After leaving the TV station, Ji Yao took the bus home.
Once on the bus, she found a corner seat and gazed out the window at the scenery.
She had enjoyed doing this even years ago, before she left.
Although Zhuang Meiyan had wanted to buy her a car early on, Ji Yao knew that the money her mother earned from her small business wasn’t easy to come by. So, she squeezed onto the bus for as long as she could.
She wanted to rely on herself and provide a better life for her parents.
Since childhood, Ji Yao had spent more time with Ji Hong, who was considerate and caring toward Zhuang Meiyan.
Unlike many other alphas, he had no major flaws and willingly took care of the family. He also admitted that, career-wise, he wasn’t as talented as Zhuang Meiyan.
Zhuang Meiyan didn’t stick to a fixed line of work, she did whatever made money. In the early years, she dabbled in physical businesses and earned a decent amount. Later, as online stores grew increasingly popular, she followed the trend and invested in them.
By now, it had been nearly five years, and Ji Yao had no idea how her mother’s business was doing.
Thinking of the blocked phone number, Ji Yao felt a pang of heartache. She tried calling Zhuang Meiyan and Ji Hong again.
Unsurprisingly, she was still on their blocklists.
With a dejected expression, Ji Yao returned home. It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered going to see them directly, but given her current situation, she’d likely be chased away before even stepping through the door.
They might even think she was there to ask for money.
Ji Yao didn’t want to face that. She just missed her mother.
After five years apart, living through hardships, how could she not miss her?
But reality weighed heavily on her.
So, as soon as she got home, without resting, she began tallying up her debts and assets.
She owed Shi Yu and others a total of 4.2 million yuan. Ji Yao felt disheartened.
Fortunately, she found some comfort in the fact that she still had two cars and parking spaces under her name.
After sorting out her debts and assets, Ji Yao went down to the underground garage.
She smiled as she looked at the two cars that belonged to her: a Li Auto all-electric SUV and an Audi A7.
She only learned about these cars thanks to her divorce agreement with Shi Yu. While rummaging through her things, she not only found her marriage certificate but also the vehicle titles, which led her to discover the two parking spaces in her name.
Thankfully, life wasn’t entirely bleak. By selling these off, she could pay back half of her debt. If the market was favorable, she might even cover most of it.
She listed both cars on various second-hand car platforms and put the parking spaces up for sale as well.
Afterward, she checked rental and second-hand housing prices and decisively decided to sell her apartment.
Property prices had risen over the past three years, and selling it would net her a profit of about 200,000 yuan.
One piece of good news followed another. Right after listing the apartment, she received inquiries about the Li Auto, with a buyer wanting to meet and discuss the price.
After handling all this, she finally enjoyed a good night’s sleep.
In the alternate world, she had been physically and mentally exhausted. Even after returning these past few days, things hadn’t improved much, it was still the same.
But at least she had some breathing room.
The next morning, Ji Yao took her time dressing up cheerfully before slinging her backpack over her shoulder and heading out.
Having not driven for years, she felt a bit nervous. Moreover, the car was a new energy vehicle she had never driven before. It took her a while to figure it out before she finally managed to drive off.
The car was quite large, and she felt almost like a beginner again, her eyes struggling to keep up.
Soon after leaving the residential complex, she found a spot to park near a coffee shop and called the buyer.
She briefly explained her situation, and then the person asked her to wait for over ten minutes.
The call lasted less than a minute, but Ji Yao felt the voice sounded somewhat familiar, she just couldn’t place who it was.
She kept thinking about it until a very familiar-looking person approached by the roadside and knocked on her car window. Only then did she realize why the voice had seemed so familiar.
Rolling down the window, Ji Yao looked at the female alpha in a wool coat, prioritizing style over warmth, and finally understood where that sense of familiarity came from.
If she wasn’t mistaken, this female alpha was Qiao Zixi, her once dear sworn sister.
As for why they were sworn sisters, it was because back in elementary school, the two of them got along extremely well and, inspired by martial arts dramas, pledged to become sworn sisters. They even recited the vow: “We may not have been born on the same year, same month, or same day, but we wish to die on the same year, same month, and same day.”
However, a year after their pledge, Qiao Zixi’s entire family moved to Yunzhou.
Yunzhou isn’t too far from Xijing, but it’s not exactly close either. At that time, they were both young. They promised to meet again someday and occasionally called each other, but as time passed, it was unclear who stopped contacting whom first.
Just like that, over ten years went by without any contact.
Meeting again, there was a sense of closeness, but also a bit of awkwardness.
Ji Yao forced a slight smile, but Qiao Zixi patted her shoulder familiarly: “Your voice sounded familiar, but I didn’t expect it to really be you.”
“So, can you lower the price of the car?”
Ji Yao’s smile gradually stiffened. At a time like this.
It was indeed convenient for Qiao Zixi to bargain, but she was in desperate need of money and had her bottom line.
“I bought this car just a year ago, and it’s been driven less than 20,000 kilometers. The listed price is 280,000, and the lowest I can go is 10,000 less. No other negotiations,” Ji Yao stated her bottom line. Qiao Zixi rested her chin on her hand and stayed silent.
