The next day, Ye An awoke in Xie Shuo’s embrace.
The man’s scent was refreshing like the warm spring sun, giving her a reassuring feeling. She opened her eyes and stared at him dazedly but weakly closed her eyes once again.
Her mind was muddled as she subconsciously used him as a body pillow, rubbing against him occasionally.
Xie Shuo was “awoken” by her in this way.
In the next second, her arm was mercilessly removed.
Ye An was now completely awake. After experiencing this before, she no longer rolled to the other side of the bed after falling asleep. She sat up calmly.
He was her husband anyway; it wasn’t illegal to hug her husband.
“Morning.” She felt around for the remote control on the nightstand and opened the French window curtains.
The morning sun seeped into the room, bright and crisp.
Ye An stretched and faced the sun rays. Her fair skin was bathed in the light, giving off a translucent glow. Thinking of her newly constructed plan, she suggested to Xie Shuo, “The weather is so nice today; how about we go sit in the garden for a bit? I’ll read to you.”
As always, Xie Shuo didn’t give much of a reaction. He fumbled his way out of bed and went to the bathroom.
Ye An didn’t expect to succeed in one try, so she got out of bed to get dressed.
—
The two woke up relatively late today. After eating breakfast, it was already nearing noon.
Ye An took out her notes from last night. Just as she was about to implement step one in her plan, Grandfather Xie suddenly fell ill.
At this age, the elderly were extremely prone to illnesses. The housekeeper hurriedly called the private doctor over, and Ye An busily followed them. It was only until late afternoon that she could finally take a minute to breathe.
Who would have thought that just as she sat down, Xiang Quan would call to notify her that the schedule for “Pharmacist” had accelerated? This meant that they needed to have a meeting to determine all the tasks and procedures.
Ye An, dazed, had no choice but to put aside Xie Shuo’s affairs for now and hurry to the studio.
The others had arrived earlier than her and started experimenting with their dubbing voices. She was the protagonist, so there was no need to test her voice. However, she was still required to attend the meeting.
There were too many things to handle, and the meeting lasted late into the night.
During the break, everyone circled around to eat their takeout. They entertained themselves with fervent gossip. Ye An observed the scene and felt that it was somewhat surreal. On one hand, she lived a luxurious life in a rich and powerful family, but on the other hand, she lived a normal life working overtime. The contrast was too large.
“Boss, didn’t you say that Brilliant Dreams backed out and never finished discussing the contract? Why did they agree to it again?” someone suddenly asked.
“It’s definitely because our boss is so powerful!” someone else immediately followed with a flattering compliment.
Xiang Quan didn’t speak and merely shot a complicated glance at Ye An.
“How come I heard that it was because of An An jiejie?” a young lady from the PR team spoke up.
Hearing her name suddenly being mentioned, Ye An subconsciously looked over to Shi Shuangshuang.
With a guilty conscience, Shi Shuangshuang quickly leaned in and whispered, “It wasn’t me; I didn’t carelessly tell anyone.”
“Really?” the other person responded.
Ye An smiled faintly. “If you recklessly stole the Boss’s credit, aren’t you afraid of getting your wages deducted?”
Thinking of Xiang Quan’s stingy character, everyone felt a trace of fear. One after another, they began to apologize, saying, “I was wrong; I shouldn’t have said anything.” They laughed nervously and switched the topic.
At eight thirty, the meeting ended.
Shi Shuangshuang needed to sort out some computer files and asked Ye An to wait a few minutes. Ye An first went to the bathroom to relieve her bladder.
Just as she approached the door to the women’s restroom, the noises of water splashing and whispers of two girls sounded.
“Hey, is it true that Ye An really used her connections?”
“It probably is. I heard that the president of Brilliant Dreams regarded her with those intentions. If nothing happened, then how could Brilliant Dreams suddenly agree to sign the contract? Or appoint her as the female lead?”
“Who would have expected her to agree…?”
“What’s so weird about that? With her circumstances, isn’t it normal for her to get a strong backer to strive towards the top? Brilliant Dreams has movies, television and is even backed by the Xie family. Maybe she will even go directly into the entertainment industry one day…”
“Shh, keep it quiet! Let’s not talk about this here
Just as they spoke, the two girls turned around and ran directly into Ye An.
“……”
The two froze with mottled complexions.
Ye An’s gaze was cool. “How come I’ve never heard of this news?”
The two girls frantically looked at each other, their faces pale.
To be honest, Ye An didn’t know them that well. They seemed to be the new interns that Xiang Quan hired, but she couldn’t even recall their names.
Normally, aside from recording, she rarely interacted with others in the workplace.
“Who started this piece of gossip?” Ye An asked.
After a few seconds of silence, one of the girls with a ponytail stammered, “I… I heard it from an anonymous livestream…”
Ye An furrowed her eyebrows. If they were anonymous, it would be difficult to investigate.
Who was it that wanted to ruin her reputation?
Ye An looked up and noticed their pale faces. “You don’t know how to apologize?”
“Sorry,” the two apologized and then fled with bowed heads.
Ye An didn’t bother with them and directly entered the restroom. Even if she wanted to pursue these kinds of gossip matters, she couldn’t.
—
Next to the restroom, there was a small smoking room. After using the restroom, Ye An suddenly ran into Xiang Quan.
He leaned against the doorway of the small room with a cigarette between his fingers. The man was enveloped in a cloud of smoke, appearing anxious and turmoiled.
Ye An thought that it was weird but greeted him nonetheless. Just as she prepared to leave, Xiang Quan stopped her.
“I need to talk to you about a few matters; it’ll only take a few minutes.”
His expression was grave and looked as if something big had happened. It made Ye An’s heart tremble.
