Su Qiao finished sending that one-liner to Lin Zizhou before taking the SIM card out of the device. She got out of bed, allowing herself a moment to luxuriate in the soft, fluffy carpeting underfoot. She hadn't had such material pleasures in so long and yet she had grown up with them.
Why was she the villain when Bai Meixin was the one to rob her of everything?
Su Qiao's suite of rooms in this manor was done up in an elegant continental style, in hues of creams and pinks and whites. Su Qiao had asked for a canopied king-sized bed, for a crystal grand piano, and for white french lace to cover her long arched windows. And she'd gotten what she'd wanted. Su Qiao's mother, especially, had pampered her like a princess and this was the sort of wealth she'd grown up in.
There was a spare iPhone in the desk drawer of her adjacent study. Su Qiao padded over and retrieved it. It was still a new model but that time, after receiving Lin Zizhou's gift, she had thought she would never need it again. It was actually her father who had suggested keeping it just as a spare, in case of an emergency.
She gave a wry smile. Was this the kind of emergency he'd had in mind?
The lights of the study weren't switched on. Su Qiao threw herself into her Vitra highback chair, allowing herself a moment to enjoy its comfort. She remembered that this was a recent purchase that she'd made because her father had asked her to start reading up on the stock market and learning a bit about his trade. And Su Qiao had listened as an obedient daughter should.
But it turned out that the old man had never intended to let her participate in the running of the company. He'd never even intended to give her her rightful share.
She raised her hands in front of her eyes. In the wan moonlight, her skin was fair and smooth. Unblemished. She didn't have nicotine stains yet from the smoking habit she'd developed later or callouses from doing household chores.
It was only starting to sink in now that she was really was the young mistress of the Su Family again.
Oh, wait, no. The Big Young Mistress, the 'Da Xiaojie'. Because just down the hallway was another one. Precious, little Bai Meixin, who now stayed in the converted guest room.
To everyone else, she was the new sweetheart of the Su Family, the soon-to-be darling of the media and apple of their father's eye.
But to Su Qiao, she was a time bomb.
And this time, Su Qiao wasn't going to wait for her to explode.
——————————
A beautiful river cut across SH City, its waters sparkling underneath the autumn morning sun. It looked like a warm filter had been applied to the atmosphere, with fiery maple leaves cascading down from the trees on Huayuan Boulevard. A row of chic cafes lined this street and one of them was called Vantage.
No one knew, but Vantage was one of Su Qiao's assets. She had invested in a university friend's venture and knew that she had made the right decision when this black and white minimalist two-storey indie coffee house had begun trending.
In her previous life, she had sold her shares in the cafe back to Lu Shen after getting disowned. This had given her enough money to rent a new place but Young Mistress Su hadn't known how to manage her finances and had soon spent it all.
Well. She knew better now but she wasn't going to let herself wind up in that pathetic position again.
The cafe was bustling with the morning crowd. The river was a popular tourist area and more and more patrons milled into the cafe but Su Qiao's little corner was tucked away out of sight from prying eyes. This was a convenience that Lu Shen had gifted to her because she was a public figure and it would be hard for her to enjoy her coffee otherwise.
Across from her in the monochromatic booth, was her personal assistant Peng Lili. Peng Lili was slumped all over the top of the table in a boneless heap. The hood of her oversized jumper was pulled up over her messy bedhead and even the thick rim of her glasses couldn't hide the dark circles beneath her eyes.
Su Qiao raised an eyebrow. And she thought she was the one who hadn't slept a wink. Someone else had had a long night too.
"Qiao Jie," Peng Lili mumbled, rubbing at her eyes. "I've already booked your personal stylist appointment, was there something else that you absolutely needed at 9 in the morning?"
"…" Su Qiao stirred her coffee. She'd ordered a caramel macchiato, which she hadn't had for a long time now. It was sweeter than she recalled. "Were you up reading web novels again?"
Peng Lili wasn't just an assistant. She was also a distant cousin of Su Qiao's, from a much poorer side of the family. That time, when Su Qiao had first made her debut in the entertainment industry, her relatives had asked her to give Peng Lili a job as a favour. Peng Lili's academics weren't strong. She studied hospitality for her degree but wasn't stellar at it either. Looks-wise, she was too plump and too plain for the industry, so many of Su Qiao's antis had said that she'd chosen Peng Lili as an assistant just because she was afraid a prettier girl would overshadow her.
But actually, Su Qiao had chosen Peng Lili for a very simple reason. She was a good girl. And that was it.
Peng Lili would make mistakes but she would always apologise and learn from them. She was honest in her dealings with others and sincere in her relationships. And Su Qiao had known this before her rebirth but now, after all her suffering, she had solid proof.
Back when the scandals had hit, Su Qiao had gone from a popular 'Little Red Flower', which was what social media called all these up-and-coming young actresses, to the blackest name on Weibo. The kind that couldn't even be redeemed. Everyone had abandoned her at the first opportunity. Her manager had gone from treating her like a treasure to trying to squeeze out every last drop of money from her before discarding her aside.
Only Peng Lili had remained. She had insisted on staying Su Qiao's personal assistant. And as a result, had starved together with Su Qiao after Su Qiao stopped being able to afford her wages.
"…Qiao Jie, your, uh, loving stare is scaring me."
Qiao Jie. Big Sister Qiao. This was what Su Qiao's support staff used to call her out of respect. Su Qiao was going to have to get used to it again.
"Drink your hot chocolate," Su Qiao said fondly. "Lili ah, what novels have you been reading recently?"
Peng Lili's gaze turned cautious. "I haven't been reading on the job," she said too quickly. "And I haven't been spending all of my salary on novel coins, don't believe what my mum tells you."
Wow. The guilt radiating off Peng Lili was practically palpable. Su Qiao couldn't help but smile. It was the first genuine one on her face ever since she woke up a 21-year-old again and it immediately softened her ice queen looks.
"Relax, I'm not here to spy on your reading habits for Auntie," Su Qiao reassured. "I just wanted to know if you like the rebirth genre."
Peng Lili's eyes widened before sparkling. "Wait, Qiao Jie! Do you mean you've started reading too?!"
"…mm."
"Oh my gosh, I loveee rebirth novels, nothing is more exciting than all the face-slapping goodness you can get out of it! Pure innocent female leads that are reborn after being wronged by their scumbag exes just to get delicious revenge!"
Su Qiao leaned subtly away from all the excited arm-waving. Yup, Peng Lili's description sounded all-too-familiar.
"Do you have any recommendations?"
"Do I ever. If Qiao Jie is new to the genre, I would recommend you start with 'The Substitute Wife Just Wants to Be a Salted Fish'…"
…what even was with some of these titles?
But patience was a virtue and Su Qiao had been the one to call Peng Lili out and bring up this topic. And besides, perhaps she should really consider taking a good look at these novels. She downloaded the app on her phone and handed it over for Peng Lili to enthusiastically start filling her library with titles.
"Wait." Peng Lili paused suddenly. "But if all you wanted was novel recommendations, Qiao Jieeee, I could have just sent them to you over WeChat!"
Su Qiao laughed and looked down at her cup. "I know," she admitted. "But Jie just wanted to see how you were doing lately." She'd wanted to see Peng Lili like this, animated and carefree. Like this, Peng Lili was a world of difference from the defeated girl who'd died in a road accident while chasing after a director's car, just because she'd wanted to beg him to consider Su Qiao as his female lead.