After the Harem Novel’s Female Lead was Spoiled by the Comments - Chapter 12

After leaving the hospital, Yan Qingwen first went to meet the paparazzi who had been following Wen Hebai.

According to them, after Wen Hebai left home today, she had driven straight to Auris Restaurant and had not come into contact with anyone along the way.

Because Auris was a high-end restaurant, anyone who was not a member could not enter at all. So after Wen Hebai went inside, they could only secretly take photos from outside. They did not capture the moment Mu Rong acted violently, but they did photograph Wen Hebai coming out injured.

Yan Qingwen bought the photos and videos they had taken, then called the hidden owner of Auris Restaurant.

Auris Restaurant was a French restaurant, but its owner was Li Jinglei, known in K City as the king of the catering industry.

The Li family mainly operated restaurants, hotels, and similar businesses. They owned no small number of five-star hotels and restaurants. Li Jinglei himself had started as a special-grade chef and had once served as the head chef for state banquets for several years. Now that he had retired, he often appeared as a gourmet, joining food shows, reviewing local delicacies, and so on. He could be considered a famous figure.

Yan Qingwen was not close to him, but the Yan family’s banquets were usually outsourced to the chef teams of the Li family’s five-star hotels, so they could still speak to each other.

After exchanging pleasantries, Yan Qingwen went straight to the point and asked Li Jinglei whether he knew about what had happened at the restaurant today.

Li Jinglei did not know, but after hearing that Wen Hebai had been injured at the restaurant, he immediately took the matter seriously. Not only did he call over his nephew, who was currently managing the restaurant, but he also called the restaurant manager. Only after checking the surveillance records and confirming everything clearly did he call Yan Qingwen back.

“I am very sorry about what happened today. No matter what, President Yan’s wife was injured in our restaurant. We will take responsibility to the end.”

Yan Qingwen said, “Old Mr. Li, I did not call today to assign blame. I only wanted to ask whether Zhuang Yi is an employee of that restaurant.”

Li Jinglei had a deep impression of Zhuang Yi and said, “He is indeed an employee of our restaurant.”

As for his relationship with Zhuang Yi, that had to start from more than half a month ago.

As everyone knew, Li Jinglei was a gourmet. Even though he was worth hundreds of millions and was the king of the catering industry, he had never looked down on folk cuisine or the environments of small restaurants. He often searched for good food in the streets and alleys.

Then, in a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant in K City, he met Zhuang Yi. Zhuang Yi’s sharp and spicy criticism of food made Li Jinglei feel as though he had found a kindred spirit. In particular, Zhuang Yi not only had the taste buds of a gourmet but also excellent cooking skills. The dishes he made left Li Jinglei full of praise. The two appreciated each other and thus became friends despite their age difference.

Originally, Li Jinglei had planned to invite Zhuang Yi to serve as the head chef of one of the Li family’s five-star hotels, but Zhuang Yi refused. Zhuang Yi said that he was young and would not be able to convince others, so it was enough for him to start from the lowest position as a server.

Thus, Zhuang Yi, who claimed to have once served as the head chef of a Michelin restaurant overseas, entered Auris Restaurant to work under Li Jinglei’s arrangement.

Li Jinglei had originally planned to promote Zhuang Yi to restaurant manager after three months, then gradually train him into a capable general of the Li family. He had not expected something like this to happen today.

As for how the Li family would handle the matter next, who would be scolded, and who would be fired, that was the Li family’s internal affair. Yan Qingwen did not ask further.

However, the people she had sent to investigate Zhuang Yi had also made some progress.

“Zhuang Yi returned to the country three months ago. He settled directly in K City and has not left K City since. Before he was invited to work at Auris Restaurant, he did not have a formal job, but he lived in a mid-range apartment with a monthly rent of thirty thousand. Also, the people around him have somewhat complicated relationships, and he has dealings with some young men from society.”

“Did you find his social connections?” Yan Qingwen asked.

“We couldn’t find them. There is only a record of him entering the country. Everything about him overseas, as well as everything before he went abroad, is blank. This can only point to one problem—his information has been deliberately hidden.”

