Jiangcheng— the rain fell in a fine, relentless drizzle.
The film Lost finally premiered on schedule amid widespread anticipation.
In just a few short hours, it shot straight to the top of the major trending lists.
The comment sections were flooded with praise.
Also hanging high on the hot searches were two names: the film’s director, He Yu, and its lead actress, Yu Yang.
At this very moment, Director He Yu was nowhere to be found.
Yu Yang, meanwhile, was fast asleep in her cozy little nest.
Her manager, Song Li, stared at the phone screen, which showed the eleventh unanswered call, and rubbed her temples helplessly.
She couldn’t help but admit that such excellent sleep quality was truly enviable.
The instant Song Li pushed open the bedroom door, Yu Yang sprang up from the bed.
That speed—she could’ve easily competed with a 100-meter sprint champion.
Song Li curled her lips.
“Oh? You actually know how to get up now?”
“I thought I’d need to invite you three times and urge you four times before you’d even move!”
“Keep sleeping—might as well go on a date with the moon!”
Yu Yang apologized sincerely. “I was wrong!”
Song Li rattled on nonstop.
“Hurry up and get ready! We’re all about to die of exhaustion. One of you is sleeping like the dead, the other ran off to the mountains to fish—so what, this movie has nothing to do with you two at all?!”
Yu Yang dashed into the bathroom.
She tried it.
Still couldn’t close the door tightly.
If she closed it, it would turn into a nonstop symphony.
If she didn’t, her ears at least had a chance to zone out.
Staring at her reflection in the mirror—her face pale as if all the blood had been sucked out— she secretly swore to herself:
If she stayed up late again, she’d be a pig.
By the time she was done getting ready, three hours had passed.
“Sister Song Li, can we just… not go?”
“No.”
Song Li’s refusal was so crisp and decisive that it left no room for argument.
Given the special nature of this film’s subject matter, making it to the day of release had truly not been easy.
With He Yu, that fishing-obsessed old man, having run off, she—the lead actress—naturally had to go and placate the investors.
By the time Yu Yang was brought to Restaurant 124, night had already quietly begun to envelop the world.
After seeing Yu Yang hang up yet another call through the rearview mirror, Song Li frowned and asked,
“Who keeps calling?”
“No idea! So annoying.”
“Why is everyone into randomly claiming daughters these days?!”
“My parents have been gone for so many years—there’s no way I believe they can crawl out from underground!”
Yu Yang stared at the messages on her phone, her expression dark.
After eating through the third round of dishes, she truly began to believe Song Li’s nonsense.
Bored out of her mind, she picked at the food in her bowl.
Later, she even started playing with the dishes, piecing them together—almost reconstructing the original shape of a potato.
From time to time, she casually glanced at her phone.
Yu Yang muttered inwardly:
——Is this person sick or what? How do they have so many accounts?!
——If you’re really my mom, I’ll eat shit upside down!
——Of all the weapons you could practice, why insist on practicing the sword?!
Just as she finished cursing in her heart, she looked at the screen— her jaw nearly dropped to the floor.
【Daughter, you really are my daughter. I’ve been looking for you for many years. If you don’t believe me, we can meet and talk. You look very much like me.】
【Why won’t you believe me no matter what I say? Are you blaming Mom? But I didn’t mean it… it’s all that woman’s fault. If she hadn’t clung to your father, I wouldn’t have been separated from you!】
【Come back, okay? Mom really misses you so much.】
……
Yu Yang frowned and shut off her phone.
She’d better just keep “doing puzzles.”
Song Li wandered over and sat beside Yu Yang, taking in her appearance.
She wore a red dress, her slightly chestnut-colored long curls casually cascading down her back. Her features were cool and aloof, yet those eyes were unusually tender and full of emotion—beautiful like a bewitching peach-blossom demon.
Moving downward, that slender waist— it looked like it could snap with just one grip.
Yu Yang lifted a finger and hooked Song Li’s chin.
Her red lips curved slightly as she bit them lightly.
“You little pervert.”
Suddenly, the private room fell into an eerie silence.
Yu Yang saw someone stand up, bend low, and hurry over, fawning,
“President Pei, what brings you here?”
That single sentence drew everyone’s attention.
At the same time, unnoticed by anyone, the chopsticks in Yu Yang’s hand clattered to the floor.
Her heart leapt violently with shock.
——How could it be him?!
By her ear, a clear, cold voice sounded.
“Pei Yuheng.”
Pei Yuheng—founder of O.Star Entertainment, and the new-generation head of the Pei family in the capital. Other details: unknown.
Why did this name provoke such a huge reaction from Yu Yang?
Because Tianxing Entertainment, where she worked, was a subsidiary under O.Star.
For anyone else, this would be cause for celebration.
For her?
She only wanted to wail.
After many years apart, meeting again—
The ex she had once dumped had become her direct superior.
Such a low-probability event had actually happened to her.
Yu Yang already wanted to disappear on the spot.
In her mind flashed ten thousand different ways she might die.
She truly couldn’t understand it.
How did that pitiful little Pei Yu from back then turn into Pei Yuheng, a man listed on Forbes?
Her memories seemed to rewind to the day they broke up.
Back then, Pei Yuheng was still called Pei Yu, always wearing a white shirt washed so many times it was wrinkled.
She had taken a thick stack of red bills and thrown them in front of him.
What had she said at the time?
She said—
——I only treated you as a gamble. I didn’t expect you to like me this much, but we’re over now.
This money is your breakup fee.
Yu Yang clutched her head.
She was on the verge of madness.
If she had known they’d meet again under such circumstances, she would’ve left herself a way out back then.
When Yu Yang lifted her gaze, she saw Pei Yuheng surrounded by people—
Dazzling beyond compare.
A man like Pei Yuheng would be the center of attention wherever he went.
Thinking of the harsh words they’d once hurled at each other,
Yu Yang tried to make herself invisible.
Song Li clung to Yu Yang’s arm and whispered,
“Holy shit, why does the big boss look like he has insanely strong reproductive ability?!”
Yu Yang tilted her head, staring at the lovestruck Song Li.
“My dear sister, you’re a married woman!”
“So what? Don’t worry—I’m just shocked by his looks. I won’t cheat!”
Yu Yang slapped her own forehead hard.
And Song Li kept chattering on.
“Yu Yang, why don’t you give it a try? Sure, I despise unspoken rules, but if it’s him, I support you!”
“I’ll make an appointment then—let you and us both try to become in-laws!”
“Song Li, be human!”
Yu Yang could no longer hear what Song Li was saying.
She stared in Pei Yuheng’s direction, wanting nothing more than to vanish from this place immediately.
——Oh heavens, why are you treating me like this?!
——Aaaaaah!!!
Thinking of the ways Pei Yuheng used to “discipline” her—
Yu Yang’s legs went weak.
All kinds of positions, all kinds of locations—every single one had to be tried.
Her legs went weak all over again.
When she finally realized her thoughts were going way off track,
Yu Yang decided she must be far too lonely…
…cold, even!