Weakness Trap - Chapter 60

That night, Yu Lingxue received the employment notice from Yu Qingluan’s studio.

She calculated the time in Country M, it was daytime there and without delay, replied to the email immediately.

The notice instructed her to report to the studio next Wednesday to sign the employment contract and complete the procedures. She was reminded to bring her health examination report.

Her anxious heart finally settled back into place.

At least Yu Qingluan hadn’t chosen someone else.

Three years had passed, and her understanding of Yu Qingluan still held true.

After replying to the email, Yu Lingxue lay in bed, unable to sleep no matter what. She pulled up recent news in the fashion world to browse through.

Yu Qingluan and her studio were only moderately famous, mostly known within the industry.

If one only looked for mainstream news, Yu Qingluan’s name wouldn’t appear.

She wondered what Yu Qingluan’s plans for the studio were. The new Chinese style was relatively fresh both domestically and internationally, with a broad audience. If handled well, they could leap to become a renowned fashion brand at home and abroad within three years.

As she read the news, Yu Lingxue silently mapped out a plan for Yu Qingluan in her mind.

After all, she had applied for the assistant position. Once she became familiar with Yu Qingluan, she might be able to offer development suggestions.

Yu Lingxue stayed busy until the early hours of the morning but, for once, slept deeply.

The sleep was so sound and peaceful that when she woke up, Yu Lingxue had completely forgotten she still had to attend Yan Lanshen’s “Feast at Hongmen.”

Yu Lingxue lazily finished breakfast and began packing her things for Country M. Yu Yueheng watched her from the side, hesitating to speak.

“What’s wrong, Mom?” Yu Lingxue hadn’t told Yu Yueheng what she was planning to do, only that she might be staying in Country M for a while.

“Did you forget you’re meeting that person at eleven?” It seemed Yu Lingxue needed an assistant herself.

“…” Yu Lingxue’s hands stilled as she packed.

Then she rolled her eyes noticeably.

“If you don’t want to go, I can send a message to cancel for you?” Yu Yueheng guessed that Yu Lingxue was going to find Yu Qingluan.

In this household, Yu Lingxue called the shots. There was no way to stop her.

If Yu Lingxue wanted to go, she could go. As long as she didn’t get herself into trouble.

“No.” Yu Lingxue took a deep breath, the annoyance on her brow impossible to hide, as if she had just seen a dead fly.

“I still have to discuss the collaboration.” A fifty percent stake, ownership of the project Yu Lingxue still wanted these things. No matter how irritating it was, she had to go.

“That’s tough.” Yu Yueheng patted her shoulder.

“There’s money to be made. It’s not tough.” Yu Lingxue joked, trying to lift her spirits.

After getting ready, she took a car to the meeting place.

It was a restaurant. Yu Lingxue glanced at the sign and made a mental note of it.

Yan Lanshen wouldn’t invite her to meet on someone else’s turf.

Since when had he gotten involved in the restaurant business?

He really had his hands in a lot of things.

Before entering, Yu Lingxue thought to herself: if Yu Qingyuan was the regional boss in her career game, then Yan Lanshen was the final boss she had to defeat to clear the game.

The difficulty gap was indeed vast.

Yu Lingxue pushed the door open. Yan Lanshen was already waiting in the private room.

Seeing her arrive, he gestured for her to sit, not minding that she was five minutes late.

“I thought you weren’t coming,” Yan Lanshen joked after she sat down.

Yu Lingxue didn’t look pleased and directly asked him for the contract.

“How about having a meal first?” Yan Lanshen was clearly taken aback by Yu Lingxue’s straightforward approach.

I had long heard that Yu Lingxue was the most unpredictable rising power in Harbor City over the past two years, and now I was witnessing it firsthand.

“I ate before coming.” Yu Lingxue showed no intention of staying long.

Truth be told, she hadn’t even properly looked at the meeting location with Yan Lanshen, assuming it would be at one of the Yan family’s office buildings.

“Breakfast or lunch?”

“You talk too much.”

At that, Yan Lanshen had nothing more to say and could only ask her secretary to bring in the contract.

Yu Lingxue read it carefully.

From entering the room to receiving the contract, it took her five minutes.

Reading the contract alone took a quarter of an hour.

Throughout this time, Yan Lanshen sat across from her, staring blankly, lost in thought.

