Chapter 23.2
Ji Xiangyu was thinking about how to explain herself without making Shen Yishu believe she had ulterior motives and had deliberately set a trap for her to fall into.
Shen Yishu, meanwhile, was thinking that even a world inside a novel had to obey the law.
Sister looked so kind. Surely, she would not do anything illegal.
Ji Xiangyu’s home in central Beijing was located in an affluent neighborhood near the Third Ring Road. The residents were either celebrities or wealthy second-generation heirs, and the underground garage was filled with luxury vehicles.
Ji Xiangyu’s modest SUV looked completely out of place among them.
The designated driver left after bringing them there.
Without saying anything, Ji Xiangyu led the way, taking Shen Yishu into the elevator and up to her floor.
It was a spacious apartment occupying the entire floor, with one residence per elevator to ensure the owner’s privacy.
Ji Xiangyu’s home was nearly empty.
She did not live here often. She preferred peace and quiet, while the Third Ring Road was far too busy. Whenever she was not filming, she usually stayed at her villa in the suburbs.
However, returning to the outskirts tonight would have taken too long, so she had come to the nearer apartment instead.
“What would you like to drink?” Ji Xiangyu asked.
“Water is fine.”
Holding the glass Ji Xiangyu gave her, Shen Yishu quietly examined the interior.
The decoration was minimalist, with white as the primary color. Only essential furniture had been placed outside, and there was not the slightest trace of anyone truly living there.
It resembled the image Ji Xiangyu presented to the world—
So cold that others instinctively kept their distance.
“Let’s continue our earlier discussion. Have you made a decision?”
Ji Xiangyu sat on the sofa, looking relaxed.
“You still haven’t told me the condition.”
“The condition is that, as my contractual wife, you’ll need to fulfill the duties of a wife.”
Ji Xiangyu spoke calmly and confidently, though inwardly, she was not certain at all.
When she first met Shen Yishu, she had assumed the other woman was a promiscuous playgirl.
She had never expected her to be so innocent.
Even when Ji Xiangyu practically offered herself to her, Shen Yishu refused and would not mark her.
Whenever a crisis arose, Shen Yishu also actively tried to find a solution instead of passively waiting for her fate.
“Duties?”
Shen Yishu frowned.
Ji Xiangyu could tell at a glance that her thoughts had once again gone in the wrong direction.
After pausing for two seconds, she sighed and decided she needed to explain everything plainly.
“As an Omega, I’ve been using suppressants for ten years. Most suppressants currently available are no longer effective on me. The ones that still work have severe side effects, as you’ve already seen.”
“As my wife, I need you to remain beside me during my heats and mark me.”
“And when necessary…”
Ji Xiangyu glanced at the stunned Shen Yishu before adding the final sentence.
“You’ll need to take care of my physical needs.”
Shen Yishu: “…”
Did she mean the kind of physical needs Shen Yishu was imagining?
She could not immediately process it and sat on the sofa in deep thought.
“I won’t force you. You still have time to consider it. Would half an hour be enough?”
Ji Xiangyu took a tablet from the coffee table drawer and set a timer.
“…I’ll think about it some more.”
Ji Xiangyu stood and went to shower.
The day’s endless trouble had thoroughly exhausted her.
Shen Yishu was not thinking about how to refuse.
She was wondering whether a pie falling from the sky was truly safe to eat—or whether it might be a giant poisoned pie.
Objectively speaking, her present circumstances were indeed terrible.
But according to the laws governing novels, villains were destined to die.
If she acted cowardly and quietly hid herself, the protagonists would eventually deal with the villains.
If she acted a little more boldly, the objective rules of the story still dictated that the villains would die before she did.
The problem was that the protagonists were not on her side.
On the contrary, from the perspective of the original novel’s two undisputed female leads, Shen Yishu was also a villain—and the kind who had to be eliminated.
But Lin Luosheng was close to Ji Xiangyu, and Ji Xiangyu could be considered part of the protagonists’ group.
As long as Shen Yishu clung tightly to Ji Xiangyu’s powerful thigh, Lin Luosheng would not dispose of her.
At this point in the novel’s timeline, Ji Xiangyu’s offer was the best possible option.
Lin Luosheng would win many awards in the future, which was the character-development arc the original author had prepared for her.
Ji Xiangyu, however, had already completed that journey.
No matter how Shen Yishu examined it, Ji Xiangyu offering her a secure golden bowl so she could live off a wealthy woman was an enormous luxury banquet falling directly from heaven.
