CH 30.1

Cen Xiangyang was fully prepared for his meeting with Ji Fanyin.

Despite Song Shiyu’s attempts to conceal the truth, he was still able to make some deductions based on the other party’s attitude and words. 

For example, Song Shiyu seemed to be particularly sensitive to the word ‘substitute’. He was also oddly determined to stop him from obtaining Ji Fanyin’s contact number.

Through his constant harassment of Song Shiyu over the last few days, Cen Xiangyang felt that he had finally gotten to the bottom of this matter. 

Most likely, there’s some sort of dirty deal between Song Shiyu and Ji Fanyin.

Cen Xiangyang had actually never heard of Ji Fanyin prior to this. He was one of Ji Xinxin’s suitors, but all along, he thought that she was the only daughter of the Ji Family. 

Not once had Ji Xinxin mentioned the existence of her twin sister to him.

So, he spent some time visiting his juniors in Lakeside University and was surprised to learn that the Ji Fanyin he had met that day was very different from the ‘Ji Fanyin’ they knew of.

They said that ‘Ji Fanyin’ was a gloomy reclusive, but Cen Xiangyang couldn’t see how those two words could be applied to the Ji Fanyin he met at the movie premiere.

They said that ‘Ji Fanyin’ was extremely ugly and dared not show her own face, but Cen Xiangyang felt his heart pounding in excitement just thinking about the Ji Fanyin he met.

They said that ‘Ji Fanyin’ liked Song Shiyu, but Cen Xiangyang couldn’t sense any affection from her attitude toward Song Shiyu. He could only conclude that she was able to hide her emotions well.

The results made him feel like he had collected a bunch of false intelligence. In fact, he felt a little regretful that Ji Fanyin wasn’t a social recluse. Someone like that would have been much easier to control.

It looks like I can only count on my verbal skills to entice this thorny rose into making a deal with me.

Cen Xiangyang spent some time making thorough preparations to ensure that everything would go his way before finally dropping her a call. It was already a few days later by then, but he was confident that his mixture of threats and baits would be enough to make her accept his deal. 

Sitting in the book café they had agreed to meet at, Cen Xiangyang picked out a book named ‘The Lucifer Effect’ in a good mood while waiting for Ji Fanyin’s arrival. He took a look at the time as he flipped open the book.

I guess I can magnanimously forgive her even if she’s late. It won’t be long before she’s mine anyway. 

Three minutes before the agreed meeting time, Ji Fanyin arrived at the restaurant.

She walked toward the table under a waiter’s lead. She took a glance at the cover of Cen Xiangyang’s book and remarked with a smile, “The Stanford prison experiment. Who are you hoping to change?”

Words that directly pointed out the origin of the book meant that she wasn’t just flaunting her knowledge here. Cen Xiangyang was about to rise to his feet when those words caused him to freeze up for a brief moment. 

‘The Lucifer Effect’ and the Stanford prison experiment weren’t exactly obscure topics, but very few of those who didn’t dabble in related fields knew about them. 

“It caught my eye when I was looking through the bookshelves earlier. I’ve only just started on it.” Cen Xiangyang was able to quickly adjust his state and reply with an innocent smile. “I’ve only taken a brief look, but I must say that the notion that a person could be easily changed by their environment is quite an intriguing one.”

Ji Fanyin didn’t bother further discussing this topic with him. She responded with a casual nod and took her seat. “I must have kept you waiting.”

“Nah, I’ve also just arrived not too long ago,” replied Cen Xiangyang. He passed the menu to Ji Fanyin and said, “There’s something that I’d like to talk to you about today… Shall we first order some food? I’ll treat you.”

Ji Fanyin’s eyebrows shot up. She decisively picked out two expensive dishes and a freshly-squeezed beverage that had an artsy but incomprehensible name. 

After the waiter confirmed the orders and took his leave, Cen Xiangyang picked up the teapot and poured Ji Fanyin a cup of barley tea. “I’ve been quite busy ever since that day, so I wasn’t able to ask you out till today.”

Ji Fanyin received the cup of barley and thanked him. “Busy with your new movie?”

“Yeah. There’s a great deal of preparation work to be done before filming… Just like the ancient saying, ‘the rations move before the army.’” Cen Xiangyang placed the teapot aside and carefully pushed the conversation toward the direction he wanted. 

“It’s interesting how the concept of the movie I’ve decided on half a month ago happens to be about a pair of twins too. Don’t you think that it’s a coincidence?” he asked with a casual tone that made it sound like a passing remark.

Ji Fanyin raised her eyebrows in interest, a signal for him to continue speaking.

Cen Xiangyang felt a little peeved by her expression. It wasn’t one that he thought would ever appear on Ji Xinxin’s face. It was too casual and perfunctory.

Ji Xinxin should be more… elegant, pure, and innocent. 

“… The story is about a pair of estranged twin brothers who have never met one another before. The older brother is a respected cop whereas the younger brother is an idle vagrant. One day, the younger brother witnessed his older brother getting murdered by his enemies. He coveted his older brother’s standing and lover, so he stole his identification documents and headed to his home. He wanted to take over his position.”

Ji Fanyin calmly listened to his story with the cup of barley tea in her hands. She even chuckled softly in response to his words at one point in time.

This chuckle looks a little like Ji Xinxin, Cen Xiangyang thought. Now I really want to hurry up and make her mine.

Ji Fanyin waited for Cen Xiangyang to finish his story before asking, “Was the younger brother exposed in the end?”

“We’ll have to wait for the movie to hit the theaters in order to find out,” Cen Xiangyang reined in his thoughts and replied in a half-joking manner.