After Flirting with the Wrong Stand-in, I Overturned (GL) - Chapter 5

“Why did you come out?” Ren Xuan leaned her body to the side, shielding Lin Shuyan completely. Her voice was tinged with urgency.

They were just one step away from resolving the matter outside; Ren Xuan didn’t approve of her appearing at this moment.

“Miss Ren.” Lin Shuyan’s voice was faint. She looked extremely weak, as if she might collapse at any second. “I have a few words I want to say.”

She didn’t specify who she wanted to talk to, but everyone present understood.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Ren Xuan confirmed. Few girls would ever want to see the demon who tried to assault them again so soon.

“I am.” Lin Shuyan nodded. The slight flush on her face gave her words a bit more credibility.

“Alright.” Ren Xuan stood to the side, leaving a small gap for Lin Shuyan but keeping her body angled forward, ready to pull her back into the room at any moment.

Seeing her emerge, Zhang Ming snorted twice. “Hurry up and let’s go! Stop making a fool of yourself!” He thought to himself: What’s the use of hiding in someone else’s room? You still got dragged out anyway.

“I won’t be going with you.” Lin Shuyan shook her head. Her mind had been groggy after being drugged, but she had heard almost everything she needed to know.

“I don’t know exactly what Zhao Meili told you,” Lin Shuyan said. “She doesn’t represent me. I never knew anything about this arrangement.”

Zhang Ming’s expression soured. He never expected Lin Shuyan to say this, especially in front of outsiders. Fortunately, Manager Li beside him didn’t react. Zhang Ming didn’t want to waste any more time; he remembered the woman’s threat about calling that old lady, Sun Lan.

“Our business,” Zhang Ming adopted a tone of forced conciliation, “is best discussed behind closed doors.”

Closed doors? Ren Xuan felt that her phone call earlier had been too slow. If she had called sooner, that deceived woman might have arrived by now.

“Whatever agreement you two have has nothing to do with me,” Lin Shuyan reiterated. She then looked at Ren Xuan. “And it certainly has nothing to do with Miss Ren. I was the one who ran into her room.”

Surnamed Ren? Li Qi’an filtered through the various faces he had seen in his career. Hearing Lin Shuyan repeat the surname, an answer suddenly exploded in his mind.

“Miss Ren?” Li Qi’an stammered. “The Ren… from the Ren Group?”

The surname Ren wasn’t common; how had he not realized it? Li Qi’an cursed his own stupidity. If he had known… he would have called security to block this man on the first floor.

This was Tong City, some distance from Yecheng, but the name of the Ren Group was famous nationwide, with assets spread everywhere. Despite the woman before him being so young, her net worth was immeasurable.

A confused Zhang Ming hadn’t yet realized why the Ren Group was being brought up. He didn’t have much time to process it, as a familiar scream erupted in his ear—

“Zhang Ming!!!”

“You old lecher! How can you be so shameless, playing with women all the way out here?”

The voice arrived before the person. Clearly, Ren Xuan had underestimated the speed of a scorned woman.

Upon receiving Ren Xuan’s call, Sun Lan had immediately dropped her business and rushed over without stopping. Seeing her husband, the fire in her heart surged. She didn’t care where she was or who was watching. She swept in like a gale, reaching Zhang Ming in seconds.

“How can you be so shameless?” Sun Lan shouted as she started swinging. Zhang Ming initially wanted to fight back since outsiders were watching, but he was subdued by Sun Lan in a few moves.

Compared to Zhang Ming, who was a pile of soft fat, Sun Lan exercised regularly and was clearly superior. She dragged him away effortlessly, not forgetting to nod toward Ren Xuan before she left.

Finally, it was quiet.

Ren Xuan wasn’t in the mood to exchange pleasantries with the hesitant Li Qi’an. She closed the door and faced Lin Shuyan directly.

“Miss Ren…” Lin Shuyan seemed, for some reason, even more flustered than she had been on the balcony.

“I didn’t know he had a wife… he has a wife, and I never intended to…” Lin Shuyan spoke incoherently. She didn’t know what to say, but her mouth kept offering explanations.

