Since Qiao Xunan wasn’t home, Shi Zhuojing had come to see Aunt Qiao. Did Shi Zhuojing think everything would be fine now?
Wrong—Shi Zhuojing was wrong!
Qiao Xunan had indeed gone out, but Aunt Qiao could call him back with just one phone call. She didn’t even need to make the call herself—she could have someone else do it. Shi Zhuojing had waited until Qiao Xunan had been gone for a while before coming over, and it wouldn’t take him long to drive back.
All Aunt Qiao needed to do was buy a little time. When Qiao Xunan heard what Shi Zhuojing had said, he was hurt—but not all that deeply.
Qiao Xunan couldn’t help but wonder if he didn’t really like Shi Zhuojing that much, which was why he wasn’t all that upset right now.
“There’s nothing particularly wrong with a woman playing her cards right with a man. It’s actually a good thing to be a little more calculating for the sake of your own future,” Aunt Qiao said. “Take a look at this information.”
Aunt Qiao had someone bring out Shi Zhuojing’s file. Shi Zhuojing hadn’t expected that Aunt Qiao had already investigated her.
“How many boyfriends have you had while abroad? How many parties have you attended? You’ve even smoked marijuana abroad!” This was what Aunt Qiao found most intolerable. It’s fine for a woman to have a few boyfriends, but Shi Zhuojing’s issue went far beyond that—marijuana? Is that something a person should even touch?
“You…” Shi Zhuojing was stunned.
“If you don’t want others to know, don’t do it yourself,” Aunt Qiao said.
“It was just an occasional thing,” Shi Zhuojing said. “A lot of people over there…”
“Every country has its laws, and every family has its rules,” Aunt Qiao said. “If you’re with someone else, I won’t say anything. But you’re with my son—and you’re about to marry into the Qiao family—that’s a whole different story.”
Just then, Qiao Xunan walked over. He truly hadn’t expected Shi Zhuojing to be this kind of person.
Shi Zhuojing hadn’t expected Qiao Xunan to return at that moment at all; she’d thought he’d already left and wouldn’t possibly be back then.
“Let’s break up!” Qiao Xunan said.
“What?” Shi Zhuojing couldn’t believe her ears.
“We’re breaking up!” Qiao Xunan emphasized once more.
Qiao Xunan didn’t want to stay with Shi Zhuojing anymore; they just weren’t meant to be. He’d seen the photos and documents on the table, and he was deeply disappointed in her.
“Fine!” Shi Zhuojing didn’t cling to Qiao Xunan’s hand, nor did she say anything else.
Shi Zhuojing didn’t want to make a scene. If they were breaking up, so be it—she wasn’t going to have trouble finding another boyfriend. Shi Zhuojing walked toward the door. One, two, three… She expected Qiao Xunan to come running after her, but he didn’t.
There was no need to chase after her!
They were both adults now; things were nothing like they had been back in school.
Both Qiao Xunan and Shi Zhuojing had been through a lot, and there was no way Qiao Xunan could get back together with her.
“Mom,” Qiao Xunan turned to look at Aunt Qiao. She hadn’t shown him those documents before, so he didn’t know when she’d found out about those things.
“You’re grown up now; you need to make your own decisions,” Aunt Qiao said. “I don’t want this to happen again.”
Aunt Qiao’s face was stern as she looked at Qiao Xunan. She wanted to say something but decided it wasn’t necessary. She didn’t bring up Jiang Wan’er—whether Qiao Xunan and Jiang Wan’er were together or not was irrelevant.
When Qiao Yitong learned that Qiao Xunan had broken up with Shi Zhuojing, she was stunned.
After all, in the original novel, Qiao Xunan and Qiao Yitong didn’t break up so quickly.
My goodness, this made Qiao Yitong even more certain that reality is reality, and novels are just novels. Now that she was living through it herself, she wasn’t at all surprised that the plot was changing. If everything stayed exactly the same, that would be truly terrifying.
Qiao Yitong didn’t feel afraid; on the contrary, she felt even more grounded.
Just as Qiao Yitong was in a good mood, reports about Murong Yuchen’s split personality were flooding the media.
Early that morning, Qiao Yitong received a call from a close friend.
“Hurry up and look at the newspaper! Look now!” Pei Jiayi urged.
“What’s going on?” Qiao Yitong asked, puzzled. “I’m not even fully awake yet.”
“Open your eyes and take a look right away,” Pei Jiayi said. “Your fiancé—he has a mental illness. He has a split personality.”
“Oh, so this is just a dream,” Qiao Yitong said offhandedly.
“This isn’t a dream. Open your eyes—stop sleeping!” Pei Jiayi said. “Do you want me to storm over to your place? Just wait for me!”
Qiao Yitong drifted back to sleep, half-asleep and half-awake, thinking it was just a dream. Murong Yuchen did indeed have a split personality, but how could outsiders possibly figure that out so quickly? It was impossible—it couldn’t happen that fast.
It wasn’t until Pei Jiayi stormed into Qiao Yitong’s home that Qiao Yitong jolted awake—it wasn’t a dream after all.
“It’s not a dream?” Qiao Yitong reached out and pinched Pei Jiayi’s cheek.
“Of course not,” Pei Jiayi said. “What are you going to do now? Are you going to call off the engagement?”
“No, I’m not,” Qiao Yitong said. “By the way, I’m going to find my fiancé.”
Qiao Yitong reasoned that it wasn’t appropriate for her to stay home at a time like this; she had to go find Murong Yuchen and let him know she was on his side. She wasn’t thinking of rubbing salt in the wound, nor was she worrying that reality might change—or that Murong Yuchen might stop loving her in the future.
