Marking My Arch-Rival [Rebirth] - Chapter 2

The next day was the weekend, and Ji Shihuan went to the company to pick up her brother’s belongings.

Nie Zheng handed her a sealed cardboard box and then pulled a USB drive from his pocket: “This is the surveillance footage you requested.”

“Have you watched it?” Ji Shihuan didn’t take it immediately, only asking, “Was there anything unusual?”

Nie Zheng shook his head.

He frowned: “…If I have to say something, Miss Shu happened to enter the President’s office during the time the President’s accident occurred.”

Ji Shihuan’s breathing hitched.

“What did she go in for?”

Nie Zheng: “I’m not sure.”

He explained: “Miss Shu doesn’t need to report her entry into Chairman Ji’s office, and we have no right to question her.”

Ji Shihuan looked thoughtful.

Leaving Huan Ji Technology, she didn’t rush home but drove to the Four Seasons Art Studio, which had opened recently.

Although her parents died young, Ji Shihuan was pampered by her brother and never suffered any hardship growing up. Free from the worries of inheriting the family business, she followed her heart and chose painting as her major, having already gained a minor reputation in the art circle before graduation.

Four Seasons was originally a studio she co-founded with a friend. Had there been no accident, Ji Shihuan would have used it as a starting point to develop her art career. But the joke played by fate made her completely deviate from her planned path—

She couldn’t continue working at the studio and needed to renegotiate the operating contract with her friend.

The newly opened studio had few customers. Her friend Lin Dan got up and rushed over the moment she heard the bell ring, and sure enough, she ran into Ji Shihuan who had just entered.

“Shihuan.” She was at a loss, unsure what to say.

Ji Shihuan deliberately smiled: “Why the long face?”

Lin Dan quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

She asked with concern: “Is everything settled with your brother’s affairs?”

“Mm.” Afraid of hearing conventional words of comfort, Ji Shihuan ushered her inside.

“Upstairs.”

The upstairs studio was Ji Shihuan’s exclusive space, with two unfinished paintings covered by dust sheets on the easels.

“I’ve pushed off or transferred the commissions for you. The ‘Z’ client ordered three paintings, and you only have the last one left… Do you want to finish it?”

Ji Shihuan lifted the dust sheet off the easel by the window. Yellow forsythia flowers rushed into her eyes. As she inhaled, she felt as if she could smell the scent of spring in the air.

She still remembered receiving the news of her brother’s car accident while painting this in her previous life. The pen she couldn’t hold steady left a deep brown streak of mud in the bottom right corner of the canvas, covering the blooming spring flowers.

Aside from that, the painting was already eighty or ninety percent complete.

“Mm.”

Ji Shihuan wanted to make up for the small regret of not finishing the painting in her last life: “I’ll take it back with me for a bit and bring it over once it’s finished.”

“Alright.” Lin Dan took out her phone. “‘Z’ said she can wait as long as you are willing to paint. She’s coming to pick up the paintings today, so I’ll give her the first two first.”

Ji Shihuan: “She’s coming today?”

“Mm.” Lin Dan nodded. “She said morning, but didn’t set a specific time.”

Ji Shihuan replied, “Okay.”

The two returned to the first floor to discuss the contract details. In the end, Ji Shihuan reduced her original 70% share to 20%.

Lin Dan didn’t want to take advantage of her, but Ji Shihuan only encouraged her: “This amount of money is nothing compared to you. Just treat it as giving me a chance to invest in a great future painter, okay?”

Lin Dan’s eyes welled up when she heard this, unable to tell if she was moved or feeling sorry for her.

After signing the new contract, Ji Shihuan stayed in the studio for a while longer.

She intended to stall for time, hoping to meet Miss “Z,” who had supported and affirmed her work despite never meeting her. Instead, she ended up waiting for a certain angry ex-girlfriend first.

Gu Xiyue was domineering: “How long are you going to hide from me?”

