I’m Not Going to Be the White Moonlight
Rabbit
The plane sliced through a thick layer of clouds, chasing the setting sun.
The long journey had diluted everyone’s excitement. A low hum settled over the cabin, and in first class, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop1.
Having finished her work, Shi Jinlan covered herself with a blanket.
The tighter her schedule, the more energy she needed. She kept her exhaustion tightly controlled, only allowing it to surface the moment she closed her eyes.
But the dreams that came after were beyond her control.
A cold wind swept through a silent world. In the gloom, the dense leaves of trees swayed.
Shi Jinlan was dreaming of that day again. She had followed the calico cat2 to the edge of a cliff, only to watch as Chi Qian prepared to jump.
Thousands upon thousands of times, Shi Jinlan had run with all her might.
She had long since forgotten the wound on her left leg, remembering only how difficult each step was, how her leg refused to obey. Once, she hadn’t even made it in time to see Chi Qian fall.
She had lost her, just brushing arms and losing her3.
She hadn’t even had time to hear Chi Qian call out her name: “Ah Lan.”
The biting pre-dawn wind, mingled with the rising sun, lashed against Shi Jinlan’s face.
No matter how many times she relived it, she could never get used to the emptiness in her hands. She collapsed to the ground, her heart squeezed so tight it felt like she was being torn apart.
There was no relief, and nowhere to find it.
Even later, when Shi Jinlan used the same method to force Shi Cheng off a cliff, her eyes as she stared into the sea were filled with nothing but a layer of cold, dark indifference. There was no release.
She was trapped forever on that cliff, on that island.
Like Sisyphus4 pushing his boulder, she could never hold on to the stone that was destined to fall.
“!”
Shi Jinlan’s eyes snapped open.
Her hand, hanging beneath the blanket, was clenched into a tight fist. Her bloodless nails looked as if they were about to dig into her own flesh.
In the dim light, she could feel a layer of cold sweat coating her forehead beneath her bangs.
Her usual pride—that lofty, dismissive arrogance—was now steeped in failure. It was the most bitter defeat she had ever tasted, the laughable mistake of clinging to a zero-point-zero-one percent chance as if it were hope.
“The plane will be landing shortly. We ask all passengers to please prepare for arrival…”
The flight attendant’s5 voice broke the silence.
The soft thud of high heels sounded on the carpeted aisle.
Listening to the sound, Shi Jinlan slowly reined in her emotions, her gaze turning heavy.
Outside the window, overlapping clouds formed a thick, stubborn blanket that refused to dissipate.
Shi Jinlan appeared normal, but her heart was still pounding erratically.
She said she was free.
So why did she come back?
Did she get the freedom she wanted?
Shi Jinlan’s hand tightened around the phone in her pocket as she watched the plane’s gradual descent.
Time suddenly seemed to slow down just for her. Her finger tapped against the screen, once, twice, a hint of impatience in the rhythm.
Du du du—6
“I’m telling you, don’t make me slap you in the happiest place on earth!”
The moment the plane landed, Shi Jinlan called Chi Qian.
She hadn’t expected the call to connect to such an impatient threat.
She had no idea who had provoked her, but Chi Qian’s eyes were wide and fierce. The roundness of her eyes, tilted upward in a glare, really did give her the look of a vicious dog7.
And this foolish habit of flying off the handle, regardless if three times seven is twenty-one8, was exactly the same as before.
Seeing Chi Qian like this, Shi Jinlan felt a sudden sense of peace settle in her heart.
A faint smile touched her lips. She gazed deeply at the person on the screen and chuckled. “And does Ah Qian think the happiest place on earth is my house?”
The afternoon sun was even more punishing than at noon. It beat down in a sudden wave of heat, and the cicadas’ drone immediately stretched out.
Their shrill cries pierced through the leaves and branches, making Chi Qian feel as if the air around her had suddenly grown hotter.
She’d never thought someone could have such a beautiful smile.
Those cool eyes crinkled slightly, the smile originating from deep within her pupils. It was mixed with an inscrutable darkness that, in this one instant, was utterly captivating.
