Chi Yumo had always clearly remembered that alley entrance, that blue skirt, and the two small moles under and at the corner of the woman’s eye.
They perfectly overlapped with Shi Youwan.
Three years ago at the police station entrance, Shi Youwan had handed her a business card only after seeing the scar on her right wrist, right?
Later, Shi Youwan had asked about that scar several times, and during their reunion last month, she had been so concerned about the Other Shore Flower Tattoo. Wasn’t that the strongest proof?
Xiao Yi’s lies about her being a “substitute lover” fell apart on their own.
She was more inclined to believe that in the initial stage, Shi Youwan had treated her differently out of “pity” for her broken family.
After all, Shi Youwan had known from the start that she was the little girl she had met in Tong’an Town back then. When helping her with the household registration transfer, she must have investigated everything.
She might have even thoughtfully helped Grandma tamper with things, erasing their original household registration transfer records from Tong’an Town and her name change records even more thoroughly, to prevent her amnesiac self from one day accidentally learning a shocking truth at the police station that would waste Grandma’s efforts in moving around and changing her name.
Not “recognizing” her and discouraging her from entering the entertainment industry must have been for the same reasons as Grandma.
All of Shi Youwan’s kindness toward her without expecting anything in return was just sympathy for the unimaginable hardships she had suffered at such a young age, right?
That was what she thought before their reunion at the charity gala.
After the reunion, up until seeing Shi Youwan again tonight, Chi Yumo suddenly felt that Shi Youwan’s “I love you” held a bit more credibility.
If ten points was the maximum, she believed it eight points now. She believed that Shi Youwan had fallen for her over time, with feelings that arose unknowingly.
But…
With all 23 years of memories restored, now grown and strong, the one I want to protect, the one I can protect, is only you, Big Sis.
If we keep hiding it, keep drawing a clear line between us, then let me walk the road ahead alone.
…
On the first day in Lan Wei, while the other contestants adjusted to the time difference and rested, Chi Yumo followed the MENAS brand team for street photography on location.
She had taken a flight departing at 3 a.m. domestic time, flown for ten hours, and after landing and checking into the hotel, it was already early morning local time.
They shot five outfits in over three hours.
After the staff left, Chi Yumo found herself stranded in this unfamiliar city. Cars bustled on the streets, but she felt profoundly desolate.
“Miss Mo, after this sightseeing cart ride, we should head back.”
【Okay.】
Chi Yumo lowered her eyelashes, feeling a bit flustered and restless.
The city streets bustled with prosperity, and the midday sun was warm, but she felt like she was in a desert, with endless dust and profound isolation all around.
At lunchtime, they returned to the hotel and rejoined the competition team.
This “New Fashion International Supermodel Contest Finals” was an all-female model event, lasting two days divided into upper and lower halves, with 32 outstanding contestants from six countries.
The winner would gain international runway resources.
On the eve of the competition, Shen Muxi video-called Chi Yumo: Don’t think that just because I’m not there, you can slack off. Grab more resources to earn more money, got it?
Chi Yumo replied 【I’ll try】.
Shen Muxi immediately scolded her: Looking all listless like a drowned fish—are you suffering from jet lag or just unwilling? Chi Yumo, I’ve been tolerant enough with you. Show some fighting spirit; I don’t want to lose my investment.
After hanging up, Chi Yumo went to look in the mirror, pinched her cheeks, and tried to push up the corners of her mouth to see what her smile looked like.
But she seemed like a truly dead fish, unable to feel joy or happiness at all.
The more she tried to muster an expression, the more she tried to smile, the sadder she became.
After dozens of failed attempts, she collapsed dejectedly onto the bed, curled up her limbs, and reached for the inhibitor on the bedside table, injecting it into the swollen gland at the back of her neck.
Contestants usually roomed in pairs, but with five from the domestic team—an odd number—and Shen Muxi having specifically instructed the organizers that Mo Yu’s hotel expenses would be covered by the agency, she got a single room.
And in this room, the scent of coconut was already escaping, permeating the air.
An adult Alpha was all too familiar with this unbearable sensation—her Susceptible Period had returned.
Feeling a bit better, Chi Yumo undressed and went into the bathroom to rinse off with cold water to cool down. Just two more days—she only needed to endure two more days until the competition ended. She could do it.
Before heading out for the upper half on that day, Chi Yumo injected two doses of inhibitor and applied an Inhibitor Patch to the back of her neck, only removing it before going on stage.
The international stage was more than twice the size of the domestic one, with several thousand spectators in the audience, including people from countries around the world. She didn’t know that Shi Youwan and Qiao Ke were among them.
Even if she had known they were there, she wouldn’t have been able to see them.
Shi Youwan blended into the ordinary audience seats below the stage. Xiao Wei from MENAS was in the guest seats, so she couldn’t show herself.
The competition format and rules were largely the same as the domestic ones, but Chi Yumo on the international stage was different from her performances in the domestic rounds.
If she had been like a detached lone goose in the domestic contests, still retaining the instinct to fly south, then on the international stage, Chi Yumo was like a small boat adrift in the ocean…
A fine, dense pain spread from her heart through her veins, coursing through Shi Youwan’s entire body.
She wanted to rush onstage, pull her off, and tell her: Xiao Mo, don’t do things you don’t like. Stop, take a break. With me here, your path ahead and behind will never be a dead end.
But she also knew all too well that even if Xiao Mo was fighting bloody battles on a desperate path, she wouldn’t leave with her anymore.
As the event dragged to its end, Shi Youwan left the venue early. She had Zhang Kai send them back first, then had him drive to secretly monitor Chi Yumo’s movements.
She had barely sat down in the room when Shen Muxi’s call came in: “Xiao Wei called to tell me that Fifth Miss is also in Lan Wei. I’m counting on President Shi to look after Mo Yu for me. I’m just worried someone might have ulterior motives that won’t die.”
