After Appearing On A Marriage Reality Show, The Top Star Cried and Says She Doesn't Want a Divorce - Chapter 51

Acen, dressed in her finest, arrived at The Green Veranda.

The hostess at the reception desk noticed her refined demeanor, but also observed that her designer outfit was several years out of date.

The person who had invited Acen to dinner had already reserved a private room.

As soon as Acen entered, her host rushed over and pulled out a chair for her with exaggerated politeness.

But Acen walked straight over and sat down at another chair.

The host quietly withdrew.

“Acen, you’ve lost so much weight since we last saw each other.”

“Aunt Zhang, if you have something to say, just say it. If not, I need to leave soon. I have work later.”

“Then I’ll be blunt. Your parents were kind to me when they were alive, and now that they’re gone, I feel sorry for you.”

“Sorry for me?” Acen scoffed.

“I said I feel sorry for you,” Aunt Zhang repeated, standing up and walking behind Acen. She leaned down and sniffed the air around Acen.

The gesture made Acen’s hair stand on end.

“Don’t you realize you smell like a basement?”

“I don’t live in a basement. You must be disappointed.”

“The smell of poverty can’t be disguised.” Aunt Zhang pressed a bank card into the back of Acen’s hand, ignoring her protests.

“This card has four million. If you’re willing…”

Before she could finish, Acen let out a cold laugh, stood up, and splashed a cup of hot tea right in Aunt Zhang’s face.

The water wasn’t scalding, but it was enough to make Aunt Zhang furious and expose her true nature.

“Do you think you’re some kind of big shot?” Acen snapped. “It’s true that I’m the only one left in my family now, but can’t you at least act like an elder? You watched me grow up—aren’t you disgusted with yourself?”

“I have money, you need it. We both get what we want,” Aunt Zhang said, unfazed. “Besides, young girls throw themselves at me all the time. You’re lucky I even deign to take you.”

“Here’s your ‘blessing.’ Do you want it?”

“You’ve really pissed me off today. You know I can make sure you can’t get a job anywhere with a single phone call.”

“Go ahead, then!”

“What do you have to fight me with?”

“I know Li Tang! Her wife will help me! Go ahead and try! Worst comes to worst, we’ll both go down. I’ll expose all the ugly things you’ve done over the years!”

“You claim to know Li Tang, but you had to make up this ridiculous lie about knowing her wife. Don’t you find that pathetic?”

Aunt Zhang was a veteran in the industry, and she and Li Tang belonged to two rival camps that couldn’t stand each other.

Li Tang was a naturally gifted singer, which meant she often acted against her own interests and refused to compromise on anything.

Aunt Zhang hadn’t received much education. She’d stumbled into success by being in the right place at the right time, and she despised people who were aloof and self-righteous.

Aunt Zhang had never considered collaborating with Li Tang. She’d signed several artists she thought were similar to Li Tang, pouring massive resources into their careers, only to see them all fail completely, like shooting an arrow into the ground and hitting the other side of the world.

Every time Aunt Zhang saw Li Tang’s achievements, her teeth itched with envy. For the sake of profit, she’d even considered befriending Li Tang, but she’d learned that Li Tang had no interests outside of music. She occasionally bought jade and jewelry, but Aunt Zhang had never seen her wear any of it.

Recently, Li Tang publicly revealed her marriage, and Aunt Zhang finally understood why Li Tang had been so generous when buying jade and jewelry.

Someone like Li Tang couldn’t fake that kind of devotion. Her love for her wife burned so fiercely that it could consume her entire life.

That’s why Aunt Zhang felt a twinge of fear when Acen spoke those words. She could only watch resentfully as Acen walked away.

What Acen hadn’t anticipated was that her words would reach Yu Zhen’s ears that very day, as Yu Zhen happened to be at The Green Veranda.

“Find this person,” Yu Zhen said, pointing at Acen’s face on the surveillance footage.

*******

Li Tang and Jiang Zhou arrived at the meeting place first.

The group sat together, sharing their travel experiences.

“Just now, as we passed that section of the road, the aroma of the food practically jumped into my nose! It was so fragrant and spicy—it made my mouth water.”

Zhou Qiutong teased, “Didn’t we just eat on the plane? Are you already hungry again? What happened to your diet?”

“Am I fat?”

“No, you’re not.”

“Good,” Jiang Banxia said, giving Zhou Qiutong a kiss. “Speaking of which, Changsha has so many delicious foods. We’re only here for two days, and I’m trying to figure out how many extra stomachs I need to try everything.”

They had already asked why Yan Mengyi wasn’t traveling with them on the plane, so Jiang Zhou tactfully avoided bringing it up again in front of the camera.

Jiang Banxia opened a packet of snacks and started eating, then offered some to Li Tang.

Li Tang shook her head, declining the offer. She didn’t like snacks; she always found their flavors too intense.

“Hey, someone as skinny as you can’t possibly understand my struggles,” Jiang Banxia said, dumping more than half the small bag of nuts into her mouth. “I could eat even when I’m not hungry.” She chewed thoughtfully. “Although, these aren’t really my favorite flavors…”

But then Jiang Banxia quickly popped the remaining half of the snack into her mouth.

