Chapter Eighty-Three
After sending the WeChat message, Shen Qianzhan went to the bathroom.
The soundproofing in the bathroom was abysmal, reminiscent of her high school dormitory where, in the dead of night, snores would rise from all directions like a chorus of enemies closing in. Through a single wall, even a whispered curse to the roommate next door—"go eat shit"—would carry clearly, eliciting a round of laughter.
As she washed her hands, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror, her face slightly haggard from staying up late.
The sound of running water trickled through the pipes, then suddenly surged like a flash flood breaching a dam, roaring down in the stillness of the night.
The murmurs from next door seemed to soften, muffled through the wall like a television buried under a blanket—noisy but impossible to decipher.
Shen Qianzhan turned off the tap, meticulously dried her fingers, and returned to bed.
Her phone screen still displayed the page she’d left open: a rambling, incoherent…essay she’d sent to Ji Qinghe.
In power-saving mode, the screen was dim and strained her eyes.
Leaning against the headboard, she reread every word of the impassioned "love insights" she’d composed in a moment of fervor. Realizing what she’d actually written, Shen Qianzhan nearly wished she could take out a hefty insurance policy on herself.
She instinctively reached to recall the message, but it was already too late—the recall window had long passed.
Shen Qianzhan suddenly dreaded imagining Ji Qinghe’s expression when he woke up the next morning and saw those messages.
Would he misunderstand and think she wanted to break up?
Would he find her troublesome and overly sentimental?
She hissed softly, suddenly feeling the situation had become tricky.
As she pondered how to gracefully salvage her melodramatic words, light footsteps sounded outside her door, followed by a knock.
Caught completely off guard, Shen Qianzhan jolted in fright, her heart pounding wildly.
She glanced at the time displayed in the upper right corner of her screen—three in the morning, the dead of night.
She stayed silent, waiting for the noise outside to subside.
After a moment, the knocking stopped. A brief silence followed before a cool, clear female voice spoke slowly, "Zhanzhan, it’s me."
—
Su Lanyi’s appearance here truly surprised Shen Qianzhan. So much so that after opening the door, she forgot to invite her in and simply stood in the doorway, locking eyes with Su Lanyi, who stood under the corridor light wrapped in an aura of solemnity.
Su Lanyi didn’t seem to mind. She smiled and explained, "I just arrived today."
"Thinking you and Zhanzhan were both busy, I didn’t want to trouble you." After a pause, she glanced naturally past Shen Qianzhan and asked, "Is Mr. Ji not here?"
Shen Qianzhan’s heart, which had just warmed slightly, instantly plunged back into an icy abyss. It suddenly occurred to her that Xiao Sheng’s Spring River had just wrapped up filming. Su Lanyi’s appearance here might not be just a whim.
Thinking of Xiao Sheng, her mood grew complicated, and she answered somewhat distractedly, "Mr. Ji is away on a business trip. Were you looking for him?"
Su Lanyi met her gaze and, after a long moment, replied, "No, I came to see you." She paused, then added, "Shall we take a walk? The late-night snack shop downstairs seems to still be open."
Her voice was gentle, but her tone left no room for refusal.
Shen Qianzhan had no intention of refusing anyway and nodded in agreement. "Let me change my clothes. Just a moment."
—
Ten minutes later.
The two walked together to the barbecue stall downstairs from the hotel.
The night was deep, and the stall was empty. Only the owner was counting ingredients, preparing to close up.Hearing the commotion, he turned around and quickly greeted them: "Perfect timing. If you were half an hour later, I'd be closing up. The ingredients are over there—pick what you want, and I'll grill them for you."
Shen Qianzhan had been here a few times and knew the routine well.
She remembered Su Lanyi’s aversion to lamb and offal, so she carefully selected the skewers and handed them to the owner. Then she turned back to the fridge, grabbing two bottles of Snow Beer and Arctic Ocean soda.
In the early days of Thousand Lights, Su Lanyi handled everything personally—attending business dinners, meeting investors, signing contracts.
Shen Qianzhan often accompanied her, stepping out of hotel clubs one moment and into late-night congee shops and barbecue stalls the next.
It had been years since they last gathered for barbecue, so long that Shen Qianzhan couldn’t even recall when it was.
At that moment, as if by telepathy, Su Lanyi propped her chin on her hand and casually remarked, "The last time we sat like this eating barbecue was three years ago. Right after the awards ceremony, I dragged you to a street-side stall in Beijing for a midnight snack, still in my little dress."
Shen Qianzhan remembered too: "It was also May, and Beijing was hotter that year than usual."
Su Lanyi laughed, resting her cheek in her hand as she gazed at Shen Qianzhan, her eyes sparkling. "Yeah, besides barbecue, I remember ordering lobster too. Two plates of thirteen-spice and two of spicy, until a button on my dress popped off."
A dress worth hundreds of thousands, with buttons too precious to lose.
At the time, they didn’t even bother wiping the sauce and grease from their hands, frantically leaning together to search the ground for the button.
Just the day before, they had been dieting to fit into that dress and walk the red carpet with elegance. Yet as soon as the event ended, they were bingeing at a street-side stall, bursting the button meant to cinch their figures.
Perhaps the contrast was too stark—someone started laughing first, like a wound-up spring, and soon the other was laughing so hard she could barely move. The search for the button was forgotten.
In the years that followed, Shen Qianzhan’s memories held no more scenes like that.
It was as if, with the disintegration of that button, they too had parted ways from that moment, drifting further and further apart.
She picked up her beer and raised it halfway.
