Chapter 86: Blue Diamond

For more than a week after the video, playfully dubbed by the melon-eating masses as “The Suspenseful Saga of the Entertainment Circle: Who is Your Mom,” went online, the official account of @Ping’anNingcheng (Safe Ningcheng Police) released an official report almost every other day. These included the specific details of Zhuo Suli swapping the infants over twenty years ago, how Xu Lingjia replaced Zhong Yue’s thermos with one filled with fruit juice, and so on.

The melon-eating masses counted the number of reports and lamented that the workers behind the official Weibo account must have been writing reports so much these past few days that their pens were sparking! One week’s workload was equivalent to half a year’s, and the level of attention was particularly high. They had to check for typos several times before publishing. As expected, it’s always the working-class Joes who get hurt.

After the detailed report on the Jin Wenli incident was released, a video of Jin Wenli’s parents silently crying in front of the camera while holding her portrait made many people fall silent.

“—They say entertainment is to the death. Seeing two white-haired old people crying in front of the camera until they almost fainted, seeing the portrait of the eternally twenty-four-year-old Jin Wenli, I suddenly wonder, what exactly is this ‘gossip’ we are consuming? Is it Jin Wenli’s painful and short life? Is it a wound that her parents can never heal in their lifetime?”

“—I was a fan of the couple Cheng Ningyu. I even thought maybe Xu Lingjia was slandering and smearing them. I repent now. With each report released, my heart is truly breaking! Why can such rotten people stand glamorously in front of the camera and receive applause and the love of fans with a clear conscience?”

“—My hatred for Cheng Ningyu and their family is now +111111. May they all rot in jail!!!”

“—A thorough investigation is a must! Find all the perpetrators! Not a single one can be let off!”

The door to the interrogation room was pushed open. Xu Lingjia, sitting on a chair, looked up and saw that the person who came in was Cheng Ningyu. The corners of his mouth curled up.

Cheng Ningyu had completely lost her usual pampered look. Her hair was tied back with a rubber band, her face was swollen, and her eye bags were very obvious. She sat down on the chair next to Xu Lingjia, long gone was the arrogant air she had when she first entered the police station, shouting, “Do you know who I am? I want to wait for my lawyer! Before my lawyer comes, I won’t say anything.”

People in uniform were whispering something at the door. Xu Lingjia toyed with a loose thread on his cuff and asked casually, “I heard they’re investigating your taxes. I wonder how much the total amount of back taxes and fines will be. You see, those few properties and the villa at home, it seems you can’t keep them. You might as well have sold them earlier to pay me back.”

Cheng Ningyu had been tired of arguing these past two days, but hearing this, her voice immediately rose. “Don’t even think about it! You’re not my son, and you still want me to help you pay your debts?”

“It’s not for you to say whether I am or not. Legally, our relationship is mother and son.” Xu Lingjia stared at Cheng Ningyu, feeling a sense of vengeful pleasure. “You despise me, don’t you? You think I’m a burden to you? Too bad, you can’t get rid of me.”

He pretended to think for a moment, then suddenly showed a look of realization. “Oh, I know. You haven’t asked about your biological son once until now. It turns out it’s not because you’re worried he’s already dead or something else you can’t accept has happened, but because you’re afraid he’ll ask you to pay his debts and ask you for money?”

Cheng Ningyu did not deny it.

She still remembered the shabby tiled house she had stayed in when she gave birth. It was considered the best house there. The whole village was dilapidated and run-down. To get there, you had to take a car through winding mountain roads—what kind of person could be raised in such a place?

Plus, the father was a drunkard and a gambler, and the mother was not only bad, but also crazy and looked stupid. What did it matter if a child raised in such a family was hers?

He would either be a small-time gambler, or someone who didn’t even graduate from middle school, or someone who had never seen the world, timid and unpresentable. She wouldn’t want him even if he were given to her. He had better not come near her.

After being asked a few questions each and signing their names and putting their thumbprints on a few papers, Xu Lingjia followed behind Cheng Ningyu as they walked out together.

As they passed the entrance, Xu Lingjia quickened his pace and deliberately whispered behind Cheng Ningyu, “Oh right, I think I forgot to tell you. You’ve already met your biological son. You even spoke to him very politely.”

