I’m Not Going to Be the White Moonlight
You don’t want to be abandoned again, do you?
After Shi Jinlan returned to Ningcheng City,1 she seized back control of the Shinian Group. Once she dealt with Shi Cheng, she didn’t move back into the Shi Family’s old residence2 with her grandfather as she had in the past. Instead, she meticulously selected this garden estate.
Shi Jinlan and her grandfather had always maintained a delicate relationship, neither close nor distant.
The Old Master’s control over Shi Jinlan since childhood made it impossible for him to give up the idea of continuing to manipulate her. But from the moment Shi Jinlan moved out of the old residence, the control he had exerted for over twenty years was declared all but bankrupt.
How could he possibly accept that?
And how could Shi Jinlan possibly let him have his way?
The sound of a cane echoed in the quiet stairwell. A long cane made of lightweight fiber tapped against the wooden stairs. Da. Da.
The light stretched the man’s shadow long. Beneath the tailored suit was an elderly man with graying hair, in his eighties. Though the rhythm of his steps wasn’t exactly brisk, his spirit was still sharp, and he carried a rather imposing air.
This was Shi Jinlan’s grandfather, Shi Hongpin.3
The Madam Housekeeper walked respectfully ahead, leading Shi Hongpin toward Shi Jinlan’s reception room on the second floor.
Shi Jinlan was already impeccably dressed and waiting for his arrival in a white French lace dress.
“Grandfather.” Seeing Shi Hongpin walk in, Shi Jinlan rose from a sofa to the side and gave him a slight nod.
Shi Hongpin glanced at Shi Jinlan, then took a seat on the sofa in the room’s most prominent position. “I heard you acquired Rongxin Company4 yesterday.”
The two of them were less like grandfather and granddaughter and more like a superior and subordinate in a strict hierarchy.
Shi Hongpin asked in a flat tone just as the water that had been put on to heat a short while ago began to boil.
White steam rose, obscuring the corners of Shi Jinlan’s downcast eyes.
She unhurriedly picked up the kettle, poured the boiling water into the tea set, and replied, “Yes.”
“As far as I know, that company has no acquisition value. It’s an old company on the verge of obsolescence.” Shi Hongpin gripped his cane with both hands, his expression perpetually stern as he watched Shi Jinlan prepare the tea.
Ever since she was a child, Shi Jinlan had been kept by Shi Hongpin’s side—at home to serve tea to guests, and outside to be displayed to others like a decorative object.
This kind of gaze clearly couldn’t shake Shi Jinlan’s composed and unhurried5 demeanor. Her hand was perfectly steady as she used bamboo tongs to discard the first wash of tea. Her cool voice cut through the white steam rising from the hot water. “It’s fine. It can be used to test the waters for a business transition.”
“You’ve already planned it out?” Shi Hongpin was clearly dissatisfied with Shi Jinlan’s calm and pressed her directly.
“It’s already been discussed in a meeting.” Shi Jinlan raised her eyes and poured the second infusion of tea into a cup.
The billowing steam concealed many details.
For instance, Shi Jinlan didn’t mention that her decision had worried a whole team of her subordinates sick. A large truck speeding down the highway and about to lose control is not easy to brake and turn around. The entire project team had pulled several all-nighters before finally producing a feasible plan that satisfied Shi Jinlan.
But Shi Jinlan wouldn’t let Shi Hongpin know about these things, and of course, Shi Hongpin would never find out.
He looked at Shi Jinlan’s calm and collected appearance, knowing he couldn’t make an issue of this matter, much less interfere. He could only sigh. “As long as you know what you’re doing with your own affairs.”
“Grandfather.” Shi Jinlan’s voice was faint as she pushed the tea toward Shi Hongpin.
Shi Hongpin disliked this feeling of losing control. He picked up the cup and took a tasteless sip, then continued, “The tea here is indeed excellent.”
“I’ll have Butler Chen pack some for you, Grandfather,” Shi Jinlan continued to play the part of a dutiful granddaughter.
“This tea is from Wu City,6 isn’t it?”
But it seemed Shi Hongpin’s interest wasn’t really in the tea.
“It is,” Shi Jinlan nodded.
Hearing this, Shi Hongpin also nodded slowly. He leaned his body, supported by the cane, back into the sofa. His relaxed posture made it seem as if he wanted to chat. “I remember that Uncle Xu’s daughter also opened a tea estate in Wu City.”
“I don’t really keep track of such things.” Shi Jinlan’s expression remained placid. She was the little fox7 raised by an old fox;8 she knew Shi Hongpin wasn’t in the mood for idle chatter.
“She, on the other hand, thinks of you often.”
And then Shi Hongpin gave her the answer.
