#yang haoshu

[lizhly-writes]

cnovel shenanigans: a different kind of twins au. had this in my giant wip document in a while, decided to polish it up to take a break on what i'm supposed to be working on. surprise! it's yang haoshu and yang haoran (og).

Yang Haoshu glanced at the door that linked her room to her brother’s.  At the ever-auspicious hour of four in the morning, there was still light seeping out from under it.  Maybe Yang Haoran was passed out on his desk with the lamp still on, like he’d been prone to when they were younger; maybe he was still obediently, diligently hard at work.

There was really only one way to find out.  Delicately, Yang Haoshu twisted the doorknob and stepped inside.

Yes, he was clearly awake, squinting at his desktop monitors, one hand tapping at his keyboard and the other scribbling in a notebook.  He didn’t notice her as she stepped in, didn’t notice her as she got closer, didn’t notice her as she hovered a hand over his shoulder.

He very much noticed when she slapped her hand down.

It was a little like watching a bomb go off – body going tense, whirling around with sharp, furious, motion, ready to bite off the head of anyone who even looked at him wrong –

“Hi, it’s me, your sister!” Yang Haoshu said.

She did so in a cheerful, innocently oblivious voice, the kind that heightened mild annoyance into pure rage.  It always worked well enough on Jiang Mingxi.

It didn’t have any real effect on Yang Haoran, desensitized by long-term exposure. He simply sighed, rubbing at his eyes.  “Haoshu.  What are you doing up.”

“I just woke up,” Yang Haoshu said.  “Because unlike you, I went to bed at a regular time.  Don’t you know that staying up after midnight is bad for your skin?  What will happen to your pretty face then, huh?”

Said pretty face twisted in distaste. “Don’t start that again, is it so important to you that I care about how I look –”

“It seems like such a shame to finally win the looks competition just because you don’t care.  This is the sort of sentiment that’ll make you old before your time, you know?  You’ll look forty at age twenty–”

“Haoshu,” Yang Haoran said forcefully.  “What do you want.” He was twitching faintly.  If it was because of irritation, no harm done.  If it was sleep deprivation, though…

When was the last time her darling brother got a full night’s sleep, anyway?

“Nothing, really,” Yang Haoshu said, instead of straightforwardly asking this question.  “I just wanted to see what you were doing.”  She leaned forward, peering at the neatly arranged windows on his monitor.  “You’re trying to get up-to-date with company info?  What a good, dutiful son you are, hmm?”

Yang Haoran bristled preemptively.  “Don’t start that again.”

“What am I starting?  I thought you liked being told you were such a good boy.”

“Why do you have to make me sound like a dog.”

“But aren’t you, though?  I mean–” Yang Haoshu gestured at his notebook for emphasis – “look at you!  Diligently learning what needs to be learned!  Unwaveringly doing whatever your owners want!  Did Mother or Father even tell you do this?  I don’t think they did!  You’re jumping to heel without even being told!  How well-trained!  What a good prize hound!  If they enter you in a competition, you’re award-winning for sure!”

“Did you only come in here because you wanted to call me a dog first thing in the morning?”  Yang Haoran said, hackles raising, his pen stabbing into – no, through – the notebook by the strength of pure irritation.  Well done, gege! “You couldn’t have even waited until breakfast?  Did you just want to be certain this was the first thing I heard all day? Are you really this bored?  You really don’t have anything better to do?  Here’s a suggestion: sleep.  Didn’t you just say staying up after midnight is bad for your skin?”

“Now, isn’t that hypocritical, A-Ran?  After all, you’re still awake, killing yourself trying to be as good as Da-jie, aren’t you?”

Yang Haoran narrowed his eyes.   If she had been a stranger, he probably would tried to kill her (subtly!) for saying this kind of thing, but Yang Haoshu had the advantage of being the only sibling he liked.  Instead of going for the throat, he only said, “Get out.” 

“Really?  You could at least let me finish.”

“You give me the same lecture every time.  It gets old, I don’t need a refresher.”

“You always need a refresher, because you never understand my point.”

“Your point is that I should give up,” Yang Haoran said flatly.  “What’s to understand?”

“You make it sound so bad. It’s good advice, I’ll have you know.”

Yang Haoran wasn’t the only one who had tried living up to their parents’ expectations, after all.  Yang Haoshu had done the same; it was just that, unlike him, she had realized that there was absolutely nothing she could do that could ever compare to what Yang Haoli had done before the both of them.

Grades, talent, skill, intelligence, pure fucking luck – Yang Haoli would always beat them both.  When it came to their parents’ attention, Yang Haoran and Yang Haoshu would always lose.

The only way to win was not to play.

“What, you’re saying I should be like you?” Yang Haoran said derisively, who had never been convinced of this line of thought. “Accomplishing nothing of any importance, failing at the very start just because I can’t be bothered to try for a higher standard?  Just because you can do it doesn’t mean I can do the same.”

