“That crazy girl is definitely a schizophrenic, no doubt about it!”
The filming tonight was quite special, involving a scene with a foreign actor. Nie Feiyin recited her lines over and over until she practically knew them backward. Xue Cheng, feeling sorry for her, offered a bad idea: “How about I hold up a teleprompter for you?”
Nie Feiyin put down her script. “No need.”
Seeing her so confident, Xue Cheng knew she must have it under control. She obediently ran over to Lu Wenqi’s side to join the audience. Whenever Nie Feiyin committed to something, she did it well. There was another reason; Xue Cheng knew her English was excellent. In short, this scene would not damage her reputation as a top student once it aired.
The structure of the entire play was exquisite. Xue Cheng did not understand professional terminology and was too lazy to look up the specific narrative techniques, so she gave it a straightforward name: “The Medley of Lies.” After all, every character who appeared was lying.
The female protagonist had just finished her college entrance exams and was full of energy, acting as a vigilante and striking fear into the hearts of criminals across the city. This night scene was a climax early in the story. A gang of scammers was hiding in a village within the city, specifically targeting the elderly. Nearly ten elderly people had committed suicide after being scammed. These victims shared common traits: small savings and children working away from home. Perhaps out of immense fear and self-reproach, they chose to end their lives.
The scammers had a business plan: “many a mickle makes a muckle.” They sought out more victims but took less from each one. This way, even if a victim sought help, people would not take it seriously because the amount was only a few thousand yuan. They did not realize that this was no different from murder.
The protagonist found several small-time dealers of prohibited goods and designed a trap to lure the scammers in, taking the whole gang down at once. On this night, the dealers and scammers were turned against each other and began stabbing one another. Meanwhile, the protagonist went home, drank a glass of milk, fell into a sweet sleep, and had a rare, beautiful dream.
Of course, she was only the protagonist of the script. Once the show aired, the primary perspective would be that of the investigative team, and she would remain a suspect from beginning to end.
After reading the full script, Xue Cheng felt a mixture of emotions. The protagonist was constantly delivering justice in a very violent and cruel manner. But in the end, she finally realized that the order of the world would not be established by her. Her ideals were destined to shatter, so she sacrificed herself for them, climbing a snow-capped mountain alone and never returning. She might have frozen to death, or perhaps she was eaten by a bear. No one knew.
In short, it was a story about a pervert who chose suicide after failing to establish a grand legacy. After Nie Feiyin performed this script, it would serve as a perfect conclusion to this stage of her acting career. When Xue Cheng saw her lying in her room falling asleep with a smile while the other side was a bloody mess, she felt a strange sense of satisfaction. This realization startled her.
Was she a pervert too?
After the scene finished, Lu Wenqi offered plenty of praise and looked very satisfied. Nie Feiyin enjoyed the performance herself. After returning to her room to wash up, she was still full of energy and could not fall asleep, so she found an electronic version of the Cihai dictionary to read on her tablet.
When Jin Yuzhen arrived at the opening ceremony, she felt a wave of relief. It was a good thing she had not followed Zhuhuai’s suggestion; if she had truly worn a formal gown, she would have looked completely out of place.
She never expected the ceremony to be so unconventional. A stage had been set up in the hall, and the overall decor felt like a slow-burn bar, with a program list scrolling on a large screen. Only then did she realize that Yun Man’s mall was not the kind she was familiar with. It was essentially a large bar focused on entertainment, though the second floor had a cinema and the third floor had a theater, making it quite diverse.
It was quite interesting. Yun Man spotted her immediately and waved cheerfully. After placing her gift on the greeting table, Jin Yuzhen went over to sit beside her. Looking at the setup, she worried her gift might not be appropriate. Would a box of soothing incense be too offensive?
Probably not. Since Yun Man was close to the Nie family, there must be some similarities. If Nie Feiyin was already using health-preserving herbs at such a young age, it was nothing to give Yun Man a box of incense specially formulated by a master.
Speaking of which, it was strange; after lunch, she had completely forgotten about the herbs, and Nie Feiyin had not mentioned them either. It was not until she returned to the shop to talk with Zhuhuai that the driver brought in several large boxes, saying they were from Miss Nie. She opened them and saw that they were all extremely precious items, including several things she had been searching for in vain. If they had been offered in person, she never would have accepted.
