Volume Ten: Those Few Years After She and I Broke Up
Engagement
“According to sources, the heir to Hanwen Group1 and the heir to Feili Group2 have been seen in a close relationship, frequently attending various banquets hand in hand. Early rumors suggested that the two major groups intended to unite through marriage. Do the actions of their respective heirs prove the authenticity of these rumors? Let us wait with bated breath!”
This piece of gossip news suddenly broadcasted in the quiet coffee shop, and its content instantly captured the attention of everyone in the establishment.
Without another word, everyone began to discuss it.
“Fuck, if Hanwen Group and Feili Group unite in marriage, won’t they basically be earning all the money in the world?”
“Isn’t that the truth? Not to mention Hanwen Group’s own strength is already outstanding, with countless brands under its umbrella. Its flagship high luxury brand has already squeezed its way into the ranks of top-tier high luxury, becoming a luxury item that many celebrities are scrambling over each other to get.”
“But as formidable as Hanwen Group is, it still can’t compare to the century-old foundation of Feili Group. They made their fortune in high luxury. Their haute couture for every season is one-of-a-kind. And they don’t just do high luxury; they also deal in jewelry, jadeite, gold, diamonds, and more. Basically, Feili has had a hand in every profitable industry. I heard they’re even planning to enter the entertainment industry recently.”
“Sigh, I know about that. Feili recently opened a new company called ‘Lin Guan Entertainment’ and even spent a fortune to poach Film Queen Shuang Fei3 and Film Emperor Duan Peize4.”
“I also heard they’re going to create some kind of new-generation four-member all-rounder girl group, doing some big public multimedia election?”
“I know about that one. The contestants post short videos on major websites, and then the public votes to elect 20 people. From those 20, four will be chosen to form a band and debut.”
“The one ranked first right now is that bassist, Zhai Yi5. Her votes are as high as 58.76 million6!”
“Zhai Yi, huh? I know her. She’s an amazing bassist. Heard she’s already been pre-selected?”
“Who knows? But I’m certain she’ll definitely be chosen.”
“I think the band could be: Zhai Yi on bass, Cong Hui7 on keyboard, An Siya8 on drums. It’s just the lead singer that’s hard to decide.”
“I think Lan Xixi9 could work, right?” The person speaking couldn’t hide their admiration.
“Her ranking is too low, and her voice is too fake. It sounds like it’s been auto-tuned,” someone refuted.
“What about Xi Manyun10? She’s really talented!”
“I admit she sings well, but her looks are just average.”
“Well, there are still a few others…”
Wen Nuan sat in a corner, looking at the trending topics11 on Weibo. The headline was, brazenly, the news about “Lin Guan Entertainment” forming a four-member band. The read count had already surpassed a hundred million. The top few names from the public election had all been dug up and were occupying the top twenty spots on the trending list, creating quite a buzz.
Moreover, today was the last day for the talent show voting, which would end at eight o’clock tonight.
Supporters were in the comments section, praising the high and trampling the low12, cheering wildly like a host of demons dancing wildly13.
Wen Nuan switched screens, looking at her own empty Weibo page. She hadn’t posted a single thing.
She picked up her phone, opened the front-facing camera, made a peace sign14 with her left hand, and casually snapped a picture. She posted it, conveniently adding the talent show’s trending tag15.
Wen Nuan downloaded the app that “Lin Guan Entertainment” had created for the talent show, registered as a new user, signed up for the election, and uploaded the selfie she had just taken. After everything was done, she set her phone aside.
Before long, the phone began to vibrate frequently. It was from that election app.
The vibrations represented the number of votes.
Wen Nuan paid no mind to the vibrating phone, but the continuous sound drew the attention of others.
The man drinking coffee in front of her turned around and smiled. “Beauty, your phone keeps ringing. Aren’t you going to take a look?”
Wen Nuan pushed up the brim of her baseball cap. “Something I can help you with?”
The man and his friends were all stunned at first sight, exchanging glances and marveling at how fucking beautiful this woman was.
“I just wanted to get to know you. Can we be friends?” The man’s smile was gentle, his face harmless.
It was as if his inquiry came from a place of deep concern.
He had noticed Wen Nuan long ago. Although the woman had been wearing a hat with her head down, doing who knows what, judging by her figure, she was definitely a top-tier beauty.
Sure enough, when the woman pushed her hat up, a palm-sized, delicate, and flawless face16 was revealed. Her skin was fair and translucent, and there was no makeup on her face, as if she was bare-faced.