“Alright, I’ll sign.” No traps, no wordplay. Yan Lanshen’s contract was genuinely sincere.

“You’ve grown up fast.” Yan Lanshen took the contract, sighed, and signed her name.

“Have you ever thought that back then, you didn’t have to get divorced?”

Here it comes. The composure Yu Lingxue had struggled to maintain faded, replaced by an unmistakable irritation as her gaze swept over Yan Lanshen’s face.

“I could help you with seizing power.”

“Stop.” Yu Lingxue cut her off.

The last thing she wanted to hear was Yan Lanshen’s voice.

“You know how that marriage came about.” Yu Lingxue curved her lips into a smile, sarcasm dripping from the corners of her eyes.

“Not to mention I already had someone I liked. This isn’t some TV drama forcing yourself on someone will only make them resent and despise you.”

Yan Lanshen’s expression tightened, her hands clenched tightly under the table. The glare on her glasses blurred her vision and obscured Yu Lingxue from view.

“You never even gave us a chance. How do you know it wouldn’t have worked?”

Three years ago, when she forced Yu Lingxue into marriage, wasn’t it precisely to have that chance to try?

When she learned from Yan Wenying that Yu Lingxue had someone she loved, she had been terrified.

Yu Lingxue scoffed.

Sometimes, she found Yan Lanshen pitiable someone who understood nothing about emotions yet still yearned for love.

“You schemed against my sister. The fact that you dared to harm her shows you knew how important she was to me. Then you used threats and incentives to force me into marriage with you, hurting the person I loved. She was my only reason to live. Did you really think there was any possibility left between us?”

Though Yu Lingxue bore much of the responsibility for what happened back then, wasn’t it ultimately because Yan Lanshen had meddled?

If not for Yan Lanshen’s greed, she could have successfully called off the engagement and freed herself from the Yu family’s control.

Instead, she ended up in a bitter fallout with Yu Qingluan, enduring two years of unbearable suffering, exhausting herself to seize power and seek revenge.

Fortunately, Yu Qingluan was still alive. Otherwise, Yu Lingxue might truly have thrown everything she had against Yan Lanshen, risking it all.

And then Yan Lanshen uttered the most laughable response Yu Lingxue had ever heard.

“I can offer 60%. Even 70%. The same goes for any future collaborations between us.”

Yu Lingxue genuinely laughed aloud.

“Yan Lanshen. You’re ridiculous. Is this about money?”

Yan Lanshen looked at her, her expression grave, complex, and tinged with confusion.

“What if I gave you three billion? Would you be with Yu Qingyuan?” Yu Lingxue picked up her phone as if she were about to contact Yu Qingyuan right then.

Yan Lanshen remained silent, her meaning clear.

“You only care about profit, always fighting for gains. And now you think you can use the same methods to obtain love, How pitiful.” Yu Lingxue stood up, ready to leave.

Yan Lanshen called out to stop her. “The person you like.”

His words struck a nerve, making Yu Lingxue whirl around, her eyes blazing with anger as she glared at him.

“If you dare lay a finger on her, I will drag both the Yu family and you down with me.” It would be difficult for her to maintain her current power and confront Yan Lanshen head on.

But that wasn’t her only option.

“You’d even abandon the Yu family?” Yan Lanshen couldn’t comprehend it, stunned into silence by her attitude.

“The Yu family was never important.” With that, Yu Lingxue snatched the contract from Yan Lanshen’s hands and tore it to shreds on the spot.

“I think it’s necessary for us to have a proper talk now. 65%. I have plenty of other options, I don’t have to work with you.”

“60%. I won’t concede any further.” Yan Lanshen stared at Yu Lingxue for a long time.

Only when her palms were marked with blood from clenching her fists did she finally speak.

Yu Lingxue had calculated that she wouldn’t agree to 65% that was why she said it.

She was merely making a statement.

Yan Lanshen had no choice but to yield.

After signing the contract, Yu Lingxue didn’t waste any more words on Yan Lanshen and left quickly.

Holding the contract, Yan Lanshen’s confusion gradually surfaced.

He finally understood why the once frail Yu Lingxue had grown so formidable in such a short time.

It wasn’t just because she had become meticulous and thorough in everything she did.

It was because she didn’t care.

Yu Lingxue didn’t care about profit, and that was why she gained the most.

