13
The next day, Jiang Yue realized he had overthought things.
And it wasn’t just him—throughout the upper-class circles, whether they were on good terms with the Yan family or didn’t have much to do with them, as long as they were part of those circles… only the Song family and the Feng family had not been invited.
Jiang Yue didn’t know whether to be annoyed or amused. He pinched out his cigarette, accidentally burning his fingertip in the process, and let out a soft “tsk” through his teeth.
He had thought she was going to invite him over to make amends.
Instead, she had turned her back on him, stepping down even harder on his pride.
A few days ago, Jiang Er had visited the Yan residence and left with fruit in hand, the whole affair bathed in a warm, pleasant atmosphere. What new story would the gossip mills churn out today? That he was attending a Yan family gathering, that he and the Yan’s had reconciled, while only the Song and Feng families were left out?
He looked up and saw Jiang Jing clutching a PSP, yelling at the top of his lungs, “Aunt Wang! I want food! Food! I’m hungry!”
Why don’t you just starve to death?
This was all that little bastard’s fault! If not for him, none of the follow up would have happened.
And whoever had gotten wind of the fight between Jiang Jing and Yan Wenbai and immediately fed the news to him…
When the dust settled, every single one of them was going to pay.
Aunt Wang quickly brought out some food, but Jiang Jing took it in his hands and, sensing something off about the atmosphere, couldn’t bring himself to take a bite.
He turned his head to look at Jiang Yue.
“Not in a good mood, old man?”
“How could I be in a good mood?” Jiang Er let out a cold laugh. “The Yan family is throwing a banquet. The Song and Feng families haven’t heard a peep about being invited—only our Jiang family has…”
“Doesn’t that mean our family is especially awesome?”
“Awesome my ass. The minute we set foot in the Yan residence, people outside are going to say we’re in cahoots with them. The fruit I walked out with the other day when I went to the Yan residence for your sake—that’s called evidence, get it?”
Jiang Jing thought it over.
But he didn’t ask you to leave with fruit.
How is this his fault now?
“Then we just won’t go to the banquet,” Jiang Jing said.
Jiang Yue looked at him coldly, as if he were looking at a pig. “That’s called having a guilty conscience.”
And besides…
Jiang Yue suddenly remembered that day at the Yan residence. She had slowly risen, walked over to him, and personally placed that box of strawberries into his hand… A slap followed by a sweet reward.
What sweet reward would she offer this time to appease him?
Jiang Yue was curious.
“So… going is wrong, and not going is also wrong?” Jiang Jing was bewildered.
A few seconds later, he smacked his lips. “That Yan Wenbai’s sister-in-law… she’s fucking impressive!”
Jiang Yue shot Jiang Jing another look, this time as if he were an idiot.
Zero sensitivity.
If this guy had been born into a family with political ties, the weeds on his grave would be three meters tall.
Jiang Yue said, “…She is impressive.” Then added, “Stop swearing.”
Jiang Jing shut his mouth. “…Fine.”
Weren’t you just saying “my ass” a moment ago?
…
For the matriarch of a major family, it wasn’t difficult at all to figure out who was on good terms with whom, who was at odds with whom, which ones belonged to the same small circle, and where the significant status differences lay…
In just one day, Gu Xueyi had already sorted all of it out.
And Yan Wenjia had been forced into the role of primary information provider.
Yan Wenjia lounged on the sofa.
Ideally, he would have been wearing a bathrobe, barefoot on the carpet.
But because Gu Xueyi was right there, he had to dress neatly. He started to slouch, but his shirt pulled uncomfortably, so he had to sit up straight again.
Yan Wenjia was inwardly frustrated. He drawled, his tone laced with sarcasm, “What’s the point of figuring all this out?”
“There is a point.”
Three words, unhurried and steady, without a single extra syllable of explanation. They immediately lodged themselves in Yan Wenjia’s throat.
Every time he confronted Gu Xueyi, it felt like throwing a punch that never landed—always hitting cotton instead.
Gu Xueyi closed the folder in her hand and stood up. “I need to go out.”
Yan Wenjia asked instinctively, “Where are you going?”
“The mall.”
“You’re going to the mall?” Yan Wenjia frowned. “You’re going on a shopping spree?”
Gu Xueyi nodded. “Mrs. Xia invited me.”
Which Mrs. Xia? That notorious spendthrift? Couldn’t Gu Xueyi see what kind of person she was? Didn’t she know that the woman had only invited her to pry information about the Yan family out of her?
