After Divorcing My Omega Ex-Wife - Chapter 8

Shi Yun opened her eyes and instinctively reached for her phone.

After groping around for a while, she finally found the scorching-hot brick beneath her pillow.

It had only 1% battery left, yet it was still stubbornly holding on without shutting down.

The entire screen was filled with calls from Chen Su.

Looking carefully, there were thirty missed calls.

In an instant, all her sleepiness vanished.

She glanced at the time. Six in the evening.

She had not drawn the curtains. The sky was already mostly dark, gloomy and overcast, as if wind and rain were about to arrive.

From the thirtieth floor, she could overlook the entire city at a glance.

She did not hurry to call Chen Su back. First, she plugged her phone into the charger.

Standing before the floor-to-ceiling glass, she watched for a while. On the giant screen of the mall diagonally across from her, Xie Qingyun’s face was reflected. From high above, it looked like only a tiny patch.

But Shi Yun recognized at a glance that it was Xie Qingyun.

Again, she thought of the video she had watched before falling asleep, and an indescribable emotion began spreading endlessly.

So it turned out that getting to where Xie Qingyun was today had not been easy either.

Her phone vibrated again. When she picked it up, it had already cooled down. She turned on speakerphone.

Chen Su’s voice came through, but it sounded somewhat lacking in strength.

“Why did you take so long to answer?”

In the past, Chen Su’s accusations would have practically leapt through the phone. This time, it was only a small question.

“Did your dad and that mother-daughter pair make things difficult for you?”

Shi Yun walked to the floor-to-ceiling glass and said faintly, “When have they ever not made things difficult for me when I go back? I’m already used to it.”

The image on the giant screen changed at random. The crowd below had turned into tiny dots. Quite a few young girls were gathered at the entrance of the mall, taking photos and checking in.

“Ai, don’t take it to heart.”

“Mm, I didn’t. Did something happen? Why did you call so many times?”

Shi Yun answered half-heartedly as she opened her camera. Aiming at the giant screen below, she zoomed in, then zoomed in again, and then again, until even the slightest shake of her phone would move the image out of frame. Only then did she stop.

She pressed the shutter.

Then she went into her album and carefully checked the photo she had just taken.

Somewhat dissatisfied, she deleted it.

Chen Su said impatiently, “Hello? Hello! I’m talking to you! Is the signal bad?”

“I’m listening. Come over later. I’m at the hotel.”

Chen Su was rarely serious. “OK, OK. I happen to have something to tell you too.”

“Okay.”

The camera remained aimed at the giant screen from earlier. She took more than ten photos in a row.

Shi Yun sat in the single-seater sofa by the window and flipped through the photos she had just taken, jumping back and forth between them. At last, there was one she was satisfied with.

Sure enough, people could not do two things at once.

Even taking photos and answering a call could not coexist.

After choosing the photo, she contacted the front desk and ordered a meal. Out of guilt for having ignored Chen Su just now, Shi Yun ordered several dishes Chen Su liked.

Chen Su arrived in a rush, just as the meal had been fully served.

Shi Yun put a freshly cut piece of steak into her mouth. The meat was a little overcooked today. After taking two bites, she put down her knife and fork. “What matter was worth making you come all the way here to find me?”

Chen Su stood up, took a key from her bag, and placed it on the table. “I found you a place. It’s the apartment I lived in when I was in school. You know it—it’s pretty close to here. I’ve already asked the auntie to go over and clean it. You can move in next week.”

“The furniture is all complete. No one has lived there lately. If anything is missing, just tell me.”

Shi Yun wiped her mouth. “Aren’t you broke?”

“Don’t look down on me. I still have this much money.”

“Fine. Then I won’t be polite.” Shi Yun took the key and placed it in the cabinet by the bed.

She remembered that apartment. It was located by the lake and overlooked the entire Jing Lake.

Chen Su treasured it like something precious and had someone clean it every month.

She said it held the most beautiful memories of her and Lu Yi.

Chen Su sat down on the little sofa from earlier. “How did things go when you went home this morning?”

“What do you mean, how did they go?”

Shi Yun also stood beside her, then planted herself behind Chen Su, blocking her line of sight completely.

Chen Su looked Shi Yun up and down, feeling that she was in the way, and shifted to the side twice.

