Chapter 23

On set.
“Your Majesty, after all these years… have I ever taken up even a corner of your heart?”
The Noble Consort’s gentle features twisted just a little. Her eyes were clear enough to show she already knew the answer. Tears shimmered red at the corners, like blood.
Beneath those lifeless eyes churned a stubborn, unwilling obsession. She clutched at the emperor’s hand, her voice shaking. “Your Majesty, must you truly be so cruel?”
The emperor flung her hand away and strode past her to scoop up Mingzhu, who had fallen to the ground but hadn’t missed a single detail.
Between Emperor and Consort there was tacit harmony; only one woman stood abandoned and desolate.
This scene marked the Noble Consort’s true descent into villainy.
Wen Jiu found it familiar, very much like the opening of Yue Ling’s “blackening” arc in the novel.
She patted the “little assistant” beside her. “My dear lackey, why do I feel like you’re furious?”
Ji Yujing shot her a soulful look.
When he was sending her money, she called him Young Master. When there was nothing to earn, he got demoted to “lackey.” Wen Jiu really was a realistic, bad woman.
“You’re scolding me in your head, aren’t you.”
Young Master had no guile; every thought flashed plainly across his face. Wen Jiu only needed a glance to read him.
Ji Yujing: …
He decided to go back to her previous question instead.
“I feel bad for Sister Yue.”
Even if a role was just a role, the thought of Sister Yue loving someone only to be dumped made him want to beat that man senseless.
Wen Jiu: even more familiar now.
However, “How about you talk me through why you feel bad for her?”
“Are you sick or something?!” Ji Yujing exploded.
Wen Jiu looked innocent, blinking. “Keep your voice down, this isn’t something to broadcast.”
He glanced around.
True, how could he let anyone overhear Young Master’s fatal weak spot?
“If Sister Yue liked a man, but that man liked some other woman, and to be with that woman, he really hurt Sister Yue… question: what would you do?
A: Beat the guy up to vent Sister Yue’s anger.
B: Comfort Sister Yue and use the chance to take his place.
C: Beat the guy up and use the chance to take his place.”
“Three, two, one, answer.”
“A.”
The answer jumped out of Ji Yujing before he even had time to think. He cleared his throat, lowering his voice. “So that’s what you were asking. I thought you were about to confess to Young Master or something, haha.”
Wen Jiu’s expression was like she’d just swallowed a fly.
If he didn’t pay so well, there’s no way she would’ve kept him as her assistant.
“Young Master, want to reconsider which option you just picked?”
Ji Yujing finally caught up. He silently recited the choices again, then stared at Wen Jiu with wide, bewildered eyes.
Wen Jiu smiled pleasantly. “Young Master still doesn’t get it? What you feel for Sister Yue is sibling affection.
Whether it’s in the drama or in real life, when you see her dumped and heartbroken, your first instinct is to go beat the guy up, not to step in as the rebound.
When a little brother sees his big sister get dumped, that’s exactly how he reacts. Only someone secretly in love goes to comfort the girl first instead of chasing after the jerk to clobber him.”
Which was why, once he discovered who he really liked, he’d defect at lightspeed. Brother-sister affection didn’t stand a chance against Young Master’s love life.
“You…” Ji Yujing couldn’t find a single comeback. Wen Jiu had literally given him a perfect, two-for-one option, and he hadn’t picked it.
“You’re talking nonsense. I think about Sister Yue all the time.”
“It’s love,” he added darkly.
Wen Jiu calmly looked at him. “Love isn’t pressing closer and closer. It’s understanding, compromise, acceptance, and protection. From the moment you started spreading rumors, you already hurt her.
You’re just scared Sister Yue will fall for someone else and stop doting on you as the little brother. You don’t want her warmth to belong to just one person.
And most importantly, that ‘one person’ is your brother. You don’t even necessarily hate your brother; you just don’t want Sister Yue and your brother to end up together.”
She tilted her head, thinking. “So you’re not just obsessed with your older sister, you’re obsessed with your older brother too.”
Ji Yujing: …
He wanted to get mad, but… she kind of had a point.
Young Master’s brain spun and spun. Without the “forcefully seize what I want” script, he actually let himself be persuaded.
He just couldn’t bring himself to admit it.
All tangled up inside, he stomped off to work for the crew. No pay, of course.
Three days later, the lighting techs, props team, logistics, etc., all greeted the long-lost free labor with delight.
“Xiao Ji, help me hold this light!”
“Xiao Ji, grab that for me!”
“Xiao Ji, boxed lunches are here, come carry crates with me!”
Time flew when you were busy. By around midnight, Young Master Ji was sleeping like the dead, not waking up once.
After muddling through another week, he stood at the kitchen island chewing on his dinner, tasting nothing, but his mind was very clear.
He remembered the last thing Wen Jiu had told him.
“But if your older brother and older sisterend up together, neither of them will abandon you. There’s nothing to be afraid of. You’ll be the little brother your older brother and sister-in-law dote on the most.”
He bit down hard on a mouthful of salad.
He’d been convinced!
All of a sudden, the path in front of Ji Yujing seemed clear and open. A heavy pressure lifted from his chest.
Ji Yujing (Dumb, Rich Fool): Transfer: 100,000 yuan.
Wen Jiu was downstairs, eating at the hotel’s free buffet.
Her phone buzzed. She tapped the notification without thinking.
The glittering transfer screen filled her vision, and her first instinct was to glance left and right guiltily, like she’d just committed a crime.
That was a lot of money.
Even though her balance was already sitting at 1,371,870.65 yuan, she was still in that stage where any extra sum could make her jump.
Had Young Master lost his mind? What was he giving her 100,000 all at once for?
Wen Jiu: ?
