Chapter 128: Children’s Laughter (8)
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Although the group was still somewhat bewildered by the current situation, they felt somewhat reassured upon seeing Yan Shixun.
Especially Zhao Zhen, who had woken up with a knock on the head and the possibility of someone wanting to kill him, discreetly shifted closer to Yan Shixun.
Because of Zhao Zhen’s sudden joint pain, Zhang Wubing spontaneously began searching the medical kit in the living room while Zhao Zhen rested on the couch.
Yan Shixun glanced at the glamorous makeup on Chi Yan’s face with a smirk, asking, “Miss Pool, you’ve been wanting to see me for a while now. Your letter reached me even when I was still in the hospital.”
“Now that we’re all trapped here and unable to leave for the time being, let’s consider it a way to pass the time.”
Yan Shixun walked calmly to the exquisite single sofa nearby, sat down unhurriedly, and crossed his long legs encased in tailored trousers. His gaze focused steadily on Chi Yan. “So, tell me—what trouble did you originally want me to help you with?”
Zhao Zhen sensed something amiss in Yan Shixun’s tone, especially when he mentioned the hospital. It made Zhao Zhen realize that Chi Yan might have contacted Yan Shixun early on because of his dual identity, apart from being a guest on the show, but Yan Shixun had refused her.
Thinking back to the anomalies during the opening ceremony and at the hotel, Zhao Zhen suddenly had a suspicion. However, his cautious nature, honed over many years in the entertainment industry, prevented him from speaking rashly. Instead, he lowered his head and pretended to check for items that could prove his identity.
With practiced movements, he emptied his sleeves and pockets, laying out each item meticulously on the sofa, as if all his attention was focused on this task.
As for what Yan Shixun and Chi Yan were talking about on the side… he couldn’t hear it.
But Chi Yan didn’t expect Yan Shixun, who had rejected her several times already, to bring up the matter again at this moment.
She looked at Yan Shixun with some surprise, but instead of showing a “saved” expression, she awkwardly flashed a hint of panic and said, “No, it’s okay!”
In the end, Chi Yan even cracked her voice, making her originally charming voice sound sharp and piercing, especially noticeable on this dark and rainy night after the power outage.
Yan Shixun remained quietly seated on the sofa, watching her as if he hadn’t just broken through Chi Yan’s defenses with a single sentence.
Zhao Zhen, who had pretended not to hear anything with his head lowered, also frowned.
He felt that things had been off since the suite on the top floor of the hotel.
Although the grotesque puppet outside the elevator and the blood in the milk bottle scared Bai Shuang, the person Yan Shixun found dead in the stairwell was someone else.
But whether it was the opening ceremony or the hotel, it seemed like everything was revolving around Chiyan.
The others seemed more like innocent bystanders who were inadvertently affected because of Chiyan.
Even now, even the crew members had fallen into some sort of unconsciousness and ended up in this inexplicable place.
—— If he hadn’t woken up in time, he would have frozen to death in the utility room.
This made Zhao Zhen deepen his suspicions – rejected by Yan Shixun despite pleading, and the repeated rumors involving supernatural occurrences… Could it be that there was really something going on with Chi Yan?
Zhao Zhen didn’t believe that Yan Shixun would refuse Chi Yan without a reason.
Although Yan Shixun was known for his bad temper and wasn’t the type to offer comforting words, he was strong and reliable enough to shoulder responsibilities – even those that weren’t his own. Yan Shixun would steadfastly bear them without evasion.
Watching the two episodes closely, whether it was at Wild Wolf Peak or Family Tomb Village, Zhao Zhen, who frequently found himself in danger, could see clearly that Yan Shixun had many opportunities to abandon the crew and leave on his own, but he never did.
Yan Shixun regarded both the people and the spirits he encountered as his responsibility; he wouldn’t refuse to help someone in need.
Zhao Zhen was firmly convinced of this.
So, the one with the problem must be Chi Yan.
With this thought in mind, Zhao Zhen subtly glanced at Chi Yan from the corner of his eye, observing her movements.
Meanwhile, Chi Yan, realizing her outburst in panic, quickly became aware of her loss of composure.
