Hearing Shao Qile's words, Shao Qibin's gloomy mood, which had lasted all night, began to ease. However, when he saw Michelle blinking her eyes, looking at Shao Qile with a pitiful, pleading expression, and Shao Qile clearly softening, even whispering something in Michelle's ear, his mood plummeted once again.
The words he overheard were enough for Shao Qibin to guess what Shao Qile had said. Only after Shao Qile saw Michelle off did Shao Qibin's smile fade: "Lele, are you going back to Beijing with this Michelle?"
“Brother, Michelle was brought here by me after all. Since he wants to go to the capital, I…” The rest of his words were cut off when Shao Qile met Shao Qibin’s stormy gaze.
“Lele, you’re still young. You don’t know how to judge which person is right for you. I think your parents would also prefer you to stay with them in the future, rather than marrying someone far away abroad and having no one to take care of you.” Shao Qibin was organizing his thoughts, trying to figure out how to persuade Shao Qile. He was even considering calling to cancel Lele’s trip back to Beijing. After all, having such a big bad wolf around wasn’t a good thing for Lele.
"Brother, what are you saying! I didn't think that much about it. I'm not talking to you anymore, I'm going back to my room!"
Watching Shao Qile run back to his room, Shao Qibin went to his study, frowned, and made a phone call.
Author's Note:
38. Separated by a wall
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Separated by a Wall
The melodious sound of a guqin (a traditional Chinese stringed instrument) drifted out from the antique-style private room. In the center of the hall, a woman in a traditional pink Hanfu (traditional Han clothing) was playing a pleasant tune, while a man in a blue robe was playing a flute in harmony with her.
Shao Qile slowly withdrew his gaze from the performers in the hall and looked at Li Jianmei in front of him. She had toned down her usual flamboyant attire and was only wearing a simple white dress with a light touch of nude makeup on her face. Finally, he broke the silence and said, "You're the one who made it clear that I like my brother!"
Li Jianmei was secretly delighted. Thinking back to the disdain Shao Qibin expressed in his phone call yesterday, did he really think she would joke about something like this? What could be more fake than Shao Qile falling in love with her own brother whom she couldn't love? Shao Qile dating a foreign boyfriend was obviously a smokescreen, a trick to fool Shao Qibin into not disliking her.
She deliberately called Shao Qile out today before she returned to Beijing, just so that Shao Qibin in the next private room could see for himself what kind of filthy thoughts his beloved sister harbored towards him, her brother.
She had thought it would take some effort to get some information out of Shao Qile, but she hadn't expected Shao Qile to be so impatient and to get straight to the point and say what she wanted to hear.
"What, am I lying? You really do like Brother Qibin!" Li Jianmei was in a good mood, and the tea in the tea room seemed especially fragrant.
"You yourself like my brother, and because you can't win his favor, you deliberately sow discord between us siblings. If it weren't for you, my brother wouldn't have gone to such lengths to send me back to the capital. You know that once my brother gives the order, I absolutely don't want him to be in any trouble, and you took advantage of that. Did you really think that if I left my brother, he would fall in love with you?"
Shao Qile looked at Li Jianmei's somewhat unpleasant expression because of his last words and suddenly smiled.
"Heh, how could I forget your affection and obsession with my brother, Li Jianmei? I heard that you were the one who used your methods to drive my brother's first love, Zhang Mengxin, off the stage. Now, you're doing the same thing, trying to drive me away from my brother. My brother is so outstanding, there must be plenty of women around him. Do you really think you can drive them all away one by one?"
"Shao Qile, that's enough!" Even though Li Jianmei felt a savage pleasure from the pain in Shao Qile's eyes, she couldn't bring herself to respond to being pointed at and lashed out at for her own wounds. "Brother Qibin deserves the best. I like Brother Qibin and I want him to be well. But if your feelings for Brother Qibin are exposed, it will definitely affect his career. Shao Qile, if you truly like Brother Qibin, you should know what's best for you."
"Of course I know what I should do. I like my brother, and that's my own business. I've never thought of turning my feelings into a constraint or a stumbling block in his path. I've already made a mistake once, how could I make the same mistake a second time!"
The last sentence refers to the story of Shao Qile in her previous life, who was exploited because of this abnormal love and ultimately died tragically. Li Jianmei naturally knew who Shao Qile was referring to.
