100,000 Hour Professional Stand-in or Professional Stand-in, With an Chapter 3: 21 to 30, a manhua/chinese comics/漫画 fanfic

That night, Ji Fanyin successfully expanded her connections in the film industry, introduced herself to Cen Xiangyang, and annoyed Father Ji and Mother Ji a little.

But her greatest gain of all was that she had watched an exciting film.

On her way home, she quickly drafted out her review in a cheery mood. All that was left to do was for her to quickly polish it up one last time later on.

Upon reaching their destination, the two assistants insisted on seeing her off to her apartment building before finally driving off.

The first thing Ji Fanyin did upon reaching home was to wash up before quickly editing her movie review. Once everything was satisfactory, she posted it before heading off to bed. It was only slightly past eleven-thirty.

There was some hype surrounding the movie due to its pre-release promotion, so Ji Fanyin's review swiftly drew a great deal of attention. It didn't take long for it to become one of the trending posts.

It was no easy feat to write an immersive movie review without spoiling the movie itself, just like how it was difficult for a web novel to reach the top place. However, Ji Fanyin's review stirred excitement and suspense, almost as if she was creating another separate piece of artwork on top of the movie.

Many netizens felt great anticipation for the movie after reading her review.

That very night, the presale tickets for the movie, 'Beneath the Waters', starring He Shen broke through the ten million hurdle.

The following morning, when the meritorious Ji Fanyin checked on the 'Temptation of Home' app and saw the massive influx of Emotion Points, she felt like she was floating amidst fluffy clouds.

Not even the naggy instructions Bai Zhou sent her could ruin her good mood.

After dressing up in accordance with the client's pedantic demands, Ji Fanyin finished her make-up and headed out to meet Bai Zhou while humming a joyful melody.

Thanks to Bai Zhou, she got to experience a hardcore motorcycle ride during a date to the amusement park.

This novel is available on /3Tfs4P4.

Who in the world would choose a motorcycle as the choice of vehicle when driving a lady in a dress for a date at Disneyland?

Ah yes, Bai Zhou would.

It was fortunate that Ji Fanyin had taken Bai Zhou's unusual brain wiring into account when making preparations, opting to wear a culotte instead of a skirt and bringing a coat along as well.

When they arrived at the destination, Ji Fanyin took off her helmet and demurely tidied up her long hair that had been messed up by the furious wind resistance.

If this darned kid treats Ji Xinxin in the same manner, he'll definitely be blacklisted from her list of date-able candidates.

Of course, Ji Fanyin wouldn't say such words aloud.

When Bai Zhou excitedly asked her if she felt refreshed by the wind when cruising down the expressway, Ji Fanyin scratched her cheeks shyly and replied, "It was refreshing, but a little scary too. There were a few times I nearly wrapped my hands around your waist out of fear."

Bai Zhou was taken aback before the tips of his ears began furiously reddening. He whipped out the entrance tickets and started heading in. "Let's go."

Barely a few steps later, he suddenly turned his head around and instructed, "Wait. Take out your phone and turn it off first."

Ji Fanyin obediently took out her phone from her bag.

Bai Zhou snatched it over and switched it off. He even double-checked it before finally returning it to Ji Fanyin.

Ji Fanyin figured that he might have been traumatized by Song Shiyu's unexpected phone call while they were in the art room the other day.

It doesn't matter. I reckon Song Shiyu is still ill at the moment anyway.

Those who had been to Disneyland would know that while it had lots of interesting things to see and fun rides to enjoy, an entire day spent there was bound to be exhausting even with the conveniences provided by the premium services one purchased.

Not to mention, Ji Fanyin was told to dress in demure low heel leather shoes which were not exactly comfortable to walk in.

Still, a job was a job. She had gone through tougher times back in her acting days, so a mere day at Disneyland was not an issue at all.

The two of them ended up walking around the amusement park and playing till nightfall.

To Ji Fanyin's surprise, it seemed like Bai Zhou had earnestly done his homework to make the best out of their time. He knew the roads that minimized traveling time, the order to visit the rides in so as to reduce waiting time, as well as the existence of 'Fastpass'.

He also brought her to the more famous activities and tourist spots that had been promoted by famous influencers.

It might have been normal for other people, but for the self-centered Bai Zhou, this was nothing short of a miracle.

"I've wanted to come here since my younger years," said Bai Zhou as he tugged at the string attached to a helium balloon in his hand.

This helium balloon consisted of two layers. The outer layer was a transparent sphere whereas the inside was a yellow Mickey Mouse.

"You had such childhood days too?" asked Ji Fanyin.

At this very moment, she was earnestly thinking that this balloon was too goddamned expensive.

"… Mm. When this place first opened, many of my classmates came here with their parents," said Bai Zhou with crestfallen eyes. "All of them talked about how fun this place was, and it made me really envious."

Ji Fanyin took a moment to recollect Bai Zhou's background.

His parents are in a marriage of convenience, promising not to interfere in each other's private life as long as they didn't bring in illegitimate children. Due to that, he grew up in a house filled with nannies and bodyguards.

"I came here by myself later on," said Bai Zhou coldly, "but it wasn't fun at all."

Ji Fanyin tugged the balloon out of Bai Zhou's hand before gently tying it on his wrist. "Then was it fun to come here with me today?"

"…" Bai Zhou looked at the knot tied around his wrist before raising his eyes to look at Ji Fanyin. "… Everything is interesting as long as I'm with big sis. What interests me isn't the place but being with you."

"Good boy," said Ji Fanyin with a smile as she patted Bai Zhou's head. "Where are we heading to next?"

"… Fireworks."

Even before the sun fully set, the crowd had already started making their way toward the best spot to catch the fireworks. Not too far away from the castle was a fountain that provided a good view of the fireworks, so there was a crowd gathered there.

Bai Zhou wasn't nervous at all to see the area fully occupied. With the sheer power of money, he managed to secure two spots for them.

The couple who accepted his offer happily left hand-in-hand while the others felt envious at the small fortune they had earned so easily.

That being said, the two spots weren't exactly spacious, such that any couple sitting there would have to bump bums. Ji Fanyin sat down on where the lady was sitting earlier and patted on the empty seat beside her, saying, "Bai Zhou, come over."

Bai Zhou hesitated for a moment before awkwardly walking over and squeezing into the remaining space.

There was still some time before the fireworks show, so the youths gathered around the fountain got into their own conversations.

Amongst them, a woman complained coyly to her boyfriend, "My legs hurt."

Her boyfriend, who was holding two huge bags, sighed helplessly and said, "I already told you not to wear a pair of new shoes here."

"But these shoes are pretty!" exclaimed the woman indignantly. "Of course I have to wear the nicest shoes and skirt for our date!"

How could the boyfriend possibly complain when she had already put it in such a manner? He raised his hands in resignation and said, "Alright, alright. Let me take a look at your feet."

He half-kneeled onto the ground and carefully took off her exquisite leather shoes, only to see that her ankles were already bleeding.

The boyfriend: "…"

The woman quickly took this initiative to explain herself and garner some sympathy before her boyfriend could scold her, "I also didn't expect the back of the shoes to be so rough. It hurts, wuuuuuu."

The boyfriend sighed yet again before asking those around them, "Sorry, do you have any plaster?"

One of them happened to have it.

The boyfriend placed the woman's leg on his own thigh and carefully placed the plaster on her wound before putting her shoes back on. His movements were so gentle that it looked as if he was handling something fragile.

The woman shyly covered her face and said, "Quick. Everyone is staring…"

This novel is available on /3Tfs4P4.

"Make sure to wear a more comfortable pair of shoes next time if you know that it's embarrassing," said the boyfriend.

Ji Fanyin looked at the bickering couple with her chin resting on her arm, a heartened smile on her face.

When she finally turned her head back, she realized that Bai Zhou was also looking at the same couple too. He averted his gaze right away when he realized that Ji Fanyin was staring at him, but he wasn't about to fool anyone here.

Ji Fanyin asked, "Why? Are you interested in…"

It was then that the first firework whizzed into the air and exploded.

Like everyone else, Ji Fanyin's gaze was immediately drawn to the spectacular fireworks show in the sky, causing her to forget about what she was thinking a moment ago. She was also oblivious to how Bai Zhou's gaze kept drifting toward her ankles.

After the fireworks show came to an end, the couples reluctantly left the area with comments like 'We have to watch the fireworks again' and 'Let's come here again for my birthday'.

Perhaps it was due to the lack of rose-tinted glasses, Ji Fanyin thought that the fireworks show was so-so with nothing particularly impressive. If anything really stood out, it was just the castle in the background.

The castle does look great, but too bad I can't afford it.

"Are we heading to the float parade next?" asked Ji Fanyin.

Bai Zhou nodded, but he frowned in hesitation right after. Then, he quickly shook his head and said, "Let's just wait for the float parade to pass by here."

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Ji Fanyin replied with a smile, "Alright."

Floats tended to travel extremely slowly, and most of them were based on recent movies that most guests didn't recognize. Most people were there to immerse themselves in the festive atmosphere.

The two of them were standing right next to the main road, granting them a good view of the parade.

Ji Fanyin usually wasn't too interested in this kind of stuff, but perhaps due to the influence of the atmosphere, she somehow thought that it was pretty interesting.

The staff members around each float were dedicated to their performance, and all of them had brilliant smiles on their faces. There was even one float that went around scattering flower petals over the audience.

Now that I think about it, I'm actually in the same trade as Disneyland. We're all in the business of selling dreams, Ji Fanyin thought.

She shot a glance at Bai Zhou and noticed that a flower petal had landed on top of his head. She tiptoed over and brushed the flower petal off for him, but just as she was about to retract her hand, he suddenly grabbed it.

He stared at her for a few seconds before deeply shouting to her, "Big sis!"

Ji Fanyin replied with a tilt of her head, but there was no follow-up afterward.

It was soon the closing time for the amusement park. As they followed the crowd out, Ji Fanyin noticed that Bai Zhou appeared a little lethargic, giving off an unhappy brooding vibe.

She lightly tugged the knot on Bai Zhou's wrist and asked, "Is there anywhere else we're heading to before going home?"

Bai Zhou glanced at her shoes and replied, "… Nowhere. We're going straight home."

He began striding toward the car park, and Ji Fanyin followed him in confusion.

It was good news for her to be able to get off work early, but it felt unnerving when it was happening a little too often.

"Is the person you like Song Shiyu?" Bai Zhou suddenly stopped and asked. "What do you hope to gain by putting on this act with me? Are you hoping to steal your younger sister's love?"

Ji Fanyin simply tilted her head in response. She felt no obligation to respond to a non-work-related question during working hours.

"Speak!"

Ji Fanyin sighed softly and asked, "Is that all for today?"

Bai Zhou replied with a darkened face, "That's right. Can you answer the question now?"

So, Ji Fanyin graciously offered him the answer to his question, "Youngsters like you should stop being so obsessed with love. It isn't everything in life. All I'm looking for here is money."

Bai Zhou had a complicated expression on his face upon hearing the answer.

Ji Fanyin tried to analyze it from a professional standpoint, and her conclusion was that it was a look of disdain and disbelief.

So, she shrugged casually and said her farewells to Bai Zhou before going on her own way.

Barely a few steps later, her feet started feeling uncomfortable once more, so she decided to simply take them off. Her heels were a little red, but they were fortunately not bleeding.

While leisurely making her way out of the amusement park along with the crowd, she reached for her phone in her bag and switched it on.

She was intending to hail a cab, but she noticed that she had quite a few missed calls from Song Shiyu.

Three of them were made at around 8 P.M., and the most recent one was just ten minutes ago.

It was unusual for Song Shiyu to drop her so many calls, so she decided to return the call to check on him. After all, it was important to maintain good ties with loyal customers.

Song Shiyu didn't pick up the call right away, so Ji Fanyin patiently waited and waited. It was when she thought that the call was going to be automatically hung up that Song Shiyu's hoarse voice finally sounded through the speaker, "Hello?"

"You called?" asked Ji Fanyin.

There was a long pause before he finally said, "… I'm ill."

"Do you need me to call an ambulance for you? Or should I relay your condition to Ji Xinxin?" asked Ji Fanyin.

His fever must be really getting to him for him to actually call me.

Song Shiyu mumbled something, but Ji Fanyin wasn't able to hear him clearly. However, the rustling of bedsheets coming from the other side clued her in that he had been lying on a bed and was just getting up.

Only the last few words from him were comprehensible. "Come over."

Question marks popped up in Ji Fanyin's head. "Song Shiyu, do you know who you are calling?"

"You are Ji Fanyin." Even though Song Shiyu sounded a little out of it, it seemed like he wasn't delirious yet. "I'm asking you to come over right now to take care of me."

There was suddenly a loud clang on the other side. It sounded like something heavy had fallen to the ground.

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It was also with this that the call ended.

Ji Fanyin: "…?"

Staring at her phone screen, she hesitated for a single second before tossing Song Shiyu to the back of her head. However, shortly after she got into a cab, she suddenly received a money transfer from Song Shiyu.

She looked at the sum she received and thought that she could at least spare a bit of her free time to him in view of his sincerity.

So, she changed her destination and began heading for Song Shiyu's home.

…

Song Shiyu thought that he could easily tank a small cold, but his condition only ended up worsening with time. The day after he returned from the movie premiere, he was down with a high fever.

