After Transmigrating into the Villain’s Cat, I Dominated the Entertainment Circle – Chapter 123
by Little PandaIF Route (7)
Use me.
The phone rang again. Lin Sifei, sitting in the car, answered it.
“Where are you?”
Lin Sifei swept her hair back, her face etched with impatience. “I’m on my way. I just sent you a text, why are you rushing me again?”
“Is that any way to speak to your father?” the man on the other end of the line scolded angrily. “You have no manners at all!”
Lin Sifei didn’t want to argue. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m almost there. Hanging up.”
After ending the call, she leaned back against the seat, wearily watching the scenery flash by outside the window.
The streets were similar, the trees were similar, so why did it feel completely different from when she was riding a bike with Luo Ke?
She couldn’t possibly have a thing for that ‘educated youth’ style from the last century, could she?1
The thought made her laugh. She regretted not bringing a poetry collection to pass the time.
The drive was long, crossing the city center and heading toward a more remote area, finally stopping in front of a villa complex.
The driver pulled over. Lin Sifei opened the door, walked straight to the villa, and rang the doorbell.
Soon, a bespectacled Secretary Hou opened the door for her. “Eldest Miss, please come in. The Chairman will be back shortly.”
“How interesting. He’s not even here himself, but he was in such a rush to hurry me along.”
Lin Sifei placed her bag on the coffee table, sat down on the sofa, and poured herself a glass of water, sipping it slowly.
Time ticked by. Lin Sifei had been staring into space for over half an hour before her father finally made his belated appearance.
“What an honor. It seems I should have made an appointment in advance to see you.”
Her father’s face was grim as he sat down opposite her. He turned to Secretary Hou. “You can go home. I have something to discuss with Feifei.”
“Of course, Chairman Lin.” Secretary Hou nodded, grabbed his briefcase, and left quickly.
Now that they were alone in the house, Lin Sifei remained casually slouched on the sofa, but she carefully uncrossed her legs and her muscles tensed.
“What did you want to see me about?”
“Is that any way to speak to your father?” her father began with a reprimand, then pressed his lips together, reining in his temper. In a voice that was as gentle as he could manage, he said, “Feifei, you’ve been showing your face in the entertainment industry for long enough. It’s time to come back. The family company needs an heir, and you need to come back and get some experience.”
“No, thank you. I like my life now. It’s fine.”
“What kind of life is this? You’re just an actor,2 someone for people to play with, someone not even worth a second glance.” His anger flared again.
Lin Sifei was used to him being like this; his rare moments of gentleness only made her blood run cold. “If that’s how you see it, that’s your business. I have my own life, and I make my own decisions.”
“You carry the Lin family name! You’re ruining the Lin family’s reputation!”
Lin Sifei’s patience ran out. She rolled her eyes and stood up. “Reputation? After the things you’ve done, do you even have a reputation to speak of? Why bother with such high-sounding excuses?3 Don’t you have an illegitimate son? You were planning to give him the company all along, weren’t you? So why call me back? Let me guess… an arranged marriage?4“
Lin Sifei tilted her head, looking at him. “Don’t even think about it. I won’t do it. Whatever deal you made, you can fulfill it yourself. Go marry him yourself.”
She turned to leave, but her father suddenly shot up and grabbed her.
Before Lin Sifei could react, a slap struck her across the face.
A sharp pain exploded, and a high-pitched ringing filled her ears. Lin Sifei stumbled and fell to the floor, her mind still blank. A fiery sensation spread from her cheek to her ear and down her neck, and the entire side of her face felt numb.
She clutched her face, looking up at the man before her in shock.
Her father stood with his hands on his hips, panting with rage. “Who do you think gave you everything you have? I did! You are my daughter. You think you can fly on your own now that you’re grown up? You’ll do as you’re told, understand?!”
Lin Sifei’s throat worked, but she lowered her head and said nothing.
Her father walked back to the coffee table, picked up an envelope, and threw it in front of her. “This is your marriage partner. The meeting is set for tomorrow. The time and place are inside. Make sure you’re there, got it?”
When he heard no reply, his anger boiled over. “Did you hear me?!” he roared.
Clutching her face, Lin Sifei pushed herself to her feet. She swept her hair back and glared at her father. “I heard you. But it seems you’ve forgotten something very important. I own three percent of Lin Corporation’s shares, which makes me the second-largest shareholder after you. What exactly do you think you can threaten me with?”
Looking at her, he seemed to genuinely realize this for the first time, his eyes widening in surprise. Perhaps he’d never imagined that the timid child who used to hide under the bed could now challenge him with company shares.
Challenging him. She was challenging him.
Her father’s fists clenched, his eyes turning slightly red.
Lin Sifei knew that look all too well. It meant beatings, tearing.
Still, she stiffened her neck and sneered, “You’ve already hit me once. If you touch me again, I’ll hand over my three percent to someone else. You know better than I do how many people have their eyes on Lin Corporation. I can give it away for free.”
“You’re insane.”
“We’re both insane,” Lin Sifei retorted with a cold smile. “You’re the one who needs to watch their step.”
She picked up her bag, gave him one last look, then pushed the door open and strode out.
She walked as if victory was already hers, each step firm and steady.
But the hand clutching her bag was trembling slightly. She knew perfectly well that if her father truly decided to get physical, she stood no chance. She could even lose her life.
