.”

But Yu Sui'an was prepared. She leaned in slightly and whispered two sentences into Zhao Ciying's ear. Zhao Ciying immediately turned to look at her, a faint surprise in her expression. After a moment, Zhao Ciying set down her wine glass and stood. “Alright.”

“Sorry, I have something to take care of, so I'll be going first.” She turned to look at Qin Yao and the others, then picked up a bottle of liquor from beside her and downed it in one go, clean and decisive. “Consider this my apology.”

Seeing that none of them objected, Zhao Ciying picked up her suit jacket from beside her, draped it over her arm, and gave the group a slight nod. “I'm off.” Then she turned with a smile to Xu Chun. “See you tomorrow, Miss Xu.”

Coming from her, those words instantly turned ambiguous. Xu Chun's eyelid twitched; she had no idea what to say in response, so she stayed mute. Zhao Ciying didn't mind and quickly led Yu Sui'an out of the private room. But just before Yu Sui'an left completely, she couldn't help but glance back at Xu Chun—only to find that the other's attention had long since left her.

Perhaps... it had never been on her at all.

Her lashes swept downward as she gently bit her lip. Perhaps she really should put her personal feelings aside for now, for the sake of her future and development.

Would she still need to worry about catching Xu Chun’s attention once she became outstanding enough, strong enough?

People only pine after winners; no one obsesses over losers. What she needed to do now was become the successful person worthy of making Xu Chun look back.

The moment Zhao Ciying led Yu Sui’an away, Qin Yao called Jiang Zhaolie out of the private room, clearly intending to have a proper talk with her.

Actually, Xu Chun thought Qin Yao had a very good temper. But judging by her expression just now, she must have been extremely displeased with Jiang Zhaolie.

That was a little hard for Xu Chun to figure out. Back when Jiang Zhaolie had been dead set on breaking off the engagement, Qin Yao hadn't seemed to treat her with such severity. Yet today, when things hadn't even escalated to anything irreversible, her attitude had done a complete one-eighty.

Xu Chun was still puzzling over this when she happened to look up and caught Zheng Yanran's eye.

The two stared at each other for a long while, until Jiang Banxia walked over and planted herself between them, bluntly cutting off their tender eye contact. Zheng Yanran snapped back to reality. Terrified that Jiang Banxia might misunderstand, she hurriedly explained, “Xiaxia, let me explain!”

Jiang Banxia looked at Zheng Yanran, her expression cold. “You come out with me too.”

Zheng Yanran didn't dare disobey. She got up at once and followed her out. The moment their figures disappeared, the private room that had been so lively moments ago fell deathly silent, giving Xu Chun an inexplicable sense of desolation—like the guests had scattered and the tea had gone cold.

But before Xu Chun could dwell on the melancholy for long, she suddenly realized: right now, it seemed, only she and Zheng Jinchan were left in the room!

Her eyes flew open. She stared straight at the floor, wishing she too had followed the others out.

The atmosphere between them was excruciatingly awkward. One second, two seconds, three seconds... ten seconds—until a full minute had passed and Xu Chun felt her face was about to freeze solid. Finally, Zheng Jinchan spoke, her tone laced with laughter. “Long time no see. I've really missed you terribly.”

“Sister Zheng, you flatter me.” Xu Chun quickly turned her head and replied humbly. “How could I trouble you to think of me? If anything, I should be the one thinking of you, Sister.”

“Oh?” Zheng Jinchan raised an eyebrow slightly. “Then how is it that in all the time we've been apart, you haven't sent me a single message?”

There was no reproach or resentment in her tone, but the more that was so, the more Xu Chun felt like she was sitting on pins and needles. She scrambled to explain. “That's not it.” She swallowed. “As soon as the variety show wrapped, I went straight into filming with no break. The signal was bad in the deep mountains, and when I first joined the crew I was busy familiarizing myself with the script and my role, so I hardly touched my phone.”