Chi Qian thought she heard something snap inside her. She quickly apologized, clarifying her outburst to the person she’d accidentally targeted. “No, Ah Lan, I wasn’t talking to you.”
“Then who were you talking to, Ah Qian?” Shi Jinlan was still smiling, propping her chin on one hand as if she were earnestly listening to Chi Qian’s troubles. “Who made you unhappy?”
“It’s just some stuff at work,” Chi Qian said vaguely, unsure if she should tell Shi Jinlan. “It’s nothing, it’ll be resolved the day after tomorrow.”
“Can Ah Qian resolve it on her own?” Shi Jinlan pressed.
“I…” Chi Qian hesitated, looking at the powerful big boss9 right there on her screen, a ready-made source of help.
But she didn’t know how to ask.
She was worried that if she opened her mouth, Shi Jinlan would think she was useless, or a bother.
The System had given her this face, identical to her past self’s, so she could use Shi Jinlan’s affection for the “original” to do whatever she desired.
But she didn’t want to.
On her end of the call, she was sitting unceremoniously on the lawn. On the other, Shi Jinlan was inside a moving car, bathed in a bright light that draped her in a natural air of nobility.
They were thousands of miles apart, yet it felt like they were separated by two different worlds.
And deep in Chi Qian’s heart, something stirred restlessly.
She found herself daring to hope that one day, she could stand shoulder to shoulder10 with Shi Jinlan.
“Tell me what you understand about the situation so far,” Shi Jinlan said, taking the initiative.
Chi Qian hadn’t expected her to ask. She quickly organized her thoughts. “They… they said I leaked the source code11, and they found traces on my computer, but I have my own markers on my programs. Normally, I use…”
She trailed off, a sudden pause in her speech.
A look of confusion clouded her eyes. She abruptly realized she couldn’t describe her past work.
This was something she had supposedly experienced, yet it felt unfamiliar. Everyone praised her for her exceptional professional skills, but she suddenly couldn’t recall a single detail about her own work.
It was as if it were just a setting.
What’s going on…
I’m a programmer. I’ve done this job for years. How can I not remember the code I wrote?
“Don’t try to prove your innocence.”
Shi Jinlan gently shook her head at Chi Qian’s words, pulling her back from her spiraling thoughts.
“Have you considered who benefits the most from this?” Shi Jinlan guided.
“I know!”
As if grasping onto a piece of evidence that proved her existence in her original world, Chi Qian nodded immediately.
Her eyes held the eager look of a puppy hoping for praise. “I thought about it carefully just now,” she told Shi Jinlan. “It should be the project manager from the team next to ours, Zhang Yao12. His team is in competition with ours. If our manager goes down, he gets promoted.”
But as she spoke, her expression fell.
She plucked a blade of grass from Emergency Ration’s mouth and poked at it. “But what’s the use? Even if I know it was him, I can’t hack into his computer.”
Shi Jinlan’s expression didn’t change, but a faint smile lifted the corners of her eyes. “Didn’t you just want to know who harmed you back then?”
Hearing this, Chi Qian’s gaze froze.
On the other side of the screen, the woman’s smiling eyes were dark and deep, giving one the feeling that she could see through everything.
Shi Jinlan was relentlessly looking for opportunities to test her, to make her admit it.
But she really wasn’t the Chi Qian of the past.
But who am I?
“It’s lagging,” Shi Jinlan said calmly, her gaze profound as she watched the frozen image of Chi Qian on her screen.
“Huh?”
Chi Qian snapped out of her daze and quickly realized this was a perfect chance to dodge Shi Jinlan’s question. She nodded hurriedly. “Yeah, I didn’t quite catch what you just said.”
As she said this, a bright smile bloomed on her face.
It was a little sly, a little smug, but mostly just relieved.
Shi Jinlan watched her silently for a moment before saying, “I’ll be home the day after tomorrow. Will you come out to welcome me?”
“You’re coming back so soon?” Chi Qian was surprised by the tightness of Shi Jinlan’s schedule.
Shi Jinlan didn’t answer directly, only asking softly, “You don’t want me back so soon?”
A small part of Chi Qian did feel that way. Being around Shi Jinlan was stressful.
