Sang Ya's Secret Romance

As Xie Zhiyu passed Shen Baili, he suddenly remembered something. "The durian mille crepe has double the durian."

Shen Baili blurted out, "Eldest Brother, did you choose the durian mille crepe?"

Xie Zhiyu nodded. "Is there a problem?"

Shen Baili immediately shook her head. "No, no problem at all."

[I love you, durian mille crepe! The world can't exist without durian!!!]

Xie Zhiyu's gaze sharpened. He kept his eyes fixed on Shen Baili's face.

She hadn't opened her mouth just now, yet he had heard her voice.

Xie Zhiyu kept his expression neutral. "You really like durian?"

Shen Baili noticed nothing. She nodded. "Mm. Durian is delicious."

This time, he heard no strange voice.

Xie Zhiyu inclined his head. "I see."

The psychiatric examination had found nothing wrong. He would arrange an appointment with the Otolaryngology Department tomorrow.

At dinner, all five members of the Xie Family gathered around the table. Xie Chengyue remembered that it was his stepdaughter's first day of high school. "Suìsuì, how was your first day?"

Xie Tingsi paused with his chopsticks outstretched, then pretended nothing was wrong and picked up a piece of carrot. The moment he put it in his mouth, his expression changed, and he spat it out.

Xie Zhiyu handed him a glass of water.

Shen Baili didn't notice them. "It was good. The teachers were professional, and my classmates were easy to get along with."

Xie Chengyue said, "Good. Tell us if you run into any difficulties."

Shen Baili nodded obediently. "Okay. Thank you, Uncle Xie."

"Eat more meat. You're too thin." Xie Chengyue had noticed that she kept picking up vegetables.

Shen Wan put a few pieces of fish in Shen Baili's bowl. "Eat up, Suìsuì."

Shen Baili bent her head over her meal.

When Xie Chengyue looked back at his bowl, he found a few pieces of fish there too. He paused, then ate them all.

Xie Tingsi had just recovered from the carrot incident when he saw the warm scene across the table. Compared with him and his brother, the old man and the two of them looked more like a family.

A little uncomfortable, he turned to Xie Zhiyu. "Brother..."

Xie Zhiyu's tone was mild. "What? Want some carrots?"

Xie Tingsi shook his head like a rattle. "No, I don't."

The interruption made him forget his discomfort at once. He hurried back to his meal, afraid his brother would put carrots in his bowl.

His brother had actually done that when they were children. Xie Tingsi wasn't about to risk it.

"You're joining the film crew tomorrow?" Xie Zhiyu asked.

Xie Tingsi nodded. "Yeah. Filming starts next week, so I have to fly to Shacheng."

"When the movie comes out, I'll treat you all to a screening."

Xie Zhiyu said, "Sure."

Shen Wan and Shen Baili agreed as well.

Xie Chengyue showed no particular emotion. "Don't disappoint me."

Xie Tingsi puffed out his chest. "I won't."

Just wait. I'll make the old man see me in a new light.

That night, Shen Baili sat at her desk, writing and sketching as she organized what she knew. Two lingering wishes: education and what else?

She tried to think as her former self would have. She had died on her way to take the high school entrance exam.

If passing that exam had been all she wanted, the system's Energy Bar would have filled by more than ten percent. One of her wishes from her previous life must have been to get into university.

Education changed lives.

Shen Baili settled on her first wish, but she had no clue about the second, so she set it aside for now.

Xie Zhiyu was the villain, and Sang Ya was the female lead. Then who was the male lead?

Was Sang Ya directly involved in the Xie Family's decline and ruin?

Having seen Sang Ya in person today, Shen Baili doubted she had the power to bring down the Xie Family on her own. Someone close to Sang Ya had to be eyeing them. Could it be Grandpa Sang? Or the male lead who had yet to appear?

Using marks only she could understand, she mapped out her thoughts. Once she had committed everything to memory, she fed the paper into a shredder.

After that, Shen Baili turned on her Teddy Bear Lamp, switched off the room's main light, and got ready for bed.

Just then, the system, which had been silent for ages, suddenly spoke.

"Host, I just unlocked three chapters related to the female lead. Would you like to read them?"

Shen Baili didn't hesitate. "Show me now."

She had barely opened them when the system exclaimed cheerfully, "Wow, the female lead's a master of time management!"

Shen Baili: "..."

Sang Ya's Secret Romance

At the bookstore Café, Sang Ya did not go looking for the man. Instead, she booked a private room.

Before long, the man came in and leaned down to embrace Sang Ya. "Ya Ya, I missed you."

"Did you miss me?"

Sang Ya neither returned his embrace nor pulled away. "No," she said sulkily.

"Are you angry?" the man murmured beside her ear, coaxing her patiently. "It'll be over soon. Once I secure this project, I'll tell Grandpa Sang about us right away. All right?"

"Ya Ya, I want to give you a better life. My position in the Gu Family is awkward, and this project matters a great deal to me. Only then will I have the standing and confidence to ask your grandfather for your hand."

"When the time comes, I'll go to him myself and apologize. Give me a little more time, all right?"

Sang Ya gazed at his gentle, handsome face. He knew how to coax her; every word touched her heart. She took his hand and laced her fingers through his.

"Gu Yeliang, I don't want to be a master of time management anymore. Lately, my schedule's been packed from the moment I wake up. I'm busy preparing for my graduation performance, Grandpa insists I intern at the company, and every week he asks me to visit the Xie Family. I even have to sneak out to see you, lie to Grandpa, and lie to everyone..."

Sang Ya felt aggrieved. "I'm the eldest daughter of the Sang Family. Is dating me something to be ashamed of?"

She liked Gu Yeliang very much. She had wanted to break off her engagement to Xie Zhiyu, but Gu Yeliang had stopped her. He was the illegitimate son of the Gu Family's head, and his position at home was awkward. Sang Ya's grandfather would never approve of their relationship.