Marking My Arch-Rival [Rebirth] - Chapter 2

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

Nie Zheng handed her a sealed cardboard box, then took a USB drive from his pocket.

“This is the surveillance footage you asked for.”

“You watched it?” Ji Shihuan did not take it immediately. Instead, she asked, “Did you notice anything unusual?”

Nie Zheng shook his head.

After a moment, he frowned.

“…If I had to point something out, Miss Shu happened to enter the president’s office around the time of his accident.”

Ji Shihuan’s breath caught.

“What did she go in there for?”

“I’m not sure,” Nie Zheng replied.

He explained, “Miss Shu didn’t need to report whenever she entered President Ji’s office, and we had no authority to question her.”

Ji Shihuan fell into thought.

After leaving Huanji Technology, she did not rush home. Instead, she drove to Four Seasons Art Studio, which had only recently opened.

Although her parents had died when she was young, Ji Shihuan had grown up under her older brother’s protection and had never suffered much hardship. She had never needed to worry about inheriting the family business, so she followed her interests and majored in painting. Even before graduating, she had already earned a modest reputation in the art world.

Four Seasons had originally been a studio she opened with a friend. Had nothing gone wrong, Ji Shihuan would have used it as the starting point for her artistic career.

But fate’s cruel joke had knocked her completely off her intended path.

She could no longer continue working at the studio and needed to renegotiate the operating agreement with her friend.

The newly opened studio had few customers. The moment Lin Dan heard the bell above the door ring, she hurried over and, as expected, found Ji Shihuan standing at the entrance.

“Shihuan.”

She looked at a loss, unsure what to say.

Ji Shihuan deliberately smiled.

“Why are you making that face?”

Lin Dan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

“Your brother’s matters… have they all been taken care of?”

“Mhm.”

Afraid she would hear empty words of consolation, Ji Shihuan pushed her farther inside.

“Let’s go upstairs.”

The studio on the second floor belonged exclusively to Ji Shihuan. Two unfinished paintings stood on easels, covered with dust cloths.

“I either canceled or transferred all your commissions,” Lin Dan said. “You still have one of the three paintings ordered by that client, ‘Z,’ left unfinished… Do you want to complete it?”

Ji Shihuan pulled the dust cover from the easel by the window.

Yellow winter jasmine flowers surged into view, blooming eagerly across the canvas. For a moment, she could almost smell the scent of spring in the air.

She still remembered receiving news of her brother’s car accident while working on this painting in her previous life.

The brush had slipped from her hand, leaving a streak of dark brown mud across the lower-right corner of the canvas and covering the spring flowers in full bloom.

Other than that, the painting was already eighty to ninety percent complete.

“Mhm.”

Ji Shihuan wanted to make up for the small regret of never finishing it in her previous life.

“I’ll take it home later. I’ll bring it back once it’s done.”

“All right.” Lin Dan took out her phone. “‘Z’ said that as long as you’re willing to paint it, she can wait as long as necessary. She’s coming to collect the paintings today, so I’ll give her the first two.”

“She’s coming today?”

“Mhm.” Lin Dan nodded. “She said sometime in the morning, but she didn’t give an exact time.”

“All right.”

The two returned downstairs to discuss the details of the contract. In the end, Ji Shihuan reduced her original seventy-percent ownership to twenty percent.

Lin Dan did not want to take advantage of her, but Ji Shihuan merely encouraged her.

“This amount of money is nothing compared with you. Just consider it my chance to invest in a future great artist, all right?”

Lin Dan’s eyes reddened. She could not tell whether she was moved or simply saddened on Ji Shihuan’s behalf.

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

She had intended to delay leaving so she could meet the mysterious Miss Z, someone she had never met but who had given her so much support and affirmation.

Instead, an irate ex-girlfriend arrived first.

Gu Xiyue stormed in aggressively.

“How long are you planning to keep hiding from me?”

Lin Dan quietly tugged Ji Shihuan’s sleeve.

“Miss Gu has come looking for you several times… I couldn’t persuade her to leave.”

