Xie Shuo pushed the door open and seemed to be unsure if Ye An was awake. He stood at the doorway for a while before slowly walking in.

Ye An notified him loudly, “I’m already awake; I’m on the balcony.”

Xie Shuo stopped and “looked” in the direction her voice came from. He frowned slightly. “You’re still not coming down for breakfast?”

???Did he purposely come to ask her to eat breakfast?

Ye An was somewhat flattered. She hurriedly grabbed her phone and walked back inside. “Let’s go then.”

As she walked, she replied to Shi Shuangshuang’s text: [I’ll think about it and let you know later.]

“Have you eaten yet?” Only after exiting the room did Ye An ask this question.

Xie Shuo gave a nonchalant “En.”

The day he would wait to have breakfast with me would be the day of a miracle, Ye An thought to herself.

It was already half-past ten and almost time for lunch. Ye An only drank half a bowl of porridge and didn’t eat anymore.

After eating breakfast, she searched her name on the internet again and wondered what to do.

It was difficult for others to find out about her contact with Lu Hong, so it must have spread from someone in the studio or Lu Hong himself.

It was hard to determine who spread the rumors. Now that the Internet was well developed and could transmit information quickly, all the keyboard warriors loved to hide behind their screens and gossip.

All the melon eaters didn’t care about whether the rumors were true or not; they only wanted to see the drama. If she were to really send a post out at this point, it probably wouldn’t be very effective. She would have to reveal details about her private life and could very well be ridiculed.

Fortunately, the news had only been on this small internet forum and hadn’t been spread to Weibo yet. Otherwise, the results would be even worse.

Ye An massaged her temples, feeling anxious. Suddenly, her phone rang.

It was Xiang Quan calling.

“I made an appointment with President Yuan. Is today at 5:30 alright for you?”

Ye An: “So soon?”

Xiang Quan replied, “If you think it’s too soon, then I’ll go tell them.”

Ye An thought about it before saying, “It’s fine; I’ll go tonight.”

“Okay.”

As Xiang Quan was about to hang up, Ye An suddenly asked, “Oh right, didn’t you say that Lu Hong originally wanted to give the anime to someone else? Do you know who they are?”

Xiang Quan recalled the name and replied, “It seems to be Song Ying.”

Song Ying, a new voice actress in the industry. She had a sweet voice, and Ye An had also heard her name.

Had she been conned by Lu Hong? Could it be possible that she harbored resentment against Ye An and sent that post because of it? 

“Why are you suddenly asking about this?”

“Nothing.”

Before things were clear, any suspicions were valid. Ye An suppressed the doubt in her heart as she hung up the phone and went back upstairs.

Xie Shuo was alone in the studio. He wore a black shirt that fit his proportions nicely. He looked thinner than usual and seemed to have a colder temperament today.

Ye An knocked on the door, entered, and sat down next to him.

“My throat hurts today, so I’m not going to read to you.”

Xie Shuo had no expression, as if he didn’t care at all.

Ye An hesitated but didn’t tell him about the person spreading rumors about her online. 

With his temper, he would probably only be annoyed if she told him. She had to find a way to resolve things by herself.

“Sitting here like this is also boring. How about we go outside and take a walk?”

She extended her pinky and hooked it with his.

Xie Shuo raised his gaze with a mild expression, seemingly already used to her petty actions. 

Ye An glanced out the window and planned on acting cute, but she suddenly saw a small wound on his chin with dried blood around the perimeter.

“What happened to your chin?”

Xie Shuo didn’t respond.

Ye An leaned forward to touch it. “The skin’s broken; how’d that happen?”

As her fingertips touched the wound, he felt a twinge of pain. Her warm breath neared him, and Xie Shuo frowned before turning his face away.

Ye An continued to approach the wound to inspect it until she almost fell into his arms. “Did you shave this morning?”

“I’ll get a band-aid for you,” she said, getting up from the sofa.

Xie Shuo instinctively refused, “No need.”

Ye An’s expression immediately turned grave. “No, you need it! What if the wound gets infected and scars? You’re my husband. I don’t care about much, but your face must look nice!”

Xie Shuo: “…”

After Ye An finished speaking, she hurriedly shuffled into her slippers and out of the room.

Not long later, she came bustling back with cotton swabs, iodine, and band-aids and kneeled beside Xie Shuo.

Xie Shuo raised his hands to block her movements, but she brushed him away mercilessly. “Don’t move!”

Slender fingers clasped his chin. Xie Shuo frowned, unable to break free. In the end, he gave up, allowing her to do what she wanted.

Ye An smeared the iodine on his chin while earnestly nagging him, “Why don’t you ask for help if it’s inconveniencing you? Don’t do this in the future; fortunately, the wound isn’t deep…” After a pause, she said excitedly, “Hey, how about I help you shave in the future?”

She seemed to place great interest in the mundane things like combing his hair and shaving. She got excited every time she talked about it.

“You know how?” Xie Shuo uttered indifferently.

Ye An choked. “…I can learn even if I don’t! Learning this shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”

Xie Shuo didn’t comment.

After using iodine to disinfect the area, Ye An pasted a band-aid on the wound.

The band-aid looked comical on such a stern face.

Ye An couldn’t restrain her smile as she left the room with the iodine and returned it to the medicine cabinet. 

As soon as she left, Xie Shuo woodenly tore off the band-aid.

Ye An returned to see his bare chin and was immediately angry. “Why did you take it off?”

Xie Shuo ignored her with an aloof expression that seemed to say: How can band-aids be worthy of my beautiful face?

Ye An angrily said, “I’ll get another one for you. If you tear that one off, then I’ll put another one on! Let’s see who wins this one!”

Afraid that she would pester him endlessly with the band-aid threats, Xie Shuo suddenly stood up. “You don’t want to go out?”

Ye An: “?”

Xie Shuo walked towards the door. Ye An was taken aback for a moment before realizing that he had agreed to go on a walk.

He actually compromised over a band-aid?

Her laborious coquettish seduction worked no better than a band-aid?

Ye An had mixed feelings. She glanced at the wound on his chin before walking out of the room.

Whatever, it’s been sterilized anyway. Not putting on a band-aid should be fine.

    —

In the afternoon, Ye An had struggled internally for a long time before she finally sent a message to Shi Shuangshuang. She asked her to send a message to the forum to help clarify that she was married.

Shi Shuangshuang had been waiting eagerly for her reply, so she immediately logged in to argue with the haters and give everyone a good beating.

Sure enough, it didn’t help much. Those who questioned continued to question, and those who gossiped continued to gossip. However, there was finally a voice who defended her. 

Ye An clutched her phone and rubbed her temples to soothe her headache. She really needed to find a solution, it was really difficult. She might as well have the PR team in Brilliant Dreams deal with it.

A little past four, Ye An changed clothes and put on makeup, preparing to see Yuan He.

“Yuan He knows you, right? Do you really not want to go with me?” She asked while putting lipstick on and facing the mirror.

Xie Shuo’s eyes closed, and his fingers were crossed. He appeared uninterested.

“Well then, have a good meal at home, and I’ll try to return home early,” Ye An said in a motherly tone before picking up her bag and leaving gracefully.

Previous|Index|Next