100,000 Hour Professional Stand-in or Professional Stand-in, With an Chapter 2: 11 to 20, a manhua/chinese comics/漫画 fanfic

Bai Zhou was drunk and in no state to ride his motorbike, and it would take some time for him to call a valet.

Left with no choice, he could only ignore the arrogant Ji Fanyin for the time being and settle the scores with Song Shiyu.

Song Shiyu was still sleeping on the sofa when Bai Zhou mercilessly dumped a cup of cold water on his face. He opened his eyes right away, but he was still a little out of it due to the influence of alcohol. He wiped off the water on his face and slicked his wet hair backward before asking instinctively, "Where's Xinxin?"

"It goes without saying that big sis is in Paris," sneered Bai Zhou.

Song Shiyu raised his gaze to stare at Bai Zhou, who looked as if he was about to beat him up at any moment, but he remained oddly composed. "You still found out about it in the end. The rest of you should head out first. I'll have a private chat with him."

The latter half of his words were directed at the manager and waiter standing nervously by the doorway, as if worried that a fight would break out between the two of them.

The manager quickly ushered the waiter out before closing the door behind them.

With that, the only ones left in the compartment room were Song Shiyu and Bai Zhou.

Song Shiyu began speaking with a slow cadence, "Humans tend to raise pets when they feel lonely. Similarly, I'm using Ji Fanyin to assuage my yearning for Xinxin while she's away. You have seen her face too. Identical twins tend to look different once they grow up, but the two of them still remain perfect copies of one another."

"That's none of my business," replied Bai Zhou coldly. "I already have evidence in hand. If you know what's best for you, you'd do well not to show up before big sis ever again!"

Song Shiyu looked at Bai Zhou and chuckled. His attitude was reminiscent of a mature adult dealing with someone who had barely come of age. "Ji Fanyin is a skilled actor. She's able to make me feel like Xinxin is right beside me. On top of that, she's also sharp-witted and knows what I want to hear. Could there possibly be a better pet than that in the world?"

Song Shiyu ignored the look on Bai Zhou's face and gestured welcomingly toward him.

"I advise you to give it a try too. You'll enjoy it. I'll even keep the secret for you."

Bai Zhou looked at Song Shiyu as if he was unrecyclable trash.

A few minutes later, the hot-headed youth spat on the ground and stomped out of the room.

Song Shiyu didn't stop him. Instead, he slumped onto the sofa and lit a cigarette. He lifted his head upward and slowly breathed out a long trail of smoke.

Since he found out about it, I can drag him down with me and turn him into an accomplice. Otherwise, he might really tell Xinxin about it.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from /37k7u89t.

…

Ji Fanyin felt no guilt whatsoever for abandoning Song Shiyu in the bar. It was not as if the bar would let anything happen to a valuable VIP of theirs, and Bai Zhou was there to 'keep him accompanied' too.

Feeling that she had worked hard for the day, she quickly removed her makeup as soon as she reached home before sinking into her bed.

The following day, Ji Fanyin realized that her phone had received several calls in its 'Do Not Disturb' mode. They were all from the same number.

She ignored them and headed into the bathroom to wash up. Afterward, she moved into the kitchen to prepare some scrambled eggs for breakfast when she got a call from the same number again. It looked like the caller had no plans of giving it a rest until she finally picked up.

While scrambling the eggs with a spatula in one hand, she used her other free hand to grab her phone and accept the call. With a casual voice, she said, "Hello?"

The person on the other end of the call hissed in hostility, "It's me."

Ah, Bai Zhou.

"It seems like you have gotten the wrong number. Goodbye," replied Ji Fanyin with an unbothered tone.

"Cut the act!" Bai Zhou wasn't fooled by her. "I already know about your affair with Song Shiyu!"

Those words were spoken like a menacing threat, but they seemed to fall short when it came to Ji Fanyin. "Yes, what about it?"

"Does your family know what you're doing?"

"Their views mean nothing to me."

"What about your younger sister?"

"Tell her if you wish to. I don't mind."

Bai Zhou fell silent after asking a few meaningless questions. It was a while later before he reluctantly asked the key question, "… How much did Song Shiyu pay you?"

Ji Fanyin's attitude immediately became much more amicable. "It's hard for me to explain over the phone. What's your email? I'll send the price list to you."

"There's a price list?!" exclaimed Bai Zhou. "Ji Fanyin, do you really think that you're running a business here?"

"Acting is a perfectly normal job," Ji Fanyin earnestly corrected his views. "I'm only selling my skills here, not my body."

Bai Zhou couldn't be bothered with Ji Fanyin's explanation. There was a moment of silence before he said, "I've sent you my email."

Ji Fanyin switched off the stove and placed her spatula aside. She attached her newly updated price list and client questionnaire onto an email before sending it over to Bai Zhou.

Bai Zhou didn't hang up the phone, so she could hear the notification sound of a newly arrived email coming from his laptop, followed by a click.

A few minutes later, he lashed out furiously, "100,000 dollars for an hour? Why don't you go rob a bank instead? Do you think that you're worthy of such a price?"

Ji Fanyin pondered for a moment before offering additional benefits, "I can give you a 10% discount for your first hour."

"No discounts!" Bai Zhou was almost screaming at the top of his lungs. "Aren't you lowering big sis' value over here?"

Ji Fanyin's eyebrows shot up. "Sure."

Bai Zhou hesitated for a moment before asking, "Who else other than Song Shiyu has bought you?"

"That would be a breach of privacy for my other clients. I trust that you wouldn't want me to reveal any of your details to others either," said Ji Fanyin. "Do you wish to make a reservation for today?"

Bai Zhou didn't respond for a long time.

Ji Fanyin didn't rush him. She calmly placed the call on speakerphone and set it aside. She proceeded to finish cooking her scrambled eggs and plated it nicely.

A quick look at /37k7u89t will leave you more fulfilled.

It was while she was carrying her breakfast platter and her phone to her dining room that Bai Zhou finally spoke up.

"Tonight," he said quickly, "5 to 8. I'll send you the location. Make sure no one sees you."

"Payment has to be made beforehand in order to confirm the reservation," reminded Ji Fanyin.

Bai Zhou hung up the phone without saying a word.

Ji Fanyin saved his number in her contacts and moved it into her 'Client' group. Soon, she received the address for tonight's reservation and a completed questionnaire.

It was a good start to her morning, and she began digging into her breakfast.

As expected of the young master of the Bai Family. He does have quite a bit of cash on him despite his young age.

Bai Zhou's hot-headedness was also a huge advantage to her. Rather than money, it was likely that he would be a fountain of endless Emotion Points.

As for the reservation later in the night, there was a good chance that Bai Zhou had ulterior motives. He probably wanted to either gather some evidence of her business or pick faults with her.

But this was of no importance.

The fish has swum over on his own accord to bite onto my hook; how could I possibly let him get away?

After finishing up his breakfast, Ji Fanyin placed her plates in the dishwasher. Following that, she spent her remaining morning and half of her afternoon studying up on Bai Zhou.

She needed to get a good grasp on her client in order to score a victory, not to mention that Bai Zhou was planning to crash her dojo here.

Five minutes to 5 o'clock, Ji Fanyin arrived at the requested location.

It was a restaurant located on a bridge that granted a good view over a scenic spot. It was quite expensive to dine here, but the restaurant did a good job with its privacy measures. Thanks to that, it attracted quite a few celebrities to dine here.

Ji Fanyin informed the front reception of the reserved compartment room, and a waiter soon led her in.

It was a six person compartment room, but Bai Zhou was the only one in there. He was holding his phone horizontally in his hands, playing a game with his earpiece on. His right leg was crossed over his left one as he shook it casually, making him appear like a delinquent.

Even when he heard the sound of the door opening, all he did was to spare a nonchalant glance over.

When he caught sight of the person standing by the doorway, he froze up for several seconds right away. The first thing he did upon snapping out of his daze was to put his leg down and call out hesitantly, "Big sis?"

His teammates were shouting at him over the earpiece, but his mind automatically filtered those out. The character he was controlling ended up getting hacked down by his enemies within a few seconds, but he was in no state of mind to bother with that.

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A split moment later, he threw his phone on the ground and cursed, "You don't look like her at all!"

The woman standing by the doorway looked at him doubtfully and asked, "Look like who?"

The truth was that Bai Zhou didn't believe what Song Shiyu said the previous night. He thought that the latter had simply lost his mind after Ji Xinxin left for Paris.

Who doesn't know what kind of person Ji Fanyin is? There's no comparing her and my big sis, alright!

Bai Zhou had made a reservation with Ji Fanyin with the intention to pick faults at her acting and humiliate her, but within a minute of their meeting, he realized that he wasn't able to find any faults with her at all.

It was as if Ji Xinxin was standing right before him.

It's no wonder why Song Shiyu would…

Damn.

Bai Zhou suddenly felt a sense of crisis. Unwilling to let Ji Fanyin win, he betrayed his conscience and overthrew everything that he had said earlier. "You don't look like her at all! Big sis wouldn't… wouldn't…"

He ended up getting stuck because there was simply nothing for him to pick at.

Ji Fanyin walked up to Bai Zhou, bent down, and leaned in close to him. The latter was so nervous that he subconsciously held his breath and leaned back a little.

"Haven't I told you many times?" She lightly poked Bai Zhou's forehead with her finger and sighed softly. "Look at the dark circles around your eyes. Did you stay up late to play games again? You need to sleep early, or else you'll never grow tall…"

Bai Zhou subconsciously grumbled in retort, "I'm already a grown-up now! I'm 1.83, an entire head taller than you…"

But his words screeched to a halt halfway through. He closed his eyes tightly before bellowing with utmost frustration, "Ji Fanyin!"

Ji Fanyin didn't react at all despite having her name called out loud. Instead, she remarked in discontentment, "It wasn't easy for us to have a meal together, but you're only going to talk about someone else to me?"

There were countless vulgarities that Bai Zhou really wanted to utter at this very moment, but he couldn't bring himself to voice them aloud when he saw Ji Fanyin's face.

It feels almost like I'm insulting big sis here!

"I'm not going to bother with you anymore if you throw another tantrum," said Ji Fanyin sternly. "Shall I leave right now and let you eat on your own?"

Bai Zhou raised his head to look at her.

It was utterly ridiculous. Be it her appearance, expressions, or even eyes, he couldn't find any incongruence at all. Had he not paid 300,000 dollars to reserve Ji Fanyin's time, he would have really thought that Ji Xinxin had specially flown back from Paris to meet him.

Despite knowing that this was a show staged by Ji Fanyin…

Despite the sheer disgust he felt when he learned that Song Shiyu was seeking Ji Fanyin for comfort…

"Don't go," said Bai Zhou. "Accompany. Me. For. Dinner."

As if he was throwing a tantrum at himself, he forcefully dragged the chair beside him out with a loud screeching sound and slammed the menu down on the table.

Ji Fanyin finally took a seat and complimented him, "That's more like it."

It went without saying that Ji Xinxin had different ways of dealing with Bai Zhou and Song Shiyu due to their personality differences.

While Bai Zhou looked like a violent child who would dive into every fight that he could, he was exceptionally obedient before Ji Xinxin. No matter what Ji Xinxin was scheming, her attitude toward Bai Zhou—at least on the surface—was made extremely clear: I view Bai Zhou as my younger brother.

This made things convenient for Ji Fanyin. It meant that it was fine for her to berate him whenever he acted out of line since it was normal for an older sister to keep her unruly younger brother in line. Bai Zhou had also grown accustomed to this interaction too. In fact, he even thought that this was how she expressed her concern for him.

Bai Zhou was unnaturally quiet throughout the dinner. Ji Fanyin had to bring up the conversation topics to avoid the air growing too awkward while he simply went along with the flow. It was clear that he hadn't gotten used to this service yet.

Ji Fanyin kept piling up food in his bowl, specifically picking out the ones that Bai Zhou liked. He didn't say anything about it, but he still obediently ate everything that she put in his bowl.

It was when he finally put down his chopsticks that he suddenly asked, "Is this how you behave when you're with Song Shiyu too?"

Despite the rude words, Bai Zhou's attitude was considered friendly compared to how he usually acted.

"Shiyu?" Ji Fanyin rested her chin on her hand leisurely as she poured a cup of tea for Bai Zhou and pushed it over to his side. "Well… the two of you are different."

"… In what ways?" Bai Zhou eyed the cup of tea sitting right before him. The water was clear with only three to four pieces of tea leaves floating around—just the way he liked it.

"Hmm…" Ji Fanyin half-jokingly kept him in suspense as she murmured contemplatively. "I wonder how the two of you are different."

"Did Song Shiyu tell you to become his lover?"

Ji Fanyin sighed softly, almost as if she was dealing with a kid throwing a tantrum here. "You know that I've already rejected him."

"That's not what I asked!" Bai Zhou glared at Ji Fanyin sharply. "Is this how you act during your meetings with him too?"

Ji Fanyin chose not to respond to the question. She leaned her head on her arm and looked right into Bai Zhou's eyes with a gentle smile sitting on her lips.

After ten seconds of eye contact, Bai Zhou's ears began reddening, and his eyes started to swim around nervously.

He clenched his jaws in frustration before jerking his head away. "How did that idiot Song Shiyu get duped by your face? You don't even hold a candle to big sis at all!"

Find the original at /3Tfs4P4.

Ji Fanyin responded to his remark by patting his head, but the latter smacked her hand away.

"I know what you're thinking," said Bai Zhou contemptuously. "You like Song Shiyu. You wish to remain by his side even as a substitute. You put on this facade in order to convince him and yourself that it's all just business."

Ji Fanyin thought that Bai Zhou had a truly imaginative mind.

"But I'm not like Song Shiyu. I know who's the one I love, and there are no substitutes for her," declared Bai Zhou. "However, I'd more than welcome it if you can really steal Song Shiyu away from big sis. I'd have one less rival to deal with."

That's true, Ji Fanyin thought, but that won't happen.

She had no intention of getting together with Song Shiyu. If she really wanted to look for a life partner, she would very much rather go for a boyfriend with a pure heart who didn't have anyone he fancied yet.

"I don't need you to impersonate big sis and pretend to be her," said Bai Zhou as he rose to his feet. He impatiently kicked away a chair blocking his way. "If we ever meet under any setting, you better not try to approach me. You may only talk to me if I talk to you first, do you understand?"

Ji Fanyin thought that it was less troublesome that way. She would be spared from having to think up lines on the spot for him, and her pay would still be the same anyway.

Nothing lost.

So, she nodded with a smile and replied, "Sounds good to me."

"Get up." There was finally a satisfied look on Bai Zhou's face. "We still have time left. Follow me."

Ji Fanyin had considered the places Bai Zhou would be interested to visit, but this completely caught her by surprise.

Despite being a hot-blooded youth born with a golden spoon in his mouth, his choice of location ended up being a historic place where only middle schoolers would go to—a neoprint booth.

The moment Ji Fanyin found herself standing before a neoprint booth, she failed to keep her expression in check for a brief moment and ended up revealing her true emotions. Unfortunately, Bai Zhou happened to see it.

"Cut the crap and do what you're paid to," he muttered angrily as he pushed Ji Fanyin into the booth.

