Extra Chapter One: Failed Counterattack
Failed Counterattack (1)
***
Jiang Siyi’s work schedule was always different from others.
For example, right now, a few days before the first day of the Lunar New Year, she had to go to Beicheng to record a certain author’s gala.
Shen Shiwu didn’t come along.
The housekeeper had gone back to her hometown for the New Year, and someone had to stay home to take care of the rabbit.
The wind was cutting, and the chill was heavy.
After leaving the airport, a private car was already waiting. Getting into the car, Lin Yusheng glanced at her outfit. “You’re not worried about looking ugly in a coat anymore?”
Jiang Siyi was still the same as before, leaning back and falling asleep as soon as she sat down. Hearing this, she didn’t open her eyes and calmly said, “No choice, someone’s watching over me.”
At first glance, it sounded like a complaint.
But in reality…
Lin Yusheng, still single, snorted in annoyance.
“Alright, my little ancestor, you can sleep when we get back to the hotel. Let me first go over tomorrow’s schedule with you.” She enlarged the spreadsheet on her phone.
No response.
Turning her head, she saw that someone had already turned her face slightly and peacefully entered dreamland.
Over the years, Jiang Siyi’s habit of dozing off at any time had become the norm. Lin Yusheng understood the reason and was used to it—after all, she was ill, had insomnia at night, and it was normal to nap during the day.
But now, her illness had clearly improved significantly.
As she was wondering, Lin Yusheng suddenly caught sight of a few faint, bright red marks on her neck.
“…”
She gritted her teeth, contacted the makeup artist, and muttered under her breath, “You have a show tomorrow, could you have been a bit more restrained?”
The streets were decorated with lanterns.
The red shadows reflected in the alleys at night were extremely lively.
Jiang Siyi was slowly woken up by the noise.
She lifted her hand to pull back the curtain of the minivan, squinting to look outside. Most of the shops were closed, but there were still many people around.
She saw a couple holding sparklers, talking and laughing as they passed by.
The curtain fell again.
She slumped back in her seat.
Lin Yusheng saw that this Buddha had finally stirred and continued, “Arrive at seven tomorrow to get ready…”
The Buddha suddenly sighed.
Interrupted again, Lin Yusheng was full of resentment. “It’s New Year’s, why are you sighing?”
Jiang Siyi covered her face with her coat and mumbled, “I miss home.”
The timing of this trip was indeed tricky.
Lin Yusheng comforted her, “You’ll be free in two days, it won’t interfere with you spending New Year’s Eve with your girlfriend.”
Jiang Siyi was silent for a moment before lifting the coat and sighing again at the sky.
Lin Yusheng: “…”
Given her status in the industry, the show arranged for Jiang Siyi to stay in a presidential suite. With no one by her side, she fell asleep in loneliness. The next day, even before the alarm clock rang, she was staring at the ceiling wide awake.
Jiang Siyi was actually used to waking up early.
Recently, she had been forced by Shen Shiwu to correct her sleep schedule, except under special circumstances when she would sleep in until noon due to lack of energy. The rest of the time, there was no room for negotiation.
When Lin Yusheng sent a message asking her to open the door, Jiang Siyi was de-puffing her face. She was leisurely pacing around the room with a massager, looking relaxed.
“You’re always coming and going, sit down and rest for a while,” Lin Yusheng glanced at her neck and was speechless. After a few seconds of silence, Jiang Siyi became curious.
“Why aren’t you talking anymore?”
“When we get backstage later, don’t go anywhere else, go straight to the makeup room.”
“Oh…”
Jiang Siyi didn’t think much of it at first, until she sat in front of the mirror and saw the makeup artist dabbing powder on her neck…
Her face burned.
She had been so busy lately that she forgot about this. No wonder Lin Yusheng told her to rush straight to the makeup room. It seemed she was worried that covering the marks would take time and cause a delay in the recording.
“Huh, I haven’t put blush on you yet.” The makeup artist leaned in, noticed something, and then smiled, “Teacher, you don’t have to be embarrassed. I’ve been in this industry for years, I’ve seen everything.”
Jiang Siyi let out a dry laugh, her limbs a bit stiff.
At this moment, the door to the makeup room was slowly opened. Someone peeked inside, their movements a bit hesitant.
Thinking it was Lin Yusheng, Jiang Siyi was just about to ask her to buy a coffee to soothe her throat when she suddenly heard, “Teacher Jiang, long time no see.”
“Xiao Xuan?” Jiang Siyi saw who it was and smiled, “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve moved behind the scenes, I work here now.”
It’s not advisable to make large movements while getting makeup done. Jiang Siyi could only turn her eyeballs with difficulty. It was only when her contact lenses almost slipped out of place that she finally settled down.
After more than half an hour, the makeup was finally finished. The makeup artist had other work to do, so she left in a hurry.
Only the two of them remained in the room.
“Teacher Jiang, your girlfriend didn’t come with you?” Xiao Xuan asked.
Mentioning this, Jiang Siyi couldn’t help but recall the earlier scene. A faint blush appeared on her face again. She coughed a few times before saying, “No, she’s at home taking care of the pets.”
Once two married people start talking, it’s like there’s no end to it. Eventually, the conversation took a strange turn—
“Just a few days ago, I successfully counterattacked, I was feeling a little proud.”
The term “counterattack” was very unfamiliar to Jiang Siyi.
Trying to understand, she guessed, “You mean, you… to your partner…?”
Xiao Xuan nodded shyly.
If that’s the case, then couldn’t she also do the same to Shen Shiwu?
Xiao Xuan seemed to see through her thoughts, “If you’re thinking about counterattacking, remember to make sure you’re fully prepared, or else it’s easy to fail.”
