After the Harem Novel’s Female Lead was Spoiled by the Comments - Chapter 45

Since they were leaving the Jiang family banquet rather early, Wen Hebai knew Yan Qingwen definitely had not eaten much at the banquet, so she ordered some ingredients on her phone, preparing to show off her skills once they got home.

But Yan Qingwen said, “Let’s go to Yiqi Bar for a couple of drinks.”

Wen Hebai was so shocked her phone nearly fell, but she did not refuse the suggestion.

They drove to Yiqi Bar. At this hour, the bar had only just opened not long ago. Compared with the lively dining bars nearby, Yiqi Bar was deserted inside. Even the bartender had not started work yet, but the heating was very strong.

The moment the two entered, they saw Lin Yixiao drinking at the bar counter. Wen Hebai went over to greet her. “Aunt Lin.”

Lin Yixiao tilted her head and glanced at them, downed the wine in her glass in one gulp, then walked behind the bar and took on the role of bartender. “What are you drinking?”

“Macallan 18 Sherry Oak,” Wen Hebai said. “And a glass of Glenmorangie 12 Port Cask for my wife.”

Two types of liquor. One rich and fragrant, the other refreshing and elegant.

Yan Qingwen’s gaze drifted across Wen Hebai’s face, silently accepting the drink she had ordered.

Lin Yixiao hardly needed to search among the dozens or hundreds of bottles. With one reach, she took down the bottles they had ordered.

Very soon, a glass of whisky blended with the scents of mint, citrus, and sandalwood was placed before Yan Qingwen. She shook the glass, letting the ice inside float along the wall of the cup, and reminded Wen Hebai as if nothing were happening, “In late autumn, theft and robbery cases happen frequently. Be careful when you’re outside.”

Wen Hebai did not take it seriously. “Don’t worry. No thief would dare steal from me.”

After saying that, she discovered Yan Qingwen’s gaze had turned faint and deep, as if she was not satisfied with this attitude. So she immediately changed her words. “I’ll have the company arrange a few more assistants for me. One executive assistant, one life assistant, one work assistant, plus the styling team. Wife, do you think that’s enough?”

Yan Qingwen frowned. “How many assistants you have isn’t important. What matters is that there must always be someone by your side.”

Wen Hebai promised, “Unless I’m sleeping, I definitely won’t let myself be alone.”

Yan Qingwen glanced at her, then turned back and took a sip of wine.

Wen Hebai watched her drink until her own throat felt a little dry too. She turned and asked Lin Yixiao behind the bar, “Aunt Lin, where’s my drink?”

Lin Yixiao said, “I just realized we’re out. Go up to the wine cabinet on the third floor and get a bottle.”

“Aunt Lin, you really can’t do business—” Wen Hebai had wanted to complain a few words, but after being swept by the other party’s sharp gaze, she immediately shut up and silently went upstairs.

After confirming she had gone far away, Lin Yixiao put the bottle of Macallan 18 back into the wine cabinet and asked carelessly, “Have you two caused trouble recently?”

Yan Qingwen’s fingertip brushed across the rim of her glass, and she seemed to be talking to herself. “We don’t actively cause trouble, but sometimes, trouble finds us on its own.”

“Is that your reason for contacting people from the Zhuang family in C City?” Lin Yixiao’s expression cooled, and the gaze she directed at Yan Qingwen became dangerous and sharp.

Yan Qingwen’s muscles instantly tensed. She was surprised, but after a moment, she felt it was within expectations. If Lin Yixiao truly had an official background, then she might not necessarily be unaware of Shenji Sect’s existence, nor would she necessarily be unaware of Qi Zange’s identity.

“It’s Zhuang Mei, not the Zhuang family.” Knowing she could not hide it from Lin Yixiao, Yan Qingwen could only admit it.

Her honesty did not earn her a pleasant expression from Lin Yixiao. After a long while, Lin Yixiao finally put away the murderous aura on her face and said, “I’ll arrange a few more people for her. But I also have to warn you: don’t cross that line.”