Ji Fanyin sat dignified on the chair inside and curiously pressed a few buttons.

God knows how long it has been since I last touched a neoprint machine.

The long-legged Bai Zhou squeezed in right after, but he ended up looking a little awkward as his tall stature left him with hardly any space to place his legs between the chair and the screen.

Neoprint booths were known to be cramped, but despite two grown adults stuffing themselves in, they still somehow managed to create two fists worth of awkward space in between them.

"How do you want to take the picture?" Ji Fanyin courteously enquired about her client's request.

Bai Zhou cleared his throat and said, "Don't talk. Just listen to my instructions."

He first paid for the machine by scanning its QR code before smacking the buttons haphazardly. What eventually came out was a photo of the two of them sitting rigidly before the camera. The distance between the two of them was too conspicuous to ignore.

Bai Zhou looked at the neoprint and frowned in extreme discontentment.

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"Would you like my help?" Ji Fanyin kindly offered for the second time.

She could tell that Bai Zhou was a newbie with neoprint booths.

"No need!" Bai Zhou snapped angrily. "Sit closer to me!"

Ji Fanyin inched over as he had told her to, but before she could get within a fist's distance of him, he had already started shifting away himself. It was just that there wasn't much space for him to retreat to. He ended up being awkwardly squeezed to the corner of the seat with a stiff look on his face.

Ji Fanyin thought that his reddened face looked rather interesting, so she clicked on the 'Snap Photo' button.

It was also at the same time that Bai Zhou couldn't stand it anymore and pushed Ji Fanyin away from him, whispering fiercely, "Don't get so close to me!"

So, Ji Fanyin backed away a bit and raised her hands in surrender. "You don't want to get too close or stay too far. Why don't you tell me where I should sit instead?"

Bai Zhou pointed to the camera and grumbled, "Your hand gesture."

Ji Fanyin glanced at his posture and was immediately amused by the 'V' hand gesture he was putting up. She copied what he was doing, but it was starting to get hard for her to suppress her laughter anymore.

Is this how middle schoolers date?

"Stop laughing!" roared Bai Zhou.

So, Ji Fanyin finally reined in her laughter and looked at the camera.

An actor had to be able to bring out different dispositions regardless of the facial features they were born with. Ji Fanyin was able to play Ji Xinxin's character, but her facial features were actually not the gentle type.

Her sharp eyebrows and plump lips made her look cold and lofty whenever she wasn't smiling.

Bai Zhou stared at the screen over and over again, but he simply couldn't help but feel like something was very wrong here. He was intending to use Ji Fanyin's face to take a photo of him and Ji Xinxin so that he could stash it away.

The problem was that Ji Fanyin felt completely different from Ji Xinxin the moment she dropped her act.

What's the use of taking this photo if the two of them don't feel like the same person?!

Bai Zhou took in a deep breath and said, "I've changed my mind. Continue your act."

Ji Fanyin sighed softly before abruptly placing her arm on Bai Zhou's shoulder, saying, "Look at me."

Bai Zhou's eyes swam around for a bit before finally looking at Ji Fanyin straight in the face. He stared at her intently, but at the same time, it looked like he was struggling with it too.

Ji Fanyin smoothly raised her hand to brush Bai Zhou's hair to the side while quickly snapping a few consecutive shots. Before Bai Zhou could even process what was going on, everything had already ended.

He was just about to blow his top when Ji Fanyin picked up the neoprints and showed it to him, asking, "How is it?"

Bai Zhou's was immediately drawn to the couple reflected in the neoprints. He stared at it for a long moment before abruptly snatching it over and stowing it into his pocket. "So-so. Let's continue."

He seemed to have gotten completely addicted, paying again and again to take more photos.

It was only when an alarm sounded from Ji Fanyin's bag that he finally snapped out of his trance.

Bai Zhou glanced at her bag and ordered, "Silence it."

This time, Ji Fanyin didn't fulfill Bai Zhou's request patiently as she had all this while. She calmly showed him the time on her watch and said, "Your reservation has to come to an end."

It was now 8 o'clock. Even the most luxurious pumpkin carriage would have to disappear once her service came to an end.

Bai Zhou: "…"

There was a nasty look on his face, reminiscent of a kid who got his gaming console confiscated before he could save his progress.

Ji Fanyin took out her phone and killed the alarm before turning her body toward Bai Zhou. Her action caused their knees to inevitably knock together in the narrow neoprint booth.

Bai Zhou immediately darted backward as if he had gotten something dirty on him, shouting, "What are you doing?"

"I would appreciate it if you would let me pass," said Ji Fanyin politely. "I have a facial at eight-thirty. I don't like to be late for my appointments."

She gestured toward the doorway of the narrow neoprint booth with a glance.

There was only one way out of this neoprint booth, and Bai Zhou was blocking it with his huge body. How was she supposed to leave if he didn't give way?

"Or do you not want me to go?" she casually teased.

Those words were effective at provoking Bai Zhou. He shot a vicious glare at Ji Fanyin before rising to his feet and striding out.

While walking off, he didn't forget to turn around and threaten her, "Don't you dare utter a word about what happened today to anyone else. Otherwise, I'll let you know what regret is!"

"Don't worry, I am a professional." Ji Fanyin was unfazed by Bai Zhou's threat. She tidied up her slightly messy hair a little before adding on, "No one will know unless you tell others on your own accord like Song Shiyu."

Bai Zhou felt contempt for the false strong front she was putting on. "You need not put on such an act. There's no one who doesn't know that you like Song Shiyu."

Ji Fanyin wasn't too bothered by the rumors, so she replied casually, "Treat it as if I'm defending the final shreds of my dignity then."

Bai Zhou harrumphed coldly. He wanted to scorn her, but he couldn't bring himself to voice out the insults lingering at the tip of his tongue. In the end, he turned around and strode off.

With a whole stash of cute neoprints he had in his aviator jacket, that was.

Ji Fanyin was about to call a cab to head to her facial appointment when she noticed that there was a missed call on her phone. It was from Song Shiyu.

The call had only lasted a second, which explained why she didn't hear it during her appointment with Bai Zhou. When a call was hung up within a second, it could only mean that the caller regretted his decision right away.

Ji Fanyin gave the matter some thought before sending him a message to ask him if he had business with her.

However, a red exclamation mark appeared beside the message she sent on. Beneath it was a notification stating that they weren't friends yet and needed to add one another as contacts in order to chat.

Ji Fanyin immediately understood why Song Shiyu hadn't contacted her through WeChat for a while now.

She fiddled with her phone for a moment before nonchalantly closing her WeChat, choosing to feign ignorance about this.

Since Song Shiyu wasn't saying anything about it, she couldn't be bothered to deal with it.

Shortly after, a call from Bai Zhou came in.

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The moment Ji Fanyin picked up the call, the hot-headed youth immediately spoke with a commanding voice, "I forgot to tell you. I want a day of your time tomorrow. I'll send the money to you later on."

He hung up right after saying what he wanted.

His attitude was horrible, but Ji Fanyin was willing to overlook her client's awful temper in view of the 1,500,000 dollars that just arrived in her account.

Interestingly, just a few seconds later, Song Shiyu's call came in as well.

"Did Bai Zhou look for you?" Song Shiyu got straight to the point.

Ji Fanyin stepped onto the escalator as she returned the question with a smile, "Weren't you the one who told him about it?"

Song Shiyu chose not to answer the question. "Accompany me for dinner tomorrow."

"My apologies. I have just received a reservation," Ji Fanyin turned him down.

Song Shiyu was silent for a few seconds before asking, "Was it Bai Zhou?"

Ji Fanyin didn't answer his question, but it didn't seem like Song Shiyu really needed an answer anyway. He hung up the phone a few seconds after asking that question.

Meanwhile, Ji Fanyin slipped her phone back into her pocket as she began considering additions to her business model.

If clashes in appointments occur more often in the future, should I consider introducing a bidding system?

It was only 8 o'clock when Ji Fanyin parted ways with Bai Zhou. She made it for her facial appointment on time and returned home with a glowing complexion.

Out of consideration of the work she had the following day, she didn't take up treatments that required a healing period, choosing to go with just a simple moisturizing treatment.

She could afford to pamper herself a little since whatever she spent on beauty would only amount to a small proportion of her earnings.

Before heading to sleep, she took a look at the progress of 'Temptation of Home'.

Ever since she got involved with Bai Zhou, the amounts that had been coming in became slightly more erratic. After a week of hard work, she managed to earn her first 10,000,000.

Most of it came from Emotion Points, but she did manage to earn 4,000,000 dollars of hard cash.

It was nothing much compared to the assets Ji Fanyin owned in the past, but considering the short period of time she took to accrue this money…

Yeap, it's still pretty acceptable.

It was just that she had to make sure to tread carefully when expanding her client's list. While it was another person's pond she was harvesting from here, it would still look awful if she flopped.

Earning ten billion in 'Temptation of Home' didn't seem to be an unreachable target for the time being, not to mention that there was no deadline here.

She knew that this stand-in job was only temporary, and it would only last for so long. Nevertheless, as long as she proceeded carefully and lived for another few decades, it was only a matter of time before she raked in the required sum to return back to her original world.

She switched her phone to 'Do Not Disturb' mode and lay down on her pillow. Within minutes, she was already asleep.

However, two other people in the same city were turning in their beds, their minds refusing to rest. One of them was Bai Zhou, who thought that someone had cast a spell on him earlier in the day. The other one was Song Shiyu, who was smoking a cigarette in a daze.

Nighttime tended to make one overthink things. Thinking about the happiness he felt in the day, Bai Zhou couldn't help thinking that he was a child being toyed with by Ji Fanyin, but on second thought, it didn't seem like there was anything off with what she did.

That was indeed how Ji Xinxin interacted with him.

But somehow, despite Ji Fanyin's impeccable acting, he couldn't help but feel that something was wrong here.

It's as if… as if…

Unable to find the words to explain this feeling, Bai Zhou spat out a curse as he shot up from his bed, switched on his laptop, and played five rounds of PUBG.

Unfortunately, his luck wasn't good. He kept meeting bad teammates, resulting in him eventually entering the final ring all alone before finally being wiped out. He didn't manage to get chicken dinner even once.

He angrily tossed his mouse aside and stomped off to the kitchen to grab himself a cup of water, only to realize that a new day was upon him.

Stunned, he quickly checked the time on the lower right corner of his laptop screen and saw that there was less than an hour to go for his 9 o'clock appointment with Ji Fanyin.

To make things worse, he had initially planned to bring her on a date to Disneyland.

He had actually thought about it for a very long time now, but he wasn't able to find a chance to talk to Ji Xinxin about it in advance. So, he thought that it might be a good idea for him to bring Ji Fanyin over first for practice.

However, it was already 8:20 now and he had made zero preparations so far. He had neither booked the plane tickets nor bought the amusement park passes.

He could try to make last-minute arrangements, but the chances were that he would screw up in a few places.

While he knew that the one he was meeting was Ji Fanyin and there was no need to worry too much about how she felt, he still didn't want to appear like a child who was incapable of planning ahead before her.

A quick look at /37k7u89t will leave you more fulfilled.

He hadn't paid Ji Fanyin just to get another older sister for himself!

He berated his own lack of consideration before grabbing his phone to make a call to Ji Fanyin.

She picked up the call pretty quickly. "Morning, young master Bai."

"I'm cancelling today's reservation. Let's meet up another day," said Bai Zhou. "Tomorrow."

Ji Fanyin replied with an 'Ah' before informing him about the company policy with a sweet voice reminiscent of a customer service staff. "I'll reserve tomorrow for you then. However, I have to regretfully inform you that you won't be refunded for the cancellation of today's appointment."

Bai Zhou: "? Say that again?"

"Your money won't be refunded," repeated Ji Fanyin with the same professional tone. "How about this? I'll give you a discount for tomorrow's reservation."

"No discounts allowed!" roared Bai Zhou. He squeezed his forehead and said, "Fine. No refunds, right? We'll proceed with today's reservation as previously agreed."

Ji Fanyin's voice remained as smooth as ever. "Understood, young master Bai."

Bai Zhou hung up the phone in a huff.

1,500,000 dollars wasn't a huge sum to him, but he wasn't willing to just give it away to Ji Fanyin for free.

Ji Fanyin felt a little regretful.

If Bai Zhou was willing to throw away his 1,500,000 dollars, she could have called Song Shiyu and asked him if he still wanted to have dinner tonight. That way, she would be able to earn double the sum.

However, it turned out that Bai Zhou wasn't that generous.

What a pity.

Ji Fanyin put down her phone lamentably. She twisted open the tangerine lip gloss she had chosen earlier and carefully applied it onto her lips. She looked into the mirror and lightly puckered her lips before grabbing her bag.

Judging from his voice, he probably spent the night playing games. I guess he's going to be late.

Nevertheless, she wouldn't allow herself to be late even if her client was. This was one of the principles she insisted on as a professional.

As usual, she arrived at the destination several minutes in advance. Bai Zhou had set the meet-up location to be at a bus stop. She took a look at the time before whipping out her phone to play a puzzle video game she had stumbled upon on the internet by coincidence.

This novel is available on /3Tfs4P4.

Each stage of this puzzle video game had interesting twists to it, and she could stop whenever she wanted to. It was not a bad choice for idling some time away.

It was already 9 by the time she cleared a stage. Just as she expected, Bai Zhou was still nowhere to be seen.

Since the client was late, Ji Fanyin thought that it was fine for her to continue playing a little longer. So, she proceeded to the next stage, which quickly proved to be challenging.

She leaned against the bus stop's notice board in a natural upright pose which she had been maintaining for a long time now. Unlike most people, her shoulders were naturally pulled backward. Even just by standing there, she looked like a beautiful picture.

A group of young men who had just walked out from the adjacent subway station couldn't help but stare at her. Soon, they decided to walk over to engage her in a conversation.

One of them noticed the game she was playing and nervously cleared his throat before asking, "Are you stuck on the stage? Why don't I help you take a look?"

Ji Fanyin looked up from her phone and saw a tall young man who looked to be in his early twenties standing before her. She chuckled softly and teased, "But what if you try to escape with my phone?"

The young man's face reddened at her smile. He fumbled out his phone from his pocket and offered it to her in a fluster, saying, "Y-you can take my phone! It's the newest model! Ah wait, let me unlock it for you first…"

"Get lost," a deep and hoarse masculine voice suddenly sounded.

Ji Fanyin turned her head over and saw Bai Zhou sitting coolly on his motorcycle with a leg resting on the bus stop's platform. He impatiently snapped the helmet's eye protector up.

"She's with me." Bai Zhou directed a deathly cold glare at the young man talking to Ji Fanyin. "Get lost."

Ji Fanyin poked his arm and criticized disapprovingly, "Don't be rude."

"Ah?!" Bai Zhou's rage intensified. He violently smacked away Ji Fanyin's arm and bellowed, "Ji Fanyin, what right do you have to preach to me?"

Ji Fanyin sighed softly. She turned to the young man, who was stunned from being abruptly shouted at, and apologized, "This child spent the entire night up, so his temper is a lot worse than usual. Don't hold it against him."

"It's fine," the young man replied. He glanced at Bai Zhou with a frown before turning his attention back to Ji Fanyin. "Can we exchange…"

"Didn't I tell you to get lost?" Bai Zhou grabbed Ji Fanyin's arm and tugged her over to his side. "We're leaving!"