“What happened?” Ye An walked closer and asked.
Xiang Quan put the cigarette behind him and said, “Brilliant Dreams said they wanted to collaborate with us long-term…”
Ye An was puzzled. Wasn’t this a good thing; why did he look so miserable?
Xiang Quan looked at her with a complicated gaze. He hesitated before suddenly asking, “Be honest… did you accept Lu Hong’s offer?”
Ye An, “…”
Ye An was convinced.
If he even thought that, then it wasn’t difficult for others to believe this gossip.
Xiang Quan had been in the voice acting circle for many years and was considered a veteran by many. Ye An knew him since she was in college. Although he was a bit stingy and liked to nag a lot, his character wasn’t bad. He wasn’t belittling towards his employees and took good care of them. Rumors said that his ex-girlfriend cheated on him because he was poor, and because of that, he began to work hard and earn as much money as possible.
Back then, one of the reasons why Ye An signed to his studio was because he had a pleasant personality and would not restrain her freedom. Hearing what he said, Ye An was speechless. She asked quietly, “When did you also start to gossip so much?”
She flipped her hair and raised her chin. With a noble expression, she said, “Brilliant Dreams agreed to cooperate with us because of my own abilities. It has nothing to do with Lu Hong. He isn’t even worthy of my gaze.”
After hearing these words, Xiang Quan was relieved. Just as he was about to speak, she suddenly spoke again, “Thinking too much will make you age faster. Pay more attention to your hairline.”
Xiang Quan, “…”
“If there are no other matters, then I’ll be going home. Bye bye~”
After Ye An was finished speaking, she turned and walked away with her head high.
Xiang Quan was speechless for a while. When he recovered, he couldn’t help but worriedly check his hairline.
—
“Are you going home right now? Or are you going to go out?” Shi Shuangshuang asked after leaving the office.
In the curtain of the night, the lights flickered. Ye An looked at her phone, answering, “No, I’m going home.”
Shi Shuangshuang shook her head and sighed sorrowfully. “I’ve realized that after getting married, you’ve become like a 50’s housewife. You rarely leave the house, and the one time you do, you’re so eager to get home early.”
Ye An looked with a bashful smile. “I miss my dear husband.”
Shi Shuangshuang rubbed the goosebumps on her arms and asked again, “There’s a newly opened dessert shop in front. Do you want to go in and try it out?”
Ye An surveyed her up and down. “How come I remember you swearing to lose weight a while ago?”
Shi Shuangshuang maintained her confidence and self-righteousness. “Weight loss is a step by step process: diet five days and rest one. I already counted on my fingers, and I’ve been dieting for the past five days.”
Ye An, “…”
Sure, whatever makes you happy.
In the end, Ye An was still dragged by Shi Shuangshuang to get a cup of milk tea.
The beverage’s flavor from the newly opened store wasn’t bad. Ye An sipped her drink with a straw, her long eyelashes fluttering softly.
Shi Shuangshuang looked at her, suddenly saying, “You display excessive amounts of PDA in front of me every day. It’s so late at night, how come your dear husband hasn’t come to pick you up?”
Ye An looked up. “He’s busy, so he sent the chauffeur over. He should be here soon.”
The last time she went out, Ye An found it too inconvenient and flagged down a taxi by herself to go home. Grandfather Xie felt that it was unsafe for her to be alone and told her to call the chauffeur for rides in the future.
To be honest, even though Xie Shuo had a bad temper, Grandfather Xie and Xie Baiyan treated her very well.
As they spoke, a Maybach stopped on the side of the road.
“Look, it’s right in front of us.” Ye An directed with her gaze before walking over.
The tall chauffeur exited the car and opened the door for her. He called respectfully, “Madam.”
Shi Shuangshuang stared blankly.
Ye An turned her head to ask, “Are you going home now? Do you want a ride?”
Shi Shuangshuang suppressed the excitement in her heart and nodded.
Wuwuwu… this was the closest she would get to the rich and powerful!
After getting in the car, Shi Shuangshuang’s heart continued to pound for a while. Suddenly thinking of something, she moved closer to Ye An’s ear and whispered, “Oh right, I think they suspect that you relied on Lu Hong to sign “Pharmacist” back successfully. Do you want to disclose the identity of your husband to dispel the rumors?”
Ye An thought back to the gossip she heard in the restroom. Her expression was mild as she said lightly, “Let’s talk later.”
—
After returning home, Ye An inquired the housekeeper about Grandfather Xie’s condition. He was already resting, so she didn’t disturb him any further.
As she was about to ascend the stairs, the housekeeper suddenly handed her a package and said it was for Xie Shuo.
Ye An took it and looked at it. It was from abroad, but the name of the sender was fuzzy, making it hard to read.
She took the package upstairs and entered the bedroom to see Xie Shuo feeling his way around the closet, seemingly preparing to shower.
“Someone sent you a package.” Ye An went over to speak.
Xie Shuo’s actions paused and asked nonchalantly, “From who?”
“I don’t know; do you want me to open it?”
Xie Shuo answered with a light, “En.”
Ye An found a small knife and opened the package directly.
Inside, there was an exquisitely packaged gift box wrapped in a lavender bow. There was clearly quite a bit of effort spent.
There was an unsealed light blue envelope inserted vertically on top.
Inside the envelope, there was a greeting card with fragrant dried flowers.
Ye An took the card out and opened it.
Gracefully handwritten words of blessing for a pair of newlyweds appeared before her eyes.
The name was signed: Muqing.
Ye An looked up and curiously asked, “Who’s Muqing?”
Author’s Note: Xiao Xie’s answer will determine whether or not he will be able to sleep tonight.
PS: the blindness will go away, the wife will be obtained, but having a child…is uncertain for now~