Li Wenyin had been preparing for the book publication simultaneously with the film preparation. As she stated in her Weibo post, she had put a lot of thought into the book’s release. However, since book publishing had limited profits, she hadn’t promoted it in advance as extensively as she had for the film.
Her last meeting with Cen Sen and Ji Mingshu was at the “Zero Degrees” appreciation salon. After the salon event, Ji Mingshu’s group of friends spared no effort in smearing her everywhere, saying she was trying to interfere in someone else’s marriage and shamelessly making a film to irritate them, that she was an extreme green tea bitch of an ex-girlfriend who brought misfortune to anyone who came in contact with her.
These comments had brought her some negative impact, but since she and Ji Mingshu weren’t in the same social circle to begin with, the impact was ultimately limited. Besides, in today’s world of fame and fortune, who could claim to be completely above reproach?
She didn’t care much about these comments. What she cared about was Cen Sen stepping in for Ji Mingshu, and that Ji Mingshu, without doing anything, had gotten her way with men once again.
Most of the time, Li Wenyin lived with a clear mind. She knew that everything she had today didn’t come easily, that she should carefully weigh the pros and cons before doing many things, and some people around her would remind her of this… but when it came to matters concerning Ji Mingshu and Cen Sen, it seemed different.
That evening, when she returned home, the house was brightly lit. Li Wenyin’s mother, Feng Shuxiu, was trimming flower branches on the balcony.
Over the years, Feng Shuxiu had lived in luxury. In her free time, she had learned to garden like the wealthy ladies in the city. Her refined demeanor was no longer comparable to that of a driver’s widow or the Ji family’s housekeeper from years ago.
“Mom, I’m home.”
Li Wenyin greeted casually while changing her shoes and looking at her phone, her mind elsewhere.
For the sake of the book and film, she hadn’t had a moment’s rest during the New Year. On her way home, she was still discussing with her editor the gift issues for the book’s pre-sale period across different channels.
Feng Shuxiu didn’t turn around or respond, but as if she had eyes in the back of her head, just as Li Wenyin was about to go to her room, she suddenly called out, “Stop.”
Li Wenyin paused slightly, looked up at the balcony, then turned back to the living room.
The two sat facing each other in the living room. Li Wenyin asked, “Mom, what’s wrong?”
“You tell me.” Feng Shuxiu’s expression was bland, her voice calm.
Li Wenyin fell silent for a moment.
Seeing her understanding yet silent expression, Feng Shuxiu asked again, “I told you not to make the film, but you didn’t listen. Now you’ve quietly brought out a book. Are you determined to completely offend the Ji and Cen families before you’re satisfied?”
Li Wenyin looked down casually, her explanation also bland, “Mom, you’re thinking too seriously. Ji Mingshu and I will never get along in this lifetime. Whether I offend her or not, she will never give me a good look.”
“Besides, publishing a book and making a film are just for making money, increasing my fame, and climbing to a higher position. It’s neither illegal nor criminal. What can they do to me? This is a society ruled by law. I’m not dough that they can knead as they please.”
“Still stubborn! Is this money so easy to earn?” Feng Shuxiu stared at her in silence for a few seconds, then warned sternly, “How many times have I told you, do things within your capabilities, don’t covet things that don’t belong to you!”
Hearing this, Li Wenyin tugged at her lips. Her previously downcast eyes lifted to meet Feng Shuxiu’s suddenly sharp gaze without blinking.
“Mom, didn’t you refuse the pension, insisting on being a housekeeper for the Ji family to climb the social ladder, which is how you married into the Zou family? I learned it all from you.” Li Wenyin spoke with extreme sarcasm.
“You learned from me? How much did you learn?” Feng Shuxiu wasn’t enraged by her sarcasm. She first asked a question, then took a deep breath and laid out the facts with examples. Her voice was even calmer than when she was scolding earlier, “The Zou family was the best choice within my capabilities, just like the Yuan family is your best choice. You can’t reach the Cen family, so don’t even think about it, and don’t oppose the Ji family.”