Yun Man knew she had visited the film set at noon and whispered, “A-Yin’s cooking is good, right?”
Jin Yuzhen could only nod.
Yun Man said, “Her culinary IQ is very high. Whenever Teacher Nie held tea parties in the past, A-Yin was always the head chef.”
Having enjoyed the meal at noon, Jin Yuzhen had no doubts about this.
“She could have come along, but she had a scene scheduled for tonight,” Yun Man noted. “When she is finished filming this movie, let us all get together here.”
After they finished chatting, the program began. The performances were all arranged for the celebration and were exceptionally festive, like a New Year’s celebration. Jin Yuzhen watched intently, never once taking out her phone.
After the warm-up ended, it was time for free socializing. Since Jin Yuzhen only knew Yun Man, she stayed with her and did not move from her seat. Perhaps because she knew the ice had been broken between her and Nie Feiyin, Yun Man began to mention her unconsciously.
Talking about tonight’s scene, Yun Man said, “I saw people in my social circle praising A-Yin’s English.”
Jin Yuzhen did not often check other people’s updates, so she was unaware of this.
Yun Man said, “When she was in high school, she received a cross-border scam call. The English on the other end was excellent, but she could still identify the accent; it was likely someone from Southeast Asia. She felt provoked, thinking even a scammer spoke more authentically than she did. She could not let it go, so she started working incredibly hard and scored full marks on the English section of the college entrance exams.”
Jin Yuzhen tried to imagine the scene, but her mind involuntarily drifted to the story Nie Feiyin told about throwing away love letters. She often forgot things, and high school was a long time ago; she had even forgotten what her own high school looked like. But she was good at, or perhaps good at, deduction. Combining the stories she had heard, she imagined that Nie Feiyin had been a vibrant and flamboyant person in high school.
Yun Man asked curiously, “Could you choose which foreign language to take for the exams back then? Which one did you pick?”
Jin Yuzhen said, “I did not choose; the default was English.”
Yun Man smiled. “I thought people of your generation liked niche languages. If you could choose again, which one would you take?”
This question seemed trivial, but it had a deeper meaning. Yun Man began to admire her own strategy. Liking a specific country’s language displayed an aesthetic preference to some extent. Understanding someone’s aesthetics was very important. As the old saying goes, if talk is not to the point, even half a sentence is too much.
Jin Yuzhen thought for a moment. “It would be nice if we could choose dialects.”
Yun Man was stunned. “What?”
Jin Yuzhen said, “I think the Taozhou dialect has great research value.”
Yun Man said sheepishly, “I suppose so.”
How could it not? Outsiders could not understand a single word; it sounded like mumbling incantations. If she were a bit smarter, she would certainly conduct that research herself. How could anyone understand such strange pronunciations?
However, Yun Man suddenly realized that Jin Yuzhen truly loved Taozhou. It was a love that transcended simple local sentiment. Nie Feiyin also constantly praised the land and water of Taozhou, so it seemed they were destined to be together.
In their situation, making friends was actually quite difficult. When they were young, they could do as they pleased, but as they grew up, they always had to consider various interests. They could not associate with people who were at odds with their family, no matter how much they liked them. Conversely, they had to force a smile for those deeply tied to their family interests, no matter how much they detested them.
Yun Man certainly did not want to live that kind of life, which was why she fled from the capital to Taozhou. Her family called this behavior running away. She did not care; she had lived a very good life in Taozhou for the past six months and had no time for irrelevant matters. Therefore, when Nie Feiyin suggested rooting herself in Taozhou, she voted in favor.
To this day, her WeChat was still blacklisted by Nie Wenshuang. She did not dare to ask for a reconciliation yet because Nie Wenshuang’s life as a graduate student was not going smoothly. If she appeared now, she would become a target for all of Nie Wenshuang’s frustrations.
