After Transmigrating into a Redemption Novel as the Evil Stepmother - Chapter 28

There was a time difference between the two locations. By the time Ming Jiayue received the message, it was already late at night.

As luck would have it, she had just taken out her phone when she saw the message from Ji Shuangci. She lowered her gaze, paused for a moment, then typed and hit send.

“The snow-capped mountains are very beautiful.”

Mount Kilimanjaro—equatorial glaciers, the roof of Africa.

Hart’s photography was professional; the elephant herds on the savannah in the foreground framed against the distant snowy peaks created a complete natural spectrum from the tropics to the frigid zone—a vertical display of geographic romance.

Ji Shuangci hadn’t dared to hope that Ming Jiayue would reply immediately. Her dim eyes suddenly lit up, and a look of joy flashed across her face, though a moment later her brows knit together in a conflicted twist.

What should I reply?

Did Ming Jiayue mean to agree or politely decline?

After a moment of frozen thought, Ji Shuangci eventually used her phone to take another photo. The subject of the photo was a tree—a straight trunk with lush, umbrella-like branches spreading out.

“The local indigenous people believe that if you are sick, you can stay in the woods. Different trees can heal different ailments. For example, the oak tree represents the power to soothe the heart; it can treat palpitations and sorrow.”

It was a breezy twilight. Ji Shuangci could see birds and small animals running and calling not far off on the savannah—a feeling that was at once very peaceful yet overflowing with vitality.

When Ji Shuangci took the photo, she included a section of her own arm. Ming Jiayue clicked on the image and zoomed in to look closely; she seemed to have gotten thinner and darker.

Ming Jiayue was undergoing transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) at the hospital. Xie Lan caught a glimpse of her chat with Ji Shuangci from the corner of her eye and took the opportunity to tease her.

“You’re quite unusual when it comes to this girl, Ji Shuangci. If you’re interested in her, why did you have to send her all the way to Africa?”

Ming Jiayue gave a faint smile, put down her phone, and looked out the window.

Outside, there was a tall sycamore tree, its branches dotted with clusters of green. The wind startled a white bird into flight. Ming Jiayue’s gaze followed the flying bird into the distance, her tone flat.

“Xie Lan, I have no ‘interest’ in her. I simply pity her.”

“Pity?”

Xie Lan let out a scoff and shook her head in disbelief. “President Ming’s pity is certainly expensive. I wonder when you’ll pity me, since I’m still here working overtime?”

Ming Jiayue closed her eyes, offering no defense.

She hadn’t forgotten that this was an R-rated novel world. Calculating the time, Male Lead No. 3 should be making his appearance soon.

Ji Shuangci spent two years in Africa filming the documentary. News of her in the entertainment industry fell silent—so silent that fans thought she had retired.

During that time, Ji Shuangci had little contact with her former social circle, including Ming Jiayue.

It wasn’t until two years later, in the spring, that the documentary Life, directed by the famous director Eric, premiered overseas. As a documentary on a niche subject, it unexpectedly garnered near-perfect scores on review sites across various countries within just one week of its release.

That same year, the documentary was nominated for the Academy Awards, the Emmys, and the Telly Awards—three of the world’s most influential documentary honors.

The visuals, the score, the narration… foreign netizens called it top-tier and flawless.

Most notably, the on-camera host was an East Asian face. The buzz surrounding her on foreign social media was equally high.

“I heard she’s Chinese. She did both bilingual narrations herself without dubbing. She is so professional and so captivating.”

“It’s incredible. I never thought I’d fall in love with an Oriental host in a documentary.”

“Though her screen time isn’t vast, whenever she appears, I can’t look away.”

The foreign reviews were carried back to China by netizens “climbing the firewall.” In an instant, the news that Ji Shuangci hadn’t retired but had gone to film a documentary spread throughout the domestic entertainment circle.

Ji Shuangci’s fans, the “Little Moons,” were absolutely ecstatic.

“I thought my idol had gotten into trouble and disappeared; turns out she went abroad for advanced studies?”

“AHHHH! Does this mean she’s joining a new cast? Is there a new drama to watch?”

“Isn’t Ji Shuangci an actress? No one told me she was terrifyingly good at broadcasting and hosting!”

However, to everyone’s surprise, Ji Shuangci didn’t use the documentary’s hype to make a comeback. Instead, she vanished once more. A year later, she officially announced the termination of her contract with Ming Entertainment.

Almost everyone believed she had retired for good.

But once again, in a turn that no one could believe, two years later, Ji Shuangci became a box-office dark horse in North America for the entire year with three breakout films: Light Year, Non-Reproducible, and The Magic Wand.

This was a miracle in global film history—a box-office miracle that was unique and that no one had ever dared to imagine.

How could a little-known Oriental actress break directly into the historically exclusionary US film industry and become beloved by foreign audiences? In the top three films of the year—No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3—she was the lead, and they were all driven by her.

Three films, three completely different characters, yet it seemed as if every role had been tailor-made for her.

The sheer brilliance of her acting was staggering.

With this, Ji Shuangci became an overnight sensation both domestically and abroad.

The three films had three different directors. Because the films were so popular, the production teams arranged a three-month roadshow.

One of the directors was none other than the documentary photographer Hart, and another was a female director named Louise, who was famous for being anti-Chinese.

During the roadshow, a reporter asked a sharp question:

“Why did you cast a Chinese actress who was previously unknown and lacked a representative work for such major productions? Was it the power of capital?”

Louise answered directly, making no effort to hide her admiration for Ji Shuangci.

