After the Harem Novel’s Female Lead was Spoiled by the Comments - Chapter 47

After the final version of the wedding photos was printed, the PR department asked Yan Qingwen and Wen Hebai whether they needed to make them public. Yan Qingwen felt this was her private matter and there was no need to bring it out onto the public stage. However, if Wen Hebai wanted to post them on her private social media accounts, that was fine.

With this definite answer from her, Wen Hebai openly selected eighteen wedding photos and posted them on Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and other social media accounts.

Fans and passersby had been eating melon for so long. Once the wedding photos came out, everything settled into dust.

Next, everyone became more concerned about when they would hold the wedding.

Wen Hebai relayed the fans’ earnest concern to President Yan, who was becoming increasingly busy as the end of the year approached.

“Is this what you want, or what the fans want?” Yan Qingwen asked back while squeezing out time from her busy schedule.

“Is there a difference?” Wen Hebai asked.

“I don’t live off fans. If it’s what the fans want, then my answer is very clear.”

Since she did not live off fans, why would she care about their wishes?

Wen Hebai’s heart stirred slightly. “Then what if it’s what I want?”

Yan Qingwen lowered her head and pondered for a short while before saying, “Then you have to first tell me why you want it. It’s like investing in a project. Without a business plan or actual data support, if it’s merely to follow the crowd or because of a sudden impulse, then there’s no need to waste time and money.”

Wen Hebai was not surprised by this argument at all. If one day President Yan agreed to her without saying another word, then she would think something was wrong!

Should she directly tell Yan Qingwen that she wanted this marriage, which was based on cooperation, to become more loving and more in line with the world’s understanding of “lovers finally becoming spouses”? Then President Yan would definitely tell her there was no love between them and tell her not to think blindly about such things.

Wen Hebai felt that Yan Qingwen being willing to accompany her to take wedding photos, prepare wedding rings, and even live a normal wife-wife life with her had already exceeded expectations. As for the rest, she still had to proceed step by step. In any case, she had plenty of time. She had already waited so many years, so she did not mind waiting a little longer.

She decisively changed the topic. “Right, there’s a director who asked whether you want to enter the entertainment industry. A beauty like you can instantly kill off a whole crowd of internet-celebrity-faced actresses in the circle.”

Yan Qingwen: “???”

Was the other party really not joking?

Wen Hebai, the one who had brought up this matter, was the first to laugh out loud. She laughed until she could hardly catch her breath. Only after a long while did she recover and say, “No, every time I think of this, I want to laugh. He’s too funny.”

Yan Qingwen had originally found it rather speechless, but seeing Wen Hebai laugh like this, she could not help being infected by that exaggerated laughter. Her brows and eyes curved too, and she covered her smile as she said, “It is indeed quite funny.”

When Wen Hebai saw Yan Qingwen like this, she slowly stopped laughing, though a brilliant smile still hung on her face. How long had it been since she had seen Yan Qingwen smile like this, without any negative emotions, without any utilitarian purpose, purely from the heart?

An answer at the bottom of her heart told her: a very long time. So long that it felt like a dream.

Noticing that the laughter had stopped, Yan Qingwen was somewhat puzzled. She raised her eyes and looked over, only to see the other party lying on the sofa in a posture unhealthy for her lumbar spine, staring at her.

Yan Qingwen’s heart skipped a beat. The instant her gaze crashed into the center of those fox-like eyes, it was as if she had returned to a certain afternoon P.E. class nine years ago. Wen Hebai, dressed in sportswear, had obtained a guitar from who knew where and excitedly said she wanted to play guitar when she participated in a singing talent show. She was afraid she would not play well, so she had come to find Yan Qingwen to be her audience for practice.

Under the shade of the tree, Yan Qingwen closed her university textbook and nodded slightly. “All right.”

As long as Wen Hebai was not howling like a ghost in the bathroom during sleeping hours, Yan Qingwen would patiently cooperate with her now.

And so Wen Hebai leaned against the tree, imitating those rock musicians by striking what she thought was an extremely cool, wild, domineering pose and expression, and began the first guitar performance of her life.

Fourth Miss Wen, who had possessed no musical talent since childhood, had never touched a guitar before, and had only hurriedly learned one song from the school orchestra’s guitarist because she suddenly became interested in joining a talent show, ultimately had her performance end because the birds in the tree could no longer bear the disturbance and dropped a pile of bird poop on her.