Did she dislike Ji Xiangyu?
Of course not.
She did not like anyone else either, so if she accepted this pie, no one could accuse her of betraying them.
No matter how she looked at it, Shen Yishu benefited while Ji Xiangyu suffered the loss.
The only problem was that if Ji Xiangyu merely needed someone to mark her and handle her physical needs, surely she could find someone better than Shen Yishu.
Shen Yishu sighed and touched her waist, checking on her kidneys.
Ji Xiangyu finished showering quickly and emerged wrapped in a bathrobe.
Half an hour was not enough time to dry her hair, so she wore only a hair-drying cap.
Without her hair obscuring her features, Shen Yishu saw a bare face so beautiful it provoked outrage against both humans and gods, making one lament how unfairly Nüwa had created humanity.
“Have you decided?”
Ji Xiangyu yawned.
The side effects of the powerful suppressant were already on their way, but the medication remained effective for the moment.
Even while staying beside Shen Yishu, Ji Xiangyu could still calmly discuss adult matters with her.
“Sister, I only want to ask one thing. Why did you choose me?”
Shen Yishu still felt that she should hear Ji Xiangyu’s reason for selecting her.
“Because our compatibility is one hundred percent. Your pheromones have the strongest soothing effect on me.”
So strong that even if they merely slept in the same bed without doing anything, Ji Xiangyu could sleep peacefully through the entire night without dreaming.
Shen Yishu suddenly understood.
A smile bloomed across her face.
“I agree.”
In her previous life, what would this have been called?
Taking a shortcut that saved ten years and placing herself twenty years ahead of everyone her age.
While other people cried online, Sister, I’m hungry—feed me, Shen Yishu had already received a personal invitation from a wealthy older woman.
She was a winner in life.
A secure golden bowl for living off a rich woman had come looking for her on its own.
Who could see that and not feel envious?
“You agreed so quickly?”
Ji Xiangyu looked at her in surprise.
“It would be difficult not to,” Shen Yishu answered honestly.
“I’ll have a lawyer draft the agreement. Before returning to the production tomorrow, we’ll register our marriage.”
“If your company contacts you tomorrow morning, insist that you and I aren’t close. The Ji family will pressure your company. Once they terminate your contract, my team will approach you. From then on, all your resources will be handled by my team.”
“You’ll appear on the trending searches tonight at the earliest and tomorrow morning at the latest. You should start getting used to it. You’ll be trending much more often in the future.”
Ji Xiangyu had already planned everything.
All that remained was asking Shen Yishu.
Shen Yishu had to admit that she greatly enjoyed the feeling of being protected.
Ji Xiangyu had already begun calling her manager.
“You secretly got married?!”
Her manager nearly choked on her own saliva.
“Not yet. If you want to watch me register the marriage, you still have time to come.”
“…You’re joking, right?”
“What do you think?”
Her manager remained silent for several seconds.
“Who is she? Is she in the industry? Is her family background clean? Are you genuinely in love? What is her character like? Does she have a good personality? Is she beautiful?”
“Stop.”
Ji Xiangyu interrupted the endless stream of questions.
“I called because of the incident last time. The person photographed was my wife. Have the team focus primarily on countering attacks against her. There’s no need to suppress anything else, including investigations or publicity.”
“Yes, there’s no need to defend me either. It isn’t particularly necessary. If anyone fabricates serious rumors, selectively gather evidence against a few of them and file lawsuits.”
When Shen Yishu raised her eyes, she happened to meet Ji Xiangyu’s gaze.
“After some time, I’ll make it public,” Ji Xiangyu said slowly, looking directly into Shen Yishu’s clear eyes.
“…I hope you’ll reconsider.”
Her manager’s brain was nearly crashing from the continuous stream of shocking information. She had not even had time to drink water.
“I’ve already decided.”
“A large portion of your fans are girlfriend fans, boyfriend fans, and career fans. If you announce your marriage, you may lose an enormous number of followers. Your dramas…”
Ji Xiangyu fell silent.
“At least wait until The Golden Hairpin airs. You’ve also reached the age when you need to transition your career. Are you truly unwilling to return to films?”
“I’ll give my fans an explanation. You don’t need to persuade me about this anymore.”
“As for film scripts… keep an eye out for suitable ones.”
“I’ve never been able to change your decisions. I only hope you haven’t misjudged this person.”
Ji Xiangyu said goodbye and ended the call.
This time, she would not misjudge someone again.