Yan Wenjia felt a surge of anger churning in his chest. His tone turned gloomy. “My older brother is missing out there, and you’re just going to the mall on a shopping spree as if nothing’s wrong?”
Gu Xueyi reasoned with him. “Your older brother is missing, and you’re just going off to play extreme sports as if nothing’s wrong.”
Yan Wenjia choked on his words.
He said, “If he doesn’t come back, I’ll throw myself into the sea and die with him. Wouldn’t that be better?”
“If you’re going to die, don’t spread a net.”
“…”
“The next time you tell me that, as I’m holding your head underwater, I will firmly refuse to let go,” Gu Xueyi said airily.
Yan Wenjia: “…” After a pause: “…That’s… really not necessary. You don’t have to sacrifice yourself.”
“Then I’m leaving.”
“Fine.”
“Will there be paparazzi taking pictures of me?”
“Of course…” Yan Wenjia let out a scornful laugh, then abruptly stopped. When he looked up again, Gu Xueyi had already pushed open the door and walked out.
There were no fools in the Yan family.
Yan Wenjia immediately understood what she meant.
The banquet, going to the mall on a shopping spree—these were merely tactics, ways to let the outside world know that the Yan family was still functioning as usual, without any upheaval.
Yan Wenjia pressed his lips together, a complex tangle of emotions rising in his heart once again.
Just then, outside the door, Gu Xueyi paused in her steps. She asked the maid, “Was the food for the Fourth Young Master sent over today?”
“Yes, Madam. It’s already been delivered to the Fourth Young Master’s school.”
“Good.” Gu Xueyi asked again, “He’s not coming home tonight?”
“No, he said he wasn’t coming home…”
“Call him. Tell him he must come home for dinner tonight. Prepare some food to nourish his brain. He’s in school—he needs balanced nutrition.”
“Yes, Madam.”
Soon, the sound of her footsteps faded into the distance.
She really did act like the head of the family…
Yan Wenjia found it amusing, but when it came to actually laughing, he couldn’t. Not only could he not laugh, but he also felt a vague, inexplicable gloom.
With him, it was “I will firmly refuse to let go even if it means drowning you,” but with Yan Wenbai… how the hell was she fussing over him, asking after his well-being and worrying about his nutritional balance? Yan Wenbai was in university, not high school. What did he need balanced nutrition for?
Besides… Yan Wenbai was already a grown adult. If he hadn’t had balanced nutrition all along, he’d have developed macrocephaly by now!
Yan Wenjia gnashed his teeth, his thoughts dark and resentful.
…
This Mrs. Xia didn’t have much of a relationship with Gu Xueyi. The two occasionally went shopping together. If anything, it was the original host who had been the one to actively cling to Mrs. Xia.
Mrs. Xia was strong-willed and kept a tight grip on her husband’s money. If she could spend eleven-tenths, she would never stop at ten. Most of the saleswomen at the mall adored her.
With all that money thrown around, plus the occasional fashion show invitations from brands, she had gradually cultivated a sense of fashion. That was exactly what the original host had lacked.
To gain access to better luxury goods and truly break into high society and the fashion circle, the original host had humbled her proud head more than once in front of Mrs. Xia.
More importantly, among the people in this circle who were willing to hang out with the original host, she looked down on them. And the ones she wanted to curry favor with looked down on her. Everyone knew that her marriage to Yan Zhao was just a formality.
And now, Mrs. Xia stood before Gu Xueyi and exclaimed in surprise, “You’re not wearing makeup today?”
Gu Xueyi did know how to do makeup. But she had been too busy and had skipped that step.
Mrs. Xia was not important enough to warrant her dressing up.
“Lazy,” Gu Xueyi answered succinctly.
Mrs. Xia immediately felt a sense of contempt for her.
No wonder she couldn’t win Mr. Yan’s favor. Her fashion sense was a disaster. In the past, she at least knew to put on makeup and tidy herself up. Now she couldn’t even be bothered to do that…
Although, that said… she looked even more beautiful now. Strikingly so, even.
Mrs. Xia suppressed the flash of astonishment in her eyes, along with a flicker of subtle jealousy.
Her gaze wavered as she asked, “You’re not too upset because of the news, are you?”
“News? What news?”
Mrs. Xia was taken aback. “So, you haven’t seen it?”
