Chapter 27: Absolutely Not, Absolutely Not – Truly Troubling
Dong Ling didn’t stay at Song Mingzhi’s house for long. After finishing her oatmeal, she said goodbye to Song Mingzhi and left.
Before leaving, she didn’t forget to take the test results from the guest room. Last night, on the way back, she had been thinking about completing the task, so she hadn’t looked at them.
On the way back, Dong Ling flipped through a page, saw a bunch of technical terms like hemoglobin, glanced at the results, found that there was nothing wrong, and didn’t read further, putting the report aside.
“Someone sent you a gift just now, I asked Auntie Liu to put it in your room.”
Dong Tang happened to be coming downstairs and informed his sister, who had just entered.
“Okay, what did you guys get me?”
Dong Ling asked with a smile. Exchanging gifts had been a family tradition for many years, adding a touch of romance and ritual to life.
“Mom, Dad, and mine are all in your room, go unpack them yourself.”
Dong Ling happily responded and went upstairs, passing by her brother.
Dong Tang casually asked: “By the way, how’s your movie going? Is everything going smoothly?”
“Of course, very smoothly.”
Thinking of Song Mingzhi, Dong Ling’s smile became even brighter.
Dong Ling returned to her room and saw the pile of gifts.
She put her bag aside, sat cross-legged on the carpet, and started unpacking. Her mother gave her a necklace, her father gave her a hand-painted music score, her brother gave her a wooden plaque symbolizing safety, and the last one looked like a plush toy.
When Dong Ling unwrapped it and saw its shape, her first reaction was delight, then she frowned.
It was a limited edition collaboration plush toy from two of her favorite IPs, which was no longer available. She had asked her friends abroad to try and buy it last year, but they couldn’t get it.
This gift was very thoughtful, perfectly catering to her preferences.
Dong Ling had a hunch about why Xuan Du called earlier. She opened her door and looked downstairs.
“Brother, was this sent by Xuan Du?”
Dong Tang said from downstairs: “I don’t know, the person who delivered it didn’t leave a name. Was it from her?”
Dong Ling replied and returned to her room.
Not many people knew about this hobby of hers, only one.
Dong Ling found the online forum for this particular fandom, took a picture of the plush toy, uploaded it, and listed it for sale.
Many people wanted this toy. The link Dong Ling posted was immediately claimed.
Dong Ling looked at the address and called Auntie Liu, asking her to send the plush toy over later.
Looking at the selling price, Dong Ling added some money to round it up and donated it all to children in mountainous areas.
After doing all this, Dong Ling’s expression became somewhat vacant.
She and Xuan Du were truly very good friends once, so the more she had hoped for her to be well, the more disappointed she was now.
The current mayor had risen through the ranks from deputy mayor. His wife wasn’t his first wife, his first wife had passed away decades ago, this was his second wife.
Xuan Du was the third child in the family. The mayor had four children, three with his first wife, and the youngest with his current wife.
Everyone envied Xuan Du’s good fortune, her stepmother treating her like her own daughter, even doting on and protecting her more than her own biological child.
In contrast, the first and second children, also born to the first wife, weren’t so lucky.
Although the eldest entered politics, he didn’t rely on his father’s connections to make a name for himself in Beihai, but instead went to a remote county in another province to be a minor official, working hard every day for poverty alleviation, basically cutting ties with his family.
The second child developed a mental illness and was recuperating at their maternal grandparents’ home.
Those who were close to Xuan Du basically knew that her childhood wasn’t happy, and her suspicious and aggressive personality stemmed from this.
So everyone speculated that her stepmother was only treating her well for appearances, and secretly indulged all of Xuan Du’s actions.
The truth was completely the opposite.
Xuan Du’s traumatic childhood was precisely when her first mother was still alive.
Few people knew that Xuan Du’s stepmother was actually her biological mother.
When Xuan Du was conceived by his mistress, it happened to be a crucial period for the mayor’s promotion to deputy mayor. The news was leaked, and to prevent this scandal from being used by political opponents to sabotage his career, the first wife was declared “pregnant” and went to another province to “recuperate” for a while, returning with Xuan Du.
Xuan Du took her mother’s surname, this was the first wife’s request.
Her name, “Du,” meaning “to cross/to ferry,” was a hope that the mayor could overcome that difficult period.
Xuan Du grew up experiencing emotional abuse. When Dong Ling met her, she was timid and cowardly, afraid to speak up when bullied. Dong Ling happened to witness it and decided to protect her.
