Chapter 31: The 31st Day of Being in the Book – Her and His Story… (1)

Shuyan had posted the donation record on her feed, and almost immediately, marketing accounts and netizens shared it on Weibo.

In the image, there was a detailed list of donations made by Shuyan to various charitable organizations since she became a streamer.

At first, the daily donation amount was around 20,000 yuan. As time passed and Shuyan’s live-streaming income grew, the donation amount also increased, reaching about 50,000 yuan daily in recent times.

These amounts were roughly half of Shuyan’s estimated daily income. This made it clear that there was no issue of tax evasion on her part.

Moreover, upon closer inspection, it became evident that all the organizations receiving the donations were carefully selected by the donor. These were well-regarded organizations in China, known for their integrity and commitment to public welfare.

For such donations to take place, there had undoubtedly been a thorough evaluation, as they weren’t just for the sake of gaining a good reputation.

Furthermore, while Jinli Live allowed streamers to withdraw their earnings daily, due to regulations, each streamer could only withdraw half of their daily income.

This meant that in the first month of streaming, Shuyan didn’t set aside any money for her own living expenses. Instead, she donated all of it to charity.

Seeing this, netizens who had previously criticized Shuyan suddenly felt embarrassed.

They reflected on themselves—if they were earning such a large sum of money, would they be able to do what Shuyan did, donating half of their earnings?

They couldn’t.

They probably wouldn’t even be willing to donate one-tenth of it.

“I’m sorry. I misjudged Shuyan. She’s the true role model we should all learn from.”

“I’m sorry. We should have investigated things thoroughly before jumping to conclusions. Truly sorry.”

“I didn’t expect the situation to be like this. Shuyan is really a great person. I’m going to follow her now.”

“I always thought streamers were just people who seek attention, but Shuyan has changed my view of them.”

“Shuyan is the real idol we should learn from.”

“Shuyan, please stream every morning. I’ll go to your live stream tomorrow and apologize with some super rockets.”

“Actually, you don’t have to apologize by spending money. Because… you can’t even spend money.”

“Don’t you know that there’s a limit to the gifts given in Shuyan’s live stream every day? Each ID can only send up to 20 yuan in gifts, so at most, you can send a small red flower worth 1 yuan, or a 20 yuan princess castle.”

“To send a 500 yuan gift, you’d need to change IDs multiple times, each ID might cost more than buying the account itself.”

“I don’t know why, but the people who are just here to watch the drama are laughing like crazy. Hahaha, this is what you call not being able to even send money.”

“Looking at it this way, Shuyan really is a breath of fresh air among streamers. She doesn’t market herself, doesn’t expose her private life, just quietly does her own thing and lets her fans restrain their spending. Love her!”

While many netizens were praising Shuyan and expressing their apologies, some were curious about the names listed on the donation receipts.

Everyone knew that the name used for donations didn’t necessarily have to be the person’s real name, as long as the ID number was valid, the name could be anything.

“Do you think Shuyan’s real name is He Yan?”

“I don’t know why, but I feel like the name He Yan doesn’t match Shuyan at all. Her name should be softer and warmer, just like her voice.”

“Yeah, He Yan does sound a bit harsh, but no one says a person’s name has to match their personality. I think He Yan could definitely be Shuyan’s real name.”

“I think so too. Most people use their real names when donating because it’s said that doing good deeds brings good luck, and using someone else’s name is thought to bring good fortune to that person. So, I believe this is Shuyan’s real name.”

“I’ve heard of wealthy people who insisted on getting their names written correctly when donating. Do you remember that rich person who donated a million, but the calligrapher wrote the name wrong? That person made a huge fuss over it.”

“Plus, both Shuyan and He Yan have the character ‘Yan’ in their names. If Shuyan’s real name isn’t He Yan, I’ll drink the vinegar in my dumpling bowl.”

“But I just searched for He Yan, and I found the CEO of He Corporation, and he’s a man.”

“But you know, not everything is searchable online. Baidu can’t possibly have records on billions of people in China.”

“Let’s not argue. We can wait for the tax office’s official announcement. They’re required to thoroughly investigate if someone reports it. They must be investigating Shuyan’s finances right now, and once they make an official statement, we’ll know her real name.”

“Good point.”

Sometimes, netizens could be brutally sharp. Yun Shuning had just seen this comment online when there was a knock at her door.

At this point, she could only think of one possibility—the tax office.

She exited Weibo, took a deep breath, and calmly walked toward the door to open it.

“Hello.” She looked at the three people standing at the door, her voice even, neither too high nor low, just calm and indifferent.

She didn’t examine them closely, but she immediately noticed the intense gaze of the woman among the three. Though the woman appeared calm on the outside, the light in her eyes was so intense it almost felt like it could burn her.

