A Promise in a Thought 17

Chapter 17

Bo Muyu didn’t tell anyone about Old Master Jiang calling her aside, not even Jiang Chenyin.

When she returned to Jiang Chenyin’s room that day, Jiang Chenyin was in high spirits, telling her about her two nephews’ studies, the smile on her face warm and affectionate.

But the night Jiang Chenyin had been startled awake by a nightmare still lingered in Bo Muyu’s mind.

She wanted to understand the old stories Old Master Jiang had mentioned, but she knew even better that she could find out through any means, except by directly asking Jiang Chenyin.

But given the current situation, it was unlikely that anyone in the know would be willing to tell her.

Grandpa Jiang, Grandma Jiang, Uncle Zong’s family, Little Uncle’s family, and her own parents—no one would tell her.

So Bo Muyu endured it. In the eyes of the elders, she was so straightforward that she couldn’t speak tactfully.

But she had endured many things related to Jiang Chenyin. For example, the longing she had for Jiang Chenyin during those four years; what she had confided to her parents and Lin Chuwan was only a fraction of it. And also, all the doubts she had had these past few days.

After returning from the old Jiang residence, Jiang Chenyin and Bo Muyu went back to their busy work lives.

Jiang Chenyin needed to get back on her pre-departure work track as soon as possible, taking over all the responsibilities she was supposed to bear. Bo Muyu, on the other hand, needed to finish the script for God of War within a certain period. It was a key project for Hongsheng to produce next year, and she didn’t have much time.

Jiang Chenyin was so busy she had completely forgotten about Lan Yuxin. Before getting off work today, she received a call from Lan Yuxin, who said she was preparing to go to Venice and asked her out for a meal.

She thought for a moment, sent Bo Muyu a message saying she wouldn’t be home for dinner, and then went to meet Lan Yuxin.

But when she got there, she was surprised to see her two sisters-in-law there as well. The three women were gathered together, looking at something with great interest.

She put down her bag, took off her suit jacket, and glanced at the people at the table. “Eldest Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law, you…”

As soon as Jiang Chenyin spoke, she heard her second sister-in-law, Sun Ruowei, grab Lan Yuxin’s arm with some excitement. “Ah, Xiao Lan, get me a set of this makeup, will you? Send it to my house. I’ll get you a gold card for Junjun’s western restaurant in return.”

The corners of Lan Yuxin’s lips curved up, and she smiled. “Sister Wei, that’s too formal. And how could a gold card for Brother Jun’s restaurant be exchanged for just a set of makeup? I heard that even the hottest young stars can’t get one.”

Sun Ruowei feigned annoyance and chided her, “You say I’m being formal, but aren’t you being formal too? How can others compare to you?”

Xu Zijun smiled gently and said nothing.

Junjun, Jiang Gaojun.

Jiang Chenyin’s eyebrow twitched, and she cleared her throat lightly.

The three women looked up. Sun Ruowei and Lan Yuxin quickly sat back in their seats.

Xu Zijun smiled. “Liu’er, we were afraid you’d be hungry after work, so we didn’t wait for you to order. We ordered your favorite dishes for you in advance. They should be served soon.”

“Thank you, Eldest Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law,” Jiang Chenyin said with a gentle smile, pointedly not looking at Lan Yuxin.

Lan Yuxin let out a “hey” and, in a very cloying manner, reached out to slowly stroke Jiang Chenyin’s arm, her voice seductive. “Liu’er, why are you ignoring me? Are you treating me like air?”

Xu Zijun shook her head and smiled. Sun Ruowei couldn’t hold back her laughter.

Jiang Chenyin pulled Lan Yuxin’s hand down and said helplessly, “Speak properly. Don’t call me that.”

Lan Yuxin cleared her throat and returned to normal, raising an eyebrow. “Then what should I call you? Jiang Liu? Xiao Liu? Hey, Liuliu sounds better…” (T/N: “Liuliu Dashun” is a Chinese idiom meaning “everything is going smoothly,” associated with the number six (六, liù), which is considered lucky)

“Whatever you want.”