Ouch, gege.  If Yang Haoshu was anyone else, she might be – y’know – hurt.

“That’s a pretty uncharitable way of looking at it,” Yang Haoshu said.  “You sound just like Ming-jie.  She says this sort of thing about me, too.  You know, about how I’m irresponsible and taking my privilege for granted and how I’m wasting all my time on frivolous things.”

His expression twisted, obviously dissatisfied.  Wasn’t this what he just said, in different words?  But ah, it was only gege who was allowed to insult his very cute meimei, huh?  Even his fiancee wasn’t allowed!  One could even say that especially his fiancee wasn’t allowed!

There weren’t very many people Yang Haoran hated more than Jiang Mingxi, after all. 

“But then again, maybe I should expect this from you,” Yang Haoshu said.  “You’ve been getting along much better with Ming-jie lately, so maybe it’s not so much of a surprise that husband and wife are speaking with the same mouth.  All those ‘training spars’ alone – ”

“What exactly are you trying to say here,” Yang Haoran said, scowling heavily, which was disappointing, she was honestly hoping to get a more telling reaction out of him.

“What, me? Am I trying to say anything?  Who’s trying to say anything? I’m straightforwardly implying you two fucked, but that’s just a guess on my–”

“Do you want to die, is that it? I can help you with that.”

“So touchy, A-Ran.  Picking up habits from Ming-jie, aren’t you?  She’s such a bad influence, I should tell her to stop infecting my brother with her delicate sensibilities.  It’s no good to be so…”  Yang Haoshu clicked her tongue.  “Emotional.”

The corner of his mouth twitched.  It wasn’t a smile.  But it wasn’t not a smile.  Yang Haoshu had finally steered the conversation into territory they both liked: making fun of Jiang Mingxi. “If you tell her that,” he drawled, “you really will die. Calling her delicate and emotional – do you have a death wish?”

Yang Haoshu blinked innocently. “But gege will defend me though?”

Now that was a smile – a little too sharp to be presentable, but a smile, nonetheless.  “Defend you? How do you know I won’t help her?  You keep saying that we’re getting along so well lately, after all.”

Ah, A-Ran was always so happy when he got to be mean.

“That would be such a betrayal,” she pouts.  “How could you?  And when I’m always on your side when Ming-jie attacks you–”

“You’re on my side because you think it’s fun.”

Well.  That wasn’t wrong. It was incredibly fun antagonizing Jiang Mingxi, which was why Yang Haoshu did it so often.

Still, Yang Haoshu pressed a hand over her heart, mock-hurt.  “How could you say that, can’t it just be that I care?”

He scoffed, like he always did at the thought of anyone doing something as plebeian as caring about him. 

Yang Haoshu was really so tired.

“And because I care so much–” she patted his shoulder.  “I’m telling you to go to sleep, A-Ran.”

“Haoshu.  I have things to do.”

“You’re really driving yourself to an early grave, you know,” Yang Haoshu said, and, because she knew that Yang Haoran had never really been afraid of dying young, she added, “Anyway, do you think you do good work when you’re sleep-deprived?”

Yang Haoran paused. Yes, she had him there – he didn’t give a shit about his health, but when it came to his work quality, that was something he cared very much about.  

“It’s fine,” he said.  To anyone else, he would have sounded really rather sure of himself.  To Yang Haoshu?

He did very well with sleep deprivation, she knew.  Much better than the average person, just like Yang Haoshu, and like-but-not-quite-like Yang Haoli. But even he had his limits, and while those limits were very high –

“When was the last time my darling brother got a full night’s sleep, anyway?”

Yang Haoshu didn’t know the answer.  She was betting neither did Yang Haoran.

“It’s fine,” he repeated, as if saying it with enough force would be enough to make it true.

“Is it?  Oh, but what do I know.  It’s not like I’m used to looking at this.” She tapped the row of numbers on the screen – revenue, profit, expense, debt.  Quarterly reports for the family company and quarterly reports for every single other competitor they had. 

All meaningless garbage.  

“Gege is so accomplished,” Yang Haoshu said.  “So sure you haven’t, ah… misplaced a number somewhere?”

If Yang Haoshu had wanted to be mean, she would’ve added something about Yang Haoli – how reliable their jiejie was, a machine that never needed to shut down for maintenance, no sleep no food no drink necessary for perfect work.  It would have even been true.  Their older sister, inhumanly perfect, impossible to live up to, worthless to try against.

But that would really do nothing but start a fight.

It was 4AM. Yang Haoshu really had better things to do – sleep, for one.

“Go to bed, A-Ran.  I promise you’ll be much more efficient in… well, I’d say in the morning, but we’re already there, aren’t we?”

