Shadowed Love: A Lover Who Refuses to Let Go - Chapter 31.1

Shan Songyue’s growing suspicion only strengthened Yin Yunzhu’s resolve to hide her relationship with Jiang Menghe, even though she had known from the start that their involvement couldn’t withstand the light of day.

Yin Yunzhu had sent Jiang Menghe a message, but it took an entire day for her to receive a reply.

Ju He: [Sorry, I was too busy yesterday and didn’t see it. I have a spare key card; you can keep that one.]

Did this mean she could enter and leave Jiang’s studio whenever she pleased from now on?

A faint scratch reflected off the surface of the key card. Yin Yunzhu’s fingertip brushed against its sharp corner; after a moment of hesitation, she opened her drawer and tossed it inside.

Little Bamboo: [Are you always this busy?]

She sounded like the neglected half of a couple in the throes of a passionate romance, lodging a formal complaint. No matter how busy one was, how could they go so long without even looking at their phone?

Suddenly, a video call request popped up on the screen. Startled, Yin Yunzhu scrambled to lock her room door and turned the volume down before answering.

The woman on the screen looked as if she had just woken up. The curtains blocked out the snowy light from outside, leaving shadows to trace the elegant contours of her profile. She looked like a serpent lurking in the dark, flicking its tongue as it waited for the right moment to strike.

Bathed in that gloomy atmosphere, Jiang Menghe’s voice was raspy. “How about I cancel my work and come over to keep you company, okay?”

After many nights of intimacy, their conversations easily slid into flirtatious ambiguity. Seeing that Yin Yunzhu was on the verge of becoming flustered and angry, Jiang Menghe let out a low laugh.

“Alright, let’s talk business,” she said, sitting up and grabbing her laptop from the nightstand. “I was clearing out my inbox yesterday and saw an invitation for a variety show. Do you want to come as an audience member?”

With Jiang Menghe’s current market value skyrocketing, producers and directors were constantly reaching out. Her inbox was often so full that new emails would bury the old ones before she even had a chance to open them.

Since Ye Xiyang was home for the holidays, Jiang finally had time to browse through them, flagging anything that caught her interest.

“Is it soon? Won’t you be too busy?” Yin Yunzhu remembered she still had to return to Ping City for filming.

“It’s fine. I’ll just discuss it with the director to adjust my scenes and clear some time.”

The light from the screen illuminated Jiang Menghe’s face. She looked relaxed as she turned on a small night lamp.

“They invited me to be a mentor. I’m not exactly a triple-threat performer, so how am I supposed to give them advice?” she remarked, her tone tinged with a rare sense of helplessness.

“Then why did you accept it?”

Yin Yunzhu saw the poster for the variety show pop up in her messages and instinctively searched for it online.

Star of Tomorrow was a flagship program created by Shengxing Media. It scouted newcomers based on acting, dancing, and singing. Many high-level executives and talent agents attended the tapings to sign promising new talent on the spot. Even Jiang Yunshi, a starlet as famous as Ren Yu, had successfully debuted thanks to the exposure from this very show.

“I’m not taking any more roles after I finish my current project. I want to rest for a while.”

Staring at the screen for too long made her weary; she closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Before she was famous, she relied on quantity to build her reputation and make her face known. Now that she had won awards, she had to be more selective with scripts. Taking on a bad project could ruin her reputation or lead to mockery about “failing to maintain her standards” late in her career.

Seeing Jiang Menghe’s exhaustion, Yin Yunzhu silently agreed. She also harbored a selfish hope: if Jiang took a break, they would be able to see each other much more often.

“Do you want to come?” Jiang returned to her original question.

Yin Yunzhu, shy and reserved by nature, rarely gave a decisive “yes” or “no.” She let out a long, soft “mm-hmm,” which made Jiang Menghe’s eyes curve into thin, icy crescents of a smile.

“That’s a good girl. I can’t do this without you.”

Her “playing the victim while getting exactly what she wanted” act wasn’t annoying; the sweet, coaxing words sank straight into Yin Yunzhu’s heart. Picking at her mousepad, Yin felt that Jiang had become even more clingy than before.

It was a direct kind of affection that didn’t let one mistake it for true love, but it was certainly indulgence.

After hanging up, Yin Yunzhu smiled bitterly. Spending too much time in this ambiguous “gray area” made it easy to develop a deep, hard-to-uproot dependency.

Footsteps approached from the hallway, accompanied by the wailing of a feline. Yin Xuan and Shan Songyue had stayed over at the apartment the previous night, and now the latter was in the kitchen cooking.

“Sister—!” Yin Xuan shouted at the top of her lungs.

Yin Yunzhu unlocked her door and cracked it open. “What is it?”

A plump ginger cat, its fur glossy and the “M” marking on its forehead giving it a fierce look, was currently being held by the little girl, exposing its belly to the world. Every bully meets their match, Yin Yunzhu thought.

“Xiao Yu just snuck into the bedroom and tore up some clothes,” Yin Xuan whispered into her ear while standing on her tiptoes. “It was that one of Jiang-jiang’s.”

It was the purple bra that had almost been discovered by Shan Songyue—the piece that could have shattered the secret of their relationship.

At this, Yin Yunzhu rushed into the bedroom. She was met with utter chaos.