She laughed guiltily. “So I just... forgot about it...”

“Is that so.” Zheng Jinchan smiled faintly. “Then how come I saw you posting on Weibo?”

Xu Chun: “!!!” You follow me on Weibo?!

Her heart lurched. She was so flustered she even forgot to make excuses. She quickly lowered her head, pulled out her phone, precisely located Zheng Jinchan’s name among her tens of millions of followers, and hastily followed her back.

That done, she let out a long breath of relief and looked up with a brilliant smile. “Actually, my assistant posted that for me.”

Zheng Jinchan, who had waited so long only to receive this single sentence: “...”

“In that case, I suppose I’ll have to have a proper chat with your father tomorrow.” Zheng Jinchan’s smile remained radiant. “Don’t be nervous. Just some business discussions.”

Xu Chun would believe that when hell froze over. But Zheng Jinchan's reminder made her realize that her parents were both in town, and she hadn't thought to take advantage of this rare opportunity to spend time with them. On her previous visit home she'd only seen her mother, Tang Shiyu, and hadn't even met the man who was nominally her father in this body.

She'd better put that on the schedule before she got busy and forgot.

Xu Chun and Zheng Jinchan chatted about this and that. After a while, the atmosphere gradually improved, and Xu Chun discovered that Zheng Jinchan wasn’t actually as scary as she’d imagined. She could even be called a highly reliable elder.

Xu Chun blinked. If Zheng Yanran had even one-tenth of Zheng Jinchan's composure, she wouldn't be so notorious. But then again, maybe it was precisely because Zheng Jinchan was so composed, so calm, so dependable and reassuring, that Zheng Yanran could run wild and cause trouble however she pleased.

From what Xu Chun had observed over this period, Zheng Yanran was clearly cunning and sharp—if she ever got serious, she'd be second to none.

What a pity. Xu Chun shook her head. That one was hopeless when it came to love.

Before long, Qin Yao and Jiang Zhaolie returned. Jiang Zhaolie followed obediently behind Qin Yao, looking thoroughly dejected. The two had barely sat down when Jiang Banxia and Zheng Yanran also came back, and Zheng Yanran, trailing behind Jiang Banxia, wore the exact same defeated look as Jiang Zhaolie.

Anyone could have guessed that the two of them had each been thoroughly scolded.

Xu Chun took a sip of wine, her shimmering eyes traveling between the two of them. Qin Yao's gaze swept over her flushed complexion, and she stood. “If everyone's done eating, let's go.” She said mildly, “We have an early start tomorrow.”

Xu Chun certainly had no objections. Her nerves had been wound tight all day, and now she desperately wanted to throw herself onto her bed and play on her phone. So the moment Qin Yao spoke, she was the first to stand. “I'll get the bill!”

“No need.” Qin Yao's words stopped her in time. Xu Chun looked back, puzzled. Qin Yao said, “This hotel is mine.”

Xu Chun: ... Absolutely obscenely wealthy.

After parting ways with the others, Xu Chun had originally planned to head straight back and collapse on her hotel bed. But just as she was about to get in the car, her mother, Tang Shiyu, suddenly sent her a message: [Come up to room 65-8 at the hotel where you had dinner tonight and pick up your father. He's had too much to drink.]

Xu Chun was surprised her mother knew where she was right now. Half-skeptical, she took the elevator up to the sixty-fifth floor, followed the room number, and opened the door—only to find that her parents really were there.

When she appeared, a group of strangers at the table looked at her for a moment, then, as if recognizing her, all started talking at once. “So this is little Chun! All grown up and so beautiful!”

“You obviously don’t watch TV normally,” someone immediately chimed in. “Little Chun is a big star, of course she’s beautiful. Besides, Brother Xu and Sister-in-law aren’t bad-looking either. He’s handsome and she’s pretty. It’s only natural little Chun inherited her mother’s beauty.”

“That's right, that's right.” The man's eyes darted around, then he suddenly asked, “Little Chun is still single, right?”