[lizhly-writes]

Belated WIP Wednesday game request for your redacted filename!

haha. hi there.

.

"I can't believe," Yang Haoshu said tenderly, "that perfect Jiang Mingxi is such a fucking idiot."

There was something to be said, about the effect of a diametric contrast between tone and word choice. Did you listen to the tone or did you listen the words? It would sound a little wrong either way, wouldn't it? There was insincerity in either direction.

Jiang Mingxi blinked rapidly. Oh, wouldn't it be nice if she could trust Yang Haoshu's tone? How sweet! How pleasant! But picking one or the other was all about context, and their context was ten years of Yang Haoshu picking at anything and everything she could get to make Jiang Mingxi start a fight she couldn't win.

[lizhly-writes]

I wish you would write a fic where jmx meets yhs. I like yang haoshu.

man! what's the point of sending this ask anonymously! yang haoshu's never even made out of discord!

Ahem.

Right. So. "Yang Haoshu" is an alternate universe version of Chen Lihua, where she was the second-born child of the Yang family instead of Yang Haoran.

The way she meets Jiang Mingxi in this universe is virtually identical to how the original Yang Haoran meets Jiang Mingxi -- that is, as small children and almost immediately trying to beat the shit out of each other, because they're both very easily angered.

It's really not that different from 'canon', because truthfully, at that age, the original Yang Haoran and Yang Haoshu aren't that different. I could have written that out, swapped a few names, and then I would have a scene I could actually use in the not-cnovel as a pseudo flashback, or something.

Instead of doing that, though, I wrote an entirely self-indulgent and significantly easier to write weird crossover snippet that I can't use anywhere else but this ask.

Under the cut!

...

Yang Haoshu was a world-class champion at making Jiang Mingxi angry.  This was a skill she had mastered at a young age, when she had realized that fighting Jiang Mingxi – punching, kicking, clawing, biting – just didn’t work.  

Jiang Mingxi was bigger, stronger, faster, and she devoured the martial arts education their parents gave them with an enthusiasm that Yang Haoshu couldn’t come close to matching.  There was no way around it; in a fair fight, Yang Haoshu would always lose.

Still, there were other ways of fighting.  As the saying goes, “sticks and stones may hurt my bones, but words–” 

Words had never hurt Yang Haoshu.  

Oh, she got angry, sure, but hurt?  Not at all.  And as she got older, the anger had mellowed out into irritation into annoyance into, perhaps, mild amusement. For all of the things Jiang Mingxi was good at, she could not rival Yang Haoshu in this.  This was ultimately the key difference between them: Yang Haoshu could keep her temper.  Jiang Mingxi could not.

And thus, when it came to words, Yang Haoshu always won.

Naturally, Yang Haoshu endeavored to win as much as possible.  And she did!  It was probably a little mean of her, but at this point, she was very good at it – even the right sort of smile was enough to send Jiang Mingxi into a barely restrained rage.

…This one, though.

“Hmm,” Yang Haoshu said, tilting her head at the Jiang Mingxi in front of her.  “You’re more level-headed than mine.”

“What’s that supposed to mean,” said Jiang Mingxi.  The words were right, but Yang Haoshu’s Jiang Mingxi would have been grinding them out, nails digging into her palms and drawing blood.  This one, though, only narrowed her eyes.  No sign of any real anger in her at all.

How interesting.  

Yang Haoshu smiled brilliantly.  “Ah, I don’t mean anything bad!  I suppose I’m projecting some expectations on you.  You look so much like someone I know from home, after all.  A childhood friend of mine!  I always called her Ming-jie –”

“Don’t call me that,” Jiang Mingxi said immediately.

Well, Ming-jie always did hate it.

“Are we not close enough for that kind of thing?” Yang Haoshu said.  “I must look very familiar to you, too.  Does she not call you that?”

“It doesn’t matter if she does or if it doesn’t,” Jiang Mingxi said.  “It doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

“It could be argued it does, at least a little. After all–”

They were the same person.  This Jiang Mingxi’s Yang Haoshu – more than family, more than genetics, more than what science could ever hope to achieve, they were really, truly, the same person.  

“Doesn’t matter,” Jiang Mingxi said shortly.

“Is that all you have to say?”

Jiang Mingxi was like this at home, too.  Fiction, fantasies, philosophy, theology – none of them, no matter how well written, well-made, ever caught her attention more than sheer brute force and violence.

“None of this interests you at all, huh?” Yang Haoshu said.

How boring.

“Did I say that?” Jiang Mingxi said irritably.  “You sound just like – no.”

Yang Haoshu perked up.  “I sound like…?”

Jiang Mingxi exhaled, hand going up to her temples.  “It doesn’t matter.  Nothing about you, and your counterpart here – that relationship isn’t there.”

“...Pardon?”