Liuliu Dashun, my foot. Jiang Chenyin just wanted to roll her eyes at her. Why did she, like Ye Xialan, love giving people nicknames?

“By the way, why did Eldest Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law decide to eat out today?”

Sun Ruowei smiled and looked at Lan Yuxin. “It was Xiao Lan. She said she’s preparing to go on a trip, and we haven’t seen each other in a long time, so we decided to have dinner and chat.”

Xu Zijun also nodded. “That’s right. So we called you to join us.”

Jiang Chenyin pressed her lips together and said, “Mmm.” Thinking of what Ye Xialan had told her to do, she couldn’t help but say, “I wonder what Muyu is having for dinner at home tonight. I hope she doesn’t order takeout since I’m not back.”

Xu Zijun said, “Why don’t you ask her? If she hasn’t eaten yet, we can ask her to join us.”

Jiang Chenyin took out her phone and only then saw a message from Bo Muyu that had been sent about ten minutes ago, saying that her company was having a gathering tonight, so she wouldn’t be eating at home either.

“No need, Eldest Sister-in-law. Muyu has a company gathering tonight.”

Seeing how concerned the sisters-in-law were about the child, Lan Yuxin couldn’t help but think of a few novels she had recently read.

It was strange. A few days ago, she had been bored and searched for the keyword “Jiang Chenyin” on Weibo. She found that although Jiang Chenyin wasn’t famous in the entertainment industry, she was extremely popular in the lesbian community.

The Weibo posts she found about Jiang Chenyin, besides some news and various confessions from her fans, were mostly fan fiction about her, and they were all lesbian stories.

They were basically love stories imagined by fans between Jiang Chenyin and other people. In those stories, Jiang Chenyin’s character was no different from her real self: a cool, mature woman, powerful, rich, influential, and beautiful.

But the people she had stories with had all sorts of characters: underage lolis, developing young girls, and cool, mature women with powerful backgrounds like herself. The only thing they all had in common was that they were all female.

That day, Lan Yuxin had read these novels until midnight, and still wanting more, she had even gone on to search for lesbian novels to read.

From that day on, she had discovered a whole new genre of novels for her: yuri novels.

Lan Yuxin shook her head, grabbed Xu Zijun’s wrist, and said mysteriously, “Sister Jun, Sister Wei, do you read novels? The really exciting kind.”

Xu Zijun and Sun Ruowei exchanged a look. Sun Ruowei clearly misunderstood, blinked, and asked meaningfully, “That kind?”

“No, no, no, not that kind,” Lan Yuxin cleared her throat, leaned in closer, glanced at Jiang Chenyin, and then whispered to the two of them, “Lesbian novels, they’re really good. I was up until midnight reading them a few days ago.”

Xu Zijun and Sun Ruowei almost couldn’t recover, saying in unison, “What kind of novels?”

Lan Yuxin simply said out loud, “Lesbian ones. About two women falling in love.”

Jiang Chenyin, who was drinking tea, choked on a mouthful of water. She patted her chest and asked with difficulty, “When did you develop this interest?”

“No… they’re really good.” Lan Yuxin opened her phone and found a few Jiang Chenyin fan fictions she had saved on Weibo. “I was originally reading fan fiction about Teacher Jiang. Her fans wrote about her and female celebrities doing this and that. They’re really good!”

Xu Zijun and Sun Ruowei frowned as they looked, and seeing a description of a kiss, they glanced awkwardly at Jiang Chenyin, who had leaned in.

The way it’s written, Liu’er is quite domineering, pinning someone against the wall and kissing them, even saying dirty things.

But as the two of them patiently read on, their brows gradually relaxed.

Sun Ruowei even patted Xu Zijun. “Eldest Sister-in-law, this seems pretty good.”

“You guys…”

Before Jiang Chenyin could finish, Sun Ruowei interrupted her, “Is there more? Is there more?”

