9
The shopping mall near the film base wasn’t very large, and the price levels varied. Gu Xueyi picked the first store at the entrance and didn’t go any further.
On a mannequin was a gingerbread-colored long dress with a collar of purple wave-shaped ruffles.
Gu Xueyi reached out and pinched it.
The fabric was very soft.
She turned to the sales clerk: “This one. Wrap it up.”
The sales clerk stood there frozen.
It was her first time encountering someone who had brought so many people along to buy clothes at her store.
Yes, she knew that the neighboring area was a film base. But people who could afford this many assistants and bodyguards would never shop here. They’d rather drive dozens of kilometers themselves to go on a shopping spree.
“Can’t you sell it?”
“…Yes, yes, I can!”
Gu Xueyi had just learned how to use a card and withdraw cash from a bank card. Wanting to become more proficient with these skills, she turned and asked, “Can I pay by card?”
“Yes.”
Gu Xueyi didn’t ask the price. She quickly completed the card payment and signature, then took the clothes and her newly purchased disposable underwear to a small hotel next door.
Only after taking a hot shower and changing out of her soaking wet clothes did Gu Xueyi finally feel comfortable.
Looks like next time I shouldn’t jump into the water so quickly. Wet clothes are uncomfortable.
Gu Xueyi frowned slightly, then walked out.
It was the first time since arriving in this era that she seriously walked along the street.
She quietly took in everything around her, absorbing knowledge about this era. As she walked along… Li’s Spicy Hot Pot, 72 Convenience Store, Spicy and Sour Glass Noodles, Italian Ice Cream…
On the other side of the world, far away.
A phone buzzed continuously as new text messages poured in.
“Your card ending in **** made a QuickPay expenditure of 12.00 yuan at 15:30 on October 12th…”
“Your card ending in **** made a QuickPay expenditure of 4.00 yuan at 15:33 on October 12th…”
“…QuickPay expenditure of 33.00 yuan.”
A string of scattered, small amounts.
In the dim environment, the phone screen lit up repeatedly.
A man with a shaved head, wearing a bulletproof vest, stared at the phone screen and carefully examined it. “…Stolen card usage?”
Someone next to him kicked him. “Bullshit. Who could steal the boss’s card?”
“Then what else could it be?”
“…Who the hell knows.”
A hand reached out slantwise from behind a simple cloth curtain. The hand was exceptionally thin, with fair wrists, and the shape of the veins clearly visible.
He grabbed the phone, silently scrolled through the transactions, then casually tossed it aside.
Half an hour later, Gu Xueyi had finished walking down the street.
She found it truly interesting and thought she should go out for more walks in the future. She was increasingly able to appreciate the beauty of this world.
The people following behind her, however, were a bit dazed as they stared at the ice cream cone in her hand.
The pointed tip, strawberry-flavored, was an especially vivid pink.
When Gu Xueyi lowered her head to take a bite, the wave-shaped ruffles on her collar fluttered in the wind, along with her hair. The commanding, imposing aura from her decisive actions suddenly faded away, making her seem almost like a young girl again.
When Yan Wenjia stripped off his costume and came out, this was the scene that greeted him.
She still hadn’t left?
Yan Wenjia’s footsteps faltered.
Gu Xueyi vaguely sensed something.
She was too sensitive to people’s gazes.
Gu Xueyi looked up and met Yan Wenjia’s eyes. “Are you done filming for today?”
“We’re done!” Director Li quickly interjected.
If Yan Wenjia could cooperate like this every day, the film’s progress would surely leap forward!
Yan Wenjia’s lips moved.
He was done filming, but she hadn’t watched a single second of it. Yan Wenjia had never worked so hard on set, only to end up performing for blind eyes.
“Then get in the car.” Gu Xueyi didn’t pause for a moment.
Yan Wenjia didn’t argue. He strode toward the Cadillac parked outside the set, pulled open the door, and got in.
Everyone present was stunned.
