After the Fake Heiress Died, She Was Filled with Regret - Chapter 121

Chapter 121: I Can Be Friends with Many People…

“Why isn’t she answering the phone? She needs to go for makeup soon…” Tao Yi stood below the apartment complex, dialing Xia Shinan’s phone. She had called several times, but they all went unanswered.

She looked up at the residential building in front of her with worry, preparing to go upstairs to wake Xia Shinan up personally, but a part of her was still scared.

It was because every time she went up, she was greeted by CEO Tang’s sour expression, making her feel like a heinous criminal whose biggest crime was dragging Xia Shinan away to work.

She didn’t want to either! She was a workhorse who needed to work too!

With unspoken sorrow in her heart, Tao Yi clenched her fist and took a deep breath, deciding to go upstairs. But her phone rang at that moment; it was Xia Shinan calling back.

“Sister Shinan!” Tao Yi almost cried when she answered.

“Xiao Yi, sorry I overslept. I’ll be down in twenty minutes,” Xia Shinan’s hurried voice came from the other end.

“Okay, okay! We have enough time, Sister Shinan! I’ll wait for you in the car!” Tao Yi breathed a huge sigh of relief and hung up. As long as she didn’t have to go upstairs and face CEO Tang, everything was good.

In the bedroom.

Xia Shinan quickly searched for clothes, quickly putting one on only to hurriedly take it off. She turned and glared at the woman lazily watching her on the bed, feeling annoyed.

“It’s all your fault!”

Tang Yin had turned off her alarm and her phone calls. Now that Xia Shinan was finally awake and wanted to quickly change clothes and leave, she found that her chosen outfit wasn’t right.

Her collarbone and back were covered in marks. If she wore loose clothing, wouldn’t that announce to the world that Xia Shinan was going to work with hickeys? She definitely didn’t want to be on the hot search tomorrow.

“Mhm, it’s my fault,” Tang Yin said lazily, her smile bright, showing no sign of repentance. “How about you take the day off?”

Xia Shinan gave her a cold stare and didn’t speak.

Tang Yin realized she had said the wrong thing and looked down, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Just kidding. I promise I’ll be more discreet next time so you don’t feel so embarrassed.”

That’s more like it… Xia Shinan snorted and continued rummaging through the wardrobe. Fortunately, with the change to cooler autumn weather, she finally found a light gray knit short-sleeved top with a high doll collar, which perfectly covered the mottled marks, paired with a black miniskirt, so she wouldn’t look suspicious, as if she were deliberately hiding something.

Tang Yin looked at her straight, slender legs, remembering how they had been hooked around her waist last night, and her eyes darkened considerably.

“When will you have a somewhat long vacation?” Tang Yin couldn’t help but ask.

Xia Shinan paused, thinking about the schedule Wen Juan had arranged for her, and felt guilty about Tang Yin’s question. They had just gotten together and were in the clingy phase, but her work kept them apart most of the time.

“Next month, perhaps. I promise I’ll make two weeks available for you then, okay?”

Two weeks… Tang Yin reluctantly nodded. If it was two weeks, one week could be spent traveling, and the other week they would stay in the bedroom and go nowhere…

Xia Shinan had no idea what Tang Yin was thinking. Seeing her with her eyes downcast and looking unhappy, she walked over, stroked her hair, and coaxed her. “Alright, I promise I’ll come home early so we can have dinner together, okay?”

“Okay,” Tang Yin looked up at her, reached out to hold Xia Shinan’s head steady, and lightly touched her lips. “I’ll wait for you to come back.”

The work had been demanding recently. Xia Shinan met different people and tackled different tasks every day. She felt like a spinning top, but Tang Yin’s presence gave her extra support. No matter how busy she was, she could relax the moment she returned home.

Tang Yin had a check-up at the Yuncheng hospital. The doctor said her recovery was excellent, and as long as she maintained it, there would be no problem.