Zhou Qiutong broke out in a cold sweat, mentally calculating the calorie count of the snack. Of course, she believed her wife’s happiness came first, and she loved Jiang Banxia no matter what she looked like. But as Jiang Banxia’s designated nutritionist, she still needed to plan what meals to prepare when they got home to help her wife quickly lose weight. Otherwise, Jiang Banxia would let out another startled cry when she stepped on the scale.

Soon, the sound of a rolling suitcase echoed down the hallway, gradually approaching their room.

“Who could that be?” Jiang Banxia wondered aloud, her curiosity piqued.

Li Tang, who had been absentmindedly drifting off, perked up at the sound and was the first to stand and go to the door to greet the newcomer.

“It couldn’t be Hua Jingyan, could it?” Jiang Banxia blurted out, speaking without thinking as she munched on her snack.

“It could also be Xiao Yi,” Zhou Qiutong calmly covered for her wife, smoothing over the awkward remark.

Li Tang, tall and long-legged, reached the door in just a few steps. She paused for a moment before opening it and peering out.

Jin Youshu, dragging her suitcase, was startled to see someone peeking out to look at her. Upon closer inspection, it was Li Tang.

And what was with the eagerness in Li Tang’s eyes and the smile on her face?

Was she seeing things?

How could such an expression appear on someone as aloof as Li Tang?

“Uh… you’re here,” Li Tang said, somewhat disappointed to see it was Jin Youshu. She greeted her awkwardly.

Jin Youshu, unaccustomed to such warmth from Li Tang, was startled. She forced out a stiff smile from between her teeth. “Morning.”

Jiang Banxia, seeing it was Jin Youshu, offered her some snacks while curiously peering behind her. “You and Little Pei are usually inseparable. Where is she?”

Jin Youshu looked up, facing her senior’s question with a silent smile.

Only then did everyone notice the dark circles under Jin Youshu’s eyes.

She and Pei Nalian had always been short sleepers. Even going a day or two without sleep shouldn’t have left such dark circles.

She looked suddenly aged and haggard, the exhaustion impossible to conceal even with makeup.

“She… I don’t know…” Jin Youshu mumbled indistinctly, as if she hadn’t expected anyone to understand.

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Banxia asked, having missed yesterday’s trending news. She’d been holed up at home, sleeping it off. “Did you two have a fight?”

The crew filming the scene looked awkward enough to dig their toes into the ground. This was perfect footage for editing, but it might not be so friendly to Jin Youshu, the person involved.

Jiang Banxia’s in-your-face questioning felt like a knife twisting in Jin Youshu’s heart.

Jin Youshu’s gaze swept the room. “Why isn’t Xiao Yi here?”

Now it was Li Tang’s turn to fall silent.

Only after no one pressed her about Pei Nalian did Jin Youshu finally catch her breath. She opened her suitcase and took out the gifts.

Korean ginseng tea, packed in square boxes wrapped in silk and tied with a pretty bow.

“This is the gift Nalian and I picked out for everyone. I hope you all enjoy it,” Jin Youshu emphasized as she handed out the boxes. “It’s best to drink a cup in the morning, but avoid it in the evening—it has a medicinal taste, though not bitter.”

Jiang Banxia sensed something was off from Jin Youshu’s evasive behavior earlier. Moreover, when Jin Youshu said “her” in the phrase “her and me,” she pronounced it very softly, as if she didn’t want to mention this person at all.

It seemed the two had had a major argument. Quan Enmin’s revelations were likely true. The fairy-tale couple’s story, it turned out, had been hiding such a shameful secret from the very beginning. Pei Nalian’s initial approach to Jin Youshu had been motivated by ulterior motives, and she may even have been involved in bullying Jin Youshu.

I wonder if Pei Nalian will come.

Jin Youshu sat there, but she wasn’t bored. She noticed Li Tang couldn’t sit still, getting up to pace back and forth almost every minute, peering down through the window.

“You’re making me dizzy,” Jiang Banxia grumbled. “Don’t you know if your wife is coming?”

Her words jabbed both of them in the heart.

“She’s here.”

“Is Xiao Yi here?”

“No, it’s Pei Nalian.” Li Tang turned to tell Jin Youshu.

Jin Youshu gripped the armrests of the sofa tightly.

Pei Nalian arrived late, carrying only a backpack and no luggage, suggesting she hadn’t gone home the previous night. Her makeup was immaculate, but her complexion, like Jin Youshu’s, looked haggard.

Pei Nalian pushed the door open and entered. Jiang Banxia rushed up to greet her.

Jin Youshu remained seated on the sofa, deliberately avoiding eye contact with Pei Nalian.

“We brought gifts for everyone,” Pei Nalian announced, unzipping her backpack to reveal several bottles of perfume inside.

After distributing the gifts, she hesitated briefly before sitting down next to Jin Youshu on the sofa.

Jin Youshu shifted slightly, as if trying to put distance between them. She stiffened her neck, lowered her gaze to her nails, or looked up at the ceiling—anywhere but at Pei Nalian.

Pei Nalian had deliberately arrived late, hoping to avoid awkwardness by joining the group activities immediately upon her arrival. She hadn’t anticipated having to wait for others.

The prolonged silence from Jin Youshu suffocated Pei Nalian.

Jin Youshu moved away from Pei Nalian, but Pei Nalian refused to give in. She scooted closer and tugged at Jin Youshu’s sleeve.

“Please, just talk to me.”

Support