His assistant was particularly vulnerable to catching colds, usually being the first one to get infected and the last one to recover. Understandably, upon hearing that Song Shiyu was sick, he immediately began begging and crying and threatening him with his life. It took a great deal of effort before he finally convinced Song Shiyu not to come to work.

His assistant did get some medicine for Song Shiyu, but the latter refused to eat it. He fell asleep at noon and woke up with a growling stomach.

He should have called his assistant to get him to deliver food over, but he found himself dialing Ji Xinxin's number instead.

Ji Xinxin declined his call but sent him a message: 【Sorry, Shiyu! I'm in the middle of a class right now Is something up?】

With a groggy mind, he slowly typed out a response to Ji Xinxin's message: 【It's nothing much. I'm ill. I just wanted to hear your voice.】

He thought that someone as kind as Ji Xinxin would surely start fussing over him, but when the person fussing over him was not by his side but in another country… It somehow felt like something was missing.

Just as he had expected, Ji Xinxin immediately sent a series of messages asking how he was feeling, whether he had gotten his assistant to buy some medicine for him and if he needed to get a check-up in the hospital just to be safe. Her tone sounded worried and anxious.

Song Shiyu's vision was a little blurry under the effects of his illness, so the speed of his typing was affected as well.

He couldn't help but smile at the messages that were pouring out from her. It was only after she dropped a series of questions and emojis that he finally managed to type out his response: 【It's just a common cold. It would really be great if you could come over to see me.】

Ji Xinxin sent a sighing emoji, followed by a hugging emoji.

Then, she asked: 【Are you not eating your medicine again? You can't do that. I can't rush over to keep an eye on you right now, but you need to take care of yourself.】

Song Shiyu circumvented the medicine question and asked: 【When is your break? Will you be coming back?】

Ji Xinxin's response was a little slower this time around: 【I was intending to come back during the winter holidays, but I might drop by earlier before Christmas. I have some matters to attend to.】

Song Shiyu quickly did a quick mental calculation. There were just a few more months before Christmas.

【We'll be able to meet each other very soon.】 He typed the message out word by word. 【I miss you.】

【I also hope to see you as soon as possible!】 Ji Xinxin sent a head patting emoji. 【I need to rush for my next class now. I'll check on you later on, so make sure to eat your medicine!】

Sogn Shiyu exhaled deeply before turning over on the bed.

Ji Xinxin wasn't his girlfriend, but even if she was, he couldn't possibly ask her to fly across half the globe to visit him over a mere cold.

But there's someone else who is at my beck and call.

He fiddled with his phone, which was starting to heat up under his body temperature, but his rationality eventually stopped him from sending a message to Ji Fanyin. Instead, he called his assistant to prepare some food for him.

His assistant couldn't cook and had his hands full from having to take over Song Shiyu's work at the last moment. He only had time to help Song Shiyu order a porridge delivery.

Song Shiyu ate a few mouthfuls and popped a couple of pills into his mouth before returning to bed. At some point, he drifted off to sleep yet again.

It wasn't a good sleep. In his dream, there was a beautiful glowing light drawing him in, but some sort of force was holding onto him from behind, stopping him from approaching the light. He tried everything he could, scrambling with all four of his limbs to fight against that mysterious force.

He ended up waking up not feeling like he had gotten an ounce of rest at all. His body was aching all over, as if he had just been fished out of water.

Song Shiyu was still clear-headed at that moment. He tried feeling his own forehead with the back of his hand, and it felt searing. He was still burning up.

He exerted all his might to flip over and look at the clock on the bedside table, only to find that it was already eight at night. The entire day had somehow passed him by amidst grogginess.

He grabbed his phone to take a look, but there were no messages from Ji Xinxin at all. She seemed to have forgotten her earlier promise to keep an eye on him to ensure that he took his medicine.

He continued lying in his bed for a while, but his fever showed no signs of subsiding. Even moving a finger felt tiring to him. A while later, he still ended up dialing the number that was almost like a taboo in his contact list.

The other party's phone was switched off. Thrice he tried, but there was no difference in the result.

Song Shiyu sneered.

He figured that Ji Fanyin might have managed to hook onto Cen Xiangyang after yesterday's meeting. Otherwise, she might be with Bai Zhou too.

She was usually quite contactable outside of working hours.

… Feigning as if she doesn't care for me at all!

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Song Shiyu angrily threw his phone at the wall, which then fell onto the ground with a large 'bam'. Just doing this sapped him of almost half of his remaining energy.

He pulled his blanket up in hopes of returning to sleep, but sleep wasn't coming to him, possibly because he had slept for too long earlier on.

The porridge he had earlier in the afternoon wasn't enduring well either. His stomach had started growling in protest of its mistreatment.

He turned and flipped on his bed for a long time, as if he was throwing a tantrum at himself. It took an entire hour before he finally rose from the bed to retrieve his phone.

The screen was cracked and had a few problems, but the call function was still working properly. He tapped into his contacts, and once again, the name 'Ji Fanyin' appeared on his phone screen.

However, her phone was still turned off even though it was nearing ten.

Song Shiyu took a look at the time as he began to maliciously wonder how far Ji Fanyin would go for money despite her claims that she 'sold her skills and not her body'.

Doesn't she offer nighttime accompaniment service too?

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Song Shiyu stared at his phone in a daze as his mind turned a little sluggish. He felt like his mind wasn't processing anything at all, but at the same time, it felt like it was overloaded with lots of thoughts too.

His phone suddenly vibrated, and Ji Fanyin's name appeared on the screen.

Song Shiyu stared at the screen in a daze, his finger hovering above the 'Accept' button but somehow not pressing it.

He wasn't certain whether he really wanted to hear Ji Fanyin's voice right now.

Maybe… I shouldn't have made those four calls.

But he still picked it up in the end.

"You called?" asked Ji Fanyin.

She didn't use Ji Xinxin's voice, but Song Shiyu was relieved by that.

At least Ji Fanyin is always waiting for me at the same spot.

So, he replied, "Come over."

To be safe, he even sent money into Ji Fanyin's bank account.

So be it. If Ji Fanyin has chosen to use money to conceal her feelings and protect her dignity, I'll go along with her, Song Shiyu thought as he fiddled with his phone.

Her accompaniment deserved his reward.

Ji Fanyin should have known the address of his apartment, but he was still ready to send a message on WeChat to remind her. But it suddenly struck him when he tapped into his WeChat app—he had deleted her from his friend list a while ago.

But just yesterday, while Ji Fanyin was exchanging contact numbers with Cen Xiangyang, Song Shiyu took a look at her phone and took down her WeChat ID.

He rubbed his blurry eyes and added Ji Fanyin back into his friend list before proceeding to send her his address and the passcode for his door.

He didn't understand why either, but he felt a surge of relaxation after doing all of these. He placed his phone back on his bedside table and heaved a long sigh of relief.

He curled himself into a ball on the bed and felt a much greater sense of security than before.

Some time later, he heard footsteps, followed by a flick of a switch. A delicate figure was slowly making her way to him.

"… Ji Fanyin?" mumbled Song Shiyu.

The other party bent down to feel his forehead before sighing with a soft and gentle voice.

Despite his high fever, Song Shiyu once again affirmed his speculation.

No matter how Ji Fanyin tried to conceal it with her actions or words, she was still unable to hide her feelings for him.

For the first time in his life, the knowledge of the fact that 'Ji Fanyin likes me' spurred a hint of glee in his heart.

Ji Fanyin felt that Song Shiyu's fever must have burned up his mind.

Song Shiyu stayed in a condominium that was close to the company he founded. Ji Fanyin was able to enter his house without any problem using the passcode he had sent her. It was just that being in a seemingly empty house devoid of light in the middle of the night was a little chilling.

So, the first thing she did upon entering the house was to start feeling the walls for the light switches.

Once the lights were on, she started looking around the room. The first thing she spotted was two geckos sitting not too far away from the doorway.

Ji Fanyin: "…"

I nearly forgot that Song Shiyu raised lizards. I guess even a cold-blooded man like him feels kinship toward his cold-blooded brethren.

She decided to make her first stop at the crystal oven, prioritizing the feeding of the two ugly yet weirdly adorable geckos over Song Shiyu.

She remembered that these two geckos were of noble bloodline, costing quite a fortune to buy.

Don't die of hunger. Song Shiyu won't die for missing a meal or two, but the same can't be said about these geckos.

After she was done feeding the geckos, Ji Fanyin switched on the lights to the living room and familiarized herself with the surroundings.

To be frank, this was not the first time she had visited Song Shiyu's apartment, or to be more exact, 'Ji Fanyin' had been here before.

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

'Ji Fanyin' had been with Song Shiyu for quite a while before her transmigration to this world. The two of them would frequently meet here, but there was hardly any conversation or physical contact between them.

'Ji Fanyin' was a painting to Song Shiyu, no more no less.

She would rush to whatever destination he designated at a phone call from him, only to later leave at a wave of his hands. Her attitude could be almost said to be subservient.

This was the present Ji Fanyin's first time visiting this place, so she took her time strolling around the living room to examine the surroundings.

There were a few boxes of medicine and a bowl of porridge lying on the living room table. The porridge had barely been touched, but he had taken quite a bit of medicine.

It was just that Song Shiyu lacked the common sense to not eat different variations of the same medicine at once. All four boxes of medicine had signs of being eaten.

JI Fanyin took a look at the receipt for the medicine, and her eyebrows shot up. After that, she began making her way toward Song Shiyu's bedroom.

She stopped right in front of the room and listened quietly for any activity inside before finally pushing the door open and heading in. It was pitch-black inside. Even the light from the corridor was insufficient to light up the area around the bed.

Nevertheless, the person lying on the bed still curled up even tighter, as if protesting at the disturbance.

Ji Fanyin unsympathetically switched on the lights in the bedroom before walking over to gaze down at him.

The outwardly gentlemanly but inwardly cold-blooded young master Song was completely drenched in sweat. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes looked delirious, making him appear extremely pitiful.

"Ji Fanyin?" he murmured.

It was surprising that he got it right this time around.

Ji Fanyin bent down and touched his forehead. It was burning hot.

The fever must have burned away quite a few of his brain cells. I guess two negatives do make a positive after all; that's why he was able to identify me correctly.

In view that there might be nothing in Song Shiyu's house, Ji Fanyin had dropped by the pharmacy to get some stuff before heading over. It was time to put them to good use.

Ji Fanyin wouldn't spend additional bucks for the more expensive ear thermometer for Song Shiyu, so what she had in her bag of items was just a basic five-dollar mouth thermometer.

Song Shiyu should be thankful that she was at least conscientious enough to wipe it with an alcohol swab before coaxing him to put it inside his mouth. She waited for a while before pulling it out from the clutches of his teeth. "Open your mouth. Stop biting on it."

Song Shiyu obeyed her orders so well that it felt a little unnerving.

Ji Fanyin had to check on the thermometer twice in order to verify that she wasn't seeing things: 39.5℃.

High fever.

Ji Fanyin cleaned the tip of the thermometer with another alcohol swab as she said, "You should go to the hospital."

Song Shiyu shook his head. "Don't want to."

"I guessed as much," murmured Ji Fanyin in response.

She took out a fever patch from the bag of items she had bought and plastered it onto Song Shiyu's forehead. Impressed by her own handiwork, she felt an urge to snap a photo for commemoration.

It should qualify as a dark history for Song Shiyu.

"Ji Fanyin," Song Shiyu called out once more.

"My big sis isn't here. Shiyu, it looks like your fever is getting to you. I'm really going to get angry if you mistake me for big sis once more," replied Ji Fanyin gently as she began reading the dosage instruction of the fever medicine.

"Ji Fanyin, you won't be as caring toward others as you are to me, right?" Song Shiyu continued speaking insistently, acting as if he hadn't heard her.

Ji Fanyin shot a glance at him, baffled as to what in the world he was talking about. But soon, it clicked.

Ah, this must be the famous mentality of 'Even if it's something I don't want, I won't let anyone else take it away'.

So, Ji Fanyin used Ji Xinxin's tone to question him, "When did you get so close with my big sis? I remember that the two of you weren't even on talking terms."

The Song Shiyu with a fever patch on his forehead fell silent.

He seemed to have trouble processing his thoughts, and it took a moment before he finally replied slowly, "I don't want Ji Xinxin today. I want Ji Fanyin."

Ji Fanyin's movements jerked to a halt.

That would render things meaningless.

"My big sis doesn't want to be with you," she replied with a casual tone as she took out two pills from the packaging. "The only one you can be with now is Ji Xinxin."

"Why?" Song Shiyu was determined to get to the bottom of this.

Ji Fanyin opened a bottle of mineral water and passed it to him, saying, "Take your medicine first."

Song Shiyu swallowed the two pills down before staring intently at Ji Fanyin, awaiting her reply.

Ji Fanyin placed the cap back onto the mineral water before directing a smile toward him, saying, "It's a secret. You mustn't tell anyone."

Song Shiyu nodded in response.

"My big sis doesn't like Song Shiyu anymore," whispered Ji Fanyin.

Right after she said those words, Song Shiyu burst out with a rebuttal, "You're lying."

"How could it be a lie when it's coming right out of my mouth?" Ji Fanyin rested her arm on the bedside table as she looked at Song Shiyu with a gentle smile.

