I Turned Out To Be The Paranoid Villain’s White Moonlight - Chapter 29

After spending so much time with Yu Wanqiao, Zhan Yao’s impression of her—aside from being beautiful and wealthy—could be summed up in three words:

An excellent actress.

In the past, she had only thought Yu Wanqiao’s acting skills were evenly matched with her own. But now, she felt Yu Wanqiao might have reached the point where fiction was indistinguishable from reality.

That was… assuming Yu Wanqiao was acting right now.

Zhan Yao remained silent for a long time, seemingly trying to judge something.

Yu Wanqiao said nothing more either. She merely raised her eyes and quietly met Zhan Yao’s gaze, silently waiting for her answer.

Only after a long while did Zhan Yao finally speak again, asking righteously, “What exactly do you like about me?”

“Everything,” Yu Wanqiao answered softly. “Your courage, kindness, honesty… I feel relaxed whenever I’m with you, Yaoyao. Even simply sitting together and having a meal makes me feel at peace.”

“You’re exceptional,” she continued. “In my eyes, you’re perfect. Everything about you is wonderful.”

“…”

Zhan Yao looked at her and felt she should add another quality to her assessment of Yu Wanqiao—

She certainly knew how to flatter people.

Unfortunately, Young Miss Zhan had never lacked praise from others throughout her entire life.

Yu Wanqiao’s relapse tonight was probably real. People often spoke without thinking when emotionally unstable. Even if Yu Wanqiao’s confession was genuine, Zhan Yao could reasonably suspect that some wire in her brain had simply crossed by accident.

Besides, she did not actually know Yu Wanqiao that well. It was perfectly natural for her to doubt this seemingly heartfelt confession.

As though seeing through her thoughts, Yu Wanqiao spoke again before she could respond.

“I know this is sudden, and it’s understandable that you don’t trust me, Yaoyao.”

“But if possible, I still hope you’ll give me a chance to pursue you.”

As she spoke, her gaze met Zhan Yao’s once more and remained there for a long time.

Pursue her.

Zhan Yao paused.

Someone like Yu Wanqiao, who stood at the very top and could obtain practically anything with ease, had actually spoken those words to another person one day.

Almost unconsciously, Zhan Yao’s heart truly fluttered a little.

But someone as proud as her would never allow anyone to know.

At that moment, she said nothing. Her gaze remained on Yu Wanqiao’s face, roaming from her eyes to the bridge of her nose, then to her cheeks and lips.

Finally… it returned to Yu Wanqiao’s eyes.

Her gaze remained sincere and profound. Beneath the room’s ambiguous lighting, it was extraordinarily alluring.

Zhan Yao instinctively felt that she might not be able to bring herself to refuse tonight.

After a long silence, she gently looked away.

“…Fine. Since you’ve already said all this, forcefully rejecting you would make me seem far too heartless.”

“There’s still plenty of time left in our agreement. I’ll see how you perform.”

The moment she finished, Yu Wanqiao’s tightly clenched hand, hidden in the darkness, suddenly relaxed.

The unease that had lingered inside her for so many years seemed to briefly dissipate.

Not only had she seen her rose again, but this time, the little rose had even extended its branches and gently touched her.

“Mm.” Yu Wanqiao nodded and smiled from the bottom of her heart.

“I’ll do my best.”

The next day arrived in the blink of an eye.

Yu Wanqiao’s work essentially never stopped throughout the year. Once she had handled everything at home, she naturally returned to the company.

Zhan Yao, however, was different. Today was still a leisurely weekend for her.

“…”

Although what had happened last night had kept her awake for most of the night.

It was all Yu Wanqiao’s fault. If Zhan Yao did not spend at least several hundred thousand of her money today, it would be an insult to the strands of hair she had lost from insomnia.

As agreed, after breakfast, Zhan Yao met Ding Xiaoxiao at a nearby shopping center.

The main purpose of the trip was to help Ding Xiaoxiao choose an outfit. Her music club would be hosting a joint event with several other clubs in a few days. Apparently, it was open to the entire university, and they had even borrowed the main auditorium as the venue.

To create a better effect, every member was required to attend in formal dress.