“Oh, I met her at Hart’s filming site. To be honest, my first impression of her wasn’t deep. However, once we started filming, just from that one moment she got into character, I knew—God had spoken to me. She is the muse for my next film. As it turns out, she truly was.”

“To the point that when we finished filming, I began to resent the fact that I am a woman and not a man. If I were a man, there is no doubt I would use everything I have to pursue her.”

Due to her schedule, Ji Shuangci didn’t attend the roadshow, but the male leads of the three films were all there. One of them, known for his “desperate” dedication to acting, shared the exact same sentiment when faced with reporters’ questions—undisguised admiration, even reverence.

“Many people praise my professional spirit and say my acting is constantly improving, and that my Best Actor awards are well-deserved. I never thought that one day I would meet a person who would make me deeply understand a single phrase: ‘Hard work is not worth mentioning in the face of true talent.'”

“Of course, I must mention that Ji works even harder than I do.”

Material for a “power-fantasy” story that one wouldn’t even dare to dream of was carried back to China by various social media bloggers, and the hype remained high.

It was so high that even Ming Jiayue, who didn’t follow entertainment gossip, heard Ji Shuangci’s name frequently on her commute. During breaks, her subordinates gossiped about her; when discussing business collaborations, the spokesperson the partners wanted was her; on the advertising screens of skyscrapers along the commute, it was her…

For the first time, Ming Jiayue realized with absolute clarity:

Ji Shuangci was truly famous.

Without relying on Ming Jiayue’s resources, she had relied on herself to become famous in a single battle.

The driver happened to catch Ming Jiayue through the rearview mirror looking at a distant billboard and suddenly breaking into a smile—a smile that only grew wider.

Ming Jiayue didn’t contact Ji Shuangci. The system monitoring showed that Ji Shuangci’s state had been incredibly stable over these two years, and the mission progress had been steadily increasing. At this rate, Ming Jiayue had a chance to complete the mission within the remaining three years.

According to the plot, Ming Jiayue’s main focus now was to guard against Male Lead No. 3.

As long as the male lead didn’t come out to cause trouble, Ming Jiayue believed that with Ji Shuangci’s resilience, she could grow into whoever she wanted to be.

The three male leads in the original plot were, in Ming Jiayue’s eyes, three pure pieces of trash.

Male Lead No. 1, Xu Xiaoji: The “future top-tier star” of the original author’s pen, but Ming Jiayue had used capital maneuvers to blacklist him in advance. He was now reportedly tightening screws in a factory in the South.

Male Lead No. 2, Zhou Zhiquan: The author wanted to write him as a “bad-boy” type—reckless and arrogant. He entered the underworld after middle school and later committed a crime of sexual assault; Ming Jiayue sent him directly to prison.

Male Lead No. 3, Tang Yijiang: A Chinese-American from the Tang family of Yucheng. His family was in business and claimed to be an “Old Money” family of China with great power and influence. In the original plot, one of the main reasons the three of them could toy with women at will was because Tang Yijiang was there to clean up after them.

In China’s traditional automobile industry, the Tang family’s “Benshi” series shared the market with foreign “M-series,” “H-series,” and “R-series” cars.

And after Ming Corporation’s New Energy Research Center broke through the crucial “Three Electric” technologies, calling them the “boss” of the new energy vehicle field was perfectly accurate.

New energy vehicles were a generational iteration—an irreversible choice of historical development. It was like a cake that had been frozen; right now, only Ming Corporation had the hammer to break the ice on the shell.

The new energy cake was getting bigger and bigger, and more and more people wanted a piece—the Tang family even relied on their century of heritage to try and demand an equal share. Whether by using pressure from above or shamelessly relying on their seniority, their multiple probes had all been blocked by Ming Jiayue without a single leak.

Until three days ago, news broke from Yucheng that Tang Yijiang was coming to H City. Major business media outlets were building hype: Tang and Ming are about to join forces to reach new heights.

It seemed like a choice that met most people’s expectations.

Ming Jiayue and Ji Shuangci met at a gala where everyone had their own hidden agendas. Ming Jiayue wasn’t aware; she arrived a bit late. When she entered, Ji Shuangci was holding a glass of wine, surrounded by a crowd.

A group of men in formal suits surrounded her, attentively calling her “President Ji.”

Ji Shuangci was the first to see Ming Jiayue. The two looked at each other from across the crowd—one like deep, unreadable water, the other with a polite posture yet a gaze like a thousand-mile wind, unfettered and bold.

Ji Shuangci smiled at the crowd. “Excuse me.”

Then she strode toward Ming Jiayue.

Ming Jiayue stood in place, quietly watching her approach. In five years, Ji Shuangci had completely matured. There was much more in her eyes. During those few steps she took toward her, one could feel her entire being and the aura around her shifting—clouds moving and winds rising.

Her assistant whispered a reminder behind Ming Jiayue:

“President Ming, the person walking toward you is the Technical Director of US-based Chuangyi Tech. Word is they just broke through the ‘Hive Turbine’ technology this year, which is the key generational technology for new energy vehicles.”

“Half the people here tonight are here for her.”

Ming Jiayue’s eyes flickered, but her face remained unchanged. She was the first to reach out, following the flow. “President Ji.”

Ji Shuangci raised her hand. Her fingertips brushed across Ming Jiayue’s palm, moved down, encircled her wrist, and her thumb landed on the pulse point.

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

Ji Shuangci spoke with a faint smile. “President Ming, your heartbeat is erratic.”