6
The news that Jiang Yue had set foot in the Yan family home was, of course, impossible to keep secret within high society circles.
It was only then that Jiang Yue fully understood the situation. Gu Xueyi’s punch hadn’t seemed to carry much force, and the matter had been neatly resolved. But in reality, she had left him with a bruised face, and he had no idea how long he would have to endure the humiliation…
Jiang Yue cared deeply about saving face.
In truth, who in these circles didn’t?
So, Jiang Yue issued a gag order.
No one was allowed to gossip about him, and by extension, that meant no one could gossip about the Yan family or Gu Xueyi either.
After all, mentioning the Yan family would inevitably lead to bringing up how Jiang Yue had left their home with a swollen face, wouldn’t it?
But Jiang Yue wasn’t the only one suffering, the various big shots who had to deal with him were having a hard time, too.
The bruise on Jiang Yue’s face was purple-black color and still quite swollen. If you looked at it long enough, it was somewhat reminiscent of that internet-famous photo of a dog stung on the face by a bee… the problem was, no one could mention, let alone laugh.
Jiang Yue had never realized how thick-skinned he could be. Despite the wind and rain of social pressure, he managed to endure it.
Once he had finished his work and the injury on his face had healed a bit, Jiang Yue finally returned to the Jiang family home.
Jiang Jing was also at home, nursing his own injuries. He spent his time lying in bed, even having the servants brings his meals to him. Anyone who didn’t know better might think he was at death’s door.
When he heard that Jiang Yue had returned, Jiang Jing hurriedly got out of bed, afraid that his second brother would catch him lazing around like a salted fish and give him another beating, that would be the end of it.
“Second brother, tea, have some tea…” Jiang Jing brought a pot of tea out from the kitchen.
But when he came face to face with Jiang Yue, Jiang Jing froze for a moment. “Second brother, you got beaten up too?”
Jiang Yue: “….”
Jiang Jing was secretly astonished. So, it really wasn’t that he was incompetent, not that he lacked backbone. It was that Yan Wenbai’s sister-in-law was just too formidable!
Jiang Yue also knew that Jiang Jing rarely said anything pleasant. He figured that was probably exactly why Jiang Jing had ended up fighting with Yan Wenbai in the first place.
From that perspective, Jiang Jing really was the one who deserved a beating.
Jiang Yue supported the teacup in one hand.
Damn, it was scalding hot.
Jiang Yue scowled and set the cup back down. Not that it mattered much, his face was already pretty dark to begin with.
In a cold voice, he asked. “How did she hit you?”
Jiang Jing had been too embarrassed to say it at first, and certainly hadn’t wanted to tattle. But since Jiang Yue had been beaten too, there was nothing left to hide… Jiang Jing said sheepishly, “She whipped me with a belt.”
A strange, eerie sense of relief instantly washed over Jiang Yue’s heart.
Jiang Jing’s beating must have hurt more.
And to be whipped with a belt, on top of that—both his body and his pride had been stripped bare.
Unaware of what his second brother was thinking, Jiang Jing looked at Jiang Yue with an expression that conveyed a sense of shared misery. Even his second brother’s perpetually stern face seemed less intimidating, gaining a touch of warmth.
Especially that bruise on his face—the more Jiang Jing looked at it, the more familiar and comforting it felt.
But Jiang Yue didn’t drink any more tea. He stood up and gave Jiang Jing a swift kick in the rear: “Next time, don’t go out causing trouble for the Jiang family. Not everyone is someone you can mess with.”
Jiang Jing automatically translated this into: “Next time, don’t provoke Gu Xueyi.” He immediately nodded his head like a pecking chicken, indicating that he wouldn’t dare do it again. Only then did he safely escort Jiang Yue back to his study.
Otherwise, he had a feeling he might be in for a second beating from Jiang Yue.
Word had spread through high society, so of course Cao Jiaye had vaguely caught wind of something.
Because Jiang Yue cared so much about saving face and had issued his gag order promptly, Cao Jiaye didn’t know that Jiang Yue had been beaten. He only knew that Jiang Yue had arrived at the Yan family home with a dark, grim expression, but had left with a light, brisk step, carrying a box of strawberries in his hand…
“The Jiang and Yan families are distant,” Cao Jiaye said, frowning deeply. “It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they’re on bad terms. So how did this matter get brushed aside so easily?”
And he left with a box of strawberries.