In fact, she had a brilliant idea to solve the current predicament. The only reason Nie Wenshuang opposed Nie Feiyin coming to Taozhou was out of concern. Alone in a strange land and without help, she could not bear to see Nie Feiyin suffer. If she could find some like-minded friends for Nie Feiyin, wouldn’t the problem be solved? What reason would Nie Wenshuang have to be angry then? She would not even have to beg; she would definitely be removed from the blacklist. From this perspective, if Jin Yuzhen and Nie Feiyin successfully became friends, it would surely benefit her.
She was lost in her pleasant thoughts and did not notice the argument breaking out by the stage. Jin Yuzhen saw someone swinging a wine bottle and reminded her, “It looks like a fight has started?”
Just as she finished speaking, she saw a male dancer holding a wine bottle and smashing it against his own forehead. Yun Man frowned and watched closely, not understanding the behavior. “What is he doing?”
The manager hurried over to her and kept it brief: “Boss, a guest asked him to drink with them, he refused, and a scene broke out.”
Yun Man’s expression turned cold. “What is he pretending for? He is already standing on the stage and has finished his dance, yet he pulls this stunt when it is time to drink? I can see exactly what he is thinking.”
It was simply a matter of not being paid enough. The guests on-site clearly shared her thoughts. A guest in a long red dress curled her lips, picked up a stack of tips from the table, and threw them at the dancer’s face. “This is all you are worth. Stop pretending, or you will not get a single cent.”
A companion beside her felt frustrated and glared at the dancer. “This is already too much. He is putting on airs and refusing to dance; maybe he has found a wealthy patron.”
Yun Man did not want to ruin the guests’ mood and told the manager, “Get him out of here. Be more careful when hiring in the future; do not find such embarrassing people.”
The manager hurried to comply. The atmosphere became subdued, so the manager made a last-minute adjustment and had the finale singer take the stage. An emotional song dispelled the gloom, and the crowd became lively again.
Yun Man let out a long breath. Jin Yuzhen looked at the program list on the table again; the rest were all songs.
Yun Man asked, “There is nothing left to watch. Do you want to go see the cat cafe?”
Jin Yuzhen was surprised. “There is a cat cafe too?”
Yun Man said, “It is on the top floor, but the staff should be off duty by now.”
For a moment, Jin Yuzhen could not tell if the staff she meant were humans or cats. “No, maybe another day.”
Yun Man said, “You must come and see it another day. Those cats are so human-like. When guests arrive, they line up and start a fashion show.”
Jin Yuzhen was a bit shocked. “A fashion show?”
Yun Man said, “The cat cafe used to be elsewhere, and I never managed it. One day I happened to pass by and went in for a bit. When the cats saw me, they looked at me with such disdainful eyes and walked past me in a line.”
That was an authentic catwalk. At first, she had been startled, thinking it was some kind of ritual. But on second thought, she had traveled far and wide and had seen almost everything except a ghost. This was not earth-shattering.
After asking the shop assistants, she learned that once the cats gathered, they elected a leader. The leader was excellent at leading the team and even understood a bit about human nature, playing the guests like a fiddle.
Yun Man said, “My manager says young people love watching this. Moving the cat cafe here is a way to attract customers to the theater and cinema. Look, I only set the opening time this morning, and there are so many people at the party tonight. I bet more than half of them came for the cats. I recently consulted an economics master who said if you want to keep a venue running long-term, you must enter the hearts of young people.”
After hearing this, Jin Yuzhen understood and sighed, “It has to be a master. Is there any method I can use?”
Yun Man recalled the master’s words and said, “If you want customers to walk through the door, first you must have an incredibly attractive marketing plan.”
Jin Yuzhen found it difficult. “This, you might not know, but a couple of years ago, I was young and arrogant. At an innovation conference, I spoke out of turn and said that everyone in marketing is a liar. I offended the entire industry. Now, it is truly impossible to hire a team.”
Yun Man also found it difficult, but being older and more experienced, she helped analyze the situation. “To do marketing, you need a gimmick. You have to know what customers like and then apply the right remedy.”
As Jin Yuzhen pondered how to attract young customers, she thought of the dogs kept at the orchard. Young people seemed to have a particular love for cats and dogs. But then another problem arose; she had heard of a catwalk, but never a dogwalk. She had only heard dogs barking.
What should she do? She remembered that those dogs seemed to have a few special skills.
