The private room’s soundproofing
It was still autumn.
The leaves of the wutong trees1 lining the roads hadn’t fully yellowed, yet the temperature in Beicheng had already plunged into the depths of winter.
Since Cheng Jiqing started filming, she often had to wake up early. To make things easier for her, Ada had assigned her a driver for pick-ups and drop-offs.
Occasionally, she would think of her first bodyguard, Yu Lan.
Yu Lan had extended her leave twice; it seemed unlikely she would return. Cheng Jiqing hadn’t pressed her about it.
People around her were always like that, coming and going. Even at one’s gravestone, people would still come and go, endlessly.
Cheng Jiqing recalled when she first arrived, and the first time she met Bai Xin.
She also thought of the system that hadn’t appeared in a long time—it hadn’t shown up once since she entered into a contractual marriage with Bai Xin.
Perhaps because of this, she sometimes felt like all of this was a dream.
Maybe it was the bleak season that made people prone to overthinking.
Today was the last shoot for the farewell scene. It had a “bitter first, then sweet2” kind of vibe. During the mid-session break, Cheng Jiqing glanced at Tong Yanxi3, who was sitting behind a machine wearing a mask, and brought over a cup of freshly delivered hot orange juice.
“Thanks.”
Tong Yanxi slid her mask down to her chin and took a sip. After a few seconds, she turned her head and asked, “Made up?”
There were several assistants around, so her words were veiled, but Cheng Jiqing understood.
Made up with Bai Xin?
Cheng Jiqing smiled, which served as her response.
Tong Yanxi’s eyebrows twitched slightly. She nodded. “This damn weather. It’s going to snow in a couple of days.”
“I thought arthouse film4 directors quite liked snowy days,” Cheng Jiqing said. The directors and writers she knew before all seemed to enjoy that kind of atmosphere.
“Not me,” Tong Yanxi denied.
After speaking, she put the cup down, casually fished a lollipop out of her bag, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth. Then she fished out another one and handed it to Cheng Jiqing.
Cheng Jiqing accepted it all.
Looking down, she saw it was the same as the one given to Tang Jia last time—pear-flavored.
Inexplicably5, she suddenly remembered that today was Tang Jia’s birthday.
She glanced at Tong Yanxi but didn’t say anything more.
Today’s scenes finished filming just after ten. The visit to the cemetery was scheduled for three in the afternoon. Cheng Jiqing didn’t ask the driver to take her; she planned to go back to Nanjing for a nap at noon.
She sent Bai Xin a WeChat message to “report in”, and sunbathed in the car.
She scrolled to a Weibo post Tong Yanxi had just made—
A year of parting, a year of autumn.
The accompanying picture was of her and Li Yunlan standing opposite each other on an autumn-leaf-strewn street.
People often have an exceptional intuition about certain things. She felt—the picture might be superfluous.
The plan for an afternoon nap didn’t materialize.
The original owner’s locked phone—she had asked Yuan Sheng to send someone to pick it up when she went to the set in the morning. Just a few hours later, they contacted her.
Lan Qi wasn’t far from here. Cheng Jiqing made a trip over. Although the temperature was cold, the sunshine was warm and pleasant. She found a convenient place to park.
She swiped open the phone screen.
The phone wasn’t frequently used; there weren’t many contacts.
There were a few missed calls and several unread text messages…
Among the few contacts, Cheng Jiqing saw one named ‘Auntie Liu’. Several of the recent missed calls were also from her.
Cheng Jiqing opened the text messages.
【Little CEO Cheng, if you continue to waste away like this, how can you face CEO Cheng?】
【When you’ve thought things through, contact me again.】
【Little CEO Cheng, your recklessness is truly disappointing. If your mother were still alive, she would be disappointed too.】
Judging by the tone, it sounded like a friend of Cheng Lan’s, but the form of address didn’t quite fit.
However, this ‘Liu’ surname and address felt somewhat familiar.
Cheng Jiqing didn’t dwell on it for the moment. Following her usual habit, she first tapped on the photo album.
There were very few photos.
A quantity that could be taken in at a glance.
Cheng Jiqing started from the first one. Surprisingly, it was a family photo of four. The original owner looked to be eight or nine years old.
