Rich Woman, But Got Dumped By A Jerk Three Times. - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Is That Enough? Do You Want More?

Looking at the woman’s bright smile, Yi Chengsong paused for a moment. Her foot, which was about to step forward, hesitated.

She’s actually this easy to deal with?

Since the last drinking engagement, when Nuo Ye took her away early, Yi Chengsong hadn’t had another chance to see Yun Jiushu.

And Yi Chengsong couldn’t recall much more about that day.

The three glasses of wine in the private room completely exhausted Yi Chengsong’s minimal alcohol tolerance. The taxi driver’s warning of “five hundred if you vomit in the car” forced her to hold it in until she reached the apartment building before daring to empty her stomach.

The subsequent memories were very faint.

She only remembered waking up back in the rental apartment, and her teammates had tactfully refrained from asking too many questions.

These days, Yi Chengsong continued to perform with the band as usual, but that specific gaze was no longer in the audience.

The mission, which had just shown hope of progressing, suddenly stalled. After waiting a week without Yun Jiushu showing up, Yi Chengsong was brainstorming new methods.

A comment from Box that “that performance paid the most” made Yi Chengsong realize that she had performed and drunk a lot that day, but hadn’t received a single penny.

This gave her a legitimate reason to seek out Yun Jiushu.

Gathering her thoughts, Yi Chengsong looked at the person before her. After weighing the pros and cons, she chose to step forward.

She needed to complete her mission and get close to Yun Jiushu.

More importantly, she also needed that performance fee to pay her rent.

Slap—

A sharp, clear slap knocked the face that had approached slightly to the side.

Looking at the horrifying finger marks that instantly appeared on the bronze skin, Yun Jiushu laughed softly, flexing her wrist, her eyes disdainful: “Is that enough?”

The head, smacked askew by the slap, couldn’t regain focus for a long time.

Her usually healthy ear began to ring in buzzing fits. The smell of rust permeated her nasal cavity, physiologically driving Yi Chengsong to look up. After a few seconds, she realized it wasn’t a nosebleed.

It was bl00d from the inner lining of her mouth, broken by the impact of her teeth.

It was indeed a heavy slap. Yun Jiushu’s fingertips were numb from the shock, but the slap did nothing to vent the anger in her heart.

Her slightly numb knuckles curved, forcefully gripping the chin of the person before her, and Yun Jiushu roughly forced her head back.

“I asked you, is that enough?” Yun Jiushu stared into the only visible eye.

The faint amber color was almost transparent in the sunlight. When this eye was filled with affection, it had once surpassed ten thousand precious gems in Yun Jiushu’s heart.

But now, Yun Jiushu only wanted to crush and grind it, until tears poured out.

“Please pay my compensation.” Yi Chengsong suppressed the surging anger in her heart and signed: “Also—”

The movement, halfway through, was stopped again by a slap to her hand.

The hand that had slapped her face was now a vise, firmly gripping her fingers.

“Speak.” Yun Jiushu’s patience was completely gone. She stared coldly at the person before her: “Ye Ge, I asked you, is that enough?”

Have you faked it long enough?

Have you acted long enough?

She’s been pushed to this extent and still pretends to be a mute.

Does she love acting so much?

Yun Jiushu felt a surge of irritation from the silence of the person before her.

The scar on her brow bone, the gauze covering her right eye—everything felt like an eyesore.

Restricted from using her fingers and unable to express her demands, Yi Chengsong could only look down at her.

Neither of them spoke.

Yet, a scent of gunpowder inexplicably ignited in the air.

The negotiation was at a deadlock. To break it, she had to establish a new position.

Thinking this, Yi Chengsong subtly blinked her lashes, gently shook her head, and simultaneously ground her back teeth against her tongue.

The most tender part of her tongue was stimulated, and a rich, bloody taste burst into her mouth.

This pain actually forced a hint of tears from her.

Drip.

Without deviation, it landed squarely on their intertwined hands.

Feeling the coldness on her skin, Yun Jiushu looked down in disbelief, only seeing the tear roll down the back of her hand, evaporating before it even reached the ground.

But the shock was like a bucket of icy water being thrown, completely dousing the rampant anger.

She actually… cried?

Yun Jiushu watched the coolness dissipate and looked up, but couldn’t catch anything.

The person standing before her had already turned her head away. Only the corners of her eyes were red, suggesting she was enduring immense grievance.

“You…” Yun Jiushu wanted to say something, but felt her throat was choked, unable to utter half a syllable.

She felt stifled.

The tear melted the deadlock. The tightly clenched fingers finally loosened.

Sensing the restraint on her hand lessen, Yi Chengsong quickly pulled her hand back.

This time, she didn’t use sign language but bent her head down, quickly typing a line of text, and showed it to Yun Jiushu.

Boss, I don’t know what I did wrong to offend you. I just want the payment that belongs to me. This money is very important to me. If I lose it, I will be homeless this month. But if you feel my labor doesn’t deserve compensation, then I apologize. I’m sorry.

After a pause of half a minute, Yi Chengsong put away her phone without checking if the woman had finished reading, and turned to leave.

As she turned, she counted silently in her mind.

Three, two, one…

“Hey!”

A slightly hurried call.

Yi Chengsong, her back to the speaker, curved her lips. A thread of bl00d spilled from the corner of her mouth, moistening her dry lips.