One of the young man's companions murmured in discontentment, "What a fierce boyfriend you have. You should just dump him."

Bai Zhou turned around and directed a killer glare at that person.

Ji Fanyin quickly tiptoed and pulled Bai Zhou's eye protector down before covering it with her hands, thereby stopping him from killing an innocent passerby with his glare. In a helpless tone, she said, "Alright alright, let's go."

The young men walked away from the bus stop with irritated looks on their faces.

Bai Zhou let out a threatening growl, "Let go."

However, Ji Fanyin wasn't afraid of him at all.

Bai Zhou wasn't usually a pushover, but there were times when he was a pushover through and through. One such occasion was when Ji Fanyin spoke to him with Ji Xinxin's tone.

"Where are we heading today?" Ji Fanyin asked as she casually put down her hands.

Bai Zhou pointed in a direction and answered, "Art studio."

After saying his piece, he revved up his motorcycle and drove away, leaving Ji Fanyin behind.

Ji Fanyin raised her head and saw an art studio named 'Hidden Bamboo Art Studio' in a nearby shopping mall that was known for its exorbitant rent. Just its name was more than enough to hint at its choice of clients.

She slowly walked toward the shopping mall and headed to the art studio. There was an employee already waiting for her at the entrance. "Miss Ji? Please come with me."

Bai Zhou was already waiting inside one of the rooms. He was currently moving his art supplies, though he suddenly stopped halfway through and let out a yawn.

Ji Fanyin thought that it was amusing how he was trying to force himself to stay awake despite being utterly exhausted. At the same time, she suddenly remembered that Bai Zhou, despite his violent personality, had started learning to draw from the age of four, and he was fairly skilled at sketching and oil painting.

His choice of dates are surprisingly innocent.

"Please enter." The employee stopped at the entrance of the studio and gestured for Ji Fanyin to enter. "There won't be anyone else using the room today, so you can be assured that there won't be any disturbances. If you require any assistance, feel free to ring the bell in the room and we'll be at your service."

Ji Fanyin thanked the employee before entering the room.

Without lifting his head, Bai Zhou pointed to the seat in front of him and said, "Sit there."

It would appear that this art room was not exclusive to Bai Zhou as there were quite a few old paintings hanging on the walls. Ji Fanyin curiously took a look at them while walking past Bai Zhou, and she noticed that they were all nude sketches.

Bai Zhou impatiently raised his head and complained, "What are you dilly-dallying…"

Find the original at /3Tfs4P4.

He caught sight of the sketches hanging on the wall and immediately fell silent. His face began to redden.

But before he could blow his top, Ji Fanyin took the pre-emptive strike. "I didn't say anything."

Bai Zhou clenched his teeth and pointed to the chair at the center of the room once more. "Hurry up and get over there. It's time for you to put on that act of yours!"

He paused for a moment before adding on to his command, "Don't speak at all and stay still. You can do whatever you want; just don't disturb me!"

"Alright." Ji Fanyin was fine with it since it spared her from the effort of having to engage him.

She settled down on the chair and leaned back leisurely before assessing the interior decor of the room. Soon, she came to a conclusion.

This is an art room prepared specifically for the rich. No wonder Bai Zhou appears to be a regular here.

His gaze was constantly alternating between Ji Fanyin and the canvas. There was a slight knit between his eyebrows, and he looked highly focused.

Ji Fanyin decided to casually hold onto the book for posture sake and stare directly at him.

Ji Xinxin had standards when it came to the fishes she reared. For one, they must be passable in terms of appearances and backgrounds.

Without a doubt, Bai Zhou had a face that would have easily made it big in the entertainment industry… Well, if not for his bad personality and extremely privileged background.

"Big sis, you aren't going to continue reading?" Bai Zhou suddenly asked.

He was in the midst of switching pencils when he asked that question. His peaceful tone indicated that it was a casual remark he was making in passing. It seemed like he was slightly out of it after getting too engrossed in his sketching.

Before Bai Zhou could snap out of his daze, Ji Fanyin had already responded to his remark with a smile, "Our Zhouzhou looks much more pleasing than any book."

Bai Zhou: "…"

The pencil in his hand snapped into two. With an awful look on his face, he quickly grabbed another pencil and continued his drawing. It would appear like he was planning to cover up his earlier mistake by pretending that nothing had happened here.

Ji Fanyin and Ji Xinxin are completely different from one another!

But somehow, after this mistake, Bai Zhou felt like something was off no matter how he tried to sketch Ji Fanyin's portrait. Frustration began bottling up inside of him.

It was at this moment that a ringtone sounded in the art room.

Bai Zhou immediately leaped at this opportunity to vent his wrath, bellowing, "Who's calling you? Are you asking for a dock in your pay?"

There was a troubled frown on Ji Fanyin's face as she replied, "It's probably Shiyu."

Like a wild beast who had its territory infringed upon, Bai Zhou charged forward and snatched Ji Fanyin's phone.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Ji Fanyin decided to allow Bai Zhou to do as he pleased. The latter took her phone and flipped it over.

Obviously, the caller could only be Song Shiyu.

Since Bai Zhou was right beside her, he was the only one left who could access her phone while it was still in 'Do Not Disturb' mode.

Bai Zhou didn't hang up the phone. He stared at Ji Fanyin's phone screen for two seconds, and surprisingly, he actually picked it up. "Song Shiyu, you're really getting addicted to this, huh?"

Ji Fanyin couldn't hear what Song Shiyu said on the other end, but Bai Zhou's complexion swiftly darkened. A few seconds later, he quietly hung up the phone.

Ji Fanyin raised her eyebrows a little.

There were many comebacks one could make to Bai Zhou's remark. Just a simple 'Aren't you the same?' was more than enough to silence him.

She was just curious as to how Song Shiyu phrased it.

However, what she was the most concerned with was whether Song Shiyu was intending to make another reservation with that call. So, she gently asked Bai Zhou, "What did he say?"

Bai Zhou tossed her phone into her bag with moderate force and replied, "Nothing much. It's all nonsense… You aren't allowed to look at me anymore. Read your book instead!"

He stomped back to his seat and sat down. There was a brief pause before he suddenly sneered, "You actually fell in love with a scum like him?"

To maintain the character she was playing, Ji Fanyin chose not to respond to Bai Zhou's remark. Deep down, however, she was amazed by the latter's inability to see the irony of his own words.

You're scorning him despite being in the same position as him? What a remarkable lack of self-awareness.

After this small incident, she turned her attention back to the book in her hand. Despite knowing next to nothing about sketching, she still managed to finish it despite the professional jargon filling its pages.

When she finally closed the book, she noticed that the only sound to be heard in the art room was the light whirring of the air conditioning. There weren't any pencil scratching sounds to be heard.

She raised her head and looked in Bai Zhou's direction, only to see him dozing off on a large comfortable chair. The pencil in his hand was already on the verge of falling to the ground.

He might be young, but there's still a limit to his vitality.

Ji Fanyin quietly rose to her feet and walked over to Bai Zhou's side. She tried tugging the pencil in his hand softly first, and it was only when he failed to respond did she finally pull it out entirely.

Bai Zhou groggily opened his eyes. "Mmmm… Big sis?"

"You stayed up all night again?" Ji Fanyin patted his hair which was as unruly as his personality. "Go on and take a nap. I'll wake you up when it's time to eat."

She spoke with a suppressed voice, such that Bai Zhou didn't suspect a thing at all.

"… Don't go, big sis," he murmured a few indistinct words.

"I won't go anywhere. I'll be right by your side," said Ji Fanyin gently.

Bai Zhou returned to sleep with an ease of mind.

Ji Fanyin suddenly thought that it wasn't that bad for her client to have stayed up the previous night either. It sure was a load off her back.

Standing beside Bai Zhou, she turned her attention toward the half-done sketch that he had been working on. It was a portrait of her—or from the artist's point of view, Ji Xinxin—reading a book with a lowered head. It had a tranquil vibe that brought serenity to those looking at it.

It's hard to believe that this was drawn by someone of Bai Zhou's personality.

Bai Zhou subconsciously reached for Ji Fanyin's hand while the latter was still looking at his sketch, but the moment their fingers came into contact, she quickly pulled her hand away.

In the end, he only managed to grab onto her coat, though he clutched onto it with surprising tenacity, refusing to let go at all.

Find the original at /3Tfs4P4.

Ji Fanyin lowered her head to look at him and her eyebrows shot up a little.

It was a particularly peaceful sleep for Bai Zhou till he was woken up.

The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was the person he liked, and it brought a smile onto his face. He called out to her with a voice that was still a little nasal from having just woken up, "Big sis."

"You lazy bum." The other party poked his forehead. "It's already after lunchtime. Your tummy is going to start hurting if you don't wake up soon."

Bai Zhou closed his eyes groggily as he mumbled softly, "I want to eat… the food you make. You said that you would learn some of the local specialties in… France…!"

His words gradually slowed down, and the final word was literally spoken as a shout. He immediately sat up as if he had been struck by lightning.

Shit! Ji Xinxin is obviously in France! The person beside me is a fake!

Bai Zhou glared at Ji Fanyin with a mixture of anger and fright, but the latter simply directed an unfazed smile at him and asked, "Are you finally awake?"

He wanted to burst out cursing, but the next moment, he belatedly realized that he was holding onto her coat. He immediately flung it off as countless vulgarities flashed across his mind.

"Lunch? We'll get delivery!" He vigorously whipped out his phone and opened a delivery app. "We'll be eating fried chicken!"

Ji Fanyin sighed softly. "You're still young. You shouldn't eat junk food all the time."

"That's none of your business!" shouted Bai Zhou. He was like a volcano that was already on the verge of eruption. "You aren't like big sis at all! Do you even know how to cook?!"

"I do," replied Ji Fanyin with a smile. "I know a bit of French cuisine. What would you like to eat?"

Bai Zhou was in the midst of furiously adding spicy chicken to his shopping cart when his finger abruptly came to a halt. "… Really?"

"The preparation time might be a bit long though, and I don't have any ingredients at my place." Ji Fanyin took a look at her watch. "Why don't I grab some ingredients later on and cook dinner for you?"

Bai Zhou stared at her intently as if he was trying to guard against a thief.

But in the end, he still caved in and agreed to it. He even passed his phone to her and said, "Order what you want for lunch."

Ji Fanyin scrolled through the menu of the unhealthy fried chicken fast food restaurant, and in the end, she opted for Ji Xinxin's usual choice of salad and corn.

It's lucky that I ate more for breakfast, she thought.

Probably thanks to having rested well, Bai Zhou was much more effective in the afternoon. He managed to finish two sketches, which he carefully stowed away in a folder as if they were some sort of precious treasure.

"You can go to the supermarket on your own. I won't be tagging along," said Bai Zhou as he walked out of the art room. "It'll be troublesome if anyone catches the two of us together."

Ji Fanyin considered asking him for his bank card, but she decided against breaking her character here.

I'll just report my expenses to him later on. It's unlikely that he would shirk payment anyway.

Ji Fanyin headed to the Hema supermarket on the B1 floor in the shopping mall. She quickly drafted up an ingredient list in her mind and grabbed everything she needed before making payment.

Once she was done, she made a call to Bai Zhou.

Find the original at /3Tfs4P4.

His voice was as impatient as always. "You're done? Send me your address. We'll head there separately."

Ji Fanyin blinked her eyes before replying, "Let's head to your house instead. You have a larger kitchen. Besides… I'm worried that you haven't been taking care of yourself recently. I want to take a look around your apartment."

She had no intention of giving her address away to her client that easily. Even with Song Shiyu, she chose to meet him in a public parking lot in her neighborhood instead of directly giving him her address.

She made a clear distinction between work and private life.

Bai Zhou was silent for two seconds. Perhaps it was because he didn't want to waste his time arguing with Ji Fanyin over this but he soon replied, "I'll send my address to you. You head there yourself."

He hung up his phone afterward.

A while later, Ji Fanyin received the address from him and hailed a cab, lugging an entire box of ingredients with her all the way to Bai Zhou's apartment.

Someone with a privileged background like Bai Zhou naturally lived in a high-class condominium. On top of having a penthouse apartment, there was also a caretaker who was on standby 24/7.

The caretaker was already waiting at the entrance of the condominium when she arrived. He brought her to the penthouse and opened the door for her before leaving without asking any questions at all.

His respect for his employer's privacy showed his professionalism.

Ji Fanyin was unable to find any smaller slippers in the shoe rack, so she had to make do with an oversized one.

She was quite passionate about cooking. She lay out her ingredients one by one in the open concept kitchen and began handling them accordingly. Cooking was quite enjoyable to her, so much that she soon started humming a tune.

Twenty minutes later, Bai Zhou arrived.

There was a spirited look on his face when he opened the door. When he noticed an additional pair of slippers by the doorway, he quickly turned to the kitchen and held his finger to his mouth, gesturing for Ji Fanyin not to make a noise.

Ji Fanyin quickly swallowed her greetings back in.

"Right now? Sure!" replied Bai Zhou over the phone. It was clear that he was in a good mood. "… Big sis, don't you have any lessons today?"

Ji Fanyin immediately got the message.

Ah, it's one of Ji Xinxin's routine checks.

She took a bell pepper, placed it on the chopping board, and skillfully sliced it into half. She proceeded on to remove its seeds and membrane before cutting it into smaller pieces.

"Yes, I'm free. I can play with you right now." Bai Zhou casually placed his motorcycle keys on the table before speed walking to his laptop. "Is it just the two of us? … Who else will be joining us?"

Ji Fanyin elegantly sprinkled salt and pepper on the steaks and gently massaged them to rub the flavor in.

"Your friend is joining us too? … Is it a guy or a girl?" Bai Zhou's voice could be heard through the opened door of his study room. "A girl? Ah okay. I'm switching on my laptop now. I'll be there right away. Yeah, you should add me to your party."

Ji Fanyin stashed the steak and all of the other processed ingredients neatly into the plastic containers provided by the supermarket.

Bai Zhou finally walked out from the study room with his phone still in his hand. He said, "Ji Fanyin, you may leave now."

He placed his phone down on a table before heading into the bathroom to wash his face.

Meanwhile, Ji Fanyin made use of the next few minutes to clean up the mess in the kitchen.

When Bai Zhou walked into the living room with water dripping from his face and saw that Ji Fanyin was still around, he asked with a frown, "Why are you still here? I don't need you around anymore. Don't worry, I won't ask you for a refund since I'm the one cancelling the reservation now. Make sure to take everything away with you. I don't need them anymore."

Ji Fanyin stacked the containers of freshly handled and marinated ingredients into a plastic bag before turning to Bai Zhou. "Wait a moment, young master Bai."

"What?" grumbled Bai Zhou impatiently.

This novel is available on /3Tfs4P4.

Ji Fanyin put on a professional smile and said, "I've left the receipt for the expenses I have incurred at the supermarket on your shoe rack. Please remember to reimburse me accordingly."

"Just how poor are you?!" exclaimed Bai Zhou. He waved his hand impatiently and said, "Hurry up and leave!"

