ABSML Chapter 37: Some People Live On

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ANNOUNCEMENT

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Faced with such a thoughtful gift, Chen Zhan was deeply moved and decided to start using it right away.

Since he had an important business meeting with a client that evening and Yin Ronglan had to pick someone up from the airport, they didn’t linger after finishing the cake.

Yin Ronglan’s subordinate had parked the car by the roadside of the residential area. Just as he was dozing off, he groggily caught sight of a familiar figure, instantly waking up.

After fastening his seatbelt, Yin Ronglan instructed, "Have the lawyer double-check the contract for any issues."

The subordinate nodded. "Already arranged."

The car had barely driven off before hitting a red light. While waiting, the subordinate stole a glance at Yin Ronglan and hesitated before asking, "Did you tell him the truth?"

"It’s his birthday today. I didn’t want to bring up anything upsetting."

After driving a while longer, Yin Ronglan leaned back in his seat, rubbing his temple with his index finger.

Noticing his boss’s troubled expression, the subordinate could guess what was on his mind. Sure enough, moments later, Yin Ronglan muttered in a low voice, "Unfortunately, there’s no perfect solution."

A long silence followed. Then, inspiration struck the subordinate. "How about saying… you have a twin brother named Yin Kulan?"

No response.

But the fleeting glance from his boss told him everything—his bonus for the month was gone.

—

The birthday celebration was wrapping up, and Chen Zhan was helping clear the table. The old man found the cake too rich and insisted that Chen Zhan take the leftovers home.

Chen Zhan wasn’t particularly fond of sweets and pondered how to deal with the remaining slices.

At the sound of a knock, a flicker of hope rose in his eyes—perhaps the old man had changed his mind and wanted to take a couple of pieces back.

Instead, at the door stood a fashionable blonde woman. Memories of disguise techniques he had learned in the past resurfaced in his mind in an instant. Chen Zhan quickly made a judgment.

"Jiang Ying?"

She removed her mask and pulled up a chair in the corner, carefully positioning herself where no cameras outside could capture her.

Seeing this, Chen Zhan teased, "The media headlines lately have been quite creative. Is Ms. Jiang here to provide them with another one?" His eyes glinted with mischief. "Something like ‘The Actress and Her Obsessive Fan Reunite’ or ‘Betraying Her Fiancé to Build a Love Nest’?"

Jiang Ying calmly informed him that she had already used a drone to ensure there were no media spies around.

Chen Zhan pursed his lips—truly fitting behavior for the male and female leads.

He walked over to the table, poured her a glass of warm water, then sat on the couch across from her. "So, what brings you here?"

"It’s about an article you wrote last year…"

At the mention of "last year," Chen Zhan felt a moment of disorientation, realizing that a new year had already begun.

Jiang Ying raised an eyebrow slightly. Her beauty was sharp and commanding—when she arched her brows, people found it hard to meet her gaze. "In that article, you mentioned that you once prayed at a temple, hoping to be reborn as my son."

Chen Zhan immediately grasped the topic and dismissed her concern. "Villains live long lives. Longevity is hardly an issue for me."

"But my fiancé has developed a psychological shadow because of it," Jiang Ying said slowly. "That contradicts my plans."

She was nothing if not pragmatic. First and foremost, her family business needed an heir. Subconsciously, her future mother-in-law likely preferred a son as well. And she herself didn’t want her daughter to bear too many burdens—she should have more choices than just being a strong, independent woman.

Chen Zhan could guess her line of thinking. "A pampered daughter, a son to conquer the world?"

Jiang Ying took a sip of water and nodded slightly.

Chen Zhan remained indifferent and shrugged as if to say, "What does that have to do with me?"

"Change his perception," Jiang Ying frowned. "Otherwise, if we do have a son, someone might faint outside the delivery room."

Given Chen Zhan’s extensive history of mischief, if he ever reverted to his old ways and met an untimely end, Lin Chiang might really develop a trauma over their child.