“Yes, yes, yes, a lot more. There are also ones about Teacher Jiang and innocent young girls, like Xiaoyu…”

At the mention of Bo Muyu, Jiang Chenyin’s brow twitched, and she reminded them, “You can read them, but don’t talk about this with Muyu. This is not a joke to be made.”

The three of them were stunned for a moment and looked up at her.

When it came to matters concerning Bo Muyu, Jiang Chenyin was very serious. Since she was a child, she had treated Bo Muyu as if she were her own daughter. Whenever she saw something delicious or fun outside, she would always remember to buy it for the child.

The three of them understood, nodded in agreement, and only then did Jiang Chenyin relax.

While Jiang Chenyin was having dinner with her sisters-in-law and Lan Yuxin, Bo Muyu was in a private room at a hotel, watching her colleagues urge Su Man to drink as if they were on steroids.

This gathering was initiated by Su Man and was not a formal one, but rather a private get-together. Such gatherings easily attracted the attention of single men, and the most attractive target was naturally Su Man.

Although Su Man had made a name for herself and was certainly not a lightweight when it came to drinking, Bo Muyu still reminded her in a low voice, “President Su, drink less.”

Putting aside the fact that Bo Muyu was the only one who showed concern for her, just the fact that Bo Muyu was concerned for her was enough to warm Su Man’s smile considerably.

But there were many people urging her to drink. Just as Bo Muyu finished speaking, a male director sat down next to Su Man and said, “President Su, it’s a rare gathering. We have to drink to our heart’s content tonight.”

“Of course,” Su Man replied with a smile.

She turned to Bo Muyu, her voice low and tinged with a hint of drunkenness as she chuckled, “Alright, I’ll just have a few more drinks and then I’ll stop.”

Bo Muyu nodded and said no more, only frowning as she scanned the noisy private room.

Everyone was gathered in their own groups, drinking. She was the only one who was sober, or rather, the only one who hadn’t been pulled into a small circle.

She couldn’t leave just yet. She lowered her head and was about to take out her phone to look at it when she suddenly felt the light beside her dim, and a burst of laughter came over.

“Um, Screenwriter Bo…”

Bo Muyu turned her head and greeted him, “Director Yang.”

The man sitting next to her, holding a glass of wine, was tall and well-built. He had a center-parted short haircut that was very popular among young stars at the moment, which, combined with his handsome and defined features, made him very attractive.

Yang Qian put his wine glass on the table, his sunny smile carrying a hint of shyness. “It’s quite noisy in here. Want to go for a walk outside? It’s cool by the river. We can take a walk and aid our digestion.”

Bo Muyu glanced at her watch, thought for a moment, and said, “No, thank you.”

She was planning to leave. Jiang Chenyin didn’t have a habit of staying out late; she would go back after dinner.

Seeing her look at her watch, Yang Qian didn’t give up and asked again, “Are you leaving?”

“Mmm,” Bo Muyu nodded.

“Perfect, I was thinking of leaving too,” he continued with a smile. “I drove here. I can give you a ride back.”

“No need, I’ll go back by myself. Thank you,” Bo Muyu refused again. She wasn’t used to being close to people she wasn’t familiar with. She had only ridden in Su Man’s car a few times.

Her refusals all had clear reasons, she just didn’t voice them. But in the eyes of others, such repeated refusals were seen as ungrateful. Coupled with the lack of a smile on her face, a group of men watching from a distance were already whispering among themselves.

Yang Qian was deflated. He left her side and returned to his own small group.

Bo Muyu glanced at her watch again and was about to say goodbye to Su Man when she heard a few sentences that seemed to be about her.

“Bro, I’ve been hurt again. Sigh…”

“Dude, it’s not that I’m criticizing you, but what’s the point of chasing an ice queen like her? You might as well chase President Su. At least she gives you a smile.”

“Right? You’re bending over backwards to be nice to her, and she doesn’t even appreciate it.”

“What can I do? I’m used to being hurt.”

Bo Muyu froze on the spot.

“Hurt,” “ungrateful,” “used to being hurt.”

These evaluations of behaviors she was sure she had never committed entered her ears with stark clarity, striking down like a heavy hammer.