Chapter 23.1
Shen Yishu’s words struck like a thunderbolt, silencing everyone in the room.
Ji Wenbin was not the actual head of the Ji family, but he still lived quite comfortably in the capital, with few people daring to offend him.
The capital’s elite circle was only so large, and everyone knew one another. No matter how much they disliked someone, they would still maintain a polite appearance.
The more wealth and influence people possessed, the more importance they placed on preserving face.
Their games involved false courtesy, veiled mockery, and secret retaliation.
When the sun rose the next morning, everyone would still pretend to be friends.
Shen Yishu had abruptly barged into this world.
Having grown up in an ordinary family in her previous life, she did not understand the unspoken rules everyone else followed.
Even if she had understood them, she would not have obeyed.
She was not part of their circle anyway.
Seeing Ji Wenbin’s expression darken, Ji Wenhua immediately stepped forward.
“How can you speak like that? Best Actress Ji is your senior. Even if you don’t respect your senior, shouldn’t you at least respect your senior’s elders? You have absolutely no manners. I have no idea how your family raised you.”
Ji Wenhua did not know Shen Yishu and knew nothing about the situation between them.
He was merely instinctively defending Ji Wenbin’s authority.
“I said you people are mentally ill.”
This time, Shen Yishu included Ji Wenhua in her insult.
“Didn’t your family teach you how to spell the word ‘manners’ either?”
The moment she heard his voice, she became irritated.
He had enthusiastically smeared Ji Xiangyu’s reputation in the corridor earlier, yet now he was pretending to be respectable.
Who exactly was he trying to disgust?
Ji Xiangyu had originally been furious, but she could not stop herself from laughing.
Shen Yishu’s reckless, fearless appearance was unexpectedly adorable.
She glanced sideways at her.
The young woman’s eyes had reddened with anger. Without asking questions or considering the consequences, she had immediately stood beside Ji Xiangyu and defended her.
It would be effortless for the Ji family to crush an insignificant actress.
Shen Yishu was intelligent. She understood that.
Yet even so, she had still chosen to stand firmly at Ji Xiangyu’s side.
“What’s wrong with you? Best Actress Ji, aren’t you going to control your colleague?”
Ji Wenhua’s face alternated between green and white from humiliation.
When he noticed that Ji Xiangyu was actually smiling, he became even angrier.
Shen Yishu could sense that Ji Xiangyu was extremely weak—so weak that even standing upright required considerable effort.
Although she did not know exactly what had happened, she understood that Ji Xiangyu absolutely did not want to remain in this filthy environment any longer.
Shen Yishu had no choice but to abandon the idea of insulting Ji Wenhua a few more times.
The most urgent matter was taking Ji Xiangyu somewhere she could rest and receive a suppressant injection.
“If you walk out that door today, there will be no possibility of resolving this matter.”
Ji Wenbin’s expression was indifferent, revealing no emotion.
Shen Yishu gave him a strange glance but ignored him completely.
She lowered her voice and asked Ji Xiangyu, “Should we leave?”
“Mm.”
Ji Xiangyu responded softly and allowed Shen Yishu to take her arm.
Ji Wenbin stared at Shen Yishu in confusion.
In his experience, everyone pursued their own interests.
Yet Shen Yishu had ignored his tempting offer and remained equally indifferent to his threat.
“Did anyone say you could leave?”
Ji Wenhua stepped in front of Shen Yishu.
As he stared at her face, he suddenly remembered something.
“Oh! You two were the ones hugging in the stairwell just now, weren’t you?”
He looked as though he had discovered an entirely new continent and turned to shout at Ji Wenbin.
As he spoke, he moved to block them.
Just before he could touch Shen Yishu, Ji Xiangyu abruptly pulled her backward.
“Try touching her and see what happens.”
Ji Xiangyu warned him coldly.
Ji Wenhua froze in shock and looked uncertainly toward Ji Wenbin.
“Let them leave.”
Ji Wenbin waved a hand and sneered.
“Young people don’t understand how vast the world is. They always think their wings have grown strong enough to fly.”
Ji Xiangyu walked toward the door without looking back.
As she passed the stunned Ji Wenhua, she left him with a quiet sentence.
“If you don’t want others to know, then don’t do it in the first place.”
Her light words carried the weight of a thousand pounds.
They struck Ji Wenhua’s heart heavily, making it tremble.