At that moment, Mrs. Xia no longer felt contempt for Gu Xueyi. Instead, a hint of smug pity surfaced on her face. “It’s everywhere. They’re all saying that Jiang Meng is pregnant with Mr. Yan’s child. Is it true or not?”
“False,” Gu Xueyi said bluntly.
How could Mrs. Xia possibly believe that? She thought to herself, Gu Xueyi has always been one to save face.
Right now, she’s definitely just using lies to paper over the cracks.
“Weren’t we going to the Gucci boutique?” Gu Xueyi smoothly changed the subject.
Mrs. Xia’s attention immediately followed. She nodded. “Let’s go.”
Somewhere in Africa.
This time, they had moved to another location.
The light was much brighter.
The phone was still casually left on the table.
Though the signal was weak, receiving text messages was no problem at all. Thanks to China’s infrastructure, which reached surprisingly far, even in this godforsaken place, a signal tower had been built for the convenience of Chinese traveling around the world.
The phone screen lit up again and again.
“Your card ending in **** made a quick-payment expenditure of 230,000.00 yuan on Oct 15 at 14:11…”
“Your card ending in **** made a quick-payment expenditure of 110,000.00 yuan on Oct 15 at 14:12…”
“…Quick-payment expenditure of 410,000.00 yuan.”
“Are you sure this isn’t fraud?” Several people stared at the screen, then at each other.
Leaning back against a pile of earth, yet still maintaining an upright posture and an otherworldly bearing, the young man lowered his gaze slightly, taking in the information on the screen.
“It’s Gu Xueyi,” the man said softly, his voice low and pleasant.
“Madam?” Several of them thought to themselves, she sure knows how to spend.
The man didn’t find it strange at all.
This seemed more like the Gu Xueyi returning to normal.
His expression remained cold, completely unaffected, as he quickly changed the subject. “How much farther is Kaza?”
But back in the boutique, Mrs. Xia was stunned.
She knew that Gu Xueyi was using Yan Zhao’s secondary card.
Yan Zhao had no feelings for Gu Xueyi whatsoever. Gu Xueyi kept hitting dead ends, and when she needed to vent her anger, she would go shopping with Mrs. Xia. But even when she splurged, she only ever spent a few tens of thousands at a time. After all, she came from a small, humble family like the Gu’s. She lacked the nerve, afraid that spending too much would truly enrage Yan Zhao. So she only dared to vent her frustrations within those limits.
But today…
Even Mrs. Xia watched with bated breath and trembling heart.
Spending like this… in just over ten minutes, she had already gone through several million. A few more hours, and it would surely start at ten million.
Mrs. Xia considered herself a spendthrift, but after all, the amount of liquid cash she had at her disposal was limited. She frequently went on shopping sprees, but she didn’t spend this much every single day.
Could it be that Gu Xueyi had been driven mad by Jiang Meng?
“Do you have any other recommendations, Mrs. Xia?” Gu Xueyi turned and asked.
Mrs. Xia’s throat tightened.
There were nuances to getting merchandise from these boutiques.
If you weren’t one of their VVVIPs and had no purchase history, they wouldn’t offer you new arrivals at all. Even if you pulled out a card and said, “I have money, I can buy everything,” the saleswoman wouldn’t bother with you.
Mrs. Xia happened to be precisely that kind of VVVIP client.
The luxury brands would hold their new arrivals for her. But even Mrs. Xia had her moments of financial constraint—she couldn’t snap everything up.
Today, Gu Xueyi had relied on Mrs. Xia’s status as a long-time customer to get the saleswoman to bring out all the new arrivals…
Individually, none of them were particularly expensive.
The most expensive bag today had cost only 410,000 yuan.
But if you bought everything?
Even Mrs. Xia couldn’t help feeling a bit unsettled, as if their usual positions had been reversed.
She had the purchasing qualifications—she was supposed to be the one on top.
But today, no matter how she looked at it, she seemed more like a little assistant clearing the path and holding bags for Gu Xueyi… while Gu Xueyi had become the lady of the house, simply swiping her card.
“There are more. Yes, there are a few more boutiques we haven’t been to yet,” Mrs. Xia said, gritting her teeth with determination.
She wanted to see just how bold Gu Xueyi was today and how much of Yan Zhao’s money she dared to spend.
Gu Xueyi nodded. “Then let’s go.”
Gu Xueyi shopped very quickly. She didn’t even scrutinize the items, nor could she be bothered to hold them up to herself to see if they suited her or looked good.
In the blink of an eye, half an hour had passed.