Cheng Ningyu whipped her head around. She came into contact with many people every day, but there were only a few who she would speak to politely, with Xu Lingjia present, and who were around the same age as Xu Lingjia.

She was not slow-witted. On the contrary, Cheng Ningyu was a very smart person. Connecting this with Xu Lingjia’s attitude and actions, she quickly reacted. Her whole being was revitalized, shocked and pleasantly surprised. “You mean Shen—”

The smile on Xu Lingjia’s lips slowly faded.

Jealousy surged through his heart like a tidal wave.

Was she that happy?

As expected, ever since he had overheard them talking at home, Cheng Ningyu and Ye Mei had already betrayed him. In their hearts, they despised him for being inferior to Shen Xici in every way, and even wished Shen Xici was their son!

Xu Lingjia put on a confused expression. “What are you talking about?” He then said sarcastically, “No matter who you think your biological son is, do you think, with the way you look now, that he would even look at you? Dream on.”

In Paris in mid-March, the bleakness of winter had not yet completely faded. Occasionally, one could see the budding signs of spring on the tips of leaves by the roadside.

The Saherny brand headquarters was a white marble building. The chief designer, Baudouin, stood at the end of the VIP passage to welcome them.

Shen Xici walked over and hugged Baudouin, saying in French, “C’est un grand plaisir de vous rencontrer. Toutes mes félicitations pour avoir reçu la Légion d’honneur du Président! (It is a great pleasure to meet you. Congratulations on receiving the Legion of Honor from the President!)”

His pronunciation was standard and fluent, and the details were very well-handled. Baudouin exclaimed exaggeratedly, “Thank you, my muse! I didn’t expect you to have paid attention to this! Your French is superb. No one told me before that you could speak French, and with a standard Parisian accent at that!”

Shen Xici thought to himself, “Speaking of which, I have to thank Teacher Sheng for that.” In his past life, he had a very superficial foundation in French, but a language is something that, once you stop using it, gets squeezed out of your brain in minutes. So he had crammed this sentence before coming to France, having Sheng Shaoyan teach him.

Sheng Shaoyan had asked him what level he wanted to be taught to. Shen Xici, being a bit of a perfectionist, hoped to be able to pronounce the stress, intonation, and liaisons as accurately as possible.

Overall, aside from some ambiguous teaching behaviors involving lips and teeth when teaching him nasal sounds and telling him how to tighten his oral muscles, Sheng Shaoyan was indeed strict, patient, and had a very high level of proficiency.

Understanding the general meaning, Shen Xici switched back to English. “I learned it on the spot. Besides this sentence, I can also say in French, ‘Fait-il beau aujourd’hui?’, ‘Où comptez-vous partir en vacances?’, ‘Cette robe est magnifique!’, and ‘Votre talent m’émerveille!’.” (“Is the weather nice today?”, “Where are you planning to go on vacation?”, “This dress is magnificent!”, and “Your talent amazes me!”)

Baudouin laughed loudly and also switched to English. “These few sentences are completely sufficient to handle any situation today. You don’t need to learn any more! Your pronunciation is really standard and very pleasant to the ear.”

After exchanging compliments for a while, Shen Xici was led by Baudouin to the fitting room.

He had flown to Paris this time to prepare for the upcoming film festival red carpet. The three major domestic film awards were the Qingwu Award, the Jinyun Award, and the Jinye Award, and among them, the most prestigious was the Golden Phoenix Feather trophy of the Qingwu Award.

After confirming that he would attend the awards ceremony, the Saherny brand immediately offered to provide him with a gown for the red carpet. Ge Lanjing initially thought that since it was Saherny, any haute couture from the latest season would be fine. After all, getting a super-season piece wasn’t something that happened every time.

As it turned out, when she saw the word written in the email from Saherny, she almost screamed. She grabbed executive publicist Xiao Ning’s hand and kept asking if she had understood correctly. Was Saherny really going to lend them a vintage haute couture piece?

Twenty or thirty years ago, during Saherny’s heyday, the former chief designer Flamel had launched a classic vintage collection. As time went on, after Flamel’s death, these designs that had led the fashion trend of an era were also placed in Saherny’s museum, only occasionally appearing on the red carpets of international awards, attracting media from all over the world to report on them.

