Chapter 27

The Pearl Chronicle wasn’t funded by President Cao, but he did have another drama to inspect.
By coincidence, he’d met with Wen Ling the previous night. She’d told him it was all thanks to “her connection to Ji Yanting.” He’d already decided to keep an eye on the project and hurried over when he heard Ji Yanting was visiting the set.
He’d thought he could piggyback on Wen Ling’s “relationship” with Ji Yanting and build a connection of his own. Instead, he caught this scene unfolding.
He found Wen Ling and her agent in the crowd, took one look at Wen Ling’s bloodless face, and understood immediately.
Plotting with eagles only to have your eyes pecked out, he’d underestimated her audacity.
Her agent had been willing to back her precisely because of “Ji Yanting.” Since their interests weren’t deeply bound yet, she could be tossed aside at any time.
He stepped outside to call the big boss, and in that moment passing Wen Ling in the hallway, he’d already decided to abandon her like a used chess piece.
Wen Ling knew she was finished. She grabbed her agent’s arm and followed him out.
Before she could open her mouth, he cut her off coldly. “You’re really bold, Wen Ling. One lie, and you fooled me and the boss both, and we even went and found you premium resources.”
“If you’re lucky, The Pearl Chronicle will be your last project. If you’re unlucky, you won’t even keep this one, you’ll pack your things and get out of Beicheng while you still can. Otherwise, you’ll wish you had.
Did you really think a lie like that wouldn’t be exposed?” He started laughing at himself halfway through.
He really had been old and foolish, letting her coax him until he was dizzy.
All that nonsense about being Film Emperor Ji’s kept little actress, his “girlfriend,” about him refusing to go public or be seen in case they were photographed, he’d believed all of it. He really was getting senile.
Wen Jiu happily sent her Young Lady and the male lead off in the same car, then happily took her boyfriend to walk by the lake.
She’d originally thought she was just solving her Young Lady’s “romance problem.” She hadn’t expected to also accidentally clear out the female lead.
That same night, Wen Ling was officially replaced. The role of Mingzhu went to someone else.
Wen Jiu had zero interest in where Wen Ling ended up.
Wen Ling had already been cast as the female lead of The Pearl Chronicle, no matter what, once the show aired, she’d have resources. But she hadn’t been able to sit still. She’d wanted to soar overnight, stepping on Her Young Lady’s head and hyping her own scandal with Ji Yanting.
Absolutely not worthy of anyone’s pity.
In the end, Wen Ling had only fallen back to where she’d started, as an eighteenth-tier nobody.
The industry cycled through new faces too fast. Almost no one would remember what she’d done, especially since most people didn’t even know who she was.
As long as she stopped causing trouble, with her looks and acting, she’d still be able to find work.
With Wen Ling gone, Wen Jiu no longer had to worry about someone scheming against her Young Lady. The remaining two months on set were bliss.
Especially when payday came, she was deeply in love with this job.
They wrapped on November 11th, just as winter quietly rolled in.
The year-long hotel room Miss Qin Yao had rented for her still had nine months left. Wen Jiu returned to Beicheng and moved right back in.
That night was another “counting money” night; she was so excited she couldn’t sleep at all.
During the three months on set, she barely had to spend anything. It was either boxed lunches provided by the production or the hotel buffet. Any other little expenses were nothing compared to the tips from her Young Ladies.
From August to November, even though Miss Qin Yao had been in Beicheng the whole time, she’d still had the Qin family’s steward transfer Wen Jiu’s salary: a total of 105,000 yuan.
From the white moonlight Lady Yue came a trickle of tips; after subtracting three months’ living expenses, she still had 63,501.25 yuan left over.
She hadn’t accepted Ji Yujing’s extra hundred thousand; she’d returned it long ago. Now the transfer record was greyed out as far as the eye could see.
But Wen Jiu couldn’t care less. She opened her banking app, stared at the string of digits on the screen, and counted them one by one.
Her balance was 2,147,377.54 yuan.
Sudden wealth was good for the soul.
Wen Jiu wanted to kiss her phone, pressing her lips right to the balance.
As she was planning where she wanted to travel, Miss Qin Yao sent her a message.
Qin Yao: Wen Jiu, you’re back! Then come travel with me. You don’t need to prepare anything, just bring yourself. The butler will handle the rest.
Wen Jiu: !
Wen Jiu: Okay!
Wen Jiu felt herself falling even more in love with this job. She must have prayed for this for hundreds of years in some dream to finally land such a cute, rich Little Miss.
Qin Yao: We’re going to Europe this time.
Qin Yao: Yaoyao is there too. Besides having fun, we have one mission: bring her back home.
Qin Yao: She’s been missing for so long. Turns out she was being locked up overseas by her own younger brother. Seriously too much.
Dead memories suddenly began attacking Wen Jiu. In that chaotic ocean of consciousness, she finally fished up the file labeled “Yaoyao.”
Yaoyao, full name Su Yaoyao, was her third Little Miss.
Completely different in personality from the first two, Su Yaoyao was a soft little pushover, the kind that let people knead and pinch her however they pleased.
It was like she was born wearing a protagonist’s “everyone falls for me” halo. Men who met her would love her to death; as for women, it depended. The ones who liked her at first glance would shower her with affection; the ones who disliked her at first sight would inexplicably hate her guts and stir up trouble non-stop.
Wen Jiu felt this setting was extremely familiar, but couldn’t quite place it for the moment.
She replied to her Little Miss first: Okay, we’ll bring Little Miss Yaoyao back together.