Cheng Lan and Fu Rongjun were on her left and right, with the original owner and Cheng Jing also on either side.
Cheng Jiqing stared at Cheng Lan’s face, so similar to her own, for a while, somewhat dazed. She was an orphan and didn’t know what her parents looked like.
Every time she saw Cheng Lan’s photo, a complex emotion welled up inside her.
Indescribable.
Several subsequent photos were of Cheng Lan and the original owner. One was taken in an office: Cheng Lan, dressed in a suit, was holding the child-version of the original owner on her lap, her head bowed as she worked.
Whether from an outsider’s perspective or the original owner’s perception, Cheng Lan was a good elder.
At least, she was extremely good to the original owner.
Looking further.
After flipping through just a few more, Cheng Jiqing’s relaxed spine gradually straightened…
‘DNA Identification Report’
There were four reports in total.
Reports detailing the relationships among the four members of the Cheng family, including Cheng Lan.
She read them one by one. They were exactly as she and Bai Xin had guessed—the original owner had no biological relationship with Fu Rongjun, and Cheng Jing had no biological relationship with Cheng Lan.
So, before she transmigrated, or rather, before the original owner had a falling out with Cheng Jing, she already suspected and knew these things…
While Cheng Lan was alive, Fu Rongjun might have still shown some restraint, putting on a facade. After Cheng Lan passed away, everything changed. It should be said that even when Cheng Lan was alive, Fu Rongjun’s malicious intentions had already begun to surface.
The fire, the scene where Fu Rongjun forcibly pulled Cheng Jing away, abandoning the original owner—she only remembered it through sensory stimulation.
But it ultimately existed in the original owner’s memories.
And the conversation between Cheng Jing and Fu Rongjun in the hallway.
If the original owner, upon discovering the truth, also recalled these betrayals by her closest relatives, could an ordinary person truly bear such pain?
No wonder.
No wonder the original owner, someone who should have been pure and bright, turned into the scumbag others perceived her to be.
No wonder Fu Rongjun only had a negative image in the original owner’s memories.
Because remembering the good side was simply too painful.
Cheng Jiqing looked at the family photo again; it was utterly ironic.
But… who was the Omega mother who actually gave birth to the original owner? If she were to investigate, so many years had passed, it would probably be difficult.
Cheng Jiqing took a sip of water to compose herself, then picked up the phone again.
The memo app was the last thing she opened.
It started from when Cheng Lan passed away.
‘Mom is gone, she’s never coming back. I miss her so much. I only have one mom now.’
‘Everything is changing overnight. Mom has changed, and Sister has changed too.’
‘I dreamed about that fire again. I dreamed that someone else saved me. Why did Sister lie to me? She knows I hate being lied to the most.’
‘I wish everything I heard tonight was fake. So Mom hates me this much. So in her eyes, there’s only Sister.’
‘I remember now, Mom abandoned me.’
‘Oh, it’s all fake. I want to die. They’re all lying to me.’
Cheng Jiqing clutched her chest, her eyes unknowingly turning red. She seemed to feel a faint emotion, perhaps prompted by the memories the original owner had left in her mind.
She felt a pang of sorrow.
Then, she tapped on the last entry.
‘Cheng Jing said she likes me. I hate her. I don’t even have a sister anymore.’
The cemetery was outside the city district, requiring over an hour’s drive.
Past two o’clock, traffic was sparse on the long asphalt road. The greenery had entered its dormant season.
Cheng Jiqing felt too oppressed on the way there and sent Bai Xin a message.
She didn’t say much, just asked if she was busy.
The call came through very quickly from the other end.
“At the cemetery?”
Cheng Jiqing felt a little better. “Almost there,” she said.
“Bored?”
“No…”
Cheng Jiqing paused. “I just wanted to hear your voice.”
Bai Xin let out a low chuckle. Cheng Jiqing could immediately picture the woman’s faint smile, her dimples softly indenting, likely to smooth out again very quickly.
Bai Xin’s voice, tinged with a hint of sexiness, asked, “Mm, what kind of voice?”
Cheng Jiqing’s heart skipped half a beat. She chuckled lowly, “Miss Bai, restrain yourself a little.”