Because of this, during the subsequent recording, Jiang Siyi almost spaced out. Fortunately, she was good at her job and quick to react, so she was able to adjust in time and quickly get rid of the indecent thoughts in her head.
During the break, she was hiding in the makeup room searching for study materials, her seriousness comparable to the final review before the college entrance exam.
In the hallway,
“What are you crouching here for? Trying to be like a rat?” She pushed open the door and was startled by the sneaky appearance of the girl, feeling a sense of déjà vu.
Jiang Siyi was startled by the sudden noise. She quickly turned off her phone, slowly stood up, and acted as if nothing had happened, “I was tired of sitting, so I squatted for a bit.”
Seeing the suspicious look in the other person’s eyes, she skillfully changed the subject, “Where’s my takeout? Did you get it?”
Lin Yusheng came in and placed the bag on the table, her gaze still fixed on her.
Jiang Siyi pretended to be calm and started eating her lunch.
“You weren’t having an affair, were you?” Lin Yusheng thought for a long time and finally came to this conclusion.
“…”
Jiang Siyi threw the takeout bag at her, “You’re spreading rumors, be careful I’ll sue you.”
“Come on,” Lin Yusheng said curiously, “then what were you hiding here for? Everyone else went to the lounge, only you’re being so special.”
“To touch up my makeup.”
“You need to crouch in a corner to touch up your makeup?”
Once Lin Yusheng’s curiosity was piqued, it was impossible to stop her. At this moment, Jiang Siyi regretted signing with her publishing house back then.
She smiled, “I wanted to.”
“Tch,” Lin Yusheng crossed her legs, “then I won’t ask next time.”
“…”
In the end, Jiang Siyi finally managed to shut her up with an extremely perfunctory answer. After the recording ended that day, she didn’t even wait for the private car, fearing that she would be questioned again.
After getting out of the taxi, the cold wind was biting.
She walked slowly, almost tying her scarf into a knot from the cold.
Realizing that she hadn’t had dinner yet, Jiang Siyi hesitated for a few seconds, thinking that she couldn’t go hungry no matter what, and turned to another street.
There weren’t many stalls, and only a few shops were still open.
Halfway through, she couldn’t stand the cold wind anymore and was about to go back to the hotel. But thinking about the long delivery time, Jiang Siyi finally entered a sushi restaurant.
The decor was exquisite, but perhaps due to the time, she was the only customer.
After ordering a set meal, Jiang Siyi, as usual, sat at a table by the window. It was actually quite lively outside. After all, Beicheng had many tourists, and even during the New Year, it was still crowded.
When she was abroad, she liked to find a random shop and sit by the window for an afternoon, watching the world go by. She still hadn’t changed this habit.
It was warm inside, and soon a layer of mist formed on the glass window.
The view was fragmented.
Jiang Siyi reached out and wiped away a part of it, making her vision clear again.
“Hello, this is the set meal you ordered, please enjoy.”
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted. Jiang Siyi retracted her hand and rubbed her damp fingertips together. After the waiter left, she took a bite of sushi, looked at the empty restaurant, and suddenly felt a little bored.
She was all alone.
She decided to send a message to Shen Shiwu.
“Are you busy? Take a look at the rabbit.”
The implication was that she wanted to video call.
The other person replied quickly, “I’m outside, busy with something.”
“Oh.”
Jiang Siyi unconsciously pouted. After replying with this word, she put her phone face down on the table and started eating.
The set meal came with a small portion of tonkotsu ramen. The broth was rich, and after drinking it, she felt warm all over. In addition, the heating in the restaurant was strong, so Jiang Siyi couldn’t help but take off her coat.
After finishing dinner, she didn’t rush to leave. Instead, she lay on the table and continued to look out the window.
The freshly wiped window had a layer of mist again.
Jiang Siyi reached out and, on a whim, wrote a few words on it—
“Hate busy people.”
Still feeling unsatisfied, she crossed out the last three words and changed them to a certain someone’s name.
“Hate Shen Shiwu.”
Picking up her phone and seeing that the other person hadn’t replied, Jiang Siyi almost gritted her teeth to pieces. She slumped back on the table, staring at the name, feeling increasingly angry.
She added stroke by stroke, “Just you wait, I’ll show you how I’ll ‘counter’ you.”
Snow fell silently.
Although it was a common sight in Beicheng, for Jiang Siyi, who was from the south, it was still a wonder.
However, due to the increase in snowfall in Qinan in recent years, she felt a little moved, but not much.
Judging by the time, it was about time to go back to the hotel to rest. Jiang Siyi was about to wipe all the words off the glass window—
when someone rapped on the window with their knuckles.
The crisp sound was like an echo of a heartbeat.
Jiang Siyi slowly blinked.
Shen Shiwu.
How could she suddenly appear here?
A surge of emotion pushed Jiang Siyi to want to run out of the store immediately, but her reason stopped her.
She had to get rid of the mess on the window first.
Click.
The woman stood in the snow, holding her phone in one hand, and took a picture of the “evidence.”
Jiang Siyi: “…”
Shen Shiwu admired the photo and her stunned expression, suppressed her smile, and began to decipher the words on the window.
Hate.
Shen Shiwu.
I’ll show you how I’ll ‘counter’ you.
When she saw the last sentence, she raised an eyebrow, and then she was tackled by a certain wishful-thinking rabbit.
Jiang Siyi hugged her, burying her head deeply, not lifting her face for the time being.
“‘Counter’ me?”
Hearing these two words, the girl seemed to have made up her mind, “Yes.”
She finally looked up, her voice full of coquettishness, “Let me try.”
Shen Shiwu brushed the snow from her hair.
Under the girl’s continuous pestering, the woman deliberately touched her cheek with her cold fingers.
“Sure,” she said meaningfully, “If you want to be on top of me, you can.”
“Let’s have some practical experience tonight.”
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