“Are you Miss Yun Shuning?” The man standing in the middle asked after hearing her voice, a flash of admiration crossing his face before he quickly regained his composure. He spoke with a serious tone. “I’m an employee of the Kyoto Tax Bureau. We’re here to clarify a few matters with you.”

“Here are our credentials.”

Yun Shuning glanced at the credentials, then raised her head to meet his bronze-colored face. She nodded slightly. “Please come in.”

Liu Sheng, Fang Zheng, and Li Li entered. But for some reason, seeing Yun Shuning so calm about the whole situation made them feel uneasy. She seemed too calm.

Especially Li Li, who was Shuyan’s biggest fan. She couldn’t sleep at night without listening to her live streams. So when the rumors about Shuyan’s tax evasion went public, she immediately declared it to be impossible.

As expected, after gaining the necessary access, they examined her financial transactions. The claims of unpaid taxes were unfounded since charitable donations had a different tax rate than regular income.

But they couldn’t say anything about it yet because regulations required them to conduct a full investigation after a report was made. They could only release an official announcement once they confirmed that her tax situation was completely legal.

However, after the initial investigation, they could rule out any suspicion of Shuyan evading taxes. That’s why they were acting so friendly.

The three sat neatly on the couch, each one sitting up straighter than the next. When Yun Shuning brought them tea, she noticed how they were sitting, and the atmosphere gradually softened.

“Please have some tea.” After placing the cups down, she sat across from them and spoke politely. “If there’s anything you need me to cooperate with, I’ll do my best.”

“Actually, there’s not much to discuss. We’ve already reviewed your general situation,” Liu Sheng said, his tone softening unintentionally.

He had been at the tax bureau for years, mostly dealing with company audits, and it was rare for him to come to a private home to inspect a person’s finances. “We just need to clarify a few specific issues, including the donations.”

The three of them worked in coordination—one asked questions, one took notes, and one checked Yun Shuning’s personal accounts.

With Yun Shuning’s cooperation, they quickly completed the verification.

Once they confirmed her innocence, Li Li couldn’t hold back her excitement. “Shuyan, I finally met you! I’m your super fan!!”

Afterward, she cautiously looked at the others. “Liu-ge, since we’re done with the official business, can we talk about something personal?”

“Just a little bit,” she said, holding her thumb and forefinger close together.

Liu Sheng glanced at her without saying a word. Ahem, actually, he was a fan of Shuyan too.

“Thank you for your support,” Yun Shuning said with a slight wink, her voice carrying a hint of amusement. “I really enjoy being with you guys.”

She seemed to realize how intimate her words sounded and added softly, “I mean, when I’m live-streaming every day, I’m really happy to have you with me.”

On the other hand, Fang Zheng, who had been quiet since entering, looked at their conversation with a bit of envy. He admired Li Li’s outgoing personality, unlike his own, where when he saw his favorite idol, he could only stand there like a fool.

“By the way, Shuyan, why didn’t you use your real name for the donations? Why did you use ‘He Yan’?” Li Li asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.

She had seen the donation image on the way here and had been wondering about it.

But as soon as she asked this question, Yun Shuning’s smile faded, becoming distant and remote.

The air fell into a heavy, silent stillness.

Liu Sheng cleared his throat, sternly addressing Li Li. “Xiao Li!”

Her voice made Yun Shuning snap back to reality. She smiled faintly. “Because that’s my lover’s name.”

Li Li, being Yun Shuning’s die-hard fan, knew exactly who she was referring to.

Not only did she know, but so did every fan who had heard Shuyan talk about her late lover on stream. A long silence followed.

“…I’m sorry.” Li Li immediately bowed her head. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I was just curious…”

“It’s okay,” Yun Shuning replied. “He passed away long ago. It’s just that I still think of him from time to time.”

In the silence, a single breath felt heavy.

---

He knew Yun Shuning loved He Yan very much. He also knew that Yun Shuning had done a lot for He Yan, even to the point of losing her will to live for a time. But he never expected… she had done this much.

Love is an ambiguous and illusory thing. No matter how deeply someone seems to love, it often still feels unreal.

When does it become real? When there’s concrete sacrifice.

Staring at the long list of donation records on his phone screen and the name in the donor column, Su Muqing suddenly felt exhausted.

A Yun Shuning who could do such a thing was like a wall of iron and copper, completely wrapping herself up, not giving anyone the slightest chance to get close to her heart.

He felt some regret. He shouldn’t have suppressed the online public opinion. If he hadn’t, Yun Shuning’s absence from the charity event would’ve been forgotten by netizens in a few days.

Then she wouldn’t have posted the donation record, and no one would’ve known who the “beloved” she mentioned was.

