Chapter 34: Sister Zhi, Give Me a Chance

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“Zhizhi, are you not having any fun?”

“What would you like to play? I can keep you company.”

Dressed in a mascot costume, Ning Qier looked even more comical than usual. Yet his expression was exceptionally serious, as though whatever Yu Zhi said next would be an imperial decree he had to carry out.

“What is this supposed to be? An apology? President Ning is a very busy man. Spending time at an amusement park with a mere female celebrity like me seems rather beneath you. Why not find someone else? Your assistant Fang seems quite suitable.”

“Gentle features, a straight and graceful figure—and most importantly, no bizarre extended family to deal with. What do you think, President Ning?”

The confident smile at the corners of Ning Qier’s mouth collapsed.

Yu Zhi clearly understood his intentions. Saying such things now was nothing less than a veiled rejection.

“Teacher Yu, marrying me does not seem to have fulfilled the conditions you mentioned earlier either. In that case, whether we divorce or not is no longer particularly important.”

Someone had once told him that if he wanted to win his wife over, he needed thick skin, a thoughtful mind, and a smooth tongue…

For the time being, Ning Qier decided to trust that advice. He once again put on the expression of a cheerful puppy and edged closer to Yu Zhi.

“I was wrong…”

Yu Zhi clenched her teeth.

This was cheating…

Forcing herself to maintain a cold expression, she said, “Ning Qier, ours is a marriage of convenience. You have broken the rules.”

“Big sister, I was wrong! You said that people who were brave enough to admit their mistakes deserved a chance to correct them. Why will you not give me one?”

“Or, to put it another way, is it yourself you do not want to give that chance to?”

Bang…

The power to every attraction in the park was cut off. The lively atmosphere vanished in an instant, leaving the area around them so quiet that Yu Zhi could almost hear her own heartbeat.

“Sister Zhi, give me a chance.”

With one leg crossed over the other, she swung it lightly as she met Ning Qier’s gaze.

People usually said that thin lips meant a cold heart, while peach-blossom eyes signified affection.

But what was one to make of a man who possessed both?

The moonlight was unusually bright. She could see Ning Qier’s long lashes casting faint shadows across his face.

Yu Zhi could not predict the price she would pay if she gave her heart to Ning Qier. When the stakes between two people were so profoundly unequal, genuine love could not be born.

At best, it was cultivation.

At worst, charity.

She could not even accurately judge whether Ning Qier’s feelings for her were real or false.

According to the agreement they had made at the beginning, theirs could be described as nothing more than a physical relationship and a marriage in name. She had been a sharp blade in Ning Qier’s hands, meant to be wielded against others.

Now, however, the situation had been reversed.

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“Ning Qier, I do not know.”

He gave a soft laugh and reached out to flick her forehead.

Yu Zhi winced. The truth she had hidden beneath layer upon layer of defenses showed itself for a moment.

Ning Qier was already deeply comforted by an answer that was barely an answer at all. At least she had not brushed him off or ignored his wishes as she once had.

“Follow the road ahead. Assistant Fang is waiting to take you home.”

Yu Zhi looked up in surprise. “You are not coming with me?”

“Everyone knows I came here with Wen Siwan. I have to leave with her as well. Assistant Fang is driving tonight. Go home and get some rest. Tomorrow will be the real battle.”

Yu Zhi understood at once. The warning before the operation had already been delivered. What they needed now was discretion.

Still, not having to remain with him suited her perfectly.

After watching Yu Zhi disappear into the distance, Ning Qier remained where he was and made a phone call.

Three minutes later, every road Yu Zhi had walked along was illuminated.

Her mood might have been even better if Assistant Fang had not been waiting at the end of it all with a bouquet of flowers.

“Miss Yu, President Ning has finished negotiating with the director. If there is nothing you need to go back and retrieve, we can head directly to the old residence.”

Yu Zhi nodded without expression. Assistant Fang handled matters reliably; there was little she needed to worry about.

She took out the phone Ning Qier had handed her before they parted and went through the messages from her contacts one by one.

During the latter part of the show’s production, Jiang Weicheng had hardly sent her any messages. As a result, she knew very little about the chain of events that had followed.

With a light tap of her finger, she placed a call.

The moment it connected, she could almost see the commotion on the other end.

Fortunately, the noise lasted only an instant. Jiang Weicheng seemed to have moved somewhere quieter.

“Yu Zhi, come back on your own after the show ends. Little Yu is waiting for you at the airport.”

The moment he spoke, Yu Zhi could tell something was wrong.

“You are hiding something from me. Has President Ling made things difficult for you again?”

“What could he possibly do to me? A few words are enough to confuse him completely. I was only thinking that you do not seem to need me very much anymore.”

Yu Zhi was least adept at handling situations like this. And besides, her legal husband’s subordinate was sitting in the same car, listening to her bare her heart to another man.

The scene was almost too beautiful to imagine…

“What makes you say that?”

Jiang Weicheng broke down. “I truly believe I have done everything I could. I even… I even went to the person I least wanted to trouble, all for the sake of a minor role…”

“Yu Zhi, I think I am rather pathetic.”

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Hearing those words from Jiang Weicheng left Yu Zhi feeling heavy-hearted. Had she been wrong to sacrifice him in order to restrain Xia Shuang?

But then she thought better of it.

Would someone who targeted you stop simply because you showed weakness?

“Jiang Weicheng, go home now. Is brooding over life and mourning the passage of spring and autumn your true nature? Where did all that bold determination from a few days ago go? I am giving you a few days off. Go home and get some proper rest.”

Drunk, Jiang Weicheng had revealed his most vulnerable side.

Crouched by the roadside, he had finally displayed the innocence appropriate to someone his age. Yu Zhi’s heart softened.

Jiang Weicheng was someone she regarded almost like a younger brother.

…

Assistant Fang drove steadily. Pressing her knuckles against her temple, Yu Zhi considered the methods Ning Qier used to manipulate her. He must have known what had happened to Jiang Weicheng.

“Assistant Fang, what happened to my manager while I was filming the show? Do you know?”

Fang Zhixiao tightened both hands around the steering wheel. Ning’s instructions suddenly flashed through his mind.

“If Yu Zhi wants to know about Jiang Weicheng, you know what to say and what not to say.”

The look in Ning’s eyes when he had said those words was one Fang Zhixiao would never have understood correctly when he had first begun working for him.

“Miss Yu, Mr. Jiang suffered a number of setbacks while trying to secure resources for you, and his confidence took a bit of a blow. President Ning has already dealt with the matter. You need not worry too much.”

Fang Zhixiao’s answer had been carefully measured. The corners of Yu Zhi’s lips curved slightly as she let the matter pass.

“Thank you for your trouble, Assistant Fang.”

The people under Ning Qier lived by watching his expression. Over time, their ways of handling matters had come to resemble his own in every detail.

Jiang Weicheng was not someone who would drown his sorrows in alcohol over a few simple setbacks. Something must have happened—something he found impossible to accept.

It might even have had something to do with her.

That was likely why Ning Qier had instructed Assistant Fang to keep silent about it.

And as for what Ning Qier had done today, Yu Zhi would never believe that no one had guided him from behind the scenes.

Once she had put some distance between herself and him, her mind became exceptionally clear. She began analyzing his true intentions through his microexpressions and body language.

Assistant Fang caught sight of Yu Zhi’s expression in the rearview mirror and sighed inwardly.

No one understood her better than he did.

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