Becoming a Scum A in an Old-School Melodramatic Novel - Chapter 36

When Shen Xian returned home, it was already past ten in the evening. As she opened the door, she saw Lin Qinghan still sitting on the sofa watching TV. Shen Xian’s lips curved slightly as she said, “Qinghan, were you waiting for me?”

Lin Qinghan glanced at Shen Xian and replied indifferently, “No, I was just watching TV.”

Shen Xian moved closer to her and curiously looked at the TV. An advertisement for health supplements for middle-aged and elderly people was playing. Shen Xian looked at Lin Qinghan with confusion, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

Lin Qinghan glared at Shen Xian. “The drama just ended. What kind of look is that supposed to be?”

“Nothing, I was just seeing what you were watching.” Shen Xian said as she casually picked up a cup from the coffee table and drank several gulps of water.

By the time Lin Qinghan looked over and tried to stop her, it was already too late. “That’s my cup!”

Shen Xian had already finished the whole cup. Even after hearing it was Lin Qinghan’s, she didn’t think it was a big deal. She smiled at her and said, “Thanks, Qinghan. I happened to be thirsty.”

A faint blush spread over Lin Qinghan’s ears. She pursed her lips and looked up at Shen Xian. “What are you thanking me for? It wasn’t prepared for you.”

Shen Xian noticed the redness in her ears and leaned in curiously to take a closer look. As soon as she moved closer, the mixed scents of various perfumes on her body wafted into Lin Qinghan’s nose. Lin Qinghan pushed her away with a frown and said in annoyance, “What’s that smell on you? It stinks. Go take a shower.”

Shen Xian sat back and raised her arm to sniff herself. Indeed, her body reeked of a mixture of different fragrances, along with a faint smell of smoke. “Yeah, it does smell bad. I’ll go shower now. Since I’m back, you should get to bed early too, Qinghan.”

“I already said I wasn’t waiting for you.” Lin Qinghan glared at her with dissatisfaction, then looked at the TV and casually asked, “By the way, where’s your Xiao Xi? Is she okay now?”

Shen Xian was already at the bathroom door but turned around when she heard Lin Qinghan. “What do you mean my Xiao Xi? We’re just good friends. She was picked up by her good sister — the one you saw at the banquet last time.”

“Sister?” Lin Qinghan looked puzzled, recalling the scene of Mu Siyu from the banquet.

“Yeah, today’s Xiao Xi’s birthday. She and Miss Mu seemed to have a fight. She cried her eyes out. Later, I called Miss Mu, and after she came, Xiao Xi clung to her. There wasn’t anything left for me to do.” Shen Xian said as she entered the bathroom.

Lin Qinghan casually turned off the TV, thinking about what Shen Xian had said. Those two didn’t seem like “just good sisters” no matter how she looked at it…

More than ten minutes later, Shen Xian came out of the shower, now wearing a clean nightdress. Her long black hair was still dripping, and some droplets slid down her neck, spreading over her already fair skin. Her long legs were faintly visible beneath the nightdress.

As she wiped the water from her hair, she looked at Lin Qinghan. “Still not going to bed?”

“Yeah, going now. Just remember to dry your hair before you sleep.” Lin Qinghan glanced at Shen Xian, her eyes unconsciously falling on her fair collarbone before quickly looking away.

“Okay, goodnight, Qinghan,” Shen Xian said with a smile as she moved closer.

But Lin Qinghan didn’t look at her again. She quickly walked off, saying over her shoulder, “Goodnight.”

The next morning, after dropping off Lin Qinghan and the little one, Shen Xian went to her small company. Jiang Xi had introduced her to quite a few second-generation rich kids. These people usually spent money like water, but now several of them wanted Shen Xian’s help managing their finances to shake off the reputation of being spoiled heirs.

Shen Xian signed contracts with four or five of them in the morning, agreeing to manage their finances and take a commission from the profits. Then, she had her newly hired employees monitor the stock market trends and collect information on promising companies. Once the company had enough capital, they could start investing.