Wen Hebai’s figure appeared on the second floor. Yan Qingwen seized the time to ask one final question. “Does she know about this?”

Lin Yixiao said, “You can tell her.”

The bartender arrived for work. Lin Yixiao gave up her position, reached out to take the unopened bottle of Macallan 18 from Wen Hebai’s hand, then turned and went back to the third floor.

Wen Hebai was stunned. “Aunt Lin?”

Lin Yixiao ignored her. Wen Hebai returned to the bar counter and leaned close to Yan Qingwen. “Did you offend her?”

It was rare for Yan Qingwen to see this ignorant and frustrated look on her face. The corners of her mouth curved slightly. “Perhaps you offended her.”

Wen Hebai felt very innocent. She had merely listened to Aunt Lin and gone to get a bottle of wine. She had not done anything. How had she made Aunt Lin unhappy?

On the terrace of the third floor of the bar, Lin Yixiao braced herself against the railing and looked down at Yan Qingwen and Wen Hebai leaving through the entrance.

Behind her was the bar manager, who was currently saying with a serious expression, “Sister Lin, the people have all been found. They can report to the Wen family tomorrow.”

“Is there news on the matter I asked you to investigate?” Lin Yixiao took a drag of her cigarette and asked.

“It’s been confirmed. Zhuang Yi is Zhuang Yinuo, the person who beat Shaojie to death back then.”

Twenty years ago, the armed police special forces team Lin Yixiao belonged to received a mission. According to intelligence, a major drug lord from the Golden Triangle region had a drug deal that would take place at the border. They needed to intercept the drugs and capture the traffickers within the border.

After two days and one night of fierce fighting, at the cost of one comrade dying and five comrades being injured, they successfully arrested more than a dozen drug traffickers and seized over four hundred kilograms of drugs.

Originally, this should have counted as a meritorious achievement. But Lin Yixiao soon discovered that this had been a trap set by someone—a trap that used the special forces team to eliminate dissidents!

Because the forces in the Golden Triangle were intricate and complicated. There, it was not only one drug lord entrenched. Among them was a company called Cuishi Security. On the surface, it was a mercenary organization, but in reality, it also participated in drug production and trafficking.

When she was about to investigate Cuishi Security Company, that company declared bankruptcy, dissolved all its mercenaries, and terminated all its business.

However, the domestic investigation into them did not end.

At this time, a mercenary organization in J Country called Asu Company rose rapidly.

After Lin Yixiao retired from the military, a rookie she had once trained, Shaojie, changed careers and became an undercover agent infiltrating Asu Company. Following the clues, he soon traced things to the Zhuang family. However, he never managed to obtain evidence of any substantive relationship between the Zhuang family and Asu Company.

More than seven years ago, Shaojie finally waited until Zhuang Xing went to J Country to meet with Asu Company’s boss. He had even told Lin Yixiao that good news would come back soon. But before long, terrible news arrived—he had been beaten to death by the Zhuang family’s eldest young master, Zhuang Yinuo.

Everyone thought Shaojie’s identity had been exposed, leading to his death. However, a servant who had witnessed the scene accidentally revealed to her family that Zhuang Yinuo killed him simply because he had taken a liking to Shaojie’s girlfriend. Shaojie’s girlfriend refused him, so after getting drunk, he went to challenge Shaojie to a fight. At first, Shaojie fought evenly with him, but Zhuang Yinuo felt that Shaojie was looking down on him, the number one young master of Shenji Sect and the eldest young master of the Zhuang family, so he shot Shaojie dead.

Asu Company quickly covered up the matter, and Zhuang Yinuo also fled back to the country. Not long afterward, it was announced that he had lost his inheritance rights and was expelled from the country.

Once he went abroad, it was as if he had evaporated from the world. Lin Yixiao never heard news of him again.

The Zhuang family and Shenji Sect became thorns in her eye and flesh. Seven years ago, all security companies related to Shenji Sect were forced to withdraw from K City, and her hand had been behind it.

