After Redeeming the Cold, Aloof Heroine, I Ran Away - Chapter 8

Jiang Xian wore a sapphire-blue sequined dress with a deep V and an exposed back. The fabric of the upper half clung tightly to the lines of her body, faintly revealing the muscle definition of her abdomen. The lower half spread open like petals and also trailed across the ground like a fishtail. With her original height of 178 centimeters, once she stepped into ten-centimeter heels, she became several centimeters taller again.

Standing between Xiao Ya and Auntie Wang, she looked like a long, beautiful mermaid swimming beside two shrimp soldiers and crab generals.

She walked with the wind at her heels and strode out the door. Immediately, a wave of heat surged toward her, mixed with the scent of the sea breeze and carrying windblown sand. The sun outside was blazing. She took out a pair of sunglasses and lightly perched them on the bridge of her nose.

She opened her arms, and Xiao Ya began spraying sunscreen mist over her. Auntie Wang held up a black parasol, lifting it high above her head to ensure every inch of her skin was protected beneath it as they carefully surrounded and attended to her.

After walking less than a hundred meters, a black Phantom stopped in front of the Statue of Liberty fountain. Through the thin mist of water, the car gleamed brightly under the sunlight.

Jiang Xian adjusted her sunglasses. The car was reflected in the lenses. Very soon, the doors opened, and two young little followers got out from the driver’s and passenger’s seats.

One was male and one was female, both only in their twenties.

The man was dressed like an engineering student, wearing cargo pants and a hoodie. He had glasses on, stood 1.8 meters tall, and wore an honest, slightly silly smile.

The woman was dressed like a sweet girl. She had straight bangs, two little braids, a cake skirt, and a white Miu Miu handbag on her arm.

Jiang Xian’s mind short-circuited slightly, so she began asking the system for help.

“Who are these two?”

“Host, these two are your new assistants. The man is called Fuling, and the woman is called Yoyo. They’ve been with you for a month.”

Ever since the original owner’s debut, the little assistants by her side had changed batch after batch. They were swapped out every six months. Up to now, they were already her fortieth batch of assistants.

There was no other reason. It was simply because the original owner had a violent temper. The little assistants could not stand it and resigned one after another, or else she found them unpleasant to look at and fired them directly.

However, because they had signed contracts, those little assistants did not dare spread bad things about her outside. So there were still people rushing forward one after another to become her assistants.

These two little assistants were the same. At first, they did not know her temper. After following her for a month, they began to be unable to endure it. But because she paid her assistants sixty thousand a month, it was truly too much money, and they were reluctant to leave. So the two of them could only swallow their broken teeth into their stomachs. For money, they were willing to suffer anything.

The two stood in front of the Phantom with fake smiles, respectful and deferential, their bodies still trembling a little.

The system said in her mind, “At this moment, you need to pick faults with them. After picking faults, then get into the car.” Only then would it match her sharp-tongued, domineering, arrogant character setting.

Mm. Jiang Xian snorted lightly. Picking faults, was that not easy?

She walked forward, lifted a finger to lightly hook her sunglasses, and looked down at the two people’s outfits. Then she gave a dismissive laugh.

“Fuling, don’t pair cargo pants with Air Jordans in the future. Who taught you to dress like this? It’s hideous.”

Before Fuling could show an embarrassed and pained expression, she looked toward Yoyo.

“And you.”

Facing a girl, she instinctively softened a little. She gently hooked the back of Yoyo’s head, bent down beside her ear, and said, “Stop carrying your homeland-version Miu Miu. People by my side are not allowed to use fakes.”

Her eyes were viciously sharp. With one glance, she could tell that the Miu Miu was fake beyond belief.

After saying that, she ignored the little girl’s flushed, teary-eyed expression, released the back of her head, and strode into the car.

The two stood frozen in place, both of their bodies trembling slightly.

Jiang Xian slowly and unhurriedly reached out and tapped the car window.

“Why aren’t you getting in?”

It took only ten minutes for the car to reach the pier. The three of them transferred to a speedboat and headed to the opposite shore.

She was going to meet her manager, Xie Yu.

At this moment, the system played an image in her mind. Suddenly, a little blue figure appeared there like a paper cutout. The person had neat, shoulder-length hair and looked extremely capable.

“Xie Yu, the Tianyi Noble of your life, your great benefactor. She has been your manager since you were five years old. She discovered your astonishing singing talent and brought you to participate in singing competitions. You became famous in one stroke, and from then on, you established a solid foundation in the entire music industry.”

