Chapter 2

  Shi Yu hung up the phone under the stunned gazes of her parents.

Very soon, Lu Jingye called back. Shi Yu frowned slightly and answered the call again. "What is it now?"

Lu Jingye’s tone was harsh. "What’s wrong with you? Do you think breaking up is something you can just say on a whim? I've just been busy these past two days and didn’t have time to check in on you—is that really worth making such a fuss over? Let me tell you—"

"Sorry, we've already broken up. There's nothing left to say between us."

Beep, beep, beep—she hung up again.

Lu Jingye called once more, but Shi Yu directly declined the call and added him to her blocklist. The world suddenly became peaceful. Meanwhile, over at the Lu household, Lu Jingye was furiously slamming his hand on the table, but Miss Shi couldn’t care less.

Shi Yu’s decisiveness left her parents completely dumbfounded. Was this really their daughter, the one who had fallen for Lu Jingye at first sight and had relentlessly pursued him to be together?

Thinking back to the past, Shi Heyuan was still a bit annoyed. If he hadn’t insisted that they date for a few years first to test things out, his daughter might have already gotten engaged to the Lu family!

And now, after falling ill, how had she suddenly changed so drastically? They had heard the whole phone call just now—Shi Yu’s tone toward Lu Jingye was utterly devoid of emotion. It could even be described as cold and heartless.

Shi Heyuan and Lian Guangya exchanged a glance, both seeing the same confusion in each other’s eyes. What on earth was going on?

The couple stared at each other, silently signaling with their eyes. Finally, Lian Guangya took on the task of asking. She cleared her throat and gently asked, "Sweetheart, what happened? Tell us. Did you and Jingye have a fight? You’re both young, if there’s a misunderstanding, you just need to talk it out…"

Deep down, Lian Guangya still believed this was just a minor argument between young lovers. After all, her daughter liked Lu Jingye so much—this sudden and decisive breakup was hard to believe.

Shi Yu was well aware that the original host had been so obsessed with Lu Jingye that breaking up out of nowhere would naturally make her parents skeptical. But that was fine, she had already thought about how to explain it while lying in bed all afternoon.

And so, Shi Yu put on an Oscar-worthy performance. She lowered her gaze slightly, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, and whispered, "It’s not a misunderstanding… It’s… I found out about something…"

She deliberately left the sentence unfinished, leaving her parents hanging on her every word. Shi Heyuan and Lian Guangya doted on her dearly, and seeing her look so heartbroken nearly crushed their hearts.

Especially Shi Heyuan, who immediately widened his eyes and slapped the coffee table. "What happened? Did he do something to hurt you?"

Shi Yu sniffled quietly and murmured, "No… he didn’t exactly do anything to hurt me."

That was true. At this point in the original story, Lu Jingye hadn’t even met the female lead yet—he hadn’t reached the part where he’d cheat.

But Shi Yu wasn’t accusing him of that anyway. "It’s just… I realized… he doesn’t actually like me… sniff. He was with me because… he wanted to use me…"

She didn’t spell it out completely, but Shi Heyuan and Lian Guangya were sharp enough to fill in the blanks. Even without the full explanation, they understood the implication perfectly.

Shi Yu glanced up at her parents through tear-filled eyes, noting their reactions. As expected, Shi Heyuan’s face had darkened, and Lian Guangya’s expression wasn’t much better.

The Lu Corporation and the Shiguang Group were the two dominant giants in Fengcheng, but there were differences between them. The Shiguang Group was a rapidly rising powerhouse, and Shi Heyuan and Lian Guangya were self-made entrepreneurs—a true first-generation wealthy family.

Meanwhile, the Lu Corporation was an old-money family business. The current head of the family, Old Master Lu, was over eighty years old. He had three sons, each overseeing a branch of the family business. Outwardly, the brothers maintained the facade of unity, but behind the scenes, they were locked in a vicious power struggle; none of them were willing to let the ultimate inheritance slip away.

Lu Jingye was the son of Lu Heng, the eldest son. As the firstborn, Lu Heng believed the entire Lu family should naturally belong to him, and he raised his son with the same entitled mindset.

According to the original story, the reason Lu Jingye had been with the original host was simple and crude: his father had forced him to.

Old Master Lu’s three sons were all vying for control of the family fortune, each of them eager to secure more support. As the only daughter of the Shi family, who was deeply infatuated with Lu Jingye, Shi Yu had become a godsend in Lu Heng’s eyes. No matter what, he was determined to make sure his son swallowed this golden opportunity whole!

To achieve his father’s goal of gaining the Shi family’s support, Lu Jingye accepted Shi Yu, but he did so reluctantly, as though he was somehow being wronged.

Lu Jingye and his father had concealed this matter quite well. Although Lu Jingye didn’t like Shi Yu, he understood the need to maintain appearances with her. In Shi Yu’s eyes, the original host had been quite naive, easily fooled by even the slightest bit of affection from Lu Jingye, until the female lead showed up later.

Knowing the entire plot of the original story, Shi Yu was determined not to follow the same tragic path. A scumbag like Lu Jingye needed to be discarded early to avoid trouble down the line. By revealing this reason now, not only would the breakup be sealed, but her parents would also become wary of the Lu family early on.

Shi Yu recalled how, in the original story, the original host, desperate to please Lu Jingye, had carelessly revealed sensitive information about the Shi family’s business to him. This had resulted in the Lu family poaching a significant portion of the Shi family’s business. Every time Shi Yu thought about it, she couldn’t help but criticize how perfectly the original host had fit the mold of a scheming, self-destructive villainess.

