The Breakup Didn’t Stop Me From Owning the World - Chapter 14

When Li Ruonan turned to leave, Lan Muyu reached out and grabbed her sleeve, looking pitiful: “What if the hot water runs out while I’m showering later?”

“It won’t.” Li Ruonan paused at the bathroom door and added, concerned, “If you’re still feeling the alcohol, you can shower later. No rush.”

“Okay.”

Lan Muyu waved her off. The drinks she’d consumed earlier had all been poured by Ling Shan—though it seemed like glass after glass, they had been heavily diluted with water. Plus, the half-hour car ride home had sobered her up considerably.

Having just drunk, even if the effects had mostly worn off, Lan Muyu didn’t dare take a bath. She quickly rinsed under the shower and turned off the water, wrapping herself in a bathrobe before stepping out.

Humming softly as she towel-dried her hair, she noticed in the dim bedroom light that Li Ruonan was still there.

“Aren’t you going to bed?”

“Afraid you’d drown in the shower after drinking too much.”

“Tch.” Why did she always have to say things so harshly?

But remembering Li Ruonan’s earlier curfew rule, Lan Muyu decided to push back a little.

She walked over and sat beside Li Ruonan, negotiating, “I’m an actress. There’ll be night shoots where I can’t make it back in time. How about we skip the curfew?”

“For special circumstances, we’ll discuss it then.” Li Ruonan glanced at her. “How was the press conference? Smooth?”

Li Ruonan could easily ask someone or check her phone to find out how the press conference went. The fact that she waited until after Lan Muyu showered to ask…

Lan Muyu chuckled. “Pretty smooth. But—”

Li Ruonan straightened. “But what?”

Lan Muyu tossed the towel onto the sofa. “Sister Ling really is a top-tier agent. She actually planted a mole in Tianhao Entertainment! She even got her hands on Tianhao’s contract. Isn’t she amazing?”

Li Ruonan’s breath caught in her throat. She wanted to say something but only managed a single word, “Hmm.”

Lan Muyu studied Li Ruonan’s expression and continued praising, “It’s a shame you weren’t there. You should’ve seen Fu Yao’s face—it was priceless. When we left, Fu Yao got swarmed by reporters bombarding her with questions. Sister Ling is just incredible. She’s practically my lucky charm.”

“Is she really that great?”

Lan Muyu nodded emphatically. “Yeah, Sister Ling is the best. I absolutely adore her!”

Li Ruonan muttered, “Oh. Congratulations, then.”

Lan Muyu waved it off. “No need for that—we’re all celebrating here. But I haven’t thanked Sister Ling yet. Do you think calling her now would interrupt her and Brother Fu’s lovely evening?”

Li Ruonan gave her a complicated look. Here she was, calling outsiders “Sister” this and “Brother” that, while treating Li Ruonan like air?

Li Ruonan headed for the door. “I’m leaving. Get some rest.”

After the bedroom door closed, Lan Muyu hugged a pillow and burst into laughter—so loudly that it reached Li Ruonan’s ears outside.

Within seconds, Li Ruonan realized she’d been tricked again. Unable to take it anymore, she stormed back inside, stopping right in front of Lan Muyu and looking down at her. “That agency contract—I was the one who gave it to Ling Shan.”

Lan Muyu blinked. “No way.”

“Why not?”

“You’re new to Yuncheng. What connection could you possibly have with Tianhao? It must’ve been Sister Ling’s mole in Tianhao.”

Li Ruonan lifted her head and said calmly, “Fu Yiming lost money gambling. I happened to know about it and made a deal with him.”

But instead of receiving praise from Lan Muyu, the next second Lan Muyu suddenly jumped up from the sofa and questioned loudly, “What did you say? You gave him money?”

Li Ruonan nodded in confusion, downplaying it, “It’s nothing, just a small amount.”

Lan Muyu frowned and began pacing back and forth in the bedroom. “No, no, how could you give money to scum like Fu Yiming? I need to think of a way to get it back from Tianhao.”

Seeing Lan Muyu’s puffed-up, angry expression, the gloom in Li Ruonan’s heart dissipated, and she teased, “Feeling guilty?”

“Mm.” Lan Muyu thought to herself—wasn’t Li Ruonan’s money essentially her money?

If Fu Yiming could benefit from it, how could the amount Li Ruonan gave be just a “small sum”?

Suddenly, seeing Fu Yao’s embarrassment today didn’t feel satisfying at all.