“It’s fine.” Ji Shihuan picked up the coat draped over the back of her chair. “I’ll take her somewhere else so we don’t disturb the studio.”

Gu Xiyue waited outside, stomping one foot. A wet, withered leaf clung to the wooden heel of her expensive Hermès ankle boot.

The two moved to the café diagonally across from the studio.

The warm interior was filled with the rich aroma of freshly ground coffee beans, driving away the chill of early spring.

At the counter, Ji Shihuan asked Gu Xiyue what she wanted to drink.

The spoiled young heiress pouted.

“We haven’t even been broken up for that long, and you’ve already forgotten what I like?”

Ji Shihuan did not defend herself. She merely curled her lips into a rather infuriating smile.

“I thought you would’ve seen through me the moment we broke up.”

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

Leaning sideways against the counter with nowhere to dodge, Ji Shihuan simply let her do as she pleased.

“Will a latte do?”

Without waiting for Gu Xiyue’s answer, she turned to the server.

“One iced Americano and one hot latte, please. Thank you.”

The server wore a dark green employee cap. She secretly raised her eyes beneath the brim, and a trace of amazement flashed across them when her gaze landed on Ji Shihuan’s striking features.

Then she gave Gu Xiyue a slightly sympathetic look and quietly replied, “Of course.”

Gu Xiyue had no time to pay attention to anyone else.

Holding her phone, she typed furiously with both thumbs, filling her five-person group chat with all kinds of “praise” for her ex-girlfriend.

Only after the coffee arrived did she casually put her phone away as though nothing had happened.

Seizing the opportunity, Ji Shihuan told her not to keep going to the studio.

Then she asked, “What did you come looking for me for?”

The spoiled heiress’s princess syndrome flared up.

After a haughty snort, she complained, “I only just heard from a junior that you painted portraits for every girlfriend you dated.”

She held out her hand.

“Where—is—mine?”

Only then did Ji Shihuan remember what was on the other easel upstairs.

“We broke up too quickly.” She shook her head. “I didn’t finish it.”

“Why are you so inefficient?” Gu Xiyue’s eyes widened. “I don’t care! Hurry up and finish it for me!”

Ji Shihuan teased, “What do you want my painting for? So you can stare at it and pine for me?”

“Pah!” Gu Xiyue lifted her chin disdainfully. “Everyone else has one, so I need one too!”

Ji Shihuan did not hesitate for long.

“Fine.”

Before Gu Xiyue could become smug, Ji Shihuan added a condition.

“Then you have to do me a favor too.”

Gu Xiyue froze.

“What favor?”

Ji Shihuan was just about to speak when someone pushed open the café door.

She turned toward the sound, and an elegant figure unexpectedly entered her field of vision.

Jiang Boyan raised her eyes and met Ji Shihuan’s gaze before calmly looking away again.

While Ji Shihuan was still momentarily stunned, Gu Xiyue noticed and immediately began mocking her.

“You lust-crazed pervert!”

Ji Shihuan returned to her senses.

“Huh?”

Gu Xiyue crossed her arms and continued her attack.

“Stop staring! That woman obviously looks mature and experienced. She won’t be fooled by you.”

Had it been anyone else, Ji Shihuan might have let it go.

But she could not tolerate being slandered like this in front of her sworn enemy.

She rubbed her forehead.

“…Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Oh, please. Everyone knows what you’re like. Every girlfriend you date is prettier than the last.” Gu Xiyue flipped her hair in what she believed was a seductive manner. “Unfortunately, once they see your true colors, they run away faster than the last.”

Jiang Boyan was speaking with the server and appeared not to be paying attention to them.

Ji Shihuan withdrew her gaze.

“Coming from you, that doesn’t sound particularly convincing.”

Gu Xiyue finally realized what she had implied, and her face flushed bright red.

“I-I ran away too! I’m only here to collect a debt!”

Ji Shihuan chuckled softly and looked out the window.

