Chapter 24: How Brutal Is Sheng Yu

Feng Mingyue was lost in thought and did not notice the elevator opening nearby.

It was not until she heard footsteps that she turned her head.

Seeing Zhu Yuan return, her expression turned unnatural for a moment, "I went to the Theater to find you, but they said you took the day off. I only just remembered today is Lu Huaizhan's death anniversary; did you just get back from the Lu Family?"

"Yes." Zhu Yuan did not offer her any explanation.

Feng Mingyue looked at her daughter's cold attitude and felt a sharp pain in her heart. She stepped forward to take Zhu Yuan's hand and asked in surprise, "Why are you so cold?"

"Do you need something?" Zhu Yuan brushed her hand away.

"Yuanyuan, I am your mother. Can you please not speak to me in that tone?" Feng Mingyue looked at her sadly.

Zhu Yuan's eyes turned slightly red.

Once, she had wanted to be a good daughter and treat them with filial piety.

She took a breath and softened her tone, "The Zhu Family is in trouble, and I haven't made things difficult for you regarding Grandfather's medical expenses. If you came to persuade me to move back to the Zhu Family, forget it. I haven't been by your side since I was a child; it would be quite awkward for us to live together."

"That is only because we haven't spent enough time together; it will naturally get better with time. Your father was impulsive when he hit you that day, so please don't be angry with him. He actually has the softest heart. He knew I went to see you in secret, but he didn't stop me. Can we just act like what happened that day never happened?"

Zhu Yuan only felt incredibly chilled, "So you still think I did something with that man surnamed Lou just to borrow money?"

"Yuanyuan..." Feng Mingyue did not know how to persuade her.

As Zhu Yuan took out her keys to enter, she hurriedly stepped forward to grab Zhu Yuan's hand, accidentally knocking the bag Zhu Yuan was carrying to the ground.

The name of a pharmacy was printed on the bag.

"Are you sick?" Feng Mingyue knelt down to pick up the Medicine.

It was too late for Zhu Yuan to stop her.

Because Feng Mingyue was holding the box of emergency contraceptive pills, looking at her with a complex expression.

"Why did you buy this Medicine?"

Zhu Yuan said nothing and snatched the medicine box back from Feng Mingyue's hand.

"I asked you why you bought this Medicine!" Feng Mingyue suddenly raised her voice, her face turning livid with anger.

She knew Zhu Yuan had no boyfriend, which was why she was able to go to the Lu Family for the spirit-marriage.

Lu Huaizhan had only just passed away, and she had no time to be in a relationship.

Connecting this to the photos of her and Lou Yi entering a room together a few days ago.

Feng Mingyue felt a darkness before her eyes and pointed at her, feeling that she had failed to live up to expectations, "I wanted to believe you once, but with this Medicine, how do you expect me to believe you!"

Zhu Yuan felt pain everywhere, but the most painful place was where her heart was held in her chest.

She feigned an indifferent attitude, "Now that you see me for who I am and know what kind of person I am, you're completely disappointed in me, right?"

"I shouldn't have come to find you!" Feng Mingyue's eyes turned red with rage, and she turned and walked into the elevator without looking back.

Watching the elevator doors close and the red numbers on the display screen jump.

Zhu Yuan gave a self-deprecating laugh.

The next day, Zhu Yuan was supposed to rehearse at the troupe, but after waking up from a sleep, she found she was not feeling well and took a half-day leave from the troupe.

When she arrived at the troupe in the afternoon, the front desk was preparing for the performance. She entered the dressing room and heard several girls from the troupe sitting there chatting.

"Did you see it just now?"

"I saw it, I saw it!" the girl screamed excitedly, "So handsome! I used to hear you all talk about the number one handsome face in Kyoto, but seeing him today, he's not just the number one in Kyoto, he's the top of the top among the country's top handsome faces!"

Zhu Yuan's footsteps faltered.

"Someone this handsome—I would die happy if I could spend one night with him!"

At this moment, Li Jie, who was applying makeup, sneered, "Watch your tongue. If someone hears you, you won't even know how you died."

Another person said dismissively, "We're just talking behind closed doors, is it really that scary?"

The older woman said, "You haven't been in Kyoto long; you haven't heard how brutal Sheng Yu is."

"Is that for real?"