She forced a smile, her complexion turning somewhat unpleasant. Even though her face was caked in heavy foundation, her unnatural expression was evident, with her eyes darting around.
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
Chi Yan said, her trembling hand gripping the back of the nearby sofa, trying to support her fragile and trembling body.
She quickly regained control of her breathing and put on a smile, gracefully finding a reasonable explanation for her recent behavior.
“There were indeed some personal puzzles I wanted to discuss with Mr. Yan,” she said with a smile. “But since we’ve inexplicably ended up here, the priority is definitely finding a way to leave.”
Chi Yan chuckled. “My matters can wait. After we get out of here, I can bother Mr. Yan then.”
However, her smile seemed too perfect.
Ordinary people, when faced with danger and confronted with entities beyond their comprehension, tend to panic and fear the unknown.
Just like Bai Shuang’s emotions on Ghost Mountain, despite her desperate attempts to remain calm, traces of fear would inevitably seep through her soul.
However, Chi Yan’s smile at this moment was not genuine.
As Yan Shixun’s gaze carefully swept over her face, he noticed that although she appeared to be smiling, her cheekbones weren’t lifted, there were no crow’s feet around her eyes, and her eyebrows remained tense.
She was putting on a fake smile, and the emotions she displayed were nothing more than a facade.
It was like Sichuan opera face-changing, where different masks were worn to portray different emotions. However, the true feelings behind the masks were concealed by heavy makeup, impossible to discern.
Yan Shixun fixedly looked at Chi Yan for a moment, then suddenly chuckled with an ambiguous tone. “Acting is quite a convenient profession, isn’t it?”
“Otherwise, I could give it a try too, acting,” he said casually, resting his head on one hand. “I’ve seen many spirits and ghosts, but now, perhaps being an actor would allow me to see even more.”
Yan Shixun’s hair was slicked back with gel, sporting the typical hairstyle of the elite men in the old Binhai area of Shanghai. His ruggedly handsome face was fully exposed, with sharp facial contours, arched eyebrows, and piercing eyes.
As he spoke, the coldness and aggressiveness emanating from his expression made one instinctively want to flee.
Chi Yan took a half step back, then seemed to snap out of it and halted her steps.
“It seems like Director Zhang hasn’t found the medical kit yet. I’ll go check if he needs any help,” Chi Yan said abruptly, then hurriedly left the sofa.
Neither Yan Shixun nor Zhao Zhen stopped her, but both raised their eyes to watch Chi Yan’s hurried departure.
The audience was stunned by this unexpected turn of events.
[What’s going on? Am I imagining things, or did it seem like Brother Yan was indirectly blaming Chi Yan just now?]
[This reminds me of a saying I read before, “The human heart is scarier than ghosts and spirits.” Although it sounds cool in literary works, when you think about it in reality, it’s kind of chilling. The implication behind Brother Yan’s words, was Chi Yan up to something sinister?]
[It’s quite possible. You never know what someone’s really like inside. Especially since I was young, Chi Yan has always had a lot of rumors surrounding her. A lot of younger fans might not know, but back in the day when the internet wasn’t as developed, there were all sorts of rumors about Chi Yan in magazines. There was even an interview with a master who claimed Chi Yan asked him to help dig up child corpses for some ritual. My dad got so mad after reading that, he was angry for weeks.]
[But as you said, those are just rumors! People need to use their own judgment instead of believing everything they hear. Nowadays, which popular celebrity doesn’t have some scandalous gossip? Even Lu Xingxing has rumors about him being superstitious and believing in ghosts.]
[….. Excuse me, the person above, I don’t intend to meddle in your conflict with the other person, but I just wanted to remind you that Xingxing, he really is “superstitious” — he’s a Taoist at Haiyun Temple.]
[Hahahaha, what’s up with those two previous comments? I can’t stop laughing.]
[But there’s actually some truth to what they’re saying. I’ve been following the show since it had only a few thousand subscribers, so I’ve been watching Brother Yan from the very beginning. But this is the first time I’ve seen him make that kind of expression. It’s like something happened with Chi Yan, and Brother Yan seems really upset.]
