Wu Jiang’s voice still echoed in her ears, shifting from a roar to pleading, from pleading to threats, and finally to despair.
“Ancestor, do not post anything and do not say anything. I will handle it. Just turn off your AI brain. No, do not turn it off. In case you post something even more outrageous, just give me your account and password. I will help you log out.”
Sheng Yunshu scratched her hair and leaned back in her chair. “This is not a big deal. It is just a tabloid scandal. I am semi-retired now, so it will not have much of an impact. Oh, stop scolding me. It was not on purpose. If you do not like looking at it, just have someone remove the trending search.”
“Great-grandmother, you say it so lightly. Do you have any idea how much money it costs just to suppress a trending search related to you?”
After Wu Jiang finished complaining, she remembered that the entire company belonged to her family. Her sister was willing to spend money on her anyway; why should a worker feel bad for the boss?
Wu Jiang calmed down, admonishing Sheng Yunshu to keep her hands to herself and stop tinkering with things.
Shen Zhouxing, who had heard the whole thing, could not help but burst into laughter. “As expected of a great film star; one message explodes the entire internet. Hey, do you want to check the internet again? Maybe someone who knows the ropes will come and give you some advice.”
Sheng Yunshu rolled her eyes at her, then shifted her gaze back to the light screen, looking puzzled. “It is strange. I have never posted a single photo on this account. How did they dig me out?”
Is she possessed by Agatha Christie?
Seeing that she still had the heart to investigate, Shen Zhouxing pulled her chair next to her and continued the previous topic.
“She did not cheat, so how do you know she has someone else in her heart?” Shen Zhouxing reasoned. “You cannot rely solely on feelings for this kind of thing. If you have questions, it is best to ask her directly. Blindly guessing will only make things worse.”
Shen Zhouxing had thought it was just Sheng Yunshu being too sensitive in her romantic life from acting in too many dramas.
Sheng Yunshu scrolled through the comments and said calmly, “I knew before we got married. She married me because I was misdiagnosed a while ago. The doctor said I would not live past this year, which is why she was willing to fulfill my wish.”
“?”
Shen Zhouxing was stunned for a full three seconds.
“Do you mind if I write down your story and film it as a short drama?”
A famous actress is nearing the end of her life, suffering from a hopeless, bitter love for her sister who is not related by blood. At the final moment of life, the selfishness of human nature is revealed. Using the remainder of her life as a bargaining chip and love as coercion, she forces the sister who dotes on her into this gorgeous cage, unable to sleep through the night ever since.
Shen Zhouxing went through the outline in her head and felt it would be a hit.
Sheng Yunshu gave her a thumbs up. “I could never find a director more dedicated to their work than you.”
“The feeling is mutual. I have never seen anyone who truly treats life as if they were acting in a movie.”
After trading barbs, just as they were about to dive into work, Sheng Yunshu’s left wrist vibrated slightly. Sheng Qingshan’s video call came through.
She stood up with a start and ran toward the lounge under Shen Zhouxing’s puzzled gaze.
“Is she always this proactive even when she is about to be scolded?” Shen Zhouxing muttered, assuming it was Wu Jiang’s call.
Inside the lounge, Sheng Yunshu tidied her hair in the mirror and, after steadying her breathing, accepted the video call.
The moment the screen lit up, the “Hello” that Sheng Yunshu had prepared stuck in her throat.
Sheng Qingshan was not in the office. The background was a city nightscape she did not recognize, with the glass curtain wall reflecting neon lights. The wind was strong, blowing Sheng Qingshan’s hair slightly.
She was wearing a dark gray trench coat with the collar turned up. Her jawline looked sharper than usual against the night.
“On set?” Sheng Qingshan spoke first.
“Yeah.” Sheng Yunshu walked to the sofa and sat down. “Where are you? Have you eaten?”
“City A. I just finished eating.” Sheng Qingshan walked to a sheltered spot and stared at the woman on the screen for a moment. “Why have you been coming home so late these past few days? Do you not like playing with Tuantuan anymore?”
You are not home, so why would I go back so early?
Sheng Yunshu muttered to herself, but spoke differently, “The scenes these past two days have been more important, so I have been keeping a close eye on them. A cat café opened near the house. 01 takes Tuantuan there to play during the day. By the time I get home at night, Tuantuan is already exhausted and asleep. I cannot wake her up just to play, right?”
She gave a logical explanation, but Sheng Qingshan showed no sign of a smile.
Sheng Yunshu had assumed Sheng Qingshan was calling because she saw the trending search, but it did not seem to be the case.
Silence began to spread. Sheng Yunshu could not stand the atmosphere and asked directly what was the matter.
