After Transmigrating Into The Novel, The White Moonlight And The Female Lead Of The Abusive Romance Got Their Happy Ending - Chapter 17

Wen Tang stared at the message on her phone, unusually hesitant.

She considered herself a very decisive person, especially in the operating room. Whenever an emergency arose, she had to make an immediate decision. Blood pressure plummeting like a roller coaster and a patient’s condition visibly worsening left no room for the slightest hesitation.

That swift decisiveness carried over into her everyday life as well. She rarely found herself this indecisive.

Anyone watching might have thought she was filling out her university preferences after the national college entrance examination and needed to weigh every choice with the utmost caution.

Logic told her that staying away from the male lead by any means necessary would give her the greatest chance of avoiding the original plot and protecting her own life.

…But an unfamiliar location arranged at the last minute could never compare to the familiar set where they had already rehearsed.

It was only one meal. Surely nothing would happen, right?

“Tangtang, what’s wrong?” Not far away, Shi Nanqiao smiled beautifully. Her sweet, gentle voice was like a warm cup of snow-pear soup beside the stove in winter.

Shi Nanqiao…

Wen Tang no longer liked referring to her as the female lead.

The Ah-Qiao she knew might be somewhat dispirited and lost inside, yet she still faced the world with strength.

Shi Nanqiao was a living, breathing person. She was Wen Tang’s first friend in this world and the only person who had touched the deepest, most central part of her heart.

Whether in front of her classmates and colleagues at the hospital or her parents at home, Wen Tang had to pretend to be “Wen Tang.” Although she could gradually and subtly change the image of “Wen Tang” in their minds, that would take a long time.

Only in front of Shi Nanqiao did she not have to pretend so completely.

She could drink sweetened soy milk, dislike iced Americanos, and do many things that did not fit the original owner’s established personality.

The scales in her heart unconsciously tilted in one direction.

“Ah-Qiao—” Wen Tang called softly. “Putting all practical considerations aside, which do you think is more suitable as the filming location—this place or the simulated operating room?”

Shi Nanqiao answered without hesitation, “Of course it’s here. If we change locations, the camera operators and lighting technicians will all have to readjust.”

Only after speaking did she realize what she had said and hurriedly added, “But Tangtang, your idea just now was genuinely brilliant!”

She did not know why, but despite usually being so socially adept, she instinctively expressed her honest thoughts in front of Wen Tang.

It was a strange sensation. It had been a long time since she had spoken so directly, but it felt surprisingly good.

For one brief moment, she thought she had returned to her university days in her previous life, the brightest period in her memories. Every day had been spent with roommates and classmates, and her lively life had been full of things to look forward to.

When the daze passed, a question arose inside her.

Wen Tang usually spoke with a purpose. She would not ask that question for no reason.

Did that mean—

Shi Nanqiao’s eyes lit up, and immense joy surged through her.

Had Wen Tang found a solution?

Her sparkling almond-shaped eyes turned toward Wen Tang.

Wen Tang nodded gently.

“Yes. There should be a way.”

Yes!

Shi Nanqiao’s smile grew even brighter. Her dark brown eyes were filled with expectation and trust.

Meeting that radiant gaze, Wen Tang instinctively tightened her grip on her phone.

Finally, she drew a deep breath and made her decision.

It was only one meal. At worst, she would stay far away from the male lead afterward.

She lit up the phone screen. The front-facing camera recognized a face stored in its database, and the phone unlocked automatically.

“All right. Thank you for the trouble, Auntie.”

The message contained fewer than ten words, yet Wen Tang typed it, deleted it, and typed it again.

Only after the waves of joy receded did Shi Nanqiao notice that something was wrong with Wen Tang.

“Which kindhearted person is helping us?” she asked in an apparently casual tone, testing the waters. “Should I visit her another day to express my gratitude?”

“An award-winning actress who retired from the industry years ago. She’s an old friend of my mother.” Wen Tang lowered her eyes without revealing the woman’s name.

Helping Shi Nanqiao was her decision and had nothing to do with Shi Nanqiao herself. She did not want to use the favor to demand repayment, nor did she want to push something she ought to bear herself onto Shi Nanqiao.

Shi Nanqiao should not have known who the former actress was.

In her previous life, even before Shi Nanqiao died, Fu Xuan had never explained exactly why he liked Wen Tang. Naturally, she had not known about the connection between the two families.

Yet at that moment, as though compelled by some unseen force, Shi Nanqiao asked, “Is it Chen Lingling?”

Chen Lingling, once famously known as the “Nation’s First Love,” had become one of the hottest award-winning actresses in the industry less than five years after her debut. Unfortunately, when her career in film and television was at its peak, she had suddenly withdrawn from the industry, entered a whirlwind marriage with the head of the Fu family, and changed her name to “Fu Chen Lingling.”

Huaguo had no tradition of women taking their husband’s surname after marriage, so her decision had caused an enormous uproar at the time.

A year after the marriage, she gave birth to a son and firmly secured her position in the Fu family. She rarely appeared before the public afterward, and people gradually forgot about her.

In recent years, Fu Chen Lingling had begun returning to the public eye. This time, however, she no longer appeared as a celebrated actress but as the wife of the Fu family patriarch, frequently displaying her loving marriage with her husband online.

Through this strategy, the Fu family’s declining stock performance had improved considerably.

