Chapter 34: A New Deal

After Zhao Yu left, Dai Ning pulled off the sanitary pad and threw it away. She hadn’t actually started her period. But thinking about Du Tian and Lan Rongrong losing sleep over this gave her a sense of satisfaction—finally, she could enjoy a good night’s rest.

Perhaps she had gone too far this time. Qingtuan had been dragged into the “Mosaic Ocean” for several hours of ideological education. When it was finally released, its eyes swirled like mosquito coils, utterly despondent.

It didn’t dare speak now, fearful that any words might inadvertently breach the “Core Socialist Values.”

The moon hung high in the sky when Qingtuan sensed something amiss and called out to Dai Ning from her sea of consciousness.

“I hear something outside. Do you want to check it out?”

Half-asleep, Dai Ning murmured, “No.”

Qingtuan, though not a “system,” could sense sound and visual stimuli around Dai Ning. “You should go. What if it’s Cui Yao up to no good?”

Hearing it might be serious, the young lady finally woke up. She threw on a jacket and tiptoed out.

Sure enough, she saw Cui Yao—not just him, but also Du Tian—standing at the stern of the boat.

Cui Yao said, “Tian Tian, this is dangerous. You shouldn’t get involved. You’ve seen how Zhao Yu treats Miss Ji. He’s different with her. Helping him like this isn’t worth it.”

Du Tian pursed her lips stubbornly. “But I like Brother Zhao Yu! Didn’t you promise to help me? He’s only been tricked by Ji Dai Ning. If he knew what she really was, he’d definitely despise her!”

Cui Yao placed a hand on her shoulder. “I did promise, but his attitude is clear. This won’t bring you happiness. Why don’t you look at the people around you? If you were with me, I’d treat you well.”

Du Tian bit her lip. “Cui Yao, I understand your feelings, but I…”

Cui Yao sighed. “I see.”

The river breeze tousled Dai Ning’s hair as she watched this drama unfold, finding it unexpectedly amusing. So, Cui Yao liked Du Tian. His words made it clear he truly cared about her well-being.

As expected of the female lead—Du Tian might not yet have won over the favored son of fortune, but someone like Cui Yao fell into her grasp effortlessly.

Qingtuan muttered, puzzled, “I never understood why Du Tian is so fixated on Zhao Yu. With her modern white-collar skills, she could easily find a job and live well with Du Yuexiang.”

The situation clearly wasn’t in Du Tian’s favor. Zhao Yu hadn’t developed feelings for her, yet she clung to him.

Dai Ning had no trouble analyzing it. “First, Du Tian doesn’t know she’s actually the Ji family’s second daughter. She’s deeply dissatisfied with her ‘farm girl’ identity. Second, she knows the plot and shares a few years of neighborly ties with Zhao Yu. To her, that’s a golden opportunity she can’t bear to abandon. Third, she hasn’t interacted with the other two male leads yet. Without certainty, she’ll focus all her efforts on Zhao Yu’s route.”

For Du Tian, the choice was clear: a safe, mundane life or seizing her chance to rise above others by tying herself to the son of fortune. Naturally, she chose the latter.

Dai Ning considered herself unlucky to be tangled in this mess. Not wanting to risk being discovered, she quietly returned to her room.

The more she analyzed Cui Yao’s words, the more potential she saw in him.

He genuinely liked Du Tian, but would he be willing to do something against his principles for her sake?

A brilliant idea struck her. Whether she could leave Zhao Yu and seek out the second son of fortune depended on Cui Yao and Du Tian.

“Qingtuan, let’s make another deal!”

Winter was approaching, and Dai Ning had already spent too much time on Zhao Yu.

Her patience was wearing thin.

—

By the time they docked at Wudong the next morning, a faint mist hung in the air.

Wudong was undeniably beautiful, and its fragrant Michelia flowers were in full bloom. The local climate allowed the flowers to bloom sporadically until February of the following year.

Dai Ning, drawn to beautiful places, eagerly disembarked in a bright red dress. Standing amidst the white and pink blossoms, she looked even more vibrant than the flowers themselves.

Du Tian, after a sleepless night, still couldn’t make sense of her predicament. By all logic, the plot shouldn’t have gone off track. Yet Zhao Yu’s attitude toward Dai Ning was inexplicably unpredictable. She feared everything was unraveling, that her storyline advantage was slipping away.