But having her back sooner was also reassuring. If the negotiations the day after tomorrow went badly, and Shi Jinlan came back to find her gone, maybe she’d personally step in to bail her out.
She’d already sold herself to Shi Jinlan today. What was wrong with secretly hugging her thigh13 for support?
With that thought, Chi Qian nodded, her eyes firm. “Of course not! I understand. I’ll definitely be there to welcome you, Shi… Ah Lan.”
That form of address again. Shi Jinlan let out a soft laugh.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Ah Ning watched Shi Jinlan, who had smiled more in the last few minutes than she had in years. A mix of relief and worry filled her eyes.
Seeing they were approaching their destination, she gave Shi Jinlan a hand signal.
For the first time, Shi Jinlan felt the road from the airport was far too short. She lowered her eyes slightly to acknowledge the signal, then said to Chi Qian, “I have some things to take care of here. I can’t talk any longer.”
“Okay,” Chi Qian nodded, preparing to hang up.
But Shi Jinlan wasn’t in such a hurry.
Light and shadow dappled in her pupils. Her gaze lingered on Chi Qian, full of reluctance. Just before ending the call, she added a final instruction. “Remember to save my number. The next time we video chat, I’d rather not bring disaster to the innocent14.”
Chi Qian’s face flushed. She gave an embarrassed smile. “I will.”
The fountain sprayed glittering arcs of water into the air as the car slowly drove into a grand building.
Shi Jinlan glanced at the scenery outside before ending the video call with Chi Qian.
People were already waiting on the portico, led by a blond man.
His slightly curled, long hair brushed his shoulders. He had the look of a typical Frenchman, dressed seriously in a Western suit and leather shoes, but his tall frame was anything but rigid.
He seemed to be eagerly anticipating Shi Jinlan’s arrival. Seeing her car approach from a distance, he waved.
When the car stopped, he even bypassed the bodyguards and attendants to open the door for her himself. “You’re finally here, Lan.”
His Chinese was passable. He rested a hand on the doorframe while she got out, his mouth running nonstop. “I made sure to keep that winery you liked reserved for you. You have to stay for a few days this time.”
Hearing this, Shi Jinlan’s eyes filled with apology as she rejected his enthusiastic invitation. “I’m sorry, but I have to go back as soon as my business here is finished.”
“Why!” The man was clearly incredulous, and very reluctant. “You said no last time, too. I even prepared all your favorite things this time. Can’t you stay for just one more day?”
“I’m sorry.” Shi Jinlan still didn’t agree. She ducked her head and stepped out of the car, looking at him with an unhurried gaze. “I’ve set my sights on a rabbit that’s about to be eaten.”
“What rabbit? Is it very rare?” the man asked, confused.
He had met Shi Jinlan at a charity auction.
At the time, he had wanted to buy a piece of jewelry she was eyeing and present it to her. He got into a bidding war with Ah Ning, and in the end, he won the piece for more than ten times its value. He hadn’t expected his father to tear him a new one for it.
Shi Jinlan never accepted favors, especially from men.
He’d won the jewelry, but his attempt to curry favor with the beautiful Eastern woman had failed. Instead, his family’s company lost a major deal shortly after.
In his mind, competing with Shi Jinlan for anything was a death wish.
Besides, anything Shi Jinlan wanted should be presented to her on a silver platter.
With that in mind, the man fell into step beside her, offering up his own resources. “Well, if it’s expensive, my family actually owns a ranch. If Miss Shi is interested, I can have one bred for you.”
“Or perhaps you could tell me who your competitor is. I can help you take care of it.” The man was desperate to curry favor, a pity he’d completely misunderstood her from the start.
Shi Jinlan let out a soft laugh. “That won’t be necessary,” she said lightly.
In the sunlight, refracted by the fountain’s spray, a thin layer of mist hung in the air.
Shi Jinlan’s eyes curved into a slight smile, her gaze holding a dark, profound gleam—greedy and full of killing intent.
The author has something to say:
Qianqian: I’m not a little rabbit!
Lanlan: So you eat the grass by your own burrow~15
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