When the Female Lead Becomes Obsessive – Chapter 239

Volume Ten: Those Few Years After She and I Broke Up

Cooling the Fire

Wen Nuan was discharged from the hospital, and only Secretary Li came to pick her up.

When she was admitted, there was a lineup to welcome her; upon discharge, it was bleak and miserable. Wen Nuan sighed at how the way of the world is not constant.¹

Secretary Li smiled slightly. “Miss Wen, get in the car. I’ll take you back to your dorm.”

“Okay, thank you very much.” Wen Nuan got in the car and looked at the WeChat² message from Zhou Hao.

《Palace Coup》 had already wrapped up filming. Out of guilt, the director kept all of Wen Nuan’s filmed scenes and even declared his intention to make Wen Nuan the female lead in his next movie.

Wen Nuan hadn’t said anything yet, but Zhou Hao had already taken it upon himself to accept.

Wen Nuan only sent Zhou Hao one phrase: “Selling out your master for glory.”³

Zhou Hao retorted with a sneer⁴, “To let things exhaust their use.”⁵

Zha Yi’s variety show was ending in a week, and she told her to rest well in the dorm. An Siya had been dragged by her Uncle to act in a modern drama, playing the role of a rich family’s young lady. Only Cong Hui was at home, focused on writing songs and practicing.

Secretary Li dropped Wen Nuan off at the dorm entrance. “Miss Wen, please rest well at home during this time. Linguan Entertainment will not be arranging any work for you.”

Although Wen Nuan was already about to grow mold from boredom, to put Yi Jing’s mind at ease, she replied, “Okay.”

“Alright then, Miss Wen, take care. I’ll be leaving now. Contact me if you need anything.”

“Mm.”

Wen Nuan turned and went back into the dorm. As soon as she entered, she saw Cong Hui in the kitchen.

She asked, puzzled, “What are you doing in the kitchen?”

Hearing Wen Nuan’s voice, Cong Hui ran out excitedly. “I’m making soup for you! I didn’t go pick you up today specifically so I could stay home and make you soup.”

“Making soup?” Wen Nuan walked into the kitchen. “What kind of soup?”

Cong Hui lifted the ladle, swished it around in the hot soup, and fished out the ginseng⁶ hidden inside. With a proud look on her face, she said, “Red date⁷, goji berry⁸, and ginseng soup. A major tonic for qi and blood⁹. One sip of this soup and you’ll immediately…”

Wen Nuan looked at the ginseng, which was thicker than her thumb. “Ascend to heaven?”

“…” Cong Hui shot her a glare and spat, “Why would you say something so unlucky? It means the medicine arrives and the illness is removed¹⁰, understand?”

“Ginseng, red dates, and goji berries are all major tonics. They’ll definitely restore your jing, qi, and shen¹¹ to their original state.”

Wen Nuan looked at the full pot of soup and said with difficulty, “This is all for me to drink?”

Cong Hui nodded. “That’s right. You’re the only one here who needs nourishing.”

“I can’t finish it all.”

“It’s fine, we can drink it slowly,” Cong Hui said, glancing at the wall clock. “It’s only nine in the morning. You drink half a pot at noon, and then drink the other half in the evening. That’ll do it.”

“…” Wen Nuan gave a dry laugh. “If I down this whole pot, are you trying to nourish me to death?”

Especially that ginseng; one look and you could tell it was over a hundred years old.

“Your current physical condition requires a lot of nourishment,” Cong Hui said as she ladled a bowl for her, looking at Wen Nuan with shining eyes. “Drink up. Don’t let my good intentions go to waste.”

Wen Nuan sighed, took the ginseng soup, and had a sip. “Thanks.”

Cong Hui smiled. “It’s nothing. We’re friends, isn’t this how we care for each other?”

Wen Nuan’s heart warmed, and she finished the bowl. “Your cooking skills aren’t bad.”

“Of course,” Cong Hui said proudly. “My dad’s a master chef. Come on, have another bowl.”

Cong Hui ladled another bowl of soup for Wen Nuan and urged her seriously, “Hurry up and drink.”

Wen Nuan looked at the full bowl of soup, and the heart that had just warmed up instantly turned cold.

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Yi Jing sat on the sofa, her hands crossed over her propped-up knee, looking at the man in front of her.

This person was a senior of hers from university. His family was well-off, and he was already driving a sports car around picking up girls back in school. And Wen Nuan was one of the “little sisters” he had once picked up.

Ning Xia hadn’t expected Yi Jing to see him. The Yi Jing of today was no longer the poor student from back then who relied on scholarships and work-study programs to get through school, but the President of the Feili Group, a corporation currently worth tens of billions of US dollars. Their statuses had completely reversed, and she had already reached a height he couldn’t possibly touch.