“Your cats do a fashion show, so how about I find a few dogs to crow like roosters in the shop? Would that be a similar idea?”
Yun Man was astonished. “It is more than just similar; it is a case of the student outperforming the master. Think about how much fun it would be to see a dog crowing. What do young people like to watch? They like to watch something fun.”
Encouraged by her words, Jin Yuzhen was suddenly full of confidence. “You are right. But just watching a dog crow is too plain. It would be best to hold a competition or something. Those dogs of mine are very competitive; it will definitely make for a great show.”
Yun Man summarized the existing resources and ideas and sighed, “Such a good idea would be a waste if it were only held in the shop. Why not contact a platform and turn it into a variety show!”
Jin Yuzhen clapped her hands. “What a great idea.”
Yun Man was excited. “If the variety show becomes a hit, will the dogs not become famous too? Once the dogs are big stars, your shop will be the new check-in spot in Taozhou!”
Jin Yuzhen was moved by the idea, but many things are easier said than done. “So, what is the first step?”
Yun Man rolled up her sleeves. “I will help you! This Real Dog Show has such potential to be a hit. It is even more likely to go viral than the crime film Lu Wenqi is filming.”
Jin Yuzhen felt a bit awkward. “Oh? Can both be hits? I also invested in that film.”
Yun Man was confident. “Fine, both will be hits!”
Jin Yuzhen sighed with emotion and asked, “But is doing this considered animal performance?”
Yun Man thought for a long while. “That, seems to be the case. Why don’t you open a dog cafe next to your collection shop? Your shop would be the only one in the city where the dogs can crow; the competitiveness would be at its peak. And the cost is not high. For example, those cats of mine were hired for seven thousand yuan a month; they are very expensive.”
Jin Yuzhen said, “I will think about it.”
The nature of a collection shop and an entertainment mall were very different; one strategy might not work for both. The program she recorded earlier was about to air, and perhaps that would have an effect.
When she returned to the shop that night, Fu Jiao had not yet left. Jin Yuzhen had dozed off on the way and was not at all sleepy now, so she sat down to talk with Fu Jiao.
Fu Jiao said, “I have been keeping an eye on Gaoyi. Just now, your eldest uncle appeared in the Gaoyi internal network chat room.”
Jin Hong and Jin Ke had been acting suspiciously outside the shop that morning, so they must have been planning something. Jin Yuzhen said, “There is a family banquet tomorrow; I will tell Grandmother about this. Perhaps we can use the two of them to take Gaoyi down.”
Fu Jiao gave her a document. “All the information I copied is here. Grandmother will surely understand it.”
Jin Yuzhen took it and read it over. “What about Miss Nie?”
Fu Jiao said, “That is the strange part. I saw a lot of encrypted information a few days ago, but now it is all gone. Gaoyi seems to be closing the net. The Jin family and the Nie family are likely the final targets.”
An organization passed down through generations like this had already developed countless followers and could not simply stop. Unless they were moving their base. Jin Yuzhen had much to say but held her tongue.
Fu Jiao asked, “Did you look into the Nie family’s affairs?”
Jin Yuzhen said, “I did.”
Compared to the rumored grievances of wealthy families, the Nie family was relatively ordinary. The previous generation started the business, and this generation inherited it. It was a very smooth process.
Fu Jiao found it unbelievable. “Nie Wenshuang has a younger brother. Did he not fight for the family property?”
Jin Yuzhen said, “According to Yun Man, the elders were all satisfied with Nie Wenshuang. There was no such thing as a struggle.”
Fu Jiao waved her hand. “That is different from what I know.”
Jin Yuzhen was all ears.
Fu Jiao said, “It seems Nie Wenshuang’s brother once put up banners to demand his share of the property, but it did not cause much of a stir.”
Jin Yuzhen said, “I have not heard of that. I only know that he has been dead for many years.”
Fu Jiao sighed. “Be careful. These people are frantic; there is no telling what they might do.”
Jin Yuzhen nodded. “Go sleep upstairs. I am going home first.”
That night, Jin Yuzhen had a rare dream. More surprisingly, she dreamt of something from five years ago.