“It’s experiences who make people what they are,” Jiang Mingxi said, turning abruptly.  “It’s those memories that shape a person’s drive, goals, personality.  If those memories aren’t there anymore, you can’t say that they’re the same person.”

Yang Haoshu blinked.  

“I,” Jiang Mingxi enunciated slowly, “am not the person you know.  You aren’t anyone I know, either.”

In truth, this was the conclusion Yang Haoshu had been contemplating, despite the shit she was trying to feed this Jiang Mingxi.  But –

“You have actual, articulated thoughts about this?” she said, delighted.

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

“You’ve thought about this concept enough to immediately cleanly say this sort of thing?  You, of all people?”

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

[lizhly-writes]

I wish you would write a fic where yang haoli and yang haoshu's sibling relationship is explored.

hi there.

...

Yang Haoshu was playing with a knife.

It was not particularly kind on Yang Haoli’s nerves, watching her little sister toss it in the air, sending it blade over handle before she caught it once again.  Doing it once was a surprise; doing it repeatedly felt like an accident waiting to happen.

“Shu-er,” Yang Haoli said, after Yang Haoshu had thrown the knife almost high enough to hit the ceiling.  “Have you considered picking a slightly less dangerous hobby?”

“It’s really not that bad,” Yang Haoshu said, but she obligingly stopped.  She then proceeded to hurl the knife at a dartboard mounted across the room. It hit with an almost disconcertingly loud thump.

This was, of course, less important than the fact that it had hit dead center.

Yang Haoli clapped.  

Yang Haoshu preened. “Thank you, thank you!” she said, executing a bow more typical of a street magician instead of a wealthy young miss.  “I’m here all day! Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year!  See me any time!”

“Very well done! Have you been practicing?”

“Well, I try – hey, you don’t have to –”

Yang Haoli was already out of her seat and yanking the knife out.  

The knife was a delicate, pretty thing.  Shining rose-gold metal, enameled flowers, intricately patterned and engraved.  More jewelry than weapon, and certainly not suited for cutting anything more sturdy than human flesh.  Anyone would think that embedding it into a wall – embedding it, her little sister was getting so strong! – would be irreversibly damaging.

Of course, they would be wrong. Yang Haoli made sure her cute baby sister only got the best.

“I can pick up my own things, you know,” Yang Haoshu said, puffing her cheeks out slightly.

“I know you can, I just wanted to do it for you. Isn’t it fine?”

“You’re really too encouraging, Da-jie.  I scare the shit out of you with stuff like this and you still keep on enabling me.”

“I wouldn’t put it like that…”

“So Da-jie wasn’t even a little scared?  Didn’t think I was going to injure myself at all?”

“...It’s really not something to brag about.  I would be less concerned if you used it like a regular knife instead of trying to do tricks with it.”

“You knew I would before you bought it for me, so isn’t it technically your fault?”

…That was absolutely pushing responsibility to the wrong place, and Yang Haoshu knew it.  While it wasn’t inaccurate to say that Yang Haoli had a part in it – she really should learn to properly say no to her baby sister at some point – saying that it was all Yang Haoli’s fault –

“As if I told you to start throwing knives?” Yang Haoli said dryly.

“You would never, you’d probably die of heart failure before you willingly said that sort of thing,” Yang Haoshu conceded easily, not particularly bothered by it at all.  “Actually, does Da-jie have anything to say?  It seems you were looking for me? What is it, are Mother and Father mad at me again?”

Yang Haoli narrowed her eyes. “That shouldn’t be your first assumption, did you do something?”

“... Don’t worry about it,” Yang Haoshu said, which was as good as confirming that she did.

Yang Haoli was going to have to look into it.  Perhaps it was something with the Jiang family again – Shu-er never did get along very well with A-Ming.  It would have to be something big if Yang Haoshu thought it would get their parents’ attention.  

“Anyway!” Yang Haoshu said, smiling beautifully, as if smiling hard enough was enough to make Yang Haoli let the matter go (this was unfortunately correct).  “You were going to tell me something?”

Right, well. “It’s nothing serious, I just thought you might like to go out and play tomorrow?”

“Ah?”

“You wanted to look through that bookstore you like?” Yang Haoli prompted.  “Get some ice cream?”

Yang Haoshu had mentioned these sorts of things before – something about a new book release, a new seasonal ice cream flavor.  But it had already been two weeks, since then.  It was likely that Yang Haoshu had already gotten her books, tried that new ice cream flavor, done everything and anything she wanted.  Yang Haoli did her best, but when it came to this sort of information, she was always horribly out-of-date.

Still, Yang Haoshu beamed as if Yang Haoli had been perfectly on-time.  “Da-jie remembered!  Then, as long as Da-jie isn’t too busy –” she paused.  “Da-jie really isn’t busy?”

Yang Haoli was always busy.  