By the time he recovered from his shock, Ji Xiangyu and Shen Yishu had already left.
At that moment, he still believed Ji Xiangyu had merely overheard what he had said during the phone call.
The instant Ji Xiangyu stepped outside, she sent every message she had drafted earlier.
She had planned to delay things a little longer, gather more evidence, and sever ties with the Ji family at a later date.
She had never expected them to become shameless enough to threaten her with an unrelated person and force her to obey the family.
She had refused to listen ten years ago.
There was even less chance she would obey now.
“Sister, how are you feeling?”
Shen Yishu asked worriedly.
The corridor lighting was dim, preventing her from seeing Ji Xiangyu’s complexion clearly and judging her condition.
“Let’s go to the car.”
Ji Xiangyu felt extremely unwell.
Her heat had struck suddenly, yet she still had many matters to arrange that night. They could not wait until tomorrow.
This time, they did not take the stairs.
After putting on their masks, they took the elevator directly downstairs.
Fortunately, most of the guests had already finished eating and left, allowing them to reach the parking lot without incident.
Only a few stars hung in the sky, and there was no moon that night.
The city blazed with neon lights, illuminating the darkness like daytime.
Shen Yishu finally managed to see Ji Xiangyu’s face clearly.
Her eyes shimmered with moisture, and her raven-black lashes fluttered uneasily.
The skin not concealed by her mask was pale and translucent, yet covered with an unnatural flush.
A single glance was enough to tell that something was wrong.
“What made you decide to come inside earlier?”
Ji Xiangyu herself did not feel particularly distressed.
Years of forcing herself to endure discomfort had made her accustomed to it.
“I smelled your pheromones.”
The moment Ji Xiangyu left, Shen Yishu had caught a faint trace of rosemary in the air.
It had been light but captivating.
Shen Yishu knew little about an Omega’s heat, but after remembering Ji Xiangyu’s condition at the hospital earlier, she guessed that something was wrong.
She thought that if Ji Xiangyu returned quickly enough, there would still be time for her to take a suppressant.
But after waiting in the corridor for more than ten minutes without seeing her, Shen Yishu became increasingly anxious and finally rushed inside.
“Are you all right?”
Shen Yishu tilted her head, searching for Ji Xiangyu’s eyes.
“I’m fine.”
Ji Xiangyu shook her head.
“You did very well.”
The situation had been urgent.
Ji Xiangyu could have forced her way out, but doing so would have risked exposing her secondary gender.
Shen Yishu’s arrival had helped tremendously and allowed her to escape perfectly.
However, it had also dragged Shen Yishu into another matter that had never involved her.
Ji Xiangyu felt guilty.
“Was he threatening to release those photographs?”
Shen Yishu walked beside Ji Xiangyu toward the parking space.
“Yes.”
The thought left Ji Xiangyu inevitably exhausted.
The possibility of protecting Shen Yishu from the consequences was extremely small.
As Ji Wenbin’s biological daughter, Ji Xiangyu understood his methods of destroying people.
Whenever he threatened someone, he had already made the necessary preparations.
Compromising with him did not guarantee the desired outcome.
Ji Wenbin excelled at saying one thing while doing another.
At the latest, the photographs would enter the media’s hands by the following morning.
When that happened, Shen Yishu would be completely swept into the center of the public-opinion storm.
They could no longer return to the hotel that night.
Ji Xiangyu searched her contacts for a familiar designated driver and prepared to return to the apartment where she normally stayed in the city.
The moment they entered the car, the rosemary scent suddenly spread like a valley of butterflies opening their wings.
They fluttered around the traveler and flew in every direction, leaving Shen Yishu completely disoriented.
Ji Xiangyu sat in the back seat, using all her remaining strength to suppress the desire surging inside her.
“The trunk. Red packaging,” she said with difficulty.
Following Ji Xiangyu’s directions, Shen Yishu found the red-packaged suppressant inside a plastic storage box in the trunk.
The packaging was covered in dense text.
A long list of side effects and contraindications made Shen Yishu’s heart tighten after only a hurried glance.
She closed the trunk and sat beside Ji Xiangyu.
The car’s interior lights glowed softly.
Ji Xiangyu lowered the partition, while privacy film covered the surrounding windows.
No one could see her vulnerability at that moment.
No one except Shen Yishu.