Song Shiyu glared at her sharply, struggling to find words to refute her.

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Ji Fanyin thought that this development was pretty interesting regardless of whether Song Shiyu remembered this conversation or not after his fever subsided.

She took a look at her time and saw that her fourfold salary service hours were nearly over. Based on the amount of money Song Shiyu had sent over earlier… there were forty more minutes to go.

"Let's have you change into a fresh set of clothes," Ji Fanyin coaxed Song Shiyu patiently. "It won't be comfortable for you to sleep in such a state."

Song Shiyu obediently moved at each of her instructions. His reaction was a little delayed, but he still managed to take off his pajamas.

Ji Fanyin looked through his wardrobe for another set of pajamas, only to spot a bracelet lying by the corner.

This bracelet looked a little shabby compared to Song Shiyu's elegant wardrobe. Its many marks showed the mistreatment it had been through, possibly having scraped against a rough surface. It was to the point where the bracelet looked out of shape.

Ji Fanyin had to examine it closely before she could identify it as the 'birthday present' she had given to Song Shiyu the other day.

It looks like Song Shiyu doesn't treasure much. Look at how roughly he has treated it.

Ji Fanyin pondered for a moment before slipping the bracelet into her pocket.

Song Shiyu doesn't want it anyway, and this bracelet came right out of my pocket. I'll think of it as recycling my goods. There might just be someone in the secondhand market who's willing to take it home.

She randomly grabbed a set of pajamas and helped Song Shiyu put them on. She was just about to head to the kitchen to prepare some food when he suddenly asked, "Where are you going?"

"You barely touched the porridge on the table outside. Aren't you hungry?" asked Ji Fanyin.

"… Are you going to cook for me?"

Ji Fanyin had to ponder for a moment before giving her response.

Ji Xinxin did cook at times though she isn't good at it, so it should be fine to accept his request.

Paying him a visit → Showing concern → Making food. This should be the standard 'taking care of an ill acquaintance' procedure, right?

"Of course. You don't trust my cooking skills?" asked Ji Fanyin.

"… No." Song Shiyu was quiet for a moment before he asked awkwardly, "Will you come back after you're done cooking?"

"Of course," Ji Fanyin lied.

With those words, Song Shiyu returned to bed at ease.

Ji Fanyin had to ransack the barren kitchen in order to gather sufficient ingredients for a pot of egg congee with spring onions. By the time the aroma of porridge started wafting from the electric pot, Song Shiyu's service hours were nearly up.

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By then, he had already fallen into deep sleep under the influence of medicine.

So, Ji Fanyin switched the electric pot to 'Heating' mode lest her porridge turned cold. She took one last look at the clock and saw that there was another minute to go. She used this time to enter his bedroom and meticulously took out the next dosage of medicine for him so that he wouldn't get it wrong again.

With that, her job was done. She walked out of Song Shiyu's house coolly.

Will you come back after you're done cooking?

Of course… not.

Words that are spoken in the midst of a dream—ah no, it should be service hours—can't be trusted at all.

…

Song Shiyu woke up at six the following morning. The sky was already starting to brighten up. There was no one else in his room, but the lit lamp and the pills sitting on his bedside table were evidence that someone had dropped by to visit him.

Possibly because he had finally eaten the medicine correctly this time around, he felt much more clear-headed than he was yesterday.

He pressed his hand against his forehead, which was still throbbing in pain, as he called out, "Ji Fanyin?"

There was no response.

He slowly sat up. There was a post-it note on the bedside table, and he quickly tore it off and read it: Remember to take your medicine after breakfast! Also, make sure that you take your temperature to check if your fever has gone down. If not, you'll have to head to the hospital.

The message was written in Ji Xinxin's handwriting, and it was signed off with Ji Xinxin's name too.

Song Shiyu read the message a few times before he finally rose to his feet and headed out with a frown. Barely after he took a few steps, he suddenly turned around to grab the thermometer on the bedside table and place it into his mouth before leaving his bedroom.

The moment he opened his door, he was welcomed by the aroma of food.

Despite thinking that he didn't have much of an appetite, Song Shiyu's stomach started growling loudly. So, he made his way into the kitchen with pursed lips.

There was no one in the kitchen too, but steam was rising from an electric pot.

He lifted the lid and saw warm congee inside. His frown slowly loosened up.

He served himself a bowl of congee before heading back to his bedroom to grab his phone. There were two seconds of hesitation for a moment there, but he decided to send a message to Ji Fanyin nevertheless: 【You accompanied me for the entire night? Thanks. My fever has subsided. 】

Ji Fanyin's reply came a few hours later: 【I'd ask you for overtime wages if I stayed with you that long.】

Song Shiyu, who was already in the company by that point, couldn't help but chuckle to himself. He was starting to think that Ji Fanyin's claim that she no longer liked him was nothing more than a lie.

Despite saying such words, she still can't help but worry about me.

Ji Fanyin: 【Would you like to make a reservation? If not, I'll be meeting other clients.】

Song Shiyu: "…"

She's just acting… right?

The client Ji Fanyin was meeting today was different from usual. It wasn't her usual clients from her stand-in job but from the connections she had recently made from the film industry.

This new world she had transmigrated into had a different cinematic culture from the world she had come from, but she was still able to bridge the gap through her deep knowledge of films.

When her previous review went viral, she received a call from Zhang Ning, who remarked in astonishment that she didn't think that their collaboration would actually produce such amazing synergy, and that this was beyond her expectations.

That very day, Zhang Ning asked her out for a meeting and tried to persuade her to sign a long-term contract with them, but Ji Fanyin rejected the offer after some thought.

She thought that it would be hard for her to balance two jobs, and she valued the greater freedom from being a freelancer too. She would be able to watch any movie and write any review she wanted.

As long as she chose her content wisely, she would be able to obtain a decent amount of Emotion Points through this regardless of whether she went professional or not.

Signing a contract with Zhang Ning would grant her access to greater resources, such as invitations to movie premieres, but she thought that those were just nice-to-haves. Ultimately, it all boiled down to the quality of the review.

She knew of reviewers who specifically chose to tackle lousy films but were still able to get their audience clutching their stomachs in laughter through their glib tongue. It was the typical example of 'the review being more interesting than the movie', and such reviews had the potential to go viral too.

Alternatively, there were also reviewers who accepted bribes to fling mud on certain films so as to sully their reputation. She could earn negative Emotion Points through that too.

If she were to sign a contract with Zhang Ning, her freedom would be greatly affected, especially when it came to films related to He Shen's studio.

It was with these considerations in mind that she rejected Zhang Ning's invitation, though she expressed interest in having more of such collaborations in the future.

"I'm fond of He Shen's movie," said Ji Fanyin, "and I'm not just saying this out of politeness. I earnestly hope that his studio will be able to maintain this high standard in selecting new scripts."

Zhang Ning laughed in response, saying, "No problem, I'll relay your words to them. Speaking of which, a junior in the industry has been asking me for your contact number. Should I give it to him?"

Ji Fanyin had a good idea who this 'junior' was, but she still asked anyway just to be sure.

As expected, Zhang Ning replied, "Cen Xiangyang."

It went without saying that Ji Fanyin accepted the offer.

Cen Xiangyang appeared to be the kind who was fond of playing mind games. It was only several hours after she dropped him a message that he finally sent her a friend request, saying that he had been busy earlier.

Ji Fanyin laughed upon seeing his message. She decided to leave him hanging for a few hours and focus on her work.

Cen Xiangyang's situation was different from Bai Zhou's.

Bai Zhou had bumped into Ji Fanyin and Song Shiyu in the middle of their 'date', so Song Shiyu was compelled to help her convert Bai Zhou into one of her clients so as to drag him down. However, it would be hard to employ the same script on Cen Xiangyang.

Song Shiyu was not a fool. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

Interestingly, in the future Ji Fanyin had gotten a glimpse of when she first transmigrated over, she remembered that Song Shiyu was the one who introduced Cen Xiangyang to her.

After Ji Xinxin flew off to Paris, Song Shiyu's obsession and demands began to grow out of hand. He viewed 'Ji Fanyin' as an ornament that he could go around boasting about. Due to the attitude he had taken, it didn't take long before 'Ji Fanyin' became known in their little fishery.

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Naturally, the twisted Cen Xiangyang joined the circle too.

That being said, there was already a divergence from the present and the 'future' Ji Fanyin had seen even though she was still in the stand-in business, and the most notable one was likely the barrier to entry.

In the 'future', Song Shiyu had no requirements as to who he allowed to join his little circle. He was just about willing to lend 'Ji Fanyin' out to anyone as long as he was in a good mood.

Due to 'Ji Fanyin's' feelings for Song Shiyu and her weak temperament, she always ended up obeying his orders no matter how reluctant she was.

But things were different now.

One, Song Shiyu didn't have the power to control her. Two, Ji Fanyin was the one deciding on the barrier to entry now.

Her charge of 100,000 dollars per hour was already more than enough to filter out those who weren't ultra-wealthy. The average man wouldn't be able to afford her service.

It would appear that Cen Xiangyang and Song Shiyu are already acquainted with one another based on their interactions at the movie premiere. As long as I slowly reel him in and let out some 'unintentional' clues about Fish No. 1, the latter would probably take the initiative to pull him in, right?

Ji Fanyin thought that it was feasible to give it a try.

She finished her movie and wrote up a review before finally picking up her fully charged phone to reply to Cen Xiangyang's message: 【My apologies. I thought that you were busy so I put my phone aside and went to work. Zhang Ning told me that you were looking for me?】

She didn't mind having a game of patience with Cen Xiangyang if the latter wanted to continue playing hard to get. She would just respond to him with insignificant things once every few hours just to let him know that she was still breathing, a 'time zone difference conversation'.

However, it looked like Cen Xiangyang had decided to abandon his previous strategy. He replied within two minutes: 【Is it the dream weaver job you spoke about? When will I get a chance to see it for myself?】

Ji Fanyin took a sip of water while typing with just one hand: 【If an opportunity arises】

It would depend on when Song Shiyu was willing to let Cen Xiangyang join the fishery.

She noticed that Cen Xiangyang had neglected to answer the other question she had asked, but she magnanimously decided not to pursue it.

After exchanging a few messages, Ji Fanyin used dinner preparation as an excuse to end the conversation.

She intended to send a post in her Moments page later on so as to give Cen Xiangyang an excuse to strike up a conversation with her, but barely as she got up from her seat, Cen Xiangyang suddenly sent her a picture, asking: 【Guess who I just met here】

Ji Fanyin tapped into the photo to take a look. It was a selfie of Cen Xiangyang dressed in casual formal, and the background suggested that he was in some sort of gathering or banquet.

There were only so many common acquaintances between them, so the answer was pretty clear.

【Song Shiyu?】 Ji Fanyin asked.

【Bingo! I thought that you would guess him too. However, there's another person here whom you might also recognize…】

Cen Xiangyang sent another picture over.

Ji Fanyin tapped into the picture, magnified it, and looked around for a bit before she finally spotted Bai Zhou standing amidst a group of people.

Standing beside a middle-aged man, he was dressed in a shirt and long pants, which was unusual for him. He had an irritated frown that pushed others away from him.

Oh? Bai Zhou is attending a networking banquet despite hating this kind of social occasion with a passion? It must be tough on him.

Ji Fanyin chuckled sardonically.

It was interesting that Song Shiyu, Bai Zhou, and Cen Xiangyang were actually gathered at one location. Today might just be the day that she would get introduced to Fish No. 3.

Before she could type out a reply, Cen Xiangyang had already followed up with a couple more messages.

【Aiya, they started fighting】He said with a leisurely tone.【Looks like there'll be something interesting to see】

…

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Bai Zhou had made an agreement to game with Ji Xinxin tonight.

It was curious why Ji Xinxin would suddenly show such a great passion for games despite never being interested in them, but she had been inviting Bai Zhou to game with her over the last few days.

Bai Zhou was happy to accompany her, but Ji Xinxin's skills in the game were improving at a snail's pace. Rather than playing the game, it felt like they were frolicking around.

Of course, for Bai Zhou, the important thing here wasn't to play the game. What was more important was that he was spending time with Ji Xinxin.

As long as Ji Xinxin gave the call, he would come online within half an hour.

He had already made an agreement with Ji Xinxin to play together tonight, but his father's secretary suddenly came over and told him to attend a small-scale banquet.

Bai Zhou protested, but it was futile. He was forced to change into another set of clothes before being brought into the car.

"I'll return your phone to you once the banquet is over. Before then, please allow me to take care of it on your behalf," the secretary said as he confiscated Bai Zhou's phone.

Bai Zhou impatiently leaned back onto the car's leather seat and crossed his legs arrogantly, saying, "Just what kind of banquet needs me around? Is that old man there too?"

"Mr. Bai would like you to meet two people."

"Who?"

Someone who managed to climb his way to become the chief secretary of Bai Zhou's father naturally wouldn't give information away easily. "You'll know once you meet them."

Bai Zhou rolled his eyes. He made up his mind to leave right away after meeting the two people his father wanted him to meet.

Who cares about what he's up to? I'll just do what I want.

When he got down from the car and entered the hotel, the first familiar face he saw at the entrance of the venue was surprisingly Song Shiyu.