“And what if I don’t?”
That voice was incredibly captivating.
Cheng Jiqing’s mood lightened somewhat.
“Wait for me.”
Half an hour later, she arrived at the cemetery.
Cheng Jiqing bought a bouquet of daisies, each one carefully selected.
When she arrived, Cheng Jing was already there.
Seeing Cheng Jing again, Cheng Jiqing’s feelings were vastly different. She acknowledged that Cheng Jing had been good to her, but that was because she saw her as the original owner. Without the bond of being the original owner’s biological sister, a sense of unfamiliarity naturally arose.
She said nothing, placing the daisies in her hand before the tombstone.
There was no wind. The temperature had dropped to zero degrees. Shallow mist already formed with each breath; inhaling felt cool in her lungs.
The surroundings were quiet and heavy, no car horns, no clamor.
Cheng Jiqing looked at the photograph gently covered by glass on the tombstone and said softly in her heart: Although I’ve never met you, thank you for letting me know what a mother looks like.
Perhaps if I dream of Mom in the future, I’ll dream of your face. I hope you don’t mind.
“Next time, let the driver handle long distances. Aren’t you busy with filming? Don’t you find it tiring?” Cheng Jing admonished from her side.
Cheng Jiqing responded faintly, “Mm.”
Fu Rongjun hadn’t come. Perhaps she had already visited, or perhaps she wouldn’t come at all.
It didn’t matter anymore.
Her aversion to Fu Rongjun had deepened severalfold. She thought again, the leverage she held was actually the original owner’s leverage, yet the original owner hadn’t used it for revenge even up to her disappearance.
Was it because she didn’t have time, or was she soft-hearted?
She didn’t stand there for too long, and Cheng Jing didn’t seem to intend to stay much longer either.
The two turned, just about to walk away, when the crisp ‘clack-clack’ sound of high heels approached unsuitably—Fu Rongjun was walking this way.
She wore plain clothes, a string of Buddhist prayer beads around her neck, and her wrist still adorned with several loops of small-leaf red sandalwood, exuding a ‘Buddhist aura’.
She was holding a bouquet of white roses.
Fu Rongjun walked to the tombstone, placed the fresh white roses down, bent over to look for a few seconds, then straightened up.
“I heard you went into acting.”
Her tone was flat, without even a form of address.
Cheng Jiqing didn’t speak, just looked at her.
“That’s enough,” Cheng Jing spoke up, reminding her.
Fu Rongjun turned, her gaze shifting away from Cheng Jing’s face, and said to Cheng Jiqing with displeasure, “Why don’t you answer when I’m talking to you?”
“Were you talking to me?” Cheng Jiqing pointed to herself.
Fu Rongjun frowned slightly. Cheng Jiqing had overheard her conversation with Cheng Jing in the hallway back then, and had held a grudge against her ever since. Yet, she considered herself to have been quite tolerant of Cheng Jiqing over the years.
If it weren’t for Cheng Jing, she would have sent her abroad directly.
Fu Rongjun said in a low voice, “Who else? Is there anyone else here doing something so embarrassing?”
Hearing this, Cheng Jiqing smiled faintly.
Fu Rongjun’s face turned cold. “What are you smiling about?”
“If you were talking to me, please use my name next time.” Cheng Jiqing had nothing to be wary of now, so there was no need for polite pretenses in her tone. “Embarrassing things? If you’re referring to acting…”
She stared at Fu Rongjun and said slowly, “Then there are more than two people here who are embarrassing.”
When it came to acting, who between Fu Rongjun and Cheng Jing wasn’t a master?
Especially those years in front of the original owner, those days of ‘deep mother-daughter affection’ and ‘close sisterly bonds’.
Just imagining it slightly.
Absurd and laughable.
“You!”
“Arguing in front of the deceased, don’t you find it disrespectful?” Cheng Jiqing didn’t even want to give her a proper look.
She turned to walk away.
Fu Rongjun hadn’t originally intended to pick a fight with Cheng Jiqing again. As long as Cheng Jing knew her place, she could refrain from doing anything. However, she found Cheng Jiqing’s venture into acting somewhat unacceptable. It was nothing more than fooling around, just causing a ruckus in a different circle.