The future was the future, and the present was the present. Qiao Yitong couldn’t keep worrying about whether Murong Yuchen would betray her; she knew that right now, they needed to weather this storm together.
“Aren’t you surprised?” asked Pei Jiayi, puzzled.
“What’s the big deal?” Qiao Yitong said. “It’s not like I haven’t interacted with him before—he’s always been like that. He just doesn’t want to do certain things, so he splits off another personality to handle them. If it were me, I’d want one personality for work and another for after work, too.”
“……” Pei Jiayi’s lips twitched slightly. “This isn’t the time for jokes.”
“I know,” Qiao Yitong said. “That’s exactly why I have to go.”
“Are you going to suck up to him at a time like this?” Pei Jiayi couldn’t help but ask.
“This isn’t sucking up,” Qiao Yitong replied. “It’s my ticket out of this mess.”
“Huh?” Pei Jiayi was puzzled at first, but then it clicked. Qiao Yitong was about to marry Murong Yuchen; if the Murong Group were to be affected by this incident, Murong Yuchen’s assets would shrink—which would mean Qiao Yitong’s assets would shrink as well. “Hurry up and go, hurry up and go.”
Qiao Yitong hurried off to find Murong Yuchen. As for whether the other members of the Qiao family had any other ideas, Qiao Yitong had no way of knowing. Qiao Yitong believed that if they did have any thoughts on the matter, they would surely want her and Murong Yuchen to stay together, rather than hoping she would break off the engagement.
As Qiao Yitong rode in the car to meet Murong Yuchen, reporters were still hounding her.
No sooner had Qiao Yitong stepped out of the car than the reporters swarmed her.
“Miss Qiao, are you here to break off your engagement with Mr. Murong?”
“Miss Qiao, what are your thoughts on this matter?”
“Miss Qiao, did you know about this beforehand?”
…
“It’s none of your business whether he has a split personality—can’t he just enjoy role-playing?” Qiao Yitong said. “He’s one person at work and another after work. He gets the job done and doesn’t cause the company any losses—isn’t that enough? Why are you asking me all these questions? Do you want me to break off the engagement with him? Go ahead, then.”
Qiao Yitong wasn’t afraid of these reporters. That’s just how they are—the more you fear them, the more they love to write sensational stories. If you stand your ground, they’ll think twice.
Qiao Yitong arrived at the Murong residence. She didn’t know if Murong Yuchen was at the office or at home, so she came over to check. Grandfather Murong and Grandmother Murong were at the Murong residence—both elders were there.
After seeing the reports, Ms. Murong bought a plane ticket and flew out of Hong Kong, telling her family she was going abroad for further medical treatment. That’s just how Ms. Murong is—when faced with certain situations she doesn’t want to deal with, she runs away.
As for the public revelation of Murong Yuchen’s split personality, this is also partly related to Ms. Murong.
After Ms. Murong returned to Hong Kong, she had dinner and chatted with her so-called friends, and inevitably had a few drinks. Ms. Murong voiced her concerns there, mentioning Murong Yuchen’s split personality.
Later, Yun Ruozhu found out about this. Yun Ruozhu had reporters cover the story, thinking that once Qiao Yitong learned of it, she would surely break up with Murong Yuchen. A person with a split personality is a patient—no one knows what that person might do next.
Instead of approaching Qiao Yitong directly, Yun Ruozhu had the reporters cover the story. He reasoned that once the scandal blew up—and given how much Qiao Yitong valued her reputation—she might publicly break up with Murong Yuchen.
Qiao Yitong didn’t yet know that Yun Ruozhu was behind this. She went to the Murong family residence and happened to overhear Murong Ya—Murong Yuchen’s eldest sister—talking about Mrs. Murong.
“She’s something else—causes trouble and then just runs off.”
“She’s just the same as always, always causing us trouble.”
“With her attitude, how could she possibly care about us?”
“Is that really caring? I think she’d love to see us dead!”
……
Murong Ya was furious; Mother Murong was utterly despicable.
“You’re all here,” Qiao Yitong cleared her throat. “Where’s Murong Yuchen?”
“Xiaotong.” Murong Ya felt a pang of anxiety when she saw Qiao Yitong arrive; she was afraid Qiao Yitong would demand to break off the engagement with Murong Yuchen. “He’s still at the office. He’ll probably be here soon. Have a seat.”
Murong Ya didn’t say anything else. As long as she didn’t bring up the subject of breaking off the engagement, things would be much better.
“Do you like cheongsams?” Murong Ya asked. “Or do you prefer other styles? I can make them for you. I can also make everyday clothes for you to wear out—we don’t just make gowns for formal events.”
“That’s right,” the Elder Lady Murong chimed in. “Just tell your eldest sister what kind of clothes you like.”
As soon as Qiao Yitong heard this, she knew these people were reluctant to discuss Murong Yuchen’s split personality—and they were also afraid she would bring up the matter of breaking off the engagement.
Murong Yuchen went to the Qiao family home to see Qiao Yitong. He didn’t find her there, which made him anxious.
“She’s gone to your family’s house,” Qiao’s mother told Murong Yuchen.
Murong Yuchen hurried back home, struggling to control himself. He didn’t want his secondary personality to surface at that moment, but by the time he arrived at the Murong residence, it had already emerged.
As soon as Murong Yuchen got home and saw Qiao Yitong, he rushed over and immediately embraced her.
Upon learning about Murong Yuchen’s split personality, Zhu Shanshan spoke by Qiao Xudong’s bedside. Perhaps because both his best friend and his younger sister were in trouble, Qiao Xudong suddenly opened his eyes.