It's just some foie gras, steak, red wine, mussels, and stuff. This rich young master wouldn't be too bothered with just a measly 10,000 dollars.

Out of gratitude, Ji Fanyin kindly took away the trash bag in the kitchen with her when she left the penthouse. With a huge bag of high-quality ingredients in hand, she hailed a cab and headed back home.

It was only 3 o'clock by the time she got home.

I got to leave work nine hours early, and I even got a free Western dinner feast for myself.

Yup, he definitely is a VIP client of mine.

Bai Zhou joined Ji Xinxin's squad in the game and found that there was someone else going by the name of 'Kitty', which hinted that it was a woman.

That set his heart at ease, and he greeted Ji Xinxin through the voice chat.

"Your voice sounds hoarse. You must have spent the whole of last night playing games, right?" reproached Ji Xinxin. "I really shouldn't have asked you to play."

Bai Zhou immediately justified himself, "I already slept earlier in the afternoon. I feel more refreshed than ever."

Who else would you find to play games with you other than me?

"Really?" asked Ji Xinxin skeptically. "If I hear you yawn even once, I'll have you get off your computer and rest right away."

Bai Zhou made a mental note to cover his mouth before yawning later on.

The three of them quickly started a game. Bai Zhou gave the cue for them to leap off and parachute, but they were unlucky to bump into two other squads upon landing. Within two minutes, Ji Xinxin and Kitty suffered tragic deaths, leaving Bai Zhou to fight alone.

Bai Zhou: "…"

He could continue playing this match for another twenty more minutes, and perhaps, he might even get a chicken dinner. However, Ji Xinxin would be left to watch his avatar in boredom, unable to enjoy the game herself.

So, he decided to conduct a reckless charge and commit suicide so that they could start the next game quickly. At the same time, he consoled Ji Xinxin, "Follow me next round. I'll protect you."

"Alright," replied Ji Xinxin.

It turned out that bringing two newbies around was extremely exhausting. He slowly grew frustrated after suffering several consecutive defeats, so he chose to divert his attention elsewhere by chatting with Ji Xinxin.

Kitty had remained quiet all this while, so Bai Zhou proceeded to ask Ji Xinxin about how she was faring in France.

"I'll pay you a visit in Paris once you settle down. Do you have any food cravings? I'll bring whatever you want over."

"It's fine. There's a Chinatown not too far away from where I live. I can get most of the stuff I want there," replied Ji Xinxin. "You don't have to worry about me. Rather, I'm more worried about you. You always end up losing track of time whenever you start gaming."

Bai Zhou fiddled with his mouse as he searched for another conversation topic.

"Big sis, you have a twin sister, right?"

Search /3Tfs4P4 for the original.

"… Yeap. Did you meet her?"

"Mm. I saw her on the streets the other day," said Bai Zhou. He paused for a moment before asking, "Do you know what she's working as at the moment?"

"She's still unemployed. She was much better than me back in school, but now…" Ji Xinxin sighed softly. "I know that you detest people with her personality, but at least on the account that she's my older sister, don't fight with her, alright?"

"… Mm," Bai Zhou grumbled out a response. "Why is there such a vast difference in your personalities despite being twins?"

Ji Xinxin was quiet for a moment before she replied, "It's my fault. I fell gravely ill in my younger years and ended up spending a few years in the hospital. My parents devoted their attention to taking care of me, but this resulted in my older sister being neglected. By the time I recovered from my illness, her academic results had already fallen drastically…"

Bai Zhou frowned in frustration, thinking that Ji Fanyin only had herself to blame for being so needy. He spat, "It's her own responsibility to focus on her studies. Who can she blame for her lack of drive?"

"Don't say that." Ji Xinxin ended the topic there, not wanting to delve deeper into it. "—So, when do we jump?"

Bai Zhou randomly selected a location and led Ji Xinxin and Kitty off the plane.

Upon returning home, Ji Fanyin spent an hour cooking those high-class French ingredients before laying out the dishes beautifully on the table. She lit a scented candle to accentuate the atmosphere before popping a 1996 Lafite.

Of course, all of these were generously sponsored by Bai Zhou.

After having her fill of food. Ji Fanyin switched on her phone but there wasn't any messages from her clients.

Bai Zhou should still be gaming right now. As for Song Shiyu…

Ji Fanyin sent him a message, and the latter soon replied with an address. He was reserving her for lunch tomorrow.

Ji Fanyin replied with an 'OK' emoji, and she soon received a text message indicating she had received the money.

She then loaded the dishes into the dishwasher and stretched her back lazily.

With this, I have a job secured for tomorrow too. Since I got off work early today, should I watch some films, play a game, or do my homework and head to sleep early?

Ji Fanyin casually scrolled through her WeChat's Moments page as she pondered about her plans for the night.

'Ji Fanyin' had never posted anything about herself on social media, so her Moments' page was completely empty. However, she did have a few friends on WeChat who were rather active.

One of them was Ji Xinxin. It was clear from browsing through her feed that she was an elegant young lady born with a silver spoon.

Just half an hour ago, Ji Xinxin posted a screenshot of her gaming record accompanied with a crying emoji.

Ji Fanyin tapped into screenshot and saw a column of ten consecutive losses, and in three of them they were pretty much instant KO-ed.

It looks like even a Grandmaster would find it hard to carry two Bronze players

Just thinking about how frustrated and hungry Bai Zhou must be right now brought a gloating smile to her lips.

Ah, there's no saying that Bai Zhou might be enjoying this too. There are so many people in the world who want to game with Ji Fanyin that they could probably form a long queue down the streets.

In the end, Ji Fanyin decided to pop in one of the Blu-ray movies she had recently bought and started enjoying her night off.

…

On the other side of the city, Song Shiyu placed his phone down after wiring the money to Ji Fanyin.

"Did you hear what I said?" asked Mrs Song with a deep sigh. "I know that you already have someone in your heart, but there's no point forcing things if the two of you aren't meant to be. To be frank, that young miss from the Ji Family doesn't give me good vibes, and you aren't young anymore. You shouldn't waste your time on her."

"Mum, I'm still young," replied Song Shiyu with a frown. "And Xinxin isn't a bad person either. There are just too many jealous people out there who badmouth her."

Mrs Song was exasperated. "I wouldn't bother saying anything if you'd managed to woo her, but she's already rejected your confession. Listen to your mum, there are lots of outstanding women out there in the world who are interested in you. She isn't the only one for you. Why are you so fixated on one who doesn't like you back?"

Song Shiyu looked downward with a steely expression on his face, choosing not to say a word. His attitude clearly showed his resistance.

"… Alright alright, I'll stop nagging or else you're going to start arguing with me again." The exhausted Mrs Song ended the conversation there. "Are you eating at home tomorrow?"

"I have a lunch appointment with my colleagues," replied Song Shiyu with a shake of his head. "I'll be leaving early tomorrow morning."

Find the original at /3Tfs4P4.

"Make sure you don't grab junk food just to save some time. Your complexion looks so much worse than before!" said Mrs Song worriedly.

"It's not junk food. I'm visiting the restaurant which I brought you to last time," reassured Song Shiyu. "Don't worry, I'm paying close attention to my health. You and dad shouldn't forget about your health checkup next month either."

Mrs Song responded with a nod before grabbing her phone to check on the restaurant Song Shiyu had mentioned. After confirming it, she secretly sent the address to someone else.

Meanwhile, Song Shiyu finished up his dinner before handling his remaining work. Before heading to bed, he picked up his phone and scrolled through Ji Xinxin's Moments' page, where he saw the screenshot containing her tragic gaming record and Bai Zhou's very recognizable username.

He had a feeling that Ji Xinxin's attitude toward him had turned cold ever since he confessed to her that day. She always said that she was new to Paris and had a lot of things to familiarize herself with… but somehow she still managed to find time to play games with Bai Zhou.

Song Shiyu stared at his phone with narrowed eyes before calling Ji Xinxin's number.

She didn't pick up.

The following morning, Song Shiyu set off from his parents' house to his company to work. As the clock approached lunchtime, he quickly cleared up whatever he was handling before heading to the restaurant he had agreed on with Ji Fanyin.

He arrived fifteen minutes ahead of time.

While he was still looking through his email, he received a call from his mother.

Thinking that he might have left something behind in his parents' house, he picked up the call. But before he could say anything, his mother got straight to the point and asked, "Shiyu, it's going to be lunchtime soon. Have you arrived at the restaurant yet?"

"I am already there," replied Song Shiyu as he glanced at his watch.

Ten more minutes to go.

"Good, good," replied Mrs Song happily. "I'll have Miss Chen meet you there. She's a wonderful young lady. You can have lunch with her and your colleagues. Make sure not to make things too awkward for her, alright?"

"… Mom, I'm already eating with my colleagues," protested Song Shiyu.

Search /3Tfs4P4 for the original.

"Aren't they all your subordinates?" Mrs Song thought nothing about it. "It's no big deal for you to bring a friend along with you for a social gathering. She should be arriving soon. Make sure to treat her well, you hear me?"

Mrs Song hung up right away, not giving Song Shiyu any chance to turn down the meeting. Song Shiyu tried to call her back, but the line was busy.

At this rate, that Miss Chen or something is going to bump into Ji Fanyin.

Song Shiyu quickly rose to his feet and began making his way to the front reception. While walking, he took out his phone and swiftly browsed through his list of contacts to look for Ji Fanyin's phone number.

But before he could press the 'Call' button, the front receptionist suddenly brought a demure young lady over.

The lady seemed to recognize Song Shiyu as she directed a graceful smile toward him and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Song."

Song Shiyu's finger froze in place. He quickly put on his usual elegant smile and returned the greeting, "Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you too. I've just received an urgent call from my company, so I'll have to excuse myself for a moment. Do feel free to enter the compartment room first and wait for me there. I'll be right back."

"Of course," the lady replied with a slightly flushed face. "Work should take precedence. Go ahead and do whatever you need to."

Song Shiyu tilted his body sideward so as to create some room for them to pass by him. After that, he continued heading out with his phone in hand.

But just as he was about to call Ji Fanyin to inform her that she didn't have to come anymore, he suddenly spotted her at the end of the corridor.

She was standing there with her hands behind her back and a gentle smile on her face. It was clear that she had witnessed everything that had happened earlier, but she still met his eyes clearly without any fluctuations in her emotions.

Song Shiyu's footsteps froze for a brief moment before he continued striding toward her, until he was finally standing before her.

"Shiyu," Ji Fanyin called out with her head tilted in confusion. "You invited another woman to have lunch with us?"

Song Shiyu couldn't see any anger or sorrow on her face. He was silent for a few seconds before asking, "Ji Fanyin… is there nothing else you want to say?"

Isn't Ji Fanyin supposed to be in love with me? Why isn't she reacting at all?

"Hmm…" Ji Fanyin pondered for a moment before switching over to her professional smile. "Does this mean a paid break for me?"

Song Shiyu stared at Ji Fanyin intently as if this was the first time he had truly gotten to know her, but he rationalized her 'abnormal response' with his own reasoning.

Ji Fanyin was able to play Ji Xinxin impeccably, so surely she would be able to play a person who doesn't like me well too. Her nonchalance sure looks convincing. She must treasure her dignity a lot.

Song Shiyu snorted at Ji Fanyin's supposed pretense and said, "It's my fault for not managing my schedule properly. You can head back now. I'll call you again."

"There won't be any refunds," reminded Ji Fanyin.

Song Shiyu looked at her pitifully and said, "It's just 200,000 dollars. I won't go to the extent of asking you to refund me."

One quality which Ji Fanyin demanded from her clients was generosity, and Song Shiyu and Bai Zhou at least qualified on that aspect.

After receiving Song Shiyu's promise not to pursue a refund, Ji Fanyin's smile grew more sincere. "Alright, I shan't get in your way anymore. See you, young master Song."

She turned her back on Song Shiyu and joyfully made her way home.

What could be better than skipping work for two consecutive days without any repercussions?

Ji Fanyin was planning on heading home to continue her movie marathon till nightfall, but while she was traveling down an escalator, she noticed a poster advertising a recently released film.

It was a niche mystery thriller, and she noticed that the director was someone whose works she had watched over the last few days and had a favorable impression of.

Today was the first day of the movie's screening.

The moment she arrived at the end of the escalator, she turned around, headed back up, and rushed for the cinema.

It was a weekday, so the cinema was unsurprisingly deserted.

We are /3Tfs4P4, find us on google.

To her delight, the next screening happened to be ten minutes later, so she quickly bought her soda and popcorn before heading into the theater.

She went in expecting to watch a simple mystery thriller, but to her surprise, the movie highlighted human altruism amidst a cesspool of evil. It was filmed in a way that emulated a phone recorded video, taking the angle of an innocent child. Be it the writing, directing, or acting, everything was spot on. The film was overflowing with feelings, but at the same time, it spurred deeper contemplations about society too.

It's a rare masterpiece.

Ji Fanyin always entered movie theaters with a serious attitude. By the time she left with an empty popcorn tub in her hands, her eyes had already turned red.

As she tossed the popcorn tub and the soda cup into the rubbish bin, she decided to buy herself some spicy food to drive off the heavy feeling in her heart.

While she was queuing up for a bon bon chicken in the shopping mall's B1 Gourmet Street, she took out her phone and tapped into her Weibo. She logged into an account she had recently created to post movie reviews and began penning down her thoughts on the mystery thriller.

She was a professional in the film industry in her previous life, so writing reviews wasn't a challenge to her. She was able to keenly pick out the key points of the movie and encapsulate them in a concise and interesting way. Due to that, she was able to accrue over a thousand fans within less than a week.

The movie she had just watched earlier in the day was newly released and in a niche genre, so there were hardly any professional reviews yet.

It was precisely due to her passion in films that she was extremely careful whenever she wrote a paragraph in the review. She edited it again and again, and all that was left in the end were two key sentences.

"4237!"

Hearing a call from the counter, Ji Fanyin took a look at her receipt before walking over to collect her food. To her surprise, there were familiar faces standing near the counter too—Bai Zhou and his little buddies.

Bai Zhou noticed her too and frowned.

Since it was outside her working hours, Ji Fanyin couldn't be bothered to talk to him. Her gaze swept across Bai Zhou as if he was a mere stranger, and she walked away right after collecting her Chili Oil Bon Bon Chicken.

But barely after she had taken a couple of steps, Bai Zhou suddenly caught up with her and asked with a suppressed voice, "Are you going to meet Song Shiyu?"

Ji Fanyin blinked.

Her dress style was considerably different from Ji Xinxin, so it wasn't really surprising that Bai Zhou would deduce so.

Bai Zhou shot a glance at Ji Fanyin's phone screen, which was still on the review she had meticulously edited, and saw a line of words: It has been long since I felt such deep sorrow over a single remark.

It was immediately made apparent to him that she had suffered some grievances over at Song Shiyu's side, and he snorted in disdain.

Under Bai Zhou's intent stare, Ji Fanyin calmly switched off her phone screen and slipped it into her pocket. "Same as yesterday, I got off work in advance because my client has something up."

Bai Zhou slipped his hands into his pockets and sneered, "So, you cried because Song Shiyu dumped you?"

Ji Fanyin knew that he was having a major misunderstanding here, but she really couldn't really be bothered to clarify it—provided that he was willing to listen at all.

