Forbidden To Be Tempted

Cheng Suran agreed.

Step by step, getting to know Jiang Yu's identity is like opening a mysterious present by herself. Each layer has different surprises. This time, she has the control in her hands.

Jiang Yu couldn't help but hug her.

"Thanks."

The fragrance of irises wafted into her nostrils, Cheng Suran's breath froze, and she subconsciously stretched out her hand to wrap around Jiang Yu's waist, but the fragrance left again. Her hands hung in the air awkwardly, and she retracted them silently.

"Does this private studio only do Y.R series?" She changed the subject.

"That's right," Jiang Yu nodded with a smile, bent her fingers, and tapped on the table, "As long as I have inspiration, I will first draw a sketch, deciding which elements to add or remove..."

She toured Cheng Suran unhurriedly, walked around the table, and finally returned to the dummy model.

Cheng Suran noticed that the shortest model among them was exactly the same as her in height, measurements, and proportions, and there were two shallow dimples on her face.

"Is this me?"

"Mm, it's custom-made to fit your body proportions."

"What about others?"

"Normal fitting models."

Jiang Yu didn't realize there was anything wrong, but Cheng Suran lowered her face and complained rather dissatisfied: "It's understandable to make a tailor-made mannequin, but what's the use of other dummies? Putting me in the middle of the tall ones, I look even shorter. Did you do it on purpose?"

"I didn't mean that..." Jiang Yu shook her head.

She didn't notice the minute details at first, but after Cheng Suran pointed this out, she looked at the mannequins carefully, and the 1.65-meter "Ranran" standing among many 1.75-meter models really looked very short, cute, and funny.

She couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"You're still laughing?" Cheng Suran frowned, "And you said it wasn't on purpose!"

As she spoke, she reached out to pinch Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu dodged and took two steps back, Cheng Suran chased after her, and the two of them played around the big table like the King of Qin walking around the pillar. After going around two or three times, Cheng Suran turned and ran backward, catching Jiang Yu off guard. She lunged and hugged her.

"..."

Time stood still.

Two temperatures pressed closely together exhaled breaths carrying each other's scents. Like a wildfire burning, it seeped into their lungs, scorching their hearts. With red lips close at hand, like a tempting ripe fruit.

Jiang Yu fell under a spell, with wild thoughts raging in her mind, but her rationality told her not to do so. 

"Is it that good to be tall?" Cheng Suran suddenly pushed her away, turned sideways, and concealed the panic in her eyes.

In those few short seconds just now, she couldn't help but sense Jiang Yu's hot and strong emotions, yet she remained oblivious to the underlying restraint and self-control. She couldn't quite grasp it all, as if something was still knotted in her heart.

"Move all the tall ones away."

She said, pointing to the mannequins, she found herself an escape.

Jiang Yu quickly calmed down as if waking up from a dream, and nodded with a smile: "Okay, I will only use the same model as you from now on." Then she leaned down a little, not forgetting to tease at the end.

"It turns out that someone still cares so much about height..."

"Shut up."

Both of them laughed.

The wall clock pointed to five o'clock, and the sky outside the window gradually turned cloudy.

"Do you want to have dinner together tonight?" Jiang Yu said while packing up the sketches, "Do you want to eat at home or go out? Whatever you prefer, just to thank you for fulfilling my wish."

"Let's go to your place," Cheng Suran blurted out without thinking.

After saying it, she felt that her words seemed a bit ambiguous, so she added, "Outside food is oily and not clean. Eating at home is safer and healthier."

"I was thinking the same thing," Jiang Yu winked.

Just what she wanted.

This time, Cheng Suran took a taxi to come, and when they left, she got into Jiang Yu's car.

The building was about a 15-minute drive from Green Shang Mansion. Halfway there, Jiang Yu remembered to go to the brokerage company to get some documents. The traffic is clear at the moment, and it just took a few minutes to reach the entrance of SIENAMODEL.

"I'll go up to get something, wait for me in the car."

"Mm."

Cheng Suran got busy replying to emails on her phone.

After waiting for a while and not seeing Jiang Yu come out, she glanced around and spotted Jiang Yu in the first-floor reception area, talking with a few people.

Mm?

What's going on?

There seemed to be a foreigner next to her, and Jiang Yu was gesturing with both hands while talking. The noise floated over.

Cheng Suran frowned, with a vague premonition, got out of the car, and hurried in.

A slender foreign woman with blonde hair and blue eyes was standing at the front desk, speaking broken English intermittently, even making gestures. Jiang Yu struggled to listen to her, and after listening for a long time, she only understood that she was a model from the Russian parent company.

