Ye Zhuxi’s return to China was truly for a vacation. For nearly a year, she had been touring the world, visiting one country per month with almost no rest. Now that the first phase of the tour was finally over, she was determined to completely relax and take a break. She had agreed with Fu Songyao that this vacation would be at least six months, and the start of the second phase of the tour would be discussed six months later.
Fu Songyao knew her temperament; she was simply informing her directly, without any intention of discussion. Since the first phase of the tour had ended perfectly, Fu Songyao readily agreed, unusually without trying to negotiate with Ye Zhuxi.
“Since it’s a vacation, I’ll cancel most of my work. The interviews I’ve already agreed to will need to be scheduled, but they won’t take up much time anyway.”
Ye Zhuxi thought for a moment, then waved her hand and said, “Okay, just let me know in advance.”
Fu Songyao added, “One of the interviews also includes a magazine photoshoot.”
Ye Zhuxi immediately frowned, resisting, “Why is there a magazine photoshoot? That’ll take up a whole day!”
If it were just an interview, it would be fine; she could have someone come to her place and do some simple makeup herself. But now there’s a magazine photoshoot too—that’s going to take up way too much time! Ye Zhuxi’s entire body was filled with resistance. She’d worked hard for half a year, and now that she finally had a vacation, she just wanted to give up.
Fu Songyao naturally saw through her thoughts, raised her hand and counted, saying, “Shoot well, cooperate well, and I’ll give you an extra month of vacation.”
Ye Zhuxi’s eyes widened. Just a magazine photoshoot for an extra month of vacation? That meant she’d have at least seven months of vacation! This deal was too good to pass up!
So she nodded vigorously, grabbed the drink from under the coffee table, and bowed respectfully to Fu Songyao: “I have no objections, thank you, sister, Fu Songyao is forever my goddess!”
Fu Songyao rolled her eyes at her and laughed, “You’re crazy.” Then she took the drink, got up and walked out: “I’m leaving first, go have fun by yourself, be careful when you go out, you still have quite a lot of fans.”
“I know, I know, don’t worry.” Ye Zhuxi nodded and bowed as she saw Fu Songyao out of the studio, closed the door, raised her hand and made a peace sign, then skipped upstairs.
After returning to China, she arranged the remaining work, and had plenty of vacation time to squander. She had to plan it carefully, and definitely invite a few girlfriends to eat and drink everywhere. As for traveling? Forget it, she had already toured too many countries and too many cities, and she didn’t want to move at all now. She just wanted to stay at home and completely retire.
So she took out her phone and sent a message in a WeChat group called “The Four Great Friend-Chasers.” This group had four members: Huo Jiajia and Jiang Yue were Ye Zhuxi’s best friends since high school, and the other was her cousin, Ye Lanchuan, with whom she had become friends.
Magic Little Bamboo: [Beep beep beep, weekend murder mystery game, calling for people!]
Urban Beauty: [Ahhhhh, Bamboo, my Bamboo, you’re finally back! I missed you so much, come here and let me kiss you!]
Moonlight: [Jiajia, calm down, you look like a sasaeng fan right now.]
Magic Little Bamboo: [Mwah mwah mwah mwah!]
Urban Beauty: [Mwah.jpg]
Moonlight: [Mwah.]
Magic Little Bamboo: [So, are you guys actually coming out this weekend?]
Urban Beauty & Moonlight: [OK.]
Magic Little Bamboo: [@ylc, sis, are you taking the weekend off?]
After a while, there was a response in the group; Ye Lanchuan replied with an emoji.
ylc: [ok.gif]
Ye Zhuxi clicked her tongue. Her cousin was still so quiet online, even though she was a chatterbox in real life. There was a huge difference between her two-dimensional and three-dimensional personas. Anyway, the weekend meeting was settled, and she started looking for venues for murder mystery games. She needed to find a reliable place and a brochure. Of the four of them, she was the most free right now. The others were all office workers, so she was the only one who could handle finding venues and making reservations.
While looking for reliable murder mystery game venues, she chatted with Huo Jiajia and Jiang Yue in the group chat. Ye Lanchuan was very busy with work and rarely showed up in the group chat during the day, which the other three were used to.
After lounging around the studio until the afternoon, Ye Zhuxi felt hungry and decided to order some takeout. Because she was on a long vacation, everyone else in the studio had also been given the day off by her word, and the entire studio was quiet except for her. It was already dark by four in the afternoon on a winter’s day. Ye Zhuxi was curled up on the sofa in her office, ordering takeout. The entire office was pitch black, with only the light from her phone screen illuminating her face, making her pretty face appear deathly pale.
After selecting her takeout and confirming the order, Ye Zhuxi rolled over and continued lying down. The room was completely dark, but she was too lazy to get up and turn on the light, so she simply let it remain in the dark.
