The cruise ship had seven ports of call in total. Mu Yue got off the ship to explore two of them: one was a bustling port city, while the other was a small island nation. The most popular activities there were snorkeling and rainforest expeditions. What left the deepest impression on her was the island’s food. It didn’t look particularly appealing, but the flavors were rich and delicious—an unexpected delight.
Mu Yue bought quite a few interesting local specialties. Both the snorkeling and the expedition had been wonderful, especially the rainforest excursion. Once she used the mosquito-repellent equipment she had brought, the experience was absolutely perfect.
On the return voyage, the ship held a masquerade ball, and more than half the passengers attended. It was incredibly lively. Mu Yue went to the first half, but the second half was scheduled to continue until the early hours of the morning—far too late and likely to interfere with her sleep.
She didn’t see any of the Fang family at the ball, nor did she see Wang Jian or Ye Luling’s fiancé. After finishing their story, Mu Yue had stopped paying attention to them. She had no idea whether they had already disembarked early.
Before the cruise ship docked, Ye Luling repeatedly invited Mu Yue to visit her home. Mu Yue said she would go if she had the opportunity, but she had no plans to do so for the time being. After being away and having fun for so long, all Mu Yue wanted was to hurry home and get some proper rest.
Cheng Zimin picked her up from the airport on the day she returned to H City. He had asked her when she would be coming back on the very day she disembarked. Mu Yue didn’t try to surprise him and simply sent him the flight details she had booked.
Qianqian and Mu Yue’s driver had also arrived ahead of time, mainly to load all of Mu Yue’s luggage. Mu Yue herself rode in Cheng Zimin’s car.
Mu Yue gave some of the specialties to Cheng Zimin. She hadn’t thought she had bought that much at the time, but now it seemed like there was far too much—plenty of food and all sorts of fun things. She hadn’t forgotten that Lin Xiaoxiao had invited her out for a meal before, either. She would give Lin Xiaoxiao some of the specialties then.
During the drive, Cheng Zimin mentioned that his admission results were already out and reminded Mu Yue to check hers as well.
Mu Yue checked on her phone. A University’s results were not out yet. Judging by the current timing, they should be released in another week or two.
Cheng Zimin had applied to the fine arts academy in A City, the best art school in the country.
“There’s a couple in our class,” Cheng Zimin said, bringing up some gossip. “After the scores came out, their grades were about the same, but they wanted to attend different schools. Then the guy said that he wanted to stay with his girlfriend, so he gave up on the school he really wanted and applied to the same university as her.”
Mu Yue smiled. “How did the girl react?”
Cheng Zimin smiled too. “Of course she was incredibly touched. She bragged to everyone that her boyfriend had applied to the same university for her. According to her, even her parents knew about it and approved of what her boyfriend had sacrificed for her.”
“Hah.” Mu Yue said, “She’ll have plenty of time to cry later.”
The traffic light ahead turned red, and Cheng Zimin stopped the car. He glanced at Mu Yue’s expression. “If I did the same thing as that guy, would you hit me?”
Mu Yue kept smiling. “If you had, I wouldn’t be sitting in your car right now.”
Cheng Zimin grinned sheepishly. “Good thing I’m not that conceited.”
This was one of Mu Yue’s biggest sore spots. When people were in the throes of love, they said things like, “I’ll follow wherever you go,” and chose the same university. But as soon as problems arose between them, that sweetness would turn into the sharpest weapon.
“Baby, I only applied to this university so I could be closer to you!”
“If it weren’t for you, why would I have come to this school?”
“Who do you think I did all this for? I really regret giving up my dream university for you!”
Then the girl would feel guilty and blame herself. If it weren’t for her, he might never have come to this school. He had sacrificed so much for her, yet she didn’t trust him and had hurt his feelings. She was truly in the wrong, and so on and so forth.
That was what disgusted Mu Yue the most. People shouldn’t forcibly tie their future to someone else’s, whether they did it willingly or under pressure.