“Da-jie isn’t busy,” Yang Haoli said. Da-jie had, in fact, spent some time burning the midnight oil to work through everything her parents had dumped on her.  it was enough to buy her a little bit of breathing room – one day, entirely free to spend with her baby sister. 

For faintest, barest moment, Yang Haoshu frowned, brows furrowed.  Then it was gone, and Yang Haoshu was smiling as if that other expression had never crossed her face to begin with. “Then let’s have a lot of fun tomorrow, okay?”

[lizhly-writes]

I wish you would write a fic where yang haoshu interacts with liu gongnan. Hehehe

THIS WAS FUCKING LONGER THAN I THOUGHT I'D BE BUT HERE YOU GO.

...

Placidly, Yang Haoshu watched her mother pace back and forth like a caged tiger – furious, snarling, likely to snap at the first person who said anything at all.

Yang Haoshu was going to be that person.

“You look upset,” she said brightly.  “Look at how hard your brow is furrowed, shouldn’t you relax a little?  Getting stressed is bad for your heart.”

Liu Gongnian whirled around, lips drawn back. “You’re the one making me stressed!”

“Yes, Mother.  Sorry, Mother.”

“Don’t even bother saying it if you don’t mean it.”

“But Mother–”

“I have raised you for your entire life,” Liu Gongnian hissed, which Yang Haoshu personally thought was a little bit of an overstatement, considering how much time Liu Gongnian was away on business and how much time some hired auntie had been in charge of Yang Haoshu instead.

“Well,” Yang Haoshu began, immediately wanting to express this sentiment out loud and begin an entirely different argument.

“I know you do not mean it.  If you meant it, you wouldn’t be making me stressed to begin with.”

“Well,” Yang Haoshu began again, pivoting to address this brand new point, “that’s a little harsh.”  Entirely correct, but harsh.  “How was I supposed to know you would get so stressed out about my choice of study?”

Liu Gongnian looked like she was seriously considering slapping Yang Haoshu upside the head.  “Of all things, why would you want to study acting?”

Mother really got worked up so easily.  Out of the entire family, she was the only one who did, and Yang Haoran was the only one to ever make her.

Yang Haoshu smiled.  It was beautiful, bright, beatific, and absolutely nobody liked seeing it when they were already pissed off, least of all her mother.  “Why not?”

“Do you want a list?  I can give you a list.”

“How interesting.  Print it out, I’ll patiently wait here.”

“You–!”

“Me!” Yang Haoshu said cheerfully, tucking her hands behind her back.  “I’m glad we both know who we’re talking about!”

“Get that look off your face,” Liu Gongnian snapped.  “You’re talking about selling your body in front of a camera.”

“You make it sound so dirty, Mother.  What exactly do you think goes on in the script?”

“It isn’t about what’s going on in the script.  It’s about the strings behind the script.  There’s no money, no dignity–”

“But perhaps there is artistic merit?” Yang Haoshu said leadingly.

“Is that what you want from this?  You want to be an artist? Why couldn’t you do writing, don’t you like that as well?”

Yang Haoshu blinked. “I don’t see why you’re so surprised.”  If anyone was going to be surprised, it should be Yang Haoshu herself; she didn’t know that her mother knew that she liked writing at all.  Da-jie must have mentioned at some point.  Still – “I like acting better.  You didn’t have this much of an issue with the acting club I was in.”

“You were doing school theater,” Liu Gongnian hissed.

“And I was very good at school theater,” Yang Haoshu said, idly examining her nails for dramatic effect.

This wasn’t bragging.  Yang Haoshu was objectively good at school theater.  There had been some bets and competitions involved in proving this.  Yang Haoshu had won them all.  Her parents had barely acknowledged any of them.

“It was school,” Liu Gongnian said, hand going up to her temples.  “How much trouble could you have possibly gotten up to in school?”

“Well, wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Is there anything to know?”

Maybe this would have been a question Yang Haoshu would have straightforwardly answered a few years ago, if either of her parents paid attention to her in school.  But that was then; this was now.  

Yang Haoshu shrugged.

“You–” Liu Gongnian took a deep, calming breath. “You’re doing this on purpose.”

“Am I?  I don’t see how you could possibly think that.”

“Why are you like this?  Your sister–”

Ahaha, there it was.  In the end, it always came down to this: “Why can’t you be like your sister?”

Frankly, Yang Haoshu had zero desire to ever be like her sister.  Yang Haoli was, of course, very clever, very intelligent, very accomplished.  A fine model of a successful adult, if there ever was one.  But they really weren’t the same person, and Yang Haoshu had no interest in cutting parts of herself off to fit Yang Haoli’s place. 

“Da-jie supports me in my endeavors,” she said mildly.

“...You’ve already talked to your sister about this.”

“Why wouldn’t I, we have such a good relationship.”

