CH 2

Looking at the [Message sent successfully] prompt on the screen, Jiang Rao looked up at Bai Yurou and said, “Using someone else’s phone without permission is a violation of their privacy rights.”

Bai Yurou was taken aback, “There’s never been a concept of parents violating their children’s privacy rights. You’re using my daughter’s name to live, holding her phone, and the message is to my daughter’s husband. And you asked me to teach you how to win the husband’s heart. What did I do wrong?”

“So… are you saying you don’t plan to fire me?”

“Of course not, Tangtang is still undergoing treatment…”

“Butler Gu, escort the guest out.”

Jiang Rao shouted loudly at the group of people outside the room.

Since Mrs. Bai still needed her presence, but she explicitly didn’t want to see her, she could only ask the other party to leave the castle. 

As for whether the other party would be unhappy, refuse to pay, or find fault in secret after the contract was completed… Jiang Rao didn’t care at all.

The opportunity for the original female lead to become a runaway wife was due to the pressure from Mrs. Bai. On her journey as a runaway, she not only suffered physical and emotional abuse but also encountered numerous dangers. For Jiang Rao, there was nothing more terrifying than becoming a runaway wife.

She was not like the original female lead, who was weak and helpless, but rather had some similarities to the real Jiang Tang’s proud personality. Therefore, she couldn’t be a runaway wife— she could never be one in this lifetime.

The male lead’s later development into a villain was too cruel and violent, and she didn’t want to have any emotional attachment to such a perverted man.

She just wanted to live a mundane life, play the role of Jiang Tang properly without making any mistakes, and wait for the end of the one-year contract period to receive the two and a half million yuan from the marriage substitution. If she couldn’t get the money, it didn’t matter. At least, she could leave this place, which was full of troubles, with a well-nurtured body and mind, and exchange her identity with the real fiancée. This was much better than suffering from physical and emotional abuse.

Being treated this way by a little girl whom she hired, Bai Yuruo was naturally resentful. However, she only got to say, “Have you gone mad, you—”, before seeing a middle-aged woman dressed in a black and white business suit and high heels strode towards her.

The next second, the middle-aged woman asked Jiang Rao, “Madam, just now, you said…?”

Facing this situation, Bai Yuruo was afraid that she would reveal too much information about the marriage substitution, so she just glared at Jiang Rao as a warning.

Unexpectedly, although the other party didn’t show any emotion, the words that came out of her mouth were the same as before, “Escort the guest, send my mother away.”

Bai Yuruo was almost infuriated, “If you keep doing this, if Young Master Li…” she couldn’t continue, “You are being stubborn!”

Thinking that she has made her own thoughts very clear, Jiang Rao really didn’t understand why Bai Yuruo’s thoughts were still related to the male lead. 

Perhaps the author was too tired of writing a million words and didn’t give enough logic and IQ to the unimportant characters in the CEO novel.

During her conversation with Mrs. Bai, the kitchen had already prepared her lunch.

As she watched Mrs. Bai leave with anger, Jiang Rao looked at the pile of vegetable leaves on the table and fell into contemplation.

The male lead’s real fiancée, Jiang Tang, had an easily plump body type, but the distorted aesthetics of the entertainment industry didn’t allow female stars to have even one or two extra pounds. Therefore, after entering the entertainment industry and aspiring to become a big star, Jiang Tang almost lived on vegetable leaves every day.

After becoming a substitute wife, the original female lead was anxious and afraid of being discovered, so she imitated Jiang Tang’s behavior and habits. But since she had been eating regular meals for the first twenty years of her life, suddenly changing to a pile of vegetable leaves naturally led to malnutrition.

Clearly only six months had passed, but she managed to transform her originally delicate physique to an even more sickly one…

During the initial period of her arrival, Jiang Rao’s character designs underwent a lot of changes. Those changes were relatively easy to make since the original female lead was not familiar with the family’s servants. However, no one would change their eating habits for no reason. Jiang Rao couldn’t find an excuse to explain why she suddenly wanted to indulge in rich foods, so she could only maintain her original lifestyle pitifully every day.

Today, the arrival of Mrs. Bai gave Jiang Rao an inspiration for her explanation. She picked up her knife and fork and poked the salad on her plate a few times, with a worried look on her face. She called the chef and said, “Add a steak. Although I’m upset with my mother over that matter, she was right about one thing. Health is more important than body shape. Sigh…”

The chef nodded and soon presented Jiang Rao with a juicy, medium-rare filet mignon.

After a week of not eating meat, she finally had a perfectly cooked piece of beef that satisfied her taste buds. Although Jiang Rao usually didn’t show her emotions, she couldn’t help but show a rare smile at the chef.

Meanwhile, little did she know that the kitchen staff was having a heated discussion about her sudden change in taste and her mother Mrs. Bai’s departure. 

They made a bold and speculative conclusion, which was overheard by Butler Gu who had just returned from outside and immediately called to inform the house’s true owner.

“Mrs. Bai came today to urge the Madam to actively prepare for pregnancy. Madam sent her away, but began to listen to her advice to take care of her body.”

Li Jueyan made a nonchalant sound and hung up the phone.

“Continue,” he said to the group of people waiting for the meeting to resume.

After the meeting ended, Li Jueyan’s little assistant followed closely behind him as they strode outside.

After reporting his afternoon schedule, the little assistant suddenly remembered something. “President Li, Madam sent you a message. Are you going home tonight?”

Li Jueyan didn’t answer his question. “Are there any necessary activities to attend tonight?”