In just a few words and a single confrontation, he had conceded another 10%.

Yan Lanshen feared that in the future, Yu Lingxue would exploit his feelings, forcing him to yield repeatedly as she had today.

But he also feared that she might not even want this small share of profit and cut ties with him completely.

He took out his phone, pondered for a while, and finally sighed, deleting the pending tasks related to Yu Qingluan.

Returning home with the effortlessly gained profit, Yu Lingxue glanced at the job offer notification and her mood lifted again.

In a way, enduring an hour of disgust from Yan Lanshen for such gains was worth it.

“If you go to M Country, what will happen to the Yu family’s affairs?” Yu Yuehuan, sitting in the study, felt a chill down her spine every time she heard Yu Lingxue’s soft laughter and couldn’t help interrupting.

If anyone else had asked, Yu Lingxue would have assumed they were being sarcastic.

But coming from Yu Yuehuan, it was genuine curiosity about how she planned to handle her work.

“Handle things online when necessary, and leave the rest to you all. I assembled the team precisely so I could step back, didn’t I?” Yu Lingxue set down her tablet and sighed.

“It’s a pity Jian Xi is still too young, or I’d definitely have her take over my position.” Yu Jian Xi was only a little over ten years old, not even in middle school yet, so Yu Lingxue had no choice but to abandon the idea.

“Can’t be helped. Your aunt had children late. I’ll keep a close watch on them, so you can go with peace of mind.” Yu Yuehuan patted Yu Lingxue’s head.

“Don’t get yourself into trouble.”

“Don’t worry, Li Ran is also in M Country.” Yu Lingxue rarely showed warmth, reassuring Yu Yuehuan.

The next day, Yu Lingxue flew to M Country and met up with Li Ran.

“Why do you suddenly need me to prepare a medical report? Where are you planning to work? Don’t tell me I’ll have to bail you out of prison?”

Yu Lingxue knew her teacher would never have anything nice to say.

“Chasing someone? No way.” Yu Lingxue gave Li Ran a playful pat.

“Do a good job for me, so they don’t reject me.”

“Oh ” Li Ran let out a meaningful exclamation.

“That girl works here?” No wonder Yu Lingxue looked so radiant today she hardly resembled the sickly person she usually appeared to be.

“Yep. I’ll probably have plenty of chances to visit you, old lady.” Yu Lingxue’s cheeky remark earned her a light tap on the leg from Li Ran’s cane.

By that afternoon, Li Ran had already prepared the medical examination certificate for Yu Lingxue.

After spending a few more days adjusting to life in M Country, Yu Lingxue’s first day of work finally arrived.

She chose an outfit similar to what she’d worn for her interview and arrived at the studio an hour early.

She couldn’t help it Selina had told her to come at 10:30, but it felt too late, and before she knew it, she’d ended up arriving an hour ahead of schedule.

“Are you the new assistant?” Only one person was in the studio a Westerner who spoke to Yu Lingxue in somewhat broken Chinese.

“Yes. My name is Glacier.” Yu Lingxue glanced at her a few times, feeling slightly uneasy.

“Call me Lyra. Great! Come find me this afternoon to hand over the work. Finally, Luanne has decided to hire a dedicated assistant.” Lyra sounded as if she’d been freed from a heavy burden.

“And you are?” Yu Lingxue grew wary.

“A jack of all trades. I’m not too familiar with Eastern culture yet, still learning. Before you came, I was filling in as the assistant. Now that you’re here, I can focus on my market research.” Lyra grinned and patted Yu Lingxue on the back.

Just then, other employees began trickling into the studio. They greeted Lyra as they entered.

“Girls, girls!” Lyra pulled Yu Lingxue toward the center of the room.

“Starting today, I’m shedding the label of ‘little lover’!”

Several women turned their attention to a bewildered Yu Lingxue.

“This is the new ‘little lover’ our boss just hired,” Lyra introduced.

A chorus of surprised exclamations followed.

Yu Lingxue was stunned.

Had she heard correctly? Did Lyra say “lover”?

Did it mean what she thought it meant?

“Take good care of our boss. She’s all yours now,” Lyra continued.

The other employees joined in, teasing and laughing.

At that moment, Yu Lingxue heard the voice she knew best.

“What’s going on here?” Yu Qingluan had just entered the studio and saw her employees gathered around someone.