They weren’t three-year-old children. Didn’t they understand what university meant? If they refused to take responsibility for their own future, yet wanted to pass it off as devotion, it was simply ridiculous.
Mu Yue didn’t hold this against men specifically; women could do the same thing. Giving up the school they truly wanted in order to attend another one with their partner might be fine if things went well in the future. But the moment anything went wrong, they could blame it all on the “source” of their misfortune and endlessly romanticize the path they hadn’t taken.
“If I hadn’t chosen that school, I’d definitely be living a better life now.”
Putting all that aside, Mu Yue still couldn’t bring herself to like such people. It was fine to feel lost and seek advice, but a person needed to have a mind of their own. Blindly following someone else wasn’t devotion. In her eyes, it only showed that the person was immature and had no plans for the future.
After Cheng Zimin took Mu Yue home, he didn’t leave. Mu Yue invited him inside, but he refused to enter. He lingered awkwardly at the door for a long while before finally saying, “Mumu, I want to invite you to a newly opened theme park.”
“Ask me after I’ve rested for a couple of days.” Mu Yue didn’t feel like going out for the time being.
Cheng Zimin hurriedly said, “Of course. A week from now, or even two weeks from now, would be fine.”
Mu Yue looked at him in confusion. “Then why not just ask me when the time comes? Why bring it up now?”
Cheng Zimin became even more awkward. He fidgeted as though there were an itch somewhere on his body, clearly embarrassed to say whatever was on his mind.
“What are you doing?” Mu Yue laughed as she crossed her arms and watched him squirm. Hadn’t he sent her pictures of himself in different outfits before she boarded the ship? What was so difficult to say now?
“Well… it’s just that there might be quite a lot of people there,” Cheng Zimin said. “They’re all people I’m pretty close to.” He looked at her expectantly. “Will you come?”
Mu Yue understood now. He was inviting her to a gathering with his friends. She laughed. “What did you send them, or what did you say?”
Cheng Zimin touched the watch on his wrist. “I couldn’t help myself.”
“All right, I get it.” Mu Yue didn’t mind going to a gathering with his friends, but she very much disliked being told only at the last minute and mistakenly thinking it was going to be a date for just the two of them.
Cheng Zimin knew that this meant she had agreed. He was delighted. He didn’t linger at the door any longer, telling Mu Yue to rest before leaving.
For the next two or three days, Mu Yue spent most of her time sleeping to recover from jet lag. Unfortunately, the quality of her sleep was poor. She kept feeling as if she were still on the sea or aboard an airplane, suspended in a strange, indescribable way. She hadn’t experienced it on the way there, but for some reason she couldn’t sleep properly after returning. Her back became sore from all the sleeping, and in the end she had to buy some sleep aids before she finally adjusted.
The systems said it was because she never stayed up late. People who were used to staying up could simply pull an all-nighter to reset their schedules.
Mu Yue was speechless.
On the fourth day, she finally felt energetic again. She had planned to go swimming a few laps to get some exercise, but then she received a text informing her that her driver’s license was ready to be picked up.
Mu Yue immediately changed her plans.
She was going to get her license and buy a new car!
After collecting her license from the vehicle administration office, Mu Yue went to a dealership. She visited several showrooms and looked at car after car until her eyes were dazzled.
There had been no scenes of salespeople looking down on her or sneering, asking things like, “Can you afford it?” For one thing, Mu Yue had arrived in her car. For another, she hadn’t deliberately dressed plainly. Today, she was wearing a casual sports outfit that was also one of this summer’s new releases. The set had cost a little over seventy thousand yuan.
Besides, Mu Yue had no interest in pretending to be weak while secretly being powerful. If you pretended to be a pig too often, you might really turn into one.
Since she could enjoy good service, why go looking for trouble for no reason?
In the end, among the dazzling array of cars, Mu Yue spotted the one she had fallen in love with at first sight: an Aston Martin in a delicate, understated misty pink. It wasn’t flashy, yet its overall design was incredibly elegant and perfectly suited to a young woman.
