Transmigrated as the CEO's Top-Tier Stand-in - Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Just before the Dream9 performance was about to begin—Meng Rendong met with Yu Su at a very private and exclusive club.

Since the incident involving Chu Nanxing was exposed, Meng Rendong hadn’t seen Yu Su for a long time. However, she had instructed her assistant to inquire about the Chu family’s situation and provide them with any convenience she could, as Meng Rendong also made private investments while managing Imperial Court.

Compared to the appearance she had seen when Ji Yu was filming in the water town, Yu Su looked even worse. Despite her excellent background and family, fate seemed to have poured all misfortune onto the latter half of her life: raising two daughters through countless hardships, only for one to die and the other to go insane… No normal person could cope with such trauma.

Since Chu Jianyu’s death many years ago, Yu Su had tried everything, both believable and unbelievable. She had fasted, prayed to Buddha, and cultivated self-composure, finally recovering from the tragedy of her elder daughter’s death. She wanted to pour all her remaining energy into her younger daughter, only to find Chu Nanxing in her current state.

As Meng Rendong looked at her, she was suddenly reminded of the porcelain in museums that had been meticulously restored by experts: still beautiful and elegant, yet covered with fragmented, spider-web-like cracks. It made one feel that a single touch would shatter it into pieces, beyond repair.

She pursed her lips, feeling an inexplicable absurdity, such as her own headaches and amnesia in the past years, and Yu Su bearing all this pain, even though Chu Nanxing was the source of all the tragedies.

But now, Meng Rendong couldn’t bear to mention those things.

Yu Su ordered a floral tea. Smelling the aroma wafting from the transparent teacup, she raised the cup with pale fingertips. Meng Rendong guessed that she might have caught a chill outside before arriving. Even though the club had warm air circulating from the central air conditioning, Meng Rendong raised her hand to call service and requested a light blanket for her.

Despite wearing a thick sweater and fleece-lined pants, adding a blanket did not make Yu Su look bulky, indicating she had lost a significant amount of weight due to recent events. This instantly reminded Meng Rendong of Ji Yu’s similarly poor condition.

She wondered what those two mother and daughter had done in their previous life to be burdened with a relative like Chu Nanxing in this life, causing misery to everyone involved.

Yu Su thanked her with a tired expression, placing the blanket on her lap. She looked down and gently pinched the rim of her teacup, then softly said to Meng Rendong:

“You are so busy with work now. I shouldn’t bother you, but there are some things… I thought and thought, and still feel the need to trouble you for verification.”

Meng Rendong heard her courtesy, a smile spreading on her lips. She said softly: “Aunt Su, you are too kind. You are my elder. Please ask whatever you like. I will tell you everything I know.”

Yu Su sighed lightly and met Meng Rendong’s eyes for a few seconds. The atmosphere was silent for a while.

Meng Rendong suddenly realized what she was about to ask. Her already straight spine became even more rigid. Just then, she heard Yu Su lightly mention Chu Nanxing:

“Nanxing… has been staying at the sanatorium for treatment since the last incident. I’ve been with her. Her mental state is poor now, and she says a lot of nonsense, always mistaking me for other people.”

Meng Rendong somewhat guessed the “nonsense” Chu Nanxing was speaking. She was mentally prepared, but then Yu Su took out a small voice recorder from her bag. After fiddling with it, some noisy sounds emerged.

“Chu Jianyu, why did you come back… you’re already dead… you’re not the female lead anymore…”

“Why are you all stealing everything from me? I’m the big star! My dream is to be the big star!”

“Ah! Help! Save me! So much water!”

Some voices sounded venomous, others were filled with panic. After listening to just a few lines, Yu Su pressed stop herself, a look of unbearable pain in her eyes. When she spoke again, her first sentence was:

“I remember… you and Nanxing had a very good relationship for a time.”

“We didn’t let her go abroad then, and you even specifically came to persuade me to talk sense into Huaide.”

Meng Rendong unconsciously tightened her grip on the cup in front of her. She let out a heavy breath and admitted: “Yes, Aunt Su. For a time, that was indeed the case.”

Yu Su then asked: “And then?”

Meng Rendong did not continue. And then?

And then she learned some truths and recovered her lost memories, so she deeply hated Chu Nanxing. After Chu Nanxing went insane, she had never visited the Chu family once. Because Meng Rendong didn’t know how to treat the now-insane Chu Nanxing. She was afraid she would be unable to stop herself from revealing an expression of “serves her right” contempt, which would be inappropriate. But to pretend to sympathize or feel sad like others, she couldn’t do it either… so she simply stayed away.

Yu Su read part of the answer from her reaction, looking comprehending yet somewhat desolate. After a long moment, she bravely asked: “Actually… those words, they are true, aren’t they?”