She hadn’t mentioned this to Ming Jing, despite several phone calls. It wasn’t until Xia Shinan unintentionally mentioned it to Qian Yu yesterday that Ming Jing’s call came through urgently.

“You dog, Tang Yin! You lied to me!”

Tang Yin was in the kitchen making sweet soup for Xia Shinan. With autumn setting in, she had switched to hot sweet soup, which was comforting to drink.

She had the phone on speaker. “What did I lie to you about?”

“Your leg injury is healed! At least coming back to work at SN shouldn’t be a problem, right? Why haven’t you returned to work yet!” Ming Jing complained angrily. “Do you know I’ve been working overtime for days? Do you remember what Haicheng looks like at 4 AM? Get back to work right now!”

Tang Yin raised an eyebrow. She truly couldn’t recall what Haicheng looked like at 4 AM, but… she had seen Yuncheng at 4 AM a few times.

However, she didn’t dare to say anything while Ming Jing was angry. After a moment, she said, “Shinan is joining a film crew next week. I’ll return next week.”

Ming Jing’s tone softened slightly upon hearing this. “Really? You’re not going to be her assistant and accompany her on set?”

Tang Yin: “Can I?”

Ming Jing scoffed. “Of course not! If you go, do you believe I’ll sell SN!”

“You won’t,” Tang Yin said with a laugh. SN was the culmination of her and Ming Jing’s efforts; neither could bear to part with it. “I said I’ll be back next week, and I will. Then you can take two months off. How about that?”

Ming Jing paused. “That’s more like it…”

“How about we just rotate from now on? Whenever Shinan is filming, I work and you rest. When she’s not filming, I rest and you work?” Tang Yin suggested on a whim.

Ming Jing took a deep breath. “Is this still the workaholic I know? Where is the woman who once worked sleeplessly, without eating or drinking, all for work?”

Tang Yin laughed aloud. “That was because keeping busy prevented me from overthinking. But now I don’t need to think anymore. My loved one is right here.”

Tsk tsk, that’s enough to give a person goosebumps.

Ming Jing was furious. Her own work kept her so busy she had no time for her wife. She either slept in the office every day or, when she returned home, Qian Yu was already asleep, clutching a little white cat.

She was left without her bed or her wife’s embrace.

But then she was happy for Tang Yin. She had witnessed her friend’s suffering over the past few years. Now that things had finally turned around, she was genuinely delighted and sincerely hoped this couple would last.

“In any case, we agreed on next week! If you don’t come back, I’ll hire people to tie you up and lock you in the office,” Ming Jing threatened fiercely.

“Understood, understood,” Tang Yin sighed. She would only have one more week with Xia Shinan before they both got busy. The thought of it made her feel reluctant already.

Zou Yue sent a message. Tang Yin glanced at it. “I can’t talk anymore, I’m busy.” She hung up immediately.

Ming Jing, holding the phone that had ended the call, was furious again. She immediately messaged her wife: “Xiao Ying is staying with us. Absolutely, absolutely, no giving her back!”

Wifey: “Of course. The foster mother is the closest!”

On the other side, Tanng Yin turned off the stove and slowly walked into the living room with her phone. Her hair had grown a bit longer, tied back with a scrunchie Xia Shinan had given her. She wore comfortable loungewear and soft slippers, exuding a cozy, domestic aura, completely devoid of any aggression.

But upon seeing the message from Zou Yue, Tang Yin pursed her lips, her eyes tinged with coldness.

“CEO Tang, this is everything we found on Emma.”

Emma was just a woman who suddenly appeared, but for some unknown reason, the first glance at her photo had made Tang Yin’s mood sink.

So, she had asked Zou Yue to investigate.

Born in China, she later moved to the U.S. with her family. She had an extraordinary talent for painting from a young age, graduated from a famous art academy in the U.S., had countless exhibitions, and a single painting could sell for millions.

