“Tonight, I want you to be my woman.”
Shang Jie kissed her lips passionately.
Jiang Xingxing, unable to resist this intense kiss, pushed him away and said, “Not tonight.”
“Why not?”
“Just… it’s not going to happen.” She blushed and added, “My relatives are here.”
Shang Jie paused for a moment before understanding her meaning. He frowned, appearing particularly annoyed, and mimicked her earlier tone, saying, “Is that true?”
“Really!”
“Not believing it! Show me!”
The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.
“Qlv zspv!” Kkydt Dkdtmkdt rwpble bkx yoyu. “R eked’v lmrlnv usw vs nsxl shla vseyu!”
Fbydt Kkl pyv wr, zkv y nktyalvvl, yde zssjle yv vbl osxyd zukdt cldlyvb bkx. Fbl oyp prayozle sd vbl cle, bla eyaj byka pnyvvlale ynaspp vbl pbllvp. Tla lulzypblp olal zsdt yde nwazle, yde bla lulp pryajzle okvb nzyakvu yde clywvu.
Tl nswzed’v blzr cwv rkdnb bla lyazscl yde tldvzu xshle bla blye vs alpv sd bkp vbktb.
“Wllzkdt wdnsxqsavyczl?”
Kkydt Dkdtmkdt alpvle bla blye ytykdpv bkp zlt, dwggzkdt yqqlnvksdyvlzu. “Lsv alyzzu, R nyd ldewal kv.”
Tl rknjle wr bla psqv byka, oayrrkdt kv yaswde bkp qkdtlap, yde vbld zlydle esod vs pdkqq kv tldvzu.
Kkydt Dkdtmkdt tkttzle yp vbl pldpyvksd vknjzle bla.
“Ebyv yal usw pxlzzkdt?”
“The book says a woman’s scent changes during her period.”
“…Your extracurricular knowledge is quite rich.”
He leaned further down, inhaling the scent from her chest and waist, wanting to go lower, but Jiang Xingxing pressed his head down.
“Don’t smell me, you’re acting like a dog.”
Shang Jie then pretended to be a big dog, playfully nuzzling against her.
Jiang Xingxing burst into laughter. “Okay, okay, be serious and stop fooling around.”
Shang Jie planted a kiss on her forehead, then straightened her head back to a comfortable position, holding her hand against her abdomen softly as he said, “When are you going to give me a son?”
“You’re dreaming.”
Their relationship had just begun, and he was already thinking about having a son.
Jiang Xingxing seemed to recall something and asked him, “You’ve been so reckless lately. You were hiding before; why don’t you need to hide now?”
Shang Jie smiled. “Lawrence is on an extended holiday, back home for Christmas. He probably won’t return until the New Year. With him gone, I can do whatever I want.”
No wonder he had been so cautious recently; even when he went out at midnight, he was careful, wearing sunglasses to visit the set. Now he was completely relaxed, even bringing her home.
Jiang Xingxing asked in confusion, “He’s just a doctor. Are you really that afraid of him? Why not just fire him?”
“It’s not that simple. He signed a confidential agreement with my brother. In that agreement, he was granted significant power. As long as I have vital signs, he can do anything for medical reasons, even impose necessary restrictions on my personal freedom.”
Jiang Xingxing gasped. “You’ve given your personal freedom entirely to someone else. It seems your brother really trusts him.”
“They were college classmates with an extraordinary bond. My brother once saved his life, so Lawrence was willing to give up a high-paying job in an American medical institution to come to China and be his personal doctor, determined to cure him.”
Jiang Xingxing nodded, realizing that such deep trust could only come from a bond forged in life and death. Otherwise, with Shang Jie’s cautious nature, how could he easily relinquish his freedom?
She snuggled into Shang Jie’s embrace, suddenly feeling a sense of attachment and reluctance. “If… if you could always be you, that would be great.”
Shang Jie paused, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, unable to respond.
He too wanted to be by her side for a long time.
That night, Shang Jie fell asleep with Jiang Xingxing in his arms. He behaved himself throughout the night, his left hand resting on her abdomen, his palm warm, providing her warmth for the entire night.
The next day, Shang Jie got up early and went to the company.
Since it was the second personality impersonating the first, no matter how reluctant he was, he had to do his part and couldn’t just run away like before, abandoning everything the moment he broke free.
Once, the first personality of Shang Jie woke up to find himself lying on the ice shelf in Antarctica, surrounded by several penguins looking at him. He was devastated.
After that, the first personality made a firm resolution: no matter what, he had to suppress the second personality’s emergence and could not let it ruin his life.
