Mu Yue had not expected that the female lead, who had never even met the male lead and had only seen his photograph during her investigation, would react like this.
She had already sabotaged the relationship between the male lead and his underling, seized the opportunity to repay a debt of gratitude, and squeezed out quite a few points. Yet, judging by the situation, the bond between the womanizer and his first wife had still not been completely severed.
For Mu Yue, this was not necessarily bad news. It meant she could still scrape another layer of points from it. But for Shi Yu, the female lead, it was certainly no good news.
The pull of the plot was truly powerful. When the Little Fatty came back and mentioned the male lead to Shi Yu, perhaps he had not told her about the male lead fooling around with men—maybe he had found it too disgusting to bring up. Or perhaps he had told her, but when Shi Yu was weighing whether there was something wrong with the man, she had subconsciously rationalized that part away. For example, since the Little Fatty had not witnessed it himself, perhaps the video was fake.
Shi Yu had money and status. She would not hold her nose and play along with the male lead simply because he had a little money. In that case... Mu Yue could not help revealing a wicked smile. The uncut version of that three-person battle on the cruise ship had not been deleted by the systems.
If Shi Yu had never seen it, then she should see it with her own eyes. It was certainly an eyesore, but the fact that Shi Yu had felt compelled to tell someone she was not particularly close to about it already showed that, deep down, she was resistant to and wary of the male lead. That video of the three of them going at it might prove useful to her—no normal woman could tolerate being with a man that filthy.
No matter how powerful the force of the plot was, it had its limits. And now, the male lead’s halo had already been weakened considerably.
Naturally, Mu Yue did not intend to give Shi Yu the video herself. On the surface, she and the womanizer were complete strangers. They had only happened to cross paths once in D City, so she had no reason to possess such a video. Shi Yu would have to come across it by accident herself—or have it sent to her, or leaked outright, by someone who disliked the male lead and knew that Shi Yu did not think highly of him either.
Mu Yue already had a preliminary idea. After that, she and Shi Yu did not continue discussing the male lead. Instead, they turned to jewelry. Mu Yue had already proven her capabilities in A City, while Shi Yu was a businesswoman whose family operated in the jewelry trade. It was only natural for them to talk about it.
Business required maintaining connections. They had not known each other before, but had they not become acquainted because of the Little Fatty’s matter? Mu Yue could become not only a friend, but also a potential business partner.
Thus, when Mu Yue left the Shi residence, Shi Yu once again gave her several gifts. One was from Shi Yu’s private collection, while the rest were new designs that her group was about to release.
The jewelry Shi Yu gave her was all exquisite, and Mu Yue liked it very much. After bringing it home, she added several new pieces to her jewelry cabinet. Before she knew it, the total number of accessories she owned had become quite impressive—and every few days, the collection would continue to grow. Even if she did nothing but admire them all for a while, it was enough to lift her spirits.
Next, following her original plan, Mu Yue prepared to attend a few banquets. She had chosen families where supporting characters appeared more frequently in the novel *The White Moonlight*.
The first was an engagement party, elegantly arranged around a plum blossom theme. The food and drinks all incorporated plum blossoms, and the hall was decorated with many rare varieties of plum trees, all in full bloom.
Mu Yue had been invited by the bride-to-be’s mother. Their company was located in the same office building as the three floors Mu Yue rented. Though they did not occupy her floors, they could at least be considered neighbors.
The two leads of the engagement were both very young, just over twenty, and, like Mu Yue, still appeared to be in university. Still, it was only an engagement, not a wedding.
The groom-to-be was the cousin of the domineering CEO, Wei Xuan, while the bride-to-be was the daughter of another wealthy family. The banquet was full of prominent figures. At an occasion like this, the male lead would never bring Wen Xue—and indeed, he had not brought her today. Instead, he had arrived with another female companion.
Wei Xuan was far more closely related to the hosts than Mu Yue was, but as the male lead, he naturally had to make a grand entrance. He was among the last to arrive.
The moment he appeared, everyone’s attention focused on him. Even the stars of the engagement party seemed to become unimportant.
Mu Yue had arrived neither early nor late. The hosts had arranged for someone to keep her company. She knew very few people, but that was not a problem. As long as one was not introverted or timid, there would always be plenty of people willing to come over and make friends. At the moment, she was surrounded by four young people—three women and one man. When they saw Wei Xuan enter, they all instinctively turned to look.
Then Mu Yue heard them begin speaking in low voices, just like background NPCs introducing the main characters and important figures when they made their entrance:
“Is that Mr. Wei? Who’s the woman beside him?”
“No idea...”
“I don’t know her either, but she looks familiar.”
“You were probably still in middle school back then. She’s from the Mo family. They moved abroad to develop their business a few years ago. At the time, people were saying that she and Mr. Wei were a couple. We all thought the two families would arrange an engagement.”
“Huh? Hasn’t Mr. Wei always been single? Could he have been waiting for Miss Mo all this time?”
Listening to them repeat the exact same lines from the original plot, and seeing the people around her put on expressions that said, *He’s so devoted,* Mu Yue suddenly cast a spell to interrupt them.
“Which country did Miss Mo go to? Is it very far away?”
The person who knew the old story answered her, “Not really. She went to M Country.”