Lan Wei was Li Longfeng’s mother’s home country. Though Li Longfeng held Chinese nationality, she had lived there longer than in the domestic region.
Shi Youwan was meticulous and had made arrangements beforehand. If Li Longfeng dared to interfere this time or do anything untoward to Chi Yumo, she would make her pay a heavy price.
Sidestepping Shen Muxi’s topic, Shi Youwan asked, “Besides charity, what other benefits did you promise Xiao Mo?”
“What benefits?” Shen Muxi laughed casually. “Earning money to support herself is the greatest benefit to her. Words are cheap, but she has to eat, right…”
“Or put another way, what conditions did Xiao Mo bring up with you?”
“Tsk, plenty—food, drinks, clothes, supplies, lodging, even a translator…” Luckily they weren’t face-to-face, or she’d have been pierced like a sieve by Shi Youwan’s piercing gaze.
What massive karma did she owe Chi Yumo in her past life to be her punching bag in this one?
No choice— the kid she had picked up, she had to raise through thick and thin.
“Shen Muxi,” realizing her tone had grown heavy, Shi Youwan softened it. “Xiao Mo is very unhappy. Don’t force her to model anymore.”
“Force her? Did I hear that right?”
Shen Muxi laughed in genuine anger at the huge pot dumped on her from the sky. “President Shi, get this straight. Her current situation, her unhappiness—which part is my fault? You were at the finals and saw and heard it: Xiao Mo told the national audience that she was her light, infinitely grateful. Where’s the forcing? If you keep slapping on baseless labels and shifting blame, don’t blame me for burning bridges after crossing the river today.”
Shi Youwan was at a loss for words. Every word from Shen Muxi was right, and every word stabbed at her heart.
She was the chief culprit behind Xiao Mo’s unhappiness. She was the one who had forced Xiao Mo onto this path.
Whenever it came to Xiao Mo lately, her logic faltered, and she lost her composure, absurdly placing the blame on others. “Sorry, Muxi. That was my mistake. Please forgive me.”
After hanging up, Shi Youwan stood and gazed out at the desolate view beyond the window. To avoid attention, they hadn’t stayed in a hotel this trip but had rented a private residence.
In a quiet neighborhood amidst the bustle, less than twenty minutes’ drive from the organizers’ hotel.
“Qiao Ke.”
“Yes, President Shi.”
“Coordinate surveillance on Li Longfeng since she’s here. Don’t miss any movements regarding her these few days.”
“Yes.”
In the first-floor living room, Qiao Ke got to work.
Shi Youwan went upstairs to her room and shed the clothes that had picked up the chaotic scents from the venue.
Soaking quietly in the bathtub, she recalled fragments of her interactions with Chi Yumo since their reunion, trying to find any overlooked clues that deviated from the norm.
But the scattered memory shards sliced open her heart one by one, warm and cool blood spreading as sourness welled in her throat.
Xiao Mo.
Just thinking of her made Shi Youwan’s heart ache.
She didn’t soak long, put on a bathrobe, and went downstairs. Qiao Ke had already set out the delivered meals on the dining table.
“President Shi, eat something.” The mother hen’s worries never ended.
“Mm.” Over the past year or so, Shi Youwan’s appetite had been extremely poor; eating was a meaningless yet unavoidable chore for her. “You sit too.”
“Okay.”
Qiao Ke sat down accordingly, waiting for Shi Youwan to start first. The food was from a Chinese restaurant; the main dish was steamed fish—perhaps her boss would think of Xiao Mo’s love for fish and eat a few more bites?
As she hoped, Shi Youwan’s chopsticks reached for the steamed fish first.
She didn’t ask pointless questions like how the food tasted or if the fish was good. She simply reported progress calmly.
“Li Longfeng didn’t return to her usual residence; she’s staying at Miss Mo’s hotel, registered for tonight and tomorrow night. Bodyguards and sentries are in place. I spoke with Kai Ge too—the organizers’ cars took the contestants straight back to the hotel, nowhere else.”
Shi Youwan swallowed a small, tasteless piece of fish. “In another hour, have Zhang Kai return.”
Xiao Mo was too familiar with Zhang Kai.
Due to differing national conditions, their local bodyguards were more professional than domestic ones; protecting Xiao Mo should be foolproof.
…
The upper half advanced 15 people, with 2 of the 5 domestic contestants making it.
Chi Yumo was one of them.
After dinner with everyone in the hotel restaurant, Chi Yumo returned to her room early, minimizing contact with those Omegas and Alphas who couldn’t control their Pheromones after drinking.
The Inhibitor Patch she had applied after coming offstage was already soaked through after just over two hours, showing that the concentration of Pheromones in her body was steadily increasing, and her Susceptible Period symptoms were worsening—the most grueling days were probably imminent.
She had just thrown away the patch when someone knocked.
“Knock knock knock.”
Chi Yumo opened the door to find a MENAS team staff member standing there. “Miss Mo, Director Xiao requests you come over.”
【Call my assistant too.】
But the staff ignored the words Chi Yumo typed on her phone and hurried her along. “Just bring your tablet; it’s just a few reminders about tomorrow’s lower half stages and such. It won’t take much time. You’re MENAS’s brand ambassador now—your good results help our brand promotion too, so Director Xiao is graciously giving you pointers.”
Don’t dawdle and bite the hand that feeds you. You really think you’re something special. Those last two sentences were probably said inwardly.
To avoid trouble, Chi Yumo put on her ring, grabbed her tablet, and followed to Xiao Wei’s room.
But right after leaving, she messaged Chen Qiuxue: 【Snow Jie, I’m heading to Director Xiao’s room now; he said he has something to discuss.】
