The Creator's Grace - Chapter 23

Qi Tong was originally Chi Yu’s best friend. In high school, they shared everything, but after entering university—one abroad and one at home—they only exchanged occasional WeChat messages and video calls. They weren’t quite as inseparable as they had been in their teens.

Now, because of her sister’s death, Chi Yu had shared her most private family secrets with Qi Tong. Qi Tong had become her most important pillar of support during these dark, painful days. Their relationship had reignited rapidly, becoming even closer than before.

However, even with Qi Tong, Chi Yu didn’t want to recount everything that had happened on the second floor of the Mulan Club.

Being manipulated and “taught” by Ran Jin was a source of shame for Chi Yu, who had been an adult for four years and lived independently overseas for just as long. She felt as though she were being disciplined like a child, and worse, she had lost the upper hand.

Qi Tong saw that Chi Yu didn’t want to talk about it, but in her heart, she understood exactly what had happened. Based on her years of experience handling private affairs, she knew the struggle between Chi Yu and Ran Jin was far from over; there were still many volatile factors between them. Given the complexity of Chi Li’s death, their relationship was bound to shift again. As for which direction that shift would take, it was still too early to say.

Even if Chi Yu didn’t speak, Qi Tong could guess the gist of it. “Kissing is really one of those things you can’t explain. No description can truly make someone understand. You have to grasp the sensation yourself; you can only really appreciate it through practical experience.”

Hearing the words “practical experience,” Chi Yu rolled her eyes.

Qi Tong: “…”

My words of wisdom haven’t pleased the Princess? Being a ‘humble servant’ is hard work.

“Forget it,” Qi Tong thought. “Better not to stoke the fire. Let’s stick to the class reunion.”

Qi Tong had known about the high school reunion for a while, but she assumed Chi Yu wouldn’t go. After mentioning it casually, she started chatting about various pieces of gossip regarding their old classmates to help Chi Yu distract herself.

After all, Qi Tong was still the same “veteran melon farmer.” Even years after graduation, she talked as if they were still in the same classroom. Who married which socialite or tycoon; who failed in their startup and visited the rooftop a few times; who had a baby; who came out of the closet… not even the smallest detail escaped her sharp eyes.

Qi Tong said all this strictly to lighten the mood and redirect Chi Yu’s attention. But when Chi Yu’s focus actually shifted and she began listening intently, Qi Tong felt a twinge of fear.

There hadn’t been any reunions for years, yet just two days after the massive news about Chi Yu broke, the class group chat suddenly started buzzing with plans for a dinner. Qi Tong knew, with even a single hair on her head, that these people were only organizing the reunion because they were dying of curiosity over the headlines and wanted to gossip with Chi Yu in person.

With her sharp mind, Chi Yu reached the same conclusion instantly.

“You said… Chu Wei married who? Zhou Yu?” Chi Yu’s focus was unexpected.

“Uh… yeah, that’s right.” Qi Tong felt a bit hesitant to speak, afraid she might say something wrong.

“The founder of Tomorrow Tech?”

Upon receiving Qi Tong’s confirmation, Chi Yu’s thoughts shifted. She asked, “When is the reunion?”

“Tomorrow night at seven. Why? You’re going?”

A few days ago, during that unsuccessful confrontation in Ran Jin’s office, Chi Yu had seen a contact list open in the corner of Ran Jin’s computer screen. It was stopped on the page for “Tomorrow Tech – Zhou Yu.”

The trans-lunar orbit was blockaded, and Chi Yu was currently dividing the Chi Group’s major shareholders. Ran Jin hadn’t surrendered; she was still holding on. But holding on required a method. Tomorrow Tech had a certain level of strength regarding lunar orbits; Chi Yu knew this because her own firm, FPIU, had collaborative projects with them.

So, Ran Jin was turning to Tomorrow Tech for help?

Chi Yu couldn’t let her find an escape route. She planned to keep the pressure on, cutting off all of Ran Jin’s retreats and destroying every possibility of her success.

“When is the reunion?” Chi Yu repeated to Qi Tong. “I’m going.”

Qi Tong: “…”

It had been over four years since high school graduation. They had a group chat, and Chi Yu was in it, but she had kept it muted for years. On the way to the reunion, she opened the class WeChat group. The nicknames had all been changed to real names. Chi Yu scanned the list, her eyes landing on the name Chu Wei.

A few years back, Chu Wei had asked her some professional questions about lunar orbits, and Chi Yu had answered them patiently. As far as Chi Yu knew, Chu Wei had her own foreign trade company which had nothing to do with galactic navigation. Perhaps back then, Chu Wei had been asking on behalf of her husband, Zhou Yu.

Three days later, Chi Yu arrived at the terrace of a restaurant in the south of the city. The venue had been booked for the class reunion tonight. Chi Yu met Qi Tong downstairs, and they went up together. When they reached the terrace, over thirty people were already there. To block the wind without obstructing the view, the restaurant had installed a semi-circular transparent wind-shield with a built-in ventilation system. One could see the city lights gradually igniting in the distance, yet it was neither cold nor stuffy.