“Although I don’t know what ‘female lead’ means, I’ve been slowly learning about what happened back then. The more I learn, the more terrified I feel. Nanxing actually had the chance to save Jianyu back then, didn’t she? And… Jianyu, she came back, didn’t she?”

For the first time, Meng Rendong felt that language was so weak and inadequate. Hearing Yu Su state these things, she felt the pain she and Ji Yu had endured being exposed once more. Yet, she didn’t know how to comfort this “victim” who was also harmed by Chu Nanxing.

She could only listen quietly, unsure how to respond.

Yu Su rambled for a bit, then switched to another topic: “I recently investigated this Ji Yu. Her resume for the first sixteen years is almost blank, as if someone erased it. I could only vaguely find out that her parents died. Later, she first appeared by your side, and then entered the entertainment industry… Her dancing is so good, just like Jianyu when she was young.”

“I always refused to believe that two people who look exactly alike could exist in this world. But every time I see her, I can’t help but think of Jianyu. Huaide said I was overthinking it, but listening to Nanxing’s words every day recently, and seeing those investigation findings, I still subconsciously hope—”

“Rendong, you loved taking Jianyu to play when you were little. Can you tell Aunt Su, is Ji Yu…?”

She asked the final question with a surge of courage.

Despite many unclear details, a woman’s and mother’s intuition helped her cut straight to the most crucial point.

Meng Rendong remained silent for a long time, then very, very lightly nodded her head.

Yu Su saw her movement. So she instinctively asked: “Then why, why doesn’t she come back?”

Meng Rendong’s smile held a mix of difficulty and bitterness. Thinking of Ji Yu’s current state and their almost unbelievable journey to another world, she hesitated for a moment before saying: “It’s a long story. I can only say that she only recently remembered these things… Aunt Su can think of her as someone who has died once and come back to life.”

Yu Su repeated the last sentence a few times after her, her expression seemingly bewildered, then quickly turning into melancholy. She thought of Chu Nanxing’s actions and nodded, rationalizing it:

“That’s right…”

“Nanxing harmed her. How could she dare to come back?”

Yet, even after arriving at this clear, rational answer, Yu Su felt even more pain. She felt heartache knowing that her younger daughter had caused her elder daughter to lose her life, and now the elder daughter didn’t dare to acknowledge her parents, spending all those years alone outside.

Her face was pale, and she clutched her chest, looking like she might faint at any moment. This made Meng Rendong worried, her hand placed near her phone, ready to call for emergency services.

Fortunately, Yu Su recovered. She took out medication from her bag, swallowed it with the now-warm floral tea, and after feeling better, she asked Meng Rendong:

“Then… how is she doing now?”

She remembered the obvious look of envy in Ji Yu’s eyes when she accidentally encountered her during the show, and later in that small town, how she somehow saw Ji Yu enter her home and cry beneath the persimmon tree. She had offered comfort then, thinking she was merely delusional, insisting Ji Yu resembled her child. Now, thinking carefully, she realized she had never been wrong. That was her child.

Meng Rendong saw the pain contained within Yu Su’s gentle expression and wondered if she should tell the truth. After struggling internally for a long time, she still spoke candidly: “Not very well.”

Wishing for Ji Yu to feel more care, she somewhat selfishly and unilaterally disclosed Ji Yu’s current situation: “She was diagnosed with severe depression some time ago and is currently undergoing treatment.”

Yu Su’s lips parted slightly in surprise. Then, she carefully recalled the Chasing Dreams 100 show she had watched because of her concern for Chu Nanxing, remembering Ji Yu’s words during interviews. Her heart seized with pain repeatedly.

Yes. The child’s condition seemed to have always been poor, focused only on one thing, never mentioning other people or things, as if nothing in life was left for her to care about.

Yu Su couldn’t help but feel guilty, unsure what she could do for Ji Yu. Just thinking about Chu Nanxing’s state was already exhausting her—however, mothers are always like this. As long as they discover their children are not living well, they instinctively drain all their energy, wanting to do something for them, regardless of what they may have done in the past.

Seeing Yu Su’s pain with nowhere to vent, Meng Rendong, who wanted Ji Yu to feel a little care from her family and also wanted Yu Su to stop tormenting herself over Chu Nanxing, suddenly said:

“The day after tomorrow, their girl group has an offline performance here.”

“Aunt Su, would you like to go and see her?”

Yu Su was stunned, not expecting to hear such an invitation. She was tempted at first, then wondered if she was too old to attend such events for young people.

“I…”

Meng Rendong saw her hesitation, smiled, and confidently told her: “Aunt Su, I think she would really want to see you too.”

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