又过了几天,莱克西昂体内残留的药物效果才完全消散.那段时间,乔知倾尽全力,用甜言蜜语和爱意淹没了她.性格的变化令人震惊,但莱西昂意外地很快适应了.
不过,这个过程本身...难以形容.
从回忆中清醒过来,乐湘揉了揉太阳穴.就在这时,她的手机开始响起.看到屏幕上的名字,她的手犹豫了片刻,然后滑动回答.
"乐湘!"沈明远的声音从听筒里爆发出来.
Lexiang一句话也没说.她靠在椅背上,目光飘向贴在冰箱上的外卖菜单,漫不经心地想着晚餐该点什么.
"你打电话有什么原因吗?"她最终问,声音平淡.
她那无聊的语气就像火上浇油."你竟敢?!"明远怒吼道."你怎么能这样对我?"
"到底做什么?"乐湘回答,声音依旧带着练习过的冷漠."揭露'伟大的浪漫主义者'其实是个骗子?还是你挪用政府资金的证据让你不满?"
"你..."明远被愤怒呛住了."你早就知道了?一直以来?"
事实上,挪用公款其实并没有让他太在意.乐湘把证据泄露给了沈家的对手,但他们圈子里有规矩.他挪走的钱不算死刑——最坏的情况是沈集团得付一大笔"罚款"才能让它消失,他还会被母亲狠狠训斥.
真正刺痛人的是那些丑闻.
多年来,他在乐湘面前扮演烈士,声称自己是在"为她"拯救自己",希望赢回她.他以为自己玩得很完美.现在,这个事实像一记重击击中了他.
真正的傻瓜是谁?
"沈明远,你真的觉得我是个傻子吗?"Lexiang发出一声尖锐的嘲讽笑声."我从来不明白你的优越感从何而来.难道只是因为你有个有钱的母亲和强大的父亲吗?"
明远的脸染上斑驳的紫色红晕."你能不能就正常地跟我说话?我知道这次我搞砸了,但我这么做只是因为我想让我们复合!况且,乔之已经把我打得落花流水了.全身还是很痛."
话音渐渐变成了可怜的呜咽.
活该,乐湘翻了个白眼.她甚至无法为他那时机不当的受害者行为生气.这是一个认为自己最小挫折就是国家悲剧,期望世界对他每一个擦伤都宠爱的人.他快四十岁了,却情感成熟度不如幼儿——主要是因为太多人一生都在纵容他.
即使现在,他也真心相信被乔之揍一拳,是给她下药,试图偷她的卵子做试管婴儿的公平交换.对他来说,她是他渴望的奖品,但从未是平等的.
Lexiang屏蔽了他剩下的絮叨;全是噪音.她只是为了保持距离,才留在电话上,害怕挂断电话,他会突然出现在她门口.
"满丽姐让我把这个交给你."
乐湘从姚琦手中接过摄影本,叹了口气.虽然"意外"是由满丽的助理引起的,乐湘并不怪朋友.曼丽是她少数真正信任的人之一;只是像沈明远这样的人,收买一个低级助理简直是笑话.
"你还没吃饭吧?我给你带了午饭,"姚琪说着,从包里拿出一个保温容器.她忍不住唠叨."你真奇怪.你厨艺不错,却宁愿花大钱买平庸的外卖,也不愿在厨房里动一根手指."
Lexiang耸耸肩.擅长某件事并不意味着她喜欢它.她整个青春期都在做饭和打扫——一年365天不间断.任何人都会精疲力竭.一旦她有经济能力停止,她发誓再也不在炉子前劳作.
姚琦的厨艺是普通的家常菜,但乐湘并不挑剔.她以创纪录的速度吃完了炒猪肉和蘑菇.
"那么,工作室...你真的不打算重新打开吗?"姚琦一边收拾碗碟一边问.
"我不行,"乐湘摇头说.
姚琦以为是因为沈明远,但乐湘心知肚明.虽然最初的麻烦可能是他的手,但压垮骆驼的最后一根稻草几乎可以肯定是她前婆婆徐兰的手艺.
