In the apartment, Gu Ran's heart was tied in knots, too anxious to imagine what scene would unfold when the confident Ding Ze walked in only to find Ji Shiyu sitting in the audience.
It wasn’t until several hours later that she finally gathered the courage to text Ding Ze:
"How… how did your campaign presentation go?"
"Did you get the position?"
Almost immediately, Ding Ze’s call came through—urgent and aggressive, judging by the ringtone.
Gu Ran stared at the phone, her anxiety spiking, but eventually tapped to answer.
On the other end, Ding Ze seemed to take a deep breath, as if preparing to scold her, only to swallow his words at the last moment.
Gu Ran lowered her gaze, her tone apologetic. "I just didn’t think it was necessary to mention it."
"Hah." Ding Ze scoffed, recalling the unforgettable scene during his campaign for the position of Cat's Paw’s anchor agent team leader.
Who else in this lifetime would experience the sheer devastation of stepping onto the stage, full of confidence, only to realize that the top boss sitting in the front row was the same man he had once punched?
Their eyes had even met.
The moment Ding Ze locked eyes with Ji Shiyu’s icy gaze, he nearly jumped out of the 26th-floor window on the spot.
If he hadn’t still wanted to keep his job at Cat's Paw, he might have bragged about punching Ji Shiyu for the rest of his life. But he did want to stay—not just stay, but even ambitiously campaign for the team leader position.
Now, though, his worries weren’t about the promotion anymore, but whether he’d be fired tomorrow for daring to step into the office with his left foot first.
Ding Ze squirmed in discomfort, his toes curling, until the Cat's Paw vice president finally nudged him to begin his stammering campaign speech.
By the time it ended, it all felt like a fever dream.
Turns out, the real clown in this story was him.
Connecting the dots—from Xinbo’s acquisition of Cat's Paw, to the company rumors about the Xinbo CEO heroically catching a falling female anchor during the acquisition ceremony, to the scene he’d witnessed in the garage where Gu Ran had been carried off, kicking and hitting the man—Ding Ze realized the tragic "naïve beauty fooled by a middle-aged scammer" narrative he’d imagined for Gu Ran needed a serious rewrite.
Judging by Ji Shiyu’s current attitude toward her, the real script should be titled:
"The CEO and His Runaway Million-Dollar Wife,"
"My Boss’s Ex is My Anchor,"
or "The Hidden Identity of the Man Who Dared to Cross Me—A Big Shot Was Right Under My Nose."
On the phone, Gu Ran waited for Ding Ze to speak, but when he remained silent, she prompted, "Hello?"
"Did he give you a hard time?"
Ding Ze finally snapped out of his daze. "No."
Ji Shiyu had sat in the back the entire time, said nothing, and left after a while.
"Oh." Gu Ran fiddled with her phone. "So, did you get the position?"
Ding Ze: "Don’t know yet. Results aren’t out." But he was already mentally preparing his resignation.
"Listen, about you and—"
Gu Ran could guess what Ding Ze was about to pry into and cut him off. "We’ve already broken up."
"Don’t overthink it."
"But knowing him, he wouldn’t hold a grudge over what happened last time."
"If he does make things difficult for you, I’ll go talk to him myself."
"Th-thanks." Ding Ze replied, suddenly feeling an inexplicable confidence that he might actually pull through.
But no matter how much he indulged in his "CEO and Runaway Wife" fantasy, reality never followed the script.
If it had, he should’ve been fired on the spot, then mysteriously vanished from the world one day.
Ding Ze shuddered.
---
That weekend, Gu Ran brought homemade cookies and, as agreed, accompanied Ji Shiyu to the Beiyi Sanatorium.
They rode together in the backseat, the entire journey passing in silence.
Ji Heyuan was visibly happier seeing Gu Ran and Ji Shiyu arrive together than when Ji Shiyu came alone.
In the sunlit courtyard of the sanatorium, Gu Ran played two rounds of chess with Ji Heyuan before teaching him how to watch livestreams on Cat's Paw.
Ji Heyuan adjusted his reading glasses, following Gu Ran’s step-by-step instructions. "Ah, like this?"