Song Shiyu had just passed through the security check and was in the midst of putting on his accessories whereas Bai Zhou was strutting over coolly with his hands inserted in his pockets. There were only three meters between them when the two of them met eyes.

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"Young master Song," the chief secretary greeted Song Shiyu politely. "How are Mr. Song and Mrs. Song?"

Song Shiyu clasped his watch on his wrist as he replied, "They are doing fine. Please relay my regards to Uncle Bai too."

"Mr. Bai often mentions you, saying that you're an outstanding young man," the chief secretary said with a smile. "He hopes that his son can learn from your example."

Bai Zhou was in the midst of taking off his smartwatch for the security check when he heard the conversation between the two and snorted in disdain, "What's there to learn from him?"

The chief secretary passed through the metal detector without any fluctuation in his emotions at all, as if he hadn't heard Bai Zhou's words. He directed a nod toward Song Shiyu and said, "I still have some matters to attend to, so I'll be taking my leave first. Pardon me."

Before leaving, he didn't forget to wave the phone he had just confiscated toward Bai Zhou.

Bai Zhou: "… Scram!"

After Bai Zhou passed through the metal detector, he shot a glance at Song Shiyu and let out a provocative sneer.

"You were the one with her earlier?" Song Shiyu suddenly asked.

"I'll still be able to play with big sis if I rush back, so don't even think about it," replied Bai Zhou without any hesitation.

Song Shiyu paused for a moment before clarifying, "I'm referring to Ji Fanyin."

Bai Zhou turned to look at Song Shiyu in bewilderment, doubting what he had just heard. "You're asking about Ji Fanyin?"

He exchanged gazes with Song Shiyu before clicking his tongue in annoyance, saying, "Not today."

"So you were with her yesterday?" asked Song Shiyu.

Bai Zhou took his time to ponder about the significance of the question before remarking, "So you really did call her yesterday. Your call couldn't get through, right?"

Bai Zhou's response provided Song Shiyu the answer he was looking for, as well as an additional piece of information: Bai Zhou was the one who switched off Ji Fanyin's phone.

This left him with deep thoughts.

Ji Fanyin had told him earlier in the afternoon that she was going to meet a client. If the client she spoke of wasn't Bai Zhou, the only one left was… Cen Xiangyang.

Realization also dawned upon Bai Zhou. He snorted sarcastically and taunted, "Are you feeling uncomfortable because the woman who said that she likes you is meeting other men? You must feel like your toy is being taken away from you."

Song Shiyu glanced at Bai Zhou before turning away.

He had to pull Bai Zhou down together with him because there was no other choice back then, but when it came to Cen Xiangyang… he wanted Ji Fanyin to avoid him.

Of course, that was out of concern of Cen Xiangyang's personality problems and not because he was biased toward Ji Fanyin or anything.

"Everyone says that Ji Fanyin likes you, but it doesn't look like it at all," remarked Bai Zhou leisurely. "Why would she meet other men if she really liked you? It was me yesterday and someone else today. Who will she meet tomorrow?"

It was no secret that they were love rivals, and their family backgrounds were on par with one another. On top of that, Bai Zhou's father would often lecture Bai Zhou by comparing him to Song Shiyu, which bred hostility between the two of them.

This was a rare opportunity for Bai Zhou to get back at Song Shiyu. Even though he noticed the irony of him saying those words himself at some point, he wasn't willing to give up on this chance to put Song Shiyu down.

Song Shiyu stared at Bai Zhou quietly for two seconds before suddenly revealing a triumphant smile.

"I was ill yesterday night. She spent the entire night taking care of me at my home," said Song Shiyu. He paused for a moment before adding for emphasis, "No charge at all."

Naturally, Bai Zhou didn't believe Song Shiyu. He sneered, "How would you not know the whereabouts of someone who took care of you for an entire night?"

The two of them met eyes once more. One had a fake smile and the other a look of contempt. With this, the two of them parted ways.

Bai Zhou grabbed a cup of champagne before finding a place to camp till his father's chief secretary returned. It was just that someone of his identity was bound to be in the center of attention. Eyes were on him from the moment he made an entrance.

While Bai Zhou was irritatedly dealing with them one by one, Song Shiyu was not faring any better.

It was at this moment that Cen Xiangyang made his entrance.

Bai Zhou didn't notice him at the start. It was only when a woman beside him asked "Is that young man snapping our photos" that he casually turned his head to take a look.

The arrogant young master Bai of course didn't recognize Cen Xiangyang.

Cen Xiangyang's fringe drooped a little as he tilted his head down to type on his phone. His neat features and cleanly shaven lower jaws gave him a mild appearance. He looked like the typical good student, the type which Bai Zhou was completely uninterested in.

Bai Zhou was about to turn his gaze away when the latter suddenly finished typing and raised his head.

Upon noticing Bai Zhou's gaze, Cen Xiangyang smiled at him.

Bai Zhou couldn't really describe what was wrong with that smile, but he suddenly felt a strong feeling of discomfort, nearly shuddering even. However, his pride forced him to keep his poise, and he responded with a provocative smile.

Cen Xiangyang innocently tilted his head before turning his eyes in Song Shiyu's direction.

Bai Zhou subconsciously directed his gaze over too, only to find that Song Shiyu was staring at Cen Xiangyang.

This queer interaction brought an epiphany to Bai Zhou: He must be the man whom Ji Fanyin was with earlier.

Bai Zhou assessed Cen Xiangyang from head to toe and came to an evaluation: A weakling, just like Song Shiyu. Ji Fanyin's has horrible taste in man.

"Young master Bai." The elusive chief secretary finally made his appearance. "Please come with me."

Bai Zhou tore his attention away from Cen Xiangyang and asked impatiently, "Can I leave after meeting those two?"

To him, Cen Xiangyang and Song Shiyu were of secondary concern here. His priority was to quickly finish up whatever he had to do here so that he could rush home to game with Ji Xinxin.

"Yes, you're free to leave afterward," replied the chief secretary with a smile. He gestured for Bai Zhou to follow him to a more private location.

Bai Zhou followed the chief secretary's lead with his hands in his pocket. He couldn't help but wonder: Just who am I meeting that requires such secrecy…

It was then that the chief secretary came to a halt and pushed a door open.

In the room were a woman and a teenage boy, who appeared to be a high schooler. They were sitting side-by-side on a sofa.

Bai Zhou recognized the woman right away.

She was his father's mistress… one of them.

This clue made it easy for him to figure out the identity of the teenage boy too.

Bai Zhou's footsteps screeched to a halt. He turned to the chief secretary and bellowed, "My father told you to bring me here in order to meet them? What does he mean by this?!"

"It's just a meeting," replied the chief secretary as he calmly propped his glasses up. "There are too many people out here. Let's talk inside."

Bai Zhou threw him a nasty 'I've nothing to say to them' expression and stomped off.

The chief secretary raised his hand to block Bai Zhou's path and said, "Young master Bai, you have nothing to worry about. You're the only successor to the Bai Family."

The infuriated Bai Zhou threw a punch into the chief secretary's face without any warning, sending the latter's glasses flying across the room.

It stirred a huge commotion, drawing many eyes over.

Bai Zhou shot a deathly glare at the mother and son inside the room before striding off, not paying any heed to the chief secretary.

"Young master Bai," the chief secretary quickly called out to him. "This is your father's will."

Bai Zhou turned his head around and sneered coldly, "I'll call my mother to see what she thinks about this."

"Your mother has already given her consent," the chief secretary said with a hushed voice.

Bai Zhou's face immediately froze up.

"It's a mutually beneficial exchange. You should try to understand it too."

Bai Zhou slowly turned his eyes back into the room. The two people inside had stood up at some point and were currently walking to the doorway.

Bai Zhou didn't even want to look at the woman's face, but he could see the teenage boy standing in front of his mother protectively, warily staring at him like a young beast.

The chief secretary raised his hand to stop the mother and son from walking any further, "You have to stay inside."

"… Exchange, you said? That means that my mother also…" murmured Bai Zhou.

The chief secretary didn't refute Bai Zhou's guess. "This will not affect your inheritance. The two of them have already agreed on it."

The term, 'mutually beneficial exchange', left Bai Zhou feeling indescribably queasy. It felt even more disgusting than Cen Xiangyang's smile.

He quietly raised his arm toward the chief secretary.

The chief secretary hesitated for a moment before handing Bai Zhou's phone back to him. "Please calm down a little before you call your parents to talk to them about this matter."

"Talk to them about this matter?" sneered Bai Zhou. "I reckon that they're too busy with their 'mutually beneficial exchange' to even talk about this! I'll find someone else who will come at my beck and call instead."

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He tapped into his contacts and scrolled down. He stopped at Ji Xinxin's name for a moment, but in the end, he still chose the name directly above it—Ji Fanyin.

He felt a little nervous when he dialed the number. He was worried that Ji Fanyin's phone was switched off or that another man would accept the call.

But a few seconds later, Ji Fanyin's seemingly unreal voice sounded through the phone, "Yes?"

Bai Zhou was so overwhelmed that he didn't even realize that he had heaved a sigh of relief. "Can we meet now? I'll find you."

"I don't accept last-minute reservations," replied Ji Fanyin heartlessly.

Bai Zhou: "… I'll pay you extra."

Ji Fanyin chuckled softly. "Even if it costs tenfold?"

By then, Bai Zhou was already approaching the entrance of the venue, on the verge of leaving the banquet. He halted his footsteps, turned around, and took a look. The door had been closed, but the chief secretary was still standing there, staring at him.

Yes, the only one here was the chief secretary. His father and mother were nowhere in sight.

He thought about the chief secretary's earlier words—'This will not affect your inheritance'—and it brought out a cold sneer from him. "Yes, I'll pay for it."

Not too far away, Song Shiyu heard those words and turned his gaze over, to which Bai Zhou responded with a contemptuous look.

Ji Fanyin was openly obsessed with money. Only an idiot Song Shiyu would believe that Ji Fanyin was still in love with him.

In Bai Zhou's view, this was probably one of the wisest decisions Ji Fanyin had made in her life.

Is there even anything good about Song Shiyu?

…

Ji Fanyin agreed to meet Bai Zhou at his place. After hanging up the call, she received another message from Cen Xiangyang.

【He stomped off angrily】Cen Xiangyang was doing a live telecast for her. 【I think he called someone while leaving the venue】

Ji Fanyin pondered for a moment before replying: 【Yeah, he called me】

Cen Xiangyang replied with an ellipsis followed by a question mark.

【Where are you all?】Ji Fanyin chose not to satisfy his curiosity.

Cen Xiangyang sent her a location pin before probing on: 【What do you mean? Are you actually close with Bai Zhou?】

For a long while after that, the app reflected that he was in the midst of typing something, but he didn't send his message. It was impossible to guess what he was writing and deleting over and over again.

Ji Fanyin quickly checked the location pin sent over and saw that it would take around 40 minutes for Bai Zhou to get back to his penthouse. Considering that she had to dress up and put on some makeup, time was a little tight.

As if determined to join in the commotion, her phone vibrated at this moment. A notification indicating that He Shen had liked her newly posted review popped up.

Ji Fanyin quickly swiped off the notification before heading back to her room to check her wardrobe.

Her wardrobe was divided into two segments—work and personal. Both sides were stuffed to the brim.

She was pretty wealthy after all, so there was no need for her to hold back when it came to minor expenses such as clothes. She never hesitated to whip out her card whenever she saw something that she fancied.

Half an hour later, she received a call from Bai Zhou. He was panting a little. "I've arrived."

"I've just headed out," replied Ji Fanyin with her phone sandwiched between her ear and her shoulder. "I'll be arriving in around twenty minutes' time."

"… Alright." Bai Zhou's voice sounded a little lifeless. "I'll wait for you."

In truth, Ji Fanyin was already on the ground floor of Bai Zhou's apartment. She was standing by the corner amidst a couple of trees, which granted her full vision of Bai Zhou, who was leaning against his motorcycle with a phone in hand.

He had thick black eyebrows which converged sharply at the tips, giving him an imposing appearance whenever he frowned—which he often did.

So, when he stood beneath the streetlamp with his face concealed amidst shadows, he surprisingly looked much more approachable than usual.

Of course, a 1.85 meters tall man standing with his motorcycle in the middle of the night could only look so much more approachable.

"I'll call you when I arrive," replied Ji Fanyin before hanging up the call. There were still three minutes to go before the next hour, so she decided to wait till then.

After she hung up the phone, she noticed that Bai Zhou didn't head upstairs right away. He continued waiting beside his motorcycle while fiddling with his phone.

Twenty seconds later, he raised his hand to check his watch,

Ji Fanyin: "…"

Just what kind of devastating trauma did the boy suffer to be in such urgent need of Ji Xinxin's consolation? It looks like seconds are passing as slowly as years to him.

Another thirty seconds later, Bai Zhou checked his watch yet again before unhappily stomping his feet.

It was such an interesting scene that Ji Fanyin decided to spectate a while longer.

If it really comes down to it, I'll just add a few more minutes to his allotted time. That isn't a problem at all.

A few minutes later, Bai Zhou's phone rang.

He already had his phone in his hand, but he hesitated for a long while before picking it up.

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Ji Fanyin clearly heard him call out "big sis".

Ji Fanyin was delighted by this turn of events.

If Bai Zhou were to go game with Ji Xinxin… wouldn't I be able to get off work right now?