Sitting in her office, Shen Xian felt like she had returned to her CEO days from her previous life. The only difference was that this time, her family mattered more to her than her career.

Around noon, Shen Xian reviewed the materials her employees had compiled. It was the first internship for most of them, and she wasn’t very satisfied with their work. So, she decided to hold a training session in a small meeting room for the four of them.

Meanwhile, as Lin Qinghan was eating lunch in the cafeteria, she remembered that Shen Xian had eaten as late as four o’clock before. She hesitated, wanting to call her to check in but afraid it might be unnecessary. After a moment of indecision, she finally picked up her phone and dialed Shen Xian’s number.

Seeing the caller ID, Shen Xian said to her employees, “Let me take this call.”

“Shen Xian, what are you doing? Have you eaten yet?”

Only then did Shen Xian glance at the clock. She had been too focused on speaking and hadn’t noticed the time — it was already past noon. “Not yet. I was just training the new staff. If you hadn’t called, I might’ve forgotten.”

Lin Qinghan pursed her lips and gently reminded, “Even if you’re not hungry, others still get hungry. Go eat first. Work isn’t more important than your health.”

“Okay, my bad. I’ll eat now. You should go eat too.” Shen Xian replied with a smile, her voice unconsciously softening. She recalled how in her past life, she was so focused on work that skipping meals was a regular thing. Even when her secretary reminded her, she wouldn’t listen.

After chatting with Lin Qinghan for a bit longer, Shen Xian finally hung up. “Alright, let’s end the session here for the morning. Sorry for taking up your time. Lunch is on me. Let’s go eat.”

The four interns breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, President Shen,” Song Min said with a smile. The others also expressed their thanks.

Shen Xian smiled back. “It’s nothing. There’s a nice Sichuan restaurant nearby. Shall we go there for lunch?”

“Sure, you decide, President Shen. We’re not picky.”

On the way downstairs, Song Min and Yuan Zhenzhen whispered to each other:

“Who called President Shen just now? Did she really say, ‘My bad’?” Song Min, just an ordinary girl, asked curiously while holding onto Yuan Zhenzhen.

“No idea. I wonder if President Shen has a boyfriend… or a girlfriend?” Yuan Zhenzhen replied with a slightly red face.

“Right? Zhenzhen, you’re an Omega. Do you have any feelings for President Shen? She’s young and a rising star.” Song Min teased as she nudged her.

Yuan Zhenzhen blushed and gently pushed Song Min. “Don’t talk nonsense. President Shen is our boss.”

“A boss can be a girlfriend too. Just give it your best shot.” Song Min teased with a grin.

The place Shen Xian picked was in the shopping mall right across from the office building. That way, after lunch, she could go back to work as usual in the afternoon.
She reserved a private room, and before long, the dishes she had ordered were served. Since there was still work to be done in the afternoon, Shen Xian only ordered juice, soft drinks, and the like.

As the meal progressed, the group gradually became more familiar with Shen Xian. Song Min glanced at Yuan Zhenzhen, then at Shen Xian, and asked with a smile,
“President Shen, do you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend?”

Shen Xian shook her head. She only had Qinghan and her little one — there was no such thing as a boyfriend or girlfriend.
“No, but my daughter is already three and a half years old.”

“President Shen, you’re joking again.” Song Min thought Shen Xian was just teasing and laughed.

“How is that a joke? I’ll bring her over sometime so you can see for yourselves.”
Just thinking of her little one made the corners of Shen Xian’s mouth curl up involuntarily.

Song Min and the others still thought Shen Xian was just playing around, so they didn’t take it seriously.

On the other side, Lin Qinghan had just put down her phone when Han Rui gave her a gossip-filled look.
“Qinghan, were you calling Shen Xian just now? Are you two…?”

Lin Qinghan took a few bites of food and cut Han Rui off before she could finish.
“No. She didn’t eat lunch until after four yesterday. I was just worried she’d get sick from hunger. I still have to take care of her, don’t I?”