With the passage of time, Shi Hongpin’s deep voice no longer held its former intimidating power; instead, it had a certain earnest quality, like that of a concerned elder. “Xiao Shan9 has been wanting to get together with you ever since she returned from abroad at the beginning of the year, but you’ve never had the time. Our families are family friends for generations. It’s impolite of you to act this way.”
“Since my father passed away, only you have kept in touch with them, Grandfather,” Shi Jinlan countered.
Shi Hongpin’s every sentence was an insinuation, and she had learned to speak with hidden meanings as well. The so-called family friends were merely his family friends. The connection between her branch of the family and the Xu family had long since been severed.
“You can, too,” Shi Hongpin wasn’t ready to give up. “Xiao Shan is a good girl. Highly educated, talented, and beautiful.”
“You two even performed together when you were children. She played the piano, and you played the violin. You were like a perfect pair of jade discs.”10
Bringing up the past wasn’t a good card to play with Shi Jinlan. What Shi Hongpin took pride in was worth nothing to her.
She poured herself some tea and spoke unhurriedly, “Grandfather, I was still a minor back then.”
“You’re an adult now. You can try getting to know each other.” Shi Hongpin could see that Shi Jinlan intended to play dumb until the end, so he decided to lay his cards on the table.
It was hard to say if he had truly grown old and had an epiphany, but the look in his eyes as he gazed at Shi Jinlan actually seemed benevolent. “Grandfather is just worried about you. You’ve been alone all these years. Now that your career is big enough, it’s time to start a family.”
“A family?”
A very soft laugh escaped the corner of Shi Jinlan’s lips.
That she could engage in this verbal Tai Chi11 with Shi Hongpin like this was a testament to her patience. Now, a chill rose from the depths of her eyes. “Is that what you truly think, Grandfather?”
Her jet-black pupils were like a sharp blade, slicing through the warmth of the daylight along the path of the sun’s rays.
Shi Hongpin was an old fox. Even during the time Shi Cheng was in charge, he hadn’t been defeated, only temporarily sidelined. It wasn’t long before his power was swiftly restored. Even now, he still held a small portion of the Shi family enterprise and had not handed everything over to Shi Jinlan.
Power twists people, and the Shi family was no place for a normal person to survive.
Shi Hongpin knew all too well that neither the Shi Cheng of the past nor the Shi Jinlan of the present were kind souls.
Right now, Shi Hongpin was acting under the guise of caring for his granddaughter, pushing Shi Jinlan to go on a blind date to facilitate a marriage with the daughter of a family friendly with the Shi clan. In reality, he was trying to shore up his own power.
Ever since Shi Jinlan’s return, he had sensed that he was slowly losing his control over her.
The Shi Jinlan who had returned was an existence even more terrifying than Shi Cheng.
The reason Shi Hongpin had been able to sit securely on his throne under Shi Cheng’s rule was that Shi Cheng’s capabilities had a limit. But he was still maneuvering against Shi Jinlan now, three years later, and had yet to gain any advantage.
If this continued, he would become Shi Jinlan’s puppet—a mascot12 symbolizing the family’s longevity and harmony.
At this thought, Shi Hongpin actually managed a smile while looking into Shi Jinlan’s dark, gloomy eyes. “Of course.”
He had been in power his whole life and had personally raised an evil dragon.13
How could the Old Master Shi possibly allow his great power to fall into others’ hands?14
He would not, and could not, allow it.
“Then thank you for your concern, Grandfather,” Shi Jinlan replied coolly.
With her, there was no such thing as tacit agreement.
If she didn’t nod, it meant no.
But Shi Hongpin didn’t see it that way, or perhaps he forced himself not to. The person sitting across from him was the granddaughter he had controlled for over twenty years. He held the strings in his hand taut, with no intention of letting go. “Then let’s have you two meet tomorrow afternoon. Xiao Shan has come to Ningcheng City recently.”
As he spoke, Shi Hongpin reached a hand toward Shi Jinlan, just as he had in the past.
That old, sinewy hand once again moved past the long hair at the nape of Shi Jinlan’s neck, aiming to grasp her spine.
But Shi Jinlan turned away.
She sat firmly on the sofa, her eyes fixed directly on Shi Hongpin. They were like a pool of water in a frozen pond, icy and piercing even under the summer sun.
The Old Master’s expression changed abruptly.
His raised hand hung suspended in the air. With his back to the sun behind him, his face seemed to be buried in darkness. “Xiao Lan, Xiao Shan is much better than a programmer15 who almost lost her own job.”
In a summer that had not yet entered the plum rain season,16 every day seemed to be perfect weather.
A few thin clouds drifted across the azure sky, and the sun hung alone at the zenith, unleashing its scorching heat without restraint.