“Engaged yet? To be honest, I've got a worthless son at home who happens to be about little Chun's age...” The rest of his sentence was lightly deflected by Tang Shiyu. But the man, riding a buzz from the alcohol, wasn't about to let it go so easily and kept prattling on. Just as Tang Shiyu was running out of patience, Xu Chun's father finally spoke up. “You little brat, cut it out.”

“Don't I know you? With that character of yours, how honest could any son you raise be? Don't come wrecking my girl.”

Once Xu Chun’s father got drunk, he had no filter. “You’ve always got mistresses two, three, four, five, a whole harem crowding around you. I refuse to believe your precious son learned anything good from that.”

The moment he said this, the man across from him changed expression instantly.

Xu Chun: “...” Now she finally understood why her family's business had always been lukewarm, and why, when they finally went bankrupt, everyone had kicked them while they were down, eager to see them wiped out.

It was all thanks to her dear old father's big mouth.

Xu Chun couldn't help but sincerely suggest to Tang Shiyu, “Mom, let's make Dad drink less in the future.”

Tang Shiyu smiled stiffly. “Actually, I tried to stop him today. I couldn’t.” A few old drinking buddies had finally met again. Of course, there had been brotherly love and plenty of bottles chugged straight. How could she have stopped them?

Smelling the alcohol on her husband, Tang Shiyu frowned and said to Xu Chun, “Hurry up and get your father out of here.”

“Don't go! A couple more drinks!” The old drinking buddies quickly grabbed Xu Chun's father, refusing to let him leave. The man who'd just been mercilessly exposed and publicly humiliated by Xu Chun's father looked at Xu Chun and suddenly smiled maliciously. “The one who got publicly dumped by the Jiang family at Old Master Jiang's birthday banquet... that was our little Chun, wasn't it?”

Drunk as he was, Xu Chun's father wasn't stupid. He immediately stood up and pointed fiercely at the brother who'd spoken. “What the hell are you trying to say?!”

“You’re deliberately poking at my daughter’s wounds!” Then he turned to Xu Chun, suddenly careful. “Sweetheart, don’t listen to his nonsense. It’s just one Jiang Zhaolie. We don’t even want her.”

“Now be honest and tell your dad. Have you got your eye on any man or woman lately? Just say the word, and I’ll guarantee you on behalf of your grandfather that no matter whose young lady or young master you’ve set your sights on, even if it’s a god, your grandfather will catch them and stuff them into our family’s bridal sedan!”

Tang Shiyu and Xu Chun both felt their eyelids twitch at the same time. “...”

Someone immediately snorted with contempt, dismissing it entirely. Xu Chun glanced at him, then asked seriously, “Really?”

Xu Chun's father: “Of course!”

“Then what if...” Xu Chun ventured tentatively, “it's Qin Yao?”

Xu Chun's father didn't even think about it, immediately pounding his chest in guarantee. “Well, Qin Yao's certainly no problem... wait.” He quickly straightened up and repeated in disbelief, “Who did you just say?”

Her old father's ears weren't what they used to be, so Xu Chun patiently said it again. “I said President Qin, Qin Yao. How about it? Does what you just said still count, Dad?”

Xu Chun's father was silent for a long time, then looked seriously at his obedient, sensible daughter and said, “I think you'd better just stuff me into a coffin right now.”

Qin Yao? Did she seem like someone who'd just let others arrange her life?

Her old father’s feelings were complicated for a moment. “Good daughter, I never would’ve guessed. You look so proper on the surface, but you’ve actually got quite the imagination. You’re playing quite the wild game, aren’t you?”

Xu Chun couldn't help but: “?”

Hong Shixian's confusion.jpg

How was she playing wild? She just had one tiny, insignificant little dream. Was that her fault? No. It was clearly all Qin Yao’s fault. She was too alluring, too captivating, impossible for anyone to resist!

She was clearly innocent.