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Chapter 15: I Don’t Believe In Anyone

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Endure it.

I must endure it.

“And what do you have for me to control?” Xi Mo stood up and quietly poured herself a cup of water before continuing, “Your body? So sorry, your body is already in my hands. During the video call, weren’t you blushing as you admired it at a close distance?

Ruan Yesheng: “…”

After a moment of silence, in a gentle voice and with a smile, Ruan Yesheng slowly analyzed, “For example, you can make me agree to your demands and act as your substitute using your body. If you want me to go east, I can’t go west. If you want me to act better, I certainly can’t embarrass you. If you want me to beat up the screenwriter, who has an absurd brain, I definitely won’t beat up the director. If you want me to beat up the director, I definitely won’t beat up the producer.”

“I would like to beat you up instead.”

“You can pick up a brick now and smash your head in.”

After being tense for so long, Xi Mo’s face finally showed a little bit of the annoyance she had been trying to hide. She felt that Ruan Yesheng was basically leading her in circles.

However, without the permission of the body’s original owner, she certainly couldn’t just do whatever she wanted. There are many people who will spare no effort to enter the entertainment world, but there are also some who are unable to because of various reasons or simply because they don’t wish to. Xi Mo and Ruan Yesheng were currently in a mutually restraining relationship. Under such circumstances, Xi Mo didn’t dare to act on her own accord. Otherwise, Ruan Yesheng might use her body to do something without her permission as revenge.

As a public figure, Xi Mo paid a lot of attention to her image. She didn’t want Ruan Yesheng to cause a stain to her image.

More importantly, while she might be a very self-conceited person, she wasn’t someone who did whatever she wanted without restraint. She had always and strictly upheld the principle of mutual respect. If the other person really didn’t agree, she couldn’t do anything about it.

In the end, Xi Mo slightly relaxed her tone and said, “I’m very familiar with my upcoming itinerary. The shooting will begin very soon, and there will be a lot of publicity. When the time comes, you will have to substitute me and go to the shooting location. The location is very far, and my workload is heavy. During this period of time, my work is mainly focused on the show. Therefore, you will almost always be at the shooting location during this period. Many things can be settled easily only if I follow you there. I must join the crew with you.

There would be no chance for her to meet Ruan Yesheng if she didn’t do this.

Ruan Yesheng had taken over everything that was once hers, everything she protected like an important treasure. With her current identity, Xi Mo had no way to approach Ruan Yesheng.

At the same time, she had always been alone in the eyes of the public. She lived alone. She didn’t associate deeply with her friends and only maintained simple relationships. Because of this, it made others feel strange. There were often netizens who would bring up the rotten private lives of celebrities. However, no one was able to do the same for her.

She seldom interacted with others and was cautious to the point that she seemed to be rejecting things outside her world. She had never gone out privately with others and her friends were never invited to her house to play. She lived her private life with indifference and in seclusion. Forget about a rotten private life,  it was hard even trying to get a rumour out of her. No matter how hard the paparazzi tried to dig, they couldn’t find anything. There wasn’t even the slightest rumour, what could they dig up?

Without any rumours, what could they write about?

Could she even be considered a celebrity?

Just look at Chen Qingbie. Once she starts a new work, a new round of gossip about her relationship status will begin. The more they talk about it, the more hype it becomes. However, Xi Mo had nothing at all. Back then, her company was so troubled over this they almost kneeled down to beg her to start a rumour.

In the end, they were still unable to get anything out of Xi Mo.

She continued living her life in seclusion. Because of this, her image as an untouchable flower grew stronger. As a result of her never having any sort of rumors or scandals, her fans grew more fanatic and became more obsessed with her. They worshipped her like a goddess, protected her, and tolerated nothing that would tarnish her reputation. If a bad rumour really started, the person who spread it will probably be scolded like no tomorrow by the fans.

The company decided to follow her down this route after considering that this image of hers wasn’t bad.

Of course, the netizens wouldn’t forget to pick on Xi Mo’s image when they tried to tarnish her reputation. Some of them felt that her character was flawed, that she was trying to act cold. Some people thought that she must have had a dark history, resulting in her not trusting anyone. Since they weren’t able to dig up any gossip or rumour, they switched to digging up her dark history.

However, this established image was now giving Xi Mo a lot of trouble. Her social circle was so small and cold. Now that she became Ruan Yesheng, it was very difficult for her to approach ‘herself’ with it not being seen as strange by the rest of the world. In a sense, she might have picked up a rock and smashed her own foot.

Ruan Yesheng listened quietly without saying anything.

Xi Mo emphasized, “Ruan Yesheng, I don’t want to prattle on with you. I will get straight to the point, I need to see you. I have to stay by your side everyday and interact with you.”