Liu Gongnian glared.  It was really such a good glare.  A stranger would have pleaded for mercy; Yang Haoli would have crumbled. Unfortunately, Yang Haoshu had inherited that same expression, so the effect it had on her was nil.

Yang Haoshu smiled and waited.

“The acting industry,” Liu Gongnian said, after a long silence, “is filthy.  If you wanted to be a director – perhaps – but acting is selling yourself for someone else’s vision. There is no pride.  No dignity.  You will beg on your knees for the barest scrap of attention, and your effort doesn’t matter if someone else traded the right favors to grab it from your hands.  It’s not about talent.  It’s about whether how low you’re willing to go for fame.  What are you going to do, become some man’s kept mistress for a good role?  Lick some director’s boots?”

A little quieter, a little tireder: “I… don’t want that for you.”

… Yang Haoshu was abruptly finding this conversation less fun.

“I did do my research,” Yang Haoshu said, continuing forward anyway, because this entire conversation had a point, and she couldn’t turn around without making it. “I’m aware. Those things do happen – to actors and actresses without proper backing.  Will I be an actress without proper backing?”

Another pause. “Does it even matter what I say?” Liu Gongnian said, tone comfortably back to irritated.  “Whether or not I approve, whether or not you have backing, none of that changes the fact that you’re going to run off and do whatever you want.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?” Yang Haoshu said.  “Da-jie’s taking care of the company just fine.  She doesn’t need my help.  I might as well follow my dreams, hmm?”

“Irresponsible,” Liu Gongnian scoffed.

“Yes, Mother.”

“If you do this–”

“When I do this–”

“--then I expect you to take it seriously.”

“Mother approves?”

“Mother does not approve,” Liu Gongnian snapped.  “It’s an idiotic decision and I wish you would pick anything else.”

“How about prostitution–”

“Regardless,” Liu Gongnian doggedly continued, pointedly ignoring that dig.  “Speak to your father if you want anything more, but you will have the backing you want from me.  Happy?”

“Extremely.

“However.  I expect you to show some results.  If you’re going to be an actress, become the best damn actress in China.”

Wow, such a high goal! Was this Mother’s pride in her child, setting expectations like that?  If she’d been some sort of flower who only wanted a little taste of fame, then she really would have been scared off.

Fortunately, Yang Haoshu was not that kind of person.  Not even close.

Yang Haoshu smiled – head high, teeth bared, arrogant as any child of the heavens given divine favor.  “Of course.  There’s no other way this could go.”

[lizhly-writes]

hmm. well.

Yang Haoshu knew she wasn't the most beautiful woman in the world -- ah, what a pity! -- but she could, still, at bare minimum, be considered pretty, even if it was in the cookie-cutter girl-next-door kind of way that was supposed to look so ugly compared to the true bombshell of the show.

Really, how hideous! In a drama love triangle, who wanted plain girl B when they could have glamorous girl A? The heartfelt answer to this -- "I love her personality, not her looks!" -- would really hold more weight if plain girl B didn't have clear skin, perfectly symmetrical features, and the capability to remain camera-ready even while sobbing her eyes out.

Yang Haoshu was this kind of girl B exactly. In other words: Yang Haoshu knew she was still hotter than 80% of the people around her. When it came to romance, she knew she had options, even if she didn't particularly feel like doing anything with them.

...Well, no, actually, she very much felt like doing something with at least one of them.

"Who would ever want someone like you?" Yang Haoshu said prettily to her latest possible love interest.

"What the fuck are you talking about," Jiang Mingxi said, scowling. It didn't change the fact that she'd flinched when Yang Haoshu had opened her mouth. It was almost imperceptible, but ah, there it was, anyway.

[lizhly-writes]

Some thoughts about my cnovel female lead and the way the Yang siblings address her:

Yang Haoli: Consistently uses "A-Ming". Occasionally uses "Ming-er," when she thinks Jiang Mingxi is being very cute (you know, like a little kid). In the original novel, her form of address permanently switches over to full name basis after her brother dies.

Yang Haoran (transmigrator): Given name basis! Will break out "Ming-jie" when he's teasing or flirting with her.

Yang Haoran (og): Will intentionally use "Ming-jie" and "Mingxi" when he's mocking her. Mostly, he uses her full name -- which he's had to WORK for, since his ACTUAL default for her is "Ming-jie", which he haaaates. Will occasionally accidentally use it when he's either in a good mood or not at full mental capacity, which, if he realizes, then hastily attempts to cover up as him making fun of her.

Yang Haoshu: Uses "Ming-jie" and "Mingxi" an equal amount. Frequently comes up with other cutesy variations. Her goal is to come up with a cute enough nickname that Jiang Mingxi will instantly keel over the moment Yang Haoshu uses it.