Her eyes were clear and bright, her nose bridge was high and elegant, and her lips were red without being dyed17. The corners of her mouth were slightly curved up; though she smiled gently, it revealed a trace of wildness and sarcasm.
The man considered himself handsome and well-built. He had seen countless women since he was young. What kind of woman couldn’t he win over?
But his first instinct told him that this woman would not be easy to conquer.
Yet, the harder one was to conquer, the more it stimulated one’s desire to win and conquer.
“No.” Wen Nuan pulled the brim of her hat back down.
Her entire being radiated an aura of strangers, do not approach18.
The man was not at all surprised to be rejected; after all, he had already prepared himself for it.
“I was being presumptuous, my apologies,” the man said, glancing at the coffee on Wen Nuan’s table. “This cup of coffee is on me, as an apology.”
Wen Nuan ignored him, still lowering her head, lost in thought.
Faced with Wen Nuan’s silence, the man was not discouraged. He was very patient with his prey.
The man took out a business card and handed it over, briefly introducing himself. “My name is Wen Xiuran19, Vice President of Hanwen Group. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Wen Nuan’s eyes moved.
The man saw Wen Nuan raise her head and take his business card, twirling it between her fingertips.
He felt that every part of this woman was attractive to him. Her fingers were like jade-like scallions20, long and slender. The back of her hands was very white, so much so that her blood vessels were clearly visible. Her nails were clean, without the various fancy and gaudy nail art that girls often had.
Wen Xiuran’s business card was black and gold. The moment Wen Nuan toyed with it, he actually sensed a hint of detached allure and clear disdain.
In the past, whenever he revealed his identity to other women, almost all of them would look at him with high regard. But this time, he was being looked down upon.
Interesting.
Wen Xiuran’s friend spoke up, “Beauty, you’ve heard of Hanwen Group, right? This friend of mine is the second-in-command21 of Hanwen Group, the chairman’s younger son. His net worth is in the tens of millions of US dollars.”
Wen Nuan said flatly, “I’ve heard of it.”
A satisfied smile appeared on Wen Xiuran’s face. “That’s all my family’s honor, it has little to do with me. I’ve made a fool of myself in front of you, beauty.”
“Younger son?” A trace of interest flashed in Wen Nuan’s eyes. “You’re the younger son of Hanwen Group who has been studying abroad all this time?”
Wen Xiuran’s studying abroad was no secret; many people knew he had been sent overseas to study since he was a child.
“Mhm, I just came back this year to help my brother22 manage the company.”
Wen Nuan put the business card down. “Since you’re the Vice President of Hanwen Group, you must be very clear about many things within the company, right?”
Seeing Wen Nuan take the initiative to speak to him, Wen Xiuran said smugly, “But of course. However, some business secrets cannot be disclosed.”
“It’s fine, I won’t ask you about business secrets. I’ll just ask you something everyone knows.”
Wen Xiuran was puzzled. “What?”
“I heard that Hanwen Group is going to unite with Feili Group in marriage. Is this true?”
Wen Xiuran froze. “Huh? When did this happen?”
“…” Wen Nuan was speechless. “Aren’t you the second-in-command of Hanwen Group? You don’t even know about this?”
Wen Xiuran shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve only been back in the country for three days. Beauty, how did you know?”
Wen Nuan rolled her eyes23 at him. “Didn’t you see the broadcast on TV just now?”
Wen Xiuran shook his head. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
A man in a jacket behind him raised his hand. “I saw it. The news did mention that the heirs of Hanwen Group and Feili Group intend to unite in marriage and cooperation.”
“Fuck?” Wen Xiuran took out his phone, surprised. “Could it be that my brother has already won over my Yi Jing-jie24?”
Wen Nuan watched as Wen Xiuran, as swift and decisive as thunder and wind25, took out his phone to call his brother, Wen Xiuning26.
The call was quickly connected. Before Wen Xiuran could speak, Wen Xiuning’s helpless voice came through.
“You’re not at work where you’re supposed to be. Where did you run off to?”
Wen Xiuran glanced at Wen Nuan awkwardly. Seeing her expressionless face, he immediately changed the subject. “Ge, I saw some news. Are you and Yi Jing-jie getting married?”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. Wen Xiuning’s tone softened, as if tinged with a smile. “Where did you see that?”
“Don’t worry about where I saw it, just tell me if it’s true or not, okay?” Wen Xiuran was very dependent on Wen Xiuning, and he would unconsciously speak in a wheedling tone with him.
Wen Xiuning didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Soon. Your Yi Jing-jie is already considering getting engaged to me.”
Crack, crack—27
Wen Xiuran watched as his black and gold business card was snapped in two by Wen Nuan.