Suddenly, her ears twitched. She heard a rustling sound coming from downstairs, followed by footsteps…
Ye Zhuxi jumped up from the sofa. No one could be coming to the studio; Fu Songyao had already gone home for the holidays. Who would come? It couldn’t be the delivery rider; she had just placed the order! A thief? Ye Zhuxi suddenly realized this. She seemed to have forgotten to lock the downstairs door when Fu Songyao left.
This thought flashed through her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. What kind of thief could get into her studio? Ye Zhuxi’s studio is located in a large commercial park in the capital’s CBD. This park consists of two- or three-story detached buildings, housing many studios from the art and entertainment industries. The security system in this park is excellent; facial recognition is required to enter, and visitors and delivery riders need the owner’s permission.
Could it be a thief? Then who is it? Could someone be working overtime at the studio? Or has Fu Songyao returned?
With various guesses in mind, Ye Zhuxi slowly made her way to her office door. Her hearing is exceptionally good; she could discern that the footsteps stopped at her door.
Knock, knock, knock— a light, rhythmic knock came from outside, followed by an unfamiliar voice: “Ms. Ye, are you there?”
Ye Zhuxi frowned instinctively, sensing that the person outside was unusual. Firstly, it couldn’t be someone from the studio, nor someone she worked with, and it certainly didn’t seem like the park’s property management… Who could it be?
With these questions in mind, Ye Zhuxi opened the office door. She hadn’t turned on the lights yet; the room was pitch black inside and out. Her phone, which she held up, had its flashlight on, and coincidentally, the person outside also had theirs on. The light from their phones illuminated their faces from below, making them look like two pale, ghostly faces colliding in the darkness—the visual impact was incredibly strong.
Ye Zhuxi took a step back in fright, pointing her flashlight at the person’s face and shouting, “Who are you?!”
The person at the door, blinded by the flashlight, raised their hand to shield their eyes and calmly asked, “Excuse me, are you Ms. Ye Zhuxi?”
Ye Zhuxi, after all, was someone who had seen it all; her initial shock was simply due to being caught off guard. After recovering, she quickly calmed down. She turned her phone’s flashlight away, turned on the office light, and the light finally broke through the darkness. She could finally see who was standing at the door.
The newcomer was quite tall, probably a bit taller than Ye Zhuxi herself. In the dead of winter, she was only wearing a thin down jacket over what appeared to be a tight-fitting undershirt – an outfit that would freeze someone to death in the capital’s freezing weather.
With the glare gone, the woman lowered her hand from her eyes, revealing her entire face.
Ye Zhuxi’s eyelids twitched violently; she recognized her almost instantly. This annoying woman hadn’t changed a bit in ten years!
“Xu… Jiu…” Ye Zhuxi gritted her teeth as she uttered the name, making it sound incredibly nuanced.
Xu Jiu smiled immediately, while the young woman who had come with her glanced at her boss with a puzzled look.
“Long time no see. I didn’t expect you to still remember me.” Xu Jiu’s voice held a hint of pleasure, seemingly genuinely happy that Ye Zhuxi had recognized her at a glance.
But these words took on a completely different meaning in Ye Zhuxi’s ears. She imagined a whole drama unfolding, with Xu Jiu being sarcastic and sarcastic towards her, and she was furious with her own overthinking. She rolled her eyes at Xu Jiu: “I’ll never forget you, no matter who else I forget. Your face is etched in my mind for three years of high school. Honored to be the most annoying person?”
She was still the same as in high school, always resorting to sarcasm whenever she saw Xu Jiu, every word a jab, constantly using the word “annoying person.”
Xu Jiu’s smile widened. They hadn’t seen each other since graduation. Xu Jiu always saw news about Ye Zhuxi in various news articles and knew what her life had been like for the past ten years, but it was all just news online. They really hadn’t seen each other for ten years. She truly missed it.
Even though Ye Zhuxi was always sarcastic and sarcastic whenever they met in high school, Xu Jiu still found her cute and always secretly looked forward to seeing her.
And Ye Zhuxi? Unlike Xu Jiu, who always learns about her through various news reports, she genuinely doesn’t know anything about Xu Jiu’s work and life over the past ten years. The reason she remembers her and recognizes her at a glance ten years later is simply because she dislikes her.
Or is it true that “hate lasts longer than love”? While Ye Zhuxi didn’t exactly hate Xu Jiu, they were true rivals in high school. There were many reasons, but in Ye Zhuxi’s opinion, the main one was that they both liked the same girl.
From Ye Zhuxi’s perspective, Xu Jiu was an absolute love rival, and the key was that this rival seemed to have an advantage over her back then, which made her even more annoying—utterly detestable!
Ye Zhuxi stood in the doorway with her arms crossed, sizing up Xu Jiu, and asked, “What are you doing here?” Xu Jiu’s voice remained gentle as she replied, “I have something I’d like to ask for your help with.”