She thinks I care about that?

Ren Xuan found it amusing; in fact, she actually laughed out loud. Lin Shuyan stood there awkwardly, staring at her blankly.

“I know all of that,” Ren Xuan said. “Did you think I couldn’t handle it?”

Lin Shuyan shook her head.

“Then you don’t trust me?” Ren Xuan recalled the girl begging earlier not to be sent out.

“No, no.” Lin Shuyan denied it quickly. She didn’t doubt Ren Xuan’s capability; she just…

“Miss Ren has already helped me so much.” If Ren Xuan hadn’t appeared, she would have climbed down from the fourth floor. If she were lucky, she’d be injured; if not, today next year would be the anniversary of her death.

“I know this was just a small effort for Miss Ren, but I should have stood up and resolved my own matters.”

Lin Shuyan might have been naive when she first entered the industry, but after years of struggling, she had seen all kinds of scenes. It wasn’t that she hadn’t faced trouble before. Lin Shuyan thought miserably: I told myself to be strong, so why was my body shaking like that? Even now, just thinking about it, my heart is still full of fear.

“How do you plan to resolve it?”

“I… I’ve thought about it. I can leave the industry.” As long as she quit, Zhao Meili would have no lever to threaten her with. Her contract was almost up; if she could just endure for one more month, she could leave.

“Quit the industry?” Ren Xuan asked. “Are you really prepared for that?”

“I’m not,” Lin Shuyan said softly.

Quite honest. Ren Xuan chuckled. “How many years did you sign your life away to this company for?”

“Four… four years.”

“How much longer until it expires?”

“One month.”

The girl hid nothing. Ren Xuan didn’t press further. Sometimes, just because you take a step back doesn’t mean others will. Perhaps the girl would soon learn that lesson. The “Zhao Meili” they spoke of must be the woman from the hallway—the girl’s manager.

Seeing that Ren Xuan stopped questioning her, Lin Shuyan breathed a sigh of relief. She temporarily pushed aside her chaotic thoughts and remembered what Ren Xuan had mentioned before sleeping. “Miss Ren, is your work finished?”

“Shuyan, is my name that hard to remember?” Ren Xuan replied with a casual question instead of an answer.

Shuyan?

Finally hearing clearly how Ren Xuan was addressing her, Lin Shuyan’s flustered state was visible to the naked eye.

“…No, no.” Lin Shuyan denied it immediately. She looked up to see Ren Xuan watching her with a beaming smile. Everything today had exceeded her understanding. Lin Shuyan didn’t have many impressions of Ren Xuan; she only remembered the magazine because during a shoot once, someone had emphasized the investors, and Lin Shuyan had made a note of the name.

“Lin Shuyan,” Ren Xuan knew she had to give her space. Intimacy is built bit by bit; now was clearly not the time to keep bothering the girl. “It’s late. Get some rest.”

“Mhm.” Since Ren Xuan didn’t press the name issue, Lin Shuyan didn’t say more. She was always like this—she didn’t pry or ask much. In Ren Xuan’s territory, she would simply do whatever Miss Ren said.

Lin Shuyan walked toward the sofa in a daze, but Ren Xuan pulled her back. “Go to the bedroom.”

“But—”

“I’m not sleepy yet. Besides, you were already sleeping on that bed just now.”

Reminded by Ren Xuan, Lin Shuyan realized she had indeed already occupied Ren Xuan’s bed.

“Thank you, Ren… Ren Xuan,” Lin Shuyan said. Walking into the room, she was still thinking groggily that she would just sleep in the corner she had used before. The bed belonged to Ren Xuan; she didn’t need much space, and that spot seemed to offer more of a sense of security.

Ren Xuan smiled as she watched Lin Shuyan enter. She hadn’t been lying; she really didn’t feel sleepy. After all, this was a foreign world, and she had a lot to do.

Ren Xuan stayed up late into the night before eventually falling asleep on the sofa.

When she woke up the next morning, Lin Shuyan was already gone from the bed and the room. However, there was a note left on the coffee table.