Chapter 80: Chapter 80

Chapter 80 – Lan Xin’s Conspiracy (2)

At 5 PM, Lan Jinyao had just finished her training when Mother Fu called, telling her that she must go home with Fu Bainian for dinner and that she’d prepared Chen Meimei’s favourite dishes.

Lan Jinyao felt a headache start at the thought of Chen Meimei’s favourite dishes. Because, in Chen Meimei’s diet, fish and meat would always be included.

On their way, Lan Jinyao euphemistically asked, “Fu Bainian, do you know what kind of food Chen Meimei had liked to eat?”

She was just casually asking this, but Fu Bainian’s expression slightly changed upon hearing her question. He gripped the steering wheel and pretended to be absent-minded as he asked her back, “Why are you suddenly asking about Chen Meimei?”

Lan Jinyao glanced at his hands on the steering wheel. Although she was puzzled over his action, she didn’t question him further. Instead, she answered Fu Bainian’s question, “Because every time I go home, Mother always prepares a big table of...you know what I’m talking about! She must have thought that I like it, but in fact, hehe!”

Fu Bainian breathed a sigh of relief and then said, “When you were filming some time ago, you lost too much weight. It’s time for you to eat more nourishment now to make up for it. Otherwise, your body won’t be able to take it.”

Lan Jinyao’s mouth twitched, and she remained silent.

When they returned to the Fu Residence, Lan Jinyao saw Fu Changning lying on the sofa in the living room.

Fu Changning seemed to have been listening to the noises in the hallway this whole time. The moment she saw the two of them come in, she immediately straightened her back and returned to watching the TV. Seeing this left Lan Jinyao puzzled and made her wonder whether Fu Changning was up to something.

However, there was no still movement from Fu Changning even after they’d finished dining. Her behaviour this time was entirely different from her past obnoxious self as she was now excessively quiet.

After dinner, Fu Bainian went to the study while Mother Fu went out for a walk. Thus, only Lan Jinyao and Fu Changning were left in the vast living room, staring at the TV. The TV was currently playing an idol drama, which was also one of Lan Jinyao’s earlier works. Now that Lan Jinyao could see her acting, she saw that it was slightly lousy back then. However, this was an idol drama targeted at a younger audience, so the required acting skills weren’t so high. In any case, she still thought that her acting sucked back then.

Now that she saw Fu Changning staring fixedly at the screen, it seemed that Fu Bainian was right about Fu Changning being a big fan of hers.

It was rather quiet in the living room except for the noises coming from the TV. Lan Jinyao didn’t want to watch that boring idol drama at all and wanted to go back to her bedroom to check the news on her phone. Unexpectedly, as soon as she stood up, Fu Changning, who was sitting next to her, also stood up and turned off the TV to follow her.

“Fu Changning, what do you want?”

Lan Jinyao turned around too abruptly and startled Fu Changning, who was following behind her. If she hadn't swiftly caught Fu Changning's hand, she reckoned that Fu Changning would’ve already fallen down the stairs.

It was only after Fu Changning had stabilised herself that Lan Jinyao loosened her grip.

Lan Jinyao then frowned and asked again, “Fu Changning, Xu Jin’ge’s already gone. Even if you’re planning something, you should lay low for a bit. The affection between your brother and me isn’t something that you can destroy so easily just by playing a few tricks. Besides, no matter how much you don't like me, I'm still your Sister-in-law!”

Lan Jinyao said all that in quick-fire succession which stunned Fu Changning and made her unable to recover even after a long while. When she went upstairs, she heard Fu Changning’s soft voice behind her. “That’s not what I meant. How about this: you come with me!”

To think that Fu Changning didn’t use any sharp words to refute her! Lan Jinyao found this quite unusual.

She followed behind Fu Changning and arrived in front of the room that was supposedly out of reach for others. In fact, no one knew that she’d stepped in there before. She’d even read Fu Bainian’s diary, and at that time, she was still wondering who on earth the woman was that Fu Bainian loved so dearly. To her surprise, it turned out to be herself.

But, why did Fu Changning bring her here? Could it be that Fu Changning wanted to tell her something like ‘my Brother actually has someone he loves, so don't bother him anymore’ to scare her off?

The more Lan Jinyao thought, the more she felt that she was right. So, this time, Fu Changning’s little trick was going to be futile.

She quietly followed Fu Changning into the room.

Fu Changning opened a drawer and took something out. It looked like a photo album or something similar. Lan Jinyao immediately had a premonition: that album in Fu Changning’s hand couldn’t be her album, right?

When Fu Changning opened the photo album in front of her, Lan Jinyao had to sigh again. Her premonition was accurate; the person in every photo was her.

“The person in these photos, you must know her, right? Her name is Lan Jinyao. She was the popular actress and top artist under the banner of Blue Hall Entertainment. However, this year, she fell from a building and died on the spot. No one knew why she’d been chosen as the main trainee and had trained to become the top artist of the company back then but...that was because she's the woman that my Brother loves!”

As Fu Changning said this, her eyes were fixated on Lan Jinyao, as if to observe her every reaction.

The corners of Lan Jinyao’s mouth slightly lifted. If Fu Changning only had this trick up her sleeves, then she guessed that Fu Changning would be disappointed today.

“Changning, are you trying to persuade me to leave your Brother by telling me all of this? I heard from Fu Bainian that you really like Lan Jinyao. Are you saying that your Brother’s life ought to be spent in memory of a dead person?”

What Lan Jinyao didn't expect was that Fu Changning actually shook her head when she said that. Fu Changning hesitated before she stammered and said, “I-I didn't know this before...”

Her words were unclear, making Lan Jinyao even more confused after listening to her.

Fu Changning then continued, “When you heard those words earlier, didn’t you feel sad or jealous?”

Lan Jinyao thought: How can I be jealous of myself? Although she thought this, she couldn’t say it.

Lan Jinyao quickly returned to her senses and had seemingly thought of an answer. She told Fu Changning, “If Lan Jinyao were still alive, I would definitely be jealous, but now that she’s dead, I won’t argue with a dead person. Besides, those are things of the past, so I should let bygones be bygones. Next time, I’ll tell Fu Bainian that he shouldn’t keep that stuff around anymore.”

Upon hearing this, Fu Changning abruptly became emotional, and her voice was laced with sadness and soft sobs.

“Why do you say that? Lan Jinyao isn’t dead, right? I know my Brother, he wouldn’t suddenly fall in love with another woman, unless...that person was Lan Jinyao!”

When Lan Jinyao heard this, she froze, but she forced herself to remain calm and silent.

Following that, Fu Changning choked on her sobs as she said to Lan Jinyao, “Don’t worry, I won't tell others about this, but my Brother really loves you. The things that I did in the past were idiotic and childish; please forgive me!”

This sudden reversal of the plot shocked Lan Jinyao so much so that she was unable to react for a while.

However, her heart was now feeling heavier. First, it was Fu Bainian, then Xu Jin’ge, and now, Fu Changning. She didn’t know how long it would take before the whole world knew of her true identity, so she had to speed up her pace from now on.