He looked at Wen Nuan’s cold eyes, and a sudden chill ran down his back.
“Th-then that’s really great.”
Crack, crack—
The black and gold business card was torn to pieces.
Wen Xiuran swallowed hard. “Ge, I’ll talk to you later, bye.”
Just as Wen Xiuning was about to say something more, Wen Xiuran hung up on him.
“Beauty, what’s wrong with you?”
Why did she snap his business card? She looks so fierce.
Wen Nuan tossed the pieces of the card aside. “It’s nothing.”
It didn’t look like nothing at all.
“Beauty, we’ve been talking for so long and I still don’t know your name.”
“Wen Nuan.”
In this mission world, she was using her real name, and even her past history was the same.
At first, Wen Nuan thought it was the system’s prank. It was only later that she felt this was her retribution28.
Wen Xiuran opened WeChat. “Let’s add each other. We can hang out when you’re free?”
Wen Nuan glanced at him. “Not interested.”
She stood up and left with a flourish, not giving Wen Xiuran another glance.
Wen Xiuran narrowed his eyes and muttered, “Now this is what makes it interesting.”
“Hey, isn’t this person that beauty from just now?” The man with the wristwatch placed his phone in the middle of the table, pointing at the selfie on the screen. “Look, isn’t that the beauty from just now?”
Wen Xiuran looked over. The person in the photo was dressed exactly like Wen Nuan had been, and the background was even the coffee shop. Bare-faced, she was still beautiful and captivating.
He recognized this app; it was the talent show software produced by Lin Guan Entertainment.
Wen Xiuran glanced at Wen Nuan’s registration time. She had just registered, casually taken a selfie, and uploaded it. In less than an hour, her votes had already propelled her to third place.
“Just one photo and she was voted into third place. Fucking awesome!”
“Right? She just posted one selfie, without even a talent video or a self-introduction, and just airdropped29 into third place.”
Wen Xiuran snorted with a laugh. “If you ask me, with a beautiful face like hers, she could debut directly.”
Debut directly?!
Wen Xiuran suddenly remembered that Hanwen Group had also invested in an entertainment company. Since Wen Nuan had participated in the talent show on this app, it meant she wanted to debut. Couldn’t he use his family’s entertainment company to get closer to Wen Nuan?
No sooner said than done. He gave Wen Xiuning a call and ended up getting chewed out by his brother, but he became the general manager of “Tianze Entertainment”30.
As soon as Wen Xiuran thought about being able to win the beauty’s heart, he felt that this was a reliable plan.
At 8:30 PM, there was a knock on the office door.
Secretary Li31 heard a response from inside the room. She pushed the door open and went in, seeing her boss buried in a huge pile of reports. “Boss, the talent show voting has ended, and the top twenty candidates have been decided. Would you like to look over the list?”
The person in front of her didn’t raise her head, saying flatly, “You pick out the key points and give me a simple summary.”
Secretary Li replied, “Understood.”
“The top twenty selected this time are Zhai Yi, Cong Hui, Wen Nuan, An Siya, Lin Zi…”
“Wait a minute,” Yi Jing32 raised her head, her gaze sharp and venomous. “The third name?”
Secretary Li said, “The third-place contestant is named Wen Nuan. She just registered today and was voted into third place by the public. We haven’t discovered any of her talents yet, but she is very beautiful.”
The first time she saw this girl’s photo, she thought it was a photoshopped picture. She had a technician analyze it, and it was indeed the original photo, taken with the phone’s native camera, and she was bare-faced.
Yi Jing’s eyes narrowed. “Bring it here.”
Secretary Li handed over the tablet.
Yi Jing looked at the photo on it, and her heart couldn’t help but ache with a sharp pain. The fountain pen she was holding stained the white paper.
The person in the photo was bare-faced. Compared to three years ago, she had become even more beautiful.
“Boss, is there a problem with this contestant?” Secretary Li grew suspicious as she watched Yi Jing stare intently at the photo.
This was the first time she had seen her boss show any expression other than cold indifference.
Yi Jing put down the tablet and pressed the spot between her eyebrows. “It’s nothing. Proceed according to the normal process. Don’t engage in any of that black box operations33 stuff.”
“Understood, Boss.”
Secretary Li took the tablet and was about to leave when she heard Yi Jing say something from behind her.
“Is Guangyuan Milk34 one of the title sponsors for this talent show?”
Secretary Li turned and nodded. “Yes.”
“Drop them.”
Although Secretary Li didn’t understand, she complied with Yi Jing’s instructions as always. “Understood.”
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