Her reason for returning to China this time was a sudden strong interest in Chinese painting, wanting to study it…

Everything seemed normal, yet everything felt suspicious.

How could someone who returned to China to study art suddenly frequent a welfare center? Furthermore… the time she spent volunteering at the welfare center highly coincided with the confirmed filming schedule.

If she wanted to study painting, Lin City or A City would be better choices, but she specifically came to Yuncheng.

With a mind full of questions, Tang Yin searched the internet for information on Emma in the U.S.: university graduation photos, exhibition news, etc… Finally, her fingers stopped abruptly, staring blankly at a photo accompanying an exhibition news article.

“Thank you for your hard work, Director Li.”

After the shoot ended, Xia Shinan walked up to the director, expressing her sincere gratitude. “I apologize for delaying the shoot last time due to a personal emergency.”

Director Li looked at Xia Shinan and smiled with satisfaction. “It’s fine. Producing a satisfactory work is more important than rushing it and having regrets later. Is your issue resolved?”

Xia Shinan nodded. “It is resolved. Still, I want to thank you.”

Director Li handed over her phone, showing her QR code. “I’m considering directing a new drama soon. If you’re free, let’s talk?”

“Sounds good,” Xia Shinan smiled, immediately taking out her phone to add her on WeChat. From these two work interactions, she could sense that this director’s attitude toward work was highly admirable.

Furthermore, she had seen Director Li’s earlier film and television works. This invitation was an affirmation of her work, so she was certainly willing.

“Want to grab dinner together?” Director Li asked after the friend request was accepted.

“I’m sorry, I have other plans for the evening.” She had promised Tang Yin she would be home for dinner and had received a message in the afternoon saying the sweet soup was ready, and sweet and sour pork ribs were currently being cooked.

“Alright, then next time.”

“See you next time.”

Leaving the studio, as Xia Shinan walked out of the building, she saw a black sedan parked nearby. It wasn’t the company’s transport car, but her intuition told her this car was specifically waiting for her.

Sure enough, the car window slowly rolled down. It was Emma.

“Xia Shinan, shall we talk?”

The car’s air freshener emitted a faint scent of lavender, which was calming. The music playing was Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata No. 2, a piece Xia Shinan used to play often. Listening to it, she couldn’t help but recall that period of the past.

Her soul was confined. She could only rely on her fingers to lightly press the piano keys, allowing her thoughts to drift anywhere far away. But when the song ended, she was still in that villa.

Unable to get out, unable to escape.

Just then, Emma spoke suddenly, pulling Xia Shinan back to reality.

“I tried to add your WeChat, but you didn’t accept. I wanted to invite you to dinner, but your assistant flatly refused. Was that your intention? Or did she fail to convey the message properly?”

Xia Shinan spoke plainly. “I instructed her to refuse you.”

A hint of confusion crossed Emma’s face. “I want to be your friend. Is that not allowed? Everyone says Xia Shinan is a very easygoing girl. Why is it different with me? Did I accidentally say or do something wrong without realizing it? Tell me the reason!”

Or rather, everything had been fine at the welfare center and the gala, but after that day, Xia Shinan seemed to have changed. Emma didn’t understand and couldn’t find an answer, so after much thought, she decided to take the initiative and block Xia Shinan at her workplace.

Friend? Xia Shinan paused for two seconds, gazing directly at the shade of the trees ahead. “Emma, we can’t be friends. I can be friends with many people, but you are the exception.”

Emma was greatly taken aback. She hadn’t expected Xia Shinan to refuse so bluntly, without any consideration for her feelings.

“Why?!”

Xia Shinan turned to look at her, a smile gracing her lips. “Do you know? Even if makeup can change a face, a person’s fundamental facial features don’t change. After a long period of constant companionship, her behavior, speech, and expressions are also influenced by another person…”

“What do you mean?”

“You look very much like your mother,” Xia Shinan said. She watched Emma’s pupils contract slightly and continued, “The woman who was once my mother—Xie Wan.”

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