Once she was out of the villa’s main gate, Lin Sifei no longer had to pretend. She quickened her pace, breaking into a brisk walk.
After passing two more villas, she clutched her bag and broke into a dead run.
She was afraid. Afraid her father would come after her again. Even as she fled, she remembered to take out her phone and take a picture of her face, making sure the injury looked as frightening as possible.
Since she was planning to have a complete falling out5 with him, she needed to gather as much leverage as she could.
She ran all the way to the gate of the residential complex, then took out her phone, intending to call her manager to come pick her up.
Before she could dial, an incoming call lit up the screen.
Luo Ke’s name was displayed brightly. They had exchanged numbers when Luo Ke had brought her food before.
In that instant, Lin Sifei remembered: Luo Ke was the president of Luo Corporation. Suppressing Lin Corporation would be no problem for her.
She answered the call in a hurry. “Luo… Luo Ke.”
“Feifei? What’s wrong? What happened? Where are you now?”
The barrage of questions left Lin Sifei a little dazed. How did she know something was wrong?
Her brain slowly processed it, realizing her hoarse, trembling voice must have given everything away.
There was a noise on Luo Ke’s end, then silence. “I’m driving over now. First, tell me where you are.”
Lin Sifei licked her lips and gave her the address.
She didn’t hang up, walking along the road and chatting with Luo Ke to fill the silence.
Soon, Luo Ke’s car pulled up, flashing its headlights twice.
Luo Ke parked the car and got out.
When Lin Sifei saw her, she managed a smile. “You got here so fast.”
Luo Ke’s expression was tense. She cupped Lin Sifei’s chin to examine her face. “What happened to your cheek? Who hit you?”
“It’s complicated.” Lin Sifei didn’t want Luo Ke to see her in such a pathetic state. She ran a hand through her hair, trying to cover the red, swollen area.
Sensing her reluctance, Luo Ke opened the car door. “Get in first.”
The car started again. Lin Sifei sat with her head down, and Luo Ke drove in silence.
The car was utterly quiet.
Lin Sifei took a few deep breaths, finally managing to calm herself.
“Let’s find a place to talk.”
Luo Ke nodded. “Okay.”
She took Lin Sifei to a coffee shop and led her to a booth on the second floor. They chose the most secluded spot and closed the door.
Lin Sifei sat down and showed Luo Ke the documents on her phone.
“I have three percent of Lin Corporation’s shares. I can give them to you. I only have one condition: I want you to go after Lin Corporation. It would be best if you could drive the current president out.”
Lin Sifei was not magnanimous. The moment her father laid a hand on her, she had resolved to get revenge. She had only lied and threatened him to prevent him from hitting her again.
Whether he did or not, Lin Sifei had no intention of letting him go.
Luo Ke looked through the contract on the phone. It was indeed Lin Sifei’s share certificate.
Luo Ke pushed the phone back to her. “Can I ask what happened?”
Lin Sifei looked at her, took a deep breath, and recounted the day’s events in the calmest voice she could manage, occasionally weaving in the old grievances between her parents.
She even smiled as she spoke, as if she were telling someone else’s story.
Luo Ke listened quietly. When she was finished, she smiled and held out her hand, palm up.
Lin Sifei looked at the hand, hesitated for a moment, then placed her own in it.
Luo Ke’s smile widened as she squeezed her hand tightly. “You’re too kind. To think you’d want to trade your shares for this. Have you forgotten again? I like you.”
“If I were you, I would use that affection, use those feelings to achieve my goal. As for the subsequent share transfer, such an irregular transaction is easy to go back on.”
Lin Sifei watched her, baffled, as Luo Ke earnestly laid out a strategy for how to take advantage of herself.
Her eyes widened in surprise, not understanding what Luo Ke meant.
Seeing her dazed expression, Luo Ke couldn’t resist any longer. She lifted Lin Sifei’s hand and pressed a kiss to it. “I’m telling you to use me, as much as you want.”
As long as she wanted to, no matter how she used her, Luo Ke would do it willingly.
She was furious that Lin Sifei had been hurt in a place she couldn’t see. She was furious that she didn’t know Lin Sifei well enough. She was furious that she… had met Lin Sifei too late.
If she could, she hoped Lin Sifei would use her.
The deeper she was used, the deeper their bond would become.
In the end, they would be so entangled they could never be undone.
She would be the only one by Lin Sifei’s side, and the only one she would ever rely on.
Footnotes
- Zhīqīng (知青), or ‘educated youth’, refers to the young urban Chinese people sent to live and work in rural areas during the Cultural Revolution (1960s-70s). The ‘zhiqing style’ evokes a sense of nostalgia for a simple, rustic, and somewhat old-fashioned aesthetic from that era.
- Original: xìzi (戏子). This is an old, derogatory term for an actor or performer, originating from a time when they were considered to be of a low social class. Using this term is a deliberate and harsh insult.
- A Chinese idiom, guānmiǎntánghuáng (冠冕堂皇), describing excuses or reasons that sound grand and noble on the surface but are actually hollow.
- A marriage arranged between two powerful families to form an alliance, consolidate assets, or achieve a strategic business goal.
- To ‘tear face’ (sīpòliǎn) is a common idiom for a relationship breaking down completely and openly, where neither party bothers to be polite anymore.
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