She had only intended to relax for a moment when she happened to spot a black sedan parked outside the art studio across the street.

Someone was loading wrapped picture frames into the car. From this distance, she could only vaguely make out that the person seemed to be a tall man.

“Let’s get to the point.”

Ji Shihuan turned back toward Gu Xiyue and quickened her speech.

“I remember you have an uncle who does business in Country D?”

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

Ji Shihuan did not explain.

“Can you give me his contact information?”

“What for?”

“To discuss business, of course.”

Ji Shihuan spread her hands and coaxed her patiently.

“I paint your portrait, and all you need to give me is a phone number. No matter how you look at it, it’s a good deal, isn’t it?”

Gu Xiyue was not stupid.

“Don’t try to fool me.” Her eyes shifted. “Whenever you give me the painting, that’s when I’ll introduce you two.”

Ji Shihuan fell silent.

She glanced at the sedan across the street, then nodded.

“Fine.”

After saying that, she stood to leave, but Gu Xiyue grabbed her sleeve.

The young heiress narrowed her eyes.

“You’re not going to deliberately paint me ugly just because you’re in a hurry, are you?”

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

“That’s hard to say.” Gu Xiyue rested her chin on one hand, looking entirely at ease. “I’ve seen all your publicly displayed works. They’re all landscapes.”

She looked at Ji Shihuan.

“When did you start painting portraits?”

“I’ve always painted them.”

Since she still needed something from Gu Xiyue, Ji Shihuan squeezed out what little patience she possessed.

On the other side of the café, Jiang Boyan finished ordering and sat down only two or three meters away.

Hearing their conversation, she turned her head toward them, a trace of curiosity in her eyes.

Ji Shihuan rubbed her nose.

“But I only paint people who suit my aesthetic preferences.”

“Oh—”

Gu Xiyue dragged out the sound, her tone inexplicably sour.

“So that’s how every ex-girlfriend ended up with a ‘breakup painting.’”

Ji Shihuan shrugged.

“I don’t like that name. What the painting captures is clearly the moment when I loved you most.”

“…”

Gu Xiyue’s embarrassment lasted for only a second before resentment replaced it.

She glared at Ji Shihuan.

“Do you know why people keep dumping you? What I hate most is a scumbag like you who can still sweet-talk her ex-girlfriend!”

Ji Shihuan’s silence was deafening.

“What else am I supposed to do?” she asked. “Would you rather I insult you?”

“A sense of boundaries is the best dowry an Alpha can have.”

The young heiress stood up with a dramatic toss of her hair, then shot Ji Shihuan another vicious glare.

“You’re nothing but a miserly cheapskate!”

With that, she shoved past Ji Shihuan and strode toward the exit without looking back.

When she passed Jiang Boyan, she stopped.

The young woman was actually very perceptive. She had noticed the glances exchanged between Jiang Boyan and Ji Shihuan long ago.

“Miss, don’t let that face fool you.”

She openly gossiped about Ji Shihuan right in front of her.

“The prettier a female Alpha is, the more of a scumbag she’ll be.”

Jiang Boyan’s lips curved slightly.

“Is that so?”

Gu Xiyue gritted her teeth, leaned in closer, and lowered her voice.

“And besides, she’s terrible in bed!”

Jiang Boyan’s eyes widened slightly.

“…”

“Huh?”

Now that she was standing so close, Gu Xiyue finally sensed the other woman’s pheromones and reacted.

“You’re an Alpha too?”

Jiang Boyan nodded.

“Ah, I-I wasn’t saying you’re a scumbag.”

Gu Xiyue’s face flushed crimson with embarrassment. Unable to withstand the awkwardness any longer, she threw out a hurried “Bye!” and fled through the door.

The young heiress had finally left, 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 with a smile.

“President Jiang, would you call this fate?”

Jiang Boyan raised her eyes and studied her. The light in her gaze rippled like concentric waves across a spring pond.

Remembering Gu Xiyue’s declaration that Ji Shihuan was “terrible in bed,” her expression became faintly unnatural.