Chapter 30: Is He Not Capable

“You and Shen Linyuan actually slept together??!!!”

The exclamation erupted from the phone, and An Ling instinctively covered the receiver before realizing she was the only one home.

Still, she felt a strange twinge of guilt as she turned off the speakerphone. “Don’t get so excited, we didn’t! Didn’t I tell you? All he did last night was walk me back to my room...”

“You didn’t sleep together?”

Jiang Mai fell silent for a few seconds before slowly squeezing out a question:

“Is he... dysfunctional? Did you get a chance to feel...”

“Wait, wait a minute! What are you talking about?!” An Ling’s face turned bright red. “It was so dark, how could I have possibly... No, he just carried me back to rest! It wasn’t that kind of thing at all!”

She buried half her face in a throw pillow, her ears turning a shade of red that looked ready to bleed. She quickly tried to change the subject to hide her embarrassment. “Anyway, it’s not like that. Besides, do you really think that’s possible?”

Jiang Mai spoke in a low, suggestive tone. “Originally, it was impossible... but if you let it happen a few more times, humph... who knows~”

At that, she shifted her tone to a reminder. “But An Ling, you should remember what I told you.”

The conversation fell silent for a moment.

A moment later, the woman’s helpless chuckle came through the line.

“I haven’t forgotten.”

An Ling held the phone with one hand and pressed the back of her other hand against her cheek to cool down. She curled her lips into a slow smile. “I know Shen Linyuan only treats me this way because my current status is his wife.”

She hadn't gone out of her way to cause trouble for Shen Linyuan or sabotage their arranged marriage like the system might have wanted.

However, she wasn't much better. She was also taking advantage of Shen Linyuan’s nature—the fact that he was incapable of saying no.

On the first day she woke up here, in order to avoid getting into trouble herself, she had dragged the man down with her, letting them both take the heat from Mother Shen.

Later, because she liked Shen Linyuan’s face so much, she would intentionally find ways to get close to him.

For instance... that ring. The moment she gave it to him, An Ling knew exactly whether she was harboring selfish motives.

After all, there was more than one way to clear up a misunderstanding.

Perhaps it was because of these things that An Ling felt so angry when she saw Mother Shen’s blatant favoritism. It was more like a mask for her own guilty conscience.

She was already taking advantage of Shen Linyuan’s personality; why should anyone else be allowed to? If anyone was going to use him, it should be her—at least her life was currently tied to his, and she wouldn't actually hurt him.

Having these deliberately ignored thoughts brought back to the surface left An Ling’s mind in a bit of a mess. She lowered her eyes, set the pillow aside, and stood up.

“Don’t worry, I won’t fall for Shen Linyuan. It’s mostly just that I can’t seem to commit that face of his to memory, so every time I see him, I’m startled by how handsome he is.”

Shen Linyuan was indeed her ideal type, but she remained rational. She knew what she should and shouldn't do, and she had no desire to get tangled up in the protagonists' messy love affairs.

Hearing this, Jiang Mai was quiet for a moment before letting out a long, slow sigh, her voice tinged with a faint sadness:

“It’s over, An Ling. You’ve raised a flag. According to novel tropes, once you say something like that, you’re definitely going to fall in love later.”

Pausing for emphasis, she added:

“No matter what genre of novel it is, no one escapes this law.”

“...”

An Ling laughed as she opened her bedroom door. “Alright, alright, just pretend I didn’t say anything. Let’s leave it at that; I need to change. I’m meeting Ms. Chen this afternoon.”

“OK, get to work.”

After hanging up, An Ling placed her phone on the desk. Her gaze caught a shopping bag out of the corner of her eye, and she paused.

She opened the bag and took out the box inside.

Inside was a dark silk tie. The fabric had a brilliant, lustrous sheen, featuring a subtle, shimmering silver pattern that looked both regal and sophisticated.

When she had been browsing the mall last night, she had spotted this tie and immediately felt it would suit Shen Linyuan perfectly. By the time she realized what she was doing, she had already swiped her card.

She wasn't surprised that she had paid for it; she had even come up with an excuse to give it to him, telling herself it was a return gift for the fountain pen.

It was just that last night, she had been so lightheaded from the man’s gentle tone that she had completely forgotten about the gift.

An Ling smiled and closed the box, putting it back in the bag.

“I should find a time to give this to him soon.”

That afternoon, An Ling met Ms. Chen downstairs at the company, and the two of them took the elevator up together.

As the elevator doors closed, Ms. Chen turned to her. “Did you look over the files I sent you yesterday? Since things have already started, there might not be much time for you to adjust.”

“I looked through them. I have a general idea of the workflow now.” She had spent the morning reviewing the documents at home.

Ms. Chen gave a nod of approval. “We happen to be short-staffed on executive producers, so your arrival is a huge help. The investor this time is Shihe Media. Their goal is to boost the popularity of the artists under their banner. We’re meeting with their team today.”

As she spoke, she raised an eyebrow and glanced over.

“Among those celebrities is Shen Fuyuan. I heard she’s one of the ones they’re pushing the hardest.”

“...”

An Ling paused. “So, will Shen Fuyuan be there today?”

“Most likely. After all, the purpose of today’s meeting is to communicate before filming begins.”

Ms. Chen knew a little bit about the marriage alliance between An Ling and the Shen family, which was why she had asked An Ling yesterday if she was alright with the arrangement.

She patted An Ling on the shoulder. "It’s fine. They haven’t arrived yet. Go ahead and meet your other colleagues first to get familiar with the environment."

An Ling nodded.

After exiting the elevator, Ms. Chen led her to a small conference room. When she opened the door, she found seven or eight people sitting inside, all wearing employee badges around their necks.

Seeing Ms. Chen enter, they stood up one after another. "Ms. Chen, are the people from Shihe Media here?"

Ms. Chen gestured for them to stay seated. "No, not yet. Everyone, sit down. I’ve brought a new partner to join us. Didn't I mention it in the group chat yesterday?"

At her words, it finally clicked for everyone. Late last night, Ms. Chen had suddenly announced in the group chat that an executive producer would be joining the team, but she hadn't given a name, saying she wanted to keep it a surprise.

The previously tense atmosphere instantly relaxed.

"Oh, so it’s a newcomer! Ms. Chen, you were being so mysterious that you really piqued my curiosity."

"Brother Chen and Brother Nan were placing bets this morning on whether it was a man or a woman."

"Quick, introduce us! It’s been ages since we’ve had a new face around here."

Hearing the lively discussion, Ms. Chen smiled and stepped aside, signaling toward the hallway. "An Ling, come say hello to everyone."

The woman walked in from outside, her eyes curving slightly as a perfect smile graced her beautiful face. "Hello, everyone. I am An Ling."

In an instant, the once-chattering conference room fell dead silent.

Everyone froze, their gazes fixed in unison on the doorway.

An Ling struggled to maintain her smile. Was this... because they recognized her?

Just as she was about to turn to Ms. Chen for help, she heard someone let out a disappointed "Huh?"

"Ms. Chen, this isn't fair. You should have told us you were filming a variety show! You even brought in a celebrity to prank us. Where did you hide the cameras? I don't see them anywhere."

"Hidden cameras? Is this another prank show? Ms. Chen, you’ve become quite the trickster."

"You can't fool us; we’re seasoned veterans at this, haha!"

"Though, I haven't seen this star before. Did she just debut? She’s incredibly gorgeous."

"Wait, isn't Shihe Media sending people over soon? Is it okay for you to be filming like this? Should we just play along to give you some footage so we can wrap this up quickly?"

An Ling and Ms. Chen: "..."

Just what on earth had these people been through in the past?