Chapter 1
Return
T City.
The Jiang villa.
The butler had been commanding the servants in the dining room frantically since the morning. “The Wei family will arrive at 10a.m. Move quickly!.”
After inspecting the flower arrangements and ingredients, he tilted his head and looked towards the stairs. He frowned. “Is Ms. Meng not up yet? She has a competition today.”
Looking at the watch on his wrist, the butler realized that it was already 8a.m. He headed upstairs to wake Meng Fu up. It was very quiet upstairs. Meng Fu was staying in the room at the end of the hallway on the second floor.
Standing by the door, the butler raised his hand and knocked on the door. He did not sound very polite. “Ms. Meng, are you awake?”
There was silence. He knocked on the door and asked again with a cold expression.
“Slam!”
Someone had hurled a heavy object at the door from inside. In that moment, there was a hint of shock in the butler’s otherwise cold and stern face. Ever since Ms. Meng had returned to the Jiang family, she had been observing well. Although she was unscrupulous and greedy, she still knew her status in the family. What was going on with her today?
**
In the room.
Pressing on her temples, Meng Fu tried to sit up straight on the bed. She looked at the phone which she had hurled towards the door just now due to the butler’s interruption. She lifted the blanket. Her fair feet sank into the dark-colored carpet. Then, she headed towards the bathroom. Looking down, she turned on the tap and scrutinized herself in the mirror.
She was wearing silk pajamas. A strap was wrapped around her waist loosely. There was a fiery red mole on her collarbone. Meng Fu blinked. Her amorous eyes were hazy. Her eyes radiated vitality and charisma with every bat of her eye.
As she looked down, her long and curled lashes drooped down, forming a light shadow under her eyes. After a while, she said, “Luckily, I’m still in my own d*mn body.”
Two years ago, her soul had been sucked into an alternate world. Meanwhile, her body had been occupied by a female journalist. It was only until a month ago did Meng Fu’s soul return to the real world. However, she could only exist as a spirit and had to follow the female journalist who was occupying her body.
But right now Meng Fu could reclaim her body after experiencing a mysterious force. At the thought of this, Meng Fu reached out and pressed the red mole on her collarbone. Looking pensive, she tightened the strap of her pajamas and took out a set of beige wool knitwear from the closet.
Her phone, which was the latest high tech model, started ringing. The name “Sister Zhao” was on the display. Meng Fu’s spirit had been following the female journalist for almost a month, so she knew that the caller was her manager, Zhao Fan.
When her body was occupied by the female journalist, she had just entered high school. The female journalist was an Arts student who had been hustling in the workforce for a few years. She wasn’t prepared to restudy school subjects. Furthermore, she had been acknowledged by the Jiang family just as she started occupying Meng Fu’s body. She had left the house which Meng Fu had rented in Yizhong and moved into the Jiang villa. She had also dropped out of school immediately and entered showbiz.
The child who painstakingly managed to enroll in a school in the city had been blinded by its extravagance and decided to drop out of school to enter showbiz. How could the Jiang family possibly agree to that? However, they indeed felt bad for their daughter, who had just reunited with the family. Hence, in the end, they allowed her to enter showbiz using some connections.
The female journalist really had no talent. After slogging for two years, she had only managed to become a trainee in Best Idol. She even had to pester the Jiang family to pull some strings to help her secure this spot. This was why the whole Jiang family was rather annoyed by her.
Meng Fu slotted the phone into her pocket casually and opened the drawer of the dressing table. There was a small key inside. It was the key of her rented house.
The laptop, cell phone, and other belongings which she had used last time were still in the rented house. The female journalist had not thrown Meng Fu’s belongings away. All of them were left untouched in the rented house.
After tidying herself up, Meng Fu departed for the Best Idol base camp. She rejected the Jiang family chauffeur’s offer to drive her there.
There was some distance between the villa and the entrance of the neighborhood. If it were Jiang Xinran, Butler Jiang would not have allowed her to walk such a long distance. Butler Jiang only swallowed his words because it was Meng Fu.
“Ms. Meng, have a safe journey.” Butler Jiang shook his head after Meng Fu disappeared out of his sight.