She listened intently to Bai Zhou and Ji Xinxin's conversation by the corner, but other than the initial greeting, Bai Zhou hardly said a word at all. He was quietly listening to the other party's words, only occasionally squeaking out a response.

Ji Fanyin stroked her chin contemplatively.

Did the two of them get into an argument? Even if Bai Zhou was in a bad mood, his spirits would usually be quickly raised with a call from Ji Xinxin.

This doesn't make sense. I must have missed out on some clues or developments.

The call ended while Ji Fanyin was still deep in thought. He stared at his phone intently before fiddling with it a little.

Ji Fanyin waited in anticipation for him to call her and say 'You need not come anymore'. To her disappointment, Bai Zhou locked his screen and slipped his phone into his pocket.

Ji Fanyin: "…" Fine, I was being too optimistic.

She took two steps back from the corner before casually making her way toward Bai Zhou. She stopped right in front of him and asked, "In a bad mood?"

Bai Zhou had already raised his head to look at her while she was still several steps away, but he appeared to be a little out of it.

Upon hearing the question, he lowered his head and said, "… I want to talk with you, big sis."

"Here?" asked Ji Fanyin with her hands behind her back. "I guess I can accompany you while you smoke a few cigarettes."

Bai Zhou took off his helmet and spoke with a hint of anxiety in his voice, "I won't smoke. Don't you hate the smell of cigarettes?"

"It's a special privilege just for you," coaxed Ji Fanyin.

Bai Zhou looked at her, but he shook his head in the end. He took out his key and stood upright, saying, "Let's talk upstairs."

In truth, Ji Fanyin carried a bottle of pepper spray wherever she went. She had also placed the local police station on her phone's quick dial too.

While she did know a bit of martial arts and would be able to protect herself even if her client suddenly went on a rampage, it was still better to be prepared.

For the time being, Bai Zhou still seemed to be in a normal state.

While walking over to the lift, Ji Fanyin rummaged through her bag and took out a fruit candy. "Give me your hand."

Bai Zhou was waiting for the lift with his hands in his pockets. His body stiffened for a moment from the abrupt request before he obediently stretched his hand forth. He tilted his head sideward with a reluctant look on his face as he grumbled, "… What do you want?"

Ji Fanyin placed the sweet on his palm and said, "I want to give you a sweet."

Bai Zhou could feel a slight prick from the sweet wrapper on his hand. He clenched his fist tightly together and roared angrily, "I'm already 19 years old!"

"What's wrong with that? Even people in their nineties eat sweets," replied Ji Fanyin doubtfully. "Give it back if you don't want it."

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Bai Zhou hurriedly unwrapped the sweet and popped the candy right into his mouth before harrumphing, "Nope!"

Ji Fanyin: "…" Is Bai Zhou the kind of person whose mental maturity plummets whenever he gets angry?

There was a 'ding', and the lift arrived. Bai Zhou strode into the lift with such a forceful demeanor that it looked almost as if he was going to tear the place down.

Ji Fanyin followed him in as she took out her phone to search for something.

The lift was bright and spacious, and there were mirrors on both sides. While Ji Fanyin was searching for an app, she noticed Bai Zhou staring at her with a displeased look on his face.

So, before the client could start complaining, Ji Fanyin took the initiative to ask first, "Have you eaten yet?"

Bai Zhou: "…"

Whatever words that he was intending to say earlier ended up being stifled in his throat. It was a while before he finally muttered, "Not yet."

Ji Fanyin had also figured as much.

It just so happened that she hadn't eaten yet, so she could reasonably freeload off him for dinner.

"What do you want to eat? I'll get some ingredients and cook for you." Ji Fanyin tapped into the supermarket delivery app and browsed through the ingredients available. "Is it still French cuisine like last time or…"

"I want usual home-cooked meals," replied Bai Zhou firmly.

Ji Fanyin regretfully removed the premium steak cut from her shopping cart.

What a pity.

She was still picking out ingredients even when they walked out of the lift. There was simply nothing in Bai Zhou's kitchen at all that she had to get even the bare necessities. She did manage to fill his kitchen with condiments such as oil, salt, soya sauce, and vinegar the last time she was here, but there was more to consider if she wanted to cook usual home cooked meals this time around.

For one, it was certain that he wouldn't have common ingredients like rice and onion in his kitchen.

She subconsciously followed Bai Zhou's footsteps while adding everything she needed into her shopping cart.

Bai Zhou suddenly stopped without any warning, and she nearly bumped right into him. It was fortunate that there was some distance between them, allowing her to stop in time.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Did he change his mind and decide to play with Ji Xinxin instead?

Bai Zhou turned around and assessed the distance between them with his eyes before clicking his tongue in annoyance. Then, without saying anything at all, he began walking forward once more.

Weirdly, he didn't do anything at all despite the abrupt halt. It was almost as if he was just experimenting to see if she would bump into him.

Ji Fanyin: "…?" Just how much did his mental maturity regress by?

The brooding Bai Zhou unlocked his door using facial recognition technology before haphazardly tossing his leather shoes aside. He slipped into a pair of slippers and headed into the house.

Ji Fanyin looked through the shoe rack, but just like before, there were only men-sized slippers. So, she put on the same ones she wore the last time she was here. While shutting the door, she asked, "I remember that you aren't fond of food with strong flavors or odors?"

Bai Zhou replied with a lackadaisical "Mm".

Ji Fanyin took one last look through the shopping cart and ensured that there was enough food for two. With that, she confirmed the order.

It would probably take thirty to forty minutes for the groceries to be delivered to their doorsteps. Ji Fanyin finally stowed her phone away and raised her gaze, only to see that Bai Zhou was nowhere to be seen. So, she tried calling his name.

A slightly muffled voice sounded from the bedroom, "I'm changing my clothes… Don't come in!"

Ji Fanyin: "…" You were still playing with mud when I was touching world-class models with perfect abs during magazine shoots.

She opened the fridge to take a look, and just as she expected…

How should I put this? It's almost shouting to me that 'This is the fridge of a young man living by himself'.

Ji Fanyin shouted over, "Bai Zhou, what do you want to drink?"

"Beer."

Ji Fanyin glanced at the boxes of beers inside the fridge before heading to the water dispenser to get him a glass of warm water.

When Bai Zhou walked out of his room in a white T-shirt and comfortable long pants and saw the glass of warm water on the bar counter: "…"

"It's even more so when you're in a bad mood that you shouldn't vent your emotions through alcohol. It's not good for your body," said Ji Fanyin as she pushed the cup of warm water toward him. "Big sis is doing this for your own good."

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Bai Zhou maintained a '…' look on his face as he picked up the glass and obediently took a sip.

Bai Zhou's penthouse was renovated with a modern design. It had an open concept kitchen that was linked with the living room, making the area look exceptionally spacious. There was a bar counter with stools on both sides that resembled a small office space.

There was hardly anything on the bar counter though. There was only a speaker and a drawer box filled with chargers.

Bai Zhou and Ji Fanyin stood opposite to one another with only half a meter between them. They could easily touch one another just by stretching their hands forward.

Bai Zhou took a seat on one of the stools with the glass of water in his hand. He stroked the uneven edges of the glass with his fingers, seemingly deep in thought.

His behavior was typical of a person who had many things bottled up in his heart and needed someone to confide in, so Ji Fanyin rested her head on her arm and waited patiently for him.

Whatever happened at that banquet earlier today must have dealt a heavy blow to Bai Zhou for someone as arrogant as him to be in such low spirits.

It was a long time later before Bai Zhou finally spoke up.

He dropped explosive news right away, "My father has an illegitimate son."

Ji Fanyin was not too surprised by that, but she still widened her eyes and asked, "What happened? Did you just find out about it today?"

"He isn't much younger than me," sneered Bai Zhou. "He does look like the old man. Secretary Li told me that the old man wanted me to meet two people today, so I thought that they were someone important. Turns out they were his mistress and illegitimate son."

Ji Fanyin: The aristocratic circle sure is complicated.

"He said that I'd remain as the only successor…" Bai Zhou scoffed. "Just his private properties are more than enough for those two to live comfortably for the rest of their lives."

Ji Fanyin wasn't surprised at all.

When a couple like Bai Zhou's parents made an agreement to turn a blind eye to each other's extramarital affairs, the chances were that one of them would eventually end up having an illegitimate child.

It would be a blessing if the illegitimate children had no interest in the family fortune, but most eventually choose to compete for the family fortune. Ji Fanyin had seen plenty of that in her previous world.

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"He even brought them over to introduce them to me. Does he expect me to call them 'mother' and 'little brother'?" Bai Zhou gripped the cup tightly. "If he had appeared before me today, I'd have sunk my fist into his face!"

Crime solved. This is the reason why Bai Zhou got into a fight today.

Ji Fanyin sighed in her heart.

Had it been her, she would have long come to terms with his disappointing parents and washed her hands out of their private affairs. It would just be a waste of time and effort anyway.

However, Bai Zhou wasn't as unfeeling as she was. From a certain perspective, he was actually quite hot-blooded.

"Are you going to have a talk with your father?" she asked gently. "If you aren't willing to meet those two, why don't you relay your thoughts to him properly?"

"I don't want to hear his voice now," Bai Zhou rejected the suggestion irritatedly.

"Then… what about your mother?" Ji Fanyin decided to approach this problem from another perspective. "She wouldn't turn a blind eye to it, right?"

Bai Zhou fell silent once again.

Ji Fanyin couldn't help but notice the increasing grip strength on the glass he was holding. She felt like that innocent glass was going to shatter very soon.

"She already knows," said Bai Zhou hoarsely. "She also…"

Unable to speak any further, he grabbed his own forehead out of distress and took in a deep breath. His sharp eyebrows furrowed into a pained frown.

Ji Fanyin caught on right away.

The chances were likely that both of Bai Zhou's parents had an illegitimate child each. Thanks to that, the scales of balance were able to easily reach another equilibrium when they finally came clean with one another.

This was something for their respective factions to rejoice over since they would be spared from unnecessary discord… though the same couldn't be said about their family members.

Ahhh, the aristocratic circle sure is complicated!

Ji Fanyin gently ruffled Bai Zhou's hair and said, "What is it that upset you the most? Is it because they are different from how you expected them to be?"

"… No, they were exactly the same as I expected them to be. It was just that I thought that I was already underestimating their shamelessness, but they still managed to exceed my expectations in the end."

"There's actually a simple way you can prove to them that they've done wrong," said Ji Fanyin.

Bai Zhou raised his head to look at her. "How?"

Ji Fanyin looked at him with a smile and said, "All you have to do is to make sure that you don't stoop to their level and do the same things as they did."

What a pity that you, Bai Zhou, have already stooped down to their level. You have already disrespected your own feelings and others.

The two of them stared at one another for a few seconds, neither of them saying a word at all.

Ji Fanyin maintained her gentle smile whereas Bai Zhou's Adam's apple bobbed up and down in unease.

This awkwardness was broken by the intercom call coming from downstairs.

"It must be the delivery man," said Ji Fanyin as she rose to her feet. She patted Bai Zhou's head lightly as she said, "You must be starving. I'll go get the ingredients."

Bai Zhou sat idly on the bar stool as he watched Ji Fanyin busy herself in the kitchen.

He didn't want any expensive premium food today; all he wanted was an ordinary home-cooked meal.

Very rarely would the trio from the Bai Family gather around a table and share a meal. To be more exact, Bai Zhou couldn't even recall a single instance of that happening.

It was either the three of them dining at a huge table with many outsiders or him eating all alone.

The Bai Family was probably the farthest away from what one would deem a typical ordinary household.

Bai Zhou subconsciously shut down his brain, avoiding the important question of who the person hard at work in the kitchen was. Instead, he stared at her with a glass that was as empty as his mind in his hand, choosing to immerse himself in this moment of peace.

Is this the kind of peaceful warmth that ordinary people feel when they return home exhausted from work?

Bai Zhou had taken in far too much information today that he wanted to put a lid on his mind and not think anymore. However, a question that had been circling in his head for the last few days refused to grant him rest.

It was getting increasingly difficult for him to endure not posing the question to the person before him.

He tried his best to hold himself back, but when Ji Fanyin placed a pot of Pork Rib Lotus Soup on the dining table, he finally caved in.

"The person who has been playing with us for the past few days, is she really a woman?"

The accumulation of emotions that had stifled his heart all this while was released along with the voicing of that question, leaving him feeling much lighter than before.

Ji Fanyin halted for an instant upon hearing that question. She turned to look at Bai Zhou with a smile and asked, "Are you doubting me?"

Bai Zhou pursed his lips tightly.

This doubt had been floating in his head since a few days ago.

No, to be more accurate, he had stumbled upon an important piece of evidence just a few days ago.

Whenever he was playing with Ji Xinxin and Kitty, Kitty's mic was always switched off and she would never talk. He asked Ji Xinxin about this, and she said that Kitty couldn't speak Chinese and was a little shy around strangers, so she decided not to turn on her mic.

Bai Zhou trusted those words, but he simply couldn't help but notice some problems as they played together a few more times.

For one, Ji Xinxin's responses throughout the voice chat were oddly delayed at times. Sometimes, it took a long while after he asked a question before she finally responded, and her answer was off at times. It was like she was distracted by something else.

