Chapter 210: Mental Gymnastics
Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
Ye Shuang’s sojourn to Chaohai had lasted half a month. During that period, while nothing big had happened in San Lin City, plenty of small things did happen. Even though Ye Shuang would have occasional phone calls with Han Chu and Yao Zhixing, these were men, so their conversations limited themselves to work and would not touch upon gossip. Therefore, Ye Shuang had no idea about the relationship update on Fang Fei.
First, the engagement between Fang Fei and An Zixuan had been spread during Noah’s annual gathering. Then, one night, while she was out having drinks with her girlfriends, Fang Fei openly revealed that there was another man in her heart. After this news started to make its round, people paid attention to An Zixuan’s attitude toward his future fiancé, and they realized that the atmosphere between them was not even common, much less friendly.
Then again, forced marriages were common within the business world, so this was nothing rare. However, the problem was that Fang Fei stopped making the effort to pretend after her slip-up. She would tell others that she had no intention of getting married. She stopped preserving the face, and this made things awkward for other people.
This was just a verbal marriage, so after Fang Fei did such a thing, naturally, the engagement could only fall apart. How many people talked behind An Zixuan and Fang Fei’s backs aside, how many rumors were flying aside, other than the An family, the party that had the most violent reaction was definitely the Noah Organization’s headquarters in Beijing. After all, Fang Fei did not give them any face!
After the new year, Fang Mo had been busy with the cold chain. Thankfully, while the elders in the family were angry, they were not insane enough to shut down their business in San Lin City as warning and punishment. After all, they were part of the Noah Organization, so if Fang Mo really fell, the whole organization’s reputation would be affected. Therefore, after Fang Mo finished the work, he heard about the cancelation of the engagement from the higher ups. Initially, he was happy, but after he realized the reason behind the cancelation, Fang Mo could not help but worried about his little sister.
The headquarters would not come for Fang Mo, but what about a Fang Fei that had no contribution and did not give them face‽ It simply depended on when they had time to deal with her.
…
Ye Shuang coughed and almost choked on that cough when she heard what Fang Fei had to say. She turned around to ask, “Are you sure your bother meant to use Brother Yao as a shield and then announce your peaceful break-up‽”
Fang Fei fixed her powder at the mirror and gave a nasally confirmation like this had nothing to do with her. “My brother said that Yao Zhixing is very trustworthy and friendly. He will not take advantage of others when they’re down, is willing to help, and won’t care about the small details. Most importantly, my family is now working with the Yao family, so no one will suspect anything if we say we got close over this issue. It is simple for my brother to get the permission, but to get the approval for the money needed to build the warehouse and construction so soon, that has plenty to do with Yao Zhixing as well.”
Ye Shuang coughed. “You mean, it is because people really thought you two are getting married, so the green light was given easily to strengthen the familial relationship with Brother Yao’s family‽”
“That’s possible, yes.” Fang Fei checked her make-up, and after making sure that there was no problem, she put away her powder. Then she turned to face Ye Shuang, who stood behind her. “What do you think of this idea?”
“Honestly?” Ye Shuang frowned as she looked at Fang Fei. When the latter nodded, she sighed. “Honestly, I think your brother is acting too reckless.”
Then again, this was not his fault. The walls were closing in, and temporarily, there was no perfect solution. Thus, he could only rely on what he had. Since this was just an ’emergency’ solution. Naturally, there were plenty of loopholes.
First, with Yao Zhixing’s personality, for him to agree to a proposal was impossible. Everyone in San Lin City knew Yao Zhixing had no interest in marriage, not because he was that pure of an individual but because he did not have the concept of gender in his mind. If he thought someone matched his taste and had something that impressed him, only then he would be willing to make their acquaintance.
Which young lady would have that ability? Most the young ladies were the soft and reserved kind; therefore, to find one that could be buddy-buddy with Yao Zhixing was impossible, on top of that, she had to impress him, which was more than impossible. To suddenly announce that Yao Zhixing was getting engage, no one would believe that. The man gathered with his friends every two or three days, so if there was a woman in his life, people would have found out already.
