Chapter 12

Shen Chaomu froze for a moment, put away her phone, turned, and left.

Fu Qingli watched Shen Chaomu’s back as her shadow stretched long, disappeared, then raised a hand to support her forehead, her gaze empty.

She had not held much hope to begin with. Shen Chaomu did not owe her anything. If she put herself in Shen Chaomu’s shoes, and Shen Chaomu suddenly opened her mouth to borrow money, Fu Qingli might even tell her to get lost.

No matter which world it was, the only person she could rely on was herself.

Do not fantasize about anything else, Fu Qingli could not help warning herself again and again.

Fu Qingli rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. She could not help beginning to regret it. She regretted asking out loud. She was the one who had brought this humiliation onto herself. Why ask when she already knew the answer?

Outside the study, in the long corridor, the sound of something being dragged rang out again. Occasionally, it knocked against the wall or doorframe, the noise especially irritating.

Over the past two days, Fu Qingli had already learned that the golden retriever loved dragging things around while racing madly down the hall, but at this moment, she no longer had the energy to get up and stop it.

“Huff… Fu Qingli, come help me for a second.”

Shen Chaomu bent over, one hand braced against the doorframe, panting. Behind her, the outline of a large cardboard box about waist-high could faintly be seen.

For a moment, Fu Qingli did not understand Shen Chaomu’s intention. She stood up and walked over. Following Shen Chaomu’s meaning, she carried the cardboard box inside.

It was heavy. The things inside shifted, as if a pile of small items had been stacked inside.

Shen Chaomu sprawled over the cardboard box, unable to straighten her back. She raised a hand to wipe away sweat, then caught sight of Fu Qingli, whose face was not red and whose breathing was not strained. Just now, Fu Qingli had even directly lifted the box dozens of centimeters off the ground. Shen Chaomu secretly envied this person’s physical strength.

Feeling that she had recovered some strength, Shen Chaomu stood up, lifted open all four flaps of the box, then raised her chin toward Fu Qingli, who had already sat down near the tea table.

“I never deliberately saved up the money I earned from filming before. What was left has pretty much been spent over the past half year too. I still have a little over one million in cash, but I have another use for it. Everything in this box was bought by you before. I never even opened the packaging. I originally planned to return them to you at the final ‘breakup,’ but now I feel like they’re taking up too much space in my room. Find somewhere to put them yourself.”

Shen Chaomu was afraid Fu Qingli would not get what she meant, or would care too much about face, so she could not help adding, “They’re all outdated things. I definitely don’t want them anymore. But be careful with them. They’re still worth quite a lot secondhand.”

Fu Qingli stood up, walked to the desk, picked up the red property certificate, turned, and handed it to Shen Chaomu.

Shen Chaomu felt as if her head was swelling. She could not help complaining, “I said I don’t want jewelry or bags. That ​read the original at bailiantales.com​doesn’t mean I’m planning to ask you for a house. Can you look clearly at your actual situation first? When other people fall on hard times, at least they can learn skills and support themselves. Can’t you consider leaving yourself a little retirement money?”

Fu Qingli directly opened it for her and tapped the rights holder column with her fingertip.

Shen Chaomu instantly fell silent, her gaze fixed on it.

Fu Qingli lowered her eyes, the corner of her mouth curving faintly. She turned and walked back to the tea table. “I just had the bank estimate its value. One hundred and fifty million.”

Seeing Shen Chaomu lift her eyes to look over, Fu Qingli picked up her teacup and took a sip, as if she had guessed what Shen Chaomu was thinking. She added, “Paid in full. No mortgage or other loans. Completely clean.”

It was not that Fu Qingli had never hesitated or never thought of other methods. She did not believe Shen Chaomu had no weaknesses. It was not impossible to get the house back.

But just now, she had suddenly wanted to know what Shen Chaomu’s expression would look like when she suddenly learned she had become a billionaire, so she had done it just like that.

No investment, no variety show, no money left behind by the original body—so what? She could go from extra to Best Actress. She could start over again too.

Fu Qingli rubbed the slightly hot teacup and sat in the excellent viewing angle she had chosen, appreciating this theater ticket she had bought for one hundred and fifty million.

This was rare acting material.

Fu Qingli admired the complex, indescribable look on Shen Chaomu’s face. Her brows were slightly furrowed, her jade-like teeth biting her lower lip. Her eyes seemed to be staring at the property certificate, yet they were somewhat unfocused.

Fu Qingli was surprised. She could not guess how Shen Chaomu would truly behave, but if Fu Qingli had gotten this script, then no matter whether the emotion was open or concealed, sooner or later, excitement would definitely have to be expressed.

Just as she was thinking this, Shen Chaomu walked over, placed the property certificate facedown on the table, and reached out.

Fu Qingli did not dodge. She let those cool, warm fingertips press against her forehead.

