The Wife From the Contract Marriage Does Not Want to Get Divorced - Chapter 14

The Banquet Scene

The young women who had just been complimenting Lu Yanqing took videos of her feeding cake to Xie Siyu and sent them into their “sisters” group chat. The WeChat group consisted of about sixty people, most of whom were socialites and heiresses from Rongcheng.

Of course, others had also managed to slip into the group people like Su Man.

“So they aren’t a ‘plastic couple’ after all?”

“Lu Yanqing feeding Xie Siyu cake in front of everyone… what are the odds this is just an act?”

“There’s no true love in business marriages. To the person who posted the video: did you actually see it clearly?”

“Wasn’t it said before that Xie Siyu has a secret crush? She couldn’t possibly like Lu Yanqing, so this is definitely a show.”

“Don’t speak too soon. What if Lu Yanqing is the one who likes her? During those three years she was abroad, look at the heights Xie Siyu took the Lu Group to. How many people are jealous of that?”

“I agree with Sister Liu. If Xie Siyu hadn’t stayed married to Lu Yanqing, I’d want to pursue her myself. Who wouldn’t want a wife who is sharp, capable, gentle, and considerate? I know I would.”

“So, Lu Yanqing just has good luck, then?”

In just ten minutes, the group chat notifications hit 99+.

Lu Yanqing was unaware of the gossip being discussed behind her back. As the silver tines of her fork poked at the blueberry cake and cream brushed against Xie Siyu’s lips, the sound of shutters clicking washed over the room like a tide.

Feeding her the cake had been an unintentional gesture; she hadn’t expected it to escalate like this. She had no choice but to finish feeding her the entire piece.

“Sorry, I didn’t know it would turn out like this…”

Lu Yanqing set down the porcelain plate. Leaning in, she whispered an explanation into Xie Siyu’s ear. She wanted to say more, but looking up, she saw Yang Shan, the proprietor of “Yun Shang,” walking toward them.

“President Lu is in high spirits,” Yang Shan greeted them before turning to Xie Siyu. “It’s rare to see President Xie in such a lively setting.”

Xie Siyu’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. Her tongue swept away the sweetness from the corner of her mouth as she gave Yang Shan a slight nod.

Lu Yanqing was quite familiar with Yang Shan, as she had been the one to recruit the brand when “Yun Shang” first moved into the West Suburbs branch of Twin Clouds Manor.

She lightly clinked her red wine glass against Yang Shan’s champagne. “Do you have time for a drink? I happen to have something I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Of course.”

Yang Shan hadn’t expected to run into both Lu Yanqing and Xie Siyu at the banquet. Since they had crossed paths, they needed to have a detailed discussion regarding the renovation of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Tea Corridor in the mall.

“Let’s find a quiet place then.”

This wasn’t Lu Yanqing’s first time at the Grand Hyatt, so she immediately decided on a private booth on the second floor. “Will President Xie be joining us?”

The electronic contract for the first-floor renovation had already been sent to Yang Shan. The only reason she hadn’t come to the corporate office to sign was that she had been away on a business trip.

Xie Siyu decided to go along, but just then, the phone in her bag vibrated several times in succession. Seeing the messages popping up on her lock screen, her eyes flickered. “You two go ahead. I need to return a call.”

Lu Yanqing didn’t suspect a thing and led Yang Shan toward the elevators, while Xie Siyu gripped her phone and slipped out of the banquet hall.

Tong City

Meanwhile, in Tong City 360 kilometers away from Rongcheng stood the country’s largest film and television production base.

The crew of the xianxia drama The Fall of Nine Heavens was filming a night scene near a stone arch bridge by a man-made lake.

In the early spring, the lake water was flecked with shards of ice. Su Man suppressed her shivering as she submerged herself for the third time. Her heavy period costume was soaked through with freezing water, clinging to her body like a thousand steel needles piercing her pores. She heard the assistant director’s countdown from the shore: “Scene 4, Take 3—Action!”