When Ji Xiangyu returned, Shen Yishu was debating whether to publish her second Moments post.
Even after her previous post, many beautiful older and younger women continued sending her messages.
She never responded, but many still occasionally wrote to her.
There was also a group chat filled with the original owner’s disreputable friends, who tagged her every day and invited her out to indulge in drinking and pleasure.
She found the entire situation troublesome.
Ji Xiangyu walked behind the sofa and leaned over to glance at the screen.
“So many people?”
Her tone was teasing.
Shen Yishu caught the familiar scent of her shower gel.
A strand of hair had slipped from beneath the drying cap and happened to brush across Shen Yishu’s ear, tickling it.
She did not know how to answer.
She had not added these people.
She had not chatted with them.
She was merely the unlucky person forced to inherit the original owner’s disastrous mess.
“Once we sign the agreement, you’ll need to delete all these people.”
Ji Xiangyu lowered her voice, her breath only inches away.
“A married woman can’t chat with so many beautiful ladies, little friend.”
Her warm breath brushed Shen Yishu’s earlobe, heating her cheeks.
Why did she, a twenty-three-year-old adult, truly resemble a child whenever she was beside Sister?
No, more importantly—
Why was Sister so cold and distant outside but behaved like this after returning home?
“I’ll delete them immediately.”
Shen Yishu decided to finish the task decisively and began deleting people down her contact list.
She had already been worrying about lacking an excuse. If these people approached her in the future, she would not have known what to say.
Now she had a legitimate reason.
“Let me confirm the terms with you once more. The agreement will remain valid until either you or I find true love.”
“While it remains active, you must do your best to stay beside me during my heats. When necessary, you may need to cancel work. I’ll pay any penalties for breaching those contracts.”
“All right,” Shen Yishu answered obediently.
The entire agreement was highly favorable to her. She had no reason to reject it.
“Correspondingly, whenever you need me, you may ask me to accompany you. Under ordinary circumstances, I won’t refuse.”
“All right.”
“Is there anything else you want? Resources or money—whatever it is, I can still consider it. The lawyer won’t arrive until tomorrow, so you have more time to think.”
“There’s nothing else.”
Shen Yishu believed asking for more would be greedy.
Only those who understood contentment could obtain even more.
“Go to sleep. The guest bedroom is straight ahead on the right.”
Ji Xiangyu was tired.
She still needed to think carefully about Shen Yishu’s situation and consider the appropriate time to reveal their marriage publicly.
“Am I sleeping alone?”
Shen Yishu had already accepted the fact that she and Ji Xiangyu were now a couple.
Besides, they had already slept in the same bed, so her embarrassment had long since been thrown away.
“Mm. You’re sleeping alone.”
Ji Xiangyu glanced at her.
While the medicine remained effective, she needed to keep her distance from Shen Yishu.
Once its effects faded, even the faintest trace of Shen Yishu’s pheromones might make tonight difficult to endure.
After washing up and drying her hair, Shen Yishu lay on the bed, still faintly feeling as though she were dreaming.
Only a few days ago, she and Ji Xiangyu had been cautiously guarding against each other’s possible ulterior motives.
Tomorrow, they would register their marriage.
She wondered whether anyone had ever entered a flash marriage faster than they had.
She also wondered whether Lin Luosheng would hate her even more after learning about it.
Shen Yishu released a long sigh and opened the Big-Eyed App for a quick look before sleeping.
[Ji Xiangyu Secretly Meets Young Actress from Same Production Late at Night (Explosive)]
[Famous Alpha Best Actress Meets Another Alpha at Night (Explosive)]
[Ji Xiangyu, Shen Yishu (Explosive)]
[Who Is Shen Yishu?]
Shen Yishu: “…”
That was remarkably fast.
Ji Xiangyu truly deserved her status as a top star.
Any topic containing her name had hundreds of thousands of participants, all of them genuine users. No paid commenters were even required.
Shen Yishu opened one of the posts and examined the paparazzi photographs.
The Ji family truly deserved to be wealthy.
The pictures were exceptionally clear.
Had Shen Yishu not worn a mask that day, even the fine hairs on her face might have been captured.
The marketing account with the highest engagement had posted a video showing the entire process of Shen Yishu entering the room and closing the door.
It could be said that had she not closed that door, there would have been half as much material available for fabricating rumors.
Ji Xiangyu had arranged in advance for people to counter the attacks against Shen Yishu.