Yang Haolun (first draft): Given name basis, no nicknames. Will occasionally use "Ming-jie", but it usually doesn't actually occur to him to use anything OTHER than her actual name.

[lizhly-writes]

man, mql is probably a nonentity to yhs tho right... I really can't see her having the same relationship... Maybe there she forever remains a lackey to popular opinion and the school bigshots...

Well, they don't have backstory, so the relationship isn't the same. Yang Haoshu went to rich people high school and Mu Qilian went to normal person high school. They don't really have that much of an opportunity to meet to develop a backstory.

Nonentity, though... not quite. After all, they're in the same industry, and Mu Qilian still looks like Jiang Mingxi.

It's not a very strong resemblance. Sort of a "yeah, I guess, if you squint" sort of deal. Mu Qilian herself doesn't see it. Yang Haoshu, though, absolutely does.

This, combined with Mu Qilian's personality (y'know, headstrong and straightforward and with a little bit of a temper, not unlike someone else Yang Haoshu knows), is enough for Yang Haoshu to mentally slot Mu Qilian superficially in the same category as Jiang Mingxi: plaything.

Yang Haoshu thinks Mu Qilian is funny.

Mu Qilian does not appreciate this, and unlike 'canon', she doesn't have any reason to back down when Yang Haoshu antagonizes her. You could argue that one reason to back down is that Yang Haoshu is rich as all hell and certainly has the connections to ruin her life, but it wasn't like Mu Qilian knew that the first time she ran into Yang Haoshu. Her manager, immediately afterwards, informed her and then panicked about this, but then Yang Haoshu just... never did anything? Doesn't seem to be doing anything? Seems to think of Mu Qilian as a Funny Little Guy? Invited Mu Qilian out to go shopping just the other weekend?

Mu Qilian is suuuuper not a fan.

[lizhly-writes]

currently boiling and cooking ur villain’s finance characters in a hot soup. they’re so <3 to me. I love them to bits. also im soooo curious about the sister of yhr. I know she has a name but I just forgot it jdjdjdjk like idk if you shared a snippet with her pov but….

I’m so curious of her. what does SHE think about all of this situation? where her mom regards her as the perfect child that should be the standard and her sibling which isn’t. original yhr probs resented her right? idk where I was heading with all these thoughts, I forgot. I lost myself. stopping here, but yeah <3

HELLO THERE THANK YOU

aight, so we are talking about yang haoli, older than yang haoran by around six years. you can get a better idea of her in this ask, or this pov snippet here (interacting with yang haoshu, which: hey, close enough i guess), orrr this very, very brief interaction with our usual yang haoran.

anyway. she hates this situation. she loves any version of her younger sibling to bits, and would happily smother them with affection if she could. she absolutely thinks her parents should be paying more attention to them, and tries encouraging it, and largely fails here because she's incapable of being aggressive enough to make a difference.

that's her problem. while she can face things head-on when it comes to business and work, she's intrinsically all about subtlety and compromise and never rocking the boat. she never quite twigs on that this doesn't work in her family.

the original yang haoran hated her for it. at first, it was how their parents favored her over him, but then it was for how she mocked him about it -- which she wasn't actually doing, but her attempts at trying to praise him in front of their parents or get them to pay attention to him did not... come off great.

if she had outright called her parents out for being neglectful and demanded that they paid attention to him, it would have gone better for literally everyone involved -- but she didn't do that. on some level, she's incapable of doing that, because that would mean admitting that there's a real problem, and that some things are fundamentally broken, quite possibly beyond repair. that goes against her core belief that all things are fixable.

side note: her mother actually doesn't view her as the perfect child that should be standard. liu gongnian finds yang haoli too agreeable and too pliable; yang haoli, frankly, doesn't have enough of a spine.

...funnily enough, the original yang haoran did.

[lizhly-writes]

I would love to see Yang Haoran meet “Yang Haoshu”! Preferably with both of their JMZs there to see it too, because I think it would be hilarious.

lmao goootcha

Picture this – a small bakery, filled with pastries and sweets. Four people, seated around a table.  Two of them were technically the same person.  Three of them were having an incredibly uncomfortable day.  

Yang Haoran was having an incredibly uncomfortable day.

Across from him, Chen Lihua – no, Yang Haoshu – sighed.  “Why is it that you’re prettier than me?  I’m almost jealous.  It’s really a shame a face like yours is wasted on a man.”

Next to her, the other Jiang Mingxi glared.  She had been glaring for a while. Yang Haoran could admit that he hadn’t experienced so much uninterrupted hostility coming from a Jiang Mingxi for quite some time and that feeling it now was mildly unsettling. Fortunately, Yang Haoran had his own Jiang Mingxi to glare back, but still.