Of course, strawberries weren’t anything particularly valuable, but they’re symbolic! They damn well symbolize that the Jiang and Yan families were on good terms now!
Damn it! Even when Yan Zhao was still around, things were never this harmonious! Why are they playing this game now?
Cao Jiaye racked his brains but couldn’t figure it out.
But he also understood that when heavyweights like the Yan and Jiang families were making their moves, it really wasn’t something he could easily comprehend.
But now the problem was this… How to deal with Gu Xueyi?
This Gu Xueyi had even managed to fool Jiang Yue. Could it really be, as Jiang Meng had said, that she had become a thorny, major problem?
At that moment, Jiang Meng was sitting in a corner, her face streaked with traces of tears, looking delicate and pitiful.
She murmured, “Isn’t Jian Rui coming back tomorrow?”
Just hearing that name made Cao Jiaye feel utterly overwhelmed, and a deep, unspoken fear stirred in his heart.
He was afraid of the Jian family.
If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t be at this age without a single child.
Jian Rui couldn’t have children, and that damn well meant he couldn’t have children either!
Cao Jiaye’s earlier suggestion that Jiang Meng get an abortion had been angry, impulsive talk. If Jiang Meng had actually gone through with it, he would have been furious enough to strangle her himself.
Cao Jiaye, seething with anger, kicked the sofa hard.
The heavy couch was shoved out of place from the force.
He turned around and said in a low, grave voice, “I can’t get involved in this. If I do, Jian Rui will find out everything with one look. What about those internet trolls your team has been cultivating? And those media contacts you’ve been currying favor with… Have them release the news now. By tomorrow—no, before tomorrow—the entire internet needs to be flooded with the news that you’re pregnant with Yan Zhao’s child. That way, you won’t have to worry about what Gu Xueyi does anymore… Once the whole world knows, who’s going to care whether she acknowledges Yan Zhao’s child or not?”
Jiang Meng glanced at Cao Jiaye with a hint of fear in her eyes, along with a trace of resentment deep down.
It was his child, and yet he insisted on pinning it on someone else, hiding and skulking around just so it could survive.
And now she had to take the lead herself…
Once the media and the trolls started steering the narrative, spreading it across the entire internet, she would have absolutely no way back. If Yan Zhao ever actually came back alive one day, she would die a more miserable death than any of Cao Jiaye’s past mistresses!
Cao Jiaye turned his head and saw Jiang Meng’s aggrieved and resentful expression.
He was about to say something more when his phone rang.
Cao Jiaye answered. A deep male voice came from the other end of the line: “Mr. Cao.”
Cao Jiaye was startled. Even though he knew the person on the phone couldn’t see him, his back still slumped slightly, and he instinctively adopted a hunched, subservient posture.
He addressed the person on the other end respectfully: “Uncle.”
“Jian Rui’s plane lands at eight in the evening. Go to the airport to pick her up.”
Cao Jiaye’s heart gave a jolt.
Jiang Meng also panicked instantly.
“Then… what about you?” Cao Jiaye asked.
The person on the other end hung up directly.
Cao Jiaye wiped his face with his hand, suppressing the frustration in his heart.
Jiang Meng couldn’t sit still any longer; she stood up. “I’ll go make the arrangements right now.”
“Go on, then.”
“Wait,” Cao Jiaye suddenly called out to stop her. “Director Li called me yesterday and said you haven’t been to the set for three days.”
Jiang Meng swallowed her resentment and said, “Haven’t I been busy trying to figure out how to deal with Gu Xueyi these past few days?”
“You still need to go to the set. This film is very important to Da Jing, there’s a bet-on agreement signed for it. You can’t just be willful… And besides, if you just leave without even saying a word to Director Li, do you ever want to act again?”
After hearing this, Jiang Meng felt even more frustrated.
But she still obediently replied, “I understand. I won’t do it again.”
Once she was out the door, Jiang Meng bit her lip hard without any pretense, her wide eyes bloodshot.
She thought of another person in the cast.
That person was even more exaggerated than her—constantly missing in action since joining the production. So why didn’t Director Li go after them for it?
It all came down to her lowly status!
The most infuriating part was that even if Cao Jiaye had signed a bet-on agreement, it was just a few hundred million yuan… What did that amount to for the Yan family? It probably meant nothing at all. But for the sake of that few hundred million, Cao Jiaye still expected her, while pregnant and mentally and physically exhausted, to act well…
Who would ever want to act again?
Hadn’t she obediently crawled into his bed precisely so she wouldn’t have to endure these hardships anymore?