Li Ruonan poked Lan Muyu’s arm. “Not happy?”

“Of course not! Fu Yiming got off too easy. Do you even know what kind of person he is?”

Li Ruonan was puzzled. “Just a useless second-generation rich kid. I already got you the contract. Why are you so angry?”

Lan Muyu grumbled, “Last time at Tingyu Intercontinental, he leered at me and even poured me a full wine glass of baijiu.”

Li Ruonan’s expression instantly turned cold. “I’ll handle this. But…”

“But what?”

“There’s no such thing as a free lunch. I spent money for you, so shouldn’t the contract be revised…”

“I can give massages!” Lan Muyu quickly replied.

Li Ruonan gave her a skeptical once-over. Given Lan Muyu’s background, she shouldn’t expect much.

But this reaction only fueled Lan Muyu’s competitive spirit. Did Li Ruonan really look down on her that much?

A few seconds later, Lan Muyu’s cheeks flushed slightly. Her half-dried hair cascaded naturally over her shoulders, dampening the red bathrobe and clinging to her body, leaving much to the imagination.

Lan Muyu patted the bed and softly invited, “Come here.”

Li Ruonan felt something was off, but sitting on the bed didn’t seem wrong.

As Li Ruonan settled onto the bed, Lan Muyu slowly climbed up as well. Right in front of Li Ruonan, she let the damp bathrobe slip down, revealing the spaghetti-strap nightgown underneath.

Li Ruonan stammered, “Y-you—”

“Me-me? What about me?” Lan Muyu blinked innocently. “Don’t you want it?”

Li Ruonan felt her throat go dry but roughly pulled Lan Muyu’s bathrobe back up. “Put your clothes back on.”

“The bathrobe got wet from my hair. What’s wrong with taking off the outer layer?” Lan Muyu smirked mischievously, teasingly gazing at Li Ruonan. “President Li, what exactly were you thinking just now, hmm?”

Li Ruonan choked, flustered and annoyed. “Aren’t you going to massage my shoulders?”

“You want me to massage you?” Lan Muyu’s fair fingers held her phone as she circled from behind Li Ruonan to the front, her warm breath brushing against Li Ruonan’s ear. “But…”

“But what?” Li Ruonan tensed slightly, her ears turning red.

“But…” Lan Muyu finally spoke when Li Ruonan was almost out of patience, “It’s already past ten. I should go to sleep.”

“The rule I set was nine o’clock. You’re already late.”

“Then isn’t it even more reason to sleep?” Lan Muyu lounged lazily on the bed, stretching leisurely. “This is the schedule you taught me, after all.”

Li Ruonan: …She was starting to regret setting those rules.

Cutting off electricity, water, internet, imposing curfews—was it too late to take it all back now?

Li Ruonan tried to explain, “I—”

Lan Muyu pointed at the door, dismissing her. “I’m going to sleep.”

Li Ruonan wasn’t one to argue with Lan Muyu, so she swallowed her frustration and left.

Within minutes, as expected, the power in Lan Muyu’s bedroom was cut off again by a certain petty someone.

This time, however, the air conditioning remained on.

Even so, Lan Muyu slept restlessly that night. Memories of the professional grievances she endured after signing with Tianhao in her past life came flooding back.

When the alarm rang, Lan Muyu jolted awake. Since Ling Shan had flown to a neighboring city last night for one of Fu Qian’s events and couldn’t pick her up, she had reminded Lan Muyu to be careful when going out.

Being a public figure, even wearing a mask didn’t make hailing a taxi convenient. Left with no choice, Lan Muyu swallowed her pride and called Li Ruonan.

—Only to have the call rejected.

Was Li Ruonan still holding a grudge over last night?

The next second, a WeChat message from Li Ruonan popped up, What is it?

Lan Muyu let out a sigh of relief. If Li Ruonan was still willing to respond, there was still hope.

I need to go out. I need a car.

Last time I offered you a car, someone refused. Remember?

Lan Muyu negotiated, I’ll pay for the ride.

A reply came quickly, Wait. Xiao Zhang will pick you up.

By the time Xiao Zhang arrived, Lan Muyu had just finished breakfast. As soon as she got into the car, another message from Li Ruonan came through, Car fare.

Car fare?

Lan Muyu scoffed and sent a 0.01 yuan red packet with the caption, Keep the change.

Then she promptly closed the chat, ignoring the barrage of messages that followed from Li Ruonan.

Turning off her phone, she felt refreshed.