After seeing Xiao Ning nod repeatedly, Ge Lanjing excitedly slapped the table. “I’ll go book the best and most expensive photographer and makeup artist right now. We’ll take pictures of you from every angle. We’ll definitely get a bunch of divine photos!”

In front of the fitting mirror, Baudouin, with a measuring tape draped over his shoulder, exclaimed in admiration, “I thought of this outfit after watching your new movie. Every design has a soul, and there is a strong soul resonance between you and this outfit! I was right. This outfit is so suitable for you. It was born for you!”

Shen Xici looked at himself in the mirror. Perhaps it was because the roles of Gu Changsheng and Sheng Yuen, whom Gu Changsheng had impersonated, had left a faint shadow in his body, that when he wore this kind of vintage-style clothing and looked at himself in the mirror, he had the illusion of having crossed the barrier of reality and once again meeting the character’s gaze.

He retracted his gaze. “Thank you. I also like this outfit very much. I can almost feel the surging inspiration that Mr. Flamel had hidden in the lines when he designed this piece.”

Baudouin’s lips curved. “Oh, I really like your way of expressing things!”

He looked at Shen Xici under the lights with admiration. Surrounding him were white reliefs, a collection of countless radiant pearls, gems, and mother-of-pearl, as well as all sorts of exquisitely beautiful embroideries. Everything was luxurious and exquisite. And his temperament matched this place perfectly—a beauty like a work of art, much like a sonnet from classical literature, where every rhyme and word was beautiful. Brilliance and restraint reached a perfect balance in him.

During the fitting process, after carefully measuring his body size and making detailed adjustments, Baudouin joked, “Until the second you walk up to the podium, you absolutely cannot gain even a single kilogram!”

Shen Xici raised his arms, cooperating with the movements of the two tailors beside him, and also smiled. “Don’t worry. For this outfit, starting from today, I will weigh myself ten times a day.”

After the fitting, Baudouin enthusiastically showed him around, including a wide variety of fabrics, various show pieces that were not yet finished, and charmingly colored embroidery samples. As they passed a glass cabinet, Shen Xici’s footsteps paused, his gaze falling on a vintage scepter-shaped blue diamond brooch.

At first glance, Shen Xici couldn’t help but associate it with Sheng Shaoyan’s dark blue eyes. Especially when they were kissing in the dim light of a room. Whenever they separated slightly and he opened his eyes, he would see Sheng Shaoyan’s deep eyes, like a vortex sucking in one’s soul, making his heart palpitate and at the same time, making him even more immersed.

The blue diamond was not particularly large, but its color saturation and clarity were very high. It was very harmonious shining at the top of the scepter, which symbolized the pinnacle of power.

Shen Xici’s recent income was basically from commercial endorsements and the like. He quickly calculated the balance in his account in his head. He wasn’t as poor as before, but “poor” is a relative term—for example, this brooch that would cost him most of his savings made his heart bleed.

In the small, curved hall, the several staff members responsible for reception remained quiet, their footsteps light. At the same time, they kept a watchful eye on the man sitting on the cream-white sofa, who had an extremely powerful aura and was rarely seen, stunningly handsome.

Dressed in a smoothly tailored handmade suit, the dial of a watch was faintly visible at his cuff. He was holding a newspaper. Just sitting there, he had a calm and special aura of a superior, indifferent and difficult to approach.

In front of him, there was a cup of coffee. The surrounding staff were all attentive to his possible needs, but no one dared to approach and disturb him.

Until the white door opened.

This man put down his newspaper, his gaze accurately falling on the person who walked in. He then stood up, strode over with his long legs wrapped in black suit trousers, took the other’s hand, and asked in a low voice, “Are you done with the fitting?”

His voice was completely devoid of that impersonal coldness, very affectionate.

Shen Xici nodded. “I’m done. I’m very happy, and I also bought something I wanted to buy.”

“Good.” Seeing that Shen Xici was in a good mood, Sheng Shaoyan then looked at Baudouin and shook hands with him.

Every time Sheng Shaoyan spoke French, Shen Xici found his accent very pleasant to listen to. However, with his level of French, besides a few words, it was impossible for him to understand. He stood by with a polite smile, nodding from time to time, while thinking in his heart about where to go next.