Madam and Master were not at home in the morning. The servants were all in a frenzy. The moment Jiang Xinran woke up, she could tell that something was amiss, unlike Meng Fu who was blind to it all. She did not even act like she was Master and Madam’s daughter.
Just as the butler was about to turn around and enter the house, he heard a car horn.
It was Madam Jiang, Yu Zhenling.
She was wearing a purple cheongsam and a coat over her shoulders. Her hair was combed and done up tidily. She looked exquisite yet serious. “Are both of the Misses out?”
The butler was taken aback.
Meng Fu just left,
he thought. Yu Zhenling would have seen her on the way in. Why was she acting like she had not seen her?
As soon as this thought surfaced in the butler’s mind, he dismissed it.
“Miss left the house at 7a.m. She has an exam today. Ms. Meng just left not long ago.” Upon saying this, he said after some hesitation, “Ms. Meng will not be able to make it to the lunch banquet in the afternoon…”
When he mentioned this, the smile on Yu Zhenling’s face vanished. She replied, “I know.”
Meng Fu was her biological daughter. However, she had dropped out of high school and joined the showbiz. She did not even have basic courtesy, not to mention education credentials. Many people in showbiz were aware of this and had started ridiculing Yu Zhenling behind her back. Yu Zhenling regretted letting her daughter join showbiz many times over.
Unlike Meng Fu, Jiang Xinran had been carefully brought up by the Jiang family. She was proficient in the four arts: zither, Go, calligraphy, and painting. She had participated in a myriad of competitions and had received many awards from middle school to high school. She was the top student of Yizhong’s advanced class.
The two were complete opposites.
Until now, the Jiang family still had not changed Meng Fu and Jiang Xinran’s last names. Everyone, including Father Jiang, seemed to have forgotten that Meng Fu was the true eldest daughter of the Jiang family.
**
In Meng Fu’s rented house.
She took off her sunglasses and hung them by her shirt collar casually. The rented house’s furnishings remained the same as when she had left. The house had two rooms, one living room, one kitchen, and one bathroom. A fine layer of dust lay over everything as it had not been used for a while.
Meng Fu’s bedroom was not locked. She opened the door and went in. The bedroom was very empty. Other than a bed and a table, there was almost nothing else in the room. She saw the phone she used to use by the bed. It was a silver cell phone with a red circle design on the back. It was not very heavy, but it was quite big. It was bigger than the latest Banana 11 phone that Meng Fu had thrown earlier.
The battery was dead but Meng Fu wasn’t worried about the phone being ruined despite it not having been used in a long time. She simply inserted her Banana 11’s SIM card into her old phone before charging it with a charger. Even though it had been two years since the phone was used, the phone switched within one second when she connected the charger to the phone. The phone immediately showed a green charging display.
Meng Fu rummaged through the flower pots in the living room and retrieved a key that had been buried in the soil. She opened the door to the room beside her bedroom immediately. The room used to be her study room.
It had been a long time since someone had opened this door. The female journalist must have thought that it was just as empty as Meng Fu’s room. The female journalist would never have imagined that Meng Fu’s study room would be filled to the brim even though her bedroom was barren.
On the left side of the study room there was a white bookshelf which was filled with a myriad of books. A tattered small seal script was placed together with an original text book which had never been opened before. There was a rattan chair next to the window. It looked old. Next to the rocking chair was a tea set. Furthermore, there was a set of thread and needle next to the tea set. The needle cushion had not been put away.
The desk was filled with notebooks and the pen holder was filled with pens. The lid of her black laptop had not been completely closed. Meng Fu walked to the desk and looked down at the slovenly written English words she had written in the open notebook.
UNABOMBER.
Half an hour later, Meng Fu switched on her silver phone. She unlocked the phone using her PIN number. The female journalist could not unlock Meng Fu’s phone. Furthermore, Meng Fu’s phone was made by Banana. It looked more like a second-hand phone so she had not used it. She had simply asked the Jiang family to buy her the latest Banana 11. She had even gotten herself a new SIM card.