As soon as Chi Yu appeared, the small circles of people chatting and drinking immediately gravitated toward her. While chatting with her old classmates and skillfully deflecting their gossip, Chi Yu sat down on a sofa with Qi Tong.

As she sat and picked up a glass of wine, Chi Yu saw Chu Wei sitting opposite her, looking troubled.

Ran Jin tapped her phone, and one million was quickly transferred into a familiar overseas account. Previously, Chi Li had handled this personally; now, Ran Jin had to do it.

Before starting the video call, Ran Jin flipped over the mirror that usually faced the wall and studied herself briefly. Due to prolonged sleep deprivation, her complexion was terrible. She had no choice but to apply some light makeup. With the makeup, she looked much better. After practicing a gentle smile a few times, she pressed the video call request.

After waiting a few seconds, a Christmas tree covered in decorations appeared on the screen.

“Merry Christmas!”

Following the high-pitched voice, a little girl with a ponytail suddenly rushed out and gave the camera a loud kiss. The girl looked to be three or four years old, with crystalline eyes that turned into two crescent moons when she laughed. Seeing Ran Jin on the screen, she couldn’t stop kissing the tablet on the table.

It wasn’t until she knocked the tablet over that the nanny in charge of her hurried over, set the tablet back up, and straightened the Christmas hat on her own head.

Ran Jin smiled at the little girl. “Christmas is still a while away.”

“Miss Ran,” the nanny said. “The little miss has been clamoring for a video call for days. I suppose she misses you and President Chi because of the holiday.”

Ran Jin smiled at the video. “If you miss me, just call me. Let me see the baby—have you grown taller?”

The little girl tilted her chin up and stood with her hands on her hips, comparing her height to the nanny. “I’ve grown so tall!”

Seeing her so lively, Ran Jin felt a bit relieved. She couldn’t help but reach out and touch the girl’s face through the screen.

“Mama, when are you coming to see me? I’m being very good, I’m eating all my food.” The little girl knelt on the carpet, her face close to the screen, looking quite piteous.

Ran Jin’s eyes felt a bit hot. “I’m sorry, baby. Mama is a bit busy right now. When I have time, I’ll definitely fly over to see you, okay?”

“Oh.” The little girl was a bit disappointed. She understood Ran Jin’s meaning: she would have to spend this Christmas alone.

Ran Jin stayed on the call with her for a long time. The little girl told her countless trivial things—what she ate, what she watched, what she played. She told Ran Jin everything that came to mind. Ran Jin showed no impatience, chatting with her until the girl finally fell asleep clutching the tablet.

The nanny tiptoed over to carry her back to the bedroom to sleep, and only then did Ran Jin hang up. Ran Jin felt that the girl might have sensed something; last time she had asked about Chi Li, but this time she hadn’t mentioned her specifically.

Ran Jin pinched the bridge of her nose. Her head ached, and she felt exhausted. However, the fact that Chi Yu had already copied her iris gave her a sense of relief. She no longer had to wear the blocking device every day in fear; the device was very hard on the eyes, and she felt much better after taking it off.

After drinking a cup of coffee, Ran Jin rallied her spirits and returned to the computer. Many browser windows were open, mostly work-related. She opened a new window—not looking through her favorites, but typing the URL directly. It was an email site; she entered her account and password to log in.

There was a new email. After reading it for a while, Ran Jin was shocked, but also felt fortunate. At the very bottom of the email was a contact number. She dialed it.

The call was answered quickly. The other side was silent; no one spoke.

Ran Jin spoke first. “Is this Mr. Zhou Yu?”

The man on the other end let out a heavy breath into the receiver.

“I think he’s seeing someone else.”

Chu Wei’s sentence made Chi Yu and Qi Tong stop mid-drink, looking at her in surprise. The “he” Chu Wei referred to was her husband, Zhou Yu.

“What? Why? What makes you think that?” It was suddenly in Qi Tong’s professional wheelhouse. She fired off the questions rapidly, afraid of missing any part of the massive scoop.

Chu Wei, Chi Yu, and Qi Tong sat in a corner with their drinks, chatting casually. Chu Wei was the student who had surpassed Chi Yu by one point in the first monthly exam after transferring, only to be crushed by Chi Yu until graduation—the “eternal second place.”

Perhaps because they had competed for the top spot for years, they developed a bond. Later, Chi Yu had helped her out with something. For this reunion, Chu Wei didn’t care much about the others, and because her life had been difficult lately, she somewhat regretted marrying so young. Seeing Chi Yu, whose career was already successful, she wanted to talk to her.

Around them, classmates were gossiping about celebrities—how someone in their fifties looked eighteen and wondering where they got their cosmetic work done. Meanwhile, their corner was a picture of gloom.

Chu Wei propped her chin on her hand. Knowing that Qi Tong had been successfully running her own private studio for years, she thought she might need her help later, so she shared her story:

“Lately, he always goes to the balcony to smoke alone. He talks to someone on the phone while smoking, and the moment I show up, he hangs up. Even when he goes to the bathroom, he never leaves his phone behind. I asked for his phone, and he wouldn’t give it to me.”