Shi Yun also stuck close, following her every step.

Chen Su frowned. “What are you doing?!” She gestured around the whole room. “This room is so big, yet you can’t find somewhere to stand? You have to stand right next to me? It’s so hot!”

Shi Yun’s brows twitched twice. After thinking about it, even if Chen Su saw what was outside the window, she probably would not connect the dots.

So she casually found an excuse. “I’m afraid you’ll catch a chill from the wind. Then Lu Yi will come after me.”

“You play here. I’ll call room service to clear the table.”

Chen Su made an OK gesture.

Shi Yun first called the housekeeping center, then simply tidied the tabletop and casually hung up Chen Su’s coat.

“Wow!”

Then she heard Chen Su’s cry of surprise.

Her heart trembled. She threw down the ball of tissue in her hand, wiped her hands, and hurried over to Chen Su.

Chen Su was half-kneeling on the sofa, poking her finger against the glass.

Many thoughts flashed through Shi Yun’s mind, and she thought of many explanations: it was just a habit, or she had never seen such a large screen before, or she wanted to get the same one for her own artist later.

In the end, she steadied herself, walked to Chen Su’s side, suppressed her guilty conscience, and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Look. That rain cloud in the distance is drifting over.”

“…”

The corners of Shi Yun’s mouth twitched twice. As expected of Chen Su. Even if Shi Yun lived on the fifth floor directly facing that giant screen of Xie Qingyun, Chen Su would only say, Ah-Yun, this place you’re staying in is too awful. With such a huge screen, wouldn’t you be blinded if you wanted to sleep during the day?

Following the direction of Chen Su’s finger, Shi Yun looked over. Under the neon lights, an enormous rain cloud was attacking in their direction.

The wind kept slapping against the windows. Fine, dense raindrops had already fallen against the glass and were slowly sliding down.

Chen Su turned to look at Shi Yun. “Right, what happened when you went home this morning?”

Shi Yun’s gaze was still on the giant screen. Downstairs, the tiny people sensed the approaching downpour and fled indoors one after another. She found it adorable and could not help curving her lips into a smile.

Chen Su tilted her head, puzzled, and followed Shi Yun’s gaze.

“Boom—”

A clap of thunder exploded nearby, and lightning illuminated half the sky.

Chen Su was so startled that she trembled, nearly losing her balance.

When they looked again, everything had been swallowed by the continuous curtain of rain.

“Nothing much. Shi Yu said she stayed with Xie Qingyun in the hospital all night yesterday.” Shi Yun’s tone was calm. When she said it again, the anger from the morning was already gone. Since they were divorced, Xie Qingyun was single. Whoever she wanted to take care of her was her freedom.

It was just that eating from one bowl while eyeing the pot, then getting exposed for it, inevitably made one seem ridiculous.

Chen Su slapped the table and cursed angrily, “What?! How dare she!”

Shi Yun patted her shoulder soothingly. “She’s single now. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

Chen Su took two seconds to calm down, and some reason returned to her. “Could there be some misunderstanding?”

Shi Yun found it funny. This time, she actually looked Chen Su over. “I never thought there would come a day when you’d speak up for Xie Qingyun.”

“Ai, I’m serious. You know that little girl Shi Yu set up who knows how many traps for you before. A lot of the time, your relationship with Xie Qingyun wouldn’t have gotten that bad if she hadn’t been instigating things behind the scenes.” Chen Su pulled Shi Yun over and spoke sincerely for a while.

Shi Yun pressed her lips together. “But that was still caused by Xie Qingyun easily believing other people.”

“Besides, she doesn’t love me.”

Shi Yun thought that if Xie Qingyun had truly loved her before, she would not have believed Shi Yu’s instigation, and she would not have treated her that way.

She did not remember the past.

But she remembered the present.

After her car accident, Xie Qingyun had also come once.

When Shi Yun woke up, no one knew how panicked she had been.

She had lost the memories of her own wife, and according to everyone, the two of them had a very bad relationship. There was also a younger sister waiting to take her place.

Aside from Shi Yun herself, who knew that kind of despair?

Xie Qingyun said now that she loved her. How could Shi Yun dare believe it?

Could someone love a person and stand by without doing anything when they were sick?

She did not know, but she could not do it.

“If Lu Yi were sick, would you not go see her?”