But her protection was limited, she was young at the time and could only help within her means.
After the first wife passed away, to avoid criticism, the current wife entered the family half a year later and showered her daughter, whom she felt guilty towards, with love and indulged her every whim.
Suddenly receiving what she had been denied before, Xuan Du’s temper became strange. She became a completely different person from before, to prevent those who met her later from seeing her past.
Dong Ling didn’t want her to become extreme, didn’t want her future to be filled with self-destruction and depravity, but it was useless.
Indulgence, hedonism, and bullying others seemed to become Xuan Du’s way of venting. Her mother wanted to help her change her name, to take her father’s surname, hoping she could have a new life, but Xuan Du refused.
She almost masochistically used this name to remember the past, using the power she enjoyed to do reckless things.
Dong Ling really disliked her like this. She tried her best to stop her, but she couldn’t stop someone who was determined to self-destruct.
At some point, Xuan Du started taking drugs.
When Dong Ling found out, she subconsciously denied it, then fearfully begged Dong Ling not to ignore her, even resorting to extreme self-harm.
Dong Ling had seen her ugliest and most unbearable side, and initially believed she would change, it was later that she realized she wouldn’t.
Ah Sheng was Xuan Du’s older sister, the second child of the first wife. They maintained a superficial peace, but secretly antagonized each other.
Because Xuan Du and she were good friends, Ah Sheng tried to join them and compete for her affection. No matter what kind of relationship, it couldn’t be forced. Dong Ling kept her distance from Ah Sheng, trying to prevent conflicts between them. Just like she couldn’t stop many things, she had no right to interfere in their relationship.
After their mother’s death, the conflict between Ah Sheng and Xuan Du came to the surface. Ah Sheng believed her mother’s early death was because Xuan Du was an eyesore, causing her mother to die of depression.
Dong Ling didn’t know what she did, but the end result was that Ah Sheng was locked in a dark room by Xuan Du for two days. When she was carried out, she was barely alive, and later suffered a mental breakdown.
Dong Ling didn’t intend to blame Xuan Du for Ah Sheng, after all, she didn’t fully understand the suffering she had endured, and couldn’t simply preach kindness, but she still found it terrifying.
The final straw was when Xuan Du tried to get her addicted to drugs.
Xuan Du wanted her to become the same as her, so they would never be apart.
Her ultimate friendship was rotten meat hidden under decaying leaves, filled with malice and depraved madness.
Dong Ling called the police.
Those who bullied Xuan Du were wrong, but what was wrong with Chen Shang Shang and those who were bullied by Xuan Du?
Dong Ling supported revenge against bullies, but she disliked those who transferred their suffering onto others after experiencing hardship.
She was attracted to self-respecting, resilient, and strong souls.
So far, among all the people she had interacted with, the one who made her feel most comfortable was Song Mingzhi.
She was elegant but not condescending, aloof but not arrogant, very good at handling interpersonal relationships, always making people feel respected and at ease.
Although she was sometimes a bit mischievous, it was genuine. No one was perfect, only gods were perfect, and gods had no humanity.
Dong Ling suddenly became curious about Song Mingzhi’s past, curious about what kind of parents raised such an excellent child, it must have been a very loving and warm environment.
021 mercilessly shattered her illusion: [No, it wasn’t.]
021: [Although my database was damaged and the information is incomplete, based on my experience as a seasoned domineering CEO system, 30% of female leads are ordinary, optimistic, and resilient, 30% are switched-at-birth heiresses, 30% are kept women or stand-ins, and 10% have other complex backgrounds.]
[Like lovers who turn out to be siblings, tragic beauties, and so on.]
Dong Ling touched her chin and said: [So you mean, those with relatively happy families are usually the ordinary, optimistic type? Although many of them are orphans, Song Mingzhi clearly isn’t that type, so she might be a switched-at-birth heiress?]
021 nodded: [Most likely, or possibly one of the 30% kept women or stand-ins, without a very complex background.]
Dong Ling speculated for a while, then decided to curse the system.
This useless thing, not only could it not unlock future plot spoilers, it didn’t even know the female lead’s past, it was truly as useless as it could be.
021 had become used to being cursed, it simply ignored her and frantically pressed the button to contact headquarters.
Headquarters, please contact it soon, these days were truly unbearable. If it didn’t leave soon, it would become the first system in history to be cursed into oblivion by its host.