Ji Yujing (voice message): I said take it, so just take it.
Had Young Master fried his brain reading overbearing-CEO novels lately?
Wen Jiu didn’t even finish her dinner. She rushed upstairs to pound on his door.
“I know you’re in there, Ji Yujing, open up!”
Ji Yujing opened the door and let her in.
Mainly because the way she was hammering at the door, Young Master felt utterly humiliated.
“Why did you give me 100,000 yuan?” Wen Jiu narrowed her eyes, arms crossed, sweeping him up and down.
Since she’d already barged into his room, Ji Yujing knew he wasn’t getting rid of her without a straight answer.
He hesitated for three seconds, all shy and squirmy, nothing like his usual cocky self.
“I think what you said… made sense. Mmn, them being together… is pretty good.”
The little tsundere mumbled, blurring Yue Ling and Ji Yanting’s names into one vague “them.”
A warm tide surged through Wen Jiu’s chest.
Had she just dragged both the villainess and the male side character off their original tragic endings?
The clear, open look in Ji Yujing’s eyes couldn’t quite outshine the light in her own.
She hopped up to thump his shoulder, mimicking Young Lady’s tone. “My little brother’s grown up.”
Ji Yujing sprang up like a cat with its fur grabbed. “Who’s your little brother?!”
Wen Jiu ignored him and accepted the transfer without another word.
This was money she could take with a clear conscience.
After she left, Ji Yujing immediately called Shen Xingzhou.
He’d figured it out; there was no way he was staying here paying to work for Wen Jiu.
His little cousin would definitely be thrilled to inherit his position.
Just as he expected, Shen Xingzhou was more than willing, he drove overnight from Beicheng.
For someone who didn’t even know the concept of “working hours,” Ji Yujing actually tasted the pure joy of quitting a job the moment he confirmed he didn’t have to stay on.
It was as satisfying as getting wasted all night.
He was so hyped he didn’t sleep until dawn.
Then someone knocked on his door.
He thought it was Wen Jiu again, but when he opened it, his little cousin was standing there.
What a hopeless little lovestruck fool.
He didn’t care. He was leaving.
Shen Xingzhou was no Ji Yujing; he didn’t need weekends. It was Saturday, and he went straight to work, showing up with an array of breakfast items for Wen Jiu.
The hotel’s second floor had a free buffet.
Normally, Wen Jiu had both breakfast and dinner there. But today was… special.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven?”
Seven dishes for breakfast?!
Wen Jiu counted twice.
Shen Xingzhou’s refined features were clouded with nervousness. “Wen Jiu, you don’t like it?
I checked all the local breakfast specialties last night. There weren’t that many, so I bought one of each. If you don’t like them, I’ll go somewhere else tomorrow.”
Wen Jiu flapped her hands. “No, no, I like them, I do. It’s just… we can eat downstairs at the buffet for breakfast. You don’t have to run out at dawn to buy all this.”
“Tomorrow let’s just eat downstairs together,” she added quickly, terrified he’d start losing sleep and sprinting around city streets every morning.
Kids who hadn’t been beaten up by the real world yet… their energy was terrifying.
Wen Jiu couldn’t finish all that food, so, as usual, Shen Xingzhou polished off the rest.
Her pupils slowly widened as she met that clear, honest face. A question rose to her lips, but she forced it back down.
Once they arrived on set, Wen Jiu took care of Yue Ling, and Shen Xingzhou took care of her.
The weather was scorching, but Shen Xingzhou’s little cooling fan somehow never ran out of battery. With it blowing on her, Wen Jiu felt like she’d been transported back into an air-conditioned room.
If she wanted water, she could even choose the temperature.
Wen Jiu had no idea how Shen Xingzhou managed it. She didn’t have that many requirements, but Shen Xingzhou was perfectly capable of inventing a whole list on his own.
He was like a walking treasure chest, there was nothing he couldn’t pull out of his pockets.
When she needed to reapply sunscreen, he even had sunscreen ready.
Wen Jiu: ?!
She’d originally thought she was already attentive enough with her Young Lady, but apparently there was someone more thorough than her.
As an assistant, she’d just been outclassed by Shen Xingzhou.
With Ji Yujing gone, the tasks he’d once taken on were handed back to the regular staff.
Someone, curious, dragged Wen Jiu into a corner and lowered their voice mysteriously.
“Wen Jiu, is that handsome guy who came today your boyfriend? Did he squeeze Xiao Ji out?”
Wen Jiu quickly waved it off, then froze, eyes going wide as something dawned on her.
When she went back, she also pulled Shen Xingzhou into a corner.
“Shen Xingzhou, do you… like me?”
Shen Xingzhou’s ears flushed red with a whoosh. In the space of a blink, his face and neck both turned scarlet, like a shrimp dumped into a steamer, going pink from head to toe.
His eyes were round and shiny, like a puppy’s dark eyes when they’re looking up at you all wet and hopeful. He lowered his head to look at Wen Jiu. He looked shy, but his voice didn’t stutter; it was clear and cool.
“Wen Jiu, I like you.”
He hadn’t expected at all that his confession would come out here, in some noisy little corner of the set.
In his imagination, confessing was supposed to be grand and romantic.
Wen Jiu finally realized what had felt off.
This time, when Shen Xingzhou came to replace Ji Yujing, he’d called her “Wen Jiu”… not “Older sister.”
So he had been planning this.
Dragged abruptly out of his daydreams about a perfect confession, Shen Xingzhou met Wen Jiu’s increasingly strange gaze and suddenly panicked a little, swallowing hard.
When the third scene of the day wrapped, Wen Jiu glanced over and hastily ran back to take care of her Young Lady.
That’s how it was for working people, romance could wait. Work couldn’t.