Lin Dan secretly tugged at Ji Shihuan’s sleeve: “Miss Gu has come looking for you many times… I couldn’t dissuade her.”

“It’s fine.” Ji Shihuan picked up the jacket draped over the back of the chair. “I’ll take her outside, so she doesn’t interrupt the studio’s work.”

Gu Xiyue waited for her outside the studio, stomping her foot. A wet, dead leaf was stuck to the wooden heel of her expensive Hermès leather boots.

The two moved to the coffee shop diagonally opposite the studio. The warm space was filled with the aroma of hand-ground coffee beans, dispelling the lingering spring chill.

At the counter, Ji Shihuan asked Gu Xiyue what she wanted to drink. The arrogant young lady pouted.

“We just broke up, and you don’t even remember what I like?”

Ji Shihuan didn’t argue, curving her lips into a smirk that was a little infuriating.

“I thought you would have figured me out the moment we broke up.”

Gu Xiyue puffed out her cheeks and reached out to pinch her arm.

Ji Shihuan leaned against the counter, having nowhere to hide, and let her carry on: “Is a latte okay?”

Without waiting for Gu Xiyue’s answer, she turned to the server and said: “One Iced Americano and one hot latte, please. Thank you.”

The server, wearing a dark green staff cap, secretly looked up from under the brim. A flicker of amazement crossed her eyes as her gaze fell on Ji Shihuan’s stunning features.

She looked at Gu Xiyue with a hint of pity and softly replied, “Sure.”

Gu Xiyue had no time to worry about others. Her fingers were flying across her phone, fully venting her thoughts in her five-person group chat, which was filled with “eulogies” about her ex-girlfriend.

Only when the coffee was served did she put down her phone as if nothing happened.

Ji Shihuan seized the opportunity to speak, asking her not to go to the studio again, and then asked: “What do you want from me?”

The young lady, suffering from a bout of “princess syndrome,” huffed and then accused: “I just heard from a junior from next door that you give a portrait to every girlfriend you date.”

She held out her hand to demand: “Where—is—mine—?”

It was then that Ji Shihuan remembered the contents of the other easel upstairs.

“We broke up too quickly,” she shook her head. “It’s not finished.”

“How can you be so inefficient?” Gu Xiyue widened her eyes. “I don’t care! Finish it and give it to me right away!”

Ji Shihuan teased: “What do you want my painting for? To take it back and gaze at it, thinking of me?”

“Pah!” Gu Xiyue lifted her chin in disdain: “Everyone else has one! I must have one too!”

Ji Shihuan didn’t hesitate for too long: “Fine.”

Before Gu Xiyue could gloat, she made a request: “Then you have to do me a favor.”

Gu Xiyue paused: “What favor?”

Ji Shihuan was about to speak when someone happened to push open the door and enter the coffee shop. She looked over toward the sound, and a graceful figure unexpectedly entered her sight.

Jiang Boyan looked back at her and then casually turned her eyes away.

While Ji Shihuan was momentarily stunned, Gu Xiyue, who noticed the situation, immediately started mocking her: “You hungry ghost for sex!”

Ji Shihuan snapped back: “Huh?”

Gu Xiyue crossed her arms and continued her attack: “Stop staring! That older sister looks mature and experienced; she won’t be charmed by you.”

If it had been anyone else, it would have been fine, but Ji Shihuan couldn’t stand being slandered in front of her arch-rival.

She rubbed her forehead: “…Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Heh, who doesn’t know you? Your girlfriends get prettier one after another,” Gu Xiyue said, tossing her hair back with what she thought was a seductive move, “But unfortunately, once they see your true colors, they all run even faster.”

Jiang Boyan was communicating with the server, seemingly not paying attention here.

Ji Shihuan withdrew her gaze.

She retorted: “Coming from you, doesn’t that lack credibility?”

Gu Xiyue realized what she meant and blushed: “I, I ran too! I’m here to collect a debt!”

