After Escaping My Paranoid Wife's Control - Chapter 7

“Okay,” Ying Man responded.

“I’m leaving to pick you up right now.”

She then asked, “Do you need me to bring you some breakfast?”

Song Yu nodded vigorously. “Yes, please.”

After hanging up the phone, Song Yu walked to the entrance of her residential compound and stood in a highly visible spot to wait for Ying Man.

Within just a few minutes, Ying Man’s car pulled up right in front of her.

Song Yu opened the rear door and slipped inside.

Ying Man turned around in sheer astonishment. “What are you doing sitting in the back?”

Song Yu froze.

It was because Ji Mingsui never allowed her to sit in the passenger seat of another woman’s car, nor did she ever allow another woman to sit in hers.

She gritted her teeth—damn this muscle memory!

“It’s more spacious back here,” Song Yu replied casually.

Ying Man handed the breakfast over to Song Yu. “Here.”

“An iced Americano and a pumpkin bagel.”

Taking the items, Song Yu looked down at the breakfast in her hands and frowned slightly. “Why did you bring me this?”

For breakfast, she actually preferred sweet soy milk and vegetable-stuffed buns.

She absolutely did not like drinking bitter coffee and eating dry, choking bread.

Ying Man was puzzled. “Don’t you need to drink an iced Americano every single morning to refresh yourself and wake up?”

Song Yu suddenly remembered.

During this specific year when she had just started her business, she used to stay up late working overtime constantly. Suffering from severe sleep deprivation, she had indeed required an iced Americano every morning to perk herself up.

But after she got together with Ji Mingsui, Ji Mingsui forbade her from working.

Consequently, she had spent her days staying at home. When she felt tired she would rest, when she felt sleepy she would sleep, and when she woke up she would spend money. Once she got bored of spending money, she would play various mobile games. Her mental energy had been thoroughly well-nourished, so she had absolutely no need for anything to refresh herself.

Coupled with the fact that she genuinely detested bitter flavors, she hadn’t touched an iced Americano in many years.

Song Yu took a tiny sip of the iced Americano in her cup, and the instant bitterness made her grimace and bare her teeth in distaste.

While driving, Ying Man glanced back and asked with a smile, “Is it really that bitter?”

Song Yu nodded. “Yes, it is.”

Not only was the iced Americano in her hand incredibly bitter, but she also felt like her very life was even more bitter.

Early in the morning, she had to rush off to work, and for breakfast, she could only choke down this dry bread to fill her stomach…

No, wait.

She couldn’t complain anymore.

Song Yu shook her head vigorously.

Although going from luxury back to frugality was hard, if given the choice between a wealthy yet constrained life versus an ordinary but completely free life, she would absolutely choose the latter.

The bread in her hand was a bit dry, true.

But this was a dryness that symbolized freedom.

Even if this freedom-symbolizing dry bread tasted terrible, she would still force herself to swallow it down.

After finishing off her breakfast in a few quick bites, Song Yu pulled a small compact mirror out of her bag and began inspecting the makeup on her face.

Back when Ji Mingsui’s net worth had just surpassed a hundred million, she had hired a professional image management team specifically tasked with handling Song Yu’s daily skincare, makeup, and outfits. As a result, Song Yu hadn’t applied her own makeup with her own hands in many years.

Attempting it herself this morning, her technique was incredibly rusty, to the point where even her eyeliner was drawn completely crooked.

Just then, Ying Man turned the steering wheel to make a bend, and the car suddenly jolted and violently bumped up and down.

The severe shaking caused the small mirror in Song Yu’s hand to drop instantly.

Song Yu frowned. “Why is it so bumpy?”

“What’s wrong with a little bump?” Ying Man shot a quick look back at Song Yu.

She scolded gently, “I’ve noticed you are incredibly delicate and spoiled this morning.”

“First you complain about the coffee being bitter, and now you’re complaining about the car being bumpy.”

Song Yu pressed her lips tightly together.

She admitted that she was indeed very delicate right now.

But this wasn’t her fault.

It was Ji Mingsui who had spent eleven long years deliberately and calculatedly pampering her into becoming this delicate.

Therefore, the fact that she had become so spoiled now was entirely Ji Mingsui’s fault.

Ying Man asked, “Why exactly do you want to fire Ji Mingsui anyway?”

Song Yu answered, “Because of a personality clash.”

She wanted some personal space.

Ji Mingsui, however, possessed a possessiveness that was far too intense.

“Huh?” Ying Man was astonished.

A personality clash was typically a reason for a divorce or a breakup.

This was the very first time she had ever heard of a boss wanting to fire an employee simply because their personalities didn’t mesh.

“Ji Mingsui is too paranoid and obsessive,” Song Yu explained. “And her way of handling things is extremely radical.”

“She is completely impossible to communicate with.”

“She also loves setting strict rules…”

Ying Man raised her eyebrows. “Is she really?”