The person lowered her voice and whispered, "I heard it from someone else, too. Chairman Sheng, who is Sheng Yu's father, kept a woman on the side. I heard that when the woman was far along in her pregnancy, Sheng Yu, who had just come of age, drove a car and hit her. The child didn't survive, and the woman's uterus had to be removed; she could never get pregnant again."

"My god!"

"That's too cruel, isn't it? You can't tell at all. Why would he do that?"

"Why else? Isn't everything in wealthy families a struggle for money and power? If that child were born, wouldn't he have to split the inheritance with Sheng Yu? Solve it at the source, nip it in the bud."

"So, the waters in wealthy families are too deep, especially in top-tier ones like this. If you don't have nine lives, don't you dare provoke them."

Zhu Yuan sat silently at her station, tied up her hair, and prepared to go to the second floor for rehearsal, but was told the rehearsal had been temporarily canceled.

One of the cast members couldn't make it today, and Zhu Yuan happened to be the B-role, so she needed to step in and go on stage.

This role had dance sequences, and Zhu Yuan felt a burning sensation between her legs at that moment.

But stepping in to perform meant a generous paycheck.

She nodded and began to apply makeup to prepare for the performance.

Once on stage, she lifted her eyes and, sure enough, saw Sheng Yu in the audience.

He was sitting in the front row. Yuan Fengye was not there today, and Situ was not following him either; only the troupe leader was by his side, bowing and scraping to serve him.

As if by a stress response, the moment she saw Sheng Yu, Zhu Yuan's legs suddenly went weak, and she almost missed a dance step.

And performing on stage with her was Li Jie.

Li Jie took advantage of the gap in her dancing to trip her without anyone noticing.

Under normal circumstances, with Zhu Yuan's solid foundation, she could have easily handled such a small mishap, but after what happened last night, her legs were weak and sore, and she fell right into Li Jie's trap.

The audience was in an uproar.

Zhu Yuan scrambled to get up, seamlessly continuing the dance movements.

Her strong psychological quality and stage presence pulled the audience back into the performance.

"Young Master Yu, try this tea that just arrived and see if it suits your taste?" The troupe leader placed a cup of tea by Sheng Yu's side.

Sheng Yu picked up his teacup, cast a casual glance at the stage, and took a sip of tea. "Who is she?"

The troupe leader looked at Zhu Yuan, who had tripped on stage, glared at her in annoyance, and turned to Sheng Yu. "Replying to Young Master Yu, she is Xiao Fengzheng. The young lady is still a newcomer and lacks stage experience; please bear with her."

"I wasn't talking about Zhu Yuan, but the person who tripped her on purpose." Sheng Yu's gaze landed on Zhu Yuan, whose dance steps were clearly labored on stage.

The troupe leader was stunned.

Aside from Zhu Yuan, the only other person on stage was Li Jie.

Sheng Yu did not usually come to watch plays, so it was normal for him not to know the people in the circle.

The troupe leader gave an awkward laugh. "That is our star performer, Li Sha. Li Sha is a veteran of our troupe and wouldn't trip anyone on purpose."

"Then I have wronged her," Sheng Yu said slowly.

The troupe leader suddenly felt cold sweat break out on his forehead, only then realizing belatedly that when Sheng Yu mentioned Xiao Fengzheng just now, he had used her real name.

Viewed in this light, he must know Zhu Yuan.

He hurriedly said, "It must be a misunderstanding. After the performance ends, I will have Li Sha apologize to you. I'm sorry for affecting your mood."

Sheng Yu set down his teacup, and tea sloshed out over the rim.

The troupe leader's scalp tingled, not knowing which words he had said wrong again.

Soon, he realized the crux of the problem and asked tentatively.

Upon hearing his words, the man's expression did not change, and he gave a faint "Mn."

The troupe leader breathed a secret sigh of relief.

After the performance ended, the troupe leader called Zhu Yuan to the side and said with a smile, "Xiao Fengzheng, you worked hard on your performance."

His attitude had done a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn from before she went on stage; Zhu Yuan was suspicious and immediately associated it with Sheng Yu.

After all, while she was performing just now, the troupe leader had been waiting on Sheng Yu.

Sure enough, the troupe leader said meaningfully, "Young Master Yu says he wants to see you."