After Xie Shuo went on his business trip, Ye An continued her busy life of daily trips to the recording studio, fully immersed in her career.
This time, Xie Shuo was totally different from before, as if he had suddenly become enlightened.
Despite the time difference between their locations, he would almost call her every night and chat for a bit. Occasionally, when he was too busy, he would send her a message.
The days flew by, and on the seventh day since Xie Shuo went on a business trip, Ye An also completed her work dubbing for a drama.
Upon returning home, she collapsed into bed and slept until the sun was high in the sky the next day.
Outside her window, the spring sunlight was bright and dazzling. After freshening up and changing her clothes, she had intended to make something in the kitchen to eat. However, when she opened the refrigerator and looked inside, there was hardly anything in it.
While she was at the Xie residence, the ingredients were replenished daily by Auntie Zhou, so she didn’t have to worry about it. Now that she was on her own and hadn’t hired a maid, she naturally had to take care of things herself.
Going from frugality to extravagance was easy, but transitioning from extravagance to frugality was difficult. It hadn’t been long since she moved out, but she already felt like she was slipping into bad habits.
Ye An closed the refrigerator, grabbed the purse she had thrown on the sofa, changed her shoes, and headed downstairs to a nearby supermarket to buy some groceries.
Eating alone didn’t require too much effort. She just cooked up two dishes, and that was it for lunch.
The sun was a bit scorching in the afternoon, so she decided to stay in and play on her laptop. She had just started watching a drama when her phone suddenly rang.
It was Xiang Quan.
“I’ve been on break for less than a day; what’s the matter?”
Ye An hugged a throw and sounded somewhat displeased.
Xiang Quan: “Wait, I’m not asking you to come into the studio. There’s a voice acting event on Friday afternoon. If you’re free, can you go over and help promote the studio?”
Hearing this, Ye An hesitated for a few seconds before replying, “Alright, send me the address and time.”
She realized that she hadn’t taken a break or gone out for a while. Attending the event could be a way to relax, and it coincided with her plan to take a few days off to visit her hometown. She figured she might not have much time for work during that period.
That night, Xie Shuo didn’t call but instead sent two messages at dawn.
Ye An had just finished work and didn’t pay much attention. She went to bed early and only saw the messages the next morning.
The messages were just ordinary greetings; after replying to them, she continued to rest at home.
Perhaps due to irregular sleep patterns and excessive fatigue, after spending a day at home, Ye An suddenly caught a cold. She had a stuffy nose and a headache, and by Friday, she still wasn’t feeling better.
It wasn’t good to go back on one’s word so after agreeing to attend the event, so she took some cold medicine and sucked on a couple of throat lozenges, mustering the strength to go out. She arrived at the voice acting event despite not being in the best condition.
Most of her clothes were still at the Xie residence, and she hadn’t brought much jewelry with her. Thus, she dressed modestly this time, wearing a simple and elegant light-colored dress.
To conceal her illness, Ye An deliberately applied slightly heavier makeup, but there was still a hint of fatigue in her eyes.
There were many fans who came to the event, forming long queues, and the place was bustling with people. Some fans secretly took photos with their phones from the sides.
The atmosphere at the event was lively, with her colleagues from the studio performing amusing dubbing dialogues from various characters, eliciting laughter from the audience continuously.
It was also broadcast live online with comments like “haha” filling the bullet screen.
Ye An’s throat was uncomfortable, so she only delivered one or two lines symbolically.
In the latter part of the event, some fans lined up for autographs. She was surrounded by fans, and while she leaned down to sign autographs, a strand of hair fell down by her cheek. The slightly curled hair and her overly vibrant red lips contrasted with her pale complexion.
The event overall went smoothly, and after it concluded, everyone went to the dinner reservation. However, Ye An felt dizzy and couldn’t hold on any longer, so she informed Xiang Quan and decided to leave early.
Seeing her condition, Xiang Quan quickly called a car to take her back.
Returning to the condo, she had no appetite for dinner either. She hastily took a shower, changed into her PJs, and wrapped herself in the blanket before falling into a deep sleep.
In a half-dream state, she heard her phone vibrating persistently for a long time.
She struggled to open her eyes just a crack and reached out her arm to pick up her phone on the nightstand, tapping to answer.
“Sleeping?”
Xie Shuo’s deep voice came through as if he were right in front of her and not thousands of miles away.
Ye An drooped her eyelids and replied feebly with an “en.”
She didn’t turn on the light, so in the darkness, there was only the glow from her phone.
Noticing that her voice didn’t sound right, Xie Shuo frowned. “Are you sick?”