Chen Su fell silent. During the time Shi Yun had been sick, Chen Su had always stayed with her. She only remembered Xie Qingyun showing up a few times at the beginning.

After that, she had never come again.

The next time Chen Su saw her was on variety shows and at galas on various platforms.

She had also sent messages angrily cursing Xie Qingyun, but what use was that?

Xie Qingyun simply had not appeared. At least, Chen Su had never seen her.

Chen Su licked her lips and could not help clenching her fists. The words she wanted to say reached her mouth, then were swallowed back down.

Shi Yun waved a hand. “Let’s not talk about her.”

She moved her laptop in front of Chen Su, opened a PowerPoint, and displayed it to her. “Look. This is my follow-up plan for Lu Yi and Zhao Zhilin. There definitely won’t be any problem on your side with Lu Yi. As for Zhao Zhilin, my previous communication with her went pretty well too. But her contract termination is a big issue. Still, as long as the money is in place, everything can be negotiated.”

Chen Su swallowed, and her fists loosened.

Seeing her aggrieved expression, Shi Yun said, “If you have something to say, just say it. Who are we to each other?”

Chen Su was a little nervous. She knew how much Shi Yun valued this signing. “If I say it, you absolutely can’t get angry.”

“Say it.”

“Lu Yi definitely won’t be a problem. The few students you found at the film academy haven’t been signed yet either, so it definitely won’t be a problem for us to get them. It’s just…”

Shi Yun could not stand Chen Su’s hesitant manner. Irritated, she pinched the space between her brows. “Just what?”

Chen Su simply closed her eyes, steeled herself, and said it directly. “We can’t sign Zhao Zhilin.”

“You know I don’t have much money on hand right now. Even adding what you have, it’s still barely enough. Zhao Zhilin is her company’s cash cow. Her termination fee is sky-high.”

In truth, Shi Yun knew all of this too. She had simply still been holding on to hope. “How are our legal people negotiating with them?”

Chen Su shook her head.

Shi Yun took a moment, then said faintly, “I understand.”

“Actually, we don’t need to become a top company in the industry, right? We can open a small entertainment company and develop slowly. There’s no need to rush at this moment. Good newcomers come in waves. There will always be better ones growing up.”

Chen Su always looked at things optimistically. Besides, at the very beginning, she had only wanted to open a company to support Lu Yi.

Shi Yun knew very clearly that some things depended on timing. Good scripts required waiting, and good actors were the same.

If one missed the opening, it might never come again in this lifetime.

Shi Yun irritably ran a hand through her hair. Outside the window, the rain showed no sign of stopping. Instead, it grew stronger and stronger.

Gradually, she drifted into thought.

Until she heard it.

Chen Su’s voice was mixed with the sound of rain. It was not loud, but it struck like thunder in Shi Yun’s heart.

“Actually, I think Xie Qingyun is very suitable. She already became independent from Zhongxing a long time ago, and she’s also going to part ways with Qian Can. She doesn’t seem to have plans to open a company on her own either… and your relationship with her…”

Shi Yun’s voice turned cold. “What relationship do I have with her?”

In fact, during her hospitalization, when she looked through the materials, she had discovered that before losing her memory, she had considered this.

After losing her memory, she had also compared the options. Xie Qingyun was indeed very suitable.

But the relationship between the two of them was not suitable.

No one was willing to work with their ex.

“Chen Su, you’re really strange today. Why do you keep speaking up for Xie Qingyun? Did you take money from her?” Shi Yun’s voice was not loud, but every word landed heavily.

Chen Su panicked. “How is that possible? Don’t talk nonsense!”

With these reactions of hers, Shi Yun had already made a judgment in her heart.

That Xie Qingyun had actually started with the people around her.

She was simply shameless to the extreme.

Shi Yun did not speak. She only looked at Chen Su. This childhood friend of hers stammered whenever she lied. She had been like this since childhood, and it had not changed after so many years.

“If you don’t want to say it, I won’t force you.”

“But Chen Su, whose side are you on?”

Chen Su was the type who would not get things done even if she took money, so Shi Yun was actually very reassured. It was just that, based on this tiny little betrayal, Shi Yun still could not help teasing her.