“I noticed my brother’s unusual behavior and made arrangements. I will try my best to transfer my feelings to him. I know that my feelings are immoral and unacceptable to the world. I am trying to take them back. Li Jianmei, you probably don’t know, but I made a special trip to France before, hired the most famous hypnotist, and even brought Michelle, who was pursuing me in France, back to China. I thought I could let go, but why did you have to interfere at this time?”
"I've been wondering how my brother would react if he knew I liked him. I'm anxious yet secretly delighted. I even feel that you breaking the ice is a chance given to me by heaven. I really don't have the courage to say these things, but if my brother finds out through you, knowing his personality, he'll definitely only be suspicious, not certain. Yet, my brother made the decision to send me back to the capital with only half a belief. Can't I really handle things at school? I just don't want to put my brother in a difficult position."
"Hmph! Li Jianmei, even if you tell my brother that I like him, so what? As long as I obediently return to Beijing and find a boyfriend to date, my brother will never believe you. As for me, as long as I can spend one or two months with my brother during the winter and summer vacations each year, I will be content as his sister."
"As for you, Li Jianmei, you probably don't know this yet. My brother already has a girlfriend. Ranran is more suitable to be my future sister-in-law than you. At least, she won't stop me, his sister, from openly and honestly being with my brother."
When Shao Qile began her tirade, Li Jianmei carefully composed herself, instead glancing at the wall behind Shao Qile with a barely perceptible smile. Her heart pounded with joy; she thought, from today onward, Shao Qile would no longer be a threat. Shao Qile was far too inexperienced to challenge her. Even when she heard that Shao Qile had specifically undergone hypnosis and arranged a series of subsequent actions, she merely smiled. No wonder Shao Qibin doubted her words; it turned out Shao Qile had secretly planned so much. Fortunately, she had set up this trap today; otherwise, Shao Qibin would still be kept in the dark.
"When did Qibin get a girlfriend? How come I didn't know?" All the joy turned to chaos when they heard the last sentence.
"Shao Qile, don't try to fool me. With your affection for Qibin, how could you allow another woman to appear by his side?" At this moment, Li Jianmei was even less concerned about Shao Qibin, who was just a wall away. She felt that her once-sure game had suddenly become unstable.
“Li Jianmei, you are you and I am me. I love my brother, and as long as he is happy, I am happy. My brother is destined to become a great person, so how could I let myself stand in his way? My brother should settle down and start a family, so it's normal for him to associate with other women. I really like my future sister-in-law. Speaking of which, I was the matchmaker for my brother and Ranran.”
Seeing Li Jianmei's utter disarray, Shao Qile, having scanned the room through the system and learned that Shao Qibin had already left, was no longer willing to continue playing with her there. He stood up, picked up the bill from the table, and said, "I have to catch a flight back to Beijing tomorrow and rush to pack my things. Li Jianmei, remember this: my future sister-in-law can be anyone, but it will absolutely not be you. I don't want a sister-in-law like you who might stab me in the back at any moment. By the way, even if it wasn't my intention, I'm afraid my brother doesn't like you either. After all, you spread false information, trying to smear my sister, didn't you?"
Li Jianmei watched Shao Qile leave the private room, opened her mouth as if to speak, but didn't reveal that Shao Qibin was in the next room. She might have considered it in her moment of anger, but thinking of Shao Qile, she immediately dismissed the idea. Shao Qibin clearly didn't want Shao Qile to know about this.
Hmph, as for the other women around Shao Qibin, do you think that once Shao Qile is dealt with, anyone else would dare to compete with her? Even Wu Xinyu is too busy to appear by Shao Qibin's side right now.
Composing herself, Li Jianmei, who had intended to go to the next private room for a proper performance, found it empty. When she asked the staff, they said Shao Qibin had left before Shao Qile. After quickly calculating the time, Li Jianmei frowned slightly and took out her phone to call Shao Qibin, but the call was rejected. This made Li Jianmei's expression even worse.
Author's Note:
39 Long-distance layout
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Long-Distance Deployment
In any case, Shao Qile left T City as she had secretly plotted, withdrawing from the chase, even though Shao Qibin took the initiative to call Li Jianmei the next day.