Jiang Xian seemed to ponder this. “What about my parents?”

The system cleared its throat. Its voice was a lovely, doll-like sound. “According to the information, you have no parents. You were raised by Xie Yu. She is both your manager and could also be considered half a mother to you. Back then, when she graduated, she couldn’t find any outstanding artists. By chance, she met you. The two of you could be considered each other’s benefactors.”

Images of her communicating with Xie Yu appeared in Jiang Xian’s mind. Although they could not be considered intimate, compared to other people, Jiang Xian was already quite respectful toward Xie Yu.

After getting along for so many years and depending on each other, Jiang Xian had an instinctive reliance on her, trust in her, and a little willfulness toward her. That made sense. The original owner had lost her parents at the age of five and had been raised under Xie Yu’s care all this time. Xie Yu had no children of her own, so it could be said that she had poured all her painstaking effort into Jiang Xian.

In that case, the formation of the original owner’s personality had a certain relationship with Xie Yu’s indulgence and permissiveness.

She thought about this all the way there. The speedboat had already docked. Guided by Fuling and Yoyo, Jiang Xian entered a private room in the restaurant.

This was a Chinese restaurant specializing in Huaiyang cuisine. The decor was mainly modern Chinese. In the private room, Xie Yu sat crookedly on a red cedar chair covered in red-and-black brocade. She wore a black-and-white Chanel-style outfit, an imperial-green jade bangle on her wrist, and matching accessories on her neck and earlobes. She was slender, with a sharp face. At forty-three this year, she could still be considered charming and elegant.

Seeing Jiang Xian come in, she did not adjust her sitting posture. She only lifted her brows and glanced at her. Her previously dull gaze brightened slightly, as if filled with a smile.

The air-conditioning was a little low. Xie Yu pulled together the silk brocade draped over her body and sat upright.

“You’re here.”

Jiang Xian stopped where she was and swallowed, feeling a little unnatural. But she quickly adjusted her posture, strode forward, pulled out the chair opposite Xie Yu, and sat down heavily. She crossed one leg over the other and spoke in a careless, roguish tone.

“What’s up?”

The two little followers behind her sat down one after another, staying quietly in the corner without daring to make the slightest sound.

As usual, Xie Yu took a stack of documents from the worn orange Hermès bag beside her and turned them to face Jiang Xian. Her index finger, wearing a ten-carat ruby ring, tapped the documents.

“Your latest variety show. Take a look.”

Jiang Xian casually flipped through the materials while listening to Xie Yu speak, roughly understanding her current situation.

As a singer, she usually sang, performed, and rarely accepted variety shows.

Publicly, she was a talented creator who wrote her own lyrics and songs, and sang them herself. Privately, she actually only had a good voice. So Xie Yu rarely let her interact with people outside, afraid that she would ruin things by trying too hard.

But this time was different. Jiang Xian had already debuted eighteen years ago. Although her voice had been praised as the little orca of the deep sea and had already allowed her to rake in several billions in original capital, the audience’s love was limited. They not only liked you, they also liked other people. They liked you today, and tomorrow they would like someone else. When they were obsessed with you, they liked you. When they were no longer obsessed, it was already good if they did not step on you. More often, the group that liked you the most and understood you the best would hurt you the deepest. They knew where to stab the knife, where the artery was largest, where the most blood would flow, and where it would hurt you most.

After thinking it over, Xie Yu planned to accept a variety show for her, so that Jiang Xian could once again solidify her status as a queen of song.

So the original owner was already showing signs of decline. However, she did not lack money. She only lacked attention.

While she was still highly sought after, they had to strike while the iron was hot and consolidate her position in the music industry.

This variety show was called Hear Your Voice. Its main focus was choosing the most stunning voice out of ten thousand people. This time, Jiang Xian had been invited as a judge and would become one of the four main judges.

So she was already about to upgrade from singer to mentor. Whether her career could climb another step would depend on this trip.

“President Xie, I’ve looked it over.”

Jiang Xian closed the documents and casually tossed them onto the table.

“I’m not worried about being a judge. I’m just more worried that with a heavenly voice like mine, one that’s unmatched thirty years into the past and thirty years into the future of the entertainment industry, where exactly are they supposed to find anyone comparable?”

Xie Yu stared at her expressionlessly.

“You won’t be eighteen forever.”

“Your vocal condition will gradually become less astonishing as you age. It will become rougher, broader, hoarser, and lose that ethereal quality. Add to that the fact that you smoke… You know it yourself.”

