Deliberate Possession [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Unwilling to Give Up

Jiang Yumian was, for the first time in her life, fooled by her own naivety. No, she wasn’t naive; she was simply stupid, brainlessly stupid, astonishingly stupid.

That single dazzling word was like a muffled thunderclap exploding in her head, instantly jolting her awake.

Perhaps still holding onto a sliver of hope, Jiang Yumian eventually scrolled through the chat history and found the voice message she had sent before. There was only one.

[I wouldn’t eat you, and besides, didn’t you say we wouldn’t meet?]

Jiang Yumian listened to it numbly for about a dozen times. It was definitely similar—truly similar. It couldn’t just be called similar; it was exactly the same!

The turbulent waves surging in her heart could not be calmed. The embarrassment quickly engulfed Jiang Yumian, who was trying hard to calm down.

Recalling everything she had chatted about with her, a sense of shame permeated every pore, making her feel suffocated. Jiang Yumian buried her face on her office desk, not daring to look at the chat history again. She was so embarrassed she was close to suffocating.

She said she didn’t have the surname Jing, she said they just had similar voices…

And she actually believed it!

Jiang Yumian remained speechless and motionless at her office desk for an entire afternoon. She felt like she should be grabbing her phone right now to confront Jing Xiaoyan, to question her, to rebuke her, but she had no strength. It was as if the last shred of energy had been drained from her. Her chest felt so tight she wanted to throw up.

The entire office atmosphere seemed to be infected by her, becoming utterly lifeless.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

The office door was knocked. Jiang Yumian slowly blinked her eyes, stiffly and sluggishly lifting her head. When she saw the person who entered the door, a wave of grievance instantly flooded her heart. Her nose tingled, and tears immediately streamed down.

Jiang Jiyu, seeing this scene, instantly froze. She quickly walked over to Jiang Yumian and reached out to stroke her head.

“Mom,” Jiang Yumian’s voice choked.

Jiang Jiyu frowned tightly. The last time Jiang Yumian cried in her arms like this was when she was bullied by those people online, with all the curses hurled at her. She couldn’t bear it anymore and cried, and her emotions didn’t stabilize until the day the matter was completely resolved. Thankfully, she was naturally optimistic and got over it after receiving much praise from others.

Now…

Jiang Jiyu was a little confused.

“Who bullied you?” she asked after Jiang Yumian had mostly cried herself out. After asking, she quickly dismissed the thought. “No one dares to bully you now. Why are you crying?”

Jiang Yumian blinked, took two tissues to wipe herself, thought blankly for a few seconds, then awkwardly turned her chair, facing away from her mother.

She felt embarrassed again. She was crying in her mother’s arms over something like this, but she just couldn’t hold back.

Jiang Jiyu realized what was happening and wanted to laugh. “You didn’t get dumped, did you?”

Jiang Yumian’s back stiffened. She quickly turned around to refute, her eyes red from crying, a look of indignation on her face. “I’m not in a relationship!”

But what her mother said about being dumped wasn’t entirely wrong. Jing Xiaoyan could at least be considered her girlfriend.

Thinking about this, her eyes reddened again. Liar.

Mom kindly handed her a tissue and sighed softly. “Then what is it?”

Jiang Yumian took the tissue and wiped away the nearly falling tears. She pouted pitifully, saying in a voice close to crying, “Just pretend the person I’m a fan of had their reputation ruined.”

Mom found it hard to understand. “That’s it?”

Jiang Yumian clenched her fist. “She tricked me and lied to me.”

She deceived my feelings!

Mom: “Then what are you planning to do?”

Jiang Yumian pursed her lips. “It might be a misunderstanding, a coincidence. I need to confirm it first.”

Seeing her gritting her teeth, Jiang Jiyu suppressed a laugh.

She couldn’t tell if the “misunderstanding” she spoke of was genuine. It felt like her precious daughter had already confirmed it but was unwilling to accept the reality, still holding onto a glimmer of hope.

Jiang Yumian quickly composed herself. Only then did she remember to ask what her mother was doing there. Her mother had only visited her once since she started at the company.

Mom sighed. “You didn’t come up to eat lunch with me, and your assistant said you hadn’t left your office all afternoon. You didn’t answer my calls, and now it’s getting dark, so I came to check on you.”

She had no idea that her daughter would burst into tears the moment she walked in. It seemed this matter had hurt her quite a bit.

She patted Jiang Yumian’s head. “Tell me after you’ve confirmed it. I’ll help you get back at her.”

Jiang Yumian slapped her hand away. “No. I’ll take revenge on her myself. You stay out of it.”

Mom: “Are you sure you don’t need my help?”

Remembering how much her mother liked Jing Xiaoyan, Jiang Yumian snorted softly. “No. I’m afraid you’ll interfere.”

Meeting her mother’s confused gaze, Jiang Yumian straightened her back, her eyes firm, and said viciously, gnashing her teeth, “I’m going to torture her to death.”

