Chapter 31

Shen Youwei was still building her courage when Guan Shanyan appeared at her door and knocked: “I made some juice. Do you want some?”
The sudden voice startled her. She jumped back, took a deep breath, and replied: “Oh, right away!”
Guan Shanyan’s footsteps receded. Shen Youwei fixed her hair and opened the door.
Guan Shanyan sat on the living room sofa, checking his phone. Two cups of juice were on the coffee table, the very cup that had flown down earlier.
Shen Youwei sat beside him and picked up a cup. Guan Shanyan, after replying to a message, noticed she hadn’t drunk yet and stared at the cup, asking oddly: “Is something wrong with the cup?”
“Huh?” She blinked and smiled: “Nothing’s wrong.”
She tilted her head to drink, then smiled again: “Haha, it’s pretty good.”
Guan Shanyan: “…”
Why was she acting weird?
Thinking it might be the juice, he sipped his own cup. It tasted fine.
So why was she acting like that?
Shen Youwei still hadn’t calmed down. She suddenly remembered what Guan Shanyan said in the park during the tossing game:
He said he could move objects with his mind, which is why he never missed.
Wait, could it be true?
Her mouth felt dry. She drank more juice and looked at the TV remote across the table: “I suddenly feel like watching TV. Can you hand me the remote?”
The TV was usually only used by Xie Mingqiu or Guan Su. Guan Shanyan got up and picked up the remote: “Why the sudden urge to watch TV?”
Shen Youwei, seeing him approach, felt a little disappointed: “Oh, just killing time.”
“Killing time? Aren’t you supposed to be busy hiring people?”
“I need to give applicants time to submit their resumes.” She turned on the TV and improvised.
Guan Shanyan said nothing. Shen Youwei flipped channels and stopped on a rerun of an old drama. “I just remembered something.”
“What?”
“When we were in the park tossing the pots, you said you could move objects with your mind. Is that true?”
She asked casually, like small talk. Guan Shanyan froze slightly mid-sip. He must’ve used his power in the kitchen to grab the cup, and she had seen it. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked.
He sipped, then placed the cup down: “You don’t believe, right? If you don’t believe, it doesn’t work.”
“You mean if I believe, it’s real? That’s too subjective.”
“That’s metaphysics: belief makes it real, disbelief makes it null.”
“…” Telekinesis is metaphysics? That’s a superpower!
Before she could comment more, dog barks came from outside, Tianquan was back from its walk.
“Woof woof.” Xie Mingqiu opened the door. Tianquan tried to rush inside, but the leash held it back.
“Wait, clean your paws first.” Guan Su picked it up and carefully wiped its paws. Tianquan stayed still, cooperating. Soon, its paws were clean.
“Okay, go.” The leash was removed, and Tianquan dashed at Shen Youwei.
Other puppies might jump on the sofa, but Tianquan’s short legs couldn’t reach. It bumped into Shen Youwei’s calves instead.
She bent down, picked it up, and hugged it happily: “Let me see, who’s this? Oh, our little treat Tianquan!”
“Woof.” It rubbed against her, wagging its tail nonstop.
“You two are finally watching TV together.” Xie Mingqiu came over. “Did you burn incense at the temple today?”
“Yes, but I heard this temple is the most effective for matchmaking.” Shen Youwei paused tactically.
Xie Mingqiu: “Then you two singletons went for a reason, huh?”
Shen Youwei: “…”
Guan Shanyan: “…”
“I’m going back to my room.” Guan Shanyan, dreading the topic, picked up his juice and left. Shen Youwei followed: “I’m going back too. I need to finish the recruitment notice.”
Xie Mingqiu, watching them leave quickly, muttered: “Not watching TV anymore?”
“Nope.” Shen Youwei closed the door.
Back in her room, she finalized the recruitment notice online, then thought about Guan Shanyan.
Could he really move objects with his mind? How did he get this ability? If it was exposed, would he be taken for experiments?
And why did she keep returning to previous timelines? Although she didn’t control it, she retained memories, so it must relate to her somehow.
Would she be taken and sliced up for experiments too?
That night, Shen Youwei dreamt only of being captured and experimented on.
The next morning, she was woken by the sound of Tianquan scratching at the door. It was Monday; everyone else had gone to work, leaving Shen Youwei alone at home.
Tianquan, probably bored, had come looking for her. Shen Youwei went to open the door, and the dog wagged its tail excitedly as it came in.