“So late at night, I hear you were looking for me?” Ning Xian didn’t show the restraint or panic one would expect when facing a powerful figure. He was still as lazy and casual as he was back then. “You’re not thinking of discussing a partnership with me, are you?”

As soon as Ning Xian graduated, he also took over his family’s business.

Yi Jing raised her eyes. “I just wanted to ask you something. We can also talk about a partnership.”

Ning Xian had just been joking and hadn’t expected Yi Jing to actually discuss a partnership with him.

He immediately straightened his lapels and sat upright¹², saying, “What did you want to ask me?”

During university, he and Yi Jing didn’t have much contact. Every time they met, it was just a nod of acknowledgment. You could count the words they’d spoken to each other on ten fingers.

“About Wen Nuan.”

Ning Xian’s expression showed a brief moment of discomfort before he smiled. “Talk about Wen Nuan? She’s already a huge, popular star now. What is there to talk about?”

Yi Jing sharply caught Ning Xian’s expression. In her heart, she knew that Ning Xian must know a lot about Wen Nuan.

After all, Ning Xian was the man with whom Wen Nuan had been ambiguous for the longest time.

As for the other men, their contact with Wen Nuan had only been brief, lasting a few days. Yi Jing had asked them some questions, and most of them were a case of one question, three ‘don’t knows’.¹³ But they all told Yi Jing one truth.

That is, back when Wen Nuan went with them to get a hotel room, they simply slept separately. They had wanted to touch Wen Nuan, but they all got beaten up by her. Furthermore, Wen Nuan had demanded they not reveal what really happened in the room.

Therefore, Yi Jing saw Ning Xian as her breakthrough.

“Whether the Feili Group and the Ning Corporation can partner up depends on whether you’re willing to cooperate.” Yi Jing poured him a glass of water and pushed it over. “I hear the Ning Corporation has been having some cash flow problems recently, constantly seeking loans from major banks, right?”

Ning Xian’s expression changed. “President Yi, are you threatening me?”

With Yi Jing’s power, investigating their Ning Corporation would be light and easy to lift.¹⁴

Yi Jing said flatly, “I just want to know a few things. And these things are insignificant to you, yet they can solve the predicament you’re currently facing. Do you think that’s a threat?”

“If you find this difficult, you can leave right now. No one will stop you.” She gestured toward the door. “Please—”

Ning Xian frowned, his hand unconsciously tightening its grip on the sofa.

He knew perfectly well just how much the bait Yi Jing had thrown down made one’s saliva drip with desire¹⁵. He was desperate to partner with the Feili Group. Not only could it solve the Ning Corporation’s difficulties, but it could also raise it from the dead and return it to life¹⁶, and even make it bigger and stronger.

Ning Xian closed his eyes, his five fingers relaxing as he said in a defeated tone, “What does President Yi want to know?”

A trace of an expression of ‘the heart getting what the hand responds with’¹⁷ flashed in Yi Jing’s eyes, the corners of her mouth tipping up slightly. “Everything between you and Wen Nuan. I want to know it all.”

Ning Xian sighed. “In university, Wen Nuan was beautiful, had good grades, and a great figure. She was the dream girl of many male students, including me.”

Yi Jing remained silent, quietly listening to Ning Xian recount his youth.

“At the opening ceremony, the day Wen Nuan gave a speech as the representative of Jing Da¹⁸, I saw her for the first time and fell for her. I pursued her for three years, and she rejected me for three years. It wasn’t until our senior year graduation that her attitude toward me suddenly changed a lot.”

Yi Jing’s fingertips paused slightly, the emotions in her eyes growing complex.

“When I wanted to go on a date with her, she no longer refused. When I gave her gifts, she wouldn’t reject them. She even said yes when I asked her to be my girlfriend. She stopped refusing my advances. I was very happy.”

“But I knew she didn’t like me at all. She was just using me.” Ning Xian’s face wore a lonely and sad expression.

Yi Jing asked, “What did she use you for?”

“To use me to let others know she was a bad woman with the nature of water and poplar catkins¹⁹, one who was coveting and admiring vanity.”²⁰

Ning Xian said flatly, “Did you know? Although she accepted the gifts I gave her, she returned them all in the end and gave me all the money back. She even expressed her guilt and apologized to me for using me, even after I told her she could continue to use me instead of breaking up with me.”

“And then?” Yi Jing continued to ask.

Ning Xian shrugged helplessly. “And then we broke up. The day we broke up, she cried very hard. I thought she regretted it and didn’t want to be apart from me, but she told me her crying had nothing to do with me.”