Ultimately, it would bring shame to the Cheng family and make her unable to hold her head high outside.
Recently, anyone who knew Cheng Jiqing was her daughter would bring it up.
Simply disgraceful.
Fu Rongjun shouted, “Stop!”
“Stop making a scene!” Cheng Jing blocked her, shouting, unable to bear it any longer.
“Did you hear her attitude?” Fu Rongjun’s ‘Buddhist’ facade changed color. She said, “Are you still going to spoil her? If you’re not ashamed, I am.”
Cheng Jiqing, who was walking away, paused and looked back.
Her lips pressed together lightly, a coldness appearing at the corners of her mouth. Her expression was as indifferent as water, showing no trace of anger. She said nothing, yet it gave people a startling feeling.
“You’ve been called ‘Mom’ by me for so many years. You’ve taken enough advantage. Save it.”
Fu Rongjun froze on the spot. Cheng Jing’s eyes also flashed sharply.
By that tone, and by that sentence—what did Cheng Jiqing know?
Cheng Jiqing didn’t linger any longer.
Along both sides of the asphalt road outside the cemetery, there was a row of evergreen pine trees. A slight breeze had picked up now. She pulled her scarf up a bit higher over her chin.
She walked to her car.
A silver car brushed past her, then slowly stopped ahead. The window rolled down.
“Little CEO Cheng, long time no see.”
A middle-aged woman got out of the car. She had short hair and somewhat deep eye wrinkles.
Cheng Jiqing had seen her before. She was one of the shareholders Cheng Jing had taken her to meet last time, surnamed Liu.
“Auntie Liu,” Cheng Jiqing called out. After speaking, her thoughts suddenly paused.
She walked over and stood in front of the car. “Have you caught a cold? Your voice is a bit hoarse.”
Hearing this, the woman’s plain expression softened. “A little. Little CEO Cheng, you’re not wearing enough. Did you come alone?”
“Yes.”
She didn’t mention the two people in the cemetery.
Cheng Jiqing paused for a moment, then took out her phone. “By the way, I had your number before, but that phone broke. Could you give it to me again?”
She just found it too coincidental, driven by curiosity.
The woman heard this and asked, “How long has it been since you used your old phone number?”
“Quite a while.”
“No wonder…” The woman recited the number in a hoarse voice. Watching Cheng Jiqing put her phone away, she said, “When your mother was alive, she had high expectations for you. To be honest, I still can’t understand why you sold your shares back then. And your acting—I shouldn’t say anything about you pursuing what you love, but I still hope you won’t disappoint her.”
Cheng Jiqing nodded. “I understand.”
“It’s still the same old saying: as long as you’re willing to go to the company and work hard, it’s not too late for anything,” she said. “You might gain more than you imagine.”
“When you’ve thought it through, come find me anytime.”
Cheng Jiqing merely took this to mean that if she decided to join the company, Auntie Liu would offer her full support. She didn’t think too deeply about it at this moment.
However, she could discern the goodwill and thanked her softly.
Unfortunately, she had no inclination to join the company.
After the woman turned and left.
Only then did Cheng Jiqing get into her car, take out the old phone, and compare the numbers—they were identical.
It wasn’t some other strange person, which was a relief.
Today, some of the doubts in Cheng Jiqing’s heart were somewhat clarified.
She had a better understanding now, and fewer scruples about things.
Previously, it was because she was wary of the Cheng family’s power; because no matter where, capital was strength. Now, it was different.
She had Lan Qi.
Besides that.
Cheng Jing wasn’t the type to use underhanded tactics against her.
It was mainly Fu Rongjun who was troublesome; that woman was insidious.
But with these four secret reports of the Cheng family, someone like Fu Rongjun, who cared so much about face, wouldn’t want to cause a scene with her, because this was a secret the Cheng family had hidden for decades.
However, the relationship between her and Cheng Jing still needed to be clarified…
Otherwise, dragging it out would become a problem.
Emotions are very extreme things.
Alive, a Buddha; dead, a demon6.
Either the Hall of Compassion or hell7.