Her girlish heart was instantly captivated. Even better, the dealership had one in stock. If she bought it today, she could drive it away today.
The car cost Mu Yue nearly seven million yuan in total. When she paid, she used a double-rebate card she had drawn a few days earlier. The item could only be used for purchases under ten million yuan; it was invalid for anything above that. According to Kitty, there were also double-rebate cards for purchases over ten million, but the odds of drawing one were extremely low.
As a result, the money Mu Yue spent today was doubled and returned to her account. She now had thirty-three million yuan in savings.
Who could possibly not love a tycoon system like this?
The moment Kitty heard Mu Yue praising it again in her thoughts, it happily began to purr.
There was still some paperwork to complete for the car, so Mu Yue couldn’t drive it away immediately. She would have to wait until around five or six in the afternoon.
She had nothing else to do in the meantime, so she contacted Lin Xiaoxiao. Lin Xiaoxiao was still working at the same restaurant. Business was especially good during the summer vacation, and she had earned quite a bit in commission. Even her salary had gone up somewhat. She seemed to be doing very well.
Lin Xiaoxiao was genuinely delighted to see Mu Yue. She had been so busy lately that she collapsed into bed the moment she got home, to the point where she had nearly forgotten what day it was. She certainly hadn’t expected Mu Yue to have already returned to the country.
By the time Mu Yue arrived, the lunch rush had passed, so Lin Xiaoxiao had time to chat with her. Mu Yue noticed that the girl who had previously worked there and deliberately targeted Lin Xiaoxiao was no longer around.
Lin Xiaoxiao said that the day after their class gathering, that girl had been fired by the owner. The girl had insisted that she simply didn’t want to work there anymore and that she hadn’t been fired. She claimed the lousy restaurant wasn’t worth staying at.
Lin Xiaoxiao found the whole thing ridiculous. Everyone at the restaurant knew that even if the girl hadn’t said she wanted to quit, she still would have been fired. Aside from being a gossip and having terrible emotional intelligence, she was also a constant source of trouble.
The owner might turn a blind eye when an employee didn’t get along with her coworkers. But this girl had deliberately provoked the restaurant’s customers, caused trouble for the business, and then fled without taking responsibility, leaving the restaurant to clean up her mess. Who would dare employ someone like that?
“Before she left, they docked her entire paycheck!” Lin Xiaoxiao said, wiggling her eyebrows. She looked extremely pleased as she recounted it.
The restaurant had offered a discount that night, and of course someone had to cover the cost. There had been more than fifty people in their class. A discount for that many customers wasn’t just a matter of one or two hundred yuan—it wasn’t something she could simply avoid by running away.
Aside from encountering someone like that, Lin Xiaoxiao had also recently met several friendly people her own age. They got along quite well and occasionally went out for milk tea or shopping together.
The two of them arranged a time to have dinner. Mu Yue said she would bring Lin Xiaoxiao some local specialties from her trip, and Lin Xiaoxiao didn’t refuse. She simply and cheerfully thanked her good friend for remembering her.
Mu Yue also told her about some of the interesting things she had encountered on the ship, including the story of three men spending the night together. Lin Xiaoxiao’s entire worldview was shattered, especially when she heard about the drugging. She had thought that sort of thing only happened in television dramas.
After Lin Xiaoxiao finished work, the two of them went to the arcade nearby, on the street across from the park. Mu Yue’s car was parked in an open-air parking lot—the area had no covered parking.
It was hot and sunny at three or four in the afternoon, and hardly anyone was wandering around the streets.
Mu Yao had just come out of a movie with her friends. The moment they stepped outside and were hit by the glaring sunlight and the air wavering in the heat, they all frowned and began chattering about where to go next.
The obvious choice was a shopping mall with air-conditioning, where they could browse without being roasted by the sun. Unfortunately, there was no mall near the park, only two pedestrian streets.
The girls had already grown tired of all the places to play and shop in the area. They were just about to take a taxi to a shopping mall when Mu Yao spotted Mu Yue’s car.