“Are you angry with me?” Sheng Qingshan slowed her speech. “Is that why you have not contacted me for these past few days, or eating properly? Is it because I did not wake you up when I left the other day, or is it another reason?”
Sheng Yunshu’s eyes widened slightly.
She did not expect Sheng Qingshan to consider so much.
However, her guesses were all correct.
“I am not.” Sheng Yunshu replied stubbornly. “Whether you wake me or not, you will still leave. What difference does it make? This way, I can sleep a little longer.”
Unexpectedly, Sheng Qingshan nodded after hearing her words. “I thought the same.”
“?”
Who asked you?
Sheng Yunshu immediately dropped her face. “Anything else? If not, I am hanging up. I am busy.”
“Yunshu,”
Sheng Qingshan called out to her, her eyes narrowing slightly. “I will be unable to contact the outside world for the next two days. If you have any issues, go find Jiang Xun; she will help you resolve them.”
Jiang Xun, Sheng Qingshan’s personal secretary, was responsible for handling various chores for her.
“Where are you going?” Sheng Yunshu asked before realizing this was probably classified. “Oh, I see. But in your heart, am I that prone to causing trouble? It is only two days. Can I possibly turn the world upside down?”
Hearing this, Sheng Qingshan’s expression softened slightly. “I was thinking you might send me messages, and if I did not reply, you would probably be even angrier.”
Sheng Yunshu pursed her lips, suppressing a smirk, while inwardly accusing Sheng Qingshan. She wanted to ask what she was trying to do. Could she not just be a little fiercer? Why must she arrange everything so perfectly, making her feel as though she cannot live without her?
Checking the time, it was almost time to depart. Sheng Qingshan gave a few instructions and prepared to cut the connection.
“Wait, I still have something to tell you.”
Sheng Yunshu tucked her long hair behind her ear, took a deep breath, looked up, and smiled at her.
“I love you. Do not just focus on work; take care of yourself, too.”
Looking at the woman smiling beautifully on the screen, Sheng Qingshan felt an inexplicable flicker of evasion. She shifted her eyes slightly, refusing to stare into those eyes.
“Yes, thank you.”
Hearing this reply, the smile on Sheng Yunshu’s face froze, and she quickly cut the connection.
“Dullard!”
But when the surroundings returned to peace, Sheng Yunshu ruminated on the conversation, and a sweet feeling gradually bloomed in her heart.
Sheng Yunshu buried her face in her hands, her shoulders trembling slightly.
“It is over,” she said muffled. “Sheng Yunshu, you are done for.”
She was truly beyond saving. Otherwise, why would she find it so cute that Sheng Qingshan said “thank you”?
……
Near the end of work, Sheng Yunshu looked at the trending searches and found that she not only had not fallen off the list, but had risen to several more, all malicious articles:
#Sheng Yunshu acts like a diva#
#Sheng Yunshu plastic surgery#
#Sheng Yunshu Indescribable#
Shen Zhouxing had been busy rehearsing and sat down to rest just to see the chaos. She turned her head and scrutinized Sheng Yunshu for two seconds.
“You really do look better than when you debuted.”
“I was only fifteen when I debuted.”
That was me growing into my looks, okay? What normal person looks the same at thirty as they did at sixteen?
What surprised Sheng Yunshu, however, was that these topics were actually still climbing the rankings.
“In all the years I have known you, this is the first time I have seen anyone dare to buy malicious articles about you.” Shen Zhouxing turned off her AI brain and became serious. “Has your family offended someone?”
Sheng Yunshu shook her head. How would she know about her family’s affairs?
Just as she was about to call Wu Jiang, the other party called first.
“Yunshu, something is wrong. Not only can we not remove the trending search,” Wu Jiang spoke twice as fast as usual, “the technical team says someone is working against us. For every one we remove, they push three, and their speed is faster than ours.”
Sheng Yunshu frowned and listened quietly.
“Furthermore,” Wu Jiang took a deep breath, “I contacted the bloggers and media who posted the first few posts, and they explicitly stated they would not delete them. Even when I applied pressure, the other side would not budge. It is clear they know your background, and this time they intend to keep biting. Yunshu, why don’t you contact President Sheng? Let her take a look?”
Wu Jiang and Shen Zhouxing thought the same; the Sheng family must have offended someone, and they were using Sheng Yunshu as the blade.
“No, she is busy right now.”
As she spoke, a name appeared in Sheng Yunshu’s mind.
Is she really that bored?
But apart from her, who else would dare to attack her after knowing who her backer was?
Sheng Yunshu pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling irritable. “Never mind. I know who it is. I will handle it.”
