Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The costume idol drama Zhou Xi appeared in, Eight Lives Eight Lifetimes Falling in Love with You, aired.

The drama flopped.

Zhou Xi became popular.

It was truly beyond my expectations.

Zhou Xi suddenly became busy, with piles of press releases and variety shows to attend.

Looking at that plastic-surgery face, fans said it was called a strong-featured look.

Zhou Xi had a wanton face, but his styling was very restrained.

His shirts had to be buttoned all the way to the top.

His hoodie zippers had to be pulled up completely.

This was the route his professional team had packaged for him.

His persona was a rich young master bravely entering the entertainment industry.

Even now, none of his elementary school classmates, middle school classmates, or coworkers from some factory had appeared to expose him.

I called Secretary Wang and told her to be ready at any time to suppress Zhou Xi’s scandals.

When I got off work, I ran into Shi Jin.

I sized him up.

It seemed it was not a chance encounter.

Shi Jin looked very tired.

His gaze today was especially gentle.

“Cui Yuntan, I don’t know why, but these past few months, I’ve kept thinking about you.”

After saying that, his ears reddened a little.

I knew why.

I recalled the files I had received earlier.

He Yueyue was Shi Jin’s direct junior schoolmate.

When Secretary Wang reported it to me, I had even been puzzled for a while.

It was not ancient times with masters and apprentices, so why was there still a term like direct junior schoolmate?

I had studied abroad and returned, so I did not understand this academic atmosphere full of favors, politics, and cliques.

The students in Shi Jin’s laboratory were exploited quite badly.

He Yueyue was one of them, and she often asked Shi Jin for help.

Over time, the two became familiar.

But there was no ambiguity.

Until last Valentine’s Day, when He Yueyue suddenly became interested in Shi Jin.

She was not like me, directly smashing money at people, nor like my younger sister Cui Qinghuan, who liked to confess bluntly.

He Yueyue was skilled at pursuing someone.

Secretary Wang said she had even paid for some course on techniques for chasing a crush.

I had Secretary Wang enroll Cui Qinghuan in one too.

She was a pure-love believer, but she had never succeeded in chasing anyone, so she probably needed it very much.

I did not know why He Yueyue had suddenly become interested in Shi Jin.

Until I saw the Rolex Ice Blue Daytona on Shi Jin’s wrist.

It was exactly the one I had given him last Valentine’s Day.

He Yueyue had reeled him in very successfully.

Shi Jin had spent quite a lot of money on her.

My money.

When I heard that, I was so angry I laughed.

But ever since Shi Jin and I separated, the major brands no longer delivered things to him on schedule each season.

A large portion of the money he had taken from me had gone to paying off his family’s debts.

As for many luxury clothes, he had given them away long ago.

To his roommates, classmates, fellow students, especially He Yueyue.

When he was with me, he had become used to receiving these things, yet he looked down on them, thinking they were traps of consumerism, products of capitalism, and had no value in existing.

Once I gave something away, I did not care how he handled it.

But after learning about it, I was still speechless for several seconds.

At this moment, Shi Jin stood in front of me.

His skin seemed even rougher, his complexion even duller, and even his eyebrows were not very refined.

He carried a heavy scent of office drudgery.

The smell of a workhorse.

Back then, why had I taken a liking to Shi Jin at all?

I tried hard to recall.

At that time, my older brother and I were fighting until our heads bled.

My father supported my brother.

My mother tried to balance both sides.

Only Cui Qinghuan supported me.

But her support was not very useful.

Once, in order to fight for a project, I worked until I had a gastric bleed and was squatting by the roadside when I met Shi Jin, who was delivering takeout.

Without hesitation, he abandoned his work and took me to a nearby hospital.

When I leaned against his back, I smelled the fragrance of preserved egg and lean pork congee from his insulated delivery box.

Secretary Wang arrived and gave Shi Jin eight thousand yuan as thanks.

Two years later.

I sat in the general manager’s position and became the sole heir to the Cui Family business.

One night, when I suddenly wanted preserved egg and lean pork congee, I thought of Shi Jin.

As a result, the next day, I saw Shi Jin tutoring at the neighboring villa.

At that time, Cui Qinghuan had been crying at my house for a month because of a breakup.

When she saw me look at Shi Jin a few extra times, she nudged me and urged me to have a romance.

“Domineering female CEO and poor campus heartthrob, hehe. Sis, go for it.”

But I had never dated.

I also did not want to become like Cui Qinghuan, living and dying over a romance.

Better to use another method.

A method common among wealthy families.

And so, I approached Shi Jin.

At first, to avoid hurting his pride, I gave him support in the name of a scholarship.

I also introduced him to another tutoring job, one hundred thousand a month–

Teaching Cui Qinghuan advanced mathematics.

Later, after Cui Qinghuan ran off, it became three hundred thousand transferred directly to his card.

When he accepted the card, his expression was extremely ugly.

I thoughtfully changed the subject.

Now, the dirty money that Shi Jin despised was gone, and he was not used to it. That was why he thought of me.

It was that simple.

I smiled at the person before me.

“You don’t miss me. You miss my money.”

Humiliation flashed through Shi Jin’s eyes.

“Cui Yuntan, why do you have to humiliate me like this?”

“Back then, I wasn’t the one who begged you! You came to me and wanted to be with me!”

“I never asked you to do any of this!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Then do you need me to apologize?”

Shi Jin was like a chicken suddenly caught by the throat. His eyes went round, and his voice stopped abruptly.

He stared blankly at me. After a long while, he gave a bitter laugh.

“Cui Yuntan, do you know?”

“Only I did not love your money.”

Before leaving, Shi Jin threw a photo in front of me.

In the photo, Zhou Xi and a woman wearing mink walked into a private club.