Another several million had been spent.
Mrs. Xia’s mouth twitched.
She suddenly realized that if Yan Zhao really died out there, Gu Xueyi would inherit an astronomically vast fortune.
The sense of superiority she had felt over Gu Xueyi vanished in an instant.
Just then, Gu Xueyi slowly stretched her arms above her head.
She exuded the languid grace of a beautiful woman.
Even her beauty—it was far greater than before.
Mrs. Xia bit her back teeth in envy.
“I’m done shopping. You hardly bought anything today, Mrs. Xia.”
“You bought most of the items that were reserved for me. What else is there for me to buy?” Mrs. Xia smiled stiffly.
“Then I truly thank you, Mrs. Xia, for parting with them.”
“You’re… welcome.”
“I’ll be heading back now. Our Fourth Young Master is coming home for dinner today.” Gu Xueyi rose to her feet and signaled for the bodyguards to pick up her purchases.
There were still many items that couldn’t be carried away or weren’t in stock—those would have to be delivered to the house later.
Gu Xueyi left without a second thought, showing none of the reluctance she used to have.
In the past, it was always Mrs. Xia who would leave first when her mahjong partners called, and the original host was always left behind, fuming privately about her inability to break into Mrs. Xia’s social circle.
Mrs. Xia stood rooted to the spot, unable to articulate exactly what she was feeling.
Gu Xueyi returned home.
The maid said in a meek voice, “The Fourth Young Master said… he said he’s going out with friends tonight and won’t be coming home.”
Gu Xueyi held out her hand. “Give me the phone.”
The maid quickly fetched the phone and handed it to her.
At the school.
Yan Wenbai stared at the insulated food container for a moment.
If Gu Xueyi were just putting on an act, would she keep it up every single day like this?
Just then, someone sat down next to him and patted him on the shoulder. “Your family’s pretty good to you, man. Sending food every single day. The food itself isn’t worth much, but having someone who thinks about you every day, who cares about you… that feeling is worth more than anything.”
The person spoke, their expression turning gloomy. “Not like my parents. They don’t even know what year I’m in. One of them spends every day at the company, the other travels all over the country… The hell.”
“…Enough of that. Are you going to the next class? They called and said to come over early.” Another voice chimed in.
Yan Wenbai slowly withdrew his gaze.
That was right.
The insulated container wasn’t valuable, and the food the chef had specially prepared wasn’t valuable either. But that feeling of being thought about… he had never experienced it in his entire life. It was probably harder to come by than even a crude oil field.
Yan Wenbai replied, “Skipping class. Let’s go…”
Before he could finish, his phone rang.
He answered. “Didn’t I say I’m not coming home?”
“Where are you going to hang out tonight?” Gu Xueyi’s clear, pleasant voice came through the line.
Yan Wenbai’s body instinctively stiffened, and he forgot to answer for a moment.
“Will it be fun? Why not take me along to have some fun too?”
He had only been going to tag along, really.
A bunch of rich second-generation kids inviting high-end models to play games… How fun could that be?
The mere thought of Gu Xueyi showing up at that scene made Yan Wenbai’s head buzz. He blurted out, “It’s not fun. Don’t come. I’ll finish my classes and come home.”
After he hung up, the people around him were stunned.
“Fourth Young Master, you’re not going anymore?”
“Going my ass.”
…
On the film set.
Jiang Meng nervously scrolled through the news again. Good, it had reached number three on the trending searches… You can do this. You can definitely get through this crisis.
Five minutes later.
Jiang Meng refreshed the news again.
And this time, she had been pushed down to number four.
Jiang Meng focused her eyes and looked at trending search number three—
“Madam Yan Stuns with Her Appearance, Returns from Shopping Spree with Bountiful Haul”
Then she looked at trending search number two—
“Is Yan Zhao Returning Safely?”
And then she looked at trending search number one—
“List of Invited Guests for the Yan Family’s Dinner on the 17th Shakes My Whole Family to the Core”
Clicking into it, the comments section was filled with:
[Fuck, front-row seat to this wealthy family drama!]
[I’m here, I’m here, let me see what the life of rich people is like…]
[Is this the Madam Yan who was supposedly cuckolded by Jiang Meng? Holy shit! What a stunning beauty!]
Jiang Meng’s vision went dark.
So, she had hired bots and spent a fortune to buy a spot and attract traffic—only for all of it to serve as a stepping stone for Gu Xueyi in the end.
**