"Do you like him that much? If that's the case, why don't you find a way to snatch him over?" said Bai Zhou.

Ji Fanyin understood right away that Bai Zhou was intending to use her to get rid of one of his love rivals. She gave it some thought before replying with a strained tone, "He'd have already fallen in love with me if that was possible."

Bai Zhou was exasperated by her lack of motivation.

This novel is available on /3Tfs4P4.

Ji Fanyin calmly took out the cheapest seaweed skewer and offered it to him. "It's a coincidence that we met here. A special benefit for a returning customer, I'll share one with you."

"I don't want it," Bai Zhou coldly rejected her offer.

Ji Fanyin couldn't be bothered to ask again out of politeness, so she retracted her hand and bade him farewell. "Alright. See you then."

She walked away while chewing on the seaweed skewer.

"―Bai Zhou, who was that? I didn't see her face, but she looked a little familiar…?"

Bai Zhou turned around impatiently and replied perfunctorily, "It's no one. I got the wrong person."

Ji Fanyin carefully finished her box of bon bon chicken, making sure not to splatter any chili oil on her clothes. After that, she headed for the bubble tea store to get herself a drink.

While she was queuing up to order, she suddenly received a call from Song Shiyu.

"Did you return home safely?" asked Song Shiyu.

Despite his words of concern, it sounded more like a meaningless conversation starter due to what he said afterward.

"Accompany me for dinner now."

Ji Fanyin was in the midst of tapping on the ordering machine when she heard those words and decisively chose to walk away.

Why should I spend my own money when someone else is treating me?

She began making her way back to the restaurant she had previously agreed to meet Song Shiyu at, but along the way, she just so happened to bump into Bai Zhou yet again.

Ji Fanyin: "…"

What kind of fate is this? Is this a sign that I'm going to get a reservation from him?

Bai Zhou was standing in front of a popular restaurant that was trending on social media at the moment, though he wasn't accompanied by his buddies. He leaned against the wall with a hand in the pocket and the other one fiddling with his phone. Despite the sour look on his face, there were still many women who couldn't help but sneak peeks at him while passing by…

… though there was one who looked at him openly.

Ji Fanyin thought about it for a moment, but she decided to prioritize her current reservation. So, she ignored Bai Zhou and walked past him.

"Hey." Almost as if he had eyes on the top of his head, Bai Zhou called out to her while she was passing him by. "Are you intentionally loitering around me?"

Ji Fanyin stopped and turned to look at him. "I have an appointment right now over in that direction. Young master Bai, do you want to make a reservation too?"

Bai Zhou glanced in the direction Ji Fanyin was walking toward and asked, "Song Shiyu called you over?"

Ji Fanyin responded with a silent smile.

Bai Zhou took a good look at her and sneered contemptuously. His expression spoke louder than words: You're a bootlicker.

Then, he lowered his head and turned his attention back to his mobile game.

Ji Fanyin was just about to walk away when her phone rang―it was Song Shiyu.

She picked up the phone while walking, "Mr Song. Yes… I'm currently heading in your direction. I should reach in ten minutes' time."

Bai Zhou heard those words loud and clear, and he raised his head to look at Ji Fanyin's silhouette.

What's the use of her feigning composure before Song Shiyu? Everyone knows about her one-sided love for Song Shiyu even though he has never even spared a proper glance at her before.

It was then that Bai Zhou's buddies finally emerged from the end of the long queue. Holding a cake shaped like a dog's head in his hand, he introduced it to Bai Zhou, saying, "This is their newest product. It's called Bootlicker."

Bai Zhou scoffed in disdain, "What lousy name is that?"

His friend burst into laughter and remarked, "Isn't it? Hahaha!"

…

Ji Fanyin's estimate of time was spot-on. She arrived sharply in ten minutes' time, and by then, she had already gotten into work mode.

The table Song Shiyu was sitting at had been cleaned, evidenced by the two fresh sets of cutleries placed on it.

Before Ji Fanyin could greet him, Song Shiyu asked without raising his head, "Xinxin, you like me too, right?"

Ji Fanyin hung her bag on the rack by the side as she replied in a natural tone, "Are we going to start with a confession every single time we meet from now onward?"

"…" Song Shiyu didn't respond to her teasing. The atmosphere around him was so heavy that it was hard to bear.

It was just a pity that the person before him was none other than Ji Fanyin. She had once played a psychopathic serial killer that scared all of the youngsters on the set to the point that they burst into tears. Someone of Song Shiyu's caliber couldn't possibly hope to intimidate her.

She walked up to the table and bent forward to look him in the eye. With a particularly earnest look on her face, she professed her feelings to him, "I like you too."

The two of them traded gazes for a while before Song Shiyu's body finally relaxed a little. He gestured to her to take a seat.

Ji Fanyin chuckled a little at his response.

Instead of sitting down right away, she topped up his half-empty cup with more hot tea and pushed it to him. At the same time, she asked, "You didn't eat much earlier, right? Let's order some food. You can tell me frankly if you aren't in a good mood. I'll listen to your complaints."

"Are you willing to marry me?" Song Shiyu asked out of the blue.

Realization struck Ji Fanyin.

The lady he had met earlier was clearly someone from a wealthy household. Most likely, his family was trying to matchmake the two of them.

In other words, Song Shiyu was currently being pressured by his family to get married.

But there was no way Ji Fanyin could agree to Song Shiyu's proposal.

She took some time to ponder over the question while walking around the table to get to her seat. After settling down, she directed a smile at Song Shiyu and said, "We haven't even started dating yet. Are you going to talk that far ahead now?"

"… Then when can we start talking about it?" asked Song Shiyu with a deep voice. "Will that day ever come?"

Ji Fanyin shyly fiddled with her hands resting on the table and replied, "I-if everything goes well, of course we'll get m-married."

Her cheeks started to redden along with the change in the atmosphere, and her eyes began to swim around nervously. It was almost as if she was too embarrassed to look Song Shiyu in the eye.

Song Shiyu sighed deeply and said, "Xinxin, I like you."

Find the original at /3Tfs4P4.

"I like you too," replied Ji Fanyin with a timid voice.

There was one concern floating in her mind while she was playing the role of a shy young lady.

How can I give out empty cheques during service hours without stirring future conflicts?

Hmm… I guess it boils down to dragging things out and playing it vague.

"Shiyu, you know that I'm still in school right now. We can sit down together and seriously discuss our future plans after I graduate. What do you think?" she proposed meekly.

Three years would be more than enough for me to earn my keep anyway… unless Ji Xinxin decides to further her studies and not return home. That would be a different story.

At least from the current looks of it, it seems like this stand-in business of mine is going to shut down within three years.

Song Shiyu stared at her as his eyes slowly mellowed down tenderly. "… Alright. Let's continue dating until then."

The embarrassed Ji Fanyin raised the menu to cover her face before murmuring softly in response, "Mm. Alright."

In her heart, she held a second of silence for Song Shiyu and his wallet.

Quenching your thirst with poison will only bankrupt you.

A restaurant Song Shiyu chose to eat a second time was bound to be decent.

Even with Ji Fanyin strictly ordering according to Ji Xinxin's food preference, she still had an enjoyable meal. She decided to visit this restaurant alone when she had time in the future.

Over the course of the meal, she skillfully responded to Song Shiyu's remarks too.

When Song Shiyu mentioned that he had returned home not too long ago, she went along with the flow and asked how his parents were faring, just like any girlfriend in a relationship would.

When Song Shiyu said that the temperature was going to plummet over the next few days, she caringly reminded him to dress thicker and bring an umbrella around with him so that he wouldn't fall ill.

So on and so forth.

She wisely chose not to poke at any potential landmines either.

For one, as long as Song Shiyu refused to talk about the woman he was being matchmaked with earlier, she wouldn't raise the topic on her own accord either.

There was no point making the client uncomfortable during the service.

The waiter soon served their final dish, Sea Cucumber Rich Soup With Rice. While Ji Fanyin was pouring the rich soup into a smaller bowl for him, Song Shiyu asked, "Aren't you going to ask me about what you saw here earlier?"

Ji Fanyin raised her head to look at Song Shiyu. She spent a second pondering about his intent behind this question.

Is he hoping for 'Ji Xinxin' to be jealous, or is he aiming for something else?

She mixed the rich soup with rice and pushed it toward Song Shiyu before answering his question with a smile, "I'll listen to your explanation whenever you're ready."

She chose to kick the ball back to Song Shiyu.

Song Shiyu was silent for a moment before speaking up, "… It was something my mother did on her own accord. I was unaware of it. I've already properly turned her down."

Ji Fanyin immediately got it upon hearing those words.

Her gaze dropped slightly. She started mixing her own bowl of rice with the rich soup as she replied softly, "While I knew that you wouldn't fall for another woman… I was still very worried before your explanation."

"I'm sorry. I should have explained it to you earlier," said Song Shiyu.

"It isn't your fault." Ji Fanyin raised her head and revealed a relieved smile. "Your willingness to explain it to me shows that my trust in you isn't unfounded."

On the other side of the table, Song Shiyu finally broke into a smile, "Thank you for your trust."

You're welcome, though I trust your wallet a lot more, Ji Fanyin thought sardonically. Yeap, this Sea Cucumber Rice is delicious too.

Sogn Shiyu footed the bill when they left the restaurant.

Ji Fanyin glanced at the receipt and saw that the two meals actually cost 4000 dollars.

As expected of a restaurant chosen by the rich. But still, it isn't as expensive as the meal sponsored by Bai Zhou… Hm?

Her train of thought reminded her of something important.

I don't think that he has paid me back for those ingredients yet, right? That's more than ten thousand dollars!. I can't just shrug it off.

I shan't allow him to make any reservations until he pays for it.

"What are you doing after this?" Song Shiyu stowed away his phone as he asked. "I'll drive you."

Ji Fanyin snapped out of her thoughts and glanced at the clock on the wall. There were still a few minutes before the end of the service, so she went along with Song Shiyu's suggestion with a smile.

The lift was located not too far away from the restaurant. The waiters respectfully walked them out of the store and even politely pressed the lift button for them. With a deep bow, they said, "We'll be looking forward to your next visit."

As someone working in the service industry as well, Ji Fanyin deeply sympathized with them.

It sure is hard to earn money.

They soon arrived at the car park, but Ji Fanyin didn't get into his car. They were walking their way over when her alarm clock suddenly started ringing loudly.

Song Shiyu's movements jerked to a halt, and Ji Fanyin also calmly stopped as well. She waved her hand at him and said, "Goodbye."

There was a smile still lingering on her lips, but her disposition was somehow vastly different from before. Even her wave felt a little perfunctory.

Song Shiyu had probably built up immunity after the last few experiences he had, so he didn't reveal a 'my dreams are all shattered' expression. He stared at Ji Fanyin for a few good seconds, as if trying to peer through her.

Ji Fanyin tilted her head in response, choosing not to say a word either. Her expression was casual, conforming to the typical response a person would have upon being stared at someone else on the streets.

She was currently pondering whether she should agree to it if Song Shiyu requested for an extension of service.

"Your eyes were red when you came in earlier. Did you cry?" asked Song Shiyu.

Realization struck Ji Fanyin. She replied, "I did."

Because of the movie.

"Why don't you look for another boyfriend?" asked Song Shiyu as he lit a smoke. "The best way to forget about a past relationship is to start a new one."

Toward that, Ji Fanyin replied affirmatively, "I will."

Once I earn enough money from this stand-in job.

Her hands were too full dealing with two lovelorn men to date anyone else now.

Song Shiyu stared at her with eyes so complicated that Movie Reviewer Ji Fanyin was almost tempted to attempt deciphering and interpreting his expression, just that she couldn't care less about what Song Shiyu was thinking after service hours.

When you're just trying to make great content at /37k7u89t.

So, she gestured toward his car with her chin and asked, "You aren't going to leave?"

Song Shiyu was speechless for a second before getting into his driver's seat.

Ji Fanyin took out her phone and started typing out a message to Bai Zhou in order to politely remind him to pay his debt. It was then that she suddenly heard a nervous greeting coming from behind her.

"Erm… Hello?"

Wondering if she was standing in someone else's way, Ji Fanyin turned around to take a look, only to realize that the person who had approached her looked a little familiar.

She jogged her memory a little and recalled the other party to be one of the young men she had met at the bus stop while waiting for Bai Zhou the other day.

The other party had a laptop bag hanging off his right shoulder, typical of a university student. He clutched onto the straps of his laptop bag nervously as he spoke with a hint of surprise and anticipation in his voice, "Big sis, do you still remember me?"

Ji Fanyin chuckled in response. She quickly finished composing her message for Bai Zhou and sent it over as she replied, "It happens that I haven't cleared that stage yet."

The young man's eyes lit up right away. "I'll give it a try!"

Right after saying those words, he quickly took out his own phone, unlocked it, and handed it to Ji Fanyin. "Here, take my phone first… and my laptop too! This way, you don't have to worry about me running away with your phone."

Just like that, the two of them began earnestly looking into how the stage could be cleared beside a pillar in the car park.

The young man failed his first attempt, and he hurriedly explained, "G-give me a bit more time! I think I get the tempo now. I should be able to clear it in the next try! I'm really not trying to scam you here."

Ji Fanyin was amused by his response. "I never said that you were a scammer."

He did manage to clear the stage in his second try, and he heaved a long sigh of relief. He passed the phone back to Ji Fanyin and looked at her excitedly, as if fishing for compliments. "I've cleared the stage for you."

Ji Fanyin received her phone from him and thanked him for his help.

"As a reward for clearing the stage… May I ask you a question?" the young man asked.

Ji Fanyin closed the game tab and replied casually, "Sure."

She didn't have to guess what he was going to ask. The question was literally written all over his face.

As expected, the young man licked his lips nervously and asked, "You were walking out with another man earlier… Is he your boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend?" Ji Fanyin waved her phone in front of him. "If I had a boyfriend, I wouldn't have responded to any strangers chatting me up."

The young man exhaled deeply upon hearing those words. His face burst into a joyful smile as he exclaimed, "So, the two of you are just friends? That's a relief."

"We aren't friends," Ji Fanyin refuted Song Shiyu's standing in her heart. "He's just a client."

"Are you done with work now?" the young man asked a little awkwardly. "It's truly a coincidence that we met one another again here, so why don't we have a meal together? I'll treat you."

They're both of the same age, but this child is so much cuter than Bai Zhou, Ji Fanyin thought.

"I'll treat you instead," she said. "I passed by an ice cream shop earlier that I was interested in."

Find the original at /3Tfs4P4.

That ice cream shop was having a promotion for its new flavors, offering half price for every second ice cream cone bought. Ji Fanyin didn't want to be eating two ice cream cones by herself, so she could only regrettably give up on the deal. But now that she had someone with her, it was time to make full use of the deal.

"Sounds good!" The delighted young man accepted her offer right away.

According to the young man, he was a third-year student studying in the same university as Bai Zhou. Interestingly, the two of them were around the same height too.

"You're from Lakeside University?" remarked Ji Fanyin as she scanned a QR code to pay for the ice cream. "What a coincidence."

'Ji Fanyin' also graduated from that school.

"Are you my senior by any chance?"