A flurry of thoughts raced through Jiang Meng’s mind. The more she thought, the more resentful and disgusted she felt, and the more jealous she became.
How did Gu Xueyi manage to successfully latch onto Yan Zhao back in the day?
Even if she was a mediocre good-for-nothing, even if she eventually divorced Yan Zhao, the dividends she had reaped from the Yan family were enough to give her a life that others could only desperately dream of…
In that moment, Jiang Meng truly wished she really were Yan Zhao’s lover. She could use the child in her belly to push Gu Xueyi right out of her position.
Meanwhile, on the set of Spy, Director Li was also tearing his hair out.
“Any luck contacting them?” he asked his assistant.
“No… no,” the assistant replied uneasily. “We’ve looked everywhere. There’s no sign of them.”
“It’s over,” Director Li said, looking as though the heavens were conspiring against him.
But the assistant couldn’t quite understand. When Jiang Meng hadn’t shown up for a few days, Director Li had just gotten angry… So why was he now frantic just because this person had been absent for a few days?
“Keep looking! We have to find them…” Director Li was truly desperate. His lips had turned white, and the hand gripping his megaphone was trembling slightly. “I personally invited them to join this production. If they disappear while on this set…”
He wouldn’t be far from ruin himself.
Frightened by Director Li’s demeanor, the assistant had no choice but to organize the crew to continue the search.
He still couldn’t understand it.
That person’s looks were indeed exceptionally outstanding in the entertainment industry, so much so that few could even compare. Their fans even joked that their appearance was the collective property of the entire entertainment industry…
But if this person was off enjoying themselves and had vanished, was it really worth shutting down production and burning through the crew’s budget just to find them as quickly as possible?
“Sister Jiang is back!” a crew member on set called out.
They looked up and saw Jiang Meng returning to the set looking glamorous, her assistant carrying gifts in both hands, apparently meant for the crew.
But no one felt particularly happy about it at the moment.
The smile on Jiang Meng’s face faded considerably.
She, too, sensed that something was off with the atmosphere on set. Could Director Li really be this angry just because she had left the production?
“What’s wrong? What happened?” She grabbed someone at random to ask.
“Brother Yuan is missing.”
Jiang Meng was taken aback. While feeling a sense of relief, she quickly instructed her assistant to distribute the gifts.
The “Brother Yuan” they were talking about was named Yuan Wenjia. Right after his debut, his exceptionally excellent appearance had caused a sensation in the entertainment industry.
Back then, Jiang Meng had even been jealous—how could someone get so easily, right from the start, what others could never obtain? And on top of that, his temper was atrocious. Acting like a diva, treating Weibo like his personal playground, completely disregarding the basic rules of being a celebrity—he just treated it all like a game…
It wasn’t until later that Jiang Meng accidentally discovered the truth.
Yuan Wenjia was actually Yan Wenjia.
He was a member of the Yan family.
When she first learned this, Jiang Meng had even entertained the idea of trying to latch onto him to rise in status. But Yan Wenjia’s temperament was just too strange. No matter what methods Jiang Meng tried, Yan Wenjia remained unmoved.
And it was precisely because of this that Jiang Meng realized the Yan family was far beyond her reach. So, she quickly agreed to Cao Jiaye’s pursuit.
Just as Jiang Meng was lost in these reflections, Director Li spotted her figure.
By now, news was spreading like wildfire across the internet—rumors that Jiang Meng was suspected of being pregnant with Yan Zhao’s child.
Slowly, the looks people on set were giving Jiang Meng began to change.
There was surprise, fear, envy…
Another of Director Li’s assistants ran over and told him about the gossip circulating online.
Director Li’s face turned cold. “No wonder she’s gotten so temperamental. Just stops filming whenever she feels like it, doesn’t even bother to say a word.”
Yan Wenjia was equally guilty of the same behavior, but at least Director Li had personally invited Yan Wenjia for the role. Jiang Meng, on the other hand, had been forced on him.
Suddenly, Director Li paused.
He looked again in Jiang Meng’s direction, and a person came to mind.
The woman whose presence had been minimized in news reports—the legitimate wife of Mr. Yan Zhao, Gu Xueyi.
Yan Wenjia being missing certainly couldn’t be kept from the Yan family… Director Li called out to his assistant: “Find a way to get Gu Xueyi’s phone number. Call her and ask her to come here. Just say that Yan… Yuan Wenjia is missing.”
