Chapter 15

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“Are you full?”

Ji Ning took a napkin and handed it to Bamboo.

After downing the last glass of milk, Bamboo felt that she had just eaten the most delicious breakfast of her life.

The two of them did whatever they pleased. Neither knew where they would go next. Until they pressed a number on the elevator panel, they did not even know whether they were going up or down.

Ji Ning had somehow acquired a little tagalong, and she found that she rather liked it.

The paternity test report had not yet arrived, but everyone online said that the two of them had looked alike as children. Fu Mingya was a cautious woman, too, so the result was probably all but certain.

Would her little tagalong continue following her in the future?

Ji Ning turned to glance at Bamboo again and raised a brow.

That could actually be rather fun.

The atmosphere was perfectly harmonious—if a strange person had not suddenly appeared and seized Ji Ning by the hand.

“Ah!”

A tall figure loomed over her, startling Ji Ning.

Jiang Cheng saw her clearly.

The difficulty of finding her had left him desperate to keep her by his side.

Four years.

She had left without a word, without leaving behind the slightest trace. During all those years, Jiang Cheng had searched for her in city after city, even country after country. At first, whenever he caught sight of a figure that resembled her, he would react instinctively and rush after it. Later, after one disappointment followed another, he had even begun to wonder whether they might never meet again.

But whatever else happened, she was safe. That was all that mattered.

Jiang Cheng looked at her.

She had changed somewhat, and yet somehow she had not changed at all.

Her hair was longer, and her style of dress was different, but she still carried herself with that devil-may-care nonchalance of hers.

The night before, Assistant Wen had asked him whether he had fallen victim to a romance scam.

Jiang Cheng had hastily made up for his ignorance of internet slang. After looking into it carefully, he had determined that this was not the case.

How could a romance scam not involve cheating someone out of money?

Four years ago, she had been so poor that the wind whistled through her pockets. She had regarded money as dirt. Even if she had deceived him—

She had only deceived him out of his feelings.

Seeing her standing before him, healthy and in excellent condition, Jiang Cheng was still filled with relief.

Thank goodness her sudden disappearance had not been caused by some terrible accident.

Assistant Wen finally caught up and stole a distant glance.

Had Mr. Jiang... somehow managed to comfort himself again?

“You—”

Though his face was cold, he had carefully considered his opening words for this long-awaited reunion.

“Who are you?” Ji Ning asked with a frown.

Jiang Cheng: ...

Assistant Wen was so shocked that his jaw nearly fell off.

That was way too cruel!

Ji Ning disdainfully shook off Jiang Cheng’s hand and led Bamboo away.

As if that were not hurtful enough, she even had someone notify hotel security.

As the little dumpling hurried after her, she turned back to look at the strange uncle.

Assistant Wen stood not far away, conveniently available as someone to consult.

“Is she angry?”

Assistant Wen: ?

What was she angry about?

Shouldn’t you be the one who was angry?

...

A passerby had just wasted one second of Ji Ning’s time.

He had probably mistaken her for someone else.

She took Bamboo to the front desk to arrange an upgrade to their room.

She wondered whether the presidential suite had become available yet.

“Mr. Jiang, who is staying in the top-floor suite, was originally scheduled to check out at two this afternoon. If you need it, Ms. Ji, we can reserve the room for you.”

The receptionist immediately entered a reservation note into the system.

Ji Ning casually produced a gold card and handed it over. “I haven’t decided how long we’ll be staying, so I’ll prepay with this card.”

“Of course, Ms. Ji.”

The young woman waiting nearby to check in looked at Ji Ning enviously.

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The image of a wealthy socialite was something people usually saw online. In real life, most rich people were careful and calculating with their money. But now, the young woman had encountered a genuinely wealthy woman—someone who spent lavishly without even blinking. What was more, she had not taken out her phone to record a vlog or anything of the sort, which clearly meant she was not making a living off the internet.

The young woman’s gaze traveled upward, finally coming to rest on Ji Ning’s face. Her expression grew even more astonished, as though she had just witnessed something extraordinary.

Ji Ning caught the girl’s friendly yet exaggerated expression from the corner of her eye.

She turned and gave her a polite little smile.

Before she could do anything else, however, the receptionist interrupted her.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Ji, but it seems that this card has been deactivated.”

The young woman beside them wore an expression of utter shock.

Ji Ning: ?

No more smiling.

Bamboo tilted her head as well.

What did deactivated mean?

Two o’clock in the afternoon—the hotel’s checkout time.

The little dumpling had learned a new fact.

A deactivated gold card meant that mother and daughter were now homeless.

Bamboo asked softly, “What do we do?”

...

“She’ll come back with the child.”

That was what Fu Mingya had said on the first day the card was deactivated.

Now it was the fifth day, and she was still saying the same thing.

Fu Mingya could not claim to know her daughter particularly well.

Otherwise, Ji Ning would not have managed to deceive her at the airport and cause such a commotion.

But the saying that it was difficult to return to frugality after becoming accustomed to luxury was true, whether or not one bothered to verify it.

Ji Ning had grown up in comfort. It had made her delicate and pampered. She feared hardship and disliked exertion, and she had never allowed herself to suffer the slightest injustice. If she could not even manage on her own while living away from home, how could she possibly raise a child?

Money might be vulgar, but it could solve most problems.

Fu Mingya firmly believed that Ji Ning would return.