“Come here. Help me inject it.”
Ji Xiangyu turned sideways and leaned against the car window, revealing a smooth section of her neck.
While opening the packaging, Shen Yishu had also glanced at the instructions.
Despite its severe side effects, the suppressant had to be injected directly into the gland.
“Sister, the side effects are serious.”
Shen Yishu frowned, reluctant to begin.
She remembered that the brand Ji Xiangyu had used at the hotel was not this one.
The discarded packaging nearby had not been red.
The red color made Shen Yishu uneasy, and the long list of side effects made her hesitate even more.
This would be far too damaging to the body.
“Mm. Inject it.”
Ji Xiangyu endured wave after wave of dizziness.
Of course an emergency, high-potency suppressant would have powerful effects.
Even though she and Doctor Zhao were personally acquainted, Doctor Zhao had been willing to prescribe it only once and had insisted that Ji Xiangyu return after using it.
Doctor Zhao’s reasoning was simple.
As long as Ji Xiangyu needed to see her, she could monitor how frequently Ji Xiangyu used suppressants and keep track of her health.
But today, there was no other choice.
Shen Yishu was unwilling to give her another temporary mark, and Ji Xiangyu was equally unwilling to force her.
What happened at the hotel had been Ji Xiangyu’s mistake.
Had she not hesitated and dragged Shen Yishu into the room that night, forcing her into giving a temporary mark on impulse, Shen Yishu would never have been involved in today’s events.
With Shen Yishu beside her, ordinary suppressants were completely ineffective.
But she could not send Shen Yishu away either.
In the entire capital, the safest place for Shen Yishu to remain was beside Ji Xiangyu.
After opening the package, Shen Yishu held the suppressant and stared at the long, pale neck before her.
To make things easier for her, Ji Xiangyu folded her arms against the edge of the window and rested her head on them.
The entire line of her back was visible.
Her shoulder blades rose and fell with every breath, resembling a butterfly preparing to take flight.
It was so beautiful that one wanted to capture it in a single hand and keep it safely at home.
Shen Yishu became distracted for a moment before forcing her thoughts back into place.
“It’s going to hurt badly.”
She was still hesitating.
The first listed side effect stated that the user might experience severe pain.
This was considered a normal reaction to the medication, but if the pain became unbearable, the patient needed immediate medical attention.
This medicine was not safe at all.
“Mm.”
Ji Xiangyu had already prepared herself mentally.
But when Shen Yishu said those words with a frown, Ji Xiangyu could not help remembering the night they first met.
Back then, Shen Yishu had smiled roguishly and said, “Sister, this may hurt a little.”
She certainly had not cared this much about Ji Xiangyu’s feelings that night.
Besides, it had not hurt.
Shen Yishu measured the correct position.
Her warm palm pressed against Ji Xiangyu’s slender neck, where she could faintly feel the artery pulsing beneath the skin.
Frowning, she hardened her heart, pinched the soft flesh, and slowly pushed the needle inside.
Almost the instant it entered, Ji Xiangyu involuntarily threw her head back in pain.
She had expected it to hurt.
She had not expected pain of this intensity.
It felt as though a thousand soldiers and horses had charged outward from her neck and raced through every limb.
Hooves trampled over every nerve and blood vessel, making her entire body tremble uncontrollably.
The butterfly that had been ready to spread its wings beat them violently—
But could no longer fly.
Shen Yishu placed the used suppressant back into its packaging and tossed it onto the center console in the front.
Then she turned to check Ji Xiangyu’s condition.
Ji Xiangyu’s face was even paler than before.
Large beads of sweat rolled down her forehead from the pain.
In less than three minutes, her entire body was covered in perspiration, and the fabric clung to her back in a darkened circle.
“Are you all right?”
Shen Yishu’s brows knitted tightly with worry.
She was already considering taking Ji Xiangyu to the hospital.
Even while trembling from the pain, Ji Xiangyu still struggled to remain composed.
Only the tears in her eyes and her rapid breathing betrayed how pitiful she felt.
“Shen Yishu.”
“Mm?”
“Hold me.”
A helpless Omega needed an Alpha’s comfort.
A mark was impossible, but an embrace should be acceptable.
Shen Yishu did not overthink it.
She shifted closer and gathered the fragile Omega into her arms.
Under the intense pain, Ji Xiangyu could no longer suppress her instincts.