Another anomaly he noticed was Ji Xinxin abruptly turning off her mic at times.

Kitty's actions in the game were also rather unusual.

It was common knowledge in PUBG that giving out good equipment and determinedly defending a weaker teammate from dying were gestures of affection, and that was how Bai Zhou treated Ji Xinxin in the game.

But Kitty's actions were identical to his. In fact, the two of them would often bump into one another while trying to save Ji Xinxin.

All of these anomalies were so apparent that Bai Zhou couldn't help but think deeper into them.

He did raise his suspicions at the start, giving Ji Xinxin the chance to dispel his concerns. However, two days ago, when Ji Xinxin excused herself to pick a call, Bai Zhou happened to overhear her chatting with another man using French.

The phone call itself wasn't an issue; the problem lay in the fact that he overheard the conversation through not Ji Xinxin's but Kitty's mic.

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

There were only two possibilities. Either Kitty was currently in the same room with Ji Xinxin and another man happened to be with them at the moment, or that Kitty wasn't a man in the first place and that Ji Xinxin had been lying to him.

… Of course, Bai Zhou knew deep down that the person standing before him couldn't possibly answer his question. He wasn't really expecting an answer anyway.

He was just about to end this vexing conversation and change the topic when Ji Fanyin suddenly whacked his forehead with a chopstick and said, "Don't keep things to yourself. If you ever feel uncomfortable, make sure to tell me right away. You'll at least feel better once you confide in me."

Bai Zhou didn't expect Ji Fanyin to suddenly hit him. The pain on his forehead made him glare at her and roar, "What are you doing?"

"If you don't want me to play with that person, I'll promise you that I won't play with that person anymore," said Ji Fanyin as she placed the chopstick which she had just used to whack his head in front of him. "You're the only one whom I really want to play with. Everyone else is of secondary concern here, do you understand?"

Bai Zhou frowned. "But you told me that…"

"It doesn't matter. Be it that person's gender, appearances, country of origin, or background, none of those matter at all." Ji Fanyin interjected right in and spoke with a forceful tone that allowed no room for no doubts. "You shouldn't waste your time on people who can't even be compared to you."

Bai Zhou: "…"

His face began to redden bit by bit. He slowly picked up his chopsticks and reached for the nearest dish before hurriedly stuffing some into his mouth.

…

Ji Fanyin was glad that she had managed to beguile Bai Zhou.

Bai Zhou's words were unclear, but it wasn't too difficult to figure out what had happened.

Ji Xinxin most likely got overconfident and tried to hook two fishes at once, only to end up giving herself away.

Ji Fanyin might have managed to placate Bai Zhou for the time being, but that didn't solve the root of the problem. Ultimately, the only one who could resolve this issue was Ji Xinxin herself.

Ji Xinxin should stop expanding her fishery for the time being and focus on stability instead. It's not hard to expand the fishery, but sustaining it does take quite a bit of effort once it gets too large.

Ji Fanyin began digging into the food as she wondered if Ji Xinxin had realized that Bai Zhou was already onto her.

To be honest, this didn't really have anything to do with her since she was nothing more than a hired actor. It would suffice to leave the headache for Ji Xinxin to deal with.

Ji Fanyin raised her head to take a look at Bai Zhou, only to realize that her earlier remark about how others couldn't be compared with him was a little too potent.

They were several minutes into the meal by now, but Bai Zhou's head still remained lowered. He continued to tackle that single dish placed in front of him, as if he was going to stuff himself full with that one dish.

Ji Fanyin heaved a deep sigh before topping up her foolish client's plate with the other dishes. "Here, try this fish. Do you want a bowl of soup?"

Bai Zhou quietly passed his bowl to her, and Ji Fanyin took the bowl, stood up, and began serving soup for him.

It was then that a ringtone sounded. Bai Zhou's phone, which was placed by the side of the table, lit up, revealing a display picture that familiar Ji Fanyin was familiar with.

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

Ji Xinxin.

Bai Zhou leisurely glanced at his phone when he first heard the ringtone, but when he saw whom the call was from, he put down his chopsticks and anxiously reached forth to grab it.

His vigorous movement caused a huge ruckus as bowls and plates were shoved around.

However, Bai Zhou was hardly in the mood to care about the state on the table. His complexion as he grabbed his phone was awful, almost as if he was a scum caught cheating by his girlfriend.

Ji Fanyin calmly put down the ladle and wickedly asked, "What's wrong? Aren't you going to pick up the call?"

Bai Zhou looked at the phone in his hand with a deep frown before raising his head to look at Ji Fanyin. He hesitated for a moment as to whether he ought to excuse himself, but in the end, he decided to pick up the call on the spot.

"Big sister? Mm… I have something up today, so I won't be joining you for the game. Have fun."

Meanwhile, Ji Fanyin quietly pushed the bowl of soup in front of Bai Zhou. She even specially made her way over to a drawer to grab him a soup spoon.

God knows how difficult it is to find all of these crockeries and eating utensils in Bai Zhou's home. It's almost as if someone has sealed his kitchen off from the day renovations were completed.

"What I'm doing now?" Bai Zhou anxiously raised his head to glance at Ji Fanyin. "Cough cough… I'm having my dinner now… Yes, I'm alone. I called for delivery."

Ji Fanyin settled back into her chair and began gracefully digging into her meal.

Really, the food I make fits my palate the best.

She noticed that Bai Zhou was looking at her with a nervous smile, so she responded with a gentle smile before popping another piece of meat into her mouth.

She couldn't tell what Ji Xinxin said afterward, but Bai Zhou's face suddenly grew even darker. He spoke with an almost displeased tone, "… Who told you about the affairs that happened tonight? Song Shiyu?"

Ji Fanyin pondered about the question over the meal.

Would Song Shiyu tell Ji Xinxin about the happenings during the banquet earlier on? Hmm… I think his motive is lacking.

At least for the time being, it doesn't seem like the involvement of illegitimate children would affect Bai Zhou's future, let alone his place in Ji Xinxin's heart. Besides, snitching is at odds with the kind of refined gentlemanly character Song Shiyu had chosen to play. He stands to lose more by trying to gossip behind others.

The culprit should be someone else.

The intuition to process and evaluate information was extremely important to a 'King of the Seas'. While Ji Fanyin was still making logical deductions on the situation, Bai Zhou's conversation had already moved on to the next phase.

"Tomorrow?" Bai Zhou's finger moved around the table nervously. "… My account has been banned. I might not be able to join you for the next few days. I'll call you when my account is finally unbanned."

Ji Fanyin was so free that she even started to help Bai Zhou keep count .

Three lies so far, and each is smoother than the previous.

"See you, big sister." It seemed like the conversation had ended there, but Bai Zhou didn't put down his phone right away. Instead, he hesitantly asked, "Big sister, there's something I want to ask you…"

He paused for several seconds here before continuing on, "… Never mind, it's nothing much. Make sure to take care of yourself."

Ji Fanyin thought that it was quite fascinating. It interested her to watch as a person's feelings slowly changed in nature due to the complications of their own mind.

However, it was best for her major clients not to have a change of heart till she finally decided to do away with this job. So, when she saw that Bai Zhou had hung up her phone and was just about to say something, she cut right in and said, "Careful, the soup is still hot."

Bai Zhou clicked his tongue. Almost as if he was venting his anger at himself, he lifted the bowl and gulped it down in a single mouthful.

Ji Fanyin: "…"

Youngsters. What's the point?

She stayed at Bai Zhou's house for two hours in total. She made sure to clean up the bar counter and kitchen properly after the meal. Just as she was about to leave, Bai Zhou, who was leaning against the walls of the entryway with crossed arms, suddenly stopped her with a question.

"Song Shiyu looked for you last night?" he asked.

Ji Fanyin was in the midst of putting on her heels when she turned over to look at him.

As service time was already over, Ji Fanyin's attitude had reverted back to her usual lackadaisical self. "Mmhm. What's wrong?"

"For free?"

"For free?" Ji Fanyin repeated before refuting it with a chuckle. "How's that possible?"

After putting on her heels, she rose to her feet. As her heels were fairly tall, Bai Zhou naturally reached out to support her in case she lost her balance, but she subconsciously avoided his touch.

This set of actions surprised the two of them.

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Bai Zhou clicked his tongue and retracted his hand unhappily, and Ji Fanyin didn't bother explaining her avoidance of his touch. She calmly bade him farewell as if nothing had happened and walked out of the house.

"Hey," Bai Zhou suddenly called out to her. "Aren't you curious why I asked you that?"

"I have no interest in my client's personal life," replied Ji Fanyin as she rubbed her fingers together, a gesture for money. "You don't have to worry about me divulging whatever that has happened today to anyone else."

That's why, my esteemed customer, please don't fall for me that easily.

Weekend.

Ji Fanyin had previously applied for a new bank account that was linked to her identification card. She was quite busy for the entire week, so she was only able to make time for it on the weekend.

Her old bank account was applied for by Father Ji and Mother Ji, but those two had been spamming her phone with calls ever since the movie screening.

She would still pick up their calls at the start, but when they kept asking meaningless questions like 'How have you been?', she started to simply leave the phone on the table and continue whatever she was doing.

KInship was nowhere near the top in her list of priorities at the moment. Making a fortune was far more important.

That was also why she applied for a new bank account.

She dropped by the bank in the late afternoon to finish up the procedures and transfer all of the money she had into it. Following that, she dropped her two clients a message to inform them about the change in her bank account number.

She didn't forget to close her old bank account too.

The bank manager tried to retain her, but Ji Fanyin insisted on it.

The sun was already showing signs of setting by the time she left the bank. She happened to be near a university, so there were many youthful university students on the streets.

She couldn't help but notice an advertisement poster plastered around about a varsity basketball competition finals that were going to be held today at 4 P.M.

She took a look at her watch and noted that it was 3:30 P.M.

This is really too much of a coincidence. It feels like the world is dropping me a hint.

Well, I guess that I don't have anything important today anyway.

After a moment of consideration, Ji Fanyin tapped into her conversation window with Chen Yunsheng and confirmed that she was indeed near the location of the basketball finals.

… Should I take a look?

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Ji Fanyin headed to the nearest convenience shop and bought some sports drinks, energy bars, and fruits before making her way to the match location. Along the way, she began messaging Chen Yunsheng.

…

There was a huge crowd on the basketball court.

Youth, sweat, hunks, and basketball—these four words fit perfectly here.

There was still half an hour to the commencement of the match, but the audience had already settled into their seats. Some of them had even brought decent-looking cheering banners with them.

Both teams were already on the court. Some of them were warming up whereas the others were listening to their coach's pep talk.

… There was also one cool guy who snuck over to the bench to grab his phone.

"―Chen Yunsheng!" the coach shouted. "Look at the time! Why are you still looking at your phone?!"

"… I'm just taking a glance." Chen Yunsheng expectantly picked up his phone which had vibrated earlier and took a look at it. His face brightened up right away. "Coach, I need to head out for a moment."

The volume of the coach's voice was really no joke. "Right now? I'll bloody smack your head off!"

One of Chen Yunsheng's teammates that had insider news remarked teasingly, "Heh! Judging from your reaction, that big sister whom you met outside must have sent you a message, right?"

"Oh? Is it the legendary big sister whom our faculty hunk invited to the competition but still hasn't received a proper response yet?"

"Coach, you should also understand where he's coming from. Let him fetch her here. As the saying goes, 'it's better to tear down ten temples than to ruin a good marriage'!"

The coach glanced at his watch before snorting impatiently, "I'll give you eight minutes!"

Not wasting even a second, Chen Yunsheng grabbed his jacket and phone before taking flight.

"Brat, slow down a little! How are you going to play later on if you tire yourself out now!"

Chen Yunsheng ran out of the basketball court amidst the excited shrieks of the female students while anxiously sending a voice message to Ji Fanyin, "Big sister, where are you? I'm coming over to fetch you right now. The place is a little confusing so it's very easy for you to get lost."

Ji Fanyin quickly sent him a photo.

Chen Yunsheng took a quick look at the photo before grabbing a nearby student to ask, "Hey, do you know where this place is?"

The student propped up his black-rimmed glasses and nonchalantly pointed in a direction, saying, "It's right under that building over there."

"Thanks!" Chen Yunsheng put on his jacket and dashed over. It was as if he had an eternal spring of youthful energy inside of him, and it took him only two minutes to rush over to the opposite building.

It didn't take him long before he caught sight of Ji Fanyin under a distinct logo.

She was wearing a mask, and her face was lowered toward her phone, but Chen Yunsheng was certain that he had gotten the right person.

His footsteps immediately screeched to a halt. He took a brief moment to calm his breathing before heading over to greet her, but he didn't try to intentionally conceal the joyful tone in his voice, "Big sister!"

The woman standing there raised her head. She pulled down her mask and smiled at him, "Hi."

"I thought that you'd be too busy with work to watch the competition." Chen Yunsheng was a little nervous. "What are you holding? Is it heavy? I'll carry it for you."

He couldn't help but secretly take a good look at Ji Fanyin as he asked.

Ah, she's dressed casually today without any make-up. She looks beautiful in a different way.

… How should I put it? Both her outfit and her disposition feel quite different.

"I got them at a convenience shop earlier on. I don't know if these are appropriate." Ji Fanyin showed the contents of the plastic bag to Chen Yunsheng. "I recall that basketball players would usually get a bit of time to replenish their energy off-court, so I got some sports drinks, fruits, and energy bars. It would be great if these can be of any help."