Dong Ling thought about it for a while and put it out of her mind. Things that couldn’t be answered immediately could be set aside for later investigation.
She watched Auntie Liu take the plush toy away to be shipped, dealt with the documents Yuki sent her, and went downstairs for dinner when it was time.
At the dinner table, her parents talked about the Wen family, sighing with emotion.
“I saw Old Wen, he’s gone completely gray. He had already delegated his authority and was planning to travel the world with his wife, who would have thought such a thing would happen, and he had to go back and take charge again. That Wen Han kid is so outstanding, his business is doing so well, he had such a bright future, what a pity.”
Dong Ling nodded in agreement, yes, it was a pity.
And if Wen Han didn’t wake up soon, his almost-certain wife would become even more uncertain.
After sympathizing with her good brother for a while, Dong Ling started to think about what gift to give her good brother’s destined wife.
Before going to the party to rescue Chen Shang Shang, she had been planning to give Song Mingzhi a New Year’s gift, but in the end, Chen Shang Shang was fine, but she was the one who fell, and even caused a rather awkward incident.
Song Mingzhi’s flight back to the film crew was in the evening, the same flight as Dong Ling’s.
“Here, I forgot to give you your New Year’s gift yesterday. It’s not very expensive, but it’s meaningful. Wishing you good luck and safety.”
Dong Ling gave her a small plush toy pendant for her phone. The cute rabbit was holding a small wooden plaque engraved with the word “safety,” looking very charming.
This was the most suitable gift she could find after spending the entire afternoon searching. She didn’t wish Song Mingzhi great wealth, after all, she was the one supporting her. As long as she had food to eat, Song Mingzhi definitely wouldn’t starve. Safety and peace were the most important.
“Thank you.” Song Mingzhi accepted the gift with some surprise, then said a little shyly, “Sorry, I forgot to prepare a gift for you.”
“It’s okay, your presence is the best gift for me.”
Dong Ling said with a smile. She wasn’t flirting, but just habitually sweet-talking.
Dong Ling always liked to give her friends confidence and encouragement. She felt that praising others brought joy, and in many cases, could ease the other person’s embarrassment and guilt.
Mutual understanding and respect created a positive cycle in relationships.
In a way, it was because of Xuan Du’s negativity that she appreciated Song Mingzhi’s personality even more.
Hearing this, Song Mingzhi smiled shyly, took a sip of water from her cup as if to hide her embarrassment, and then choked, coughing slightly.
When Dong Ling looked at her with concern, she quickly waved her hand.
“It’s okay, I’m just happy to be praised.”
Song Mingzhi calmed herself down and hid her embarrassment. Dong Ling’s sudden straightforwardness caught her off guard.
To avoid further awkwardness, Song Mingzhi simply focused on the book in front of her, pretending to be engrossed in reading.
The plane was still preparing for takeoff, Dong Ling was playing with her phone when she saw the notification that her friend request had been accepted.
She had sent the request in the early hours of the morning, and Chen Fei only replied in the evening, she had almost forgotten about it.
Chen Fei started apologizing, her attitude seemed quite sincere.
[Chen Fei]: Are you okay?
[Chen Fei]: I’m sorry, I thought you understood my intentions, Chen Shang Shang told me you didn’t know.
[Chen Fei]: I did add some stimulants to the drink, don’t worry, it’s nothing harmful, similar to Viagra for men, it just makes you more… excited.
[Chen Fei]: Did you have fun last night?
Dong Ling slowly typed a question mark.
Just female Viagra???
She was out of her mind yesterday, almost gnawing on Song Mingzhi!
[Chen Fei]: I’m not lying, if it was a strong drug, I wouldn’t dare give it to you, you didn’t do anything, did you?
[Dong Ling]: I had an allergic reaction all over my body and went straight to the hospital, be careful next time.
Dong Ling made up an excuse. She didn’t think Chen Fei would dare lie to her, so yesterday was really just…
Then why was her reaction so…?
Dong Ling stealthily glanced at Song Mingzhi. Fortunately, Song Mingzhi didn’t know the truth, otherwise she would definitely think she was taking advantage of the situation and being a hooligan.
After all, directly admitting to clinging to someone like that, even if the other person was straight, would arouse suspicion.
Thank goodness.
Song Mingzhi, who was reading, let her mind wander, the girl was peeking at her again.
She liked her so much, but she hadn’t figured out how to respond yet, truly troubling.
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