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

Leaving the hospital, Yan Qingwen first went to see the paparazzi who had been tailing Wen Hebai.

According to them, after Wen Hebai left her house today, she drove straight to the Orestes restaurant and had no contact with anyone along the way.

Since Orestes is a high-end restaurant, one cannot enter without being a member; therefore, after Wen Hebai entered, they could only take candid shots from the outside. They didn’t capture the footage of Mu Rong attacking, but they did film Wen Hebai coming out injured.

Yan Qingwen bought the photos and videos they had taken and then made a phone call to the owner behind the Orestes restaurant.

Orestes is a French restaurant, but the owner is Li Jinglei, known as the “Catering King” of K City.

The Li family mainly operates in dining and hotels, owning many five-star hotels and restaurants; furthermore, Li Jinglei himself started as a master chef and served as the executive chef for state banquets for several years. Now retired, he often appears as a food connoisseur on gourmet shows and critiques local delicacies, making him quite a celebrity.

Yan Qingwen was not well-acquainted with him, but the Yan family’s banquets were generally outsourced to the chef teams from the Li family’s five-star hotels, so she was able to strike up a conversation.

After the initial pleasantries, Yan Qingwen got straight to the point, asking Li Jinglei if he was aware of what happened in the restaurant today.

Li Jinglei was unaware, but upon hearing that Wen Hebai was injured in his restaurant, he immediately took it seriously. He not only called in his nephew, who was currently managing the restaurant, but also summoned the manager. Only after reviewing the surveillance footage and seeing everything clearly did he return the call to Yan Qingwen.

“I am very sorry for today’s incident. Regardless, President Yan’s wife was injured in our restaurant, and we will take full responsibility.”

Yan Qingwen said, “Mr. Li, I didn’t call today to place blame. I simply wanted to ask—is Zhuang Yi an employee of that restaurant?”

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

Speaking of his relationship with Zhuang Yi, it all started over half a month ago.

As everyone knows, Li Jinglei is a food connoisseur; even with a net worth of over 100 million as a catering tycoon, he never looked down on folk cuisine or hole-in-the-wall environments, often scouting for delicacies in back alleys.

Then, in a tiny “fly-sized” eatery in K City, he met Zhuang Yi. Zhuang Yi’s sharp critiques of food gave him the feeling of having found a soulmate. Specifically, Zhuang Yi not only possessed the palate of a gourmet but also had excellent culinary skills; the dishes he made earned Li Jinglei’s high praise. The two felt a mutual respect and became close friends despite the age gap.

Initially, he intended to invite Zhuang Yi to serve as the executive chef at a Li family five-star hotel, but Zhuang Yi declined. Zhuang Yi said he was too young to command respect, so starting as a waiter from the very bottom would be fine.

Thus, under Li’s arrangement, Zhuang Yi—who claimed to have been a chef at a Michelin restaurant abroad—entered Orestes to work.

Li Jinglei originally planned to promote Zhuang Yi to restaurant manager after three months and gradually cultivate him into a key member of the Li family. He hadn’t expected such an incident to occur today.

How this matter would be handled next, who would be scolded or fired, was an internal family matter for the Lis; Yan Qingwen did not pry.

However, the investigation she ordered regarding Zhuang Yi yielded some clues: “Zhuang Yi returned to the country three months ago and settled directly in K City, never having left. Before being invited to work at Orestes, he had no formal job, yet he lived in a mid-range apartment with a monthly rent of 30,000 yuan. Furthermore, his social circle is somewhat complex; he also associates with some street youths.”

“Could you not find his social connections?” Yan Qingwen asked.

“We couldn’t. There are only records of him passing through customs when he returned. Everything regarding his time abroad and before he left the country is blank. This can only mean one thing—his information has been deliberately hidden.”

When Yan Qingwen ordered the check on Zhuang Yi earlier, she did not reveal that he might be related to the powers in City C. This was because investigating toward City C could easily alert the enemy and bring unnecessary trouble.

But the fact that Zhuang Yi’s information was hidden wasn’t necessarily because he was abandoned or banished; it could also be that someone was protecting him, preventing people from City C from tracing his tracks. Even the name “Zhuang Yi” might not be his real name.

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

Yan Qingwen arranged new tasks: “Continue the low-profile investigation. Send more people to City C to help me investigate the Zhuang family… perhaps the name isn’t Zhuang. Investigate every family that has undergone a power transition in recent years, one by one.”

…

The Mu and Li families acted very quickly. They not only apologized to Wen Hebai, but the compensation funds were also transferred to her account. They were even willing to pay double her commercial value to hire her for an advertisement, though Wen Hebai declined.

The Wen family only learned of Wen Hebai’s injury after the matter had been settled.

Wen Hebu rushed to the hospital, only to learn that Wen Hebai had long since returned to her home with Yan Qingwen.

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

“You didn’t even tell the family you were hurt. If I hadn’t heard the news from my subordinates, would I have had to wait until you made headlines tomorrow to find out? Does this sound right to you!”

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

Yan Qingwen helplessly took the phone: “President Wen.”

Wen Hebu, who was in the middle of scolding, immediately switched to professional language: “It’s Qingwen! Now that you and Little Bai are married, you can just call me ‘Sister’ like she does.”

Yan Qingwen couldn’t bring herself to say it, so she bit the bullet and changed the subject: “Hebai is fine. I will take care of her, so you don’t need to worry.”

Hearing this, Wen Hebu dropped the idea of visiting. After chatting with Yan Qingwen for a few more minutes, she hung up the phone.

Wen Hebai gave a thumbs up: “It still takes you to step in.”

Her big sister would hit her and scold her, but she wouldn’t scold Yan Qingwen. This was because Yan Qingwen had been a “good baby” since childhood and was the most outstanding successor of K City’s great families in her sister’s eyes.

Yan Qingwen washed her hands and put on disposable gloves to apply medicine for Wen Hebai. When she peeled back the layer of gauze soaked in blood and betadine, revealing the wound beneath the hair, her gaze and expression turned slightly solemn.

“Why didn’t you shave the hair near the wound?” Yan Qingwen first used a cotton swab to wipe away the uncleaned blood clots near the hair strands, then applied betadine for disinfection.

“I’m not shaving it. How ugly would a bald patch look?” Wen Hebai was very concerned about her image. If it didn’t grow back after being shaved, wouldn’t she be bald there forever?

“If the wound gets infected, then you might actually go bald.”

“Hiss—it hurts, it hurts!” As the betadine touched the wound, Wen Hebai inhaled sharply from the pain.

Yan Qingwen paused, her movements softening significantly, though her mouth said: “When we were kids and you climbed a tree and got a gash from a thorn, I didn’t see you crying about the pain. Your pain tolerance has certainly dropped now.”

Wen Hebai hadn’t expected her to remember something from so long ago. The corners of her mouth tilted up, and she muttered nonchalantly: “That was because I was afraid you’d cry, so I didn’t dare shout! When you were a kid, you were so hard to coax when you started crying. I even had to sacrifice myself to be your wife before you’d stop.”

“Shut up!” Yan Qingwen’s face turned red. She covered her with fresh gauze and applied extra pressure while bandaging.

Was she bringing up those dark histories from childhood just to humiliate her on purpose?!