Chapter 58

“But… but Mama Tao… promised me three times… and never went once…” Beibei sobbed her accusation. “She… she went to Brother Zhuangzhuang’s parent-teacher meeting…”

With so many children in the orphanage, it was impossible for Tao Yuan to attend to everyone at all times. Ji Chenli understood this, and she also understood the grievance in Beibei’s heart. Wiping the girl’s tears, she said, “Then how about Sister goes to the parent-teacher meeting for Beibei?”

“Re… really?” Beibei asked with a hiccup.

Ji Chenli smiled. “Of course it’s true. Why, does Beibei not want Sister to go?”

Beibei immediately stopped crying and broke into a smile. With tears still on her face, she jumped up and down, half-crying and half-laughing, as she ran to report the good news to Tao Yuan. Seeing her exuberant joy, Ji Chenli shook her head with a smile. It was good to be a child—crying and laughing whenever one pleased, unlike the world of adults filled with so many worries.

Ji Chenli figured that since she was rarely attending a parent-teacher meeting for Beibei, she shouldn’t embarrass the girl or make her feel inferior among her classmates. She specifically dressed up a bit, putting on light makeup and ditching her usual loose casual wear for a tailored suit. After all, she had been in the entertainment industry; even if she wasn’t a top-tier beauty in that circle, she was a rare stunner among ordinary people. Tall and elegant, she drew a fair amount of attention the moment she entered the school holding Beibei’s hand. Among the crowd of parents, it was a bit like a crane among chickens; most parents stole glances at her.

Children naturally gravitate toward beautiful things. Many kids, seeing how pretty Beibei’s guardian was, ran over to play with her. Beibei had never been so popular at school, and her little face flushed red with excitement.

Once the children gathered, the adults couldn’t suppress their curiosity either. One mother, a housewife who loved watching TV dramas at home and recognized many celebrities, felt Ji Chenli looked somewhat familiar. She said, “Are you Beibei’s guardian? You look so young, just like the stars I see on TV.”

Hearing this, several other parents who enjoyed dramas nodded in agreement. “Yes, yes, she does!”

“Didn’t she play some consort in that period drama?”

“Consort Zhen!”

“Right, right, right! Consort Zhen!”

A commotion started around them. Ji Chenli felt annoyed at herself for being so conspicuous. She managed a polite smile and said, “I’m her older sister. My friends often say I have a celebrity look; you must have mistaken me for someone else.”

The mothers thought about it and figured it made sense—how could the sister of a big star attend such a run-down school? The conversation chirped off in another direction, and Ji Chenli secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The parent-teacher meeting was outdoors. The children brought stools from the classrooms and arranged them on the playground by class. Ji Chenli looked at the banner stretched across the temporary stage at the front of the field; it turned out the main purpose of this meeting was to thank a wealthy donor who had provided an education fund for the school. The large turnout was meant to give the donor “face.”

The reason Beibei had been so insistent on Tao Yuan attending was simple: she and a few other girls had rehearsed a dance routine as the opening performance. In the eyes of children, this was an incredibly glorious feat, and she naturally wanted to show off to those closest to her.

While Beibei and the others were performing, a stir occurred at the school gate. Parents turned to look as the school leadership rushed over with beaming smiles to welcome someone. Ji Chenli surmised this was likely the wealthy donor. The car door opened, and a person stepped out. Ji Chenli froze—the big boss was none other than Ming Lang.

Ji Chenli pretended she hadn’t seen a thing. She turned back to continue recording Beibei’s performance. After it ended, Beibei hopped back to her. Ji Chenli wiped her sweat, praised her, and then excused herself from the playground, claiming she had errands to run.

The moment Ming Lang entered the school, her sharp eyes spotted Ji Chenli. Her gaze remained locked on her. Seeing Ji Chenli leave, she gave a few instructions to Xu Luyang and followed in the direction Ji Chenli had gone.

Ji Chenli hadn’t left the campus. This primary school was very old; she had graduated from here herself, and it hadn’t changed much in over a decade. Behind the teaching building was a small back playground—just a basketball court and a few rows of bars. Ji Chenli remembered that these bars were her favorite thing to play on as a child. Looking at them brought back memories of her mischievous younger self. Who would have thought two lifetimes would pass in the blink of an eye? If she told anyone she had died once and come back, they’d likely treat it as a joke.

In her memory, the bars were so high she had to climb up just to touch them; now they seemed quite low, reachable with just a small hop. Unfortunately, she was wearing a pencil skirt today and couldn’t sit on them, so she just leaned against a post, lost in thought.

She didn’t know why she was hiding here. Seeing Ming Lang just made her instinctively want to flee. In a setting like this, Ming Lang was the high-and-mighty donor, while she was one of hundreds of beneficiaries. This dynamic was just like their relationship; when Ming Lang didn’t care for her, she couldn’t beg for it, but once Ming Lang deci[stolen content]ded to bestow her charity, she had no choice but to receive it. There was no place to hide.