The lines spoken by the male lead, Chen Moyu, drifted over the surface of the water in a blur. Following the script, Su Man tilted her head back to surface. Between breaths, the white mist of her respiration was sliced apart by the searchlights.

“Master… your disciple… knows her mistake…” Her voice was fractured by genuine trembling.

“Cut!” Director Li Yue threw down his script, lying through his teeth. “Su Man’s expression isn’t desperate enough. Do it again!”

The crew immediately tossed a fifth block of floating ice into the lake.

Gripping the mossy bank, Su Man recalled the warning text from her manager three days ago: Just do your job and don’t overreach.

“Director Li, Sister Su is frozen stiff. Let her rest for a bit.” Seeing Su Man shivering violently and sneezing repeatedly, Chen Moyu rubbed his nose guiltily. As a man, he felt ashamed of bullying a woman.

The assistant director, Li Yue, sighed and waved a hand. “Fifteen-minute break for everyone.”

Supported by her assistant, Huang Ling, Su Man returned to her trailer.

The roar of the space heater couldn’t drown out the sound of Su Man’s teeth chattering. Huang Ling wrapped a bath towel around Su Man’s purple fingertips, her heart aching for her. “What is wrong with Director Li these past two days? I feel like he’s intentionally making things difficult.”

“Sister Su, why don’t you just call President Zou and give in? Let her lean on the crew a bit. If this keeps up, even a body made of iron won’t be able to take it.”

Su Man huddled into her wool blanket, clutching a hot water bottle. Her head was bowed, and her eyes were faintly red. It wasn’t that she hadn’t tried to give in; it was that the person simply wouldn’t acknowledge her.

Calls went unanswered; WeChat messages were ignored. That person wasn’t even in Rongcheng, and Su Man had no idea where she had gone for her business trip.

Her phone screen lit up with messages from her “besties” group. They were all talking about Lu Yanqing and Xie Siyu. In the video, Lu Yanqing was using a silver fork to feed Xie Siyu cake, looking gentle and devoted.

Perhaps there truly is no pain like the pain of comparison.

“Turn the AC up a bit more…”

Su Man curled into the gap of the seat, her wet hair leaving a dark damp stain on the leather upholstery. The ginger tea in her thermos had long since gone cold just like the sight of Zou Xiao’s back when she had slammed the door and left that night.

The Director’s Tent

In the camera crew’s tent, Li Yue sat before a computer, finishing a call with the screenwriter. Chen Moyu lounged in a single-seater sofa; he knew tonight’s display had been intentional on their part.

He couldn’t help but frown. “Who exactly did Su Man offend? She’s involved with President Zou of Star Sea Entertainment shouldn’t she be protected?”

Li Yue hung up and scrolled through a new script on his screen. The scenes for the character “Fairy Xuanji” had been cut by two-thirds. Fairy Xuanji was played by Su Man.

“The investors demanded we add someone new.” Li Yue exited the document. Su Man’s martial arts scenes were all being replaced with green-screen work. One didn’t even need to think to know the show would be buried in criticism once it aired. “Some artists at Star Sea said she’s been fighting with President Zou lately, but no one knows the real truth.”

Chen Moyu sighed. Even as a multi-award-winning actress, Su Man was still powerless against capital. He wondered whose “cake” she had accidentally touched.

Back at the Grand Hyatt

In the long corridor leading from the banquet hall to the back garden, Xie Siyu leaned against a cold stone pillar. Beside her stood Xie Zhiyao, also dressed in high fashion. She was incredibly rude to her half-sister.

“Xie Siyu, don’t forget your surname is Xie. Even though you’re the CEO of the Lu Group now, don’t actually start thinking of yourself as a Lu.”

“Dad calls you and you don’t pick up. Manager Zhang from the marketing department visited Lu Group three times and you refused to see him. What exactly are you trying to do?”

