Yu Jingchen said, “President Zhou showed up last night and helped out, doing what I failed to do. Although he wasn’t aware of it, I’d like to thank him.”
“If anyone should be thanking him, it’s me. Besides, his appearance disrupted your plans—aren’t you going to hold that against him?” Chuan Jin asked with a laugh.
Yu Jingchen shook his head blankly: “But the Second Young Miss came to see me today too, so I didn’t lose anything.”
“Silly boy. It’s good to have that kind of original intention, but it won’t work once you enter the entertainment industry. If you don’t fight for opportunities, don’t compete, and don’t stand up for yourself, when will you ever make it?” she said. “Ryan’s flattery was used in the wrong way, but you should learn from his worldly wisdom. You need to be shrewd when the situation calls for it.”
“Mhmm, I’ll remember that,” Yu Jingchen nodded earnestly.
“You don’t need to thank Zhou Lincan yourself—I’ve already spoken with him.”
When Zhou Lincan was mentioned, Chuan Jin’s expression shifted slightly from during their earlier conversation. Noticing this, Yu Jingchen asked dopily, “Second Young Miss, did President Zhou coincidentally come to see you at that time last night?”
“No, we just happened to run into each other,” Chuan Jin picked up her cup.
“Really? It wasn’t planned?” Yu Jingchen sounded surprised.
When President Zhou entered yesterday, he claimed he had walked into the wrong room, but all of them could tell that Zhou Lincan had specifically come in to stop Ryan from forcing drinks on them. Otherwise, the way the man looked at them was too intimidating—his aura alone was enough to overwhelm the few waitstaff who had never seen such grand occasions.
Yu Jingchen remembered that scene vividly. Watching Chuan Jin set down her coffee cup, he gathered his courage and asked, “Second Young Miss, is President Zhou pursuing you?”
As the bitter liquid went down her throat, Chuan Jin—accustomed to coffee for years—choked and coughed: “No, what are you thinking?”
She caught her breath, straightened up, and emphasized sternly: “Zhou Lincan is my brother-in-law. If you dare say that nonsense in front of my sister, I’ll extend your contract by thirty years, believe it or not.”
Yu Jingchen shuddered and immediately apologized: “I-I-I, I spoke out of turn.”
Chuan Jin waved her hand: “Alright, alright. I can see you need to work on your tact as well. Let’s end it here for today—go back and focus on your classes.”
“Okay, okay.” Yu Jingchen stood up, thanked Chuan Jin sincerely, and left the café in high spirits.
By the time she finished meeting with Yu Jingchen, it was almost six o’clock. Chuan Jin ordered a plate of pasta, made do with it for dinner, then took out her phone to search for popular film and television dramas from recent years. She jotted down the names of a few writers that caught her interest, planning to look into them in more detail later.
After wrapping up, Chuan Jin paid the bill and prepared to leave. Just as she finished paying, a notification popped up on her phone screen. Raising an eyebrow at the familiar name, she tapped into the search term.
[Official Announcement! Rising starlet Xia Helu signs as D Family’s Chinese regional spokesperson!]
There were tens of thousands of related posts under the term, all from fans celebrating their idol’s acquisition of top-tier fashion resources. Aside from D Family’s official announcement, the most popular post was a photo simultaneously shared by Xia Helu.
In the picture, she wore a D Family Autumn/Winter Haute Couture Dress, seated atop a mountain of gift boxes, smiling innocently at the camera like a princess being showered with adoration. Beside her was the globally limited-edition Platinum Butterfly Bag—only fifty produced worldwide—which, according to official sources, was specially gifted to Miss Xia as a signing present.
Chuan Jin wasn’t interested in the bag. Instead, she focused on the brief caption accompanying the image and the top-voted comments in the discussion section.
[Dora Lulu: Wait a few days, I’ll definitely fill the entire gift box /anticipation]
[The wealthy heiress returns, attends a high-society banquet, receives countless gifts – am I right?] /doge】
【So are the online rumors true? Is Lulu really the long-lost wealthy heiress?】
【OMG, if this is true, what kind of novel plot is this? A popular actress is actually a real princess who fell to the mortal world. Congrats to Lulu for about to reach the peak of her life!】
The orchestrated rhythm in the comments section was obvious, and Chuan Jin recognized it immediately based on her experience.
Xia Helu wanted to hype up her identity as a wealthy heiress, using this official announcement to build maximum momentum for the banquet. In this aspect, she really did seem like Xu Anguo and Pei Lingna’s biological daughter.
Posts discussing Xia Helu’s background kept appearing on the square, and related hashtags started trending. Chuan Jin scrolled through her screen, a trace of confusion flashing between her brows. She felt like she had forgotten something important.
After thinking for a long time without any clues, Chuan Jin patted her head, scolding herself for making trouble out of nothing. She picked up her bag, left the coffee shop, and headed home.
Over the next few days, Chuan Jin buried herself in work at home, completing the first draft of the research report with single-minded focus, just like when she used to seclude herself to write scripts.
During this period, she found time to reply to Zhou Lincan’s assistant Xiao Guo. Besides thanking him for the carefully prepared materials on Yu Jingchen, she also expressed her wish to get President Zhou’s contact information.
【Miss Xu, your message has been relayed to President Zhou. Please wait, President Zhou will contact you directly.】
But Chuan Jin waited and waited – a full five days. She finished the research report, finalized the list of screenwriters she wanted to approach, yet Zhou Lincan never called her, as if he had vanished from the earth.
Just when Chuan Jin herself had forgotten about this matter, Saturday arrived, and the Xu Family banquet came as scheduled.
