She's Crazy, I Love Her - Chapter 8

He Wenjin hadn’t been in the entertainment industry long, but she had already met numerous artists. Due to the nature of her work, she had even learned techniques for assessing people, such as the principles of facial proportions (the three courts and five eyes), facial symmetry, and bone structure analysis.

She had recently reviewed videos of Chi Yue. The most widely circulated images of Chi Yue, who had debuted through a talent show, were stage photos. Her long, thick eyelashes framed eyes adorned with sparkling rhinestones, and her face appeared as flawless as a high-resolution AI rendering.

He Wen had also seen some of Chi Yue’s more natural airport photos and acknowledged her as a standard-issue entertainment industry beauty. However, sitting face-to-face with her now, she truly realized that in this era, Chi Yue possessed a unique talent that allowed her to navigate the cutthroat world of fame and fortune alone.

Chi Yue was currently completely makeup-free, her face appearing somewhat gaunt. This accentuated the superiority of her bone structure: a full forehead, deep-set brow bones, and a high, straight nose. Her features were sharply defined, creating a striking three-dimensional effect.

In the entertainment industry, bone structure beauty is often the most coveted. It endures better over time compared to skin-deep beauty, which prioritizes immediate impact but can overshadow the narrative when acting.

Chi Yue also possessed a pair of exceptionally clear, luminous eyes with an unusually high moisture content—

For a moment, He Wen thought that Chi Yue’s face wasn’t one that would truly shine in a fashion show or a mass-produced web drama. She seemed better suited for the big screen.

“Can I really refuse?” Chi Yue’s question interrupted He Wen’s thoughts. He Wen instinctively replied, “Of course.”

Chi Yue pushed the documents back.

He Wen understood her meaning. After a brief pause, he forced a smile. “President Qi isn’t in a rush for your answer.”

He pulled a business card from his pocket. “Here’s my contact information. Feel free to reach out whenever you’ve made your decision. Or if you ever need assistance with work or life, I’d be happy to help.”

“Of course, you can also contact President Qi directly.”

Another business card.

Chi Yue placed both cards side by side on the coffee table, hugging her knees and staring blankly at them.

She had slept fitfully for two days, unsure if it was the medication or the exhaustion from being pushed too hard. Last night, she had developed a fever and was plagued by nightmares. In her dreams, she was surrounded by malevolent spirits, an unseen pair of eyes stared relentlessly at her back, and an icy hand gripped her throat, making it difficult to breathe.

In her dream, she was even more helpless than in reality, lacking the strength to even lift her hand as her assailant twisted her neck.

Chi Yue woke up in a cold sweat, startled awake by the nightmare.

The room was eerily silent, shrouded in a dim, hazy darkness. For a moment, she felt as if she could die in this apartment and no one would ever notice.

But she wasn’t dead. She still had to endure Sun Zhiping’s curses.

Sun Zhiping was a master of turning the tables. He stormed in, his eyes narrowed in anger, and immediately launched into a tirade, berating Chi Yue for not knowing her place, for being ungrateful, for injuring someone and then running away, hiding, and ignoring his calls—as if she had a hole in her brain.

He then turned his fury on Liu Yifang, cursing her for being irresponsible, for abandoning her duties and leaving him with a mountain of “dogshit.”

You’re the dogshit, you and your whole family are dogshit—stinking, dog-like, and full of sh1t!

“If you keep acting like this,” Sun Zhiping snarled, “you’d better get the hell out of here.”

“Fine, I’ll leave,” Chi Yue retorted.

“Perfect!” Sun Zhiping sneered. “I’m counting on your breach of contract fees to feed my family.”

Go to hell.

Chi Yue gathered her employment contract, He Wen’s business card, and Qi You’s belongings into a pile. As she stood up, her vision swam with black spots.

She waited for her vision to clear before walking to the desk. She pulled open the drawer and tossed the items inside. A golden object was pushed to the corner. Chi Yue paused, then closed the drawer.