The two girls at the front desk were even more confused.

"Jiang Yu..."

Cheng Suran thought they were arguing, walked over quickly, and subconsciously stood in front of Jiang Yu, "What's wrong?"

Jiang Yu hesitated, grabbed her hand, and pulled her to her side, lowering her voice, "She's a model from Russia. Her English is really bad. It seems like it took a lot of effort to get her here... I don't know how the agent handles things." Frustration showed in her eyes.

"You... you... lied to us. " The blonde woman was full of anger.

Jiang Yu: "?"

Cheng Suran stared at her, and tried to say hello in her half-baked Russian: "Hello?"

The blonde woman froze for a moment.

"Um, I can speak a little Russian, you can speak slowly." Cheng Suran smiled reassuringly.

In the next second, the woman's eyes flushed and she started to cry: "You are a liar company...your agent tricked us into signing with another company...you don't keep promises...you."

Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=4738582                    This translation is originally posted on  love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too 

This foreign model's name is Agata. She's eighteen years old and was born in Ukraine but lives in Russia. Her family is financially struggling and can't afford to send all three children to school. She took a leave of absence two months ago because of her favorable appearance, allowing her to sign a contract with the Russian parent company. She was sent to China to work for about a year to earn enough money for her education before going back to school.

According to the company's arrangement, three foreign models were traveling with her, and they will fly to China with the company covering their travel expenses, and accommodation and will be picked up by SIENA's agent after landing.

The agent responsible for receiving them is Mina.

Since these models are all newcomers and ignorant, unlike other B-level, A-level, or even super A-level models who have some experience, they only follow their agents. Being newcomers, they are not familiar with life in a foreign country. Having an agent who could speak fluent Russian and provide warm and professional hospitality made them feel at ease both physically and mentally.

After landing yesterday, they stayed in a downtown hotel for one night and were taken to the "company" this morning.

The "company" was empty and had only a few people which didn't match the general information they knew about SIENA, but the agent said that this was part of the process, that newcomers sign an "internship contract" first. After the probationary period, they would go to the company's headquarters.

Her companions believed it, but Agata didn't sign it right away. Out of caution, she contacted someone from the Russian parent company to confirm. Unexpectedly, the parent company didn't know about it, instead, they inquired about the so-called "company" and what it was...

Only then did she realize that she had been lied to.

....

"Mina is your agent, why did you lie to us like this? My companions and many people didn't know what was going on, they were all deceived by you, You are shameless..." Agata cried and complained, she was emotional and spoke a bit fast, and her crying voice made her words muddled.

She didn't realize this until she finished speaking and said it again slowly.

Cheng Suran barely understood the ins and outs, checked several key pieces of information with her, and used a dictionary app on her phone to piece together the complete meaning.

She relayed it to Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu's face became more serious as she listened.

Before they got off work, they took Agata to the office. Jiang Yu called Mina, but couldn't get through, so she went to the brokerage company again. Most of the agents went out with the models, and only a few were in the office.

Recently, Tian Lin reported to her that Mina could not be contacted, and it had been almost two months since the last time she met Mina.

Mina kept saying that she was very busy and tired, and would return to the company whenever she was free.

Yet up to now, she has not returned. 

She asked Bai Lu, but she said she didn't know, and even complained to her aggrievedly. When she asked a few people close to Mina, they all said that they hadn't been in touch for a long time.

Jiang Yu finally realized the seriousness of the matter.

"I've already told my colleagues and our company, and I'm going to expose you guys on Twitter..." Agata said while crying. Her older sister had to go to Ukraine to earn money by having a child because of poverty. She didn't want to live that kind of life. She came here full of expectations but was cheated, feeling angry and helpless.

Cheng Suran gasped: "Have children to make money?"

Agata nodded.

"It's surrogacy." Jiang Yu frowned, "It's legal in Ukraine. There's a nickname in their country called "Europe's womb."

"..."

Cheng Suran was too shocked to speak, followed by a surge of anger. She quickly comforted her: "We're sorry, but...actually, we didn't know about this matter. It was the agent who decided without authorization, and now we still need to investigate..."

Apparently, Mina betrayed the company.

Jiang Yu felt a headache.

This situation has been going on for two or three months. If it were an ordinary agent with low qualifications, she would have found out a long time ago, but Mina has considerable privileges. She has made great contributions to the company at the beginning of its establishment. According to the principle of "do not suspect until there's a reason", she trusted her immensely and practically gave her free rein, so much so that it allowed Mina to hide from everyone.

She immediately contacted the Russian parent company and began investigating the matter.

....

After Agata was settled, Jiang Yu led Cheng Suran back home.

