Sang Yu was just about to sleep when her phone rang.
Seeing an unfamiliar number, she hesitated for a moment before answering. A muffled, gravelly voice on the other end said, “Guess who I am?”
Sang Yu froze, then couldn’t help but chuckle. “A-Ya? What are you doing?”
“Oh, how boring! You guessed it so easily~”
Despite saying it was boring, Sang Ya’s tone was rising; she was clearly very happy that her sister had recognized her. Sang Yu was also delighted. She had been busy filming for the past few months, and even when she sent messages to her sister, they were always in a rush.
Fortunately, Sang Ya was very sensible and supportive of Sang Yu’s career, though she didn’t yet know that Sang Yu was planning to divorce Song Yunsheng.
After the sisters finished their pleasantries, Sang Yu suddenly realized something and asked curiously, “Why did you suddenly change your phone number?”
Sang Ya coughed and spoke obediently, “Sister, if I tell the truth, you won’t be angry, right?”
“That depends on what your ‘truth’ looks like.”
Sang Yu raised an eyebrow, only then learning that Sang Ya had lost her phone previously. As a result, she had been borrowing a friend’s phone to message Sang Yu.
Who would have thought that during that period, both sisters were busy and keeping secrets from each other, so neither noticed anything amiss? Now that Sang Ya had saved up enough money to buy a new phone, she naturally told the truth without hesitation.
This gave Sang Yu pause. Thinking back to when their mother was critically ill, her heart felt heavy. Hearing the silence on the other end, Sang Ya thought Sang Yu was angry and immediately began to swear an oath. “This time was just an accident. Don’t worry, Sis, I haven’t neglected my studies. My grades are still very good!”
“Mm, I believe you,” Sang Yu comforted her, feeling a sense of poignancy—on one hand, thinking that her sister had finally grown up.
“But you are still young, and security abroad isn’t great, so you must be careful in everything. Leave the matter of money to me; just tell me if anything happens. It won’t be too late to earn money after you finish your studies. Above all else, prioritize your own safety, okay?”
She nagged on, and Sang Ya responded from the other end, but as they spoke, Sang Ya seemed to hesitate.
“But Sister, I’m an adult too. I can help with Mom’s medical bills in the future. Don’t always carry such a heavy burden alone. We’re sisters…”
Sang Yu understood the logic, yet she still shook her head.
“We are so far apart. You must take good care of yourself. I’ll only be at ease when you come back.”
Sang Ya could never win an argument against her sister, so she could only nod obediently. She then asked about their mother’s current condition. Sang Yu opened her mouth but didn’t answer immediately. She pretended that sleepiness was washing over her and let out a timely yawn.
Then she said naturally, “Mom… she’s still the same. The fact that things haven’t worsened is already the best-case scenario.”
Sang Ya didn’t suspect anything and jokingly said she would finish her studies as soon as possible to return home and share the pressure, so that her sister could have a little niece for her to look after soon.
Sang Yu shook her head and said, “What pressure? I was taking care of Mom before, and now I’m just filming. A child will come when the time is right; don’t you worry about it.”
After chatting and laughing for a while, Sang Yu yawned again. Sang Ya realized it was very late on her sister’s side and finally hung up the phone.
After hanging up, Sang Yu remained in a bit of a daze. Her eyes gradually grew determined as she sent a message to Lu Lingxi, asking if there were any upcoming schedules arranged.
In fact, Sang Yu had asked about this two days ago, but after that call with Sang Ya, her desire to earn money had become even more urgent.
Lu Lingxi had been unusually busy these past two days, even missing Sang Yu’s wrap party. When she heard news that Song Yunsheng had gone, she had sent a message worrying that something might have gone wrong for Sang Yu at the party.
At the time, Sang Yu hadn’t cared at all and had simply brushed it off using Song Yunsheng’s explanation. Lu Lingxi had believed her and gone home after finishing her work.
Now, just as she was preparing to climb into bed, she was jolted awake by Sang Yu’s “serial killer” calls. Lu Lingxi thought she might have been infuriated by Su Miao again.
As soon as she answered and heard Sang Yu asking about work, Lu Lingxi was skeptical: “You’re asking me this in the middle of the night? Do you want to earn money, or do you want to spite Song Yunsheng and vent your frustration?”
Those words were practically nonsense. Sang Yu forced herself to stay alert and retorted, “I asked you to prepare schedules a few days ago. My dear Sister Lu, don’t tell me you still think I’m just acting out of spite? I really need money!”
“But you can’t work yourself to death! Rest for a few days first!” Lu Lingxi also let out a yawn, slowly crawling into bed.
“I don’t have much time. I don’t know when things will fall apart with Song Yunsheng. I can’t let her hold money over me anymore.” Sang Yu was concise and briefly mentioned what had happened with Sang Ya. Sure enough, Lu Lingxi went silent on the other end.