Xie Siyu kept her eyes lowered as if she hadn’t heard a word, letting Xie Zhiyao chirp on incessantly. Xie Zhiyao’s fists clenched at her sides. She hated this calm, indifferent look of Xie Siyu’s the most as if nothing in the world could move her.

Gritting her teeth, she continued, “Now that Lu Yanqing is back, she is the rightful heir to the Lu Group. How much longer do you think you can stay on top?”

“Dad told me to tell you: for the brand convention in half a month, Elis absolutely cannot be removed from the mall. Otherwise… don’t even think about getting your mother’s belongings back.”

Her mother. Her belongings.

At these words, the peace in Xie Siyu’s eyes vanished, replaced by a biting coldness. Seeing a waiter approaching in the distance, she stood up straight and slowly leaned toward Xie Zhiyao.

She warned in a low, steady voice, “Don’t keep using that to threaten me. If I ever truly lose my mind, I’ll pull the Xie family down into the grave with me. Don’t think I won’t.”

“You—!”

Xie Zhiyao’s eyes widened. She shoved Xie Siyu hard, her rage making her forget her act as a refined lady. “You wouldn’t dare! Dad won’t let that happen! Xie Siyu, don’t forget you are just an adopted daughter of the Xie family. Without that status, do you really think Lu Yanqing would still want you? There are plenty of people in Rongcheng waiting for a chance to marry her!”

Xie Siyu was wearing thin stilettos. Pushed with such force, her momentum carried her backward until she hit the stone pillar behind her, causing a dull ache in her waist.

Adopted daughter.

Heh. Did she think she actually cared for the title?

Xie Siyu let out a cold laugh. Suddenly, she saw the familiar figure of Lu Yanqing appearing to her right. Her eyes flickered as an idea took hold. She stepped up to Xie Zhiyao and intentionally lowered her voice: “Adopted daughter? You know perfectly well I’m no ‘adopted daughter’…”

“Shut up! Xie Siyu, shut your mouth—!”

Xie Zhiyao’s first instinct was to stop her; she couldn’t let an outsider know the truth of Xie Siyu’s identity. She raised her hand to strike Xie Siyu across the face, but her wrist was caught mid-air by someone who had rushed up from behind.

The person’s grip was so strong that she couldn’t break free. Turning to see who it was, she felt a momentary surge of guilt. “Yanqing… Sister Yanqing, don’t… don’t misunderstand.”

Lu Yanqing flung Xie Zhiyao’s hand away. She stepped to Xie Siyu’s side and said in a harsh tone, “She is not just your sister; she is also my, Lu Yanqing’s, wife. Even if you Xies don’t care for her, plenty of others do.”

“No, it’s not…”

Xie Zhiyao rubbed her pained wrist. Seeing the mocking smirk playing on Xie Siyu’s lips, she realized she had been intentionally provoked. She trembled with fury.

“Xie Siyu, stop acting so innocent! How dare you use such dirty tricks on me? You have no shame—”

Lu Yanqing remembered the burn scar beneath Xie Siyu’s collarbone. Seeing Xie Zhiyao’s current arrogance and rudeness, her face darkened further. “You dare speak like that right in front of me? Do you think I have a particularly good temper?”

“Do you think the process of removing Elis from the mall is going too slowly? I don’t think we need to wait for the convention in two weeks. I’ll send the notice down tomorrow.”

Xie Zhiyao was bold enough to humiliate Xie Siyu openly, but she didn’t dare act out in front of Lu Yanqing. Furthermore, before she left the house, her father had repeatedly instructed her to make sure she convinced Lu Yanqing to return to the Xie ancestral home for dinner the following evening.

Xie Siyu really did have some nerve, getting Lu Yanqing to protect her like this.

Her fingernails dug into her palms. Suppressing her resentment, Xie Zhiyao lowered her head in a rare act of submission before Xie Siyu. “Xie Siyu, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have slandered you.”

She then turned to Lu Yanqing, speaking respectfully. “Sister Yanqing, I was being immature. Please don’t take it to heart. Elis… Elis cannot be removed from the mall…”

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