In recent years, many modern internet cafes had opened in the county seat. Since it was summer break, the places were packed with students playing games. Zhang Jiajia, who had not been home for several days, had been pulling all-nighters at a street-side cafe. She curled up in her chair to sleep when she was tired, ordered takeout when she was hungry, or asked the staff to bring instant noodles to her desk. Aside from using the restroom, she practically never left her seat.
The internet cafe attendant, seeing her there for so long, began to worry about a potential medical emergency. He came over to persuade her, “You have been here for days. Even a farm donkey needs a break; do you not? Go home, take a shower, and change your clothes. We are open twenty-four hours a day; the place is not going anywhere. If you want to play, come back later, but I really do not recommend this. Your body cannot take it.”
Stories of people dying suddenly after gaming marathons in cafes were common news. The attendant’s concern was not entirely selfless; as long as she stepped outside the front door, whatever happened to her on the street was someone else’s problem. She just could not collapse inside.
Her wallet was empty anyway. Zhang Jiajia impatiently shoved the mouse aside. “Fine, I am leaving. Who wants to stay in this place anyway?”
Any game becomes tedious after playing for days on end. If she had not run out of places to go and did not want to go home, she would not have stayed there. Hotels were too expensive for her remaining funds. She had tried a cheap guesthouse once, but it was noisy with drunkards banging on her door at night, so she had fled.
With no money left and after a massive phone argument two days ago, her mother had stopped supporting her. She wandered the streets, her stomach growling as she passed a bun shop.
“Anyway, I have notified you. Whether you pick her up or not is your family’s business,” Li Ningjun said coldly before hanging up. She turned to look at Zhang Jiajia, who was wolfing down food in the shop.
Zhang Jiajia had messaged Xiaoyue on WeChat to borrow money. Xiaoyue, sensing something was wrong, asked a few questions and discovered that Jiajia had not been home for days and was flat broke.
Since they were already in the county seat and happened to be nearby, they came over to get her something to eat. While Xiaoyue kept her company inside, Li Ningjun stepped out to call Zhang Mei.
Zhang Jiajia was unwilling to contact her family, but she had just graduated high school and was still young. If something happened to her while she was penniless, no one could take that responsibility. Li Ningjun did not want Xiaoyue to get dragged into the mother-daughter drama, so she told Zhang Mei to come get her. As for Zhang Mei’s grumbling complaints on the phone, she simply ignored them.
“How many days has it been since you ate?” Li Sangyue was startled by the girl’s intensity. A tenderloin wrap, a large bowl of spicy soup, and five large pan-fried meat buns were nearly gone in an instant.
With her mouth full, Zhang Jiajia could not speak. She puffed out her cheeks and held up three fingers.
“Three days?!” Li Sangyue gasped. Would someone not collapse after three days without food?
Zhang Jiajia shook her head, swallowed, let out a loud burp, and then explained, “At first, I ordered takeout. Then I ran out of money and could only afford instant noodles. I ate instant noodles for three days; I am about to throw up.”
“You really are,” Li Sangyue said, not knowing what to say. Nothing felt quite appropriate.
“Second Sister, I know what you want to say. Do not lecture me. No one should lecture me; I am already annoyed enough,” Zhang Jiajia replied, leaning back in her chair with a stubborn, defiant look.
“You are not my daughter; I am not bothered enough to lecture you,” Li Sangyue said as she scanned the QR code to pay the bill. “Are you full? If not, eat some more. After you are finished, we are taking you home.”
“I am not going home. It is boring.”
A rebellious teenager is a massive headache. Li Sangyue thanked her lucky stars that this was not her child; otherwise, she would be fuming.
“If you are not going home, where will you go? I have business later and cannot take you with me. You cannot just go back to the internet cafe.”
Actually, she could have brought Zhang Jiajia along, but she had no desire to manage someone else’s child. Besides, even if she did, her aunt Zhang Mei would not be grateful; she would probably just blame Xiaoyue for corrupting the girl. It was not worth the trouble.
“I am just not going home,” Zhang Jiajia said, turning her head away and ignoring everyone.
Both mother and daughter were locked in a battle of wills. The daughter would not go home, and Zhang Mei would not come to get her. Li Sangyue and her mother waited at the bun shop for nearly an hour, but no one showed up. When they called again, Zhang Mei did not pick up, and eventually, she turned off her phone entirely.
Li Ningjun was so angry she laughed. If she knew Zhang Mei’s address in the county seat, she would have tied Zhang Jiajia up and dumped her there long ago.
They had a scheduled meeting with a talent agency, and if they did not leave now, they would be late. Li Sangyue had no choice but to book a room for Zhang Jiajia at a nearby hotel so the girl could shower and sleep. They would deal with the rest after the business meeting.
Zhang Jiajia did not put up a fight this time and agreed to go to the hotel. However, when they arrived, they were told there were no empty rooms available; the rooms vacated that morning had not been cleaned yet. Check-in would not be possible until after 12:00 PM.
Li Sangyue was in a hurry and could not wait there. She told Zhang Jiajia to wait in the lobby. The girl nodded and urged Li Sangyue to go to her meeting.