“No, there aren’t.”

“Hmm?”

“Sir, are you suggesting that…” The little assistant suddenly understood. He quickly flipped through his notepad and said, “Yes, there is. Universal Films, one of our subsidiaries, has sent an invitation to a celebration banquet. I made a mistake in estimating the time for today’s schedule, which is why I removed this activity from the necessary schedule. Do you plan to go?”

“Go.”

***

The celebration banquet lasted until who-knows-what-time at night. Jiang Rao had heard that the longer one wore makeup, the more damage it would do to their skin. Additionally, there were few cosmetics that could last for over ten hours without smudging. In order to be in good condition for tonight, Jiang Rao went back upstairs after eating and drinking her fill, and removed all her makeup, replacing it with a thick layer of skincare products. She spent the afternoon playing games on her computer.

At six o’clock in the afternoon, her agent, sister Wang called to say she was on her way.

Since they still had two hours until their scheduled meeting time, Jiang Rao calmly finished putting on her makeup after answering the phone.

When she drew her eyeliner, she started with a very thin line before gradually thickening it, sighing to herself. 

She thought to herself that the original female lead really earned her five million yuan! That was— she had to eat raw vegetable leaves all day long, had to put heavy makeup on such good facial features, and had to wear makeup all day long that probably damaged such smooth and tender skin.

Thankfully, the original female lead’s face looked as innocent as first love with light makeup on, and as glamorous as peach blossoms with heavy makeup on. Otherwise, Jiang Rao might not have been able to bring herself to do it.

Just as she arrived at the company’s door at eight o’clock, Jiang Rao’s phone rang again. She informed sister Wang that she had arrived and that she could come downstairs to meet her now, then put her phone back in her handbag.

As an avid reader, Jiang Rao was fully aware that the female lead’s appearance was always accompanied by some significant event. She wore a conservative sleeveless midi dress and plain chunky-heeled shoes. Her jewelry was small and unremarkable, so she wouldn’t mind if she lost any of it, and if she did, she could certainly afford to replace it.

When they met, Jiang Rao thought that sister Wang would surely question her attire, but to her surprise, when they got into the business car prepared by the company, the other party suddenly smiled and said, “How did you know that there was a big shot coming today? I heard that the big shots love the pure and innocent look with a little twist. Unfortunately, your features lean towards being glamorous, and you can’t change your makeup. But changing your outfit a bit, I think it has that vibe.”

The whole idea of the substitute marriage was too absurd, and Jiang Rao knew that the fewer people who knew, the lower the risk.

In addition, Jiang Tang said that she was going to temporarily leave the entertainment industry to deal with her depression, which seemed to be almost over, so Bai Yuruo did not tell her agent, sister Wang, about Jiang Tang’s upcoming marriage.

Jiang Rao shook her head and said, “I’m not interested in any big shot.”

The only thing she had ever been interested in was getting rich quickly.

Leaving the house with endless money was much more interesting than dating a man!

Sister Wang clearly didn’t believe her, but when she thought of the relationship between Jiang Tang’s mental state before her strike and the comments on her Weibo account about sugar daddies and relying on her looks to climb up the social ladder, she thought that the other person was just afraid of being bitten by a snake once and then fearing the rope for ten years.

“Tangtang, you’re from a prominent family, and there’s no need to compete for resources or network with those big bosses and big shots. But today’s big shot is not only at the top of the pyramid in the business circle but also young and promising, handsome and wealthy…”

Sister Wang chattered on and on, but Jiang Rao just let it go in one ear and out the other.

If it weren’t for the pain all over her body like being pricked with needles, she wouldn’t have come to this ridiculous celebration banquet.

Although she had a white mink coat over her dress, in this kind of weather, it was better spent at home with the heater on. The original female lead was frail, and just when they changed cars, her bare legs had already become so cold that they ached, and she felt like crying. She was afraid that after this experience, she would end up with a pair of old, cold legs.

The car came to a stop in the parking lot.

Following sister Wang’s footsteps, Jiang Rao got off the car and took the elevator to the floor where the celebration banquet was held. She found her seat in the venue and had yet to start mingling with the few stars who came over to her when she saw that all the waiters standing by the door suddenly became nervous. They kept nodding their heads seriously, with their hands on their earpieces.

The next second, someone pushed the door open from the outside, and the waiters all bent down and bowed, saying, “Hello, President Li!”

President Li?

Jiang Rao, who was observing the waiters’ reactions, looked up towards the door.

In the middle of the room, the man who was surrounded by everyone like a moon by stars, wore a perfectly tailored suit and had a well-proportioned figure.

He had deep black pupils and wore gold-rimmed glasses. His wheat-colored skin had well-defined features that looked both ascetic and refined. He exuded a sense of restraint and elegance.

Just then, sister Wang, who was standing beside her, nudged her arm and whispered in her ear, “That’s the big shot I was telling you about. He’s just as good-looking as those young and popular stars, isn’t he? Rumor has it that he’s the big boss behind our company. Unfortunately, the parent company doesn’t seem to value the entertainment industry, so the big boss has never attended any meetings at the subsidiary company. I don’t know if it’s true or not.”

Jiang Rao mumbled, “It’s true.”

“How do you know it’s true?” asked sister Wang.

Jiang Rao’s eyes darkened, but she didn’t say anything else.

No one knew how many times she had seen that face in her dreams since she had transmigrated into the world of the novel. 

Every time, after that person abused her physically and emotionally, he would whisper in her ear, “You can’t escape.”

——