[Maybe it’s just part of the plot of the show, but Chi Yan does seem a bit strange. Did you guys notice that she just told Zhang Wubing she woke up in the living room, but… in that quick flash earlier, wasn’t she in the garden? It looked like she was talking to someone, or maybe to herself? It was so dark in the garden, I couldn’t see who was on the other side.]
[Ah, am I the only one concerned about Chi Yan’s previous attempts to contact Brother Yan? Do they have some kind of relationship? And they mentioned the hospital too, did Chi Yan visit Brother Yan when he was in the hospital? Oh no, Brother Yan, don’t cry! Haven’t you heard what they say in TV dramas, the more attractive a woman is, the more likely she is to deceive you, don’t trust her!]
After Chi Yan left, Zhao Zhen immediately approached Yan Shixun, dragging his leg that was causing him trouble, and lowered his voice to ask, “Brother Yan, is there something wrong with….. Chi Yan?”
“I don’t mean to pry into other people’s privacy, but if Chi Yan really has some issues, I want to keep my distance from her to avoid getting caught up in it.”
Afraid of being misunderstood by Yan Shixun, Zhao Zhen quickly explained, “I don’t want to be around someone like a ticking time bomb, not knowing it’s a bomb at all. At the very least, being prepared is a good thing.”
Yan Shixun raised an eyebrow, looking at Zhao Zhen strangely. “You’re quite perceptive.”
Zhao Zhen shrugged helplessly. “I won’t hide it from you, Brother Yan. That’s probably why I’ve managed to survive until now. And besides, you’re good at reading people’s faces. Even the Taoist from Haiyun Temple calls you ‘Master Uncle.’ I couldn’t hide anything from you even if I wanted to.”
He glanced over at Chi Yan, who was still engrossed in conversation with Zhang Wubing, making sure she wouldn’t overhear their conversation. Then he lowered his voice and leaned in closer to Yan Shixun’s ear. “I’ve worked with Chi Yan once before on another set. I played a corpse, and she was the female lead.”
“I heard rumors about Chi Yan back then, saying that…”
Zhao Zhen hesitated for a moment. He wasn’t one to gossip about others, and he usually kept any secrets he heard to himself—a survival tactic in the entertainment industry. But considering the potential danger to their lives, Zhao Zhen quickly made up his mind and continued, “Chi Yan was pregnant but lost the baby.”
Yan Shixun furrowed his brows and instinctively glanced towards Chi Yan’s direction, only to meet her smiling gaze as she looked back at them.
It seemed like she had ears behind her, able to hear others gossiping about her.
Zhao Zhen felt a shiver down his spine from being caught looking, as if he had done something wrong. Suddenly feeling uneasy, he quickly lowered his head.
However, Yan Shixun remained composed and raised his voice towards the two of them, “Zhang Dabing, can you still find your medical kit? At this rate, by the time you find it Zhao Zhen might as well be a corpse!”
Zhang Wubing, oblivious to the situation, was half-kneeling on the ground, struggling to reach for the medical kit buried deep beneath the bottom drawer of the cabinet. He tried to cover his buttocks while stretching his arm as far as he could, pressing his face tightly against the deformed cabinet.
However, due to his lack of experience wearing skirts, he ended up in a flustered mess, looking quite disheveled.
“Alright, alright, I found it, Brother Ya!” Zhang Wubing yelled out, his words slightly slurred.
Yanshixun: “…”
Tsk, painful to the eyes.
He quickly turned away, not wanting to continue hurting his eyes.
With this little incident, Chi Yan glanced suspiciously towards the sofa for a moment but was soon urged by the “expressionless” Zhang Wubing to help, leaving her no time to pay attention to Yan Shixun’s side.
Meanwhile, Yan Shixun turned back to Zhao Zhen and furrowed his brows, asking, “What did you mean by what you just said?”
Zhao Zhen shifted his body, positioning himself so that Yan Shixun’s sturdy and tall figure completely blocked Chi Yan from view, then whispered, “Chi Yan, she’s been pregnant before. Although the media never reported it, many people in the industry know about it.”
“A number of directors and actors who have worked with her have seen her experiencing morning sickness at different times. And when she was shooting that film that won the international award, she was in such a bad state, almost like a dead person. The makeup artist responsible for her was even fired by her at that time. No one except her went into her dressing room, and everyone was speculating if she was hiding a man in there.”
