Chapter 24: Vicious Beauty (Part 1)

A minute later, a message came back.

Yang Siyi: The day after tomorrow morning, come to the recording studio on the third floor of Shengshi Media Company. I’m a bit busy right now, so I’m heading back to work.

Thank you, senior brother.

Lu Zhiyu typed out these four words along with an emoji. While waiting for a reply, she had felt a bit uneasy, afraid of being rejected, but upon seeing this message, her thumb relaxed slightly on the phone, and a smile floated onto her face.

A puff of hot steam brushed past the back of her head.

Lu Zhiyu sat at the desk and turned her head. Bai Xirou, wiping her damp long hair, walked into the bedroom. She wore a loose nightgown, with a few water droplets still trickling down her collarbone. She padded barefoot right through the center of Lu Zhiyu’s field of vision.

Lu Zhiyu wanted to stand up and make room, but Bai Xirou bent down with her flexible waist, reaching just millimeters above her head to pick up the laptop from the desk.

The faint, elegant scent of hair oil from Bai Xirou’s strands wafted into her nose, and the lowered strap of her nightgown vaguely revealed the pronounced curves beneath.

Lu Zhiyu’s gaze accidentally glanced there, and she felt a bit embarrassed. Her back stiffened as she stayed perfectly still. In her mind, she couldn’t help but mock her own inexplicable restraint. They were both girls; they had everything there was to have. What was there to be shy about? It wasn’t like she hadn’t soaked in public bathhouses before.

Bai Xirou pretended not to notice Lu Zhiyu’s unnaturalness. She picked up the laptop, sat cross-legged on the bed, and flipped open the screen. She felt a bit distracted and depressed as she thought.

This woman must be putting on an act for her. She clearly had strong feelings about her body, occasionally paying close attention to her emotional changes, yet she showed no reaction to her hints at all—like an old nun, unmoving.

Her fingertips tapped the keyboard. She was obviously captivated by her alluring post-bath scene, yet she pretended to be so prim and proper, always wearing a mask. Didn’t she find it exhausting?

Bai Xirou tsked inwardly, gripped the mouse, and opened her email. The top three were from her manager. She opened the script document and glanced at it, just as Lu Zhiyu stood up from the chair and sat down beside her on the empty spot on the hard bed, closing the distance.

Lu Zhiyu also sat cross-legged properly, holding the laptop, and said, “The day after tomorrow morning, we’ll go to Shengshi Media Company together. I’ve asked Senior Yang Siyi to give us some special training.”

The moment Bai Xirou heard Yang Siyi’s name, she felt a twinge of discomfort. Her tone cooled noticeably as she said, “Yang Siyi is the company’s hot commodity they’re heavily promoting. For you to even chat with him and get him to help you out—I think he’s got the hots for you.”

Lu Zhiyu made a depressed expression, but her tone remained leisurely and relaxed. “Don’t joke around. With my status, which brainless guy would dare come near me? Only an idiot would risk pulling whiskers off a tiger to like me.”

Bai Xirou silently added her own commentary behind her: Heterosexuals can’t get close, so she’s set on seducing the same sex instead. That’s pretty scummy too.

Lu Zhiyu let out a wistful sigh. “I owe Du Yueze tens of millions in debt, and breaking the contract would cost millions more. If I want to date someone, I have to pay off this debt first and get out from under his thumb.”

Bai Xirou had assumed Lu Zhiyu was just a kept woman, but hearing that she wasn’t even getting paid and was actually shelling out money herself left her stunned. She said in surprise, “Debt? How did you end up owing him that much? Did you go on a gambling spree or get into drugs?”

Lu Zhiyu spread her hands in a forlorn gesture and said, “Back then, my dad’s company was crushed by Du Yueze. It couldn’t make ends meet, the capital chain broke, and we kept borrowing until we owed the bank tens of millions. Then the family fell apart, leaving just me. Du Yueze paid off the debt for us, but forced me to sign an exploitative contract. I had no choice but to stick with him for now.”

Bai Xirou had always believed the entertainment news rumors—that Lu Zhiyu was a highly educated green tea bitch who, after her family’s downfall, hooked up with the powerful Du Yueze.

The tall, rich, and handsome guy met the poor and beautiful girl, and like he’d been drugged, he favored only her amid a sea of flowers, even if that poor beauty was a hopeless mess.

Back then, she thought the story between Lu Zhiyu and Du Yueze was a classic domineering CEO sweet romance that could be posted on a reality forum and mistaken for fiction, and for Lu Zhiyu, her experience was a successful modern-day palace intrigue drama of rising to power.

Now, it seemed she had it all wrong.

Bai Xirou looked at Lu Zhiyu like she was a jinxed fool. A debt close to a hundred million—how long would it take to pay off? Money came fast in the entertainment industry, but counting the days, she’d be old by the time it was cleared unless she actually blew up amid the cutthroat competition and jacked up her pay. Otherwise, these days of slaving away for nothing were endless.

No wonder Du Yueze played those kinky games in the car. Lu Zhiyu wasn’t some sweet novel heroine pampered at the top of the world; she was just a novelty toy Du Yueze could play with irresponsibly.

Lu Zhiyu didn’t hold back, voicing her true thoughts without hesitation. “He and I are blood enemies. Even if it’s old grudges from our predecessors, he destroyed my family and hurts others in my name. No matter what, he deserves to die!”