Ding Xiaoxiao had already taken a liking to several gowns some time ago, but she had been unable to decide between them.

That was why she had especially begged Zhan Yao to help her choose.

A younger student accompanied them this time as well. She was also a member of the music club. Her name was Fang Yue, and she was a polite young woman with large eyes and fair skin.

Zhan Yao had met her several times before and had a reasonably good impression of her.

Ding Xiaoxiao soon brought them to the store she had chosen and showed them the dresses she liked one by one.

“…”

Honestly, Zhan Yao did not like a single one.

It was not Ding Xiaoxiao’s taste that was at fault. The store simply was not very good. The attractive fabrics were too scratchy, while the comfortable ones were too plain. On the rare occasion that a dress was acceptable, Ding Xiaoxiao could not carry it.

They were already in their third year, so this was probably one of the few remaining large-scale events they would still be able to attend. It was a rare opportunity. How could she allow Ding Xiaoxiao to miss out on beautiful memories?

If choosing the wrong dress ruined her mood, it would be an unbearable loss.

Ding Xiaoxiao tried on seven dresses and collected seven identical sentences from Zhan Yao:

“This one won’t do. Next.”

Were they trying to summon the Dragon Balls here?

“That’s all of them.” Ding Xiaoxiao was exhausted from trying on clothes. She staggered over to Zhan Yao and rested for a while. “Are they really that bad, Yaoyao? You didn’t like even one?”

“Mm.” Zhan Yao answered righteously. “None of them suit you.”

Ding Xiaoxiao sighed. “Should I try a few more?”

“Don’t bother,” Zhan Yao said. “There isn’t a single acceptable dress in this store.”

“I took a look earlier. The store next door is quite good.”

“Wuwuwu, of course I know the one next door is good.” Ding Xiaoxiao looked pitiful. “I went there recently too. The moment I saw the price tags, I nearly had to be carried away. I’ve never seen clothes that expensive before. How dare they?!”

“I’m only wearing it once anyway, so whatever.” After several seconds of silence, she decided to give up entirely. “I’ll just get something that will do.”

Something that would do?

The words make do did not exist in Young Miss Zhan’s dictionary.

“Let’s go.”

Ding Xiaoxiao looked confused. “Where?”

“Next door,” Zhan Yao said, the corners of her lips lifting gently. “I’ll buy it for you.”

“Oh, right, and Fang… uh…” She paused.

Although she had met the younger student several times, the girl was so quiet and introverted that Zhan Yao could never remember her name.

“Fang Yue,” the young woman quickly supplied. Her large eyes blinked, and she seemed somewhat embarrassed. “Senior Zhan, my name is Fang Yue.”

Polite and well-behaved.

Zhan Yao had always been gentle with adorable young women like her.

“That’s right, Fang Yue.”

“You’re participating too, aren’t you?” she asked, beckoning lightly for her to follow. “Your senior will buy you one as well.”

The system immediately added inside her mind, “Senior, I want one too.”

“…”

Zhan Yao was not sure whether it was her imagination, but the system seemed to have grown considerably more shameless lately.

With Zhan Yao advising them, choosing gowns went extremely smoothly.

When it was time to pay, Fang Yue’s cheeks were flushed, and she still felt terribly guilty.

“Senior, perhaps I should pay for mine myself…”

Zhan Yao immediately refused. “It’s fine. You don’t need to be polite with me.”

Senior truly was so gentle.

For some reason, Fang Yue’s cheeks grew even redder.

“Th-Then aren’t you going to choose one too, Senior? I heard there will be a dance after the event. You’re already so beautiful. You’d look even better with an appropriate gown.”

It was rare for her to say so much at once.

Zhan Yao looked at her with interest, inexplicably experiencing the joy of raising a child. The younger student before her was simply like an adorable, obedient little girl.

“I don’t need one.” She shook her head. “I’m not even sure I’ll attend.”

Compared with crowding together with a large group of people and listening to several hours of ghostly wailing, she would rather stay home and play a few rounds of mahjong with the servants.

“I see…” Fang Yue immediately looked disappointed.