"Of course they are!" Chen Yunsheng happily took the heavy plastic bag from her hand. "You don't know how gluttonous those guys can get. There are even times when everything is gone before I could even grab anything. Eesh!"

He chose to put on a pitiful front.

He read on the internet that going for a pitiful but cute impression could do wonders when trying to court confident women, so he unhesitatingly cast his pride aside!

"That's a relief," replied Ji Fanyin as she put her mask back on. She took a look at her watch and asked, "How long is the match going to be?"

"It'll only take a little more than an hour!" replied Chen Yunsheng nervously. "Do you have something up afterward?"

"I don't have any work lined up," replied Ji Fanyin with a shake of her head. "It's just that the match is a little shorter than I expected… Did you sneak out of the court?"

"My coach gave me eight minutes," Chen Yunsheng quickly clarified with a pitiful look on his face. "Shall we head over? I'll get you a front-row seat at the basketball court."

He figured that if there were no more front row seats, he would place Ji Fanyin at the closest seats commonly dubbed as the 'family seats'. There was bound to be space there.

As long as he explained it carefully, it was unlikely that the other party would mind it too much given her easygoing personality.

Chen Yunsheng happily accompanied Ji Fanyin toward the basketball court with the bag of goodies in his hands. He felt like he was drifting amidst clouds, but fortunately, he was still able to retain a bit of invaluable rationality to hold a conversation, "Big sister, did you happen to have some work to do in the vicinity?"

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"That's right." Ji Fanyin pointed to the advertisement posters that were plastered all around the campus and said, "I happened to see one of those while walking around the streets so I thought that I could head over to take a look. It sure is a coincidence, isn't it?"

Chen Yunsheng clenched his fists tightly: I'll have to treat those in the publicity department to a meal to thank them.

It took Chen Yunsheng two minutes to run to where Ji Fanyin was, so it only took them a few minutes to walk over to the basketball court too.

As they approached the side entrance, Ji Fanyin could clearly hear a ruckus produced by a combination of music and chatter coming from within.

A student dressed in a basketball team uniform happened to rush out at that moment. Upon seeing Chen Yunsheng, he quickly grabbed him and exclaimed, "It's already been ten minutes! Hurry up and return to the court!"

"I'll get someone to bring you to your seat…" Chen Yunsheng was still dilly-dallying, but three other tall and brawny teammates ran over at that moment and dragged him away.

Ji Fanyin waved at Chen Yunsheng with a smile and mouthed to him: All the best.

Chen Yunsheng barely stood his ground against his teammates by grabbing the edge of the door and said, "Big sister, you must make sure to only look at me later on!"

With that, he was dragged off as pitifully as one could imagine.

His teammates couldn't help but retort, "It's really terrifying when a cold-faced hunk like you suddenly undergoes a 180-degree twist in personality…"

Ji Fanyin chuckled at their banter. She leisurely entered the basketball court after them and took a brief look around the area.

There was naturally an audience stand, but it appeared to be completely filled at the moment.

Surprisingly, she found a familiar face amongst the audience―Song Shiyu.

He was probably invited because he was a renowned alumnus who had now become a successful entrepreneur.

Ji Fanyin disinterestedly looked away. It was then that a young lady jogged over to her side.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Ji? Chen Yunsheng told me to help you look for a seat." The young lady sounded a little nervous.

Ji Fanyin pulled down her mask and said, "I'm Ji Fanyin."

"Ah!" The young lady looked at her in confusion and asked doubtfully, "You're Senior Ji Xinxin's…"

"She's my younger sister."

"I see." The young lady didn't think too much into it and began leading Ji Fanyin toward the sides. "There aren't many seats left at the moment. Are you fine with the seats near the coach's bench? It'll be hard to find another seat, and you wouldn't get as good of a view of the match too. However, I think it'll be better if I tell you in advance…"

She paused hesitantly for a moment before continuing on.

"Those seats are commonly known as the 'family seats'. There are no explicit rules about it, but those who sit there are usually either esteemed guests or the players' family members and girlfriends. Big sister… i-is that okay with you?"

"You're calling me big sister too?" Ji Fanyin glanced at the seat the young lady was pointing out. "Is it that row over there?"

"Y-yes."

Ji Fanyin comforted her and said, "Don't worry about me. I've troubled you all by coming in at the last moment. You don't need to walk me there; I can head there by myself. You probably have a lot on your hands right now since the match is about to begin, right?"

"A-ah. Then… I'll get going?" The young lady gestured toward the seat before walking away stiffly with uncoordinated hands and legs.

Ji Fanyin touched her own face and wondered if she really looked that frightening.

Under the curious gaze of the nearby crowd, she calmly made her way through a special passageway that led toward the 'family seats'. She settled down on the first empty seat she saw.

The young lady sitting on the adjacent seat turned toward her and greeted her amicably, "Hello, I'm Chen Yunshan. You can think of it as a woman's sixth sense, but by any chance, is it possible that you're acquainted with my younger brother, Chen Yunsheng? I saw him running out earlier, and the two of you arrived one after another not too long later. So, I couldn't help but wonder about it."

"I've long heard that the more gorgeous a woman is, the sharper her sixth sense is. It looks like there's some truth to that claim," replied Ji Fanyin with a smile. "I'm Ji Fanyin. Nice to meet you."

Oddly enough, this wasn't the first time Ji Fanyin met Chen Yunshan. The last time they met, she was accompanied by another man who happened to be present here too.

"I came here with a friend. He used to be from Yunsheng's school." Chen Yunshan turned to the side and began introducing her male companion to Ji Fanyin. "This is Song Shiyu. Ah, you probably already know him if you graduated from the same school."

Ji Fanyin looked at Song Shiyu and said with a smile, "We've met before, but we aren't that close to one another."

While watching the competition, Ji Fanyin couldn't help noticing a gaze had been lingering on her discreetly.

Needless to say, it was Song Shiyu.

Chen Yunshan was the one who had a blind date with him the other day at that restaurant.

Ji Fanyin never thought that she would bump into her client during her rest day, but she couldn't be bothered to entertain him outside of working hours. So, she ignored his gaze and focused her attention on the competition.

It was the finals after all. The match was so intense that it spurred deafening cheers from the supporters of both teams in the indoor basketball court.

The match concluded with the victory of Chen Yunsheng's team. There was roaring applause from the crowd, and Chen Yunshan hopped to her feet excitedly.

Ji Fanyin clapped along with the crowd as she began thinking about what she should have for dinner.

The award ceremony was pretty decent too. The third place and fourth place were decided by another match that happened simultaneously with the finals, and the third-place team joined them in the award presentation ceremony too.

As soon as the award ceremony came to an end, Chen Yunsheng ran to the audience stand with his medal and frantically waved his hand to catch Ji Fanyin's attention, "Big sister, big sister!"

Ji Fanyin subconsciously stood up, but she quickly glanced toward Chen Yunshan.

"Ah no, I'm his cousin. It's just that we're quite close to one another so we address each other directly by our names," Chen Yunshan quickly clarified. She giggled under the cover of her hand and said, "You should quickly head over. Look how anxious he is."

So, Ji Fanyin walked toward the railing and looked downward at Chen Yunsheng, saying, "Congratulations."

Chen Yunsheng tiptoed a little. With his long limbs, he was able to hang the gleaming medal around her neck.

Ji Fanyin could immediately feel the weight on her neck. The medal swayed freely beneath her eyes.

"… Are you giving it to me?"

"Yup!" Chen Yunsheng warily took a step back and said, "I don't accept any refunds."

He cheekily waved his hand at her before running off.

But before he could make his escape, his teammates swarmed him and dragged him back toward the audience stand where Ji Fanyin was.

Ji Fanyin: "…"

She touched the medal hanging around her neck as she looked at Chen Yunsheng with a slightly helpless look.

To be honest, I shouldn't be accepting this gift. It's scalding to the touch.

Chen Yunsheng stared at Ji Fanyin with glistening, fawning eyes.

"Accept him! Accept him!" Chen Yunsheng's teammates began cheering loudly.

Chen Yunsheng frowned upon hearing their cheers. He quickly turned to them and said, "I haven't confessed yet. Stop messing around."

He chased off his teammates with a fierce look on his face, but the commotion had already drawn half of the eyes in the indoor basketball court.

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

Chen Yunsheng snuck a peek at Ji Fanyin before slowly inching his way toward her. He leaned against the railing and apologized, "Big sister, sorry about that. They don't mean anything bad. I'll teach them a lesson later. They won't dare to do it anymore in the future."

Ji Fanyin remarked contemplatively, "And I thought that you were that cute in front of everyone."

But it turns out that he only acts cute in front of her. Doesn't that make him even cuter?

Chen Yunsheng's face reddened. He protested softly, "A man can't be called cute, but since it's coming from big sister… it's fine."

Ji Fanyin asked him, "You won't regret giving me this medal?"

"Definitely not," Chen Yunsheng replied affirmatively. He placed his chin on the railing and said, "I'm only giving it to you because it's something I cherish a lot."

"Just because you cherish something doesn't mean that she'll see value in it too," someone suddenly interjected.

Ji Fanyin glanced at Song Shiyu, who was currently gazing down on Chen Yunsheng beside her.

Chen Yunsheng nonchalantly turned to Song Shiyu and replied, "Big risk, big return. I can't possibly not do anything just because I'm afraid of failure, right?"

He even turned to Ji Fanyin right after to seek her acknowledgment, "Am I right, big sister?"

Ji Fanyin burst into laughter. She patted his head lightly and said, "Yes yes, you're right."

"Can I ask you another question?" Chen Yunsheng blinked his eyes.

"You're asking for a reward?" Ji Fanyin pondered for a moment before nodding. "Ask ahead."

Chen Yunsheng lowered his voice further before asking, "You told me last time you don't have a boyfriend. Then, do you have anyone you like at the moment?"

Song Shiyu's intervention brought a frown to Chen Yunshan's face, compelling her to pull him away. He just so happened to be walking behind Ji Fanyin when Chen Yunsheng asked his question, allowing him to hear it loud and clear.

He didn't even notice that his footsteps had stalled to a halt.

He felt that he already had the answer to that question, but even so… he wanted to hear a direct confirmation from her mouth.

It felt like a long time had passed before he finally heard her voice.

She chuckled softly before saying, "Anyone I like? Hmm… No one at the moment."

Chen Yunsheng's eyes lit up right away. Just as he was about to let out a soft celebratory cheer, a loud excited male voice boomed across the indoor basketball court through the speakers.

"Everyone heard that? She says that she doesn't have anyone she likes at the moment!"

The spectating crowd was weirdly riled up about that. "Oooooooh!"

Chen Yunsheng's face darkened.

He turned his head around coldly. The man who was eavesdropping behind him with a microphone in hand caught a whiff of danger and immediately made his escape. He was so agile that one could mistake him for a core member of the track and field club.

Chen Yunsheng chased after him furiously.

Ji Fanyin looked upon the bustle as she touched the medal hanging in front of her chest. Perhaps it was the influence from the lively atmosphere, the edges of her lips curled up a little.

She took a look at her watch before turning around, only to see Song Shiyu standing behind her. He was staring at her intently.

"Mr Song?" asked Ji Fanyin. "Is there any problem?"

"You…" Song Shiyu gritted his teeth tightly.

Ji Fanyin had a good idea what he was going to ask, but she didn't think that she was obliged to give in to him outside of service hours.

So, she directed a nod toward Song Shiyu and said, "I'll be heading off first if there's no issue. See you, Miss Chen."

It looks like their blind date is going pretty well. If the two of them are confirmed to be dating, I'll have to strike Song Shiyu off my list of clients.

Ji Fanyin had completely no interest in getting caught up in some depraved love scandal.

While making her way out, she took out her phone and sent a message to Chen Yunsheng, congratulating him once more for clinching the champion's seat.

Chen Yunsheng was still busy chasing his teammate, so he didn't reply right away.

Ji Fanyin headed all the way to the main road outside the campus and hailed a cab. She didn't see any hint of Song Shiyu along the way.

They were in a public place after all. He wouldn't want to be seen by anyone else and get caught up in some rumor with her.

…

"She has a good personality. My uncle's family will be fond of her," said Chen Yunshan full of envy. "If only I was as confident and open-hearted as her."

She turned to look at Song Shiyu, only to see that his attention was wandering somewhere else.

"… Mr Song?"

Song Shiyu snapped out of his daze and turned to her with a smile, saying, "Sorry, I was thinking about work… It really is a coincidence for us to bump into each other here. Miss Chen, what are your plans for the day? Shall I drive you home, or are you returning with your younger brother?"

Chen Yunshan looked a little disappointed. She lowered her head and fidgeted with her feet as she replied, "I drove here. You should get going if you have matters to attend to. You don't have to worry about me."

"At least allow me to walk you to the parking lot." Song Shiyu maintained his gentlemanly demeanor.

After seeing Chen Yunshan off, Song Shiyu walked over to his car and took out his phone, only to put it down after several seconds of hesitation.

Song Shiyu drove back to his apartment and opened his fridge. The heart-shaped chocolate and the gift wrapper were still in there, untouched.

In truth, he didn't like chocolate that much.

