The Infatuated Cannon Fodder Has Completely Moved On - Chapter 2

To have met once is a form of retribution for both.

When Cen Shu received the message, it felt like a bolt from the blue. She stared at it, doubting her own eyes.

How could a “fish” in her pond fly into such a rage?

She tried to reason through it. Had that social media post been discovered? Or had it simply been too long since she last fed the fish?

Jin Yuzhen had never spoken a harsh word to her before. This was the first time.

She sent over a cute piggy emoji.

Jin Yuzhen replied with a solid row of kitchen knife emojis.

Then, Cen Shu sent a set of question marks.

Looking closer, she noticed a large red exclamation mark next to her message.

“?”

Cen Shu was baffled.

When things go this far south, there is usually a “demon” at work.

She called Feng Hui and asked softly, “Zhenzhen seems angry with me, and I have no idea why. She even deleted me on WeChat. Sister Hui, could you help me ask her what happened?”

Feng Hui felt completely numb.

What a thick skin, she thought.

Smiling, Feng Hui replied, “Zhenzhen has a quirky temper, but she is infinitely tolerant of you, Miss Cen. How about this: order a bouquet of flowers and send them to her doorstep. Within half an hour, she will add you back.”

As if receiving divine guidance, Cen Shu said, “I understand. Thank you.”

After hanging up, she picked out flowers online. However, she hit a snag when it came time to pay.

Where exactly was Jin Yuzhen’s house?

Damn it. She only remembered the location of the Jin family estate, but she had never asked Jin Yuzhen where her private residence was.

She flipped through her “Fish Farming Manual” for a long time before finally confirming an address.

After paying, she sent a private message to the florist: the card must say “I am sorry.”

In four different languages.

It would make her appear sincere.

She waited anxiously for half an hour. Instead of a friend request from Jin Yuzhen, she received a photo and a voice note from Feng Hui.

The photo showed a bundle of gaudy, impractical flowers. The card was covered in “I am sorry.”

Feng Hui’s voice said, “I do not know who sent these to me. It could not be you, right? Should these not go to Zhenzhen?”

Cen Shu’s eyes widened. After listening to the voice note, she flipped through her manual again.

She had messed up. That was the address she had noted for Feng Hui. The reason it was in Jin Yuzhen’s file was that Jin Yuzhen was her “primary fish.” As Jin Yuzhen’s sidekick, Feng Hui was a “secondary fish,” and secondary fish shared a data card with the primary one.

Dammit, she got them mixed up.

It seemed she needed to optimize her manual.

She replied, “I am sorry, Sister Hui. Last time we had a meal at your place, I ordered something and accidentally set it as my default address.”

Feng Hui said, “Then hurry up and order another set, or Zhenzhen will be asleep soon. Conflicts should not be left overnight.”

Cen Shu agreed, but she was not particularly worried.

She was certain that even if she did nothing, Jin Yuzhen would add her back by tomorrow morning.

Jin Yuzhen had been hooked by her long ago.

So, she went to sleep peacefully.

The next day, there were many messages on WeChat, but none from Jin Yuzhen.

There were none on the third day.

There were none on the fourth.

It was not until the fifth day that her agent finally brought news of Jin Yuzhen.

But it was bad news.

“Miss Jin did not go to see Director Lu at all. Your next drama deal fell through,” the agent said worriedly. “What happened between you and Miss Jin?”

Cen Shu was in disbelief. “Fell through? What do we do? I already leaked it to the fans!”

When the official announcement came out and she was not the lead, would she not be a laughingstock?

She had set her sights on this suspense drama early on. Every one of Lu Wenqi’s dramas was a hit; Cen Shu had planned to reach the top of the industry next year with this role.

Even though Lu Wenqi had always been cold toward her, she was close with Jin Yuzhen.

Cen Shu thought there would be no variables.

“That is not the biggest issue; people get replaced even after filming starts, let alone when we are just in talks. The fans will understand. At worst, your rivals will mock you. But Miss Jin promised to pull strings for you; she is usually very reliable.”

Cen Shu’s heart tightened.

Jin Yuzhen was truly angry.

What was she going to do?

For the past few days, Jin Yuzhen had stayed in her house.

She needed to organize her current situation.

In reality, there was not much to organize. To put it simply, there was not a single good person around her.

When Lu Wenqi arrived, Jin Yuzhen had just woken up from a nap.

Setting the food on the dining table, Lu Wenqi walked to the doorway and glanced at her. “Have you been lying down this whole time?”

Jin Yuzhen gathered her loose hair and got out of bed. “I get up and sit around occasionally.”

Lu Wenqi snorted coldly. “I thought you would insist on me signing Cen Shu as the lead. To be honest, I blocked your contact information before I signed the contract.”

Jin Yuzhen said, “I did not notice.”

She went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face, then changed into loungewear.

Lu Wenqi arranged the dishes and said, “If I had not come, would you have stopped eating altogether?”

Jin Yuzhen replied, “There is a victory banquet for the Jin Group tonight. I can just eat then.”

Lu Wenqi stared at her for a long time without speaking.

Because of Cen Shu, they had fought more times than she could count. She found it hard to open her mouth and ask questions.

Jin Yuzhen asked, “What have you been up to these last two days?”

Lu Wenqi’s face slumped. “I have been working like a dog.”

“Casting is not going well?” Jin Yuzhen picked at a piece of grilled fish.

Lu Wenqi sighed. “It would be a miracle if it went well. Everyone wants to shove their people in. Forget it, let us not talk about that. Your complexion is not very good. After eating, go for a walk. Do not stay cooped up at home.”