When the bird poop landed on Wen Hebai’s hand, Yan Qingwen’s many years of upbringing finally broke. She could not hold back and laughed.

Wen Hebai’s face had already darkened because of that pile of bird poop. Seeing Yan Qingwen like this, she became so angry her teeth itched. She threw down the guitar and was about to wipe her hand on Yan Qingwen. “You’re laughing at me? Good sisters should share hardships together.”

“Go away.” Yan Qingwen nearly laughed herself breathless and lifted her book to block Wen Hebai’s hand.

“And share blessings!” Wen Hebai shouted.

“You can enjoy this blessing alone. I don’t need it.”

Yan Qingwen was pressed beneath Wen Hebai. Seeing that the back of that hand stained with bird poop was about to wipe across her cheeks, which had turned pink from laughing too hard, she grew anxious and soft as she called out, “No!”

Wen Hebai suddenly paused, suppressed that strange emotion in her heart, wiped the bird poop clean with her clothes, then rubbed her hand against Yan Qingwen’s face.

Sigh. She really did not know how Yan Qingwen’s face was raised. It was so tender. She really wanted to kiss it.

“Wen Hebai!” Yan Qingwen’s eyes instantly reddened. She raised her hand, wanting to touch her own face, but was afraid she would get bird poop on it.

Wen Hebai hurriedly coaxed her. “All right, I was just teasing you. My hand is very clean.”

Yan Qingwen quickly noticed her sportswear. “You—”

Wen Hebai snorted. “It’s just a lousy sports uniform. I’ll buy another set.”

Yan Qingwen said speechlessly, “Walking over to wash your hands wouldn’t even take a few minutes.”

Although they had many sets of school uniforms and sportswear, she did not quite approve of Wen Hebai’s wasteful behavior.

After P.E. class ended, Wen Hebai returned to the dormitory to wash her hands and change clothes, casually throwing that sportswear onto the washstand.

That evening, after Yan Qingwen came back, when she finished showering and was washing her underwear, she helped Wen Hebai wash that sportswear along the way—just washing off the bird poop, after which she threw it into the washing machine for the standard wash-rinse-spin one-click trio.

Wen Hebai quickly forgot that she had once used her clothes to wipe bird poop. Or perhaps she remembered, but she never cared whether the sportswear she wore for P.E. was still the original set or not.

When Yan Qingwen came back to her senses, Wen Hebai had already gotten up from the sofa and walked in front of her.

“Wife,” Wen Hebai called.

“Mm?” Yan Qingwen looked at her.

Wen Hebai was somewhat bashful. “On my birthday next month, can you clear your schedule and spend it with me?”

After the wedding photo shoot, she had gone back to rush through her schedule. Now she had already finished, and next-next month she would join the crew to film, so she happened to be able to celebrate her birthday first.

“Are you going to hold a birthday banquet?” Yan Qingwen asked.

“No. I’m most impatient with birthday banquets. When the time comes, if I invite this person but not that one, the people who weren’t invited will feel uncomfortable, and others will gossip too. If I invite too many people, then inevitably, some annoying people will slip in, and a perfectly good birthday banquet will be ruined. Celebrating a birthday is for happiness, not for suffering.” Wen Hebai said, “That day, I’ll go home and have a meal with my mom. She worked the hardest when she gave birth to me. Then at night, it’ll just be the two of us.”

Yan Qingwen was satisfied with this arrangement. She also had no time to hold a birthday banquet for Wen Hebai. At the end of the year, there were many matters, and social engagements also increased. She did not want to come home and still have to socialize.

“All right.” Yan Qingwen agreed.

Wen Hebai leaned over wanting to kiss her, but Yan Qingwen raised a folder to block her. “This is the company. Pay attention to your image.”

Wen Hebai curled her lips regretfully and lay back on the sofa to read her script. During this free time before joining the crew, she found it boring to stay home alone, so she came along under the name of accompanying Yan Qingwen to work.

What she said was: “You handle your work, I memorize my script. We won’t disturb each other.”

In reality, after coming to the office, she first looked at the wedding photo frame placed on the file cabinet behind Yan Qingwen, took it out, and placed it on the desk instead, specifically in a position where it could easily be seen by others.

Then she wandered over to the secretary office and openly and secretly asked whether any wildflowers or weeds had appeared around President Yan. Only after hearing the secretaries promise, “We’ll definitely help you clear away any wildflowers and weeds,” did she leave in satisfaction.