She pressed herself against the Alpha, her arms automatically circling Shen Yishu’s waist as she buried herself tightly against her body.
The suppressant acted remarkably quickly.
In less than three minutes, both the pain and burning heat faded.
Shen Yishu’s shoulders were not particularly broad, yet they seemed capable of blocking out every kind of suffering.
Even after the pain disappeared, Ji Xiangyu remained reluctant to let go, greedily clinging to this rare warmth.
For once, Shen Yishu did not become flustered.
Whenever Ji Xiangyu had embraced her before, she always felt their relationship was not close enough for such intimacy.
But today, when Ji Xiangyu buried herself in her arms, Shen Yishu inexplicably felt that Ji Xiangyu needed her.
The person in her arms held her extremely tightly.
Ji Xiangyu’s arms pressed so hard against Shen Yishu’s back that it began to ache.
Shen Yishu remained silent and allowed her to continue holding on.
If this could reduce even a little of Ji Xiangyu’s suffering, then it was worth it.
Unfortunately, a phone suddenly rang, disturbing their peaceful moment.
Ji Xiangyu returned to her senses and pulled away.
She picked up the phone and answered.
The caller was the current head of the Ji family—Ji Wenbin and Ji Wenhua’s elder brother, Ji Wenrui.
There had been three brothers in the previous generation of the Ji family.
Ji Wenrui possessed extraordinary ability and had taken control of the Ji Corporation before turning thirty.
He was ruthless toward outsiders but fiercely protective of his own family.
Ji Wenbin and Ji Wenhua were more than ten years younger than him and had practically been raised by Ji Wenrui himself.
The three brothers appeared deeply devoted to one another, and outsiders always praised their relationship.
Having grown up within the Ji family, however, Ji Xiangyu had never believed their brotherly bond was particularly genuine.
Ji Wenrui had deliberately raised his two younger brothers into useless men.
Ji Wenbin was slightly better, but still nothing more than an embroidered pillow—beautiful on the outside and empty within.
Ji Wenhua was simply a worthless, rotten rag, so filthy that even using him to wipe the floor would make it dirtier.
Neither brother possessed the ability to compete for power or threaten Ji Wenrui’s position within the company.
After they became adults, the Ji family gave each of them a subsidiary company as spending money.
The subsidiaries were neither especially large nor particularly small.
Combined with dividends from the parent company, they were more than sufficient to let both men live luxuriously.
Yet some people were never satisfied with their circumstances.
Their abilities were limited, but their ambitions reached the sky.
“Hello, Eldest Uncle.”
Ji Xiangyu answered the call.
Her voice still carried a slight tremor from earlier.
She frowned and forcibly steadied it.
“Xiangyu, I saw what you sent. Are you certain all of it is true?”
Dealing with Ji Wenrui was easier than dealing with the other two fools.
At least he understood how to address the main issue immediately.
“You’ll understand once you verify it.”
She had sent him every piece of evidence she had collected over the past several years regarding Ji Wenhua’s dirty deeds.
Many involved illegal conduct that could damage the parent company’s reputation.
Ji Wenhua was an idiot.
Every matter Ji Wenbin had been too cautious to handle personally had been passed to Ji Wenhua instead.
Because of that, Ji Xiangyu could find no concrete evidence directly implicating Ji Wenbin and would need another strategy.
“He’s your uncle.”
“If you refuse to handle it, these matters will appear in the newspapers tomorrow.”
Ji Xiangyu’s voice was calm.
She crossed one leg over the other, lowered her eyes, and threatened Ji Wenrui without hesitation.
“Have you thought this through? I know you’ve always had your own ideas, even as a child. Once I deal with this, your relationship with the family will never recover.”
“Will you handle it?”
Ji Xiangyu finally received an affirmative answer and released a soft breath.
There was a reason she was Ji Wenbin’s biological daughter.
Ji Wenbin always kept a hidden card in reserve.
Ji Xiangyu had never promised that after Ji Wenrui dealt with Ji Wenhua, she would refrain from exposing the matter herself.
Only after the Ji family acted against Ji Wenhua could she guarantee that no one would protect him when she moved against him later.
None of the people in the Ji family were decent.
If she was going to deal with them, she needed to make sure they could never create trouble again.
“I heard from your father that there’s a young Alpha around you now. Apparently, her character and family background aren’t particularly good?”
