"It’s unbelievable, your brother actually participated in a bar game. In our impression, he only cares about work! I’m so envious that you have such a handsome and capable brother. He was the center of attention tonight! Many ladies wanted to chat him up, but unfortunately, he brought someone along today, so they could only wish."
"You would never guess what challenge your brother drew, hahaha, he had to kiss a woman for three minutes!"
"But he refused, so he had to accept a penalty. Do you know what the penalty was? To drink five whole bottles of wine! We were all stunned; he was amazing! He actually finished them all."
"You wouldn’t believe it, but because of his actions, the women at the scene were even more infatuated with him, thinking he’s a man who values his integrity. Such men are rare to find!"
"The woman by your brother’s side should be the one he brought with him, we don’t know her. Yu Ling, do you recognize her? Your brother seems to be pursuing that woman, and he looks quite respectful and caring towards her."
"Alas, they left. Yu Ling, it’s such a pity you didn’t come to watch in person; the game’s section was so exciting tonight!"
Fu Yuling’s heartbeat accelerated as she listened to all the voice messages, rewinding to look at the previous photos.
The first one showed Fu Jichen leaning into the woman’s ear, speaking to her with an expression so tender that Yu Ling had never seen, his eyes carrying a hint of joy. The second showed him raising a glass of wine to his lips, his gaze fixed intensely on the woman’s face, full of deep affection. The third showed him turning his back against the bar, seemingly talking to someone else, yet his eyes never leaving the woman’s figure. In the fourth, a few bottles were set in front of him as he drank, looking at her with a slight smile. In the fifth, her hand rested on his arm, and he gazed at her, his smile unmistakably open. The sixth showed him leaning in close, so near to her face, eyes downcast, staring at her lips as if ready to kiss her any moment, while the woman appeared tense and uneasy...
In every photo, every single one, Fu Jichen’s eyes were deeply attracted to the woman. Yu Ling couldn’t recall how long it had been since she’d seen Fu Jichen treat a woman this way.
The sense of crisis from three years ago surged back.
As she recalled, Fu Jichen only acted such with Shen Jianian.
Back then, when Grandpa decided that Fu Jichen should marry Xu Jingyi, although she was anxious, she wasn’t as panicked because she knew clearly that Fu Jichen didn’t like Xu Jingyi and wouldn’t like her.
To prevent their marriage, she still took action against Xu Jingyi, unable to tolerate any woman touching Fu Jichen.
Yu Ling repeatedly opened those dozen or so photos, each detail etched into her mind, all revealing one fact to her — Fu Jichen cares about that woman. This update is available on novelꜰire.net
Just like her good friend said, Fu Jichen respects and cherishes that woman.
Yu Ling swiped her two fingers over the screen to enlarge the photo, her gaze locked on the woman’s face. She hadn’t seen this person in Beicheng’s high society; she probably wasn’t from any wealthy family.
All of Fu Jichen’s focus was on work, so how did they meet?
Does Fu Feibai know about this?
Compared to her, his "full-blooded" sister, Fu Jichen noticeably had a closer attitude towards Fu Feibai.
Until dawn, Yu Ling couldn’t fall back asleep. She pulled out a light green dress from the walk-in closet, put it on, freshened up, and went downstairs to have breakfast.
It was rare to see Yu Ling up so early, the housekeeper was surprised but said nothing, preparing a Western breakfast for her.
At the dining table were Grandpa and Fu Feibai. Since Wei Ronghua was diagnosed with cancer, Fu Feibai had turned down most work after completing a major film, taking time to accompany her at the hospital. His presence at home was not unusual.
Fu Feibai hadn’t rested well last night, yawning, and was startled to see Yu Ling walk into the dining room: "When did you change your style?"
A gentle, understated, calm, and elegant aura, completely unlike her previous eye-catching flamboyant self.
Yu Ling sat in the chair, clasped her hands with her chin resting on the back of them, and blinked at him: "Don’t I look good this way?"
How could Fu Feibai dare to say his sister didn’t look good? That wasn’t seeking a beating, was it?
He chuckled, and the flattery flowed naturally: "Good-looking, my sister’s the most beautiful in the world. I’m just not used to it."
Yu Ling stopped teasing him, picked up a fork to eat the bacon on her plate, not convenient to inquire from Fu Feibai with Grandpa present.
After breakfast, Grandpa went out to meet friends, and Fu Feibai changed into outdoor sneakers, ready to head to the hospital. Yu Ling stopped him in the hallway: "Feibai, I have a question for you."
Fu Feibai was holding a thermos that contained soup for Wei Ronghua, he widened his eyes and awaited the question.
Yu Ling, too impatient to beat around the bush, directly showed him the photos saved on her phone: "My friend sent these to me, said Brother went to a bar with a woman last night. Do you recognize this woman?"
Fu Feibai bent down to peer at the phone screen, studied it, and was about to say he didn’t know when he suddenly realized the woman looked familiar.
He said, "Wait a moment," then took out his phone from his pocket, found the photo that his circle friend Gu Chongli had sent him, and compared it to the one on Yu Ling’s phone, confirming it was the same person.
"She’s Shen Jianian," Fu Feibai said.
Hearing "Shen Jianian" early in the morning made the hairs on Yu Ling’s back stand up, her expression shifted slightly, incredulously asking, "Who did you say she is?"
Fu Feibai knew she misunderstood, clarified: "She’s called Shen Jianian, not the one we know. I found out because she was filming with a friend of mine in the same crew previously."
Gu Chongli was one of the few people in the entertainment industry who knew his real identity as a young master from the Fu Family. A long time ago, he and Gu Chongli were dining together privately and chatted briefly about his brother and Shen Jianian. When his friend met a woman with the same name in a film crew, he thought it was a coincidence and sent him a photo.
Yu Ling mused, "Same name, such a coincidence?"
Fu Feibai wanted to ask her.
"How did Brother get to know this Shen Jianian?" Fu Feibai audaciously speculated, "Could it be that he’s treating her as a stand-in for the old Shen Jianian?"
Yu Ling pursed her lips, thinking: just because a woman shares the same name and can cause Fu Jichen to lose composure, if she tried hard to emulate Shen Jianian, would it win his favor?
But she couldn’t wait that long.
No one could guarantee this woman wouldn’t replace Shen Jianian’s place in Fu Jichen’s heart.