IMGH Chapter 49

Acting Is Exhausting

The dark narrow lane was silent and still, with tall street lamps casting a dim, amber glow.

A leaping figure bounded from the street corner into the alley. From a distance, one could already hear an ethereal voice singing an unfamiliar melody, painting the cold, still night sky with a touch of warmth.

The girl who had leaped into the alley carried a crossbody bag in one hand, her arm swinging playfully up and down, the bag swaying and tracing graceful arcs through the air. Perhaps because she was in good spirits, the girl wore a constant smile on her face.

“Acting really is exhausting! I wonder if this method will work — hopefully everything goes smoothly and this whole thing wraps up soon!”

The girl parted her lips and murmured softly to herself. The night breeze swept past, and her low, quiet words dissolved into the alley.

A dark shadow drifted over from a distance and landed on the girl’s delicate shoulder. She raised a pale hand, pinched it between her fingers, and held it in her palm. In the dim amber light of the street lamp, a paper crane could be seen resting in her hand.

She brought the paper crane to her ear. The crane, which had been perfectly still, began to tremble slightly, fluttering its wings.

A moment later, the girl closed her five fingers around it. A few seconds passed, then she slowly opened her hand — white paper scraps fell in a flurry, like drifting snowflakes.

The girl walked at an unhurried pace deeper into the alley, then stopped. She leaned sideways against the alley wall and said coldly to whoever was behind her. “You’ve been following me the whole way. You’d better come out and show yourself!”

A figure slowly emerged from the shadows. “Miss, please don’t misunderstand — I mean no harm!”

“Who do you think you’re fooling? What exactly do you want, following me all this way?” The girl who had been followed was none other than Chen Yuhe. After parting ways with Jiang Yi, Chen Yuhe had wandered around the shops, had a meal, and enjoyed herself outside before heading home — only to discover that someone had been tailing her.

Han Yuancheng had come to ask a favor. Facing Chen Yuhe’s cold expression, he patiently tried to reassure her. “Miss, we’ve met before — don’t you remember?”

Chen Yuhe tilted her head and studied the man in front of her. He was handsome, and he did seem vaguely familiar — yet she simply could not recall where she had seen him before.

Seeing that Chen Yuhe still regarded him with a blank, guarded stare, Han Yuancheng reached into the breast pocket of his suit jacket and extended an object toward her.

Chen Yuhe looked closely — what the man held out was a small, delicate paper knife.

Her eyes shifted slightly, and a flash of cunning sharpness crossed the corners of her gaze.

“Sorry, handsome, you’ve got the wrong person!”

Had he not broken into the database that day and retrieved the woman’s records, Han Yuancheng would never have connected the girl standing before him now to the woman he had encountered then.

The difference between the two versions of her was too stark — that day she had been mysterious and unpredictable; today she was lively and spirited. The face was the same, yet the aura was entirely different.

“Miss, I must ask you for a favor!” Han Yuancheng looked at Chen Yuhe with genuine sincerity, a glimmer of hope flickering in his eyes.

Chen Yuhe felt a flutter of unease inside, though her expression remained one of apparent incomprehension.

“I truly don’t understand what you’re saying!”

“Miss, a friend of mine is in trouble — you absolutely must help!” Seeing that Chen Yuhe showed no sign of yielding, Han Yuancheng, in his desperation, grabbed her arm and refused to let go.

Chen Yuhe shook his hand off with displeasure and said sharply, “Sir, I genuinely have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m going home now — please step aside!”

The girl in front of him seemed no different from any ordinary young woman, and Han Yuancheng found it difficult to connect her with those of unusual and extraordinary ability. Her firm denial planted seeds of doubt in him.

Could it be that he was, in his desperation, grasping at straws — and had found the wrong person?!

Han Yuancheng stood rooted to the spot, dazed, the dark pupils of his eyes losing all their luster in an instant.

Behind her, all was quiet — the man had not come after her again. Chen Yuhe quickened her steps for a moment, then came to a halt in a relatively safe spot. She turned her head slightly in the man’s direction and saw him standing there, motionless and dazed, the life completely drained out of him.

A pang of compassion stirred within Chen Yuhe. She bit her lower lip, uncertain what to do.

A moment later, she let out a soft sigh, and, unable to harden her heart after all, she said slowly, “Sir, all things in this world have their appointed course. It is not that I am unwilling to help — it is that I cannot.”

Han Yuancheng’s eyes brightened in an instant. He snapped his head up — but the girl’s figure had already vanished.

Only those words lingered on, drifting like sound suspended among the clouds, echoing within the alley.