Ji Shihuan smiled faintly, looking out the window. She intended to relax for a moment but inadvertently caught sight of a black sedan parked outside the art studio across the street. Someone was loading a packaged picture frame into the car. From a distance, she could faintly make out that the person seemed to be a tall man.

“Let’s get down to business.” She turned back to Gu Xiyue, quickening her pace. “I recall you have an uncle who does business in Country D?”

“Huh?” Gu Xiyue was surprised. “How did you know that?”

Ji Shihuan didn’t explain.

“Can you give me his contact information?”

“What for?”

“To talk business, naturally.” Ji Shihuan spread her hands, gently persuading her: “I’ll give you a painting, and you just need to give me a number. That sounds like a great deal, doesn’t it?”

Gu Xiyue wasn’t stupid.

“Don’t fool me.” Her eyes darted around. “The moment you give me the painting is the moment I introduce you.”

Ji Shihuan: “…”

She glanced at the car across the street and nodded: “Fine.”

With that, she got up to leave but was pulled back by Gu Xiyue’s sleeve.

The young lady narrowed her eyes: “You wouldn’t rush it and deliberately make me look ugly, would you?”

Ji Shihuan countered: “You’re the model. How ugly could it possibly be?”

“You never know.” Gu Xiyue rested her hand on her chin, taking her time. “I’ve seen all your public works, and they’re all landscapes.”

She asked Ji Shihuan: “When did you start painting portraits?”

“I’ve always been painting them.” Since she needed a favor, Ji Shihuan squeezed out what little patience she had left.

On the other side, Jiang Boyan finished ordering and sat down two or three meters away from them.

Hearing their conversation, she turned her head to look, her eyes carrying a slight curiosity.

Ji Shihuan rubbed her nose.

“But I only paint people who meet my aesthetic standards.”

“Ohhh—” Gu Xiyue drew out the sound, her words tinged with inexplicable sourness. “So that’s the origin of every ex-girlfriend getting a ‘breakup painting.'”

Ji Shihuan shrugged: “I don’t like that term. What’s captured in the painting is clearly the moment I loved you the most.”

“…” Gu Xiyue’s shyness lasted for only a second, quickly replaced by resentment.

She looked angrily at Ji Shihuan: “Do you know why you get dumped? I hate scum girls like you who can still sweet-talk their ex-girlfriends!”

Ji Shihuan’s silence was deafening.

“What else?” she asked. “Would you rather be yelled at?”

“Boundaries are an Alpha’s best dowry.” The young lady tossed her hair and stood up, giving her another fierce glare. “You’re just a stingy cheapskate!”

With that, she pushed past Ji Shihuan and rushed out the door without looking back.

She paused as she passed Jiang Boyan.

The young girl was actually very sensitive and had noticed the eye contact between Jiang Boyan and Ji Shihuan long ago.

“Miss, don’t be fooled by her face,” she openly complained about Ji Shihuan in front of her. “The prettier the female Alpha, the scummier she is.”

Jiang Boyan curved her lip: “Is that so?”

Gu Xiyue gritted her teeth, leaned closer, and lowered her voice: “Also, in that regard, she’s no good!!!” (Referring to sexual performance/ability)

Jiang Boyan slightly widened her eyes: “…”

“Huh?” Gu Xiyue, who was too close and sensed the other’s pheromones, suddenly realized: “You’re also an Alpha?”

Jiang Boyan nodded.

“Ha! I, I wasn’t calling you a scum.” Gu Xiyue was beet red with embarrassment. Finally unable to bear the awkwardness, she dropped a quick “Bye-bye” and fled out the door.

The young lady was finally gone, but the black sedan outside the art studio had also disappeared without a trace.

Ji Shihuan sighed inwardly, no longer in a hurry to leave. She strolled over and sat across from Jiang Boyan.

“We meet again,” she greeted her. “CEO Jiang, does this count as fate?”

Jiang Boyan looked up and scrutinized her, her clear eyes rippling like spring water.

Recalling Gu Xiyue’s comment about her being “no good,” her expression showed a slight trace of unnaturalness.