She pondered for a moment before saying to Song Yu, “Now that you mention it, I actually feel a bit of that too.”

“Take that contract Ji Mingsui signed half a month ago. The brand’s side originally had absolutely no intention of cooperating with us. But every single time they rejected her, Ji Mingsui would immediately go right back to find them again.”

Song Yu narrowed her eyes.

“The brand rejected Ji Mingsui a total of thirteen times. On the fourteenth time, they finally agreed to cooperate with us.”

Ying Man continued, “It wasn’t three or four times, it was thirteen or fourteen times.”

“From this, it’s clear that Ji Mingsui’s personality is indeed somewhat extreme, and she easily gets stuck in a rut.”

Hearing this, Song Yu felt an uncomfortable pang in her heart.

She frowned and corrected her, “What Ji Mingsui did shouldn’t be called extreme or getting stuck in a rut; it’s called being hardworking and fiercely persevering.”

“The current economic climate is so terrible. If Ji Mingsui didn’t push herself a bit harder, she would never be able to fight her way out of such a brutal corporate jungle…”

“Wait a minute,” Ying Man interrupted Song Yu.

She asked in utter bewilderment, “Are you actually speaking up on behalf of Ji Mingsui right now?”

Song Yu blanked for a moment, then denied it. “No, I’m not.”

Ying Man curled her lip. “Yes, you are.”

She scolded, “Song Yu, you must be out of your mind.”

“You were the one who wanted to fire Ji Mingsui and started nitpicking her flaws first. I merely chimed in with a few words to agree with you, and yet you turned around and snapped right back at me.”

Song Yu was left completely speechless by the scolding.

Fine.

She admitted that she had indeed just spoken up for Ji Mingsui.

But Ji Mingsui truly was a person of relentless persistence who never gave up.

Because she herself had been completely controlled by Ji Mingsui for eleven years, she harbored a deep prejudice against her and always viewed her through a tinted lens when evaluating her character.

But Ying Man hadn’t been controlled by Ji Mingsui for eleven years. What right did Ying Man have to hold a prejudice and look at Ji Mingsui through a tinted lens?!

“I’m sorry,” Song Yu apologized to Ying Man, “My attitude just now when speaking to you wasn’t good.”

Ying Man laughed. “What is there to apologize for?”

“Every time I’m in a bad mood, my attitude toward you is pretty terrible too, and you’ve never held it against me before.”

This was precisely why she had been willing to partner up with Song Yu to start this business.

Song Yu had a bright, vibrant, and flamboyant personality. She was incredibly generous to everyone and never sweated the small stuff.

However, because Ying Man had no personal savings, her current role was essentially a management stake—she only contributed her labor and didn’t invest any capital.

“I’m sorry,” Song Yu apologized to Ying Man once more.

The corners of her mouth curled upward into a grin. “Heh.”

After getting together with Ji Mingsui, no matter what mistakes she made or what people she offended, Ji Mingsui would always step in to handle it and clean up the mess for her.

Consequently, she hadn’t apologized to anyone in many years.

Now that she finally had an opportunity to apologize to someone again, she actually felt quite exhilarated.

Despite their frantic rushing, they were still late.

Ying Man reached out with her hand to block the elevator doors that were just about to close, while shouting back at the lagging Song Yu, “It’s already 9:18!”

Song Yu was also incredibly anxious.

But she was wearing high heels on her feet, making it absolutely impossible to run.

“Hurry up.” After urging Song Yu, Ying Man stepped into the elevator first and held down the open button with her hand.

Song Yu took a few quick strides and buried her head as she rushed inside.

The moment she stabilized her footing inside the elevator cab, she heard a gentle, soft, and elegant voice.

“Good morning, President Song, Supervisor Ying.”

Song Yu’s breathing instantly hitched.

It was Ji Mingsui’s voice.

She snapped her head upward.

Eleven years ago, when Ji Mingsui was still just a low-level employee, she didn’t wear custom-made professional corporate suits to work. Instead, she wore a black windbreaker jacket, blue jeans, white sneakers, and a gray backpack.

Her shoulder-length hair was tied neatly into a high ponytail.

Simple, comfortable, clean, and efficient.

Furthermore, Ji Mingsui possessed a delicate, refined, and quiet appearance.

People who didn’t understand her true nature would always assume that Ji Mingsui was a gentle, kind, and completely harmless person.

Only someone who had actually lived through a shared life with her like Song Yu would know that Ji Mingsui was in reality a paranoid, pathological, and fiercely possessive madwoman.

The exact millisecond her eyes locked with Ji Mingsui’s, Song Yu felt as though her heart was going to stop beating altogether.

It’s over, it’s over, it’s completely over…

She had just been caught red-handed by Ji Mingsui with another woman picking her up for work.

Ji Mingsui was bound to lose her mind and go crazy again.

Ying Man asked Song Yu in complete confusion, “Why do you look like you’ve just seen a ghost?”

Song Yu pressed her lips together.

She had indeed seen a ghost.

