Ding Jie had always been sensitive. After he took the game from Xu Ziyan’s bag, he had waited for her angry questioning, already thinking of ways to coax her.
But Xu Ziyan didn’t contact him, which made him feel very uncomfortable, like the other shoe hadn’t dropped.
Now, he felt he finally understood. Xu Ziyan was angry, but unwilling to take the initiative to find him, so she was playing petty tricks on his mother to force him to take the initiative and lower his head.
From the shrimp-peeling and bag-carrying incident last time, he had seen it. Xu Ziyan felt that being kicked out of the Fu family for him was a sacrifice, and that she had helped him with such a big favor. So in front of him, she assumed a superior stance, demanding he cater to her properly!
Ding Jie’s face turned cold. No one could force him like this!
He called Xu Ziyan, opening with an accusation, “Was it you who told Yang Anni to post that group photo? Now the entire internet is cursing my mother.”
Xu Ziyan said without a care, “Why does this batch of netizens curse whoever they see? Being a celebrity is truly not easy. Anni having coffee with me was actually rumored to be her being kept by a sugar daddy. Of course she had to clarify. I’m investing in her drama; it can’t flop before it even starts.
Your mother has been a star for so many years, she’s surely seen all kinds of storms. She can definitely understand how difficult it is for us younger generation, right?
What could Ding Jie say? That his mother couldn’t understand? He said in a low voice, “Then you should have told me in advance.”
Xu Ziyan sounded surprised, “I can’t believe the public opinion would twist from Anni being kept to your mother buying hot searches to step on Anni. Why should I tell you in advance? Actually, your mother can just clarify too. It can’t be that she really did buy the hot searches, right?”
Ding Jie felt irritable and annoyed, feeling all his cultivated composure had been shattered today. Hearing Xu Ziyan say “your mother” over and over, it felt like she was pointing at his nose and cursing, her tone sarcastic and dripping with disdain.
He took a deep breath, remembering this was a crucial moment, and softened his tone. “Are you still angry about the game? I had an emergency that day and left first. I forgot to tell you, sorry.”
Xu Ziyan chuckled softly, “I was quite surprised that day, but thinking about it now, it’s not that strange after all. Alright, I’m going to eat now. Let’s talk later.”
Xu Ziyan had already hung up, but Ding Jie repeatedly pondered her attitude and that final sentence. She was surprised that day because she hadn’t expected him to take it without asking, and that he left early. Now she didn’t find it strange, was it because of his mother’s behavior of buying hot searches to step on someone, making her think ‘like mother, like son,’ that neither of them, mother and son, were any good?
Ding Jie tightly clenched his phone, unable to control his overthinking. His expression grew darker and darker. His secretary knocked and said his father, Ding Yukun, wanted to see him. Ding Jie immediately adjusted his expression, taking the game materials and switching into work mode.
Meanwhile, Xu Ziyan had already tossed him to the back of her mind the moment she hung up. Seeing the fragrant carbon-grilled lamb chops on the table, she revealed a delighted smile. She had specially ordered this! It was just strange to see almost the entire family present, apart from Fu Qixuan who was abroad.
‘When did wealthy families have such complete attendance for meals? Eating breakfast and dinner together every day, are none of them busy?’
Fu Dongfeng said, “The private detective did investigate some unusual things. But as long as our family is safe, that’s what matters.”
Fu Qiming, suppressing his anger, said, “Sister, don’t worry. I will definitely make Zheng Wenbo regret it. You just stay at home. With so many people and surveillance, there’s no way he can harm you.”
Xu Ziyan understood. This whole family had cannon fodder fate. They had discovered the true faces of those around them and were heartbroken, gathering at home to heal each other’s wounds. Plus, it was safer at home. A good family was a haven of love.
She was now in this haven too. ‘Happy!’
Xu Ziyan’s appetite suddenly improved. 001 suddenly spoke up. ‘Host has completed the plot of public opinion attacking Song Jie, and gained one skill point.’
Xu Ziyan was stunned. ‘I followed the plot?’
She thought carefully, feeling somewhat surprised. ‘This counts? The original plot was two months later when I discovered she treated me like a maid but was especially kind to Bai Qingqing. I got angry and retaliated, causing Bai Qingqing to lose her job, and bought a water army to attack Song Jie.
Afterwards, Ding Jie scolded me. I didn’t back down and shot back with sarcasm. He still needed to use me, so he could only temporarily endure and coax me, but actually held a grudge, waiting to take revenge all at once in the end.
But I didn’t use sarcasm on him just now.’
001: ‘This judgment should be based mainly on the male lead’s perception and feelings.’
‘So, Ding Jie just now thought I was being sarcastic and insinuating something about him? And he stooped to compromise to coax me? Hah, that’s so deranged. That actually counts as completing the plot? Then our train of thought can open up. We can shift the blame and change the target. As long as the name and form match, we can exploit loopholes. Great, I can live a few more days.’ Xu Ziyan thought this while polishing off a lamb chop.
The Fu family members exchanged glances. This was really good news. This way, there would be many more loopholes to exploit. They would all help her complete the plot.
001 reminded her: ‘Host, you now have a total of three skill points. You haven’t added them to any attributes yet.’
Xu Ziyan didn’t even think: ‘Add them to the luck attribute.’
‘Huh?’ 001 almost crashed. It had thought of health, of intelligence, even of Xu Ziyan trying acting and adding to her acting skills, but it had never thought of luck.
Xu Ziyan said, ‘Think about it. Life is impermanent. Healthy people can encounter accidents. Smart people can also go bankrupt and fail. Like Anni—high looks, good acting skills, gets dirty water casually splashed on her. Like me—in my past life, I struggled desperately. Among ordinary people, I was already a model of a counterattack. And yet, one sudden death and I became the vicious female supporting character?
