After the Harem Novel’s Female Lead was Spoiled by the Comments - Chapter 3

The entire banquet hall fell into a heavy silence following the words Yan Qingwen had just uttered.

It was so quiet that a falling needle could be heard.

At the entrance, Zhuang Yi, now dressed in a waiter’s uniform, had a face dark with malice.

Both of these were women he had his sights set on—how could they!?

Once Jiang Yunhan realized everyone’s gaze was locked onto him, he adopted a playful look: 【I get it! The female lead must be worried that the Yan family won’t easily agree to her being with the Dragon King lead, so she’s deliberately using her rival, Wen Hebai, as a shield. By comparison, the Yan family will find the Dragon King lead much easier to accept!】

As if confirming his inner thoughts, Yan Aotian snapped back to reality and snatched the microphone from Yan Qingwen. Suppressing his rage, he questioned: “Qingwen, what are you talking about?”

“Father, I said the person I love is Wen Hebai,” Yan Qingwen repeated.

Even without the microphone, her voice remained clear, reaching every corner of the banquet hall.

Everyone finally reacted, their gazes refocusing on the other party involved—Wen Hebai.

They expected to see a face filled with shock or gloom, but to their surprise, Wen Hebai still wore a charming smile. It was as if she weren’t currently at the center of a public scandal, but rather standing on an awards stage receiving an honor exclusive to her—much like when she recently took home the Best Actress trophy at the Golden Pear Awards.

Yan Qingwen’s gaze naturally fell upon her as well.

To tell the truth, in all the years Yan Qingwen and Wen Hebai had been fighting, it had always been through legal, upright competition; she had never used underhanded tricks. This time, she was being a bit despicable.

In fact, before making any decision, she would always estimate the consequences. She didn’t make this choice just to disgust someone; it was done after careful deliberation.

First, this was a unilateral confession. The only thing affected would be the Yan Group’s stocks, but afterward, she could cultivate an image of “unrequited love” to garner sympathy and recover the stock market value.

Second, she felt sorry for involving Wen Hebai without her consent, but the Wen family would actually benefit the most from this.

The Wen family’s main business was entertainment, owning famous talent agencies, film companies, and newspapers. By grabbing the headlines and generating hype, the stock prices of the Wen family’s industries would soar.

Finally, even if her family was dissatisfied with her “loving” Wen Hebai, they wouldn’t dare do anything to Wen Hebai out of respect for her family. Now that the whole country knew her feelings, it wouldn’t be easy for her parents to try and set her up with Jiang Yunhan again.

However, beyond logic, her thoughts at the time had also been a bit wild; she couldn’t stand Wen Hebai’s schadenfreude, and in a fit of pique, a dark urge to drag her rival down with her had emerged.

Between thirty percent impulse and seventy percent calculation, she made this decision.

Now, she was just waiting for Wen Hebai to reject her. Then, she could put on a heartbroken act and leave the place righteously to “heal her wounds” in the privacy of her own home.

Before Wen Hebai could speak, Yan Aotian said to Yan Qingwen with a stiff face: “She is a woman!”

Yan Qingwen replied: “Father, regarding the fact that she is a woman—other than Madam Wen who gave birth to her—no one knows that better than I do.”

After all, when they were children, their relationship was so good they practically wore the same pair of pants, not to mention they often bathed together.

Yan Aotian was speechless: “Then you still—”

Yan Qingwen walked quickly through the crowd, went to Wen Hebai’s side, and grabbed her hand. She turned back to tell Yan Aotian: “Father, our country passed the Same-Sex Marriage Act several years ago, recognizing that same-sex partners can become legal husbands or wives. My loving her is perfectly legal and reasonable.”

The perfectly healthy Yan Aotian felt his heart starting to fail him.

Having listened to Yan Qingwen for so long, Wen Hebai finally reacted when her hand was taken by a cold one. She looked at Yan Qingwen with an expression of being “overwhelmed by favor” and said: “Is it true? Qingqing, I’ve finally waited for this day!”

Yan Qingwen: “?”

Wait a minute, why did the direction of things feel different from what she had anticipated?

She met Wen Hebai’s sly gaze and immediately understood: this person was acting!

Truly worthy of being a Best Actress; this performance was beyond reproach.

“I knew your feelings for me weren’t ordinary. Why else would you want to set foot in the industry I’m in? It turns out you were doing it all to get my attention!” Wen Hebai said with deep affection.

The smile on Yan Qingwen’s face was becoming hard to maintain.

What a sarcastic remark!

The surrounding audience couldn’t tell if these words were true or false, but if they interpreted Yan Qingwen’s past actions through the lens of Wen Hebai’s words, everything suddenly made sense!

“So that was it!” The crowd gasped.

Who would have thought that President Yan—who was swift and decisive in business and as ruthless as autumn leaves in a gale toward her enemies—could be such a romantic person? It was just that her methods of pursuing love were so “hardcore” they were easily misunderstood as business competition.

In a corner, several girls had already opened their “Rich Young Ladies’ Gossip” group chats on their phones, quietly sharing the massive news of the day with their friends.

The messages in the groups were quickly screenshotted and posted. Within just thirty minutes, the news grabbed the top spot on the trending search!

#YanGroupCEODeclaresLoveForActressWenAtGoldenAnniversary#

Wen Hebai’s “anti-fans” were stationed on Weibo nearly twenty-four hours a day. As soon as they saw this trending search, they immediately started bashing: “Wen Hebai is so shameless, acting like a hussy everywhere, even seducing an old man in his seventies at someone’s anniversary!”

Passersby were confused: “Huh? Isn’t the CEO of Yan Group Yan Aotian? He’s not in his seventies, is he? At most fifty. And aren’t he and his wife very loving? They just went on a trip together recently.”

Stock investors: “Yan Aotian’s daughter took over several years ago and became the third-generation leader… wait, is this news true or false? Is it going to affect my stocks?!”

Anti-fans: “The Yan Group CEO is a woman? Wen Hebai even seduces women, what a pervert!”

Wen Hebai’s fans rushed to control the comment section: “Don’t believe or spread rumors! Our Wen-bao is beautiful on her own!”

They also proceeded to scrap with the anti-fans.

Right at that moment, Wen Hebai—who hadn’t posted any new updates since her post celebrating her Golden Pear Best Actress win—suddenly posted a picture. It showed two “red books” (marriage certificates) with the caption: “We’re married!”

Fans: “!!!”

Anti-fans: “???”

Gossip-hungry passersby: “Is… is it really this sudden?”

However, no one was more shocked than the people attending the banquet inside the hall.