The wooden floor was littered with shredded paper, and a knocked-over water cup was still dripping from the edge of the desk. As for the built-in wardrobe, a long shoulder strap dangled from a gap in the door, its delicate lace torn and deformed.

She began tidying the floor while Yin Xuan stood by the door, clutching the reluctant culprit.

“What do we do now?” Yin Xuan seemed even more anxious than Yin Yunzhu.

With the roar of the range hood in the kitchen drowning out their voices, Yin Yunzhu held up the ruined fabric and sighed deeply.

“There’s nothing we can do. I’ll just have to find a time to buy a new one.”

In any case, her hands and eyes were like measuring tapes; after seeing and touching it so many times, she could easily determine the size.

Many shops were closed during the Spring Festival, but by the sixth day of the New Year, the quiet city became lively once more. The intersecting roads were like veins being injected with fresh blood as crowds of pedestrians and vehicles surged.

After staying at the Xinwu apartment for a few days, Shan Songyue took Yin Xuan back home. Yin Yunzhu heated up some leftovers for a simple lunch and prepared to head out to the shops in the afternoon.

She didn’t have a sharp eye for fashion; most of the unique pieces in her wardrobe were gifts from Bei Jiali. Having done her research beforehand, she wanted to take this opportunity to buy some other clothes as well.

Without realizing it, Yin Yunzhu had fully accepted Jiang Menghe’s presence in her life. The tops hanging side-by-side in the closet, the toiletries on the sink that weren’t hers, and the custom perfume on the vanity—another person’s traces were slowly saturating her life, becoming an indelible habit.

Soft light reflected off the mirrors while a sales assistant gave an enthusiastic recommendation.

“Miss, this style would suit you better. The band isn’t too tight, so it’s perfect for wearing at home.” The woman glanced at Yin’s chest and instantly picked out the most suitable size.

Facing the pale yellow, youthful design, Yin Yunzhu declined politely. She found it difficult to speak up. “Do you have anything… a bit more mature in style?”

To avoid misunderstanding, she added, “I’m buying it for my sister. She’s getting married soon.”

The excuse was convincing. The assistant smiled and nodded. “We do. Please wait over there on the sofa, I’ll go get them.”

Yin Yunzhu sat down on the sofa indicated. On the table were a few bottles of mineral water and a stack of fashion magazines with curled edges. To pass the time, she picked one up.

The cover happened to feature Ren Yu. She was sitting on a set of stairs, chin resting on her hand as she looked into the camera. The ethereal, pure lighting matched her temperament perfectly, making her look as if she were back in high school.

Yin Yunzhu suddenly understood why the other woman had the nerve to come forward and “clarify” the situation. Never mind the silhouette—their eyes and brows really did share a thirty to forty percent resemblance.

But that was where the similarity ended. A princess of the entertainment industry who had been pampered her whole life had a gaze that was far more arrogant and confident—a stark contrast to Yin Yunzhu’s indifferent, detached nature.

While she was engrossed in studying Ren Yu’s features, she suddenly felt a burning gaze on her.

Yin Yunzhu turned her head and saw two people standing by a clothing rack behind her. One was mumbling about which item to pick, while the other—a girl with braided hair—was throwing her a questioning look.

Their eyes met, and the girl’s face filled with surprise.

“Hey!” She pointed at Yin Yunzhu. “Aren’t you Yin Yunzhu?”

A sense of familiarity washed over her as the face before her began to overlap with a memory. Quancheng wasn’t exactly small, and Yin Yunzhu hadn’t expected to run into a high school classmate here.

She stood up. Time had blurred her memory, so she could only vaguely recall the girl’s surname.

“Xiao Guo?”

“It’s me, it’s me!” Xiao Guo responded excitedly. “What a coincidence! I haven’t seen you in years, but you haven’t changed much since high school.”

“I heard from Jiali that you’re a writer now. I’m so jealous!” As a typical nine-to-five office worker, she felt a deep longing for a freelance career.

In some ways, Bei Jiali and Yin Xuan really were like biological sisters; the moment anything happened, they couldn’t wait to announce it to the world, praising her to the heavens to make themselves look good.

“There’s nothing to be jealous of. It’s all just for a living.” Yin Yunzhu was truly bad at small talk; even during a reunion, she could easily extinguish the flame of a conversation.

“You have to remember to give me an autograph sometime,” Xiao Guo said, nudging her with an elbow and winking.

“I will.”

The two exchanged brief pleasantries. The girl with Xiao Guo seemed ready to pay, and seeing that they were about to leave, Xiao Guo quickly pulled out her phone.

“We haven’t added each other yet, have we? The class monitor is organizing a reunion in a few days. You should bring Jiali along and come hang out!”

It was hard to refuse such a warm invitation, and Yin Yunzhu silently scanned the QR code to join the group. After saying goodbye to Xiao Guo, she sent a message to Bei Jiali.

Little Bamboo: [Invited Lee to join the group chat “Grade 12 Class 2 Reunion Squad”]

Lee: [?]

Little Bamboo: [Just ran into Xiao Guo from high school. She invited us to the class reunion.]

As for where they met, Yin Yunzhu kept it vague. Bei Jiali wasn’t as easy to fool as Shan Songyue; she was sharp enough to mistake a mosquito bite on someone’s neck for a hickey.

Lee: [You’re actually willing to participate in a group activity? This is cause for celebration!]

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