Song Hanzhou froze on the spot.
He pressed his lips together. As the face that looked so much like his older sister’s rose in his mind, he quickly changed the subject. “Sis, why don’t we go home first? I want the tomato and egg noodles you make.”
Song Tingwan studied his evasive eyes for a few seconds, then decided not to press him.
There would be plenty of time later.
On the way home, she kept her eyes on the prosperous yet unfamiliar scenery outside the car window. Everything she had once known had become strange; she could no longer find a trace of the world she remembered.
Though, to her, she had been away from home for only a few hours, the unfamiliar surroundings had deepened her unease and sense of unreality without her even noticing.
Gradually, the view outside the window began to overlap with the one in her memories.
At last, the feeling of floating that had haunted Song Tingwan began to fade.
Thank goodness, home was still here…
Just then, the car slowed and finally pulled over.
Song Tingwan looked at the driver in puzzlement. Then the assistant turned around and said to Song Hanzhou, “Boss, Miss Bai’s car is up ahead.”
At the title, Song Tingwan raised an eyebrow and glanced at her younger brother with an almost amused smile.
Song Hanzhou immediately looked guilty, as if afraid she’d figure something out. In a low voice, he said, “Sis… wait here in the car for a bit, okay? I’ll be right back.”
Song Tingwan leaned over to look ahead and saw a business van parked by the roadside.
“Go ahead.” She didn’t stop him, merely nodding.
Song Hanzhou got out without delay.
As she watched him climb into the van, Song Tingwan reached out and lightly tapped the back of the front passenger seat.
The assistant turned around at once, his manner cautious.
The young woman before him looked so much like his boss that, if she were a few years younger, he would have wondered whether his boss had a daughter out of wedlock.
And hadn’t he just heard the boss call her his older sister?
The assistant dared not be careless. “Miss,” he said respectfully.
Song Tingwan’s lips curved slightly. A faint smile rested on her delicate face, giving her a very approachable air. Her voice was gentle as she asked, “Who is this Miss Bai?”
The assistant didn’t hide anything and answered at once. “Miss Bai is an entertainer—a female actress the boss is currently promoting.”
“Oh.” Song Tingwan replied without much interest, then asked no more.
A female star had gotten Song Hanzhou, who had always been too frugal to spend lavishly, to shell out five hundred million.
That was interesting…
She set the thought aside, propped her chin on her hand, and gazed out the window, bored. She had no idea that, inside the van, a little white-flower act was underway.
Bai Xiyuan had just finished filming for the day and hurried over to find him.
She knew Dreamland was due to be completed today, so she had been following the news online from early on.
She had spent the whole day full of anticipation, waiting for Song Hanzhou to tell the reporters that he had built Dreamland for her, hoping to use the story to boost her own popularity.
But after waiting and waiting, she saw Song Hanzhou take a call midway through the event, then leave without a word to the assembled reporters.
Bai Xiyuan wasn’t willing to let it go, so she came straight to confront him.
“Hanzhou, why didn’t you answer my calls?” Bai Xiyuan asked, looking dejected. When she finished, her eyes drooped, as if she had suffered some terrible injustice.
“You called me?” Song Hanzhou started to pull out his phone to check, but after patting his pockets, he remembered he’d left it in the car.
He looked at Bai Xiyuan apologetically. His gaze fell on the face that looked so much like Song Tingwan’s, and his voice softened. “I’m sorry. I had something to take care of today, and I didn’t have my phone with me.”
Bai Xiyuan clearly wasn’t buying it. Biting her lip, she said miserably, “You never used to miss my calls.”
Then she turned her face away and squeezed out a tear. Her voice choked as she asked, “Are you still angry about what happened before? But Fu Shiyan and I really have nothing going on. We just happened to run into each other that day.”
Seeing her cry, Song Hanzhou immediately felt a pang of sympathy.
“I’m not angry. I really did have something to do. Don’t cry.” He coaxed her gently. “You’ve always wanted to work with Director Zheng, haven’t you? I heard he’s preparing to shoot a new series. I’ll see if I can get you considered for a role, okay?”
Bai Xiyuan had been squeezing out tears just a moment earlier, but at that, she turned back excitedly. “Really?”
Song Hanzhou smiled warmly and reached out to wipe the tear from the corner of her eye. “Of course. When have I ever lied to you?”
Bai Xiyuan threw herself into Song Hanzhou’s arms, her voice bright with delight. “Hanzhou, you’re so good to me!”
Out of sight of Song Hanzhou, a sharp glint flashed in Bai Xiyuan’s eyes beneath her lashes as she began plotting something.
“I saw your interview today. They said you built Dreamland to celebrate my birthday… Is that true?”
She sounded casual, but inside she was bursting with anticipation.
If Song Hanzhou nodded, she could use the story to rake in another wave of attention.
Before Song Hanzhou could answer, however, someone knocked on the window.
Knock, knock, knock—
They both turned to look.
At some point, the black sedan had pulled up alongside the van. Its window had lowered just a crack, revealing Song Tingwan’s profile.
She still had one hand raised, poised to knock on the glass. The streetlamp cast its light and shadow across her, making her look especially mysterious in the darkness.
Song Hanzhou didn’t need her to say a word to know she was getting impatient waiting for him.
He gently pushed Bai Xiyuan away. “It’s getting late. Go home and get some rest. I’ll call you later.”
He left the words hanging and got out of the van briskly, without a trace of hesitation or reluctance.
Bai Xiyuan wasn’t used to that.
Only after the car had driven away did she finally react.
She lunged forward and grabbed the young assistant’s arm in the driver’s seat. “Was there a woman in Song Hanzhou’s car just now?”
The young assistant winced in pain but didn’t dare show it. “I think so…”
At the thought that Song Hanzhou had left her behind for the first time, Bai Xiyuan felt anger boil up inside her.
Her expression twisted. She looked nothing like the woman who had just been with Song Hanzhou. “Did you get a good look at her?”
The young assistant shook her head. “No. It was too dark.”
“Useless!” Bai Xiyuan snapped, pinching the assistant hard. “Follow them. I want to see who she is!”
The young assistant didn’t dare disobey, so she started the car and followed.
The sedan drove into Zhenyuan, but the woman inside never got out. Bai Xiyuan completely lost it.
“Song Hanzhou has never brought me home, but that bitch gets to come here with him!”
“Why? Why? Why?”
“I’m the one who looks the most like her!”
The young assistant in the driver’s seat sat there, numb, listening quietly until Bai Xiyuan had finished her outburst. Then she drove away.
Meanwhile, inside Zhenyuan—
Back in the manor house, Song Tingwan returned to her old room. Seeing that nothing in it had changed warmed her heart.
But then came the growing heaviness in her body.
She could barely stay on her feet. Her vision began to blur, and then she went limp, collapsing onto the bed.