The sudden turn of events caught her off guard, leaving her a bit at a loss. Her mood plummeted, and she found herself with a poor appetite during dinner, only eating a few pieces of fish before putting down her chopsticks.

"Are you full?" Cheng Suran asked in surprise.

Jiang Yu nodded, pursed her lips, and smiled: "I'm going to deal with work emails."

After that, she got up and left.

Cheng Suran opened her mouth and wanted to call her, but her voice got stuck in her throat. Just then, her phone screen lit up, and a WeChat message popped up—

Ruoxian: [Ranran, I bought lamb chops. How about having grilled lamb chops tonight?]

It was only then that she remembered that Ruoxian was coming back today, thoughts about Jiang Yu made her forget about it for a while. So she quickly replied: [I’m eating at a friend’s house, You can have it yourself, or freeze it in the refrigerator, and I’ll cook it for you another day.]

Then she sent a cute cat emoticon.

The dialog box shows typing.

Ruoxian: [Is it with Miss Jiang?]

Cheng Suran was slightly surprised and replied truthfully: [Yes.]

The other side was quiet for a long time, and five minutes later, Wen Ruoxian sent another message: [Okay, I'll eat the lamb chops by myself, I'll buy fresh ones when you come back, and we'll eat together.]

[Okay.]

It felt a bit strange.

Cheng Suran didn't think much about it and put down her phone. She sighed as she watched Jiang Yu's retreating back and then looked at the delicious dishes prepared for her on the table, suddenly losing her appetite.

She took a few mouthfuls casually then got up to look for Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu was not in the master bedroom.

With too many rooms, Cheng Suran went around and finally found her on the small balcony in the southwest. She was leaning against the railing, with a slender cigarette between her fingers. The air was filled with the smell of smoke mixed with a fruity aroma.

Lonely and desolate.

"Jiang Yu...Cheng Suran stood behind for a long time and couldn't help calling her.

The woman froze and turned around.

Their gazes met.

Jiang Yu was stunned for a moment, subconsciously looked at the cigarette in her hand, and quickly put it out in the ashtray. She smiled at Cheng Suran, "You finished eating so quickly?"

"Mm."

Cheng Suran glanced at the half of the cigarettes left, and walked over slowly, "If you're in a bad mood, just smoke if you want."

"Not really."

"You're being stubborn."

"..."

The winter night is very cold, and it carries a little bit of cold wind. There are many tall buildings outside the window, with shining bright lights. In the distance, the sound of a tour boat's horn echoed over the river.

Jiang Yu closed the window.

"Will it have a serious impact on the company?" Cheng Suran asked softly.

"It won't."

"Really?"

"It may lose a little reputation, due to the word of mouth, and some overseas markets. In the worst case, these can't be considered serious."

"Oh, I thought she had infiltrated the upper echelons and was about to seize power..."

Pfft.

Jiang Yu couldn't help laughing and wanted to pinch her ears, but suddenly remembered something, and patted her shoulder with her outstretched hand: "It's not that exaggerated. Although I gave her some shares, they're not much. The actual controller of the company is still me.”

"That's good." Cheng Suran nodded in relief.

"If you have any communication problems, I will go to the company tomorrow and send you a Russian translator. If you want to file a cross-border lawsuit, I know a lawyer friend who specializes in this area. If you need help, just let me know. If I can help, I will, and if I can't, I have friends who might be able to assist. In short, don't carry it alone."

"You're not alone anymore."

She looked at Jiang Yu seriously.

Jiang Yu's expression changed, and a wave of infinite tenderness surged in her eyes. She cautiously inquired, "What do you mean?"

"There are friends like us around."

"..."

The word "friend" extinguished her expectations.

She hid her smile: "Mm, okay."

Although she found some comfort, Jiang Yu's heart is still heavy. The loss caused by this incident is second, and the most important thing is that she was betrayed by someone she trusted—she despised betrayal the most.

The feeling of being stabbed in the back is not pleasant at all.

However, this is not the first time she has experienced betrayal. She has seen too many dirty people and things in her modeling career for more than ten years. In contrast, her life after retirement has been smooth sailing. Maybe it was too smooth, but now fate is about to test her.

When she was about to send Cheng Suran back, she received a call from Mina.

"Miss Jiang, were you looking for me?"

Mina's voice was very calm.

Jiang Yu said indifferently: "I heard that you started a company?"

There was a moment of silence on the other line, then Mina hummed flatly and said: "To be precise, it's not just me, but also Bai Lu.

"Bai Lu?"

"She's the legal representative."

Jiang Yu's eyebrows furrowed, and a slight crack appeared in her calm gaze.

Bai Lu...