She had not disturbed Yan Qingwen, but traces of her activity had been left everywhere on this floor.

No one complained about her, so Yan Qingwen turned a blind eye.

In the afternoon, Yan Qingwen told Wen Hebai, “There’s a business dinner tonight. Solve dinner yourself.”

“What business dinner? Can you bring family?” Wen Hebai asked casually.

Yan Qingwen looked at her. “You want to go?”

Wen Hebai also raised her head and met her gaze. “Can I go?”

After a while, Yan Qingwen withdrew her gaze. “Suit yourself.”

Wen Hebai smiled and said, “Then I’ll accompany you.”

It was perfectly normal for entrepreneurs attending business dinners to bring accompanying personnel. Some male bosses would even bring young and beautiful female companions to display their wealth and status. Yan Qingwen bringing Wen Hebai counted as the first time she publicly acknowledged their relationship on a formal occasion. This was different from their private dates being photographed and posted online.

That evening, they arrived at the hotel where the dinner was held. The moment they appeared, they were photographed nonstop by the media from major financial newspapers.

“Qingwen, Xiaobai!” Wen Hegu, who was also attending this dinner, saw them and brought tonight’s male companion over to greet them.

“Big Sister, this person is…” Wen Hebai looked at her eldest sister and the young fresh meat beside her with a gaze full of gossip.

Wen Hegu rolled her eyes. “I told you to worry more about company matters, but you only care about playing! This is a newly signed artist from the company, Qing Zikai.”

The young fresh meat gave Wen Hebai and Yan Qingwen a shy smile. “Teacher Wen, I’ve long admired your name. I’m your fan!”

“Thank you.” Wen Hebai responded perfunctorily.

Yan Qingwen saw that she was somewhat impatient, so after chatting briefly with Wen Hegu, she took her away.

Aside from Wen Hegu, Jiang Zanghua and his eldest son, as well as Jiang Yunhan, also attended this dinner. After all, it was a business dinner, and Jiang Zanghua was pulling investments everywhere, so it was not strange for them to attend. When Yan Qingwen and Wen Hebai encountered them, they greeted them openly and properly as well.

At that moment, an unexpected person appeared before them.

“Miss Yan, hello.” Zhuang Yi wore a proper suit and came before Yan Qingwen looking refined and graceful.

Originally, he had wanted to take her hand and offer a hand kiss. But clearly, Wen Hebai would not let him get even half a step closer to her.

“How can a beggar be here?” Jiang Zanghua’s eldest son, Jiang Yunqin, spoke contemptuously.

The man behind Zhuang Yi stepped forward, swept everyone present with a disdainful gaze, and said arrogantly, “How bold. Do you know who you’re speaking to? This is Mr. Zhuang Yi, president of Dawei Tianlong Group, Zhonghai Security Group, and NG Investment Co., Ltd.!”

Everyone present was stunned. Of course, they were not stunned by that string of titles, but shocked that these people seemed never to have learned social etiquette.

Seeing their reaction, Zhuang Yi was very satisfied. He knew it. No one would fail to be conquered by his charm!

By Yan Qingwen’s ear came Jiang Yunhan’s noisy inner thoughts:

【Damn, isn’t this the plot of Chapter 198 in the original novel? After the Dragon King male lead took over Yan Group, because his identity as a live-in son-in-law made others look down on him, he suffered every humiliation. He decided he would no longer hide his identity, so at this business dinner, he made a grand entrance for the first time as the president of Dawei Tianlong Group and told everyone that he, Zhuang Yi, did not rise by living off a woman but already had his own career. Finally, at this dinner, he conquered everyone present with absolute tyrant aura. Yan Qingwen, who was already deeply infatuated with him, admired him even more.】

Yan Qingwen: “…”

She did not complain about this garbage plot. Instead, she concentrated, wanting to see whether the [Comments Section] had revealed anything.

And once she looked, she really did discover quite a bit.

[I thought after Female Lead No. 1 got married, the male lead wouldn’t have a chance anymore. Now hehehe, the chance to subdue Female Lead No. 1 has come!]

[Waiting for the male lead to expose the Dragon King’s true face, slap that brain-dead Dragon King in the face, and help Female Lead No. 1 and K City’s major business big shots avoid the Dragon King’s investment scam.]

[This is the chapter where the male lead shines!]

“Scam?” Yan Qingwen looked thoughtfully at Zhuang Yi.