Jiang Xian was silent for a long time and stopped arguing with her. In her heart, she thought this was perfect. She was not the original owner at all, nor did she know how to sing. If she were really made to perform onstage, would she not be exposed? So she happily signed on for this variety show.

At the villa, the sky cleared after noon.

Sunlight spilled across the garden filled with Chinese roses, and also onto Jing Lian’s slightly bent back. A round bamboo basket hung diagonally from one arm, while her other hand held a pair of red-handled scissors. Snip, snip. She was trimming the thorny rose branches that had spread out beyond the flower beds. The woody scent of the branches mixed with the fragrance of flowers and entered her lungs. Although her body felt a little unwell and she limped when she walked, quietly trimming weeds in the backyard in the afternoon was actually an extremely healing thing.

So the work Jiang Xian had told her to do was actually this easy.

That thought flashed through her mind for only a second when she suddenly heard a sharp female voice from the back garden.

“Sister Jiangjiang! Sister Jiangjiang, where are you?”

The voice was charming and lilting, yet also carried a touch of grievance. It came from far away to nearby, ultimately disturbing her brief peace.

Jing Lian craned her neck and looked over. Among the garden plants, through the mottled shadows of the branches, a figure wearing a black embroidered peony qipao walked over in a rush. Her figure was full and graceful, curvy in all the right places. When she walked, her hips swayed, radiating countless charms from between the overlapping movements of her legs at the slit of the qipao.

Very soon, that person stopped not far from Jing Lian, carrying a rich lily perfume scent with her. Her voice instantly changed from charming to somewhat serious.

“Hey, new girl. Do you know where Sister Jiang is?”

Jing Lian lifted her eyes and glanced at her. Seeing that she had a pair of fox-like eyes, a snow-white face, and an extremely enchanting appearance, she guessed that this must be one of Jiang Xian’s lovers.

She lowered her eyes, said nothing, and extended the scissors toward the extra branches. With a snip, she continued doing her own work.

Xu Wan immediately widened her eyes. A mere little gardener actually dared ignore her? She was Jiang Xian’s girlfriend.

She would like to see exactly what background this woman had.

Fuming, Xu Wan put both hands on her waist and strode over to Jing Lian. Only then did she see that Jing Lian was wearing a blue French-style dress with a small white ruffled lapel. On her head was a wheat-colored woven bamboo sunhat, with two ginger-yellow ribbons tied beneath her chin. Her face could not be seen clearly, but her skin was white as wax, making her look thin, fragile, and pitiful.

“Hey, I’m talking to you. Can’t you hear me?”

Seeing that Jing Lian had her back turned, Xu Wan took another two steps forward and stood in front of her with her hands on her hips.

Seeing Xu Wan being so aggressive, Jing Lian answered softly, “I don’t know.”

Xu Wan was furious at her arrogant attitude, but because she was Jiang Xian’s girlfriend, she had no choice but to swallow her anger. She asked one last time, “I haven’t even asked you yet. Where is Sister Jiang?”

Jing Lian lifted the basket and straightened up. She was half a head shorter than Xu Wan, but her bearing was extremely proud.

“You’re blocking my way.”

After saying that, she walked around Xu Wan and went to another rose-lined path.

Xu Wan could no longer endure it. She gritted her teeth hard and clenched her fists. Her high heels stepped on the brick-paved ground, making sharp clicking sounds. She snatched the basket from the young woman’s hand and flung it hard to the ground. The flower branches inside instantly scattered everywhere.

She looked down at the person before her with disdain. Then she saw Jing Lian slowly, slowly lift her head. Beneath the brim of the hat, half of her face was revealed. It was an extremely clear, beautiful, and cold face, paired with a pair of stubborn brows and eyes.

Their eyes met, and the surrounding flames seemed to keep spreading. A great battle was on the verge of breaking out.

Just as they were locked in confrontation, Xiao Ya and Auntie Wang hurried over from the other side of the garden. Seeing the situation between the two of them, as well as the flower branches scattered across the ground, they immediately understood everything and quickly came to mediate.

“Eighth Miss, what are you doing? Don’t bully Ninth Miss.”

Auntie Wang walked forward with a smile piled on her face, speaking cheerfully.

Ninth Miss.

Xu Wan was instantly struck as if by thunder on a clear day. A wave of numbness rolled through her body, all the way to her heart, like a small knife stabbing into her chest.

In disbelief, she fixed her eyes again on the plain-as-boiled-water little girl before her.

“Ninth Miss?”

She was Sister Jiangjiang’s new girlfriend?