Chapter 35

Su Yaoyao squeezed Wen Jiu’s sleeve again. Under Wen Jiu’s encouraging look, she shuffled forward, step by step.
“Did he threaten you into dissolving the engagement?” Su Heng asked.
“I did not threaten her,” Ji Yujing almost jumped to his feet.
Su Heng ignored him completely and went on, “The reason you’re dissolving the engagement with my sister is because you fell for someone else.”
He didn’t even phrase it as a question.
His voice was like ice cracking on a frozen lake, every word slapping down across Ji Yujing’s back.
The latter held the breath in his chest. “Lin Yu is your sister too.”
“And it’s not like I’ve even seen Su Yaoyao more than twice. What feelings could we possibly have? If she liked me, sure, then dissolving the engagement would make me scum. But she doesn’t feel anything for me, so dissolving it is good for both of us, she’s free to go find someone she actually likes.”
Wen Jiu almost stood up to applaud.
It was the first time she’d seen Young Master Ji string together such a logical argument without being led astray.
But that salary had been three months ago; now her loyalty was one hundred percent on the young lady’s side, so she held back the praise.
Su Yaoyao laid her hand over Su Heng’s.
The veins stood out under his cold-pale skin. Her little jade-like hand covered them, and the chill around him melted away a fraction, like winter thawing into spring.
Su Heng was seated; Su Yaoyao stood beside him, just a head taller.
He lifted his eyes to look at her. Beneath that frost, there was a wild, predatory glint that made it seem like he wanted to swallow her whole.
Sitting directly across from them, Wen Jiu saw every detail clearly.
If this were a different face, with a less overwhelming presence, she probably would’ve muttered “creep” under her breath.
But with that face, that aura, that whole package… she had to admit, she was kind of shipping it.
The main thing was that Su Yaoyao’s attitude toward Su Heng and Su Tan wasn’t the same at all. Maybe even she hadn’t noticed it herself, she appeared obedient to Su Tan, but didn’t really trust him. With Su Heng, though, there was this sense that she could actually confide in him.
Little brothers, in the end, were just little brothers.
What Wen Jiu didn’t know was how Su Yaoyao would see love now that her personality was slowly turning outward.
“Hm?” Su Heng made a soft sound, a note of patience in his voice he never used on outsiders like Ji Yujing.
“It’s not dissolving the engagement, Older brother. I’m the one calling it off,” Su Yaoyao said.
Su Heng accepted that much more readily. “Mm. He’s not good enough for you.”
Eavesdropping intently on the side, Ji Yujing: ?
He was right here, you know!
“Ahem.” Young Master Ji coughed twice. No one responded.
In the end, because he really had taken a lot of their “red envelopes,” Wen Jiu silently fished a throat lozenge from her bag and pushed it over. “If your throat’s itchy, have one.”
Ji Yujing felt like a block of iron dropped into a pile of cotton.
If Wen Jiu was crazy, then the entire Su family had to be crazy too. Why on earth had he decided to come to Haishi? He should’ve just dragged Su Yaoyao to Beicheng.
Qin Yao turned her head and glanced at him. “Wen Jiu gave you a lozenge. Remember to pay her back. It’s not free.”
“How much can a lozenge cost? You really think Young Master me would take advantage of her over something like this?” Ji Yujing tore the wrapper open and popped it in his mouth.
“Nine…” Wen Jiu started, 9.9 with free shipping.
The young lady picked up without missing a beat. “Nine hundred.”
She was already being merciful.
“Qin Yao, are you insane or am I insane? Why are you helping Wen Jiu scam me?” Ji Yujing exploded.
The young lady leaned lazily back against the sofa. “Didn’t you look down on her when you first met? You didn’t want her with Shen Xingzhou.”
“I, on the other hand, thought Shen Xingzhou wasn’t good enough for her.”
“If you don’t make it up to her and repair the trauma you caused, then Shen Xingzhou loses his girlfriend. Wen Jiu breaks up with him, and the next one she finds will be even better.”
The young lady really knew how to hold a grudge. Back when Ji Yujing dismissed Wen Jiu on Shen Xingzhou’s behalf, it had stuck in her craw. How could anyone look down on a girl as good as Wen Jiu?
“…Transferred,” Ji Yujing muttered.
He bit down hard on the “sky-high-priced” lozenge with his molars.
Back when he’d first met Wen Jiu, he honestly had looked down on her, written her off as Qin Yao’s lapdog. Who knew Qin Yao would suddenly start caring so much about her.