There was no one inside. The driver was resting at a nearby beverage shop. Mu Yue herself didn’t mind him staying in the car with the air-conditioning on, and he was welcome to eat the ice cream and other snacks inside. But the driver thought running the air-conditioning used too much fuel and couldn’t bear to waste it. As for the ice cream, he was even more reluctant to eat it—it cost several dozen yuan apiece. It was much more economical to buy a four-yuan cup of lemonade, sit in the shop, and use their Wi-Fi. The results were basically the same.
Mu Yao walked closer and checked the license plate. Although Mu Yue had only ridden in this car once in front of them, Mu Yao had still memorized the number.
This was Mu Yue’s car.
“Wow, what brand is that? It looks really expensive.”
“You’re so ignorant. It’s a luxury car! It costs a fortune!”
“How expensive is it?”
“Probably ten million or so.”
“I found it, I found it! This is the standard car for CEOs!”
“What CEO? It’s my little sister’s car!” Mu Yao interrupted the girls’ fantasies about idols and the male leads of romance novels, successfully drawing everyone’s attention.
It wasn’t that Mu Yao had meant to say it. Deep down, she hated Mu Yue and was disgusted by her. But as she felt the envious, excited gazes of the others, Mu Yao found the sensation wonderful.
Especially when someone tactfully added, “As expected, even the heiress’s friends are heiresses too!”
Mu Yao unconsciously lifted her chin. “You know that skincare set my mother has? The one she gave me? My sister gave it to her.”
At that point, she heard them say, “Mu Yao, can you introduce us to your sister? We’ve never seen a truly rich heiress before.”
“Yeah, yeah!”
“Her car is right here. She should be somewhere nearby, right?”
“Why don’t you call her and ask?”
Mu Yao’s expression grew awkward for a moment. Mu Yue had blocked them long ago, and only Jiang Yunfang could still reach her. Where was Mu Yao supposed to get Mu Yue’s number?
But everyone was staring at her, and she had been put in an impossible position. She could only make the call.
Fortunately, Mu Yue hadn’t changed her number. The automated message said that she was temporarily unavailable, so Mu Yao could claim that Mu Yue might be playing a game or talking to someone else.
After hearing that, someone suggested that they walk around the two nearby streets. They might run into her by chance. But some of the girls weren’t interested. They had only wanted to see something new, and in weather this hot, wasn’t taking a couple of pictures enough?
A few others had already sensed that something was off. They remained silent, quietly observing Mu Yao.
Just as everyone had left the parking lot and found a shady spot, planning to hail a taxi to the mall, the driver came out of the drink shop, got in the car, and turned the engine on.
No one said they were leaving now. It was obvious he was turning on the air conditioning ahead of time, which meant that young lady Mu Yue would probably come out soon.
"Mu Yao, it's so hot out here, can you let us get in your little sister's car to cool off for a bit?" A guy suddenly blurted out a bold request.
The rest of the group stared at him, thinking he was being way too shameless, but that guy was feeling pretty good about himself. He fawned over Mu Yao with a whole string of flattering words, then glanced at the others and raised his eyebrows like he was asking, "Aren't you guys dying to do that too?" Even those who hadn't had the thought before started to waver.
They mumbled things like "That doesn't seem right" but all their eyes were fixed on Mu Yao at the same time.
Mu Yao was put in an awkward spot. She had been acting like she was super close to Mu Yue, that they had a great relationship, otherwise Mu Yue wouldn't have given their family such expensive gifts. But she knew perfectly well what their actual relationship was like.
But if she just bailed now, these people would definitely think she'd been making everything up, right?
Mu Yao hesitated for two seconds, then turned and walked back into the parking lot, heading straight for Mu Yue's car, with the rest of the group trailing right behind her. When they got close, Mu Yao stepped forward, and the driver rolled down the window and asked, "Is there something I can help you with?"
It was a totally normal question, but someone behind Mu Yao immediately piped up, "Huh? Doesn't that driver seem like he doesn't even know who Mu Yao is?"
