A Washed-up Movie Queen's Divorce Strategy [Rebirth] - Chapter 18

While in the hospital, Ji Chenli had been constantly worried about Tao Yuan, so she headed straight there after being discharged. The sick child, Bei-bei, was already well—bouncing around and being adorable—which finally allowed Ji Chenli to put her heart at rest. Her discharge was so sudden that the hospital staff hadn’t had time to notify Ming Lang, so Ming Lang only found out while she was stuck in a meeting. She had no choice but to call Ji Chenli.

Ji Chenli was helping a one-year-old “little bean” change a diaper and answered without checking the caller ID. “Hello, who is this?”

“You’ve been discharged?” Ming Lang asked.

Ji Chenli regretted answering without looking. She remembered blacklisting Ming Lang’s number a long time ago; Ming Lang must have quietly removed herself from the blacklist while Ji Chenli wasn’t paying attention. But since she had already picked up, hanging up now would be useless. She tucked the phone between her shoulder and ear and said irritably, “The doctor said I’m fine and can be discharged.”

Ming Lang didn’t seem to have any intention of questioning her, only saying, “Is that so? Congratulations.”

“Do you have business?” Ji Chenli used warm water to clean the little bean, unwrapping a new diaper to put on him. The toddler held his chubby legs with his fat hands, grinning and giggling foolishly. Tao Yuan had taken excellent care of the little fellow; his arms and legs looked like lotus roots, full of rolls of fat. When he laughed, he revealed a tiny mouth with only two teeth. The more Ji Chenli looked at him, the more she liked him, making funny faces to tease him, which made him laugh even harder.

Ming Lang caught the noise on Ji Chenli’s end and asked, “Who are you with?”

“My son. Got a problem?” Ji Chenli’s mood to tease the toddler was dampened by Ming Lang’s question. “Do you have anything else? If not, I’m hanging up.”

Ming Lang was silent on the other end. Ji Chenli wanted to hang up, but then she suddenly remembered the movie. She asked one more thing: “By the way, when is that movie starting up again? Better to finish it early and get it over with; there’s no point dragging it out.”

“The crew is still in preparation. Once everything is planned, someone will notify your manager.”

“Fine then. Hanging up.”

“Chenli!” Ming Lang called out.

Ji Chenli was confused. “Hmm? You still have something?”

Ming Lang said in a slow, measured tone, “Your son… does that mean he’s also my son?”

She couldn’t hear any emotion through the phone, but Ji Chenli inexplicably felt that Ming Lang was likely smiling triumphantly right now. “In your dreams.” Ji Chenli snapped the phone shut.

It was only after hanging up that Ji Chenli realized—wait a minute, weren’t the crew preparations supposed to be finalized before the initial start? What were they still preparing?

Before she could think further, Tao Yuan called her from the yard. “Chen-chen, come down quickly! Someone is looking for you!”

“Coming!” Ji Chenli hurriedly finished diapering and dressing the little bean in the cradle, then took the washbasin out of the room.

Before she even reached the yard, her voice drifted ahead of her. “Sister, who’s looking for me?” Ji Chenli figured it was likely Feng Cai; she didn’t seem to have any other particularly close friends.

Tao Yuan was in the kitchen washing rice and didn’t hear her. When Ji Chenli reached the yard, she saw a person sitting on a bamboo chair with their back to her. At first glance, the person seemed very well-bred—at least her posture was ramrod straight, unlike Ji Chenli, who was always scolded by Tao Yuan for slouching.

“Hello, are you looking for me?” Ji Chenli stepped forward to ask.

The person on the bamboo chair stood up and turned around. When Ji Chenli saw that exquisite and familiar face, the polite smile on her face vanished instantly. No wonder she was so well-mannered; it was the Great Miss Han Xinyuan. Ji Chenli and Han Xinyuan had a grievance that seemed to span lifetimes. In this life, even though she no longer liked Ming Lang, she still found this Miss Han incredibly eyesore. “How did you find this place?”

Ji Chenli felt the question was redundant. With the Han family’s power, finding out about Ji Chenli was easy as pie. Ji Chenli then remembered that at this point, Han Xinyuan hadn’t really entered the entertainment industry yet, which was why Tao Yuan didn’t recognize her and let her in.

Conversations with Han Xinyuan rarely went well. Fearing that a fight in front of Tao Yuan would leave a bad impression, Ji Chenli added, “Miss Han, shall we speak outside?”

Han Xinyuan looked like she was in poor spirits; her eyes were a bit red, and she seemed very low. Hearing Ji Chenli’s words, she nodded. “I know a teahouse that’s quite good. I wonder if Miss Ji would do me the honor?”

“Let’s go.”

It didn’t matter where they went. Han Xinyuan coming to find Ji Chenli was undoubtedly about Ming Lang; one could guess it with their toes.

At the teahouse, Han Xinyuan ordered a pot of Longjing. Once the waiter left, she said, “Miss Ji, I came this time to apologize on behalf of Qinglan… I wanted to visit you while you were in the hospital, but A-Lang’s people were always on guard, and I couldn’t get in…”

“Oh.” Ji Chenli nodded indifferently. “I see. Does Miss Han have anything else?”

“Miss Ji! I know Qinglan went too far this time, and ultimately it’s my fault for involving you. Could you please give Qinglan a break? She… she can’t go abroad! If she goes, everything she’s built up domestically will be over! Miss Ji…”

“Wait.” Ji Chenli looked bewildered. “When did I ever tell her to go abroad?”