Yang Haoshu smiled at him over the tiny, intricately decorated cake she’d ordered.  Yang Haoran, to his irritation, found himself wishing it was Chen Lihua here instead.  He knew where he stood with Chen Lihua.  Chen Lihua wasn’t some weird, alternate universe, would-be sister of his.

“...Thank you,” Yang Haoran said, and took a sip of tea in the hopes that he wouldn’t have to say anything else.

Yang Haoshu leaned forward, eyes bright.  “So you think so, too?  You think you’re prettier than me?”

Ah.  How very Mean Girls.  Yang Haoran hadn’t thought about that in a while.  Really, there was only one thing he could say here.

“Yes, I do,” Yang Haoran said, a bit dryly.  

He could see the remark catch Yang Haoshu off-guard for just a moment, that faint freeze of her expression – and then she threw her head back and cackled in a way Yang Haoran couldn’t really imagine Chen Lihua ever doing.  “Fine!  It’s true enough!  You really do look more like Mother than I do, and you know what they say about Mother.”

“They always do say the same thing about Mother,” Yang Haoran confirmed.  Their mother, a great beauty in her youth.  Their mother, very beautiful even now – especially now, according to some, though Yang Haoran had admittedly stopped listening at that point.

“You really do have a nice face.  My Ming-jie hasn’t taken her eyes off you this entire time, so she must really like it–”

Jiang Mingxi took a break from glaring at the other Jiang Mingxi to snort.  The other Jiang Mingxi snapped her gaze to Yang Haoshu, lips drawn back.  “Yang Haoshu–”

“Oh, no need to be shy,” Yang Haoshu said.  “He really is nice to look at.  Of course you should get a good look at him, especially since you would be marrying him if he existed.  Imagine that!”

The other Jiang Mingxi appeared to be having an apoplectic fit.  

Yang Haoshu cheerfully patted her on the shoulder, which probably only made matters worse, before she leaned in. “Frankly, I don’t know how you do it,” Yang Haoshu said conspiratorially.  “I’ve thought about it, you know – if I was a man, I would be in the same position as you.  If I was engaged to Jiang Mingxi – no offense to you, other Jiang Mingxi – well!  I couldn’t!  I really couldn’t! We'd really kill each other!”  

“You’re trying to kill her right now,” Jiang Mingxi said.  Yang Haoran chanced a glance at her.  She was frowning faintly, eyes ever-so-slightly narrowed.  

“Am I?” Yang Haoshu said, one hand held to her cheek.  “So perceptive!  Haoran – can I call you Haoran? Ran-ge? – how did you train this one?  She’s so much more agreeable than mine.”

“Training,” Jiang Mingxi repeated, frowning more deeply.  “I’m not a dog.”

“Of course not,” Yang Haoshu said sweetly.  “You aren’t, anyway.”

[lizhly-writes]

just picturing wu youxuan in the background of clw's company, disguised as an ordinary employee hired by one of clw's competitors to steal information (real guy knocked out and tied up in one of the broom closets), just v i b r a t i n g as the whole "og clw crosses over to clw's universe" thing goes down like "clw has a twin...? why didn't he tell me?? wait no is this guy hired by one of clw's admirers to get close to him as a fake family ploy who will endorse the admirer as his savior from human trafficking...? the guy sure looks malleable enough for it, should i break cover and warn clw? no wait, i don't want him to think he can't manage his own affairs-"

Oh yeah, so with this set up, all of this would be incredibly bizarre to Wu Youxuan, especially if we’re in a timeline where Chen Lihua exists. It’s like… “I’ve met your twin already?? Are you trying to tell me you were triplets?” Disregarding that, though, it’s already weird that Chen Liwei accepts the existence of a twin this easily, because Wu Youxuan is well aware that Chen Liwei is not dumb. Chen Liwei is a paranoid motherfucker, there’s no way he’ll accept “oh, we’re identical, so we must be twins”, so either Chen Liwei has undeniable proof that this is a relative, orrrrr Chen Liwei knows this isn’t his twin and is lying for some reason.

So, explore both routes.

But of course, any kind of genetic testing you would do with the original Chen Liwei would simply reveal that he is Chen Liwei (so… identical twin), which is weird enough that you’d probably have some questions about hospital/birth records (how the hell did you miss an entire twin???). In a timeline where Chen Lihua exists, this would be a dead end. In a timeline where it’s Yang Haoshu that exists… well, this would turn up some more questions and not at all answer the original one.

Lab results take some time to come out. In the meantime, it’s not a question of Chen Liwei being tricked, it’s a question of why the fuck is Chen Liwei going along with this. Is Chen Liwei being coerced? Is he forced to say that this is his twin? Does Chen Liwei need help? What’s up with the twin, anyway, does he have some background that necessitates this farce?

But of course, the original Chen Liwei doesn’t fucking exist. You can’t find anything about him, because there’s nothing to find.

Everything about this situation is real fucking weird.