“Just come, Yaoyao.” Before she could say anything else, Ding Xiaoxiao interrupted and pressed her palms together pleadingly. “What’s wrong with you? I’m performing that day! As my beloved former roommate, won’t you come support me?”

Beloved former roommate.

Zhan Yao was instantly disgusted. She laughed with obvious distaste and pushed her aside.

“Move farther away.”

Ding Xiaoxiao declared herself deeply wounded and utterly heartbroken!

Time passed quickly, and noon arrived in the blink of an eye.

Zhan Yao had shopped enough. No bodyguards had accompanied her today to help carry her purchases, which considerably reduced her enthusiasm for buying things.

Instead, she was beginning to feel hungry. When she checked the time, it was indeed already lunchtime.

Ding Xiaoxiao seemed hungry as well and quickly suggested eating at the restaurant across the street.

“I’ll treat you this time,” she said.

Although the restaurant catered to affluent customers and was rather expensive, it still cost far less than the gown she was carrying.

“Neither of you is allowed to fight me for the bill. Give me a chance to show off.”

Zhan Yao had no objections. She instinctively exchanged a glance with Fang Yue.

“All right, then.”

As they spoke, the three of them had already left the shopping center.

Zhan Yao lowered her eyes toward her phone and unusually remembered Yu Wanqiao, who was working at the company.

She had spent quite a lot of Yu Wanqiao’s money today, so checking on her was only appropriate.

She opened WeChat, found Yu Wanqiao’s chat, and typed:

【Have you eaten?】

Before she could send it, a familiar voice suddenly came from nearby.

“Yaoyao.”

“?”

Zhan Yao nearly thought she had imagined it. She instinctively raised her head and soon met the other person’s gaze.

“Wanqiao? Why are you here?”

“I happened to have some business nearby.” Yu Wanqiao glanced at Ding Xiaoxiao and Fang Yue beside her, then stepped forward and naturally took the bags from Zhan Yao’s hands. “Hello.”

“H-Hello.” Ding Xiaoxiao recognized her as the woman from last time and hurriedly nodded.

Fang Yue did not know who she was, but still followed Ding Xiaoxiao’s lead. “Hello.”

Yu Wanqiao nodded faintly without saying much, then turned her attention back to Zhan Yao.

“I happen to be free. Would you like to have lunch with me, Yaoyao? I reserved a table at a nearby restaurant. I originally intended to entertain a client, but they unexpectedly stood me up.”

“Sure.” Zhan Yao nodded. They could all go together. “Then we—”

“Unfortunately, I reserved a table for two,” Yu Wanqiao continued before she could finish. “It’s currently the lunch rush, so I’m afraid there won’t be any additional seats.”

The meaning behind her words was obvious.

“Understood!” Ding Xiaoxiao reacted immediately.

The married couple clearly wanted to be alone. There was no reason for them to remain and make themselves unwelcome.

“It’s fine. You two should go.”

“I just remembered that I still have something to do, so we won’t disturb you.” With that, she grabbed Fang Yue and quickly turned away.

They moved so fast that Zhan Yao did not even have time to say goodbye.

Several seconds later, Zhan Yao turned back toward Yu Wanqiao speechlessly.

Her appearance was far too perfectly timed. Zhan Yao could believe that she happened to have business nearby. But the fact that she had reserved a table in advance and just happened to be stood up by her client made the entire situation far too coincidental.

It was difficult not to question her motives.

“Why are you looking at me like that, Yaoyao?” Yet Yu Wanqiao still dared ask shamelessly.

Zhan Yao pursed her lips. “That was a lie, wasn’t it?”

“What was?” Yu Wanqiao asked.

“What you just said,” Zhan Yao exposed her mercilessly.

“Half true, half false.” Not only did Yu Wanqiao show no embarrassment at being caught, but she looked at Zhan Yao calmly. “It’s true that I came here on business. It’s false that someone stood me up.”

“I simply wanted to have lunch alone with you, Yaoyao.” Remembering the way Fang Yue had looked at Zhan Yao, her voice became slightly colder. “After all, I’m still pursuing my wife.”

“How could I possibly allow someone else to get ahead of me?”