Sang Yu didn’t dare explain her situation clearly to her sister, but Lu Lingxi was someone she could trust. Her worried self-analysis made Lu Lingxi’s head spin. Finally, Lu Lingxi threw up her hands in surrender. “Calm down, just calm down.”
“It’s a bit difficult to find a temporary schedule for you. I really intended to give you a few days off, but… if you don’t want to stay at home, I’ll try to contact some commercial events for you first?”
“Fine, as long as it earns money,” Sang Yu agreed immediately. “Thanks for the trouble, Sister Lu. It’s late, get some rest!”
The next morning, Song Yunsheng woke up and opened her eyes, but she didn’t move. She stared at the ceiling, appearing to be in a daze, but in reality, she was constantly monitoring the movement outside.
She was about to go to work soon. Sang Yu had just finished filming and should be resting at home for two days. Would she make breakfast for her?
Previously, when the two had a spat, Sang Yu liked to use this method to show goodwill.
Song Yunsheng pursed her lips, waiting patiently second by second. She didn’t plan to wait long; she just needed to hear the sound of Sang Yu getting up. Then, she could take the initiative to go out and make breakfast together.
As it turned out, an hour passed quickly. Seeing that she would be late if she didn’t get up soon, the smile on Song Yunsheng’s face vanished.
After washing up, Song Yunsheng left the bedroom, still feeling somewhat indignant. Out of spite, she went to knock on Sang Yu’s door.
To avoid embarrassment, Song Yunsheng had even prepared an excuse. After knocking for a while, she called out, asking if she should have the auntie make her some breakfast.
No response.
Song Yunsheng’s brow furrowed tightly. Feeling that something was wrong and worried that something might have happened to Sang Yu, she was just about to force the door open when a voice suddenly came from behind her: “President Song? What are you doing here?”
Song Yunsheng spun around and saw it was the housekeeper. Her expression stiffened for a moment before she regained her composure.
“Sang Yu is back. I was asking if she wanted something to eat, but since you’re here, make her something later…”
Before she could finish, the housekeeper spoke up hesitantly, “But Miss Sang Yu went out quite a while ago. Did you not know, President Song?”
A metaphorical question mark slowly appeared over Song Yunsheng’s head.
Once she realized what happened, her face darkened even further. She gave a cold “Oh” in response, then went downstairs and left. The housekeeper chased after her, asking, “President Song, aren’t you going to eat breakfast before going to work?”
What breakfast? She was already full of anger. Just how much did Sang Yu want to avoid her that she went to catch a schedule so early in the morning??
Song Yunsheng gritted her teeth in silent fury. She wanted to call Sang Yu and demand an explanation but realized she had no standing to do so, which made her even angrier.
A low-pressure atmosphere surrounded Song Yunsheng all day. That wasn’t the end of it; as she was about to leave work in the afternoon, her mother, Liang Yurou, called to ask about their situation. She was clearly worried that Song Yunsheng and Sang Yu might have secretly gotten a divorce without her knowing.
Song Yunsheng said with a dark expression, “We’re just having a fight. We won’t be getting a divorce for the time being.”
When she said this, Liang Yurou paused on the other end. For reasons unknown, she didn’t tell Song Yunsheng about her previous action of freezing Sang Yu’s bank cards. She only instructed, “That’s good. Get along well. When you have time, hurry up and have a child. You’re so busy, Sang Yu surely wouldn’t have the heart to leave a child home alone. By then, won’t she settle down and stay home?”
Those words sounded fine, but Song Yunsheng was frigid.
She didn’t know if her mother was aware of this, but as an Omega, Song Yunsheng didn’t dare bring this matter up to Liang Yurou. She just hummed twice and said they would work on it.
Liang Yurou chuckled twice over the phone, sounding very reassured, and then mentioned Song Yunsheng skipping breakfast.
“Your stomach isn’t great to begin with, and now you’re skipping breakfast. You can’t be so willful—by the way, your birthday is coming up. Come home then; Mom will celebrate for you and cook some good food herself.”
Song Yunsheng agreed, while also thinking that she could use this opportunity to have Sang Yu come home with her.
Surely Sang Yu wouldn’t be out catching schedules even on her birthday, right? Marital obligations shouldn’t be so neglected.
Thinking this, Song Yunsheng’s mood improved slightly.
However, she clearly didn’t expect that even though the two were living under the same roof again, their previous way of interacting could not be recovered.
Sang Yu worked on schedules day and night, rarely returning home. Sometimes she even came back later than Song Yunsheng. On the rare occasions she was home, Song Yunsheng would go to find her, only to push the door open and see Sang Yu lying on the bed, fast asleep.
Under such circumstances, what could Song Yunsheng say? She could only leave the room with a dark face and send Sang Yu a WeChat message telling her not to be too busy.
But whether Sang Yu didn’t see it or what, she had no intention of replying at all, treating the house entirely like a hotel.
Song Yunsheng was unhappy, but she had to fulfill her promise of “not interfering with work.” As a result, by the day of her birthday, she and Sang Yu had barely even seen each other face-to-face.