After tasting the benefits, the Fu family had heavily promoted their image as “the most loving married couple among the wealthy elite.”

Seeing Wen Tang’s mouth fall slightly open in shock, Shi Nanqiao knew she had guessed correctly.

Wen Tang had never been involved with the entertainment industry while growing up, and her parents’ connections to the industry were not particularly extensive either. In Shi Nanqiao’s memories, the only person who could link Wen Tang to that world was Fu Xuan.

A sudden sense of powerlessness rose in Shi Nanqiao’s heart.

As expected, so-called fate was like a rubber band. Just when she believed everything would be different, she would discover that the changes were merely small deviations caused by briefly stretching it.

In the end, the rubber band’s elasticity would still pull fate back onto its original course.

Just like now.

Wen Tang had returned home ahead of schedule. Shi Nanqiao had become the independent host of a program earlier than in her previous life. She and Wen Tang had already met.

Yet none of it could stop Wen Tang and Fu Xuan from moving closer.

They were like two magnets. Even with some distance between them, the moment fate’s elastic force acted on either one, they would rush toward each other with unstoppable momentum.

So should Shi Nanqiao accept her fate?

Or should she resign, return to her hometown, and hide with her mother in some corner of the small county town, doing everything possible to avoid the paths of those two people?

No.

She quickly rejected the idea.

If her mother’s condition deteriorated as it had in her previous life, no one in their hometown had the medical expertise to operate on her.

Besides, she had friends here in Huadu now.

She did not want to be separated from them.

Tangtang, my dear Wen Tang, my friend—let me gamble once!

Shi Nanqiao raised her hand and grasped Wen Tang’s long, slender fingers, stopping her from sending the message.

“But I want to try developing a new format for interview programs. I want to take the gamble too, Tangtang.”

Shi Nanqiao’s palm merely carried the normal warmth of the human body, yet Wen Tang felt as though she had touched a scorching tongue of flame.

Her eyelashes trembled, and she quickly withdrew her hands.

“All right. Let’s try it together.”

As she spoke, she used the opportunity to send Madam Fu a rejection message to conceal her inner panic.

Then she hurried to the side and began helping the others carry the recording equipment into the vehicles.

Wen Tang had always been naturally reserved and aloof, an untouchable flower on a high mountain who seemed removed from worldly life. Apart from her parents and the necessities of work, very few people came this close to her in daily life.

During surgery, her assistants and scrub nurses inevitably touched her hands while passing instruments. Under special circumstances, physical contact at distances far closer than normal social boundaries also occurred.

Perhaps because they wore gloves at the time, or perhaps because of the professional atmosphere inside the operating room, she never felt there was anything strange about being so close to someone.

It must simply have been too long since she had physical contact with anyone.

Wen Tang smiled and found herself an explanation.

…

“I’m sorry, Auntie, but I’d rather not trouble you after all. Besides, I’m very busy with work, so I probably won’t have time to go out for dinner with Mr. Fu Xuan.”

At the Fu family villa, Fu Chen Lingling stared at the rejection message on her phone, and her expression immediately darkened.

At the Wen residence, Wen Tang had at least called Ah-Xuan “Brother Xuan.” Now she was directly addressing him as “Mr. Fu Xuan.”

How utterly improper!

Had it not been for her mother, and had Wen Tang not been a cardiac surgeon, why would Fu Chen Lingling tolerate her son lowering himself so much for a woman?

It was good for a young woman to show some restraint in romantic matters, but that did not justify Wen Tang behaving with such lofty arrogance!

Fu Chen Lingling slammed her palm heavily onto the huanghuali wood table before her. The dull thud frightened the maids in the living room so badly that none of them dared breathe loudly.

The maids all turned pleadingly toward the housekeeper, Aunt Zhang.

Aunt Zhang silently sighed in resignation and carried a plate of sliced fruit toward Madam Fu.

“Madam, have some fruit. It was only just flown in and is exceptionally fresh.”

Only then did Fu Chen Lingling arrogantly shift her gaze toward the fruit platter. She delicately picked up a grape and placed it in her mouth before asking casually, “What time will Sir return tonight?”

Aunt Zhang answered respectfully, “Sir said he would be dining tonight with several entrepreneurs and professors from the medical field. He told you not to wait for him.”

“Hmph! Is he going to the Sky Garden again tonight?” Fu Chen Lingling’s face turned cold, and her manner became aggressive.

“This… I’m not entirely certain, Madam.”

Hearing this, Fu Chen Lingling did not become angry. Instead, she laughed.

“She’s only a woman. He can play with as many as he likes. What matters is that Ah-Xuan must remain his only son.”

“Aunt Zhang, you’ve served this family for many years.” She looked at the middle-aged woman bowing slightly beside her, a smile that was not quite a smile on her face. “You know how to deal with those who become restless, don’t you?”

“Yes. Please rest assured, Madam.”

“Men are always attracted to the new and tired of the old. They forever pursue novelty and excitement.” She brushed the stray hair beside her ear aside. Despite her daily maintenance, several strands of gray could still be seen among the black.

She had been married into the Fu family for more than twenty years. Her husband had grown afraid of death and begun building close connections with people in the medical field.

She herself was no longer young either—

“Tell Ah-Xuan to speed up the filming. Certain matters need to be handled more urgently…”