So, I’ve figured it out. Luck is the most important thing in this life. Look at Ding Jie, look at Bai Qingqing. As long as their luck is good enough, everything that happens favors them. That’s the real ultimate move.’
001 was convinced and immediately added the three skill points to the luck attribute. However, something like luck was very mysterious; it wasn’t something you could just add casually. Adding three points simply couldn’t make one feel any luckier.
Xu Ziyan didn’t mind. Little by little. Haste makes waste. Keeping a peaceful mindset and enjoying the present moment was stronger than anything.
The Fu family also admired her clarity. They had thought that since she was investing in dramas and starting an entertainment company, aiming to strive for success in her career, she would add skill points to career-related directions. They didn’t expect Xu Ziyan would choose luck.
Thinking about it, it made sense. Their Fu family’s background, intelligence, health, abilities—many aspects were among the best. And how did it end? A family of cannon fodder fate, simply because they were mortal enemies with the Ding family where the male lead was. Wasn’t that just unlucky?
Like that Bai Qingqing Xu Ziyan mentioned—they had already investigated her. She was just an unremarkable girl, ordinary background, ordinary education, low emotional intelligence, average intelligence, sentimental, poor practical skills. If one had to say she had something special, it was that in the complex social melting pot, she was like a fragile kitten.
Such a person couldn’t do very well in society; she would inevitably experience society’s harsh setbacks, slowly becoming one of the many ordinary people. But her luck was good. She met Ding Jie, precisely during the stage when Ding Jie had the ability to protect her and happened to favor her fragile kitten state. So Ding Jie became her protector, taking her under his wing. Thus, she became this world’s heroine.
Similar people could easily be found everywhere. But who made it that Ding Jie met Bai Qingqing? So, luck really was extremely important.
Fortunately, their Fu family’s luck had also reversed. Xu Ziyan’s arrival was their good fortune, giving them a chance to change the outcome. No matter the final outcome, they would protect Xu Ziyan and strive to make her luck better.
Li Yun Hui picked up another lamb chop for Xu Ziyan. “If you like it, eat more.”
Fu Dongfeng said, “This time, everyone should thank Xiao Yan. If not for Xiao Yan’s reminder, none of us would have thought there were so many people around us with ulterior motives.”
Fu Qiming even handed a ladder to Xu Ziyan. “I see you were also deceived by Ding Jie in the past. Fortunately, you discovered it in time, no major loss was caused. Be more alert in the future.”
Xu Ziyan nodded. She had previously wondered why in the original plot, the Fu family wasn’t heartbroken with the original host? Why did they all seem so good to her? Now she finally understood. They thought she had pulled back from the brink, that it was all because she was deceived by Ding Jie.
They all had such villains around them too, which made her seem like one of the victims, on the same united front with them. Of course there was nothing to be angry about. Their anger was directed at outsiders.
Xu Ziyan came down the ladder, directly defining the original host’s past malice as turning the page for good on this day.
The Fu family also breathed a sigh of relief. Great, they had finally found an excuse to smooth things over and formally turn the page. From now on, they could get along properly.
After the meal, Li Dong arrived. He said he heard the Ding Group was about to launch a game—exactly the one Fu Qiming had made. He was worried Fu Qiming might be in a bad mood and came to check on him. While speaking, he glanced at Xu Ziyan, as if afraid Fu Qiming’s anger towards Xu Ziyan had diminished.
When Li Dong went to the bathroom, Xu Ziyan curiously asked Fu Qiming, “You haven’t confronted him yet?”
Fu Qiming sneered, “Breaking off just like that would be letting him off too easy. He deceived me for so many years. I’ll play with him too, see who outplays who in the end!”
Xu Ziyan didn’t expect the hot-tempered Fu Qiming could be so patient. Probably a young man’s friendship was too precious, and he was very unwilling, wanting to trick Li Dong hard once for revenge?
Looking at it this way, Fu Yazhen should have the same idea. She had heard Zheng Wenbo call Fu Yazhen. Fu Yazhen didn’t reveal at all that she had investigated him, her emotions were stable as if she hadn’t investigated him at all.
These siblings really knew how to play.
In truth, where did they not want to turn hostile? They were afraid that directly turning hostile would prevent them from following the later plot, leading to world collapse. So they kept the venomous snake around them. As long as they were careful and took precautions, no problems would arise. Coincidentally, they could make use of them, seeing if they could exploit loopholes and complete the key plot.
At night, Xu Ziyan scrolled through her phone, discovering that the hot searches about Yang Anni and the public opinion about Song Jie were gone. Ding Jie must have paid to settle it. Now only some discussions speculating about who Ding Yao was remained.
She was about to put down her phone when she suddenly saw Ding Yao had posted on Weibo: ‘Anni and I are proper boyfriend-girlfriend, the one-on-one mutually loyal kind. Recently planning to gift her a set of the world’s unique diamond jewelry. My mother bid for it at an auction before she passed away. Consider it a meeting gift from Mrs. Ding to her future daughter-in-law.’
The Weibo post included pictures of the jewelry.
The heat that had just subsided immediately shot back up. Many people went to check who Ding Yao was. After discovering he was a genuine wealthy heir, they were all surprised. Was Yang Anni really going to marry into a wealthy family? This was a publicly acknowledged status. It was just that describing it as ‘one-on-one mutually loyal’ was so hilarious.
Then someone noticed something was off. The jewelry in the photo looked so familiar? Wasn’t that the same set Song Jie had posted on Weibo months ago to show off? That jewelry was one-of-a-kind in the world? Then what was the deal with Song Jie’s set?
Suddenly, someone discovered an old scandal about Song Jie from many years ago, saying her son was a certain big shot’s… and that big shot… seemed to have the surname ‘Ding’?