这是对乔之被打的报复.这是一种模式;多年前,离婚让明远郁郁寡欢时,徐兰利用她的影响力将乐湘从企业界拉黑.徐岚是个讲理的女人——直到涉及到她的儿子.
每个被宠坏的孩子背后,都有一位父母在牵着绳子.徐兰在董事会里是鲨鱼,但在家里却是盲目的助长者.为了明远,她愿意焚毁整个世界.Lexiang已经习惯了.
"I'll never understand rich people," Yao Qi sighed. "If you love someone, shouldn't you want what's best for them? Being loved by someone like Shen Mingyuan is just a curse."
Lexiang couldn't agree more.
Because of Mingyuan's high-profile antics, almost all of Lexiang's friends knew the messy details of her life. She used to be humiliated by it; now, she was just exhausted.
"You're going abroad soon, aren't you?" Yao Qi asked.
Lexiang nodded. It had become her ritual: whenever Mingyuan became too suffocating, she fled the country to catch her breath.
"But first," Lexiang said, "I need to hire an assistant."
The recent incident had been a wake-up call. As a photographer, she needed a pair of hands she could trust, especially with heavy gear. She usually relied on staff provided by clients or borrowed assistants from friends, but that had clearly backfired.
"You're actually hiring?" Yao Qi looked stunned.
She had suggested this a dozen times, but Lexiang always brushed it off, claiming it was too much of a hassle. Between the constant international travel and Lexiang's light workload, it wasn't exactly a stable "dream job" for most applicants. Finding someone reliable for the low pay she could offer seemed impossible.
"Maybe I'll just look for someone part-time?" Lexiang mused.
"Forget it," Yao Qi countered. "Your schedule is all over the place. No part-timer is going to be able to drop everything the moment you decide to fly to another continent."
Lexiang frowned. The job didn't require much technical skill—anyone with a pulse and a strong back could do it. But who with a pulse wanted to work for pennies? Lexiang could only offer a base salary of 1,000 yuan. It wasn't that she was stingy; it was just that she spent most of her time on solo creative trips. Actual "work" days only happened maybe five times a month.
They went back and forth for a while before Lexiang finally posted a recruitment ad, though she held zero expectations.
While waiting for a response that she was sure wouldn't come, Lexiang spent a few days flipping through travel magazines. She finally settled on her next destination: Malaysia.
"I'm thinking Kuala Lumpur," Lexiang told Yao Qi a few days later. They were at a KFC, picking up Yao Qi's daughter, Mili, from kindergarten. "A friend posted some shots of the city and it looked incredible. Plus, I've been craving authentic Nasi Lemak and Satay."
"Must be nice," Yao Qi pouted. "I'd love to go, but my motion sickness is a nightmare."
Lexiang didn't bother comforting her. She knew Yao Qi well—even without the motion sickness, she was a homebody who felt anxious the moment she left her zip code. Unless she had a literal entourage of friends, she wasn't going anywhere.
"Poor Mili," Lexiang teased, patting the little girl's head. "When you're a bit older, Auntie will take you overseas."
Mili, busy drowning a french fry in a pool of ketchup, didn't even look up. "Do they have fries and ketchup in 'Overseas'?"
The girl was a potato addict. If Yao Qi didn't stop her, she'd eat nothing else.
Lexiang laughed. "Of course they do! That's where they come from."
"Then I'm going." Mili shot a sneaky look at her mom and whispered in Lexiang's ear, "Just the two of us, Auntie Lexiang. Then I can eat all the fries I want."
"It's a deal," Lexiang smiled.
Yao Qi huffed at her daughter. "Unbelievable. No more new toys for you."
"Auntie Lexiang will buy them for me!" Mili stuck her tongue out, her pigtails bouncing as she swayed defiantly.
"See?" Yao Qi complained. "Stop spoiling her! She's becoming impossible to manage."
"Mama is a meanie!" Mili chirped before Lexiang could even respond.
Lexiang watched the mother-daughter bickering with a relaxed smile until her phone buzzed in her bag. It was an unknown number.
"Hello, this is Lexiang," she said.