When Gu Xueyi had arrived at the set… they had initially thought she was there to cause trouble for Jiang Meng, but no—she was there for Yuan Wenjia! So, the question was, what was the relationship between Gu Xueyi and Yuan Wenjia?
When she had first brought him back, both of them had been completely soaked.
Surely Yuan Wenjia wasn’t Gu Xueyi’s younger brother?
No, not at all. They looked nothing alike.
They clicked their tongues in amazement.
Could it be that the Yan family members were cheating on each other?
Gu Xueyi wanted to learn more about Yan Wenjia, while Yan Wenjia wanted to find out what had happened to the Yan family—why was Gu Xueyi the one coming to find him? And besides, Gu Xueyi had somehow changed her appearance…
Their motivations had different starting points, but the destination was the same. So, they arrived at the Yan family home without any trouble.
During the half-day Gu Xueyi had been away, the Yan family villa had already become busy again.
“Mr. Jian has returned to the capital,” the maid said, bowing.
Mr. Jian?
What Mr. Jian?
Gu Xueyi couldn’t find any detailed information about him from the original owner’s memories. Even when she recalled the book’s plot, the character seemed to be rarely mentioned.
Gu Xueyi turned to look at Yan Wenjia.
Yan Wenjia averted his gaze slightly and said indifferently, “I think he’s a friend of my older brother’s.”
Gu Xueyi nodded, gaining a certain understanding of the person’s standing.
Although Yan Wenjia rarely came home, his room in the Yan family house had always been kept. He went straight upstairs.
Gu Xueyi glanced at him but didn’t say anything to stop him.
Soon, a phone call came to the Yan family villa.
Gu Xueyi answered. A polite female voice came from the other end: “Hello, this is Xuelin, Secretary to Mr. Jian Changming. Tomorrow evening, Mr. Jian will be visiting your residence with Ms. Jian Rui. May I ask if that would be convenient?”
Gu Xueyi hesitated for a moment, then quickly made a judgment: “It’s convenient.”
On the other end.
Jiang Yue dialed a number.
…The line was busy.
He dialed again. Still busy.
Meanwhile, Gu Xueyi, having just hung up on Jian Changming’s call, quickly received another new call.
“Hello, Mrs. Yan. I am Mr. Yan’s secretary. I have received word that Mr. Jian will be visiting the Yan residence tomorrow evening. If convenient, please bring me along to the meeting.”
Gu Xueyi immediately realized that this Mr. Jian Changming’s status was clearly extraordinary.
After all, her understanding of this world was still insufficient. Gu Xueyi didn’t intend to be overconfident and unhesitatingly agreed to the secretary’s request.
But these two calls seemed to be just the beginning. The receiver she had just set down promptly rang again.
“Xueyi.” This time, a gentle female voice came from the other end of the line. The speaker was likely around fifty years old. She paused, then said, “This is Mom.”
So, the original owner did have parents.
It was only then that Gu Xueyi painstakingly extracted from her memories the very brief introduction to the cannon-fodder female supporting character’s parents—
Gu Xuemin. He had started out selling supplementary educational materials, then opened factories for women’s clothing exports, and later established his own brand. The Gu family had finally joined the ranks of the “wealthy.”
Zhang Xin, Gu Xuemin’s second wife. She had married Gu Xuemin right after graduating from university. Unemployed.
Gu Xueyi silently digested this information while responding to the voice on the phone: “Mm.”
Hearing Gu Xueyi’s voice, the person on the other end seemed to gain some encouragement. She immediately smiled gently and asked, “Mr. Jian is coming to visit tomorrow, isn’t he? Right now, you’re all alone in the Yan family home. Your father is worried you won’t be able to hold your own, so he asked me to call and ask if you need us, your father and I can come along, stay by your side. Don’t worry…”
“No need.”
The voice on the phone hadn’t finished speaking; it choked off abruptly.
“Don’t be willful. How could you not need us?”
“We’re family. Why speak as if we’re outsiders?”