Li Wenyin stared at Feng Shuxiu and gave a cold laugh, as if she had heard a particularly funny joke, and the laugh continued for several seconds.
Li Wenyin truly found it amusing. Over the years, people had been gossiping about how shrewd and capable her mother was, how, as a driver’s widow with a child in tow, she had managed to rise from being the Ji family’s housekeeper to marrying into the Zou family as its mistress.
The Zou family followed a “clean nobility” route in the capital’s social circles. Put nicely, it was “clean nobility”; in reality, it meant they were poor but put on airs.
Especially the matriarch of the Zou family, who had the biggest air of all. She looked down on Feng Shuxiu, a housekeeper with a child. At the time, if it weren’t for Li Wenyin’s stepfather’s dramatic threat of suicide, the marriage would never have happened.
Although they eventually married, all these years, Feng Shuxiu and Li Wenyin had lived like concubines from ancient times in this small Western-style house in the Fourth Ring Road area. They weren’t even allowed to return to the old family home for New Year’s Eve dinner, as the entire family found them an eyesore.
Yet despite such treatment, Feng Shuxiu showed neither anger nor resentment. She was gentle and considerate to her husband, often with a contented expression, her face clearly saying, “Being able to marry you is the greatest fortune of my life.”
What Li Wenyin despised most was her mother’s conduct, and even more, she despised how her mother, with her short-sighted vision, still tried to prevent her from climbing higher and higher.
She, Li Wenyin, apart from her birth, how was she inferior to Ji Mingshu in any way? Why, from the first day she moved into the Ji household, did Feng Shuxiu brainwash her by saying that they were of different status, that she could never have everything Ji Mingshu had?
Enough.
Really, enough!
Li Wenyin suddenly picked up her bag and walked toward the door without a word.
From behind, Feng Shuxiu called out again, “Stop!”
Li Wenyin remained in the position of opening the door without moving or turning around.
“Xiao Yin, this is the last time I’ll advise you. To be fair, Mom has, within her capabilities, secured many things for you over these years—a good reputation, a good education, a house in a good location, and a good match like the Yuan family. But if you don’t cherish these things and insist on holding onto that bit of resentment to oppose Ji Mingshu, then when you fall, I absolutely won’t help you up again.”
Li Wenyin twisted her lips in derision.
That was her mother—when poor, a crude egoist; when rich, a refined egoist.
Afraid that offending the Cen and Ji families might affect her quality of life as Mrs. Zou, she was so quick to distance herself from her only biological daughter.
After hearing this, she left without looking back, slamming the door with a thunderous bang.
Feng Shuxiu leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes, truly not understanding why, despite living a clear, sober, and cautious life, she had raised a daughter like Li Wenyin, who was sensitive, strong-willed, and overly ambitious.
Having high aspirations wasn’t a bad thing, but when ability couldn’t match ambition, it would inevitably lead to trouble.
Feng Shuxiu’s prediction of Li Wenyin’s heavy fall soon came true.
It was simple: Ji Mingshu resolutely implemented the policy of “as long as this book is flaunted in front of me, you won’t get a friendly face from me,” and subjected Cen Sen to the “three nos” cold violence: “no talking, no eye contact, no sharing a bed.”
Not engaging with Cen Sen, Ji Mingshu had to engage with her plastic and non-plastic sisters.
Gu Kaiyang: [???]
Gu Kaiyang: [Your husband is quite innocent in this, don’t go overboard.]
When Ji Mingshu brought up this matter in the group chat, Gu Kaiyang didn’t quite agree.
But Jiang Chun, unusually, stood on Ji Mingshu’s side.
Jiang Chun: [???]
Jiang Chun: [No no no!]
Jiang Chun: [Editor Gu, it’s time for you to have a proper relationship, no wait, have you ever been in a relationship…? Think about it yourself—if you’re always super understanding, coming home to wash clothes, cook, mop the floor, and still maintain that it must be some little bitch framing your boyfriend when you see lipstick on his clothes, how many days do you think the relationship will last? Men don’t love unless they’re bad, and women don’t love unless they act up. Kick him to death, damn it!!!]