Zhao Zhen continued, “But later, when I worked with that makeup artist, she told me during our chat that there were actually no men in Chi Yan’s dressing room, but there were plenty of children’s toys. And when Chi Yan took off her makeup, her face had no flesh on it, she was just skin and bones. The makeup artist said she had nightmares for a month after seeing her like that.”
Zhao Zhen was always the quietest person on set, and directors who worked with him were always satisfied. They considered him a good actor who worked hard and kept secrets. Whatever happened on set, he never leaked it out.
But this also meant that Zhao Zhen was someone who kept quiet about news.
From him, Yan Shixuan suddenly learned a lot about the situations in the previous sets Zhao Zhen had been on.
According to Zhao Zhen’s account, Chi Yan should have been pregnant more than once, but no one ever saw her with a child. So those directors and actors, even if they noticed Chi Yan’s unusual pregnancy symptoms, later had no choice but to believe Chi Yan’s explanation that she just had some allergies.
After all, there was no evidence.
“Except for one time.”
Zhao Zhen whispered, “A few years ago, Chi Yan suddenly had a massive hemorrhage on set, which scared a lot of people. She was rushed to the hospital in an emergency. But her assistant insisted that no doctor approached her and, at great risk, transferred her to a private doctor.”
“Although Chi Yan quickly returned a few days later and didn’t seem to be in a post-miscarriage state, I remember very clearly that the doctor initially addressed her assistant using the term ‘pregnant woman’.”
Zhao Zhen said. “It’s very likely the doctor noticed something… I’m not sure. Later, that doctor disappeared, I don’t know if he transferred to another hospital or if something else happened.”
In Yan Shixun’s eyes, there was no halo of the entertainment industry. Although he was surprised by Zhao Zhen’s wealth of information, he was accustomed to dealing with ghosts and spirits, and had long known the treacherousness of human nature, so his reaction was relatively calm.
But for the audience who had just heard so much juicy gossip from Zhao Zhen, they were stunned.
[Wow, what kind of movie is this? Truth or Dare? In just a few minutes, it’s turned my world upside down.]
[??? The person Zhao Zhen is talking about, is it Chi Yan? Is this for real?]
[Actually, there have been similar rumors about Chi Yan before, but many of them were quickly suppressed, followed by counterstatements claiming that Chi Yan attracts gossip because she’s famous. They say her haters make up these things to tarnish her reputation.]
[If someone else said it, I might doubt it, but Zhao Zhen’s credibility is really high. If he wanted fame, he could have gotten it a long time ago, instead of sitting on the bench year after year, honing his acting skills with determination. It wasn’t until he participated in this variety show this year that people discovered he’s a shining talent, and he’s risen to fame now. He really has no reason to lie.]
[Oh, come on? Are you guys taking this too seriously? This is a movie, after all. It’s definitely a character background for Chi Yan’s role, so don’t confuse the character with the real Chi Yan.]
[I believe what Zhao Zhen said. Years ago, I had a crush on a young actress who had just graduated from drama school. She had two adorable dimples when she smiled, incredibly cute. She was in the same crew as Chi Yan, and every day on social media, she praised Chi Yan, saying they were always together, without any airs. But one day, the actress suddenly died. At that time, she and Chi Yan were in the trailer alone, and nobody knew what happened except Chi Yan. She’s really not a good person, really.]
[…I don’t think what Zhao Zhen said is part of a character design. I just checked, and everything he said corresponds. At that time, Chi Yan was indeed shooting that movie, and the makeup artist, the director, and he himself were all there. Oh, by the way, I looked up the doctor Zhao Zhen mentioned, and I found his obituary from that year. The doctor passed away.]
[Are you guys crazy? How can you criticize Chi Yan to this extent? Get lost!]
[It’s really weird, guys. I don’t mean Zhao Zhen is lying, but how could he say something like that in front of a live audience? He seems like a very cautious person.]
[Is there a possibility… that Zhao Zhen doesn’t actually know they’re filming right now?]
[Are you suggesting that Director Li is using hidden cameras to film?]
