Chapter 009: A Lifetime

A message from a stranger.

“She looks so beautiful, like a porcelain doll.”

Below was a photo, showing Ye Yiyi’s refined and striking profile.

Jiang Yao held her phone, her body trembling in a way she didn’t even notice, as if she could hear the sender’s voice through the text.

Years ago, someone, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, leaned close to her ear and whispered the very same words.

“You look so beautiful, like a porcelain doll.”

Instinctively, Jiang Yao slowly covered her chest with her hand, right over the place where those words were etched.

That snake-like man had carved them with a knife, his lips curled in a cold smile as he told her, “This is mine. You are mine.”

She couldn’t remember how much it hurt back then.

The mind always has a way of blurring and forgetting past pain, perhaps a mercy granted by heaven.

But the scar over her heart kept reminding her, again and again, that it had all been real.

Jiang Yao immediately called Ye Yiyi.

The phone was switched off.

Panic rose in Jiang Yao; she opened her door just a crack to check the empty hallway, then went straight to knock on room 3016.

She knocked for a long time, but no one answered.

“Yiyi, Ye Yiyi!” Jiang Yao stubbornly called her name over and over, dialing her phone as she shouted.

Ye Yiyi was innocent—no matter what, she couldn’t let anything happen to her again!

“Yao.”

Ye Yiyi’s voice sounded behind her.

Jiang Yao spun around, seeing Ye Yiyi standing there, looking at her with puzzled eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Ye Yiyi stepped closer, gently brushing a finger at the corner of Jiang Yao’s eye, “Did you… cry?”

Jiang Yao, still shaken, stared at Ye Yiyi’s innocent face. “Where did you go? Why didn’t you answer my calls?”

“Oh, we finished talking. The director had something to do, so I went down to see him off. My phone died just now. I was worried you wouldn’t find me, so I came right back.”

Jiang Yao’s chest rose and fell, her throat dry with anxiety. “I thought you…”

“What did you think?” Ye Yiyi, pure as ever, slung her arm around Jiang Yao’s shoulder. “Yao, I’m about to make it! I’m so happy! Come on, I’m treating you to a midnight snack, we have to celebrate properly tonight.”

In the small lounge.

He Yunqing cradled a thick stack of scripts, reading them intently.

Sister Cai, his agent, sipped her tea. “Well? The script looks good, doesn’t it? It just came to me—if you agree, you’ll be the male lead.”

He Yunqing turned a few more pages. “Who’s the actress?”

“The female lead hasn’t been decided yet, but it’ll be one of the most popular girls right now,” Sister Cai set her cup down and leaned closer. “‘Heart Piercer’ is a rare gem—a solid script. Lately, period romances have flooded the market, but this one adds suspense, something fresh.”

He Yunqing nodded.

“Get some rest. You have an event tomorrow and need to catch a flight. When you’re back the day after, we’ll talk in detail,” Sister Cai reminded softly.

It was a clear night, stars scattered across the sky.

On nights like this, street vendors stayed open well into the late hours.

Jiang Yao and Ye Yiyi sat on little stools at a roadside stand. Ye Yiyi, exuberant, ordered a mountain of barbecue and two bottles of soju.

“Yao, do you know how hard I’ve waited for this day?” Ye Yiyi poured them each a cup of soju, downed hers in one gulp. “Just now, the director said he sees potential in me, and wants me to play the third female lead in ‘Heart Piercer.’”

She refilled her glass.

Jiang Yao placed her hand over Ye Yiyi’s cup, “You can’t handle your liquor.”

Ye Yiyi stuck out her tongue, “Just this once. After all I’ve been through—how many places I’ve gone, how many roles I’ve tried—I almost thought I wasn’t cut out for this. I nearly became a hand model!”

Jiang Yao couldn’t help but laugh at her antics, then raised her glass, clinking it against Ye Yiyi’s, and drank.

“Congratulations! I told you you’d make it. Our Yiyi is so beautiful and hardworking.”

Ye Yiyi beamed, “One day I’ll make lots and lots of money, Yao. Then we’ll buy a big house in the city center, live together, always together.”

Innocence is always the most touching. Looking at Ye Yiyi’s sincere face, Jiang Yao suddenly found her eyes reddening.

“Yao, you usually hold your liquor so well—how come tonight you’re red-eyed after just one glass?” Ye Yiyi giggled sweetly. “Oh, and I have good news. I found you a place. We’re moving tomorrow.”

“How did you find a place so quickly?” Jiang Yao focused on the important detail.

Ye Yiyi lowered her head.

“Tell the truth.”

Ye Yiyi pouted, “It’s… Cheng Yanchi lent it to us. He said he has lots of houses, and it’s better to have someone living in them than leaving them empty. He arranged for us to stay there temporarily, even though he’s overseas.”

“You told him about my situation?”

“No, no,” Ye Yiyi waved her hands, “I just said you needed a place for a while. He’s abroad but had his housekeeper get it ready for us.”

Jiang Yao silently poured herself another glass and drank.

“Yiyi, Cheng Yanchi isn’t like us.”

Ye Yiyi propped her chin on her hand, “I know, but he’s a friend. If I kept everything from him, he’d scold me when he got back.”

Jiang Yao sighed softly.

That’s just Cheng Yanchi—always willing to go to any lengths for his friends.

Which made Jiang Yao even less willing to tell him her troubles.

“Yao, I want to live with you. At least until the new show starts filming, you can’t push me away.”

Jiang Yao drank again, thinking of the threatening message she’d received earlier. “I won’t push you away, never.”

They drank cup after cup, losing count.

By the end, the street was nearly deserted.

Ye Yiyi was clearly tipsy, slipping off her high heels and dancing along the roadside, “Yao, Yao!”

She loved calling Jiang Yao’s name like that.

Jiang Yao remained sober enough, picking up Ye Yiyi’s heels and chasing after her, “Hey!”

“Yao!” Ye Yiyi shouted at the sky, “I, Ye Yiyi, will be Jiang Yao’s best friend for life!”

Jiang Yao took off her own flats and put them on Ye Yiyi, slipping into Ye Yiyi’s heels herself.

“Yao, you shout too!” Ye Yiyi nudged Jiang Yao with her elbow.

Jiang Yao gazed at her, tender and helpless, finally giving in, “I, Jiang Yao…”

“What?” Ye Yiyi’s flushed face drew close, gently shaking her arm.

Jiang Yao paused, took a deep breath, then turned to the sky and shouted, “I, Jiang Yao, will protect Ye Yiyi for a lifetime!”