After charging her phone and turning it on, Chi Yue was bombarded with missed calls and messages. Sun Zhiping’s messages were the most numerous, while Meina was also asking about Liu Yifang’s sudden departure.

Chi Yue was caught off guard by Liu Yifang’s abrupt resignation. After a moment’s thought, she replied with just four words: “I don’t know.”

She exited the chat interface, paused briefly, and then called Liu Yifang.

Liu Yifang didn’t answer any of the three consecutive calls.

Chi Yue typed a message: “Why?”

She genuinely couldn’t understand. She hadn’t just met Liu Yifang yesterday. Even during her most desperate times over the past two years, Liu Yifang had never once suggested she resort to underhanded tactics. She simply couldn’t fathom why Liu Yifang had suddenly changed like this.

Chi Yue scrolled through their chat history, going back over a year, before reluctantly exiting the app. She then tapped He Hongmei’s profile, which was pinned at the top.

The latest message, sent yesterday, contained a video He Hongmei had taken of Chi Yue’s grandmother. The elderly woman sat on a bench, her eyes darting warily at the camera as she mumbled, “Who are you? Why are you following me? What are you filming me for…?”

In the background, He Hongmei’s voice could be heard: “She’s forgotten me again. Honestly, it’s me, Hongmei. Your granddaughter asked me to take care of you. Why are you filming her? I’m sending this to Yueyue. You remember Yueyue, right? Chi Yue, the big star—”

As He Hongmei’s voice rose, a flicker of recognition finally crossed the old woman’s face. A mixture of disbelief and excitement lit up her eyes as she pointed at the camera and asked, “Is that Yueyue? Are you calling Yueyue?”

Chi Yue, usually composed, suddenly felt tears welling up in her eyes, whether from frustration or something else.

She quickly closed the video and was about to toss her phone aside when a call came through.

It was Sun Zhiping.

Chi Yue stared intently at the screen until the ringtone began its second loop before answering.

Sun Zhiping’s first words were: “Did she leave?”

Chi Yue hummed in agreement.

“What did she want?” Sun Zhiping demanded. “What’s your relationship with her?”

“She just came to deliver a phone,” Chi Yue replied. “There’s no relationship.”

Sun Zhiping scoffed. “No relationship? Then why would she come all the way here herself?”

“We really don’t have a relationship,” Chi Yue insisted. “I’ve only met her twice today.”

Sun Zhiping didn’t even consider Qi You as a possibility. After a pause, he asked, “Did she mention the Hua Fangfei project? Did Qi You let anything slip?”

“She didn’t say,” Chi Yue replied.

“Didn’t say? Why didn’t you ask her?” Sun Zhiping snapped. “Chi Yue, do you even realize that if Hua Fangfei gets approved through you and Wenhui signs on, Zhao Ming will have to call you ‘Dad’!”

Chi Yue’s head rang from his shouting.

“Forget it, I can’t rely on you,” Sun Zhiping said. “Zhao Ming claims he’s recovering from his injuries. Come to the office early tomorrow, and I’ll take you to apologize to him.”

“…Apologize? What should I apologize for?” Chi Yue’s voice trembled. “Don’t push me too far. You know perfectly well that Zhao—”

“Enough. It’s not a big deal.”

“Chi Yue, don’t push your luck. No matter how you spin it, Zhao Ming didn’t take advantage of you,” Sun Zhiping interrupted, his tone tinged with exasperated helplessness. “Besides, Liu Yifang already resigned. What more do you want?”

Chi Yue stood before the desk, her body trembling slightly.

The Zhou family also received an invitation from the Pei Family. As the youngest member of her family, Zhou Wei initially had no intention of attending. But when she heard that Qi You would be there, and for a matchmaking event no less, she immediately changed her mind.

“What’s your dad thinking, arranging a matchmaking event for you so early? Has he lost his mind?” Zhou Wei asked, glancing around Qi You’s office, which she was visiting for the first time.

Qi You rested her hands on the desk, her voice flat. “I don’t know.”

“Does your mom know he’s making you go on a matchmaking event?” Zhou Wei pressed.

“No,” Qi You replied.