At half-past six in the evening, Xiao Nanzhou8.
As she got out of the car, a gust of wind blew Cheng Jiqing’s hair across her face. Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She tucked her hair behind her ear with her fingers and looked down.
A message she had sent to Bai Xin an hour ago.
【Where did you go for your birthday?】
Only now did she reply: 【Where are you eating?】
Cheng Jiqing: 【Xiao Nanzhou, you?】
Bai Xin replied instantly this time: 【Guess.】
“…”
The place was chosen by Cheng Jing. No reservation was needed; Cheng Jing had a long-term private room here.
Before she even reached the entrance, Cheng Jing called her from behind.
After leaving the cemetery in the afternoon, Cheng Jing had called her, thinking she wouldn’t come.
Cheng Jing wore a black overcoat, her ear-length short hair framing her delicate features as she walked over.
“Let’s go in, it’s cold outside,” Cheng Jing said.
Cheng Jing’s mind was not stable. Cheng Jiqing’s words in the afternoon had been too damaging9. Although not stated directly, every word made one ponder deeply.
Moreover, she felt that today’s Cheng Jiqing was somewhat different.
Although her tone hadn’t changed much, her attitude towards her and the aura she exuded when facing her were much more distant than before.
She thought, if it was really as she guessed, then Cheng Jiqing coming to see her today wasn’t just for a ‘family’ meal on the anniversary of a death.
The two entered. The manager recognized them at a glance and hurried over to greet them, flattering them as he led them to the private room.
Just as they reached the entrance of the private room corridor, the scene ahead caught her attention.
A waiter had just opened a door, and Bai Xin, as if sensing something, turned her head to look. A few meters away, Cheng Jiqing and Cheng Jing were walking side by side.
The restaurant wasn’t noisy, none of that smoky, chaotic atmosphere.
“Why aren’t you coming in?”
Zhou Yushu’s voice came from within the private room. Half of her figure was vaguely visible at the doorway.
Cheng Jiqing had already reached the door of their own private room, which was just one room away from Bai Xin’s. Hearing Zhou Yushu’s voice, she narrowed her eyes for no reason.
“CEO Bai,” she feigned not having seen Zhou Yushu, greeting only one person.
Bai Xin stood her ground, a slight smile playing on her lips. “Little CEO Cheng, hello.”
She then glanced at Cheng Jing, her emotions faint. “CEO Cheng.”
She believed Cheng Jing’s investigation of her wasn’t baseless10, and she might not be entirely unaware of her relationship with Cheng Jiqing…
Cheng Jing was naturally in no mood to deal with Bai Xin and Zhou Yushu, and also pretended not to notice. However, she observed Cheng Jiqing’s expression; the latter showed no particular reaction.
“Chengcheng, let’s go in,” she reminded.
Cheng Jiqing withdrew her gaze, said no more, and entered the private room.
It was a simple yet elegant Chinese-style private room, with ample heating. Cheng Jiqing took off her coat, revealing a loose white sweater underneath.
A rectangular table for four.
She sat opposite Cheng Jing. The food had been ordered in advance, plus a bottle of Petrus11.
Cheng Jiqing ordered a glass of soda water for herself.
She heard Cheng Jing say calmly, “Mom told me she wasn’t coming today. I don’t know why she showed up.”
In previous years, on the anniversary of the death, Fu Rongjun rarely went.
“I don’t care about her.” Cheng Jiqing actually wanted to be more direct—What do I care about her for?
Cheng Jing heard this. “I know you resent her.”
The topic was broached. More accurately, she felt Cheng Jing had deliberately broached it.
She had a feeling—Cheng Jing seemed even more anxious than her to bring things into the open.
Wasn’t this the purpose of coming here?
Cheng Jiqing simply said, “Shouldn’t I? There are some things I couldn’t figure out at first, but it doesn’t mean I’ll never figure them out. Some things I couldn’t remember at first, but it doesn’t mean I’ll never remember them. I called you ‘Mom’ and ‘Sister’ with genuine emotion for so many years. Besides deception and betrayal, what did I gain? Experience?”
Her tone wasn’t harsh, but the words were unpleasant.