The two arranged a time to meet at the same elegant tea room, and even the musicians performing in the center of the hall were the same group. It was just a pity that, on both occasions, Li Jianmei's attention wasn't focused on the musicians.
"Brother Qibin, are you blaming me?"
Unlike her conversation with Shao Qile, perhaps because she lacked the composure of someone who was confident of victory, or perhaps because the man sitting in front of her was the obsession she had longed for for two lifetimes, she appeared unusually unsettled. She couldn't help but break the topic first, and even seemed somewhat impatient to receive words of comfort and redemption from the mouth of her beloved.
"Meimei is overthinking it. Actually, I should thank Meimei for reminding me. I had no idea Lele had such thoughts. Now that we've discovered it early, given time, with Lele's excellence, she'll surely have other young talents by her side, and some of her youthful, foolish thoughts will fade away." Shao Qibin was actually extremely gentle in front of women like Li Jianmei, Wu Xinyu, and Hong Xinran, who were fond of him. It was a gentleness that was innate, permeating his very bones. Those who were touched by Shao Qibin's gentleness rarely managed to escape the quagmire of that tenderness.
Therefore, even though he felt apprehensive and displeased that Li Jianmei now possessed more and more evidence about his private affairs, he showed no sign of it on his face. After all, the fervent love in the woman's eyes was, at this moment, the best situation he could exploit. If it weren't for this love, the fact that Li Jianmei was a daughter of the Li family alone, which allowed her to know too many of his secrets, would be enough for Shao Qibin to take precautions, and who knew what she might do then.
In a way, this could be considered a stroke of luck for Li Jianmei. But what would she think if she knew that all her feelings were ultimately nothing more than a pawn on a chessboard to be used for leverage?
As soon as Shao Qile got off the plane, she saw Xia Meiyue, who had come to pick her up. The mother and daughter hadn't seen each other for several days. As soon as Xia Meiyue saw Shao Qile, she hugged her tightly and looked her up and down. She frowned and said, "You've lost weight. I knew your older brother was the type who wouldn't care about anything when he was working. How could he possibly take good care of you? Originally, I let you continue your studies because I thought the school would be local, but I never expected you to go to T City with your tutor and not come back for so long."
"Mom, it's all Lele's fault. I'm back now, aren't I? I haven't introduced you yet, Mom. This is my friend Michelle. Michelle, this is my mom." Shao Qile was actually quite pleased with Xia Meiyue's incessant nagging. If there was anyone in this timeline who truly loved her wholeheartedly without any ulterior motives, it would be Xia Meiyue. However, with Michelle by her side, it was rather embarrassing for Michelle to see her being lectured by Xia Meiyue like this, almost like being pulled by the ear.
Xia Meiyue subtly observed her daughter's friend, a pang of reluctance rising in her heart as she thought about how her daughter was reaching the age of blossoming youth, the time for dating and marriage. As someone with experience, she immediately recognized Michel's feelings for her daughter. However, deep down, Xia Meiyue didn't want Shao Qile to marry Michel. The idea of "marrying a chicken, following the chicken; marrying a dog, following the dog" meant Lele would have to go abroad with this foreigner, seeing him only a few times a year. And given their family's circumstances, going abroad would be incredibly complicated.
Because of this in mind, when Shao Qile said he had already booked a room at a grand hotel and only needed to send Michelle back to her place, Xia Meiyue didn't hospitably invite Michelle to stay at her home. She secretly breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed her daughter had no interest in Michelle. However, her daughter really should find someone to settle down with. She should also think carefully about whether there were any suitable families in Beijing.
After settling Michelle in with Xia Meiyue, Shao Qile returned home, washed up, ate a hearty meal, and then went straight to bed and fell into a deep sleep.
When Shao Qile woke up, it was already past midnight. She went into the kitchen as if she knew the way well, found something to eat to fill her stomach, and then went back to her room to carefully check the encrypted emails sent by the detective agency in her inbox.
Seeing the news of Shao Qibin and Li Jianmei chatting happily in a teahouse private room wasn't surprising. Given Shao Qibin's temperament, it would be strange if he directly turned against Li Jianmei. However, this move had been perfectly executed. Fortunately, Li Jianmei had only recently been reborn. If, according to the original plan, she had experienced several years of political ups and downs and learned the meaning of patience, she probably wouldn't be so easily provoked.