Chapter 94: Irreplaceability

In Gan Xun’s life, the variables had always been fixed.

Apart from her mixed bloodline, which had gotten her verbally bullied by kids her age when she was little, and apart from growing up to hit some people’s aesthetic preferences and receiving a bunch of love letters, she had always toed the line.

Life, studies, friends, pondering how to grow and become independent.

But every time Gan Hua showed up, the main thread of her life turned into a chaotic mess, as if she were forced to study topics related to her family of origin.

Fortunately, Gan Hua did not appear often, but every time he did, he brought some drama.

After being blocked, he had called Gan Xun three times. Their last conversation had been before the trip, right after she bought her plane tickets, when he called from a new number.

He started out polite before getting aggressive, trying to persuade her to have one more meal. Gan Xun had asked him if he was bankrupt and desperate to find someone to sell to.

In the end, they had parted on bad terms.

Now that variable had been replaced by Li Shutang.

Because every time she appeared, she also injected some extraordinary elements into Gan Xun’s ordinary life.

Zhao Chiyun said, “Shu Tang says she wants to find two chefs to come cook for us. Do you want that?”

Gan Xun was putting noodles into the pot. “I don’t like other people coming into our home.”

“You’re right.”

Zhao Chiyun had once lacked a strong sense of privacy and always had attendants coming and going with her, but after living alone with Gan Xun for about five months, she had gotten used to it.

Even when staying in a hotel and the housekeeping staff came in to clean, she did not feel entirely at ease—of course, that was also because Gan Xun refused to do the pretty thing.

After replying, not long afterward, while eating the noodles, Zhao Chiyun received another message.

She read it and casually set her phone down. “She says she has a vacant property nearby, two floors above and below. If we move there, the people taking care of us won’t go upstairs.”

Gan Xun stared in stunned silence, rendered speechless by the extravagance. “More generous than my own dad.”

Zhao Chiyun finally looked over, before she could express agreement or not, Gan Xun immediately added, “More generous than my dad. Of course, there’s no comparing to your Prince dad.”

Zhao Chiyun laughed. “What do you think?”

“Moving is a hassle, and our neighborhood has a subway right outside. It’s convenient enough.”

Gan Xun’s voice grew quieter as she spoke, lacking confidence, afraid that Zhao Chiyun would refute her on the spot.

But Zhao Chiyun nodded and typed a reply, as if copying Gan Xun’s homework verbatim.

After they finished eating, Zhao Chiyun picked up her mug with one hand and tapped the screen with the other, continuing to read. “She says she’ll arrange for people to move us, so we don’t have to worry about it. Afterward, she’ll arrange a driver to pick us up and drop us off at work every day.”

Gan Xun leaned back in her chair. “It feels like we’re about to be kept like pets.”

Zhao Chiyun neither confirmed nor denied it. She shot her a coquettish glance, as if to say this was nothing.

Although Gan Xun kept cracking jokes, from an objective standpoint, she knew these temptations were huge.

So she softly asked her, “Chiyun, about what she offered—do you want to accept?”

“You’re asking me?”

“Yeah, what’s your take?”

“Want the truth?” Zhao Chiyun raised a brow at her and took another sip of water.

Gan Xun hesitated.

She did not even know what she truly wanted: the truth, or sweet lies.

After thinking it over, she said, “The truth, then.”

She could always come up with another idea anyway.

Zhao Chiyun beat around the bush. “I’m afraid you’ll be upset if I say it.”

“I won’t.” Gan Xun pretended to be indifferent. “What’s there to be upset about? I can accept anything.”

Zhao Chiyun pressed her lips together and laid it out plainly. “I don’t want any of it.”

“Why?”

Zhao Chiyun smiled. “Would you let Cen Xiangrui keep you?”

She answered both of Gan Xun’s questions at once.

Why she did not want it, and why she was afraid Gan Xun would be unhappy.

The reason was straightforward, and Gan Xun felt a sense of relief.

Zhao Chiyun said, “After my confession failed, I started avoiding her, afraid she’d think I was being clingy and shameless. She didn’t get intimate with me anymore either, and we didn’t see each other for a long time. That day when she came to pick me up outside the city, I was surprised at first. But after we talked, I realized she was there on behalf of my Big Sister to talk me around.”

“Talk you around to what?”

Zhao Chiyun smiled faintly and mimicked the other woman’s tone, quoting classics pedantically. “To not be willful and spoiled. Marriage is no child’s play. It worries the elders and displeases the respected ones.”

Gan Xun was astonished and did not know what to say. Li Shutang was even more rational than she had imagined.

To say such things knowing full well that Zhao Chiyun liked her—that was beyond ordinary. No wonder Zhao Chiyun had been utterly heartbroken at the time.

“She’s older than you, right? Is she married?”

“Not yet, unfortunately. Both families were in mourning one after another, so it got delayed by several years.”

“Oh, that’s rough. Go on.”

Gan Xun thought to herself that it was ill-fated. Luckily, if Li Shutang had married early, Zhao Chiyun might have gotten over her.

“You can imagine how furious I was. I wanted to kick her out of the carriage. Not long after, the assassins came, and I had no time for anything else. Now those are all bygones. Stranded in a foreign land with no way home, even the deepest grudges can be set aside. She’s my only link to the past.”

As she said the last sentence, she looked at Gan Xun, her eyes frank and explanatory.

“I know.”

Gan Xun understood completely—precisely because she did, she felt a bit uneasy and sad.

Because of the other woman’s irreplaceability.

“So, after not seeing each other for so long, if she were to directly keep me now, of course I wouldn’t want that.”

Gan Xun breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, then we won’t accept.”

