Over half a month later, Shen Wei finally left the Shangguan residence. A-City was located in the north, and winter was now setting in. The people coming and going on the streets had all switched to thicker clothing. Shen Wei, too, wrapped a scarf around her neck and bundled up in a black overcoat before knocking on Ye Yuhuan’s door over the weekend.
The heating was on inside the apartment, and stepping in felt like changing seasons. Shen Wei took off her coat and scarf, setting them aside, then made herself at home on the sofa as if this wasn’t only her second time here.
Ye Yuhuan poured her a cup of hot tea. Shen Wei smacked her lips and said with disdain, “You’re acting like such an old-timer. You’re already drinking tea at this age.”
Ye Yuhuan glanced at her and said flatly, “I can order you some ice cream for delivery.”
Shen Wei was left speechless and couldn’t help but glare at her.
Brat!
How did she get so good at shutting people down?
Shen Wei had come with a request this time, so she could only suppress her dissatisfaction. As if she hadn’t heard Ye Yuhuan’s comment, she said, “Do you want me to find you a better place? This location isn’t great, and it’s far from school. Honestly, you didn’t throw all your money into Sheng Jing to be burned, did you? If the people at Sheng Jing knew their biggest shareholder lived in a place like this, they’d probably be scared out of their wits.”
Ye Yuhuan cupped the hot tea with both hands and blew on it gently. The steam momentarily veiled her eyes. “So you came to see me today about Sheng Jing?”
Eh? She guessed that quickly.
Shen Wei coughed, a slight blush creeping onto her face. Although she could shamelessly play innocent and naive in front of others, Ye Yuhuan knew her inside and out. She had promised not to touch Sheng Jing, and now she was coming back with her tail between her legs. Having lived more than a decade longer than the other girl, she felt a bit like a bully.
“Yes. I’ve been under heavy surveillance by the Shangguan family recently, and I also have to clean up the infiltration within my own ranks. I don’t have much energy to push forward with my previous plans. After thinking it over, I can only rely on you. Based on my past life, Sheng Jing’s results will come out before I turn eighteen. I need its power to escape the Shangguan family’s counterattack.”
Shen Wei spoke with sincerity. For the sake of a more stable relationship with Shangguan Xianxian, she had given up on the steady approach of gradually eroding the Shangguan family’s power. But when Ye Yuhuan had presented her with this option, Shen Wei hadn’t hesitated for long. To both her and Shangguan Xianxian, the Shangguan family was a quagmire they couldn’t escape. Shen Wei would do everything in her power to seize any chance to leave it sooner.
“I know. I was prepared for this when I told you that. After all, Sheng Jing is one of the best choices in terms of both secrecy and prospects. You can invest in Sheng Jing, and I can be the one at the forefront, hiding you behind me. Hmm, being swindled into investing by a smart but poor classmate is a great excuse.”
Ye Yuhuan gave her answer, then confirmed once more, “But have you considered that if we do this, we’ll truly be in the same trench?”
It wasn’t that Shen Wei had no other options, but in her current predicament, beset by troubles both internal and external, the only person she could trust besides Shangguan Xianxian seemed to be this outsider who had been dragged into the mess by foreknowledge.
Shen Wei took a sip of tea and chuckled. “Isn’t this what you’ve been aiming for all along? You kept trying to convince me that we were in the same boat. I didn’t believe you, and my own actions led to my entire worldview being completely restructured. Now that I’ve accepted it, why are you the one trying to talk me out of it?”
Hearing this, Ye Yuhuan explained calmly, “Because I also think this is very dangerous. When I tried to persuade you before, even if you had agreed, we would have only been strategic allies, each doing our own thing. But now, I have to place all my chips on you. Of course, the same goes for you. That’s why I need to confirm one last time.”
Shen Wei raised an eyebrow at Ye Yuhuan and asked for what felt like the umpteenth time, “What do you really want?”
What do I want? I want the plot to end sooner. I want Song Zhiqing to enjoy her life freely and happily.
Of course, she couldn’t say all of that. She wasn’t in the habit of confiding in others. So, Ye Yuhuan just said vaguely, “Everything you’re doing right now is basically happening because I pushed for it. So, you could say that what you want is what I want. You just need to keep walking this path. In the process, I will naturally get what I’m after.”
Shen Wei stared at her for a moment, then sighed. “I always feel like you’ve sold me out.”
Ye Yuhuan smiled reassuringly. “At least you were sold for a good price that you’re satisfied with.”
“Tsk. Thinking about it now, I might as well believe you were reborn, too. When I remember you’re only sixteen, I feel like I’ve wasted all these years. How can someone so young be so good at hiding their intentions?”
“Perhaps it’s because I don’t have any particularly strong desires.”