Mu Yao's face was already looking pretty ugly, but she forced herself to say, "Uncle, I'm Mu Yue's older sister. I need to talk to Mu Yue about something, can we get in the car and wait for her? It's sweltering out here."
The driver rolled the window all the way down, leaned out to look Mu Yao over carefully, and said, completely confused, "Miss, I don't know you. I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that."
The people behind Mu Yao heard that, and their expressions got really interesting. Some were embarrassed, others were angry, thinking Mu Yao had lied to them to show off, and they started whispering to each other. Their whispers weren't even quiet, and Mu Yao could hear every word clearly.
Mu Yao could have made up an excuse to save face right then, but she was way too prideful. She had to double down and insist, "He must be new here, he just doesn't know me."
The driver blurted out right away, "No, miss, I've been driving for Mu Yue for three months, and I have never seen you before."
He wasn't clueless at all. In fact, ever since he started working for Mu Yue, he'd seen all kinds of people pull stunts like this—claiming "This is my family's car," "This is my dad's car," "This is my buddy's car," and so on. There were even tons of people who came up just to take photos next to the car. Most of them still had a sense of shame, and once he came over to start the engine, they'd drop their act and leave on their own.
But there were also people thick-skinned enough that even when their lie was completely exposed, they still tried to talk nonsense, just like the girl in front of him right now.
He had no idea how she knew Mu Yue's name, but he definitely didn't recognize her. And besides, Mu Yue would never let random people in her car without her explicit permission. So far, the only person besides Mu Yue who had ridden in this car was that guy Lin Xiaoxiao's male friend who was close to Mu Yue, and he always drove his own car anyway.
So the driver emphasized the words "three months" and "never seen you before." He didn't need to be polite to people who had no sense and just wanted to show off using other people's stuff to feed their vanity. What's more, he was just telling the truth.
"Oh my god!" Someone in the group yelped, their face burning red with embarrassment. They grabbed their closest friend and turned to rush off, terrified that anyone passing by would think they knew Mu Yao.
"Damn! The guy doesn't even know you, how could you lie through your teeth like that?" The guy who had been fawning over Mu Yao the most earlier was now the one yelling the loudest. "You made us look like total idiots! If you hadn't bragged that you were super close to her, we never would have followed you over here! You even said you could get us to sit in her car."
Mu Yao gaped at him, so furious she wanted to scream right back. What a jerk! He was the one who was the most eager about the whole thing just a minute ago!
But their commotion had already drawn stares from people nearby. Mu Yao was seething with anger as she trailed after the rest of the group.
When they reached the awning of a nearby shop to get out of the sun, Mu Yao spotted Mu Yue walking up from a distance. In her fit of rage, she completely forgot how Mu Yue had treated her before. She waved wildly and shouted, "Mu Yue!"
"Hah! You all thought I was lying, didn't you? As if I'd make that up! My little sister's right there!" Mu Yao held her head high, acting exactly as arrogant as she usually did.
Mu Yue saw her, and noticed the whole crowd of people behind Mu Yao all staring in her direction.
She didn't walk over to Mu Yao. She just stood still under a lush, shady tree at the edge of the pedestrian street. Mu Yue came over to her on her own, dragging her whole group of friends along.
"Mu Yue," Mu Yao started, her face still full of irritation. Maybe the heat had messed with her common sense, because she blurted out, "I was waving at you, why did you pretend you couldn't see me? Do you believe I'll go home and tell my mom on you?"
"And that's your family's car over there, right?" She pointed at the black car that was driving up to them.
Mu Yue didn't even bother to glance at her. "Who are you? Why are you coming up to me claiming we're family? We're not close at all. Whether that's my car or none, what does it have to do with you?"
"Come on, Xiaoxiao, let's go. I'll drive you home."
"Coming!" Lin Xiaoxiao pulled her gaze away from the drama she was watching and followed Mu Yue, saying, "Yueyue, are you getting that new pink car today? It's so pretty, I hope I get to ride in it, hehe."