Later, after half a month together on set, his opinion of her had changed, otherwise he wouldn’t have agreed to let Shen Xingzhou take his place.
Nine hundred wasn’t much. He could pretend it was a gift to his cousin’s girlfriend.
At least it wasn’t another million.
The moment he thought of that million, his teeth ached again. Throwing money away was one thing, but this was pure sunk cost, no benefit, no praise, nothing.
And because it was Qin Yao he’d given it to, he got roasted on top of it. Once the young Beicheng elites found out, they’d probably call him an idiot behind his back.
“Young Master Ji, in that case, our two families will formally dissolve the engagement. My sister isn’t interested in you.” Su Heng hadn’t said much since coming in, but every one of the three lines he aimed at Ji Yujing made him want to cough up blood.
“Fine!” Young Master Ji agreed.
As long as the engagement ended, he didn’t care who technically “dumped” whom.
The three teams of lawyers started negotiating; paradoxically, the ones Su Heng had brought lagged behind the others.
Once the burden in her chest lifted, Su Yaoyao happily introduced him, “Older brother, these are my friends, Qin Yao and Wen Jiu.”
“I came back from Europe this time because Yao Yao and Jiujiu brought me home.”
“My phone got left behind in Europe, so I couldn’t contact you at all. I wasn’t ignoring you on purpose.”
“Yaoyao’s gotten livelier, and made new friends. That’s impressive.” Su Heng praised her.
It had only been twenty-five days, but it felt like several years. He was genuinely pleased with her change.
Compared to teaming up with Su Tan to lock Su Yaoyao at their side, as the much older brother he thought further ahead, and a little more open-minded.
Just… that open-mindedness did not extend to her dating outsiders.
“Older brother, I’m also planning to start writing online.
Creating a whole world and a cast of characters… it makes me really happy.”
“That’s a good thing. Yaoyao finally has a dream.”
“Older brother, about Lin Yu, you mentioned her just now. Can I… go see her?”
Su Heng’s expression darkened slightly, though it wasn’t obvious in front of her. “Why would you want to see her? Did she say something bad to you?”
Su Yaoyao waved her hands quickly. “No, no.”
“Older brother, whether the Su family owes Lin Yu or not isn’t for me to say. But I did take her place. I’ve enjoyed more than twenty years of a rich girl’s life that should’ve been hers.
Emotionally and logically, now that I finally dare to go out and talk to people, I should at least see her once.”
“Lin Yu has nothing to do with the Su family anymore. She took that five million and chose to cut ties.” Su Heng’s voice stayed low and cold. “Aren’t you afraid she’ll hurt you?”
Su Yaoyao shook his arm gently. “Then I won’t go as ‘Miss Su.’ I’ll just go as me to see her.”
“I can protect myself. I’m not the same Su Yaoyao who used to get bullied and never dared say a word!”
She lifted her chin, looking all smug and proud, like a little kitten bristling up. There was even a hint of young-lady arrogance in there.
Clearly, she’d been studying hard these past two days.
Propping her chin in one hand, Wen Jiu watched the way she and Su Heng talked, silently muttering in her heart:
Who on earth can say no to a sweet little darling?
With her heart opened up and her shyness fading, Su Yaoyao’s beauty had somehow leveled up again. Her features were so delicately perfect she looked better than any character made in a videogame, and when she pouted and acted spoiled like that, who could possibly resist?
Putting on her metaphorical glasses, Wen Jiu could clearly see the way Su Heng’s frozen expression softened.
Like the day’s first ray of sunlight touching a vast snow-covered mountain, the golden glow spilling down and dyeing the ice with its own color.
Su Heng said, “All right. I’ll arrange for you to meet her. This time I won’t have the bodyguards follow. You’ll go see her alone. Can you handle that?”
“I can.” Su Yaoyao pressed a hand over her pounding heart.
For most people, this would be nothing special.
But for her, going alone to meet someone, someone who was basically a stranger, was a brand-new experience. And this person was deeply entangled with her fate, in a way that wasn’t exactly pleasant.
The more Wen Jiu watched, the more her smile slipped unconsciously onto her face.
Before she came here, she’d ranted internally about how all three male leads in this book were trash in their own ways.
Now, after meeting them, Ji Yujing was an acquaintance, and the Young Master’s temper wasn’t that bad, so she’d let him off; Su Heng was handsome, and his very particular brand of doting on Su Yaoyao… fine, she’d let that slide too.