Ji Shiyu sat nearby as usual, quietly listening to Gu Ran chat with his grandfather.
Watching her patiently guide Ji Heyuan through the app, he finally understood why the old man adored her so much.
Ji Heyuan brought up marriage several times that day, but Gu Ran deftly steered the conversation elsewhere each time.
They stayed until after dinner, and though Gu Ran wanted to confess that she and Ji Shiyu were over, Ji Heyuan’s cheerful mood made her hold back.
On the way back, Gu Ran buried herself in her mobile game.
She wasn’t particularly skilled, but thanks to hoarding in-game items, she’d climbed to the Canyon tier—where she happily slaughtered low-level monsters with top-tier gear.
Ji Shiyu recognized the game’s sound effects from one of her past promotions.
A while later, the sound stopped. Gu Ran slumped, clearly having died again.
Staring at the "Use Revival Pill?" prompt, she puffed her cheeks and exited the game.
A message from Ding Ze popped up on WeChat—a string of exclamation marks celebrating his promotion to Cat's Paw’s anchor agent team leader. Not only had he not been fired, but he’d actually gotten the position.
Gu Ran glanced at Ji Shiyu beside her.
Seemed he hadn’t taken revenge after all.
But then, the newly minted team leader followed up:
"Honestly, the CEO is pretty impressive."
"Reaching his position at such a young age, having the vision to acquire Cat's Paw—who else has that kind of foresight?"
"Plus, he’s ridiculously good-looking."
Gu Ran slowly typed back: "?"
Seriously? Now that he’d gotten promoted, he was suddenly singing praises?
Ding Ze seemed to realize his mistake and backpedaled:
"Ahem, just an objective evaluation of CEO Ji’s professional merits! Personal life? No comment!"
Gu Ran pursed her lips and angrily locked her phone.
As the car exited the highway, Xu Hui glanced back from the front seat. "CEO Ji, should we—"
"I’m going home," Gu Ran interjected.
Xu Hui hesitated, looking to Ji Shiyu for confirmation.
Gu Ran leaned forward, her expression screaming "Why does Ji Shiyu get a say in this?" and repeated firmly, "Take me home first."
Xu Hui had no choice but to relay the order to the driver.
Ji Shiyu sighed. "Ranran."
She looked at him.
He gave up.
Rubbing his temples, he asked, "Are you streaming tonight?"
Gu Ran wasn’t sure why he cared but answered anyway. "Yeah."
She was rushing back now to start her livestream on time.
Gu Ran urged the driver again to go faster.
Ji Shiyu didn’t say anything, glancing at his phone before opening Claw (a streaming platform).
As an unofficial "wild fan," he hadn’t managed to get into Gu Ran’s main fan group, but he’d recently been added to a smaller, exclusive "Gu Ran’s Ironclad Fans" chat.
The members of this group were highly active, and there were strict entry requirements—only the most dedicated fans could join. The reason he’d been admitted? His unmatched spending power.
[Reminder: Gu Ran’s livestream starts at 7:30 PM sharp tonight! She’ll be playing Spirit Realm—don’t miss it, guys!]
[Hahaha I’m already ready to laugh my head off.]
[Watching Gu Ran every day is pure joy.]
[Fifteen more minutes until we see our fresh, lovely wife today!]
Ji Shiyu narrowed his eyes at the word "wife," then checked the time.
7:15 PM.
Then, in the "Gu Ran’s Ironclad Fans" group, the usually silent user "wdlpml" suddenly sent a message.
[@everyone, Stop calling her "wife." It’s inappropriate.]
The chat had been lively and cheerful, but now everyone was baffled by this sudden demand.
[?]
[You got a problem, dude?]
[Gu Ran is my wife.]
[Don’t think just because you spend money you can boss us around. The only reason you’re even in this group is because you did us a favor last time.]
[What’s wrong with calling her "wife"? Wife wife wife wife, hahaha, stay mad.]
As if to spite "wdlpml," the entire group erupted, flooding the chat with endless repetitions of "wife."
Ji Shiyu took a slow, deep breath.
Gu Ran heard the sound and glanced over at him.
She saw Ji Shiyu staring at his phone, where a chat interface was exploding with people calling him… wife?