Learning about Lu Jingye’s true motives from their daughter, Shi Heyuan was furious. He slammed his hand down on the table and roared, "Unbelievable! That Lu Jingye! He dared to target our family?! And he dared to use my daughter?! That’s outrageous!" He was so enraged that he began pacing back and forth across the living room.

Lian Guangya, however, was more focused on comforting her daughter. She held Shi Yu’s hand tightly, offering endless reassurance. Seeing Shi Yu with her head lowered, looking so heartbroken, only made her resentment toward Lu Jingye grow stronger. As parents, they had witnessed firsthand how much their daughter had adored Lu Jingye. Now that they knew she had been deceived, no loving parent could tolerate such a betrayal.

"Heyuan," Lian Guangya called out to her husband.

Shi Heyuan stopped pacing and looked toward his wife and daughter, nodding. "I understand."

Lian Guangya met his gaze and reminded him, "Don’t act on impulse. The Lu family’s internal affairs are complicated. There’s no need for us to get involved directly."

As the founder of a successful fashion brand, Lian Guangya often saw things more clearly than her husband. She knew that the Lu family was already locked in an internal power struggle. All the Shi family needed to do was quietly fan the flames from the sidelines and let them tear each other apart.

Shi Heyuan certainly understood his wife’s meaning. The Lu family was already consuming itself from within; the Shi family only needed to give a little push to intensify the conflict.

Shi Yu, however, wasn’t interested in any of that. She continued to play the heartbroken daughter, putting on a performance so convincing that her parents’ hearts ached even more.

In her previous life, Shi Yu had been a professional actress—an award-winning one, no less. Unfortunately, fate had played a cruel joke on her. Right after the awards ceremony, she had been involved in a car accident and ended up in this world.

Thinking about it now, Shi Yu felt both amused and helpless. It was as if she wasn’t meant to enjoy the fruits of her success. Still, she wasn’t too bothered by it. After all, she had already fulfilled her dream in her previous life. Since she had no attachments to the real world and no way of returning, she might as well accept her new reality and make the most of it.

After chatting with her parents for a while longer, Shi Yu expertly adjusted her emotions, gradually shedding the sadness at just the right moment. She took the opportunity to casually mention that she wasn’t interested in dating for the time being.

Hearing this, Shi Heyuan and Lian Guangya’s hearts ached even more. Their daughter had once adored Lu Jingye so deeply, yet now she had been hurt so badly that she didn’t even want to consider romance anymore. Their resentment toward the Lu family deepened even further.

"If you don’t want to date, then don’t. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to," Lian Guangya said quickly.

Shi Heyuan added, "Exactly. Just focus on what makes you happy. After you’ve had some time to rest, you can come work at the company with us. We have so many subsidiaries, you can do whatever you like."

The original host had majored in finance and management at university, and the Shi Group’s largest business sector was in investments. Lian Guangya’s fashion brand, while successful, wasn’t part of the Shi family’s core business.

This left Shi Yu in a bit of a bind. In her previous life, she had only worked as an actress. Investment and management were completely foreign to her, she hadn’t even bothered to set up her own studio. But that was a problem for another day. For now, Shi Heyuan wasn’t pressuring her to start working at the company right away.

Thus, having “just recovered from a serious illness,” Shi Yu resumed her life as a pampered princess at home.

The day after her recovery, Shi Heyuan and Lian Guangya returned to work, leaving her in the care of the household staff. The Shi family mansion had no shortage of servants: there was Uncle Zhong, the head butler; Aunt Ping, who managed the cooking and kitchen; Aunt Gui, who handled the cleaning; and Uncle Zhang, the gardener in charge of the estate’s expansive gardens. These people had watched Shi Yu grow up and treated her with genuine affection. Surrounded by such care and luxury, Shi Yu couldn’t help but marvel at the life of the wealthy.

After getting familiar with the household staff, Shi Yu spent some time going through the social media apps on her phone to get a sense of the original host’s social life. The original host was a textbook rich second generation, and her social circle naturally consisted of other wealthy heirs like herself. Most of these relationships were shallow; people who drank and partied together but weren’t true friends.

While lying in bed scrolling through her phone, a series of notifications suddenly popped up. This world had a messaging app similar to WeChat called Kuaixin. Its interface and functions were nearly identical, making it easy to use.

Shi Yu opened Kuaixin and read the messages:

Feng Xing: [Feeling better? Coming to the bar tonight?]

Shi Yu had recently posted a social media update saying that she was feeling better and ready for a fresh start. Feng Xing was one of the original host’s close guy friends—another wealthy heir whose family owned a bar. The original host and her circle of rich kids often hung out at Feng Xing’s family’s bar.

After considering it for a moment, Shi Yu decided not to cut herself off from the original host’s social circle too suddenly. That would only raise suspicion.

Shi Yu: [Sure, what time?]

Feng Xing quickly sent back the time, followed by an excited voice message:

"There’s going to be some excitement tonight! Don’t be late. I’m already getting hyped just thinking about it!"

He added a mischievous meme afterward: [Smirk.jpg]

Shi Yu replied with a simple “OK” emoji and didn’t bother responding further. These rich kids were bored out of their minds most of the time, how exciting could it really be? Given that her actual age was a few years older than them, she already felt they were pretty childish.

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