“Ah,” Zhou Wei exclaimed. “Your dad must be playing mind games with your mom!”

“I heard the Pei Family is planning to enter the biomedical industry recently,” Zhou Wei continued. “Is there any connection to your family’s company?”

“I don’t know,” Qi You repeated.

Zhou Wei shoved her playfully. “You don’t know sh1t.”

Qi You swayed slightly from the push.

Huffing in frustration, Zhou Wei tossed her bag onto the sofa with a “I don’t care if you die!” But less than a minute later, she turned back. “How old is Pei Yi?”

Qi You’s lips twitched.

“Don’t say you don’t know again,” Zhou Wei warned. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll just look it up myself.”

“Twenty-eight,” Qi You replied.

Zhou Wei made a sound of mild disgust. “So old.”

Qi You remained noncommittal.

Without hesitation, Zhou Wei perched on Qi You’s desk, dangling her legs as she tapped away on her phone for a few minutes. “My brother’s friends with him. I’ll get my brother to send me a photo.”

A moment later, she chuckled. “He’s not bad-looking.”

Zhou Wei held up her phone for Qi You to see. Qi You glanced at the screen—a group photo, likely taken years ago. On the left stood Zhou Wei’s second brother, Zhou Tai, while Pei Yi stood on the right, his short hair damp with sweat. The backdrop was a sports field, seemingly abroad, with half-visible English characters on a wall.

“Turns out he and my brother were schoolmates,” Zhou Wei remarked. “Not bad.”

Qi You hummed noncommittally.

Noticing Qi You’s lack of interest, Zhou Wei pocketed her phone. After a moment’s thought, she added, “He’s just too old. Six years is practically two generations. If only he were younger.”

Qi You smiled faintly.

After scrolling through her phone for a while longer, Zhou Wei finally said, “Shouldn’t you ask your mom what’s going on? I have a feeling something’s fishy.”

Qi You said, “I won’t ask.”

Zhou Wei scowled.

While many second-generation rich kids were idle, even more were diligently studying and striving for self-improvement at a young age. It was rare to find someone like Qi You, the eldest daughter of a wealthy family, who had left school early and indulged in leisure.

Although Zhou Wei enjoyed the carefree lifestyle of partying with Qi You, his concern for her was genuine.

In wealthy families, familial bonds were often strained. With two ambitious power players like Zheng Qing and Qi Shouye at the helm, their marriage had always carried the weight of a business alliance. Now, they were allies in marriage but rivals in the business world.

In a sense, Qi You and Zheng Yue were both pawns on their parents’ chessboard.

Before Qi You could act on Zhou Wei’s urging, Zheng Qing called first.

Unaware of Qi Shouye’s arrangements, she simply said she would return for the Pei Family’s birthday banquet and attend with Qi You.

As the call was ending, Qi You repeated what Qi Shouye had told her.

After a moment of silence, Zheng Qing asked, “What do you think?”

Qi You replied, “I’m fine with either option.”

Zheng Qing clearly disliked her ambiguous answer, her tone shifting sharply. “If you don’t care about your own affairs, what’s the point of telling me?”

Qi You remained silent.

Zheng Qing, exasperated, snapped, “Do as you please,” and hung up.

Qi You placed her phone on the table and met Zhou Wei’s gaze, which clearly conveyed three words: You’re doomed.

Like many children from wealthy families, Qi You had been raised by household staff since childhood. She had always believed her relationship with Zheng Qing and Qi Shouye was simply a matter of bl00d ties—straightforward yet the strongest bond in the world.

But when Qi You learned the truth, her terror stemmed precisely from this belief. She knew that apart from their shared bl00d, there was little genuine warmth between them. Once the truth was revealed, she would undoubtedly be mercilessly cast out.

In the original plot, this was why Qi You had chosen to forge her own path, deciding to marry early before the truth surfaced, thereby securing a double safety net for her future.

With Zheng Qing’s dismissive “Do as you please,” Qi You seized the lifeline Qi Shouye had extended and “fell in love” with Pei Yi.