Could it be that Ji Dai Ning had also been “replaced”?

Du Tian approached Dai Ning with crossed arms, her tone icy. “I’ve always been curious. Why would a lady like you join us in this struggle? This land isn’t worth your attention. And as for Zhao Yu—if you don’t like him, why cling to him and deceive him?”

Dai Ning blinked, confused. “But I do value this land. I heard Wudong has crystals, and I need a crystal necklace.”

Du Tian scoffed. “Even if we secure Wudong, those crystals won’t be yours.”

“Zhao Yu will give them to me.”

“Dream on.” Du Tian took a deep breath, realizing the topic had been derailed. The focus wasn’t Wudong’s crystals. “You’re avoiding my question because you’re guilty. What are you really after with Zhao Yu?”

Dai Ning laughed. “What could I possibly want? His poverty? His rigidity? His penchant for lecturing me?”

Du Tian’s eyes lit up as she saw someone emerging behind Dai Ning. She grinned. “You look down on him so much?”

Qingtuan panicked. “Dai Ning! Zhao Yu is right behind you!”

Without looking back, Dai Ning confidently replied, “I only admire the best. Zhao Yu isn’t one of them, so why would I think highly of him?”

Du Tian’s smile widened. “Brother Zhao Yu, did you hear that—”

But Zhao Yu ignored her, instead taking Dai Ning’s arm. “It’s cold. Why didn’t you wear a coat?”

Dai Ning, unfazed, replied, “This dress doesn’t look good with a coat.”

“Wear one anyway. You can take it off once the sun’s out. Otherwise, you’ll get sick.”

Zhao Yu patted her head. Reluctantly, Dai Ning agreed. “Fine.”

As she returned to the boat for her coat, only Zhao Yu and Du Tian remained.

Du Tian couldn’t help herself. “You heard her. She’s selfish and shallow. Why are you still so kind to her?”

Zhao Yu’s voice turned cold. “Miss Du, you’re overstepping. I don’t have much worth coveting, but you—you’ve changed dramatically since that day. What exactly are you after?”

Du Tian’s face turned pale, and she stumbled back a step.

Her heart sank. Zhao Yu had noticed her shift in behavior all along, which explained his rejection of her overtures.

Du Tian no longer suspected Dai Ning was “replaced.” Her heart plummeted. If Zhao Yu began to distrust her, even helping him secure Wudong wouldn’t earn her his trust.

And if he ever discovered her transmigration secret… Du Tian shuddered.

She forced herself to calm down, realizing she had to abandon Zhao Yu’s route. She had made a grave mistake—starting with someone who didn’t know her well made her more likely to slip up.

Suppressing her fear, Du Tian thought of the second male lead’s storyline and made a new decision.

It wasn’t too late to start over.

After all, the second son of fortune might be easier to win over and more likely to devote himself entirely to her!

——

The group stayed in Wudong for five days. Zhao Yu and the others left early every morning and returned late, dragging Du Tian along with them, keeping her so busy that she was rarely seen.

Oddly, the most idle ones were Dai Ning and Young Master Lan.

Wudong had guesthouses for accommodations. Dai Ning spent her time lounging on a rattan swing chair, snacking on sunflower seeds and reading novels. Her courtyard was locked, but being naturally laid-back, she didn’t even notice.

After all, anything involving business struggles had nothing to do with her. She neither understood nor cared to ask.

Dai Ning was reading a melodramatic historical romance novel, finding it hilarious. “Let me tell you about this, Qingtuan. In this story, the emperor male lead, influenced by a white lotus, had the female lead beaten to death with rods. Only after she died did he realize she was the one who had saved him.”

Qingtuan, who had spent the past five days watching novels with her and now had his worldview completely skewed, was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter, tears streaming from his eyes. “Hahaha! That’s so ridiculous, Dai Ning.”

“Isn’t it? Haha!” she laughed along.

Meanwhile, poor Young Master Lan had just begun to accept the reality of Dai Ning’s “new love.” Pining endlessly, he had fallen ill with longing but still couldn’t enter her courtyard.

Lan Lingyun raised his voice, shouting from outside, “Ning Ning! Ning Ning!”

It was evening when Zhao Yu returned.

Lan Lingyun couldn’t hold back and rushed over, grabbing Zhao Yu by the collar. “What’s your deal? Did you lock Ning Ning up?”