She had encountered the lingering, paranoid, and completely mad female ghost that was Ji Mingsui.

After panicking for a few seconds, it finally registered in Song Yu’s brain.

She had already been reborn.

What on earth was she still so terrified of?

Right now, Ji Mingsui hadn’t fallen in love with her yet, so she wouldn’t care in the slightest about Ying Man picking her up or dropping her off for work.

Ying Man asked Ji Mingsui, “How come you’re late too?”

Ji Mingsui was an incredibly punctual person. Normally, she would arrive at the office ten minutes early to clock in and handle some preparatory work before meetings.

This was the very first time she had been late in the four months since she joined the company.

Ji Mingsui replied, “There were exceptionally few shared bicycles outside my apartment complex this morning.”

Her tone was gentle. “I wasn’t able to snatch one.”

While Ji Mingsui was speaking, Song Yu kept a close watch on her expression.

Just as she had reasoned, the current Ji Mingsui, who had not yet fallen in love with her, truly did not care at all about her relationship with Ying Man. The look in her eyes as she glanced at her and Ying Man carried nothing more than the standard politeness shared between ordinary colleagues.

Song Yu let out a massive sigh of relief.

And the corners of her mouth curved up into a smile.

The future corporate titan and billionaire boss, President Ji, actually rode a shared bicycle to work every single morning during this particular year when she had just graduated from university and was working as a corporate drone.

Song Yu sized Ji Mingsui up for a few more glances.

Compared to the mature, sharp, and razor-edged aura she possessed eleven years later, the present Ji Mingsui was green and innocent.

Unlike herself, who during those eleven years of being fully controlled by Ji Mingsui, had lived a life of pampered luxury and excessive comfort.

Although not working for years on end was incredibly boring, it really did keep a person looking remarkably young.

When she was applying her makeup this morning, Song Yu had deliberately observed her reflection.

At twenty-two years old eleven years ago, because of her prolonged periods of staying up late and working overtime, she actually looked several degrees more haggard, aged, and exhausted than her thirty-three-year-old self did eleven years later.

Ying Man chuckled and told Ji Mingsui, “I couldn’t find a parking space outside just now.”

“That’s why I’m late.”

The companies inside this commercial office building generally started their workday at 9:00 AM.

It was already 9:20 AM now, so Song Yu, Ji Mingsui, and Ying Man were the only three people inside the elevator.

Ying Man stood right in the middle.

Song Yu and Ji Mingsui stood on Ying Man’s left and right sides respectively.

Ji Mingsui asked, “Supervisor Ying, did you go to pick up President Song again this morning?”

Hearing this, the tips of Song Yu’s ears twitched instantly.

She suddenly realized that the distance between herself and Ying Man was a little too close, making it look slightly ambiguous.

As a result, she shuffled a small step to the left.

Then she shuffled another step.

And yet another step…

“Yes, Song Yu’s car broke down again,” Ying Man answered casually, turning her head to look at Song Yu.

Only then did she discover that Song Yu, who had been standing right next to her just a moment ago, had somehow silently and covertly shuffled several large paces away to the side.

She asked in sheer bafflement, “Why are you standing so far away from me?”

Song Yu felt completely helpless.

Because Ji Mingsui did not tolerate her being too physically close to any other woman.

It was that muscle memory acting up again!

Ji Mingsui looked toward Song Yu and asked with a polite smile, “President Song, has your car been sent to the repair shop yet again?”

Song Yu instinctively wanted to snap back with an impatient “None of your business,” but she suddenly caught a glimpse of standard professional courtesy in Ji Mingsui’s eyes.

She understood immediately. Ji Mingsui wasn’t actually showing genuine concern for her; she was merely making polite small talk.

Since they worked at the same company and Ji Mingsui was an employee, bumping into her and Ying Man in the elevator meant that even if Ji Mingsui didn’t want to pay them any attention at all, she still had to force herself to engage in a few lines of social pleasantries.

Thus, Song Yu swallowed the “None of your business” that had already reached the tip of her tongue and replied to Ji Mingsui, “Yes, my car was sent to the repair shop yet again.”

Thinking about her second-hand, beaten-up little car that was constantly breaking down, Song Yu let out a soft sigh.

The thirty-third birthday present that Ji Mingsui had gifted her consisted of twelve sports cars of entirely different models and colors, whereas her twenty-two-year-old self could only commute to and from work in a broken-down, second-hand piece of junk that constantly stalled.

However!

If given the choice between a wealthy yet constrained life versus an ordinary but completely free life, she would absolutely choose the latter.

Song Yu pumped herself up mentally.

Even though her business acumen was thoroughly average and she was nothing more than an ordinary, small-time boss.

She firmly believed that as long as she worked diligently and put in the effort, she would absolutely be able to rely on her own hard work by this time next year to trade this constantly stalling, second-hand piece of junk for an eighty-percent-new second-hand car that didn’t break down nearly as often.

Keep fighting!

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