The next loophole was naturally on Fang Fei herself. It had been less than two months since the break-up with An Zixuan, and suddenly, she had gotten ‘engaged’ again? Who would believe that‽ Fine, if this was real, then how would she explain the earlier talk of having another man in her heart?
The more Ye Shuang thought about it, the more confused she became of Fang Mo’s plan. She could not help but sigh. “Everything aside, let’s say that no one realizes the problem or everyone just wants this to happen peacefully, even if you came out with two engagements and ended up not getting married neither time… honestly, this won’t affect the men. After all, society is more forgiving to the males, but you’re a woman. Have you imagined the effect it’ll have your reputation?”
In other words, how do you plan to marry in the future?
“You sure know how to worry about others.” Fang Fei rolled her eyes and harrumphed. The calmness fell away, and she returned to her normal state of a spitfire. Fang Fei looked into Ye Shuang’s eyes. “But are you sure you have no personal stake in this? According to rumors, you’re the real couple with Yao Zhixing.”
Ye Shuang coughed again. “Like you said, rumors.”
Fang Fei thought about it. “Then tell me honestly, was it also a rumor with you and your earlier boyfriend?”
Ye Shuang finally understood this whole thing.
“You want to know who I am really with?” Fang Fei did not deny it and kept her gaze on Ye Shuang. Looking at the time on her phone. Ye Shuang raised her head and sighed. “We’ve been in here for too long already, so I’ll just keep it short.
“Who you want to pursue is your own problem. Whether they like you or not is their problem. Who I am with is my problem. Therefore, you don’t need to poke into my business and don’t think you can use some information to trade with me.”
Ye Shuang frowned when she spoke. Due to the gender problem, normally, she would be kinder around women. However, that did not mean that she would endlessly indulge in someone’s rudeness. She accepted Fang Fei’s interrogation earlier because Ye Shuang knew that she was below her in terms of the power pyramid, but now that she found her footing, Ye Shuang had the power to deny her interrogation.
Fang Fei was startled, then her brows creased with anger. She was about to say something when Ye Shuang raised her hand to stop her and said, “Going after a person you love is not a bad thing, no matter the result, be it a bad ending or good ending. This is something other people cannot comment on. Similarly, whatever you wish to do, you have to be ready to face the final result, so don’t complain that someone has blocked your way or blame it on bad luck.”
Fang Fei did not get the whole message Ye Shuang was saying. She just heard what she wanted to hear. She asked with a glow in her eyes, “You mean I can go after your boyfriend?”
“Go ahead.” Ye Shuang shrugged. She would just leave the city when she was in her male form. She looked at the time. “I’m done, so I’ll be going.”
Then Ye Shuang walked out on her own. She realized that she could not reason with someone like Fang Fei because she already understood all the logic, but she refused to accept them. Perhaps that was because her self-control was weak or a result of her being pampered since she was young.
Fang Fei knew certain things were wrong, but she could not give up. Therefore, she went around looking for proof to show that she was ‘right’ and then held onto this proof to say proudly, “I didn’t want to do that, but since so and so, I did so and so.”
For example, it was the same reason she had invited Ye Shuang to have a private talk. Initially, she had given up since Sister Shuang already had Brother Shuang.
However, when she saw the connection between Sister Shuang and Yao Zhixing, Fang Fei grabbed onto this detail and used this to convince herself that she was not breaking up other peoples’ relationships. The man’s girlfriend had already cheated on him, so she had the right to pursue him. Ye Shuang had to be impressed by her mental gymnastics.
Which normal individual would spend all her time following the status of other people’s relationship and praying for the worst to happen?
She returned to her seat with a dark face, and she noticed the awkwardness on Yao Zhixing’s face as well. Thinking about what Fang Fei had told her in the bathroom, Ye Shuang understood it. “You’ve been talking about the engagement?”