Three male leads: one knocked out of the game, two brothers left standing.
Little brother Su Tan was completely outclassed by big brother Su Heng on every front, crushed into the ground.
One brother locked Su Yaoyao up and smothered her nature to preserve her timidness; the other encouraged her and supported her unconditionally. Any normal person would choose the latter.
She doubted anyone had told Su Tan that Su Yaoyao was already back in the country. He was probably still running around frantically searching for her.
As long as Yaoyao didn’t end up like she had in the original book, imprisoned for half her life, only ever seeing three men, once she understood what real love was, it didn’t really matter who she liked.
Wen Jiu felt she could step back and let Su Yaoyao explore that path on her own.
Romance aside, she also hoped Yaoyao would thrive in her career.
Once the three legal teams finished, all the visible interests between these rich families were finally straightened out. Su Yaoyao and Ji Yujing’s engagement was officially dissolved.
Instead of leaving with Su Heng, Su Yaoyao trotted back over to Wen Jiu. “Jiujiu, Older brother arranged for me to meet Lin Yu backstage. Will you come with me?”
“Of course,” Wen Jiu agreed without hesitation.
Lin Yu wasn’t just one of her “young ladies”; she’d also been her neighbor since childhood.
In the original Wen Jiu’s memories, she didn’t feel particularly close to Lin Yu. But before Lin Yu left the country, she’d paid four years of tuition for her and bought her a train ticket to Beicheng. That was the direct reason the original Wen Jiu had been able to escape her miserable home.
No matter what, she had to meet Lin Yu.
Back at the young lady’s villa in Haishi, Wen Jiu scrolled through her phone.
Contacts: Lin Yu.
She sent a message.
Wen Jiu: Lin Yu, I’m in Haishi. Can we meet?
Lin Yu: Long time no see, Wen Jiu. Sure. How about tomorrow at 10 a.m.?
Wen Jiu: Sounds good.
Wen Jiu stared at that short conversation for a good while.
It wasn’t exactly cold, but it wasn’t warm either, just like in the original body’s memories.
Both of them came from families that doted on sons and neglected daughters. They’d sympathized with each other, been classmates… even if they weren’t best friends, they should’ve at least been close.
But the chat felt more like two vaguely familiar strangers…
Wen Jiu turned it over in her mind and still couldn’t figure it out.
Well, if they weren’t that close, that might actually be better, less chance of anyone realizing she wasn’t the original Wen Jiu.
Before bed, she accidentally tapped into Weibo and discovered that the White Moonlight Young Lady and Film Emperor’s original heroine, Wen Ling, had a new drama entering the promo phase.
Ever since she’d started sticking with the young lady, there had been far more interesting things to do than stare at her phone, so she hadn’t checked the entertainment section in ages.
Since it popped up, she might as well take a look.
Turned out it was the female lead’s wrap-up video…
No wonder the promo was out just after they’d finished filming.
Even if production moved fast, it would be at least another half-year before the drama aired.
Wen Jiu clicked into the White Moonlight Young Lady’s homepage and found that she’d already rushed off to her next set.
Her White Moonlight Young Lady focusing on her career, how amazing.
It felt like watching a hardworking, ambitious daughter grow up; Wen Jiu went to bed with that same warm, satisfied feeling.
The next morning, when she stepped out of her room, Su Yaoyao greeted her, brimming with energy.
The more lively the little “everyone-loves-her” sun became, the more comforted Wen Jiu felt.
From last night to this morning, her mood had been sky-high.
“I stayed up late last night and finished my outline,” Su Yaoyao said, inviting Wen Jiu to look at her outline page.
It was actually in PowerPoint form?!
Each character profile had its own color-coded frame, and every bullet point in the plot summary was linked back to the relevant character card.
Wen Jiu had never written a novel herself and didn’t really know what a “proper” outline should look like, but she could absolutely see how seriously Su Yaoyao was taking this.
“It’s a pity I can’t draw. Otherwise I’d give every character in my story their own portrait,” Su Yaoyao said, cupping her face, full of love and longing for her story.
“I know a girl who draws really well. I can introduce you when we get the chance,” Wen Jiu said, thinking of the White Moonlight Young Lady, Yue Ling, whom she’d just seen on Weibo the night before.
“Okay! What’s her name?”
“Yue Ling. Yue as in the Five Great Mountains, Ling as in the wood radical plus ‘order.’”
Until now, Su Yaoyao hadn’t even read webnovels or watched short videos, so of course she didn’t know about the actress Yue Ling.