“Fu Qingli, do you have a fever?”

Fu Qingli curved her lips. Shen Chaomu’s acting skills were not bad either.

She raised her hand, pulled Shen Chaomu’s hand down, and held it. Her fingertips slowly slid across the back of Shen Chaomu’s hand. Her originally steady, calm voice softened, shedding its usual calm distance. The gentle tone seemed to carry a tiny hook, thread by thread, winding around a person. “Can’t you feel it?”

Shen Chaomu forcefully tugged her hand back and rubbed her ear, unable to bear Fu Qingli’s sudden ambiguous teasing. It practically made her scalp tingle.

Fu Qingli pondered the other woman’s acting style and silently recited along with her in her heart.

“Let’s ‘break up.’”

Like an echo from the bottom of her heart, it rang in her ears, crisp and clean.

It was clearly exactly what she had wanted, and the price had been paid by the original body, but for some reason, a fire burned in Fu Qingli’s heart. It was scorching enough to make her irritated, yet she could not tell who had lit it, nor whom it was meant to burn.

“All right. Let’s break up.”

Seeing the faint curve at the corner of Fu Qingli’s lips, the smile not reaching her eyes, as she said those careless words, the anger Shen Chaomu had suppressed for so long finally erupted. She pressed both hands against Fu Qingli’s cheeks.

“Fu Qingli, are you really out of your mind? We made it very clear from the start. I wanted comfort and ease, and you wanted fame. And now? You and your mom are both about to go bankrupt. You can’t even keep living off your family anymore, and you’re still thinking about investing in a variety show to turn things around! You’re about to be out in the wind and sleeping in the open, yet you were stupid enough to put the property certificate under the name of someone unrelated! Do you think I’m some love-brained fool who lives on being moved and repays it by giving myself to you? You’re just a giant idiot. Twenty-two years ago, your brain was thrown away together with the placenta. I don’t even want to be friends with you, because I’m afraid I’ll get infected and dragged down!”

As she spoke, Shen Chaomu could not help picking up the coiled-dragon tea pet on the table. “If I smash you with one stone, can I knock you awake?”

Fu Qingli held the warm teacup and lifted her eyes with a faint smile. “Whether it can knock me awake is hard to say, but my head will definitely bleed. Remember to call 120 for me.”

Shen Chaomu laughed in anger. “Fu Qingli, your jokes really are cold.”

Her vivid, lively brows and eyes reflected in Fu Qingli’s gaze. Fu Qingli moved her fingertips, which had grown faintly red from the heat. The gloom from earlier seemed to sweep away entirely.

“I’m serious. Hurry up and change the name on the property certificate back to yours. You’re terrifying. I never signed anything. How did you even get it under my name?”

As Shen Chaomu reminded her, she set down the heavy tea pet that weighed down her hand.

Perhaps because she used a little too much force, a green bead the size of a fingernail was shaken out. Under both their gazes, it rolled in a straight line down the tea table and broke into two halves.

Shen Chaomu’s face went white. “Fu Qingli, this tea pet of yours isn’t some antique, right? It’s not also worth one or two hundred million, is it?”

Fu Qingli bent down, picked up the broken bead, and casually threw it into the trash can. “In Zimbabwe dollars, maybe one or two hundred million. In RMB, online it’s about ten yuan for two jin.”

Shen Chaomu patted her chest, still shaken. “That color is way too deceptive. You must use it to scam people a lot.”

Fu Qingli looked regretful. “First time. And the scam failed. Blame me for being too honest. I wanted to scam forty million.”

Shen Chaomu’s face grew solemn. “You still don’t plan to give up on that variety show?”

Fu Qingli knew very clearly that in Shen Chaomu’s eyes, this was probably just the original body wanting to become famous, merely changing the soup without changing the medicine—from movies to variety shows. The unwillingness was the same.

Was she not the same? She had endured those thorny years where she could not see the road ahead, only to almost return to the starting point in the blink of an eye. Who would not want to hope for a shortcut?

“I know very clearly that I don’t have the brains to do business, and I can’t take over from my mom. If I stop now, all that means is selling off the family assets and making my mom return overnight to where she started before liberation. The two of us have hands and feet. Food and shelter won’t be a problem.”

“But I don’t want that.”

“Shen Chaomu, it’s because of you that I’m willing to stake everything on this variety show. I hate risk, but I’m only gambling this once.”

The air turned strangely quiet. On the floor-to-ceiling window, the lights reflected the two of them facing each other in confrontation.

Shen Chaomu’s brows and eyes looked a little tired. Her gaze went empty. When she came back to herself, her voice was hoarse as she spoke. “What if you lose the bet?”

Fu Qingli could tell that she seemed to have touched on some memory Shen Chaomu could not speak of, but that had nothing to do with her. She raised her hand and poured Shen Chaomu a cup of tea.