Bai Xirou couldn’t help but warn her, teasingly saying, “Watch what you say with words like that—walls have ears. And you’re way too naive. Don’t spout this rebellious stuff against the capitalist overlords anymore. If you’re blacklisted, you won’t even have scraps to eat.”

Lu Zhiyu looked at Bai Xirou seriously, her words carrying unwavering certainty. “The person by my side is you. You’re my only friend here. Right now, I trust only you.”

She felt the unique trust she had toward her, and at the same time, those clear, cold eyes with their purple-tinged pupils seemed to magnetically draw her attention.

The moment Bai Xirou’s gaze met Lu Zhiyu’s eyes, she felt her soul drift away unguarded. She blanked out for a moment, then laughed with genuine amusement. “Why so serious all of a sudden? Does that even make logical sense? What nonsense.”

She felt her tone was off and added arrogantly, “When talking to your own people from now on, cut that out. It’s awkward and cringey.”

Lu Zhiyu was stunned. She always minded her words, and this was the first time someone outright told her they felt uncomfortable listening to her. She didn’t know what was wrong with that last line—was it not sincere enough?

She didn’t bother thinking about it; she was too busy for that.

Lu Zhiyu lifted the covers and lay down inside, her head sinking into the soft pillow. She plugged in wireless earbuds to listen to music. When her gaze turned back to Bai Xirou, her eyes softened unconsciously. Talking to this girl wasn’t tiring—no beating around the bush, very straightforward. She didn’t have that overly obedient, pretentious act from their first meeting. Instead, Lu Zhiyu found her a bit cute…

Bai Xirou saw Lu Zhiyu casually burrow into the bed and grumbled, “You’re really something. You stole all the covers—what am I supposed to sleep under?”

Lu Zhiyu looked at Bai Xirou with a puzzled expression, removed one earbud, and said in confusion, “The blanket’s so big; it should cover two people fine. How is this me stealing it?”

“Who wants to lie here with you? What if you snore or have bad sleeping posture and throw your leg over me? It’ll ruin my sleep quality.”

Bai Xirou pulled an air-conditioned blanket from the cabinet and spread it out beside her, then slipped into it with a bit of resentment. Looking at the soft, fragrant body next to her made her heart itch. If they really slept together and she made a fool of herself, it’d be bad—and she’d get laughed at by the woman beside her who was so good at pretending.

Lu Zhiyu gave Bai Xirou an amused look and shot back, not too softly, “I think that’s you, isn’t it? Jumping straight to the full package.”

Bai Xirou had a hydrating sheet mask on her face and stared absentmindedly at the document on her laptop. With such a freshly bathed beauty right there, yet no flirtation at all—this was either extraordinary self-control or perverse abstinence.

She had underestimated Lu Zhiyu, a woman who disguised herself even in front of someone she liked. Her mind is truly terrifying.

Early the next morning, before the sky had fully lightened, Lu Zhiyu was woken by San Tong’s incessant barking. She glanced to the right side of the bed—the blanket was neatly folded into a tofu block. Bai Xirou had already left.

Lu Yuan had bought breakfast and was waiting at the door. When Lu Zhiyu opened it, her voice sounded urgent. “Cousin, something happened. Earlier, I went out with Sister Xirou to eat noodles at the noodle shop, and that rich second-gen guy named Yan forcibly took her away.”

Lu Zhiyu, just woken up, had her mind spin into high gear. Yan Jing? The glasses guy who groped her in the dressing room immediately came to mind. He was a weakling—how could he beat Bai Xirou? The right script should be her pinning him down and beating him.

After thinking it over, she asked Lu Yuan, “Did he have a lot of people with him? Did Yan Jing talk to Bai Xirou? Was she coerced into going?”

Lu Yuan’s little face was pale with anxiety. She handed two photos to Lu Zhiyu and said nervously, “Sister Xirou only agreed to go with that Yan guy after seeing this photo.”

Lu Zhiyu took the photos from Lu Yuan and examined them. One was a police academy graduation photo, and the other was a shot from last night of Officer Han kissing Bai Xirou intimately in the bar.

No doubt, Bai Xirou had been caught by Yan Jing. She had hidden a lot from her yesterday—those secrets were clearly important to her.

Lu Zhiyu lit a candle from the kitchen and burned the two photos to ash in a copper tray by the door. Silently, she spent some Resentment Value in the system interface to check Han Jing’s profile. It was nothing but the playboy history of this so-called nightclub prince. The man had a perverted fetish: he liked playing with pregnant women and had a severe Oedipus complex. He often frequented a high-end nightclub called pink.

Now that this man knew Bai Xirou’s background, she would be pinned down everywhere, with her identity at constant risk of exposure.

Since he was scum, there was no need to be polite.

A cold glint flashed in her eyes as she snapped the candle in half with force, letting it melt into the rising flames.

Lu Zhiyu made up her mind and said to Lu Yuan, “Call Du Yueze. Tell him I’m jealous and drowning my sorrows in alcohol, mixing with a bunch of guys.”

Lu Yuan’s face changed, and she hesitated. “Sis, that doesn’t seem right. If Brother Yueze finds out you lied, he’ll be even angrier.”

Lu Zhiyu slipped on last night’s high heels and a sexy deep-red French off-shoulder dress. With a composed smile, she said, “Where’s the lie? I plan to go unwind. The pressure’s been too much lately. With his darling Qin Yue blocking my path ahead and mentor Ruan Suhuai looking down on me behind, how can I not be mad when I love him so much?”