A large number of paid accounts flooded the public feed with her name while discussing matters unrelated to the trending topic.
Because Shen Yishu was an obscure actress, genuine passersby and most fans believed she had deliberately released the video herself to cling to the enormous tree that was Ji Xiangyu.
Mixed among the paid accounts, many real people believed she had staged the entire incident.
A small number were merely curious whether she was attractive.
Ji Xiangyu, meanwhile, was being viciously attacked by rival fandoms and anti-fans, who claimed that after pretending to be perfect for so many years, she had finally exposed herself.
Her fans and anti-fans fought furiously, causing participation in the topic to skyrocket.
Some neutral entertainment bloggers even sighed that Ji Xiangyu truly deserved her reputation, because both her fans and haters possessed terrifying combat power.
Shen Yishu felt uncomfortable while reading it.
She believed she and Ji Xiangyu should share both blessings and hardship.
Since she did not have enough money to purchase an anti-defamation campaign for Ji Xiangyu, she would personally join the battle!
Having made her decision, she immediately created an alternate account and began patrolling the public feed.
Whenever she saw someone insulting Ji Xiangyu particularly viciously, she replied:
Where are your manners?
After posting several replies, she noticed no one responded.
Confused, she returned to look and saw the other users asking in the comments:
Who was the person with no manners that got filtered out?
Shen Yishu: “…”
After thinking about it, she decided to speak with Ji Xiangyu and ask her to remove the anti-defamation filters.
If they had to be cursed, they should be cursed together.
She climbed out of bed and followed the light toward the master bedroom.
Ji Xiangyu had always lived alone and rarely had visitors, so naturally, she did not have the habit of closing her bedroom door while sleeping.
She had not yet gone to sleep.
She lay on her stomach across the bed with a pillow beneath her chest, her two long legs raised casually behind her.
Her preferred silk nightdress had slid aside with the movement of her calves, barely covering the base of her thighs and concealing the tempting scenery beneath.
Her gently swaying legs resembled paddles moving through water, stirring green waves and making passing travelers lose all self-control.
Before Shen Yishu even reached the room, Ji Xiangyu detected the faint cedarwood fragrance in the air.
Shen Yishu also smelled a barely perceptible trace of rosemary.
Perhaps because of the suppressant used earlier that day, the scent carried a faint bitterness tonight, stirring a soft ache in Shen Yishu’s heart.
“Sister,” Shen Yishu called.
She intended to explain why she had come, but instinctively swallowed first.
Ji Xiangyu rose to kneel on the bed.
One shoulder strap slipped downward, revealing a faint red mole.
“What is it?” she asked.
Shen Yishu felt that she should properly explain what she was thinking, but her throat seemed to have become mute, refusing to produce any sound.
“Have you already come to fulfill your duties?”
Ji Xiangyu asked with a smile.
The floor lamp cast a halo across the wall behind her.
With black hair, pale skin, red lips, and white teeth, she formed an extraordinarily beautiful portrait of a woman preparing for bed.
“No… I wanted to discuss the anti-defamation campaign.”
Shen Yishu finally forced the words out.
She felt like a scholar traveling to the capital for the imperial examinations, while Ji Xiangyu was a fox spirit sitting in a tree.
You knew she was a fox in human form.
You knew she would drain away your soul before the night ended.
Yet after a single glance, you could no longer look away or escape.
Even if it cost your life, you would still choose to spend one night of passion with her.
“You think I’m being attacked too viciously?”
Ji Xiangyu considered her words for two seconds and immediately understood.
“Mm.”
“Would you feel better if I told you I rarely look at trending topics?”
Ji Xiangyu was an actress and allowed her work to speak for her most of the time.
Everyone regarded her as a supreme traffic star, but in reality, her works and awards far surpassed most other celebrities.
When she was busy, she had no time to use her phone.
When she was free, she preferred watching films or reading scripts.
“That makes me feel better.”
Shen Yishu relaxed.
“Did you come here only for that?”
Ji Xiangyu stepped from the bed and walked toward her barefoot.
“Yes.”
Having received her answer, Shen Yishu prepared to leave.
If she remained any longer, Ji Xiangyu might genuinely steal her soul.
The rosemary fragrance bloomed throughout the entire bedroom.
Under the influence of Shen Yishu’s pheromones, the suppressant lost its effect ahead of schedule.
Ji Xiangyu pressed Shen Yishu against the door and whispered,
“Since you’re already here, why don’t you fulfill your duties as my wife a little early?”
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