Chen Su was nearly driven to tears by Shi Yun’s words. She wished she could kneel at Queen Shi Yun’s feet and shout that she was wrong, that she would never dare again.

She could only say pitifully, “Ah-Yun, believe me. No matter what I do, I’m on your side.”

Seeing her like this, Shi Yun could not bear to tease her anymore. She touched Chen Su’s head. “I know.”

“Go back quickly. The weather is so bad. Be careful on the road.”

Chen Su reached the door, still reluctant to leave, afraid Shi Yun had really misunderstood her.

She lingered by the door and refused to go.

Shi Yun coaxed and tricked her before finally sending her away.

Lying back on the bed again, Shi Yun let out a long breath.

The situation was actually even worse than she had expected.

After lying there for less than two minutes, she picked up her phone and looked at the Moments of the shop owner she had visited that morning. The plate she had liked in the morning had not been sold yet.

She was somewhat conflicted. This one did not suit her taste that perfectly; it could only be considered a backup choice.

The doorbell rang again.

Shi Yun climbed out of bed and opened the door, only to find that it was still Chen Su.

She stood at the doorway with lowered brows and obedient eyes, looking like someone who had done something wrong.

Shi Yun sighed. “Come in.”

In the end, Chen Su could not hold back and relayed her afternoon conversation with Xie Qingyun to Shi Yun in full.

For so many years, she and Shi Yun had never had secrets between them.

“You’re saying she’s preparing to come to Yinian?”

“No. She means she can invest in Yinian as a financial backer.”

Shi Yun pondered over this conversation. With Xie Qingyun’s current worth, she could completely start something on her own.

Investing in a small company like theirs that had just started was equivalent to using her own credibility as an endorsement.

“Then did she mention any other requirements?” Shi Yun was cautious and feared there might be some kind of trap inside.

Chen Su shook her head. “Maybe she really wants to make it up to you?”

“You know there have been a lot of rumors outside about our funding problems during this period. Several students no longer want to sign with us.” Chen Su carefully analyzed the current difficulties with Shi Yun.

Shi Yun asked in return, “Why didn’t I know any of this?”

“You had just gotten out of the hospital, and you’d hit your head too. I didn’t want you to work too hard… Actually, I also approached some investors before, but because of my family situation, none of them were willing to invest. I dragged you down…” Chen Su’s voice grew quieter and quieter as she spoke.

Shi Yun straightened Chen Su’s body and faced her directly. “We used to be friends, and now we’re partners. That means there will be many difficulties in the future that we have to face together. Don’t say things like that again.”

“I know. If something like this happens again, I’ll definitely discuss it with you.”

Shi Yun glanced outside. The heavy rain had already passed.

“Go back quickly. Be careful on the road.”

This time, Chen Su had no more hesitation and hurried back home.

After sending Chen Su away, Shi Yun lay in bed and thought about many things.

If this was Xie Qingyun’s way of forcing her to go see her, then she had succeeded.

Then Shi Yun would go meet her. In any case, she had never been afraid.

She removed Qian Can from the blacklist.

After checking the address, she ordered flowers for the next morning.

/

The next day.

When Shi Yun woke up, the flowers she had ordered had already been placed outside her room door.

She opened the window. Yesterday’s heavy rain had washed away the summer restlessness, and there was already a refreshing autumn crispness in the air.

Her outfit today was very simple: a well-fitted knit top paired with jeans.

When she arrived at the address Qian Can had sent, she only then realized that this was the private hospital she had stayed in last time.

After giving her name, Shi Yun arrived at the door of the hospital room.

She smelled a faint sweet peach fragrance and raised a hand to cover her nose.

Two close protection bodyguards were guarding the door.

Shi Yun gave a soft sneer. This Xie Qingyun did cherish herself quite a bit.

Just as she raised her wrist and was about to knock, Qian Can happened to open the door from inside.

Seeing her, Qian Can looked delighted. “Ah-Yun, you’re here!”

There was no anger at all from having been stood up yesterday. There was only the joy of seeing salvation.

Shi Yun handed the flowers in her hand to Qian Can and followed her inside.

The closer she got to the person on the bed, the stronger the pheromone scent became.

Xie Qingyun was reading a script. When she saw Shi Yun arrive, she did not raise her head. Only when Shi Yun reached her side did she look up and say lightly:

“So you were willing to come?”