"Well, I know quite a few people from your school. We had a gathering not too long ago," replied Ji Fanyin.

"It's the most famous school in our province after all. Are those people still studying there right now? There might be a few whom I know of."

Ji Fanyin received the two light blue ice cream cones from the staff and passed one over to the young man. "There's one you probably have heard of."

Bai Zhou.

"What's his name?" asked the young man curiously.

Speak of the devil. Just as Ji Fanyin was about to reveal his name, the person she was talking about suddenly approached them on the street with his buddies.

This was the third time they were meeting today.

As expected of students from the same university, they began greeting each other as soon as they spotted one another.

Bai Zhou's buddies widened their eyes in surprise upon seeing the young man accompanying Ji Fanyin and started waving their hands, "Hey, Senior Chen!"

"Waaa! Did we just see something we weren't supposed to? Hehehe…"

"Aiyoo, I actually thought that Senior Chen was still a single dog. It looks like my news is lagging behind!"

The young man standing beside Ji Fanyin waved his hands around in a fluster as he tried to explain, "No, this is a misunderstanding! We aren't in that kind of relationship…"

"Why would two people who aren't in that kind of relationship share a couple's ice cream cone?"

"Hmm?" someone remarked doubtfully. "I feel like I've seen Senior's girlfriend somewhere before."

"Ah! Isn't she Senior Ji Xinxin who went to further her studies in France not too long ago?"

Looking at the youngsters chattering away and that sour look on Bai Zhou's face, Ji Fanyin thought that she should at least clarify the misunderstanding here, so she said, "Ji Xinxin is my younger sister."

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from /37k7u89t.

"Are the two of you twins? You really look alike!"

"That's right, we're twins," replied Ji Fanyin casually. She pointed at the ice cream store behind her and asked, "Have you all eaten yet? I'll treat you."

University students had a black hole in their stomachs. Whether it was to mooch off Ji Fanyin or to immerse themselves in this exciting gossip, they unhesitatingly accepted Ji Fanyin's offer and headed into the ice cream shop.

However, the one who said that Ji Fanyin looked familiar was still brooding over it, murmuring, "No, I feel like I've seen her somewhere else today…"

It was just that no one was bothering him, so he scratched his head in confusion and hurriedly caught up with the others.

The crowd surrounded the young man who already had an ice cream cone in his hand and 'escorted' him off the counter to make their orders while grilling him for the details.

As a result, the only ones left behind were Bai Zhou, whom no one dared to drag along, and Ji Fanyin, who gave off an imposing air.

Once everyone was out of earshot, Bai Zhou finally remarked disdainfully, "You sure are busy. I didn't think that you would have another appointment after dealing with Song Shiyu."

Ji Fanyin's eyebrows shot up. "You don't remember him?"

"Why would I remember him?" replied Bai Zhou with a matter-of-factly tone.

Ji Fanyin pondered about it for a moment and thought that it made sense.

Well, there's no way someone as arrogant as Bai Zhou would bother remembering the appearance of the ones who talked to her at the bus stop the other day.

However, she also had no reason to explain it to Bai Zhou, so she continued licking her ice cream while remarking nonchalantly, "I'm off work right now."

She would never buy an ice cream cone for her clients during working hours, not even at half price.

With those words behind, she began making her way back to the ice cream shop, only to suddenly remember something important. She turned around to look at him.

Bai Zhou looked back at her with an impatient expression and grumbled, "It's too late to apologize now."

"That's not it," replied Ji Fanyin. "Don't forget to reimburse me for yesterday's ingredients."

Bai Zhou: "…"

He exclaimed incredulously, "You're asking me for money when you're so generously treating others? You didn't even leave anything behind for me when you left yesterday! I was so hungry in the middle of the night that I had to call for delivery!"

"You were the one who asked me to take everything away with me when I left." Ji Fanyin paused for a moment before asking doubtfully, "If you wanted me to buy you something, why did you reject my offer to treat you to an ice cream cone earlier?"

"When did I ever say that I want you to buy me anything?" Bai Zhou immediately refuted with a disgusted look on his face. "Ji Fanyin, don't be so narcissistic."

"Young master Bai, I know that this bit of money is no more than pocket change to you, so I am certain that you have only forgotten to reimburse me. There is no chance that you'd be intentionally delaying the reimbursement, right?" said Ji Fanyin.

Feeling like his integrity was being questioned, Bai Zhou clenched his jaws. He angrily whipped out his phone and transferred the money to Ji Fanyin on the spot to prove his innocence.

He only remembered that the amount was five digits and the first digit was '1', so he decided to round up the figure.

In less than a minute's time, 20,000 dollars was transferred from one bank account to another.

"I assume that the extra amount you sent over is a tip for my service?" asked Ji Fanyin as she looked at the message she received from the bank. Not intending to return the extra amount, she quickly added, "Thanks, young master Bai."

She bit down on her waffle cone and headed into the ice cream store, not sparing a glance at Bai Zhou at all.

Compared to an entire set of high-class French cuisine ingredients, buying a couple of university students some ice cream cones wasn't expensive at all.

By the time everyone had a uniquely colored ice cream cone in their hands, Bai Zhou muttered with a glum face that he was going to head back.

Bai Zhou's buddies glanced at one another with conflicted looks on their faces. While they were determined to get to the bottom of this peculiar relationship between a senior and an alumnus of their school, they weren't so vicious as to actually ruin their date.

After a brief moment of hesitation, they decided to leave with Bai Zhou.

Ji Fanyin didn't stay for too long either. Her mind was still fixated on the movie review that she wasn't done with yet.

So, she politely exchanged contact numbers with the young man before heading home.

By the time she finally finished crafting the entire movie review—she was so serious that one would have thought that she was writing a thesis—it was already nightfall.

Ji Fanyin took off her blue light glasses and headed to the fridge to look through the ingredients she had left from yesterday. While pondering about what to make for dinner, her phone suddenly rang.

She cast a glance over, and her eyebrows shot up.

She had already deleted most of her contact numbers ever since she moved out of the Ji Family a week ago, and the only ones who had called and messaged her during this period of time were her two clients.

As for Ji Xinxin, they communicated via a video call app since she was overseas.

The caller this time around was another number that was already stored in her contact, but it wasn't either of her two clients. Looking at the word 'Father' on the phone screen, she couldn't help but feel the irony of this situation.

It had been little more than a week since she had moved out from the Ji Family. No matter how blind Father Ji and Mother Ji were, they should have noticed that someone was missing from their house, not to mention that Ji Fanyin even dropped them a message on WeChat to inform them of the matter in view of their blood ties.

But ever since that day, neither Father Ji nor Mother Ji had dropped a call or asked how she was faring. It looked like they couldn't care less if she was alive or dead.

Ji Fanyin casually accepted the call and put it on speakerphone before turning her attention back to the fridge. She greeted Father Ji with a casual "Hey".

Her perfunctory greeting immediately brought about an outburst from Father Ji.

"Hey what hey? You aren't going to call me father? You're really getting out of hand now! Go and learn a thing or two from your younger sister on how you should speak to your elders!"

Ji Fanyin didn't have much respect for Father Ji since she wasn't 'Ji Fanyin'.

Her attention remained focused on picking out two of the most beautiful bell peppers while asking nonchalantly, "What do you want?"

Father Ji lashed out angrily, "Watch your tone! Do you still take me as your father?!"

Search /3Tfs4P4 for the original.

Ji Fanyin decided to clear away two of the nicer bell peppers today. So, she grabbed her ingredients, closed the fridge door, and swiped her finger across her phone screen, hanging up the call from Father Ji.

She remained unfazed as if the call she had just received had come from a telemarketer asking her to buy insurance.

Perhaps feeling insulted by her hanging up, Father Ji didn't call back. But around ten minutes later, while Ji Fanyin was busy working in the kitchen, Mother Ji dropped a call.

Her tone was much more amicable compared to Father Ji's. She started off by calling Ji Fanyin by her nickname, saying, "Yinyin, are you doing well outside? If you don't have enough money on hand, feel free to ask us for more."

Ji Fanyin continued chopping her asparagus. She disregarded Mother Ji's hypocritical load of useless padding and repeated what she had told Father Ji earlier, "What do you want?"

Mother Ji coughed awkwardly at Ji Fanyin's candidness, but she managed to keep her calm as if she was mentally prepared for this. Instead, she asked, "Where are you living at the moment?"

"Are you planning to visit me?" asked Ji Fanyin.

Mother Ji hesitated for a long while before finally coming out clean, "Your father and I… we're worried about you. Someone told your father that he saw you at a place where women with proper upbringing shouldn't be. Yinyin, be honest with me. Did you make any bad friends and visit inappropriate places with them?"

This novel is available on /3Tfs4P4.

Ji Fanyin thought about the places she had been to thus far and deduced that the place they were talking about was the bar she met Song Shiyu at the other night.

"Is there a problem with an adult visiting a bar?" asked Ji Fanyin nonchalantly.

Mother Ji immediately got agitated and exclaimed, "Of course there is! How can a demure lady visit that kind of place? Think about how our family's friends would think of us if they were to find out about it!"

Ji Fanyin turned on the tap and washed the knife as she asked calmly, "You called me for this?"

"How can you say that? Don't you know how serious this matter is? We're nagging you for your own good, or else…"

This means that there's nothing else.

Ji Fanyin wiped her hands using a soft cloth before hanging up the phone once more. After that, she switched her phone to 'Do Not Disturb' mode. With this, the only ones who could contact her were her clients.

It was only after she was done cooking, eating, and clearing the dishes that she checked her phone once more. By then, several hours had already passed.

There were several missed calls from Mother Ji. She seemed to have noticed at some point that Ji Fanyin wasn't going to pick up her calls, so she decided to write long paragraphs in her WeChat instead.

Ji Fanyin took a brief glance at them. The crux was basically that her actions had shamed her family, and that since she wasn't young anymore and wasn't planning to further her studies like Ji Xinxin, she should think about getting married, and that she had prepared a candidate for her, so on and so forth.

Mother Ji appeared to have delved deeper into the background of the person she wanted to matchmake her with, but Ji Fanyin didn't bother to skim on.

Why do rich people like matchmaking that much? First Song Shiyu, and now me.

Ji Fanyin wasn't as patient as Song Shiyu as to bother sparing a meal's time to satisfy them.

However, Father Ji and Mother Ji clearly weren't planning on giving up easily. If they ever uncovered her address, she would probably face some trouble from them.

She took a sip of water as she thought about this issue, but she eventually decided that it was no big deal and tossed it to the back of her head.

She was someone who had weathered through storms worse than this. Why should she get worried over something as minor as this?

The world was huge. There were plenty of jobs and houses out there for her to pick from anyway.

Other than that, she also received some messages from Ji Xinxin and the young man she had added to her WeChat's friend list earlier in the day.

Ji Xinxin's message looked the same as usual, though she seemed to have casually mentioned Bai Zhou in it.

As for the young man, he sent a particularly formal self-introduction, saying that his name was Chen Yunsheng, followed by a great deal of personal information like his age, hobbies, and hometown. He started off by asking if she had reached home, and an hour later, he timidly added: 【Are you still busy with work?】

Ji Fanyin ignored the former. She slipped a new disc into her player and started watching it while occasionally responding to the latter. By the time the movie came to an end, she said goodbye to him with a 'Good night'.

Chen Yunsheng was a decent and earnest person, so the hour she spent chatting with him while watching the movie was actually quite relaxing and enjoyable.

When she put down her phone, she suddenly recalled that Zhao Qi hadn't contacted her for quite a while.

Hmm… Forget it. It's normal for friends not to contact one another for a month or so.

After washing up, Ji Fanyin lay down on her bed and conducted her daily pre-sleep routine―checking the records of 'Temptation of Home'.

While looking through the transaction history, she noticed something peculiar.

There were quite a few small figures coming in from people she didn't recognize, and the amounts were fairly small, ranging from two figures to three figures. They were all tagged under 'Emotion Points', and they only started appearing earlier this afternoon.

Ji Fanyin pondered for a moment before checking her Weibo in uncertainty.

Just as she had expected, the movie review she had sent earlier in the afternoon had gone viral. It had been reposted more than 10,000 times, and the likes were severalfold of that—and it wasn't showing any signs of losing steam yet.

There were quite a lot of impassioned responses in the comments and reposts, some positive and some negative… but that didn't matter to Ji Fanyin.

She casually checked the reposts calmly and soon determined the source of this abrupt explosion of popularity. It appeared that a celebrity had liked her movie review and hadn't unliked it yet.

So, Ji Fanyin went to look up the celebrity, only to realize that he was a familiar face. Given that she had done a marathon of the movies in this world, it went without saying that she would recognize the influential four-time 'Best Actor' award winner, He Shen.

Even from the perspective of an industry insider, Ji Fanyin felt that his acting skills were on the dot. He was definitely worthy of being called an artist.

What was even rarer was that he was good-looking too.

She would be happy to collaborate with him if she was still in the entertainment industry, but for now, probably not.

In view that he had contributed so many Emotion Points to her, Ji Fanyin decided to 'Follow' him on Weibo, and the app immediately reflected that there was a mutual following between them.

Ji Fanyin's eyebrows shot up.

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Celebrity accounts on Weibo were usually managed by professionals, and the celebrities themselves wouldn't be involved in the content posted, liked, or users followed.

Even if the celebrity had a true passion for Weibo, they would secretly create a side account to play with.

After all, the slightest mistake made by an official account could easily stir a riot, not to mention that celebrities usually had their schedule so completely jam-packed that they wouldn't have time to personally manage their accounts.

Given He Shen's standing in the film industry, his Weibo account should be managed by a team…

… but He Shen wasn't in the film though?

Ji Fanyin checked her Weibo messages, and she didn't receive any collaboration requests from He Shen's studio. In the end, she decided to close her Weibo and go to sleep.

She had seen more than enough celebrities in her past life anyway. Interacting with a 'film emperor' was no big deal.

…

The collaboration request from He Shen's studio belatedly arrived the following day.

Ji Fanyin browsed through the message while brushing her teeth. The request was written formally, starting off with showering compliments on the sharpness and uniqueness of her review before extending an invitation for her to attend the premiere of He Shen's newest movie. Of course, she was expected to compose and post a review at the end of it.

It was pretty normal for newly released films to employ an Internet Water Army to garner some good reviews on social media.

But even so, it seemed odd that they went to the extent of following her with He Shen's official Weibo account. On top of that, they were only offering an invitation without any mention of money, which hinted that they weren't intending to buy good reviews from her.

That being said, the amount of Emotion Points she received last night was really substantial. Unlike the usual ones she received from Song Shiyu and the others, a viral Weibo post continuously brought in more Emotion Points as long as it remained there as new readers were constantly stumbling upon the post.

The amount earned from each individual might be small, but it was still something. There was no reason for her to turn it down, especially since it was something she liked doing and didn't take up too much of her time.

After coming to a decision, she gargled her mouth before responding to the message with her address.

The other party replied extremely quickly. They started off by sending her the time and location before informing her that the invitation letter would be sent to her home very soon.

Ji Fanyin stared at the reply, and somehow, she felt that something was off with the tone.

The first message was extremely formal, but the following ones were oddly casual, almost as if it was someone else.