Ye An sniffed and said hoarsely, “Just a little cold, nothing serious.”
“Did you go to the hospital yet?”
“No, I took some medicine. I should be fine after a good night’s sleep…” Ye An said as she lay down on her pillow.
“Go rest, and remember to take your medicine on time. If you don’t get better, go to the hospital.”
Afraid that she couldn’t handle it anymore, Xie Shuo didn’t say much more; he just instructed her before hanging up the call.
Ye An’s grip on her phone loosened, and it dropped beside her pillow. She didn’t bother picking it up and fell back into a heavy sleep.
The phone screen lit up briefly before automatically dimming.
The next day, Ye An was awakened by the doorbell.
She struggled for a while before managing to open her eyes and sit up, feeling a splitting headache.
……. She hadn’t told anyone about moving here. Who could be coming here to find her?
The doorbell continued to ring persistently as if they would force their way in if she didn’t open the door.
Ye An massaged her temple and forced herself to get up, stumbling in her slippers toward the outside of the bedroom.
As soon as she opened the door, Ye An was greeted by a somewhat familiar face, a young woman who appeared quite competent.
“Good morning, Madam.”
Upon seeing Ye An, she immediately smiled professionally.
There was breakfast and cold medicine in her hands. After a quick glance, Ye An realized that Xie Yan must’ve instructed her to do so.
As expected, the young woman added the next second, “My last name is Chen. Madam can just call me Xiao Chen. President Xie mentioned that Madam has caught a cold and asked me to come and check on you.”
Ye An stepped aside to let her into the condo.
Xiao Chen placed the breakfast on the table; the red bean porridge was steaming hot with a delightful fragrance wafting from it.
From last night until now, Ye An hadn’t eaten anything, and her stomach had long been empty. Seeing this breakfast, her heart couldn’t help but warm up.
Ye An went to freshen up before returning to the dining table to sit down. A mouthful of the hot porridge soothed her whole body.
She ate slowly, and Xiao Chen patiently waited. After she finished, Xiao Chen helped clean up the trash and asked with a smile, “Madam, do you feel better now? Would you like me to go to the hospital with you?”
Ye An shook her head. “No need, I just need some rest.”
Xiao Chen didn’t insist and asked, “What would you like for lunch, Madam?”
Ye An smiled. “Anything’s fine.”
“Then, you should rest for now. If you need anything, feel free to call me.”
Xiao Chen left her phone number and left, not wanting to impose any further.
The weather outside was bright and sunny, perfect for sleeping in lazily. Ye An still felt a bit dizzy, so she went back to the bedroom and continued to sleep.
At precisely 11:30 am, Xiao Chen brought lunch which included yam and pork rib soup—on the milder flavor side, along with two side dishes.
After finishing lunch, Ye An sat contentedly on the sofa and couldn’t resist picking up her phone to open Xie Shuo’s WeChat.
If only this man had this awareness earlier, it would’ve been so much better.
With the time difference between them, it was likely still early morning on his side, and he might be sleeping. Ye An hesitated for a moment, suppressing her desire to send him a message. Instead, she backed out and decided to watch a movie to pass the time.
However, shortly after opening the movie, a message from Shi Shuangshuang popped up. “You and Xie Shuo got divorced?”
Ye An’s fingertips paused. “How did you find out?”
Shi Shuangshuang: “Online!”
Shi Shuangshuang: “? Wait!”
Shi Shuangshuang: “Did you guys really get divorced?”
Ye An didn’t respond to her message and instead opened Weibo.
As soon as she opened it, her direct messages and comments flooded in.
The source of the rumor was a marketing account that had posted several photos of her coming and going from the condo and grocery shopping alone, speculating that she and Xie Shuo had already divorced. Other marketing accounts quickly followed suit, trying to capitalize on the trend.
After her recent appearance on the voice acting variety show, Ye An had experienced a surge in popularity, and coupled with the inherent buzz surrounding Xie Shuo, the curious masses flocked to the post…
“F**k! I just shipped this CP, and now you’re telling me it sank?”
“Did anyone ever notice that Ye An has never worn her wedding ring in public?!”
“I just went back to watch her appearance on that show, and she really didn’t wear her ring. OMG.”
“Did anyone attend yesterday’s voice acting event? Ye An looked especially haggard, and she took a taxi back home by herself. Xie Shuo never appeared at all.”
“WTF? What’s the situation between them? Are these two a fake couple?”
“Not appearing doesn’t necessarily mean they’re divorced, right? Maybe he’s just really busy with work.”