Mom nodded cooperatively. “Alright, but you need to come eat with me first. Don’t starve yourself before you even get to torture anyone.”

8:00 PM.

Airport.

Jiang Yumian, wearing a mask and sunglasses, sat in the VIP lounge. Across from her sat two people, Su Mumu and Chu Qianyuan.

Su Mumu squinted at Jiang Yumian. “Why are you wearing sunglasses at night?”

The eyes hidden beneath the sunglasses blinked. Jiang Yumian carefully observed Chu Qianyuan. She had seen her sister’s WeChat at the hotel that day, and she remembered that Chu Qianyuan’s reaction seemed off at the time.

If that person was truly Jing Xiaoyan, then this person also lied to her.

“I was afraid of being recognized and forgot to take them off.” Jiang Yumian took off her sunglasses and mask after speaking. She answered Su Mumu, but her eyes remained fixed on Chu Qianyuan.

Chu Qianyuan blinked, feeling strangely watched. Just as she was about to ask Jiang Yumian why she was looking at her, her gaze shifted away.

Soon, two other figures arrived.

Xiao Feng saw Chu Qianyuan and Su Mumu’s assistants and went directly to sit with them.

Jing Xiaoyan, however, walked straight up to Jiang Yumian, looking a little aggrieved. “Why didn’t you wait for me?”

Jiang Yumian gritted her teeth, trying hard to maintain her expression and forced a smile. “My mom dropped me off.”

Jing Xiaoyan opened her mouth. “Alright.”

She sat down next to her, looking up at the other two people with some confusion. “Why are you two here too?”

Su Mumu: “Mianmian said to come together, so we did.”

The plane wouldn’t depart for another hour. Jiang Yumian leaned lazily against the sofa, closing her eyes as if sleeping, not wanting to talk to Jing Xiaoyan.

Jing Xiaoyan glanced at her from time to time, sensing that something was wrong.

Jiang Yumian was sitting on a two-seater sofa with plenty of room, but Jing Xiaoyan insisted on sitting right next to her. She moved even closer when Jiang Yumian closed her eyes.

Jiang Yumian pulled her arm free from Jing Xiaoyan’s grasp, opening her eyes to look at her.

The two stared at each other in silence for a few seconds. Jing Xiaoyan didn’t dare to move. She felt that Jiang Yumian was in a bad mood, and her eyes held a subtle mix of scrutiny and warning.

Jiang Yumian felt a moment of absent-mindedness as the image of the gentle and understanding sister overlapped with this face.

But hadn’t Jing Xiaoyan been like this towards her at first too? She just became a little more shameless now.

She closed her eyes again, no longer paying attention to the person next to her.

Jiang Yumian’s silence made Jing Xiaoyan’s heart anxious. She remained quiet for a few seconds, but finally cautiously linked her arm with Jiang Yumian’s.

After waiting for a while, her arm wasn’t pulled away this time. Jing Xiaoyan breathed a sigh of relief. She gently leaned her face on Jiang Yumian’s shoulder, thinking that she was probably tired, and it was fine to just rest with her for a while.

Su Mumu was chatting with Chu Qianyuan. Seeing this scene, she frowned. This isn’t right, is it?

She reached out and patted Chu Qianyuan, pointing her chin towards them, signaling her to look.

Chu Qianyuan was startled and asked in a low voice, “What are they doing?”

She was genuinely confused. She really didn’t understand why Jiang Yumian would agree to let Jing Xiaoyan lean against her to sleep.

Seeing that Chu Qianyuan was also confused, Su Mumu didn’t ask her anymore, assuming she felt the same way—just thinking it was strange.

The two people across from them weren’t asleep for long before two servers quietly woke them up.

Jiang Yumian took the milk tea they handed her and thanked them.

There were a total of seven drinks. Three were given to the assistants, and the rest were theirs. Only Su Mumu and Chu Qianyuan were different; they had coffee, and everyone else had Mango Pomelo Sago.

Jiang Yumian explained that she didn’t know what everyone liked, except for Su Mumu and Chu Qianyuan, so she ordered Mango Pomelo Sago for everyone else.

Although Jing Xiaoyan didn’t know why Jiang Yumian was suddenly so enthusiastic about ordering milk tea for everyone, she felt a little jealous seeing the two people across from them receiving special treatment.

“Mianmian, I like grape flavor. Order that for me next time.”

Jiang Yumian smiled, pursing her lips. “I’ll remember that.”

After saying that, she picked up her own milk tea and suddenly paused. “Oh no, I ordered the wrong one. I ordered this for myself too.”

Jing Xiaoyan turned her head to look and quickly froze, immediately reminding her, “This has mango in it. Don’t drink it.”

Su Mumu’s puzzled gaze lingered on Jing Xiaoyan’s face for a few seconds. She then picked up the coffee in her hand and offered it to Jiang Yumian.