Su Lanyi smiled knowingly, lifting her can to gently clink against it.
The alcohol stung her throat, and Shen Qianzhan coughed twice before speaking smoothly: "I was planning to wait until the end of the month when I returned to Beijing to invite you for a meal."
She paused, getting straight to the point: "You must have heard about Xiao Sheng."
With Penglai Chenguang withdrawing its investment, Su Lanyi, as the owner of Thousand Lights, couldn’t possibly be unaware.
When Shen Qianzhan heard about it from Shao Chouxi, she knew she and Su Lanyi would have to talk eventually. She just hadn’t expected it to happen so soon, so abruptly.
"Yes, I heard." The smile on Su Lanyi’s lips faded slightly as she looked at Shen Qianzhan intently for a moment. "Xiao Sheng had ill intentions and did wrong—he deserved it. I’m just relieved you weren’t hurt."
Shen Qianzhan didn’t respond, waiting for her to continue.
"The suggestion to collaborate with the film studio came from you. I always thought you were aware, so I didn’t refuse the cooperation with Zhao Zongchen." She pursed her lips, a hint of helplessness in her expression. "You know, 'Spring River' caused significant losses for Thousand Lights. I was struggling with cash flow and had no choice but to accept the olive branch from investors to keep the company running. I—"
Shen Qianzhan interrupted her: "Director Su, I understand.""From the perspective of a company decision-maker, your approach is beyond reproach. I also believe that setting aside prejudices and achieving mutual benefit is the best path forward for Thousand Lights. If you were to reject cooperation solely because of my personal grudge with Penglai Chenguang, I would feel even more undeserving. So, you don’t need to explain any of Thousand Lights’ decisions to me."
Su Lanyi fell silent, momentarily at a loss for words.
Shen Qianzhan was too calm—so calm that she seemed detached, like a mist that was visible yet untouchable.
Su Lanyi had come with the intention of placating her. According to plan, she would first stand on Shen Qianzhan’s side, sharing her resentment and condemning Xiao Sheng together. Then, she would appeal to reason and emotion, revealing her own helplessness. Shen Qianzhan held shares in Thousand Lights and would also benefit from this collaboration—surely she would understand!
Yet the approach that had always worked in the past now felt like a runaway horse, completely beyond her control today.
Shen Qianzhan had more to say. Sipping her drink through a straw, she casually brought up, "What are your thoughts on Xiao Sheng?"
Su Lanyi paused briefly, avoiding eye contact with some discomfort. "His resignation will be on my desk tomorrow. I’ll approve his departure from Thousand Lights."
Shen Qianzhan let out a cold laugh.
She should be satisfied. She had won the war against Xiao Sheng without a single casualty—she should be content.
Especially this time, even Su Lanyi had taken her side, defending her dignity, safeguarding her rights, and offering ample respect and consideration. But Shen Qianzhan knew this was merely a condition—an unequal and unfair exchange.
Over the past two years, Xiao Sheng had been her rival from afar, and Su Lanyi was well aware of it. In fact, this confrontational dynamic was something she had deliberately fostered. Like a monarch, she played power games with ease.
Shen Qianzhan didn’t believe she would so easily discard a piece she had nurtured for years, one that had finally shown some promise. The only explanation was that sacrificing this piece would yield greater benefits.
What benefit could make her willing to sacrifice Xiao Sheng?
After much thought, Shen Qianzhan could only think of one possibility: "Are you planning to trade Xiao Sheng for my cooperation with Penglai Chenguang?"
She had guessed as much that night. Since Zhao Zongchen had come knocking, it meant his resentment lingered, and he wanted to teach her a lesson. She had humiliated him so thoroughly with Xiao Sheng—someone as vindictive as him must have been seething at home, unable to eat or sleep. How could he possibly let it go?
And look, here it was.
Su Lanyi smiled silently, propping her chin as she studied Shen Qianzhan like an intriguing object. "Qianzhan, don’t think of me that way."
Her fingers toyed with the beer can as she spoke softly, almost soothingly. "I know your relationship with Zhao Zongchen is tense. If our companies were to collaborate, it would clearly mean sacrificing you. I’ve never intended that, nor would I want our friendship to end over this."
Then, her brow furrowed slightly, revealing a hint of worry as she hesitated before continuing, "I came here to mend relations with Penglai Chenguang. And also to discuss with Mr. Ji whether there’s a way for Thousand Lights to stabilize during this period. Once Spring River airs and funds flow back in, all problems will disappear. Wouldn’t that be ideal for everyone?"
She presented it as a strategy, but in truth, it was a test.Watching Shen Qianzhan's expression shift from shock to undisguised mockery, her palms grew cold and gradually began to sweat. The confidence she had arrived with slowly drained away under Shen Qianzhan's gaze, like sand trickling through an hourglass, until nothing remained.
An inexplicable panic rose in her heart, and her smile gradually faltered.
After a long while, just as Su Lanyi could no longer bear the eerie tension, Shen Qianzhan pressed a hand to her forehead and actually laughed.
Her gaze toward Su Lanyi shifted from confusion to understanding, then to indifference, as if she were staring at a complete stranger, devoid of any emotion: "Let's end it here."
"Over these past few years, I've more or less repaid the favor I owed you."
Shen Qianzhan had sensed something was off long ago, when Su Lanyi arranged for Su Zan to join her and asked her to assign some production tasks to him. Su Lanyi had likely already harbored intentions to replace her.
But she had underestimated human nature and misjudged her place in Su Lanyi's heart.
"Su Lanyi."
"Let's part ways."
OpenNovel