Jin Yuzhen was silent for a moment, then said, “I deleted Cen Shu.”

The table went silent for a moment. Lu Wenqi asked, “You deleted who?”

Jin Yuzhen said, “Cen Shu.”

“Hold on a second,” Lu Wenqi pulled out her phone. “I am going to order a few crates of firecrackers and a drum.”

Jin Yuzhen said, “That is hardly necessary.”

Lu Wenqi was deeply moved. “Who has not been ‘fished’ these days? But you were poisoned too deeply. I was thinking of getting you some herbal medicine, but seeing your symptoms, pesticides would have been more effective. Luckily, I did not act on impulse.”

Jin Yuzhen wanted to say something, but ultimately just accepted the mockery.

Lu Wenqi thought of something and said in surprise, “So even if I had not blocked you, you would not have forced me to sign Cen Shu?”

Jin Yuzhen nodded, holding a bowl of jackfruit sticky rice with a cool expression.

Lu Wenqi looked at her, thinking, She did not give up even when she was hooked that badly before. What on earth happened recently?

To be serious, she could understand why Jin Yuzhen liked Cen Shu.

In the beginning, Cen Shu was just a fitting model for one of Jin Group’s affordable luxury clothing brands. After half a year, she had not even been promoted to a regular model.

When Jin Yuzhen first saw her, she was helping a colleague out of a jam. A photographer was intentionally making the colleague strike suggestive poses; the colleague was crying, and Cen Shu actually got into a physical altercation with the photographer.

At that time, there was a desperate drive in her eyes to climb upward at any cost.

Their companions watched from a distance, scoffing at Cen Shu’s behavior. Feng Hui had said, “If it were me, I would take the evidence and threaten him. That way I could keep things polite on the surface while getting something out of it.”

Cui Man also said, “She is still too young.”

But Jin Yuzhen had been dazed for a moment, not listening to them.

Do not mock a snake for having no horns; one never knows when it might turn into a dragon.

From then on, she publicly pursued Cen Shu, and it had been five years since.

Cen Shu had gone from a fitting model to a red-hot star.

The only thing that had not changed was the “fisher and fish” dynamic between them.

No one else understood; they thought Jin Yuzhen was too easily moved.

But Lu Wenqi knew that on that day, Jin Yuzhen saw Cen Shu’s sincerity within the vanity fair. In such a world, sincerity is the rarest thing.

This was also related to the Second Miss Jin’s own tumultuous background.

The Jin family had once been glorious, then declined. Twenty years ago, the Jin grandmother took a different path, traveling through the mining areas of Myanmar to start a jade business.

The whole family stayed in Yangon for over ten years.

The twists and turns in between were indescribable; no one knew if they would succeed.

Would they return home in glory or die in a foreign land?

Sometimes you push forward with all your might, only to step into a void.

Having seen the various faces of humanity on her journey, Jin Yuzhen appeared to be a domineering heiress on the surface, but in reality, she had no expectations of human nature. She was too lazy to think deeply about most things; as long as they did not cross her line, she would not expose them.

Cen Shu’s clumsy fishing techniques lasting until today was enough of a feat. After all, the Second Miss Jin was not actually brainless.

“May I ask, are you going to cut her off completely, or just for a few days?” Lu Wenqi asked.

Jin Yuzhen said frankly, “I am not someone who turns back. You know that.”

Lu Wenqi was instantly relieved, finally able to badmouth Cen Shu in peace. She said comfortingly, “Zhenzhen, it is no big deal. The two of you meeting was just a form of retribution for you both.”

Jin Yuzhen replied, “Thank you. I feel much worse now that you have said that.”

Lu Wenqi picked up her phone again. “No, I need to contact a dragon and lion dance troupe. It is best to clear out your bad luck.”

“Do not. I have to go to the Jin family victory banquet tonight. Actually, why don’t you come with me?”

“As your date?” Lu Wenqi was flattered, then her face fell as she realized something. “The invitations for the banquet were sent out half a month ago. So your original date was Cen Shu? Am I a backup?”

Jin Yuzhen felt guilty. “Don’t worry, next time there is an event like this, I will call you first.” At the time, she was still devoted to Cen Shu, and Lu Wenqi spent every day badmouthing her. Jin Yuzhen had not wanted to see her friend, so she had not invited her.

Truly, honest advice is hard on the ears.

Regarding her pursuit of Cen Shu, the people around her had constantly egged her on, saying they were a match made in heaven. Only Lu Wenqi kept belittling Cen Shu and scolded people like Feng Hui. Every gathering ended in a mess because of her, as she constantly tried to warn Jin Yuzhen.

But Jin Yuzhen had been too obsessed; she had not listened to a single word.

Thinking back now, only Lu Wenqi truly had her best interests at heart.

“Seriously, what did Cen Shu do to make you suddenly snap out of it? It is like a deathbed recovery,” Lu Wenqi asked.

“She has done so many things. If I really listed them all, a hundred pages of A4 paper would not be enough. Regardless, we will see.”

Just as Jin Yuzhen spoke, her phone rang again.

Lu Wenqi was more curious than she was about the caller. She leaned over to look. “Feng Hui?”

Jin Yuzhen raised an eyebrow. “She wants to collaborate with me.”

“Does she know you are going on that financial channel program?”

“Most likely,” Jin Yuzhen said. “I have only ignored her for a few days and she is already losing her cool.”

This time, Lu Wenqi was truly impressed. “You had a falling out with Feng Hui, too?”

“A falling out?” Jin Yuzhen said in surprise. “What right does she have to fall out with me? She begs for food and drink from me while playing mind games. If she wants to play, we will play. I will run her ragged.”