“Has Mr. Yan’s secretary contacted you too? I think we should just come. That secretary doesn’t need to come. Mr. Yan has been missing lately, and his secretaries are very busy…”
On the phone, they didn’t even dare to call Yan Zhao by name directly.
“…” Gu Xueyi hung up the phone decisively.
She came from a family of generals. The upbringing she had received since childhood was somewhat different from that of other high-born young ladies. Her parents, uncles, and aunts all demanded that the direct-line children of the family, regardless of gender, possess decisive executive ability, unwavering willpower, and independent thinking…
Because without these qualities, if one day they truly went to war, they would shake the troops’ morale, lose battles, cede cities, and harm the people…
And now, Gu Xueyi was not about to waste time exchanging words with the original owner’s parents.
Hanging up was the most concise and effective approach.
Afterward, her mother called several more times, unwilling to give up, but Gu Xueyi hung up on each one.
Just then, the maid’s voice sounded from outside the door: “Fourth Young Master is back.”
Gu Xueyi pushed the phone aside and paid it no further attention.
The maid beside her understood the cue and dutifully took over, handling the task of hanging up those “unnecessary” calls.
Yan Wenbai entered with an unreadable expression. He walked in slowly, still carrying the insulated food jar. As soon as he looked up and caught sight of Gu Xueyi, his steps suddenly halted.
Dressed like this, she carried a softer, more girlish air, as if she had just stepped out of an oil painting.
She seemed like a completely different person from the one who had wielded the belt a few days ago… but she was the same person who had sent the food.
Yan Wenbai licked his lips and suppressed the instinct to steal another glance.
He turned his head restlessly, but quickly noticed the unusual atmosphere in the villa. “Did something happen?”
Gu Xueyi didn’t answer his question. Instead, she asked in return, “Did you finish eating?”
Yan Wenbai: “…”
Yan Wenbai’s fingers tightened around the jar. “No.”
Gu Xueyi: “Oh. Next time, I’ll have the cook make you a smaller portion.”
The exchange between them was calm and mundane, as if it were nothing more than the most ordinary, caring inquiry between family members.
The rebellious thorns on Yan Wenbai’s body seemed to be smoothed down once again.
Even that intangible sense of anxiety eased.
Yan Wenbai instinctively headed upstairs, still carrying the insulated jar. After climbing a few steps, he stiffened his face, tightened his grip on the jar, and said, “…The lion’s head meatballs got cold.”
“Thank you.” The last syllable was so soft it was barely audible.
Gu Xueyi didn’t find anything particularly special about this gesture.
If Yan Wenjia were also in school, she would have sent food to him as well.
This was a rule of the Gu family, and later of the Sheng family. They were strict with the younger generation regarding their studies and character. But that didn’t mean that such a large family was entirely cold and ruthless, devoid of warmth. On the contrary, they valued warmth very much.
Gu Xueyi’s grandfather had once said: If the younger generation of the family can’t even value familial bonds, then how can one speak of greater loyalty and righteousness? On the battlefield, they would likely be selfish, cold-blooded, disloyal deserters or foolish generals.
Thus, both the Gu family and the Sheng family always made the younger generation feel the family’s care and support through small, seemingly insignificant gestures.
Gu Xueyi casually asked a maid, “Which room is Yan Wenjia in?”
“Second floor, turn left, the room at the end.”
Gu Xueyi nodded, committed it to memory, and then slowly walked upstairs.
The next day, the plane carrying Jian Changming landed at the airport.
Cao Jiaye and Jian Rui both stood at the airport to greet him.
“Uncle, are you going to the Yan residence? Is it because of Yan Wenjia’s disappearance?” Jian Rui stepped forward and took the luggage.
“Yan Wenjia didn’t disappear,” Jian Changming said calmly.
Jian Rui: “Oh? Really? Weren’t there big commotions on the set?”
Jian Changming showed no intention of explaining further.
Jian Rui was familiar with his temperament and didn’t press for more details.
Instead, she shifted to another topic: “Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever met Gu Xueyi even once.”
Jian Changming said flatly, “She’s not a very likable person.”
**