[It’s quite possible. This would also explain why the scene transitions seamlessly during the livestream. Because the cameras are hidden everywhere, the director just needs to switch between them. And didn’t they cancel the split-screen shots of the guests this time? Maybe it’s because of this mechanism.]
[Makes sense. And many of the guests aren’t professional actors, so using hidden cameras can also ease the tension for non-professionals and help them get into character better.]
However, even though the discussion in the bullet comments is relatively harmonious with no overt hostility towards Chi Yan, social media platforms are blowing up.
Because of what happened at the airport when Yan Shixun said a few words to the paparazzi, many entertainment media outlets are feeling the pressure. They empathize with each other and fear they might face the same fate one day. They’re really itching with resentment towards Yan Shixun.
So, they all consciously or unconsciously kept an eye on Yan Shixun’s movements, desperately trying to dig up dirt on him and lead a wave of public opinion attacks against him. As for the only variety show Yan Shixun would appear on, they naturally assigned people to monitor it closely.
But unexpectedly, they didn’t find any dirt on Yan Shixun, but stumbled upon something even more explosive.
— Chi Yan’s co-star spills the beans, revealing that Chi Yan has been pregnant and miscarried multiple times, and the father is unknown!
The headline is quite sensational.
Entertainment media outlets rushed to compile the information from the livestream and published articles about it.
In just a few minutes, this incident quickly rose to the top of the real-time popularity rankings, and the readership continued to rise.
Chi Yan’s dedicated fans, with their strong sense of cohesion, became anxious and engaged in heated arguments with those who were criticizing Chi Yan. In the midst of this back-and-forth, the situation began to escalate rapidly, seemingly reaching a point where it would become uncontrollable.
But Chi Yan’s assistant tried to contact her, dialing out repeatedly, but no one answered. She tried calling other people on the set, even the master they had brought in, but no one picked up the phone.
The assistant was as anxious as a cat on hot bricks, watching Chi Yan still searching for the first aid kit in the old-fashioned villa on the screen, wishing she could just pull Chi Yan out of the tablet.
“Answer the phone, for heaven’s sake,” the assistant muttered, sweating profusely and spinning around in a panic. “This is really bad!”
This was not something they could discuss openly!
But no matter how frantic the assistant was, Chi Yan remained oblivious.
Carrying the first aid kit finally retrieved by Zhang Wubing from the corner, Chi Yan clicked her heels and walked over, her high heels tapping against the floor. She no longer showed any signs of panic, instead maintaining an elegant demeanor as she gracefully sat down beside Zhao Zhen on the sofa, smiling as she said, “Let me help you with your wound.”
“No need,” Zhao Zhen instinctively wanted to refuse.
But Chi Yan smiled persuasively, “With the power outage and all this darkness, it’s not very convenient for you to do it alone, is it?”
Zhao Zhen had intended to suggest letting Zhang Wubing do it, but as he turned his head, he saw Zhang Wubing still struggling with the skirt that didn’t fit at all.
Zhao Zhen: “…”
Forget it.
He quickly turned his head back, intending to suggest letting Yan Shixun do it.
But before he could speak, Yan Shixun had already gracefully risen from the sofa.
“I’ll leave it to you, Chi Yan. Take care of Zhao Zhen’s wound. I trust you can bandage it up nicely,” Yan Shixun said, clearly smiling, but there was no hint of amusement in his eyes.
He bent down slightly, picking up the handkerchief Zhao Zhen had casually thrown on the sofa. “I’ll dispose of this for you. No need to thank me.”
Chi Yan’s crimson lips twitched, but the words she intended to say remained unspoken, only nodding instead.
“You two stay here, I’ll go upstairs to check.”
Yan Shixun blinked at Zhao Zhen, smiling before turning to leave.
However, as Zhao Zhen watched Yan Shixun ascend the gilded staircase, he felt an urge to reach out and shout, “No—!!! Don’t leave me here alone with her.”
Just like in that melodramatic romance he once acted in.
Unfortunately, the person sitting next to him now wasn’t the naive, innocent supporting actress but a cunning and ruthless female lead.