“Sure, keep pretending. You didn’t stop smiling the entire time you were on the phone with her just now.”
Han Rui laughed. She was quite happy seeing Lin Qinghan like this. Before, Lin Qinghan always gave people the impression of bottling everything up inside. Now that Shen Xian had changed for the better, Lin Qinghan’s condition had improved a lot too.

“There’s nothing between us. We’re just sweet on each other. That’s all,” Lin Qinghan muttered, glancing at Han Rui.

“Only the two of you know whether there’s something or not.”

Lin Qinghan didn’t get upset at the teasing. She calmly continued eating her lunch.

That afternoon, after explaining the work to Song Min and the other new employees, Shen Xian went to a gold shop. She had never forgotten about the bracelet issue. Although Fang Jinglan never brought it up again, Shen Xian knew just how much the original owner’s actions had hurt her.

Even if she bought a bracelet now that looked similar to the original, it would never truly be the same one. Shen Xian couldn’t remember the exact design of the bracelet, so she had to ask the system for help.

“Yes, Host. The system can provide a photo of the bracelet, but a scanning fee of { ‘1,000 yuan’ } is required. Would you like to proceed?”
The system’s mechanical voice echoed in her mind.

Of course. Shen Xian knew the system was always good at making money. She clicked on Feixin to transfer {- “1,000 yuan” -} to the system, and a photo of the bracelet appeared in her handbag.

She went to the same gold store where Fang Jinglan had originally bought the bracelet and handed the photo to a sales clerk.

“Miss, we don’t have that bracelet in stock right now, but we can place an order. The manufacturer still has the mold,” the clerk explained.

“That’s fine. Can you have the character ‘Fang’ engraved on the inside of the bracelet? Right here.” Shen Xian pointed to a spot on the photo.

“Of course, Miss. But it’ll take about half a month to process, and we’ll need a 5,000 yuan deposit. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes,” Shen Xian replied. She left the photo with the clerk, swiped her card for the deposit at the register, and left the store.

Afterward, she went to the bank and deposited 100,000 yuan into an account. She planned to use the money for her little one’s school tuition and fees. Surely Qinghan would accept it if it was for their daughter, right?

Later that evening, Lin Qinghan tucked Shen Tian in and went to the living room.

Before, when Shen Tian slept, Lin Qinghan would sleep with her. But recently, after putting her daughter to bed, she had been going back to the living room to watch TV before sleeping. Shen Xian was often there too — sometimes working on her laptop, other times watching TV with Lin Qinghan. The two of them had grown used to this routine.

Seeing Lin Qinghan come out of the room, Shen Xian picked up the bank card on the coffee table and said,
“Qinghan, this has 100,000 yuan in it. You’ve been supporting Tian Tian all this time, but she’s our daughter — both yours and mine. I should contribute too, both financially and emotionally. Business can go either way, so I wanted to make sure we had her school fees taken care of in advance.”

She placed the card in Lin Qinghan’s hand, feeling a bit anxious, afraid she might refuse.

Lin Qinghan looked at the card for a few moments before taking it.
“Alright, then I’ll keep it for Tian Tian for now. Shen Xian, I…”
She paused for a few seconds, then continued,
“Tian Tian doesn’t expect you to become rich or powerful. As long as you stay safe and well, that’s enough.”

“Got it. I won’t do anything that would worry Tian Tian or you.” Shen Xian smiled and looked steadily at Lin Qinghan.

Lin Qinghan, noticing Shen Xian’s gaze, shot her a glance.
“It’s Tian Tian who’s worried about you, not me.”

She gave Shen Xian a glare and returned to her room.

Shen Xian watched her retreating figure, her smile never fading.
Qinghan too — if she’s worried, just say it outright. We’re close sisters, what’s there to be shy about? Why use their little one as an excuse?

Still, the virtual number above Lin Qinghan’s head had changed from [‘5′] to [“10″].