She slightly tilted her head, a smile on her face. “Sister Xiaoyan is so thoughtful. I didn’t even know Mianmian is allergic to mango.”

After saying that, she picked up the cup of Mango Pomelo Sago from Jiang Yumian’s hand and sighed softly. “I like fruit tea too. Let’s switch.”

Su Mumu said this only to remind Jiang Yumian. She truly felt that Jing Xiaoyan was interested in her.

She had been friends with Jiang Yumian for so long, but she genuinely didn’t know Jiang Yumian was allergic to mango. Jing Xiaoyan noticed even this. Coupled with her recent actions, it was hard not to notice she liked Jiang Yumian.

But the person she reminded wasn’t Jiang Yumian; it was Jing Xiaoyan, who was starting to get nervous sitting on the side.

Jing Xiaoyan fiddled with the straw wrapper in her hand. She only just remembered that the information about Jiang Yumian’s mango allergy wasn’t available online. She only knew because Jiang Yumian had mentioned it to her, the “other” her.

“Indeed thoughtful, to know even this.” Jiang Yumian smiled, but there was no hint of amusement in her eyes.

She lowered her head, took a sip of coffee, and suddenly leaned close to Jing Xiaoyan’s ear, saying in a voice only she could hear, “Only the auntie at home and a few former classmates know about my mango allergy. If you want to pursue me, go ahead, but you can’t investigate me. Don’t let it happen again.”

Jing Xiaoyan had already prepared a bunch of excuses in her mind, but she didn’t expect Jiang Yumian to give her a way out herself.

She lightly cleared her throat. “I won’t.”

Jiang Yumian smiled, pursing her lips, her eyes filled with coldness.

Her fingers gripping the cup tightened slightly. What should she do? More and more evidence was proving that her “sister” was right beside her. What should she do with her?

A few seconds later, Jiang Yumian raised her eyes, her gaze fixed intently on Chu Qianyuan’s face.

Chu Qianyuan licked her lips and shrank back behind Su Mumu. Why did she always feel that Jiang Yumian’s gaze towards her was hostile?

Jiang Yumian moved her gaze, meeting Su Mumu’s eyes for a few seconds. Su Mumu frowned, feeling that Jiang Yumian was acting strangely.

“Mianmian, why are you looking at me?”

She asked directly.

Chu Qianyuan also nodded. She looked at her too. She really shouldn’t look anymore. If she kept looking, she would start to think Jiang Yumian was interested in her. Jing Xiaoyan over there was already extremely jealous.

“You two are beautiful.” Jiang Yumian’s words were sweet, and her smile was just as sweet.

Su Mumu looked disgusted. “You’re so sweet. What do you want?”

Jiang Yumian shook her head. “Nothing. Just looking at you two, feasting my eyes.”

Jing Xiaoyan next to her finally couldn’t sit still. She tugged at Jiang Yumian’s sleeve. “You can look at me too.”

“Alright.” Jiang Yumian replied quickly, surprisingly so for Jing Xiaoyan.

After saying that, she stood up and walked directly to sit across from Jing Xiaoyan.

And stared at her.

Jing Xiaoyan: “…”

Jiang Yumian sat down next to Su Mumu. She reached out and patted Su Mumu, suddenly gossiping. “Mumu, what does it feel like to date Sister Yunyun? Does she lie to you?”

Chu Qianyuan immediately became anxious upon hearing this. “I wouldn’t!”

Su Mumu nodded. “What would she even lie about? She wouldn’t, and she wouldn’t dare. But if you ask how it feels, what do you think it feels like to be with an idiot?”

Hearing her retort, Jiang Yumian smiled, raising her lips. “Sister Yunyun is so nice. How is she stupid? Besides, she wouldn’t lie to you about anything important. That’s great.”

After speaking, her gaze subtly landed on Jing Xiaoyan.

Sister, did you hear that?

Jing Xiaoyan tilted her head, a little confused. She was still wondering if she should go over and sit down.

Chu Qianyuan didn’t notice any of this. She vigorously nodded in agreement with Jiang Yumian. “Exactly. I’m not stupid.”

Su Mumu reached out and pinched her face, laughing. “If I say you’re stupid, you’re stupid.”

Chu Qianyuan: “Then alright.”

Jiang Yumian propped her face up with her hand, smiling as she watched them. So sweet.

She stared intently at them and suddenly thought of a faster and more effective way to prove that Jing Xiaoyan was her sister.

Without concrete proof, she couldn’t give up.

Jing Xiaoyan eventually cheekily sat down next to Jiang Yumian. Jiang Yumian turned her head, a smile lingering on her lips, and stared unblinkingly into Jing Xiaoyan’s eyes.

Jing Xiaoyan blinked.

Jiang Yumian suddenly leaned closer and asked in a low voice, “Do you lie to me?”

Support