As the scent of powder wafted over from beside him, Zhao Zhen couldn’t help but feel the hardship of life.
He awkwardly tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I’ll leave it to you, Sister Chi Yan.”
—— He had just finished bad-mouthing her, now forced to sit next to her and pretend like nothing happened.
Who can relate to this kind of awkwardness?
Chi Yan gently lowered her head to open the medical kit. As she took out the alcohol and gauze, she casually asked with a smile, whether intentional or not, “You seem to have a good relationship with Mr. Yan? Are you the type who shares everything?”
Zhao Zhen’s spine stiffened instantly.
“No,” he quickly responded, feigning calmness. “Yan Shixun’s popularity has been rising lately, I’m just riding the wave, trying to gain some followers.”
“Is that so,” Chi Yan glanced deeply at Zhao Zhen, making him break out in a cold sweat.
But in the end, she said nothing.
The living room fell into a dead silence.
Having just finished dusting off the dirt from his body, Zhang Wubing finally ended his battle with the belt of his skirt. With both hands holding the skirt to prevent it from falling, he walked over cheerfully, eager to boast to Yan Shixun.
“Brother Yan, I…? Where’s Brother Yan?”
He looked around the living room, puzzled by the absence of Yan Shixun.
Zhao Zhen: … Please, director, say something else, anything to break this awkwardness.
However, Zhang Wubing didn’t hear Zhao Zhen’s silent plea. He unceremoniously plopped down on the nearby sofa, sighing, “Getting old, I’ve been crouching for too long. When I suddenly stood up, I got dizzy. I need to sit and recover for a bit.”
But then he suddenly felt like there was something hard next to his butt?
Zhang Wubing wondered as he reached down under his skirt, causing the audience watching the livestream to go crazy with screams.
[Maies! Maies! Director, can you please have some dignity as an idol? Ah!!! This is madness.]
[Director, you’re wearing a skirt right now! Don’t make weird movements! Scary_face.jpg]
[Crying, Little Bing, Mom feels like her love for you is too heavy, maybe… let’s forget it.]
[Haha, Laughing to death! The top-tier variety show director with millions of subscribers gets unfollowed just because he’s wearing a skirt. This might be the most magical way to lose fans in the entertainment industry, right? Hahaha.]
Even Chi Yun instinctively closed her eyes when she saw Zhang Wubing’s actions, and even after forcing herself to open her eyes afterward, she seemed hesitant to speak.
Fortunately, Zhang Wubing quickly found the object he was searching for and pulled it out of the sofa.
“Hmm?”
What Zhang Wubing held in his hand was actually a student ID card.
It was remarkably similar to the one Chi Yan had taken out of her handbag earlier to prove her identity. The only difference was the name.
[Women’s Foreign Language Class, Jingcheng University, Lin Qiong]
Chi Yun’s face changed drastically as soon as she saw the name on the ID card.
……
Yan Shixun didn’t trust Chi Yan, so he wouldn’t allow himself to investigate with her nearby.
He could quickly deduce the truth with his mental abilities, but there was one big premise: the most primitive information he obtained had to be correct and true, without any distortion by anyone or anything.
That’s why he left Zhao Zhen and Zhang Wubing in the living room with Chi Yan, effectively keeping an eye on her.
Despite Zhang Wubing’s unfavorable fate, always encountering ghosts, the rules of the universe dictate that for everything taken away, an equivalent compensation must be made.
Zhang Wubing’s fate might be unfavorable, but occasionally, his luck was pretty good.
— Like the fact that he was reborn into the Zhang family, a wealthy merchant family, yet with a pure family background, harmonious parents, and loving care for their children.
That’s the kind of excellent luck that others can’t envy.
Yan Shixun believed that even if there were any issues with Chi Yan, Zhang Wubing could turn bad luck into good, reaching a peak after a downfall.
Walking along the corridor, Yan Shixun quickly found the room Zhang Wubing had mentioned waking up in.
On his way back from the concession area, Yan Shixun realized something: there were more significant events that occurred while they were unconscious, events they were unaware of.
However, each person waking up in a different location, wearing different clothes, and carrying different items was a clue.