At that time, she had followed a team to the Southwest to film a documentary. Midway through, she suffered from snow blindness and was briefly blind. She did not fully recover until after the recording ended. The regret of that trip was that she could not see the local scenery, and even watching the documentary several times could not make up for it.
Later, she was saved by an old photo album she happened to find. She vaguely remembered that the album was a gift from a younger girl who traveled with her. At the time, her eyes had not recovered well, so she could not look at it and could only pack it in her suitcase. After returning to Taozhou, she forgot about the album and did not find it until six months later. There were nearly a hundred photos. Looking through the album felt like walking the roads of the Southwest again; she felt half-satisfied and half-melancholy.
At the time, she thought about thanking the girl who gave her the album. But being young and headstrong, after resigning in a huff, she was not fond of anyone or anything related to her former unit, so she eventually abandoned the idea. In her memory, that girl was a volunteer from Peking University and the youngest among them. Everyone called her Sister. Jin Yuzhen was not in the same group as her, and they did not communicate much, so she had not even remembered the girl’s name.
In her dream, she seemed to return to that small town in the Southwest, back to a certain morning. The room was filled with the scent of Tibetan food, and a gentle voice sounded in her ear: “Yangzong said Sister’s eyes have recovered a bit. Can you see my face?”
She struggled to focus her vision. Suddenly, she could not distinguish between reality and the dream as the scene before her gradually became clear. As she regained her sight, she saw Nie Feiyin’s face. She had elegant eyebrows, moist eyes, and a peaceful smile.
She woke up instantly, sweat breaking out on her forehead. She sat up and looked at the clock on the wall. Three in the morning.
After sitting in a daze for a while, she got out of bed, found her computer, and pulled up the information for the documentary from that year. She searched carefully through the end credits. She did not see Nie Feiyin’s name.
The next day was the Jin family banquet.
Jin Yuzhen arrived very early. As soon as Ning Fang saw her, she wanted to mock her. She sneered and said, “Zhenzhen arrived so early. Running back and forth like this every week, you might as well not have moved out.”
Jin Yuzhen looked at her. “Are you saying this because you miss me and want to persuade me to move back?”
Ning Fang thought: “…” How can she not even distinguish between a compliment and a taunt?
She grit her teeth but ultimately said no more. Because of the farce of Jin Hong and Jin Ke’s alliance, she could not hold her head up in front of Jin Yuzhen and was even too embarrassed to say harsh words. There was also another reason.
Jin Zhuhuai was back. That lunatic would not let anyone bully Jin Yuzhen. The agricultural aid project had not yet been finalized, and she did not want to cause trouble at this juncture. Remembering the things Jin Zhuhuai had done in the past, a chill ran down her spine.
That crazy girl is definitely a schizophrenic, no doubt about it!
Sometimes she felt that even Jin Yuzhen needed to be wary of Jin Zhuhuai. It was truly strange; if you called her a sister-con, she did not yield at all in the matter of family property, and even Jin Yuzhen’s few shares had been neutralized. If you called her heartless, she protected Jin Yuzhen in many matters. It was very contradictory. If this continued, Jin Yuzhen would probably become schizophrenic too.
Leaving the pavilion, she looked at Jin Yuzhen from a distance and suddenly felt a bit of sympathy. Then it occurred to her that the things she fought so hard for were things others did not care about, and her sympathy was quickly replaced by resentment. Who would have thought that after all the jokes Jin Yuzhen made of herself pursuing Cen Shu over the past five years, Jin Yuelan would still treat her like a treasure?
When Ning Sui came hopping over, she saw Ning Fang’s worried expression and asked curiously, “What are you thinking about so intently so early in the morning?”
Seeing Ning Sui’s smiling face, Ning Fang’s anger rose. “With your intelligence, you would not understand even if I told you.”
Ning Sui was long accustomed to her mood swings and shrugged. “That is fine; I do not really like listening anyway. You can think about it slowly yourself; I am going to find Zhenzhen.”
Ning Fang was both angry and relieved. She was angry that Ning Sui was not ambitious. She was relieved that despite herself being so vicious and Jin Yuzhen being so gloomy, the Ning Sui she raised was a total sweetheart. A miracle of education.