Zhao Yu calmly pried his hands off and replied indifferently, “No, it’s for her safety.”

Lan Lingyun, still irate, pressed on. “Does she even know you locked her in?”

He frowned deeply.

Zhao Yu, however, simply led his people inside, shutting Lan Lingyun out.

Circling around to the backyard, Zhao Yu spotted Dai Ning lying lazily on a large swing in front of the koi pond.

He didn’t approach immediately. Instead, he washed his hands, then personally prepared a plate of grapes before heading over to her.

She was engrossed in her book. Zhao Yu glanced at the title: A Thousand-Year Dream: My Cruel Emperor. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, but he said nothing, offering her a grape by placing it near her lips.

Dai Ning opened her mouth to accept the fruit, flipping another page as she did.

Her soft lips occasionally brushed his fingers. Since the embarrassing sanitary pad incident, Zhao Yu had kept his distance from her, refraining from too much intimacy.

She was young, fickle, and could ignite his emotions as easily as she could extinguish them.

As for Dai Ning’s earlier remarks about looking down on him, Zhao Yu hadn’t minded. A practical man, he had recently begun to experience the benefits of power and wealth firsthand.

No man could completely resist those things.

Recalling Lan Lingyun’s accusation about him confining Dai Ning, Zhao Yu asked, “Do you want to go out for a bit?”

He truly had no intention of imprisoning her. Dai Ning was no caged bird, and no one understood that better than him. He would never treat her that way.

However, locking the courtyard had its advantages: it kept strangers from harming her and, more importantly, kept Lan Lingyun out.

Even as a composed man, Zhao Yu couldn’t deny his dislike for Lan Lingyun.

Dai Ning shook her head. “No need.”

Zhao Yu didn’t comment, continuing to feed her grapes.

Dai Ning suddenly looked up, her delicate face curious. “Zhao Yu, when are you getting your hands on that gemstone mine? My birthday is coming up. Can you carve me a little tiger out of agate?”

“When’s your birthday?”

“December 8th.”

It wasn’t even November yet. Zhao Yu did some quick mental calculations and nodded. “Alright.”

Something she’d overlooked suddenly occurred to Dai Ning. Even in her past life, when Zhao Yu had progressed slower, it didn’t make sense that he would agree to marry into her family.

The current Zhao Yu was a man of principles. Yet in the future, he became cold, indifferent, and as hard-hearted as stone.

A person’s character is shaped by their experiences. What exactly had happened to him?

Dai Ning turned to Qingtuan for answers. The dumpling, having rediscovered its clarity of mind, flipped through its records for a while before saying, “There’s nothing written about it. There’s a missing section.”

Something wasn’t right.

A sudden thought struck her—she had only met Zhao Ping and Zhao An’an in her past life but had never encountered Zhao Yu’s parents. Could it be that they hadn’t recovered from their illness and had instead become sacrifices for Zhao Yu’s rise to power?

The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

Dai Ning closed her book, got off the swing, and asked Zhao Yu, “When are you planning to fetch your siblings?”

It was the first time Dai Ning had shown interest in his family affairs. Zhao Yu glanced at her and didn’t hide anything.

“In a few days, I’ll send someone to bring them here. My parents need treatment, and Zhao Ping should start high school. Why do you ask all of a sudden?”

Dai Ning made up a random excuse. “I want to hear Zhao An’an call me sister-in-law.”

For some reason, this made Zhao Yu smile faintly.

“You little liar,” Zhao Yu said. “Don’t tease An’an too much. Keep your distance.”

Dai Ning disliked how he always seemed to see through everything. She countered with a question, “Who’s more important to you, Zhao An’an or me? If we both fell into the water, who would you save?”

Seeing her childish antics, Zhao Yu reached out, lightly stroking her cheek. “I’d save An’an.”

Dai Ning nearly cried out of frustration.

After all this time, she was still no match for Zhao An’an!

She stopped eating grapes, pushing him away to leave. Zhao Yu wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her back.

“Why are you angry now?”

She refused to look at him.

Zhao Yu explained seriously, “I’d save An’an because she’s still a child who hasn’t fully experienced the world.”

Dai Ning covered her ears. “You’re a scoundrel! A heartless jerk! Go away!”

“If something really happened to you,” Zhao Yu paused, “I’d die with you. Because you’re my…”

Dai Ning uncovered her ears, curious. “Your what?”