Sister Qing heard those words and, without hesitating or pausing for even a second, said, "Sorry, wrong number."
Would someone that love-addled say something like that? Had the sun risen in the west? No, she had definitely called the wrong number.
Sister Qing took a careful look at the contact name on the call screen. That wasn't right. It really was that love-addled Fang Ning!
"Are you really Fang Ning, and not an AI voice call from some Northern Myanmar scam operation?"
Fang Ning: "..." Just how love-addled had the original owner of this body been?
"Sister Qing, please don't question me like that. That's an insult to my character."
"I said a lot of brainless things before. Just treat everything I said back then as hot air. I was a fucking idiot to believe in love!"
"But now, after suffering heart-wrenching pain, I've turned over a new leaf! From now on, if you tell me to go east, I absolutely won't go west. If you tell me to fart, I won't dare hold it in." Fang Ning worked hard to make grand promises to her manager.
Her manager: "..." There really was no need to go that far.
"Enough. Don't try selling me those empty promises. Are you doing Director Wang's drama or not? Give me a straight answer. The production is about to start filming. If you're going, spend the next few days getting ready. If you're not, get your breach-of-contract payment ready," Sister Qing said.
Fang Ning said, "Of course I'm going! Am I the kind of person who breaks promises and goes back on her word? As a dedicated, hardworking young person, of course I'll go, since I've already signed the contract."
Make me pay tens of millions for breach of contract? Dream on!
Sister Qing said, "In that case, get ready over the next few days. Also, I remember your younger brother-in-law has a role in that drama too, and you have some romantic scenes together. If possible, you could talk to him beforehand about whether to mention your relationship on set and things like that."
Her younger brother-in-law, Ji Xiangchen? It had to be Ji Xiangchen. According to the plot, her other younger brother-in-law should still be in high school right now, a miserable high school student swimming through an ocean of knowledge.
Then it was definitely Ji Xiangchen.
"You got married so suddenly that the company originally wanted you to keep it secret, worried you'd lose fans. Then we realized you only had anti-fans, so the company stopped caring."
Fang Ning: "..."
That was rude.
After finishing her shopping, Fang Ning planned to go home and talk to Ji Xiangchen about filming.
But when she returned to the Ji Family's huge villa.
Ji Xiangchen hadn't come back yet. Not just Ji Xiangchen-she hadn't seen Ji Xiangyi or Ji Xiangzhou either. Not a single member of the female lead's family was anywhere to be seen.
Ji Xiangchen had been around yesterday, but now it was already eight or nine at night, and he wasn't there either.
In the empty, enormous villa, there were only her, the Sebastian-style butler, and a few housekeepers.
None of them spoke. The vast villa was frighteningly quiet.
Just then, the butler came out of the kitchen.
Fang Ning stopped him. "Uncle Li, by the way, where are Xiangchen, Xiangyi, and Xiangzhou?"
The old butler's wrinkled face creased slightly, an inescapable sorrow hanging over his brow. "The young masters and young lady, ah, it's been a long time since they all came home for dinner together. It's been a long time since they sat down to eat together, and a long time since they chatted happily together.
"They've also forgotten how to smile. If I'm remembering correctly, it's been over ten years since the young masters and young lady smiled happily."
Fang Ning sighed. "..."
Yep, a trope no novel could escape.
Uncle Li was deeply worried. Ever since the master and madam had died in a car accident, Xiangyi, Xiangchen, and Young Master Xiangzhou had all been immersed in grief, seemingly having forgotten how to trust people.
He had originally thought Fang Ning's arrival could break through the family's oppressive atmosphere.
Ah, but...
Uncle Li looked at her.
But judging by the few days since she had entered the household, he could tell that she, too, was a coldhearted person.
Hearing the butler's words, Fang Ning recalled the plot.
In the story, the female lead and her three siblings had all had an extremely tragic childhood. Both their parents had died in a car accident, leaving them without their parents' company or their relatives' care.
The eldest child in the family, Ji Xiangnian, had been only eighteen.
Ji Xiangyi and Ji Xiangchen had been six, and Ji Xiangzhou only two. They had lost their parents at such young ages.
The eighteen-year-old had taken over the company his parents left behind, then fought endlessly with a whole group of uncles and cousins.
As a result, Ji Xiangnian had no spare time at all for his younger siblings. All he could give them was cold, unfeeling money and material possessions.
The female lead and her two younger brothers had grown up in an environment without emotion or familial affection, so their personalities were indifferent, coldhearted, and aloof-icy character profiles combining all three kinds of coldness.
Naturally, they had forgotten how to smile.
Of course, they weren't close either, and there was no way they would gather together for a meal.
This plot left Fang Ning, who only wanted to coast along and play the part of a good sister-in-law.
A slacker hoping the female lead and her younger brothers would put in a few good words for her when she divorced Ji Xiangnian so she could get a little more money, with a terrible headache.
Forget the female lead and her brothers speaking up for her. She would be lucky if they didn't roll their eyes at her.
After some thought, Fang Ning nudged the system. [System, please tell me how to make the female lead and her younger brothers smile.]
[How do I get them to stop being so indifferent?!]
System: [That's a rather profound question. I don't know either.]
Fang Ning: [...Useless. If you don't even know that, what do you know?]
System: [I know lots of things. For example, the female lead will be back soon, and she'll bring a man with her.] [That man is a player of a supporting male character! He's been dating the female lead for a month, but just yesterday, he had one on his left and one on his right, doing it in slow motion, getting it on! Having a three/some, and today he's sweet-talking the female lead again!!] [And one of the people in that threesome was a married｜woman!]
Fang Ning: [?!!!!! Uh, seriously, it's that outrageous?]