Chapter 6: Do You Believe It

Upon receiving the news, Secretary Chen had been waiting by the car early on.

Seeing the man approaching, he hurriedly opened the car door.

"Young Master, are we now..."

Before he could finish his sentence, his expression froze when he saw the slight upward curve at the corners of the man's mouth.

Huh? The young master was in a good mood?

Every time the young master returned from the Shen family, his mood would be terrible.

Could it be that something good had happened?

But wasn't their plan disrupted by the Young Madam?

Secretary Chen buckled his seatbelt and cast a sideways glance at the back seat out of the corner of his eye.

"Young Master, you seem to be in a very good mood."

Shen Linyan paused, glanced at him, turned his head, and discreetly covered his mouth.

"No, you're mistaken."

Secretary Chen: "..."

He didn't expose the lie, keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead on the road.

"The newspaper agency just sent us a message asking if they need to take down the article, or keep it up and let the matter blow up."

Thinking of An Ling's unusual behavior today, he paused and continued, "The surveillance footage and photos from the private room have been obtained. They're on the tablet next to you. Should we send them to the An family according to the original plan?"

No one knew better than them what had happened in the private room last night.

As long as this video was sent to the An family, if they wanted to protect their daughter's reputation, they would have to offer something of equal value in exchange, such as... shares.

Shen Linyan casually propped up his head, his long fingers carelessly tapping to open the video.

The video on the tablet clearly showed the private room where An Ling and Lu Jingshen were last night.

The camera angle was unusual, but it clearly recorded the situation inside the room.

The first half of the video showed An Ling drinking alone in the private room.

She called the paparazzi to arrange for photos, got drunk and fell asleep on the sofa, and then Lu Jingshen came in.

Everything was going according to the expected direction.

But when the woman woke up again, things got weird.

—An Ling suddenly couldn't recognize Lu Jingshen.

In the footage, the bewilderment on the woman's face didn't look fake, and she had no reason to feign amnesia.

However, very soon, An Ling reverted to her former self.

The woman's unwilling and vicious words echoed in the car; this tone was the An Ling he knew.

Shen Linyan narrowed his eyes, his fingertips gently tapping the edge of the tablet.

Was it because she was drunk that she didn't recognize him at first?

But whatever the case, once these actions of An Ling were handed over, it would be enough to make the An family pay the price.

Looking at the woman passed out in the video, the nanny's words from earlier flashed through Shen Linyan's mind.

He turned off the tablet and said indifferently, "Didn't An Ling say she would clarify things? Let's hold onto these for now."

Hearing this, Secretary Chen was stunned.

The young master wasn't going to make a move against the An family anymore?

Could it be that he planned to wait a bit longer for a perfect opportunity to deal a fatal blow?

He didn't dare to say more, just nodding in compliance: "Yes."

After driving for a while, the man's thoughtful voice came from the back of the car again.

"Chen Dao, why do you think someone could suddenly change overnight? Chasing after someone one day, and suddenly turning hostile the next."

Secretary Chen instantly guessed who the man was referring to.

The Young Madam's behavior today was indeed strange. In the past, she couldn't wait to help Young Master Lu in every possible way, but now... she couldn't wait to draw a clear line.

He remembered an internet buzzword and said hesitantly, "Perhaps it's... love turning into hate? They say that love taken to the extreme becomes hate."

Shen Linyan's eyes flickered slightly.

Love... turning into hate? Love to the extreme?

Isn't that still love then?

Slowly tapping the tablet with his fingertips, he lowered his eyes to conceal his emotions, and an ambiguous chuckle escaped his thin lips.

"That's ridiculous."

On the other side, after An Ling rushed to the coffee shop, she first sent a message to Jiang Mai.

[I'm at the door, where are you?]

This body hadn't seen Jiang Mai for a long time, and couldn't even quite remember her voice. She definitely wouldn't be able to recognize her just by feeling, so she could only let the other party find her first.

Jiang Mai quickly replied with a message.

[Wait a moment, I'll be done right away. Come in and order a cup of coffee first, then find a seat.]

[Okay.]

An Ling pushed the door open, walked in, and went to the front counter.

There were few people in the shop at the moment, and only one girl was inside making coffee.

An Ling walked over and, seeing that the other party was still washing cups, gently reminded her, "Hello, I'd like to order."