The incessant, overlapping chirping of cicadas rang out madly from the trees. Despite the shade of the green canopy, they were clearly not satisfied.
Emergency Food (rabbit), however, was leisurely and content. It was comfortably hiding under a patch of green shade, enjoying its lawn buffet. A hand hovered above it, giving it a petting service from time to time.
“You little rabbit, you have a better life than I do.” Chi Qian was still quite envious of Emergency Food’s life, a hint of resentment in her voice.
When Chi Qian woke up this morning, she found that Shi Jinlan was gone. The Madam Housekeeper said that her grandfather, the Old Master Shi, had come, so she had gone to the reception room.
Chi Qian had no good impression of the Old Master Shi, and the image she conjured in her mind was not that of a positive character. When the Madam Housekeeper specifically told her to try her best not to run into him, she changed into a pair of light shoes and ran to the backyard to feed Emergency Food.
But she couldn’t help but worry a little about Shi Jinlan.
Her animosity—a hatred that extended from the person to everything associated with them, like hating the house and the crow on its roof alike17—grew rapidly in her world, bringing worry along with it.
Once, during a system punishment, Chi Qian had accidentally entered Shi Jinlan’s past. This Old Master showed Shi Jinlan none of the affection grandparents usually have for their grandchildren. He had stripped Shi Jinlan of her childhood, robbed her of her freedom, and turned her into a proper lady bound by rules, a presentable flower vase,18 a machine responsible for running the family business.
Who knows what he’s here for this time.
Shi Jinlan is so powerful now, will she still be constrained by him?
But can a shadow that has followed her for most of her life be shaken off so easily?
Her sigh dissipated in the breeze that swept across the lawn. Chi Qian’s movements as she stroked Emergency Food grew a little heavier.
How she wished she could be by Shi Jinlan’s side right now.
“Hey.”
Just then, a less-than-friendly call came from above Chi Qian’s head.
A foul smell permeated the air. A woman dressed as a maid, carrying a bucket piled high with dry hay, stood before Chi Qian.
This was the maid responsible for cleaning up Emergency Food’s droppings. She came at a specific time every day to change the hay in its hutch. Chi Qian had always felt her job as a playmate19 was too easy, so to avoid awkwardness, she usually avoided the maid’s cleaning time.
But for some reason, this person had changed her schedule today.
There was confusion in Chi Qian’s eyes, and also some vigilance.
She looked at the person standing before her with hands on her hips. She had a gut feeling this person came with ill intent,20 but before the woman could make a move, she still replied politely, “Hello.”
“I said, how can you still sit there so calmly!” The maid was clearly displeased by Chi Qian’s detached demeanor, her air of being composed and unhurried.
“What’s wrong?” Chi Qian still looked like she was out of the loop. Hearing the maid’s words, she habitually glanced down at her lap.
Emergency Food is still freely enjoying its lawn buffet. It hasn’t left any little black beans on me or around me, has it?
What is there for me to not be calm about?
“Do you know that the Young Miss is going on a blind date?” the maid asked loudly, dropping a bombshell on Chi Qian.
Chi Qian was caught completely off guard by this news. She stared blankly as the maid continued, “The blind date is the eldest daughter of the Chenxing Airlines21 family, arranged for the Young Miss by the Old Master long ago. This is a union of the strong22 for our two families.”
As if for emphasis, the maid stressed the words “a union of the strong” to set up her next comparison. “And you, as a lover23 who cannot be brought onto the stage,24 will soon have no place in this house.”
“If I were you, I’d take this opportunity to grab as much as I can. Don’t end up drawing water with a bamboo basket, only to find it empty,25 with nothing to show for it.”
Chi Qian didn’t know why this person had come here to say all this to her. The hostility rising in her heart made her respond instinctively, without even thinking, in an icy tone, “But what if I’m not willing?”
“What right do you have to be unwilling?” The maid found Chi Qian’s words incomprehensible, looking down at her condescendingly. “Even with your current status, do you think you’re worthy of her?”
Her eyes were filled with contempt and disdain. Using words she must have picked up from somewhere, she retorted, “Let’s take ten thousand steps back.26 If one person in a relationship is completely dependent on the other, would you feel secure?”
“You’ve been abandoned since you were a child. You should understand this feeling better than I do.”
In that instant, it felt as if the woman had seized Chi Qian’s heart in her hand.
She squeezed it hard, and Chi Qian felt like she could barely breathe.
“Heh.”
The maid let out a scornful laugh at Chi Qian.
She set down her bucket and took two steps closer to Chi Qian, looking at her with a provocative gaze. Her words were direct and cruel.
“Besides, you don’t want to be abandoned again, do you?”
The author has something to say:
Lanlan: Preparing to activate the compulsory plan.
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