"You might be mistaken," Chen Zhan said, standing up to turn on his computer. "My article is a piece of nonfiction—I can’t revise it for personal reasons."

As the screen lit up, he placed a slice of cake in front of Jiang Ying. "Eat it."

Jiang Ying had the kind of physique that didn’t gain weight easily, but the sight of a cake drenched in fruit syrup still made her eyebrow twitch.

"This is a trade?"

Chen Zhan merely smiled.

She scooped up a bite of cake and ate it. Meanwhile, Chen Zhan opened the two new chapters he had finished that morning. "You really didn’t have to come all this way."

Hearing no response, he turned around—Jiang Ying had already finished the entire slice.

"It’s been a while since I had sweets," she said matter-of-factly. "A little indulgence is fine now and then."

She then walked over to the computer and skimmed through the chapters Chen Zhan had scheduled for the evening—

..........

"After being locked up for days, stepping back into the sunlight gave me an odd sense of rejection, as if the world no longer welcomed me.

All my previous plans had failed. The harder I tried to think of a way out, the more lost I felt.

Then, suddenly, the library near the university appeared in my view. Books provide wisdom—perhaps I needed to seek my answer there.

I spent an entire day reading everything, from ‘The Art of War’ to books on mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts—none of it helped.

Just as I was about to give up, inspiration struck from an unexpected source—a martial arts novel.

In the story, a girl fell in love with her biological mother’s former fiancé and eventually married him.

Then, in a vampire novel I read afterward, the same thing happened—the protagonist’s daughter ended up marrying one of her mother’s past admirers.

This was brilliant!

It meant I still had hope!"

..........

Jiang Ying stopped reading. Her gaze turned dark and unnerving.

Chen Zhan remained composed. "I had mental health issues back then." He rarely seemed idle—while talking, he was already tending to his plants. "I’m sure this update will temporarily resolve your concerns."

Jiang Ying’s furrowed brows gradually relaxed.

Chen Zhan glanced at his phone on the side. "You know, a phone call would have been more convenient." Then he suddenly paused. "You wanted to watch me write, to make sure the matter was truly settled?"

Jiang Ying didn’t deny it. After all, no one would dare take Chen Zhan lightly. Finally, she curved her lips into a faint smile.

"Go ahead and publish it now."

To reduce the time spent in the same room, Chen Zhan clicked send without hesitation.

At the end of the year, gossip-loving netizens were particularly enthusiastic. Normally, it would take at least an hour before the number of clicks surged, but this time, the topic quickly caught the tail end of trending searches:

"I just want to know who would still dare to wish Lin Chi'ang to have both a son and a daughter in person."

"The funny thing is, I've actually read both of these books."

"Rational analysis: comparing the two, having a son is safer than having a daughter."

...

Online discussions were moderate, and soon, other news overshadowed the topic. To most readers, this chapter update was just a little spice in life—something to laugh about and move on from.

Chen Zhan didn’t pay attention to the comments. Shortly after Jiang Ying left, he went alone to a stationery store on the street corner, browsing through various postcards.

Under the shop owner's bewildered gaze, he bought an entire bag of postcards before moving on to the next store.

Returning with a full haul, he poured the postcards onto the table, resembling scattered pieces of a colorful puzzle—a true test of patience.

Chen Zhan proceeded to draw simple protective charm dolls on each one, or occasionally a bizarrely ugly little figure, signing his name at the bottom.

With the New Year approaching, sending out a few postcards to fans could be considered a small perk.

   [System: You can order custom ones. Drawing is troublesome.]

Chen Zhan: "I have plenty of time. No need to waste money."

His hand-drawn ones should be more eye-catching than those plain, cutesy cartoon characters.

The system didn’t argue about aesthetics and fell silent again.

Chen Zhan believed that money should be spent wisely. While he didn’t invest much in postcards, he did contact a factory to custom-make practical keychains. The deposit plus shipping fees meant his future expenses wouldn’t be small.

After two days of preparation, he posted a giveaway announcement on Weibo. Many influencers were holding giveaways at the time, making Chen Zhan’s gifts seem like a feather compared to a mountain.