Now that Jiang Xingxing was in his life, he was no longer the reckless playboy he used to be; he had things to care about and people to consider.
In the evening, as soon as Jiang Xingxing arrived home, she received a call from Ming Jin. “Aren’t you coming over yet?”
“Coming over… where?”
“Hey, didn’t you promise to let Shang Jie come over to help play Prince Alec? Don’t back out on me now! Last time Shang Jie stepped in for the performance, it felt really good.”
Jiang Xingxing was taken aback. “When did I promise that?”
“Oh, you’re really trying to deny it! We agreed on it yesterday!”
“Agreed?”
Jiang Xingxing genuinely couldn’t remember when she had promised her that. “Ming Jin, you… drank too much again, didn’t you?”
“You’re really going to back out now? We’re all waiting for you!” Ming Jin pressed.
Jiang Xingxing got anxious. “What kind of person is Shang Jie? How could he come over to act in a play? He doesn’t have time, and he has no stage experience! He can’t act at all; this is just nonsense.”
“I don’t care who he is! I just know he’s your obedient boyfriend. Can’t you just tell him to come over? Besides, even if we have to hire other actors if it flops, he can just come over and help out as a favor!”
“Hey… hey!”
Jiang Xingxing hung up the phone, feeling perplexed. She opened WeChat and found a message history from Ming Jin from after 1 AM last night.
She had felt unwell last night and fell asleep in Shang Jie’s arms early, so how could she have been chatting with her?
Curiously, she opened the WeChat chat window, where Ming Jin had sent her a crying face emoji: “Xingxing, our play might be canceled. Wen Yang has backed out and said he’s not performing anymore.”
Jiang Xingxing: “Oh.”
Ming Jin: “Oh? Is that all? Aren’t you going to comfort me?”
Jiang Xingxing: “What do you want me to do?”
Ming Jin: “Can you find someone? Your actor friends, any guy will do, just to fill in.”
Jiang Xingxing: “I don’t have male friends, only a boyfriend.”
Ming Jin: “A boyfriend will do! But your big shot boyfriend probably won’t be easy to persuade, right? Can he really come to act in our play?”
Jiang Xingxing: “Didn’t he help you perform before?”
Ming Jin: “That was then, this is now. Back then, he was your pitiful little wolf dog, easy to order around. Now… he’s the big boss of Shang Group. You should be the one to flatter him; how could you casually ask him to do this and that?”
Jiang Xingxing: “He agreed; he’ll come over tomorrow night.”
Ming Jin: “Really?! You’re not lying to me, are you?”
Jiang Xingxing: “Yeah.”
Ming Jin: “Oh my God, your Shang Jie is amazing!”
Jiang Xingxing: “Yeah.”
Ming Jin: “You have to treat him well! A guy like this is a treasure; make sure you hold onto him tightly. Show him all your skills, in and out of bed, and keep him around!”
Jiang Xingxing: “…”
Jiang Xingxing: “Please say that to me in person tomorrow.”
Ming Jin: “Goodnight! Love you lots!”
…
After reading the chat history, Jiang Xingxing felt completely confused. This was clearly something Shang Jie had agreed to after taking her phone.
But since he had agreed to it himself, Jiang Xingxing stopped worrying about it and called Shang Jie. “Hey, who gave you permission to touch my phone? Do you know what privacy is? So rude.”
Shang Jie paused for a moment, realizing she had found out. He simply said, “Your friend bombarded me with calls and video chats last night. I was afraid I’d wake you up, so I just replied to her.”
Jiang Xingxing: …
Fine, she had nothing to say to that.
…
On stage, Shang Jie was dressed in an elegant European tailcoat, the suit fitting him snugly. Especially the trousers were almost tailored to his body, outlining the long lines of his legs.
Just those beautiful long legs were enough to make all the women envious.
The prince’s appearance became the highlight of the first act. He didn’t have much theatrical experience, but he was focused and displayed great expressiveness. Having acted with Jiang Xingxing before, he learned how to use expressions and movements to convey a character’s inner feelings. He also had a very sharp mind, able to memorize lines just by glancing at them.
Even the meticulous director, Jiang Zhi, couldn’t help but praise Shang Jie:
“He’s truly a born actor!”
“It’s a shame he’s not studying acting; he could be a talent in business instead.”
“I’ll ask him later if he’s interested in joining our theater troupe.”
Jiang Xingxing: …
She looked at Jiang Zhi. “Weren’t you very dismissive of him before?”
Jiang Zhi shrugged. “I was upset with him for tricking you. But now that you two are in a serious relationship, Ming Jin told me he treats you well.”