There was no helping it; mentioning Fu Rongjun made anger rise from the bottom of her heart.
She had known Fu Rongjun was detestable before, but today, after coming into contact with the information and words left by the original owner, she couldn’t help but empathize. Her aversion to Fu Rongjun intensified.
Cheng Jiqing thought, if she had leverage against Fu Rongjun right now, she would avenge the original owner.
Unfortunately, what she had now was merely leverage, not quite a damning piece of evidence.
“What did you find out? What did you… remember?”
Cheng Jing was likely mentally prepared beforehand; her expression wasn’t even as shocked as it was at the cemetery.
Cheng Jing was inherently a smart person.
Cheng Jiqing looked up and said softly, word by word, “Under the guise of being my sister, how could you tell me you like me?”
Cheng Jing’s face turned pale.
“You told me you had let go. It was always a lie.”
That cold winter day.
She had a huge fight with Fu Rongjun, still over Cheng Jiqing going abroad. Since childhood, Cheng Jiqing had been her only companion, the only light in this absurd life.
How could she possibly let Cheng Jiqing go, especially alone, to a foreign country with no security or support.
Not leaving meant putting in more effort, agreeing to more conditions.
She had drunk a lot in the afternoon and wasn’t sober.
She had never had any thoughts of crossing the line, only that one time.
One moment of insobriety, regretted for many years.
…
Cheng Jiqing’s heart sank slightly. She finally understood.
When she saw the last sentence in the memo, she hadn’t understood the phrase—I don’t have a sister anymore.
Cheng Jing’s words reminded her. She recalled when she first transmigrated, Cheng Jing said the original owner’s behavior was self-deprecating, a way to punish her.
Combined with what Cheng Jing just said.
It dawned on her—the real reason for the original owner’s falling out with Cheng Jing wasn’t anything else, but Cheng Jing’s affection.
For the original owner, even after finding out they weren’t related by blood, she still considered Cheng Jing her only family, the only sister who doted on her.
But Cheng Jing’s confession of love made her realize that Cheng Jing’s kindness towards her was deceptive.
Cheng Jing’s love had snatched away her last longing for familial affection.
‘I don’t have a sister anymore’ was the last sentence in the memo.
It was also the original owner’s last heartfelt cry before giving up on herself.
Cheng Jing probably never would have imagined that her confession of love would be the last straw that broke the original owner’s already crumbling psyche.
“I have let go.”
Cheng Jiqing said, “Because the old Cheng Jiqing is already dead.”
It was already half-past seven. The food hadn’t been touched by a single chopstick; it had long since gone cold.
Cheng Jiqing drained the soda water in her glass.
She glanced at the devastated Cheng Jing. She had never seen Cheng Jing like this, yet she felt no pity. She said, “You all destroyed her.”
A radiant person had to suffer human calamity, dying in despair.
Cheng Jiqing didn’t look at the person opposite her again. She stood up and walked out.
At the door, she took out her phone, which had vibrated several times, from her bag.
Bai Xin: 【When will you be done?】
Bai Xin: 【?】
Bai Xin: 【If you don’t reply, I’m coming in.】
After reading the messages, her gaze fell on the doorway of the private room next door. She lowered her head and typed: 【Just came out.】
She was still typing a second message and heading towards the restroom when the door of the adjacent room suddenly opened. Her arm was seized, and she was pulled inside…
Cheng Jiqing reacted instinctively, grabbing the person’s forearm, preparing for a takedown.
But the next second, the force on her hand loosened.
Cheng Jiqing was pulled in. Bai Xin, reeking of alcohol, pressed against her, pushing her against the door. Her back hit the handle, causing a slight pain.
Her first thought at that moment was, thank goodness the private room is soundproof.
The author has something to say:
Chengcheng: …I’ve been Xin-ified12.
✨ Unlock Early Access to Chapters! ✨
Choose your perfect membership at bamboopandatl.net:
📚 Full Access ($4.99)
• Advanced chapters of ALL ongoing novels
• Access to complete finished novels
• Ad-free reading experience
📖 Single Novel Access ($1.49)
• Advanced chapters of ONE specific novel
• Ad-free reading for chosen novel
PayPal is the only current payment option!