For a fleeting moment, Shang Yechu felt a pang of guilt, realizing she had let Ji Juntao down.
She even reached out, wanting to hold Ji Juntao's hand to comfort him. However, in that instant when her hands reached out, Shang Yechu seemed to see a sly and smug smile flicker across Ji Juntao's lips—
Shang Yechu wasn't sure if it was real or just her imagination. But her mind suddenly cleared, snapping away from the tenderness and turning to alertness!
"That's not right, is it?" Shang Yechu stood up. She was slightly taller than Ji Juntao, and her eyes were lowered slightly, looking at Ji Juntao at eye level.
Shang Yechu cleared her throat and questioned, "You've done all these good things, so if you're doing this for my own good, why didn't you tell me?"
Ji Juntao narrowed his beautiful, three-white-eyed eyes slightly.
"I am grateful for everything you have done for me—but what necessary connection does that have with your act of hiding things from me?" Shang Yechu asked calmly and logically. "Is there anything that you absolutely had to keep from me to succeed?"
Despite her confident words, Shang Yechu felt a chill run down her spine. What a close call! She had almost fallen into Ji Juntao's trap.
The moment Ji Juntao asked, "I don't care about you?", it was impossible for Shang Yechu not to be moved. No one in this world had ever arranged everything so thoughtfully for her. That feeling of being cared for and "protected" was enough to bewitch anyone.
But in that instant, Shang Yechu unexpectedly thought of Ji Ya, her biological mother, whom she hadn't thought of in a long time.
Ji Ya is different from Shang Hongxuan. Shang Hongxuan was born into an emotional wasteland, showing no warmth towards any of his four children. He didn't even care much about his "root son," Shang Jiayu, simply indulging him. While Ji Ya wasn't particularly good to Shang Yechu, she was undoubtedly a competent and good mother to her other three children.
Therefore, Shang Yechu never expected to receive her father's love, but she still fantasized about her mother's love every now and then.
In her previous life, after Shang Yechu became the Shang family's cash cow, Ji Ya treated her much better. Shang Yechu enjoyed Ji Ya's gentle treatment for a while, and the impression was extremely deep. She remembered every single thing that happened during that time like the back of her hand.
At that time, Ji Ya, at Shang Hongxuan's behest, often took on low-quality, vulgar comedies and generic brand endorsements for Shang Yechu. The comedies were low-budget mini-productions; some directors would gather a bunch of unknown actors or even amateurs, stringing together some lowbrow jokes and exaggerated, affected performances to create a "movie," which they'd then release in theaters to rake in hundreds of thousands or millions at the box office. It was a highly profitable business, but it severely damaged his reputation and image. The endorsements, on the other hand, covered everything from spicy strips, chili sauce, hard candy, soft candy, bubble gum, glue, tape, and foam to clothing, shoes, and socks for middle-aged and elderly people (Shang Yechu had a cheerful appearance and was popular with them).
Often, Shang Yechu is completely unaware that she has already become the spokesperson for a whole host of small brands.
Although Shang Yechu was robust, she wasn't made of iron. Her schedule was packed with offers coming in like scraps of paper, and she often felt exhausted. She had timidly suggested to her mother, "Could I perhaps not accept these small film offers?"
Ji Ya's answer at the time was brilliant, brilliant precisely because it was so classic—
"Mom is doing this all for your own good!"
Shang Yechu didn't want her loving mother to disappear and revert to the cold, indifferent mother she once was. Therefore, she obediently swallowed these bitter pills and dutifully accepted film contracts and endorsements for many years.
Therefore, countless people regard Shang Yechu as a regular guest in bad movies, a money-grubbing rat, and a short-sighted fool. They treat her as a joke.
"This is all for your own good!"
How can you be so ungrateful?
"I can't let my mother down."
"Don't make Mom angry..."
These sentence structures had long been buried in the dustbin of Shang Yechu's memory, but now, Ji Juntao has dug them out with a pitchfork!
What you are unwilling to give up, I will give up for you!
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