But that was not enough. She wanted to catch Zhuang Yi, dig out the filth at the bottom of the Zhuang family and Shenji Sect, and then cleanse them, preventing them from continuing to stain this land.

The cigarette held between her fingers burned down to the end. She pressed the cigarette butt into the ashtray and extinguished the last spark.

“Back then, everyone focused their eyes on Asu Company’s boss and forgot about that little bug Qiu Fu.” Lin Yixiao sneered.

It was precisely because of this oversight that she only now learned of the connection between Qiu Fu, Asu Company, Baiweixia Insurance Company, and Zhongbai Insurance Company, which was currently entrenched in K City.

“They hid too deeply.” The manager sighed. “If not for you, Boss, discovering that the person who came to the bar that night looked very similar to Zhuang Yinuo and specially asking me to investigate, perhaps even years later, we still wouldn’t have discovered that not only had he returned to the country, he had also come to our territory.”

They could not be blamed for being unable to find Zhuang Yinuo’s whereabouts. After going abroad, he first became a citizen of J Country and changed to a J Country name. Later, as a J Country businessman, he obtained a green card in the United States, then lived in the United States for several years. His identity changed again and again, until finally he created the identity of Zhuang Yi and returned to the country.

Lin Yixiao suddenly turned around. “Go investigate Zhuang Mei again and see whether her hands are clean or not.”

After drinking, Yan Qingwen and Wen Hebai did not immediately go home. Instead, they took a detour to a nearby city square known as “K City’s living room” for a walk.

In the square were citizens taking walks after dinner, elderly people doing square dancing, tourists who had come from afar, a team using drones for a rehearsal, and vendors wearing frog mascot costumes matching wits and bravery with urban management officers.

Yan Qingwen seemed interested in the drone performance and stopped to watch for a long time. Seeing her watching so seriously and intently, Wen Hebai walked away for a while. When she came back, she was holding a bouquet of baby’s breath.

“Where did you go?” Just now, when Yan Qingwen turned her head and did not see Wen Hebai, for a certain instant, she had thought Zhuang Yi had made a move against her and sent people to kidnap her.

Wen Hebai smiled and handed over the bouquet in her hand. “To buy flowers. Here, for you.”

Yan Qingwen’s gaze landed on the bouquet and froze slightly. Her heart began to collide in an uncontrollable direction. She asked, “Why buy flowers?”

“I wanted to give them, so I gave them. If I really have to find a reason, is ‘today is our two-month wedding anniversary’ enough?” Wen Hebai casually made something up.

Yan Qingwen: “…”

She fiddled with the buds of the baby’s breath, smelled the floral fragrance, and asked, “Are they fake flowers?”

“Real flowers! How could fake flowers be worthy of you?”

Yan Qingwen smiled and asked, “Then should I also buy a bouquet of flowers for you?”

“You can give something else.”

Yan Qingwen’s heart moved, and she took the opportunity to ask Wen Hebai what she wanted. When the time came, she would just give that as the birthday gift.

“Then what do you want?”

Wen Hebai leaned close to her, her gaze falling on Yan Qingwen’s lips. “I want you to kiss me.”

Yan Qingwen pushed her shoulder away. “Say something serious.”

Wen Hebai sighed. This was clearly a very sincere wish. Why did President Yan always treat it as her acting like a hooligan?

She casually said, “I want you to be my assistant for a day.”

President Yan managed countless affairs every day. How could she have time to be someone else’s assistant? So Wen Hebai was just saying it for fun. Yet after pondering it, Yan Qingwen agreed. “All right.”

Wen Hebai froze, and her understanding of Yan Qingwen reached a new height.

Yan Qingwen said, “But my schedule has been rather full recently. I’ll tell you once I decide which day I’ll be your assistant.”

Coincidentally, the drones flew up, and Yan Qingwen turned her head to watch the drone performance as they formed various formations under the control of precise instruments.

She had thought of what gift to give Wen Hebai for her birthday.

Wen Puppy: Someone, tell my wife the flower meaning of baby’s breath!