"Um… hi. I'm calling about the assistant job…"
By the time she hung up, Lexiang was in a state of mild shock. Someone actually wanted the job? Naturally, Yao Qi's curiosity was piqued, so she tagged along for the interview.
When they arrived at the teahouse, a young woman was standing by the entrance. The first thing that hit Lexiang was: Damn, she's tall.
"You've got to be at least six feet, right?" Yao Qi blurted out before they even said hello.
The woman blinked, her lips pressing into a thin line. "Five-ten," she said softly.
Lexiang and Yao Qi exchanged a glance. That was tall for a man, let alone a woman.
"Well, let's not stand around. Let's head inside," Lexiang invited.
Once they were seated, Lexiang took a proper look at her. She wasn't traditional-looking; there was a sharp, almost "handsome" quality to her features. If it weren't for the clear curve of her chest beneath her tracksuit and the lack of an Adam's apple, Lexiang might have mistaken her for a man in drag.
But there was something else… a vibe. She didn't look like the type of person who applied for "assistant" positions.
"I'm Lexiang. This is my friend Yao Qi, and the little one is her daughter, Mili," Lexiang introduced them as the tea was served. "And you are?"
"Zheng Manfu. I'm twenty-one, just finished my associate's degree." The girl sounded incredibly tense, her voice wound tight.
Zheng Manfu. (Literally: "Full of Fortune")
Lexiang and Yao Qi shared another look. The name didn't fit the girl at all. And was it just Lexiang, or did the girl seem… terrified?
Lexiang knew she wasn't exactly the "warm and fuzzy" type, but she didn't think she was intimidating either. She wasn't a corporate shark; she was a freelance photographer. What was there to be nervous about?
Maybe she just has bad social anxiety, Lexiang thought. She gave Manfu a reassuring smile, but it didn't seem to help.
"I laid out the details in the ad," Lexiang began. "The base pay is 1,000 yuan a month. Meals are included when we're working. If we work more than five days a month, it's an extra 200 per day. I cover all travel expenses." She paused. "And there's a high chance we'll be traveling abroad."
She waited. Manfu sat there, frozen.
"Can you accept those terms?" Lexiang prompted.
"Yes," Manfu said, her tone a mix of desperation and sudden resolve.
That was… too easy.
Lexiang squinted at her. Was this a plant? Had Shen Mingyuan or Xu Lan sent her?
The moment Lexiang's gaze sharpened, Manfu stiffened even more. A bead of sweat actually rolled down her temple.
Lexiang felt a bit speechless. If Xu Lan had sent a spy, she wouldn't have picked someone this transparent. But Shen Mingyuan? She never underestimated how low his IQ could sink.
Even Yao Qi felt the vibe was off. "Aside from this, do you have another job? You can't honestly tell me you can survive in the capital on 1,000 a month."
Manfu shook her head. "My family owns a martial arts gym. I work there as a coach. Since it's a family business, I can come and go as I please. I just wanted a side job to help out with the household bills."
"Do you believe her?" Yao Qi asked on the way home.
"Hard to say," Lexiang replied. "The story holds up on the surface, but it doesn't make much sense. If it's her family's gym, shouldn't she be putting more effort into that? I doubt she makes less coaching than she would being my assistant."
"Maybe business is bad?" Yao Qi suggested.
"Maybe."
"So, is she one of Shen Mingyuan's people?"
Lexiang quieted for a moment. "We'll see."
"You're actually going to hire her?"
Lexiang nodded. "If Shen Mingyuan is trying to set me up, I'd rather deal with someone like Manfu—someone who wears their heart on their sleeve—than wait for him to send someone actually clever. And if we're just being paranoid? Even better."
She had a headache coming on. She realized that after all these years, Shen Mingyuan had finally figured out the one thing she feared: that her freedom wasn't just hers to give. Just like their divorce, the decision to remarry was ultimately in the hands of the Shen parents.
The Shen family had played the "family-in-peril" card once before. Lexiang wasn't sure she could let her own family suffer a second time just to save herself.
In the past, Mingyuan had always been incompetent in his harassment, which was annoying but manageable. But this egg-theft scheme showed he was evolving. He knew that if he produced a "legitimate" heir, his parents would force the remarriage just to keep the bloodline "pure."