Just like when he woke up in a strange secluded courtyard, it was likely a hint at the identity of “Jing Bin,” aside from being a diplomat. And that courtyard was a clue to his additional identity.
Given this, the study that Zhang Wubing, whose current identity hadn’t been confirmed, overlooked might contain crucial clues to his identity.
After pushing open the door to the study, Yan Shixun quickly deduced that it was a girl’s room.
Books were scattered everywhere, but unlike a traditional study, there were almost an overwhelming number of foreign language books. However, on the manual spread out on the desk, printed words read “Binhai Girls’ School.”
In that era a century ago, even wealthy or educated families might send their daughters to girls’ schools, but those schools wouldn’t teach so many languages or such profound books for their age.
Although it’s hard to accept from a modern perspective, in that era, even if some girls had the opportunity to go to school because of their family or parents, it was mainly just for literacy, and their families didn’t expect them to achieve anything groundbreaking.
The clash between old and new ideologies had many new-era individuals in positions of power, looking down on those adhering to old beliefs. Naturally, they wouldn’t consider marrying old-school girls who were confined to traditional roles. Anyone who married such a wife would be criticized in newspapers as a weakness.
People like Jing Bin, who fulfilled their betrothal to an old-school wife, were few in number.
Most new-era individuals were “feather-takers,” valuing their reputation.
Girls’ schools were the best option for many families at that time.
Girls who were literate had a broader social circle and could meet new-era individuals without the constraints of old-school identities.
So, literacy was enough.
Yan Shixun’s gaze slowly scanned the study, roughly estimating that there were seven or eight languages represented, with nearly ten thousand books.
This wasn’t the reading volume expected of a female high school student.
Did Zhang Wubing wake up in the wrong place, or is there someone else sharing the study with him?
Unconsciously, Yan Shixun opened the booklet he was holding, but when he saw the name written on it, he paused.
Jing Xiuwen.
A female high school student, part of the Jing family’s refinement, Jing Shi Wanxiu the adoring gaze of a woman looking at a man in the pocket watch…
According to historical records, Jing Bin’s wife gave birth to two daughters, neither of whom lived to adulthood, leading to the demise of Jing Bin’s wife.
It seemed Zhang Wubing’s identity was now clear.
He was the eldest daughter of Jing Bin and his wife.
…In other words, his daughter.
In that moment, Yan Shixun’s face contorted in agony.
He let out a long sigh and, with a “smack,” covered his eyes with his hand: If the daughter of Jing Shi Wanxiu really grew up to look like Zhang Wubing in a dress, then Jing Shi Wanxiu probably wouldn’t have met such an unfortunate end.
But there weren’t just booklets on the desk; there were also several photo frames.
Yan Shixun, as if wanting to cleanse his eyes, quickly picked up the photos. Since they were placed on the desk day and night, they must have been important figures. From here, he should be able to figure out who the owner of these foreign books was.
Sure enough.
In the photo were two people.
A young girl in school uniform, smiling with a youthful and shy expression, but already showing the positive influence of the new era on her, she appeared confident and cheerful.
And squatting beside the girl was a woman wearing a cheongsam, her hair styled in the latest fashion, her feet in high heels, both of them smiling happily together.
They looked just like a mother and daughter.
But Yan Shixun remembered very clearly that the women of the old era, like Jing Shi Wanxiu, usually wore long old-fashioned skirts in their daily lives and wouldn’t smile so brightly, showing their teeth.
So… who was this person?
Just as Yan Shixun furrowed his brow in thought, he suddenly heard a loud “thud!” from directly above his head, as if something heavy had been dropped on the floor.
Yan Shixun reacted swiftly, rushing towards the study door like a gust of wind, bounding up the stairs in three steps.
He quickly identified the room where the sound came from and forcefully pushed the door open.
Inside the room stood a tall woman wearing a floor-length old-fashioned skirt, her dark hair cascading down her back, facing away from the direction of the door.
The satin long skirt, embroidered with delicate floral patterns, beautifully outlined the woman’s slender figure. But for some reason, “she” seemed a bit too sturdy.
At the sound of the door opening, the woman froze in place.
And Yan Shixun, relying on his good memory of people, suddenly realized something.
“Ye… Li?”
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