“I heard from a friend in high society that Xie Shuo had a childhood sweetheart with whom he had a great relationship. It was only because of his blindness that Ye An was able to step in.”
“If what you’re saying is true, Xie Shuo is really scummy then? He married her when he was blind, and now that he can see again, he’s dumping her!”
“I’m starting to feel sorry for her…”
“Feeling sorry +1”
……
Not only that, to confirm that she was divorced and brokenhearted, some netizens posted several photos from the event yesterday.
In these photos, she appeared pale, and her makeup couldn’t hide her haggardness, giving off a strong sense of being an “abandoned wealthy wife.”
For a moment, Weibo and related forums were abuzz with activity. Besides her sympathetic fans, there were also many who seized the opportunity to mock her for her shattered dreams of entering high society.
“Ye An Divorce” and similar keywords shot up to the top of the trending topics.
Ye An: “…….”
She had just gone out to buy groceries and caught a cold, and they were able to dig up divorce rumors? That was too impressive.
It seemed like she would have to start wearing a mask when she went out in the future.
Xiang Quan directly called her and asked if she wanted to clarify things on Weibo in the studio’s name and take down the trending headline.
Ye An rubbed her temples and said, “No need.”
Xiang Quan was a bit surprised. “No need?”
Ye An explained, “There’s nothing to clarify about this kind of thing. The more you try to clarify, the more chaotic it will become.”
Everyone was just joining in for the fun, and in a couple of days, without any response, the hype would naturally die down. Moreover, they might be nosy, but could they really influence whether she got divorced or not?
Hearing what she said, Xiang Quan didn’t press further and hung up the call.
Ye An continued to browse the web for a while but lost interest quickly. She closed her phone and went back to watching her movie.
Her cold hadn’t completely gone away, and she had just taken cold medicine, so not long after, she started feeling drowsy.
She turned off her phone and went back to her room to continue sleeping.
When she woke up, she suddenly received a call from Xie Baiyan.
“An An, what’s going on between you and A’Shuo?”
Xie Baiyan’s tone was solemn, indicating that he had already heard about the rumors.
Receiving the call, Ye An felt a bit flustered. She had almost forgotten about having to deal with him and Grandfather Xie.
She could ignore unrelated people, but it wasn’t so easy to explain away to Xie Baiyan and Grandfather Xie.
Ye An gripped her phone while her other hand-picked at the throw pillow. Momentarily, she didn’t know how to explain things to him.
Seeing her silence, Xie Baiyan went straight to the point. “Make a visit back today.”
Ye An had no choice but to quickly change her clothes, tidy up, and rush back to the Xie residence.
On her way back, she checked Weibo again and saw that the trending headline had been taken down. Presumably, Xie Baiyan was concerned about it spreading further and decided to have it taken down, regardless of its accuracy.
When she arrived at the Xie residence, Xie Baiyan was sitting in the living room, his brows furrowed.
Ye An went over, her voice trembling as she called out, “Dad.”
Noticing how pale she looked and didn’t seem to be in the best condition, Xie Baiyan softened his tone slightly. “Have a seat.”
Sitting down on the sofa, Ye An clutched her fingers tightly, torn between whether to deny everything or to be completely honest with him. If she and Xie Shuo couldn’t reconcile in the end, she would have to tell him the truth sooner or later.
“What exactly is going on? Are you and A’Shou getting a divorce?”
Ye An glanced at him but still didn’t utter a word.
Xie Baiyan suddenly had a thought and asked, “Is it… A’Shuo who wants to divorce?”
His son—he knew him better than anyone. Since he was young, he had been proud and had a strong will. When he didn’t want something, no one could persuade him otherwise.
He hadn’t been willing to get married to Ye An; it had been out of helplessness. Now that his eyes had regained their sight, there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t consider divorce.
Ye An hesitated for a moment, meeting Xie Baiyan’s questioning gaze. She pondered for a few seconds on the question of whether to shift the blame to Xie Shuo. In the end, she shook her head and said, “No.”
At that, Xie Baiyan became even more puzzled. If it wasn’t Xie Shuo who wanted to divorce, could it be that she was thinking of it?
Lately, Xie Shuo had indeed been very busy and had neglected her. It was possible that she had been displeased by it.
After a while, Xie Baiyan said, “An An, A’Shuo is currently very busy with his career. As his wife, please be more understanding. If you have any feelings, don’t air them outside.”
Implicitly, Xie Baiyan meant that the Xie family wasn’t an ordinary family, and if she and Xie Shuo had any issues, it would only damage their reputation and become fodder for gossip within their social circles.