“It’s… it’s Ming Lang.” Han Xinyuan gave a bitter smile. “Miss Ji, right now Ming Lang listens to you the most. Could you talk to her? I’m begging you…”

Ji Chenli found this hilarious. “Heh, you’ve got it wrong. Does Xie Qinglan going abroad have a damn thing to do with me? Besides, given your relationship with President Ming, why don’t you go beg her yourself? Han Xinyuan, are you trying to trick me into running into the line of fire? I’m not a fool like Xie Qinglan.”

Ji Chenli had fought with Han Xinyuan for many years in her past life. Others might not know her personality, but Ji Chenli knew it perfectly. She was easy to get along with usually, but at critical moments, anyone could become the knife in her hand. In the end, when the knife was covered in blood, she could pull herself out clean. Back then, Ji Chenli was young and had fallen for her tricks countless times, but she had finally learned her lesson. How could she fall for it again?

“Since you were hospitalized, I haven’t seen A-Lang in a long time.” Han Xinyuan clutched her teacup with a bitter smile. “A-Lang said…”

“I don’t care what she said, I don’t care about Xie Qinglan’s future, and I certainly don’t care about the mess of your business,” Ji Chenli said coldly. “Han Xinyuan, I said I will divorce Ming Lang, and I will. I, Ji Chenli, have no other talents, but I have one: I am a woman of my word. Whatever happens between you and Ming Lang then is your business. If you came here today to plead for Xie Qinglan, I think you’ve begged the wrong person.” Ji Chenli drained her tea in one gulp and stood up. “Thank you for the tea, Miss Han.”

“Ji Chenli!” Han Xinyuan called out. “Regardless of how you see me, I cannot ignore Qinglan’s future. I only ask for a word of forgiveness for her.”

A sarcastic smile curled Ji Chenli’s lips. “I don’t forgive her.”

Why should she? From her past life to this one, every person who hurt her turned around and struck the pose of a victim to beg for her forgiveness, as if they were the ones who had been wronged. Xie Qinglan, Han Xinyuan, Ming Yan, and that Ming Lang who had gone mad for some unknown reason—Ji Chenli only found it laughable. These high-and-mighty executioners who were eager to drive people to a dead end—why should they get to be generously forgiven just because they wanted redemption? Why? Their consciences are settled, but what about Ji Chenli’s pain? Who redeems that?

Ji Chenli believed that one day she could forget these unpleasant memories; she believed her life would eventually make a clean break from this messy past. But she simply would not forgive.

Han Xinyuan seemed to have expected Ji Chenli to say this and nodded calmly. “I understand. Ji Chenli, regardless of everything, thank you for saving my life.”

“The tea is good. Enjoy the rest, Miss Han. I’m leaving.”

Ji Chenli had left in a hurry and hadn’t brought her wallet. Fortunately, it was still early, so she decided to walk slowly back along the road.

Speaking of which, Ji Chenli and Han Xinyuan shared quite a history. Born on the same year, month, and day, they had loved the same woman. More than that—Ji Chenli’s blood literally flowed through Han Xinyuan’s veins.

Acute leukemia. It hit fast with a high mortality rate, and they couldn’t find a matching bone marrow donor. The doctor said Han Xinyuan wouldn’t live past three months.

During that time, Ming Lang searched everywhere for a donor like a madwoman. Ji Chenli had heard Ming Lang say more than once that she wouldn’t care if she had to give away the entire Ming family just to save Han Xinyuan. It happened to be when Ji Chenli was deeply infatuated with Ming Lang, so she was moved.

The odds of a match among unrelated people are only one in ten thousand. Yet, Ji Chenli was that one in ten thousand. What a wonderful coincidence: born on the same day, loving the same woman, and even the bone marrow matched perfectly. So, Ji Chenli thought that since she and Han Xinyuan were so similar, perhaps Ming Lang could move her gaze from Han Xinyuan and fix it entirely on her. So she went to Ming Lang and made a deal: a marriage certificate in exchange for Han Xinyuan’s life.

When Ji Chenli made the request, she didn’t even dare look into Ming Lang’s eyes. But even without looking, she could feel Ming Lang’s rage—like fire encased in ice, mixed with explosives, ready to detonate at any moment.

“Ji Chenli, you know I don’t love you,” Ming Lang had said coldly with her arms crossed.

Ji Chenli had bolstered her courage to reply: “Then… then do you want to watch Han Xinyuan die?”

Ming Lang sneered. “City C has such a large population. Do you think you can threaten me with this?”

“The national population is even larger, but can Han Xinyuan afford to wait? With acute leukemia, how long can she live?”

Ming Lang indeed hesitated. She stared at Ji Chenli until her spine felt cold before she spoke. “You want money?”

Ji Chenli shook her head. “No. I want to marry you.”

Ming Lang understood. Indeed, how much money could compare to being the Mistress of the Ming family? It was like holding a cornucopia in one’s arms; any normal person would want it.

“But I will not love you,” Ming Lang said. “Not for a lifetime.”

Ji Chenli only smiled. “It’s okay. I just want to marry you.”

Ji Chenli had been blinded by the rush of dopamine. She thought that as long as she was good to Ming Lang—very, very good, better than anyone else—how could Ming Lang not love her?

But Ming Lang really didn’t love her.

Ji Chenli thought to herself: In my last life, my values really were warped. A ‘bitch’ who ruined someone else’s love—I was no better than Han Xinyuan. No, I was worse than Han Xinyuan; at least she didn’t steal someone else’s girlfriend.