When Yan Qingwen previously had people investigate Zhuang Yi, she had not revealed that Zhuang Yi might be connected to forces in C City. Once they investigated C City, it would be very easy to alert the enemy and attract unnecessary trouble.

But the fact that Zhuang Yi’s information had been deliberately hidden did not necessarily mean it was because he had been abandoned and exiled. It could also mean that someone was protecting him to prevent people from C City from tracing him. It was even possible that Zhuang Yi was not his real name.

Rather than passively accepting everything, it would be better to take the initiative.

Yan Qingwen arranged a new task.

“Continue investigating quietly. Also send more people to C City to help me investigate the Zhuang family there… Maybe their surname isn’t Zhuang. Any family that has undergone a transfer of power in recent years—investigate them one by one.”

…

The Mu family and the Li family both acted very quickly. Not only did they apologize to Wen Hebai, but all the compensation that should be paid was also transferred to her account. They were even willing to pay twice Wen Hebai’s commercial value to invite her to shoot an advertisement, but Wen Hebai refused.

As for the Wen family, they only learned about Wen Hebai’s injury after the matter had already been handled.

Wen Hegu rushed to the hospital, only to learn that Wen Hebai had long since returned to her and Yan Qingwen’s home.

Thus, Wen Hebai, who was sitting at home waiting for Yan Qingwen to help change her medicine, received a “cordial greeting” from her biological sister.

“You got injured and didn’t even tell the family? If I hadn’t heard the news from the people below, would I have had to wait until it made headlines tomorrow before finding out? Does that sound reasonable to you?”

Wen Hebai shoved the phone into Yan Qingwen’s hand and gave her a meaningful look.

Yan Qingwen speechlessly took the phone. “President Wen.”

Wen Hegu, who had been scolding someone, immediately switched to appropriate language. “It’s Qingwen. You and Xiaobai are already married, so just call me Sister like she does.”

Yan Qingwen could not bring herself to say it, so she could only brace herself and change the topic. “Ah Bai is fine. I’ll take care of her too. You don’t need to worry.”

Hearing this, Wen Hegu dismissed the thought of coming to visit Wen Hebai. She chatted with Yan Qingwen for a couple more sentences before hanging up.

Wen Hebai gave her a thumbs-up. “As expected, it still has to be you.”

Her eldest sister would hit her and scold her, but she would not scold Yan Qingwen, because Yan Qingwen had been a good child since she was young. In her eldest sister’s eyes, Yan Qingwen was the most outstanding heir among K City’s great families.

Yan Qingwen washed her hands, put on disposable gloves, and changed Wen Hebai’s medicine. When she lifted the layer of blood- and iodine-stained hemostatic gauze, revealing the wound beneath Wen Hebai’s hair, her gaze and expression became slightly grave.

“Why didn’t you shave the hair near the wound?” Yan Qingwen first used a cotton swab to clean away the dried blood around the hair, then applied iodine to disinfect it.

“I won’t shave it. It would look terrible if there was a bald patch.” Wen Hebai cared greatly about her image. If it was shaved and never grew back, wouldn’t she have to stay bald there forever?

“If the wound gets infected, then you might really end up bald.”

“Hiss— It hurts, it hurts.” The iodine touched the wound, and Wen Hebai inhaled sharply from the pain.

Yan Qingwen paused. Her movements became much gentler, but she said, “When you climbed trees as a child and got cut by thorns, I never saw you cry out in pain. Your pain tolerance has actually gone down now.”

Wen Hebai had not expected her to still remember something from so long ago. The corners of her lips curved slightly, and she muttered carelessly, “Wasn’t that because I was afraid you’d cry? I didn’t dare say it hurt. When you cried as a child, you were so hard to coax. I even had to sacrifice myself and become your wife before you stopped crying.”

“Shut up!” Yan Qingwen’s face turned red. She covered the wound with fresh gauze, and when she bandaged it, she used a little more force.

Was bringing up those dark childhood histories meant to humiliate her on purpose?!