   [System: I feel secondhand embarrassment for you.]

"Different approach," Chen Zhan said rationally. "This is about winning through quantity."

He believed in spreading the benefits widely.

   [System: Don’t forget that expired cushion foundation—you can throw it in as a bonus.]

Hearing this, Chen Zhan chuckled but didn’t reply. He concluded that every system had the potential to be a black-hearted businessman and secretly raised his guard.

Probably because the giveaway was free, netizens didn’t criticize him for being stingy; instead, they eagerly shared the post.

Everything was arranged methodically. However, Chen Zhan didn’t realize that among those who shared the giveaway, there was an individual completely out of place among the netizens.

By dusk, most employees had left, leaving only the CEO working overtime in the office.

A subordinate, hidden from Yin Ronglan’s view, sighed—this was karma for slacking off and making too many friends instead of focusing on work. Even during break time, he still found time to register an account and enter a giveaway.

Just then, he received a call to pick up his takeout. With a look of resignation, he retrieved the food and squatted by the roadside, lighting a cigarette to ease his mood.

As he exhaled a faint wisp of smoke and scrolled through his phone, he suddenly froze.

At the end of the year, celebrity news flooded social media. Many trending topics hadn’t even had time to explode before being suppressed. Five minutes ago, a topic that had barely reached a million views suddenly skyrocketed, accompanied by a bright red "Exploding" label.

#Apologize to Chen Zhan#

The first post came from an ordinary netizen who screenshotted an entire chapter of a novel, highlighting the first character of each line in red. Below it, a small note read: "Please read them together."

   [Cui Dazhuang: I noticed this a few days ago, but I didn't say anything because I wanted to see how that person would end up.]

   [Village Beauty: Hugging the commenter above. There are four of us in our dormitory, and we all had the same thought.]

   [Hug: Finally made it to trending! I’ve been holding back these past few days, thinking I was the only one who knew this secret.]

   [Geng Tianle: I second that.]

The subordinate felt his heart skip a beat and specifically checked the update time—Chen Zhan had posted the chapter while the boss was on a business trip to Zhehai City.

Could it really be such a coincidence?

In just the time it took to smoke half a cigarette, a new topic emerged:

#Revenge#

Eager gossip lovers debated what consequences awaited someone who failed to apologize on time.

   [Willow Tree by the Pond: The person definitely didn’t apologize—don’t ask me how I know.]

   [King of Mutt Dogs: Based on what Chen Zhan has done before, I bet he’ll do this and that to them first.]

   [Maria’s Hair: That’s terrifying. Personally, I think Chen Zhan isn’t that bad—at most, he’ll just write them into his novel.]

The further he scrolled, the creepier the comments became. Snapping back to reality, the subordinate quickly stubbed out his cigarette, tossed it into the trash, and rushed to the top floor by elevator.

Yin Ronglan sat in his swivel chair, facing the enormous floor-to-ceiling window, his silhouette as rigid as a frozen sculpture.

——Want to read the chapter again?

I’m playing a game.

——This is the latest model of a voice recorder.

Thank you.

... Countless conversations suddenly flashed through the subordinate’s mind like falling snowflakes.

"CEO…" He swallowed nervously and cautiously stepped forward.

The office was eerily silent. The subordinate reached out and lightly tapped his shoulder. "Sir—"

"Don’t touch me."

The tone wasn’t harsh, yet it sent a chill down his spine. Through the side profile, he finally saw Yin Ronglan’s expression clearly.

The usual mask of gentleness seemed to be covered by a layer of ice, frozen solid.

"I’m already dead."

"…"

Author’s Note:

Regarding gender issues—Jiang Ying married into a wealthy family, which comes with in-law problems. Referencing real-life female celebrities who marry into rich families, there are often many difficult challenges.

This has nothing to do with gender discrimination! It’s just her character’s setting—career-driven yet forced to make compromises with reality.

Once again, emphasizing: it’s just character development, please don’t overanalyze.

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