What he had done these past few days was already too much. If Yun Shuning found out, her opinion of him would definitely grow worse. What he needed to do now was damage control.

At that moment, his phone rang. He took it out and frowned slightly when he saw the caller ID.

“President Yu really has a lot of free time, huh?” he raised his eyebrows and asked with a smile that carried a hidden edge.

Hearing the voice over the phone, Yu Cheng furrowed his brows in disgust. “Su Muqing, is Qingyuan so idle these days that you’re always meddling?”

He had been keeping an eye on the online situation. After some digging, he was almost certain Su Muqing was the one stirring things up.

He didn’t know what Su Muqing was trying to do, but that didn’t stop him from warning him.

“President Yu, I really don’t understand what you mean.” Su Muqing replied calmly, his tone laced with confusion, as if he truly didn’t know anything.

“Boss, the company’s core programmer just submitted his resignation. He wants to leave today.” Xu Zheng came rushing in, visibly anxious.

Every core staff member in the company had been handpicked by Su Muqing and had weathered many storms alongside the company.

But no one knew what had happened to cause such a key employee to suddenly want to resign.

“Looks like you got my message.” Yu Cheng leisurely adjusted his cufflinks. He heard the silence on the other end of the call.

Su Muqing knew it was Yu Cheng who did it, but his pride wouldn’t let him back down. “So the prestigious Yu family is so idle, huh? No wonder you’ve got time to meddle in someone else’s company.”

“You don’t need to worry about that, loser.” Yu Cheng sat on the sofa and swirled the wine in his glass. The deep red liquid gently lapped against the sides. “Now, you should know what you can and cannot do.”

“I didn’t know President Yu was such a romantic.” Su Muqing clenched his fist tightly, body tense, but his voice remained light and lazy. “Looks like you saw what Shushu posted online. What did you think?”

“Don’t you think that this kind of love is something to be envied… something worth keeping forever?”

His last few words were soft and carried a strange temptation.

Hearing him bring up Yun Shuning’s donation record, Yu Cheng’s expression turned even colder. He pressed on the wound he had deliberately reopened a few days ago. With slight pressure, fresh blood seeped out of the barely healed wound.

“Su Muqing, I hope you remember this lesson,” he said coldly, then hung up decisively.

A wine glass fell with a muffled clunk onto the carpet.

What was he thinking when he saw that post?

He wasn’t thinking anything. His chest was just filled with a dense, aching pain that nearly drove him insane.

Every time he heard what Yun Shuning had done for He Yan, the jealousy in his heart intensified, almost to the point of collapse.

Only pain could ease that bitter torment.

“Yun Shuning.” He lowered his head, the man who had always looked down on the world now full of confusion. What should he do? What could he do?

—

After hanging up, Su Muqing’s face went cold. He gave a series of instructions to Xu Zheng, telling him to stabilize the company’s internal operations.

He had long known the importance of power. If Yu Cheng weren’t the Yu family’s heir, he would never have had the means to deal such a blow to him.

It was because Yu Cheng held power that Su Muqing had to back down time and time again.

But if the Su family became his, he would no longer need to worry—he could do whatever he wanted.

For now, he needed to stabilize the online situation.

Not just because of Yu Cheng’s warning—more importantly, if he didn’t take action, he’d have no way to explain himself to Yun Shuning.

Even if Yun Shuning might not even care.

He opened the official Weibo account of his company and casually skimmed through comments speculating about his relationship with Yun Shuning. Then he closed his eyes and mentally drafted a post.

“No matter what my identity is, in the end, I’m just a man who likes a girl. I just didn’t expect that this affection…”

He finished typing, casually tagged a few commenters who had questioned their relationship, and posted it.

The comment section exploded:

“So the crown prince means he’s been chasing Shuyan all this time, but she never agreed, and even told him to back off multiple times? Is that what he’s saying?”

“Wait—he pursued her so hard he even bought out an old-school streaming platform? Big spender!”

“I just want to know how pretty Shuyan is to get Su Muqing hooked like this?”

“Why are some people better looking, have better family backgrounds, and are even more hardworking than the rest of us?”

“I really want to know what Shuyan’s thinking. How did she reject such a perfect man? If it were me, I’d have said yes long ago.”

“Shuyan already said she has someone she loves. Of course she wouldn’t accept anyone else.”

“I want to know how amazing He Yan really is to earn such deep love from Shuyan—so deep she rejected Su Muqing.”

“Same. But Shuyan rarely talks about him on stream. Sometimes she’ll bring him up and then quickly change the subject.”

“Now that you mention it, her beloved is quite mysterious. I remember she said he hates being in the spotlight.”

“Speaking of which, I can think of someone like that… And coincidentally, he has the same name.”