Gu Xueyi was leaning against a bay window, a book and a cup of hot tea within arm’s reach.
She asked, “Did Yan Wenbai go to school?”
The maid nodded in acknowledgment. “Yes, madam.”
Gu Xueyi thought for a moment, then spoke again: “Have the driver make a trip and bring him some food.”
“Bring… food?” The maid was stunned. She had never heard such an order before.
“Mhm.”
Seeing that Gu Xueyi’s expression was calm, as if this were the most ordinary thing in the world, the maid suppressed her doubts and simply asked, “What should I send?”
“The crab roe lion’s head meatballs and the flatbridge tofu we had today were quite good. Also send some fruit,” Gu Xueyi said without looking up.
The maid nodded and turned to leave.
Only after she had walked quite a distance did the maid think to herself in bewilderment, why was she so obedient to Madam’s commands?
Wang Yue, standing guard outside the door, was also puzzled.
Gu Xueyi had suddenly changed, almost as if she were a different person.
Only now did she truly seem like the real Mrs. Yan.
Just then, a cell phone rang from inside the room.
The maid quickly stepped forward, picked up the phone, and brought it to Gu Xueyi’s hand: “Madam, your phone call.”
Wang Yue watched this sycophantic behavior, her eyes nearly popping out of her head in shock.
Gu Xueyi, however, saw nothing wrong with it.
In the past, she had had far more people attending to her. Each of them specialized in different things, ensuring that she had no other worries when managing household affairs.
Gu Xueyi took the phone and answered.
A nervous, unfamiliar voice came from the other end: “Is… is this Ms. Gu Xueyi?”
“Yes.”
The person on the other end breathed a sigh of relief.
Good—she hadn’t started cursing at him right away, nor had she hung up on him.
He took a deep breath and blurted it all out in one go: “Hello, we are staff members of the Spy production crew. Mr. Yuan Wenjia has suddenly gone missing while filming with us. We’ve mobilized people to search everywhere, but we still haven’t found him. Our director asked us to call you…”
“Yuan Wenjia?” “Who?”
“…” The staff member on the other end choked up for a moment. “You… you don’t know him?”
Gu Xueyi searched through the original owner’s memories, then searched through the plot of that book, and finally found a character that matched.
Yan Zhao’s second younger brother, Yan Wenjia.
“He’s missing from the set?” Gu Xueyi asked.
“…Y-yes.” The staff member on the other end unconsciously shrank back. He didn’t understand why the person on the phone had suddenly become so imposing.
Gu Xueyi immediately flipped down from the tatami mat: “Prepare the car.”
The maid had vaguely caught a few words and realized that something seemed to have happened. Not daring to delay, she quickly trotted all the way downstairs to notify the driver and the bodyguards.
Gu Xueyi threw on a jacket, tied her hair up with an elastic band, and casually grabbed a pair of sunglasses.
Even though she wasn’t really used to them.
But they were comfortable for keeping the sun out of her eyes.
Gu Xueyi frowned slightly, though she didn’t find it particularly troublesome.
Being part of a large family, enjoying its resources, and sharing its honor and fate means that encountering trouble was only natural.
She didn’t know whether Yan Wenjia’s disappearance was related to Yan Zhao’s disappearance.
Or perhaps some other enemy had taken advantage of the situation…
Regardless of the circumstances, she needed to find him as soon as possible, lest someone with ill intentions use him to threaten the Yan family.
If a few days ago Gu Xueyi had felt no sense of belonging to this world, then over these past few days, this world had already captivated her with the charm of its “technology.”
The Yan family was a good place.
Worth living in, suitable for survival.
So, she should properly protect it, including the people within it.
At the same time, Jian Changming also received the news.
Yan Wenjia was missing.
And Gu Xueyi had gone to investigate.
Jian Changming turned the page of his newspaper.
Not many people still read newspapers these days, but he had retained this old-fashioned habit.
After reading it thoroughly, not missing a single thing—not even the small ads in the margins—Jian Changming finally looked up and frowned. “What trouble is Gu Xueyi going to stir up now?”
At a prestigious university in the capital.
“Holy shit? Yan Wenbai, your family sent you food?”
Yan Wenbai looked at the insulated food jar in the bodyguard’s hand, a strange warmth stirring in his heart.
It wasn’t anything particularly expensive or remarkable.
But that small insulated jar was something he had only ever seen other classmates with when he was a child.
**
Jiang Yue has an awakening: I might just be a tool.