But when she looked at the message she had sent over, which contained only a cold and lofty address…

Yup, I'm also pretty casual myself. I'm in no position to talk about them.

While walking out of her bathroom, she decided to give He Shen's studio a clear heads up first: 【I'm honest with my reviews.】

I'm not going to betray my conscience for you if you show me crap.

The other party replied immediately:【No problem, that's what we want too.】

Regardless of whether it was just a formality or not, Ji Fanyin felt more at ease after receiving their assurance. She noted down the date of the movie premiere in her schedule lest it accidentally clashed schedules with a client's reservation.

If a clash really occurs… Well, that would depend on how much the client is willing to pay.

The invitation letter arrived at Ji Fanyin's home the following day. The movie premiere was the day after that.

Song Shiyu didn't attempt to make any reservations this time around, but Bai Zhou did.

"I need a full-day reservation," he said. "I want to practice visiting the amusement park"

"Tomorrow won't do," Ji Fanyin looked through her calendar and replied. "How about the day after tomorrow?"

The location of the movie premiere was quite some distance away, so she should be able to finish up the review while returning home. With that, she should be able to sleep early and prepare herself for any appointments the next day.

"Tomorrow won't do?" Bai Zhou snorted in annoyance. "You sure have a packed schedule. Even bidding for classes isn't as troublesome as this."

It was a snide remark, but it did bring some inspiration to Ji Fanyin.

Why don't I develop a simple app to make my schedule semi-public? With this, the clients wouldn't have to call me to make a reservation anymore. All they have to do is to check the app and pick out a convenient time.

Ahhh, technology sure makes life easier.

Ji Fanyin earnestly wrote down her idea into her book and decided to give more thought to its implementation when she had time.

As convenient as automation sounded, she needed her clients to be willing to adopt it.

Other than that, it was also time for her to start thinking about further increasing her clientele.

Song Shiyu was running a company whereas Bai Zhou was still a student; the two of them wouldn't be enough to sufficiently occupy her time. In other words, it was time to find Fish No. 3.

As a fellow 'King of the Seas', Ji Fanyin had a good idea of what was running through Ji Xinxin's mind.

To Ji Xinxin, rearing fishes was probably a way for her to validate her charms. She wasn't limiting herself just to romantic involvements with her fishes. There were other varieties too, such as kinship, friendship, admiration, respect…

Ji Fanyin wasn't certain of the reason just yet, but she could tell that Ji Xinxin was obsessed with it, working under the notion that 'more is better'.

This resulted in the fishes in Ji Xinxin's pond being of varying quality.

Based on her own memories, Ji Fanyin wrote down the names of all of the people she knew of that harbored significant goodwill toward Ji Xinxin and conducted a simple categorization.

The first category were the ones introduced by the 'future' Song Shiyu; those who treated 'Ji Fanyin' as Ji Xinxin's substitute in order to alleviate their loneliness.

She could remember six other people in this category, and throwing Song Shiyu and Bai Zhou into the mix as well, they added up to an auspicious eight.

The second category was those whom she had to do her homework on carefully in order to filter out eligible candidates.

Firstly, those who weren't sufficiently wealthy were out of the question since it wouldn't be as profitable. Secondly, the individual had to be sufficiently generous. She wouldn't be able to take it if her clients suddenly started haggling with her.

Last but not least, as a person who valued appearances, she wanted clients who were decently good-looking.

Her professionalism allowed her to be gentle and caring to anyone without losing her patience, but a good-looking client could still raise her tolerance level by a bit.

Both Song Shiyu and Bai Zhou were lookers in their own rights.

Whenever something infuriating occurred, just by looking at the other party's face, her anger level would subside from 100 to… around 90, perhaps.

Last but not least, the other party must be willing to bite onto her hook.

Ji Fanyin's conscience didn't ache at all from earning money off Song Shiyu and Bai Zhou, but the same didn't necessarily apply to the others.

Filtering the list down to those who fulfilled all three criteria…

Oh? There are still quite a few people to choose from. It looks like her fishery is bigger than I thought.

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The next step would be to approach and probe potential clients to gauge their level of interest. 'Ji Fanyin' was acquainted with Song Shiyu and Bai Zhou right from the start, making it easier for her to take them down as compared to a complete stranger.

If it was a stranger, she would have to start from the very first step of socializing—getting to know one another.

So, she began crafting out a mindmap to brainstorm and plan her next move.

Theoretically speaking, it was likely that she might bump into some of the candidates at the movie premiere tomorrow afternoon. She remembered Ji Xinxin had a fish that received the prestigious 'Best New Director Award' right after graduation, and he had a good face too.

On top of that, he even tried to kidnap Ji Xinxin and force himself on her.

His obsession made him a potential client.

After Ji Fanyin finished her homework for the movie premiere, she took one last look at the ticket and flicked it lightly with her finger.

This is a schedule where I can get a lot of things done at once. There's no way I can miss it.

The movie that was playing at the premiere was directed by a famous director and had He Shen as the leading actor. Invitation tickets were only offered to those in the same industry and family members. Even the reporters were only invited to the press conference; they couldn't enter the theater to enjoy the movie.

Ji Fanyin was planning to just watch the movie and head home to write her review, so she didn't bother dressing up. She wore light casual wear and a pair of glasses for her slight astigmatism.

But when she arrived at the entrance of the venue, she found herself faced with an army of reporters who were ready to interview anyone who tried to head in.

Those with invitation letters in their hands weren't exactly dressed in high fashion, but they were at least wearing suits and gowns.

Only Ji Fanyin was wearing a loose sweater and a pair of jeans with her hair scattered casually down her shoulder. She gave off the impression of an arts student who was dressed casually for town.

Most people in her position would head home to change their clothes, but Ji Fanyin calmly put on her glasses and proceeded into the venue.

There were two individuals ahead of her who were stopped by the reporters and were in the midst of their interview, and Ji Fanyin walked past them from behind. She ignored all of the reporters who tried to shove their microphones toward her.

It was not just once or twice that she had gotten onto the news for putting on airs, and the people in her previous world were already all used to it.

The young lady welcoming the guests at the entrance bowed to Ji Fanyin and said, "It's a pleasure to have you here. May I have your invitation letter?"

Ji Fanyin passed her invitation letter over and waited for the other party to verify it before entering the venue.

It was shortly after she walked in that she belatedly realized that the two individuals who were being interviewed earlier looked a little familiar.

Where have I seen them?

She turned around to take a look, only to see a couple walking in with linked arms. Just like that, the three of them met gazes with one another.

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Of the couple, the man immediately glared at Ji Fanyin furiously.

Ji Fanyin: "…?"

Who are you?

The woman quickly unlinked her arm from her husband's and hurried over to Ji Fanyin. With a hushed tone, she exclaimed, "How did you get in here?!"

Ji Fanyin shot a glance at the female receptionist at the entrance before turning to look at the woman standing before her. She thought that the woman's head might not be working too well, so she replied, "I passed through the walls to get in here."

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting! You… Did you sneak in here to meet Shiyu because you knew that he'll be here today?" the woman asked furiously.

It was only upon hearing those words that realization struck Ji Fanyin. She took another good look at the couple in front of her.

Ah, they are 'Ji Fanyin's' parents. It has been so long that I nearly forgot about them.

"Is Song Shiyu coming?" asked Ji Fanyin nonchalantly. "That has nothing to do with me. I'm here for work."

Mother Ji immediately shut her down angrily, "You nearly failed your graduation, so what kind of work could you possibly have? Stop embarrassing yourself here. I'll have security drag you out right now. You really are getting out of hand!"

She reached forth to grab Ji Fanyin's arm, but the latter dodged it easily.

Ji Fanyin shook the invitation letter in her hand and said with a smile, "Are you sure that the two of you, who value your reputation so much, really want to humiliate yourself by having an argument here over whether my invitation letter is real or not?"

Of course, neither Father Ji nor Mother Ji would be willing to do anything that risked sullying their reputation, so they could only try to stifle their anger as they watched Ji Fanyin walk away.

The venue was decorated to resemble a mini-theater, and every invitation letter was tagged to a seat.

There were some who made use of the time before the movie premiere to socialize. Ji Fanyin was intending to head straight to her seat and settle down, but the earlier confrontation with Father Ji and Mother Ji changed her mind.

They won't give up that easily. I should find a way to resolve this once and for all so as to avoid further trouble.

Barely ten seconds after Ji Fanyin started racking her brain, a woman dressed in a red fishtail skirt walked over with the loud clacking of high heels.

The other party gave off the vibes of a confident, successful woman whom Ji Fanyin was familiar with. Such women gave off an imposing disposition even through their strides, and they were in the limelight no matter what kind of social occasion they were in.

"Are you Miss 'FeatureYin Films'?" The confident woman offered her hand forth. "I am He Shen's manager, Zhang Ning. May I know how I should address you?"

"I am Ji Fanyin," replied Ji Fanyin as she shook the other party's hand. "You don't have to address me formally."

Zhang Ning chuckled softly. "I didn't expect you to be so young."

Ji Fanyin felt that Zhang Ning was driving at something here.

"He Shen has something to deal with so he isn't here yet, so he got me to greet you in his place. He says that he hopes to receive your earnest movie review." Zhang Ning gestured to the resting lounge next to the reception area. "There's still some time before the premiere, so would you like to take a seat and rest there first?"

Ji Fanyin was even more perplexed by this abrupt offer.

She pondered for a moment before nodding. "Alright."

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Is He Shen one of Ji Xinxin's fishes too?

That doesn't make sense. It's impossible that no one would know of it if Ji Xinxin managed to snag someone as outstanding as that.

"I'll walk you there," said Zhang Ning as she began leading the way. "I was still worried that you'd feel uncomfortable being put in such an environment, but it looks like you're already used to it."

"You mean chatting with others?" asked Ji Fanyin with a smile. "Those two are my parents. They didn't know that I'd be coming."

Zhang Ning revealed a look of surprise. She turned around to take a glance at Father Ji and Mother Ji.

Ji Fanyin also halted her footsteps. She turned her head around and saw Father Ji and Mother Ji staring at her too.

She was standing right in front of a room with a sign labeled 'VIP Lounge', which explained why their faces were practically written with looks that said 'How are you able to go in there?'

Ji Fanyin directed a faint smile at the biased couple before making her way into the lounge.

Children were like mirrors. They reflected whatever one showed them.

When parents refuted everything about their children, it was inevitable that their children would think that they were utterly useless.

Bias wasn't something that was formed overnight. 'Ji Fanyin' had slowly lost her confidence and pride bit by bit over many years.

Even if it wasn't Father Ji and Mother Ji's intention to drive 'Ji Fanyin' to her death, there was no doubt that they had to take some blame for her eventual suicide. To make things worse, they didn't think that they had done anything wrong at all.

Ji Fanyin couldn't think of a reason why she should even accord them respect.

Meanwhile, Father Ji was on the verge of erupting. Unable to take it anymore, he grabbed Mother Ji's hand and marched over to the VIP Lounge.

"Please show me your invitation letter."

The security guards stationed in front of the VIP Lounge did their job and stopped them.

"Lad, do you not recognize who I am?" asked Father Ji lividly.

The security guard replied with a tone that was neither humble nor disrespectful, "I am new here, so I'm afraid that I don't recognize the two of you. I'd appreciate it if you could show me your invitation letters so that I could verify if you have access to the VIP Lounge."

Mother Ji gently consoled Father Ji while reaching into her bag to take out their invitation letters.

The security guard quickly scanned the QR code on the invitation letters before turning back to the couple with a troubled look on his face, saying, "I'm afraid that the two of you aren't on the VIP list."

"The woman who entered earlier is our daughter. Why is she able to access the VIP Lounge?" asked Father Ji with a voice of suppressed rage.

"Are you referring to the one who entered with Miss Zhang Ning earlier?" asked the security guard.

"… The one who walked in with her earlier is Zhang Ning?"

"Yes," the security guard replied with a perplexed look on his face. "Pardon me, but… is it possible that you don't recognize the organizer of today's event?"

Father Ji's complexion turned awful.

The Ji Family was in the middle class. They were still a hurdle away from reaching the 'capitalist' class in each industry.

Father Ji and Mother Ji thought that there was a chance for them to reach that level thanks to Ji Xinxin's halo, but who could have thought that Ji Fanyin would actually reach upper society ahead of them?

It was then that Zhang Ning walked over with Ji Fanyin.

"Ah, you're from the Ji Family! I believe that they were invited here by Song Shiyu," she said. She then turned to Ji Fanyin and added, "We can invite them into the lounge as well if you like."

Ji Fanyin couldn't even be bothered to figure out whether Zhang Ning was trying to sound her out, so she replied curtly, "There's no need for that."

I want my peace.

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"The drinks are there, and we have Japanese food and dessert around too. Feel free to get anything you like," Zhang Ning roughly introduced the layout of the resting room to her. "You should feel much more comfortable here if you don't wish to socialize with others."

Between Zhang Ning and Ji Fanyin, one was dressed flamboyantly whereas the other was wearing casual clothes. This created a striking contrast that made them quite eye-catching.

Nevertheless, of the few people in the lounge, none showed any intention of approaching them for a conversation.

Ji Fanyin preferred social settings where everyone was cold and proud. It was less tiring that way.

"I still have matters to attend to. Will you be alright here by yourself?" Zhang Ning led Ji Fanyin to one of the tables to take a seat. "I believe that He Shen would like to meet you once he arrives."

Instead of leaving right away, Zhang Ning blinked her eyes suggestively at Ji Fanyin, as if trying to encourage her curiosity.

Ji Fanyin decided to play along with her. "Why?"

Zhang Ning smiled in satisfaction and said, "He Shen fell in love with your reviews at first sight. He sees you as his soulmate, saying that the points you focused on in your film evaluations are the same as his. He was the one who insisted on having me invite you to his movie premiere."

Ji Fanyin's eyebrows shot up. "He was the one who followed my Weibo account?"

"Exactly." Zhang Ning winked mischievously. "He even grumbled to me that you have only watched three of his movies, and none of them was the one which he was the most satisfied with… Cough, don't tell He Shen that I told you all of this, alright?"

Ji Fanyin couldn't figure out Zhang Ning's rationale for revealing all of this to her, so she decided to keep up her guard and respond formally, "I'm flattered by Mr He's high opinion of me. I hope that this collaboration between us will be a delightful one."

Zhang Ning sent Ji Fanyin a flying kiss before strutting out of the VIP Lounge.

There was still fifteen minutes before the movie premiere, so Ji Fanyin headed to the drinks station to get herself a cup of juice.

Unlike the ladies dressed in gowns, Ji Fanyin was able to have her fill of drinks without having to worry about her stomach sticking out.

While Ji Fanyin was drinking her juice using the straws provided, a few more people entered the resting room. She could sense their gazes casually sweeping past her.

Her phone suddenly vibrated at this moment. It was a message from Chen Yunsheng.

He had sent her a photo of him beside a basketball court. His hair was drenched with sweat, and he was holding a bottle of water in his hand. He had a bright smile on his face that revealed his white teeth, making him appear like the typical handsome second lead in romance dramas.

Search /3Tfs4P4 for the original.

Ji Fanyin felt like she had returned to her youthful years just by looking at the photo.