Ji Mingshu: [I declare the above statement to be a highlight moment of goose language!]
Gu Kaiyang: […?]
Gu Kaiyang: [I’ve been corrupted by you :))]
Very mysteriously, Cen Sen seemed to be exactly the kind of man described in goose language as “women don’t love unless they act up.”
As soon as Ji Mingshu got angry, he started working on resolving the issue of Li Wenyin’s book without a second word.
Resolving this matter was simple. During the New Year holiday, Li Wenyin’s book was still in the pre-sale stage and hadn’t officially hit the market. If it had been released, finding problems to recall it would have been more troublesome.
On the fifth day of the New Year, Li Wenyin’s book, which had been on pre-sale for less than a week, was suddenly taken off all platforms.
The reason given by the editor was: the authorities had sampled the manuscript, and Li Wenyin’s book contained a lot of content strictly prohibited for publication, such as high school students in early romance.
Actually, this content was included because the publisher she found had deep connections. For the sake of sales, they had turned a blind eye to some borderline prohibited content, which is how the book had successfully obtained a book number and CIP.
If her book were to be inspected, it wouldn’t stand scrutiny.
The news was so sudden that Li Wenyin received widespread questioning from fans. Almost instinctively, she pushed the blame onto the publisher.
The publisher did have selfish interests in content review and couldn’t shirk responsibility, but they had treated Li Wenyin’s book as a top priority among priorities.
First, they had set a high initial print run. With good pre-sale results, they had paid extra to have multiple printing plants in two cities working simultaneously, and by now, they had completed the printing of nearly 50,000 copies.
The paper chosen for her book was all high-priced, quality paper, with many color inserts inside, and the cover used special craftsmanship. To suddenly be notified of a takedown due to content issues requiring correction, the publisher had suffered tremendous losses!
At such an unfortunate time, Li Wenyin, without any consultation or communication, directly pushed all the blame onto them, letting her fans mob them. They naturally wouldn’t stand for it!
The publisher’s official Weibo directly started a public feud—you wrote the content originally, you reviewed the final draft, and you said the sensitive content could be kept, and now you’re acting like an innocent white lotus? After dissing her, they directly released chat logs.
But Li Wenyin wasn’t a fool either. You push the blame back, and I have to accept it?
After calming down, she posted another high-level white lotus Weibo, ostensibly apologizing but distancing herself, saying it was all her fault, that she had no publishing experience, and mistakenly thought that manuscripts passed by the publisher must be problem-free. She also posted the original publishing contract, highlighting the sections about responsibility allocation.
According to the publishing contract, if the book had been assigned a number but couldn’t be published, the responsibility lay with the publisher.
With Li Wenyin’s numerous fans, the publisher’s official Weibo was once again flooded.
In this short time, Li Wenyin had calmed down. It didn’t matter if the book couldn’t be published; her loss wasn’t significant, it was just the royalties she wouldn’t receive. She could still use the pre-sale unexpectedly taken down to promote her film.
When the publisher sensed this intention, they were even more unwilling!
This woman was simply outrageous, pushing the blame and then stepping on them to promote her film? Whoever helps her rise is a fool! They might not have as many fans as Li Wenyin, but they could buy marketing accounts and do repost giveaways!
Although the cancellation of publication was already a done deal, and both parties had dirt on their hands, the publisher couldn’t swallow this anger and was determined to see who was dirtier.
As both sides battled fiercely back and forth, and with Li Wenyin’s eponymous film already in production with popular lead actors, quite a few people were following this matter.
Li Wenyin felt that although she had been splashed with a lot of mud, she was satisfied and welcomed this unsolicited traffic.
But on the fifteenth day of the year, the end of the New Year celebrations, explosive news that instantly topped the trending topics broke in the entertainment circle—Su Ke was arrested for drug trafficking.
Drug use in the entertainment industry was common, but drug trafficking was not. Who Su Ke was, what his representative works were, whether he was famous or not—none of that mattered.
What mattered was that he was the male lead in Li Wenyin’s film that had already started shooting.