At that moment, Lin Li placed a prepared statement concerning the adoption of the child Bamboo on Fu Mingya’s desk and asked her to review it.

“If everything is in order, I’ll take it to the group’s legal department for stamping. We can publish it on our website afterward.”

Fu Mingya skimmed the document.

She did not know how Ji Ning and Bamboo had been getting along, but a woman who was still a child herself could hardly be expected to fulfill the role of a mother.

Fu Mingya nodded and rubbed her temples. “Bring Ji Ning and the child home.”

Lin Li gathered up the documents. Then Fu Mingya called after her and asked her to make another cup of coffee.

Lin Li was holding her phone and had not yet had time to put it away. She also had to hold the cup and organize the documents. When she met Fu Mingya’s assessing gaze, she panicked slightly.

Madam Fu disliked foolish people.

Lin Li swiftly composed herself and returned to her most professional state. She was just about to tuck the phone beneath her arm when Fu Mingya rapped her fingers against the desk.

“Wait.”

Fu Mingya looked at the phone screen Lin Li had accidentally lit up. “What’s that?”

“A trending-news notification,” Lin Li answered absently. Then her gaze fell on the words displayed on the screen, and she froze.

...

At the same time, Ji Ning and Bamboo were packing their luggage for the variety show.

There was not much to pack. The two of them were so broke they could practically bubble over with poverty. Fortunately, once they joined the show, they would at least have somewhere to stay.

The trending notification announced the preview trailer for the second season of Switch Lives, along with the official reveal of the program’s cast.

Every guest was a renowned star who had never appeared on a variety show before. Their existing popularity alone sent the announcement straight to the top of the trending charts.

The three-time award-winning actress had rarely appeared in public for years. Now, in the tenth year of her on-again, off-again relationship with her husband, the person closest to her had become a stranger beside her in bed. They still fought one another, but no longer loved one another.

The top male idol and his twin sister had no sibling superiority between them. If they could, they both wished the other had never existed.

The two popular young actresses were at the height of their careers and regarded as each other’s greatest rivals, yet they had once been the closest of friends.

“Ahhh—the cast is incredible!”

“This has to be half the entertainment industry’s current star power gathered in one place!”

In the backstage interviews featured in the preview, not a single guest looked remotely pleasant.

A bewildered little bitter-melon baby sat among them, and netizens worried that the child would become everyone’s punching bag.

“That was filmed before Bamboo was recognized by her wealthy family. She probably won’t be appearing once the show begins, right?”

“Wah, I miss our little bitter melon so much.”

“Bamboo is a little heiress now! She should be called a little sweet melon instead!”

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What the netizens never expected was that when the ordinary guest was officially announced, the little heiress was still on the list.

Everyone clicked on the related post—

“The most ordinary little guest imaginable is making a triumphant return with her formidable partner. Get ready for their explosive arrival!”

The announcement poster showed Bamboo’s adorable little face, while her partner’s features were concealed in silhouette.

It left everyone imagining all sorts of possibilities.

“Will they reveal the mystery of the baby’s origins?”

“@Production Team, that partner of hers had better truly be a heavyweight!”

“With this cast and all the suspense they’re selling, I absolutely have to tune in and see what the fuss is about.”

...

Switch Lives had spared no expense during its promotional campaign, earning an enormous amount of anticipation from the public.

Everything was ready.

For the first episode of the second season, the guests would travel to a beautiful resort on the outskirts of North City and spend a leisurely holiday there.

At noon, the program was about to begin.

Ji Ning and Bamboo had yet to appear.

Fu Mingya was already seated before the projected screen, her face cold. She had no idea how the production team had found Ji Ning—or whether Ji Ning had contacted them herself.

Secretary Lin Li did not even dare breathe too loudly.

Just moments ago, Madam Fu had demanded a list of the sponsors behind the production team. No one knew what she intended to do with it.

Meanwhile—

Assistant Wen of the Hecheng Group was watching the new variety show on his phone to relax while carrying a sandwich for his employer. He knocked on the office door.

“Come in.”

Assistant Wen placed the sandwich and coffee on Mr. Jiang’s desk.

As he turned to leave, following his employer’s instructions, a soft and melodious voice drifted from the live broadcast he had been watching.

Only the voice could be heard; its owner was nowhere in sight.

“Hello, everyone. Long time no see.”

Jiang Cheng raised his eyes.

...

Ji Ning had practiced her opening line several times.

She still needed to go over it once more.

By then, all the guests had boarded the tour bus.

Ji Ning practiced in a soft voice, sounding sincere and uncharacteristically nervous. The bus was very quiet. She had no idea the program’s sound equipment was so sensitive that, even without a microphone, her voice could be transmitted clearly into the livestream.

“Who is that?”

“What washed-up celebrity is this? I’ve never heard that voice before.”

The mockery in the comments did not last long.

Soon, her voice came through again—this time clearly amplified by a microphone.

“Hello, everyone. Long time no see.”

“I’m Ji Ning.”

The little paid shill, Bamboo, earnestly clapped her tiny hands.

The guests with their cold expressions: ...

No one knew what was happening, but someone had started applauding, so they joined in.

“???”

“Where is she? I heard she’d grown up badly. Let me take a look.”

“Wait! Is this the Ji Ning I know?”

“Oh my god, I didn’t even recognize her at first.”

“This atmosphere is making me tear up!”

“Director! I order you to cut to Ji Ning’s face immediately!”

As the camera slowly moved forward, slowly sharpening its focus—

the program officially began!