Break up? What break up?
Was breaking up even something she could decide?
No, it was the contract.
Shi Sheng thought calmly.
According to the contract she had signed with Qi Ye five years ago, there was still roughly… a month left before the two of them would part ways amicably.
So during this month, as long as Shi Sheng did her job as a good little canary, she could completely sever ties with that childish rich second-generation heir a month from now.
Therefore, this matter didn’t really require Duan Yujing’s concern.
Because even if Duan Yujing hadn’t come to persuade Shi Sheng to break up, they would naturally go their separate ways when the time came.
But honestly, the fact that Duan Yujing had taken the initiative to come and advise her was still quite surprising to Shi Sheng.
As expected of Duan Yujing—fair, just, and utterly impartial.
Just as Shi Sheng was deliberating on how to reply to the message, the chat box vibrated again.
Duan Yujing: [Sorry, I spoke out of turn.]
Duan Yujing: [I just think you deserve better options than Qi Ye.]
Shi Sheng was momentarily stunned, then moved her fingers.
ss: [It’s fine, I’ll discuss this with A-Ye.]
Kind and magnanimous, holding no grudges—what a perfect little bootlicker.
Shi Sheng gave her own performance a perfect score.
There was a long silence on the other end.
Duan Yujing: [Is that so? You’re not angry?]
ss: [There’s nothing to be angry about.]
As for anything more, Shi Sheng naturally didn’t explain.
Otherwise, how could she keep playing the part of a wholehearted little sycophant?
Shi Sheng almost laughed out loud.
Perhaps shocked by Shi Sheng’s response, Duan Yujing never sent another message after that.
This suited Shi Sheng just fine. She put away her phone and continued focusing on her work.
To be sure, Duan Yujing was a good person.
But once her contract with Qi Ye ended, Shi Sheng would have absolutely no connection to the Qi family whatsoever.
So it was better not to get too deeply involved.
As for Madam Duan…
That was truly an accident.
She had been living together with Qi Ye when Madam Duan caught sight of them, which forced the relationship to be brought up before the Qi family.
Fortunately, Duan Yunning was open-minded and didn’t force Shi Sheng to face the cliché scene of “take five million and leave my son.” Instead, they got along quite harmoniously.
However, it was precisely this harmonious way of getting along that would make the end of the contract troublesome for Shi Sheng.
She could delete Qi Ye’s contact information without a second thought, but she couldn’t just ignore Madam Duan.
The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became. Shi Sheng slapped her forehead and immediately decided to stop overthinking.
Wasn’t the contract’s end date still a ways off? So why worry about all that now?
She’d just pretend it didn’t exist.
Shi Sheng cast aside everything that might interfere with her work and making money, forcing herself to fully immerse in her job.
As for Duan Yujing—perhaps he really was taken aback by how much of a bootlicker she was—he didn’t send Shi Sheng a single message for the rest of the day.
Shi Sheng figured that since there was only that little time left, she should take out the contract she had tucked away and organize it in advance, so the breakup could be cleaner and more decisive.
That contract had previously been placed openly on the desk in the bedroom, but one day Qi Ye happened to see it.
That childish brat must have had some screw loose again—he flew into a rage over the contract with a darkened face, demanding to know if Shi Sheng had been planning to split up with him all along.
Although Shi Sheng really wanted to nod and say yes, her canary consciousness was still intact, so she immediately denied it and spent the entire afternoon placating Qi Ye.
However, Qi Ye was still dissatisfied and that evening brought another woman over to put on a show for Shi Sheng.
From then on, Shi Sheng carefully tucked the contract at the very bottom of her drawer, afraid that Qi Ye would lose his mind again if he saw it.
As it neared the end of the workday, Shi Sheng packed up her things while thinking that the contract had been buried at the bottom of the drawer for quite some time now—she could take it out and air it out once she got home.
Otherwise, it would start to grow mold.
But fate had other plans. Perhaps because Shi Sheng had been making money so smoothly for five years, the heavens finally decided they couldn’t stand it anymore and intended to give Shi Sheng a proper wake-up call.
In any case, after finishing a day of work, Shi Sheng returned home exhausted and wanted to take a good look at the stand-in contract—the great contributor that had allowed her to have everything she had today—only to see a strange yet familiar woman in the living room.
She paused mid-motion.
Her brain, which had been drawing drafts all day, struggled to turn before she instantly realized who this person was.
Wen Ke, the actress Qi Ye had brought home to spend the night last night.
Shi Sheng remembered that she was a very famous female idol in the entertainment industry. Looking at her now, her appearance was indeed exceptionally striking.
However, there had been plenty of actresses prettier than Wen Ke before, and none of them had been allowed by Qi Ye to stay over the next day either.
It seemed this Wen Ke really did have some skills.
She pressed her lips together, kicked off her high heels, and slipped into a pair of soft indoor slippers.
Hearing the sound, Wen Ke on the sofa thought Qi Ye had returned and immediately rushed toward the door with enthusiasm:
“Ah Ye, you’re back?”
Shi Sheng: “…”
She put on a submissive smile: “Ms. Wen, Mr. Qi won’t be home for a few more hours.”
Seeing that it wasn’t Qi Ye, Wen Ke immediately changed her expression.
She sized up Shi Sheng warily, lifting her chin slightly as she demanded:
“Who are you?”
Shi Sheng’s brain worked at lightning speed, thinking to herself that this was a woman who had been kept at Qi Ye’s place even after the deed was done—she couldn’t afford to offend her lightly.
So, with a flash of inspiration, she said, “I’m the maid Mr. Qi hired.”
Hearing this, Wen Ke’s delicate brows furrowed: “Really?”
“Of course it’s true,” Shi Sheng’s smile widened. “The breakfast you and Mr. Qi had this morning was all made by me.”
Hearing this, Wen Ke was more or less convinced, about seventy or eighty percent.
But not long after, she thought of something else: “No, I saw you last night.”
Wen Ke pressed on:
“Ah Ye even called you Sheng Sheng—so intimately. What exactly is your relationship?”
Shi Sheng remained composed, keeping a smile on her face at all times:
“Mr. Qi was probably trying to make you jealous.”
Wen Ke was taken aback, then asked suspiciously, “What do you mean?”
Shi Sheng said with implication:
“Mr. Qi does have some rather unconventional little preferences, wouldn’t you say?”
Hearing this, Wen Ke recalled what had happened last night, remembered the words Qi Ye had whispered in her ear, and her cheeks flushed red instantly.
She finally believed Shi Sheng’s explanation. Crossing her arms, she struck a pose like a proud little swan and said:
“If that’s the case, then why aren’t you hurrying to pour me some tea?”
With that, she turned and went back to sit on the sofa, complaining, “So it wasn’t Ah Ye after all. And here I was, rushing over with such joy.”
Wen Ke turned her head and saw Shi Sheng still standing there, and immediately said with dissatisfaction:
“Hey, why aren’t you going already!”
This was entirely the posture of a mistress of the house.
Shi Sheng sighed inwardly at Wen Ke’s skillful maneuvering, while lowering her head and meekly walking to the kitchen to brew tea for Wen Ke.
Since that was the case, her resignation should be relatively easy…
Right?