“It’s better to just be a happy little dog, at least you don’t dream about being sliced at night.” Shen Youwei squatted to play with Tianquan before heading to the bathroom to freshen up.
Breakfast had been left for her at home. After eating, she took Tianquan for a walk and bought some food along the way. She planned to stay home in the afternoon to focus on reviewing the resumes that had been sent in.
She had created a dedicated email for receiving resumes. By the next morning, over a hundred emails had arrived. Not all were genuine applications, so Shen Youwei filtered them, keeping only a small number.
After a day of going through resumes, her head felt dizzy and foggy, but her efforts paid off: she selected five promising candidates. She scheduled interviews at her studio and replied to these five via email.
“The rest can wait.” Shen Youwei stood and stretched. More resumes were still coming in, but she decided to wait until these five had been interviewed.
“Woof.” Tianquan saw her stand and ran over to play. Shen Youwei tossed the ball it had brought over, and the dog happily ran to fetch it, tail wagging.
After playing for a while, Shen Youwei received a call from Xu Qairan’s mother. Frowning slightly, she answered: “Aunt Xu, what’s the matter?”
The familiar voice came through the line: “Youwei, have you been in contact with Qairan recently? I’ve been trying to call her for the past couple of days without success. I’m worried something might have happened.”
Shen Youwei had just been talking with Guan Shanyan about how she hadn’t seen Xu Qairan’s posts on social media in a while. She hadn’t expected Aunt Xu to call her instead of her daughter. Even if Xu Qairan had blocked her, she surely wouldn’t block her own mother.
“I haven’t contacted her much recently either. The last time we met, she said Chen Qing would arrange for her to work at the Chen family’s company.”
Aunt Xu had some awareness of online matters. Previously, Xu Qairan worked with Shen Youwei, so her mother felt reassured. Now that she was with Chen Qing, her whereabouts were unknown. “Can Chen Qing really speak to the Chen family and arrange work for her? She never mentioned it to me.”
Shen Youwei thought for a moment, then reassured her: “She should still be in touch with He Man. I’ll ask her and let you know if I hear anything.”
“Alright, thank you.”
“No trouble at all.” After hanging up, Shen Youwei tried calling Xu Qairan, no answer. She then sent a message via WeChat asking her to call her mother.
The message was sent successfully, so Xu Qairan hadn’t blocked her. However, there was no reply.
Messages she sent to He Man were replied to promptly: [I’ve been busy lately and haven’t contacted her! You know I’ve been picking up a lot of work from Jiang Peipei!]
“…” Indeed.
He Man: [I just called her, can’t reach her.]
Shen Youwei: [Okay, seems like she’s unreachable by everyone, not just me.]
He Man: [What now? Could something have happened?]
Shen Youwei furrowed her brows. Honestly, if anything happened while Xu Qairan was with Chen Qing, she wouldn’t be surprised. But since Aunt Xu had come looking for her, she couldn’t ignore it.
“What’s wrong? Your face is all scrunched up.” Guan Shanyan’s voice suddenly sounded nearby, startling her. She looked up, eyes wide: “When did you get back? How come I didn’t hear a sound?”
“You were too absorbed in your thoughts.” Guan Shanyan teased Tianquan at his feet. “Even Tianquan came to greet me.”
“…” She hadn’t noticed when the dog went over. “Why did you come back so early today?”
“It’s not early. My mom has to work late tonight, so we’re on our own for dinner.”
“Ah?” Shen Youwei tilted her head. “Then Godfather isn’t coming back either?”
Guan Shanyan noticed her cute head tilt and averted his gaze awkwardly: “He’s bringing my mom her dinner, so he’s not worrying about us.”
“…” Okay.
“I didn’t want you to be hungry, so I ordered some food on the way back. It should arrive soon.”
“Great, I am hungry.” Despite snacking all afternoon while reviewing resumes, she felt she had burned it all off.
Guan Shanyan hung his jacket on the sofa and sat beside her: “So, what were you thinking about just now? Trouble with the recruitment?”
“The recruitment is fine, it’s just that Xu Qairan can’t be reached. Aunt Xu came looking for me.” Shen Youwei sighed. “I knew following Chen Qing wouldn’t end well.”
Guan Shanyan thought for a moment, then said: “I know Mrs. Chen. I can ask her for you.”
Shen Youwei looked at him in surprise: “Mrs. Chen?”
“Chen Qing’s mother.”
Shen Youwei exaggeratedly opened her mouth: “You even know such big people?”
Guan Shanyan: “She’s my fan. She came to take a photo with me.”
Shen Youwei: “…”