“M Country? That’s only, what, a dozen hours away by plane.” Mu Yue smiled innocently. “Ah, I’m just curious. From the way you describe it, they seemed very close. So why didn’t they make things official? Long-distance relationships aren’t really a problem, are they? It’s not as if they can’t afford plane tickets back and forth.”
Everyone: ...
“Uh...” Well, she had a point. M Country was not that far away. If their feelings had truly been so deep, there was no reason nothing had happened for years.
Then...
The expressions around her grew a little awkward. The person who had first brought up the past relationship rubbed their nose in embarrassment, with no idea why they had mentioned it in the first place.
Mu Yue’s interruption had drawn away the audience for the scene everyone had been discussing: the white moonlight, newly returned to the country, attending a banquet with the male lead. The background characters had already moved on to a new topic, and the person at the center of their circle was no longer the male lead or the white moonlight, but Mu Yue.
The new topic was a car show—not the kind where cars were sold, but one where people showed off their cars. Quite a few of the young people present had received their own cars once they turned eighteen. Whether male or female, many of them were car enthusiasts, so the mention of a car show naturally stirred their excitement.
Put nicely, it was a gathering for fellow car lovers to exchange ideas. In reality, it was a competition of wealth. There might be people there who genuinely loved cars, but at its core, it was about seeing who had the greater means, then using that as an opportunity to network and build connections.
Mu Yue owned a legendary supercar. Those who had only heard about it but never seen it with their own eyes all wanted a look. If they could sit in it—or even take it for a test drive—that would be even better.
Mu Yue, however, seemed distinctly uninterested. Seeing this, someone asked, “Miss Mu, are you not interested?”
Mu Yue nodded and said flatly, “They’re just showing them off, not selling them. Even if I see one I like, it belongs to someone else. What’s the point?”
Several people exchanged glances. What she said made sense. If she took a fancy to someone’s car, of course they could negotiate a trade of interests. But everyone in A City knew Mu Yue was wealthy. If she said she wanted one, there was a good chance she would be overcharged. That in itself was not a problem—Miss Mu probably would not care about that little bit of money. The real concern was if someone offered to give it to her for free.
That would mean they were after something far greater.
But clearly, Miss Mu seemed to have anticipated that possibility—or perhaps she had encountered it before. That was why she had stated so directly that she was not interested.
The group smoothly changed the subject again, bringing up the Spring Flower Competition. It was a privately organized event, hosted by a highly respected woman with an excellent reputation in their social circle.
Although it was called a flower competition, anything related to flowers could be entered: paintings, perfume, wine brewed with flowers, and, of course, actual flowers. A grand winner would be selected, with prizes to match.
Those who attended were mostly from the younger generation. In truth, it was rather like a disguised matchmaking event—much like the flower-viewing banquets in ancient novels.
Mu Yue had no interest in the competition itself, but the original novel had mentioned that the white moonlight attended it and even won first place.
So Mu Yue had to go and take a look. More importantly, wherever the white moonlight appeared, the male and female leads might show up as well, and there would certainly be no shortage of supporting characters.
Just like today: before she had even exchanged a single word with the domineering CEO male lead or the white moonlight, Mu Yue had already earned more than four hundred points.
Mu Yue’s outfit that day was also exceptionally luxurious, though her stylist had kept the color palette relatively understated. That restraint was largely out of courtesy—after all, it was someone else’s engagement banquet, and it would not do to steal the spotlight.
But only the colors were understated. Anyone paying even a little attention would know that there was not a single simple item on her.
From head to toe, her entire ensemble was worth over ten million.
Anyone observant would easily notice Mu Yue.
“Xuan, who is that?” Mo Yaru asked, linking her arm through Wei Xuan’s. Though the two were already standing close together, she still spoke in a voice only they could hear.
Wei Xuan saw through Mo Yaru’s little maneuver at a glance. He cooperatively leaned closer and followed her gaze—only for the smile that had just touched his lips to vanish instantly.
Mu Yue again.
It wasn’t merely his dislike of that strange young heiress. What irritated him even more was that the sight of Mu Yue always made him think of Wen Xue.
He shouldn’t still be thinking about Wen Xue after Yaru had returned. She had only ever been a cheap substitute, not worth a moment of his attention.
It was time to end that contract. He no longer needed Wen Xue in his life.
“Xuan?” Mo Yaru frowned and lightly tugged at Wei Xuan’s arm again. Why was he making that expression? Could that girl over there have an unusual relationship with him?
That wasn’t good news. She had clearly heard that there was only a minor celebrity by Wei Xuan’s side. Yet the girl over there, surrounded by people fawning over her, was obviously a wealthy young lady from an influential family—far better matched than Mo Yaru herself.
If she was a rival, then this could be troublesome.
Mu Yue had done nothing at all, yet she received another 400 points. Unlike the previous points, which had come from several supporting characters combined, these had all been provided by a single person.
Sensing something, she looked toward the woman standing beside Wei Xuan. What was with the white moonlight’s expression? Wow—had she just arrived and already decided Mu Yue was a romantic rival?
Mu Yue did not hold back either. She openly sized Mo Yaru up from head to toe, scrutinizing everything from her clothes to her features. She did not need to put on an act; she genuinely found Mo Yaru rather ordinary, especially after having seen Wen Xue first.
It honestly felt as though Mo Yaru was the one who resembled Wen Xue’s substitute.