Ji Xiangyu’s tone instantly hardened.
“You actually believe anything he says?”
“I’m only showing concern as an elder.”
“There’s no need. You should concern yourself with what those two are doing instead. Otherwise, one day they’ll tear a hole through the Ji family and you won’t even know it.”
Ji Xiangyu ended the call with a cold expression.
Shen Yishu could not understand why Ji Xiangyu looked even worse after successfully handling the matter.
She remained completely confused about everything that had happened that day and had acted entirely according to instinct.
Ji Xiangyu turned and met Shen Yishu’s gaze.
“After tonight, the Ji family will use its resources to blacklist you throughout the industry. The Shen family won’t protect you, and your company will abandon you.”
Shen Yishu was silent for two seconds.
Worst case, she could return to school.
“Changing careers won’t work either. The Ji family has connections in every industry. Your only alternative would be leaving the country.”
Ji Xiangyu’s lips opened and closed, each sentence colder than the last.
Shen Yishu: “…”
In only two hours, she had gone from resolving the greatest crisis since transmigrating to falling into an entirely new predicament.
She truly had terrible luck.
She looked innocently at Ji Xiangyu, waiting for whatever came next.
She wanted to see how much worse her misfortune could become.
Unexpectedly, Ji Xiangyu moved her lips but said nothing more.
Shen Yishu was confused.
Ji Xiangyu, meanwhile, was struggling internally.
Remembering what had happened earlier, Shen Yishu still felt uncomfortable.
She had been unwilling to mark Ji Xiangyu because she believed marking was extremely intimate and should not be done casually with an ordinary friend.
But if resisting heat required enduring pain of that intensity, Shen Yishu could not bear it.
Ji Xiangyu had helped her so many times and had kindly warned her about her future.
Wouldn’t refusing to save her when she could help be far too cruel?
Having reached that conclusion, Shen Yishu made up her mind.
“Sister.”
Ji Xiangyu happened to turn toward her at the same moment, appearing ready to speak.
Since Shen Yishu spoke first, Ji Xiangyu gestured for her to continue.
“In the future, if you need it, you can ask me to help mark you. Don’t use that medicine again.”
Ji Xiangyu: “…”
Seeing Ji Xiangyu freeze, Shen Yishu had no choice but to continue the conversation.
“Did you want to say something just now?”
“…I can protect you, but there’s a condition.”
“What condition?”
Shen Yishu immediately became worried.
Could it be one of those conditions where someone demanded a kidney for their beloved first love?
In her previous life, she had often encountered novels where a protagonist was forced into marriage in exchange for a kidney.
Then they discovered the person had only one kidney left, so after losing it, they died.
The protagonist would regret everything and cry for three days and nights, even abandoning the first love who had returned from the dead.
If that was the condition, Shen Yishu would rather swim across the Pacific Ocean and start a new life somewhere else.
Wealth was precious, but life was more valuable.
Ji Xiangyu thought, What other condition could it be? You already said it yourself.
“Become my contractual wife.”
“Out of respect for me, no one in the industry will dare act against you. The Ji family won’t touch you either. You only need to sever ties with the Shen family.”
Shen Yishu: “…”
Shen Yishu: “Huh?”
Why did the plot genuinely seem to be heading toward an absurd prime-time melodrama?
She cautiously asked, “Are there any other conditions?”
While Shen Yishu waited nervously, Ji Xiangyu slowly nodded.
Shen Yishu: “!”
Seriously?
Was she about to mention one of Shen Yishu’s organs next?
“What is it?”
The more Shen Yishu thought about it, the more frightened she became, until she was nearly pressed against the car door.
Knock, knock.
Someone tapped on the window, startling Shen Yishu so badly that she nearly jumped and hit her head on the roof.
“Designated driver,” the person outside said.
Ji Xiangyu opened the car door and trunk, allowing the driver to get inside first.
With someone else present, the two tacitly stopped discussing the matter.
The designated driver had worked for Ji Xiangyu for many years.
She was discreet and disliked chatting.
Ji Xiangyu had once asked whether she wanted to join her team as a full-time driver, but the woman declined, explaining that driving was merely a hobby.
Her actual occupation was collecting rent.
Throughout the journey, Shen Yishu and Ji Xiangyu remained lost in very different thoughts.
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