Jiang Xingxing reflected on this; he truly treated her well. He did everything a boyfriend should do, even what other boyfriends couldn’t do. He was almost spoiling her with his kindness.
“So, brother, are you accepting him now?”
“Hey, hey! Don’t set the props out so soon; move them aside first.” Before she could finish asking, Jiang Zhi’s picky nature kicked in again, and he rushed to the front of the stage to direct. “You guys get focused; the performance is about to start. Mr. Shang is only doing this for the first time, and he’s doing better than you all! You should learn from him what being an actor truly means!”
Jiang Xingxing looked at him helplessly; forget it, no need to ask anymore.
Ming Jin laughed, “Director, you’re so biased! You really treat Mr. Shang like your future brother-in-law!”
To Jiang Xingxing’s surprise, Jiang Zhi even blushed strangely and smiled. “The wedding hasn’t even been planned yet; stop saying nonsense.”
“Big brother.”
Jiang Zhi paused slightly and looked at Shang Jie. “What did you just call me?”
Shang Jie replied seriously, “I called you brother. Is that okay?”
“No problem, no… no problem at all.” Jiang Zhi’s face turned red as he glanced at the surrounding actors watching with interest. “What are you all staring at? Get back to rehearsal; the performance is about to start! If we embarrass ourselves, it’ll ruin our reputation!”
Shang Jie turned to look at Jiang Xingxing in the audience, a casual smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Jiang Xingxing gave him a thumbs-up as encouragement.
Lin Chuan casually remarked, “This is my first time seeing Mr. Shang act.”
“When he stayed at my place, he filled in for a few performances. He’s really quite talented.”
Lin Chuan continued, “Mr. Shang is intelligent. Since childhood, whether it was piano or Go, as long as he was willing to learn, he could master it in a matter of days or months. Without such natural talent, Old Mr. Shang wouldn’t have such high expectations of him and be so strict.”
Jiang Xingxing turned to Lin Chuan, “Have you been with him for a long time?”
“I was sent to Mr. Shang’s side when I was young and grew up with him.”
“I see.”
Having followed the first personality of Shang Jie since childhood, Lin Chuan had a calm and composed personality. Even in a crisis, he could remain unflustered and poised.
It was a case of “where there’s a master, there’s a servant.”
However, sometimes he could be quite serious yet act foolishly.
“Lin Chuan, can I… ask you a secret question?”
Being as perceptive as he was, Lin Chuan immediately understood what Jiang Xingxing was getting at.
“You want to ask me about his split personality?”
“Exactly.”
Lin Chuan lowered his head and pondered for a moment before saying, “When Mr. Shang was twelve, he was kidnapped by robbers for a few days. Later, for reasons unknown, he managed to escape and return home. Since then, he suffered severe psychological trauma, and shortly after, he began displaying abnormal behavior, completely transforming into another person. The doctors diagnosed him with dissociative identity disorder, also known as multiple personalities.”
“So, what about his sexual urges?”
“Mr. Shang’s second personality has become increasingly frequent with self-indulgence as he ages, almost like a form of terrifying release. Neither psychological intervention nor medication has been effective. Dr. Lawrence said it’s a behavior to numb pain with pleasure. The first personality selectively forgets that painful experience, while the second personality endures everything, protecting him.”
“So, the second personality remembers what happened then?”
“Yeah, but he never talks about it. The second personality is very cheerful, at least it seems that way.”
Jiang Xingxing contemplated, looking at the man on stage, who was immersed in the drama, full of vigor.
Suddenly, she felt a pang of sympathy for him.
“As he grew older, the physical impulses became stronger. The first personality, Mr. Shang, feared that the second personality would emerge and do something unforgivable, so the intensity of drug control increased. He knew it would seriously harm his body, but he had no choice.”
“This time, the second personality being able to emerge for such a long time is quite unusual, but I have to be responsible for watching over him. Miss Jiang, if Mr. Shang exhibits any abnormal behavior, please be sure to inform me. This is for your safety and his.”
Jiang Xingxing shook her head repeatedly. “No, he’s perfectly normal. I’ll keep an eye on him, and if anything seems off, I’ll contact you immediately.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Thanks for visiting. If you like this story, then I’m shamelessly asking you to visit NovelUpdates and give a 5⭐ review. (人❛ᴗ❛)♪тнайк чоц♪(❛ᴗ❛*人)
You can also check out my other translations Here
Second Life Translations' Comment Policy
1. Be kind and respectful. Comments with curses will be put under moderation.
2. No links to other websites or asking for links.
3. No spoilers!