"Sure, I'll take you for a drive in it later."
"Yay!"
The driver pulled the car over, got out and opened the door for both Mu Yue and Lin Xiaoxiao. They got in, and soon the car drove off and vanished from everyone's sight.
In the rearview mirror, Mu Yao was having a meltdown. Almost all of her friends had already left. Before they walked away, they must have said something, and it definitely wasn't anything nice.
Mu Yue looked over at Lin Xiaoxiao. "Nice one, you got clever back there. That last thing you said about the new car was on purpose, wasn't it?"
Lin Xiaoxiao said proudly, "Of course I did! That's the cousin who always breaks your stuff on purpose, isn't she? She was suddenly going on about your car, clearly trying to show off to her friends that she's super close to you. Hmph, I'm your real bestie, what kind of sister is she even?"
"Yeah yeah, you're totally right."
The driver then told them both what had happened by the car earlier. After hearing the whole story, Mu Yue and Lin Xiaoxiao just stared at each other blankly.
Mu Yue couldn't help but say, "Is she out of her mind?"
"Is *you* out of your mind?" Jiang Yunfang sighed in exhaustion the second she got home from work. Mu Yao had been throwing a fit, screaming that she wanted a new car. "I told you to learn how to drive, but you never even went to class, and now you're asking for a car? You're not getting any car until you pass your driver's test. And don't even think about some fancy luxury car. We're just an ordinary family. All those bags and cosmetics you bought before are coming out of your allowance..."
Mu Yao didn't want to listen. She wailed at the top of her lungs, "Why do you get to use the money but I can't? You won't buy me a car because you just want to save all the money for your son, don't you? You're such a misogynist who favors boys over girls!"
She slammed her bedroom door as hard as she could, leaving Jiang Yunfang standing in the living room, stunned and hurt.
Mu Yao hid under her blanket, turned on her phone and posted a thread online. The title read, "We're both eighteen, my brother has a car but I don't, and my mom won't even let me buy bags or cosmetics, saying it's a waste of money..."
It didn't take long for the post to get views. When she saw a flood of comments from netizens, some consoling her and others criticizing her mom, her mood finally lightened up.
Of course, Mu Yao wasn't the only one acting a little out of sorts at that exact moment.
Over at the Yu family's home, Yu Qingqing, the famously lovestruck fiancée of the eldest Fang son, was currently throwing a fit in front of her parents.
The scandal that broke out in the Fang family had been circulating for days. Fang Suyi was tangled up in a lawsuit — word had it that the man he was with that night hadn't consented, and Fang Suyi had drugged him. This explosive piece of gossip had nearly sated the curiosity of everyone in their social circle.
With such a humiliating scandal hanging over the family, the Yu family couldn't even be bothered to verify whether the anonymous message they'd received claiming the eldest Fang son was in love with the false heiress was true. The second Fang son had turned out to be such a mess, and they already wanted to call off the engagement. Even though their daughter wasn't marrying the second son, the whole situation was far too embarrassing to bear!
Not long after that, news broke that Fang Surou had been left at the altar, and the whole mess had played out very publicly. The groom's family had been furious, with the groom's mother shouting that the Fang siblings had treated their entire family like fools.
Fang Surou was heartbroken, and that very same day, the eldest Fang son bailed on his plans with Yu Qingqing to go comfort his beloved little sister instead.
The Yu parents' hearts sank right then and there. They started paying close attention, and soon realized that the false heiress was no pushover. Every single time the eldest Fang son was about to have a private date with Yu Qingqing, she would call him without fail, and the eldest Fang son would leave their daughter hanging without so much as an explanation.
This was completely unacceptable!
Break it off! They had to end this right away, the engagement must be called off!
But Yu Qingqing refused to listen. She sobbed and swore she would never marry anyone but the eldest Fang son. It was a total nightmare. What on earth were they supposed to do now? That family was a burning pit of disaster, and they absolutely could not let their daughter jump right into it.