Manfu started work soon after. "Work" mostly consisted of getting to know the studio—which was just the loft in Lexiang's apartment.
Lexiang had paid a premium for the top-floor unit specifically for the loft. It had been a storage room originally, but now it was her creative sanctuary. It wasn't the most professional setup for an assistant, but it worked.
Manfu was surprisingly diligent. She didn't snoop, she cleaned without being asked, and she remembered every instruction perfectly. For someone so physically imposing, she was remarkably observant.
"Lexiang, are we doing takeout again?" Manfu asked one afternoon. She always sounded a little hesitant when using Lexiang's name.
"Yeah. I'll make sure to order you two portions."
Over the last few days, Lexiang had realized Manfu was eating her meals down to the last grain of rice—not out of politeness, but because she was genuinely starving. The girl was a martial artist; a standard salad or a small stir-fry didn't even touch the sides.
"No, that's not what I meant," Manfu said, waving her hands. "I mean… you have a full kitchen here. We could cook. I can stop by the market on my way in. It's cheaper, and it's healthier."
Lexiang's eyes narrowed. Was this an angle? "You know how to cook?"
Manfu nodded, then bit her lip when she saw Lexiang's suspicious expression. "I'm not trying to… it's just…" She struggled for a moment before blurting out, "Ms. Yao told me about… what happened. I think takeout is a security risk. I'd feel better if I made the food myself."
Lexiang went cold. Not because of the suggestion, but because Manfu clearly knew she was being watched. Was she trying to earn her trust, or was she being sincere?
"Did you really tell her everything?" Lexiang asked Yao Qi over the phone that night.
"Everything about what?"
"About Shen Mingyuan."
"I only told her about the drugging incident," Yao Qi admitted guiltily. "I was trying to bait her, to see how she'd react, but…"
"But you got nothing?" Lexiang guessed.
"Yeah," Yao Qi sighed. "She's weird. One second she seems like a total airhead, the next she's like… some kind of enigma."
"She told me we should stop ordering takeout because it's 'unsafe,'" Lexiang said.
Yao Qi went quiet. "Maybe you should fire her. I'll be your assistant."
"And what about Mili?"
"I know, I know," Yao Qi groaned. "But Manfu has a point. Shen Mingyuan is exactly the kind of creep who'd bribe a delivery guy to slip you something. But can we trust her near your stove?"
Lexiang gave a bitter laugh. She knew this feeling well—the feeling of being trapped. It was the same feeling she had when she was forced to marry him, the same feeling she had when the elite circles looked down on her, the same feeling she had every time the Shens trampled on her dignity.
She couldn't fight back. She didn't have the power. She'd realized long ago that to truly stand up to the Shen family, she'd need twenty years of soul-crushing work to build an empire of her own. And she didn't want to spend her life doing something she hated just to spite them.
The next morning, Lexiang got a call from Luoyu, an editor at a food magazine she worked with frequently. They needed a spread on "culinary aesthetics." Lexiang headed over to the magazine's office, Manfu in tow.
The meeting went perfectly. Since it was getting late, Luoyu invited them to lunch at a new Thai place nearby.
"The owner is a friend of a friend," Luoyu said as she led them into a private booth. "The Tom Yum and the curry fish cakes are life-changing."
Luoyu was a "proudly plump" foodie. She never denied her cravings, which was why Lexiang loved eating with her. If Lexiang ever wanted a recommendation, Luoyu never missed.
The food was, indeed, incredible.
"I found this amazing farmhouse place a few hours outside the city," Luoyu chatted between bites. "The authentic country cooking is to die for. I'll send you the address."
"Please do," Lexiang said.
As they ate, Luoyu kept glancing between Manfu—who was devouring her food with terrifying efficiency—and Lexiang's slender frame. Her envy was palpable.
Manfu eventually noticed and shrunk back slightly. "I exercise a lot," she whispered. "I burn it all off."
Luoyu seemed mollified by that. She turned back to Lexiang. "So, I heard your ex-husband is acting up again?"