Ye An lowered her eyes and said softly, “I understand, please don’t worry.”
After all the questioning, Xie Baiyan couldn’t make sense of the situation and had a bit of a headache. He assumed it was just a disagreement between them and sighed, “Well, this is you two’s own matter. I won’t ask any further. Let’s wait for A’Shuo to return and then talk.”
After a pause, he added, “But please, don’t let it spill outside.”
Ye An agreed and coughed a couple of times.
Xie Baiyan looked at her pale complexion, his tone becoming much gentler. “Your complexion looks poor. Are you sick?”
Ye An replied, “I have a slight cold.”
Xie Baiyan: “Since you’re back, stay at home for a couple of days. Have Auntie Zhou make some soup for you tonight to nourish your body. If there’s anything you want to eat, just let the kitchen know.”
“En, thank you, Dad.”
After a few more instructions, Xie Baiyan got up and left.
At this moment, it wasn’t good for Ye An to return to the condo, so she went upstairs to Xie Shuo’s bedroom.
The bedroom was desolate and lacked the usual liveliness. Sitting on the sofa that Xie Shuo had loved, she took out her phone, glanced at it, and then closed it.
She decided to deal with future matters when the time came. At the very least, they hadn’t divorced yet.
Regardless of the outcome, she hoped that they could part on good terms.
Ye An went to grab a blanket as if it were second nature and laid down on the sofa for a short nap.
While the rumors online were raging, it happened to be afternoon on Xie Shuo’s side.
The afternoon sunlight streamed in through the glass walls. He glanced at his watch and saw that he had 15 minutes left before his scheduled meeting with a business partner.
Zhong Fu answered a call, and his expression slightly changed. He walked over to Xie Shuo’s side and whispered a few words into his ear.
After hearing Zhong Fu’s report, Xie Shuo’s expression turned sour.
“Call Yu Ran and have him handle this matter immediately.”
Zhong Fu complied and went to make the necessary arrangements.
When Ye An woke up, it was already dark. The dim twilight seeped through the window, creating a dreamy atmosphere.
She had a pile of unread messages on her phone, so she unlocked it and opened Weibo. To her surprise, while she was asleep, the official account of Junming Group posted a clarification on Weibo, stating that the divorce rumors were purely false.
With the official statement, the online sentiment began to change, and the comments below the post were filled with relief:
“Official confirmation! Anyone who claimed that they were divorced, come and get slapped in the face!”
“Waaahh, the CP I shipped didn’t sink…”
“Woohoo, is this President Xie’s way of protecting his wife with full force?”
…….
Ye An glanced at the official statement, figuring that Xie Shuo must’ve received the news. Right on cue, a call came through.
“Is your cold better?”
The familiar voice rang in her ears.
Ye An sat on the sofa, hugging her knees. “It got better.”
She had just woken up, and with her cold, her voice sounded nasal and as if she had been through something distressing.
Xie Shuo frowned and said, “I’ve already asked Yu Ran to handle the situation online. Don’t worry.”
Ye An couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m not worried.”
After all, he was the one who didn’t want a divorce, and if anyone should be worried, it was him.
Hearing her cheerful tone, Xie Shuo relaxed and asked her, “What present do you want?”
Upon hearing this, Ye An instinctively asked, “Are you coming back?”
After saying that, she realized that her words might make it seem like she was eagerly anticipating his return, so she quickly closed her mouth.
Xie Shuo had indeed misunderstood her and added with a hint of amusement in his tone, “Not yet, but I’ll try to come back as soon as possible.”
“…….”
Ye An just responded with a cold and simple “oh,” trying to salvage her image.
She tugged at the blanket in frustration and deliberately adopted a cold tone, saying, “Is there anything else? If not, I’ll hang up.”
Xie Shuo still had business matters to attend to, so he didn’t tease her any further and simply told her to “rest well” before ending the call.
Right after hanging up, Auntie Zhou knocked on the door and called her downstairs for dinner.
Ye An got up and left the room, suddenly feeling like she had returned to her life before.
The online commotion came and went quickly. By the end of the day, the “divorce scandal” had mostly blown over, leaving only the culprits behind the scenes still unidentified.
However, Ye An had no interest in following up on this. She had been working at a high intensity for two to three months and finally managed to take a break, only to be faced with this situation. It was giving her a headache, and all she wanted was to find a quiet place to clear her mind and seriously consider her relationship with Xie Shuo.
The next day, after greeting Xie Baiyan, she packed her bags, booked a flight, and returned to her hometown.