Listening from a professional perspective, Qi Tong analyzed that if he was guarding his phone that closely, there was definitely someone else.

“But I checked his recent movements, and there are no hotel records. He comes home at a normal time. Last week, he said he’d be home late because of a meeting; I staged a ‘surprise attack’ by bringing late-night snacks to his office, and he really was in a meeting.”

Chi Yu sipped her drink slowly. Qi Tong asked, “Besides always having his phone with him, is there anything else strange?”

Chu Wei thought for a moment and said, “Yes. For the past few months, he’s been adding ‘Right?’ or ‘Is that okay?’ to his sentences for no reason. He never had those verbal habits before. The other morning, he was choosing a tie to go see a partner. He realized I was watching him, so he picked the blue one and told me, ‘I always wear this tie to see partners, right?'”

“Before, he used to thoughtfully add cold brew to my coffee every morning; the concentration was always perfect. Lately, after adding it, he actually asks me, ‘Is that okay?‘ He feels completely distracted, like he’s just going through the motions.”

“He never used to talk like that. If he isn’t just patronizing me, then he’s picked up those catchphrases from someone else.”

At this point, Chu Wei’s gaze turned sharp. “Whether he’s patronizing me or being influenced by someone else, it’s clear something is going on.”

After listening quietly, Chi Yu asked, “When did you first start feeling like something was wrong?”

“Three months ago. He hasn’t been right since he came back from Shanghai.” Chu Wei downed another glass, her face flushing. “I think he met some wild woman in Shanghai and lost his heart to her.”

Chu Wei spent the night drinking her sorrows away. In the end, Chi Yu and Qi Tong had to talk her down so she wouldn’t pass out on the spot. Regardless of whether Zhou Yu had someone on the outside, Chi Yu had investigated before coming: the Zhou and Chu families had deep-rooted business partnerships. Their marriage had an emotional foundation as well as material ties. Recently, Zhou Yu’s family business had run into some trouble. In any case, Zhou Yu wouldn’t easily sever his ties with Chu Wei—especially not now.

By winning over Chu Wei, and given the relationship between Tomorrow Tech and FPIU, Chi Yu was still confident she could cut off Ran Jin’s line of external support.

Chi Yu and Qi Tong dropped Chu Wei home together. At the entrance to Chu Wei’s neighborhood, Chi Yu spotted a familiar car at a glance. Ran Jin’s Porsche was parked about twenty meters away.

Qi Tong, who was driving, recognized it too and looked at Chi Yu in the passenger seat with confusion. Chi Yu stared intently at Ran Jin’s car. At that moment, Zhou Yu opened the passenger door and stepped out. Then, Ran Jin opened her own door and got out as well.

Chu Wei, who was eighty percent drunk, saw this scene. It was like pouring oil on a fire; she sat bolt upright, staring at Ran Jin and reaching for the door handle. Chi Yu immediately got out and held Chu Wei back before she could get out, telling Qi Tong, “Hold her, don’t let her go crazy.”

“Got it!” Qi Tong immediately climbed into the back seat and grabbed Chu Wei. “Calm down!”

Chu Wei jabbed her elbow into Qi Tong’s chest. “Calm down? That woman is right there! How the hell am I supposed to be calm!”

Qi Tong nearly lost her breath from the elbow strike, her vision going dark from the pain, but she didn’t forget Chi Yu’s instructions and held Chu Wei down firmly to prevent the scene from becoming too dangerous.

Chi Yu walked through the cold night wind, approaching slowly. She saw Zhou Yu take Ran Jin’s hand.

Chi Yu: “…”

Is that really necessary?

Chi Yu frowned, a pang of heart-wrenching bitterness tightening in her chest.

“A pleasure working with you.” Zhou Yu held Ran Jin’s hand. His mouth spoke of business, but his eyes held clear admiration and a hint of longing; his sincere attitude even carried a touch of adoration.

Chi Yu couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she saw their hands joined. Qi Tong, right on cue, covered Chu Wei’s eyes.

“A pleasure working with you,” Ran Jin replied with professional composure.

Just as she was about to withdraw her hand, Chi Yu suddenly stepped forward, coming between Zhou Yu and Ran Jin. Following the line of Ran Jin’s palm, she took her hand back from Zhou Yu and interlaced her fingers with Ran Jin’s.

“Sister-in-law.” Chi Yu put on a smile, placing deliberate emphasis on the title. “What a coincidence, meeting you here.”

Ran Jin was surprised to see Chi Yu, but she understood quickly: Chi Yu must have anticipated that she would ask Zhou Yu for help.

“See you later.” Zhou Yu gave Ran Jin a gentle smile, shot Chi Yu a silent look, and left.

Zhou Yu’s series of subtle expressions and his attitude told Chi Yu one thing: Zhou Yu was already committed to Ran Jin.