She barely socialized, and her circle in Haishi was small enough; as for Beicheng’s Yue family young lady, she’d never even heard of her. Qin Yao was already an unexpected miracle in her life.
“Yue Ling… what a pretty name.” Su Yaoyao slipped off the chair. “Jiujiu, what do you want for breakfast? I know how to cook. I’ll make it.”
“Anything’s fine. Just something simple.” Wen Jiu let her go.
The more cheerful Yaoyao became, the better. What she needed now was space to think for herself and slowly grow a backbone.
This time, Su Yaoyao didn’t hunch in on herself, twisting her fingers and biting her lip. She thought for a moment, then darted toward the kitchen. “I’ll handle breakfast for you two!”
Wen Jiu nodded and headed upstairs to call the young lady.
The young lady usually woke up naturally at eight-thirty. Add skincare and makeup, and she’d step out of her room around nine-thirty.
Twenty minutes later, the three of them sat down to the breakfast Su Yaoyao had made.
A simple Western-style breakfast. Chinese breakfast took more prep; Western fare was quicker.
“It’s delicious.” Wen Jiu gave her a thumbs-up.
“Not bad,” the young lady added. She wasn’t generous with praise, but looking at Su Yaoyao’s hopeful eyes, she still offered three full words.
“Then while you’re staying in Haishi, I’ll be in charge of breakfast every day,” Su Yaoyao said, smiling so brightly she almost glowed.
The young lady lifted her gaze. “No need. We have a chef.”
Wen Jiu immediately picked up the young lady’s words and “translated” for Su Yaoyao. “What she means is: Yaoyao, you should spend your time writing and thinking. You can make breakfast once in a while, but you don’t need to do it every day, otherwise something ‘meaningful’ turns into being a ‘live-in maid.’ You weren’t born to be trapped in the kitchen; you were born to soar as an author.”
The young lady couldn’t quite hide how much she agreed, but she still had to mutter, “Sweet-talker.”
“Jiujiu is so good with words.” Su Yaoyao cupped her face. “And Yao Yao is so kind.”
Wen Jiu hurriedly stuffed a bite of fried egg into her mouth to shut herself up.
With both the young lady and Yaoyao completely unfazed, she was the only one so embarrassed her toes were about to curl right out of her fuzzy slippers.
Sometimes her mouth ran faster than her brain could keep up.
After breakfast, the young lady headed to the beauty clinic. Su Yaoyao wanted to keep working on her story and didn’t go along.
Wen Jiu had an appointment with Lin Yu, so she couldn’t tag along either.
The young lady was a bit disappointed, but she was used to going out alone. She grabbed her favorite new-season bag, got in the car, and left.
When it was almost time for Wen Jiu to leave, she discovered the driver already waiting with the car at the villa gates.
“Miss arranged it,” the driver said.
Warmth bloomed in Wen Jiu’s chest.
The young lady might not say much, but she always quietly put everything in order behind the scenes.
The place she’d arranged to meet Lin Yu was an office building.
An office building?
Only after Wen Jiu got out of the car did she realize it was right by a commercial district, prime location.
At the revolving glass doors, the girl she was meeting turned around.
Wen Jiu’s first impression of Lin Yu was: clean.
She was wearing straight-leg pants, a sweatshirt, and a long coat. Standing in the winter wind, her bare face was pulled tight from the cold. Just under her ears, a centimeter of cropped hair lay soft against her cheeks. A fuzzy hat sat on her head, mirroring the thick knit scarf wrapped around her neck.
Behind her, the revolving door turned slowly. When she glanced back, her eyes were clearer than the glass itself.
She was good-looking too, the kind of top-of-the-class campus goddess who also happened to be a school beauty.
Back when the original Wen Jiu and Lin Yu had studied together in Nancheng, they’d both been young. Under normal circumstances, girls that age liked dressing up pretty.
But both of them knew exactly how their families doted on sons and despised daughters. If a girl grew up pretty, she might be sold off to “support” her brothers. So even as kids, they understood to hide.
They buried their faces in heavy bangs and wore the same old school uniforms year after year.
In reality, it wasn’t just a disguise, no one at home ever gave them money to get a haircut, so they hacked at their own hair with scissors. Three years of middle school, three of high school: the uniform was bought in year one, then worn until it faded. There was never money for anything new.
The moment their eyes met, the world hit pause.
Pulling herself out of the memories, Wen Jiu felt it wasn’t exactly intimate between them, but it wasn’t strange either.
