After Transmigrating into a Redemption Novel as the Evil Stepmother - Chapter 24

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Making a scene out of nothing, talking utter nonsense.

It turns out that when a person is beyond speechless, they really do laugh.

Ji Shuangci maintained a beautiful, serious face, but the words coming out of her mouth were biting and sarcastic.

Ming Jiayue stared at her, reaching her hand out and then pulling it back. Her lips moved, but her voice failed her; it felt as if she were wearing a wet cotton coat—uncomfortable to keep on, yet uncomfortable to take off.

She decided that “out of sight, out of mind” was the best policy.

Calling over the staff to move the equipment, Ming Jiayue didn’t give Ji Shuangci a single glance and walked straight away.

Inside Ming Jiayue’s mind, the System mimicked Ji Shuangci’s affected tone.

“My dear Sister, could it be that Ji Shuangci is jealous? You aren’t even going to coax her? At this rate, who knows which year or month it’ll be before this mission is finished.”

Ming Jiayue: “…”

She felt a spark of anger but then felt it wasn’t worth being angry over. Ming Jiayue lowered her eyes for a moment. Recalling Ji Shuangci’s sarcastic behavior just now, her anger suddenly vanished for some reason, and she let out another laugh.

“Truly audacious.”

Ji Shuangci watched Ming Jiayue’s retreating back and stood in place for half a minute before it finally dawned on her: Did Ming Jiayue just run away because she realized she couldn’t win the argument?

It turned out that even the cold, unapproachable President Ming had times when she would suffer a setback at her hands, over and over again.

Her eyebrows lifted unconsciously; Ji Shuangci was in a grand mood.

Considering the social impact, the script and lines for this episode had been revised to perfectly align with mainstream values.

With the scripts restricted, the production team went all out on the set design. There were five scripts in total, incorporating elements like equestrianism, racing, intangible cultural heritage, gourmet food, and jewelry appraisal.

To put it bluntly, they left room for the five pairs of guests to “show off” their style; it all depended on whether they had the skill to seize the opportunity.

Unlike the previous episode’s random draw, the scripts this time were chosen according to the popularity rankings of the previous livestream rooms. Ming Jiayue and Ji Shuangci’s group chose first.

The Best Actor, Lu Yu, chose second. Seeing Ji Shuangci considering her options, he politely interjected with a smile.

“If it’s convenient for you two, could you see if you can leave the racing script for me? If it’s not convenient, then don’t worry about it.”

Lu Yu didn’t say much, but he was very sincere. He had been a famous racer in his youth; if he could showcase professional skills in a variety show, it would certainly help his comeback. However, he was open-minded about the rules; if it wasn’t meant to be, he wouldn’t force it.

Seeing this, Bai Ling hurriedly spoke up as well.

“I’ve learned horse riding, but I don’t know how to do any of the other things. As for you two, just pick from the remaining four. After all, we’re destined to be recording a show together; you surely won’t intentionally try to make me look bad, right?”

The chance to show off was right in front of them, but if one lacked the skill to back it up, they would just be a clown waiting to be mocked by the crowd.

Because of a requirement for her last role, Bai Ling had spent half a month learning how to ride a horse. She had it all planned out: she didn’t understand the other four and wasn’t interested. Riding a horse didn’t require much technical skill and looked cool, so she’d settle on that—maybe she could even overshadow Ji Shuangci.

The others present gave perfunctory smiles; no one took the bait. None of them were there specifically to get mocked by netizens on trending topics.

In the main livestream, netizens were flooding the chat.

“No way, no way. Did Bai Ling look in the mirror before leaving today? She’s asking for a favor but acting like she’s bestowing a blessing. Is her face itchy for a slap?”

“The Best Actor is so polite. No wonder Ji Shuangci smiled back at him and completely ignored Bai Ling.”

“AHHHH! I really want to see the Best Actor race! I haven’t seen him drive on the big screen in fifteen years!”

“I hope Ji Shuangci is kind enough to give the ‘Little Fawns’ a chance to see their Brother race!”

“To be honest, they are all in a competitive relationship. Giving way is a favor; not giving way is their right. No one can blame anyone.”

“Bai Ling is such a good older sister, what’s wrong with Ji Shuangci giving in a bit? She has four others to choose from. She just has to fight with our Sister—does her heart have to be this wicked?”

Ji Shuangci looked toward Ming Jiayue.

“Sister, which script do you want to choose?”

There were five scripts: two with modern backgrounds, two with ancient backgrounds, and one sci-fi.

The requirements for makeup, costume, and posture were lower for the modern ones. Ming Jiayue pointed directly to the two modern scripts.

“Pick whichever one you want.”

“Okay.”

Ji Shuangci had guessed that Ming Jiayue would likely choose a modern script. Without hesitation, she picked the modern script with an equestrian performance plot.

Ji Shuangci remembered an old news story about Ming Jiayue participating in an equestrian competition in Country Y and winning the championship.

“Wow, I’m truly disappointed in human nature. Does Ji Shuangci have any eyes? My heart aches for Bai Ling!”

“Is she doing it on purpose? Bai Ling said she wanted to ride, so she chose the riding script. How malicious.”

“First time I’ve ever found a female celebrity this disgusting.”

Bai Ling had been debuted for a long time and had a certain fan base. Combined with paid “water armies,” the chat was temporarily filled with hate for Ji Shuangci.

However, Ji Shuangci didn’t care. The filming location was beautiful; she had imagined traveling through famous mountains and rivers with Ming Jiayue more than once. Now, half a wish had been fulfilled.

She was even happy enough to directly grab Ming Jiayue’s wrist and pull her along, like a free little deer, happily running forward.

“Sister, I know where the production team kept the horses. I’ll take you to see them.”