If she was truly the one behind this, now that Sheng Qingshan was away, even if Wu Jiang threw the entire Starlight into the fray, it would be useless.
After saying goodbye to Shen Zhouxing, Sheng Yunshu drove away.
This time, she got smart. On the way back, she contacted Sheng Jiazhen and told her the situation.
Since Sheng Qingshan would be contacting her, she must have informed the family, and Sheng Yanzhou was choosing this specific time to mess with her.
How incredibly childish!
Sheng Yunshu gripped the steering wheel tightly and stepped on the gas, her red supercar tearing through the dark night.
Sheng Jiazhen was abroad. After receiving Sheng Yunshu’s message, she immediately contacted her mother and asked her to keep an eye on both of them so as not to add more trouble to Qingshan.
By the time Sheng Yunshu arrived at the ancestral home, Wu Jiang called to say the trending searches had been removed.
However, to divert the netizens’ attention, a male actor who had just won a newcomer award was exposed for frequenting erotic venues and using illegal substances.
Although his status did not compare to Sheng Yunshu’s, this scoop was much more tangible than the hearsay posts about her, and for a time, the object of netizen discussion shifted.
In the side hall, Sheng Yanzhou sat lazily on the sofa, arm resting on a wheelchair, leaning sideways to tease the kitten in Shi Yun’s arms, completely ignoring Sheng Jiuyuan on the other side.
Sheng Jiuyuan closed her eyes, thinking fortunately she was old now; if she were ten years younger, she would have beaten her to death.
After Sheng Yunshu entered, she first called out “Grandmother,” then looked at Sheng Yanzhou.
“Did you buy those trending searches?”
Sheng Yanzhou did not even lift her eyelids, her fingers continuing to tease the kitten, her tone languid. “What trending searches? I just got back, I know nothing.”
The kitten in Shi Yun’s arms grew impatient with the teasing, meowed, slipped from under her hand, jumped off the sofa, and ran away.
Shi Yun wanted to catch it, but was grabbed by the hand by Sheng Yanzhou.
Sheng Yunshu felt furious seeing her like this. “She just contacted the family, and you are already buying malicious articles about me? Are you bored? Always playing these little tricks.”
Before she could finish, Sheng Yanzhou suddenly looked up at her, her mesmerizing peach-blossom eyes curving slightly. “You speak quite fluently. Does it not hurt anymore?”
“Yanzhou.” Sheng Jiuyuan, who had been closing her eyes, spoke. Her voice was not loud, but carried an unquestionable majesty. “Speak properly.”
Sheng Yanzhou glanced at her grandmother and said nothing more, but her gaze swept up and down over Sheng Yunshu, that look just like she was viewing meat on a chopping board.
Sheng Yunshu knew she was bringing up the last incident again. The healed wound on her wrist felt a dull pain after sensing her gaze.
Sheng Yunshu wanted to step on her sore spot and retort, but every time she collided with her gaze, the fear of dying would sweep through her entire body again, making her hands tremble uncontrollably.
Sheng Yanzhou withdrew her gaze, a mocking smile hooking on the corner of her mouth. “Why don’t you speak? Grandmother is here; what could I possibly do to you? Is it possible that because my sister is not here, you do not even dare to talk? Hey, my sister is so pathetic. Busy all her life, yet she has to marry someone she does not like. If she were truly ill and died young, that would be one thing, but now…”
“Yanzhou.” Sheng Jiuyuan’s voice sounded again, a few shades deeper than before. “I told you to speak properly. Can you not hear me?”
Sheng Yanzhou finally withdrew her gaze, leaning back in her wheelchair, her fingers casually spinning a decorative ring on the wheelchair’s armrest.
“Grandmother, I did not say anything wrong.”
Her tone was so innocent it made one’s teeth itch.
“I just feel sorry for my sister. After all, she only has me as a younger sister; if I do not feel sorry for her, should I let strangers worry?”
Sheng Jiuyuan looked at her, truly loving her yet hating her at the same time.
Just as she was about to speak, Sheng Yunshu, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.
She clenched her fists, staring at the black silk scarf on Sheng Yanzhou’s neck, her voice trembling slightly.
“This scarf of yours. It really does not match your outfit. It looks so ugly.”
Sheng Yanzhou’s eyes turned cold.
Without waiting for her to react, Sheng Yunshu slipped away first.
Running to the yard outside, Sheng Yunshu covered her heart, gasping for air. The cold wind blowing made her shiver.
As she ran toward Sheng Qingshan’s residence, she opened her AI brain and tapped into their chat box:
“I will not be your sister anymore. Your sister is so childish. I am more mature; I am better suited to be your wife.”