Hearing this, Shen Wei recalled the half-told gossip from the day Ye Yuhuan was drinking and said pointedly, “Is Song Zhiqing not worth desiring?”
Ye Yuhuan’s expression froze. Alright, she had indeed been agonizing over Song Zhiqing a lot lately. She always felt a subtle, ambiguous atmosphere between them, but the evidence wasn’t quite sufficient, so she subconsciously denied it every time. Still, it had left its traces.
Can I fall in love, too?
This had been the theme of her nightmares whenever she woke up in the middle of the night these past few days.
Seeing the look on Ye Yuhuan’s face, Shen Wei couldn’t help but laugh. Aha, so I’ve finally found this brat’s weak spot. She had been acting like the reincarnation of Guanyin, but in reality, she was just a little kid experiencing the first stirrings of love during puberty.
However, seeing as Ye Yuhuan was her ally, Shen Wei offered a kind reminder, “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.”
Ye Yuhuan paid no mind to Shen Wei’s completely irrelevant advice. She skipped the topic and said, “Since you’ve decided to focus on Sheng Jing from now on, shouldn’t we poach Wang Chengmei for the company? After all, it would be a waste for her to go anywhere else.”
Shen Wei had long known that Ye Yuhuan understood her way of thinking, but every time it was pointed out, her heart still clenched. How could she have no secrets at all!
Completely?
No??
Secrets???
A cold sweat broke out on Shen Wei’s forehead in the heated room. Before they could get down to business, she asked in a panic, “That novel… to what extent does it describe things?”
Ye Yuhuan looked at her, puzzled. That was not an easy question to answer, as she had no idea what the asker truly wanted to know.
Shen Wei paused, realizing the awkwardness of her question. But she was too embarrassed to ask it clearly. After a long hesitation, she finally said, “There aren’t any… intimate scenes between me and Xianxian in it, are there?”
“There are. A lot of them,” Ye Yuhuan said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
She had said the novel described Shen Wei’s entire life—and it wouldn’t be an entire life if it was missing a single minute or second.
Shen Wei felt the world go dark. Did that mean her life was being live-streamed in text?
Noticing Shen Wei’s strange expression, Ye Yuhuan understood what was bothering her and felt awkward as well. She tried her best to smooth things over. “Actually, the plot is already changing, so you can just treat that novel as fanfiction. Besides, you two haven’t reached a very intimate stage yet, so it’s not that bad.”
Shen Wei didn’t want to answer. She took a large gulp of tea and burned her mouth.
The scalding pain, however, snapped her back to her senses. Don’t make excuses for failure; find a way to succeed.
“Say, can hypnosis be used to remove a person’s memories?”
Ye Yuhuan, who dreamed of becoming the best psychologist, rigorously shattered Shen Wei’s fantasy. “Actually, hypnosis is more often used for memory recall. Besides, the memories that can be erased are generally traumatic ones. The plot in my head doesn’t fall into that category. And this is probably part of the ‘setting’—I remember this plot more clearly than I remember my school notes.”
So that was a no.
Shen Wei slowly forced a smile. “Alright, let’s continue our discussion about Wang Chengmei.”
If Ye Yuhuan can’t forget, then I’ll just have to forget.
This realization should be traumatic enough for me.
It had to be said, it was a desperate but very useful method.
Ye Yuhuan understood Shen Wei’s current sense of social death and despair, so she kindly took the lead. “She should still be getting exploited at that money-laundering company. It won’t be hard to poach her.”
Wang Chengmei was, to put it nicely, a late-blooming business elite. To put it bluntly, she was an unlucky soul with a difficult fate. After graduating from university, she was introduced by a relative to a money-laundering company. She worked herself to the bone every day without knowing the company’s true business. Strangely, the company’s daily cash flow was terrifyingly large. This abnormality naturally aroused Wang Chengmei’s suspicion. After some secret investigation, she discovered that her company was a front for certain people to launder money. Its clients included corrupt officials, tax-evading corporations, drug trafficking rings, and more. It could be called a haven for all kinds of evil.
Upon discovering the truth, Wang Chengmei immediately reported them. The front was completely dismantled by the police, and many of its upstream clients were affected. However, Wang Chengmei herself had inadvertently offended too many powerful people and found herself unable to succeed at anything she did. After being fired from her ninth company, Wang Chengmei angrily decided to strike out on her own. She went to the countryside and toiled away for over a decade in the new rural economy, landing herself on the Forbes Rich List in her thirties. Unfortunately, due to years of overwork, her health was poor, and she was later forced into retirement to recuperate. It was a truly lamentable story.