The girl paused, looked up towards her, but didn't move, her face showing a complex expression.

An Ling was confused, thinking there was something on her face.

But soon the girl put down the cup in her hand, walked over, and smiled, gesturing to the menu: "Hello, please take a look at what you'd like to drink."

An Ling nodded and looked down at the menu.

Just as she was hesitating whether to try a new item, the girl's voice sounded in her ear: "You are Miss An, right?"

She paused slightly and looked up in surprise. "I am. Did your boss tell you?"

The smile on the girl's face gradually disappeared. She stared at her without speaking, and only after a few seconds did she slowly say:

"An Ling, I'm Jiang Mai."

"..."

Seeing the woman's face instantly turn expressionless, Jiang Mai hurriedly raised her hands to explain, "Well, I wasn't trying to mess with you on purpose! I was just testing you!"

She knew An Ling hated being played like this the most, but she really needed to test her out!

Jiang Mai walked out from behind the counter, her eyes filled with shock and doubt. "No way... did you really not recognize me?"

"What do you think?" An Ling leaned against the counter. Seeing Jiang Mai's reaction, she actually knew what the other party was thinking.

The system had used her body to chase Lu Jingshen for two years, going through countless plotlines, and could accurately recognize people every time. So in the eyes of others, her face blindness had indeed been cured.

An Ling pointed to her own face and said seriously, word by word:

"Jiang Mai, my face blindness has never been cured."

Jiang Mai was stunned, her brows furrowed as her gaze swept over An Ling's face.

"Let's sit down and talk."

The two chose a corner of the coffee shop to sit down.

An Ling held the cup in her hand, looked down, and spoke: "I know this might sound ridiculous, but the truth is that for the past two years, my body was occupied by something. Haven't you read novels? Actually, I'm the vicious female supporting character in a novel, and Lu Jingshen is the male lead. That thing made me pursue Lu Jingshen just to follow the plot."

Saying these things out loud, An Ling felt a bit guilty herself. She coughed and looked up at Jiang Mai.

"Do you believe me?"

Jiang Mai's expression was sluggish for a few seconds, then she leaned back in her chair without speaking, seeming to find it a bit hard to accept.

An Ling could also guess that Jiang Mai would have this reaction; after all, this kind of thing was too surreal.

She lowered her head and sighed, just planning to give some more convincing evidence.

Suddenly, the girl's voice came from across the table.

"I believe you."

An Ling was taken aback. She looked up and saw Jiang Mai take a deep breath, and then slam her hand hard on the table.

"Damn it! I knew it! I was wondering why you acted like you were having a seizure two years ago! You woke up one day and suddenly started being vicious to everyone, except for that Lu Jingshen guy whom you loved to death! You guys hadn't even met before! And your face blindness was miraculously cured too, you could even remember what a random dog on the street looked like! I was seriously wondering if Lu Jingshen had put a hex on you!"

The more Jiang Mai spoke, the angrier she got. She took a huge gulp of coffee and continued her tirade:

"You made such a fool of yourself when you were chasing after Lu Jingshen. I even went to see you back then to ask why you were acting like that. And what the hell did you do? You had security drag me out right in front of everyone! Then you turned right back around to go after that Lu Jingshen! Just thinking about it pisses me off!"

"..."

Even though she wasn't the one who had actually done those things, An Ling still let out a sheepish, awkward laugh and quietly changed the subject.

"So, you really believe me?"

Jiang Mai took a deep breath to calm herself. "Yeah. Honestly, I was already a bit suspicious when I got your call. After all, you haven't reached out to me once in the past two years."

That was exactly why she had deliberately tested An Ling, and surprisingly, it had worked.

But then again...

"To think your role is actually the villainess?"

Jiang Mai stroked her chin, clicking her tongue and nodding in agreement. "If it weren't for your face-blindness, your temper definitely makes you worthy of the title."

Having been friends for over a decade, no one knew An Ling's temper better than she did.

Because of her face-blindness, An Ling never bothered to mince words or save face for anyone when she spoke. Coupled with how much her parents and older brother doted on her, absolutely no one dared to cross her.

At the thought of this, Jiang Mai paused for a moment, looking at the woman drinking coffee across from her.

"Speaking of which... have you told your parents about this yet?"