After inspecting the car, Qiao Zixi waved for her to get out.
They swapped seats, and Qiao Zixi stepped on the gas, driving quite a distance.
After driving around for over half an hour, they arrived at the entrance of a hot pot restaurant.
“Get out. You treat me to a meal, I’ll transfer the money to you, and then we’ll go handle the transfer paperwork.”
Quick and straightforward. Ji Yao didn’t say anything else.
Given that they hadn’t seen each other for so long, treating her to a meal was no big deal. She unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car.
Truth be told, she was a bit nervous inside. After so many years apart, who really knew each other anymore?
But after the broth and all the dishes were served, Qiao Zixi asked for her bank card number and transferred the money.
Overjoyed, Ji Yao immediately called the waiter over and ordered two more plates of meat and one plate of tripe.
Qiao Zixi, sitting across from her, smiled and asked, “Hey, Ji Yao, is it true about you and Shi Yu?”
Qiao Zixi’s tone was quite serious, as if she was genuinely curious about the matter.
But Ji Yao kept her head down, eating, and didn’t want to say anything.
After all, she was treating, so she might as well enjoy what she usually couldn’t afford first.
She had been craving this for years and didn’t want to waste it.
Most importantly, she didn’t know how to answer Qiao Zixi.
Unexpectedly, Qiao Zixi’s next words were: “Ji Yao, you’re going to have peach blossom luck this year.”
Ji Yao, who had been buried in a sea of tripe, looked up with helplessness in her eyes: “Forget it, I can’t enjoy such fortune.”
“If there is any, it’s just rotten peach blossoms.”
Inevitably, Ji Yao thought of Zhou Feng.
Then she thought of Shi Yu.
Clearly, Zhou Feng was her rotten peach blossom, and she was Shi Yu’s rotten peach blossom.
So, all this talk about peach blossoms was pure nonsense.
She was definitely headed for a year of rotten peach blossom luck!
After the meal, the two went to the DMV to transfer the name on the title. In the end, Qiao Zixi thoughtfully drove her home, and before she got out of the car, he added her on WeChat.
Reuniting with her childhood friend didn’t stir many feelings in Ji Yao. She was in a hurry to go back and calculate her debts which one to pay off first would be the most cost-effective.
Aside from Shi Yu’s loan, which was a personal debt, the rest were online loans. She decided to pay a little toward each, then save the money from selling her car and apartment to pay off the car loan and online loans all at once.
This process might take a while. Though Ji Yao was anxious, there was nothing she could do about it.
Before bed, she kept running the numbers in her head. It wasn’t until she lay down to sleep that she suddenly realized something felt off.
It was Zhou Feng.
She still remembered the information on that hotel keycard. The hotel was too famous, known for its excellent privacy. From what she knew, many male and female celebrities met there.
Zhou Feng’s intentions were obvious, and what might follow was also quite clear.
So, after just a moment’s thought, Ji Yao buried her head in the pillow and went to sleep.
If soldiers come, we’ll send generals; if water rises, we’ll build a dam, she wasn’t afraid.
She had survived such hardships in another world. Now that she was back, aside from feeling poor and having a bad reputation, nothing here could truly threaten her.
Of course, those two things weren’t enough to make her bow down either.
She slept soundly through the night, and when Ji Yao woke up, her complexion looked much better. She picked out a camel-colored down jacket and headed out.
Winter in Xijing was quite cold, though in previous years, there hadn’t been as much snow. This year…
She had only been back for three or four days, and this was already the second snowfall.
She considered driving the A7 parked in the underground garage but worried her driving skills weren’t up to par. If she scratched or bumped it, it would definitely affect the resale value. In the end, she decided to take a taxi more expensive, but worth it.
“You and My Song” was a large-scale indoor music variety show. Ji Yao only found out about the first recording today because of her alarm.
As she neared the TV station, her alarm went off. She glanced at it, dismissed it, and headed straight to the 15th floor.
But perhaps the schedule had changed she waited for over half an hour before people started trickling in.
The last person to arrive was Zhou Feng.
She acted as if she didn’t even see Ji Yao and went straight into her office.
The person left to speak with Ji Yao was Zhou Feng’s assistant, who didn’t bother lowering her voice: “Manager Zhou treated us to breakfast. Ji Yao, follow me later.”
“Oh.”
It seemed she hadn’t lost her job just been reassigned.
No, wait the project had changed too.
The long-dormant “Singer” program had been revived, and the production team was mostly the same as before.
Ji Yao was assigned to the behind-the-scenes interview team.
As she helped with lighting and held the microphone, Ji Yao actually felt a bit relieved. After all, this was work she was familiar with!
Part of her relief also came from the fact that Shi Yu had chosen that other program. By leaving, she would naturally avoid running into Shi YU.
But how could Shi Yu be here too?
And not only was she here, but her makeup was flawless, showing no trace of the exhaustion from a few days ago. Paired with her cool, aloof aura and a silver, off-the-shoulder bodycon gown, she walked in with an elegant, swaying grace.