After the pleasantries were over and they had said their goodbyes, Shen Xici and Sheng Shaoyan went downstairs together and got into the Maybach parked on the street.

As soon as the car door closed, Shen Xici couldn’t hold it in any longer and handed the rectangular box to Sheng Shaoyan.

Sheng Shaoyan saw him looking expectant like a child, his dimples overflowing with smiles. He took the box. “A gift for me?”

Shen Xici nodded vigorously. “Yes! The moment I saw it, I thought it was perfect for you!”

The box was opened, revealing the scepter-shaped brooch. Shen Xici eagerly took it out and pinned it to the lapel of Sheng Shaoyan’s suit jacket.

Staring at it for a while, Shen Xici muttered regretfully, “It seems I still need to earn more money…”

“Why do you suddenly say that?”

Taking advantage of the central partition and the fact that no one else could see, Shen Xici held Sheng Shaoyan’s head with both hands and, looking at his eyes with fascination, confessed, “I bought this brooch because the blue diamond on it reminded me of your eyes.”

Sheng Shaoyan listened calmly to his praise. “And then?”

“And then I found that the beauty of this blue diamond is not even one-ten-thousandth of the beauty of your eyes.” Shen Xici had come to terms with reality. He said solemnly, “My boyfriend’s eyes are too beautiful and charming, so much so that a blue diamond that could even slightly match this level of beauty would be very expensive. So I have to work hard and earn lots and lots of money!”

Sheng Shaoyan was in a very good mood, but his expression remained very calm. However, he didn’t understand why the words coming out of Shen Xici’s mouth could make him so happy. He thought this, and so he asked.

Shen Xici was genuinely confused. “Did I say something?”

Sheng Shaoyan leaned in and kissed him directly—if he couldn’t get an answer, he would find the answer himself.

The car drove out of the city of Paris and into the suburbs. After driving for an unknown distance, it suddenly turned into a small road. The two sides of the road were dense with trees, and the quiet atmosphere was like a different world from the hustle and bustle of the city before.

The small road was winding. In the bushes on one side of the road stood a sign, but Shen Xici didn’t understand what was written on it.

A little further ahead, a lake suddenly appeared before his eyes.

The March daylight slanted down, and the lake had a cool, silvery-gray sheen. The reflection of a rooftop fell on the water’s surface, then was wrinkled by the wind.

Shen Xici suddenly realized something. He raised his gaze, and a magnificent castle suddenly appeared in his field of vision. The stone walls were soaked with the rain and mist of a whole winter, bearing the marks of history and time, giving it a shockingly ancient feel.

Shen Xici had heard Sheng Shaoyan say in his past life that he had more than one castle in Europe, but Shen Xici had never expected it to be so huge!

In front of the castle, a large lawn stretched out. The color of the grass was just beginning to turn green. From a distance, it looked like a mixture of yellow and green. Up close, one could see the tender green shoots of grass. The car stopped in front of the castle’s main gate. Sheng Shaoyan held Shen Xici’s hand and said, “This is it. We’re home.”

The car door was opened. Sheng Shaoyan got out first, took the umbrella handed to him by Butler Laisen, opened it, and then went around to the other side, opened the car door, and held out his hand to Shen Xici, who was still in the car.

The wind carried fine threads of rain. Shen Xici stepped onto the damp ground, walked to the door, and greeted with a smile, “Good afternoon, Uncle Laisen!”

Butler Laisen, dressed in a sharp tailcoat, held a large black umbrella and bowed slightly. “Good afternoon, Young Master, Young Master Shen.”

A fire was already lit in the living room fireplace, dispelling the dampness of the rainy day, making it dry and warm.

Shen Xici asked for the direction of the washroom, went to wash and disinfect his hands first. Sheng Shaoyan followed behind, slowed down as he passed by Butler Laisen, then suddenly stopped, turned around and asked, “Have you noticed anything different about me?”

Butler Laisen was puzzled in his heart but did not show it. He answered rigorously, “Young Master, I have not noticed anything for the time being.”

He hadn’t noticed?

Sheng Shaoyan raised his hand, his fingertips gently tapping the scepter brooch pinned to his lapel twice. He then said, “Xici said that the blue diamond on this brooch he gave me is not even one-ten-thousandth of the beauty of my eyes.”