Once she opened the phone countless notifications bombarded the screen. Moments later, the name “Sister Zhao” appeared on the screen.
Meng Fu did not ignore the notification this time. Although the female journalist had seized her body, she had not stirred up much trouble for her. In fact, she had helped Meng Fu avoid some troubles.
After scanning the living room, she tossed the study room’s key back into the flower pot casually. If someone were here, they would have noticed that the key was more or less in the same position as it had been when she arrived.
Meng Fu’s red lips curled up. Her slim and long fingers hooked onto the sunglasses hanging off her collar. “I will be there in 20 minutes.”
**
After 20 minutes at the Best Idol base camp.
Zhao Fan was waiting by the door anxiously. “That rascal. Didn’t she say that she would be here in 20 minutes?”
She took out her phone. Just as she was about to make a call, she saw a cab pull over in front of her. A woman got out of the passenger seat. She was wearing a pair of white fitting pants and beige wool sweater. Her skin was very fair and her features were refined. The moment she stepped out of the car, even the sunlight seemed dimmer.
Meng Fu’s haters would say that she was just a pretty face and that she was illiterate, but no one could say that she was ugly.
“Sister Zhao.” Meng Fu took off her sunglasses and smiled at Zhao Fan.
Zhao Fan was dazed for a moment. When she regained her senses, she held Meng Fu’s hand and led her inside while saying hurriedly, “Did you practice the group song this week? Are you able to keep up with the pace? Your assessment is coming up next. It will affect your grouping.”
Meng Fu’s spirit had followed the female journalist around for one month. Although Meng Fu had not learned the group song before, she had listened to it countless times. She spun the sunglasses in her hand and smirked. “It’ll be fine.”
Zhao Fan stared at her smile. She paused for a moment before asking through gritted teeth, “Then… What about your English?”
There was an English part in Best Idol’s group song. The female journalist was not good at English. Her pronunciation was especially bad. It was neither accurate nor smooth. She would make a fool out of herself.
Last week, due to Meng Fu’s terrible performance, unclear pronunciation, and off-tune singing, Meng Fu had been badly chided in front of all of the trainees by one of the most popular celebrities, Xi Nancheng.
As a mentor, Xi Nancheng had guided her patiently. However, as time passed, he realized that Meng Fu did not even know the music scores, not to mention speak English. He had been so angry that he stormed off. Zhao Fan was very worried because of that.
For the assessment this time round, everyone had to sing and dance to the group song individually. Everyone would be graded by the mentors.
Meng Fu did not answer Zhao Fan. She simply tilted her head slightly and placed her sunglasses in Zhao Fan’s palm. Looking slightly languid yet bewitching, she said with a cool gaze, “Wait here for me, babe.”
Waiting in the hallway, Zhao Fan recalled Meng Fu’s smile. She could not get over it. For some reason, she felt that Meng Fu, who was always worrying her, was slightly mysterious today.
**
At the assessment area, there was a 10 minute intermission. Everyone was waiting for the next recording.
The Production Assistant flipped through the papers he was holding. “There is one more person left in Group A. Afterwards, we will be moving onto Group B. I will call Mentor Xi over.”
The mentors’ lounge was right behind the set. Xi Nancheng took a sip of warm water. “Who’s next?”
The Production Assistant checked before replying, “It’s Meng Fu.”
Xi Nancheng froze for a moment before sitting up straight. “Let the three mentors film first.”
The Production Assistant nodded and walked out.
Best Idol was not very popular at the moment. However, there was a small buzz online about Meng Fu. Xi Nancheng’s manager knew that Xi Nancheng had chided Meng Fu. He knew that Xi Nancheng disliked Meng Fu. When he mentioned Meng Fu, he also thought of something. “Her looks are very suitable for showbiz. What do you think? Should we offer her a contract? I have not seen her in person before.”
Xi Nancheng lit up a cigarette and said indifferently, “She is fastidious but incompetent. She is not the type that would be well-liked by the public. Her future is not bright.”
The manager nodded and dismissed the idea of offering her a contract. He smiled. “Aren’t you going for her assessment?”
Xi Nancheng flipped through the namelist. “No. She would hurt my ears.”