Manfu looked up, surprised by the bluntness of the topic. Lexiang wasn't surprised at all. Shen Mingyuan didn't know the meaning of the word 'discretion.'
"Always a pleasure to be the talk of the town," Lexiang said with a thin smile, though internally she was fuming.
"Actually, there's something you should know," Luoyu said, her tone turning serious. "I was interviewing an old-timer recently, and I heard a rumor… Chairman Shen has stopped arranging blind dates for his son." She looked at Lexiang with genuine pity. "You need to be careful."
The socialites thought Lexiang had won the lottery by marrying into the Shen family. But people like Luoyu, who worked in media, knew the truth. They knew the Shens were a nightmare. To Luoyu, Lexiang was a brilliant woman who had been dragged down by a mediocre man. If she'd never met Mingyuan, she'd probably be a high-flying executive with a happy family by now. Instead, she was a freelance photographer making a decent living but living under a constant shadow.
And Shen Mingyuan? He was a talentless, spoiled brat who offered nothing but his parents' money.
"Thanks for the heads-up, Luoyu," Lexiang said quietly.
"I never said anything, okay?" Luoyu added quickly.
"I know." Lexiang understood the risk Luoyu was taking. Mingyuan wasn't a man who played fair.
As if summoned by the mention of his name, they walked out of the booth only to run straight into Shen Mingyuan. Lexiang's face went cold.
"Lexiang! What a coincidence!" Mingyuan beamed, rushing over. "Are you eating here too? We should—"
Manfu stepped forward, looking him up and down. Mingyuan was thirty-seven. Most men his age were at their peak, but he looked… weathered. He clearly spent money on skincare, but his complexion was dull, and his expensive suit couldn't hide the soft "dad bod" that came from years of avoiding the gym. He had the arrogant air of a man who had never worked a day in his life, yet possessed none of the charm that usually came with it.
Next to him, Lexiang looked like she belonged to a different species. She wasn't a "classic" knockout, but she had an aura. Time, which had been a thief to Mingyuan, had been a jeweler to her. She looked better at thirty-five than she had at twenty-five.
Ten years ago, they might have looked like a couple. Now, they looked like a goddess being harassed by a used car salesman.
"I've already eaten," Lexiang interrupted him.
Mingyuan's smile faltered. "Can't you just sit with me for a bit?"
"I'm not an escort, Shen Mingyuan," she said, her voice dripping with ice.
He blinked, stunned. "I didn't mean it like that! Don't be like this."
Lexiang wanted to scream. "I'm not 'being' anything. I'm leaving. And I'll stay that way as long as you stop following me." She checked her watch. "Goodbye."
She started to walk away, Manfu right on her heels.
"Lexiang, wait!" Mingyuan chased after them. "I heard about the studio. That wasn't me, it was my mom! I couldn't stop her. Just tell me how much you lost, I'll transfer the money. Why are you even doing this photography thing anyway? You work your ass off for what, a few million a year? Just let me take care of you."
Lexiang was immune to his "innocent" idiocy, but Manfu actually stopped and glared at him. It was a look of pure, unadulterated venom. Mingyuan, who was a coward at heart, actually stumbled back.
By the time he found his courage, they were gone.
"I can't believe he didn't follow us," Lexiang mused once they reached the car.
"I scared him off," Manfu said bluntly.
"You what?"
Manfu looked troubled. To demonstrate, she gave Lexiang the same look she'd given Mingyuan. Lexiang actually flinched at the sheer intensity of the killing intent in the girl's eyes.
"You really don't like him, do you?" Lexiang asked, amused.
"I hate him," Manfu said seriously. "He's a toad who thinks he's entitled to a swan."
Lexiang stared at her. For the first time, she truly believed Manfu wasn't a spy. Mingyuan was too vain to hire someone who genuinely despised him.
Lexiang felt a small, genuine smile tugging at her lips. For years, all she'd heard was how "lucky" she was to have been picked by him—how the little sparrow had become a phoenix. It was exhausting.
But today, she'd finally heard someone tell the truth.
A toad who thinks he's entitled to a swan. Finally, someone had said it.