“It’s not set in stone. Suppose you want to skip struggling for ten or twenty years.” Zhao Chiyun leaned closer and winked. “This County Princess can bend with the wind and take these offerings.”

Gan Xun hurriedly waved her hands. “I don’t have the fate to enjoy that kind of blessing. Forget it.”

Before asking Zhao Chiyun if she wanted to accept Li Shutang’s arrangements, she had first asked herself: if Zhao Chiyun wanted to, would she agree?

Her answer was yes, she would respect and understand it.

People did not have to suffer unnecessarily, let alone Zhao Chiyun, who had once been clothed in silk and fed delicacies, getting whatever she wanted. Now there was someone who could provide for her materially—why would Gan Xun stand in the way?

It was just that Gan Xun would not go along with it.

Those arrangements were for “us,” but really only for Zhao Chiyun. Gan Xun was just along for the ride, and maybe Li Shutang had not even thought of including her—it was Zhao Chiyun who instinctively lumped her in.

Gan Xun raised her own cup and clinked it against Zhao Chiyun’s. The two toasted with water instead of wine and sealed the deal.

That afternoon, at the entrance to Cui Lan Book Garden, Zhao Chiyun saw Li Shutang standing outside the car waiting for her. As she approached, Li Shutang opened the car door for her.

“Please.”

Li Shutang was a bit thinner than in her memory, her hair neatly pinned up behind her head, looking shorter in volume. She wore a tailored gray suit, her face bearing a flawless smile.

Polite, respectful, reassuring.

Just like before.

After Zhao Chiyun sat down, she gently closed the door and got in on the other side.

Li Shutang’s car was spacious and comfortable. The driver was a woman, and the interior smelled nice.

There was a console between Zhao Chiyun and her. When she leaned over to ask if she wanted water, Zhao Chiyun smelled no trace of cigarette smoke. She could not imagine Li Shutang smoking.

Li Shutang asked softly, “How’s the job going now? Are you tired? If you don’t like it, you don’t have to force yourself there in the future. I’ll arrange something for you—how about being my assistant?”

Zhao Chiyun gave her a faint look, showing a hint of interest, but not much.

“Of course, it wouldn’t be a real assistant position where you’d run errands for me. You’d just be with me often, and the pay would be several times higher than now.”

With that, she changed her tune. “Forget pay. From now on, everything I have is yours.”

Her attitude was so deferential that Zhao Chiyun could not help thinking of Gan Xun’s exaggerated remark—”more generous than my own dad”—and nearly laughed.

“No need. My job now is great. I write, I draw, I play chess, and my friends take care of me. Nothing bothers me.”

“It’s still a mixed bag of people there. I’m afraid someone might harass you.”

“No worries. It’s a society governed by law.”

Li Shutang looked deeply at her and smiled gently, saying no more. She glanced at her wrist. “That watch looks great on you. There weren’t many styles in the store, but luckily I picked one that suits you.”

“Thank you. I like it too.”

She had not known the price at first, only gleaning from Gan Xun’s words that it was expensive, but she had not made a fuss. Li Shutang could afford to give it, so she could afford to wear it.

Today at the Book Garden, all her colleagues had complimented it without exception, so naturally she learned the price.

Even Cui Can, who had made good money this year, would not splurge on one.

Li Shutang had booked a serene courtyard-style restaurant. The place was reserved exclusively for them today, serving only their table. It was very pleasant.

Fine autumn weather, a table full of delicacies, incense burning in the brazier, and a qin player strumming melodies. It evoked memories of banquets at the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

The thoughtful arrangements pleased Zhao Chiyun, lifting her mood. When she spoke to Li Shutang, she was a bit more lively.

Zhao Chiyun recalled some gossip she had heard. “I heard you look a lot like the daughter of your adoptive parents who passed away. Is that true? Now that we have no worries about food or clothing, it’s a blessing in disguise.”

“Very much so. I saw the photos—it’s fate. I’m doing well, but it’s a shame you suffered.”

Zhao Chiyun said softly, “My suffering comes only from not being able to go home and see my family. You and I are the same in that regard. Everything else hardly counts as suffering. It’s also a blessing.”

Li Shutang did not refute her but skirted the issue to ask, “You’re the County Princess of Prince Qi’s Mansion—what an identity. The past is the past. Now that we’ve finally met again, since I have the ability and the heart to make your life more comfortable, why refuse it all?”

She asked softly, “Does Miss Gan not agree?”

“No, she’s easygoing. She’d agree with whatever I decide.”

“I think she’d weigh it carefully too, and have no reason to refuse. So why won’t you?”

Zhao Chiyun smiled ambiguously. “Why should I?”

Li Shutang had not expected the counterquestion. She was slightly shaken, set down her chopsticks, stood, and bowed to her. “County Princess, are you still resenting me? The past…”

“The past is the past, Shu Tang. No need for formalities. Do you think I’m that petty?”

Zhao Chiyun smiled as she straightened her up, saying lightly, “No more bowing. Everyone’s equal here now. I’m not a County Princess anymore. If people see President Li bowing to me like this, how would we explain it?”

“Shu Tang guarantees that you’ll always be my County Princess.”

“Alright, sit down and keep eating.”

After the meal, Li Shutang asked, “If you have no plans later, why not come to my place? It’s nearby. Doesn’t this qin music move you? I just acquired a new qin. I think you’d like it.”

Zhao Chiyun asked first, “Will your husband be home?”

Li Shutang’s smile froze for a moment, then returned to normal. “It’s my home. He’s got nothing to do with it.”

Zhao Chiyun nodded. “Alright, then I’ll make a call first and ask Gan Xun.”

“If she doesn’t agree, you won’t go?”

“If she doesn’t agree, I won’t go.”