After staring at it for a moment, he slowly made his way into his room and opened his wardrobe.

Song Shiyu had a mild obsessive-compulsive disorder. He liked to classify items and place them in specific locations, so it never took him long to find his stuff.

However, he didn't find the item he was looking for at its designated spot this time around.

The tattered bracelet that should have been in the topmost accessories drawer wasn't where it was supposed to be.

He quickly pulled open the second and third drawers, but it wasn't there either.

He started to get a little anxious. He bent down to look through his ties, watches, belts… He even recalled the clothes he wore that day and searched through their pockets, but he couldn't find the bracelet Ji Fanyin had given to him that day as a birthday present.

I clearly retrieved it from the parking lot that day and placed it here. Why is it not here?

It was just like how Ji Fanyin told him that she liked him at the underground parking lot the other day, only to tell another man that she didn't have anyone that she liked shortly after.

Song Shiyu angrily slammed the drawers back in.

He paced around the spot like an irritated beast. In the end, he decided to conduct an all-out search.

It's not in the bedroom.

It's not in the toilet.

It's not in the living room.

It's not in the parking lot

When could I have possibly lost it?

The apartment has designated housekeepers who would drop by from time to time in order to clean the place up, but they are professionals who wouldn't touch any of the residents' private possessions. I also didn't have any guests during this period of time either…

Song Shiyu's footsteps suddenly screeched to a halt.

… No, there's one person who dropped by recently.

With a livid look on his face, Song Shiyu grabbed his phone and dialed Ji Fanyin's number. But barely a second after the phone rang, he hung up the call.

Even if it was really Ji Fanyin who took the bracelet away, what reason do I have to get her to give it back? Rather, why should I demand her to return a broken bracelet?

Why should I be concerned whether Ji Fanyin still likes me or not?

…

Ji Fanyin was preparing her dinner when she received Song Shiyu's call.

She continued stirring the pot with a single hand while picking up the call with her free hand. "Hello?"

"Did you touch my personal possessions without my permission while you were at my house?" Song Shiyu questioned.

Ji Fanyin gave his question some thought before replying, "I only took away trash with me. Is there something important amongst them?"

Song Shiyu: "…"

"That shouldn't be." Ji Fanyin sealed off all of his routes with ease. "Don't worry, I checked the items beforehand before tossing them away. I'm certain that they are things that you would have thrown away."

She could tell that Song Shiyu was really angry that day from how damaged the bracelet was. What really surprised her was him keeping it instead of throwing it away.

Song Shiyu: "…"

Ji Fanyin kindly reminded him, "Why don't you tell me what it is? I might be able to recall it."

If you're able to put down your pride and mention it, that is.

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

Song Shiyu hung up the call.

Ji Fanyin put her phone down and continued stirring her pot. Shortly after, she received yet another call.

"Hello, Mr Cen… Lunch tomorrow? Alright, send the address to me."

Ahh, so much work is coming in.

Cen Xiangyang was fully prepared for his meeting with Ji Fanyin.

Despite Song Shiyu's attempts to conceal the truth, he was still able to make some deductions based on the other party's attitude and words.

For example, Song Shiyu seemed to be particularly sensitive to the word 'substitute'. He was also oddly determined to stop him from obtaining Ji Fanyin's contact number.

Through his constant harassment of Song Shiyu over the last few days, Cen Xiangyang felt that he had finally gotten to the bottom of this matter.

Most likely, there's some sort of dirty deal between Song Shiyu and Ji Fanyin.

Cen Xiangyang had actually never heard of Ji Fanyin prior to this. He was one of Ji Xinxin's suitors, but all along, he thought that she was the only daughter of the Ji Family.

Not once had Ji Xinxin mentioned the existence of her twin sister to him.

So, he spent some time visiting his juniors in Lakeside University and was surprised to learn that the Ji Fanyin he had met that day was very different from the 'Ji Fanyin' they knew of.

They said that 'Ji Fanyin' was a gloomy reclusive, but Cen Xiangyang couldn't see how those two words could be applied to the Ji Fanyin he met at the movie premiere.

They said that 'Ji Fanyin' was extremely ugly and dared not show her own face, but Cen Xiangyang felt his heart pounding in excitement just thinking about the Ji Fanyin he met.

They said that 'Ji Fanyin' liked Song Shiyu, but Cen Xiangyang couldn't sense any affection from her attitude toward Song Shiyu. He could only conclude that she was able to hide her emotions well.

The results made him feel like he had collected a bunch of false intelligence. In fact, he felt a little regretful that Ji Fanyin wasn't a social recluse. Someone like that would have been much easier to control.

It looks like I can only count on my verbal skills to entice this thorny rose into making a deal with me.

Cen Xiangyang spent some time making thorough preparations to ensure that everything would go his way before finally dropping her a call. It was already a few days later by then, but he was confident that his mixture of threats and baits would be enough to make her accept his deal.

Sitting in the book café they had agreed to meet at, Cen Xiangyang picked out a book named 'The Lucifer Effect' in a good mood while waiting for Ji Fanyin's arrival. He took a look at the time as he flipped open the book.

I guess I can magnanimously forgive her even if she's late. It won't be long before she's mine anyway.

Three minutes before the agreed meeting time, Ji Fanyin arrived at the restaurant.

She walked toward the table under a waiter's lead. She took a glance at the cover of Cen Xiangyang's book and remarked with a smile, "The Stanford prison experiment. Who are you hoping to change?"

Words that directly pointed out the origin of the book meant that she wasn't just flaunting her knowledge here. Cen Xiangyang was about to rise to his feet when those words caused him to freeze up for a brief moment.

'The Lucifer Effect' and the Stanford prison experiment weren't exactly obscure topics, but very few of those who didn't dabble in related fields knew about them.

"It caught my eye when I was looking through the bookshelves earlier. I've only just started on it." Cen Xiangyang was able to quickly adjust his state and reply with an innocent smile. "I've only taken a brief look, but I must say that the notion that a person could be easily changed by their environment is quite an intriguing one."

Ji Fanyin didn't bother further discussing this topic with him. She responded with a casual nod and took her seat. "I must have kept you waiting."

"Nah, I've also just arrived not too long ago," replied Cen Xiangyang. He passed the menu to Ji Fanyin and said, "There's something that I'd like to talk to you about today… Shall we first order some food? I'll treat you."

Ji Fanyin's eyebrows shot up. She decisively picked out two expensive dishes and a freshly-squeezed beverage that had an artsy but incomprehensible name.

After the waiter confirmed the orders and took his leave, Cen Xiangyang picked up the teapot and poured Ji Fanyin a cup of barley tea. "I've been quite busy ever since that day, so I wasn't able to ask you out till today."

Ji Fanyin received the cup of barley and thanked him. "Busy with your new movie?"

"Yeah. There's a great deal of preparation work to be done before filming… Just like the ancient saying, 'the rations move before the army.'" Cen Xiangyang placed the teapot aside and carefully pushed the conversation toward the direction he wanted.

"It's interesting how the concept of the movie I've decided on half a month ago happens to be about a pair of twins too. Don't you think that it's a coincidence?" he asked with a casual tone that made it sound like a passing remark.

Ji Fanyin raised her eyebrows in interest, a signal for him to continue speaking.

Cen Xiangyang felt a little peeved by her expression. It wasn't one that he thought would ever appear on Ji Xinxin's face. It was too casual and perfunctory.

Ji Xinxin should be more… elegant, pure, and innocent.

"… The story is about a pair of estranged twin brothers who have never met one another before. The older brother is a respected cop whereas the younger brother is an idle vagrant. One day, the younger brother witnessed his older brother getting murdered by his enemies. He coveted his older brother's standing and lover, so he stole his identification documents and headed to his home. He wanted to take over his position."

Ji Fanyin calmly listened to his story with the cup of barley tea in her hands. She even chuckled softly in response to his words at one point in time.

This chuckle looks a little like Ji Xinxin, Cen Xiangyang thought. Now I really want to hurry up and make her mine.

Ji Fanyin waited for Cen Xiangyang to finish his story before asking, "Was the younger brother exposed in the end?"

"We'll have to wait for the movie to hit the theaters in order to find out," Cen Xiangyang reined in his thoughts and replied in a half-joking manner.

"Surely it's impossible for him not to be exposed?" Ji Fanyin got straight to the point. "Without the suspense from the constant threat of being exposed, the movie would lose its greatest charm."

"But don't you think that the premise is pretty interesting?" asked Cen Xiangyang. "Actually, I'm quite curious since you and your younger sister are twins too. Are the two of you able to act as one another impeccably to the point where it's impossible to tell the two of you apart?"

He didn't receive an answer right away because the waiter served their first dish then.

It was only after the waiter left that Ji Fanyin finally answered his question, "I'm quite curious about that too, but we have never tried that before."

"I thought that twins would put their identical appearances to full use and swap places with one another," Cen Xiangyang replied with a regretful sigh.

He was indeed feeling a little regretful as Ji Fanyin was turning out to be a difficult catch, just as he had expected. However, he had no plans on giving up. He was determined to reel her in by hook or by crook.

So, he decided to take a step back and attack from another angle. "Song Shiyu told me about your affairs the other day… I heard that your parents are a little biased?"

The earnestly eating Ji Fanyin stopped what she was doing.

She raised her head, looked at Cen Xiangyang, and said with a smile, "Director Cen, don't you think that your roundabout way of speaking is a waste of time for adults?"

Cen Xiangyang was choked up by her straightforward rebuttal for two seconds before he was able to slowly reply, "It looks like you're a smart person too. I've already heard about your affairs from people who know you. Your parents only dote on Xinxin, making you an invisible person in the household. It's almost like they only have a single daughter… Is that true?"

"Yes, that's true," replied Ji Fanyin with a distracted nod.

Cen Xiangyang realized that Ji Fanyin had just taken away the most tender piece of meat from the torched marble goby fish: "…"

He paused for a moment before proceeding with his script, "Don't you want to become Ji Xinxin and be as loved as she is?"

Ji Fanyin raised her head to present a surprised look and said, "No, I want to enter the Forbes' wealthiest people ranking. I don't expect too much, just ten billion… No, 9.8 billion would suffice.

Cen Xiangyang narrowed his eyes and asked slowly, "You're denying it, but isn't that what you're doing with Song Shiyu? Or are you trying to say that… it's fine with Song Shiyu but not with anyone else?"

"Anyone else?"

"With me."

There wasn't a hint of surprise on Ji Fanyin's face. She rested her chin on her hand and said, "Carry on."

"This is a good thing for both you and me," said Cen Xiangyang confidently. "We can both get what we want. You'll obtain your younger sister's happiness, and I'll attain the sense of satisfaction I seek."

"That's not right." Ji Fanyin shook her head. "The order should be reversed. I can give you the sense of satisfaction you want, and I'll obtain what I'm seeking."

"How's that any different?" Cen Xiangyang was unbothered by her seemingly meaningless argument on semantics.

"What I want is not the happiness of others," said Ji Fanyin. "What I'm looking for is something simpler and far more practical."

Cen Xiangyang sensed that he was gradually losing power over the flow of the conversation, and the loss of control made him feel a little anxious. "… What is it?"

"Director Cen, don't you pay the actors who work for you?"

"…" Cen Xiangyang was silent for a few seconds before he finally grasped what Ji Fanyin was getting at. He stared at her in disbelief and exclaimed, "You want money?"

No. No no no no! How could my Ji Xinxin possibly be obsessed with dirty money?

"Is there a problem with that?" asked Ji Fanyin.

Cen Xiangyang suddenly thought that Song Shiyu was very pitiful. "… Song Shiyu paid you as well?"

Ji Fanyin crossed her hands and said, "I'm afraid I can't answer that question."

Cen Xiangyang: "…"

The conversation had gone down a different direction from what he had expected, but the endpoint looked to be the same. At least they did manage to exchange their views and expressed their interest to proceed with this transaction.

Things still looked optimistic thus far.

It was just that Cen Xiangyang couldn't help but feel like something was wrong as he paid for the meal.

It was only when he walked out of the restaurant and saw a couple of people giving out flyers about a gym membership that it finally struck him.

She's really viewing this as a business? It feels like she'll be even more vicious than gym memberships when ripping off her clients.

Ji Fanyin put on her coat as she asked him, "Would you like to have a look at the fee structure?"

"…" Cen Xiangyang felt like a plump lamb who had caught the eye of a wolf.

But he was the one who first raised the suggestion, and he did want to entertain himself with this imitation while Ji Xinxin was away.

So, Cen Xiangyang's eyes curled into a smile, and he said, "… It'll be fine as long as you ensure that it's value for money."

…

We are /3Tfs4P4, find us on google.

Not too long after the two of them parted ways, Cen Xiangyang received the so-called fee structure from Ji Fanyin. He checked the document's last edit and noted that it had just been reviewed not too long ago.

What would lead to her reviewing her fee structure in recent days?

With this thought in his mind, Cen Xiangyang opened the document and was immediately met with a series of detailed rules. It really looked like the fee structure of a legitimate company.

On top of that, the most important part was placed obediently in the middle of the document, almost like a wolf hiding amidst a pack of sheep.

When Cen Xiangyang saw that the prices started from 100,000 dollars per hour: "…"

This is almost on par with top-tier celebrities! Is Song Shiyu really paying her this sum or compensating her with his body?