Chen Yunsheng: 【We had the semifinals for an inter-school basketball competition today. It was a close one, but our team won in the end! A】

Ji Fanyin looked at the 'A' emoticon he sent, and she couldn't help but think that even though they were both university students, not even ten Bai Zhous was as adorable as a single Chen Yunsheng.

Before she could reply, Chen Yunsheng had already followed up with another message: 【The finals are on next Sunday. Are you free to drop by your alma mater to watch the game? Our team will reserve the best seats for you!】

A third message arrived right after: 【Remember to reply once you're done with your work ⊙_⊙】

Ji Fanyin was indeed busy at the moment.

There were many people walking to and fro the VIP Lounge, but a pair of polished male leather shoes suddenly stopped in front of her.

Ji Fanyin tore her eyes off her phone to look at the person who had walked up to her, only to see the other party staring at her face in astonishment.

"It looks like you're an acquaintance of my younger sister,' said Ji Fanyin.

"… Younger sister?"

"Ji Xinxin is my twin sister," said Ji Fanyin. Her long eyelashes drooped a little as she added, "Did you mistake me for her?"

"I see." The man coughed lightly to conceal his earlier rudeness. "I was just thinking that… the two of you really look alike."

"We're twins," replied Ji Fanyin. She gestured to the seat beside her and asked, "Would you like to take a seat?"

"I've heard about you from Xinxin," the man said as he took a seat. He stared intently at Ji Fanyin's face for a moment before finally continuing on, "But you're very different from what I've heard."

"Is that so?" remarked Ji Fanyin. "Well, I've changed quite a bit in recent days. I'm Ji Fanyin. How should I address you?"

"Ah," exclaimed the man awkwardly. "I am Cen Xiangyang."

Ji Fanyin also let out an "Ah".

He's here, the rising director-cum-future kidnapper-cum-attempted rapist Cen Xiangyang.

Cen Xiangyang's eyes lit up in anticipation as he asked, "You've heard about me from Xinxin?"

Ji Fanyin chose to respond in a roundabout manner, "Xinxin and I don't really talk about such stuff."

Cen Xiangyang lowered his gaze in disappointment.

He had a 'salt type face' which was considered trendy nowadays. He didn't have pronounced facial features that made him stand out amidst a crowd. Instead, he looked more like an artistic young man. Paired with his gold-rimmed glasses, he had a decent, refined appearance.

It's impossible to tell that he's a criminal in the making just by his appearance and the way he talks.

Now that I think about it, Song Shiyu isn't any better than him either.

Cen Xiangyang soon snapped out of his disappointment and said, "Xinxin seems to be really busy after arriving in France. We weren't able to talk to each other as much as before. Does she still call home often? How is she doing now?"

"Don't you think that she'll be able to adapt well to any environment?" asked Ji Fanyin in response.

"Yes, you're right." Cen Xiangyang chuckled softly. "But while I trust her capability, I still can't help but worry about all sorts of things when she's not in my line of sight. I really wish that she could stay by my side forever, never having to part ways."

Ji Fanyin looked at him quietly.

"… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said all of that to you." Cen Xiangyang snapped out of his trance and apologized sheepishly. "I'm a director. What about you?"

It was then that a few more individuals appeared at the lounge's entrance.

Ji Fanyin casually shot a glance over and saw Song Shiyu bringing Father Ji and Mother Ji in. Song Shiyu cast a casual sweeping glance across the room and immediately met her gaze. His complexion immediately darkened a little in displeasure.

Not at work at the moment, Ji Fanyin raised her cup of juice and directed a faint smile in Song Shiyu's direction before turning her head back to answer Cen Xiangyang's question.

"If I were to put it in my own words, I'm a dream weaver," she replied.

Cen Xiangyang's curiosity was piqued.

"Are there any other terms for it other than dream weaver?" he asked.

Ji Fanyin chuckled in response.

Well, the other term would be a romance scammer.

She ignored Cen Xiangyang's question and rose to her feet, saying, "The movie premiere is about to begin soon. I'll be heading out to take my seat. What about you?"

Father Ji and Mother Ji, who had entered the VIP Lounge, were currently heading her way.

Cen Xiangyang also rose to his feet. "I'll come with you. What's your seat number?"

The two of them quickly compared their seat numbers. One of them was a slightly known director whereas the other was a humble movie reviewer. Needless to say, their seats were far away from one another.

"Let's talk after the movie premiere." Cen Xiangyang took out his phone. "You're working in the film industry too since you were able to get an invitation here, right? Shall we exchange contacts?"

He spoke in such a natural manner that it didn't feel like he was flirting at all, more like two individuals exchanging contacts for work.

It happened that Ji Fanyin viewed him as potential Fish No. 3, so she accepted his offer and took out her phone. However, this exchange was put to a halt by Song Shiyu.

The approaching Song Shiyu first directed a nod toward Cen Xiangyang before he turned to Ji Fanyin and said, "Ji Fanyin, your parents are worried about you."

Ji Fanyin couldn't help but notice that Song Shiyu's gaze had lingered on her phone screen for a little too long, as if there was something on it that was of interest to him.

"I've already greeted them earlier." Ji Fanyin couldn't be bothered to hold a conversation with Song Shiyu outside service hours, so she decided to take her leave. "If you may excuse me."

She bade Cen Xiangyang farewell before walking out of the VIP Lounge, leaving the two men behind.

She knew that it didn't matter whether they exchanged contacts here or not. Cen Xiangyang wouldn't give up that easily.

"Mr Song, are you acquainted with Miss Ji too?" asked Cen Xiangyang. "Ah, she is Xinxin's older sister after all. I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that you're acquainted with both sisters given the close ties you have with the Ji Family. I must say, the two sisters really resemble one another. If Miss Ji could just change her disposition a little, she would completely be able to stand in as her younger sister."

The words 'stand in' stabbed into Song Shiyu's heart like a sharp thorn, making him frown in discomfort.

Find the original at /3Tfs4P4.

It was a fact that he thought of Ji Fanyin as Ji Xinxin's substitute.

"Speaking of which, Mr Song, you have Miss Ji's contact number, right? Could you forward it to me?"

Song Shiyu: "…" I've deleted it and haven't added her back yet.

"Don't mess with her," Song Shiyu said as he rubbed his temples to alleviate the throbbing pain in his head. "No matter what, she is Xinxin's older sister."

Cen Xiangyang was stunned for a moment before laughing heartily, "Oh? What do you mean by 'mess with her'? All I want to do is to befriend her. Mr Song, don't you think that you're overstepping your boundaries here? In what capacity are you warning me? Xinxin's boyfriend? Or an ordinary friend?"

Despite being too busy to attend Ji Xinxin's farewell banquet, Cen Xiangyan was still aware of the events that transpired that day.

Compared to the others who had yet to confess to Ji Xinxin, Song Shiyu, who had been rejected by Ji Xinxin, was clearly out of the race.

"Even if I'm just an ordinary friend, I'm still closer to her than you are," replied Song Shiyu with a graceful smile. "Ji Fanyin isn't as easy to deal with as you think, Cen Xiangyang."

The old Ji Fanyin was a passive person who quietly accepted what others dished out to her, but the current Ji Fanyin was capable of hiding her own feelings in order to protect herself…

… though in Song Shiyu's view, her disguise was still far too vulnerable.

Often, he thought how wonderful it would be if he could just place Ji Fanyin's affection for him into Ji Xinxin. If he could, the three of them wouldn't have to suffer like this.

Cen Xiangyang shrugged off Song Shiyu's warning with a smile and replied half-jokingly, "Mr Song, your words are really misleading. I almost thought that the one you love isn't Xinxin but her older sister."

Song Shiyu smiled in response to that remark, but on the inside, he was sneering.

If I really had feelings for Ji Fanyin, I would have long gotten together with her given her devotion toward me. It's simply impossible to force a person's feelings.

Seeing that Song Shiyu wasn't bothering to reply anymore, Cen Xiangyang chose not to harp on the topic either. He gracefully gestured Song Shiyu outward to make their way to their seats.

Along the way, he noticed that Song Shiyu's complexion looked a little awful and asked concernedly, "Mr Song, are you feeling unwell? You should head home if you're ill. You shouldn't push yourself too much."

Song Shiyu shot Cen Xiangyang a glance and said, "Thanks for your concern, but I'm fine."

It was in the midst of summer, but several days of consecutive flash rains had caused the weather to turn a little chilly. It was easy to catch a cold under such conditions and Song Shiyu was, unfortunately, one of the victims.

However, he turned a blind eye to his cold and remained focused on his work.

For some reason, he had started to think that earning money was of utmost importance. As long as he had enough money on hand, he could even buy love that was just like the real one.

All he needed was an endless stream of cash.

Ji Fanyin's seat was in the last few rows, but it wasn't uncomfortable or anything. She was so focused on the movie that she didn't even notice that the person sitting next to her had swapped with someone else halfway through the movie.

It was only when the ending credits started rolling that Ji Fanyin finally let out a deep breath.

It was a movie filled with tension. The male lead had weaved an elaborate scheme that felt like it could unravel at the slightest bit of carelessness and bring him to his death, almost as if he was walking on a tightrope. Ji Fanyin found herself sitting on the edge of her seat throughout the movie.

"How was the movie?" the person beside her asked softly.

"It was exquisite," replied Ji Fanyin subconsciously. "From the camera shots, the meticulous attention to details regarding the scheme, to the gradual change in the mindsets of the key characters, everything is harmoniously weaved together to relay an impactful story. I believe that this film has a shot at winning film festivals."

"What about He Shen's acting?"

There was no hesitation in Ji Fanyin's voice as she replied, "It's perfect. He seems to be the kind of actor who fully immerses himself in the characters he's portraying. With how deep he has gone for this film, it might be hard for him to recover from it."

She naturally got more chatty when talking about films.

After offering her evaluation, Ji Fanyin raised her head to look at the person beside her and asked, "What about you?"

The dim lighting made it hard for her to see the other party's expression, so all she could hear was his indistinct chuckle. "I'm of the same view as you."

He stood up after that—he was surprisingly tall—and started walking away.

JI Fanyin: "…?" Does he urgently need the loo?

After the credits scene finished rolling, the lights turned on, and everyone rose to their feet and started applauding.

Ji Fanyin subconsciously glanced at the seat beside her. It was empty.

Following that was the interview for the film crew.

Ji Fanyin had no intention of asking any questions, but she took out the notebook and pen she had prepared beforehand anyway since the perspective taken by the film crew could be vastly different from that of the audience. In order to write a proper review, it was important for her to be thorough in her understanding.

The Q&A session proceeded smoothly under the host's lead.

Ji Fanyin noted down a few important details. She already had a rough idea as to how she was going to write the movie review.

Soon, the premiere was officially concluded, and the crowd in the theater started to take their leave. Ji Fanyin also rose from her seat and prepared to head home.

It was already getting late, and she still had work the next morning.

While she was walking out, she noticed Cen Xiangyang making his way toward her from the front row seats. However, he was soon stopped by Song Shiyu, and the two of them began chatting with smiles on their faces.

We are /3Tfs4P4, find us on google.

Ji Fanyin attributed it to mutual attraction between perverts allowing them to get along with one another.

In any case, she decided to turn a blind eye to it and continued walking her way, but she still ended up getting halted by someone else.

"Ji Fanyin, wait a moment!" Zhang Ning shouted while rushing over. With a relieved smile from having caught up with her, she said, "If you aren't in a rush, I'd like to introduce you to a few people."

Ji Fanyin was intrigued. "You intend to introduce me to others?"

It went without saying that networking was much easier if someone was willing to introduce one into a circle, but this privilege was usually granted only to those in a close relationship, such as mentors and mentees, family members, or working partners.

There was no such relationship between her and Zhang Ning to justify such an act of generosity.

"Of course! Since you're going to write a review for us, it's only right for you to meet our film crew, right?" said Zhang Ning as she dragged Ji Fanyin along with her.

"Oh…" remarked Ji Fanyin. "I thought that you were going to bring me over to meet Mr He."

Zhang Ning's smile froze up for a brief moment before she laughed off the remark. "He had to leave early because he has another schedule. You should be able to meet him next time."

"I see," replied Ji Fanyin with a deep smile. "I'll look forward to it."

"How was the movie? Did you enjoy it?" Zhang Ning changed the subject.

"I love it." Ji Fanyin did a quick internal evaluation before adding, "It's in my top three."

Zhang Ning wasn't satisfied with the evaluation. She pouted like a little girl and complained, "Why isn't it your top one?"

Ji Fanyin responded with a polite smile. It went without saying that her favorite movie was her own.

Under Zhang Ning's lead, everyone treated Ji Fanyin amicably. Some of them even took the initiative to propose exchanging contacts, saying that they could collaborate together on projects if the opportunity ever arose.

By the end of it, Ji Fanyin had quite a few new names in her friend list.

From their interactions, it soon became apparent to Ji Fanyin that Zhang Ning was not just an ordinary manager. There was something more to her background.

"How did you get here? Shall I get someone to drive you home?" asked Zhang Ning.

"I took a cab," said Ji Fanyin as she waved her phone. "It'll only take an hour and a half."

Cab fare was expensive in the city, but it was definitely within Ji Fanyin's means to pay for.

"I think it'll be better if I get someone to drive you. It just so happens that He Shen drove off by himself, so we have two idle assistants on standby," Zhang Ning insisted.

Ji Fanyin pondered over it a little, but she decided not to turn down the other party's goodwill. After bidding farewell to Zhang Ning, she left with the two assistants from He Shen's studio via the side entrance and got into a low profile van.

After giving the assistants her address, she whipped out her phone and began drafting her movie review.

When the car left the parking lot and was driving by the entrance of the venue, Ji Fanyin took a look outside and saw Father Ji and Mother Ji lingering around the entrance. Song Shiyu was with them, but he was clutching his forehead in discomfort.

Is he sick? A person is usually the most vulnerable when he's ill…

Such a thought arose in Ji Fanyin's mind, but the van gradually sped up and tossed Song Shiyu and the others out of her sight and mind.

Forget it, there's no need for unnecessary interaction with my clients outside of working hours. I don't want any misunderstanding here. If the client has a need for me, he'll naturally drop me a call.

…

"Ahhh, she's gone," remarked Cen Xiangyang lamentingly. "I haven't gotten her contact yet."

Song Shiyu ignored him.

"Xinxin doesn't seem to be interested in dating at the moment, so Ji Fanyin would be good for a pastime. It's better to have an imitation than nothing at all, don't you agree, Mr Song?" asked Cen Xiangyang. "There's bound to be someone who knows her. Even if you refuse to give me her contact, I'll still be able to obtain it by asking around."

His voice was suppressed so that only Song Shiyu was able to hear it.

"Court her if you want," replied Song Shiyu casually. "I wish you all the best."

"You seem quite confident that I'd fail," said Cen Xiangyang as he stroked his chin. "Is it because Ji Fanyin isn't interested in dating, or do you know her type? … Oh, wait a moment. I think I get it."

Cen Xiangyang suddenly looked at Song Shiyu with peculiar eyes.

"Could it be that Ji Fanyin likes you?"

Song Shiyu casually placed his hands into his coat before turning over to look at Cen Xiangyang with curled lips. "That's right. Ji Fanyin likes me."