Due to her profession, Ji Shuangci’s every move on camera was trained, and her emotions were usually guarded. But now, she was running recklessly against the rough breeze on the grass.

Ming Jiayue only had to look slightly to the side to see her “tiger tooth” showing.

The posture wasn’t elegant, and the expression management was completely sub-par, but she looked free and uninhibited.

In front of her, Ji Shuangci rarely showed such a pure side.

Ming Jiayue was infected by her laughter. Letting herself be pulled along, she couldn’t help but ask:

“Are you really this happy just because you get to ride a horse?”

“I am.”

Ji Shuangci tilted her head, her eyes curving like crescents. She truly was happy—so happy that the hardships of her first ten-plus years and the endless bitterness of pursuing an unreachable person for the rest of her life seemed like nothing.

At least for this moment, she had briefly touched her moon.

Ji Shuangci’s clear eyes looked over, devoid of impurities, outshining the emerald water and blue sky.

Ming Jiayue seemed to catch a glimpse of her own reflection in the depths of those eyes—only herself. For some reason, Ming Jiayue’s heart skipped a beat, and a tingling sensation seemed to rise at her wrist.

It was a strange, unfamiliar feeling.

Ming Jiayue discreetly looked away and gave a soft “Oh.”

When they arrived, Ming Jiayue saw that the production team had spent a fortune: two “Black Pearls”—Friesian horses—without a single stray color, their manes smooth and shimmering in the sunlight.

They were especially well-built, with prominent muscle lines and a great sense of power.

These two horses were larger than average. Ji Shuangci wasn’t intimidated at all. After talking with the groom, she took some mint-flavored licks to feed them and handed a brush to Ming Jiayue.

“Sister, give them a brush.”

The instruction came quite naturally. Ming Jiayue’s brow arched slightly as she took the brush and walked to the other side to groom them.

The two worked with a silent chemistry.

After the licks, Ji Shuangci went to get a few carrots, the corners of her mouth upturned the whole time, looking very happy.

By this time, the “CP shippers” in the chat were already going wild.

“One is acting wild, and the other is watching her smile.”

“Sweet, sweet, sweet! Such natural interaction—I don’t believe they don’t know each other in private! My wife and I are usually like this!”

“They were even holding hands just now. The older one’s expression is so doting.”

“Are they going to ride together later? The kind where she’s holding her waist?”

After the first episode aired, the popularity was very high. Bored netizens had already begun digging into Ming Jiayue’s identity. Combined with the official announcement of Ji Shuangci’s new endorsement for Ming Corp, netizens followed the clues and uncovered Ming Jiayue’s status.

Marketing accounts had already made gossip videos, but they were being suppressed by Ming Corp’s PR department, so they hadn’t gained much traction.

As the second livestream began, many people in the room were discussing Ming Jiayue’s identity.

“The aura of these two is like two aristocrats. Can someone tell me—if the ‘Sister’ Ji Shuangci is talking about is the President of Ming Corp, then what is Ji Shuangci’s status?”

“Biological sister? No way, Baidu says the President is an only child.”

“Wait, could the insider rumors be true? The grapevine says President Ming is divorced, her orientation is women, and the marriage with her ex-husband was purely for business. So today’s show is a ‘Sugar Daddy accompanying her Little Canary’ drama?”

“The world really is a giant temporary stage. I actually lived long enough to see the President of Ming Corp on a Fruit TV variety show.”

“Could just be friends, or maybe they’re dating freely. Dating after a divorce isn’t illegal, right?”

Zhou An’an was currently watching the livestream in her car with a tablet and a phone. The tablet was for the stream, and the phone was scrolling through the latest edited videos from marketing accounts, which had clickbait titles like The Real-Life Version of Overbearing CEO Falls for Me…

She was so angry she was practically fuming. Zhou An’an called Ming Jiayue’s secretary directly, telling her to quickly handle the messy comments online.

The secretary replied immediately.

“Little Miss, President Ming gave instructions: if public opinion appears that could have a negative impact on the company, we will control it immediately. As for the rest, it will be used to promote Ming Corp’s new energy vehicles.”

In other words, the harmless gossip of netizens was allowed to continue to build hype.

Zhou An’an was so angry she threw the tablet with all her might. A few seconds later, she huffily picked it back up and started typing comments frantically in the livestream room, one person fighting against ten thousand.

“What are you all thinking? Would President Ming really look at a tiny star? Dream on!”

“I don’t agree. It’s impossible for those two in this lifetime!”

“As soon as this show is over, I’m banishing Ji Shuangci to Africa. You want to ship them? Go ship them in Africa!”

She was shamed into anger and losing her cool!

Finally, during a break in the livestream, Zhou An’an caught Ming Jiayue away and quietly walked up to Ji Shuangci.

Her anger was written all over her face, and her hostility toward Ji Shuangci was obvious as she went straight to the point.

“Ji Shuangci, I don’t care what your intentions are regarding Auntie Ming, but I’m warning you: you are not allowed to like her. She won’t like you; you belong to two different worlds. There’s no possibility of you being together.”

With no one else around, Ji Shuangci let out a low laugh under Zhou An’an’s fierce glare.

“An’an, you’re too well-behaved.”

Ji Shuangci seemed not to take her words to heart at all. Her expression and tone were very intimate, as if they had always been good friends.

This made Zhou An’an momentarily flustered. She dithered for a bit before asking dryly:

“What do you mean by that?”

Ji Shuangci looked at her with a smile, a storm seemingly brewing in the depths of her eyes.

“Zhou An’an, if you want something, go for it and fight for it openly. Otherwise, why would good things just fall into your lap?”

“Or should I say… you’re afraid to even compete with me?”