She smiled at Lin Yu. Lin Yu’s lips curved in response.
When she smiled into the wind, that “school goddess” aura hit Wen Jiu full-force. She didn’t look at all like…
Wen Jiu suddenly remembered: they actually weren’t the same age. They’d been in the same class, but Lin Yu had skipped a grade. She was only twenty-one this year.
A few years ago, Lin Yu had been underage when she left the country. For her to legally establish her own household registration and study abroad, the Su family had definitely pulled strings.
Honestly? Kind of amazing.
In a novel world, anything is possible.
“Wen Jiu, how did you know I was in Haishi?
This is where I work. I’m the boss. Come up and sit for a while.”
Lin Yu talked quite a bit, more than her polished, goddess-like looks would suggest. There was even a touch of easy familiarity to her.
“Ji Yujing told me you were in Haishi.”
“I know Ji Yujing. We met in Beicheng. I only just met Su Yaoyao recently, that’s when I found out how you two are connected.”
“Yesterday, Ji Yujing and Su Yaoyao dissolved their engagement. Both sides were fine with it.”
Wen Jiu wasn’t here to clear Young Master Ji’s name; she was here to clear Yaoyao’s. She didn’t know how those two felt about each other, but she could at least start by laying the groundwork.
“So you know about the baby swap between me and Su Yaoyao.” Lin Yu spread her hands. “Back then, I took the Su family’s five million and severed ties completely. They didn’t just give me money to study abroad, they also helped me cut off my family in Nancheng.”
“So that means my tuition and travel money probably came out of that five million,” Wen Jiu said. She couldn’t very well admit she’d read it in a book, that Lin Yu was a fictional character. Since Lin Yu had brought it up, though, it was easy enough to plug the logic hole.
“I’m really grateful to you. But Su Yaoyao also helped me, so I’m grateful to her too. That’s why I asked you out early, I want to understand what things are like between you two.” Wen Jiu got straight to the point. “If there’s no chance of smoothing things over, I’m not going to force you together.”
There was no need to circle around with Lin Yu. She was smart, and she’d been her benefactor. On top of that, they’d been classmates.
“What’s there to ‘smooth over’? We’ve literally never met. You can say we don’t know each other at all. There’s no relationship to be good or bad.” Lin Yu shrugged. “Mixed-up babies aren’t exactly her fault. The whole thing’s bizarre anyway, who would’ve thought Mrs. Su would give birth in some no-name Nancheng hospital?
Besides… once she found out she’d been switched, she texted me to apologize and said she wanted to switch back. When I called, the person who picked up was Su Tan.
Su Tan said I was threatening Su Yaoyao.” Lin Yu’s expression twisted, her whole face spelling out speechless. “Then he cancelled that phone number and ordered me to change mine.
From the outside, it looks like she’s very well protected. But if I were her, with such a suffocating little brother, I’d probably never know what freedom is for the rest of my life.
Good thing he’s her younger brother, not mine.
So the moment I got the money, I ran like hell.
Being able to go abroad, level up, and build my own life, that’s the best outcome, right? I’m not stupid. If I’d walked into that rich family and joined their palace drama, I’d have seen my entire life’s ending from the start.”
She muttered under her breath, “And what if one day the Su family goes bankrupt and I have to marry into someone else’s family for them? That’d be even worse.”
“You really have thought this through,” Wen Jiu said, taking three seconds to process before giving her verdict.
Maybe it was the small-town upbringing, but Lin Yu’s mindset wasn’t that different from most young people. She wasn’t just laid-back; she was sharp, knew what she wanted, and fought for it herself.
“Are you doing a master degree now?” Wen Jiu asked, curious about the years Lin Yu had spent abroad.
“Yep. Double major, computer science and economics.” Lin Yu was openly proud of herself. She was only twenty-one and had already graduated.
“Let me show you around. This is my studio. We develop games. I’m the boss.” She led Wen Jiu through the rented office with unselfconscious ease. “Everyone in here, I poached from Beicheng University and Haishi University.”
“We’re definitely going to make a name for ourselves.”
After laying the groundwork, Lin Yu added, “So… do you want to invest? Take some equity?”
She blinked at Wen Jiu, that pure school-goddess face sparkling with sly liveliness.
“…”
This was the first time a young lady hadn’t showered Wen Jiu with money, but had invited her to spend money instead.
Not exactly how she’d imagined this meeting would go.
This young lady was a long-term-investment type.