“There’s nothing I can’t afford to lose. At worst, I’ll start from ​read the original at bailiantales.com​scratch. If I can live in a villa, it’s not as if I can’t sleep in a youth hostel.”

She did not have much confidence that the main storyline could still follow the original novel. A variety show was not guaranteed to explode out of the circle just because it had a top-tier star. Losing every last cent was not rare either. She simply did not have much that she could not afford to lose.

Shen Chaomu used her teacup like a wineglass and clinked it against Fu Qingli’s. “Good luck.”

Fu Qingli laughed softly. This was the first time she had ever clinked teacups with someone.

“Fu Qingli, it’s so bitter. Why are you drinking tea at night?”

“Was I supposed to use the teapot to pour you cola?”

“I think we can try it.”

“…”

After resolving the matter weighing on her heart, Fu Qingli slept very deeply that night, a rare dreamless sleep.

The master bedroom had excellent sunlight. Through the gaps in the [stolen content]white gauze curtains, bright patches fell beside the pillow, the heat annoyingly insistent. Fu Qingli turned over, and through her sleepy haze, she felt as if someone was lying by the bedside. Opening her eyes, she hurriedly hugged the blanket and sat up.

“Shen Chaomu! Why are you sleeping here?”

Shen Chaomu rubbed her eye sockets. Her belated sleepiness left her unable to gather much energy. “Isn’t it because of your tea last night? I couldn’t sleep. And I was afraid of missing your signing appointment with the bank this morning. Can’t we really change the name first, switch the property certificate to yours, and then take out the loan?”

“No!”

At least before the variety show ended, she would tie Shen Chaomu to the same boat.

Fu Qingli lifted the blanket and got out of bed. Fortunately, she did not have the habit of sleeping naked.

Her champagne-nude silk pajama pants slid from her thighs to her ankles as she got up. The matching collared top had every button neatly in place, so the moment she stood, she looked perfectly proper.

Shen Chaomu’s sleepy eyes slowly widened. “Fu Qingli, I’ve discovered your legs are even prettier than your neck. Thin, straight, and long.”

Fu Qingli squeezed toothpaste onto her toothbrush. “Something shorter than a neck isn’t a leg. It’s called an ankle.”

“Is that so? Where does the ankle start and where does it end? Why do I [bailiantales.com]feel like it’s about as long as a neck?”

Through the mirror, Fu Qingli looked at Shen Chaomu’s messy hair, which had been slept into wild cursive. “Go wash up. Wash those panda eyes clean. There’s less than an hour before signing.”

Shen Chaomu picked up the phone by the headboard, looked at it, cried out in alarm, and hurriedly dashed away.

8:58.

Fully dressed, Fu Qingli sat in the study, staring at the watch on her wrist and counting down the time, already prepared to get up and call Shen Chaomu.

Hearing the doorknob suddenly turn, Fu Qingli breathed a sigh of relief and lifted her eyes.

Chestnut-brown long hair had been styled into fluffy waves, the ends falling softly over her chest. Every strand looked moist and glossy. Her brows and eyes were covered in pale rose eye makeup, her eye tails slightly lifted, carrying a trace of lazy sharpness. Sakura-pink glossy lip glaze made her lips look full and translucent. Her features, which were already perfect even barefaced, became almost overwhelming when enhanced by makeup.

The misty taupe hollow halter-neck knit dress outlined her smooth shoulder and neck lines. A light camel suede thin belt with a metal buckle cinched in a waist that made one gasp. As she walked in silver thin-heeled sandals, her back straightened lightly, her steps unhurried yet powerful, shedding her usual lazy childishness.

This was the eye-catching elegance unique to a currently popular top-tier star—chased by countless fans, wrapped in the camera’s beloved halo.

Shen Chaomu pressed her index and middle fingers [read the original at bailiantales.com]together in front of her lips, making a gunshot flying-kiss gesture. Her eyes blinked lightly, very satisfied with Fu Qingli’s expression.

“How is it? Regret ‘breaking up’ now?”

“If you’re ready, let’s start.”

Fu Qingli turned her head, opened the bank signing app, stood, and walked toward the stand fixed in front.

Shen Chaomu caught sight of Fu Qingli’s faintly red ears and gave a light humph. Stubborn-mouthed Alpha.

Hearing Shen Chaomu’s meaningful tone, Fu Qingli clenched her fingers.

Perhaps because her looks had naturally been lacking in her previous life, she had an unspeakable preference—and Shen Chaomu happened to look as if she had been made exactly according to Fu Qingli’s tastes.

Usually, Shen Chaomu’s laziness, messiness, and childish temper covered it up somewhat, and Fu Qingli had also gotten used to not paying too much attention to that bare face. But she had not expected that once Shen Chaomu carefully dressed up, it would be truly…

The impact was too strong to digest.