.
The banquet was held at the Xu Family villa. Early in the morning, the spacious courtyard was already bustling with activity. Maids and butlers came and went, making final preparations for the event.
Chuan Jin’s room was located closest to the side courtyard. Normally this wasn’t noticeable, but during bad weather or busy times, it particularly affected the room occupant’s mood.
Like right now – while she was taking a bath and applying a face mask in the bathroom, she could hear the maids downstairs debating for a full ten minutes about whether to replace the broken warehouse lock.
It was just a lock! Remove, discard, replace – shouldn’t that take three minutes at most?
Chuan Jin reluctantly ended her bath, wrapped herself in a bathrobe, and moved to the part of her suite farthest from the side courtyard to call the screenwriters on her contact list.
Since she still needed to get styled later, Chuan Jin only called the most promising candidate – screenwriter Xiao Lin. However, the other party directly refused after hearing her purpose.
Chuan Jin politely asked for the reason. Screenwriter Xiao Lin explained that she had just signed with a studio, that the person who signed her showed great sincerity, and that she was very optimistic about the studio’s development prospects. She had no plans to change jobs in the short term.
The other party was very clear and didn’t seem to be lying. Chuan Jin had indeed arrived one step too late.
After just a few more words, the other party claimed to have something urgent and hastily ended the call. Chuan Jin’s expression immediately turned unpleasant.
No sleeping in, no relaxing bath, and the promising talent she had her eye on got snatched by someone else!! Why was her morning so unlucky!
“Xiao Jin, see which pair of shoes you like.”
Xu Mianchuan led several maids into the room, each holding a pair of shoes.
Chuan Jin’s face fell, clearly written with displeasure.
Xu Mianchuan saw this and had the maid put down the shoes before dismissing her. “What’s wrong, my dear? Are you unhappy again?”
Chuan Jin grumbled in frustration, “It’s so noisy. I couldn’t sleep well at all.”
Xu Mianchuan thought it was nothing serious. “It’s just for one day. The whole family is happy, so cheer up. Look at the shoes I bought for you and Lulu.”
Chuan Jin wasn’t interested in the shoes either, but she didn’t want to disappoint her sister. She went over to take a look, picking through them half-heartedly before finally settling on a barely acceptable pair of silver high heels.
Xu Mianchuan coaxed her, “Still not happy? Should I tell you the surprise ahead of time then?” She pretended to be conflicted.
Chuan Jin blinked, her downturned lips curling upward. “You got me a gift? But isn’t today all about welcoming our third sister home?”
Xu Mianchuan sighed, her expression softening. “I knew it—you’re upset about the banquet, aren’t you? Xiao Jin, even though today’s banquet is for Lulu, we’re a family. You’re my sister too, so of course you deserve a gift.”
Chuan Jin fell silent.
Heaven knows, she truly wasn’t depressed over something like this.
With such a grand banquet, just thinking about all the resources she could gain made her ecstatic. Feeling sad over a banquet meant for someone else would be pure self-torture—she wasn’t that foolish.
Still, the prospect of receiving a gift was very tempting. In the blink of an eye, she put on a pitiful act. “Sister, you really understand me. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to enjoy myself today! By the way, what’s the gift?”
Getting straight to the point, Chuan Jin clung to her sister, eager for the present.
Xu Mianchuan laughed. “Since it’s a surprise, it has to be given when you least expect it. Not now, but I promise you’ll absolutely love it.”
Chuan Jin thought for a moment. “Alright then. As long as there’s a gift, it doesn’t matter when I get it.”
Her mood lifted, and Chuan Jin began to take an interest in the row of luxury shoes.
She put the silver high heels back in their place and picked out a red pair instead. “This one matches my dress better. I’ll take these.”
As night fell, Chuan Jin, dressed in a red gown, stood in the villa’s main hall to greet the guests.
The silk dress clung softly to her skin, making her appear even more slender and tall. Her voluminous waves cascaded down her back, bold and somewhat excessive, yet all the more enchanting and radiant.
Standing on the other side of Xu Mianchuan was Xia Helu, whose flowing white dress was no less stunning than her second sister’s red gown. In contrast, she appeared more pure and elegant, with a captivating grace.
The three sisters standing together brought smiles to the faces of the banquet guests as soon as they entered.
“Chairman Xu, you’re truly blessed. Your two daughters are already so beautiful, and now you’ve found an even more stunning one. It’s really enviable.”
“As expected of a big star—her aura is truly unique.”
Xu Anguo was thoroughly pleased by the flattery, grinning from ear to ear. Meanwhile, Pei Lingna, who was entertaining the ladies, hadn’t stopped smiling all evening.
“Oh, that bag? Well, it was all Lulu—she insisted on giving it to me. Can you believe it? To show her filial piety, she just handed over a ten-million-yuan bag without a second thought.”
“If only my child were as thoughtful as Lulu.”
“Mrs. Xu, you’re truly fortunate.”
Chuan Jin listened to the endless stream of compliments, her brow twitching. She excused herself to Xu Mianchuan and prepared to slip away for a moment.
But just as she turned around, she was stopped by a man who had just entered.
“Oh, where are you off to, Miss Xu? Leaving as soon as you see me—what, am I not welcome?”
The voice was familiar. Even though she’d been drunk that night, Chuan Jin still remembered that pig-slaughtering screech.
Turning around with a smile, Chuan Jin took in Zheng Jingyuan’s expression—a malicious grin paired with vicious eyes. It was clear at a glance he was here to pick a fight today.