And right now, Wang Chengmei, the future business genius held back by her sense of justice, was squatting by the roadside with a boxed lunch. The wind in A-City was strong, making her short hair even more frizzy. It wasn’t that the company didn’t have a designated dining area, but she couldn’t stand the suspense-thriller-like atmosphere inside and would rather eat facing the northwest wind.
Just as she was enjoying her meal, Wang Chengmei suddenly felt a shadow fall over her. She looked up to see two beautiful girls staring intently at her as she ate. Wang Chengmei’s face instantly flushed red; she felt like a pet. She hurriedly stood up, closed the lid on her nearly finished lunchbox, and asked timidly, “Can I help you with something?”
The more delicate-looking of the two girls smiled, and Wang Chengmei was so captivated she had to pinch the palm of her hand. People this beautiful really exist in real life. It makes me want to ask my parents to have me all over again.
“Miss Wang, why don’t we find somewhere warmer to talk?”
Wang Chengmei nodded blankly. Her lunch break wasn’t over yet, so she had some free time. Besides, these two girls looked extraordinary. To call them scammers would be raising the bar for the entire scamming industry.
These two extraordinary-looking girls were, of course, Shen Wei and Ye Yuhuan. The three of them found a nearby coffee shop. While waiting for their coffee, Shen Wei got straight to the point. “Miss Wang, I’d like to hire you as the CEO of a new energy company. Are you interested?”
Wang Chengmei looked at the ceiling, then out the window, then at the customers at the next table, and was finally utterly bewildered.
Eh? This is a public place. Do scammers just make their pitches out in the open now?
Ah, I was shortsighted just now. The world of scammers has its rising stars, too.
“Are you talking to me?”
“To be a CEO?”
“What’s next, are you going to tell me I’ll get a million-dollar salary just for signing up?”
What a classic pyramid scheme tactic!
Wang Chengmei already knew she was in a money-laundering company, but she never expected that before she could even get out, she’d be approached by a pyramid scheme. Did she have some kind of magnet for illegal and criminal activities?
Seeing Wang Chengmei’s expression, Ye Yuhuan knew how unreliable she thought they were. She sighed and took out a series of business licenses and payroll records from her bag to prove the truth of Shen Wei’s words.
Wang Chengmei glanced at a few documents before looking away with disdain. Her company had plenty of things like this, and it didn’t stop them from laundering money on a massive scale.
Criminals these days were so cunning; they could forge anything.
In the original story, Shen Wei had taken Wang Chengmei in when she was about to end up on the streets after reporting her company. But since they were accelerating their plans now, it was better to poach her first. The trouble was, Wang Chengmei herself probably didn’t even know what astonishing business talent she possessed.
This recruitment attempt seemed a bit insane.
Ye Yuhuan waited for Shen Wei’s protagonist halo to shine, and Shen Wei did not disappoint. She wrote two words on her phone and handed it to Wang Chengmei.
【Money Laundering】.
The moment Wang Chengmei saw it, she immediately flipped the phone face down on the table. Her expression grew tense, and she whispered, “Are you undercover cops?”
Shen Wei shook her head, channeling the full force of the prestigious young lady aura she had cultivated at the Shangguan residence. She repeated, “We are sincerely trying to hire you. Miss Wang, you have to trust our judgment. As for what you’re currently busy with, we can help you resolve it more appropriately.”
Wang Chengmei was stunned for a moment, then came to her senses. She smoothed down her messy bangs and laughed. “How could I possibly be a CEO? To be honest with you, I didn’t even pass my CET-6.”
“Ladies, let’s not beat around the bush. Are you my contacts? Don’t worry, I’ll keep it a secret. I don’t have many virtues, but I’m very tight-lipped.”
Wang Chengmei still preferred to believe they were undercover police officers.
Shen Wei took her phone back, undeterred, and continued earnestly, “If you don’t believe us, Miss Wang, you’re welcome to come with us and see the company for yourself.”
Wang Chengmei remained skeptical. As they were finishing their coffee and preparing to leave, she suddenly called out to them. With a “what’s the harm in trying” mentality, she said, “How about… we exchange contact information?”
As a young person, she still possessed a bit of that fanciful thinking that pies could fall from the sky. Besides, it couldn’t possibly be worse than this money-laundering company, right?
The three exchanged contact information and parted ways. Sitting in the car, Ye Yuhuan gently tapped her fingers on the window frame. After a long moment, she said, “Shangguan Chong is also a client of that company.”
Shen Wei’s expression was one of “I knew it.” “No wonder you insisted I recruit Wang Chengmei ahead of schedule. To be honest, although she’s a talent, she’s not yet mature.”
Ye Yuhuan continued tapping. In the other person’s line of sight, her delicate profile had an icy, snow-like quality. “The point is that she is indeed a talent, isn’t it?”
Shen Wei broke into a smile. “Yes.”
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