Yi Jing was silent for a moment, then asked, “When did you two break up?”

“July first. I remember this date very clearly. After all, she was the first person to ever dump me.”

July first.

It was also the day Wen Nuan broke up with her, the day Wen Nuan completely disappeared from her world.

Ning Xian saw that Yi Jing’s expression was off. “What’s wrong with you?”

Yi Jing rubbed her forehead. “It’s nothing. I’m done with my questions. Thank you, you can go.”

Ning Xian stood up, wanting to ask about the partnership.

Without looking up, Yi Jing said in a low voice, “Someone will contact you regarding the partnership with the Ning Corporation. Don’t worry about me going back on my word.”

Ning Xian let out a breath of relief. “Thank you.”

The Ning Corporation was saved.

“What kind of person do you think Wen Nuan is?”

Hearing Yi Jing’s question, Ning Xian paused at the door.

He thought for a moment, then said with a half-smile, “No heart, no lungs.”²¹

Yi Jing paused. “…That’s true.”

“But…” Ning Xian paused for a moment. “Back then… she must have had someone she really liked.”

A flicker in Yi Jing’s eyes. “What?”

“I always felt that she had someone she cared about a lot back then,” Ning Xian said. “At the time, I was thinking of marrying her, so I took her to look at wedding dresses. She couldn’t take her eyes off one particular dress. I thought she liked that dress, so I planned to buy it for her.”

“But she said that dress didn’t suit her.”

“She said there was someone who would definitely look beautiful if they could wear that dress.”

“At first, I thought she was talking about a friend, but thinking about it now, her eyes back then were shining, clean and pure.”

“I know that when a person’s eyes are clear and pure, it’s because they have someone they like.”

After saying this, Ning Xian pushed the door open and left.

Yi Jing sat on the sofa, her eyes flickering several times in succession.

Seeing Ning Xian leave, Secretary Li pushed the door open and came in. “Boss?”

“Go and investigate Wen Nuan’s spending habits and the people she has been in contact with over the past three years,” Yi Jing said in a heavy voice.

Secretary Li replied, “Okay.”

“Get a car ready for me.”

It was already almost ten o’clock, and Secretary Li was worried.

“Why don’t I drive you home?”

Yi Jing stood up and walked out. “I’m not going home.”

Secretary Li: “…?”

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The consequence of being forced by Cong Hui to drink half a pot of soup was being unable to sleep in the middle of the night from the heat.

She drank all the water in the kettle on the table, but still felt unbearable.

She glanced out the window unintentionally and saw a car parked under a streetlight. A closer look revealed it was Yi Jing’s car.

Wen Nuan tugged at her collar and pulled the door open, stepping out of the room.

Yi Jing had been parked at the entrance to Wen Nuan’s dorm for over half an hour. Having rushed over on a whim, she only now realized that Wen Nuan was probably already asleep at this hour.

Wen Nuan’s injuries hadn’t fully healed yet, so it wouldn’t be right to disturb her.

But she didn’t want to just leave, either. It was as if staying here could bring her closer to Wen Nuan.

Knock, knock, knock—

Someone knocked on the car window.

Yi Jing looked up and saw Wen Nuan standing outside the car in a short-sleeved shirt.

Her expression changed. She opened the car door and let Wen Nuan in. “Why did you come out dressed like that?”

Wen Nuan immediately slipped into the car. “I’m not cold. Cong Hui made me a pot of ginseng soup. I’m feeling a fire leaping three zhang high²² from it now.”

Yi Jing draped the blanket from the car over Wen Nuan. “Ginseng replenishes qi and blood. It’s good you drank some.”

“Why are you out so late instead of sleeping?”

Wen Nuan asked back, “Why are you out so late instead of sleeping?”

Yi Jing paused. “I was busy all day today and didn’t get to contact you, so I wanted to come and see you.”

“Just wanted to come and see me?” Wen Nuan’s mouth was very dry.

The look she gave Yi Jing was much more feverish.

Yi Jing didn’t notice anything was amiss. Pity and heartache surfaced in her eyes, and her heart felt as if it had been viciously squeezed. “Yeah. I missed you.”

Wen Nuan’s eyes lit up. “Actually, I missed you too.”

Yi Jing smiled. “Really?”

“Mhm,” Wen Nuan leaned in, gave her a light kiss, and pressed Yi Jing’s hand against her chest. “I missed you so much I’m overheating.”²³

Feeling her powerful heartbeat, Yi Jing’s face flushed red. She asked indulgently, “…Then what should we do?”

Wen Nuan leaned over and kissed her.

“Be good. Let me cool this fire²⁴, or else I’ll be unbearably pent up.”

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