The Creator's Grace - Chapter 30

Chi Yu had been doing all the driving lately, but today Ran Jin noticed she wasn’t in a good state of mind. She called for a driver so that she and Chi Yu could sit in the back.

“With current traffic, it’ll take about forty-five minutes to reach STAR Group. Why not sleep for a bit? You need to be focused; otherwise, when we see President Dong, I’m afraid you won’t be able to keep track of the negotiation points and tactics.”

“No need, I’m not sleepy,” Chi Yu said.

They sat at opposite ends of the backseat, leaving enough space between them for a large man to fit comfortably.

As the car pulled out of the underground garage and started moving, Ran Jin briefed her on the background of STAR Group and Dong Ling, explaining various precautions for collaborating with them.

Chi Yu listened in silence. Ran Jin spoke for over twenty minutes, yet the car had traveled less than three kilometers; the morning traffic was truly abysmal.

Looking out the window, Ran Jin said, “Today is your birthday; I shouldn’t have made you run around. But President Dong is incredibly busy and hard to book—it took a long time to secure today. Let’s go and get back as soon as possible. We’ll likely have lunch there, but after we return this afternoon, you should go find your friends and celebrate properly.”

Ran Jin’s gaze remained fixed outside. Not hearing a response, she turned back curiously and saw Chi Yu staring at her in silence—who knew for how long.

The moment she met Chi Yu’s beautiful eyes, Ran Jin felt a sudden flicker of turmoil in her heart. She was the first to look away.

Sensing the atmosphere was slightly off, Ran Jin recalled Lu Siqiong telling her about running into Chi Yu at the mall yesterday. When Lu Siqiong called last night to recount the encounter, she was still fuming, saying it was utterly ridiculous that Chi Yu thought the two of them were in a special relationship.

Lu Siqiong had clarified everything, emphasizing that she had a boyfriend and that none of the “messy business” Chi Yu imagined existed.

“I thought the little brat was coming to cause trouble. If she had actually laid a hand on me, I wouldn’t have gone easy on her just for your sake. To my surprise, she didn’t get physical; in fact, she seemed to believe what I said. And guess what she asked at the end?”

“What?”

“About you.”

Ran Jin’s heart tightened at Lu Siqiong’s words.

“What did she ask?”

“She didn’t even mention her sister. She wanted me to tell her about your current situation.”

“…”

“I didn’t say anything, of course, because I only know the surface level of your business anyway,” Lu Siqiong had said with a self-mocking laugh. “If you don’t want to talk about something, who could force you?”

Just as Ran Jin was about to thank her, Lu Siqiong added: “However, I did give her a reminder regarding her sister.”

Ran Jin had immediately stood up from her apartment sofa. “Siqiong! You promised me you’d never speak of it!”

“…I didn’t say anything. I only gave her a hint.”

“Siqiong!” Ran Jin rarely shouted in anger like that, her face flushing.

“I really didn’t say! Even if I wanted to, I’d need something to tell. I only saw that one little thing; I have no idea about all the secrets between you and Chi Li, okay?” Lu Siqiong softened her tone. “But those things were enough to show what kind of person she was.”

Ran Jin: “…”

Her temples throbbed with pain from the anger.

“Fine, I have a big mouth. What does this have to do with me? Why should I be angry? It’s your business with the Chi sisters; whatever I say as an outsider is just meddling.”

Sensing Lu Siqiong’s displeasure, Ran Jin calmed herself and said, “I’m not blaming you. It’s just… you know that whenever it involves Xiao Yu, I tend to be impulsive.”

“I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time,” Lu Siqiong said. “How long do you plan to keep her in the dark? How long do you think you can keep it up?”

Ran Jin gripped her warming phone, her eyelashes fluttering as she said, “Until the day I die.”

A brief silence fell over both ends of the line until Lu Siqiong’s sigh hit the receiver.

“That little brat is sharper than you think.” Lu Siqiong’s voice was like a night stream—soft, yet cold enough to make one shiver. “You won’t be able to hide it from her for that long. Have you considered how she’ll feel when she learns the whole truth? She’ll definitely feel like a total fool.”

“Sister Ran.” Chi Yu called out to her, seeing her lost in thought while staring at the scenery outside.

As if she hadn’t been daydreaming at all, Ran Jin turned back, looking at the back of the driver’s head, and gave a soft “Mhm.”

“Thank you for the birthday gift,” Chi Yu said.

Chi Yu’s words made Ran Jin freeze, her gaze turning toward her involuntarily.

“I saw it; the recipient on the package was you.” Perhaps due to not sleeping all night, the aggression and overbearing aura about Chi Yu had softened significantly, and her voice was now peaceful. “If Sister had prepared it beforehand, she would have written her own name, wouldn’t she?”

Chi Yu had watched the video her sister sent several times afterward. Because it was in high definition, she could see the date in the upper right corner of the computer screen in the background. The recording was made after Ran Jin had publicly announced her breakup with her sister.

If this gift had really been a birthday present prepared by her sister, the recipient would have been her own name; she wouldn’t have had her ex-girlfriend receive it on her behalf. Furthermore, who can predict their own death? If nothing had happened to her sister, Chi Yu wouldn’t have returned to the country at this time, and a pre-prepared gift wouldn’t have been sent to the U.P. Tower; it would have been sent directly to Chi Yu’s home overseas.

“I suppose Sister didn’t have time to prepare one…” Chi Yu lowered her eyes. “Thank you.”

Ran Jin clasped her hands together, her lips tight as she repressed every emotion trying to surface.