Qin Yao: I used to be curious who Yaoyao would end up with. I even secretly made bets with my bestie. But I didn’t expect them to go crazier and crazier over her. Now I don’t want to bet on any of them.
Qin Yao: We leave the morning after tomorrow at ten. I’m going to sleep now. Pack a few things tomorrow, but you don’t need much. Anything missing, we’ll just buy. I’ve got plenty of money; I won’t let you go backpacking in misery.
Wen Jiu: Mmm mmm, good night, Miss
She saw that line from her Young Lady all the time, but it still moved her.
Her Young Lady had money, and was willing to spend it on her.
Happiness could be that simple. Just one sentence and a little cartoon version of her in her head was already spinning in circles with sparkles.
Early to bed, early to rise. Wen Jiu had thought she’d stay up late gaming and watching shows, then sleep till the end of the world. In reality, the moment she finished chatting with her Young Lady and hugged her balance, she fell straight asleep and woke up bright and early the next morning.
First she went to the little kitchen to make herself a hot breakfast, then frothed a thick layer of foam over a cup of warm milk.
Carrying the tray to the floor-to-ceiling windows, she ate while watching the morning sun climb over Beicheng, one bite of breakfast, one glance at the view.
With her material life taken care of, she could finally quiet her mind and enjoy this small slice of serenity. No need to scramble herself to death for 3,000 yuan a month; no need to worry that after paying rent she’d only have 1,500 left, half of which had to go to her parents, leaving her with instant noodles for every meal; no need to feel ostracized and left out because she couldn’t bear to spend 100 yuan going out with her colleagues…
Compared to fulfilling the original body’s wish to “repay” the various Young Ladies, she now honestly wanted to work for them.
Without Her Young Ladies, she wouldn’t have this life.
Turns out, to have a peaceful heart, you didn’t need that much money.
After breakfast, she stuck the dishes into the dishwasher and started looking for things to pack for the trip.
She rummaged back and forth and, indeed, didn’t really have much to bring.
Messages from Qin Yao kept popping up.
Qin Yao: Wen Jiu, no need to pack clothes. Last month a bunch of new winter pieces were delivered to the house, you can pick what you like to wear. I’ll have the butler send them straight to the plane.
They would be flying on a private jet this time, so there was no need to worry about luggage weight.
Qin Yao: Don’t bring makeup or skincare either. I had a custom makeup + skincare line made; I’ll have it shipped directly to the estate in Europe, and you can have a whole set.
Wen Jiu had never seen the products her Young Lady used, but she didn’t need to to know they were something special.
Qin Yao: …And you don’t need to bring those either.
By the time her Young Lady finished listing things off one by one, Wen Jiu realized that she really only needed to bring one thing: herself, with completely empty hands.
Since she didn’t have to pack, she suddenly had a full free day.
Wen Jiu decided to go buy a car.
Back when she followed the white moonlight Young Lady to the set, she’d already had this plan, but never had the chance to actually do it.
Now that she was back in Beicheng, she could finally move it up her schedule.
She’d never bought a car before, never registered a plate. She’d heard Beicheng required you to win a license plate lottery, but had no idea how it worked. She figured the 4S dealership would handle it.
“Ding ding”
Another message popped up. Thinking it was Her Young Lady again, Wen Jiu hurried to open it, only to see that it was from Shen Xingzhou, her boyfriend.
No wonder she’d felt like she was forgetting something. Turns out she’d forgotten the existence of her boyfriend of two months.
Life alone was way too fun; of course he’d slipped her mind for a second.
Shen Xingzhou: Jiujiu, I’m coming to see you.
Shen Xingzhou: Jiujiu, I’ve planned our afternoon and evening. If you’re free, we can go out together.
If she wasn’t free, he could cancel everything at any time.
Shen Xingzhou hadn’t told Wen Jiu that every activity he’d arranged for today was fully booked out, and that canceling meant the money was gone.
In his mind, anything he did for Wen Jiu was right and worth it.
Wen Jiu: I’m at the hotel and about to head out. You can come find me.
Wen Jiu: Location.
She’d sent it to him before; she just wasn’t sure if he still had it.
Wen Jiu: I’m planning to go to a 4S shop this afternoon. Do you want to come with me?
Shen Xingzhou: I’ll go with you!
He instantly deleted the entire romantic schedule he’d carefully prepared for the afternoon.
Wherever Wen Jiu wanted to go, he’d go with her.
If his plans were wasted, that was on him for not telling her earlier.
Just thinking about going to a car dealership with Wen Jiu made a faint blush creep over his pale, elegant face. The smile that had appeared the second he saw her reply was still stuck there, refusing to leave.
When Wen Jiu got into the car, he leaned over to fasten her seat belt.
They were very, very close.
They’d already kissed before, but every time they suddenly got this close, Shen Xingzhou’s face and ears would still turn red. He looked like he’d just been bathed in warm water, his dark eyes going soft and bright, overflowing with Wen Jiu’s reflection.
Once she was settled, Wen Jiu glanced at him, and, before he could pull away, she slid a hand behind his head, leaned in, and stole a quick kiss.
Shen Xingzhou shifted restlessly, eyes full of hot, naked longing. Even his always-clear voice had picked up a hazy edge. “Jiujiu, we’re still in the car…”
“Then drive,” Wen Jiu said calmly. “Let’s go.”
“Ah.” The single soft syllable he let out from his throat sounded like a spark catching fire, low and hot.
In the split second before he turned his eyes back to the road, he was still hoping for more. Unfortunately, Wen Jiu didn’t give him another reward, nor did she suggest they get out of the car.