Ji Chenli had long known their relationship was unequal. Even across two lifetimes, even with Ming Lang seemingly begging her now and lowering her posture so much, they were still unequal. Ming Lang was still the one on top; that wouldn’t change.

A row of peach trees grew next to the basketball court. They weren’t tall and had long since finished blooming, their leaves lush and green. As Ji Chenli stared at them, a voice came from behind: “Chenli.”

Ji Chenli turned and gave a forced smile. “I knew you’d come over.”

Ming Lang walked up. Ji Chenli said, “Thank you for the donation to the school.”

Ming Lang replied, “It was Xu Luyang’s idea.”

Of course. Ming Lang was so busy she couldn’t possibly notice the problems of a single school; it was naturally the credit of her omnipotent assistant. “Regardless of whose idea it was, it’s a good thing this old school can be renovated. Thank you anyway.” Ji Chenli stood up straight and touched the horizontal bar she was leaning against. Recalling a childhood memory, she smiled and patted the bar. “It was this very bar. I fell off it once back then.”

“I was a brat, didn’t know any better. If others climbed, I climbed. I finally got up there and wanted to show off a ‘gold hook’ hang, but I wasn’t strong enough to hold on. I fell head-first onto the ground.” Ji Chenli kicked at the sand beneath her feet. “Luckily it was sand. If it had been cement, my little life would have been over right then.”

She spoke lightly, but Ming Lang’s heart constricted. Ever since Ji Chenli died before her once, her threshold for stress had become extremely low; she couldn’t bear even a hint of danger near Ji Chenli. Even if it was just a small incident from a long-past childhood, Ming Lang felt a surge of fear, followed by relief that this person had, despite her mischief, grown up safely. Thank goodness she could meet her—twice.

“Afterward, I got scolded by the old director. She scolded me while crying, and Sister Tao Yuan and I cried with her. The three of us were just a sobbing mess in the hospital.” As if it were a funny memory, Ji Chenli started to chuckle as she spoke.

She hadn’t recalled these things in a long time. Since Tao Yuan’s death, Ji Chenli hadn’t dared to think of the past. Her first twenty years were tied to Tao Yuan; every time she remembered them, the image that eventually surfaced was Tao Yuan’s blood-covered face before she died—a bone-deep pain.

“It’s good to be able to start over,” Ji ​unauthorized copy​Chenli said. She was destined to have no more romance in this life, but at least she could keep her family. Having one Tao Yuan was enough.

Ming Lang deeply identified with Ji Chenli’s words and nodded seriously. “Yes, it is very good.”

She stood very close to Ji Chenli. As she spoke, she turned to look at the person she had lost for half a lifetime, then quietly reached out and took Ji Chenli’s hand.

Ji Chenli felt something touch her hand, and then another palm slipped into hers, fingers interlocking. Ming Lang’s hand was cool even in the summer.

Ji Chenli turned her head and saw Ming Lang staring straight ahead with a serious expression, as if nothing had happened. However, she noticed the tip of Ming Lang’s ear peeking through her hair was a bit red.

Ji Chenli had spent a lifetime longing to hold that hand. When Ming Lang was sick in Paris, her temperature hadn’t been normal, but now that the hand was thrust into hers, the sensation was exactly as Ji Chenli had imagined. It was slightly cooler than a normal person’s—very comfortable to hold in the summer—and beneath the thin skin of the fingers, every bone held strength.

A hand like this should feel steady and reassuring, but Ji Chenli felt afraid holding it. Because this hand did not belong to her; she would lose it sooner or later.

“Move in,” Ming Lang said.

“What?” Ji Chenli didn’t hear clearly.

“Move in. Live with me.”

The proposal came suddenly, but Ji Chenli seemed prepared for it. Since it was all a play, she would just watch how Ming Lang performed.

However, since she was the spectator this bailiantales.com time, even if their relationship was unequal, Ji Chenli finally had the right to make some demands.

“I won’t live in a house Han Xinyuan has stayed in.”

“Okay.”

“The carpets Han Xinyuan liked—I want to burn them.”

“Okay.”

“That annoying chef—he used to mess with me. Replace him.”

“Okay.”

“And the butler. I don’t like him. Replace him too.”

“Okay.”

Ji Chenli made many unreasonable demands, and Ming Lang agreed to each one without hesitation. Hearing her repetitive “okay,” Ji Chenli only smiled, not believing she could actually do it.

But when she arrived at the Ming residence—a place where she had lived for seven years in her past life but hadn’t visited once in this one—she saw the staff clearing out everything that once belonged to Han Xinyuan to burn. Thick black smoke rose into the sky from the courtyard, giving her a trace of the thrill of vindication.

Especially seeing the once-sour-faced butler, now an elderly unauthorized copy man, glaring at her with venomous eyes. He hadn’t done anything wrong to Ji Chenli in this life, yet she still felt a pleasant rush of “borrowed authority.”

It’s good not to love someone, Ji Chenli thought. At least you can be selfish with a clear conscience.