“The payment you’re talking about,” Yun Jiushu looked at the person who turned her face back. The red streak on her lip was particularly glaring in the sunlight. She couldn’t help but frown, “I’ll have Boss Nuo settle it with you.”

Yi Chengsong, standing in place, didn’t make another gesture. She simply bowed to the woman, then turned and continued to walk away.

The figure flowed into the sunlight, blending into the crowd until it could no longer be seen.

Ding—

A new message popped up on her phone, but Yun Jiushu had lost interest in reading it.

She opened her handbag and pulled out a cigarette to light it.

The nicotine from the burning tobacco ascended. She slowly exhaled a thin plume of smoke that scattered before her, finally feeling her chaotic thoughts settle slightly.

Recalling the recent incident, Yun Jiushu felt she had been a little impulsive.

No matter what, she shouldn’t have hit someone right in front of her own restaurant. If word got out, how would she conduct business in the future?

It seems that every time she encounters that person, her emotions just spiral out of control.

What exactly happened to Ye Ge during those past three years that caused such a jarring split in personality?

Such a drastic change made Yun Jiushu’s initial firm suspicion waver somewhat.

This person looked more and more like Ye Ge, yet less and less like her.

She had Ye Ge’s arrogance but also a vulnerability Ye Ge never showed. That tear…

Yun Jiushu raised the hand holding the cigarette and stared at it intently.

The tear on the porcelain-white back of her hand had long since dried, but the imprint it left refused to fade away.

“So annoying,” Yun Jiushu averted her gaze, but on the sun-drenched ground, she caught a glimpse of red.

It was right where she had briefly stood.

The last bit of desire to smoke vanished. Yun Jiushu extinguished the cigarette in her portable ashtray, then raised her long finger, flicking the small aluminum foil square precisely into the trash can.

…

Boom—

A muffled drumbeat echoed in the rehearsal room.

Box, who pushed the door open, sounded cheerful: “Hey, A-Ci, you’re back! Where did you go this afternoon?”

“A-Ci is back?”

Natsuki, who had been lazily sitting at the back, quickly took a few steps forward and asked the same question: “A-Ci, where did you go?”

With the entrance of these two voices, the previously quiet atmosphere became lively.

Yi Chengsong stopped her drumming practice and smiled towards the door: “I went to settle the payment with that boss.”

She signed, her usually aggressive eyes and eyebrows softening with the smile.

This was rare on the face of the usually reserved person.

“Did you get it?” Box saw her smile and giggled: “You look like you’re in a great mood, A-Ci.”

Natsuki, who hadn’t spoken, quietly watched her, a gentle affection evident in her eyes.

Yi Chengsong nodded, not hiding her good mood: “I got it. No need to worry about next month’s rent.”

Yun Jiushu was a very generous person.

Ten minutes after the slap, Yi Chengsong received a transfer from an unknown account.

A full five thousand yuan, almost half a year’s rent for Yi Chengsong. It seemed her tear had been well worth the effort.

At the very least, it had made a ripple in Yun Jiushu’s heart.

“Yay!” Box cheered and sat down, putting on a grown-up demeanor: “But next time you do something like this, you have to tell us. We’re a team. Your business is our business. You don’t even know how worried Natsuki was when you were gone.”

“Box—” Natsuki, suddenly named, panicked and lunged: “You and your bad mouth, I’ll fight you!”

The two friends, who had just been getting along, were now fighting, riding on each other, and swaying left and right.

Yi Chengsong moved aside, smiling as she watched them tussle.

Whether it was because she had been with them for so long this time, or because the closed-door training had made significant progress, Yi Chengsong felt she had completely become ‘A-Ci’.

She was the last to join the band but felt no discomfort from being excluded.

After experiencing the shadow of her first mission failure, Yi Chengsong was determined not to let anything go wrong again.

In the beginning, she struggled with her identity as a deaf-mute, so she simply isolated herself completely and didn’t communicate.

Even after joining the band, she rarely engaged.

It wasn’t until they had been living together for half a month that Box, with a messy bed head, yawned and clumsily signed ‘Good Morning’ to Yi Chengsong.

At that moment, the usually placid surface of ice developed a small crack.

Afterward, Box was like she had discovered a new world, eagerly demonstrating sign language every day. In just a month, Yi Chengsong found that besides Box, the other teammates could also understand her sign language and communicate with her daily.

From that moment on, the existence of A-Ci in the world became real.

“Alright, stop messing around.” Tangtang’s voice came from the doorway, slightly annoyed: “We got a temporary commercial gig. Grab your things, change clothes, and let’s go.”

Hearing the formal work arrangement, the two who were just laughing quickly quieted down.

They had been working side-by-side for almost two years, and their mutual understanding was deep.

In less than an hour, they were packed up and traveled from the training room to a bar.

“Ah, playing at ‘Decay’ tonight,” Box looked at the familiar storefront and walked in easily: “No worries then. Glad I didn’t wash my hair specifically.”

Yi Chengsong, who got out of the car after them, stared at the place for a moment, a suspicion forming in her mind.

That suspicion was confirmed the moment she pushed open the bar door and saw familiar customers sitting at a familiar table number.

The person sitting in that seat also looked up when she heard the door open.

As their eyes met, Yi Chengsong curved her lips imperceptibly, mouthing the words:

“What a coincidence, Boss Jiu.”