Li Sangyue was still uneasy. She knew Zhang Jiajia’s talent for causing trouble. Without someone watching her, who knew what the girl would do? Before leaving, she sent a message to Aunt Zhang Mei telling her exactly which hotel Jiajia was in. Then, she took her mother and Taiyang to the restaurant to meet the agency representatives.
Shuibi Villa was the most high-end garden-style hotel in the county seat. The decor was simple and elegant, catering to the wealthy.
The agency was here specifically to sign Li Sangyue. While there were many rural influencers, none were quite as beautiful as her. Moreover, the fact that she had managed to stand out among influencers with millions of followers using only her own abilities proved her charm. Her follower count had reached over a million, and her live streams consistently attracted tens of thousands of viewers. If they could sign her and promote her properly, she could easily become the next top-tier rural influencer. Signing her early meant making money for the company sooner.
“Director Wei, she has arrived,” the assistant said, checking her phone.
The woman addressed as Director Wei was pouring tea for someone nearby. A string of expensive agarwood beads hung from her jade-like wrist. The curling steam of the tea softened her sharp features. Her light-colored, Chinese-style linen dress matched her calm and composed aura. At first glance, she seemed like someone who lived a secluded life far from the mundane world.
Xi Wei set down the teacup. “Lingling, come down with me to meet them.”
The woman beside her was Xi Ling, her younger sister and business partner.
Xi Ling nodded. She appeared even more detached from worldly affairs than her sister. She glanced casually toward a corner of the room and said, “Is Sister really going to pass up such a good opportunity today? It would not hurt to say hello.”
Xi Wei followed her gaze and shook her head. “Without an introduction, that person would not even give us a second look.”
She had not expected to run into the youngest member of the Qin family here. Of course, Xi Wei wanted to make her acquaintance, but she was cautious enough not to disturb her.
This Third Miss Qin was not as approachable as she appeared on the surface. Her biggest pet peeve was being interrupted by unimportant people. Xi Wei did not think she would get any special treatment; she did not mind the rejection, but she feared annoying the woman. A single flick of the Third Miss’s finger could make her disappear from the industry.
Being in such a high-end place for the first time made Li Sangyue nervous. She found herself subtly tugging at her clothes several times, hoping no one noticed. However, people who frequented such places had a natural, practiced ease; her stiff movements made it obvious this was her first time.
In contrast, Li Ningjun remained calm. The top she had bought for a few dozen yuan at the market looked like a new designer release on her. She held the hand of a fair-skinned little girl with complex braids. The girl wore adorable yellow bear clogs, and her large, round eyes scanned the scenery with curiosity.
“Grandmother, it is so pretty here,” Taiyang whispered in awe.
She hopped forward two steps and tucked her other small hand into her mother’s. Now, with both her mother and grandmother holding her hands, she could swing between them like a little pendulum.
“Does Taiyang want to live here?”
Taiyang swung twice before stopping to think. “Can I live here with Mama?”
“Of course. Your great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother, grandmother, and Mama will all be with you.”
“And we have to bring Bajiao and Wangcai.” The cat and dog could not be left behind; they were family too.
“Okay, we will bring everyone. You can bring whoever you want.” Li Ningjun doted on her granddaughter endlessly.
Taiyang was thrilled and started listing the chickens, ducks, and geese from home. Li Sangyue felt a headache coming on; the kid wanted to start a livestock farm in a hotel. She doubted the little money they had could even buy the two stone lions at the entrance.
The agency representatives said they were coming down to meet them, so Li Sangyue led her mother and Taiyang to wait by the lobby. Soon, four people emerged from behind some large potted plants.
The two leading Alphas appeared to be in their forties. They were tall and bore a strong resemblance to each other, both dressed in elegant Chinese-style outfits. The two people behind them were clearly assistants or secretaries.
“You must be Sangyue?” Xi Wei reached out warmly. “Hello, I am Xi Wei, the General Manager of Photosynthesis Star. This is my sister, a shareholder in the company.”
Li Sangyue had not realized the owners themselves were coming; her contact had not mentioned it.
Despite her surprise, she shook hands politely. “Hello, Director Xi.”
In the company, Xi Wei was usually called Director Wei to distinguish her from her sister, but Li Sangyue did not know that. “Director Xi” was a standard address, and Xi Wei did not care about such details. After the introductions, Xi Wei invited them to a tea room.
To get to the tea room, they had to walk through a central garden. The room was tucked behind a bamboo grove, a quiet, refined setting perfect for business. Xi Wei had her assistant arrange this, realizing the restaurant Li Sangyue had booked would not compare to this environment. Li Sangyue did not bother calling to cancel the other reservation yet.
On the way, Xi Wei chatted with Li Sangyue, but her gaze occasionally flickered toward Li Ningjun.
Is this Li Sangyue’s mother? She looked incredibly young.
Xi Ling was also observing Li Ningjun. Certain auras are only cultivated through immense wealth and power over a long time. Xi Ling was confident in her judgment, but seeing such an aura on a rural Omega was baffling.
Their goal was to sign Li Sangyue and keep her under their control, so they had to put on a good show of sincerity. As long as Li Sangyue let her guard down, future negotiations would be easy. However, just as they entered the tea room, Li Sangyue’s daughter pointed at the Third Miss Qin, who had been reading by the window all morning, and shouted, “Auntie Qin!”