Ruan Yesheng said with a laugh, “Why does it sound like you have fallen in love with me and can’t live without me?”

Xi Mo: “…”

Endure!

I must endure!

Ruan Yesheng seemed to know the reason behind Xi Mo’s demand but still asked, “Fine. Can I ask why you want to stay by my side so badly?”

Xi Mo directed the question back at her indifferently, “You don’t wish to stay by my side?”

Ruan Yesheng: “…”

This question of Xi Mo’s was clearly targeting a different topic and was completely unrelated to the feelings she was carefully holding in her heart. However, the ambiguity of it caused her heart to heat up and beat faster following the misunderstanding. 

Ruan Yesheng knew that it was just a misunderstanding.

For an instant, she wished that such a misunderstanding could become a reality, despite the slim chance.

How would Xi Mo know about the twists and turns in her head? She continued lightly, “I have analyzed the situation we were in at the hotel. Back then, the two of us fainted at the same place. In other words, the two of us were very close to each other. From what I can remember, we were at a hugging-distance apart.

Ruan Yesheng let out a chuckle and said, “Yes yes. 0 metres apart.”

Hearing Ruan Yesheng’s laughter, Xi Mo’s face became more taut. She continued with a serious expression, “Perhaps, there was someone… or something that came in. I’m still not certain of anything yet, but I feel that distance might play a part in how we exchanged bodies. If we remain too far apart and don’t interact, do you think there is a possibility of us swapping our bodies back? You will be far away at the shooting location, while I will be staying at home. We will be a thousand miles apart. How do you think we can swap our bodies back? Do we have to wait for heaven to strike us with thunder? I’m sure you have thought of this before.”

After a moment of silence, Ruan Yesheng chuckled, “Indeed, I have considered this before. I also wish to stay by your side.”

She added with mixed feelings, “After all, this is more benefitting with regards to us swapping our bodies back.

Xi Mo said, “In that case, you’re agreeing with my analysis and my request for the audition.”

“I agree with your analysis.” Ruan Yesheng suggested with a soft voice, “You can become my personal assistant, bringing me water and food, serving me at all times at the shooting location.

Xi Mo sneered, “It is not yet time to sleep and you’re already dreaming.”

After Ruan Yesheng finished laughing, she suddenly changed the topic, exposing the truth they both knew, “The reason you are doing this is not only because you wish to quickly swap back our bodies. You also don’t believe in me.”

Through the phone, the both of them fell into an awkward silence.

The silence was somewhat chilling.

Ruan Yesheng continued, “You don’t believe in me. You don’t believe that I can use your body properly. You need to see your body everyday. You can only be rest assured if I stay in your line of sight. You haven’t been sleeping well recently, have you?

After a long moment of silence, Xi Mo admitted without hiding anything, “I don’t believe in anyone.”

After that sentence, nothing else could be heard from Xi Mo’s side. After a while, Ruan Yesheng felt the vibration of her other phone. It was the phone she was carrying with her when the incident occurred at the hotel. It was passed back to her by Xi Mo. A corner was damaged, but she was still using it up till now.

Her expression was stiff as she saw the screen light up and a number unsaved in her contacts. To an outsider, that number may seem like an unknown number. However, for Ruan Yesheng, who frequently contacted this number, she couldn’t be more familiar with it.

Checking the messages inbox, the message received was very short and simple, “20:21, xfh25081459 has passed away.”

Ruan Yesheng stared blankly at the message. Her watch, at the moment, was at 20:22.

The death had occurred a minute ago.

After a long moment of silence, her fingers had turned cold. Without replying, she quietly deleted the message. All the data, account numbers used, and browser history in her phone were always carefully deleted, just like the message.

“Ruan Yesheng.” Xi Mo’s voice sounded.

Ruan Yesheng squeezed out a smile on her face as she replied, “Yes, I’m here.”

Her voice was very gentle, but there was a tremor that was very difficult to detect. She responded, “Okay, I agree to your request. You can use my identity and stay with me in the same crew.”

Xi Mo didn’t reply.

Ruan Yesheng continued, “It’s already 8:30. Since you said you haven’t eaten, let’s end the conversation here. You should go eat something in case your stomach starts getting uncomfortable. As for Director Lin, I will go according to your arrangement. You just wait for the call regarding the interview.

The strange phone call had finally ended. Xi Mo put down her phone. Looking outside at the brightly lit night sky, she suddenly felt relieved.

Ruan Yesheng stood up and quickly called a number with her original phone.

After a while, someone picked up the phone.

Ruan Yesheng said, “I have something to talk to you about.”

The person over the phone chuckled, “Okay.”

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