“It’s nothing, a small matter. I only knew what you wanted because I heard your sister mention it. Although your sister and I broke up, I still remember all the kindness you both showed me over the years.”

Within Chi Yu’s quiet, silent gaze, a faint warmth began to burn.

Ran Jin didn’t want to continue this topic, so she switched back to teaching her business operations—how to deal with partners, organizing the Chi Group’s affairs, pointing out who was reliable and whose heart was no longer with the company…

Chi Yu was a bit distracted. Noticing this, Ran Jin smiled and asked, “Don’t you want to take over the Chi Group? Eventually, you’ll have to do all of this yourself. Learn more now so you won’t be overwhelmed later.”

Chi Yu was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t you want to take over the Chi Group?”

Chi Yu sat up straight instantly.

By now, the car had reached the STAR Group’s underground garage. Ran Jin said she was thirsty and asked the driver to go buy a bottle of peach juice. The driver was tactful and ran to the neighboring building to get it.

“Why are you so surprised?”

With only the two of them left in the car, Ran Jin smiled. “I told you before—I will hand your sister’s life’s work over to you.”

Chi Yu remembered, of course. She also remembered the second half of what Ran Jin had said back then: “But not now.”

“Mhm, now… I truly cannot.” Ran Jin’s emotions drifted for a moment before she quickly pulled them back. “That day will come. You’re still learning, but you learn quickly. I believe it won’t be long before you can hold your own.”

It turned out that during that day of tense confrontation, Ran Jin’s words were true; she hadn’t been acting. It was just that their emotions were so heightened then that the words entering their hearts felt like they were mixed with oil, catching fire the moment they were heard.

Ran Jin continued, “Once the Chi Group is in your hands, there are a few trustworthy people who can help you. But they have different personalities, and the way you deal with them differs too. I’ll write you an email later that you can read at your leisure.”

An email wasn’t as fast as speaking in person, but Ran Jin figured Chi Yu wouldn’t want to be face-to-face with her for too long, so an email was better. Emails were also easier to save for repeated reading later.

“Let’s get out, follow me upstairs…”

Just as Ran Jin was about to push the car door open, Chi Yu asked, “The way you’re talking makes it sound like once I take over the group, you’ll be gone.”

Ran Jin’s hand on the door handle stopped.

Chi Yu grabbed her arm. “Where are you planning to go? Once you hand me over to others, where are you going?”

Did Ran Jin kill Sister? Is Sister’s death directly related to her?

The absolute certainty Chi Yu felt the moment she saw the surveillance video was being slowly torn to shreds by a series of discordant details. An absolute alibi, the frantic solitary work, the stigma cast upon her just for trying to evade a pursuer…

Even while being suspected and targeted by Chi Yu, Ran Jin was still wordlessly looking out for her, planning her future.

Chi Yu was truly uncertain now about what role Ran Jin played in her sister’s death. The sister who suddenly appeared in the video had unexpectedly torn at Chi Yu’s nerves, and when Chi Yu realized Ran Jin might also suddenly disappear, she couldn’t control herself. She grabbed Ran Jin, not wanting her to leave.

“If… you didn’t kill Sister… Her last phone call was to you. You must know something.”

Chi Yu pinned Ran Jin’s wrist, almost pressing her against the car seat. The scene was like a reenactment of a certain night filled with the scent of blood and tears. Ran Jin watched as Chi Yu’s eyes reddened and her voice began to tremble. She had never seen Chi Yu look so desperate, even helpless.

“How exactly did Sister die… You must know something, you must… You know better than anyone what Sister meant to me. Sister Ran, tell me, please? Can you tell me…”

Chi Yu didn’t let her tears fall in the end. At such close range, Ran Jin saw her using all her strength to restrain herself, the tears pooling in her eyes but refusing to drop. Her grip wasn’t even forceful; she just wanted to hold her back, to know the truth she was entitled to. There was no aggression in the gesture.

The stronger Chi Yu tried to be, the more irresistible she became to Ran Jin. Watching Chi Yu’s emotional state, Ran Jin almost lost control.

But she held back.

“You’re hurting me.” Ran Jin lowered her voice and looked away. “If we don’t go up now, we’ll be late for the schedule.”

The internal storm and desperate longing were completely extinguished by Ran Jin’s cold, icy sentence.

Every expression on Chi Yu’s face froze; her eyes looked soul-less, and her fingers twitched as her grip loosened. Ran Jin broke free immediately, sat up from beneath her, pushed the door open, and stepped out of the car.

The moment she turned her back to Chi Yu, Ran Jin bit down hard on the inside of her lip. The taste of blood and sharp pain helped her suppress the uncontrollable trembling and the urge to cry.

I can’t, I must not. It’s not the time. Nothing has settled yet.

Ran Jin told herself in her heart: You don’t deserve it either.

Taking a deep breath and forcing the emotions out of her heart, Ran Jin’s voice was very low and raspy, as if grinding against gravel:

“Let’s go…”

Chi Yu’s eyes felt dry and painful from the tears she had forced back; her entire world turned white and swayed. She looked at Ran Jin’s silent, thin back as it merged into the gloom of the underground garage, looking as if she could vanish at any moment.

Chi Yu had rushed at Ran Jin with lethal thorns; Ran Jin didn’t care if she was pierced, but instead worried if Chi Yu’s thorns would hurt if they broke.

Chi Yu had once so firmly believed Ran Jin was the killer, but now she wasn’t so sure. She had also been so certain that she would exploit Ran Jin’s feelings—whichever feelings they were. But now, she wasn’t so sure of that, either…