“That’s one heck of a coincidence.”

“I have a bold idea.”

“Me too.”

“I know what you’re all thinking, but it’s not possible. He Yan? The former head of He Group? That guy could shake the national economy—how could it be him?”

“And He Yan’s been missing for years. He couldn’t possibly be Shuyan’s beloved.”

“Even if Shuyan is popular now, her fans shouldn’t throw around names like that. If He Yan were still alive, they’d probably already be getting sued.”

“Shuyan’s fans better behave. Not everyone’s fame is up for grabs.”

—

“Little He, are you sure you want to post this on Weibo?” Zhao Guping, He Yan’s assistant, had worked with him for three years before he went missing—the longest term of any assistant.

After He Yan’s disappearance, Zhao was the first to stabilize He Group, then approached He Chen to discuss the company’s future.

Now the company was barely holding on. Zhao was capable, but after running the empire for four years alone, he was nearing his limit.

He had been waiting for He Chen to take over. After all, Zhao wasn’t a true heir, and many high-level decisions were getting harder to enforce.

He Chen had finally agreed to the succession this year—until he found out about He Yan’s girlfriend.

Then he postponed the handover again.

Zhao felt like someone who had waited years to retire, only to be told, “Just a little longer.”

He was utterly exasperated.

He Yan had always been an amazing boss—extremely capable, never handing down unsolvable problems. Or maybe he simply never had any.

Zhao had learned a lot from him. Otherwise, he could never have kept He Group stable all these years.

But He Yan had always kept his private life under wraps. Even Zhao, who handled all his affairs, didn’t know much about it.

So when He Chen asked if he knew anything about He Yan’s romantic history, Zhao could only offer a few vague guesses.

“Little He, you have to understand—once this Weibo post goes up, the public interest in He Yan’s disappearance will spike again. Your takeover might be indefinitely delayed.”

“Post it.” He Chen’s voice was calm, as if he didn’t care about losing anything.

“Yes, sir.”

—

Just when everyone’s focus had shifted to speculating about Shuyan’s beloved and revisiting the mystery of He Yan’s disappearance, the official Weibo of He Group suddenly updated.

Important note: since He Yan’s disappearance, this account had been inactive. Most official updates came from a subsidiary account.

So when the official account suddenly came back online, many thought it was fake.

Looking at this post after four years of silence, many people were left stunned.

What did they mean Yun Shuning and He Yan were lovers? What did they mean any defamation of Miss Yun would result in legal action from He Group?

Had the world gone crazy—or had they?

Wasn’t He Yan supposed to have disappeared four years ago?

At that moment, Shuyan’s official CP fans were already crying rivers.

Shuyan had spoken so gently about her and He Yan’s love—so heartfelt, so moving. They thought it was just a sweet, bittersweet past.

But in the end, it turned out to be a love that had endured four years of waiting without end.

According to law, someone missing for two years after an accident can be declared legally dead. He Yan had been gone for four years.

That meant… there was almost no hope.

Just as netizens were moved by Shuyan’s devotion, someone raised a question:

“But everything Shuyan mentioned—those are all things she did. What about He Yan? Did he do nothing?”

“Didn’t Shushu say that He Yan ate cilantro for her even though he didn’t like it?”

“If that’s all he did, then it doesn’t even come close to comparing with everything Shuyan has done.”

“Could it be that He Yan was just playing around, but Shuyan took it seriously?”

“I think that’s possible. I mean, the two of them are worlds apart. I really don’t think an heir to the He family would truly fall in love with someone who doesn’t match his status or background at all.”

“What are you even saying? The official company account already acknowledged their relationship, and now you’re twisting it into something casual?”

“Be honest—do you really think Shuyan isn’t good enough for He Yan? Do you even know how many people are pursuing her right now? Just look at the most recent one. Isn’t Su Muqing hopelessly in love with her too?”

“Alright, enough arguing. I looked into He Group’s charity foundation today, and I happened to come across this.” (attached image)

As a large corporation, He Group sets aside a portion of its profits to fund charitable foundations.

Among them is this particular project, which donates books to children in remote mountainous areas. It began six years ago and is still ongoing.

This project was buried among many others. If no one had specifically gone digging, it would have been impossible to find.

The name of this charity project is: The Shu-He Education Assistance Foundation.

“Shu” comes first, “He” comes second.

In any other situation, if someone saw this name, they’d probably just think it was straightforwardly named and wouldn’t read too much into it. But now…

A foundation named “Shu-He.”
A streamer who named herself “Shuyan” (Shu + Yan).

It’s clearly something so romantic—
And yet, those who saw this couldn’t even tell when the tears began streaming down their faces.

If it weren’t for that accident, they probably would be living a very happy life right now.